Battle Cry Read Free Page B

a fire in order to cook. If the other tribes are nearby they should be called to us by the scent of the wood or the food, but they aren’t coming.”
    Reena said, “Would you come for the scent of food and fire? I would never have done that, and neither would my father. We would’ve thought it was a trap, especially in the East.”
    Lucas said, “The girl has a point.”
    Reena knew that the men had many years of fighting experience. Some of them had been soldiers before they had done whatever it was that caused them to be branded as an outlaw and sent into the lands beyond the outside. That they were listening to her at all was a very good indicator of how much they believed in the sword that she held, and just how much they wanted freedom from the oppressive rule of the Governor. But how long could she keep their respect? How long could she be there if she did not deliver any results at all? It was all fine and good to raise their spirits and their hopes with pretty speeches and powerful swords, but until there was action that could prove to them that they could win this, all she had was a collection of people who had long ago turned their back on any kind of affiliation. She needed to unite them and perhaps this would be the best way.
    Even as she thought about that, her stomach churned with revulsion. Could she be seriously considering killing innocent people? Whether they were soldiers or not they were still innocent, at least they not done anything to her. It didn’t matter; this was war and war sometimes called for measures far worse than the one she was contemplating.
    “What did you have in mind, Reena?” And with that question Griffin set in motion a plan.

Chapter 2
     
    Reena was up high in the trees. The mist had sprung up from the lakes beyond and night and drifted across the front section of woods. The trees here were tall but not as thickly overgrown, and she knew that they were risking much by being up in them. A simple shift in the wind could reveal their hiding places. There was nothing she could do about it at the moment. The sound of the soldiers’ horses was loud; it was rolling along at ground level and she could see Deal’s pale face peering at her under the leaves of another tree.
    Seven. That was the number of soldiers riding towards them. They knew that because two of the best trackers of the two tribes had gone out the night before and had gone to find the soldiers. They had come back to report how many there were, how many were on horse — all of them — and what type of supplies they were carrying.
    Their plan was simple, they were going to catch the soldiers in their trap, kill them and take their supplies. Birds cried out from another tree and she turned her head ever so slightly to see Lucas stretched out along the thick limb. Of all of the men in her command, Lucas was the one who had the best chance of making things really work here: he had once been a soldier for the city. While he had renounced his loyalty to the city long ago after his wife and children were killed because of something that was perceived as his failure. That had been a long time ago. Whether or not he was still capable of doing the things that he had been capable of doing, remained to be seen. Reena was hoping that he was because if he failed, the rest of the plan would simply fall apart and they all stood a good chance of dying there.
    The horses entered the woods. Reena gave off a long low whistle, one intended to snap back anyone’s attention that had wandered, and to signal those behind them. Lucas dropped off the tree limb, silent as a cat and landed on the back of one of the horses. He had been aiming for the very last horse in line, but landed on the one next in line.
    For a moment Reena was terrified; if the soldier behind Lucas set out the alarm, Lucas would die and they would stand no chance. Lucas was faster than anyone Reena had ever seen, he twisted around with a blade flying out of his fingers so