Bloodletting Part 2 by Peter J. Wacks & Mark Ryan

Author:Peter J. Wacks & Mark Ryan [Wacks, Peter J. & Ryan, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781614753650
Amazon: 1614753652
Publisher: WordFire Press
Published: 2015-10-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

Pavil Serevin

“Keep up,” Sibyl hissed as they fled the camp. “Fall behind, and you’ll be left behind. They’ll kill us if they catch us, so don’t get left behind.”

As soon as they had returned to the forge, after confronting Riktos, she’d had a brief conversation with the three other Admired. Jaimson and Thardin had raised their voices, but she’d silenced them with slash of her hand.

“Riktos is going to come after me,” she’d said. “Not just me. The boys, too. My hope is he won’t be coming back. That means these men are going to need real leadership … again.”

Jaimson stared at her hand on his shoulder, while Thardin looked at his forge like a pet he couldn’t imagine abandoning.

She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. “They’ll need you. It’s the three of us that Riktos wants, no … needs, to exterminate. I’m counting on you to make this all right.”

After hurried farewells, she’d handed each boy a pack of supplies and guided them to a small clearing on the side of the camp Pavil never even knew existed. There was another exit there. He didn’t even think Riktos knew about it, as the man had posted guards at the main entry, but this one stood untended.

Once they were clear of the camp, Sibyl started running. They did their best to keep up. She dashed ahead, agile despite the haphazard terrain and heavy load. Only after they put a couple ridges between themselves and the camp did she slow to a more manageable pace.

Pavil stumbled up beside her, gasping for breath. “W-why didn’t we leave sooner, Commander?” Riktos’ lack of respect for her made him want to balance it out somehow.

“Riktos pulled the dampeners days ago and had the Geists tracking us. We had to wait until he put them back to work or they would’ve alerted him the moment we left. The oroc thing was just me baiting him to give us a chance to escape.” She glanced at him irritably as they jogged. “And I’m not your commander.”

Malec reached them, also breathless. “Wha—What do we do now?”

“We’re doing it,” she said. “Not much else we can do, for the moment. Not till Riktos comes after us.”

“Where are we going, Captain?” Pavil asked.

“Northwest. Stop giving me ranks. Hopefully we can reach a human settlement before Riktos catches up … and if we don’t, I know the lay of the land well enough to balance a fight somewhat.”

“Why don’t we go directly north then?” Malec asked. The slower jog was helping both of the boys catch their breath again. “We’d leave the forest faster that way, wouldn’t we?”

She jutted to the side, leading them around a dense growth. “Riktos will expect that. It’s going to be hard enough to keep him from tracking us as it is.”

“What about orocs, my lady?” Pavil asked. He had no clue how she was guiding them through the dark forest without mishaps or stumbling.

“Hopefully I’ll see them before they can sense us.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.