The Fence

Chapter 76: The Odds

"Hey!" I hiss, my voice hushed. "Where are we going? Why is Demi here? Did Merida and Val do something wrong?"

"All questions that will be answered, Bena," Pine murmurs, keeping his green eyes ahead of him.

"Where's Luci and Neveah? I haven't seen them. Please tell me they're okay."

"They're fine," Donte replies. "For now, at least."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been working hard on flushing the poison out of Neveah's system, but only time will tell. You'll be able to visit him later."

"So Luci's not hurt?"

"Luci? No, no. But he hasn't separated himself from Neveah since you left."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Typical Luci."

Raven leads us to a bare patch of land close to camp. It's a small area, but large enough to fit the squad. It's a big circle, with no vegetation or rocks, simply fallen leaves. Raven motions for us to sit down, so we break formation around Demi to do so.

"What's going on?" I murmur, rubbing my cold arms with my hands.

"Demi's here, as you probably noticed," Raven starts, clearing the leaves around him. "Ky found her passed out, and he brought her here. I know that she already went over the plans with you, as she did us. We know she's on our side now. We decided to allow her to stay in camp for the time being, but any one on our squad can't know who she is. Do you understand?"

I nod, plucking at a strand of grass. "Of course."

"I know you've had your problems with each other-"

"Oh no," Demi interrupts, smiling. "No problems here, I promise."

Raven looks between us before turning his attention to Jeremy. "You...you're a guard, yes?"

"Yes sir. I was told to flee once we made sure to get everybody underground."

"So...Gambos has been over taken?"

"I'm afraid so, sir."

Chancellor's shoulders slump, a sigh leaves his lips, and he brings his hand to his face. "How many deaths?"

"Sir..."

"How many?"

"Of those that I saw...30 maybe. That was in Caste 5."

"Oh god..." Raven whispers, his voice quivering. "What did they do to them? My citizens?"

"I couldn't just say one thing they did. I saw a bunch of different things out there...There were a few of them riding on these giant cats. They had fangs longer than my fingers that dripped poison. Those yukos shot arrows at everyone, almost always hitting directly on their hearts. The people died instantly."

"Snake Clan," Grey and Demi both murmur at the same time.

"The cat is called Uxna Felis," I add.

"Others, in a squad of ten maybe, were so fast that I couldn't keep up with them. Their skin was painted with elaborate designs in white paint, and they all had swords with them. They killed 10 more people."

"The Falcon Warriors specialize in speed," Demi cuts in. "Their swords are light weight and easy to maneuver. The designs on their skin are feathers."

"Did you see anyone using our weapons?" Grey asks, scraping the sole of his shoe on the ground.

"Two of them, actually..." Jeremy sighs, rubbing his temples. "One of them, a girl...she had a gun. She also had a few darts and a bomb. She knew how to use elements too. The other one had a thick sword, but he had a gun in his belt as well. It also seemed that he had bonded with his sword."