Finally, the outlaw woke up. He moaned and coughed, then struggled with his bonds.
“Not much hope for you,” Stone said quietly.
The outlaw looked around angrily. His eyes were still glassy, but full of hate.
“I’ll kill you,” he hissed.
“Not likely. I expect you’ll be tortured to death for information.”
Stone let the threat hang in the air. The man continued to struggle for another moment, but he had no chance of escaping the bond that Stone had made with the dead outlaw’s belt. Stone grabbed the man and pulled him to his feet.
“Aaahhhh,” the outlaw cried out in pain.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Stone said, gouging the outlaw in the ribs.
The man cursed and tried to stagger away, but Stone held him fast. It wasn’t difficult; the outlaw was obviously weakened from the trauma he’d been through. Stone pulled him along the path toward the barn.
“Marsdyn’s coming,” the man threatened. “You let me go and he may take it easy on you.”
Stone didn’t respond. He knew the outlaw was lying and he didn’t want to give the man false hope. They stopped by the the dead outlaw and let his captive take a long look.
“You called him Karnes, right?” Stone said.
The outlaw nodded. He could see the dead man’s gaping wound, and by starlight it looked like the flesh had been ripped to shreds. Karnes had a thick, black beard that was now slick with blood. His head was completely bald and seemed unnaturally white in the darkness. His eyes were open, but they stared into space, glazed and unfocused. He had tattoos covering his arms and showing on his chest underneath the leather vest that most of the Riders wore. His body lay on the ground like discarded trash.
“He was pretty sure of himself too,” Stone continued. “That’s what you have to look forward to, either from us or from Marsdyn. He’ll kill you for failing him. In fact, I’ll bet when he discovers that you and Karnes here failed in the simple task of keeping an eye on us, he’ll be so angry he may hurt anyone near him. Sound about right?”
He didn’t wait for the outlaw to answer.
“Just keep walking. Lorik has more patience with idiots like you. Play your cards right and he might even let you walk out of here alive.”
They made their way back to the barn. Stone stopped below the hayloft and looked up. He couldn’t see anyone, just a square of blackness on the face of the shadowy barn.
“Special delivery,” Stone said.
“Any trouble?” Lorik asked.
“Not much.”
Stone heard Lorik climbing down the ladder from the hayloft.
“Are you all right?” Vera asked.
“Fine,” he lied.
“I was getting worried about you,” she admitted.
“I had to wait for our friend here to show up and relieve the first watchman. And he took a little convincing to come visit with us.”
“As long as you’re okay,” Vera said. “I thought I saw you limping.”
“It’s nothing, just a scratch.”
“I damn near took your leg off,” the outlaw said loudly.
Stone cuffed the man hard on the side of his head, but he used his empty hand instead of his knife this time. The outlaw howled in pain, but didn’t fight back. When Lorik appeared, Stone shoved the outlaw toward him. The man stumbled and fell.
“You make him talk,” Stone said. “I’ll just end up killing him.”
“You okay?” Lorik asked.
“I’ll be fine. Really, it’s just a scratch.”
“Let Vera take a look at it. She’s as good as any healer I ever met.”
“Thanks,” Stone said, trudging back into the barn.
Lorik watched him go. They were all tired, and tempers could flare in that kind of situation. He wished he could give the young warrior a break, but they didn’t have that luxury. The best Stone could hope for was to snatch a few hours of sleep before dawn.
“Let’s go talk,” Lorik said to the outlaw.
He helped the man up and escorted him to the rear of the barn. There, he tied a rope that was dangling from the peak of the barn roof to the bonds Stone had tied the outlaw’s hands with. The man’s hands were still behind his back.
“You ever see a man’s arms pulled out of their sockets?” Lorik asked.
The outlaw cursed Lorik, but the teamster wasn’t disturbed. The rope he’d tied to the man’s hands ran up through a pulley he’d attached to the roof for lifting heavy objects. He’d gotten the idea from the dockyard, where the ships unloaded heavy cargo using pulleys attached to the masts’ cross beams. He gave the other end of the rope a sharp pull and the slack was taken out of the line, pulling the outlaw’s hands up behind his back.
“Aaaahhh,” the outlaw cried. “Stop, stop. You can’t do this.”
“Why not? You were going to ride in here and kill me. Your boss is planning to burn my home, kill my horses, destroy my wagons, and probably torture me to death. Why shouldn’t I kill you?”
“I’ll tell you everything,” the man said. “I know all Marsdyn’s plans.”
“Is that right? You’d trade that precious information for a quick death?”
“No,” the outlaw said quickly. “Stone said you’d let me live.”
“He may have over promised,” Lorik said, “but I’m listening.”
“Marsdyn is planning to attack you in the morning. He’s hired a crew of pirates and promised them they can loot your farm.”
“This isn’t a farm,” Lorik said. “And you aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know.”
Lorik gave the rope a small tug and the outlaw cried out again.
“Wait, wait,” he pleaded. “I can tell you more. Just don’t pull that rope any tighter, please.”
“Funny how pain brings out the truth. Now tell me the specifics. How many men is Marsdyn bringing with him?”
“I don’t know,” the man said in a panicked voice. “Around two dozen pirates and fifteen riders. I don’t know for sure.”
“And what’s the plan? He’s sending in the pirates and then what?”
“He’s planning on killing you and taking Stone and the woman alive.”
“Tell me what I don’t know,” Lorik said loudly, but he only waved the rope, he didn’t pull it any tighter.
“He’s expecting the pirates to do all the work. They’re supposed to burn everything, once they’ve looted it of course. They’ll get paid to bring your head and the other two as prisoners to Marsdyn. He doesn’t really plan any more than that. He’s just going to attack.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Lorik turned away from the man. The information wasn’t all that surprising. Two dozen pirates would be difficult to deal with. And if Lorik and Stone somehow managed to repel the sailors, Marsdyn could ride in and easily finish the job. He turned and tied the rope to a peg on the barn wall.
“Don’t go wandering off,” he warned the outlaw.
He moved back inside the barn. His muscles ached as he climbed the ladder up into the hayloft. He was tired of being in the dark, of the constant tension they were all feeling, it felt like he was slowly being drawn and quartered emotionally.
“What’d you find out?” Stone asked in a whisper.
“Nothing we didn’t already know,” Lorik replied.
“How can we believe what he’s telling us?” Vera said. “He could be lying to throw us off of Marsdyn’s real plans.”
“True,” Lorik said, “but he confirmed that Marsdyn’s hired a crew of pirates. He said they’ll be coming at dawn and that Marsdyn’s got well over a dozen Riders with him.”
“Like you said, nothing we hadn’t already guessed,” Stone said grimly.
“Over a dozen?” Vera said, fear creeping into her voice. “That seems like a lot of men to fight.”
“It is,” Lorik agreed. “I think we may be able to hold off the pirates, but if Marsdyn and the others come riding in, we
could be overrun.”
“Maybe, but I have a plan that could turn things around,” Stone said. “Pirates are very superstitious. We could set up a surprise for them right as they come onto the property. If it scares them, which I think it will, they’ll be hesitant to attack.”
“But Marsdyn won’t let them retreat. He’ll trap them between my land and his Riders,” Lorik said.
“True, but if we can avoid using the liquid fire on the pirates, we have a chance to cut Marsdyn’s numbers almost in half.”
“So how do we scare the pirates?” Vera asked.
“Lorik,” Stone asked, “do you have any paint?”
Chapter 17
Cutting the head off a dead body was hard work in most instances. But Lorik’s axe was heavy and sharp, so it cut through the bones in a man’s neck easier than most other weapons. Stone’s plan was simple enough. Vera painted a message on an old plank of wood. It said, “Death lives here. Enter at your own risk.” It was cheesy and they all knew it. The sign alone would not have frightened anyone, but Stone didn’t stop there. He went down to the prisoner tied to the back of the barn and slit the man’s throat. He had no qualms about killing. He had slain his first man when he was just a boy, and there had been many more since then.
Lorik cut off the man’s head and they carried it to where Stone had dragged the body of the outlaw named Karnes. Then Lorik cut off that man’s head. They were tired and bloody when they finished, but they had successfully propped Karnes’s body up, so that it was sitting upright on the ground with its legs crossed. They stabbed a metal rod down into the outlaw’s neck and then stuck the second outlaw’s head on Karnes’s body. Then they placed Karnes’s head in his hands, which were propped in his lap, so that it looked like the mutilated man was looking at his new head. Finally, they laid the board with Vera’s message on the ground, propping it against Karnes’s knees.
It was only an hour until dawn when they finished. Both men were tired, but they stripped off their clothes and built a fire behind the barn. Vera remained on watch and the light from the fire did nothing to diminish her night vision. They were counting on the fact that Marsdyn had sent someone to watch the property, so surely he wasn’t planning a sneak attack that night. Both men washed themselves, then their clothes. Then they hung their wet clothes by the fire to dry and checked their weapons.
Lorik had three javelins in the hayloft, along with his longbow and three dozen regular arrows. He also had half a dozen jars of liquid fire and as many arrows coated in liquid fire. He wore a utility hatchet on his belt. He’d used the little axe for years on his travels for everything from cutting firewood to defending himself from men like Grayson. He saw to his battle axe, making sure the blades were sharp and clean. He also checked the rawhide grip, which was still tight and in good shape. A weapon as heavy as the axe needed to have a well-maintained handle or it could slip out of a person’s hand during a fight. Lorik also had dagger in his belt and added another to the inside of his boot.
Stone checked both of his knives, cleaning any remaining blood off the blades and the knuckle guards. He also had a dagger in his boot. Lorik had a sword that Stone had placed inside the barn. They were as ready as they could be. It was already decided that Lorik and Vera would fight from the hayloft. Lorik would use his bow to take out anyone within range. Stone would fight from the main floor of the barn. There were two big doors to the barn, one on the side, the other directly below the hayloft. They had positioned the heavy wagons against the doors on the side of the barn, making it almost impossible for anyone to get in that way. They placed a heavy beam over the other doors. There was also a small door to the side of the larger, main doors. This was where anyone attacking would have the best chance of getting in. Stone figured it would work like a bottleneck, limiting how many men could get in at once. Of course, if the timber beam was broken or the barn set on fire, all bets were off.
“Just so we’re clear,” Lorik said just before dawn as they were pulling on their damp clothes, “you will fall back to the hayloft if they break through the main doors.”
“Yes,” Stone said. He was serious and didn’t mind being reminded of their plan.
“If we’re overrun or the barn is set on fire, you and Vera use the zip line.”
“And you after us,” Stone said.
“I’ll come if I can, but it’s more important that you keep her safe.”
“We all need to survive this, Lorik. Not just Vera and I.”
“I know, but I’ve been watching out for her a long time. It’s a habit, I guess.”
“Then you should take her down the zip line and let me hold the barn.”
“No,” Lorik said, smiling. “The two of you have a future, I’m just extra baggage.”
“You know, I can never repay you for what you’ve done for me. All I’ve brought you so far is misery.”
“That isn’t true,” said Lorik. “Marsdyn is no different than other outlaws. They all have to be dealt with sooner or later. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get out of this alive.”
“We will,” Stone said.
“Well, if you have to flee, go back to Pallsen. The people there will help you.”
“You’re their hero. You killed Thuryk, not me.”
“We both did what needed to be done. I’m going up. It’ll be dawn soon. Are you ready?”
“Always,” Stone said.
They shook hands, neither saying more, but both men looking the other in the eye. They had grown close over the last few weeks. Lorik thought it was nice to have someone to share his work with. Other than his father, Lorik had always worked alone. He’d grown fond of Stone and knew the young warrior was a good man. He approved of Stone and Vera being together. He was sure Stone would take care of her and treat her right. There had been plenty of opportunities for the younger man to sow his wild oats in Pallsen. He could have stayed and served as the constable, which would have been easier and probably more profitable than working with Lorik, but Stone had remained loyal.
Lorik climbed back up the ladder to the hayloft. Vera was sitting by the open window, watching as the sky turned gray. She looked tired but resolute.
“You think they’re coming?” she asked him.
“Sooner or later,” Lorik said.
“I wish it was sooner. I’m tired of waiting.”
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” he told her. “You could still leave. Things will probably get bad. This plan may not work at all.”
“It’ll work,” she said. “It has to.”
“Do you regret not leaving sooner?”
“No,” she said, still watching the path.
The property was turning from dark grays and blacks, to lighter grays and browns. The sun wasn’t visible yet, but the light reflecting off the sky was growing brighter.
“I love you, Vera, always have,” Lorik said, even though he wasn’t looking at her.
She turned and saw that he was watching the path, too.
“You’re more than a sister, and I thought you should know that.”
“I always thought you asked me to marry you out of pity,” she said. “I never knew your feelings were deeper than friendship.”
“They are, although it’s not love like you have for Stone. Perhaps it is just friendship, I don’t know. And I’m not jealous that you love Stone. I’m happy, for both of you. I just want you to know that I’ve loved you in my own way since we were kids.”
“I’ve loved you too, Lorik,” she said, her tone sad. “I’ve always felt that we were the same somehow. You’ve been a good friend, and I’ll never forget all you’ve done for me.”
“Good. If things go wrong today, promise me you’ll take the zip line with Stone.”
“We’ll all go.”
“Yes, if we can, but I don’t want you risking anything on my behalf.”
“Stop talking like that,” she scolded. “I don’t like it. You aren’t going to die. None of us are. We’re going to make it, together
.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said. “But I want your solemn promise that you’ll leave if you need to.”
“Will you promise not to do anything stupid and noble?”
“There’s nothing noble about what we’re going to do today.”
“So don’t try to be a hero. If I go, we all go, understand?”
“All right, I promise,” he said.
“And I promise, too.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She lingered for just a moment, and he breathed in the familiar scent of her hair. Then he stood up suddenly.
“They’re here,” he said. “Go tell Stone to be ready.”
She moved quickly away. He felt good. His conscience was clear. Fear was circling like carrion birds over a battlefield, but there was a cold resolution in Lorik’s gut. He was going to kill, and his mind focused in on the job at hand.
The pirates were moving slowly up the path. They could see the grisly message Lorik and Stone had prepared for them, but they weren’t yet deterred by it. Vera hurried back to Lorik’s side. He had his longbow in hand and his quiver of arrows close by.
The group of pirates slowed as they approached the body of the outlaw named Karnes. It was obvious they were startled by the sight and the message. Lorik nocked an arrow and aimed high. There was a sharp twang as the bowstring sent the arrow flying. It arced high into the dawn sky then fell into the center of the group of pirates. The arrow struck one of the sailors on the forehead. Lorik wanted to shout in excitement as the pirate pitched forward and the others scattered. Some ran off the path and fell into the muddy bog. It wasn’t sucking mud, but it was deep, and soon they were struggling to get back to the path. Others had turned and run back down the path.
It was several minutes before they saw the frightened pirates returning. Those in the mud were now trying to pull themselves back onto the path. Their comrades stopped to help. They seemed eager to take any opportunity to delay. Horsemen came into view further down the path. They had their weapons drawn but weren’t within longbow range.
Lorik (The Lorik Trilogy) Page 20
