“I absolutely would,” Gar shouted, spittle flying to mix with the dried blood on Crius’s face. “Especially Miranda.”
Drak made his move. With an almighty lunge, he broke free from Sax and Ward’s grip. But Gar was faster. He thrust his hand out, caught Drak around the neck and slammed him against the table.
“No!” I cried. Drak’s head thudded against the table with a sickening crack, and his body went limp.
Wrists burning white hot, all I could after that was scream.
Eleven
Drak
Low voices carried on the breeze, and I froze. I was outside the Night Kings territory, so past Nero’s eyes. Daz, our drexel, had asked us to start scouting past our borders because Nero had seen some suspicious activity in the distance in his eyes. None had been close enough to be distinguishable.
I crouched and crept forward, stepping carefully to avoid sound as the voices drew closer. The familiar sneer of the Uldani raised the machets on the back of my neck. What were the Uldani doing in the western hemisphere? They knew it was a death sentence to be caught here. I needed a full report to take back to Daz, so I peered through the underbrush.
“We need to know the Night Kings activities.” An Uldani official wearing an adorned jacket stood with another Uldani at his side, their backs to me. Nearby stood twelve Kulks.
“I promise I’ll have information,” said a familiar voice. “But you have to give me some time. I’m not on the council meetings, so I don’t hear everything that happens.”
I sucked in breath, barely able to believe what I was hearing. The Uldani shifted his weight, and there Crius stood, one of my warrior brothers, making a deal with the Uldani to find them a human female.
“Remember, you give us information, and we return the favor. Understand?”
Crius glared. “I understand.”
I ached to reveal myself, to tear apart those Kulks, slice the Uldani into pieces, and then shake Crius until he revealed why he would betray all of what we Drixonian warriors stood for. She is All.
I turned and crept back the way I came. Daz must be informed that Crius was a betrayer. We had never been close, Crius and I, but his willingness to work with the Uldani still cut me deep.
I heard them coming, but it didn’t matter. How they heard me was a mystery, as I was silent as night, but one minute I was picking my way through the forest and the next I was surrounded by Kulks. The Uldani stood in the distance. In front was Crius.
I didn’t say a word. There was nothing to say.
Crius shook his head, and while he looked pained, anger rose in his face, flushing his blue cheeks and igniting in his eyes. “You stupid bastard,” he spat. “You just had to scout beyond the territory today? Didn’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
“I know you heard us.”
I still didn’t say anything. I let my machets loose.
But it didn’t matter. With a shake of his head, he held his arms out at his sides and made a signal with his fingers. The Kulks descended on me. I took on a few, dispatching them easily, but I didn’t anticipate Crius. His fist slammed into my head, catching me off balance, and that was all it took for the swarm of Kulks to take over.
Blows rained down. My ribs, my chest, my shoulders, my head. A large metal boot rose above my face and slammed down on my temple. Pain exploded in my head. My thoughts went up in a fiery ball of flame and smoke, and then everything went black.
I came to with a gasp. My head pounded and my throat ached. I blinked up at the ceiling, memories slamming back into me in bits and pieces like a laser gun firing into my brain.
Beaten and bloody, my mind a fragmented mess. Daz questioning me. Crius explaining that I’d betrayed my clavas with the Kulks. Had I? I couldn’t remember. Why would I do that?
Daz casting me out. I walked through the forest without direction until I heard bootsteps behind me. I’d turned around, hoping it was Daz, or Sax, or Ward—anyone to tell me they’d made a mistake.
But it was Crius, backed by a few Uldani. Do it, they’d ordered him. Crius had clenched his jaw, regret flashing his eyes for a second before he lunged at me.
Still weak from my injuries, I fought as hard as I could, but he overpowered me long enough to slice his machets across my throat. You’ll never tell anyone the truth now.
Blood everywhere. Tainting the leaves. On my hands. Dripping down my chest to pool in the dirt.
After that, I let the smoke overtake my mind.
But now…I rolled my head to the side to see Miranda scrambling onto the table on her hands and knees, crawling toward me with wet streaks on her cheeks. The wall of smoke had cleared. A blinding light shone through. I remembered now. I remembered it all. And I’d never ever let anyone silence me again.
I sat up, and Gar tensed in front of me, but I only had eyes for Crius. “You,” I uttered in a broken rasp. Miranda went still at my side, as did everyone else in the room. “You…lied. You…talked to…Uldani. I…found you. You had me…beaten…so I couldn’t… remember.”
Crius didn’t move except for the pounding vein in his neck.
I rose slowly, and no one stopped me this time. “You…led Merr-anda…to Kulks. Didn’t you?”
Crius swung his gaze to Daz with a snarl. “He isn’t making sense! You casted him out fifteen cycles ago. He doesn’t deserve to have a voice at this table.”
“You… tried to take my voice!” I roared, the burn in my throat making me clutch my neck on a pained moan.
My knees buckled, but this time, Gar’s hand was there, not in aggression but for support. He kept me on my feet and watched me carefully, looking into my eyes just as my Merr-anda’s hands touched my shoulders.
“It hurts him to speak,” she said. “He couldn’t even say his name when we first met.”
“I … have to.” I said to her, cradling her face. “Rest … later. Truth now.”
Crius raged. “He nearly killed me, and now you’re going to let him—”
Gar smacked the back of his head so hard that his forehead slammed into the table.
He cried out.
“Shut up,” the big warrior growled. “You lied about what happened with Miranda, so we have to determine if you were telling the truth about Drak. I always wondered why he didn’t defend himself. I thought it was out of guilt.”
“He and the Kulks … beat me.” I said. “Couldn’t…” I shook my head. “Couldn’t … remember.”
“And now?” Daz asked.
I stood tall. “Now…I remember.”
Crius struggled to rise, and when Daz pressed on his shoulder to keep him sitting, Crius turned on him with his machets lifted. The warriors in the room went berserk as they placed their bodies between the attacker and their drexel. Raising your machets to the drexel was forbidden, an instant challenge.
Crius was cornered, and he knew it. Unable to reach the door or his drexel, he made a grab for Miranda. But I got there first. With a forearm to his throat, I took him to the ground and placed my foot on his throat. I pressed down, and he gurgled a protest. A little more pressure and I’d snap the delicate bones in his throat. Then he’d know what it felt like to be silenced. He flailed but I pressed harder, and he went limp, eyes wide, as he knew he’d been beat.