by Linda Mooney
Furthermore, Highcliff made it a point that everyone, with maybe one exception, would be armed only with swords. Once his visitors came through the main gates, his men would divest all archers of their bows to make sure there was no way they could retaliate, while allowing the swords and daggers to remain. That way, everyone was given a false sense of security without raising any questions.
Overall, every detail LeGreen had planned made for a brilliant tactical maneuver.
However, there remained the question why they’d allowed Atty to keep her bow, and the only answer Yulen could find was that they believed a single female couldn’t be deemed an actual threat. Yulen had to take into consideration that if Highcliff was aware of Mattox, then he had to also be aware of Atty’s skill with a bow. But, as Yulen had learned in the past, those who’d heard of her prowess either chalked it up as another tall tale, or refused altogether to believe her capabilities until they saw it for themselves. By not taking her bow when they’d entered Rocky Gorge, the soldiers had made an irrevocable error.
Well, Alton, be ready to bear witness.
“Yulen?”
The single word from Fortune sent up a red flag. Yulen stared at the direction where the Mutah hunter indicated. Yes, there definitely was movement coming from the parapet.
“Do you think he’ll try to come after me?” Atty whispered.
“I don’t know. In my dream, Highcliff must have seen you as a fateful coincidence when he’d noticed you on that side of the section when you’d gone there to fetch Fergus. Maybe he’d originally planned to have his soldiers move among us until they happened upon you. After all, they wouldn’t look out of place. Everyone would assume they were simply patrolling the area, as was their duty. But once they found you, they’d give you some sort of story to convince you to go with them. That, or take you by force.”
“But Warren would be with me.”
“True. And once they cleared the gates, he would have been killed as they took you prisoner.”
“So you believe Atty was their intended target all along?” Renken asked softly.
Yulen slowly nodded. “Highcliff wants me dead because I’m the figurehead for all these treaties between Normals and Mutah. He wants the status quo to remain unchanged and unchallenged. He’s probably heard enough stories about me and Atty to know she’s my sole weakness. Rather than strike directly, he would come at me through her.”
“Kill the snake by removing the head,” Fortune murmured.
“Precisely.”
“Bet the son of a bitch will be pissed to find out you didn’t completely succumb to that infection,” Renken added. “Wanna bet he was hoping it would do you in so he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty?”
A trio of figures appeared on the catwalk. The center one was Highcliff. Everyone went on alert as the man casually strolled in their direction.
“Hey! D’Jacques!”
From the overhead walkway it would appear as if Yulen was holding a meeting with his men. As they all knelt on one knee, they provided a barrier around him and Atty while keeping their own weapons in hand but hidden from sight. Yulen gave a casual wave back.
“What’s up, Highcliff? Pretty late to be out and about, isn’t it?”
“I was hoping you’d be up. How are you feeling?” The man’s words rang in the cold night air. Clear and loud enough for everyone inside the section to hear him.
“I’m doing quite well. Thanks for asking.”
The battle lord waved for Yulen to approach the wall. “Come on over here a second, would you? I have something I need to discuss before the summit begins tomorrow.”
Yulen glanced at the two guards flanking him. They were carrying crossbows, as he knew they would. “It will have to wait. I’m in the middle of something important at the moment.”
He watched as Highcliff mulled over this new development. Obviously Yulen wasn’t going to get within crossbow range. Add to the fact that Yulen’s stature was equal to his, Highcliff couldn’t order Yulen over to the wall, either.
The man is stymied, Yulen mused. What was more telling was that Highcliff didn’t mention the bats, or inquire how they’d managed to survive the attack.
Yulen continued to make it appear as if he were instructing his men on what to do should the creatures appear again, but his attention remained focused on Highcliff. Standing beside and slightly behind him, Atty tensed. Yulen could feel her hunter’s instincts kicking in as she mentally placed a target on the man.
“D’Jacques!”
Yulen lifted his face again in the man’s direction and waited.
“My men found a few weapons hidden along the trail leading from the road to the compound. I believe they’re yours. I thought you might need them in case those flying rats returned, so they’re going to bring them through the gates. I need you to come over and identify them.”
“Thanks, Alton! I’ll send my second over to check.”
Even from where he stood, Yulen could see the battle lord fuming over another lost opportunity.
He’s within range, Yulen.
Hold, Atty. I think it’s coming.
So do I, husband. And I’m ready.
Highcliff turned his back to them to either talk to his guards or to signal the battalion of archers waiting on the ground on the other side of the wall. The battle lord was fresh out of ideas, and ready to go ahead with the next step. The moment he moved, Yulen stepped aside.
Atty rose to her feet and fired off the first arrow in one fluid motion. Two more shafts followed less than a second after it. She paused with a fourth arrow ready to fly.
The first one caught Highcliff in the exact center of his spine between his shoulder blades, slicing between the bones to sever it and the nerves leading to his appendages. The man gave a grunt of pain and surprise. His arms flailed uselessly as he tried to reach out and grab his men for support. Too late, Highcliff realized both guards sported their own arrows: one in an eye, the other in the temple when he’d turned his head. Both men were already dead as their bodies tumbled over the wall to the other side.
Highcliff fell forward, and would have followed his men except his body bent at an odd angle. Off-balanced, he toppled backwards, landing on the snow-packed ground yards away from Yulen’s camp.
Immediately, Yulen gave the signal for his troops to stand as Renken and Fortune raced to fetch the injured man. Grabbing him under the arms, they dragged him within the circle and threw him onto the muddy turf as Batuset ran up to join them.
Gasping for breath, Highcliff glared up at Yulen. “You’ll pay for this, D’Jacques! Attacking another battle lord without provocation is a punishable offense!”
“And you’re going to deny the fact that there isn’t a battalion of archers waiting behind that wall? Waiting for your signal to climb the ladders they’ve brought with them so they can slaughter every man inside this section?” Yulen angrily accused.
Highcliff’s face went white. “What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, Yulen turned to his wife and nodded. This time, Atty shot a different arrow she’d prepared. They watched as the heavier shaft sailed over the top of the wooden structure and dropped between two of the upright wooden planks.
Renken ran over and tugged on the rope that had been attached to the projectile. Finding it firmly in place, he quickly rappelled upward until he reached the catwalk. Cautiously, he peered over the top. He turned to give them a grin and lifted his hand, flashing his fingers four times.
Yulen shuddered as relief washed over him. In his dream, he’d estimated about two dozen archers lined the fortifications. Now that there was proof they were actually present, he knew he’d had a true foretelling. The nightmare had not been a product of his fevered imagination. But it still left him with one final question.
Bitterly, Yulen smiled down at the battle lord. “Twenty archers, Alton. And with them is your real second. A man named Mig Karv. Am I right?”
“At my signal, the
y will eradicate all of you!” Highcliff swore. He vainly tried to struggle, but his body was unresponsive. Regardless, Yulen placed a boot over the man’s sword arm, pinning it to the ground.
“What signal?” Yulen asked. “Your spine is broken. You can’t move, much less get up. And everyone knows what happens to a compound when a battle lord becomes too infirmed to rule.” Crouching down closer to the man, Yulen shook his head. “This plan you and LeGreen concocted is over, Alton. There will be no eradication of every Mutah. The treaties will be signed, and they will go into effect. And although I don’t see it happening within my lifetime, I firmly believe that, given time, every battle lord will eventually stop their yearly cleaning missions, and make peace with all Mutah.”
Reaching down, Yulen pulled the man’s sword from its scabbard. “Your days are over, Alton Highcliff. I, Yulen D’Jacques, claim this compound as my own. From this day forward, it will fly my banner, and all who come here will learn of this night, and the treachery that almost took place.”
“Never, D’Jacques! I’ll never yield!”
“Who said anything about yielding?” Yulen replied.
Straightening, he lifted Highcliff’s sword above his head, and plunged it straight down into the center of the man’s face.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Claimed
Yulen knew Highcliff’s men would be spurred into attacking the moment the two dead soldiers fell off the wall and onto the other side where the archers were gathered. As they heard the ladders slam against the wooden structure, he yelled at Renken and Fortune.
“Move the body to the gate! I want them to see it the moment they enter!”
“Yulen!”
He turned to find Atty checking her arrows. She looked up at him with concern. “I don’t have enough to get every archer.”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. They’ll supply you with ammo.” Giving his men the signal, they rose as one and began advancing toward the tall doors at the end of the section.
The archers quickly filled the parapet, but were at a loss as to whether or not to start firing. Yulen and Batuset, with the other battle lords in tow, took advantage of their confusion to move en masse to the eastern end of the area. At the same time, as the men climbed onto the walkway, Atty dispatched them with a single shot to the head or heart.
It soon became obvious that Highcliff’s men were lost without their leader. They started to panic and began shooting at random targets instead of aiming directly, hoping they’d hit a mark. As a result, most of the arrows hit or bounced off the makeshift wooden shields each soldier carried. Every time a shaft came within their reach, it was passed to Atty to fire back. Those soldiers who were wounded bore their injuries in silence, and pressed on to keep up with the others. The men who were struck down and unable to continue were left behind for the present.
Someone yelled as the immense doors were unlocked and started to swing inward. Yulen watched as the combined forces from several armies went to physically block the portals from opening all the way. If there was only enough room for one or two men to enter at a time, those men could quickly be taken hostage or killed. As he’d hoped, word had spread down the line and reached the other battle lords, notifying them that it was imperative Highcliff’s army be subdued, and not killed outright.
The doors opened further, then appeared to stop. Highcliff’s men ran into the section, expecting to wage immediate war with the visiting soldiers. Instead, they found themselves facing a massive coalition of armed men awaiting their arrival. And placed directly in front of the doors lay the body of their ex-battle lord. Stunned by what they saw, Highcliff’s men halted in their tracks.
This was what Yulen had been hoping would happen. He glanced over at Batuset, who nodded in reply. “Highcliff made a grievous error, putting all of us in the same section,” the big man commented. “It never occurred to him that, by doing so, our collective numbers would be greater than those of his own men.”
“That, or he thought we wouldn’t combine forces,” Yulen replied. “He hoped to cause enough chaos so that our initial reactions would be to protect ourselves. Leave us vulnerable in our own little pockets of resistance for his archers to pick off one by one.”
“And then send in his own troops to finish off what was left.” Batuset shook his head. “All his grand plans, now nothing more than piles of muddy red snow. And all because you had a dream.”
Yulen didn’t reply. Instead, he waited for one final man to come through those gates. A man who was the last obstacle to overcome. He didn’t have long to wait.
Mig Karv made his way through the cluster of soldiers plugging the entrance to section C. Pausing a few feet away from Highcliff’s body, he stared at the corpse for a full minute, then looked up to glare at the phalanx watching him.
“D’Jacques!” His gaze swept the area. “D’Jacques! I know you’re behind this! Come and answer to your crime!”
“Since when is it a crime to defend one’s self?” Yulen yelled back. He threaded his way between the lines with Atty directly behind him. When they emerged into the small open area, she took a stance beside her husband, arrow nocked and aimed. Karv gave her a look that would have burned her alive if it had had the power.
“Your argument is with me, Karv,” Yulen barked. “I killed Highcliff in self-defense. Furthermore, I claim Rocky Gorge compound as its new battle lord.” He lifted his chin to face Highcliff’s soldiers. “I personally hold no ill will against any of you. I know you swore allegiance to your battle lord, but that allegiance was based on extreme prejudice against Mutah. I am pro-Mutah, and I will run this compound under that aegis. If you do not agree to my terms, I do not want you to serve under me. You have until the next sundown to leave this compound and seek employment elsewhere. But if you are willing to change your views, or if your views were never agreeable to Highcliff’s, you are welcome to stay.”
Holding out his arms to encompass the soldiers standing with him, he focused on the stocky man at the head of the other army. “Tosh Karv attacked Mutah without provocation. His sole purpose was to torture, and maim, and kill any Mutah he came across. For years I accepted his behavior, until I decided I no longer wanted to go down that path of death and destruction. But when I ordered him to cease, he refused and continued those attacks. So I removed him from my army and banished him from Alta Novis. If he had gone on his way, his own death would have never happened. But he knew my weaknesses, and he took advantage of them. He had the woman I fell in love with, a Mutah, poisoned. He threatened to kill my mother and the man who became my father after my own father was killed by Bloods. He brought about his own death, Karv. Your brother held a sword at my throat and claimed Alta Novis for himself.”
Karv pointed his sword at Atty and sneered. “She killed him! She is the one who shot an arrow into him! I hold her equally responsible!”
“He was going to kill Yulen!” Atty shot back.
“He was within his rights!” Karv spat. “D’Jacques was weak. My brother was exercising his right to take over the compound. And you murdered him!”
Lifting his sword, he turned to face the men behind him. “Soldiers of Rocky Gorge! I, Mig Karv, who was your battle lord’s second in command, do hereby claim this compound for my own! As is my right! Upon my signal, you will move forward into battle against D’Jacques and his fellow Mutah-loving battle lords. And you will defeat them! Together, we will take the first step toward the complete eradication of all Mutah vermin from this earth. Are you with me? Are you with me?” he screamed.
The arrow pierced the back of his neck, the barb exiting through his Adam’s apple. Karv froze, and a second shaft sunk into his skull. Miraculously, the stocky little man managed to turn around to face his executioner as his legs gave way.
Yulen continued to aim the confiscated crossbow at the man. “Yours will be the last death tonight, Karv. This war is over, and I am the new battle lord of Rocky Gorge.”
Everyone remained silent as the sec
ond fell sideways onto the snow. In the cold night air, his blood steamed as it pooled beneath him.
Lowering the weapon, Yulen stared at Highcliff’s men as they murmured among themselves. Then, one man stepped forward a couple of paces, stopped, and bent down to lay his weapon on the ground. When he moved away, another soldier took his place and dropped his sword next to it. A third soldier followed, and a fourth, until every man presented himself to Yulen and offered his weapon to the pile in a clear show of solidarity and acceptance.
Beside him, Batuset breathed a sigh of relief. “You did it, Yulen. God help us, but you averted what could have been a major bloodbath.”
A hand grasped his coat. Yulen drew his free arm around his wife’s shoulders and dropped a kiss to her head. Together, they watched as, one by one, Highcliff’s men filed through the open gates to return to their own homes and loved ones.
In the midst of the exodus, a small figure stood watching from the middle of the pathway. She stared in stunned disbelief at Yulen and Atty, her large, delicate ears gently fanning her face. Yulen felt his wife stiffen at the sight of the woman, and he almost raised the crossbow in defense when Atty softly called out to her with tears hitching in her chest.
“K-Keelor?”
“Atty?”
Watching the two sisters come together in the middle of the clearance would be a memory forever engraved in Yulen’s mind.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Delivery
Yulen sat on the edge of the table as he listened to Keelor tell her sister all that had happened to her nearly four years ago.
“I screamed and I fought them, but they were too strong.” Keelor wept at the memory, wiping her eyes and face with the sleeve of her blouse. Atty handed her a kerchief for her to blow her nose. Yulen could sense his wife’s conflicting emotions—the exhilaration at finally having her sister back, coupled with the grief of knowing their mother was truly dead.
“I don’t understand. Why would the Bloods kill Mohmee but not you?” Atty asked. She drew her arm tighter around the younger woman’s thin frame where they sat side by side on the bench. Keelor shook her head, making her gossamer ears appear to dance in an invisible breeze.
