Chapter 136

[ 1,231 words ]

Traitor

136: 136.

Traitor Ransom

I crouch behind a wall of tangled brush, the damp earth soaking through the knee of my pants.

What a shit day for a raid.

I wipe my face for what feels like the billionth time and concentrate on anything but the steady sound of rain.

Beside me, Dex scans the trees through a pair of binoculars.

To his other side is Sigrid, whom I’ve figured out as my personal guard now.

Figures Elliot would make it his mission to hound me even when he’s not here.

“Anything?” I whisper.

Dex lowers them.

“Nothing. Yet.”

The five teams split hours ago, spreading out across the Assembly’s territory.

Each of us lying in wait at the different locations where we presented to each of the Alphas under suspicion.

Now we wait to see which birdie has a big fat fucking mouth.

My radio crackles softly.

“Team Three checking in. No movement on the northern ridge.”

That’s Kiara.

I press the transmit button.

“Nothing here. We are getting soaked.”

Another voice follows immediately.

“Sounds hot. You gonna take your shirt off?” Felix asks.

Dex takes the radio from my hand.

“Report Fe, now.”

“Spoil sport.” He complains.

“We found tracks near the river. They look old. Possibly stumbled upon scouting routes.”

I take the walkie back from Dex.

“Everyone, keep an eye out. Remember to signal if there is any action,” I tell him.

A moment later, another transmission cuts through.

“Copy for Team Four.”

The other three give similar responses.

The big growly wolf gave me an irritated look.

Sigrid takes a step towards me and I roll my eyes at him.

“Don’t get pissy. I don’t want Fe. He’s all yours if you ever get the balls to claim him.”

Dex turns away, looking out into the building.

“When should we move?”

Touchy.

Okay then.

“As soon as the moon rises, as we specified.

We need to make it look real.”

“Perhaps the gods will favor us, and we can make it real while catching the traitor.”

“We’ll see,” I reply.

I look up into the sky.

We have about fifteen minutes.

I feel the weight settle in my gut, the familiar churn of instinct.

I know this is it.

It is Hazam.

Or someone in his pack, but we need proof.

I overlook the Gothic cathedral-style building.

The grey carvings on the stone, the ornate, rich window, and the twelve-foot iron gate were as much a prison as any cell.

I lived and died inside those walls, paid in silence, in sanity, in pride and blood for the life I had.

The one I never wanted.

“We will approach through the teaching chambers, which are empty at night, and through there we will reach the armory,” I say

“You okay?” Sigrid asks.

I stare ahead.

No.

But I have to be.

“Fine. Ready to get this over with.”

Sigrid steps close to me, his voice lowering.

“You’ve gone pale.”

“Didn’t eat much,” I reply non-commitally.

“Of course,” he says, though he does not sound like he believes me.

We move out.

The closer we get, the harder it becomes to breathe.

The darker the rage brews inside of me.

The wind blows bitterly.

The air takes on the hunting note of the dead.

Small twinges and foliage snap and break as we move.

My heart pounds in my chest, and for a moment, I don’t see the forest anymore.

I see a wet stone and hear the creek of metal.

Hear the silence, feel the icy cold like needles on my skin.

Feel the ground beneath my knees, hear the sound of her laughing.

The hiss of a blade being lifted from its sheath halts my mind as well as my steps.

I look at Sigrid, and he disappears like smoke into the forest.

Arrows fly through the air, and two of our warriors use their earth claws to whip the archers back.

Yells sound as figures burst from the trees.

Three teams of eight.

Elite warriors based on the uniforms they wear.

Our warriors rush to meet them, steel against steel.

“Contact!” Dex shouts into the walkie before tossing it aside and slipping on his weaponed claws.

We are outnumbered for now, but the others are on their way.

I dive behind the trees as arrows split wood above my head.

Splinters rain down around me.

I pull out my blade and dive to the far right, snapping my wrist and letting it loose.

It sinks into the throat of one of the archers.

I feel the wind shift and roll.

A blade comes down where my head was.

Kendrick is standing there, long sword in his hand with a manic gleam in his eyes.

“I hoped it would be you.”

“I never took you as the type to wish for stupid things.” I stand ready with my own sword.

“Then again, you always did have a gluttonous desire for pain.”

Kendrick spits on the floor.

“Traitor.”

He thrusts and I perry.

Our blades clash, again and again we strike.

I cut him low, and like I knew he would, he backsteps, his left leg shaking.

I take advantage and lunge, using a short blade, I strike out at his calf, slicing into the muscle before he can pull away.

He yells and strikes out with the blade of his sword, catching me hard in the stomach.

A quick slash cuts across my bicep, and I jump back.

“Aren’t you tired of getting used. Of always being expendable,” I shout.

“Don’t try to taint me with your weakness,” he snarls.

Our blades meet, crossed high above our heads.

The ring of the metal shakes my bones.

Rain makes the ground slippers and my footing begins to get unsteady.

Kendrick is out for blood and glory.

He wants to earn rank by bringing in a traitor.

Another hunter joins him, and the battle turns into a two-on-one.

I grab a fallen piece of wood, using it as a shield, covering as much of my body as I can manage.

I’m kicked to the side, and a third closes in, surrounding me.

Using my shield like a battering ram, I run into Kendrick with it, knocking us both over.

I roll over his body, ignoring the pain that comes from the blade that cuts into my side.

Narrowly escaping the short blade that he arches up, I roll into the outer position, moving away from being cornered.

Pain blazes across my back as I’m attacked from behind.

The sound of a wolf growling precedes the screams.

Sigrid’s wolf tears into the hunter.

More howls call through the air as our reinforcements move through the trees and overwhelm the Hunters.

I stand, zeroing in on Kendrick and attacking him with renewed viciousness.

My past rises up, infusing into every blow.

With a yell, our blades crash and his breaks, falling to the floor with a thud.

But the madness does not leave his eyes.

He screeches as he hits me, tackles me to the ground.

I drop my sword and elbow him in the face, creating space to rain down on him with my fist.

The sound of growls overtakes the shouting as I can hear our side gaining the upper hand.

I’m hit in several places, the gut, my shoulder, my face.

I give him just as good as I get, wanting to draw it out, deciding then and there that he will not die here.

Kendrick will pay for what he has done.

But first, he will give all of the information we need.

I dig deep and mount him, hitting him again and again.

He laughs, blood trickling down his mouth.

“Did you want one last go before we say goodbye?”

I hit him harder.

I hit him for all the times I couldn’t.

Hit him, knowing this is just the beginning.

And when he stops moving, I stand.

The screaming has stopped.

The clearing filled without the sounds of shifting wolves.

We have our answer.

Sigrid appears beside me.

“What do you want to do with him?”

“We take him back to the mountain. There is a lot he can tell us.”

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