The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,96

they took off their snowshoes, they were able to move a lot faster.

The trees grew more dense the farther they went into the valley, and the snow gave way completely to a coarse yellow grass and low shrubs. Sonya began to spot signs of animal life. Tracks that looked like they came from something like caribou, but smaller, and scents she found familiar but not identical to those she knew.

That afternoon, as she was daydreaming of stalking one of these curious new animals, she caught a brief but unmistakable whiff of human sweat. She stopped and grabbed Jorge’s arm.

“Sonya, what’s—”

She covered his mouth with one hand and pushed back her hood with the other. Her fox eyes scanned the trees and her pointed ears strained to hear the slightest movement. Her bow and arrows were stowed away in her pack, so the only accessible weapon she had was her long knife. She slowly moved her hand down and loosened the blade in its worn leather scabbard.

Then she caught a slight creak of leather, and movement in one of the thick juniper bushes nearby. The only way someone could have gotten there was if they’d been lying in wait for some time. Sonya and Jorge must have been spotted when they first entered the valley. Were these bandits preparing for an ambush? If so, they were about to learn that sneaking up on a Ranger of Marzanna was impossible.

“Don’t move,” she muttered to Jorge.

Then she launched herself toward the bush. The figure startled and lifted their head slightly. Sonya leapt over them as she drew her knife. Then she spun around, shoved her knee into the person’s back, grabbed them by the chin, and pressed her knife against their throat.

In response, five other people, all dressed in drab gray and green wool clothing, rose from nearby bushes. Some held javelins, others longbows, and all were now aiming at Sonya. She’d caught other scents as she’d leapt toward her prey, so she was not taken completely by surprise. But she was impressed that so many humans had concealed their presence from her as long as they had.

“Blue skin!” called Jorge from the path. “It’s the Uaine!”

Sonya looked down at her hostage. It was not a blue-skinned demon, but merely a young woman with blue paint smeared on her face. The “spikes” were simply hair cut short and shaped into points with some sort of clay or mud. She imagined the paint and mud had obscured their scent to some extent, which was why it had taken her so long to get a whiff of them.

“These are the Uaine?” She’d been hoping for actual demons, of course, and felt a little let down.

The Uaine shouted at Sonya in an unfamiliar language. She understood the threatening tone, though.

“Back off!” she told them, but that only made them yell at her again even more forcefully.

“Remember we’re here to make friends, Sonya!” said Jorge. “What you are doing does not look like friendship.”

“They were trying to sneak up on us!”

“Perhaps they merely wished to observe us.”

“They’re pointing arrows at me!”

“Possibly because you have your blade at their comrade’s throat.”

Sonya ground her teeth in frustration. When she’d come up with the idea of allying with the Uaine, she hadn’t counted on a language barrier, but of course it made perfect sense. Why would the enemy of the Aureum Empire bother to learn the imperial common tongue?

“Hullooo, hullooo!”

A sixth Uaine rose up from the bushes. He was a tall, muscular young man with wavy, dark blond hair that hung nearly to his shoulders. Unlike the others, he wore a heavy chain mail shirt over a padded coat. He was armed with a long sword, but it remained sheathed at his hip. In fact, he was grinning excitedly at Sonya and Jorge. There was something both warm and a little reckless in his blue eyes that Sonya couldn’t help liking.

“Ya’ tell me y’r is friend?” he asked in a thick, guttural accent that added an odd trill to the r sounds.

“Yes!” Jorge said immediately. “We’re friends!”

The Uaine man kept grinning, but he raised his eyebrow and gestured to Sonya. “Thess friend?”

“Sonya, put the damn knife down!” said Jorge.

“But…” If she did that, she wouldn’t be able to jump clear before the others filled her full of arrows and tiny spears.

“Hokay, hokay.” The man’s tone sounded reasonable. Cheerful, even. He nodded, then walked over to stand between Sonya and the arrows. Then he tapped his chest. “Jest me now. Stell