Kel narrowed his eyes as his ears twitched. “I do not understand your words.”
“What’s not to understand? I came from an entirely different world than this one. It’s a world without magic, without blood pacts, and without manor lords. We have some technology that would blow your mind, but we aren’t big on slavery. I don’t do slavery. I was summoned here by a guy who wanted to make me his slave, and I killed him when he tried that.”
Kel’s ears flattened against his head, then stood back up again. “I have been repeatedly informed that your blood pact is not slavery.”
“Oh, it is absolutely slavery,” Drake assured him. “That’s why I don’t use it to keep my people loyal. I do that by making sure we all get something we want out of working together.”
Kel’s features went impassive as he locked his gaze with Drake’s. He appeared to be measuring... something. Drake decided it best simply to hold the catman’s gaze and let him decide whatever he planned to decide. Before Kel could speak, however, Sachi hissed.
“Ferals approach from behind,” she said quietly.
The ears of the guards behind Kel twitched. Both drew arrows from quivers and nocked them to strings in less time than it took Drake to blink. As Samuel pulled a knife from... somewhere... and Sachi nocked an arrow, Kel threw up a hand.
“Get behind us!” he said. “They are not with us!”
The fact that Kel couldn’t lie was all the warning Drake needed to turn and duck before the first hail of arrows whistled from the woods. They still easily would have pierced him, Sachi, and Samuel had Gaby not thrown up her hands.
Six arrows, then twelve, then more shot out of the forest and froze a short distance away from them, quivering in midair like angry hornets. Gaby was sweating, but she was successfully shielding them from harm with fullstop. While that might shock their attackers, it didn’t shock Drake. He’d known Gaby could stop arrows since that bloody day on the beach.
It was the whole reason he’d decided to bring her along.
Flashes of movement zipped by on Drake’s sides, but they weren’t Sachi. It was Kel and his fellow ferals. They dashed into the woods with knives drawn to attack... whoever. Sachi was crouched with her claws out at Drake’s side, but she hadn’t moved yet, while Samuel moved to Drake’s side with his long knife drawn
“Go,” Samuel said. “We will protect Lord Gloomwood.”
Sachi dashed into the woods. She sprinted after them with speed that was difficult to believe. Meanwhile, Gaby fell to one knee and kept her hands raised. Sweat rolled down her face, but she remained ready to stop arrows. Drake was proud of her for reacting so quickly.
“Back up,” Drake ordered his people. “I’m right behind you, Gaby. Let’s get some cover.”
With Samuel watching their backs and Drake behind Gaby in case she tripped, they backed up toward the side of the clearing from which Kel and his people had emerged. Drake knew ferals were fast, but he suspected it would take a bit for those who’d just fired at them from the woods to circle all the way around. They needed to get some cover before then.
Fortunately, a nice big tree offered protection for three people. Once Drake had it at his back, he tapped Gaby on her shoulder. “Drop your barrier and catch your breath, but be ready.”
Gaby lowered her hands and stumbled before Drake steadied her. On the other side of the tree, arrows clattered to the ground in a shower. All three of them crouched together in the shadow of the big tree, making themselves as small as possible. Not that any archer like Sachi would have trouble shooting them, given how good ferals were with bows, but at least they were tightly packed and wearing armor.
From the woods, a loud whistle sounded. That was Sachi calling for Cresh and his zarovians to come charging in to save the day. He hadn’t trusted this feral pack enough to not have reinforcements close at hand, and zarovians could run fast as well.
“I’m sorry, Lord Gloomwood.” Gaby was breathing hard. “I’ll do better.”
“You did great!” he assured her. “There’s no shame in taking a breathe—”
Two knife-wielding ferals burst from the woods. Each sprinted toward them with Sachi’s terrifying speed. Both stopped dead as Gaby once more threw out her hands, then slammed against the trunk of the tree as if someone had tossed her.
The ferals stumbled forward, freed, but Gaby’s forcefield blunted their momentum long enough for Drake and Samuel to react.
A bolt from Magnum tore through the chest of one feral as Samuel lunged for the other with speed that took Drake by surprise. The old man was surprisingly quick when he had his blood up. Drake’s bolt slammed into one feral and sent him flying backward, and then Samuel’s knife somehow found the small space between the feral’s chin and collarbone.
As Samuel ripped out the knife and stepped back, blood spurted as the second feral clutched at his neck and collapsed. He gurgled wide-eyed as blood spewed across his hands. As Samuel and Drake crouched down on either side of Gaby, they waited.
Drake kept his eyes—and Magnum—on the woods. “Nice moves, old man.”
“You thought me incapable of defending you?”
“No, but I didn’t know you were capable of that.”
Samuel simply grunted in response.
They remained ready for more arrows, but none came. Drake heard the sound of blades clashing in the woods, and then nothing. Only the sound of Gaby’s heaving breathing joined the sound of wind through leaves and the gentle creaking of tree branches... that was, until Drake heard the thunder of approaching giants. Cresh and his four fastest zarovians were close.
He glanced quickly at Gaby. “You all right?”
She nodded, breathing hard. He grinned as the adrenaline of being attacked warred with his anger at being ambushed once again. He was almost used to it at this point.
“Somebody’s fucked now,” he told everyone in hearing distance. “If they haven’t already run away, they better.”
The crashing in the woods grew louder, but Drake heard no shouting or clashing of blades. Soon the rumble in the earth and the sound of snapping tree branches announced Cresh’s approach. The big zarovian came barreling out of the woods with Blood Woe bouncing on his back. The rest of his hunting party, four strong, ran in the path he created.
The zarovians entered the clearing and fanned out like expert hunters as Cresh stomped forward, massive hands clenched in powerful fists. “Where are they?”
Drake rose. “The other ferals chased them off, I think. No one’s injured.”
“You were ambushed?”
“Yes, but not by the guys we came here to meet. These were other guys.”
“We will return to the wagons now,” Cresh said grimly. “These woods are not safe. You will walk inside our hunting party.”
“A moment, Lord Gloomwood,” a calm voice said.
All five zarovians pivoted and drew steel as the coal-black feral from earlier stepped from the woods. He clutched one bleeding upper arm but appeared otherwise injured.
“Hold up!” Drake called. “That’s the pack leader I met earlier. He’s not a threat.”
Cresh pulled Blood Woe off his back and gripped the massive magical axe in one hand and hissed at the feral pack leader. “Stay where you are, or there will be two of you.”
Kel stayed where he was, though he stared at Drake with a pained look. “Lord Gloomwood, allow me to apologize. I believed we had come to this clearing without being tracked. I was wrong. If you must take vengeance for this attack, take it on me.”
“It’s not my style to kill people who don’t actively try to fuck me over,” Drake informed Kel calmly. “So did you plan this ambush? Did you know it was coming?”
“I did not. And I did not.” Kel could only speak what he believed.
“So who attacked us?”
Kel motioned to the two dead ferals one of Drake’s zarovians was currently poking for signs of life. “A pack who serve Lord Mistvale. They are not with my pack.”
“So Lord Mistvale tried to assassinate me?” Drake sighed. “That’s typical.”
“I do not know if Lord Mistvale ordered the attack,” Kel corrected calmly. “I only know that the pack that attacked us swears loyalty to him. It is possible they may simply have sought to assassinate me while I was lightly guarded. We have clashed often in the past.”
“Clashed over what? Land? Resources?”
“Allegiance,” Kel said evenly.
Sachi ghosted from the woods, limping visibly. Drake’s eyes widened as he spotted the blood coursing down Sachi’s side. Samuel rushed for her before Drake could say a word.
Sachi waved him off. “This flesh wound is worse than it looks. See to Kel’s injury first.”
“The cut is not deep,” Kel said.
“Which doesn’t stop you from bleeding to death,” Sachi declared tartly. “Lord Gloomwood has already made it clear he has no plans to kill you for falling victim to an ambush, so you can cease your self-righteous attempts to sacrifice yourself, father. Better you live.”
Drake blinked. “Wait, Kel’s your dad?”
Sachi bared her teeth in an amused but pained grin. “Our shared blood is the only reason he agreed to speak with you. That, and that Samuel once saved both our lives.”
He stared at her. “And you didn’t think to mention that?”
“It was not important, given we have not spoken in over a decade.”
He would worry about all this when they were safe. “You sure you’re all right?”
Sachi nodded. “Do not worry about me, lord. If I were mortally wounded, I would complain more.”
Sachi could also only speak what she believed. Drake focused on making sure no one else killed each other. “Cresh, don’t chop him in half. Kel, tell them you won’t harm me.”
“I will not harm you, Lord Gloomwood,” Kel repeated. He wobbled on his feet before steadying himself. He must be wounded worse than he seemed.
Samuel walked back to Kel. “Let us treat you, old friend. You’re safe here.”
“Thank you,” Kel said quietly.
As Samuel helped Kel stumble into the center of the clearing where he wouldn’t be quite so close to getting shot from the trees, Drake joined them with Gaby. That allowed Cresh and his zarovians to surround them with their bulky bodies and heavy shields.
“I will remain on watch,” Sachi said. “I will whistle if I smell enemies.”
Cresh thumped his tail. “We should leave at once.”
“Not until we’ve made sure Kel isn’t going to die on the way back,” Drake said. “He’s the only feral willing to talk to me, and I can’t negotiate with a dead guy.”
Gaby touched his shoulder. “I’m ready, lord.”
He glanced at her to find her pulling one of Lydia’s healing gloves. Gaby had borrowed it for just this occasion, since she was the only woman with divine blood he’d brought with him. Still, he needed to be cautious after she’d just used fullstop twice.
“Do you have enough blood for that?”
She nodded firmly.
“All right.” Drake looked at Kel. “We’re going to mend that wound.”
Kel sighed and leaned on Samuel. Meanwhile, Sachi kept her eyes... and nose... peeled for more threats, and Cresh’s tail twitched like he was desperate to thump it on the ground.
“Can you help me get this armor off?” Gaby asked. “I can’t get at him like this.”
Drake walked behind Kel and spotted the blood pumping out through the small opening below Kel’s armpit, then whistled. “They got you good, didn’t they?” Despite the slickness of the straps and fastenings, Drake managed to loosen both.
With Samuel’s help, he finished unstrapping the armor and lifted it over Kel’s head only to have the feral pack leader drop to both knees. Gaby pressed a hand beneath his armpit as light flared from her glove. Her concentration firmed as magic consumed her blood.
“Oooh,” Gaby said. “That stings a little.”
Drake resisted the urge to grimace. Only women could use these particular healing gloves, a fact that continued to annoy Drake to no end. If he’d taken Darion’s fleshbind rarity out today, he could already have fixed Kel easily, but everyone had insisted he focus on his own survival. Which was both gratifying and annoying.
Gaby shuddered and pulled back her hand. She stumbled as she tried to step away, but Drake caught her before she could keel over. “That’s enough. I think you stabilized him.”
“Thanks,” Gaby said woozily.
“Can you walk? I bet Cresh could carry you.”
The big zarovian snorted. “Not while I protect you all.”
“I can walk.” Gaby pushed up and took a breath. She was pale, but looked steady.
Meanwhile, Kel seemed shocked by the fact that he was no longer spurting blood. He brought a blood-soaked paw away from his wound and shook his head. “Why?”
“Why what?” Drake asked.
“Why did you compel your thrall to save you?”
“I don’t compel anyone. I give orders and my people listen. Gaby chose to heal you, so you owe her, not me.”
“Blood thralls cannot refuse an order from their manor lord,” Kel said flatly.
“Yeah, well, we do things a bit differently in my house. Which is why you should really consider my offer instead of waiting around here to get shot with an arrow.”
Kel narrowed his eyes as his ears twitched. “I do not understand your words.”
“What’s not to understand? I came from an entirely different world than this one. It’s a world without magic, without blood pacts, and without manor lords. We have some technology that would blow your mind, but we aren’t big on slavery. I don’t do slavery. I was summoned here by a guy who wanted to make me his slave, and I killed him when he tried that.”
Kel’s ears flattened against his head, then stood back up again. “I have been repeatedly informed that your blood pact is not slavery.”
“Oh, it is absolutely slavery,” Drake assured him. “That’s why I don’t use it to keep my people loyal. I do that by making sure we all get something we want out of working together.”
Kel’s features went impassive as he locked his gaze with Drake’s. He appeared to be measuring... something. Drake decided it best simply to hold the catman’s gaze and let him decide whatever he planned to decide. Before Kel could speak, however, Sachi hissed.
“Ferals approach from behind,” she said quietly.
The ears of the guards behind Kel twitched. Both drew arrows from quivers and nocked them to strings in less time than it took Drake to blink. As Samuel pulled a knife from... somewhere... and Sachi nocked an arrow, Kel threw up a hand.
“Get behind us!” he said. “They are not with us!”
The fact that Kel couldn’t lie was all the warning Drake needed to turn and duck before the first hail of arrows whistled from the woods. They still easily would have pierced him, Sachi, and Samuel had Gaby not thrown up her hands.
Six arrows, then twelve, then more shot out of the forest and froze a short distance away from them, quivering in midair like angry hornets. Gaby was sweating, but she was successfully shielding them from harm with fullstop. While that might shock their attackers, it didn’t shock Drake. He’d known Gaby could stop arrows since that bloody day on the beach.
It was the whole reason he’d decided to bring her along.
Flashes of movement zipped by on Drake’s sides, but they weren’t Sachi. It was Kel and his fellow ferals. They dashed into the woods with knives drawn to attack... whoever. Sachi was crouched with her claws out at Drake’s side, but she hadn’t moved yet, while Samuel moved to Drake’s side with his long knife drawn
“Go,” Samuel said. “We will protect Lord Gloomwood.”
Sachi dashed into the woods. She sprinted after them with speed that was difficult to believe. Meanwhile, Gaby fell to one knee and kept her hands raised. Sweat rolled down her face, but she remained ready to stop arrows. Drake was proud of her for reacting so quickly.
“Back up,” Drake ordered his people. “I’m right behind you, Gaby. Let’s get some cover.”
With Samuel watching their backs and Drake behind Gaby in case she tripped, they backed up toward the side of the clearing from which Kel and his people had emerged. Drake knew ferals were fast, but he suspected it would take a bit for those who’d just fired at them from the woods to circle all the way around. They needed to get some cover before then.
Fortunately, a nice big tree offered protection for three people. Once Drake had it at his back, he tapped Gaby on her shoulder. “Drop your barrier and catch your breath, but be ready.”
Gaby lowered her hands and stumbled before Drake steadied her. On the other side of the tree, arrows clattered to the ground in a shower. All three of them crouched together in the shadow of the big tree, making themselves as small as possible. Not that any archer like Sachi would have trouble shooting them, given how good ferals were with bows, but at least they were tightly packed and wearing armor.
From the woods, a loud whistle sounded. That was Sachi calling for Cresh and his zarovians to come charging in to save the day. He hadn’t trusted this feral pack enough to not have reinforcements close at hand, and zarovians could run fast as well.
“I’m sorry, Lord Gloomwood.” Gaby was breathing hard. “I’ll do better.”
“You did great!” he assured her. “There’s no shame in taking a breathe—”
Two knife-wielding ferals burst from the woods. Each sprinted toward them with Sachi’s terrifying speed. Both stopped dead as Gaby once more threw out her hands, then slammed against the trunk of the tree as if someone had tossed her.
The ferals stumbled forward, freed, but Gaby’s forcefield blunted their momentum long enough for Drake and Samuel to react.
A bolt from Magnum tore through the chest of one feral as Samuel lunged for the other with speed that took Drake by surprise. The old man was surprisingly quick when he had his blood up. Drake’s bolt slammed into one feral and sent him flying backward, and then Samuel’s knife somehow found the small space between the feral’s chin and collarbone.
As Samuel ripped out the knife and stepped back, blood spurted as the second feral clutched at his neck and collapsed. He gurgled wide-eyed as blood spewed across his hands. As Samuel and Drake crouched down on either side of Gaby, they waited.
Drake kept his eyes—and Magnum—on the woods. “Nice moves, old man.”
“You thought me incapable of defending you?”
“No, but I didn’t know you were capable of that.”
Samuel simply grunted in response.
They remained ready for more arrows, but none came. Drake heard the sound of blades clashing in the woods, and then nothing. Only the sound of Gaby’s heaving breathing joined the sound of wind through leaves and the gentle creaking of tree branches... that was, until Drake heard the thunder of approaching giants. Cresh and his four fastest zarovians were close.
He glanced quickly at Gaby. “You all right?”
She nodded, breathing hard. He grinned as the adrenaline of being attacked warred with his anger at being ambushed once again. He was almost used to it at this point.
“Somebody’s fucked now,” he told everyone in hearing distance. “If they haven’t already run away, they better.”
The crashing in the woods grew louder, but Drake heard no shouting or clashing of blades. Soon the rumble in the earth and the sound of snapping tree branches announced Cresh’s approach. The big zarovian came barreling out of the woods with Blood Woe bouncing on his back. The rest of his hunting party, four strong, ran in the path he created.
The zarovians entered the clearing and fanned out like expert hunters as Cresh stomped forward, massive hands clenched in powerful fists. “Where are they?”
Drake rose. “The other ferals chased them off, I think. No one’s injured.”
“You were ambushed?”
“Yes, but not by the guys we came here to meet. These were other guys.”
“We will return to the wagons now,” Cresh said grimly. “These woods are not safe. You will walk inside our hunting party.”
“A moment, Lord Gloomwood,” a calm voice said.
All five zarovians pivoted and drew steel as the coal-black feral from earlier stepped from the woods. He clutched one bleeding upper arm but appeared otherwise injured.
“Hold up!” Drake called. “That’s the pack leader I met earlier. He’s not a threat.”
Cresh pulled Blood Woe off his back and gripped the massive magical axe in one hand and hissed at the feral pack leader. “Stay where you are, or there will be two of you.”
Kel stayed where he was, though he stared at Drake with a pained look. “Lord Gloomwood, allow me to apologize. I believed we had come to this clearing without being tracked. I was wrong. If you must take vengeance for this attack, take it on me.”
“It’s not my style to kill people who don’t actively try to fuck me over,” Drake informed Kel calmly. “So did you plan this ambush? Did you know it was coming?”
“I did not. And I did not.” Kel could only speak what he believed.
“So who attacked us?”
Kel motioned to the two dead ferals one of Drake’s zarovians was currently poking for signs of life. “A pack who serve Lord Mistvale. They are not with my pack.”
“So Lord Mistvale tried to assassinate me?” Drake sighed. “That’s typical.”
“I do not know if Lord Mistvale ordered the attack,” Kel corrected calmly. “I only know that the pack that attacked us swears loyalty to him. It is possible they may simply have sought to assassinate me while I was lightly guarded. We have clashed often in the past.”
“Clashed over what? Land? Resources?”
“Allegiance,” Kel said evenly.
Sachi ghosted from the woods, limping visibly. Drake’s eyes widened as he spotted the blood coursing down Sachi’s side. Samuel rushed for her before Drake could say a word.
Sachi waved him off. “This flesh wound is worse than it looks. See to Kel’s injury first.”
“The cut is not deep,” Kel said.
“Which doesn’t stop you from bleeding to death,” Sachi declared tartly. “Lord Gloomwood has already made it clear he has no plans to kill you for falling victim to an ambush, so you can cease your self-righteous attempts to sacrifice yourself, father. Better you live.”
Drake blinked. “Wait, Kel’s your dad?”
Sachi bared her teeth in an amused but pained grin. “Our shared blood is the only reason he agreed to speak with you. That, and that Samuel once saved both our lives.”
He stared at her. “And you didn’t think to mention that?”
“It was not important, given we have not spoken in over a decade.”
He would worry about all this when they were safe. “You sure you’re all right?”
Sachi nodded. “Do not worry about me, lord. If I were mortally wounded, I would complain more.”
Sachi could also only speak what she believed. Drake focused on making sure no one else killed each other. “Cresh, don’t chop him in half. Kel, tell them you won’t harm me.”
“I will not harm you, Lord Gloomwood,” Kel repeated. He wobbled on his feet before steadying himself. He must be wounded worse than he seemed.
Samuel walked back to Kel. “Let us treat you, old friend. You’re safe here.”
“Thank you,” Kel said quietly.
As Samuel helped Kel stumble into the center of the clearing where he wouldn’t be quite so close to getting shot from the trees, Drake joined them with Gaby. That allowed Cresh and his zarovians to surround them with their bulky bodies and heavy shields.
“I will remain on watch,” Sachi said. “I will whistle if I smell enemies.”
Cresh thumped his tail. “We should leave at once.”
“Not until we’ve made sure Kel isn’t going to die on the way back,” Drake said. “He’s the only feral willing to talk to me, and I can’t negotiate with a dead guy.”
Gaby touched his shoulder. “I’m ready, lord.”
He glanced at her to find her pulling one of Lydia’s healing gloves. Gaby had borrowed it for just this occasion, since she was the only woman with divine blood he’d brought with him. Still, he needed to be cautious after she’d just used fullstop twice.
“Do you have enough blood for that?”
She nodded firmly.
“All right.” Drake looked at Kel. “We’re going to mend that wound.”
Kel sighed and leaned on Samuel. Meanwhile, Sachi kept her eyes... and nose... peeled for more threats, and Cresh’s tail twitched like he was desperate to thump it on the ground.
“Can you help me get this armor off?” Gaby asked. “I can’t get at him like this.”
Drake walked behind Kel and spotted the blood pumping out through the small opening below Kel’s armpit, then whistled. “They got you good, didn’t they?” Despite the slickness of the straps and fastenings, Drake managed to loosen both.
With Samuel’s help, he finished unstrapping the armor and lifted it over Kel’s head only to have the feral pack leader drop to both knees. Gaby pressed a hand beneath his armpit as light flared from her glove. Her concentration firmed as magic consumed her blood.
“Oooh,” Gaby said. “That stings a little.”
Drake resisted the urge to grimace. Only women could use these particular healing gloves, a fact that continued to annoy Drake to no end. If he’d taken Darion’s fleshbind rarity out today, he could already have fixed Kel easily, but everyone had insisted he focus on his own survival. Which was both gratifying and annoying.
Gaby shuddered and pulled back her hand. She stumbled as she tried to step away, but Drake caught her before she could keel over. “That’s enough. I think you stabilized him.”
“Thanks,” Gaby said woozily.
“Can you walk? I bet Cresh could carry you.”
The big zarovian snorted. “Not while I protect you all.”
“I can walk.” Gaby pushed up and took a breath. She was pale, but looked steady.
Meanwhile, Kel seemed shocked by the fact that he was no longer spurting blood. He brought a blood-soaked paw away from his wound and shook his head. “Why?”
“Why what?” Drake asked.
“Why did you compel your thrall to save you?”
“I don’t compel anyone. I give orders and my people listen. Gaby chose to heal you, so you owe her, not me.”
“Blood thralls cannot refuse an order from their manor lord,” Kel said flatly.
“Yeah, well, we do things a bit differently in my house. Which is why you should really consider my offer instead of waiting around here to get shot with an arrow.”
