Flock

Chapter 18

It didn't take long for them to corner me. They had the advantage of knowing the city, and being able to take single strides to every four of mine. I was panting, hands on my knees leaning against an alley wall when they rounded the corner. Not a single hair was out of place, they weren't breathing any harder than normal, and not a single drop of sweat dared to glimmer on their blue skin.

"Do not move," the one on the left warned me. His hands were as big as my head, and settled lightly on his hips. The loose white cotton of their uniform was tucked into the brown pants they wore. The pant ended a little above the ankle, and I noticed a ring of white flesh circled his left ankle. It was almost as if it had been tattooed; but the lines were too perfect. I stared down at the other's ankles; similar circular marks branded them as well.

Air wheezed in and out of my lungs, a cramp had begun in my abdomen and I was certain that there would be no option for escape in this condition so I just slowly slid to the ground and leaned my head against the brick.

I watched them share a confused glance before the one in the middle stepped toward me. Before he even leaned down, I felt it. I didn't even need to see the Kriyfem to know that he possessed a piece of it. My skin buzzed with elation for a moment before it crashed down inside me. There was no way I was going to be able to overpower him, and his two buddies to obtain that precious little stone. He moved to grab me; and my hand, of its own accord, shot out to his hip and pressed my fingers against his pocket.

I knew exactly where the stone was. His fingers wrapped around my fist in a second, twisting it slightly. I winced, and he grabbed my chin in his other hand. "Have you lost your mind?" he demanded.

I didn't answer so he gave me a little shake. "You can't touch this out here," he hissed. His eyes darted around the alley, and his two comrades closed ranks a bit tighter - their eyes also scanning the street.

Confusion most have been evident on my face, because the Kriyjia in front of me gave me a similar look of exasperation that Kiliyan gave me when I was being extraordinarily dense.

"Evound," one of the Kriyjia whispered to the male in front of me. He glanced back at the whisperer and nodded once before he wrenched me up off the ground.

"Do as I say." He shoved me forward and the other two males stepped into the street. A few more Kriyjia were coming up the western side of the street and Evound kept a firm hold on the back of my shirt as I stumbled forward.

"Vas, Dikan, keep her between you," Evound said. His voice was soft but commanding, a clear indicator of which of these males were in charge. Vas dropped to my left, Dikan to my right as we proceeded forward and down the street. Another group of Kriyjia males rounded the corner head of us.

"Dammit," DIkan hissed. Their voices were soft and angry as they spoke amongst themselves. "We should have snagged her on the hill."

"Dikan, quiet. Hands off your weapons," Vas responded. Dikan's hand dropped from the hilt of his dagger. The knife was longer than my arm and hung dangerously close to his leg. With each step, I was afraid the dagger would pierce his flesh and he would sever his own leg. He must have noticed me watching the weapon because he adjusted the strap on his wait so that the dagger was on the opposite side of his body, furthest from me.

"Like I could even lift that thing," I scoffed at him. My voice was eerily loud to my own ears and Evound gave a frustrated sigh behind him.

"Silence, half-ling, or I'll silence you myself," Vas growled from my left. I couldn't help the eye roll, it was my nature to ignore authority. Growing up with Bogan had prepared me well for ignoring authority. But half-way through my eye roll, I stopped short.

Evound practically killed me as his body came crashing into mine with the force of a small rockslide. I went flying forward, skidding against the uneven cobblestones. My hands broke most of my fall, the riocheting pain from my tender wrists rebounding ten-fold.

Evound snatched me back up onto my feet before I had really registered the Kriyjia ahead of us had stopped and turned to face us. Tension was palpable, and I knew at that moment that I had to do exactly as Evound instructed or my life would end right there on the cobblestones.

"Restrain the prisoner," Evound snapped at Vas and Dikan. The two Kriyjia jumped to attention, Vas retrieved a long leather thong and wrapped my wrists tightly, while Dikan removed a similar leather thong from his pack that he threaded around my neck like a makeshift collar. Panic settled in my bones like the way mold creeps into your home. Slowly building behind the walls before it bursts to life with killer intensity. I swallowed hard, and tried breathing through my nose.

If I opened my mouth to breathe, I feared a scream would erupt as Vas yanked hard to cinch my hands.

"Proceed," Evound instructed. The Kriyjia ahead seemed satisfied with Evound's quick decision to restrain the unruly human and marched on without another glance back at us.

"What part of do as we say did your little brain not comprehend?" Dikan said, his teeth clenched in anger, and possibly fear.

"I'm not a half-ling," I whispered.

"Yes, you are." Evound sounded so sure, that I almost believed him. But I had none of the qualities of a half-ling.

"I'm perfectly tanned," I started. "I'm short, even for a human. I don't bleed blue," I hesitated, knowing I didn't bleed the human color red either.

"Quiet, all will be explained. You must only wait."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that once before." I was also being led to some undisclosed location then too. "If you're not going to kill me, and since you seemed to expect me, can you send a message?"

There was no answer from the three males surrounding me, my pace clearly annoying them.

"To Kiliyan, he needs to know I'm okay—I was snatched a bit unceremoniously by that thing..."

It was my turn to bump into them it seemed. Evound had moved to stand in front of me, his giant form blocking my path. I bumped off him, flailing backwards. He snatched my arm and brought me so close to his face that I thought he might touch my forehead with his own. I had seen mothers do that with their children and had a bizarre moment of terror when I thought that was what Evound intended to do.

But he admonished me through clenched teeth instead. His grip on my upper arm was excrutiating, and I know my face was echoing the pain in my arm, but he only squeezed me harder. "Do not utter his name on these streets, it is blasphemy to do so. You could kill us all."

"What? Why?"

"His mother is no longer in power here—we," he glanced at his two companions, "are working to restore him to his rightful place here."

Kiliyian had never mentioned anything of the sort. He barely remembered the Above. He had told me so. He didn't even want to lead the half-lings Clark was raising into battle. Kiliyian was not out for power.

"He didn't say anything to me. He didn't even want to take command of ..." Evound's hand slapped me hard across the face.

"The vial, Vas," Evound barked. Vas reached into a pocket and withdrew a slim vial, no longer than my pinky. The fact that these two barbarians had managed to carry it without smashing it to pieces did not go unnoticed. They handled the little glass container gingerly, unstoppering the cork. Evound gripped my face once again and titled my head back, prying my lips apart.

I tried to yell 'No,' but it came out a garbled, "nuhhh!" instead as Evound poured the contents into my mouth. He squeezed my mouth shut and Vas pinched my nose. I had no other option than to swallow the bitter, burning liquid.

Warmth radiated out from my stomach—my limbs tingling. My arms fell to my sides, and would not respond to any command my brain was screaming at them. Then, my legs buckled, Dikan catching me as I fell. I didn't sleep, my eyes still blinked slowly. Instead of risking another outburst, they paralyzed me.

"Silence is a virtue," Evound said, his mouth quirking up in a quick smile.