Kaiato used his scope to look down the road at the Koyejian army. The Koyejian army was fast . They’d met up with them far sooner than he’d expected.

“You’re lucky to have spotted them before you got sniped,” Kaiato said to the spy who had traveled with him.

The man nodded stiffly, his nose flaring in disdain.

Kaiato frowned. “I’m loyal to Omrai. Just because these are my countryman doesn’t mean I won’t stop them. I don’t want your people dead, or mine.”

“Understood, sir.” The spy rolled his shoulders to loosen up. “What’s our next move?”

Kaiato looked down at the massing army. “I don’t know.”

Several thousand soldiers moved about, and, pulled by gallimai, were the new guns. He focused his scope further. Each had an array of barrels and a hand crank which would spin them, firing projectiles in a stream. The Kerinku guns.

They were brilliant and terrifying. Those would cut through Omrai’s men and the saurians Revin had brought. They even had quite a few missile arrays, a newer design from what he could tell. Every recent innovation had been brought here, toward the field of battle.

For Jebuthar the Conqueror.

He spotted the command group, a few higher officers near canopies and surrounded by crimson-clad guards. Very different from the blues of the rest of the army.

He was there. The coward. Staiwaki. The man who had killed High Lord Siriyog and handed Koyeji over to Jebuthar. With him was Prince Siroki, the son of the deceased high lord. He was young, and from what Kaiato could remember, kinder than most lords.

“I see Staiwaki,” Kaiato said.

“Are you going to take him out?”

Kaiato gripped his rifle and frowned in thought. “No, that would ruin my chances of convincing them we’re on the same side. I have got to get him to admit his crimes. Then Prince Siroki might fight for us .”

Kaiato scanned the army until he got to the back, there was a regiment of women he didn’t expect to see. A dozen carnofighters. Probably called in to help deal with the sudden influx of saurians in the Ateyan army brought by Revin. These carnofighters would be the best in the nation.

And at their head, was his sister.

Kaiato inhaled quickly.

Johuto, would help if she were willing to risk losing her high place in Koyejian society by siding with the runaway accused-murderer. But she had already risked a lot just to get Kaiato out of the country. Perhaps she’d be willing to risk her life again?

Kaiato hoped she would be.

But that agent he’d met. He’d said Johuto was a part of the plot the whole time. Kaiato didn’t believe it, but what if it were true? He knew his sister loved him, but if she had to choose between Kaiato and her nation, which would she choose?

Kaiato would have to gamble and find out.

“I’ve got a plan,” Kaiato said, standing.

“What is it?” the man said, surprised Kaiato was getting out from behind their cover.

“I’m going down there, alone.”

The man’s eyes widened. “They’ll kill you!”

“I’m going to try anyway; I want you to stay back here and watch. If I die, it’s your duty to run back to warn Omrai. Understood, soldier?”

The man nodded, eyes wide in surprise, “Yes, sir.”

Kaiato put his rifle over his shoulder and made his way toward the camp with a hundred snipers, a dozen Kerinku guns, and a couple missile arrays.

He prayed Kalteyu and the other gods would protect him.

✦✦✦

“What are you doing out of line, soldier?” a man shouted at Kaiato.

Kaiato said nothing and kept walking toward the command tent.

“Halt!”

With a sigh, Kaiato stopped.

“Drop your rifle!”

Kaiato did so.

“I’m here to speak to Staiwaki,” Kaiato shouted, “I was on a special assignment for him.”

“Name?” The captain shouted as he and several other soldiers approached.

Kaiato took a deep breath. “Kaiato Bakeh,” he said quietly.

“What was that?” the man said.

“My name is, Kaiato Bakeh!” he shouted as loud as he could, hoping Staiwaki and Johuto heard.

The captain’s eyes widened in rage as he understood and remembered who Kaiato was. “Kill him!” Several soldiers drew their swords and approached. Fury in their eyes.

“No!” Johuto’s voice shouted, she approached in a sprint.

“He murdered High Lord Siriyog!” the captain said. “He ran away! He is without virtue! ”

“We will let Staiwaki and Prince Siroki decide that,” Johuto said. She looked at Kaiato.

Kaiato looked her in the eyes, questioning, searching for guilt or guile. There was concern, at least.

“Take him with us, bring his rifle and sword.”

✦✦✦

Kaiato walked through the camp and was bombarded with shouts of scorn. Names were thrown at him like rotten fruit, “traitor,” “faithless,” “heretic.”

His sister hadn’t looked at him in a while.

They approached the crimson-clad guards and Kaiato bowed low as Lord Staiwaki and Prince Siroki approached.

Luckily, they hadn’t yet bound his hands.

“Stand,” Lord Staiwaki said.

Kaiato stayed low as the others stood.

“I said stand !”

“I stand only at the command of my lord,” Kaiato said as the guards pulled him to his feet, “who is now Prince Siroki.”

Lord Staiwaki glared. “Why have you returned?” Lord Staiwaki said, ignoring Kaiato’s comment.

“I’m here to kill you,” Kaiato said. Looking the man right in the eyes. Lord Staiwaki portrayed no fear. But many men mumbled angrily to each other.

“Interesting, out to kill every lord of Koyeji? Is Prince Siroki next?”

“You know better than anyone who would kill Prince Siroki.”

Lord Staiwaki glared back.

“In case it wasn’t clear, I was talking about you killing the prince.”

“This traitor spurts lies and shame like an Ateyan!” Staiwaki shouted to the rest of the camp. “You were working for the Ateyans when you killed High Lord Siriyog, weren’t you?”

“No, you killed High Lord Siriyog, and you wanted me to kill Omrai.”

Lord Staiwaki frowned

“Omrai is gifted of the gods!” Kaiato said, “He can see into the hearts of men. So, they needed someone to get into his good graces, who had no guile in his heart. Then, after I gained his trust, they asked me to kill him. Staiwaki arranged for it.”

A mumble went through the crowd.

“But that’s not all, Staiwaki has sold you all into slavery to Jebuthar!”

“Jebuthar is our ally,” Prince Siroki said, speaking for the first time, his face hard in a scowl of rage. “Our friend in our hate against the Ateyans, why should we believe a word you say?”

“Have you seen how he treats the nations he’s conquered?” Kaiato said, “How he takes their saurians? Captures or kills their leaders?”

Prince Siroki cocked his head. “I’ve never heard of this.”

“That’s because it isn’t true,” Staiwaki snapped. “He’s coming up with crazy plots to hide his shame. Dishonored one!” he shouted to Kaiato, “You are a traitor to your nation and to your Lord. And for that, you will be killed.” Lord Staiwaki drew his blade.

Kaiato looked at Johuto. This was it. The gamble. His sister was famous, popular among the people for her talents and her personality. Johuto could lose all if she saved him.

But she could also salvage this situation, if she chose.

Johuto frowned, her hands clenched tightly. Lord Staiwaki approached, drawing his blade in one swift motion.

Staiwaki raised his sword, and it met another blade with a clang. Johuto had jumped in front of him, her long carnofighter blade diverting the strike, causing Staiwaki to stumble to the side. Kaiato punched one soldier in the throat and turned on the other, drawing the man’s sword and sweeping his leg. The soldier fell to the ground.

The siblings stood together. Swords drawn. Soldiers surrounding them in a tight arc.

“Johuto!” Prince Siroki shouted, “What are you doing?”

“My brother speaks the truth,” she said. “I helped him escape the night High Lord Siriyog was killed, but he had no part of his murder.”

She looked at Kaiato and smiled. Kaiato smiled back.

“I helped him escape, not because he was guilty, but because I wanted to protect him.” Johuto turned back to Prince Siroki. “Listen to what he has to say!”

“Johuto,” Prince Siroki said, his hand on his sword grip, “If you weren’t my friend, I’d have you both killed now.” He turned to Kaiato, “So, Kaiato Bakeh , speak.”

“Actually, I’d rather Staiwaki speak,” Kaiato said, “He is the dishonored one .”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I’m not going to play your stupid game,” Lord Staiwaki snapped, “Confess now, and only get imprisoned for life.”

“You killed our king!” Kaiato shouted.

“You’re a traitor and a liar!” Lord Staiwaki shouted back. Lord Staiwaki’s fist tightened around his sword. “ You murdered our king, then sold yourself to Ateya!”

“Then why would a spy come to me, claiming you and Siriyog set me up to kill Omrai?”

“That is false.”

“Then why would Jebuthar tell you that you’d better get control of your nation?”

“Siroki was present for every conversation I’ve had with Jebuthar.”

“Why isn’t Siroki high lord yet?”

Lord Staiwaki paused. “What?”

“Why are you acting as regent?”

“Because we are avenging his father!” Lord Staiwaki said. “Killing Omrai was his father’s dying wish. He spoke it to me as he died in my arms. We haven’t had the time to-”

“But there was talk of making peace with Ateya,” Johuto added, jumping in.

“Omrai betrayed High Lord Siriyog, hence our duty to slay him.”

Kaiato frowned. Even though Staiwaki was angry, he still hadn’t let anything slip. He decided to try another approach. “And where have you been traveling lately? Having romantic strolls with Jebuthar?”

Staiwaki was about to speak, but the prince held up his hand. “Wait…” Prince Siroki said, looking pensive. “You have been making frequent trips to the Ateyan border.”

“Oh, he was a lot farther than the border,” Kaiato said, “He’s been meeting with Jebuthar himself. A man who doesn’t want you in charge. Because you would not bow to a foreign power.”

Kaiato looked at Siroki. “He’ll kill you in this battle, make it look like an accident, and then hand Koyeji over to Jebuthar.”

Kaiato looked at Staiwaki, hoping his guess was right. From the look of Staiwaki’s face, he’d come close.

“Guards! Kill them both!”

“Stop right there!” Prince Siroki said. “I want this sorted out first.”

The soldiers obeyed their prince.

“You can’t believe anything they say,” Staiwaki said, “Kill them now and be done with it.”

“It would take a lot for Johuto, my friend, to defy me,” Prince Siroki snapped. “I need the whole truth. Now.”

Lord Staiwaki’s face contorted in rage. Prince Siroki looked back at Kaiato. “What other evidence do you have?”

Kaiato was about to answer when Lord Staiwaki raised his arm and made a sharp fist. Like a signal.

Kaiato cocked his head.

Kaiato looked up the hill in the distance over Staiwaki’s shoulder, focusing on positions that would serve as the best lookouts. There, on a ledge, was a sniper. His rifle wasn’t aimed at Kaiato, however. It was aimed at Prince Siroki.

Kaiato reacted without thinking. He dropped his sword, tucked, and rolled. Catching a surprised Prince Siroki around the waist. A gunshot echoed at the same time, and Kaiato heard the rip of fabric as they tumbled to the ground.

Frantic, he looked at Prince Siroki. The prince was looking at his shoulder, where a strip of fabric had been torn at the shoulder. He looked at Kaiato, confused.

Staiwaki let out a curse, and another gunshot fired. It hit Prince Siroki in the arm with a spray of blood. He shouted in pain.

Soldiers moved. He only had a moment. He grabbed the pistol from Siroki’s side as soldiers rushed him. He aimed the pistol for the hill and prayed the gods would guide him.

He let out a slow, steadying breath. Ignoring the snarling, angry faces around him.

And fired.

The man on the hillside crumpled just as the soldiers swarmed Kaiato. They grabbed the gun out of his hand and punched him in the stomach. They helped Prince Siroki back to his feet.

“Kill the Bakeh’s!” Lord Staiwaki shouted. “They tried to murder our prince!”

A soldier holding Kaiato drew his sword, glaring.

“Stop!” Prince Siroki shouted as he stood, holding on to his arm.

Prince Siroki gave Staiwaki a harsh glare.

“Do you think I’m a fool?” Prince Siroki said, “You’ve always treated me like one.”

“I have sought to protect you!” Lord Staiwaki said angrily, then hastily added, “My prince.”

“He was doing some sort of hand symbol,” Johuto said, “That’s when the shot fired.”

“It was for Kaiato!”

“Who, before a shot was fired, dropped his sword , and tackled me to the ground?” Prince Siroki said, “He could have killed me. Easily. He didn’t.”

Prince Siroki glowered at Staiwaki. “You have been enjoying being regent a little too much.”

Lord Staiwaki looked at his own blade. A hint of violence in his gaze.

Prince Siroki swung his leg out in a rapid kick, knocking the blade out of his hand. “To his knees.” Staiwaki’s eyes widened.

Soldiers forced Staiwaki down.

“What really happened to my father?”

Kaiato watched, anxious, hoping the man would break.

Lord Staiwaki stiffened, “I defend Koyeji, not its ruler. High Lord Siriyog would have destroyed us.”

Prince Siroki tightened his knuckles.

“He was going to reject Jebuthar, side with Ateya against him!” Lord Staiwaki shouted, “He would have been the death of us all!”

“Instead of respecting his orders, you murdered him,” Prince Siroki said. He approached ignoring the blood dripping from his free arm. “You dishonor his name.”

“Everything I did was to protect Koyeji! To protect you!”

“You betrayed your lord out of fear,” Prince Siroki said. “May the demons of the deepest pits enjoy consuming the flesh of your soul.”

In a surprising movement, Siroki didn’t strike with his sword. He drew his second pistol and shot Lord Staiwaki in the gut. The sound of the shot echoed through the camp.

Lord Staiwaki fell to his knees, holding on to his bleeding stomach.

“I didn’t want to be conquered, like Sendeval,” Staiwaki said gruffly, blood dripping from his lips, “Our armies slaughtered. Siroki… to fight Jebuthar is death .”

“And since when was a Koyejian afraid of death?” Prince Siroki said, glaring. “If the result of doing what is right is death , then that is the price we must pay.”

Lord Staiwaki said nothing. He just grimaced and swayed, the soldiers holding him having to support his entire weight.

“You forgot that.”

Prince Siroki threw his pistol to the ground, motioned for one of the soldiers to bring him another. He checked the weapon, slowly, calmly.

Then blew Lord Staiwaki’s head to pieces.

Kaiato watched as Lord Staiwaki’s body fell to the ground, smoking. The two soldiers who’d been holding him covered in a splattering of blood and more. They wiped it off without complaint.

Prince Siroki took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Several crimson guards approached. They grabbed Staiwaki’s corpse and dragged him away. He finally opened his eyes and handed his pistol to his attendant.

He turned to Kaiato. “It seems that avenging my father didn’t require a war anyway.”

He looked at Johuto as well, “Thank you both. You have brought justice.”

He turned to his men, “Now, we will not side with Jebuthar the tyrant, the traitor. But let us fight against him. Fight the man who would take our freedom.”

Prince Siroki’s lips were set in a thin line. A smoldering rage. Kaiato did not envy Jebuthar, who was soon to be on the receiving end of that rage.

He looked at the Koyejian heavy weapons. Imagining what they would soon be doing to Jebuthar’s automatons and flying ships.

Johuto put her arm around Kaiato. They smiled.

✦✦✦

Shifra woke with a pounding in her head.

“It’s time you woke up,” a firm voice said.

Shifra opened her eyes.

Jebuthar stood, looking down on her. He did not look pleased. She backed away and hit the wall of her small cell.

“You’ll be useful,” Jebuthar said, not moving an inch.

“What do you want?” She grasped at her waist and behind her but found nothing to use as a weapon.

“Leverage,” Jebuthar said. He approached and knelt in front of her. “Your father and that monk have been a thorn in my side, and they need to go.”

Shifra tightened her fist. Finding her strength slowly returning.

He smiled. “And what better bait than the monk’s infatuation and the general’s daughter?”

She punched him in the face.

Jebuthar fell to the floor with a grunt. Shifra jumped and ran out the door into a hallway. She picked a random direction and ran. Her heart pounded in her chest as she burst through an intersection of hallways right past a dozen automatons. Their heads snapped in her direction.

She didn’t turn to look, but she could hear their metallic footsteps tromping behind her. She continued to run until she stumbled through a large door into a hangar full of small ships. She ran past them, the automatons just looking at her as she ran.

The hangar ramp was wide open. She ran for it. She heard the howling of the wind and halted. Her eyes adjusted to the bright sky outside. Clouds passed by above her, beneath her, and at her level.

No!

She tiptoed to the edge and looked over. The earth was nowhere to be seen, only clouds below and above. She stumbled backward as a feeling of vertigo overtook her.

Dozens of human-form automatons surrounded her with the sound of metal footsteps. Out of a side hallway several baby giganotos burst in. Growling and yipping.

She smiled as they approached. They would be able to connect her to Revin!

“Oh, thank heavens, Revin, I’ve got to get out of here!”

They growled and yipped at her .

“Despite the fact they’re so young, the giganoto is still very hard to control.”

She turned. A man with a hood obscuring his face.

The giganotos approached her, driving her back towards the edge. She let out a gasp.

The giganotos stopped just as she stood near the edge.

“Don’t worry, they’re not here to kill you. Their purpose here is to prove to you there is no escape.”

The automatons approached her, grabbing her arms forcefully. She fought hard against them, her hand grabbing a small item strapped to its waste. Some sort of ammunition.

She managed to get the item into her pocket before she could be fully restrained. She glared at the man in the hood.

“So, you’re Narazoth then?”

The hood nodded. She tried to get a look at the face, but the monk kept his head bowed low. All she saw was a chin and a mouth sent into a pious line.

The automatons dragged her away.

“Let me go!” Shifra said, “Jebuthar is crazy.”

“Jebuthar is the man prophesied to bring balance to the world,” Narazoth said, “And it is my duty to help him.”

He turned to the automatons, “Return her to her cell.”

And though she never managed to see his face as she was dragged away, she did manage to figure out what was in her pocket.

A sleeping dart.

Which would be completely useless against automatons.

Her heart sank as she was tossed unceremoniously back into her cell, and she held on to the dart, despite its lack of utility. Even though she didn’t have a chance of escaping.