Page 24 of Sun Warrior

Claudia pulled a cutting ax from the belt around her waist and chopped a clublike section of branch from a bough above them, tossing it to Mari. “You’ll need this if any of them get past us.”

Nik wanted to say something encouraging to Mari. She looked terrible—pale and frightened—the exact opposite of the powerful Goddess she’d appeared to be when she was calling down the ferocious power of the sun. But there was no time. With an all too familiar whirring sound of their leather-like wings, roaches the size of Terriers began lifting from the forest floor around them, drawn to the platform by the scent of blood.

Nik steeled himself to set aside his fear for Mari and Rigel and Laru, as well as the radiating pain in his burned and bloody palms. He tightened the strips of cloth around his hands, then aimed and fired, catching the first roach through its thorax as Laru plucked another giant insect out of the air, shaking it until its spine snapped and then dropping it to the writhing forest floor below.

Time suspended for Nik. He moved automatically through the pain in his hands, aiming and firing, and shouting encouragement to Davis and Claudia and Antreas, while the canines and the Lynx fought beside them.

It was over fast—much faster than Nik expected, but the swarm wasn’t mindless. They tended to avoid things that could kill them, which was why they rarely attacked close to the City in the Trees. Even burned and partially deserted, the humans in the city were more difficult prey than the wounded humans and canines who weren’t able to climb to safety. Within a few minutes all roach sign was gone, their brothers had devoured even the dead or wounded bugs, and the forest floor was swept clean of any trace of the carnage that moved with the swarm.

“Everyone okay?” Nik asked as he ran his hands over Laru’s body, checking to be sure none of the roaches had managed to spear him with knifelike mandibles. When Nik was sure Laru was fine, he wentto Mari, kicking a dead roach from the platform and crouching beside her. “Did it cut you? Let me see. Their pinchers are full of all sorts of poisons.”

Mari gently took his hands, stilling him. “I’m fine. Unbelievably tired, but fine. Rigel and Cammy killed the only roach that got past you.” She smiled at the Terrier as he wiggled up to her, and she scratched under his bearded chin while Cammy wagged enthusiastically.

“Good boy, Cammy!” Davis said, holding out his arms so that his Companion jumped into them, covering his face with licks. “Good job keeping Mari and Rigel safe!”

Mari and Nik shared a secret smile as Rigel huffed and then sneezed, clearlynotagreeing with Davis’s assessment of his canine’s bug-killing prowess.

“So, what now?”

Nik looked up from Mari’s smile to see the Lynx man standing over him, hands on hips, his feline sitting beside him looking so serene she seemed otherworldly.

“What now?” Nik shrugged. “I go with Mari.”

“You’re leaving?” Davis and Claudia said together.

“Of course he’s leaving,” the Lynx man said with a sarcastic snort. “Your Tribe has lost its collective mind. Your Sun Priest is dead, and if I’ve listened in enough to get things straight, that angry little Hunter, Thaddeus, killed him, just as he intends to kill Nik and Mari. I don’t see any evidence that Nik and Mari are idiots, so of course they’re leaving.”

“Sol is dead?” Claudia’s face blanched white and her Shepherd whined as she slid down the bark of the tree to a sitting position on the platform.

“He is,” Nik said.

“And Thaddeus killed him? Why in all the levels of hell was that mean bastard not tied up and fed to the swarm?” Claudia said, wiping angry tears from her face.

“He killed Sol accidentally, though I believe he’s glad he did,” Mari said. “Thaddeus was trying to kill me. Sol saved my life by taking the arrow meant for me.”

“But if Sol’s dead how was the blaze stopped? Who called down sunfire?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Mari. Nik smiled proudly. “Mari called down sunfire and saved us.”

“And still that damned little Hunter came after her and Nik,” Antreas said. “Which is why Nik and Mari need to go. Now. Before Thaddeus shows up here and anotheraccidenthappens with his crossbow.”

“The cat man is right,” Davis said. Then he shot Antreas an apologetic look. “Sorry, didn’t mean any disrespect by calling you that.”

“None taken.” Antreas smiled. “I don’t mind you calling me a cat man if you don’t mind me calling you a dog man.”

Davis frowned but corrected himself before continuing. “The, uh,Lynxman is right. Thaddeus is definitely after Nik and Mari, and with the Council scattered or, worse, and our Warriors the same, he could get away with just about anything.”

“Like he’s getting away with killing my father,” Nik said grimly.

“He won’t get away with it,” Claudia said. “He can’t. The Tribe won’t let him.”

“There isn’t much of a Tribe left,” Antreas said. Then he held up his hands in surrender as Davis and Claudia began to protest. “Wait, wait; I really don’t mean to disrespect you, but look around. More than half of your city has been burned to ash. I’d guess that more than half of your Tribe are either dead or badly injured, and that’s my guess before the swarm got to them. The Tribe of the Treeswasgreat, but what are you now? I think you’ve been hurt and hurt badly—and that’s a prime time for someone with Thaddeus’s mentality to bully survivors into believing like he does. I’ve seen it happen before—and it can get ugly.”

“I didn’t think Lynx people lived in packs,” Nik said.

“We don’t. We’re as solitary as you believe we are, but we are also well-traveled mercenaries—the only humans who know all the passes through the mountains. I’ve worked for a lot of different Tribes, and a lot of different types of people and their Companions. Tragedies likethis bring out the best—and the worst—in Tribes, and I’m afraid your Tribe has a very vocal worst being brought out right now.”

Mari suddenly struggled to her feet. “Nik, please take me home.”