Chosen (The Warrior Chronicles #1)(97)

“Yeah, right. No woman’s that big,” the wiry guy said in a dry voice.

“Well, they say that ghost is related to her. Sneaks in, kills, sneaks back out—looks like her. She must be real if the ghost looks like her,” the robust deserter said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Yeah, he—“

The bearded man was cut off as the door swung open with a thud, someone having kicked the door to gain entrance. With a heart trying to rip out of her chest, wondering if what the men said was true, wondering if Rohnan, her Chance, was really still alive, the worst thing happened. Four men wearing the unmistakable black with the red circle on their chest walked in the door.

Shanti’s bones went cold right before heat flared. Fear and rage pumped in her blood.

Graygual.

The robust deserter next to her dropped his head, trying to hide his face as best he could. The other people in the common area hunched down on themselves, the classic sign of trying not to be noticed. And even though she wanted to kill them right now, wanted to get up and physically put her knife through their hearts, Shanti hunched like everyone else, trying to melt into the shadows as best she could.

Through her lashes, Shanti could see the men swagger in, looking everyone over with self-importance smeared on their dirty faces. Their uniforms were wrinkled and filthy, their smell preceding them as they sauntered up through the tables.

“What’s this?” one rasped, his body pointed toward Shanti. “Well, well, what have we here…”

Shanti clutched his mind as her hand dropped to her side, easing a knife out of her leg brace from under the table.

“Lookie here, Race,” the Graygual rasped, sauntering closer. “I do believe we’ll get some kudos with this find.”

Shanti coiled. Her body surged with power.

“It’s Gagna the Deserter.”

Shanti froze as the table next to her jumped to life. A sword swung free from a sheath, Gagna rushing forward with metal at the ready. He caught the Graygual by surprise, sticking him through the stomach before Race could free his own sword and join the fray. The men by the deserter’s side had their weapons out, too, running at the Graygual with rusty swords.

Everyone else cleared to the sides or left the room altogether, not wanting to be in the deadly battle. It was a good idea.

Shanti bolted upright, sprinting along the bar and into that kitchen. There, as she hoped, she found the bar maid and the bartender, hiding out of sight.

“We don’t want no trouble,” the bartender said as she stood over them, panting.

“If the Graygual win this war, all you’ll have is trouble. If you live that long. The ghost—where is the ghost they speak of?” Shanti asked in desperation.

“Wh-what?” the man asked with wide eyes.

“The ghost,” Shanti urged as the sound of something heavy crashing through wood in the outer room. Someone dead having fallen on a table, most likely.

“Last I heard, he was north-west. Them’s just tales, though,” the man pleaded as though asking for his life.

“How long ago did you hear that?” Shanti asked, leaning closer.

“A week, I think,” the bartender shuddered. “They’re looking for you. The violet-eyed girl. You shoulda stayed with that man. They say you and him can stand up to that Being Supreme, on a-count of you took out the Inkna… You can’t do much on your own--”

Ignoring the continued dialogue, Shanti snatched up whatever food she could carry and headed for the back door. Before she left the kitchen, she turned back to the owner and the bar maid, the only two people left in the kitchen. “Fight the Being Supreme in any way you can. Any way you can, you hear me? Or this type of thing will get a whole lot worse.”

She was out the door at their nods, skirting into the shadows and out of sight. She really should’ve gone for that bath first—now she’d have to bath in the first stream she found. It’d be cold.

Running from one shadow to the next on light feet, she moved with the experience and grace of someone having spent a year being hunted. Leilius was good, but Shanti was the master. As she ran, her new plan rolled through her head.

First thing, she needed to see if that ghost was Rohnan. If he lived, he belonged by her side. Family took priority.

After that, she needed to deal with this new Chosen. There was no way Shanti could allow the disgusting Inkna, and through them, the destructive Graygual, to gain more force. Her new task was to take this Chosen down, and to do that, she needed power. She needed might. She needed someone as strong as she to unite against the Being Supreme.

The bartender had been right--she needed Cayan.

The day for duty was over. Now it was time for vengeance.

The End