Chapter Thirty-Five

 

Kuma knew the way to Big Dave's Town by heart but every step he took felt like betrayal. Was he running away or making a strategic choice? It was one thing for his father, who'd survived sixty-four years in the Undercity, first as a soldado, then a lieutenant, and later as a clan leader. He'd proved himself in countless scraps, many of which had left him surrounded by his dead friends.

There was no such storied history for Kuma. He wasn't even a graduate of the Academy, nor had he been in more than a few scraps. Kuma sensed the disappointment from Camina, but she'd said nothing. Like his uncle, she was a good soldier.

When they reached a crossroads that would lead them to Big Dave's Town if they turned right, and return to the Machi if they went left, Kuma turned to his friends.

"Am I making a mistake?"

Camina wrinkled her nose. "There might not be a correct choice."

"It's like the maze exercise during our first year," said Tick, who was bouncing on his heels. "The darkness made it impossible to know what everyone else was doing. We just had to try our best to find the pebble."

"But the consequences of getting this wrong isn't a hundred arc runs," said Kuma.

"Little Bear, if you're going to change your mind, now's the time. We can always head back and hit them where they least expect it."

Kuma glanced down the tunnel that would lead to the third entrance.

"I've been thinking about the Crows. If they're going to hit the Machi, they don't want anyone to get away. They want to kill every last one of us so there's no chance of reprisal. Which means they'll need to block the exits."

"You don't have to tell me twice," said Camina, foot changing directions.

Kuma found a hole near a pile of fungi and hid the cannister of Eclipse inside before they took off running towards the Machi. The further they traveled the more Kuma was concerned he was right and they were too late. The curves of the passages passed at a blur. Betrayal. Deacon and the rest of the Crows had stabbed them in the back. Kuma couldn't wait to put his blade deep into Deacon's chest.

A burst of automatic fire brought their headlong rush to a halt. Tick ran into his back when he stopped. Kuma held his hand up and sent his amber forward. There were at least a dozen Crows set up outside the exit with a tripod-mounted machine gun pointed towards the hidden door. Another burst was followed by screams. Echoes of gunfire on the inside clarified the situation: his clanmates were getting ground up between the two firing stations.

"Let's rush them," said Camina, looking frantic. "Before it's too late."

"They've got Crows pointed this direction. We'll be running to our deaths." He held up the stolen pistol from the Blue Daggers. "I wish they'd had some grenades or smoke bombs. Anything to help us get past them."

"I'll do it," said Tick, strangely still as he focused towards the tunnel.

Camina turned on him. "And why wouldn't you get gunned down like either of us?"

Kuma put his hand on Camina's arm as he recognized the faraway stare from their friend.

"He's not the one running in."

The sounds of chittering had Kuma checking behind them to see a half dozen tunnel rats running past them along with a cloud of flying insects. Without looking at them, Tick said, "Be ready."

A moment later, gunfire erupted in their direction. Kuma heard screams as the Crows descended into chaos, trying to kill the rats, or keep the insects off them.

"Now."

On Tick's mark, Kuma leapt away with Camina right behind him. When he reached the exit cavern, he switched to Lightness, throwing himself towards the ceiling and firing twin pistols on the downward arc. As the Crows tried to orient themselves towards the new threat, Camina came in three steps behind, picking off the ones that Kuma hadn't killed. In the span of a half dozen seconds, they killed all the Crows blocking the exit.

The steel door that blocked the exit flew open, revealing a shaved neon green head.

"Little Bear!" She turned inward. "The way is open! Go! Go! Go!"

Gunfire chased others out as Kuma pushed his way in to support their escape.

"Where's my father?" he asked Adrenalynne.

Her expression turned to ash. "He surrendered to give us a chance to escape, but they turned on us anyway."

"Never should have trusted the Crows."

Kuma joined the soldados providing cover for their escape. He wanted to see his father.

"Where is he?"

Their expressions betrayed the danger. "On the bridge. There's no way you can save him, Little Bear. They have more coming. We have to go."

Kuma rose and considered leaping into their midst with Lightness. Maybe he could cause enough chaos that the others could rescue his father. He took a step forward and Camina grabbed his arm.

"There are too many. It'd be suicide."

"Where's Tick? His trick could work again," he said, trying to dislodge her grip. She wouldn't let go.

Camina's lips were squeezed white. She looked at him with a mix of pity and concern that only made him want to rage.

"Kuma. We have to go. You have to sense them too. The rest of the Crows are converging here. Whoever is left will be slaughtered, and we don't want to risk them cutting us off before we reach Big Dave's Town."

"He's my father."

Camina cupped his face, placed her forehead against his. "I know, Little Bear. I know."

A memory of their last morning together, when his father made them breakfast and they discussed his training at the Academy, rose up in his mind. He could see the laughing creases around his father's eyes as he told him stories about his and Brazio's shenanigans when they'd been in the Academy. The pair of them had been beaten senseless multiple times by the instructor for their pranks, but it didn't dissuade them from doing more.

That time seemed like a lifetime ago. Kuma could taste the tea, see the way the soft light of the house cast across his father's face. Knowing that for a short time, even with all the stresses of clan leadership, missing his dead wife, and knowing that everything could come crashing down in an instant, he was happy.

"Little Bear. We have to go."

Kuma strained against her pull even as bullets impacted the cavern wall, sending chips of stone overtop.

"I can't leave him."

Before she could stop him, he ripped away from her grip, throwing himself forward in a leap of Lightness. As he arced above the wall, he saw his father on his knees before Gregor with an army of soldiers at his side, including the traitorous Deacon.

Kuma made it ten feet before two bullets ripped into his shoulder and another into his thigh, throwing him to the ground. He felt a hundred barrels point in his direction, ready to wipe him from the earth, but Camina appeared by his side, lifting him up and helping him behind the wall before the hailstorm of bullets sprayed the area he'd just been.

Other hands grabbed him as he collapsed from being shot. He grew dizzy as he was carried from the Machi, fighting against unconsciousness because he knew that if he didn't get to the bridge, it would be the last time he'd see his father alive.