World in Chains- The Complete Series

by Ryan W. Mueller

  Nadia stroked his burning forehead. "It's not time to say goodbye just yet."

  Chapter 6: Clan Mountain Eagle

  Berig's legs trembled as the riders came closer, aiming bows at the party. Even from a distance, the riders looked like savages. They were all men and sported long beards of varying colors.

  Klint pointed his staff at the archers. If Berig hadn't known better, he'd have thought Klint was trembling.

  One of the riders moved ahead of the rest. He was a large man with a dark beard, the ends of which he'd braided. His gaze was stern and unyielding.

  "Why are you trespassing on our lands?" he demanded. "These are the lands of Clan Mountain Eagle. Which clan do you hail from?"

  "We are not from any clan," Aric said. "We came from inside the mountains."

  The man gazed at them in silence for a long time. Berig couldn't read the man's expression, couldn't determine how hostile these men were. What the hell was a clan in the first place? Was it just another name for groups of savages?

  "I believe your story," the man said at last. His hard gaze settled on Klint. "Lower your staff, channeler. I won't tell you again."

  Klint obeyed.

  "Which of you owns the woman?" asked the man.

  "Nobody owns me," Danica said.

  The man narrowed his eyes. "That is unnatural. Maybe we should kill you. We don't normally kill women, but your woman doesn't know when to hold her tongue."

  "I'm sorry for her behavior." Aric stepped forward. "She belongs to me. She has an independent streak. If anyone should be punished for her tongue, it's me."

  The man turned to the other riders with a strange smile. "Kill him."

  Klint pointed his staff at the men. "If you attack us, I'll fight back. You might kill us, but I'll take out a few of you. So why don't we settle this peacefully?"

  The man let out a hearty laugh, and the rest of the riders joined him. These people seemed insane. Was this the kind of world that existed beyond the mountains? Was Warrick telling the truth about the Empire's prosperity?

  Once the man stopped laughing, he said, "You can lower your staff. We were just testing you, seeing how much courage you possess. Luckily, you seem to have a great deal. Not many people would stand against us like that."

  "Then you're not gonna kill us?" Berig asked.

  "Not today." Silence. Then he laughed again. "You should have seen the looks on your faces. I've forgotten how fun it is to scare people senseless. If I needed any proof that your story is true, this is it. Everyone from the Clanlands knows our reputation."

  "And what is that reputation?" Berig asked, feeling as if something were clutching his throat.

  "We're known as one of the more honorable clans. We'd never kill you for any of the things you've done in our presence. Can't say that holds true for every clan, but that's the code we live by." He smiled. "Now if you'd failed our tests, we might not have been so forgiving."

  Berig felt as if the pressure on his chest were easing. He glanced at the rest of his party. They looked pale and shaken, but their expressions had relaxed.

  The man rode his horse toward them at a slow trot, then dismounted. "Which of you is the leader of this group." His gaze lingered on Klint and Aric, as if he already knew Berig wasn't the leader.

  "I am," Klint said.

  "Figured as much." The man held out a hand for Klint to shake. "I am Darek, chief of Clan Mountain Eagle. You should be glad we found you instead of Clan Seagull. They aren't known for their hospitality toward strangers."

  "Or toward us," said one of the other clansmen.

  Darek chuckled, seeming much friendlier now. "True. Very true."

  At last, Berig could relax. These clansmen seemed a fierce lot, but they also looked like men who'd keep their word. He still wasn't sure about some of their beliefs, though. Did they really consider women property, or had that been part of their test?

  Berig glanced at Danica, who looked pale. Blood had seeped through her bandages.

  Darek stepped toward Danica. "You're injured."

  "We fought this bearlike monster," Aric said. "It injured her."

  Darek's voice was gentle now. "Do you think you can travel on your own? If not, we're certainly strong enough to carry you. Our settlement is less than an hour away."

  "I can still walk," Danica said. She winced as she tried some experimental movements. "I'd rather not be carried." She narrowed her eyes at Darek. "Do you actually think I'm property? Where I come from, that kind of attitude wouldn't earn you many friends."

  Darek laughed softly. "No, we don't consider women property in our clan. We've even had women as chief before. Some of the other clans would view you as property, though."

  "Why are all your riders here men?" Danica asked.

  "Men fight and hunt. That is the way of things. Women are better at keeping our settlements in order and raising the children. You don't have to fight to be chief."

  Berig figured some women could handle the hunting and fighting. He thought of Talia. If Darek had called her property, she probably would have challenged him to a battle. The same went for Nadia, though Berig had known her only briefly.

  "Let's get you back to our settlement," Darek said. "We have some gifted healers. They should stop any risk of infection." He got back on his horse. "Can any of you ride?"

  As it turned out, only Berig couldn't ride. He'd never had the money for a horse, and he'd never considered stealing one. Horse thieves faced stiff penalties in the Empire. Berig had been a thief, but not a stupid thief.

  "I'm fine with walking," Berig said.

  "No, you'll ride." Darek dismounted, grabbed Berig as if he weighed nothing, then tossed him onto the horse. Berig nearly slipped off the other side, but he grabbed the reins at the last moment and steadied himself upon the saddle. The horse was enormous, meant for someone large like Darek.

  "Is this horse safe?" Berig asked, slipping a bit to the side. "Is he gonna throw me off."

  "Depends on how bad a rider you are," Darek said.

  Feeling queasy, Berig found a comfortable position on the horse. The others got on some of the clansmen's horses. Those clansmen would walk back to their settlement. Darek, as chief, had taken one of the other horses, a smaller horse than Berig's.

  Was Darek playing a cruel joke on Berig? The chief had a strange sense of humor.

  They rode slowly, going perhaps a little faster than walking. With every movement the horse made, Berig thought he'd slip off. He clung to the reins, gritting his teeth and giving himself a headache.

  "Why are there all these monsters out here?" Aric asked.

  "That's the way it's always been," Darek said. "The monsters show up at random. Doesn't matter if it's day or night. Doesn't matter what kind of terrain you're on. If a monster feels like showing up, it's going to. Out here, you learn to kill them, or you die."

  "We don't have monsters like this in the Empire," Klint said. "Or at least Warrick's barriers keep them in certain places." He shook his head. "That's strange. I always thought Warrick did that to be cruel to us, or to prevent resistance. I hate to say it, but maybe he's protecting us in his own twisted way."

  Berig wished he could believe that, but he remembered the way Warrick had burned his village. He remembered the screams in Crayden. The terror. The ring of fire. A man who could do those things had no interest in protecting his subjects.

  "Your empire is probably the safest place in the world," Darek said. "You're not the first people I've met who escaped. Most of 'em find life out here is a lot harsher."

  "At least we have freedom out here," Berig said.

  Darek barked a laugh. "Freedom? I suppose you could use that word. But it's hard to feel free when you've gotta worry about monsters popping up in the middle of your campsite while you're asleep. All thanks to those bloody sorcerers in Luminia."

  "What about them?" Aric asked.

  "They don't bother putting up wards in clan territory. We're not important to their petty power s
truggles, so why should they care about us?" He spat to the side. "Useless if you ask me."

  "We need to find some of those sorcerers," Aric said. "Weeks ago, I was bitten by a giant lizard. The only cure for its poison is in Luminia."

  "Then I wish you luck," Darek said. "I doubt they'll help you."

  Berig felt hollow at the thought that their quest might accomplish nothing. He'd come to like Aric. Right now, Aric looked strong and healthy, but how long would that last?

  Berig glanced to his right, where Danica looked steady atop her horse. She grimaced every now and then, but it appeared her predicament was less serious than Aric's. She smiled at Berig, and he felt as if his insides had turned to water. He wanted her to return his feelings. It was a desperate ache in his gut, like nothing he'd ever felt.

  Pushing these thoughts aside, he kept riding. He was getting used to the horse, though it still sent him off-balance every now and then.

  After a quiet ride, they reached the clan's campsite. Berig had expected something like the cities he'd known, or at least like the village where he'd been born. Instead, he saw a small settlement of animal-skin tents. The smell of cooking meat filled the air, and Berig's stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten a decent meal since leaving Mountainside.

  At one time, he would have thought nothing of eating dried meat and stale bread every day, but recent events had changed his luck in life. It was strange to think that his life was better now, however much pain he'd suffered along the way.

  He still grieved for Graig and Captain Davis. They'd both been good men, and they'd died because of Berig. He'd convinced himself neither death was entirely his fault, but he'd never banished the guilt, and doubted he ever would.

  The party dismounted, and Darek led them toward a large tent on the campsite's eastern side, where he pulled aside the flap. The tent was spacious and furnished with animal-skin seats filled with feathers. Berig sank into one of these seats. He'd never felt so comfortable in his life. Lying in this seat, so close to the floor, he imagined he could drift off to sleep easily, but Darek had other plans. He reentered the tent with a dark-haired, middle-aged woman at his side. She approached the seat where Danica had collapsed.

  "Let me see your injuries," the woman asked gently. Danica stood, and the woman removed the bandages and examined Danica's injuries before saying, "This is nothing a little healing shouldn't fix. Our warriors have survived much worse."

  Berig's chest swelled with relief.

  "Let me place my hands near the injuries," the woman said.

  Berig watched in wonder as the woman's magic healed the cuts. Once the healing was finished, the woman wiped away the blood with a wet rag. A few scratches remained, but Danica could move freely.

  "Thank you," she said.

  "I'm a healer. It's what I do." She shuffled out of the room.

  Darek settled down in the largest of the animal-skin seats and leaned back, stretching lazily. "Ah, the comforts of home after a long ride. Sometimes, I wish I could rest here all day."

  "Do you know how that healing magic works?" Aric asked.

  "That's for those bloody sorcerers in Luminia," Darek said. "All I know is she's a damned good healer. Maybe she could become one of those sorcerers if she wanted to, but no one here does. We are content to live by our ancient customs. We don't need their magic."

  "But didn't you say you wanted their wards?" Klint asked.

  "We don't want anything from them. We're just bitter that they've ignored us for so long. Even if they offered their help now, we'd laugh in their faces and tell 'em to go home."

  That seemed a bit of a stupid view, but Berig didn't say anything. He didn't want to risk angering their new host. Still, Berig didn't like the thought of monsters appearing while they were sleeping. How could anyone live in a place like this?

  Warrick was evil, no doubt, but maybe he had done some good things. Berig couldn't forgive the man, however. Everything that had gone wrong in Berig's life was Warrick's fault.

  Why was Berig even thinking about Warrick? The emperor belonged to the past now.

  Darek was about to say something else, but then a young warrior entered the tent, looking flustered. "Chief, Clan Seagull is attacking!"

  Darek shot to his feet. "Not again."

  "What should we do?" Aric asked, standing more slowly.

  Darek's expression was grim. "Clan Seagull is bloodthirsty. They like to take captives and make them do horrible things, usually involving battles to the death. If you want to avoid that fate, you'll have to fight now."

  Berig got to his feet shakily. He'd killed that monster, but it had been complete luck. In a battle against trained warriors, he stood no chance.

  Chapter 7: The Battle of Millersville

  Kara stood at the edge of Millersville, just inside the wards. Aren and Lena hovered beside her, facing toward the plains beyond, waiting for the Sunset Army to appear. The rest of the town had assembled, carrying swords and shields, bows and staffs, spears and javelins.

  The town was eerie, quiet. The plains beyond were deserted. If Kara hadn't known the Sunset Army was out there, she wouldn't have believed she was in danger.

  But her body knew it. Her legs felt weak. Her stomach churned nonstop. She'd been nervous about going into Woodsville, but this was different. This was a real battle, the kind of thing she'd only read about and which she'd never thought she'd experience firsthand. Even as part of the Order, she'd never expected her resistance to come to war.

  War was almost a foreign concept. For all the wrongs Warrick had done, he had also eliminated war in the Empire. Every uprising had occurred long before Kara was born and been lost to the vague recollections of history.

  "Have you ever fought in a battle like this before?" she asked Aren.

  "Not quite. I've skirmished with men before, and you know I've fought monsters." He tightened his grip on his staff. "I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't scared."

  Lena's gaze was fierce and determined. "Only a fool feels no fear before battle."

  "Have you seen battle then?" Kara asked.

  "Not on this scale, but growing up on the streets is a battle of its own kind."

  Kara scanned the assembled townspeople. There were perhaps two hundred—men, women, and even some children. The old and infirm remained indoors, taking care of the younger children. Some of the people out here didn't look prepared to fight either.

  Kara wasn't sure she felt ready herself. She imagined that Nadia would have been consulting books right now, hoping to find the best strategy for defending a town.

  That almost brought a smile to Kara's face. Almost.

  An hour passed, feeling like an eternity. At last, the army appeared against the horizon, riding atop horses. There were a few horses here in Millersville, but not enough for most of the untrained soldiers. They had no chance of victory, not against an opponent like this.

  "Maybe we should surrender," Kara said so softly she didn't think anyone would hear.

  Lena's mouth became a thin line. "I will never surrender to these monsters."

  Some of the townspeople had nocked arrows, waiting for the order to loose them. There were a few actual soldiers among their number, including one commander in the Sierran Army. She was a hard-faced woman, her look the very image of a strict general. In a harsh world like this, Kara supposed it was necessary to have such leaders.

  One soldier from the Sunset Army rode forward, but remained outside bow range. He put a horn-shaped object to his lips and spoke through it. "We have come to claim your town for the Sunset Empire. Lay down your arms, and no bloodshed will be necessary. Resist, and you will all die."

  Kara considered putting her weapons down, but when she caught the look on Lena's face, she thought better of it. Kara had come to like Lena. The woman's general demeanor was stern, but Kara also remembered the way she'd treated her so tenderly out in the wilderness, wiping away the blood covering her forehead.

  "You have one minute to decide," the soldier s
aid.

  The mayor, standing nearby, put the same kind of horn to his own lips. His voice was so loud it almost hurt Kara's ears. "We will not surrender to you. We may be signing our own death certificates, but we'll take a few of you with us."

  "You have chosen poorly," the soldier replied. He turned to the army, and they charged. Kara readied her sword, praying she was ready for this, praying that God would see her through this as He'd seen her through Crayden.

  In truth, she'd always had trouble believing in God. She wanted to think there was a great force for good out there, and that eventually good would triumph over evil. But she'd spent too much time facing the harsh realities of her own world, and now those of this new one. Could God let such atrocities happen?

  Or perhaps God was more distant and mysterious than she thought. Perhaps He had his own reasons for ignoring the plights of His people. Perhaps He wasn't there at all.

  No. She had to believe in Him, had to think she'd find life after death. It felt bitter and empty to consider that she might fade into nothing when she died, and that was a reality she could face all too soon. More than ever, she wanted to turn and run.

  All these thoughts passed through her head in the short time it took the Sunset Army to cross the distance between them and the town. Before Kara knew it, arrows were flying back and forth. One whizzed by her ear, and she ducked instinctively as another one passed inches over her head. Someone behind her grunted in pain, but she didn't turn to look.

  The battle became chaos. A soldier charged his horse toward Kara, and she threw herself to the side, barely avoiding his spear. Hooves thundered all around. Screams echoed in her ears. She raised her sword and shield in defense, deflecting some blows. The scene was so frantic that she couldn't find a chance to get to her feet. She remained on the ground, defending herself against every soldier who came her way. Most of them charged past her, as if they didn't consider her a threat.

  Her comrades fought beside her, grunting. Some of them fell, clutching deep puncture wounds. Others remained strong, forming a line of shields, holding the enemy back, but most of these people were not trained fighters.