The Forsaken

searching for a way through this barrier and off the wheel.”
    “Then you’re infidels. . . . You don’t believe in our Monk’s eternal powers.”
    “No, we don’t. But we’ll give you water and food. And a chance to rest. In return you have to tell us everything you know. About this barrier, and about why you’re here. About your Monk, too.”
    “Why?”
    “Why?” Gadya cuts in, sounding incredulous. “Because if you don’t, we’ll leave you here to die! That’s why. We just lost most of our friends. You mean nothing to us.”
    “Jump, do we have a deal?” Veidman asks. Jump squirms around, like he’s trying to sit up. “Someone help him,” Veidman adds, but the drone waves everyone off with his good arm.
    “I can manage,” he gasps, although it’s pretty clear that he can’t.
    Veidman glances at Rika. “Get some water and food from my pack.” Then he looks at me. “Alenna, grab some blankets.” He peers back down at Jump. “We’re going to help you, and you’re going to help us. We don’t have to be enemies.”
    Jump presses himself off the ground a few inches, using his good arm and shoulder.
    “Okay. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “Come closer,” Jump pleads. “I don’t want everyone to hear. What I have to say is just for you. You’re the leader, right?”
    Veidman reluctantly crouches down next to the fallen drone. “Fine,” he says. “Whisper it to me, then.”
    I strain to listen, and everyone else does too. I hear Jump start whispering. I can’t see his face, only Veidman’s. But Veidman’s expression is blank. Emotionless.
    And then everything changes.
    Jump emits a gurgling shriek, like his lungs are imploding. Veidman instantly lurches up, eyes filled with total inexplicable horror.
    At first I don’t understand.
    But then I look down.
    Sticking out of Veidman’s chest, at the level of his heart, is a silver dagger. And Jump’s hand is wrapped around the other end of it. “I sure got the jump . . . on you !” he says, cackling madly, bloody saliva dribbling from his lips.
    Before I have time to scream, an arrow flies straight from Gadya’s bow right through one side of Jump’s neck. The impact snaps his head back.
    “It’s a trap!” Sinxen yells.
    Everyone explodes into action.
    Sinxen grabs Veidman, whose shirt is already soaked with blood, and pulls him to safety. Jump lurches to his feet, displaying more energy than I thought possible. He yanks at the arrow impaling his Adam’s apple, and gurgles blood.
    “ Death to all infidels! ” he hisses, his voice a chilling, mutilated rasp, barely audible because of the hole in his throat.
    I stand there paralyzed.
    An instant later, Markus and the other hunters come down on Jump like a ton of bricks, their fists battering his face. I catch a glimpse as his head lolls back. I see that he’s laughing like a maniac, blood dripping off his chiseled teeth.
    “Don’t kill him,” Veidman calls out weakly. He sways, going into shock. He glances down at the dagger sticking out of his chest. “We need him alive.”
    Everyone hears, but nobody listens. Markus brutally rips the arrow right out of Jump’s throat. Blood sprays up and paints the barrier red.
    Markus steps back.
    Jump is dying now. His throat is torn out, leaving a gaping hole. But a satisfied smile lingers on his lips.
    Then a final arrow flies through the air from Gadya’s bow, striking him right between the eyes. His body tenses, hands seizing up, and then he relaxes again. Drooping. The life is gone from him now for good. And so is his smile.
    “A dirty trap!” Gadya rants, brandishing her bow. “The Monk probably sent him here and stuck him in the wall. He was waiting to get us!”
    “I bet they’ve been putting drones in the barrier as sentries, ever since the tunnel collapse,” Sinxen mutters glumly.
    Gadya flings down her bow in anger. “This never would have happened if Liam were here. He would have protected Vei.”
    Sinxen is sitting down now, cradling Veidman’s head. Blood wells from Veidman’s mouth, coming up from inside him. The knife is still in his chest. I know that if we try to remove it, it will just make things worse.
    “Keep his head elevated,” Rika warns.
    We all crowd around our fallen leader. I understand that Veidman is probably going to die because he tried to save someone. Just like Liam. Generosity is clearly a character flaw in the twisted microcosm of the wheel.