The Broken Kingdom (16 page)

Even the fires did not help. But to feel
Vann’s hold on her hand, to be able to curl up close to him and
know
someone was there, merely by touch, that was all that
helped. It made her remember she had her own body back, that she
was
here.

She did not fight Vann when he made her
sleep. Sleep was only marginally worse than being awake.

But when she woke up from a nightmare that
was more a memory, having him near eased the fear.

Anyone would have sufficed, but he was the
one who had guessed. He was the one who had offered.

Though trust was a bittersweet thing to her
now, she was glad it was him.

Chapter 20

S
everal days later, Adila
finally showed up. Ehlkrid attacks had become more frequent, and
they had moved on to try and find a more secure location. With her
injury and her broken swords, the fighting was much tougher for
Riley than usual. She could injure the ehlkrid with the swords, but
not kill them. For that, she had to use her bare hands. Her
fighting style had to drastically change, and she suffered more
injuries. At least they were mainly minor.

When Riley spotted Adila walking through the
trees towards them her anger flared up.

Riley, her swords in hand, stalked over to
the Sunsinger. ‘Adila!’ she yelled.

Riley threw the weapons down at her feet.
‘You could have gotten me killed!’

Adila replied in surprise, ‘what’s
wrong?’

‘These damn weapons are useless! I can’t
kill with them!’

‘Of course not. Fearlid made them, they have
a soul.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?! My arm nearly got
ripped off by an ehlkrid because of this!’

‘I didn’t think of it. I’m sorry.’

‘And I guess you can’t fix it.’ Riley
replied grimly.

Adila shook her head. ‘If we give you
weapons that can kill we would bear some of the responsibility for
the lives you took.’

‘And if I lose my life because of it? What
of the people I am protecting?’

Adila frowned, and sighed. ‘I am sorry. I
cannot give you something that can kill.’

Riley sighed, her anger not entirely gone.
‘The weapons Aerlid gave me. They didn’t do this.’

‘Aerlid made them himself. He lacks the
skill to make weapons with souls… or perhaps the desire. Perhaps I
can have a look at your shoulder? I am not a healer, but maybe I
can help.’

Riley did not object, but she scowled off at
nothing while Adila inspected her wounds.

‘Hmm.’ she murmured when she was done. ‘I
might be able to take some of the pain away. These smaller injuries
I think I can fix.’

‘Fix them if you think you can. But don’t
make it hurt less. I might make it even worse if I don’t feel
it.’

‘Very well.’

It took Adila what seemed a long time to fix
Riley’s smaller injuries. As she finished, Riley suddenly felt very
tired. She was not unduly worried however, she was familiar with
this as a side effect of the valkar’s method of healing.

‘Maybe I can help you another way. If you
stayed in one place I could give you a shield.’

Riley shook her head.

Adila had expected that and continued on,
‘I’ll give you something of mine. The ehlkrid will think a valkar
is with you, or near you. I don’t know if it will keep them
entirely away, but it should help.’

‘Fine.’

Adila took something from one of her
pouches. It was a small, sharp knife. It was no longer than a hand,
blade and handle together.

‘Here.’ Adila said. ‘Carry it with you.’

Riley glanced at it and then handed it to
Vann. ‘Thank you.’

‘I hope it helps. Is there anything
else?’

Riley shook her head.

Adila turned to leave, then she said, ‘I did
contact the Ehlkrid King for you. That was a while ago, but he may
still respond. His sense of time… I suppose it is like mine.’ she
smiled briefly.

Riley quickly called her back. ‘Adila, are
there any gemengs left?’

‘I haven’t looked. But in my experience
there is always someone, scattered remnants perhaps, but still
some. Do you want me to find them for you?’

Riley shook her head. ‘No. If they’ve
managed to survive this long they don’t need my help.’ There was a
touch of bitterness in her voice.

Adila nodded her understanding. Then she was
gone.

‘What are your plans?’ Vann asked after
Adila had disappeared.

‘My plans?’ She realized she had not really
thought of it until Adila had mentioned the Ehlkrid King. Perhaps
there was still something she could do, if she could meet him. ‘My
plans are to end the fighting. Karesh wants more from me but…’ she
shook her head.

Vann hesitated a moment then he said, ‘and
Astar and Coastside? What about them?’

Riley stared at him a moment. ‘What about
them?’ she finally asked.

‘I mean they killed everyone you knew and
nearly killed you.’

Riley frowned. ‘What do you expect me to do,
Vann? Even if I wanted to, there’s nothing I can do.’

Vann looked at her for a long moment. ‘So
you don’t want revenge?’

Riley’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Revenge? No.
Everyone’s dead. What’s the point of revenge?’ Riley shook her head
at him and walked off.

Chapter 21

W
ith Adila’s knife, the
ehlkrid did not bother them. In fact, they did not even come
close.

Watches were still set, but the tension
faded away. Riley’s shoulder slowly healed.

Riley spent the days helping Vann and the
gemengs learn each other’s language.

When she wasn’t doing that she was climbing
trees (though her injury made that a bit more difficult than usual)
and hunting and that normalcy, more than anything, helped.

Riley wanted to teach Vann how to survive in
the forest should they become separated. So Riley spent an awful
lot of time teaching him to climb trees and use the SIGPEW properly
(he thought he already
was!
) and how to hide.

Every night, she slept with his arms around
her. And she began to dread the nights less.

Karesh went through the motions of living
happily ever after in the forest, but there was a sense about him,
as if he was waiting for something.

The other gemengs did not feel it quite the
same way as Karesh. They were safe and well fed and there was no
sign this was going to change any time soon. They’d lost
everything, but surviving had changed into something closer to
living.

Vann though, Vann was happy.

Chapter 22

‘
I
saw some ehlkrid.’
Riley said as she jumped down from the tree.

Everyone looked up. She had spoken in Plains
speech. Vann’s understanding had much improved, though he was told
by Karesh he had an accent. Apparently, he made the heavy,
guttural, growly language of the Plains too ‘soft’ and ‘mushy’. The
other gemengs never complained about his accent, but judging from
the way Kalgen frowned at him when he talked, they liked it no more
than Karesh.

‘It’s day time.’ Vann replied, in Plains
speech.

Riley nodded grimly. ‘They’ve been here
nearly a year now. They must be getting used to the daylight. We’ll
have to be more careful, Adila’s knife may not keep them away
forever.’

They talked for some time about that.
Watches would have to be set during daylight. Wandering off alone
was no longer safe- except perhaps for Riley.

When they’d finished discussing how to
respond to the change in the behaviour of the ehlkrid, Riley stood
and gestured for Vann to follow her.

‘You’re not allowed to look.’ Vann
reprimanded her.

‘I didn’t look. I heard you.’

‘Well, block your ears too then.’

‘You should move more quietly.’ she shot
back. ‘Now go on, go and hide. But it has to be within this area.’
her expression became serious.

He nodded his understanding. Things had
suddenly become a lot more dangerous. Then she turned her back and
Vann stealthily slipped off to go hide somewhere in the trees.

Down below were the gemengs and Karesh. They
sat in a circle around the campsite. Vann could recognize them all
now; Shiressa the Strong was a big hulking creature, and apparently
female. Muress the Mighty, Lakenda the Swift and Janisk Sharpfoot
were also female, and actually looked it. Sort of. Muress, who had
a greenish cast to her skin, reminded Vann of the fish people.
Lakenda had very long, sharp claws while Janisk had talons for
feet. Bulag the Quick was one of the smaller gemengs, though not as
small as Karesh, who was even shorter than Vann. Telag Slippery
Scale was a tall, lithe creature with scales down his back and a
tail. Gurak the Horned had short tusks coming out of his face and
Fenguk the Spiky had spikes down his arms. Kalgen the Fierce was a
tall, hairy creature with retractable claws.

Vann’s gaze moved on. Riley. She was very
close, as always. His record was 56 seconds.

He watched her come closer. There was a
depressing confidence to her movements that told Vann she already
had his trail. Too close now for him to move; he couldn’t outrun
her.

She looked up, her gaze suddenly drawn to
the sky. Vann looked too. He couldn’t see anything through the
leaves. Her expression changed, and suddenly she drew her
sword.

‘Vann!’ she called. ‘Get back down to the
gemengs!’

Vann obeyed instantly. He climbed down the
tree and jumped to the ground. The gemengs were standing. Vann
readied his SIGPEW.

The thing got closer, he could see it
now.

Riley was up above, balancing on a tree
branch as easily as if she was on the ground.

The thing pulled up and stopped in front of
Riley. Its flapping wings ruffled the leaves and her hair.

Vann stared at it. It didn’t look like an
ehlkrid.