by Jim Johnson
The soldiers traded looks with each other and with Bennu and started grumbling. Bennu raised his hands. "Now, you all listen to me and listen good. The reason we have this here captain is because we run out the last one that was in charge of this fort." He glanced at Ruia. "The last captain, may the gods rot his soul, was in the pocket of the Hesso. We didn't figure it out until it was almost too late, but we managed."
Ruia looked confused. "What happened?"
He shook his head. "To make a much too long story shorter, he led a column of men out to the Dunes and left them there, and came back here smooth as you please and told us they were doing the gods' work. That didn't sit well with the rest of us, so after finding out that all those troops had been killed out there, we put the captain in the stockade and forced the provincial governor to come here and resolve the situation."
Ruia frowned. "And?"
Bennu shrugged. "The coward sent his scribe and his son. The scribe took our report and handed us an execution order for the captain. After we'd taken care of that, the governor's son introduced himself as the new captain, and then took command of the fort and promptly locked himself in his quarters." Bennu shook his head, the disgust evident on his face. "Damn fool spends most of his time in there or in the senet house with the whores."
Ruia made a face at that. Bennu opened his mouth to add something, but before he could do so, the door to the barracks banged open and the gate guard rushed in. "Sergeant? Sergeant Bennu!"
Bennu glanced from Ruia to the guard. "What is it?"
The guard pointed out the open door. "In the sky! Some sort of light!"
Bennu was on his feet faster than his old bulk would have suggested he was capable of. He glanced out the door, turned his eyes skyward toward a bright, almost too-bright glow, and then glanced at Ruia. "Did the Ranger have a signal sparker?"
She shook her head as she approached the doorway herself. In the sky to the south of the fort, a dozen or more glowing fragments arced down toward the ground. She guessed they had originally been brighter, but as they fell, they gradually cooled and dimmed, winking out one by one until she could no longer see them beyond the buildings and the walls of the fort.
She stared up into Bennu's face. "What does it mean?"
"It means I go talk to the captain, and I mean right now." He glanced down at her and then at the other soldiers. "Get your gear together and help Ruia with her horse. I'll be back in a few minutes."
“I’m going with you, Bennu. I want some answers from that captain.”
He glanced at her and patted her on the shoulder. “I don’t think that’s the best idea, Ruia.” He indicated the pistol slung across her chest. “I’d fear you doing something rash.” He raised his hands in front of her. “No, Ruia. Please, go with the soldiers and get your horse ready. We’ll ride out together and find your people and the Ranger.” He offered her a slight smile. “Trust me, Ruia.”
She bit her lip, then nodded, feeling a twinge of strength ripple through her hekau, and maybe just the slightest whisper of confidence from some other, maybe even the Lady Mayat herself.
She watched Bennu leave the barracks, and then glanced at the gate guard, who shrugged then smiled. The troops started to file past her and out the door. One of the woman troopers leaned down and offered her hand. "Come on, Ruia. Let’s get you to your horse."
Ruia reached out for her hand and let herself be pulled out of the barracks and toward the stables, her feelings a mix of dread from what the signal flare might have meant and hope for whatever Bennu and the other troops might be able to do to help.
CHAPTER 16
ANIBA SLAPPED THE REINS OF THE horses over and over, charging them forward with fear in their cries. The dreadful line of creatures ahead drew closer in the night.
Tjety reached for another villager on the ground as the wagon lurched, but lost his footing and fell into the bed of the wagon. He managed to get back up to his knees, but the man had been left behind. He picked himself up off the ground and turned, aiming his rifle at the riders crowding down the road toward him. He managed to pick off one and shoot another’s horse before he was shot down.
Tjety drew his pistol and braced his arm as best he could against the back of the wagon. He aimed at the approaching riders, and squeezed off a shot that just missed one of them. The bandit jerked his reins and started zagging toward the wagon, breaking up Tjety’s hopes at getting a bead on him. Other villagers added gunfire to the melee. Bullets from the bandits whined all around and banged into the wood of the wagon.
Tjety glanced forward and quailed at the sight ahead. Those lumbering creatures were closing fast. He called out to Aniba. “Faster, faster! Work those nags for all they’re worth!”
He suspected he’d have to answer to the gods for treating the poor beasts so harshly, but for now, people’s lives mattered more than the horses. If they made it to the fort at the expense of two horses, he’d donate a year’s salary to Pharaoh’s fucking horse breeding program.
A couple of the villagers cried out at the sight ahead and switched their aim from the bandits behind them to the creatures ahead. More gunfire erupted, the bed of the wagon filling with expended shells from the rifles and the cries of the children and wounded. Gheti had found a pistol somewhere and fired it empty and then threw the thing toward one of the bandits, ululating a wicked cry all the while.
Tjety fired his pistol over and over, and then somewhere along the way realized he was dry-firing and holstered it in reflex. He leaned down and blindly scrabbled around in the bed of the wagon, as bits of wood splinters flew this way and that. One villager went spinning down to the bed of the wagon. Another was shot in the face and tumbled off the wagon. Reaching hands tried to grab at her but she was gone, lost in the tumult of raging hooves and the darkness.
“Ranger! Hold on tight! We’re going through!”
Tjety had time to look ahead as the wagon closed in on the ragged line of unliving creatures ahead, and then held on for all he was worth as the horses screamed. They plowed into the ranks of the unliving, scattering bodies and parts of bodies every which way. As the horses and wagon plowed a deadly furrow, he saw a growing glow ahead. Fort Sekhmet with its torches lit up, the pylons and gates glowing in the moonlight like a beacon of hope. They were so close!
The wagon lurched, and he looked ahead to see the two horses faltering. One was heavily favoring one leg and both were covered in white foamy sweat and spittle. They were heaving hard, and if he’d been a more merciful man, he would have put them both out of their misery then and there. The brave animals were giving all they had left. He prayed to Mayat that they’d get them just a little further.
A bullet whined off the bench next to him and caught Aniba on the ricochet. He twisted on the bench and reached with both hands around to his back, dropping the reins that soon fell off the bench and got tangled up underneath the wagon. Tjety just missed grabbing them, but then grabbed hold of Aniba to keep him from falling off the wagon. They were a runaway now.
The horses surged forward on the road, clearly with no other thought in their minds than to run. Tjety lurched backward and fell into the bed of the wagon again, this time with Aniba in his arms. He cracked his head against someone or something in the wagon. Stars glittered in his vision.
One of the wagon wheels made a frightening popping sound, and then started to split. Tjety stared at it as the stars in his eyes faded. Time seemed to slow. The wheel splintered before his eyes, and then disintegrated completely.
The back left corner of the wagon sagged toward the ground and bounced heavily, jerking everyone in the bed of the wagon and leaving everyone to scramble for something to hold onto for dear life. Tjety flailed around with his good hand for something, anything to grab onto.
The wagon lurched again. Tjety looked behind the collapsing wagon. Several bandits still rode horses and a number of those creatures ambled toward the wagon, closing the distance now that the wagon was coming apart. He saw no sign of th
e dark man.
Then there was a great wrenching underneath his back and he bounced on the bed of the wagon once, twice, and then was thrown into the air. He landed hard on someone, rolled a few times, and plowed to a stop as bodies, parts of the wagon, and dirt fell all around him and on him. The stars in his vision returned, rivaling the numbers glowing in the sky overhead.
He blinked, shook his head, blinked again. Were the stars in his eyes or in his head? He couldn’t be sure. His ears filled with roars, punctuated by ripples of sound that gradually coalesced into gunshots whining this way and that. He was on his feet one moment, then his knees, then back to his feet. The world spun around him as bullets whizzed by. He saw one of the boys, Henturu, maybe, sprawled out on the ground, and dragged him up into his arms. He staggered toward the fort, then fell over. He was just so tired. He was powerless to move, hekau spent, no bullets, out of time. Hopeless.
A sound somewhere nearby made him turn his head. Blurry objects moved into view, closing in on him. A cry sounded from somewhere and he managed to push his body over. That simple movement brought in a dark tunnel to his vision and he started to lose sight of where and when he was.
Something in front of him, something big. The wagon? No. The fort. The fort gate. The fort gate that now split open and revealed a bright vertical line of light—torchlight from inside.
The gates opened wide, and a dozen or more mounted soldiers thundered out, rushing toward him and the enemy somewhere around him. Near the center of the cluster of riders was Ruia, astride his beloved Heker, with a pistol in her hands and his blue headcloth tied around her neck, the ends of it billowing out behind her like a banner of hope.
CHAPTER 17
THE SOLDIERS WITH RUIA LED HER first to the fort’s armory, where they strapped on their greaves and bracers, and grabbed pistols and rifles and satchels full of bullets. She was encouraged to replace the old pistol hanging around her neck for a newer model, and one of the soldiers pressed an ammunition satchel into her hands. Caught in the whirlwind of activity, it was all she could do to maintain some level of focus.
She broke open the pistol after one of the soldiers showed her how, then loaded the thing with six rounds from her satchel. She closed it, then cocked and uncocked it several times to get the feel for it.
One of the soldiers glanced at her. “Happy?”
Ruia shrugged. “I guess so. I’ve only ever shot a pistol a few times. I don’t know what I should be looking for.”
Another soldier, a tall, dark-skinned man, grinned as he loaded shells into a shotgun. In a thick Hesso accent, he said, “Look for your foes. Shoots ‘em before they shoots you.” Another soldier clapped the Hesso on the back.
“Thanks, I guess.” She straightened the holster sling around her chest and shoved her new pistol into it, and then slung the satchel over her neck and laid it cross-wise over her chest. She followed the now-armed soldiers outside, where Sergeant Bennu and some other soldiers were pulling horses together and tacking them up.
One soldier led Heker over to her. She was relieved to see him. She took the reins as the soldier grinned. “This is a damn fine horse, but he looks to be pretty well used up. Want a fresh mount?”
She shook her head. “He’s come this far. I wouldn’t want him to miss out on returning to his rider.”
Someone must have uttered a command she didn’t hear, because, as a unit, the men and women soldiers around her mounted up, all riding bareback in the Kekhmetic fashion. She did likewise, tamping down the combined jolts of fear and excitement coursing through her. She reached for her amulet and offered a quiet prayer to her mother and to the Lady Mayat then dug down into her hekau for some comfort and calm. The amulet pulsed softly in her hand, and she felt a gentle pull from deep within her ba, settling her nerves and adding some strength to her courage.
Distant sounds of gunfire and the screams of people and horses filtered in through the walls, breaking the stillness of the night. All the soldiers started and glanced at each other, some shooting looks toward Ruia. Gods. Those had to be her people out there, fighting to get to the fort!
“All right, this is it!” Bennu took his reins in hand and circled his horse, getting the attention of the troops arrayed around him. “The captain gave me a few troops. We ride out hard and look for any survivors of Ruia’s company. Kill anything that looks like it needs to be killed. Any survivors, grab them—ride double or triple if you can—and get back to the safety behind the fort gates.”
Several shouts of encouragement went up after that, and then Bennu heeled his horse over to Ruia. “You ride next to me and stay close. We’ll look for this Ranger of yours and bring him in, yes?”
She looked up at him, the hope surging in her soul. She drew her pistol, tightened Tjety’s headcloth around her neck, and nodded. “I’m ready.” The sounds of the battle outside the fort sounded ferocious, and she was alternately terrified and thrilled to be joining in the fray.
Bennu turned. “Open the gate and stand ready to repulse invaders. Now!”
The men at the locks moved the bars and swung open the gates. As soon as the space between the two gates was wide enough, Bennu heeled his horse and led Ruia and the others out of the fort, their collective hooves a thunder on the ground.
She rode out hard, managing to keep up with Bennu and the other soldiers. Heker seemed eager to ride into battle. Outside the fort was a long flat plain of tall grass, a dense treeline all around the edges of the grass. There was one road leading from the fort, and they followed that, toward where they had seen the signal light flash in the sky.
In short order, she saw the chaos of the battlefield. Her heart seemed to skip a beat. Those horrible mummified creatures were everywhere, attacking and chasing the villagers, some getting shot apart, some pummeling people on the ground with their moldering arms and fists. Bandits on horseback and some on the ground battled her people as well, using pistols, rifles, and knives seemingly at random.
The remains of the wagon were along the road, the two horses silent and still, tangled together in the leads and each other’s limbs. Blood was everywhere. Several bodies lay around the wagon. As she focused in the darkness, she saw Tjety laid out near the wreckage, the unmoving form of little Henturu cradled close.
She shouted at Bennu and pointed toward what was left of the wagon. “There! The Ranger is there!”
Bennu glanced in that direction, nodded, and then pushed his horse that way. He called out, “Form a perimeter around the wagon! Rally there! Keep those bastards away from the survivors!”
Ruia rode alongside Bennu, and watched in wonder as the other soldiers efficiently maneuvered their horses into a rough circle around the wagon, dropping bandit and creature alike with well-aimed shots from the backs of their horses. Many of the soldiers may have looked young to her, but they seemed to be well-trained.
Bennu led Ruia into the center of the circle and gestured toward Tjety, who had slumped up against the wagon with Henturu in his arms. “See to him, Ruia! We’ll cover you!” He waved to the other surviving villagers. “Get to a horse and rider! We all ride double back to the fort!”
Ruia leaped off Heker’s back once she was close to the wagon and hurried over, skinning both knees as she hit the ground next to him and Henturu. Pain shot up both her legs, but she barely noticed in the rush. She shook Tjety, calling out his name. She could feel the heat pouring off of him, the fever clearly having taken hold. She didn’t see any new wounds on his body, though he was so blood-stained and filthy that it was hard to tell. His pistol was in his holster and his khopesh was in its scabbard.
She also checked Henturu, relieved to see that he was still breathing. He had an ugly bruise on his head and a long, shallow gash across his chest. She looked around the battlefield and called out to Bennu. “Help, I need help! I can’t get them both onto my horse!”
One of the soldiers in the defensive circle heard her and rode over, then dismounted to help, but was shot down by a bandit’s cr
uel aim. Another soldier cut him down but was in turn shot in the back by another bandit and then trampled by one of the unliving creatures.
Ruia ducked as a fresh spatter of bullets crashed into the remains of the wagon all around her, and she drew her pistol and tried to shield both Henturu and Tjety with her body.
A third soldier and Bennu rode hard toward her, their rifles cracking in the air. More screams and cries sounded, and then there was a massive unliving beast looming ahead, its cruel glowing eyes focused on her. She raised her pistol and cried out as she squeezed the trigger over and over, sending pieces of it flying before scoring a hit in the center of its chest. Its heart-scarab exploded in a burst of green energy and limestone shards. The thing collapsed at her feet as Bennu rushed over on foot and bashed its head in with his rifle butt. Bits of bone and dessicated flesh burst into the air.
Bennu reached down and helped her to her feet, and then pulled Tjety up onto his shoulder. He yelled at her, “Get the boy and get on your horse! We have to get back to the fort!”
Ruia nodded, and somehow had the presence of mind to check her pistol. One unused bullet was still in it, so she broke it open and hurriedly replaced the spent cartridges with fresh ones from her satchel, but her hands were shaking so bad she dropped a few shells on the ground.
A yell from someone made her flinch, and she glanced and fired instinctively at a bandit streaking past on his horse. She didn’t look to see if she hit him. She grabbed Henturu and half-dragged him over to Heker, where she bodily pushed him up onto the horse’s back and then leaped up onto Heker. She scrabbled for the reins one-handed, then ducked as she sensed another rifle shot passing by. She felt a flare from her hekau, uncertain where the warning had come from.
