by Pedro Urvi
Ikai looked away from her black, almond-shaped eyes, where his soul seemed to lose itself, and gazed musingly out to sea.
“That makes my decision more difficult still.”
“And that is?”
“To call the council and tell them we must leave. The Shelter isn’t safe any longer, not after Isaz’s betrayal. I can’t guarantee their safety if we stay. We have to find another home. I know it won’t be very popular, but it’s what my gut feeling and my head tell me.”
Albana’s gaze turned to the moon. “I read Isaz’s eyes when I interrogated him. He passed on information about us, but not about the Shelter. I’m sure of that. In the Eternal City, as a Shadow, I was trained to betray, to spy, to kill… but also to detect lying and deceit. Isaz wasn’t lying, he didn’t tell them about The Shelter. I can assure you of that.”
“He didn’t? Why?”
“Corrupt men act for different reasons, all of them powerful: greed, hate, fear… but they’re still men. Hope still lives in them. Perhaps Isaz had some hope of escaping… hiding from the evil he served, taking shelter here and escaping… like all of them.” She waved in the direction of the forest and the village behind her.
“Maybe… but the risk’s too great.” He looked into her enigmatic, penetrating eyes. “I’m not denying you may be right. I don’t understand your dark arts, and I don’t try to. If you say you read it in his eyes, I believe you, I trust you completely. But I don’t want my people to die because of an unnecessary risk I decided to run, because of a mistake of my own. I have to do what’s right, what’s most sensible. I’ll put the idea forward to the council tomorrow and let them all decide.”
Albana smiled. This time it was not one of her bitter, sarcastic smiles but a sweet one, and her sharp gaze softened.
“You’re sensible,” she said, “you really are. And intelligent too.”
Ikai looked at her, taken aback. The cat-like brunette rarely paid compliments.
“Don’t be so surprised. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t have stayed with you. Or do you really think I’d put my life in the hands of a brainless leader? Not for all the Power of the Gods!” She twisted her mouth in amusement.
Ikai could not help a small laugh.
“Stop carrying the world’s burdens on your shoulders for one night and relax. Tomorrow’s another day, and you can’t do anything more for now.” She nudged him playfully with her shoulder.
At the sight of her cat-like, enigmatic features, now softened by a warm smile, he felt an irrepressible desire to take her in his arms and kiss her. Albana, seeming to read his feelings in his eyes, bent her head towards him, and he kissed her with all the fire and exultation of an erupting volcano, letting himself be carried away by his passion. Albana responded, and both fused in a tight embrace, in a kiss which welded together two young hearts in search of eternal love.
When they moved their lips apart and broke the kiss which joined their burning souls, Ikai remained lost in her. He did not want the link, the powerful feelings which were running through him, to stop. She got to her feet and undressed very slowly, letting her clothes fall to one side. She smiled at him with irresistible roguishness, and stepped into the sea with her sensuous, swaying walk. She stopped when the water reached her waist. Ikai watched her in fascination. Her body, her sensuality, the manifest femininity revealed by the moon, left him spellbound.
“Come with me,” she said, turning towards him with her hand outstretched. Her eyes shone and her jet-black hair danced wildly in the sea breeze.
Ikai too stood up, undressed and took her hand. As he did so he felt the water caressing his body. Shyness gave way to exuberance, then abandon, and finally to ecstasy. The two young lovers united body and soul in a joy as immense as the sea which enveloped them.
A distant, troubling sound woke Ikai. He opened his eyes as he emerged from an intoxicating dream, not understanding what the buzz in his ears could be. He was lying on the beach, fragments of the wonderful night he had just enjoyed with Albana dancing in his mind. The first rays of light struck his eyes like two shining arrows launched by a vengeful star, and he had to cover them with his arm. He felt around, but she was no longer with him. How typical of her, he thought with a smile.
The annoying sound echoed again, and now that he was awake he recognized it. His heart almost leapt out of his mouth. It’s an alarm horn!
He jumped to his feet and dressed as quickly as he could. Suddenly he saw smoke to the east, at the far end of the bay. It was the harbor. The fishing boats were burning.
And then he saw them. Three huge triremes were coming into the harbor.
“Oh, no, by Oxatsi! Enforcers!”
He ran with all his might towards the village. He crossed the beach and the forest which separated him from the houses like a runaway horse, leaping over vegetation, fallen trees and rocks. Blood was drumming in his ears and his lungs were burning by the time he reached the village. In the square the villagers were beginning to gather together. They looked around in confusion, not knowing what was going on or what to do. Fear was beginning to show on their faces. He found Kyra in front of the Council House with Urda and hastened to them.
“What’s going on?” Kyra asked in alarm.
“Triremes… in the harbor… they’ve found us,” he managed to articulate breathlessly.
Kyra’s face was suddenly grim. “Sesmok? The Guard?”
Urda shook her head. “Worse. Enforcers. The Guard doesn’t have triremes.”
Kyra clenched her fists. “That means Eyes-of-the-Gods… Executors… How can they have found us out?”
Ikai shook his head. He had no idea.
“Isaz,” Urda said. “Unless we have another traitor.”
The horn went on sounding the alarm, and the refugees gathering around them were getting more and more nervous and excited.
Karm, Honus and Romen appeared from one of the houses.
“What shall we do?” Urda said. “They’ll soon be here.”
“We’ll fight!” Kyra cried furiously. “We’ll stand up to them! Let them know what the Senoca are made of!”
Ikai looked at his sister, then at the expectant crowd around them. Most were peasants, and very few of them knew how to wield a weapon. They were all there now, around five hundred of them crowding the square. No, if they confronted the Executors, they would be killed. He could not let them be massacred. He saw the pleading eyes of the men and women in front fixed on him; he heard the whispers and murmurs of the poor wretches. He knew that if he asked them to fight they would, but he could not. It would mean a death sentence at the hands of the Enforcers.
“Where are our warriors?” he asked.
“Here!” said one of those he had trained.
“Bring me the weapons.”
The man nodded and left at a run. The thirty warriors came closer to Ikai.
Kyra looked around. “That’s it then, we’ll fight!” she cried.
But the faces of the people showed fear, and in their eyes she read that they wanted to run, not face the brutal Enforcers of the Gods. There were children there…
Idana’s voice reached her as she made her way through the throng. “We can’t fight against them. They’re Enforcers. They’ll kill us. We’ll have to get away from here before they arrive. There’s still time if we hurry.”
Kyra shook her head.
“Think of the women, the children and the sick,” Idana insisted. “We have to get away. Please.”
Seeing the terror in the faces around her, Kyra folded her arms. “I’d fight,” she said. “But it’s Ikai’s decision. He’s the leader.”
Her brother breathed deeply and considered. He had to make a decision, and fast. The Enforcers would be landing on the beach by now. Two opposite choices, fight or flee, and I must decide, I’m responsible for what happens to these people. The refugees were waiting, their pleading eyes begging for a way out, for someone to lead them. My decision, my responsibility… he repeated to himself
, and then he made his choice.
“Listen to me, everyone!” He raised his arms and the crowd fell silent. “The Enforcers are coming for us. They’re landing on the beach and they’ll soon be here. There’s no time to lose. You must flee to the sunken pass and then go to the eastern woods. Don’t turn back. The Enforcers will destroy the Shelter and kill anyone they capture. Leave everything. There’s no time!” he shouted as loudly as his lungs would let him. “Leave the island!”
There was a moment of silence, followed immediately by a tumult of gabbling, excited, fearful voices.
“Idana, take all the sick with you. Urda, help her and take care of Solma.
Warriors and guards, come with me. We’ll face up to the Enforcers, distract them while everybody else escapes. We’ll try to gain enough time for you to get away.”
“I’ll fight beside you,” Kyra said. Her eyes were sparkling.
“No, sis, I need you to guide them. Without someone leading them, they’ll never manage. They’re defenseless, terrified, they’ll fall off the cliffs or trample each other in a stampede. They won’t make it. Lead the way for them and get them off the island. Get them to the forest and hide there.”
Kyra shook her head stubbornly. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You must.”
“You go. You’re the leader. I’ll stay and fight.”
“I’m the leader, and that’s why I have to stay. Don’t argue with me, there’s no time for that. Save them, save Mother.”
At the mention of Solma, Kyra hesitated.
“Go with them and get them to safety. Please!”
At last she relented. There were tears of rage in her eyes.
“All right, damn it! But don’t let them kill you!”
“Don’t worry, sis, I won’t give them that satisfaction.”
“Romen, help me,” Kyra said, and the young man followed her.
“The rest of you, go! Go at once! Now! Follow Kyra!” Ikai cried at the top of his voice.
At this urgent command, the refugees obeyed him. They ran to the pass, crossing the village and the adjoining fields, leaving everything behind: their homes, their belongings and their hopes. They were fleeing for their lives in terror once again. It appeared to be the mark of the Senoca.
Ikai watched them leave, trying to find a way of gaining time. Nothing occurred to him. Karm and Honus came to his side.
“We need weapons,” said Karm.
“You can leave. If you stay you’ll be facing the Enforcers, facing death.”
Karm met his gaze. “You believed in me and gave me justice. It’s time to return the favor. I never thought I’d ever get justice for my sister, and for that I’ll be forever grateful. I have nothing else to live for except this.” He waved at the buildings and the men behind him. “This is my fight now. For years I suffered in the mines, as thousands do every day. I managed to escape, and it’s my duty to fight against the ones who enslave us. If I must die, so be it, but I’ll die as a free man, fighting against the Gods. And if I survive, I’ll go on fighting until every one of our people is free.”
“Thank you, Karm,” Ikai said. He offered him his hand, and Karm grasped his forearm.
“Damn my rotten luck!” Honus said. “If he stays, so do I. In any case, I wouldn’t know what to do without him. We’ve been together too many years, day after day and night after night. But I’d like the world to know it’s not because I have any time for sentiment or lost causes, like this bleeding-heart here. I still have some wits left and there are no cobwebs inside my head. I’ll fight for my friend, and to take revenge on those bastards who kept me for years in those mines like a bloody rat. Those bastards are going to pay!”
“Thank you, Honus,” Ikai said, a little put off by the giant’s speech. Then he turned to the fifty braves who would fight with him and thanked them as well.
“The honor of fighting alongside a Hero of the Senoca is ours,” one of them said.
Ikai sensed the men’s courage and devotion. “The honor is all mine,” At the same time he saw the fear lurking in their eyes. They had never shed blood, never confronted an Enforcer. “Now listen to me carefully. I’ve killed men, and I’ve killed Enforcers too, and I can assure you that even though it’s harder to kill them, Enforcers bleed and die just like men. Lean on your companions, fight together. Today these Senoca will shed the blood of the Enforcers.”
“We’ll fight,” a voice cried. “They’ll bleed and die!”
“For the Senoca!” cried another.
The cry was picked up by all: “For the Senoca!”
Ikai’s spirits rose.
The Arkens appeared, bringing the weapons with them. Colmes, the patriarch was first, his arms loaded with spears. His sons Telmas and Voltes carried bows and quivers of arrows. There was no fear in their eyes, only determination. Ikai felt admiration for that family. Only a few months ago they had been his neighbors, poor slave farm-workers. Now they were ready to fight the Enforcers and die if necessary. The Shelter had given them, as it had to all around them, the hope they had never had before.
Over his shoulder he slung the quiver of arrows Voltes had handed him. Out there in the open the Enforcers would cut them to pieces. Think! We have to gain time but how?
And then the idea came to him.
“Follow me!” he cried, and ran towards the Council House. “We’ll lock ourselves up in the houses in the square. Bolt the doors and windows so they can’t come in! Quickly!”
Kyra was guiding the refugees to the pass. The tide was coming in. “Damn!” she muttered. This would make things much more difficult. She climbed on to a boulder and watched the column moving through the thick vegetation.
“Hurry up! Don’t lag behind!” she urged them. She was aware of the danger behind them.
The refugees advanced along the abrupt terrain as fast as they could in a long line. Luckily panic had not spread and they were able to help each other as they went. But they were scared, and hysteria could easily break out at any moment. Urda was carrying Solma piggy-back as though she was a little girl. Idana was helping a sick man, almost sweeping him off his feet in the process. Kyra gave thanks to Oxatsi for her friends.
“Follow the path!”
Romen appeared carrying a little girl in either arm. “Their mother is sick and she can’t manage,” he said with his charming smile.
“Stop playing the hero. You won’t be able to cross with them in your arms either.”
He winked and went on. “Well, that remains to be seen.”
“Come on, get a move on!” Kyra urged them on as her eyes scanned the end of the column. The fear of seeing the Enforcers appear was eating away at her stomach.
The first group of Enforcers emerged from the dense vegetation of the forest, leaving the beach behind, and headed to the village. There were two groups: on one side one Eye-of-the-Gods and twelve Executors, and a second Eye leading a dozen more on the other. They moved in formation, without fearing anything or anyone, sure of their lethal strength. They were impressive: the gaunt Eyes, with their long-hemmed robes and the helmets of horror; the Executors in their red robes and cloaks, silver armor shining in the sun, their long silver spears a promise of death.
When they marched into the village an absolute silence received them. The place was deserted. There was not a soul in sight, and no sound to be heard save that of the birds in the distance. The breeze whispered through the village, and its murmur as it brushed the walls was all the Enforcers could hear. They moved forward into the square and stopped in front of the Council House. The two Eyes scanned the area with their helmets of horror.
Ikai appeared on the roof.
“Are you looking for the Heroes of the Senoca?”
The Eyes-of-the-Gods raised their helmets in his direction.
“Well then, you’ve found me! Loose arrows! All of you!”
Before the Eyes could give any order to their Executors, there came a lethal whistle and fifty arrows cut through the
air to strike the bodies of the two Enforcers. There was a tense silence as the warriors watched breathlessly from the roofs of the adjacent houses. Like felled trees, both Eyes fell forward.
Ikai turned to his people. “You see? They bleed and die just like us! They’re not immortal, neither them nor their Gods! They might be stronger than us, their blood darker than ours, but we can kill them! Don’t be afraid, fight! Fight with courage, we’re the Senoc―” A spear flew straight at his head, and with a brusque movement he managed to avoid it by a finger’s-breadth. He searched among the Executors for the one who had tried to kill him, then pointed him out.
“Kill him! All release against him!”
Another fifty arrows rained on the Executor. For a single moment he did not move. Then he pulled two arrows from his body, without flinching. Watching him, the warriors feared the worst. A moment passed. And he fell to the ground. The warriors cheered. Several spears flew against them, thrown so hard they were impaled. Suddenly without leadership, the Executors began to attack, each on his own. Some tried to force their way into the houses, others hurled their spears against the warriors on the roofs. Ikai saw the enemy’s confusion and knew it was his only chance.
“All together! That group there!” he cried, pointing at the Executors who were trying to pull down the door of the Council House. A few moments later only two of them were left standing, wounded but still on their feet.
He was well aware that a single Executor could easily kill six of his men. “Don’t let them break in! If they do, don’t fight them, flee!”
The Executors split up, trying to break down the doors of the adjacent buildings. With two of them they succeeded and went up to the roofs, but following Ikai’s orders the warriors jumped to the next building.
“Release! Release! Don’t let them get to you!” Beside Ikai, Karm and Honus let fly arrow after arrow.
