An Alex Hawk Time Travel Adventure (Book 2): Lost In Kragdon-Ah

by Inmon, Shawn

  He looked at the roof outside the window. He considered breaking the window and escaping that way, but the roof was too pitched. Several of them were too wounded to be able to maintain their balance—especially Monda-ak, who was bleeding badly and limping.

  “There’s an escape built in,” Lanta-eh said calmly. “Draka-ak often used it to come and go. He trusted no one.”

  Werda-ak had pulled the chain with the key from Draka-ak’s corpse and set about unlocking the shackles on Lanta-eh’s feet.

  “There is a hidden panel there,” she said, pointing to the back wall. “He told me once that he killed all the craftsmen who worked on building it so no one could tell.”

  Alex strode to the back wall and pushed and slid his right hand along it. After a moment’s search, a door slid silently away, revealing a narrow staircase.

  Werda-ak’s hands were shaking with adrenalin, but he managed to get the key in the lock and open it. He released her chains.

  “Werda-ak,” Alex said, “See if the two of us can push the couch against the door that opens in here. If it’s heavy enough, it will slow them down.

  “Stop,” Lanta-eh said. “You are injured. We are not. Come, Werda-ak.” She spoke with the authority of someone who was used to being listened to, not someone who had been locked in chains for a year.

  The couch was heavy, so Senta-eh pitched in, spilling blood on it as she did. Between the three of them, they blocked the door into the living quarters.

  “Hurry, let’s go!” Alex said, motioning them down the staircase. To Lanta-eh, he said, “Do you know what is at the bottom?”

  “No, he never let me out of this room. He thought someone else would come and steal me.”

  “He was right,” Alex said. “We did.” He glanced down the staircase, but there were no torches burning and it was in total darkness. “I’ll go first,” he said. He didn’t have a way to effectively carry his heavy hammer, so he left it behind, but kept his two-sided ax ready to strike.

  “Wait!” Senta-eh said. She ran quickly back to the other room and grabbed a lit candle. “I will go first. I still have two functioning arms, so I can carry the candle and still defend myself.”

  Alex couldn’t argue with that, so Senta-eh led the way with Alex close over her shoulder, ready to fight whatever wanted to kill them next.

  They made it to the bottom with no resistance. Senta-eh leaned into the door and it pushed open easily. They spilled out, ready to defend themselves.

  There was no need. The town hall had been built deep enough that it nearly backed against the brick wall at the west end of Lasta-ah. There was a narrow space—perhaps three feet—between the open door and the wall.

  Alex swung his head left and right. The corridor extended in both directions, though some buildings were a little closer to the wall, others a little further away.

  It’s good that we are undetected for the moment, but I hate being in a narrow passageway. If they come at us from both ends, we will be trapped. Still, there’s nothing for it.

  “Let’s head for the western gate,” Alex said quietly.

  They formed a single line and hurried as fast as they could while not making any noise. They made it to the far edge of the corridor and they could see the gate still stood open. Not surprising when everyone in town had fled to fight the fire. They had believed their enemy had been the fire within, not an attacking army.

  Immediately behind them, a building creaked, groaned, then started to collapse, sending waves of heat, flames, and chunks of burning debris everywhere.

  Alex glanced up and saw that the whole building was coming down and that it would swamp them in burning timbers.

  “Run for it. Now!” he said, sprinting toward the open gate. Everyone in the group broke into a run, moving as fast as they could considering their injuries. Monda-ak, who normally led every charge, brought up the rear, limping badly.

  The gate stood empty and they flew through it.

  Standing just outside the gate was Versa-eh and Harta-ak. They held the reins of three horses—tall, fast horses—and had a worried expression on their faces.

  “What are you doing here?” Alex panted.

  “We wanted to help. Our only trouble was guessing which direction you would leave the city,” Versa-eh said, smiling with relief.

  “This gate was her idea,” Harta-ak said, nodding at Versa-eh. “She thought that since you were heading west, you would come out this gate.”

  “She is a smart girl,” Alex said, “but we came out this gate because it was the only one we could leave through without getting killed.”

  “Better lucky than good,” Versa-eh added. “But there’s no time. They will be right behind you.”

  They glanced down the long corridor they had just come through. More people were pouring out the door of the hall and moving toward them.

  “The burning building will hold them off for a time, but now they know where we are. Sorry, no time to chat. You guys should get the hell out of here,” Alex said.

  “You don’t understand,” Versa-eh said. “We brought these for you.” She held out the reins of one of the horses. “You’ll never make it out of here on foot. They know the area and you don’t. Your roles have been reversed. You are the prey now and they are the hunters. But, you don’t have the same head start they did.”

  Alex was flabbergasted. “Why would you do this for us?”

  “The same reason I do everything,” Versa-eh said. “Because I want to. We could only get three horses, though.”

  “We can double up,” Senta-eh said, nodding at Lanta-eh. She lifted the girl up onto the horse and leaped up behind her. “We’ll be fine.”

  Pretty damned good for a woman who was scared to ride the most sedate horse alive a few months ago.

  The burning building finished collapsing behind them and they knew their time had grown short.

  “What can you do about Monda-ak?” Harta-ak wondered. “He is injured. He won’t be able to run as he normally does. Do you want us to keep him for you?”

  “I would no more leave him behind than I would cut off this injured arm. You’re right, though. He won’t be able to run. Can you help me lift him up?”

  Alex turned out to be mostly useless in lifting the dog up, so Harta-ak instead lifted Alex up first, then he and Werda-ak managed to lift Monda-ak crossways across the horse’s broad back. He was so big that his head and front legs dangled on the right side of the horse and his hind legs reached well down the left side. It had to be uncomfortable for him, but he was with Alex, who leaned forward and nuzzled him as best he could.

  “Thank you,” Alex said. “We have no way to repay you.”

  “Did you kill Draka-ak?” Harta-ak asked.

  “I did.”

  “You already have, a hundred times over.” He raised his hand in farewell.

  Alex glanced at Versa-eh and for a moment he swore he saw tears in her eyes.

  “Goodbye,” Alex said, and started out at a walking speed, waiting to see if Monda-ak would slip off. He did not, but he knew he likely would at a trot or gallop.

  They moved away at what felt like a snail’s pace.

  Behind them, the city of Lasta-ah burned.

  One lone guard thought to climb to his post and saw the small group escaping. He did not call out for others. Instead, he swung his bow off his shoulder and nocked an arrow.

  Harta-ak saw what was happening and grabbed a rock off the ground. He braced his feet and aimed up at the guard. He let the rock fly with a prayer. It was a perfect throw and hit the man in the shoulder, knocking him off the wall.

  But not before the guard had released his arrow.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Werda-ak

  The flight of the arrow was anything but sure. The guard had released it at a retreating target on slightly uneven terrain. It easily could have flown high, or wide, or fallen short.

  And still.

  And still, the arrow found a home in the thin body o
f a teenage boy on the adventure of a lifetime.

  THAT FATEFUL ARROW hit Werda-ak just to the left of his spine. It pierced his lungs and he instantly coughed up a broad spray of blood.

  Alex was riding directly in front of him and heard the cough. He turned just in time to see the blood.

  Alex Hawk had seen many die in battle, both in this world and the one he left behind. Every one of those lives cut him and left a scar. None cut so deep as seeing the light dim in Werda-ak’s eyes.

  Alex leapt from his horse, careless of any force that might be pursuing them. He rushed to Werda-ak and slipped him from the horse, cradling him as best he could with only one arm.

  Alex was debating whether or not to remove the arrow and which would give him the best chance to survive when he saw it was not going to matter.

  Werda-ak coughed again and his blood sprayed over Alex. He closed his eyes and for the longest moment, Alex thought he was gone.

  His eyes finally fluttered open weakly one last time. Incredibly, he managed a smile that broke Alex’s heart.

  “Thank you,” Werda-ak said, “for bringing me.” His head lolled and he looked at the soft earth. “But look! It’s not cold. It will be easy to dig my grave.”

  He closed his eyes for the final time.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  The World Still Spins

  Senta-eh and Lanta-eh also slid off their horses and ran back to Alex and Werda-ak.

  Lanta-eh touched his throat, found no pulse, and began to chant softly. A prayer for the dead.

  Senta-eh knelt and placed her face against the back of Alex’s head. Softly, she said, “We cannot stay here. We don’t want more of us to die mourning him.”

  Alex looked up and there were long, clean tracks of tears on his face. He knew she was right. He still didn’t want to move. Finally, a deep, shuddering sob escaped him and life started for him again. He stood, cradling Werda-ak’s body and carried it to the horse the boy had been on. He placed him across the horse’s back much as they had done with Monda-ak. Alex plucked the arrow from Werda-ak’s body, broke it in two, and discarded it in the bushes.

  He turned to Senta-eh. His throat was thick, but he managed to softly say, “Can you help me up? I don’t think I can make it without dislodging Monda-ak.”

  Both Senta-eh and Lanta-eh moved to him and supported him as he climbed onto the horse behind Monda-ak. The dog turned and looked at him with mournful eyes.

  They once again started their slow-motion escape, this time in shock and with heavy hearts.

  Night had fallen and soon they were far enough away from the glow of the fires of Lasta-ah that they were enveloped in true darkness.

  The trail was wide and smooth enough that they didn’t run much risk of wandering off or over an unseen obstacle. It also meant that it would be that much more difficult for a search party to be put together for them.

  After riding a steady hour into the night, Senta-eh said quietly, “Manta-ak, should we ride through the night?”

  There was no answer, so she and Lanta-eh fell back until they were side by side with him. His chin was on his chest, but she could see moonlight reflected in his eyes, which were wet and shimmering. Senta-eh leaned off her horse and touched his shoulder.

  Finally, he said, “I don’t care.”

  “I will choose a spot and lead us off the trail. We can lay out the blankets and rest until daylight comes.”

  Again, Alex did not answer.

  Senta-eh slipped off the horse, leaving Lanta-eh alone on it. She felt her way ahead of the horses until she found a spot where there was a clearing off the trail. “That will make us harder to track,” she said quietly. She grabbed the reins of Lanta-eh’s horse and pulled it toward the clearing. Alex and Werda-ak’s horses followed placidly. She led them through the clearing, through some trees and on and on until she felt they were far enough off the road that they would not risk discovery.

  Lanta-eh dismounted and between the three of them, they helped Monda-ak to the ground. He limped away a few feet and laid down among a pile of leaves with a heavy sigh.

  Alex got mechanically off his horse and using his one arm, lifted Werda-ak’s body. He carried it on his shoulder a few feet, then laid it gently on the ground.

  Lanta-eh and Senta-eh laid out the horse blankets for them to sleep on. They didn’t speak another word. They laid down and slept. There was nothing—not even the bandaging of their wounds—that could not wait until morning.

  Alex was the last to wake the next morning. As was his perpetual habit, he kept his eyes closed for a few moments. His mind did not give him even the briefest of respites. He knew immediately where he was, who was with him, and who was dead.

  He finally sat up and saw that he and Monda-ak were alone. The big dog had moved in the middle of the night so that he was right next to Alex.

  Alex winced at the throbbing pain in his left arm, but put it out of his mind. He heard footsteps approaching, but didn’t have it in him to jump up and look for a weapon. If it was the search party from Lasta-ah, they could have him.

  It was instead Senta-eh and Lanta-eh. They were carrying full water bags and strips of cloth that they had gotten wet at some water source. The wounds that Senta-eh had suffered the day before had been cleaned and bandaged.

  Senta-eh knelt in front of Alex. Lanta-eh did the same in front of Monda-ak.

  Senta-eh took the damp rag and slowly, delicately, dabbed at the wound on Alex’s face. The blood had dried into a scab, but with patient ministrations, she was able to work away at it until it came loose and the true wound—deep, but not horrible—was clear. She gently touched his face, turning his head slightly left and right to see what, if anything, she could do for him. In the end, there was nothing.

  Next, she turned to his arm. Gently, she removed his shirt. He did not react as she pulled the cloth away from the wound, but she winced a bit when she saw it. It was no wonder his arm dangled. The cut had been deep, just above his bicep. When she got the clotted blood cleared away, she could see glistening muscle and bone.

  She took a clean rag and bandaged it as best she could, then took another strip of cloth and created a sling. She tied it off and inserted Alex’s arm into it, knowing she had done all she could. If it became infected, she would deal with that then.

  The same was true of Monda-ak’s wounds. Lanta-eh cleaned them while he whined and whimpered. Beyond that, there was nothing else she could do.

  Senta-eh stood, dusted off her hands and avoided looking at Werda-ak’s corpse. She felt like she could put that off for at least a few minutes while she gathered herself.

  “I’ve decided that we are going to stay here for a few days,” Senta-eh said. “I checked our trail from the road and I don’t think anyone will be able to see any sign that we left. If they send out a search party for us, they are likely to keep riding right on past. With Monda-ak injured and unable to walk, they would likely catch up to us anyway.”

  “Fine,” Alex said, dully. He laid back down on his blanket and closed his eyes.

  Alex slept for several more hours.

  When he finally woke, he walked to Werda-ak’s body and stared down at it. “It’s time,” he said. He looked up at a tall oak tree. Spanish moss hung from every limb and gave the spot beneath it shade, even in the heat of the day. Alex nodded to himself, dropped to his knees, and began to dig one handed. A moment later, both Senta-eh and Lanta-eh joined him, each scooping handfuls of loam away.

  They dug down into more compact dirt, then Senta-eh found sharp rocks that could loosen the soil. They took turns loosening, then scooping. Eventually, it was deep enough that they needed to get inside one at a time and work on it.

  Lanta-eh found that Versa-eh had left them many gifts in the saddlebags of the horses, including wrapped food. She brought that to each of them when they were not in the hole.

  By nightfall, the hole was dug. Senta-eh and Lanta-eh carried Werda-ak’s body and placed it gently in the hole, then the
y pushed the dirt back in.

  Alex desperately wished he had some meaningful words to share, but he was empty.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Numb

  Senta-eh and company stayed hidden in the same location for four more days. There was grass nearby for the horses to eat, and a small stream was an easy walk away. They all needed to rest and recuperate from blows both physical and emotional.

  By the night of the fourth day, Monda-ak’s shoulder wound had recovered enough that he was able to take a few hunting trips on his own and they took that to mean he was healthy enough to walk at least a few hours each day.

  Senta-eh elected to travel at night until they were much more distant from Lasta-ah. There was consistent traffic on the path during the day, but none at night.

  If there had been search parties hunting for them, they hadn’t heard about it. It was possible that none had been sent. Daka-ak was dead, their city was burned, and they had more serious issues to address than revenge on a raiding party. Maybe they would send a war party for revenge in a year or two, after they rebuilt, but that was a problem for another day.

  Even so, they traveled at night for the first week. They also chose to walk the horses instead of riding them. That kept the pace slower for Monda-ak, who started limping more after a few hours walking. Every morning, they got off the trail just before first light and spent the day in the shade, sleeping.

  After a week’s travel away from Lasta-ah, they felt comfortable enough that they changed their schedule, moved during the daytime, and rode instead of walked. Senta-eh kept a close eye on Monda-ak throughout the day and chose their times off the trail around his health.

  The trail they were on ran into a small village on their tenth day on the road.

  Senta-eh led the horses into the settlement, which was really just a collection of small houses built out of stones.

  At the first house, she saw a man hoeing at a small dirt patch.

  “Gunta,” she said. “Is there a healer here in the village?”