14
Locking Horns
None of the horror tales surrounding the Nozverak had done them justice.
Nadine stood with her men in neat lines formed around the uneven edges of the cave. By contrast, the Dokiri stood clustered and bunched on the opposite end of the common area. They paid no attention to each other. All their eyes were fixed toward the entrance, where Erik and a half-dozen riders were returning with the glow of moonlight filling in their silhouettes. And behind them, the abominations.
No one spoke as they entered.
The creatures prowled like giants into the mouth of the cave, their horned heads towering upon thick-muscled necks and shoulders. Nadine’s gaze followed their long arms down to the tips of their hands, which swung heavy at their sides. The length of their black claws made her shiver. They stood taller than the Dokiri, even without those grim horns. Their skin was no shade like in humans. It varied blue beneath their rough hide clothing. A few of them muttered words to one another, or what might have passed for words to their ears. Their voices grated like gravel crunching beneath the wheels of a cart.
There were so many that they blocked up the entrance to the cave. Was it deliberate? Nadine scanned the line of newcomers and took care not to show any sign of her rising nerves. She began to count.
She couldn’t quite call them human looking, no matter how hard she wanted to put those qualities to them. They had noses and two ears like any man, but they wore bone rings pierced through the bridges of their noses, and wide gauges through their earlobes. Their broad foreheads hung heavily sloped over eyes with shining, silver irises that seemed to glow out at the world. As they came closer, Nadine saw they actually had two sets of horns. The smaller ones sat just above their ears, and both sets sloped backwards. The colors varied from bone white to soot black, as did their hair. Unlike the Dokiri, none of them sported beards or facial hair of any kind.
Nadine’s arms tightened across her chest as one of the Nozverak stood apart from the others and followed Erik into the center of the common area to stand before the two assembled groups. He didn’t stop where Erik did. He continued a few steps and, planting his feet wide, surveyed both the Dokiri and the Ebronians as though he were a jemadar sizing up his troops.
Samar snorted beside Nadine, and she fought the urge to exchange a look of incredulity with him. This plan became more distasteful with each passing second. The Nozverak’s gaze scanned the line and Nadine could have sworn it lingered on her. Those silver-rimmed pupils constricted, and his nostrils widened. If she’d seen that face in her dreams, she might’ve been afraid. Now, however, she could feel this beast’s contempt, recognizing it on sheer instinct. It emboldened her.
“Are you the one they call Azolirum?” she asked with a clear and steady voice.
His eyes widened, as though he were surprised to have been addressed by her.
Because I’m human? Or because I’m a woman?
Before he could respond, Erik took a step forward and answered. “He is.” Erik leaned his blond head forward to address the Nozverak leader. “This is Nadine Pajel. The one who carries the Eye of Azureal.”
Nadine’s mouth thinned at that unsatisfactory introduction. What she carried, while significant, wasn’t half so important in this moment as the beast’s understanding of who she was in relation to the men standing at her back. She raised her chin.
“I am captain of the First Company of His Excellency the Mushar Abaradi’s Shaan-Jens. Tasked with carrying the Eye of Azureal to Mount Carpe to slay the Soul Thieves encroaching on the lands of Ebron and neighboring lands. Those you see standing behind me are under my command and will answer only to me for the duration of this mission.”
Azolirum’s reply, directed at Erik, was a harsh grate. “I thought you tiny men had hidden your womenfolk away. Is she female? Or just a pretty little man?”
Nadine blinked at the creature long and slow, almost unable to believe that the question had been serious. A few of her own men snickered behind her, and she would’ve turned around to identify them, except she was still reeling. Magnus’s voice came from across the assembly.
“The moon must be too bright on the horizon if you find yourself confused, my ugly friend. There’s not a blind man among us who couldn’t tell she is a woman.”
Azolirum’s face twisted up like a wrinkled sheet, and Nadine could only assume it was a look of total consternation. It was difficult to tell on such an alien face. He pointed a clawed finger in her company’s direction. The volume of his voice went up. “And you say she is their leader?” He’d directed his question to Erik.
The Nozverak behind Azolirum rumbled with discontentment. They flicked their heads like horses swatting away hordes of flies. An alien clicking noise rose up from the crunching of their pointed teeth. This time, Nadine did exchange a look with Samar. He frowned at her. Had the barbarians not explained to the Nozverak who would be leading the Ebronian forces? Anger boiled in her gut as the stench of betrayal filled her nares.
There was a moment’s hesitation before Erik gave a single, decisive nod.
“No.” Azolirum’s voice boomed through the common area. “You tiny men are sorry enough allies. Don’t make me doubt your brains along with your strength. You would follow a female? There is no honor in it. None!”
Nadine gritted her teeth. Was this what the Dokiri had wanted? To come so far only to be sabotaged now? Nadine scanned the other side of the cave for Magnus. He stood right where he had been, at the front of the pack with a posture and expression that was too casual. Too easy.
The heat in Nadine’s gut exploded to outright fury. Had the barbarian thought to lure her to his bed for more than a simple seduction? Perhaps he had thought to distract her with romance and pleasure so she’d be willing to stay behind while everyone else went down the mountain? While they took her inheritance from her and left her with nothing? So that was it, was it?
Damn him.
Damn him for trying to trick her. Damn him for making her believe he had more to offer. More than any other man had ever been willing to give. More than she’d dared to want. Her vision went red.
Azolirum’s growling voice rose up over the angry din his brethren were making. “Put your confused female away with the others. Then we will make our plans.”
A spike of fear shot through Nadine before indignation quickly snuffed it out. She would inform this Nozverak king, hordemaster, whatever title he claimed, that while his band were facing extinction in their musty pit in the ground, Ebron had risen to dominion under the sun, their empire stretching across the continent and advancing beyond any other on Earth. And they had done so, in part, by the hands of thousands of fine females throughout the age. Her culture’s uniqueness had been their strength, and while the rest of the world was busy clinging to their witless notions of women’s inferiority, their own lesser nature was giving them away. She opened her mouth to speak. Someone took her arm.
Nadine turned, instinct preparing her to meet Magnus’s face. Instead, Samar stared down at her, his expression beseeching. “Captain, a word?”
She could barely hear him over the rising chaos in the cave. The Nozverak were shifting, their shoulders bumping into one another, which made them speak louder and shove harder.