Perdition (Dred Chronicles 1)

Though open battle wasn’t his forte, he could’ve stabbed multiple enemies in the back before they noticed him, enough to turn the tide. Jael would’ve been fine. He said he would be, but I didn’t believe him. I thought he was lying, choosing an honorable death, and Dred would’ve been furious if we left him to die alone. I thought he was the sacrifice to the cause. Not Einar. Tam dropped to his knees.

“You can’t blame yourself,” Dred murmured. “I’m doing that.”

His face felt too frozen to smile. “Do we have time to take care of him?”

She nodded. “Doesn’t matter. We won’t leave him here.”

Words of gratitude got stuck in his throat. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner.”

“I’ll ask why you didn’t later.”

Dred doesn’t know about the electrified floor or how long it took Jael to recover. More reason he should’ve disregarded her orders to stay; she’d given them without a full understanding of the situation. When circumstances changed, he ought to have adapted his mission parameters. Yet the first battle was hard fought, more than I expected. I didn’t know it was so urgent or that our presence would’ve made a difference. Queensland was spread thin, taking losses it couldn’t afford. It was an awful realization, but the way Tam felt, he’d chosen the new fish over Einar, like a life for a life was required to pass this point. He didn’t realize he’d said it aloud until Dred touched his shoulder.

“What did you say?” All the blood drained out of her face. Confused, Tam repeated his thought, and Dred shivered. “That was the last reading Wills did for me. He said, ‘Victory requires a life for a life, my queen.’”

If Einar’s death ensures the Great Bear’s defeat, I think he’s glad, wherever he is.

A Queenslander overheard her and shouted it for the rest. “That means we’re guaranteed to triumph. The madman said so, and Einar’s given his life to make it so.”

Tam didn’t know if foretellings worked like that, but it seemed to be improving morale. As the rest gathered close, his humble posture drew attention from other Queenslanders, probably damaging his reputation for having ice in his veins, too, but he couldn’t lock it down. A few men patted his shoulder as he knelt beside his friend. There were no calculations to reduce the loss, only the immutable truth that Einar had died beneath Dred’s blade, a mercy killing. Tam glanced up, studying her face. She was pale but composed, green eyes dry and determined; her resolve bolstered his own.

Dred offered him a hand, and Tam took it. She pulled him to his feet while the rest of the men shuffled among the dead. Grigor’s men were larger than the Queenslanders, so it was easy to tell enemy from fallen comrade.

An inmate whose name Tam didn’t recall offered his hand, and said, “He went out well.”

Another added, “Yeah. Never figured the big man would die before me.”

“He was a good mate. Remember the time—”

Tam listened as they shared stories, mostly about wild risks Einar had taken when he was drinking. He’d loved to brawl, and he never backed down from a challenge. Part of him knew they didn’t have time to reminisce, not here, not now. Yet it felt like disrespect to his friend’s memory to stop them. So he said nothing when the men continued, paying homage in their way.

“I thought Einar’d be the one to take out the Great Bear,” somebody said.

Dred squared her shoulders. “He died saving me. I’ll never forget that.”

“Hell of a place to become a hero,” Jael muttered.

Tam glanced over at the new fish; his skin was pink and new, some spots still raddled with burned tissue. The men hadn’t noticed the damage yet, but they would soon. It was difficult not to take note when scars vanished before the naked eye. He had no idea what kind of creature Jael was, but he definitely wasn’t human. The electrified floor had been an unwelcome surprise, one for which Jael could compensate. He suspected that was why Dred had assigned the man to the team—in case something unexpected occurred.

But why didn’t she tell me?

“What happened?” Tam asked eventually.

She paced, the trinkets in her braids clicking a mournful tune. “He took on too many. I couldn’t reach him.”

Tam curled his hands into fists. “We owe him absolute victory.”

The Queenslanders shouted their agreement.

* * *

JAEL waited for Dred to acknowledge him. He figured she and Tam had a right to some privacy; they had lost a friend. When she turned his way, he glimpsed a question in her eyes, Where were you? Guilt swamped him, and he bit back the vilest curse. If he’d recovered faster, he might’ve saved Einar. Jael didn’t relish draining his veins again—and in truth, he wasn’t sure he had enough blood left to do the job. But still, he would’ve tried.

And killed yourself in the process. There’s a reason it took you so long to recover from those burns. You’re not at full strength.

“We’ll come back for the dead,” she said to the Queenslanders when Jael didn’t speak.

He couldn’t.

The other men chorused, “Yes, my queen.”

He touched her on the shoulder. “A private word? If you can spare the time.”

“Of course.” She followed him, stepping over corpses along the way. Dred seemed to take a closer look at him when she stopped. The scars were red, some purple, where the burns had been worst. “Are you all right? What happened? Tam said it would be a straightforward run, just some wires to unplug.”

“This is my fault,” the spymaster said from behind them. “When I scouted the site, the ungrounded wires weren’t touching the floor. Given the altered conditions, it would’ve been impossible to turn the lights off if Jael hadn’t been willing to suffer the most grievous injuries. After, he told me to go, but I chose to stay. I wasn’t sure he’d recover, and . . .”

Oh, Mother Mary of Anabolic Grace. You didn’t want me to die alone.

While Jael reeled at that realization, Dred touched Tam lightly on the shoulder. “You were following my orders. I’ll take the weight for Einar’s death.”

“No,” the smaller man began, but Dred shook her head.

“This is mine. And I’ll carry it.”

This is friendship. How strange that I’d understand it for the first time in here.

Heartsore, Jael watched the Queenslanders rolling the Great Bear’s fallen men, stealing their trinkets and treasures. He felt odd and awful, unfamiliar emotions coursing though him. It was one of those things, where events conflated in the worst possible way, but Jael felt sure that if he’d been fighting with the big man, he’d be standing here alive and smiling, that huge axe slung over his shoulder.