Flock

Chapter 45

"Lee, you don't understand. I can't leave now," I argued for the hundredth time that night. My mind was racing, and I each time I thought of another reason to follow Lee back into the tunnels, Prewta's face flashed in my head. Prewta was not their leader, but she was their voice of reason. She was their tie breaker, their connection to the past and the future.

"I can't go back to Kili without you."

My heart squeezed. I had barely had time to think about him and the struggles he must be facing. Guilt clawed through my insides.

"Did Clark come back?" I asked. Lee's lips thinned and she gave a stiff nod of her head. Clark's return must not have been a pretty one. I sighed.

"Kiliyan needs you," Benizt said, his voice even.

"Do not speak his name here," Evound warned. "His name is just as good as treason in this place."

"Anything not pure is treason here—" Lee spat.

"Lee," I snapped. "Evound is on our side in this, please listen to his warning." Lee was skeptical, which was not surprising. If I were her, I'd be skeptical about anything Evound had to say. I could see her discomfort simply in the way she held herself: stiff and ready to pounce, but she didn't mention Kiliyan's name again, and neither did Benzit.

"I'll need a real plan that I can tell him. He wanted to come himself, but with Clark..."

"Is it that bad?" I saw Clark's insanity, that crazed delirium of need for justice. I still had difficulty linking that woman with the one from my childhood. The steady-handed, stubborn rebel had been on the receiving end of too much hate. It's what I think powered her now.

"We need you to come back," was all she said. Vas opened the door at that moment.

"Patrols start soon."

"Soon, I promise, but I need to gather more information. They're going to be migrating north in the coming month. It's still hot enough that at the end of the day they may be too tired to put up a real fight. We could win that battle, Lee. We'd have the intel to set up an ambush."

"Ollie," Vas said, startled. "How—"

"I listen, Vas."

"We would be there to help—"Evound mused, his voice soft as he thought. Vas stared at his leader. "If we could somehow mark those loyal to us, we could avoid the rebels; unless the tide appears to be turning to the Kryjia favor, we wouldn't have to raise a hand against our own."

"Cowards," Lee murmured. Evound shot her a murderous glare.

"Coward? I sit here with a halfling and a human discussing the best way to end the rule of my own people. That is not cowardice."

"No, but hiding behind their ranks is. Not a drop of your blood will spill unless it looks like it's going poorly? I doubt it. The second it looks like we will fail, you'll turn tail and run—leaving those who are fighting for justice to bleed out on your march to continued power. You want the reward with none of the risk!"

Lee's passion moved me. Her entire body trembled with the fortitude of her words and for a moment, they rang so pure that I believed them. Evound and his turncoats wouldn't have to lift a finger, and then sweep in at the end to gather up the failures and stand with the victors­­—remaining in power.

"Ghrat and his forces would never suspect a guerilla attack along the marching route. Our troops rotate as scouts," Evound ignored Lee's outburst. "If we timed it right, my guard could be on rotation. They would allow you access to the line, and double back behind our rear to act as support."

"Evound," Vas said. "You're asking our men to be traitors—what happens if they aren't as loyal as you believe?"

"We won't ask them all, only a few; keep one side of the flank strong in case of any other outside threat. There are things in those woods I would rather not encounter."

I shivered, remembering the creature from the tunnels.

"We can make this work," Evound said, his eyes boring into mine. I nodded, and glanced to Lee.

"Only if I don't disappear."