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“Kah! Look out!” I shouted, reaching for the last knife in my bracer. But I already knew I was too late.
Just then, Raven appeared in the fray, swinging a large stick at the man’s head. It connected with his jaw with a loud smack, and the branch broke in half.
The man fumbled on his horse but didn’t fall. Then he turned on her, grabbing her by the hair and shoving her to the ground.
As he raised his axe, I let my knife fly. His armor was too thick across his chest, so I’d aimed for his neck. The knife struck true.
Raven sucked in a breath as the man collapsed, covered in blood.
I ran over, reaching for her hand and pulling her to her feet. Our eyes locked. In that second, I felt a shift between us, like an invisible thread had just tied our lives together.
“Jeddak, watch out!” she cried.
A knife flew past my ear.
Furious, I turned and rushed straight at the tribeless man behind me. His skin was mottled with patches of bronze-colored metal, meaning he used to be a Jakeen before becoming an outlaw. He didn’t have time to reach for another knife before I knocked him unconscious with my staff.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Raven run toward Merrin’s nephew, pulling the boy away from the fighting. One of the men on horseback took off after her, his axe held high.
No!I sprinted in her direction, but the rider was faster. Before I could reach her, Merrin was there, plunging her knife into the man’s side. He grabbed his abdomen and fell from his horse, dead.
Behind me, Kah stood up on his hind legs and swatted the last tribeless man to the ground and tore out his throat.
The horses stilled, their saddles suddenly empty.
For a moment, everything was quiet, except for the soft weeping of Merrin’s wife as she hugged her nephew close.
Merrin and Tamaeach wrapped Raven in a warm hug when we reached the outskirts of Ibenswick early the next day. There was no hugging between us, though Merrin’s wary expression had softened to a look of gratitude when she bid me and Kah farewell.
“I was wrong about you,” she said.
I didn’t know if she was talking about me or Kovaks in general.
“And I’m rarely wrong,” she added. She reached into her pocket and held out the money I’d paid her, gesturing for me to take it.
I shook my head. I couldn’t accept it, not after she’d saved Raven’s life when I couldn’t. “Keep it. You brought us to Ibenswick like you promised. You saved my friend. I’m the one who owes you a debt.” Even as I said it, I noticed that it didn’t feel strange to describe Raven as a friend.
I glanced over to see Raven kneeling beside the little boy to hug him goodbye.
Kah saw me watching her. “She saved our lives.”
“I know.” She’d saved Kah’s life, and therefore, had saved mine too. Like all Kovaks, Kah and I were bound together in life and death. If one of us died, the magic that connected us would pull us both to the shadowlands.
“Safe travels, then,” Merrin said, diverting my attention away from Raven. She held out her hand to me.
I clasped it tightly and smiled, ancestors be damned. “Thank you. For everything.”
Merrin turned toward Raven. “This is just a little something to express our thanks,” she said, placing a small gift wrapped with cloth and twine in her hand. “You both will be welcome on Terran lands anytime.”
“Thank you, Merrin,” Raven said with a soft smile.
I reached over to ruffle the little boy’s hair as we said our final goodbyes and parted ways.
The three ofus set out on foot on the western road toward the Ruins of Javan. Clouds rolled in from the horizon. The rain held off, except for a cold misting. The road was deserted without a traveler in sight. If the Rathalans were on our tail, we neither saw nor heard any sign of them. That didn’t mean an ambush wasn’t waiting ahead.
“Who were those people who ambushed us?” Raven asked.
“We call them the tribeless,” I said, holding up my arm to adjust the knives in my bracer that I’d gone back to collect from their lifeless bodies. “Some of them were born without magic, others rejected their magic or their tribe. They’re outlaws. Scavengers. They survive by stealing, collecting bounties, or raiding wagons and caravans. The good news is that we’re heading into Terran lands, and they rarely enter claimed lands.”
