Clanless Read online

  Zo’s mere existence made him challenge everything he believed about people outside Ram’s Gate. One look from her and he wanted to be better than he was. He wanted to prove that his people weren’t the monsters she believed them to be. Not all of them. Not him. Now he didn’t know what to believe.

  They ran for the better part of three days. Gabe and the Raven didn’t seem to ever tire. By the time they stopped at the base of an enormous tree, Gryphon nearly collapsed at their feet.

  “These Birds know how to travel,” Gryphon wheezed beside Gabe. They hadn’t spoken since Gryphon had learned about Zo. Neither wanted to discuss their loss. Or their future.

  “They’re smaller than you. Lighter. Faster. You might beat them in a fight, but you have to catch them first,” Gabe said, panting

  Gryphon nodded because it used less air to do so. He pointed at the line the Raven had formed to climb a tree using man-made pegs spiraling up its thick trunk.

  “What’s up there?” Gryphon gestured to dense canopy above.

  Gabe smiled. “You’ll see.”

  Gryphon climbed the tree last. The pegs were made of sturdy wood and so natural looking he doubted he would have spotted them on one of his routine excursions with his mess unit. The curling climb went slowly. The higher he ascended the more the ground seemed to spin, jumping up and back with nauseating inconsistency. His legs shook by the time he broke through the thick canopy high above the ground and dropped to a platform made of wooden planks. Branches of the monstrous tree jutted through the floor. “I think I might be sick,” said Gryphon.

  Around him, nearly fifty Raven smirked at his condition, and even Gabe nudged him with a stupid grin on his face. “You’re sort of pathetic,” he said. “I think it does everyone good to see you this way. The mighty Ram as green-faced as a tree nymph.”

  “Remind me again why I’m doing this?” Gryphon groaned as he pushed up into a seated position. “Whoa.” Whatever smart remark he was about to make dissolved on his tongue as he stared out at the network of bridges connecting the thick forest of trees, bridges invisible from the ground below.

  The leader of the Raven Flock offered Gryphon a hand to help him stand. His grip was almost too firm, as though he’d rather yank him over the side of the platform than anything else. “We travel above ground the rest of the way. It’s the only way to reach the Nest.” He pulled Gryphon closer, glaring. “This is your last chance to turn back. I promise you, once we reach the Nest you will never be permitted to leave alive.”

  Gryphon considered climbing back down the tree. He’d warned the Raven. Why force his help upon people who’d likely kill him for trying? If he hurried, he might be able to track down Zander and Ajax. After exacting his revenge, he’d be free to seek out Joshua and the rest of the Nameless at the Allied Camp. He’d need to arm himself with more than a small dagger …

  Gryphon dropped his head, thinking about Zo. About her panic at hearing the Ram’s plans to attack the Raven. Leaving now would be giving up on her desperate drive for peace. He was the only one with Ram experience. If the Raven Chief didn’t take Gabe’s warning seriously, a massacre would ensue.

  Gryphon swore under his breath and met the Raven’s question with a firm nod of the head. “I came to help, Bird. I’ll finish the job.”

  The Raven appraised him once more. A few of the lines around his mouth smoothed and his grip on Gryphon’s hand loosened a fraction. “You’re a strange man, Gryphon. “ He clapped his back and gave orders for his men to move.

  Gryphon stepped out onto the first of many roped bridges. The planks shifted and groaned like ice beneath his feet. They weren’t built to carry someone his size. He closed his eyes and sighed. He’d do this for Zo, protect these people when he’d failed to protect her. Even in death, she made him a better man.

  But afterwards, when the Raven were safe, he’d have his revenge.

  The Nameless refugees had two full days’ head start on Zo and her small company of travelers. They gave the massive wall of the Ram a wide berth as they worked their way south to find the tracks of the Nameless.

  “Shouldn’t we be concerned about running into Ram scouts?” asked Joshua. He hadn’t stopped asking questions since waking up that morning. “I mean, don’t you think Barnabas will send a mess unit after the Nameless?”

  Tess looked between Joshua and Zo, biting down on her lower lip. Zo blinked away another dizzy spell and leaned on her walking stick like an old woman. “The Ram have been too busy fixing the Gate and preparing their attack on the Raven to bother with the Nameless,” said Zo. “Don’t you think so, Eva?” Zo eyed the Ram girl and encouraged her answer with a nod.

  Eva frowned. “Barnabas might not send a full mess, but I think it will be a miracle if we don’t come across one of his scouts. And let’s face it, this group,” she gestured at the four of them, “doesn’t stand a chance against a full Ram warrior.”

  Tess whimpered. Zo reached back and slugged Eva in the arm.

  “What?” said Eva. Her small mouth twisted and her eyes pinched as she narrowed her gaze. “Would you rather lie to the girl?”

  “To spare her needless fear? Yes, I would.”

  Eva let her long strides carry her in front of the others. She looked over her shoulder and a chunk of her butchered hair fell into her eyes—hair cut by the knife of her unwanted betrothed inside the Gate as part of an engagement ceremony. “There’s no such thing as needless fear. Without fear, you can’t be brave.”

  Zo shook her head and let her gaze drop to the tracks left by the Nameless under her feet. There was no use in explaining human decency to a Ram.

  Joshua snatched Tess’s hand out of the air and held it as they walked. He was so much taller than her that he almost had to slouch to make it work. “Wanna play a game?” His voice jumped and dived between man and boy.

  Tess’s blond hair bounced with her step. “What kind of game?”

  “Gryphon and I used to play it when I was younger. It’s a game where you practice not leaving any tracks as you walk. Gryph called it ‘Rabbit Foot’ because rabbit tracks are so hard to find unless there’s been a good rain.”

  Tess nodded and Joshua led her off the trail where he and Tess wove between branches and bushes, keeping to the balls of their feet. Every so often he scooped her up on his shoulders and ran a hundred feet ahead of Zo and Eva to give Tess time to practice and travel at her slower pace. Once Joshua deemed her ready, he tested her by letting her get ahead of him while closing his eyes. After a minute of waiting, he’d open his eyes and start walking, but the moment he saw a trampled plant or a snapped twig that marked Tess’s passing, he sprinted toward her with fingers outstretched, ready to tickle.

  Zo felt like crying every time a laugh escaped Tess as she ran from Joshua. Even after surviving months of slave labor inside the Gate, Tess’s spirits hadn’t fallen. She and Joshua both carried with them a beautiful kind of innocence that made Zo violently protective. A part of her looked at Joshua as a piece of Gryphon that she could keep when the real man had been ripped from her side.

  “You know that Ram scouts are the least of our problems,” Zo said to Eva, taking advantage of the younger members of their little group being out of earshot.

  “I’ve heard stories about the predators on the mountain,” said Eva.

  Zo’s gaze fixed on Tess, her voice an urgent whisper. “The bears and mountain lions are one thing, but I’m more worried about the Clanless. Ever since your people invaded the Kodiak Caves the number of wandering men in these mountains has grown. The Kodiak chief, Murtog, refused to rally his men against the Ram after the raid. Many of his people were taken into the Gate as slaves. And many Kodiak deserted the clan in protest. The rest of the Clanless are robbers, thieves, and murderers banished from the other clans in the region. I hear they’re vicious.”

  Eva nodded. She thumbed her boiled leather vest and weighed the dagger in her hand. “So am I.”

  The sm
all group traveled a few hundred yards off the Nameless trail to build a fire and rest for the night. Zo, Eva, and Tess gathered wood while Joshua set out into the forest with his sling to hunt for fresh game.

  Eva dropped an armful of knobby, dry branches into the growing pile and continued collecting wood closer to Zo. “Why don’t you tell Joshua the truth about Gryphon? He deserves to know.”

  Zo’s head swayed, and a bout of dizziness rushed her so fast and hard that she dropped to one knee and clutched the sides of her head. “He’s been through so much. I want to make sure that he is completely well before I tell him what happened.” Zo gritted her teeth and tested opening her eyes, but regretted the decision.

  What is wrong with me?

  “I think you’re afraid to tell him because you haven’t accepted Gryphon’s fate yourself. You avoid the topic because saying that Gryphon is dead out loud will make it more true.”

  Zo flinched and clutched her stomach. The dizziness overpowered her and she vomited.

  Eva’s voice softened. “You’re going to have to deal with this, Wolf. I know Barnabas. Gryphon is gone forever and the boy deserves to know.” She walked away to gather wood near Tess, leaving Zo to wipe the bile from her lips in peace.

  Eva was twenty, only three years older than Zo, but she’d seen a lot in her life. At times, Zo wanted to hate the Ram girl, with her blunt comments and cold analysis. But the truth was, they shared a lot in common. They both gave their hearts away to men not of their clan and, unless Stone managed to escape after the Nameless revolutionaries attacked inside the Gate, there was a good chance neither would see the man they loved again.

  Joshua came back just before dark carrying two dead rabbits by the ears and a giant grin on his face. “Dinner is served.” His smile shone as brightly as his red hair did in sunlight.

  Eva pulled a thin knife from her waistband and made quick work of Joshua’s kill. The animals cooked on a spit over the fire, the red flames licking the meat as if they too were starving from a long day’s hike. Dripping fat sizzled in the fire. Zo’s mouth watered and her stomach rolled with hunger.

  Exhausted, they all stared at the fire in a daze until Joshua broke the spell of silence. “If it weren’t for my sling, we’d all go hungry tonight.” He stretched out his legs as he leaned against a tree with his arms tucked contentedly behind his head. “It’s a good thing Gryphon left me to take care of you girls.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure the fact that you were unconscious had nothing to do with it,” said Eva with a harmless grin. Tess snorted then rolled into another fit of giggles.

  “That’s it.” Joshua jumped up and attacked Tess with wiggling fingers, stealing her breath with hysterical laughter. Zo might have joined in were the circumstance different. Still, she allowed herself a smile. “Be quiet, you two.”

  Joshua looked thoroughly chastened and slightly embarrassed, as he remembered they weren’t the only ones on this mountain. He ruffled Tess’s hair and settled back into his spot against the tree—only he slipped and his hand came down on a sharp rock.

  “Ouch!” He sucked the wound to keep the slow stream of blood from running down his finger.

  “Don’t use your mouth.” Zo dug into her medical satchel for ointment and a thin strip of dressing. “It’s like you want an infection.”

  She took his hand in hers and dressed the wound, making sure to quiz Tess on the proper herbs to help with this kind of minor wound. He didn’t really require a blessing of healing, but in the interest of teaching Tess, Zo held Joshua’s injured hand and repeated the words of the blessing. She waited for the warmth to surface on her skin and for the energy of her touch to transfer into Joshua’s wound … but it didn’t.

  Zo knew she wasn’t herself, but to not be able to produce any energy? This wasn’t even a serious injury.

  She looked up to find everyone around the fire staring.

  Josh asked, “Are you all right?”

  Zo smiled. “Sure, kid.” She turned to Tess and said, “This is the perfect kind of wound for you to practice on. Why don’t you do the blessing?”

  Tess knelt next to Joshua. She studied him with such a serious expression, Zo had to force herself not to laugh. “I’m going to give you a healing blessing. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but it will help you get better much faster.”

  Joshua gave Zo an “Is this kid serious?” look. He pursed his lips together, and managed, “I would like that very much, young healer.”

  Tess swatted his arm. “Be serious.”

  “Go ahead, Tess,” said Zo.

  Tess wrapped her fingers around Joshua’s hand, closed her eyes, and sang the blessing. Zo usually kept the melody soft and to herself. Not Tess. She sang out the ancient words, the melody carrying great power.

  When the simple song ended, Zo pulled Tess into her own lap and hugged her. “You’re getting really good, bug. Mother would have been proud.” She cleared the emotion from her throat and let Tess hop off her lap. Their mother would have been proud. She should have been the one to teach Tess the healing songs. Not Zo.

  “We need to discuss our defenses,” said Eva, pulling out three knives: one from a sheath at her back, one at her hip, and one small knife strapped to her calf beneath her pant leg. “If we’re attacked, we need a plan of action.”

  It was such a Ram thing to say, but Zo had to admit that Eva was right. “You’re the ones with the Ram training.” Zo gestured toward Eva and Joshua. “Be my guest.”

  Joshua frowned. “Usually we start by listing our assets. You know, what we have to offer the group. Then our liabilities.”

  Eva nodded. “I have three knives that I know how to use better than a spoon or fork. Like all women of my clan, I know how to fight. Beyond that, I’m determined to reach the Nameless and find Stone, and I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

  “Good,” said Joshua. “And liabilities?” It was easy to see the boy’s training surface. Zo wondered how many of these lessons came directly from Gryphon, his mentor.

  “I’m pregnant and prone to sickness in the mornings and sometimes at night. Nothing too bad.” Eva fidgeted. “I’m also desperate.” She laughed a little at herself and stared back into the fire.

  Joshua leaned over to Tess and whispered, “Her desperation might hinder her judgment. Her honesty is a sign of trust. A compliment.”

  Tess nodded, as if she were mentally taking notes.

  “I’ll go next,” said Joshua. He pulled out a small shield, a sling, a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a knife. Gryphon had packed him a bag of supplies before their escape. No extra clothes, only weapons. “I’m decent with the bow and knife, but I can hunt small game better than most with my sling. I’m stronger than anyone here.”

  Eva opened her mouth to protest, but must have thought better of it. It was easy to overlook Joshua’s size and only see the thirteen-year-old boy, but the kid likely had them all in weight.

  “I’ve also been apprentice to Gryphon, and he’s probably the best Striker the Ram have ever seen.” The boy’s chest was so full of air he might have lifted off the ground. “As for liabilities, I don’t do well on night watch, and I need to eat a lot to be full. I have no idea where we’re headed, and I’m inexperienced in fighting in real life.”

  “Fair enough,” said Eva.

  Zo cleared her throat and pulled out her one unimpressive dagger. She wasn’t used to spilling her strengths and weaknesses, preferring instead to keep her talents hidden and her weaknesses buried. But for Joshua and Tess’s sakes … “I’m a trained spy and healer, and the only one here who knows how to get to the Allies.”

  “Liabilities?” Eva raised a brow.

  Joshua nodded encouragingly.

  Zo sighed. “I’m sick. There’s something wrong with my head when I stand up too fast. I have frequent dizzy spells where my head pounds. Sometimes it’s bad enough to make me nauseous. I’m not great in combat. In fact,” she swallowed, “I don’t
think I could kill a person even to save my own life. I don’t do well with that sort of thing.” No need to tell them about her struggle with healing. She was sure whatever was affecting her would pass with time.

  Eva and Joshua shared a look.

  “My turn?” asked Tess. She looked around and snatched up a rock sitting close to the ground. “I have this. I could probably throw it at someone.” She twisted up her lips in deep thought. “I’m also good at hiding.”

  Zo put up a hand. “Great job, Tess. You don’t need to go on.”

  Tess’ liabilities were glaringly obvious. She was slow and weak, without any real ability to defend herself.

  Eva and Joshua took turns using the strengths and weaknesses they had all shared and devised a plan. Eva unstrapped the knife around her calf and fastened the small sheath to Tess’s belt. “When I was your age, I already had three years of training with weighted weapons. Your lessons will begin tomorrow.”

  Zo thought to protest, but given the circumstances, it made sense to teach Tess everything possible to defend herself if she got in a bind. And who better to learn from than a Ram who was bred to kill from the time she could walk?

  They ate their meal and doused the fire. Even though the blaze would have helped them stay warm and keep animals at bay, it wasn’t worth the risk of exposing their location to Clanless and, more likely, Ram scouts. Just as the last wisps of smoke carried on the night breeze and the coals of the fire turned to a weak, flicking glow, a bird called not far away.

  Eva sat up then Joshua followed her lead, like deer lifting their heads to listen for a predator. Zo clutched her knife to her chest. She knew that call. Commander Laden taught it to her as part of her training. She let out a small “caw” sound, mimicking the call.

  Both Eva and Joshua whipped around and stared at Zo. She could imagine their questions. They weren’t used to working with other clans. Where there is hate there is also fear.