Clanless (Nameless #2)(22)
The Ram pulled her back a few steps to keep eyes on both Eva, who held a new knife in each hand, and Joshua, his bow already nocked and drawn. Tess was missing.
“I have no business with you two,” said the Ram. He smelled of body odor and beef stew. “When our scouts didn’t find the girl’s rotting carcass, Chief Barnabas ordered a search. He wants her back alive.” He snickered then licked his lips. “For questioning.”
“Release her or die,” said Eva, calm as ever.
The scout took a few more steps back. “Aren’t you Taurus’s betrothed?” The Ram paused. “What are you doing out here with this Wolf?”
Eva cocked her throwing hand behind her ear. “I said, release her.”
“Don’t pretend you could kill me, girl. I’m only one of several men combing this mountain for the girl. I’m doing you a favor by letting you live.”
Zo jammed her heel into the man’s boot, but he didn’t show any sign that he felt her assault. His deep laughter shot hot, sour air into her face. “If you’re interested in a little fight, Wolf, I’d happily accommodate.”
The Ram backed further away from Joshua and Eva, still holding Zo as a shield.
A thump sounded against the man’s skull. With Zo still in his grasp, he whipped around to find Tess only a few feet away, clutching a rock. She twisted up her face and reached back to hurl another rock at him.
“You little—”
Another thump sounded, this time bringing the Ram to his knees with Zo in tow. He reached back and pulled one of Eva’s knives out of his shoulder with a roar.
His grip on Zo slackened. She threw her elbow into his nose but he quickly regained his hold of her. “I am a Ram,” he grunted in her ear. “I don’t feel pain.” Two more thumps sounded. This time, the strong arms binding her fell away. Zo scrambled out of reach before the Ram dropped face-first to the ground with a knife and arrow sticking out of his back.
“Nice work, little mouse.” Despite obvious effort, Joshua couldn’t produce a smile for Tess. “Lesson number one: never show the enemy your back.” He dropped to the ground and clenched two fistfuls of his red hair. “Gryphon taught me that.”
Chapter 9
There were no chairs inside the circle of the Gaagii Court. No podium or stand for the Raven Chief, just the wooden wall surrounding them and bare ground. Elderly men stood in a loose circle, the chief among them. They wore black paint on their faces in the shape of a bird whose wings were outstretched to act as a mask across their eyes. Like the chief, they wore necklaces of feathers, marking their prestige within the clan.
But it was the stone they each carried that captured most of Gryphon’s attention. Sani joined the circle and clasped his thin arms behind his back, calm as a spring morning.
“We have heard the words of the Wolf and believe that the Ram are marching toward us. Scouts have returned confirming the number of men you warned would come,” said the chief, in his oddly accented way.
Gryphon blinked then looked up at the sun. Was it really almost dusk? How many hours had he been tied to that platform? It had only felt like minutes. What else had Sani been burning and how had he not accounted for the passage of so much lost time?
“We have questions for you, Ram. Questions only one of your kind can answer.”
Gryphon nodded for the chief to continue.
“Your people have hunted us for the location of our grain stores. If we told your chief where to find them, would they continue their attack?”
Gryphon closed his eyes, filling his lungs with the smoke that still clung to his clothing. “My people have hunted for the location of your clan for years. Yes, Barnabas is in desperate need for a replenishment to Ram food stores, but he also wants to rid you from the land. He will keep some of your people as Nameless, but those he sees as a threat, and those who wouldn’t be able to work would be considered a burden. Another mouth to feed.” Gryphon swallowed. He couldn’t bring himself to go into more detail. “Your only option is to flee this place. Abandon your homes and take to the ocean where the Ram don’t have resources to follow.”
Several men in the circle turned a few shades whiter. Others flared their nostrils, flexing their hands around the stone they carried. All looked to their chief for response.
“We are tied to our land, Sheep. It is the source of all our power. We have been here since long before the Ram, the Wolf, and the cave-dwelling Kodiak entered the region. Fleeing for us means surrendering everything that defines our people. Many of us would sooner die fighting with honor than prolong a struggle that would lead to the same end. What you suggest simply isn’t possible.”
A Raven Elder with dark gray hair and a face weighed down by the lines of time dropped his stone to the ground, gaining him the surprised attention of the group. His eyes were clouded with a milky white film. He spoke in a strange language and pointed vehemently at Gryphon. He then turned his sharp gesture on the rest of the men in the circle as he spoke.
Gryphon and Gabe exchanged confused looks then went back to watching the weathered man finish his heated rant. When he finally stopped speaking, the chief, who’d been shifting his feet in the dirt the entire time, bowed his head to the old man and dropped his stone to the dirt as well. Everyone else in the circle followed his example.