On the Move Read Free Page A

heard the door being dismantled. Torchlight flickered and then he saw Ramos, along with several other clan leaders.
    “Come, Griffin.”
    Ramos pulled him into the jungle, away from the huts, handing him his knife. Behind him the two men who’d brought him here were already fastening the door on the hut.
    “You can’t do this. You cannot just let me go. Where are the guards?”
    “The guards are the ones who came to find me. Come. Please.”
    Griffin stepped out of the hut into a circle of clan leaders. He also saw guards among the men.
    “What is this? What have you done?”
    “What you said earlier, about us fighting for success, and not fighting each other…it’s what we all want.”  The men nodded, murmuring agreement.
    “We are willing to fight with you, against Xavier and Kade, to see that our clans are protected.”
    “And freeing me? How is this going to make that happen?”
    “The guards will stand watch…It will appear you are still held. Then, tomorrow, at the ritual, you will fight Kade. The rest of us will fight each other, but not to the death. Or for your woman.” There was another sound of agreement, louder this time.
    “And what if Kade kills me?”
    “Then I will kill him, and I will protect your woman.” Ramos bowed his head slightly. “If you will give me that honor.”
    “If anyone, then you, Ramos. But Kade is no challenge. What about Xavier?”
    Ramos forced a grim smile. “He cannot interfere once the ritual has started. It would be tempting the Gods to do that. He knows that. There will be enough chaos and movement for you to slip into our midst. We will be wearing masks, after all. One more layer of confusion and camouflage.”
    Griffin looked at each man standing among the trees. He knew them all, had known them since they were young. Each one looked back at him with a steady gaze.
    “Is this what all of you want?”
    Their voices were louder this time as they voiced their agreement. For a moment Griffin was overwhelmed. Then he drew himself upright, looking at Ramos.
    “And the guards can be trusted? They are Xavier’s people, not ours.”
    A short stocky man stepped forward. Griffin recognized him as one of Xavier’s favorite guards. Griffin instinctively reached for his knife, but Ramos shot out a hand to stop him.
    “Let him speak.”
    The man stood in front of Griffin, his gaze steady, hands resting lightly at his side. But Griffin knew, given half a chance, the man could easily draw his knife and kill him.
    “I am with Ramos, and with you. Xavier is a hard ruler, and a harder man to follow blindly. He is cruel without cause and I am ashamed of things I have done at his request. No more. I would rather die for our freedom than live under his rule.”
    Griffin held his gaze a moment, then reached out and set a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Then you are with us.”
    Ramos stepped forward. “We need to return to the ritual grounds. The guards at your hut will keep your secret, but the rest of us cannot be away for so long, or found together out here.”
    Griffin nodded and the men melted into the jungle, and he was alone. He stood in the warm night, hand on his knife, listening. But everything was silent.
    Moving quickly he made his way to a tree he knew from boyhood. It was dead, with a hole in the trunk high off the ground. He’d hidden there many times as a boy, looking out over the jungle, listening to his father and the other clan leaders as they sang and danced in the ritual clearing.
    The tree was still there and he quickly climbed the trunk. He was much larger than the last time he’d hidden here, and with some difficulty he squeezed himself into the opening. He counted himself lucky that there was no rain on the wind. Above him a large-leaved vine grew and he pulled the green leaves over his hiding place. From below, he knew no one could see him.
    He sat for a long time, looking up at the sky. His heart felt light, and for the first time since he’d