Page 73 of On a Barbarian World

She grinned at him. “Thanks, warrior.” Then she climbed up the rocks, steadily and cautiously. She tested each handhold and foot grip.

She reached the mangled ruin, and took a moment before she found a hole in the side where it was easy for her to slip inside.

Kavon waited. He heard a clang of metal inside the wreck, saw her light wand shining around. He wanted to tap his boot on the floor, but resisted. Just.

“Anything?” he called out.

“Not much in here,” she yelled back.

Then suddenly, with a groan of metal and a shudder, the entire ship slipped an inch.

The warriors gasped and leaped back. Kavon didn’t move. “Aurina!”

“I’m fine. Not finished yet.”

“Out. Now.”

“I still need—” The ship slipped another inch, small rocks cascading to the cavern floor.

Kavon eyed the wall, determining the best place for him to climb up. Then he saw a flash of movement, and spotted her climbing out. She climbed down the wall and above her, the ship slipped again.

His heart racing, he reached up and snatched her off the wall.

“It’s falling!” Colm shouted.

Kavon sprinted toward his warriors, Aurina in his arms. He heard metal screeching against rock. He dived and turned, Aurina tucked to his chest, sliding the remaining distance to his warriors. He saw the entire wreckage fall off its perch and crash to the cavern floor. A massive cloud of dust rose up, choking them.

Aurina’s fingers flexed on his shoulders, and she coughed. “That was close.”

“I think we are finished here.” Kavon wanted her back in his estate, preferably locked in his rooms. She would turn his hair gray, a tough feat when the nanami kept Markarian hair dark well into their old age.

“There was nothing in the ship.” She stood and dusted off her clothes. “It had been stripped. Makes sense. They crash-landed, took everything that would be useful to them.” She held up her Sync and grinned. “I did, however, manage to interface with their comp system.”

He frowned. “It had power?”

She nodded. “Not much. I’d say their backup nuclear generator is running on fumes. It was just enough to get their last logs out.” Her grin widened. “There’s also a map. To where they settled in the tunnels here.”

“Where?”

“It’s a neighboring cavern. Follow me.”

He let her lead the way, but stayed close. They headed into another tunnel, and he half expected Aurina to trip over something, since her attention was focused on the text on her Sync.

“What else did you find?” he asked.

“A log written by the ship’s first mate…the second-in-command.”

“Words written by the First Warriors,” Kian breathed.

Aurina glanced at the warrior, then at Kavon. “You sure you want to hear this? I mean, it might simply make them men in your eyes.”

A part of him didn’t want his beliefs shattered, but they’d come this far. The truth was important. He looked at each one of his warriors—strong, loyal, and honorable. Nothing would change that.

“Go ahead.”

She nodded. “They were a group of former soldiers. Ex-military. They were tired of fighting and seeing innocent people injured and killed in conflict. They wanted a new life, someplace where they could help people and not always kill.”

Kavon felt his stiff shoulders relax a little. Maybe he had been worried. “They were honorable.”