Page 58 of Red Demon (Oria #1)

Fawn Rock

M ist folded between sky and ancient trees.

We navigated the mossy path—emerald green, thick as a carpet—muffling the sound of our jog.

And yep, the rock at the edge of that clearing did bear an uncanny resemblance to a sleeping fawn.

Bria, through Faruhar, assured us we were alone.

Far then melted back into the undergrowth and scaled a tree to keep a lookout for any more of Mahakal’s soldiers.

Asher dug away the damp soil with his dagger to find the code sequencer, wrapped tight in weatherproof cloth.

Asher flicked a switch; the monitor blinked to life.

He studied the device like it could talk.

“I was hoping there might be a note or something.” He peeked inside with a click. “I still don’t get it.”

My heart ached for my brother, still clinging to hope that Mira meant something other than goodbye.

“We can’t go back to the city, Ash. You want to bury it or pack it?”

“I’ll give it a funeral.” Asher placed it back inside the hole, his shoulder slumping. “It felt more like planting a seed the first time,” he said, with the saddest laugh I ever heard.

“Someone is coming,” Faruhar hissed from the trees.

“Hide it,” I said, gesturing to Ash. “Let’s go.”

“Civilian clothes, no weapons I can see,” Faruhar said. “Female.”

“Hold fire,” I called up. Asher and I ducked behind the trees.

A rustle in the undergrowth. Silence. She burst into the clearing with a flurry of black hair. A worn leather bag hung from her shoulder, her breathing frantic through tear-streaked cheeks.

I stepped out from my hiding place. “Mira?”

Mira dropped the bag on the moss, her eyes scanning mine before locking onto Asher’s. With a start, she was across the clearing, flinging her arms around his neck and pulling his head down to hers. She backed him into a tree, kissing him.

“What did you say to me, Ash? ‘Voids, it’s only been one day?’” My humor landed at my feet. Not sure they even heard me.

“Jesse, give us a minute, please,” Mira said, as Asher turned her head back with fierce urgency, completely oblivious to my presence.

“There’s a lot I need to tell you,” Mira said a few awkward minutes later. “Both of you.”

That’s when Far dropped from her branch above our heads, landing with the usual predatory grace. “Soldiers are tracking your friend.”

I smiled. “Soldiers are tracking our friend.”

Mira’s gasp ripped through the clearing, eyes wide at Faruhar. Her hand flew to her chest, as if to keep her heart from breaking loose: an unrepentant fear reserved for nightmares made flesh. She backed away, her terror so primal it made my gut clench.

“...Four, either military or police, I’m not sure,” Faruhar said, but I’d missed some of her words over all the screaming. Faruhar glanced at Mira and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Mira gave the smallest possible nod.

“Mira, this is our friend Faruhar,” Asher said, going to put the code sequencer in his pack. “I’ll catch you up, I promise.”

Faruhar gestured to me. “We can handle four.”

“Go ahead of us, Ashes. We’ll catch up to you.” We exchanged grinning salutes before they disappeared into the dense foliage. I slung the crossbow on my back, eying the trees.

We gestured to our chosen positions. With the aid of some blades sewn into my boots to match Faruhar’s design, we hurled ourselves into the trees side by side, landing silently on our branches, taking aim in easy unison. I smiled at her, heart light despite the danger.

The four armed men moved at a brisk pace, checking the ground for Mira’s trail and in constant contact with the comms in their ears. Faruhar gestured to a black bird swooping high overhead: a raven.

I gestured to my legs, arms, shoulder, then down to the men. Non-lethal shots. She nodded.

The first one went down with a roar, the small bolt piercing deep into his thigh.

Far had two more on the ground before they reached for their comms. The fourth ducked behind a tree while I clicked the reload, leaning into the trunk to steady myself.

Then Far shot down the raven, which shrieked as it fell, flapping and dripping to the ground.

“Touch the comms and you die!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the trees. “We don’t want to hurt you!”

The closest two were young, maybe teenagers, faces filled with fear and confusion. While I dropped to a lower branch, Faruhar took to the canopy, running and jumping through the dense foliage. She grappled to the next tree with her rope, making her way to the hidden man.

“The SBO carrier!” one teen soldier shouted. His hand trembled, hovering above his comm.

“Nah, I’m good! I will still kill you if you touch that comm though,” I yelled back.

“Hey, what do you think the least likely thing someone with SBO would say right now, apart from giving you a chance to live? Have you guys had any coffee yet this morning? I haven’t.

Perhaps we can sit down over some pastry and espresso, and I could talk about the lies Mahakal has told all of us.

Maybe you’ve figured out a few already…” I kept talking, keeping most of my body behind the angling branch, sounding as casual and friendly as I could.

Perhaps I sounded crazy, but not SBO-crazy.

The uninjured man angled his head from behind his tree. I ducked away before his bolt flew beside me.

Faruhar shot him in the neck, just above his Chaeten leather collar. “On his comms. We warned you.” His uniform bloomed with life blood as she dropped from the trees.

A dark-featured Asri soldier scooted back, unable to stand with his injuries, fear replacing the initial aggression in his eyes. I took a shot, landing an arrow between his knees.

“It’s not that I’m a terrible shot.” I pushed the point home by firing a bolt through an asimina fruit hanging between the other two open-mouthed men. “See? Not trying to kill you. Mahakal is lying. I’m not infected with anything. He just wants me silenced.”

“The rest of you need to toss your weapons and comms in front of you,” Faruhar said. “If we see a light on the earpiece, you die. We both have excellent eyes.”

I shimmied down from my branch as they complied.

A soldier with straight black hair contorted his face into a sneer as I destroyed his comm, relishing the expensive crunch.

The soldier spat. My lecture had done nothing to change his mind.

There was no more time for words, no chance of reasoning with him.

I stared into his Chaeten green eyes, deciding what to do.

“Jesse. Time to go,” Faruhar said.

I didn’t look away from the black-haired soldier. He imagined my end. He’d forfeit this battle, but he wouldn’t stop until my friends and I were dead. Dread froze my chest. I should kill him too; get ahead of the risk.

I felt Far’s hand on my shoulder. “He did what we asked. It’s enough.”

As we ran away, I wasn’t sure if I agreed. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. Weeks ago, I’d looked at her the same way that soldier looked at me.

I cleared my head.

There was something about the synchronicity of our pace that made my heart flutter. We’d dodge around a tree to meet with our limbs aligned mid-motion and jumped a log in step. She bounded like a deer over the ground beside me, and I knew by her smile that she took joy in that same tacit rhythm.

In awe of her, I took a branch to the face.

We set our path in an arc, jogging and light foraging, both to throw off pursuers and give Ash and Mira a little time to themselves. When we found them, Mira was ready to give me a proper hello. She ran to me grinning, and my arms engulfed her.

When I turned back, Faruhar shot her gaze away. I meandered over to hug her too.

Her eyes warmed to mine. “Why are you hugging me?”

“Dunno. You looked like you could use one,” I said, with a self-conscious chuckle.

“I see what you mean, Ash,” Mira whispered.

“I heard that. What did you mean, Ash?” I asked.

Asher’s eyes darted away, then he pointed to an enclave of rocks with an overhang. “Looks like a good spot for lunch.”

Smoke swirled from the frost-damp wood that we coaxed to burn, the scent of smoke mingling with the aroma of fire-baked wild tubers.

Far contributed a meaty-textured yellow mushroom we dipped in shortgrain flour before roasting, and Mira supplied a couple of wrapped fruit and nut bars we split in half.

Mira perched on a flat rock across from me, her hand possessive on Asher’s leg. “All right.” She cleared her throat, her eyes flitting between Faruhar and me. “I said I had a lot to tell you. Easy conversations first. About the cafe—”

“Someone was listening, huh?” I said, finishing a bite.

“Yeah, my Academy Mother was sitting at the next table over.” Her voice softened at Asher. “She was relieved by my explanation that you were an old flame who wouldn’t leave me alone.”

I choked on a sip of water. “Accurate enough.”

“Well, I omitted my true feelings on the subject.” Mira patted Ash’s knee as they shared a smile.

Faruhar scanned the perimeter of the clearing, barely listening. I leaned closer. “Are we clear?”

“No one for kilometers,” she told me. We both turned back to Mira.

“Anyway, most of the people I worked with were trained in the newer academies, the ones Queen Azara founded. The Academy I attended established itself decades before the war.” Mira bit her lip.

“The difference was … notable. Most of the leadership had a very narrow area of expertise, with no broader curiosity. They’d take anything the empire said on faith rather than apply a scientific mindset.

So…” She paused, smirking at Asher and me.

“Let’s just say their security was also lacking a proper education.

They had some equipment and resources I was able to use, off the record. ”

Faruhar’s lips quirked up. “Good for you.”

Mira gave a hesitant smile back.

“So,” I leaned forward, “what did you find out?”

“Remember that segment in your code with fifty-three repetitions?” Mira asked.