Uprising

by J. Thorn

  “It’s risky, Rayna. I mean, I’m glad that you know more about lakes than we do, but I don’t see how we’re going to get everyone there before the slavers arrive.”

  We weren’t. This was the part of the plan we all knew and yet didn’t want to confront. But I had to.

  “I’ll stay. So will Kora, Baylock, and the rest of the most able and best fighters. If we can keep them at the front gate long enough, your villagers can escape out the back and head for the caves.”

  “We haven’t been through the back gate in a long time. The brush might be so thick that we’ll be trapped between it and the fence. Sitting ducks for the slavers.”

  I leaned in and took Saul’s hands. Despite the sweat on his skin, the old man’s fingers felt cold.

  “They want us, and we’ll be at the gate. I’ll stall, negotiate, threaten, whatever it is I must do. Hopefully, by the time they get in, you and the rest of the villagers will be gone. And the few here who can fight, I have a role for them, as well.”

  I nodded at Baylock. He stepped out to give my instructions to those in Kora’s village who could fight, enacting the plan I’d shared with him in private.

  “But we must move right now. I need fighters and weapons, and you need to get that back gate open and round up people to leave.”

  “And if they won’t?” Saul looked over his shoulders at the elders. “How do we make them leave?”

  “Anyone who doesn’t leave with you fights alongside me. That’s how this goes down. After a night in the caves, we should be safe to head west, and that’s our only hope.”

  “Where we fight again. Against the Crows and your Lord Corvus.”

  I bristled, the taste of bitter root in my mouth. “He’s not my lord.”

  “But I mean—”

  “I know what you mean.” I’d interrupted, more harshly than I’d wanted to. “One battle at a time. I told you all that this won’t be easy. We’ll be running away from one fight and towards another. Some will die. Or, we sit here and do nothing, and everyone will die.”

  Saul stood and grabbed his cane. “Then let’s get on with it. I’m following your lead.”

  I walked from Saul’s hut and into the bright sunshine that seemed to mock our dark predicament. I hadn’t even had the chance to run my ideas past Kora. She trusted me more than I trusted myself.

  “This old codger has some fight left in him. Follow me.”

  Saul started down a winding, overgrown path and we walked behind him. He came to a hut with a rotting roof and a latch so rusty that it looked like ancient bark. He glanced at us before pulling out a lone key from a pocket hidden beneath his jacket. His voice turned into a throaty drawl as he turned the key in the lock.

  “This hut has not seen the daylight for some time. Its contents are reserved for situations such as these.”

  Surprisingly, the rusted lock sprang open and he looked back at us as he pushed on the door. “The key was passed down to me from my father, and his father before him. There’s not a whole lot left, but our weapons are kept here.”

  The hut reeked of oil, its stale air thick in the darkness. Saul began handing us rusty chains, spears, and clubs. It was when I spotted a bow and several arrows in a corner that my heart quickened. Baylock appeared in the doorway.

  The bow had been crafted from flexible, slender pine and twisted rawhide, the bowstring taut enough for my liking. I grinned at Baylock as I slung the quiver on my back. But then I felt a pit in my stomach. If the bow had been in this hut for a long time, it could be brittle. Still, this would have to be my weapon in battle. I had no other choice.

  “Have your fighters meet me at the front gate.” Baylock and Kora stood behind me. “And get everyone else to the back gate. Right now.”

  As we ran to the main gate, the sun slipped behind the clouds, shading the afternoon a silvery iron. Villagers ran past us to the rear gate while we moved through them toward the main one. As soon as I stood at the main gate and began to test my bow, I heard one of Saul’s fighters who had been in the guardpost yell out.

  “Intruders from the east!”

  We had less time than I’d thought we would. I could only hope Saul had been hustling people out the back and on their way to the caves. I turned to ask Kora a question when I heard my name. Sung twice.

  “Rayyyyyyynnnaaaaaa. Rayyyyyyynnnaaaaaa.”

  Impossible. It couldn’t be.

  “Come on out, girl. We need to talk.”

  42

  Dozens of them galloped in on horseback along with several carts full of guards wearing rust-colored uniforms, black leather vests, studded fingerless gloves, and thick goggles. And the glint of metal in the afternoon sun could be seen on axes, chains, and clubs.

  I secretly congratulated myself, realizing that if we had fought them directly, it would have been a slaughter.

  But I’d been a bit premature in my own satisfaction.

  The march of the soldiers had distracted me from the taunt until it came again.

  “Rayyyyyyynnnaaaaaa. Rayyyyyyynnnaaaaaa.”

  Baylock’s eyes had widened like puddles after a storm. “Holy crap, Rayna. There’s so many of them.”

  I ignored Baylock as the man taunting me stepped out from behind the lead wagon, a wide smile complimenting the pink scar now running up the side of his face.

  Emil.

  “You’ll sell your soul to the lowest bidder, won’t you?”

  He shook his head at me, waving his sword in the air like a wagging finger. “If you shake enough bush, the snakes will come out.”

  I had to stay focused, but it was difficult with so many questions running through my head. Why was Emil here? And how had he ended up commanding the squad of prisoner guards and slavers sent to retrieve us?

  “I want to kill him.”

  I turned to see tears welling in Kora’s eyes. She immediately smacked them away. “How did he get here?”

  “Let’s talk, Emil.”

  He sauntered up to the gate and ran his sword over the rusted chain link. “I think that would be a good idea.”

  I had been counting in my head. Fifteen? Twenty minutes? Had that been enough time for Saul to get the villagers out the back and to the caves? And even if it had, would Saul’s fighters come through? Maybe I wasn’t the military strategist I’d thought I was in the hour before Emil had brought the wolves to the gate.

  “We can negotiate. There are resources inside this village.” I waved over my shoulder like a merchant showing off his wares. “You can take them all.”

  Emil clicked his tongue. “You know those are not what I’m interested in. We want you, Rayna. And those two bitches you ran with.” Emil raised his voice and threw it as far into the village as it would reach. “We have no quarrel with these people.”

  Lies. All of it.

  “You’re too late. They’ve already left. It’s just us.”

  For Saul’s sake, I hoped that wasn’t a lie.

  “You think?” Emil whistled.

  A moment later, several guards came around the corner of the fence. They led a convoy of shackled prisoners. Saul, then his elders, and then the villagers. One by one.

  “You didn’t think we’d bring all of our muscle to the front gate, did you? I thought you’d be smarter than that.”

  My face burned, and I could feel the hard stare from the villagers as they stood gawking at us, their hands bound and futures bleak.

  “So, now what? You have us.” I nodded at Kora and Baylock. “And you have the villagers.”

  “I’m not a monster. We are simply here to retrieve our property. I’m willing to give the village a pass, considering they thought Kora was dead.”

  I saw Saul’s eyes flash, looking from me to Emil.

  “What?” I asked.

  “A deal. You won’t like it, but I think it’s fair considering the circumstance. Drake has promised me my freedom in exchange for you.”

  No. Please, no.

  “You and your two bitch frie
nds come with us.” Emil waved his sword at Saul and the elders. “And we let them live.”

  “You’ll kill them anyway.”

  Emil laughed, his stained, black teeth dripping with saliva. “Maybe.”

  “Don’t do it, Rayna.” Kora grabbed my arm. “He’s lying. He’ll kill us all.”

  I turned to her, struggling to look into her eyes. “I have to. This is my fault. I’m the one that got you and the village into this situation. It’s my responsibility to do everything I can to get you out.”

  “Yeah, Kora. How about shutting up and letting Rayna decide for herself? Unless you want to end up like your little friend.”

  I grasped Kora’s arm to keep her from committing suicide by lunging at Emil. The guards and slavers took a step closer, weapons drawn.

  “Drake is waiting. What’s it gonna be? Your head or theirs?”

  43

  The tip of Emil’s sword twisted in the sun, the hilt stained maroon with dried blood. I wondered if it was from lives he’d taken or if the weapon had belonged to a real warrior.

  He was lying. I knew it. There was no way he was going to exchange us for the entire village, especially when he knew the price those villagers would fetch on the trade block.

  Kora, Baylock, and Saul—they had been staring at me. Even after everything we’d planned, it could all end right here based on the answer I gave Emil. As a blanket of silence fell upon the valley, it felt as if time had stopped. The clouds blocking the sun parted and, for a spilt second, a beam burst over the mountains and to the ground before me. I raised my chin, gazing beyond Emil, and gasped when I saw an eagle soar from the summit in the sun’s radiance.

  Emil stamped down with his right boot. He contorted his mouth into a menacing grin.

  “It’s time, Rayna. What are ya gonna do?”

  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I had decided the answer to that question even before Emil asked it. I knew exactly what I was going to do, and he was about to find out.

  The eagle flew off and I turned to Emil, my stare like hardened steel.

  “Okay. You’re right. It’s time.”

  Emil grinned as Kora grabbed my arm and hissed. “Rayna, no!”

  “Shut up. Your friend is smarter than she looks.” Emil signaled to his guards to open the gates.

  I spun, reaching for my quill and nocking an arrow into place with a single breath before my eyes fell upon Baylock. “Now!”

  His high-pitched whistle nearly split my eardrums and I could see Emil wince, as well. His soldiers spun around, looking over their shoulders and pointing at the trees. A split second later, the village’s fighters emerged from those trees with the weapons that had been stashed in Saul’s shed. They ran at Emil and his men, war paint covering the fear they wore on their faces. The people from Kora’s village weren’t warriors, but they had something Emil didn’t—the element of surprise.

  I released my first arrow and watched it fly through the gate and stick into the neck of the slaver standing three feet to Emil’s left. The man brought both hands up, but he couldn’t stop the artery from spilling his blood into the dirt. Emil ran before I could reach back and grab another arrow from my quill.

  The villagers swarmed upon Emil and I saw several of the prison guards fall, but I knew our advantage would be short-lived. They now knew we wouldn’t surrender.

  The clash of metal rose up as I stood my ground, steadying my hands and firing arrow after arrow into as many men as I could. Baylock and Kora flanked me, swinging their swords as Emil’s men approached after ripping the gate open. A second group Saul had sent to the back gate broke free and fought alongside their fellow villagers who had ambushed the slavers on Baylock’s whistle.

  I hadn’t seen Saul and hoped he’d not been one of the first casualties. Despite his age, he’d been brave. Agreeing to follow my leadership may have been a last resort, but he had agreed to it nonetheless. And, in doing so, he’d known blood would spill. It was my job to make sure most of that came from Emil’s men.

  I watched the guards and slavers attacking by the dozens, the once peaceful village torn apart by a bloody battle. Kora’s fellow villagers fell, and the fight turned exactly as I had expected it would—in favor of the professional killers. It would take a miracle for us to survive, and we’d already consigned ourselves to the fact that we probably wouldn’t. But the eagle had reminded me of one thing. I would not be caged again. Ever.

  A massive guard crashed through two tussling men and he ran right at me, his sword raised and blood covering his face. My fingers trembled as I struggled to nock another arrow and aim it at his throat. In that split second, I knew that Emil wasn’t there to take us back to prison alive. He’d come for vengeance and to bring Drake my head.

  “Rayna!” Baylock’s voice came from somewhere nearby.

  I didn’t have time to answer him. I had one chance to make the shot. The guard closed to within five feet of me, his lips curling into a grin as I released the arrow, the tip piercing his throat and sending him stumbling by me with eyes like the moon.

  He crashed into the fence and spun, holding my arrow in his hand. My shot hadn’t been dead-center and he’d been able to rip it from the pierced skin on the side of his neck.

  He snarled, stomping toward me and raising his sword. “You’re gonna pay for that, whore.”

  I didn’t have time to nock another arrow, so I reached for the hunting knife I’d tucked into my belt, thrusting forward and ducking his first swing. The guard laughed as he circled around me, raising his sword again.

  “What do you think you’re gonna do with that?”

  That’s when I saw Kora sneak up behind him. She wrapped a rusty chain around his neck, cinching it tightly while clambering onto his back. I ran up and plunged the knife into his soft belly, between his belt and the bottom of his chest plate. He gasped and dropped to his knees with Kora still on his back. I felt the warm, sticky blood on my hand as I twisted the knife as hard as I could.

  He moaned and hit the ground, his hands over his abdomen as he tried to stop the bleeding. Kora stood up and gave me a nod as a wind tore through the village bringing a slow, steady rain. I couldn’t say I took satisfaction in making that man suffer, but I wasn’t about to die in that muddy field. In my soul, somehow, I knew it wasn’t my time.

  “Seriously, Jericho? I’ve seen you beat the shit out of so many prisoners and now you’re gonna die at the hand of one.”

  Kora stepped back as Emil approached, still talking to the man I’d just stabbed.

  “I’ll tell Drake you died with honor.” Then Emil turned to face Kora and me. “I would’ve honored the deal, Rayna. No lie. All of this,” he said, waving his arm at the villagers who continued to die at the hands of the guards, “could have been avoided.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care what you believe or what you don’t. I came here for you and for my own freedom, and I’m not leaving without you.”

  The rain came harder now, the sound of it drumming out the cries of men dying in the mud. Kora looked around and I could see the desperation in her eyes. I’d lost track of everyone else and wondered if I’d find Baylock’s body among the dead villagers.

  Emil took a step forward and I could see the scar on his face, the one I’d put there. Kora and I had our backs to the fence now. Several of Emil’s guards appeared, surrounding us and blocking any chance at escape.

  “Drake would get over your demise. He’d use your death as a message to the other prisoners thinking about causing problems or breaking out, and I only need your head. Why should I not kill you? Beg for me, Rayna.”

  “She won’t. We won’t.” Kora had straightened up and thrust her chin forward. “Do what you must.”

  “Oh, that I will. Just like I did to Julyen.”

  44

  Kora’s cry split the storm like thunder. Before I could stop her, she’d taken three steps toward Emil, her knife aimed at his heart. She’d been hell-
bent on avenging Julyen’s death, and now that she knew without a doubt it had been Emil, Kora released all her rage and grief. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough to take him down.

  I watched as Emil, instead of side-stepping her parry, stepped into the attack. He spun, and I heard his sword cut the air even through the raging storm. Kora fell to her knees and Emil completed the spin, his sword raised and now dripping with fresh blood.

  “Kora!”

  I was too late. She pulled her hands away from her stomach, and they’d been painted red. The color slid from Kora’s face as she fell onto her side.

  “No!” I ran to her.

  “Don’t make me kill you, too. Call off the massacre and come with us or I’ll bring Drake your head.”

  Kora’s eyes fluttered, and I didn’t know if I should try to help her or go after Emil. The other guards had circled around us, and whatever hopes I’d had when the eagle flew through the sun had been washed away by the rain. Dead villagers lay all around us, and I’d seen no sign of Saul or Baylock, or anyone else who’d been so ready to fight only a few hours before.

  “I’ll never go with you.” I spat on the ground at his feet.

  “As you wish.”

  Instead of replying or giving up, I lunged for the knife Kora had dropped when Emil stabbed her, rolling over and coming up with it in my hand. But when I saw the size of Emil’s sword and looked at my own hand, I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. How could I possible defeat him with a knife?

  “Fine. I’m done trying to bargain with you. But I’m a gentleman, so I’ll make it fair and kill you with my bare hands.”

  Emil tossed his sword into the mud.

  I came at him with the knife but, as he had with Kora, Emil turned and used my momentum against me. I crashed into the fence, coming up dizzy and without the knife. One of the soldiers swooped in and picked it up.