Shared Mercy Book 5 of the Guardians Saga

CH. 16.1 Red Eyes

When Alex and Drake joined up with Gabe and Cale, Cale smiled at Alex but Gabe's expression darkened. Gabe's eyes were two chips of ice, his jaw clenched. He was the perfect warrior Clan Head.

"I expect instant obedience," he said.

"Yes, Clan Head," Alex said without sarcasm.

"As you wish," Drake said, expressionless.

Gabe sat forward, looking expectant. "Listen to me and learn. Disobedience brings disgrace. If you care."

"We both care," Alex said with sharpness. "We both know redemption is dearly bought."

Gabe hiss-growled deep in his chest with a tight set of his lips, a hard glint in his eyes, and slammed his sword in his scabbard. Alex grabbed two quivers of arrows, slinging one over her shoulder. She tossed one to Drake and punched at him, lightly in the shoulder.

"I'm not the best archer," Alex said. "My usual job is to herd the mountain goats toward y'all. Toward the end of the hunt, I try to blast them."

"You need to practice archery," Cale said in a gently but chiding tone.

"I do but so does Drake," Alex said with an arched eyebrow. "More than me. He doesn't have amazing brothers who were taught hunting by their fabulous father."

"Point taken," Cale said with a small smile. "Let's go."

Alex bumped shoulders with Drake and favored him with a smile and wink, and they followed Cale.

***

The mountain goat stood between the forest and a rocky cliff. Its hair was a smoky cloud pf dusty grey-brown, speckled with bits of greyish-white and black. Its horns are a hard brown and its eyes look wild. The mountain goat bounded like a ball bouncing down the ridge, but it had the legs of a runner. It dodged between trees, darted between boulders, and was always just out of reach. The goats' hooves clattered on the rocks and its huffing sounded like a teacher disciplining a class.

Rile sited down his arrow but it zig-zagged so Rile's arrow flew by. It scrambled down and jumped so that Cale's arrow zinged past as well.

Drake nocked his arrow and waited for the goat to come closer. The goat snorted and its hooves hit the ground in a staccato rhythm toward him but then twisted and charged Alex. She stumbled backwards in surprise and then its horns connected with her chest, driving her down into the ground.

The brothers shouted her name while Drake fired his arrow and it pierced the ram's eye. Three more arrows flew from the brothers' bows and embedded themselves in the ram. It dropped dead and a smell like a wet dog, earthy, dirty and foul issued forth as the wind rose. The clouds merged under the blue sky to become a gray blanket. A line of black bulged on the horizon and grew larger by the moment

"Ow, ow, ow," Alex sat up, rubbing her chest and breathing in shallow breaths. "What in the name of the Portal Guardian is going on when rams go berserk and attack lil ole me who is only luring them to their deaths?"

Drake and the brothers ran over to her. Rile and Cale knelt down while Drake frowned at the stormy sky.

"Drake, patrol the immediate area," Gabe ordered. "Alex, where are you hurt? How badly are you hurt? Are you bleeding inside?"

Alex gingerly touched her breastbone. "Hurts here. Maybe cracked where some ribs attach. I don't think there's any internal bleeding."

"There may be more," Drake said. "That ram had red eyes, Guardians. It's how I was able to sight my arrow so accurately."