Page 15 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

BLASTED DEATH TRAPS

Kase

KASE AWOKE TO COLD WETNESS on the side of his face.

He flinched and batted whatever was causing the sensation.

The cold stung, but he wasn’t sure why. He hit another hand, forcing his lids open.

It was Hallie. It had to be. He’d been dreaming of her, and now she was here, poking at him to irritate him into waking up.

He smiled and blinked away the rest of his sleep.

Stowe bent over him, rag in hand. He squinted down at Kase. “Quit smilin’ at me like that.”

Wrong Walker. Kase bent his smile back out of shape and sat up. Pain radiated through his skull, and he slapped a hand to it…which, of course, caused more pain. Something else leaked onto his hand.

He pulled away. Dark blood mixed with flakes smeared across his palm.

“Don’t move just yet, son,” Stowe said a little more kindly, sitting back and digging through his pack.

“What happened?” Kase looked around the room, trying his best not to move his neck much, hoping that Stowe would stop the blood pouring from the side of his face. The pounding in his head only lessened somewhat.

The space was only lit with electropistol sparks, but Kase could see enough.

They sat in the tunnel just adjacent to the Zuprium crystal, which was visible through an opening in the rocks blocking them from going back.

At the top was a crack big enough for someone very slim to crawl through. To the left was only darkness.

They had no way to go except forward. Kase didn’t fancy another battle with the crystal anyway.

Stowe handed him a vial of brown liquid. “A rock clipped your head pretty good, but you’re a tough’n. Lucky my pack wasn’t buried too deep, and this was cushioned quite nice like.”

Kase took it from him as Stowe continued, “Don’t have none of that fancy medicine you inject into your skin like they do in the capital, but this’ll dull the pain until we can get you checked out proper.”

Kase downed the vial in one gulp. It tasted like dirt. He grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut as the liquid tingled its way to his stomach. Ugh. Hopefully he didn’t throw it up. “Thanks.”

Stowe tied up his pack. “It’s the least I could do after you…well, thank you, son.”

Kase gave a small laugh. “Guess my luck is changing, then.”

Stowe helped Kase stand as well. “From what little Niels told me about you, I owe you much more than a simple numbing medicine.”

“Oh, yeah? And what did he say about me?” Kase rolled his bruised shoulder and winced at the pain. Guess whatever it was he’d drunk hadn’t taken effect yet.

“That you’re arrogant and rich and don’t know nothin’ about mountain life, but you’ve put yourself in harm’s way to save my daughter more times than he could count, so there’s that.”

Annoyance flared in Kase’s cheeks as he furrowed his brow. “It’s what anyone would’ve done.”

“It’s not, and for that, I owe you a mighty debt.” Stowe handed Kase his pack. It was rather dusty and ripped in a few places, but it was mostly intact. Gingerly, he tugged it onto his shoulder. He took the electropistol from Stowe as well. The lantern wasn’t anywhere in sight. Lovely.

Kase shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything.”

Stowe gave him a look that said differently, but he dusted off his trousers and looked back at the rock fall.

“Rather get away from here fast like. Sometimes one cave-in’ll cause others.

Miracle I didn’t lose Hallie in that one back when Jack…

” He coughed. “Sorry. Bein’ in the mines just… reminds me of…things.”

Kase eyed the wall of debris. He didn’t know what exactly happened back there, but he hoped they didn’t stumble across another one. He didn’t think he would get lucky a second time.

He ignored the slight tilt as he stepped forward and put a hesitant hand on Stowe’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Walker.”

“It just hits me sometimes outta nowhere.” Stowe put his own hand on Kase’s shoulder. “That concoction will take a few minutes to work, but we need to get on now.”

He looked into Kase’s eyes for so long that Kase almost felt uncomfortable. After a moment, Stowe looked away. “Might have a concussion, but without a good light, I can’t tell if your pupils are dilatin’ proper or not.”

The pounding in Kase’s head eased a little. It still hurt, but it no longer felt as if a knife stabbed him in the temple repeatedly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Sure you will,” Stowe chuckled, patting Kase’s arm as he walked off.

Kase let him get a few paces ahead before muttering to himself, “I’m not arrogant .”

Several hours, three twists, eight forks, and ten collapsed side tunnels later, the midday sunshine made Kase’s eyes burn.

But the pain in his head stayed under control thanks to continued shots of Stowe’s numbing concoction, and they were now in the Jaydian foothills, blessedly out of the tunnels.

He’d nearly lost count of the collapsed ones.

The hike down the mountain would still be quite the beast to slay, with its uneven pathways through the thick trees, but at least they weren’t in the dark.

Part of him hoped to stop in Nar and steal any hover that had survived Hallie’s sabotage—shocks, he was still proud of her for that—or one that had been called to the town once they’d realized they couldn’t catch the criminals in their own ships.

Hard to believe he and Hallie were the criminals in question.

Harder to believe Hallie had gone from grumpy bookshop attendant to one of Jayde’s most wanted in a matter of months.

Quite impressive. He wondered if she also had a terribly drawn wanted poster outside the tavern.

The artist probably wouldn’t mess up her nose.

If he had, blast the consequences. Kase would track the bloke down himself and clock him.

“There should be a carriage for hire in Nar, which’ll be comin up soon,” Stowe huffed from beside him. He paused and put his hand on a nearby tree to catch his breath. Kase stopped and looked back, fighting the urge to run a hand through his hair. “Good thing too, cause I ain’t gettin’ in a hover.”

“Can we reconsider that stance? A hover would be quickest, and I’m…well…” He shifted his weight to his other foot. “I used to be a pilot.”

Stowe cast a doubtful look over him. “You got that kind of money?”

“Well, no.” He hadn’t thought he’d have to spell this out. “We’ll probably have to steal one.”

Stowe furrowed his brow. “Son, I’m a good, law-abiding citizen.”

“Well, your daughter blew up the hangar, so even if we had the money, the only hovers available will be the ones used to ferry military personnel. Law-abiding citizens won’t be getting any rides.”

Stowe’s mouth dropped open. He shook his head and blinked. “You must be talkin’ bout a different Hallie Walker.”

“You raised quite a woman, let me tell you,” Kase said with a small smile. “If we can’t find a carriage or a hover to steal, we may be able to use my…reputation to secure one. But that’s a last resort.”

The absolute last resort, because it would mean getting arrested and sent to Kyvena in chains. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work.

“I don’t like the sound of your reputation…especially if you’ve turned my daughter into some criminal.”

Kase shrugged. “Just get her to tell you the story once she joins us in Kyvena.”

Stowe only stared at him for a moment more before trudging past him, shaking his head.

It took about twenty minutes to weave through the trees…

twenty minutes too long, if one were to ask Kase.

Mostly because of the birdsong ringing through the branches, so joyful it grated on Kase’s ears.

Even worse, one of the calls sounded too much like a human voice, and he kept almost snapping his neck checking over his shoulder for someone in pursuit.

He didn’t fancy a fight amongst the trees. It would be easier to hide, but harder to get a clear shot.

At the edge of the woods, across a field of freshly turned dirt ready for planting, Nar finally came into view. Kase scanned the city outskirts for any lonesome hovers. When he’d left Nar in the middle of a rainstorm, he’d thought he’d never see it again.

He was not completely wrong.

No one seemed to be walking around the city, even though it was only early evening, the sun still hanging half a thumb’s length above the horizon. People should be out and about socializing, shopping, maybe even heading to the taverns for an early dinner.

But that didn’t mean the city was deserted.

In place of people, blue-tinged hovers patrolled the streets, zooming along ten feet above the ground.

Kase froze in his tracks. Those hovers didn’t belong to Jayde. When Jove had explained the mission to Tasava all those months ago, he’d said the Cerls were after more Zuprium. He’d implied that it was the Cerls who’d compromised the Jaydian mines.

Kase didn’t know for sure, but by the look of those hovers, that assumption was correct. They looked a little like Jaydian airships, but not enough, and the sheen…

There was something unsettling about the blueness of them. It was like they’d taken Zuprium and infused it with the hottest part of a fire.

These were sleeker than Kase’s old standard hover.

The noses were more pointed, the wings more aerodynamic and tucked closer to the hover’s side.

Kase wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers.

These looked more like old fighter jets out of books Kase had read about warfare on First Earth.

He didn’t think he wanted to know what sort of firepower these had. It couldn’t be good.

Kase briefly wondered if that had been the next step in his uncle’s research before he died, or if the advancement was a natural evolution from the secrets about infusing electricity with the metal he sold to them.