Viper's Creed (The Cat's Eye Chronicles) (18 page)

“What do they call you now?” Crash asked.

The man shrugged. “I'm the Raven leader,” he said. “I have made a life here, you could say.” Then he grinned. “But what is the Viper doing so far from home? On a mission? Or... have you abandoned the Hive?”

Crash didn't reply. The truth was much more complicated than that, and he wouldn't waste his time explaining it to a dead man.

“You have something that belongs to me,” Crash said instead.

“Do I?” the man replied. A sickly grin twisted his face, the scar contorting into a snarl. “To you... or to the Dark God?”

Crash's heart gave a vague thump, though he didn't show it. So the bastard knew—of course he knew.

He didn't have to ask the next question; the Raven leader continued talking. “The girl brought it to us, tried to barter for her life. It didn't work. But, ironically, I
do
know someone who would be eager to take it off your hands....”

“Who?”

“A mutual acquaintance.”

Crash's hand tightened on the dagger. His mind raced momentarily, summoning up images from the Hive, the colony, supposed Brothers and Sisters of the assassin trade. He pictured each and every one of them, but he didn't know who belonged to the Shade, and there were many different Hives.

“I'm done with this game,” Crash said, and he took a step forward, leaving the safety of the tall grass and entering the bright moonlight.

“Wait!” the bandit said, and danced backwards. He pointed to his horse, where Crash could see Sora's bag hanging from the saddle. “A trade. I can barter for you. I am meeting with them in Delbar. We'll split the money.”

Crash continued to walk forward. “I have no need of money.”

“Forgiveness, then... acceptance back into the Hive, where we belong... we don't need to be alone.”

“I left the Hive.”

The man stumbled backward, overwhelmed by Crash's presence. Then a strange, frantic light lit his eyes, like a cornered animal. With a flick of his wrist, a knife appeared in his hand and he lunged forward, swiping wildly, attempting to cut anywhere he could reach.

Crash caught the blade with his own. He deflected the blow and grabbed the man's wrist, twisting it up and over his head, smoothly snapping his arm as he brought it down behind him.

The man screamed.

“Where are you meeting them?” Crash asked calmly.

The man was gasping, whimpering. “At the port... the docks....” he choked out, barely able to speak. Crash shoved him backwards and the man collapsed to the ground, his broken arm limp and useless next to him. “Please...” he begged. “Please, I just wanted my life back.”

“We aren't alive, or have you forgotten?” Crash murmured, slowly walking forward, following the man across the ground. “Death is our creed, our way. You're a pathetic specimen of our kind.”

The man's mouth opened. Then closed.

Crash knew what he needed to do. It wasn't for glory, for justice—nor, even, for Sora. This man was dangerous. If Volcrian found him, he would doubtlessly ally himself with the mage. It was too much of a trail, of a witness. And he knew too much about Crash's past. What if Volcrian turned his sights on the Hive? He had left it years ago, but he didn't want it destroyed.

His heart began to pound, blood rushing through his veins, his hand tight on the blade.

"So... so what then, Death has come for me personally?" the man finally said. There was irony in his tone, despite the fact that his teeth were gritting with pain.

Crash let a small smile twitch his lips. Then he lunged forward with his dagger. He had expected more of a fight, but the man crumpled beneath him without a struggle. He held the blade to his throat, pressing him back against the firm earth.

“I want this,” the man murmured. He let out a hoarse laugh, spittle touching his lips.

“Do you?”

“Yes.... Can't you see it? There is no happiness in the world for our kind,” he said. “We have trained beyond it. Removed ourselves from it. In its place sits a demon who only wants to destroy, to damage, to crush. We don't belong here, Viper. I'm tired of this loneliness. An entire band of outlaws, and no one will ever know what I am. We've both forsaken our home. Do you ever regret it?”

Crash shuddered unexpectedly; it moved through him like a brief wind. There was truth in the Raven's words. A terrible, dark truth. It was second nature now, the thin barrier dividing him from the rest of humanity. For all of the fire in his blood, he still felt cold, somehow absent from the world.

“We have always been this way,” he murmured. “Living in shadow since the Elements combined....”

“And you think it's natural?” the bandit challenged.

Viper couldn't take it anymore. These questions had plagued him for too long and asking a million times wouldn't bring an answer. Man or shadow, he would rid the world of one more menace.
I am the menace,
his thoughts murmured, but he brushed them aside. Doubt was an illusion. All things were meant to be destroyed. There would be no guilt in this act.

“Do you think they won't come for you?” the bandit asked suddenly. “You hold the dagger, the Name. They'll find you, Viper. They'll take back what is theirs. Aren't you tired of looking over your shoulder? You've had a few good years, I'm sure. But they are on their way. They will come to reclaim you.”

Crash shook his head. He had worried about this long before he had met Volcrian, especially during that first year on the road. Always on the lookout for others of his kind, never sure if he would wake up alive.

But now, he had the firm sense of being forgotten. Unknown.

The man's eyes glinted, as though reading his thoughts. “You think they've given up?” he asked. “Or do you think you've changed? What, are you human now?” He grinned. “Are you trying to be? I bet you are, little snake.”

Crash stared at him.
What am I?
Was he the Viper, the one who hid in the grass, still and silent until an innocent passerby stepped too close? Cold-blooded, fanged, his words as sharp as his own knife? He had earned that Name, once upon a time. There had been Vipers before him and there would be more to follow. It was a station and a title; the only one he had ever known.

Except for Crash, the silly nickname Dorian had given him that night by the fire, when Sora had sat scared and shivering on the ground. It was her name for him now,
Crash Crash Crash.
She had saved his life too, once upon a time. She had seen something worth saving. He closed his eyes momentarily. She, of all people, deserved to know who and what he was.
But she will never trust me again.

It was foolish for him to regret that. Sentimental.
Enough of this.
Questions did not bring answers.

"I am the fire,"
Crash whispered.
"I am the darkness."
It was a mantra, a prayer, the beginnings of a ritual, a ceremonial killing. He could see recognition on the bandit's face, the spasm of fear.

Crash never broke eye contact.
"I am not Death,"
he finished the verse.
"I am its vessel."

The Raven opened his mouth to speak. Then Crash shoved the knife through his throat.

* * *

Laina tripped twice and Sora mentally cursed the girl's clumsiness. It was hard going through the long grass and the bandits were getting far too close. She gritted her teeth as she stubbed her toe on a root, then Laina swore loudly as she crashed through a massive spider web. This noise was followed by several audible shouts of, "They're over there!" and "Get them!"

Sora pulled the young thief around a large thistle bush, panting, desperate... then, abruptly, the horses came into view.
Oh, thank the Goddess!
she thought. She had been randomly stumbling through the dark for some time now, trying not to panic.

Suddenly, the girl screamed.

"Laina!" Sora exclaimed. The girl collapsed behind her and Sora grabbed her arm, her weight dragging her down. She lifted Laina under her shoulders and carried her the final few yards to the horses. Laina was unresponsive. Sora awkwardly tried to push her up into the saddle, but the horse kept dancing away.

Sora paused to focus on Laina—maybe the problem was more than just nerves. The girl was shaking and whimpering, and it didn't take long to see why. A thin shaft of wood protruded from her shoulder. Sora's eyes widened at the sight of the arrow. The girl was damned lucky that it had missed her chest, the obvious target.

Gods. Now what should I do?

"Laina, come on...” Sora said desperately. The sounds from the bandits were frighteningly close; they were seconds away from discovery. "Work with me here, focus! You have to get on the horse. Then we'll be gone like the wind."

The thief seemed about to pass out. "Sora," she choked.

Sora could tell she was trying hard to bear the pain. At any other time she would have been sympathetic, but now she was only annoyed.

"Just get on the damned horse!" she exclaimed.

It seemed to snap Laina out of her stupor. She straightened up suddenly and grabbed the reins with her good arm. “Okay,” she blurted. With stiff movements, she swung up into the saddle.

Sora dashed to her own steed. A few seconds later, they plunged through the tall grass, making their way to a sparser stretch of grassland, guided solely by the stars above. Finally, they disentangled themselves from the coarse bushes. With a fierce kick, she sent her horse into a full gallop, dragging Laina's steed along with her. The girl was curled against the horse's neck, stiff with pain. A few arrows chased after them, but they were sorry shots, and the bandits had no horses of their own at hand. Still, she didn't let herself breathe until they had covered at least a mile.

It's all my fault,
Sora thought guiltily, looking at Laina's small form.
I should have never brought her in the first place. It's too dangerous.

"Laina?" she called above the wind and thundering hooves. "Laina? Can you hear me?"

"Uhn," was her only response.

"Hang on just a little longer.” Her stomach did a flip as the girl swayed dangerously. What if she fell off and broke her neck? "Do you hear me? Just a little longer!"

"Okay..." the thief's voice gusted away. Her eyes were half-closed. Sora wanted to say something reassuring, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she focused on directing the horses.

The meeting place, a small patch of trees, loomed up before them perhaps a half-hour later. Her eyes searched the woods and saw no one, but she knew her friends had to be there somewhere. She and Laina had taken longer than planned.

Approaching the trees, Sora slowed the two horses down to a walk. The beasts were both frothing at the mouth and covered with a sheen of sweat, and she felt exactly the same way.

A shadow darted out of the thin copse of trees. Sora looked up, alarmed, until she recognized Burn, who headed swiftly towards her.

The giant arrived just in time to catch Laina as she fell out of the saddle. Sora once again felt guilty. She looked down at the orphan, then at Burn's shadowed face. "Thank you for getting her this far," he said solemnly. "I'll take her from here."

Sora was too tired to say anything, and nodded in response. Now that the adrenaline had left her, she was as limp as a rag doll. Her eyes followed the two back to the fringes of the trees until they disappeared. Once she was sure no one was watching, she let the weariness wash over her. She slumped forward in the saddle, resting her sweaty head against the horse's soft mane. She breathed in the mare's musty scent, absorbing the warm smell. It reminded her of her mother's stables, the scratching of chickens and the thin beams of sunlight. She closed her eyes, momentarily wishing to be there. The beast whuffed quietly in response.

She reached up a heavy hand and gripped her Cat's Eye. The small stone offered great comfort, and she held it for a moment. Her mind drifted back to her mother's house, and she envisioned the garden outside, the warm kitchen and the feeling of a soft feather bed.

Suddenly a hand touched her knee. She didn't even have the energy to flinch.

"Sora?" a voice asked quietly.

Her eyes opened to slits and she looked down. Crash stood next to her horse with the reins in one hand.

"Did you get the bag?" she asked softly, her voice barely audible.

He nodded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could ask, she said, “I'm fine, just tired. Laina's with Burn. She took an arrow in the shoulder, but I think she'll be all right." She opened her eyes and looked down at him. She had the strange urge to touch his face, so close to her hand.

"Can you walk?" His gaze was intent.

She yawned again. "I'd better ride. I'll fall over if I don't."

"I believe so."

He didn't smile, but she caught his humor. Sora grinned. “ Oh, come now, I'm not that pathetic.”

“I'm only agreeing with you.”

Another slight jab, but she was too tired to roll her eyes. She closed them instead, pressing her face once again into the horse's neck.