by J. R. Ford
The others were waiting in the forest behind the inn, which was now billowing smoke. Ana led us toward the cabin, the hale helping the wounded along dark forest paths. Farrukh remained behind to cover our tracks and dispatch any curious orcs.
10
The cabin was orcless. Good thing, too. I’d managed the strength to get this far, but all things have limits. I could barely get my feet to move.
Ana watched the night while the rest of us helped the wounded inside. Heather lit the wood stove and set a pot to boil. I lowered the curtains. Farrukh opened the cabinet of dwindling bat jars and started to triage.
Jeremiah was missing a leg, and his shirt had been rent from several spear thrusts. “You first.”
Priyanka only had the cut across her face. Farrukh looked on her with pity, but said, “I’ll help you clean that in a bit.”
Little old Zhao looked fine. I don’t think she did much fighting. I wondered if I was a bad person for being happy that she’d survived rather than Stuart or Maria.
Luis, the middle-aged Forester, had stab wounds in his right thigh and bicep. His eyes were glazed, fixed on the floor. Zhao had already found gauze and antiseptic and was looking after him.
Troy had been cut down her shoulder and collarbone through her yellow apprentice robes. Heather took the aid kit from our pack and led her quietly behind the screen.
Farrukh prepared the potion and made Jeremiah down it. The flesh beneath his bandages writhed — not regrowing the leg, but sealing the wound. “One bat sac left,” Farrukh said.
“Thanks,” Jeremiah managed, once he’d finished gagging.
Farrukh went to aid Priyanka without acknowledgement. Jeremiah stared after him.
I added willow bark to the teapot. “What happened?” I asked Jeremiah.
“Damn Lancers caught wind of our hideout and hit us hard. They shot Ha-Jun. Pri and I managed to escape through the caverns. Don’t know if Chen made it out. Damn it, they shot Ha-Jun…”
I poured all of them cups of the painkilling tea, and we lent them our beds and bedrolls. I went out to where Ana stood sentry over the path to the ruins of White Fir.
She was somber in the darkness. With my adrenaline depleted, my own melancholy clenched. I stood rigid beside her, the earth oozing around my boots.
“Chen is streaming again,” she said. “Maybe she escaped. Maybe she was taken prisoner. Ha-Jun is dead, though.”
“Oh well.” I was aware of how callous I sounded, but I was too tired to pretend I wasn’t. I’d liked Ha-Jun, but now he was just a reminder that we couldn’t get careless.
“Ha-Jun, Stuart, Maria, Linsey. Four people who would still be alive if I’d been there for them. Jeremiah might still have both legs.”
Ugh. Not in the mood. “Quit it. You did what you thought was right.”
“I could’ve trained them. I could’ve prepared them. I could’ve led them.” She looked at me.
“You were too busy leading us,” I said.
She didn’t reply.
I was tired, desperately tired. I disabled my feed, trudged over to the hollow between three trees, and found Heather in our nest. Her warm weight was a comfort against me. Her stomach pressed against my hand with every sacred breath. Her hair still smelled of lilacs, despite everything.
She was shaking. I was so tired, but I slurred, “Everything’s okay. We’re alive. We’re together.”
“I didn’t die,” she sobbed. “I had to make the symbol. I could still see, still think. I could see my body, five feet away.”
I didn’t need a repeat showing of that memory, not when all I wanted was sleep. It came unbidden.
But I was powerless. I couldn’t stand up to Yao, and even suggesting she should leave him to me would be telling of my lack of confidence in her. The burden was hers. All I could do was hold her close and whisper, “We’re alive. We’re together.”
“It hurt so bad, I couldn’t move, even when I finally reverted. I just stood there and let Edwin hit me, like I was a powerless newbie again.”
“Ana was there for you. I was there for you. That hasn’t changed and won’t, ever. We’re alive. We’re together.”
Eventually she calmed down. Once her breathing had settled into sleep’s slow rhythm, I quieted.
When I woke, it was chilly, even beneath my cloak and the blanket. The only sounds were the babbling stream and Heather’s soft breathing. The night had washed away my grief and fear, and I basked in the sluggishness of early morning. Nothing had to be done, not yet. My injuries on thigh and flank were dulled, distant. The entire world was just me and Heather, and the world was at peace. I snuggled against her and surreptitiously munched sterility herbs until she stirred.
Some bodily functions were less surreptitious. She turned her head and grinned sleepily. “Already?”
I blushed. “It’s natural, this early. Especially lying next to someone so beautiful.” And feeling myself against her didn’t help.
“Uh-huh,” she said, then turned back over and nestled into me, which definitely didn’t help. I discreetly spat out the meds and rubbed my tongue on my teeth to wash away the bittersweet aftertaste. Guilt surged at the secrecy, but I didn’t want to intimidate her. Instead, I snaked an arm around to grope her and buried my face in her hair. It was tousled and dirty but retained its faint lilac scent.
“You’re relentless,” she yawned.
“We don’t get a lot of alone time.”
She flopped over and grinned. “No. I’ve been waiting for this.”
“We had a lot of close calls,” I said, running my hand along her body.
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” she said, returning the gesture.
“I was scared. Scared we’d run out of time.” Every inch of her felt perfect.
“You’d better not be trying to frighten me into having sex with you,” she said, grinning.
“What? No… Would that work?”
She pinched me.
“Ow, kidding! No, it’s just exhausting, worrying about you all the time.”
“When I get hurt, I turn human again.” She traced fingers along the bandages on my side. When had she gotten my shirt open? “You need to take better care of yourself.”
I didn’t want to kill the mood, so I said, “I will. Promise.”
“You’d better not be lying to me again, Pavel Cernik,” she said, putting a finger on my lips. She ran it down my chin, down my chest, down to my still-buttoned trousers. “Think of all the things I wouldn’t be able to do to you if you got hurt.”
It was rock hard not to think about those things. Over a month without release had me pent-up and itching.
Alas, she was only teasing. I pulled her close and tried to kiss my frustrations away. It didn’t work.
I practically tore her dress down. The guilt wasn’t gone, but my skill with the hooks was much improved. She made a soft sound as I massaged her.
The hem of her dress, once white, was dirty and torn. I wasn’t that interested in it anyway. I ran my hand up and down her trousers, then went for the button. My weeks of one-handed buttoning practice paid off. She kicked her legs to help me get them off her.
Her thighs were warm and smooth. Tension pulsed as I brushed her panties. Her eyes were closed, then she opened them and giggled.
I froze. “What?”
“That guilty look. Nothing’s going to change just because you’ve felt my legs.”
I fought to keep my breathing steady. “Just your legs?”
She smiled. Internet tutorial knowledge, in my greatest hour of need, fail me not.
“We’re having a meeting,” Ana said, from out of nowhere.
We parted hastily. Ana stood about ten feet behind the hollow. Her eyes looked tired, but her grin betrayed her glee at startling us.
“Give us some warning?” Heather said, her face beet red, covering herself with the blanket. I bit down some choicer words.
“Relax, I have my camera off. I was surprised I didn’t catch
you two farther along.” She guffawed at our obvious embarrassment. “I’ll tell the others you two were still sleeping. You know, so you have some time for things to calm down.”
She left us mortified. We clothed ourselves, and I wiggled my digits until it was safe to grumble back to the cabin.
The rebel remnants sat on Ana’s bed. Beneath Jeremiah’s torn shirt, his wounds had closed. His stump wrapping was fresh white. Priyanka had a Band-Aid and a smile on her face. She’d let her hair down around her shoulders.
The remaining White Foresters sat on my bed. Troy sat on Heather’s. Ana and Farrukh were on Farrukh’s, with room for me and Heather to sit beside them. My face burned as we walked over, but no one was paying me any attention.
Ana clapped her hands together. “What do we do?”
“Take back White Fir,” Luis said, at the same time Jeremiah said, “Capture the Citadel,” at the same time Troy said something, but her voice was low, and I couldn’t make out the words.
“One at a time,” Ana said. “And I want to hear from everyone.”
“We need to stop Edwin or Absame from taking the Citadel,” Jeremiah said. “We still think the Knucklebones are in there.” He looked directly at me, then down at his missing leg. “And more. A Storm’s Breath, and another Hourglass of Dust, and a hoard of gold. We can deal with the invasion once we’ve secured that power.”
“Priyanka, do you agree?”
“I trust Jeremiah’s judgement.”
“We have another safehouse, near the Citadel. With all nine of us, we might actually stand a chance,” Jeremiah said. He looked at Troy and the White Foresters, of whom only Troy met his gaze.
“Okay,” Ana said. “What do you think, Foresters?”
Zhao spoke first, in thickly accented English. “I want my forge back.”
Luis nodded. “White Fir was our home. We need to drive the orcs out and rebuild.”
“There are a thousand orcs out there,” Ana said. “They’ll come back, and we can’t defend it.”
“What do they want with us? I want to enjoy my time here, not fight. Can’t they let me smith in peace?” Zhao said curtly. I cringed. Something about old ladies with an air of authority triggered an instinct to serve.
“We don’t know what they want,” Ana said, “but they’ve attacked White Fir once, and we have no reason to believe they’d leave you alone if you took it back.”
“There are forges in Bluehearth,” Jeremiah suggested.
Luis shook his head. “I won’t roll over for these orcs. We can go to Bluehearth for now, but I won’t let my son watch me die for your cause.”
“Troy?” Ana prompted.
She was looking at the floor. “I want Edwin dead,” she said. “The orcs are monsters. I can’t blame them for their nature. But Edwin is supposed to be a man.” She took a deep breath. “I want to join the rebellion.”
“Welcome,” Jeremiah said, then looked at Ana. “What will you do? Will you aid us?”
All eyes turned to her. She took a deep breath. “I’m going to stop the orcs at the source.”
“Decide without consulting us?” I asked.
“Appreciate it,” Heather muttered.
“You two seemed busy,” Ana said. “Farrukh convinced me.”
Farrukh, fishing beside her, nodded. Heather and I held our own poles. With White Fir razed, we’d have to provide for ourselves. Farrukh’s rice and spices would go quickly, and quicker if the rest of us were as poor fishers as he.
“We still don’t know what’s beyond Tyrant’s Vale,” Ana continued. “There might be something that can stop them. If nothing else, maybe we can kill their leader, cause some instability.”
“And the Sanguine Knucklebones?” Heather asked.
“The forest between here and the Vale is overrun, and going underground last time nearly cost all of our lives. We’ll swing west and follow the mountains north.”
“And maybe run into the trollbat boss on the way,” Heather finished.
“If that’s what the beast is,” Farrukh said.
“It’s still a long shot,” I said.
Ana shrugged. “Do we have any better ideas? We can’t fight an army.”
“We could go with Jeremiah and contest the Citadel,” Heather said. “If we become the leaders of Bluehearth, maybe we can mobilize an army. It doesn’t sound any more dangerous than going beyond the Vale.”
Ana looked conflicted. “Long odds. Besides, we still don’t have any evidence that the Knucklebones are in there, and they’re our priority.”
“Even after all the rebels have gone through, you’re still tunnel-visioned on the Knucklebones?” she asked.
“You can go with them if you want,” Ana said. “The same goes for you, Pav. We’ll come for you once we’ve found the Knucklebones. As long as we don’t drive each other insane.”
“I’ll take a vow of silence if you do,” Farrukh said.
I shook my head. “Stop acting like that’s an option. We’re a team.”
Heather nodded. “Pavel’s right. If you think this is the way to the Knucklebones, I’ll follow you. That’s why asking us for our opinion before deciding would be nice.”
Ana nodded. Farrukh turned his attention back to his bobber in solemn agreement. I didn’t say anything. The decision had been made.
“Hey, I caught one!” Priyanka called from downstream. She was sat fishing with Zhao and Luis. She seemed to make friends easily enough.
And on the end of her hook, a six-inch fish wriggled. Farrukh stared, dumbfounded.
“Can you teach me to shoot a bow next?” she asked, all bubbling energy.
That left the three of us alone. “I don’t like leaving the rebels on their own,” Heather said. “Why don’t we buy equity in their party?”
She really was picking up Ana’s bad habits.
She continued, “Our gold is worthless in orc territory, and they just lost everything.”
Ana grinned. “Great idea. We only have 6 gold to invest, but it might be the difference between their victory and defeat.”
Seemed like throwing money at a lost cause, but I’d never say that out loud. “Shouldn’t we consult Farrukh?” I asked.
“We outvote him anyway,” Ana said.
Jeremiah was engaged in a heated bout with Troy. Her motions were undisciplined and furious.
Jeremiah parried perfectly, though the muscles in his arm strained under each heavy blow. “Tighten up on that over-swing!” he told her. “Each stroke should end in a guard position, otherwise you expose yourself. When you land a hit, draw your sword along the wound. The curve of your saber will help it slice deeper, enough to sever muscles and arteries.” His words reminded me of Ana’s, but he didn’t emit the same heat.
Troy renewed her assault with vigor, and a little more precision. Her ferocity drove him back, off-balance and fumbling with his crutch. One more blow knocked him onto his back with a grunt.
He didn’t move. Staring at him felt rude. Ana had her eyes closed and was breathing deeply, the way I did when trying to repel panic. Heather put a hand on her arm, which calmed her a bit.
Eventually, Troy said, “We’re not done,” and hauled him up.
He shook himself. “Time for a break. Drill your combos if you’re bored.” He eyed us. “What do you want?”
Ana handed him her canteen and brushed off his back. She seemed to have recovered from whatever had troubled her. “I come to you with a business opportunity.”
He didn’t need the concept of equity explained to him. “Can we buy back?”
“Any time,” Ana said, then turned to us. “That means he can pay off the original investment and no longer owe us any future profits.”
He reached for her hand. “Deal. And thank you.”
“All right! But this doesn’t overwrite our contract!” she added to Troy, who seemed intensely focused on delivering her combos with strength and speed. Her sword was curved and had a guard protecting her knuckles.
/> Ana went to clean her armor, and Heather accompanied her. Jeremiah looked torn between joining them and training his new recruit.
“She seems energetic,” I commented.
“Enthusiasm is the best trait a pupil can have.”
“You okay? That was a hard fall.”
He looked at me darkly. Then he saw my tied-off sleeve, and his expression softened. “You know how it is. I’m as okay as I can be.”
“You get used to it,” I said, massaging my wrist through my sleeve. “Or more used to it, anyway. Just keep putting one foot in front of…your crutch, I guess. Maybe get Zhao to make you a prosthetic.”
He smiled wanly. “I can be strong. Seeing Ana again helped.”
“She has that effect on people, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah. It’s amazing.”
I patted his shoulder. “Once we get her the Knucklebones, she can heal you. Like she will me.”
“You sure of that, are you?”
“I trust her more than I trust myself, and she promised me.”
He shook his head. “I mean, you’re sure the Knucklebones can heal us? I’m not so confident.”
“Pradeep Lokesh suggested something of the sort, in the Durg,” I said.
“And did you see him use that power?”
The vivid colors of him battling his brother flashed across my memory. “No. He mostly used Storm spells. He said there was a cost attached to using Visceral magic. Guess he didn’t want to waste his mana unless he got seriously hurt.”
Jeremiah shouted at Troy, “When you step, keep yourself pointed at your enemy! And don’t collapse your knee, or your whole stance will lose its structure!” She hastened to correct. He turned back to me. “I should give Ana directions to our backup hideout, in case you change your minds. In the meanwhile, care to give my student a spar?”
“Not in the mood. Why don’t you get Priyanka to do it?”
“I think she has someone better to be spending her time with,” he said. Downrange of the target tree, Farrukh was pulling the classic wraparound, showing her how to draw his old black bow.
“Fine.” I grabbed a stick. Jeremiah hobbled over to where Ana and Heather were discussing something animatedly, probably shopping or new tactics. Ana looked up from brushing her armor and cringed, though she quickly covered it with a smile. He stumbled, then straightened, putting his shoulders back and some oomph in his lopsided stride.
