Page 16 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

He wished he’d been old enough to remember more than a few fleeting glimpses of the man and his cousins.

Jove remembered a little more, being nearly five years older.

He’d always said he’d liked how his older cousins would let him play cricket with them in the courtyard.

Not exactly helpful information, unless the Cerls were gearing up for a tournament.

“There’s a small cabin in the woods that way.

” Kase retrieved his electropistol and handed off his pack to the older man before pointing to the thick trees about a mile to their right.

“The man’s name is Ossie. Stay with him.

If I’m not back in an hour, you’ll have to figure out another way to get to the capital. Find Jove Shackley.”

If he’s still alive.

Stowe slung the pack onto his free shoulder. “Don’t need to worry about me.”

Kase scratched at the healing cut on his cheek. “Hallie would.”

The man shrugged. “Somehow I don’t think you’ll be finding a motorcoach for hire.”

Kase hoped the guilt didn’t spill onto his face. “No.” He squirmed a second under the man’s steady gaze, then turned away, pointing to where the treeline ended near the other edge of the town. “Would it make you feel better to know I’m stealing a hover from people who want to kill us?”

Stowe’s features didn’t budge.

Kase continued, “Listen, it’s the only way we’re getting to Kyvena in a reasonable amount of time, and with the Cerls here…well, my brother needs to know what’s going on. It’s life or death.” Kase hoped he looked more confident than he felt. “I’ll do a quick scout of the airfields.”

Stowe handed back Kase’s pack and pulled a flashpistol from his own pack. “I ain’t hiding away while you run off risking your neck.”

Kase stared at the weapon for a second, feeling like his brain was going to burst. Why hadn’t Stowe used that in the cave when they’d thought they’d come across a Cerl? He’d chosen a machete instead, the absolute madman. “You’ve had that the whole time ?”

Stowe fished a few bullets from his pocket and loaded them into the revolving chamber. “Aye.” He shifted the chamber back into place with a loud click. “But it’s more dangerous to us in the caves. Ricochet and the like. Coulda ended up hitting us. Out here, it’ll find Cerl flesh just fine.”

He then fetched the machete and held it in the other hand like he was John Silver.

Kase still didn’t back down. “I appreciate the thought, but I’ll be much better off scouting by myself.”

“You’ve seen a lot, son, but you weren’t there when the Trips took Stoneset.”

Apparently stubbornness ran in the Walker bloodline.

Kase finally nodded. “Fine. But if we run into trouble…”

This was a terrible idea. Stowe couldn’t run quickly, and while he’d survived the attack on Stoneset, he didn’t have any skills that would improve their odds of evading Cerl soldiers. Kase would just have to make sure he didn’t do anything completely stupid.

“…Make sure you shoot straight,” he finished reluctantly.

With that, the duo skirted along the tree line, quietly making their way toward the airfields. Kase was intensely curious to see what Hallie had made of it with her crash.

The Jaydian military might have cleaned it up prior to the Cerls arriving, but if not…

His pride twisted into dread.

What if Nar was easily overtaken because Hallie had destroyed the airfields? Because they couldn’t mount a better response thanks to the hovers in the hangar being mangled into heaps of metal?

Kase vowed he would do anything to make sure she didn’t suffer the consequences of her actions if they both survived this war. How could she have known that her actions would’ve led to the Cerl takeover?

Of course, it would have been a crime regardless, and Kase might not be…available…to defend her in court if it came to it.

He didn’t know whether he’d prefer the firing squad to hanging. Firing squad was probably quicker. Maybe. That would depend on how much the shooters wanted him to suffer.

It wouldn’t do to dwell on the possibilities. He could only focus on getting himself to Kyvena and warning them of the danger to come—if it wasn’t too late. It was better to own up to his mistakes than to run from them. The universe had taught him that lesson loud and clear.

If he hadn’t run, Hallie might still be here with him.

That is…if she would’ve still wanted him. The adventure to Stoneset had only brought them closer. Without that shared trauma, would they still be what they were—whatever they were?

Kase tripped on an exposed root and cursed. Blast it. Focus, you dulkop.

“You all right up there?” Stowe asked.

Kase nodded and waved him off.

Nope, but I’m not telling you about my hypothetical scenarios involving your daughter because I’ve discovered I’m rather insecure about it all. You’re at my back with a machete and a flashpistol.

This wasn’t at all how he’d imagined getting to know his future father-in-law. That is, if…well, now Kase might be getting ahead of himself.

A few more minutes, trees, and intrusive thoughts later, a line of blue hovers—about five—came into view. To their right was a heap of metal that took up most of the right side of the area. Someone had begun to clear the debris, but something must have interrupted the progress.

The hangar. He muttered another curse. At least this one was softer.

Kase could barely tell the structure had been a building once, not a grotesque pile of ruins. What in the blazes had done that? Had that really been Hallie?

His blood chilled. He prayed it wasn’t solely Hallie’s doing. Because if so, his fear of her actions crippling any palpable response to an attacking Cerl Airforce was very much valid.

Kase gripped his pistol harder. Stowe shifted beside him, his thoughts probably running along the same lines. He shouldn’t have told her father what she’d done.

Her only saving grace might be that the Cerls had probably killed anyone who would be able to identify Hallie as the one to blame for the catastrophic defeat.

Soldiers in dark blue uniforms waited on the outer perimeter, spaced at regular intervals amid the ruins.

Kase looked back toward the town once more, looking for any sign of life, but all he could see were structures that used to be homes and shops—now marred with blackened stone and gutted streets.

Kase’s stomach turned. He swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise. Maybe they ought to shift the plan—keep going on foot, steal a hover or motorcoach from the next town, and avoid Nar entirely. There was nothing he could do to help these people now, if there were any survivors at all.

But walking might take weeks—weeks Kyvena didn’t have.

Shocks.

He scratched the patches of beard along his jaw. He needed to think this through. The reality was, stealing a Cerl hover was his best option. Not the safest or the smartest, but the best.

Still, not only would he need to get one of those hovers and figure out how it worked in a matter of minutes—seconds, more likely—but he also had to keep Stowe alive. His palms went slick with sweat despite the slight chill in the air.

But he was Kase Shackley, the best stars-blasted pilot in the realm. If anyone could pull it off, he could.

Bravado had proved it could get him most anywhere. Hopefully it wouldn’t fail him today.

Bravado, he thought firmly, wishing he could say it to Niels’ face. Not arrogance.

He inspected the airfield’s defenses once more.

The soldiers weren’t going to be as gullible as the dragon in the forest, but if he shot something on the other side of the airfields…

no, that wasn’t going to be enough. They might be jumpy, but they had taken out an entire Jaydian unit to conquer Nar, with or without Hallie’s unwitting help.

Kase’s head hurt from chasing after a plan that might work. He stared out at the hangar ruins. If Hallie was here, she’d already have a plan—a brilliant, if deadly and foolhardy, plan.

Some sort of insect buzzed near his ear. He swatted at it.

What would Hallie do?

Before he could answer the question, leaves and underbrush crunched behind him. He glanced back, ready to berate Stowe for being so careless, but just past Hallie’s father, another figure waited amongst the trees.

A ragged old man stood there, hair a mess, pipe hanging from his lips. His beard was even more unkempt than his hair, and he seemed to be missing several teeth.

“Never thought I’d see yer skinny hide no more,” the man growled. He reminded Kase of a bear—especially in his voluminous furs, though it wasn’t nearly cold enough to justify them. Even his eyes had a feral look about them.

Gone was the odd but jolly old man Kase had met only a few weeks before.

Kase had appreciated his help avoiding the Jaydian soldiers last time, and the furs he and Hallie had used as makeshift beds had been quite comfortable.

Ossie had even pretended to have a cat to avoid suspicion and was taken in for questioning.

Kase glanced toward the airfields and patrols.

They were far enough away to have not heard the man, but Kase didn’t know if soldiers were in the woods.

He needed to get the man quiet or on his way quickly.

He smiled, the gesture irritating his healing cut, and reached to shake the man’s hand. “Good to see you again.”

He still held the electropistol loosely at his side with his other hand, keeping one eye on the airfields.

Ossie merely looked at his hand and sniffed. His voice was loud enough to wake the dead. “You cost me a pretty sum to get outta there, ya know.”

Stowe didn’t say anything, only watched, his eyes wary. Kase felt the tension in the air more than the slight chill. He looked closer at Ossie. The edges of his eyes were rimmed red, and sweat beaded in the folds of his mature skin above his scraggly beard.

Too much sweat, even with the furs.