Bandits (17 page)

As they made their way to the Fire Isle he saw the belly of a large ship. Instead of panicking, he smiled.
Finally! I get to lay eyes on the bastards that killed my father.
Pulling his knife out of his belt, he gave Nickel the signal for a sneak attack. The tem
p
tation to get answers about his father’s murder was too hard to ignore. Besides, he didn’t want to be the hunted any longer.

Nickel used his hands to sign the plan to climb under the ship and up the sides. Daniel noticed Faulk’s grimace, and he motioned for Faulk to protect Jade. Jade shook her head no, and pointed to her chest. Then she took out her knife and a dart. Daniel smiled and hoped she could take care of herself. He looked at Faulk and made sweeping gestures with his knife to indicate to Faulk to kill, not to hesitate. Faulk repeated the gestures and gave him thumbs up.

The Racaden’s hidden qualities protected and hid the wea
r
er for a limited time. Daniel didn’t bother to share that hidden perk with the others because he figured it would keep them keen and aware if they were attacked. He didn’t plan on it being so soon. The truth was; he welcomed it, thirsted for it. This is what he had been trained for all of his life. This is what he was, a Zukar.

Swimming upward he signed to Nickel to give him some lead-time before they followed. Nickel put his hands up to slow Faulk and Jade down as Daniel swam upward toward the large ship. Daniel was confidant that the crew on the ship didn’t realize they were below them, the Racaden would allow him to climb up the side undetected until the water dripped off.

Daniel came up to the bottom of the craft. He slid off his pack and placed his hands out to touch the side of the ship. The Racaden formed perfectly to supply suction, which allowed Daniel to climb up and out of the water. Slowly and cautiously he made his way up the side. He grabbed his gun and peered over the
edge
of the boat.

Daniel spied the men walking back and forth as they readied for an attack. There were many. He lifted his gun and su
r
mised the ship was large enough for there to more below. He knew it was too many for them to take down, but he had no choice than to try. They couldn’t turn back now, nor could they travel the Fire Isle at night. Besides, he wanted to know who sent them.

He narrowed his eyes when he recognized some of the Zukar onboard the ship. There were numerous of all sects, along with some renegades, traitors to the Zukar that were being hunted by the King’s officials. Daniel wondered how they all came to be on this ship. He was certain Nickel would’ve sent the others to each corner of the ship
– at least he hoped
. The best way to attack cons
i
dering there were so few of them.

Daniel had to make the move to get the others in the fight, while he went in search for their leader. He held onto the the ship. Then pointed his gun and shot the first of many Zukar with his silent gun before his presence was detected when the water dripped off his Racaden covering.

Several of the men ran for him once he became visible, and he leaped over the edge of the ship to meet them. He spied Nickel and the others creeping over the sides as they shot their guns at several of the men. The shipmates raised their guns to shoot back, but Daniel smiled when the final secret of the Racaden revealed itself by absorbing the shots.

“Ugh!” His chest jerked at the impact. A slight sting r
e
mained as shot after shot was absorbed by the Racaden. He knew that it would only work for a limited time, but it was the short advantage he needed to attack his way to the man in the middle who was barking out orders.

A large, muscled Zukar with long braided hair deflected the shot Daniel aimed at him with his deflector bracelet. Then he struck out like lightning to land a punch to Daniel’s face.

“Argh!” the man yelled.

“Oooh!” Daniel’s neck jerked back and light formed b
e
hind his eyes. He shook his head, and then landed a punch in the man’s neck. Righting himself, Daniel grabbed his attacker by the hair and kneed up into his chin as he fell. With a grunt, Daniel stabbed him in the back to make sure he staid down.

He pulled his knife out of his attacker, and readied for the next Zukar that charged him. He heard fighting behind him, but pushed away his concern for Nickel and the others. He had to make his way to the tall man standing in the middle of the men running toward him in attack.

He knifed, shot, and kicked those who ran toward him. He hoped the Racaden wouldn’t wear off too soon. He growled in anger when his gun’s last shot spent. Hitting his gun on a charging attacker’s forehead, he pivoted and broke the neck of a short Zukar
with his elbow as he
led the group coming toward
Daniel
.

A snarling muscled attacker followed. Daniel grabbed the long red ponytail of another Zukar that had landed a punch to his stomach. “Ugh!” He sliced upward through the attacker’s gut with his knife.

Dropping the slack body of his attacker, he slipped on the bloody deck of the ship. “Damn!” Before he could stand, a strong firm grip from another Zukar circled his neck. He felt the cold sharp point of the knife that stuck in his back and realized the Racaden had worn off, and his fight was over. He stood stiffly ready to face his fate and hoped the others fared well. Then he heard a yell and saw movement from the side. His captor’s arm went slack as his lifeless body careened backwards from the shot.

Daniel stood up and turned. Recognition hit him.
It can’t be who I think it is. Can’t be.
His eyes landed on Gabe, and he’d never been so happy to see his friend in his life. He deduced Gabe had fought through them in order to get to him.

“We need to get out of here. Where’s Jade? Nickel? My water cruiser is hidden,” Gabe said and shot a charging Zukar behind Daniel.

Thankful for a quick moment to breathe, Daniel spied Faulk losing his battle ahead. Daniel raised his knife and threw it at the attacker fighting Faulk and then jerked to dodge a bullet. He tried to make his way to Jade as he eyed her kicking a short stocky Zukar in the groin. With lightning speed, her dart hit home, right between
her attacker’s
eyes.

“I can’t. I have no protection against the waters,
and if you don’t have any of your repellant left, neither can they,
” Daniel replied. He noticed Faulk’s slight hesit
a
tion before he took a blow to the side of his head. Daniel stepped forward and then backed down. Faulk recovered to stab his attacker.

Gabe pulled on Daniel’s shoulder. “Shit! We’re screwed, because I’m not leaving without
any of
you.” He swung his head to shake a long dreaded braid from his shoulder, a co
n
trast to his fair skin and blue eyes.

“I have to find out who is running this thing. They want something I have, and they killed my father for it,” Daniel said.

Just then, he was yanked backward, and he felt the sharp, burning sensation of the whip that landed on his neck. His spine curved, and he watched Gabe take a shot in the arm. Jade was knocked out, then picked up and captured along with Nickel.
NO! They should’ve run when they had the chance!
He forced himself to hide his anger at their capture. The whip cut through the wea
k
ened layer of Racaden on his neck, and he knew he would carry the scar of the cut.
Whack!
He felt the butt of a gun hit him on the side of his head, and everything went dark.

Daniel struggled to wake up. His mind was foggy from the blow to his head. His eye was swollen shut, his ribs throbbed with pain, and his anger grew.
I gotta get up.
Slowly, he willed himself to open his eyes and he took in his surroun
d
ings. The crudely made holding cells were open throughout the large room. Cells lined the walls in a rectangle around the room. Only metal rods separated the holding cells, rising from ground to ceiling. Daniel knew from experience that the bars likely held an electrical charge, and he knew better than to touch them. There was a metal stai
r
well that opened up in the middle of the room that led above, which he figured was most likely guarded.

He grimaced from the shot of pain on his face.
Those ba
s
tards roughed me before they threw me into the cell.
He cursed himself for bringing his father’s journal. The absence of the firm book was proof that it was taken from his unconscious body.

Daniel fought to sit up, but the pinch of the handcuffs on his wrists caused him to slip back down. The back of his head hit the wall behind him as he fought for balance, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. With a groan, he pushed his feet on the hard cement floor to leverage himself as he tried to inch up the wall, but he slid back down again. The aching in his neck and the side of his head throbbed
.

“Got…to… get…up,” he willed himself. Daniel thrashed about on the wall and pushed through the
ache
to stand. The metal handcuffs cut into his wrists as he laid his head against the wall. Closing his eyes, he listened for the others. Fear bu
b
bled up within him, and his eyes watered in frustration. He figured if his friends and family weren’t below with him, they must’ve been getting interrogated above for information. Unfo
r
tunately, the Zukar form of questioning usually resulted in torture. He dropped his head and prayed none of them would talk, if they did, it would seal their fates.

Rage filled him because he was unable to save them. “Arrrrh!” he cried out. His concern for Faulk’s inexperience with the Zukar methods had him hoping Faulk was strong enough to withstand the pain. Jade’s face came up in his mind, and his chest constricted with pain. The thought of her taking the beating they would give her made his blood boil. Anger at himself for enda
n
gering her filled his chest, and a tear dropped from his swollen eye. He had sworn to protect her and Nickel for as long as he could remember. Failure left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he knew that in the end he would get them away, he had too. He wanted to kill everyone on the ship, and vowed that one day he would.

The sickening smell from the belly of the ship was sour. Dead fish and mutilated flesh filled the air. He tried to drown out the echo of dripping water in order to listen for screams that he really didn’t want to hear. He tightened his eyelids against the disappointment at being able to do nothing to save them. In frustration he hit his shoulder against the wall with a grunt.

A shriek echoed around him, one he recognized as Jade’s. He gritted his teeth when Jade yelled, “Go to hell!”  The echo of a slap followed and then silence rang in his ear
.

“Noo!” he yelled out, his eyes watered. He ran forward and stopped abruptly before he collided with the electrified bars. An unchecked tear fell of aggravation from his eye. He forced himself to stay calm and figure a way out of this. Turning to the left, he saw Nickel lying sprawled face down on the floor of a cell near the doorway. A cry lodged in his throat, and he swallowed it down. “Nickel! God, Nickel…wake up. Nick? Please get up!” his voice cracked.

Out of his good eye he saw that they had stripped Nickel to his shorts and undershirt. He had Kelping attached to his small body, bleeding him of strength.

“Ahh!” a growl escaped from his throat. Crippling pain seized him from the bite of the handcuffs on his wrists. Squin
t
ing, he watched the red wormlike creatures wiggle and move about while they sank their sharp teeth far into their victim’s skin. Nickel flinched and then groaned. Daniel knew his brother was helpless to get them off while he was unconscious.

The Kelping had legs that extended to assist them in chasing after their victims. Once they got a taste of the intended vi
c
tim’s blood, they would chase them and attach themselves again. The poison they emitted from the first bite subdued their victim within an hour. They would latch on and wait until the victim was in a deep poisoned-induced sleep, then they’d slowly drain their victim of its blood and eat the carcass.

“Nickel! Nickel? Wake up!” Daniel called out. He was glad the Zukar hadn’t cuffed Nickel, it was the one careless act that would save them.

Nickel fought against the exhaustion of the poison from the Kelping. He struggled to raise his head as he groaned and his eyes fluttered open. Lifting his head, he shook his head and propped up on all fours then slowly crawled closer to the bars to see Daniel.

“Daniel?” Nickel looked at him groggily, determination marring his expression. “I didn’t tell them nothing, neither did Faulk.” His head started to fall from the exhaustion wrought from loss of blood.

“Nickel! Stay awake. Listen! Rip the Kelping off. Then put them against the bars of the cell.
Don’t touch the bars!
Hurry up… before they get back.” Daniel spied Nickel’s progress as he groaned and grunted through the painful removal of the beasts. Daniel realized it was now quiet above, and had a feeling that they would have company soon. He whispered, “Move back over to the corner until I figure out a way to get us out.”