Garnuk nodded. That was something to be grateful for at least. Perhaps the day had not been a total disaster.
The last leader, Yulik, crossed his arms over his chest and shook his horned head. “Nothing happened after you left, general. The armory, it seems, was the final attack. And likely the only real one out of the lot.”
The Exile finished removing his gauntlets and scratched at his horns with his clawed hands. At least three enemy operatives dead, one captured. Compared to one vertag lost for Shadow Squadron and a few more throughout the city. The four warriors at the armory. A half dozen or more at each gate. Some of Hunon’s warriors had likely died there as well though.
“Go to each of the places where a fight or fire broke out,” Garnuk commanded. “Bring reports back from the leaders there. I want to know what they observed.”
Ranil and the others nodded, then left the chamber, marching out into the city to do his bidding.
While they were gone, Garnuk watched his captive with an unblinking, flat gaze. The vertag shifted uncomfortably every few seconds, as though he found the Exile’s actions disconcerting. The two guards standing over him paid no attention to the silent battle taking place, focusing on any threats that might approach from outside the council chamber.
Finally Garnuk leaned towards the captive. “Your name?” he asked quietly.
The vertag composed himself, straightening his back and sitting as upright as possible. Then, he affected a look of bored indifference, taking no notice of Garnuk and looking around the room instead. Every time his gaze crossed Garnuk, he did not even blink but maintained his unfocused, distant look.
“That was not a question,” Garnuk warned. “It was a demand. I’ll ask one more time. Your name?”
The vertag shrugged indifferently, but said nothing.
Garnuk smirked at the captive’s attitude and turned away. Then, with blinding speed, he backhanded the captive and sent him sprawling. The sound of the impact echoed through the hall, making the two guards wince while everyone else grabbed their weapons and turned towards the source of the noise.
The right side of the vertag’s face bore four shallow slices where Garnuk’s claws had broken through his hide. The flesh around the wounds was already swelling up.
“I am not to be trifled with,” Garnuk warned the captive, shaking his head. “Now, your name?”
“Gruxeb,” the vertag grunted, gingerly touching his swollen face. He spat out a glob of blood and a tooth, glaring at Garnuk the whole time.
Garnuk smiled grimly and sat back satisfied. “Thank you, Gruxeb,” he said. “I will have more questions for you later. In the meantime, think carefully on how you will answer them. I will not be so gentle next time you refuse to obey.”
The captive looked away defiantly. But Garnuk could tell the vertag was cowed for the moment. He could see it in the slump of his back, the way he hunched forward as though to protect himself from another blow. “Hold him at the far end of the room,” he told the two nearest guards. The two vertaga grabbed Gruxeb by both arms and dragged him away, well out of earshot of the improvised command center. Satisfied, Garnuk grinned to himself and paced around the council chamber for a while, waiting for Carh and the others to return.
A half hour after the brief interrogation, Ranil returned from the sea gate with one of the vertaga that had been stationed there. The warrior reported nine dead, many wounded, and no captives. They had killed nearly all of the twenty attackers though.
The two captains who had gone to investigate the sites of the fires returned next. They reported no additional leads, just that the flames had been put out and the area was returning to normal, everyday activity. Even the armory fire had been dealt with, though it was yet to be determined if the building was still stable or how much had been lost to the inferno.
Time passed. Garnuk paced about anxiously, wondering where the last warrior, Yulik, had gotten to. The main gate was further away, but not that much further. Had he been ambushed in the streets? Caught up in a new battle? The Exile was about to send a search party after him when Yulik finally entered the council chamber, followed by a small group of vertaga.
“Where have you been?” Garnuk demanded ill-temperedly. “You should have been back long ago.”
Yulik nodded. “Sorry general. Some of our group was rather uncooperative.”
At a gesture from Yulik, the guards behind him shoved two vertaga forward and drove them to their knees. Both were wounded, but their injuries had been bandaged roughly so they would not bleed to death. The captives kept their eyes downcast, sullen and hostile.
Garnuk nodded curtly. “Well done,” he said to Yulik and the others. “Put these two with the other one and stand watch. They were taken during the fighting at the main gate?”
“Yes,” Yulik confirmed. “The battle was fierce, but we still hold the main way in and out of Banta Kodu for the moment. The commander there wishes for us to send reinforcements, and quickly.”
“That is a matter that Carh will have to deal with when he returns,” Garnuk growled, glancing at the entrance. “Which should be any minute now.”
“They are not back?”
Garnuk glanced at Yulik, fixing him with a penetrating look. “Apparently,” he replied, heaping as much scorn and contempt as he could into that single word.
Yulik nodded quickly. “Yes, general, sorry. Forget that I spoke.”
The Exile made no reply, merely went back to the raised hearth and sat, brooding, waiting for his allies to return from their journey up the mountain.
The wait was far longer than Garnuk had expected, another three hours in all. In fact, night was beginning to steal over the city when Carh and his small band of warriors wearily stumbled into the council chamber. Carh and Lun were limping, and had apparently suffered minor contusions during the journey. Tarq and Koah were helping along a fifth vertag, who was moving painfully slowly as he crossed the floor of the council chamber. This vertag was stooped with age, and weak of flesh, but Garnuk could see a spark in his eyes that said there was still life and purpose alive in this shriveled husk.
The aged vertag raised his head briefly, and Garnuk recognized the face before him. He bowed respectfully and murmured a greeting. “Elder Teszalk,” he intoned softly. “Welcome.”
The elder stopped beside Garnuk, examining him curiously. “So, you returned I see. The others told me as much.” His voice was unsteady, weak even. “Was your journey successful, Exile? Did you find the demons?”
“More than I expected,” Garnuk murmured. “It would seem there was some truth to that part of your vision, wise elder. I can only wonder at the rest of it.”
“As can we,” Teszalk replied. “The future is uncertain and changing, and while sometimes our visions give us foresight, the truth is usually not apparent until after the foretold events have occurred.”
Garnuk nodded gravely. “I appreciate your open-mindedness on these matters. The other elders seem rather full of their own importance.”
A ghost of a smile touched the ancient one’s wizened features. “So they are,” he agreed. “And that has contributed to our current predicament.”
The elder shuffled forward, gingerly climbing the steps to the hearth, with considerable help from Koah and Tarq. He sank into one of the heavy, carved chairs with a sigh, leaning towards the roaring fire.
“It does these old bones good to finally be indoors again,” he murmured, shaking his horned head. “It is too cold to be gallivanting about on the mountainside.”
“We appreciate you joining us here in the city,” Carh murmured. “As you no doubt know, the need is great at the moment. Your wisdom would go a long way towards resolving this unfortunate conflict.”
The elder frowned, tapping the arm of his chair thoughtfully. “Perhaps, but I sense that wisdom has little to do with the current state of affairs. The other elders, for instance. They have moved rather rashly, treating future events as though they are iron clad, holding to a si
ngle definition of the vision that together we saw in the smoke. That, my friends, is folly, though it seems I alone am wise enough to recognize it.”
Garnuk frowned. “You may be right, elder. More so than you know. I suspect that the elders’ distrust of me and my fellow warriors led them to Hunon, and that he has manipulated that distrust for his own gain. Were none of the other elders still in their mountain abodes?”
“None,” Carh said, shaking his head. “They have taken refuge with Hunon it would seem.”
“Or he holds them captive,” Tarq muttered. “Once he had their support, he would want to keep them close. All he needs is their warriors, not them.”
“That has disturbing implications,” Teszalk murmured. “Is Hunon the type to detain them by force?”
“No,” Garnuk said flatly. “If he has detained them, it will be in such a way that the elders are unaware of the situation themselves. They will appear free to go about things as they please, yet be confined by Hunon in ways they have not the wit to understand. I do not think Hunon will have been able to win over his Banuk traitors to the point that their allegiance would shift to an outsider. Likely, he still needs the elders to give the orders even though they are acting as little more than his pawns at this point in the game.”
“Game?” Carh demanded. “My tribe is torn asunder by war and you call this a game?”
“Apologies, chief,” Garnuk said, bowing slightly. “It was a figure of speech, nothing more. I am fully aware of how serious this situation is for you and your kin.”
Carh grunted, apparently placated.
“So,” Koah asked, eager to move on from the awkward moment. “What is our next move?”
“Interrogation,” Garnuk said. “We have three captives from the operations Hunon launched while you were visiting Elder Teszalk. One was captured in the process of setting fire to the armory – ”
“Which you let burn nearly to the ground,” Carh muttered darkly.
“ – and the other two were captured in a battle at the main gate of Banta Kodu,” Garnuk finished, glancing at Carh. “As to the burning of the armory, we got there as quickly as we could and did our best to put out the fire. Roughly half of the building was saved I believe.”
“A little less,” Carh grunted. “And it is still too dangerous to enter. We fear it will collapse.”
“At any rate,” Garnuk said, forging ahead. “We have been fortunate. Elder Teszalk is now under our protection, where Hunon’s forces cannot reach him, and we have captives to question. If we are lucky, at least one will talk and we will temporarily have an advantage.”
“Then let us question them,” Koah said sharply. “Where is the first of our honored guests?”
The captive from the armory was hauled to his feet and dragged up to the hearth, where he was forced to kneel beside the fire. Garnuk studied the vertag dispassionately, then turned to the guards.
“Take the other two out of here for now,” he commanded. “And clear the chamber. See that guards are posted at both entrances.”
“Aye, general.”
Garnuk and the others waited while everyone filtered out of the council chamber. Finally, the only ones remaining besides the prisoner were Garnuk, Carh, Koah, Tarq, and Teszalk.
“My friends,” Garnuk began. “This is Gruxeb, one of the servants of Hunon. He was captured in the battle at the armory, which he assisted in setting fire to.”
Gruxeb said nothing, merely scowled as he endured the scrutiny of the council.
“How did you come to serve Hunon?” Teszalk asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Gruxeb fixed his eyes on a point far off in the distance, but said nothing.
“Do not think that you can outlast us, scum,” Carh growled. “We have all the time in the world. And we have no aversion to torturing you for whatever knowledge you possess. Is your loyalty to Hunon so great you would suffer for his cause?”
“Not to Hunon,” Gruxeb replied in a low, bitter voice.
Garnuk raised an eyebrow at that and sat back, pondering this. “You serve one of the elders, then?”
Gruxeb hesitated, then shrugged and nodded a few times. “One of them, yes. Not the outsider.”
“You have no love for Hunon,” Teszalk guessed. “Nor for any other outsider.” The ancient one sighed and leaned forward. “But the other elders, they have unwittingly suborned themselves to one such outsider. In their quest for power and domination, they have lost sight of their guiding principles. The principles which kept the Banuk tribe safe for so many years.”
“Your words do not sway me,” Gruxeb replied. “I serve the elders. They are wise.”
“And I am not?” Teszalk asked, brow furrowed.
Gruxeb shrank back. “You are the Ancient One,” he said reverently. “Wiser than any. But everyone makes mistakes now and again. Especially as we age.”
“Is that the excuse the other elders are using to explain my absence from their plots?” Teszalk asked, chuckling. “That I am senile with age? My mind has not dulled one whit, young warrior. In fact, it could be said that I alone can see what is happening to this world and understand what is going on.”
Garnuk sighed heavily, wishing that the process could be accelerated. But Teszalk seemed to be making progress, albeit in a rather slow, roundabout way.
Gruxeb clenched his jaw and jerked his horned head in Garnuk’s direction. “And what about him? Another outsider. Yet you shelter and support him.”
“Because he has vowed to see to it that our people can live in peace and safety in the Fells,” Carh said firmly.
“He lies to you!” Gruxeb spat. “He has deceived you all, even the Ancient One. He will not save our race with his plots but destroy it!”
“The same could be said of the Usurper,” Garnuk replied. “It is all a matter of perspective. The Banuk way has kept this tribe hidden for uncounted years – ”
“Maybe by the rest of the world,” Carh broke in. “But we Banuk know precisely how long it has been.”
Garnuk glared at the Banuk chief, wishing Carh would hold his comments to himself rather than interjecting meaningless dribble that delayed these vital proceedings. “My apologies,” he said through bared fangs. “I was unaware.”
“At any rate,” Tarq continued quickly, “The Usurper has elected to go to war, which will surely drive men to seek our homes and destroy them, for they will not let us safely retreat to the Fells a second time. They will find us and destroy us, down to the last tribe. Even the Banuk, here in their ancient city, may well be doomed by his actions.”
“You are also an outsider,” Gruxeb said flatly. “Why should I trust what you say?”
“Because I agree with them,” Teszalk replied firmly, stunning the room into silence. Even Garnuk looked at the Ancient One in surprise.
“I have no love for outsiders,” Teszalk continued. “And while Garnuk is working for the good of all our people, I suspect there is just as much that he does not tell us.” He fixed Garnuk with such a penetrating look that the Exile almost shrank back in his chair. But instead, he sat tall, inclining his head slightly to mask his anxiety.
“We all have our secrets,” Garnuk replied quietly.
“Quite so,” Teszalk agreed. “Whatever those secrets are, they have kept him on a course that benefits the Banuk. So, I choose to trust him for the time being, and believe that out of all of this chaos and destruction, a solution for lasting peace and safety can be found.”
“You are mad, old one,” Gruxeb said derisively. “It is no wonder you did not join with the other elders. You fail to see the wisdom of their plan. They do not embrace outsiders either, but they will see Garnuk destroyed.”
“And what of Hunon?” Garnuk asked. “Will they destroy him as well? If that is their plan, I would be most interested to hear it. I have been trying, and failing, to best that traitorous scoundrel for years.”
Gruxeb shifted uncomfortably. “Hunon will be dealt with,” he said at last.
“Then why hasn’t he been dealt with? The elders used the Black Hawks to strike at Carh and I already, but they are dead. Hunon has outlived his usefulness to them, unless it is his mind they desire. And if they are asking for strategies from him, can you be sure that those strategies benefit the Banuk and not Hunon himself? It is the elders, not us, who have been blinded, Gruxeb. They have been manipulated and suborned by Hunon, and he will be their destruction. Will their downfall be yours as well?”
Gruxeb scowled. “I will not betray those I have sworn myself to.”
Carh sighed in disgust. “An admirable sentiment, but a regrettable one,” he observed. “Koah, lock him away, and bring us our next guest.”
Gruxeb stood, looking down at Garnuk and the others. “You will have no more success with them,” he declared. “Torturing or imprisoning us will have no effect.”
Garnuk smiled coldly at the vertag. “We will see about that, traitor.”
Chapter 30:
A New Strategem
As Gruxeb had predicted, the other captives were just as uncooperative. Garnuk and the others interviewed each one by one, but the result was the same. They would divulge no information on Hunon’s schemes or on the elders. Garnuk took the setback in stride, already plotting how best to proceed, but Carh took matters into his own hands when the last captive did not talk. The unfortunate prisoner was beaten unconscious before the Banuk chief was satisfied, then returned to his cell. When Carh had resumed his seat at the head of the hearth and his breathing slowed, Garnuk decided it was safe to move forward.
“So we still don’t know what Hunon is up to,” Garnuk mused. “But we were at least able to predict what he would do. Our success in fending off his attacks and taking a few of his warriors proves that much.”
“A few warriors were captured, yes, but they were the elders’ fighters,” Teszalk pointed out delicately. “There is an important distinction there, for if they are the elders’ warriors they are still Banuk. My kin, and yours, Carh.”
The Banuk chief scowled. “Then they are traitors to their kind and should be hung.”
The Ramshuk (Heirs of Legacy Book 3) Page 30
