Free A Warrior's Sacrifice by Ross Winkler Page B

circumstances, Grunts were engineered to be obedient, but those instincts could be overridden through torment, scent of blood, and most of all, hunger.
    This one hadn't eaten in a week. Saliva dripped from the waving mandibles.
    From Its waistband Kavin pulled a small dagger and drew the blade along Its forearm. It had to press hard to break Its skin, taut with layers of crisscrossed scars. Kavin gathered blood onto the blade and flicked it into the Grunt's face.
    With a shriek, the Grunt tore at the gate and shredded the bars that stood between it and its prey.
    Kavin was ready. It was always ready.

    Auta Fall hated his job — hated his life, really. He'd been a no-nothing back in Toledo Alpha, and the Oniwabanshu had rounded him up with all the other no-nothings and shipped them out to this backwater hole. From there, he'd been happy enough to live the rest of his life farming and drinking and having sex, but one bad decision after another landed him in the lap of a few members of the Ashi-Kage, and once ensnared, he could not escape.
    Again, Auta touched the small bulge in his pack. This would be his salvation. Once he did this, he was done; he could go back to his old life, and no one would ever know what he'd done or been a part of.
    A voice from the darkness made him squeak in surprise. He tried to pull his sidearm , but a steel-fingered hand grabbed his wrist and jerked him backward, spinning, until his face was just inches from the Quisling Grand. The woman's hair was white, but despite her age, she had skill with the knife she'd pressed up under Auta's chin.
    "What is it you want here? You were not expected," the old woman said.
    "I, I have something for you — for Ot."
    "Give it to me, and I will deliver."
    "This is for Ot only. He told me to deliver it him, only him," Auta said.
    "Fine." She let Auta go but disarmed him before turning. "Follow."
    They came, after a time and an interminable distance, into a circle of shoddy vehicles that comprised the Quisling caravan. No lights shone at this time of night, but by now Auta's eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Grands leaned from truck beds, and children ranging from toddlers to preteens peered from underneath vehicles.
    "Stay here," the woman told Auta just before he crossed into the inner circle of vehicles.
    Auta did as he was told, aware of the eyes that gleamed at him in the faint moonlight and the quiet whispers as they sized him up for his worth in a trade with the Choxen. He also realized that she'd left him near their prison trucks. At this moment, the cages were empty, the chains coiled and hanging limp.
    The camp was quiet — noise killed out here in the space between Republic and Choxen territory — yet there was a palpable feel, like entering a predator's lair. The cages, though empty, smelled like fear and feces and many unwashed bodies. Auta shuddered.
    "What are you doing here?" a voice said just centimeters from behind Auta.
    Auta's heart leapt, and a hand clenched around his mouth to arrest his yelp. The hand spun Auta around, and after a moment more and warning eyes, let go.
    "O-oh. Od Rokek," Auta said, rubbing his hands together. "You surprised me."
    A pistol appeared in Rokek's hand and punched its way into Auta's stomach, folding him over. "I am now Ot Rokek. The Republic killed my brother. You and your fellows were supposed to warn us of any changes." From the darkness behind Ot Rokek, a dozen other Quisling warriors drifted from the forest to join their families.
    "We did! We are! I'm here to bring you an update of things in the city! Maharatha! A whole Void of them."
    "We know. They are how I became Ot."
    "Oh, I'm so sorry."
    "I debate if I should kill you now or not." The anger in the new Ot's eyes was fierce.
    "Wait! I brought what you wanted. We found the device!"
    The pressure of the gun eased. "You have it? Let me see."
    Auta fished into his pack and brought forth the object. It was the size of a man's fist and hard, hard to the