Shared Mercy Book 5 of the Guardians Saga

CH. 21.2 Showdown with Flint

Walking out from the Mercy Tent carrying her rolls, Alex saw something fluttering on Drake's boulder. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then walked over nonchalantly and plucked the waving note. She folded it and then slipped it into her tunic. She strolled away and once at a safe distance, read it.

We have your egg-sucking lover. Meet us at the creek at the base of Hatchet Mountain. Now.

Alex tucked the note back and wondered where the hell Hatchet Mountain was and how the hell to find it without the brothers finding out. Then she remembered she had other Agama friends and she started walking.

The forge was a true smith's forge—twenty-five feet wide with a thirty-foot long fire pit surrounded by blacksmithing equipment; anvils, hammers, tongs, metal-cutting saws, crucibles, tongs, and ceramic work surfaces. A young Agama was helping Eber, working the bellows with one arm, holding a bar of white hot steel in the other hand. Eber was making precise cuts with a gleaming saw until he saw Alex. He crossed to Alex and smiled a genuine smile at her, wiping his hands on his heavy leather smock.

"Guardian, so good to see you. What request do you have for me today? What special little dagger do you desire, hmm?"

"No dagger this time, just information. Where is Hatchet Mountain and the creek on it?"

Eber's eye-ridges drew together. "Hatchet Mountain? That's a lonely place. The hunting and fishing are far from good as well. Why do you want to go there?"

Alex shrugged. "I need to learn more of the area, more than just Little Egg Mountain, the marketplace, etc. That's an area I've never been."

Eber's eyes were full of suspicion but he said, "Why don't you have Rile take you?"

"Like you said – poor hunting and fishing. It's boring for them. I bet they would humor me, but that would be unfair to them. I just want to fly through the air and learn how to fly around here and there by myself."

She tried a winning, yet somewhat helpless, smile. Eber laughed and Alex felt like an idiot, but she joined in the laughter because she knew she looked like one. He clapped her on the shoulder and pointed northeast.

"There," Eber said, pointing. "Fly north-northeast. See the grazing lands on the far side of the hill, near the tree-line? Fly past them and across the next hill. From there you can see Hatchet Mountain rise out of a burned area of the forest."

"Thanks, Eber." Alex took off flying and left him scratching his head.

**

The sun slipped behind a wall of clouds and the shadows on the ground were slate gray and dark. The burned area was a deep patch of black and green and just one more sign that something awful had happened here.

Alex saw a figure held by others and she knew she had found her kidnappers. She set down out of their reach but away from the tree-line circling the burned area where an ambush could be waiting. The burnt area smelled like a mix of wood and grass and charred trees. Yet there was an odd smell in the air, like sulfur.

One of Drake's eyes was swollen shut and blood dripped slowly from his muzzle. One Agama held him in a choke hold while another held his arm out straight with a dagger to his wrist. The knife was sharp against his skin, and drops of blood dripped from the tip to hit the dirt.

"Alien," one of the Agama said.

"True, and I'm a Guardian," Alex replied. She strutted with steady steps and a broad stance, her hands relaxed at her side. Her head was high, her gaze on the Agama. "Now are we going to call each other names or tell me what you want?"