Unknotted

Bullets and Missing Keys

Rokan

Four guards formed a semicircle around Topaz and me. If I had counted right, there were six Namenite guards total, two trolls, two enchanters, and one ultra. Our guards had their backs to us, casting occasional glances over their shoulders to check that we hadn’t moved. The moment all four sets of eyes turned elsewhere Topaz rolled under the low belly of the cattle trailer. With the tide out, the air felt too heavy to carry any small sound she made.

I held my breath anyway. All that needed to happen was the guard to catch her movement from the corner of his eye and everything would unravel. If all her plans relied so much on luck, she was one very lucky hybrid indeed.

She vanished to the other side of the truck. I caught sight of her feet rushing to the cab before they disappeared behind the tires again. With the faintest click, I heard the cab door open.

I wasn’t the only one who heard. Three of the guards shot their attention in that direction. The one closest raised his rifle to his shoulder and moved toward the noise. The other three guards glanced back toward their prisoners. Then did a doubletake.

Three rifles were aimed at my chest. “Where is she?” one demanded.

I shrugged, keeping my uncuffed hands behind my back. “Bathroom break?”

The three shared a confused glance.

“Show me your hands!” the first guard yelled from the front of the truck. I thought about telling him that Topaz didn’t understand such commands, but he would figure it out soon enough. “Get out of the truck!”

The truck rocked, and I guessed the guard was tugging on the door handle.

“Watch him,” the second guard in the line ordered, then he and the third guard put rifles to shoulders and hurried to the cab.

The last guard kept his rifle trained on me, his hands shifting on the grips. He licked his lips. Nervous fella then.

“Open the door!” a guard yelled, followed by more rocking of the truck. “Someone find the keys.”

My guard glanced toward the terminal booth where the trolls had finally looked up from their phones. He gestured to them; they must have the keys. This was my opening though.

I lunged and grabbed the rifle, jerking the barrel upward. The guard gasped, and the rifle fired.

Twisting the barrel back toward the ground, I brought the butt of it up and into the guard’s chin. The guard staggered back, his grip loosening. I tore the weapon from his hands.

Years of training and war fell on me as protective and comforting as armor. The rifle settled into the pocket of my shoulder and my finger squeezed the trigger. Three rounds found the guard’s center mass. I pivoted, and four more rounds peppered the next guard.

By this time, the third guard was firing. I ducked behind the back of the open trailer. Bullets pinged off the trailer’s corner, shooting up sparks from metal on metal.

Another guard watched the back of the truck. He raised his weapon. I fired off another set of three bullets, wishing that the Namenite soldiers carried dart guns like all Keadanian soldiers did. The goal was to unite all hybrids; killing each other contradicted that mission. But what else could I do if I hoped to escape with the prisoners?

“What in the Void is happening?” Admon was racing down the ramp from the second tier in the cattle trailer, the enchanters behind him. He paused only a moment when he saw me. There were too many civilians locked in their pens flanking the compartment to risk firing.

Admon didn’t think so though. The ultra flipped the rifle hanging against his back into his hands.

I jumped off the ramp door and hooked my fingers under it. Admon’s gun cracked the air. A bullet hissed overhead and trailed fire across my back.

Biting back a snarl of pain, I drove the ramp up until the hydraulic cords to either side of it engaged. Footsteps pounded down the length of the trailer. I shoved my shoulder into the ramp until it slammed shut and I flip the lock closed.

Something, likely Admon, crashed against the door, rattling it on its hinges.

I peeked around the corner of the trailer and fired my rifle without much aim. It was enough to drive the approaching guard back against the trailer’s side. Racing to the other side of the ramp door, I locked the other set of bolts. Admon and the enchanters were shouting inside. Then a flurry of gunshots followed, ripping holes through the ramp in a shower of splinters and screeching metal.

How long the door held was anyone’s guess.

I dropped to my stomach as the bullets hissed past. In the prone position, I tucked my rifle back into my shoulder. The guard was slowly creeping forward. Once his feet cleared the tire, I squeezed the trigger. The bullet ripped through his ankle. Howling, the guard fell.

I crawled free of the barrage of bullets tearing the door apart and rounded the trailer. Quickly, I disarmed the guard gripping his bleeding ankle and slung the second rifle over my shoulder by its strap. I bound his wrist with cuffs found on his belt, taking enough pity to leave his hands in front so he could staunch the bleeding from his leg.

I knew well enough that killing was part of war, but that didn’t mean I had to kill more than necessary. So long as this guard didn’t do anything stupid, I wouldn’t put another bullet in him.

A shot fired from the front of the truck. Glass shattered. A yelp of pain. My pulse resounded in my head. I sprinted around the front of the truck, rifle raised to fire. Blood was trailing down my back and soaking my shirt from the bullet skipping across it. My legs were starting to feel a bit like pudding.

Of the last two guards, one stood on the step rail, arm through the window fumbling for the lock. The other waited with rifle at the ready.

The door flew open, knocking the guard off the rail. He clung to the door as it swung out. I dropped the first rifle, grabbed the guard by the back of his armor, and ripped him off the door. The guard landed face down in the dirt. I was on him a moment later, adrenalin pounding in my head.

Scrambling to twist the guard’s arms behind his back, I risked a glance over my shoulder. The last guard was in the cab of the truck. It rocked wildly from whatever struggle was happening inside. Even without the magic urging me to protect her, my dominance drove up my throat into a howl of rage.

I gave up on detaining the guard and drove a right hook into his temple instead. He went limp beneath me. Pushing off the guard, I rushed to the truck.

“Topaz!” I reached for the truck door that was swinging in time with the rocking of the cab. A body shot out of it and hit the ground. The final guard rolled on the earth, groaning and curling into a fetal position.

I peeked into the cab.

Topaz, hands braced against the dash and the back of the seat, her legs stretched out from her kick that had sent the guard flying out of the truck, huffed. “You were supposed to keep them off me.”

She had to be kidding, right?

“I took out the other five and locked the enchanters and ultra in the trailer, just as you said to do. Took a bullet for it too.” I twisted to show her the wound.

“It’s a graze,” she said without concern. She ducked under the dash that she had pried open. Wires hung out from beneath the steering wheel.

“No keys?” I asked.

“Would I be doing this if I had the keys?” She shook her head as though she thought I was an idiot. To be fair, it had been a dumb question.

“You’re going to have to walk me through this.”

“Through what?” I glanced over my shoulder. More of Admon’s bullets were peppering the trailer’s door. It wouldn’t be long until it was nothing more than twisted metal and splinters.

“Voice in my head, Whiskers. See if you can convince those trolls to give you the keys and fetch my belt.”

“Are you sure?” I glanced at the guards outside the door. One was still out cold, the other slowly rising.

“Wasting time asking,” she mumbled.

(Chapter concludes in part 2)