Page 89 of Princess

We left Terry and his group in our dust, though dust wasn’t the correct word.Muck, maybe?

One of the Warriors ran ahead and climbed a tree.He pointed to the east.“They stopped,” he called out.“Several have their hoods up.”

“Take three,” I said, and it was passed down the line.

They crouched where they stopped.We were breathing deeply and needed a minute or three to align the part of ourselves that made us Warriors.King crouched beside me.I closed my eyes and took slow, deep breaths, using the limited time to meditate.I pushed K-5 through every part of my body, starting at my toes.It strengthened Ms.Beast, and she let out a hum of satisfaction.No sign of Nova, but she appeared when she pleased, and I wouldn’t let thoughts of her hijack my meditation session.

Gone was any sense of peace Nikayla or the Shadow Women gave me.My mind was filled with bloodlust and revenge.The meditation focused my mind.The Barnes’ would die.

Chapter Forty-Two

Beck

Our sentries reported that the enemy camp was on the move.Our children and non-combatants were relocated to the Tully Outpost.Carmen stood on my right and Landan on my left.

Carmen and her group of mayors were approached by the Federation and asked to act as spies.It enabled us to feed the Federation the wrong information.Carmen knew where the future lay and it wasn’t with the enemy.

“Is everyone ready?”I asked.

“My people are in position,” Carmen said.

“Mine too,” Landan added.

“It will take twenty minutes for the Shadow Warriors to get here after the attack begins.Can you hold out that long?”

“We don’t have a choice,” Landan said, “but we do have a few surprises.”

“Do I need to know what those are?”I asked.

“No time,” he replied then smiled.“But it’s a good plan.”

I rolled my eyes.I regarded Landan as a friend but sometimes I wanted to strangle him.I throttled the desire.

Twenty Warriors were hidden around the road the Federation would be using.Their job was to create chaos.That was more my style and I was joining them.Enough planning.I was ready to rip some heads off.

I found my men spread out on a steep incline looking down at the advancing soldiers who were roughly five hundred yards away.We stayed in human form.If something went wrong, we didn’t want the Federation alerted that we had a large contingency of Shadow Warriors in the area.We needed them to attack the main outpost.

“There are six semi-trucks,” the lead Warrior, Jackson, told me when I landed next to him.

“What’s the troop count?”

“A thousand, maybe a few more.”

I picked up the field glasses next to Jackson and gazed at the column of soldiers.Their commanders rode in open top military jeeps dressed in pristine uniforms with cocky hats that made them look like fools.The hats didn’t shade their eyes or offer more than minimal sun protection.They were simply ornamental covers.The only way they would stay on was with glue.My lips turned up at the corners.I would need to pull one off to find out.Hopefully it would be painful.

“They’re acting like this is some sort of military parade,” Jackson said.

“They think they made a deal with some of the outposts and they’re cocky.”

“Would the mayors turn on us?”

“No.All the children are at Carmen’s outpost and the Federation is attacking Landan.”

“Heard the Federation's new Shadow Warrior recruitment slogan?”Jackson asked.

He was known for his bad jokes but I took the bait anyway.

“No, what is it?”

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