THE REFORGED TRILOGY: BOOK 2 — SWORD OF DREAMS
Chapter 22: Spoken & Broken
“No one can hurt you unless you let them.”
– Prian saying
When the pavement became too uneven to drive, Logan left his rented streetcycle on the shoulder of the road. Let them keep his deposit or charge his account for the loss. He no longer cared.
Logan walked the final distance. Walked, ran… The forest was a blur, patches of dark pine trees and smears of pale snow, more snow than when he arrived. Wind tugged at his hair and clothes. Ice and sleet were as sharp as knives against his skin. There was no blood — whatever the poets said, the cold couldn’t literally cut — but it hurt.
The hunter clambered over a zig-zagging ridge of granite. The stone crumbled like chalk in his hands. Where was his Raptor? Logan swore that his computerized heart skipped a beat. Had someone stolen it? It should have been safe this far from Pylos.
Logan inspected the rocky ridge again. Growing drifts of snow obscured the brush and stones, but he was in the wrong part of the mountains. He had just taken a wrong turn somewhere. There were no trails in the Kayton Mountains. It was hardly a vacation spot. Nowhere on Prianus was.
Logan made his way north, toward a tall crag of rock just visible above the treetops. Was that the one? More climbing brought him to the foot of the outcropping, but Logan saw no sign of his ship. Was he going to be stranded on Prianus forever? Alone with his betrayal, his shame, his pain…
A weight in Logan’s pocket bumped against his leg and finally reminded the hunter of his com. It was programmed with a homing signal for the Raptor. How could he have forgotten? Logan rubbed at his eyes. They were sticky and dry despite the rain and snow. He had slept some the night before, but not very much. He couldn’t remember his dreams, but wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Following the Raptor’s beacon, Logan corrected his course. He wasn’t far off, actually, but it would have been enough to keep him wandering through the mountains for days. An hour’s careful navigation finally brought him to the edge of the trees and then up onto the narrow ledge where he had landed the Raptor. Snow softened its stark lines, but couldn’t disguise the predatory shape.
A brown owl perched on the fighter’s nose and hooted at Logan. He waved the owl off and scraped away the snow until he could unseal the Raptor’s canopy. His breath steamed in the cold and when the cockpit was clear, Logan climbed inside.
He could leave. He didn’t have to stay. He could just fly away and go back to the core. Just leave Prianus behind.
But he couldn’t leave his shame behind so easily. It didn’t live on his homeworld, but in his heart. The stupid, maudlin sentiment made Logan smash his fist into the Raptor’s controls in frustration and the altimeter cracked. So long trying to feel anything — anything at all — and now that he did, Logan would have cut out his own mechanical heart if he thought that it would stop the bitter, sour shame that gnawed at him.
But Vorus was right. It wasn’t that simple.
The camp Ballad told him about wasn’t far away, with the old man and the black-haired Arcadian woman. Gavriel and Xartasia. Logan powered up the Raptor, yanked the throttle and roared off into the roiling clouds.
“Maeve’s gone!”
The shout jerked Duaal suddenly awake. The rest of the camp, too, it seemed. Gripper bolted out the tent flap with such haste that he nearly pulled the whole thing down around the rest of them. Xia sat up in her blankets, raking long fingers through her short hair. She looked across the tent at Duaal.
“Did I hear that correctly?” she asked.
Duaal shrugged and stood up. He pulled on his coat and scarf. “I guess so. Maybe Maeve went off for a fly. Come on.”
Xia rose and followed Duaal outside. The camp was muted and indistinct under a thick blanket of snow. Duaal’s boots crunched softly through the ice.
Tiberius and most of the archeologists stood in the center of the circled tents. Like Duaal, Xen was bundled up in layers and shivering in the icy wind. By stark contrast, Kemmer hadn’t even bothered putting on a shirt.
“What’s going on?” the Prian archeologist asked.
Duaal shouldered his way into the chaos and was surprised to see Panna at the middle of it. The tiny blonde woman was dressed head to foot in quilted black. She looked tired and panicked, but Tiberius seemed to have just woken up. He grabbed Panna’s narrow shoulders and shook her insistently.
“When?” he shouted. “When did it happen?”
“What’s going on here?” Xen asked. He shoved Tiberius away from Panna — or tried to. Tiberius didn’t move. “Why are you yelling at my student, Captain Myles?”
“Maeve’s not at her post or in any of the tents,” Tiberius told him. “She’s gone!”
Reluctantly, he let go of Panna.
“I… I tried to call her this morning, just to check in,” Panna said. She looked furious, but not at Tiberius. Angry tears shone in her eyes and she shook her head. “I should have called earlier! I should have gone up there sooner!”
“Shit,” Kemmer swore. “Is anything missing? Did they get down into the dig?”
“The dig?” Tiberius snarled. “Maeve is gone and you’re worried about the dig?”
Tiberius looked like he might punch the other Prian, but Duaal seized him by the elbow. The captain resisted for a moment, then let himself be pulled back.
“We don’t know,” Panna said. “The spotlight up there was tipped over. I don’t know. It might be broken. But Captain Myles is right. That’s not important right now!”
“Is there anything else up there?” Xia asked.
“I don’t know. The snow’s covered up everything.”
“I need to notify Cerro,” Tiberius said. He stomped off through the snow to make the call.
Duaal considered following, but he was feeling more than a bit wobbly in the knees. There was something familiar about this… It was hardly the first time Maeve had run off, though it was the only time in recent memory. No, it was something else. Something Duaal had been dreaming about, maybe, but he couldn’t pin it down with any more certainty.
“What do we do now?” Gripper asked in a tight voice. “How do we find Smoke?”
“Maybe she’s just off flying,” Enu-Io suggested. “Somewhere she can’t receive your signal.”
“Maeve wouldn’t do that, not without telling someone,” Panna insisted.
Duaal frowned. “Maybe. You don’t know her that well. Maeve’s got a long and annoying history of winging off without a word to anyone. More often than not, she brings back trouble.”
“It’s the trouble I’m worried about,” Kemmer said. “If your Arcadian left, then I’m sure we’ll find her. But if something’s happened to her… Well, it was her job to protect what we’ve got up here.”
“Not to be callous, but Kemmer’s right,” Xen agreed. He looked at Panna with sympathy. “It might actually tell us something if we can find anything missing or broken. If someone was here, we need to know about it.”
“I was watching the camp last night,” Panna said. “No one was down here. Xen, we have to find her. We have to–”
Xen gave his student a stern, red-eyed look. “Enough, Panna. I know you’re tired and upset, but we have work to do.”
Kemmer instructed Ava and Darius to go inventory their equipment. Xen told his team to do the same. Phillip returned to the Tynerion tents to take stock, while Enu-Io and Gruth climbed down into the ravine to make sure that nothing was missing from the Waygate site. Panna grudgingly agreed to help them.
“Um, what about us…?” Gripper asked when the other teams were gone.
“What?” Duaal raised his eyes.
He was still trying to remember his dream and figure out why this felt so familiar. Xia and Gripper watched him, waiting for instructions. Duaal looked back at Tiberius, who was pacing a deep furrow through the snow as he spoke into his radio.
“What should we do, Shimmer?” Gripper asked again.
“I’m not sure,” Duaal said, faltering. What could they do?
Xen and Kemmer were still nearby, too, not yet following their teams into the tents. Duaal tried not to be distracted by the shirtless Prian archeologist, but it was difficult.
Something flew overhead. Duaal shielded his eyes and looked up into the sky. The snow was falling more gently now, but he still had to squint. The loud, angular shape above was a police Raptor. Was it Captain Cerro? If so, Duaal was impressed by his response time. But then the mage frowned. If it was Cerro, why did he have the big, bulky Long Wings pods fitted over his Raptor?
The fighter came in for a steep, hard landing and the canopy snapped open. A man jumped out of the cockpit and ran down the length of one wing, then landed on the ground in a spray of snow. The newcomer wasn’t here to talk. His stance was tight, defensive, and his gun was in his hand. Duaal finally recognized him.
“Oh, my God,” Duaal shouted. “Captain!”
The old Prian whirled and stared at the man.
“Coldhand!” he snarled.
The bounty hunter skidded to a halt. Ice flecked his hair. There was something new in his pale eyes. They looked just like Maeve’s used to. Heavy and haunted, but now a sudden surprise widened them.
Tiberius dropped his com and tore his null-inertia gun from the holster under his arm. He sprinted across the gap between them to stand in front of Duaal, Xia and Gripper. Snow drifted softly down around them. The heavens didn’t care about the dangerous tension of the moment.
“Where’s Maeve?” Tiberius shouted through the snow. “What did you do with her?”
“You? What are you doing here?” Coldhand asked. He shook his head like a man waking from a strange dream. “An old man and a black-haired Arcadian… You and Maeve.”
The archeologists watched with confusion written across both of their faces.
“Who is this man?” Kemmer asked. “Is he a cop?”
But no one was paying attention to him. Gripper squealed in terror and tugged on Xia’s shoulder, pulling her back away from danger. Duaal stared at Logan Coldhand. The hunter’s pale blue eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles under them and his posture had none of the confidence that Duaal had come to expect. This man looked like a cornered animal.
“Where did you take Maeve? How low can you fall, you honorless bastard?” Tiberius snarled. “I’m going to rip your God-damned heart out!”
His words finally seemed to sink in and Coldhand started.
“Maeve… She’s not here?” the hunter asked.
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
Kemmer had to shout to make himself heard over Tiberius and waved his hand at the Raptor. “What are you doing, Myles? He’s here to help us!”
“I’m not a cop,” Coldhand said sharply.
“He’s a bounty hunter,” Tiberius agreed.
He waved his gun at Logan and it flashed in the wan sunlight. Coldhand watched as the old cop advanced on him. He didn’t recoil, but he looked far from impassive. In fact, Duaal thought Logan looked like he was going to be sick.
“I didn’t do anything to Maeve,” he told Tiberius. “I didn’t take her. I… I haven’t seen her since Gharib. What happened?”
“No. No more questions,” Tiberius said. “You’re a buzzard, Coldhand. I told you back on Stray that if I ever saw you again, I would kill you. We’re ending this now.”
Duaal wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but doubted it could be any good for anyone. The last time Tiberius fought the bounty hunter, he got shot. Only Coldhand’s haste had saved the old man. If it came down to a duel, Logan would kill Tiberius.
And Duaal actually believed Coldhand. Why would the bounty hunter abduct Maeve and then come back to the camp? He seemed surprised to find Tiberius on the mountain and genuinely unsettled by Maeve’s absence.
“Captain, wait,” Xia protested. She pulled away from Gripper and stepped in front of Tiberius, waving her hands. “You can’t just shoot him. He hasn’t done anything!”
“Hasn’t done anything?” Tiberius asked. He shoved the Ixthian doctor out of his way with a thick arm. “He’s a traitor! He abandoned his own people!”
Coldhand flinched visibly.
“Excuse me, I think we’re all overlooking something important,” Xen interjected mildly. He looked at Coldhand. “When this man arrived, he said something. You were expecting someone else?”
“Yes.”
Xen blinked colorful eyes. He wasn’t used to Logan’s perfunctory answers and clearly didn’t quite know what to make of them. He cleared his throat.
“Well, who?” Xen asked. “Who did you think you would find?”
Coldhand was still watching Tiberius. He dropped the Talon-9 a few degrees, but didn’t put the weapon away. He didn’t look at Xen when he answered, but his eyes flickered over Duaal.
“Gavriel and Xartasia. I came here hunting the Cult of Nihil.”
Gavriel…? The world seemed to tip under Duaal’s feet. Gavriel was alive and he was here. Here on Prianus. Why? Was he coming for Duaal?
“The cult of who now?” Xen asked.
“Don’t you ever watch the news? Never mind,” Xia said. “You’ve always been more interested in the past than the present. I told you about Gavriel, the madman who trained Duaal. The Cult of Nihil is his church.”
“They’re here?” Tiberius asked. The gun was still in his hand, but down at his side now.
“Yes,” Logan said. “The Nihilists have been abducting Arcadians from Pylos.”
“What? Do… do you think they took Smoke?” Gripper asked. “Do you know where she is?”
Kemmer glanced over his shoulder. Panna, Gruth and Enu-Io were still down inspecting the ravine, but Ava, Darius and Phillip had overheard the commotion outside and emerged to investigate. They all stood back and whispered to each other, though Ava and Darius held the heaviest pieces of equipment that they could find.
“Anything missing?” Kemmer asked.
“Nothing that we can find,” Darius shouted. The three seemed reluctant to approach any closer.
Kemmer nodded and returned his attention to Logan. “Nothing’s been stolen, it seems. Maybe your cult did take her.”
Logan’s pale eyes narrowed. “When did Maeve go missing?”
The question seemed to remind Tiberius that he was furious with the hunter.
“What the hell do you care, bounty hunter?” he asked. “She’s not worth anything to you now!”
Logan’s jaw clenched and Duaal wondered what the man was biting back. Did he want to argue with Tiberius? What was stranger — the idea that the ice-hearted bounty hunter might care enough about anything to argue, or that he might stop himself? Duaal waited and wondered what could silence a man like Logan Coldhand. He wanted to know. Xia watched the mage out of the corner of one faceted red eye.
“Wait!” Gripper cried. Hiss concern for his missing friend must have outweighed his terror of the bounty hunter. “Coldhand, can… can you help us find her?”
“We don’t need his help!” Tiberius snarled.
“Yes, we really do! The police haven’t been able to find the one who murdered Dannos,” Gripper said, wringing his hands. “But no one is better at finding Smoke than Coldhand.”
“Could you find Maeve, Coldhand?” Xia asked.
The hunter stood silently for a long moment before answering. “Chances are good that Gavriel has Maeve. She’s made herself an enemy of the Nihilists and nothing else was taken, you said.”
“But why take just Maeve?” Duaal asked. “What about me?”
“What about you?” Coldhand said flatly. “What do you mean to Gavriel? Does he even know you’re here?”
“I… don’t know,” Duaal admitted. His face went hot. “I don’t think so.”
“If Gavriel knew where you were,” Xia said, “he would have simply taken you back rather than steal Baliend on Stray. He must not know about you.”
Duaal wasn’t sure whether he should be relieved or insulted. Shouldn’t Gavriel know? Shouldn’t he feel that his one-time slave was near?
“Coldhand, please help us find Smoke. I… I can pay you. I’ve got some money,” Gripper said. He fished around in his pockets but only came back with a few linty pieces of wire. “Um… I do, really. Just give me a minute.”
Coldhand’s gaze dropped to the icy ground. What was wrong with him? For the first time, Duaal noticed a dark smear along the hunter’s jaw. A shadow? No, a bruise, and a nasty one. It was a few days old, just starting to go yellow around the edges. Who could have done that to Logan Coldhand?
“I don’t know where the Nihilists are. I’ve been searching Pylos for a week and found next to nothing,” Coldhand said. He gestured around the camp. “This was the only lead I had.”
“But you can find Smoke, can’t you?” Gripper asked. “You always used to do it before, no matter how hard we tried to shake you!”
“We don’t have time or money for any of this,” Kemmer interrupted. “I’m sorry for your loss, Captain Myles. Truly, I am, but there’s work we need to finish. I don’t know this bounty hunter and I’m not sure I care to. If he can’t help, then send him on.”
“He’s our best chance,” Duaal said.
“We don’t need him!” Tiberius brought his gun back up to Coldhand. “We don’t! Even if he finds our dove, what do you think he’s going to do then? Kill her? Drag her away? He’s a traitor and we can’t trust him!”
Coldhand looked between his ship and Tiberius, then holstered his Talon-9.
“If Maeve’s been taken by the Nihilists, then we want the same thing — to find them. I’m not taking your money,” he told Gripper, “but I’ll help you.”
“No!” Tiberius shouted. He whistled for Orphia and charged toward Coldhand again.
Duaal grabbed him. “No, captain. Don’t! You want to see Maeve again, don’t you?”
“I…”
Xia stepped up next to Duaal, between Tiberius and Coldhand. “He’s right, captain. Even if you hate Coldhand, you know he’s good at what he does. One of the best in the galaxy. Don’t let your pride get Maeve killed.”
Duaal could hear Tiberius’ teeth grinding and a vein throbbed in his forehead. The old man’s knuckles were white as he gripped the gun in his hand. Finally, he closed his eyes and let out a long-held breath. The weapon wavered and then fell back to his side.
“You’re right,” Tiberius said. “By the Skylord’s balls, I hate it, but you’re right. If those Nihilist bastards have Maeve, we’ve got to get her back. But when this is over…”
Coldhand nodded his understanding and closed in to a more conversational distance. The bounty hunter was even more tired and haggard than Duaal first supposed, and he could see the faint halos of other bruises above his collar and below his sleeves.
“You were on the com when I landed,” Logan said.
“I was calling Captain Cerro,” Tiberius admitted. “We’ve been in contact since we arrived. There was a theft and then a murder the morning we got here. We’ve been working as security.”
“And tech support,” Gripper added.
“Do you know where Maeve was before she was taken?” Logan asked.
“Yeah. Up there,” the Arboran answered, pointing through the gently swirling snow to an angular crag of icy stone. “Smoke was up there every night.”
“Why?” Logan asked.
“She was guarding the ravine.”
Coldhand frowned. “The ravine? Why was she watching that instead of this camp?”
“The camp was my job,” Duaal told him. “And the captain’s. But Maeve had the wings, so she was up there.”
The bounty hunter turned away and began wading through the snow, up toward the outcropping.
“Now wait just a God-damn minute,” Kemmer said, running to intercept Coldhand. “I don’t know you and you haven’t signed the nondisclosure agreements. We can’t just let you poke around up here! This is a sensitive site.”
“If Gavriel’s really got Maeve, then we can’t just leave her on her own,” Duaal said. “You have no idea what he’s like.”
“I’m not trying to belittle your loss, but I don’t think you understand the importance of the…” Kemmer looked at Coldhand. “…Of our discovery.”
“I don’t care about what you’ve got up here,” Logan said. “I’ll do my job and then be gone.”
“That’s all fine for you to say now, but I don’t know anything about you,” Kemmer said.
“My name is Logan Coldhand. I’m a bounty hunter. I’m going to find Maeve Cavainna and I don’t give two tailfeathers about anything else.”
Logan shoved Kemmer out of his way and stalked off through the snow. Xen turned toward the other archeologist with his hands tucked into his sleeves, smirking.
“I don’t think that man’s going to sign anything,” he said.
“Shut up,” Kemmer snapped back. “With that lot flying around looking for their lost dove, who’s going to be left to protect us?”
Xen stopped smiling. Duaal and the rest of the Blue Phoenix crew ran to catch up with Coldhand.
