Clanless (Nameless #2)(38)
While the Nameless couldn’t offer them food, they did have an impressive collection of weapons stolen from the Ram. Short swords, bows, spears, and even a few of the coveted round shields. Any group of people trying to survive this uncivilized region would be desperate for such an offering.
Zo scanned their surroundings as they marched out of camp and into the forest. Light filtered through the trees, casting life in either brilliant sunshine or harsh shadow. She tightened her grip on a knife she carried—one of Eva’s—and tried to relax.
Cannibals. They were on their way to meet cannibals. She’d let Tess administer to a man who chose to eat other people instead of starve. She shook her head, still overwhelmed with disgust as they approached a massive boulder that served as their meeting place.
Stone had told Boar to have his leader and the Nameless prisoners meet an hour past sunrise, but no one waited for them as they approached the boulder.
“They could just be late,” offered Zo. “He might not have found them in time to meet.” They had only released Boar a few hours ago. His people could be anywhere.
“I’ll kill him,” Stone growled. He turned a full, impatient circle. “We shouldn’t have placed our trust in a—”
“Clanless?” Boar and a ragged group of men emerged from clever hiding places around the boulder, effectively surrounding Stone, Zo, and the rest of their little company. They, like Boar, wore rags for clothing and had twigs and leaves sticking out from all angles to help them blend into their surroundings. “You are late, Nameless. We have been here for some time.”
The fact that Boar called Stone a Nameless wasn’t lost on anyone. Clearly, Zo hadn’t been the only one questioning captives last night.
“You failed to mention that you escaped Ram’s Gate,” said Boar. The men of his company crowded behind him, marking Boar as their leader.
“And you failed to mention that you were the leader of your Clanless band,” said Stone.
Boar’s men dragged three Nameless to his side. They each had their hands bound, but otherwise appeared unharmed. “You said last night you wanted to make a trade, healer.” Boar sought her out amid the crowd of Nameless. “What can you offer me?” His eyes brightened, his brows jumped up and down as he scanned her body.
Stone stepped in front of Zo, blocking her view of Boar. “We have weapons.” He instructed the five men who carried sacks over their shoulders to open them. Several blades clinked against each other in the process. Two others dropped a pair of Ram shields into the offering pile. Circular shields framed in valuable metal and inlaid with impenetrable snakewood, ensuring a beautiful death to any that went up against it.
The shields alone made a generous deal for the Clanless.
Boar picked up a blade and stared down the length of the sword, checking for balance. He tested the weight of it in his hands. “There really is nothing quite like a Ram sword.” His gaze locked on the shields and he seemed to salivate. “I once owned a shield like this.” He reached for the leather straps secured to the back of the shield. “Barnabas took it from me before my banishment.”
All of these men—these Clanless—once belonged to one of the four clans. Many, judging by their looks, were Kodiak, but there were a few who could have been Raven or even Wolf.
Stone gestured to the pile. “These blades are yours in exchange for my people. The shields,” he said, “are insurance that your men won’t come near our camp again.”
Boar smiled and casually tossed the shield down into the pile of weapons. Zo flinched at the sound of metal hitting metal. “No deal.”
“What?” Stone balked. “I’ve offered you a generous trade. What more can you want?”
Boar’s wild gazed zeroed in on Zo. “I want her.”
Chapter 14
Gryphon traveled at the rear of the flock of Raven with Sani just ahead of him. He couldn’t decide if the Raven warriors ran so fast out of fear of the pursuing Ram, or because they meant to lose Gryphon. Either option seemed equally probable.
Legs burning, sides aching, lungs screaming, Gryphon wanted nothing more than to stop and give his body time to recover from their nightlong sprint. He and his mess had run many excursions throughout the mountainous region—he certainly wasn’t a stranger to pushing himself beyond physical limits—but these Raven were inhuman. They floated across the ground it seemed, their legs barely having to push against the earth to propel their weight forward. Even Sani seemed to have little trouble keeping pace.
Gryphon’s sheer mass slowed him. His head pounded with every meaty stomp of his legs. Even if the Ram managed to find their trail in the darkness, there was no chance his people would catch up to these Birds. No wonder they’d managed to hide themselves from the Ram for so many years.
Humbled and frustrated by his body’s limitations, he used what little breath he could spare to call, “Please … stop.”
Sani signaled the men ahead of them with a shrill whistle that Gryphon would have mistaken for an actual bird.
Gryphon’s legs cramped up as he stumble to a stop. He dropped to his hands and knees and sucked as much air into his burning lungs as possible. When he couldn’t catch his breath, his body fell into a fit of coughing and sputtered gasps.
Gryphon looked up to find Sani’s face blank of expression while the ten Raven warriors stared down on him with amused smiles. Their chests rose and fell with want of air—something that did little to appease Gryphon’s dented pride as he rolled to sit on his backside in the dirt.