Page 27 of Hell Sent

They allowed her to pick up their tethers and lead them. Soon, she had all of them following behind her, and she came back to where Azreth waited.

“Thank you,” she said, surprising him. “For defending me.”

If he had upset her before, she didn’t hold a grudge. And for some reason, that made him feel relieved. “We have an alliance,” he said.

Twelve

The Roamer camp they encountered that evening was a nightmare.

Raiya explained that the Roamers were a clan of nomadic shepherds who lived in the northern parts of her country, Uulantaava. They lived in tents which they picked up and moved frequently, and they kept the same antlered creatures the Paladins had ridden—behelgi, Raiya called them. She said that running into the Roamers was fortuitous, because she could sell the Paladins’ behelgi to them, and Azreth supposed that he was glad to have found a place where the animals would be protected from predators, but if it had been up to him, he still would never have risked entering this camp.

He’d had no idea it was possible for so many people to gather in one spot. There were dozens of them. People banged on drums and made other loud, repetitive sounds with screeching instruments. Younger mortals screamed and laughed and cried and chased each other (Raiya told him they were playing). Others were cooking and eating, fighting each other with wooden swords (practicing, Raiya said), rolling tiny squares of bone across the ground (a game, apparently) or moving their bodies in synchronized patterns in time with the drums (dancing). Before he could make sense of what one person was doing, his attention would be drawn to another, and another.

It was more noise and movement than he could keep track of. He couldn’t possibly guard them from every sound in every direction. There was simply too much. As Raiya moved through the camp in front of him, his mind began to shut down. He fixed his eyes on her back, wishing he could turn off his senses.

Raiya was so completely relaxed that he supposed there truly must have been no danger, but he didn’t know how she could look so comfortable in a place so chaotic.

He felt oddly small and foolish as he followed her through the camp. He’d been feeling that way often, lately.

The Roamers brought them to a fire, then gave them food and water. A young, blue-skinned elf girl named Jai sat beside them and cheerfully asked them many questions, which Azreth dodged. He listened absently while she and Raiya talked for what seemed like a very long time, discussing unimportant things like their home cities or their favorite foods. Talking was a form of entertainment to mortals, he realized. They did it for fun.

While Raiya spoke, he watched her. The longer she talked with Jai, the more she smiled, as if the girl’s cheer was contagious.

He liked Raiya’s smile.

He’d never been able to study someone this way, up close. There had been people like Nariel whom he had formed partnerships with, but he had never stared at them like this, never noticed the crinkles around their eyes and mouths when they smiled. Raiya’s eyes squinted shut when she laughed hard enough, and when she grinned, he saw that her teeth were all flat; she had no fangs.He caught glimpses of her tongue. It was small and pink.

She grew happy and relaxed as they sat there, in the middle of this frenetic camp, talking to this stranger. When she wasn’t looking, he adjusted himself so he was sitting slightly closer, so he could bask in her peace. The emotion wasn’t quite strong enough to feed from, but it was pleasant, like bathing in a hot stream.

He had heard that mortals spent most of their lives in communities, forming close friendships and families, building societies and cities together. He saw now that what he’d heard was true. The fourth hell had cities, but not like this. Mortals were important to each other. Their relationships were important. He understood now why Raiya had suggested an equal partnership between them, because as he looked around, he didn’t see anyone giving orders, nor anyone being beaten or taken advantage of. They saw others as equals by default.

Raiya greeted strangers as if she’d known them from birth, as if she trusted them implicitly and was pleased to see them.Companionship and happiness seemed to come so easily to her. Yes, she was often sad, but joy was always close by, within reach.

He felt a vague unhappiness now as he looked at her, though it took him a while to realize it.

Eventually, the elf girl left, and Raiya turned to Azreth. It was incredible how quickly her smile faded once she looked at him.

He was not like the mortals. She didn’t feel a kinship with him the way she did with the others.

She looked him up and down, eyes narrow. “Are you all right?” she asked, but she wasn’t really inquiring about his health. She expected him to turn on her at any moment. To her, he was an unpredictable, dangerous beast. He was an interloper here. His presence disrupted their peace.

He resisted the urge to snap at her. He didn’t know what to say anyway, just that he felt like shouting at someone.

There was a man he’d been watching from across the camp. The man had only one leg. His trousers were rolled up on that side, pinned closed just below his hip, and he had no magical replacement limb like Azreth did. Several times now, Azreth had seen people bring him a plate or a cup or another item so that he didn’t have to get up to fetch it himself. Even now, someone was bringing him crutches and helping him to his feet, and he was trembling as he tried to find his balance. Even if he hadn’t been lame, he would have been frail and pitiful. Azreth scowled, nodding in his direction. “Why have they not just killed that one yet?”

Raiya raised her eyebrows. “Who?”

“The feeble one,” Azreth said, jerking his invisible horns toward the man again.

“Who would want to kill him?”

“Everyone,” he growled, impatient.

“I don’t understand.”

“Lookat him. He cannot fend for himself. He can hardly walk. He is a drain on the resources of the group. Why should they protect him? Why not leave him behind?”

She gave him an unimpressed look. “Do you actually want me to answer that, or is this really about something else? Because I don’t think you’re as stupid as you’re pretending to be.”

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