Steven Montano - Crown of Ash

“And I take it the Ebon Cities beat you to it?”

“That outpost you destroyed was a reconnaissance tower,” Turner said. “They actually plan to encroach at another point, because only a small number of creatures can pass through the Mek’taar portal at a time. Still, t hey were able to squeeze a recon patrol through, and they set up a watch post to scope out the area.”

“Why did you send us in?” Kane asked Burke angrily. “You ass. ”

“Because it needed to be done,” Burke said. “I wasn’t going to ask the Grey Clan to risk themselves, and I certainly wasn’t going to send in Turner or Marcus.”

“So you dumped us in there?” Ronan growled.

“Yes,” Burke said flatly. “And you survived. And while I can understand how that might not make you feel all that happy with me, frankly I don’t care. Because i f you want to save your friends you’ll need my help.”

Ronan bit his lip, but quieted. Kane shook his head.

“So what do they want?” Jade asked. “Why are both Koth and the Ebon Cities trying so hard to get in there? And why are T he Revengers interested?”

“Honestly…I don’t know,” Burke said. “That was between Rake and the Grand Vizier of Koth. I do know, however, that the plan involves using Cross.”

“Why do they need Cross?” Ronan asked.

“Because you may have his body, but you don’t have his mind,” Turner explained. “He’s trapped in the Whisperlands. And both Koth and the Ebon Cities seem to think he knows exactly how to find what they’re looking for.”

“Why haven’t you made contact with your people?” Ronan asked Burke.

“We tried,” Turner answered. “But they’re rapidly approaching the final stages of their plans, so Black Scar is in full lockdown. No communication in or out. We literally have no way to reach them.”

“The best we can do now,” Burke said, “is to get to the portal to the Whisperlands before they do, expose the Ebon Cities spies, and stop them. If you manage to rescue Cross and Danica in the process…so be it. I’ll help you so far in that I’ll look the other way. We’ll consider it payment for services rendered.” He smiled. “Any questions?”

“On a scale of one to ten, how screwed do you we think we all are?” Kane asked him.

“You don’t want to know…”

They laid their rescue plans. Burke and his aides knew where T he Revengers and the Kothian forces planned to breach the Whisperlands: the ruins of Voth Ra’morg, once a city-state that had been occupied by survivors and desert hunters but that had later been sacked by Vuul raiders and left abandoned. Now there was little left except a hollow shell, but there was also a means to enter the Whisperlands hidden somewhere beneath an old industrial tower right in the middle of the city. Chances were better than not that the Ebon Cities would try to use the same access point.

Crap, Kane thought. T his is too much.

After over an hour of planning, Kane had to step away. His muscles ached from standing hunched over maps and diagrams of the area, and he was completely on edge. It didn’t matter that they had a temporary truce: he didn’t trust Burke and his crew any more than he could throw them, and he still had no reason to believe much of anything that Jade or Sol said, either.

He walked to the edge of the room and looked out through a sealed and dingy window. The gelatinous air the Grey Clan breathe d back o n their home world was thick outside. D ebris drift ed through the murk. Reptilians moved s heets of metal and tossed them into piles or placed them in the backs of heavy carts.

“Did Burke tell you what they do here?” Ronan asked. The swordsman had snuck up on him. He looked as exhausted as Kane felt.

“Yeah. They’re making ships and weapons.”

“Makes sense,” Ronan nodded. “The Ebon Cities have been pushing deeper into their territory. We saw some of what they’d done to these people on that ship full of wounded.”

“Ronan…I have a really bad feeling about this,” Kane said quietly. The others were still back in the chamber going over maps and strategy. They had very little to work with, and it was important to get every detail right. He worried about Maur being in there alone with the others, but decided he was just being paranoid. “I don’t trust them. Any of them.”

“ Good. That means you’re not stupid,” Ronan said with a grim smile. With the number of scars he bore, Ronan almost looked like a movie monster. He’d acquired th e worst of them saving Cross from his own spirit. “We can’t get anywhere without Burke’s help. You want to save Dani, right?”

“I want to save her, and Cross…”

“But mostly Dani. Right?” Ronan quietly waited for an answer.

Kane laughed. He always laughed when he was nervous. He gripped the steel windowsill tight. He wanted to break something.

“Ronan…I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore. ” He took a steadying breath. He was shaking. “ I’m not sure if I ever did.”

Ronan was quiet for a moment.

“Let’s just do what we have to do.”

“And what if Burke tries to screw us over? Or Jade?”

Ronan looked back into the room.

“We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.” He turned and walked back towards the meeting chamber. “Heads up, ” he said quietly as he went.

Kane turned and saw Jade approach him with a smile on her face. He didn’t want to trust her. Her disarming personality was just a way of getting him to lower his guard, and he knew it. He hated that he found himself liking her, wanting to talk to her. But he couldn’t take his eyes off her: she was radiant, even in grungy and weather-worn fatigues, even with her long dark hair disheveled and wild — looking, even though he knew her interest in him only extended so far as making sure that Klos Vago got what he wanted.

Get your head together.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Kane bit back a scathing reply.

“Yeah. Why?”

“You’ve been acting a little strange since you came back. And you’re acting strange now.”

“I wonder why? ” Kane said coldly. “Could it be because a guy who was personally responsible for most of my pain and suffering in Black Scar is standing thirty feet away and calling the shots? Could it be because my two best friends are in danger, and all I can do is hope that one of my so-called allies isn’t going to screw me over at the first convenient moment? Or could it be that I’m just sick and tired of being used and pushed around?!”

He turned away. Rage swelled in his veins. Jade didn’t say anything.

“Why are you still here?” he asked. “What could your boss possibly have to gain by you staying involved in all of this?”

“Maybe I’m not here for my boss anymore,” she said.

“And Sol?”

“He doesn’t care. He just wants to fight.”

Kane laughed.

“I want to trust you,” he said. “You know that, right? But I can’t.” He clenched his fists. “Not with so much at stake.”

“ I’m s orry,” Jade said after a moment. Her voice wasn’t angry or apologetic; it wasn't sad or dismissive. Just a statement of fact.

Kane turned, but she’d already walked away. He looked back out the window and thought about Ekko.

Danica marched down one of the corridor s that led to t he Gauntlet. Two Revengers named Parker and Creel followed her with their rifles aimed at her back.

She knew she was about to die.

She’d never expected to be walking down this blood-stained metal hall. Fear gripped her chest. She felt like she’d swallowed something hard.

Danica’s legs were sore, and her skin was covered with grime. She hadn’t eaten properly for days, so she was listless and weak. Her muscles were stiff, her heart raced, and the scent of her own sweat and stench filled her nostrils.