Salvation: Saving Setora Book Seven

by Dark, Raven

  Men would storm in without warning. Sometimes they rode in on bikes, kicking up dust and throwing flashbangs into panicking crowds. Dregs with frightening masks kidnapped every non-Violet woman for themselves, taking the men as slaves, forcing those who could fight to serve as soldiers. Other times, clans reminiscent of the J’nai rode through in carriages, dropping explosives from the air.

  Often, the raiding parties were obscure mixtures of clans, Dregs, other, normally less brutal biker gangs, and even the occasional ruler of Lord Falnar’s ilk sweeping in and destroying everything they touched. The men were forced into fighting or hard labor. Women were sold to fund Julian’s massive campaign. As for the Violets, according to the reports by those few who escaped, they were brought to a waiting contingent of Julian’s scale-armored soldiers, to become his puppets, or forced to become part of his ever growing harem, mothers to his Violet race.

  The further north we went, the worse the violence became. Everywhere we looked, it seemed as if those doing Julian’s bidding were leaving the land in ruins.

  We stopped to help when we could, getting those who’d escaped the carnage to safety, but it was beginning to seem like a lost cause. Most often, by the time we arrived, we were already too late. When we found people we could help, we helped them on their way toward safety, but there was no time for us to do more than start them on the road to the nearest and safest populated settlement. When we found those who couldn’t be helped, we took care of those as best as we could. For the first time, I saw why Grim had been brought along.

  He didn’t just take care of the dead, burying them or lighting pyres. Most of the time, he knelt over them, saying prayers. He moved among the smoke and fire like a leather-clad, biker version of the cloaked Reaper from the old stories of Death, giving souls a chance to pass to the other side. Often, Ivek’s priest Vaakel, a white-haired older barbarian with a braided beard, walked at his side, doing the same.

  Except, in his case, he performed the Critian Rite of the Dead over those who were soldiers or warriors. He closed their eyes, drew a circle over their chests in blood, and said something in Crite I only half remembered from my teachings.

  “What did he say, Kash?” I whispered, watching him work from the window of the carriage with her and Ali’san. “I caught some of it. “May you sleep with…what?”

  “May you sleep forever with the Father of the Sword,” she whispered reverently. “May the Axe of Han Ranu bring you eternal victory.”

  I closed my eyes, getting the sinking feeling Vakkel would be saying that a lot.

  The violence never seemed to end. Usually by the time we arrived in a village or a town, there was only one person left alive, if that.

  “You’ll never stop him,” a town magistrate we’d talked to said, looking around, defeated. He sat on steps of what remained of his town hall, a building now reduced to nothing but ash. “He turned our three Violets into killing machines before his men carted them off. They call him the Gin Gatai, but he’s not a boogieman. He’s a demon.”

  So the Yantu name for him was now being used everywhere, and not just in children’s stories.

  Doc finished patching up the magistrate’s wound and closed his kit. “He’s lucky to be alive, but I don’t understand why they let him live.”

  “I do,” Ivek growled squatting on his other side. “My people used to do this, Dark Legion.” His tone was tinged with regret. “We’d sweep through a town just like this, but even when everyone died, we always left one person alive.”

  “To tell anyone who passed through who was responsible,” Steel said, lowering the cover on a blanket where a family lay dead.

  Ivek nodded.

  I shook my head at the sky, still foggy with smoke, even though most of the fires had died down. The other two women and I had come out to help herd any surviving women into the few houses still standing, but there weren’t any women left to save.

  “He took the Violets with him, Magistrate?” Sheriff asked.

  “Yes. That soldier of his said they were to be mothers. Mothers for his Master Race.”

  “Master Race?” Kash mouthed to me, looking horrified when we piled back into the carriages. “…I guess I just didn’t believe the Ja Ka was that evil.”

  “He’s more evil than you can imagine, Kashaya,” Ali’san whispered.

  “Hey.” I took Kash’s hand in mine. “Look, just because we’re Violets doesn’t mean we’re like him. We won’t become like him. Ever.”

  The three of us took hands. “We’ll never become like him,” Kash agreed.

  “Never,” I said.

  A full week after we started out, we’d stopped for camp, setting up under a high cliff that kept the growing wind off us. The three of us had been spending so much time together, I felt as close to them as sisters, as close to them as I did to Cherry or Diamond. We sat alone together around a fire close to the wall of the cliff while most of the men slept. Steel, Hawk, and a couple of Ivek’s warriors kept watch over the camp, one of them stationed near us.

  “We may not be able to stop ourselves from ending up like him,” Ali’san said quietly, keeping her voice low so the guard wouldn’t hear. “I can feel it, he’s growing stronger.” She leaned closer to me. “Setora, Kashaya, I want you to promise me. Julian cannot touch me now, but if he gets strong enough, that may change.” She bowed her head for a moment before meeting our eyes. “If I ever become like those Violets that magistrate mentioned—if I ever become a killing machine—I want you to promise me, you will stop me, however you have to.”

  Kash dropped her mug of ale with a splash.

  My stomach clenched, and I sat up straighter on the log I’d been perched on. “Ali’san, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “Yes.” She glanced at both of us, taking each of our hands. “Controlled by him, I would be an unstoppable force. If I get like them, and there is no way to stop it, I don’t want you to be afraid to do what you have to. Even if it means—”

  “No way,” Kash hissed. “I will not do it. You two are my friends, I won’t do that to either of you. Don’t even talk like that.”

  “Shh.” I waved my hand, gesturing for her to lower her voice. “She’s right. I won’t do it either.”

  The very idea of killing anyone sickened me, but doing that to a friend…

  “I won’t do it,” I repeated.

  “Then have one of your men do it,” Ali’san ordered. “Hawk would do it. He knows how dangerous I am. He’d understand.”

  Before the conversation could get any further, one of the barbarians got up from his sleeping bag and dished himself some food from the pot on the fire between us.

  Thank the Maker. I wouldn’t have this conversation with her again if I could help it.

  * * *

  A few days after Ali’san’s shocking request, we were headed for a large farming community in Zone Pora Donne, acres of land with nothing but ranches and wild horses racing through open fields. There, we’d be exchanging the carriages for horses, since only a day or two later we’d hit the first real cold stretch. Already, fueling stations were almost non-existent.

  On the bright side, the land around Pora Donne was so spread out, the population so sparse, Julian’s army had left most of it untouched. Which meant no more ruined cities. Another benefit was the available game and water out here. We took full advantage of this, since in the coming days, supplies would become a lot more scarce.

  We showed up in Pora Donne in the middle of the afternoon. Most of the farming occupants were sleep, including its horse traders, so the men wrangled the wild stallions that grazed in a nearby field. The few people who were still awake grumpily told us the horses had no owners, and in fact, they were glad to be rid of them since they often ran through the farms, eating up the feed and grass meant for their own stock.

  It was fun to watch Pretty Boy and Ivek rope steed after steed, and to watch Ali’san and Steel both trying to stay as far from the mounts as possible. I�
�d almost forgotten Steel was terrified of horses, but I was surprised Ali’san, a Yantu so in tune with nature, didn’t like them.

  This was the first time any of us had had a chance to relax and have fun in since we’d left Ran Tama.

  “Hey!” Pretty Boy shouted at Ivek when the barbarian swung up onto the horse he’d just spent half an hour lassoing. “That one’s mine, cannibal!”

  “You moved too slow, pretty man.” Ivek chuckled, galloping toward us.

  Pretty Boy growled and started on another one.

  A short while later, he led a beautiful butterscotch mare over for me, and a large black stallion for himself.

  “Aww, she’s beautiful, master.” My eyes misted, remembering my old horse. “She has the same pink nose as Maja.” I ran my hand along her gorgeous flank.

  Pretty Boy coughed into his fist and wouldn’t look at me.

  “What is it, Master?”

  “Nothing.” He cleared his throat. “Just some dust.”

  I led her over to Steel an Ali’san. “Steel, Master, you want to pet her?”

  He backed away. “Not happening, Petal. I told you, I don’t like riding anything that has a mind of its own.”

  “Are you saying Princess doesn’t have a mind of her own?” Pretty Boy teased.

  Ali’san choked on a bite of apple. I rolled my eyes with a smile at both of them.

  “Come on, Steel, you’ll have to get used to it,” Pretty Boy coaxed. “Unless you want to walk the rest of the way to the Orial Mountains. We all know how much you hate walking. That one’s mild. She won’t bite.”

  Steel let out a long growl, but before he could give in, Ravik rode over on a silver stallion. Ivek’s captain grinned at Steel.

  “Maybe you will find it less frightening, Steel, if someone else holds the reigns. Some of us will have to double up. Ride with me. I’ll try to go slow enough for you.”

  Steel opened his mouth, probably with a retort, but closed it and rumbled with annoyance. He trounced over to Ravik. It seemed he would rather ride with him than walk. Or have the barbarian think he was a wimp.

  I chuckled as he grabbed Xarq’s hand and swung awkwardly behind him.

  “Uh… How the hell do you spend hours at a time bouncing around up here? This isn’t natural.”

  “Just put your arms around my waist like this.” Xarq grinned as he wrapped Steel’s arms around him.

  Steel looked mortified. Pretty Boy burst into laughter. I pressed my lips together to keep from joining him.

  “This is worse than riding a bitch seat,” Steel growled.

  “You look good together, Steel,” Sheriff teased, riding up on a large white mount with a blond mane. “Go with it.”

  Xarq snorted.

  Ali’san howled.

  “You are dead, Sheriff,” Steel called out. “So, so dead.”

  Sheriff roared with laughter. “All right, up you get, sweetheart.” He grabbed my hand, and I swung up easily. “Someone else can ride your horse for a while, I want you with me.”

  “Gladly, Master.” I kissed his cheek and put my arms around his waist, squeezing tightly.

  Kash came over and took the butterscotch mare, swinging up with the same ease I’d seen her fellow Critian men do, sitting straight and tall, a purple-haired queen.

  “I take it you’d normally ride with Ivek or one of your escorts?” I asked as we started at a canter back to our nearby camp.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Well, I just thought… Um. I figured women wouldn’t be allowed to ride alone.”

  “Oh, we are.” Her eyes sparkled. I had the feeling she was having me on. Finally, she let me off the hook. “We’re always escorted,” she said. “But we do ride our own horses, unless we are taken. Then we ride with our master.”

  “Ah.” I cleared my throat. “So…how come you don’t have… I mean, Ivek said he’s never let anyone…” My cheeks went hot.

  “Ivek is too protective of me to allow me to be mastered, Liberator. Which works well for me. I don’t want one.”

  I nodded, but privately figured Ivek must have a full-time job keeping the men away from her. I liked that Ivek kept her essentially free, but I hoped that, not only would she find a man she loved, but that he wouldn’t drive him off.

  We arrived back at the camp a few minutes later, and Ivek looked over the large stock of mounts.

  “We seem to be short a mount.” He glanced around at his men, most of them doubled up, except for two of his men who didn’t have a ride.

  “They can take mine.” Ali’san jumped off her spotted brown stallion. “I’ll ride with—”

  “Perfect.” Ivek rode over to her. “You’ll fit nicely right up here, little tigress.”

  “Not likely.” Her words turned into a shout as he bent, seized her hand and tugged. Left with no choice but to either fall on her backside or climb up with him, she cursed and swung up onto the horse with him. Conveniently, she ended up in front of him instead of behind, and his huge arms banded around her waist before she could get off.

  “Stay still, tigress. Move around too much, and you’ll start something I won’t hesitate to finish.”

  Ali’san froze, ramrod straight and shot me a “help me” look.

  I giggled into Sheriff’s back and Kash chortled.

  “He doesn’t take no for an answer, does he?” Sheriff said over his shoulder. The note of approval in his tone was unmistakable.

  I swatted him and he laughed.

  An hour or so later, after transferring everything from carriage to horse-pulled wagons, I wondered how much longer the relaxed, pleasantness of today would continue. Danger would find us again soon. It always did. I prayed to the Maker that for once, danger would take it’s time.

  Chapter 32

  Wayward Stallions

  “All right, Petal, there’s something we have to do before we go.” Steel grabbed my arm and stopped me before I could mount up with Sheriff again once we’d packed up.

  “What is it, Master?” I smiled at the first bright light in his eyes I’d seen in some time.

  “It’s a surprise, come on.” He led me away from the wagons and horses, toward a small copse of trees.

  I noticed the pleased look on Sheriff’s face as we passed him in the middle of feeding his mount an apple.

  “What is he up to, Master?”

  Sheriff brushed off leftover oats from his palms and followed us. “You’ll see. “We thought all of us could use a little something nice on this hell trip before things get crazy again.”

  I bit my lip, trying to read Steel’s expression, but his smile gave away nothing.

  “Hawk?” I looked up at him when he fell into step on my other side.

  “Don’t look at me, I’m not spoiling it.” His cursed stoic expression gave away even less.

  “Pretty Boy?” I pleaded, looking at him ambling along behind us.

  He smirked and held up his hands. “Nope.”

  Maker take them, they all looked like the cats that had eaten the canaries.

  Ahead of us, by the trees, someone had set up a table covered with a white cloth. Flowers and candles adorned the table. From behind the trees, Ali’san and Kash came to stand beside the table, while Vakaal walked over, scattering a few rose petals over the table and ground. He was dressed in formal red robes I’d never seen him wear, the front of which had an unfamiliar symbol on it—a large wolf’s head outlined in gold, with menacing teeth.

  Oh, Light. I knew what this was.

  “Master, are you sure? Now?” I squeaked, happiness bubbling up in me.

  “Are you turning me down, Petal?” he teased. “I promised I would do this someday.”

  My eyes watered with tears of joy. I rubbed his arm lovingly. “Never, Master. I’d never say no to this with you.”

  “Good.” He slung his big arm over my shoulder and pulled me close. “It won’t be anything like I hoped. Our bikes and a big crazy drunken party with the whole Grotto aren’t here to
see this, but this will have to do. I don’t want to wait until we get back.”

  I swallowed, unable to help wondering if he was doing this because he was worried we’d never get back to the Grotto. Or worse, because he thought he might not make it back.

  He would make it back. We all would. I wouldn’t allow any less.

  We stopped in front of the table, and Vakkel gave us a broad, delighted smile. “This is the first one of these I’ve ever done,” he said. “I hope I get it right.” He cleared his throat and opened a thick book on his palm.

  My heart leaped. The book’s red binding and the pages black edges were unmistakable. I’d only ever seen one, once in Damien’s library, but it was a Critian book of Han Ranu, and a rule book of sorts.

  For marriage.

  Unable to fully believe this was happening, I beamed up at Steel. Maker, I loved this man.

  “We hope this is okay,” Kash said, stepping forward with Ali’san. Both had flowers in their hair and small bouquets in their hands. “Traditionally, you’re supposed to have five flower maidens, but—”

  “We hope we’ll do, if you’ll have us—”

  I giggled at them talking over each other and took their hands, my heart filled to bursting with joy at my new friends being there for me in this moment. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I hugged them both, then pulled away.

  Ali’san looked out of place in one of Kash’s long white robes, feminine and soft.

  I gave her a smirk. “Now I know what you’ll look like if you ever marry.”

  She screwed up her face as if she swallowed something sour.

  “I suppose we could dress Pretty Boy up and have him be a third flower maiden,” Steel said with a smile at him.

  “Kiss my ass, Steel. Shut up and marry her already.” He came to stand beside him. “Besides, I’m supposed to be your best man, remember?”

  Steel clapped him on the back and wiped a tear out of his eye with a deep cough. “Sorry. Dust.”