Viper's Creed (The Cat's Eye Chronicles) (7 page)

Now, if only they could find a good campsite, sheltered from the wide, flat plains. Sora was becoming tired—a solid twenty-four hours without sleep. She glanced over her shoulder when the girl didn't answer. “Did you hear me?” Sora asked.

The girl followed awkwardly, jostling with each step of the horse, too small for her saddle. She looked exactly as she had in the jail cell: skinny, pale and wan.

“I'm fine, thanks,” the girl grunted. “Whatever you want, you’re not gettin’ anything. I didn’t ask for your help.”

It seemed to come out of nowhere. Sora paused, unprepared for the attitude. “Uh... what do you mean?” she asked. “And what could I possibly want from a street child?”

A harsh laugh ripped from the girl's throat, strangely uncharacteristic of a child. “Are you kidding me? You just saved my life. No one would do that for a stranger without asking for something!” She leaned her head to one side, her face tight with suspicion. The predawn light had a way of making her skin whiter, like ice.

Sora frowned. Maybe her act of heroism hadn't been such a good idea. “I don’t want anything,” she said, insulted.
No wonder no one helps each other. Just look at the thanks they get!
“I just thought you were too young to waste away in a jail cell. But if you were happier there, I can always take you back.”

Now it was the girl's turn to look surprised. Her eyes widened, a pathetic look that was fast becoming familiar. Her horse came to an awkward halt, and Sora stopped, too.

“Why did you help me?” the girl asked. “How do I know I can trust you?”

Sora wanted to sigh. She was annoyed and not in the mood to prove herself to anyone. “I just wanted to help. I don't know. Maybe I should've left you there. Seems like you're not very happy about escaping.”

The girl pouted, sticking out her small lips. “But I'm a Raven. Look, you can see my mark.” She stretched out her left wrist, showing a cruel, raw burn. It was still fresh and scabby. Sora winced and glanced away, resisting the urge to touch her own wrist. “You're not supposed to help bandits,” the girl said. “The soldiers will hang you now. You might as well have a brand like mine.”

Sora had to resist the urge to laugh. Big words coming from a thirteen-year-old! “You're really cute,” she said, trying to hide her smile. “I don't care if you're a Raven or not. You're too young to be hanged for your crimes. Don't you have a family to return to? Somewhere to go?”

The girl shook her head slowly.

Ah, well, that explained a few things.

“I'm an orphan,” she said. “My grandmother passed two years ago. I don't have anyone—
especially
not a sister.”

Sora frowned, once again insulted. Who did this brat think she was? “Fine,” she snapped, and turned her horse around. She was no good with kids, anyway. “Go back to the Ravens and continue your life. I won't say anything.”

“Wait!” the girl called.

Sora glanced over her shoulder. “What?” she asked, letting her irritation show. She wasn't about to escort this girl to a bandit camp. That would be like stepping on a wasps' nest.

“I–I didn’t mean to be rude,” the girl started hesitantly. Sora kept listening, but didn't stop her horse. “I... well... living on the streets doesn’t make you very trusting. I'm just trying to protect myself.”

It sounded sad and lonely coming from someone so young. Sora grimaced, wishing she wasn't quite so soft.
Ugh, here we go again, getting all wrapped up in other people's problems.
She finally stopped her horse and turned back, a half-felt glare in her eye. “You're being a brat,” she said sharply.

The girl's eyes were like two shiny puddles of water. “Not a lot of people are nice to orphans,” she burst out. “I didn’t expect you to help me out of that, I... I really am grateful!”

Sora nodded. “So... you really tried to steal from the town treasury?”

"Well, yeah,” the girl shrugged.

"So you're a thief?"
Like Dorian?

She shrugged at this, too. “Sometimes, I guess. I joined the Ravens a few months ago. You do what you can to survive.”

"Uh-huh," Sora said skeptically. She didn't think poverty was necessarily an excuse to become an outlaw. Bandits did more than just steal. But the girl probably didn't know any of that.

Sora thought of her old companions, of the times she had spent around their campfire. Assassins, thieves and mercenaries. At least they had carried some sort of inner integrity, walking the line between lawful and lawless. Then she thought of the other prisoner, the buzzard, that sorry scrap of human debris. A shudder ran through her.

“You know,” the girl said, all attitude gone. “That was really brave, what you did....”

Sora resisted the urge to snort.
That was nothing.

The girl grinned, brushing a pale strand from her eyes. “What do you think of traveling as a pair? I’ve been wanting to get away from here, and you... well, you seem like a good person.”

Sora was surprised by the change of attitude.
So she's finally caught on.
But could they really travel as a pair? Honestly, she'd been hoping to return the girl to her parents. “I’m looking for some friends of mine,” she finally said, reaching up to touch her Cat's Eye, hidden under her shirt. “I don’t think....”

“Then I’ll help you,” the girl said firmly.

Sora blinked.
How much help can a thirteen-year-old possibly be?
One more mouth to feed, and she was already low on provisions....

Then again, it was a long, lonely ride. Her horse wasn't the most interesting person to talk to, and she couldn't just abandon a child.

Sora wondered how far they were from the town, and how desperate the guards were to find them. It was impossible to tell. Finally, she let out a long groan. “All right. I suppose so,” she agreed. The girl was bound to bring trouble—but she could handle it.

A smile broke across the girl's face. In that moment, she transformed from a ragged street child into a young woman: pronounced cheekbones, wide lips, a slight dimple in her chin. Her unusual coloring only added to the effect.

Sora stared.
I've seen that coloring before,
she thought, frowning.
I've seen it... but where?

She turned away and pushed her steed into a trot, perhaps a bit harder than she meant to. The moment was broken, and she was eager to leave it behind. Why was she suddenly so unnerved?

The girl followed. “They call me Laina, by the way,” she called, her voice soft on the wind.

Sora sighed, already questioning her decision. “I’m Sora.”

And the two continued across the fields.

Where have I seen it before....

Chapter 4

The days passed more quickly with Laina there, despite Sora’s initial reluctance. Aside from the occasional bout of attitude, she proved to be useful at setting snares. They managed to catch quite a few rabbits. It was a relief, because Sora didn't know much about hunting or tracking animals, and truly, she wasn't eager to learn. She had to grit her teeth every time they found a rabbit in a snare, and forced herself to push a knife through its throat. It was ironic, to be sure. She could lay out a full-grown man—kill a Catlin by shoving a spear through its gut—but snaring rabbits gave her the willies.
Ridiculous,
she thought, more than once.
What would Crash think of all this?
Doubtlessly the assassin would sneer in disgust, then force her to kill more woodland creatures until it didn't bother her.

She shivered with that thought, but it slowly turned to longing.
Where are they?

The Cat's Eye answered,
Soon.

Despite her skill at setting traps, Laina proved to be clumsy and useless at pretty much everything else. She tripped over bags, led her horse into brambles, spoke far too loudly and would even choke on her food. Sora tried to impress upon her the importance of silence—
besides sparing my sanity, our voices carry much too far over the fields
—but Laina either ignored her or genuinely forgot. She had a bossy, prying sort of curiosity, and often asked about their quest: who Sora's friends were, why she was trying to find them, and where exactly they were going. (
Isn't it strangely dry for spring? Shouldn't there be more rainfall? I bet it's going to be a hot summer. I hope we find them soon because I burn really easily. Have you noticed there's a flu going around? Best to stay out of cities, I think. Say, we should go to the ocean!
).

Sora wasn't ready to share all of the details yet. She was still hoping to run across a caravan or maybe a small village and convince the teenage thief to go her own way.
I can't babysit forever,
she thought, watching as Laina attempted to ride her big, unwieldy horse.

Besides that, Sora still held a sliver of doubt about her Cat's Eye. She had never used it like this before, as a sort of supernatural compass. Although she had a firm sense that it was leading her somewhere, but she wasn't exactly sure where that might be. She often found herself wondering what Crash and Burn would think of Laina. She doubted their meeting would go over well.
Maybe I should learn to set snares. I could set one for Laina and catch her in it...and leave her behind....
Sora laughed to herself.

Sometimes, after her companion fell asleep, she would take out her rapier hilt and marvel at it. A sacred weapon of the Dark God, straight out of legend, now resting in her hands. Her mind would wander back to that day Crash and Burn had left, to their mud fight in the rain, how she had laughed until her body ached. She could remember Crash's sudden easiness, his hands running up the sides of her ribs and hitting all of her ticklish spots, as though they had known each other for years....

Then, the inevitable pang of loss. She missed them sorely. Every night before she fell asleep, she would imagine a scene when she finally caught up with them.
Will they be glad to see me?
she wondered, fearing the worst.
Will they welcome me back?
She had been a burden before, but now things were different. She could hold her own. Or at least, she thought she could.

It was on one such night, perhaps after a week of travel, that Sora fell asleep next to the fire... then awoke some hours later, inexplicably alert. Had it been a dream, or had she really heard something...?

She wasn't usually a paranoid sleeper. It was the wilderness, after all, and animals made noises... but after opening her eyes, she noticed a strange silence. No hooting owls, no scampering mice. No crickets.

She lay silent for a long moment, her staff in hand, her eyes traveling across the tall grass.
What is it—a wolf? A wildcat?
She hoped so; animals were easy to deal with. A wind brushed through the grass, passing over them like a wave, and then the fields grew still again. Their fire had burned down to a mere handful of embers, and her eyes were well-adjusted to the shadows. She had to suppress the urge to call out. Her heart was pounding, her ears straining so hard she thought they might twitch against her head.

Then she saw them. Vague outlines hunkered down in the grass. They were creeping slowly around the fringes of their camp, toward Laina's sleeping form.

It happened within seconds. A twig snapped. Then a body partially emerged from the grass, leaning toward Laina, and Sora saw the glint of a knife. She didn't hesitate. Leaping out of her bedroll, she swung her staff in an upward arc and smashed it squarely into the stranger's face, or where she assumed his face was, hidden by shrubbery. He fell back with a muffled cry.

Someone else leapt out of the grass—two someones—but Sora was prepared. Whirling her staff, she turned and rammed it into a shadowy ribcage, sending her attacker staggering back into the bushes. There was a yelp—a woman's voice.

The second man swung at her with a knife, but she leapt back a short distance, dodging the blow. She brought her staff down over his head, putting her full force behind it.
Crack!
She dropped him into the ashes of the fire. He let out a mumbled groan, then lay still. She was sure the coals were still burning, but the man made no move to stand up, or even to roll to one side. She frowned.
I must be stronger than I think.

Twirling her weapon with ease, she turned full circle, her eyes scanning the grass. There was a thrashing sound and the scrabble of feet. She saw the dim shape of a woman running off into the fields, awkwardly bent because of her damaged ribs. She considered giving chase, but hesitated, her eyes returning to Laina. She didn't want to leave the girl alone.
Is it just me, or were they targeting her?

It seemed that way, thinking back on it. The attackers had circled around her side of the camp, going straight for the sleeping girl.

When she looked back up, the shadowy woman was gone. Sora wondered who she was. Hopefully just a thief looking for easy coin. She waited for a long moment, staff in hand, prepared for another attack. A hushed wind blew across the fields, ruffling the tall, dry husks. Nothing.