Page 16 of Lucie
“You mean, no one’s ever wondered or figured out how Damaged are able to recruit other Damaged?”
“We’ve thought about it, but we haven’t tried to investigate it. Our focus has been on trying to protect ourselves.”
Lucien crossed his arms over his chest. “A few years ago, when Iain was learning to become a doctor, he told me that physicians once chose between two fields of medicine. One was call preventative, which meant they worked at trying to prevent people from becomingill. But since the Great Concussion, that field’s been pretty much pushed to the side because diseases are no longer the same as they were hundreds of years ago. Which is why, today, a doctor’s skill is in curing and coping, not prevention.” He paused, then continued. “If we were able to come up with a way to know whichMutahare Damaged before it’s too late…”
He caught sight ofthe moon winking again as another night bird passed in front of it. The creatures were on the hunt for prey, and would be streaking through the skies until dawn.
“You’re right,”Attyacknowledged. “It’s one of a countless number of ways our lives today differ from the past. Who knows? Maybe one day we’ll be able to find a method.” She sighed and rubbed her arms for warmth. “I cameup here to see how you were doing. I didn’t get the chance to talk to you on the trail.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Answer me something that I’ve been mulling over? The Damaged attacked Foster City, then AltaNovis, right?”
“Correct.”
“So why didn’t they attack here at NewBearinger?”
Attybrushed a wayward strand of hair from hereyes, tucking it behind an ear. “We think they may have planned to, after defeating us at AltaNovis. But because we pretty much decimated their numbers, we guess they chose not to, and withdrew west into the forests.”
“Speaking earlier of being on the trail, are we going to stick to the road until we reach Green River? Or will we cut through the woods at some point?”
“We’ll keep to the road. It’ll be safer than trying to maneuver all the men plus the wagons through the forest. Besides, our numbers are growing. We’re picking up another hundred troops from here to take with us when we leave in the morning.”
“Right after breakfast?” he halfway teased.
“Of course.” She smiled and turned to go down the ladder.
He caughta movement right above her head. A blackness framed against the starry sky, looming larger as it approached. With sudden clarity, Lucien realized the creature wasn’t going to fly over them. It was aiming directly at them. Without thinking, he grabbed his mother’s shoulders and shoved her downward, out of range. At the same time, he ducked to shield her.
Hard, leathery wings slammeddown on top of him. Lucien struggled to ward off the thing’s talons, when his hand grasped a scaly leg. Instinctively, he twisted the leg, and the creature screeched in anger. The thing fought back, biting and raking his skin with its other foot. If not for his gloves, he knew the creature would have torn through the tendons and bones.
His grip on it was solid, but because he was holding ontothe thing with his right hand, he couldn’t draw his sword with his left. Somehow he found the dagger in his waistband and wrapped his fingers around the hilt. With a swipe, he sliced through the thing’s breast, and hot blood splattered across his face and into his eyes and mouth. Mortally wounded, the creature doubled its efforts to free itself. Pain streaked across the back of Lucien’s head andneck as it struggled in its death throes.
He heard his mother screaming his name. At the same time, he heard distant yelling. Giving the leg he still clutched another shake, he pivoted around and flung the creature as hard as he could away from them. There was the familiar twang of arrows being launched, followed by boots pounding the boardwalk as they drew nearer.
Something warmcoursed down his face and back asAttygrasped his arm, her voice stricken with fear. “Oh God, Lucien! Lucien! Are you all right? Guards! Help him down, and someone fetch Dr.MaGrath!”
“Mom?”
“Hush, sweetheart. Don’t struggle.”
“What?” The pain wasn’t so much a factor as the dizziness. He couldn’t focus. He reached out to her, when a strong hand took it.
“You were attacked by a bat,” she informed him, holding him tightly against her. “We have to get Iain to tend to that immediately. Help me pray that the damn thing wasn’t rabid.”
