Page 8 of The Satyr's Guilt
“My pap says Firebrands are strong. Areyou?”
“You bet. I can tackle a questing beast,knock him out, throw him over my shoulder, and climb the mountainover there.”
“Really?”
“With a hand tied behind me.” He tickled thegirl.
She giggled and asked another question. “CanI see your ol’ bird?”
“My Phoenix? You bet, beautiful. Watch.” Herolled up his sleeve. When he flexed his thick bicep, the wings ofthe brand on his upper arm spread wide. He relaxed and the imagecontracted. He tightened his muscle again. The symbol seemed toflutter and take flight. Ram repeated the motion several times.
The girl clapped her hands, squealing. “Arethere lots of you?”
“Firebrands?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Lots. Males and females. In fact, most ofthe females are stronger than I am.”
“Do you live on Scath? I’ve never beenthere.”
“I do. In Wildwynd among my breed, othersatyrs, but my stronghold’s in Covenkirk.”
She pulled her brows down. “Do you kill usSpriggans?”
“Hell … I mean, heck no. Who told youthis?”
“Some of my peoples.”
“Firebrands keep everybody safe—Darque andScath. Even humans if we have to. Our job is to go after bad guys.Sometimes we get to rescue pretty girls like you.”
She smiled, her cheeks flushed withcolor.
A hundred questions later, they arrived atthe bottom of a windswept, rocky cliff. Ram looked up, scowling atthe endless, snaking steps leading to a barely visible plateau inthe clouds. At the top was the enclave, protected by a giganticcircular grey stone wall topped off with a thatched roof.
He drew a deep breath, his gaze sweeping upthe lengthy trail. “Oh. Hell no.” He grabbed the girl out of theSpriggan’s arms. “We’ll meet you outside the gate.” He touched hisD-chip to throw a portal while the five-year-old held onto hisneck, still jabbering.
Embedded into the Firebrands’ wrists,D-chips linked to their brains. With them, they could do almostanything, but creating a gateway, as he had done, gobbled upenergy. Better than using his legs after a long chase, though.
Two surprised guards posted at the entranceinto the enclave marched forward when Ram and the girl flashed innearby. Having enjoyed the ride, she was bouncing andsquealing.
The satyr Firebrand dwarfed both males whoclasped wooden spears bigger than they were. The taller guard withgenerous lips and skin like the bark on a white elm lifted hisweapon, pounding it shaft down into the dirt. He turned sparklingeyes toward the child. “Welcome back, Katya.” When he bowed hishead, his huge branch-like appendages brushed the ground. “Yourparents are inside. I expect you’ll get your bottom warmed.”
Tall wooden doors opened wide, noiseblasting out from the crowded marketplace where tents and boothslined a narrow path.
Rubbing her bottom, Katya frowned at theguard as two Spriggans dashed toward them along the bazaar’swinding road. When the girl saw her parents hurrying in herdirection, she pushed herself out of Ram’s arms, running to meetthem. “Mam. Pap.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, Mamswept her daughter off the ground. “We thought mayhap you wereeaten, Katya.”
“Almost, Mam. But I was more faster thanthem hellhounds. I rolled in dirt to hide my smell. Just like youtold me.”
“She’s a smart little bugger.” Ram clamped agentle hand onto the child’s shoulder.
Mam squeezed her daughter harder. “I hopeshe didn’t talk your arm off. She’s inquisitive, this one.”
“No. She’s a charmer.”
The child’s mother smiled at Ram, swiping ata tear on Katya’s cheek. “That is so.”
