I have never been more grateful for those fighting lessons with Myles. I thrust my palm up, forcing it directly into his nose. With a sickening crunch, he crumbles to his knees. While the man holding Kali is distracted by his friend, she headbutts him and kicks into his groin. He releases her arms to shield himself from further damage.
“You thieving little bitch!” The man with the now broken nose mumbles, “Stealing is naughty, you know.” He points to the necklace around my wrist.
I punch out at him again, but he grabs my arm, swinging me around with one hand wrapped around my waist. Kali kicks him in the back of his knee, and he collapses to the ground. While they are incapacitated, we take the opportunity to run.
The men stagger to their feet and stumble after us. Unwilling to lead them to our hideout, we run past the opening and look forsomewhere else we can hide. Kali knows a bit about mountain ranges from growing up near one, but Lura is the only one who can navigate through this maze. Without her help, we will be lost.
Kali stops as we come across a passageway in the mountain, nodding for us to hide in here. I don’t know about going in there if we can’t find our way out, but the grunting and groaning behind us forces our hand.
Just as we make for the entrance, a figure steps out in front of us. An older man with more scars than wrinkles on his face sneers at us. More men stalk up behind him, all wearing the same insignia on their armour, three gold spires on a red background.
My heart sinks. How many Zury guards are in this area? I have been masking my magic. How are they still finding me?
Walking backwards, I scratch my calves on some broken branches. We’re cornered between the Zury men in front of us and the two attackers behind.
“Shit,” I hear behind us, and a whistle bouncing along the walls. I know for sure they weren’t expecting any trouble, and yet here they are surrounded by soldiers. Kali nudges me, nodding towards a broken log at my feet. I kick it up, and she uses her telekinesis powers to smack the older man in the head with it. The brunt of it makes him fall to his knees, blood pouring down his head. His men rush out of the cave entrance armed and ready for a fight.
My body engulfs in flames, stopping everyone in their tracks, and the gasps give me a sense of pride. Not what they expected? Throwing my arm forward, a fire rope lassos the men’s legs, hauling them along the ground. With the other hand, I throw white fire balls, one of them hits directly on a guard’s chest. I fight the urge to stop and celebrate.
The men behind us whistle loudly again as more guards fall out of the tunnel, an echo of whistles repeats down the trail. Kali and I look at each other, silently agreeing it’s time to go. I throw flames across the ground, blocking the two men behind us, making them jump out of the way, while Kali launches rocks at the Zury men, keeping them at bay.
With them distracted, we run. Fighting continues between the two groups.
I feel a slight pang of guilt for the two men but then remember they attacked us first. Rushing back into our cave, Myles is sound asleep, with Lura stoking the fire at his side. She jumps to her feet, her face drains of colour as we rush in, nudging Myles awake.
“We need to go. There are soldiers out there fighting these other men. By the looks of it, they’re on a mission to kill all the guards,” Kali yells. Myles and Lura scramble around, packing away our things and snuffing out the fire.
“If the other men are killing the guards, then they’re on our side? Right?” Lura questions. Myles shrugs in agreement.
Kali stands by the entrance, keeping an eye outside, when she slinks back into the shadows of the cave, holding up her hand while footsteps run past. “Those ‘other guys’ attacked Andi and I when we were gathering plants. So no, I don’t think they’re our friends.”
Myles helps Lura gather the rest of the items while Kali and I listen for footsteps at the entrance. Kali peers outside again, moving further out of the cave mouth, with a wave of her hand, she ushers us in the direction of the dead guards. Lura gasps at the dead bodies sprinkled across the ground, paralysed by fear. Myles grabs her arm, pulling her along with us, needing to get as far away from this area as we can.
The sky darkens as we walk through the pass, dead guards dot the scenery. These guys have been busy. With the exit in sight, we try to remain as quiet as we can to avoid any noise reverberating in the narrow path.
At the end of the passage, we all release a tense breath. My vision goes black with a sack being thrown over my head.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Wyatt
I can no longer feel my toes. The snowfall has been nuts since we left Nu’cov. The snow is so deep, I can’t even see my boots. I can’t wait to rest my feet against the burning heat of the fire, thawing them out.
Our mission, Ronan told us after leaving the village, was to retire the guards—by any means necessary. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. But I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it to be so damn cold.
The day we left Nu’cov we came across a small group of unwitting Zury guards heading into the forest. Our first priority was to get rid of them so we could set up a camp as a meeting point for when we are out on patrols. The soldiers were an easy target, an easy kill. Arrows, straight through the eye. Arel complained, telling me I was a show-off. I promised next time I would leave some for him.
Izaac and Aron offered to take tonight’s patrol.
The guys start talking about life before the Unbound. I listen, having not heard most of their stories.
Kaleb is the first to open up: “It’s because of those arseholes, my wife and kid are dead. Every single one I take out is a little payback. I get a little sense of retribution every time, but it does nothing to dull the pain.” He always seems so happy-go-lucky, hiding his pain behind his hearty laugh. I never even knew he was married, let alone had a child.
“It’s the high lord bastard I want. He calls the shots. Has no thought of the pain it causes. One day.One day,I’ll get to show him the meaning of pain.” Everyone around the fire grunts in agreement.
“I can’t blame the high lord for my problems,” Arel says. “But lords and kings like him are the reason my people are gone. No one should have that amount of power and not have to face consequences.”
Kaleb nudges me, passing a flask. “Come on, little cub.” Thanks to Iza, they’ve all started with her old nickname for me. “What’s your story?”
