A Soldier For All Seasons Ch. 23

All heads craned up, even Blessing.

Nate took the opportunity to take a spill, falling hard and sliding along the ice. He got a faceful of snow, the sheer cold of the ice brutal on his skin. But his tied hands shifted an inch higher, enough to grasp his rock knife.

Finley growled at him, pulled him up roughly. "Stop fuckin' around, you fuckin' weapon!" The man said, accent thick — Nate couldn't recognize it. A weapon — was that an insult?

"Sorry, sorry," He bumbled back to the group. Lunar rubbed shoulders with him, eyes burning bright.

The wolf pelt covered his hands as he sawed through the restraints, slowly but surely. The fibers snapped. And then he was free, the ropes frayed. He could snap them with just a flex.

He stumbled, leaned against Lunar. "Rock in my hands," He murmured. She turned around to look back at their line, hands pressing against him just as he dropped the rock.

While she got to work, he studied the plain. Not much cover — just jagged trees beaten down by the winds, facing every way but up.

They'd have to wait for their moment.

The plains turned craggy as they continued, the landscape turning alien, their path becoming a frozen valley between spiky glaciers, mountain peaks of ice — it was like they were walking on a river between two sheer faces. The cool blues on either side dirtied, blackened, stained.

But it was the sound that got to them, the cracking of vast blocks of ice, grinding, rumbling. Sounds of change and yet they could see nothing but stillness. It was the groaning of the planet, hissing — was that melting ice? — and then a very loud human gurgle. They jumped and then laughed as one...it was the gurgle of water, trapped water, like a sink drain amplified by a god.

Then there was that bellow, that inhuman bellow. Far away, but echoing through the whole glacier. "Awoo!" The ice creaked. The wind whipped that sound around and around, made it ethereal.

"Fucking wind." The ginger man who'd captured them muttered. "Makes a big deal of the smallest wolf."

"Pussy." The cutlass woman snorted. With her blade, she carved a line on the ice behind her, a breadcrumb trail, the noise like nails on a blackboard until Blessing turned and shot her a look.

The darkness invaded. "Light another torch." Blessing ordered as the aurora disappeared and the dark turned scary, the ice groaning more and more.

The new torch provided more light but it only served to make things more ominous, shadows dancing as now captors couldn't hide their unsure faces.

"Come on, it's just the ice!" Blessing snapped, raising his torch higher and pressing forward.

Something smashed, crashed.

The glacier shook.

"Boss, I dunno—" Finlay started.

"I do know, Finlay. That's why I lead." Blessing waved his torch, sparks flying, axe in the other hand.

Nate stilled. Cracks splintering in the glacier side, like a mountain being broken from the core. They hadn't noticed yet. He pushed against Lunar.

"Be ready."

Something roared. And this time it wasn't far, it was near, everywhere.

"The ice!" Someone cried. "In the glacier!"

A long visible crack ran down the glacier, like a boat hull broken, accompanied by a violent hiss.

And then it stopped, stilled. Nothing.

Thandiwe breathed a sigh of relief.

The glacier smashed open, ice chunks flying outward. The mousy man vanished under an ice boulder, a scream cut off as blue turned red. And from the glacier poured gushing water...

A roar.

A lumbering mammoth ape, as big as three houses tall, leapt out howling. Two pincer tusks on either side of a lopsided tortured mouth, ivory as long as a spaceship.

"Run!" Nate ordered, pulling apart his rope. He grabbed Lunar as the group split into panic. The ape smashed a hand down and the ice below them splintered, shook, rose and fell, a wave machine through frozen ice.

It grabbed Finlay and bit him in half, his organs spilling down. Nate and Lunar cut their run short as the ape's other hand smashed down, cutting off their path. Thick white fur stained bloody. The beast rumbled — it was laughing, Nate realized.

The ginger man shot his gun. Nate wasn't even sure the bullet penetrated, but the ape roared in anger.

"Nate!" Lunar cried, her gaze darting, their joined hands sweaty. His breath was too fast, he couldn't think. All he could see was that slap of that gigantic furry fist on the ice in front of him, blocking their path.

*Attempting to block NMDA receptor in amygdala cluster.* Isabelle announced, her own voice full of fear.

Nate's vision untunneled. Sweat stopped dripping. His breath evened out, even as the group died around him, the ape rampaging. Blessing was shouting something.

Isabelle had turned down his fear...and he could see.

One way out.

Thandiwe grabbed a torch and ran across the ice — running towards him. Her eyes went wide as she pincered by an colossal tusk, a mouth open in surprise, arms stretched wide as she was raised high, crucifixed and dripping over them, a monument of the beast's might.

Another swipe of the hand and the woman with the cutlass was embedded in the glacier, blade clattering uselessly to the ground.

"This way!" Nate shouted. Between the ape's legs, through that stench, over Finlay's feet, through to that glacier hole, that blue void, a thick water spout.

Lunar swept up the cutlass from the ice as they entered.

Into the hole and it was cavernous, wet, monstrous handprints imprinted on the inside. And then it stopped, the storm of water. A fall that they couldn't see the bottom of, a glittering blue and black abyss.

Nate felt the noxious breath on his back, heard the roar. Something swept through his hair.

Nothing for it.

"Jump!" He yelled and together they leapt, twisting together as they dropped, air rushing up.

And then they smacked into hard wet, dipping down into the depths.

Lunar's lips moved but he heard nothing, water choking down his throat, mouth filled with salt. Darkness above, darkness below, but the darkness above was tinged blue. He stretched forward. Lunar was faster, her legs almost kicking him in the face. She pulled him up water and he coughed up half his lungs, his eyes tearing up.

He let her pull him along, his brain recovering, his muscles aching. Had he broken something? Maybe. Everything hurt.

They were...in a glacier. It should have been thick impenetrable ice, water flowing through a spiderweb of fractures, but the ape had made it home. Or something else? Caves and tunnels — how long had he lived here, to beat the ice into submission?

Lunar pulled him onto the ice 'floor', out of the lake that pooled at the bottom, dripping ice making it steadily larger.

It was dark, almost pitch black but the shimmering water reflected the light from above. Not just the hole the ape had smashed through, but little pores in the ice, pinpricks in the world outside — like the beast had made windows to allow the smallest of light of water.

It was smarter than he thought.

Chunks of ice fell steadily, the water popping up with heavy splashes, loud enough to compete with the rushing water from far above, and the fearful screams. They paid no attention to the splashes.

"You saved us." Lunar laid her head on his chest, gasping for breath herself. "Forgive me, I was frozen by fear. It was shameful and—"

"And completely understandable. I was too, but I had a little help." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll tell you the story one day."

Her hand rubbed his chest, seeking contact as they reminded themselves they were still alive.

"Need to get moving." He groaned.

She moaned. "Don't want to. Everything hurts."

He laughed. She was acting like Ana. Would they like each other? Ana had said she didn't mind, but he still felt bad. Even if he hadn't said it, he knew the depth of his feelings for Ana.

He stroked his Mediator's hair comfortingly. "Let's get out of here — we'll get some rest somewhere safe."

"And?" Lunar's hand slid up to caress his chin.

His voice deepened. "And maybe I may require your services, bonded."

She smiled widely. "Well, I cannot resist a direct order from my Kyrios." She swept her hair over her ear and pulled him to his feet. They stumbled down one of the tunnels, steadying themselves with hands against the wet walls.

"Into the unknown," He muttered to himself.

"Together." Lunar replied, clutching her new cutlass tightly.

*And me!* Isabelle said in his mind.

*My savior.* He thought honestly. *Thank you for...whatever that was.*

*Just a redirect so the main receptor for your fear was reduced. Not a good thing to keep doing, the brain's too complex, but you're welcome.* Isabelle told him.

*One day, I'll be able to thank you properly.* Nate told her.

*I'll hold you to that.* She said shyly, an image in her mind of her twirling her skirt like a demure schoolgirl, before she vanished.

Out of the tunnel and into another hub of tunnels, another lake. They kept going, following the fresh air, following the sound of water, taking any tunnel that climbed higher. It felt like forever until the dark tunnels became a little lighter and then a little lighter still.

Another watery hub but this one only had tunnels that climbed vertically, slippery cliffs with a wet sheen.

And each tunnel had a taunting light above. There was a pile of crumbling human bones at their feet. Half a skeleton. Nate peered into the clear water.

Even more bones.

"An expedition to slay the beast?" Lunar wondered. "My people try to live in harmony with our predators, but some grow too large. Perhaps they created a load of tunnels to get as many people into the glacier."

"I didn't think this planet had a native population." Nate crouched down to examine the bones. No uniforms, no clothes at all. "Maybe a Judge exercise gone wrong?"

"One cannot imagine." Lunar's face was placid, betraying no sarcasm.

"Did you just tell a joke?" Nate snickered.

"I did not."

He examined her lips. She betrayed nothing. He squinted at her. She watched him back.

"Hmm. You're adorable."

"I am a mighty warrior."

"That too." He let it go. She was adorable. "No way but up."

The mighty warrior got to work. She hooked her cutlass onto her back. Then, Lunar hung onto the thinnest crevasses and kicked ledges and grips into the ice for him. All he had to do was follow, admiring her graceful swings and easy leaps. Her strength so strong she could hold on with one hand and pull him up with the other. His Mediator.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her lips twitched as she reached the top.

"I don't know." He lied, a hand going up her long coat to pinch her ass.

"Stop!" She squealed, dancing away from him. Giddy, they stepped into the light. A hole in the other side of the glacier. The waterfall gushed down into a lake below, an ape-made natural beauty.

Lunar dove into the water like a dolphin. He dove-bomb, a massive splash, making waves. He laughed at her perturbed face, swimming hard as she held onto his shoulders, a water taxi.

They came out of the lake with a laughing gasp, rolling onto the thin ice.

Lunar rolled on top of him, her kisses hungry, pouring herself into him, her moans delightful from the grave warrior. She broke apart for breath. And over her shoulder...

Her brow furrowed as she saw the shadow grow over him.

Blessing held a gun, smirking, his skin shining with sweat. Around his waist, rope. And in his other hand, his bloody climbing axe.

"Sorry to interrupt," He said conversationally. He kicked the cutlass into the waters, taking away their only way of fighting back.

Nate groaned and smacked his head back against the ice. What did he do to deserve this? How had Blessing escaped the ape? How had he caught up with them?

"Thanks for the lead. Followed you down there, once I'd watched all my men die. My girl too." His voice was solemn, but he had a lilt to his lips. Men like this, Nate knew, they enjoyed the power. Tragedies washed off them, like dirt in a shower.

"I'm sorry, Blessing." Nate said, forcing as much honesty into his voice as he could.

"You're every bit as sorry as I am." The man's smile was thin. "Isn't it weird, how we can spot one another? See through the masks?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't." With a twitch of his foot, he forced Lunar to roll off him. "Never been diagnosed? It's all lies anyway. There ain't a word for people like us."

"Easy, fella. We can walk away. We've done nothing—"

Blessing kicked him, smashing his foot into his groin and sending him scampering back. He scowled. "I'm getting gatvol, bra. Men like us don't walk away. We take what we need to survive."

"We have nothing." Lunar cried out. Blessing fired. Nate flinched. The bullet ricocheted off the ice and Lunar held her hands high, knees locked. Fear — but he'd seen her frozen in fear and this wasn't it. She looked at him and she looked confident. Confident in him.

"Sorry," Blessing caught his eye as he grabbed hold of Lunar, a thick arm around her neck. "I can't fokken stand the shrillness of women's screams, y'know? Too many memories. Everyone suffers but that high note?" He took a deep breath.

Nate studied him, tried to understand him. "You really wanna kill me when you get nothin' for it?"

Blessing shrugged. "I don't see nuthin'. I could take one of your legs for the road, could take your wolf-skin, could take your girl." He took a long sniff of her. A poor provocation — Nate wouldn't fall for it.

"But you're not a rapist." Nate echoed his words from earlier. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"I'm not. I'm a survivor. I'm a winner. And I seen what my Ma went through, I ain't gonna do that to any woman. But if I trade her away for something I need, well, it ain't me taking her cake, izit?"

"You have very fluid morals." Nate said, carefully getting to his feet. "How you gonna do it?"

"Not gonna roll, if that's what you're thinking." Blessing snorted. "I seen you, bra. I know how you fight. Saw you and Xavier — now that guy was a real something."

"No," Nate said softly. "You're not the type to give yourself less chances of success, for any reason. But you still like the power play, the drama. Judges attract people like you, huh?"

Blessing grinned. He rose his gun hand high and smashed it down on Lunar's head. She went limp and he held her tightly by the neck, arm extended.

"You don't need to do this!" Nate snarled, anger filling him, vision turning red.

"There you are, coming out to play." He held Lunar over the lake. "Does this feel familiar? Round two. I'm not into hurting her, but fok, I just hate to see you lying. Hiding yourself."

"I've had brothers-in-arms from where you originated, spread over the stars but your people all the same." Nate kept his voice light. "They taught me one of your words when they were struggling. Bosbefok. People fucked up from the trauma, from the wars. They got help. I got them help."

Blessing laughed at him, shaking with mirth. "Bosbefok — that's good. That's real good. Not the first time I've been called that. You ever got help, Nate?"

"No."

"Why?" He smirked. "'Cos you think you're normal?"

"No," Nate admitted. "Because I—"

"Because the first step to getting helped is wanting help, bra." Blessing waved his gun. "And why the fuck would we want to be normal, when we're so much more!"

Lunar blinked blearily, a cut bleeding on her head, unseen by Blessing. And then he dropped her into the depths. She disappeared without a struggle, sinking far. No bubbles, no ripples. Nate's stomach sank with her.

"We're the same." Blessing smiled widely at him. He had something squishy in his teeth. Something red.

Not the same.

*Don't touch my fear.* Nate warned Isabelle. He needed it, needed to feel the threat, the tunnel-vision. Because it was only one threat, not multiple.

Fear wasn't the enemy.

Blessing was. The man smiled as Nate circled him, looking for a way out.

"I like that. Find a way to win, the way nobody else can see." The man bared his teeth, eyes tracking his. "What will you see? Your girl is too far away. I get a bullet off if either of you rush me, and I'm going to shoot you either way, because I can wrestle the chot."

There was a shape under the ice, blurry. A flash of...steel? Blessing didn't notice.

"Yes," Nate circled the man, crouching low. "You're right."

Blessing hummed. "So that leaves talk. You're thinking I'm stalling, maybe I've got a weakness, maybe I'm down to negotiate, waiting for you to figure out the thing I want."

Nate smiled, rotating around Blessing, watching the huge man rotate with him, keeping his eyes firmly away from the ice.

"But I'm not stalling. I just like watching you. We're rare, bra. And we can't co-exist. It was always going to end like this."

"Yes," Nate smiled softly. "Yes, it was."

Blessing's eyes widened as Nate smashed his foot down on the circle Lunar had cut. The ice crashed through and Blessing with it, falling into the icy depths. It wasn't shadowy. It was dark. The moonlight was bright and the water was clear. Nate saw every inch of his struggle as he tried to rise out of the water.

He snatched Lunar out, left her blue and coughing on the ice. She dropped the cutlass as she spat out water, whole body shivering.

Nate ignored her. Because he was red with rage.

He could have used the cutlass. He could've used the dropped gun.

But he didn't want to.

He stretched his hands around Blessing's neck, held him down, below the waterline. He watched his eyes bulge, watched him gurgle, watched the bubbles rise.

The man's hands slapped ineffectively on the arms holding him low, tried to grip, tried to tighten.

Nate waited until the bubbles stopped, watched until the light in his eyes faded, let him sink away.

"Are you okay?" Lunar gripped him hard, pulled his chin until she could stare into his soul.

"We weren't the same." He said blankly, staring through her. His voice was weak, shaky.

Her arms came around him. "I know. I know."

"I had to."

"You did."

They were silent, holding each other for a long time.

"You saved me." He told her.

"I am a mighty warrior." She kissed his collarbone as he laughed, her own lips upturned.

Lunar peered over into the lake. "That lake is real deep. I barely got the blade. I can get the gun if you want, it might not work—"

He steeled himself, took her hand in his and picked up Blessing's climbing axe as it tottered on the precipice of the icy water. "Nothing of value was lost."