“He said to wait,” Helkree whispered. “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to agree to do that? I’m his protector… without him I don’t have a purpose. Can’t you understand that?”
“No, I can’t,” Fenra said. “You don’t get to forge us into something great and wonderful; to give us all something we’ve never had before and then ditch us because your reason for doing so is late. We need you, Helkree. The rest of the world can go fuck itself, but we need you.”
“If we leave here, we do it only to get everyone out.” Helkree took another long pull from her mug, finishing it off in two gulps. “We get the Helcats and anyone who is worth saving and pull them out of the west. Then we all meet up with Beretta, station everyone in that shanty town she erected and I come back to wait for Raegith.”
“And you bring his ass back to the rest of us, safely.” Fenra said, raising her mug.
“No shit!” Freya said. “I’ve been totally saving myself for him.”
Fenra and Helkree turned and raised their eyebrows at her.
“What? Seriously, for like, the last six weeks I’ve been saving myself for him,” she said, defensively. “Come on, I’m twenty-one years old. I last saw the dude when I was fifteen and there are a lot of cute guys around here that are my own kind. It’s not really fair on them for me to hold out like that.”
“Are you guys packed?” Helkree asked, shaking her head at Freya and addressing Fenra.
“We’re ready to head out in the morning, if you’re not crippled by a hangover.”
“I can only promise not to be crippled,” Helkree said, burping loudly.
“Ugh… I can never get used to you doing that,” Freya said, crinkling her nose.
Helkree left the other two and stepped outside. Brimgor was waiting for her outside the tavern. He had his gear strapped to his back and was on his way down the mountain. He looked as if he had been standing outside the door for some time, waiting to come in and he was surprised by her sudden appearance.
“I was just about to come in and have a drink with you,” he said.
“You’re shifting your weight between your hips the way you do when you’ve been standing in one place for too long without moving.”
“A weakness you would have never picked up on five years ago,” Brimgor laughed. “You’re both the best and worst student I’ve ever had.”
“I’m the only student you’ve ever had,” she replied, feeling awkward around her father. “You’re leaving, then?”
“I’ve overstayed my welcome, here, I think. Though Thorin would never tell me so; he’s worried I might impregnate his daughters and they’ll come track me down for training.”
“I didn’t track you down, Brimgor,” she hissed and then felt bad for it once she saw his reaction.
“No… no you didn’t. It was a bad joke.”
“I appreciate what you’ve done for me,” she said, trying to soften her tone. “I’m leaving out in the morning. I have to go find out what’s happening to my gang of girls that I accidentally turned into horny, foul-mouthed killers. I’ll be back, though, to wait for Raegith.”
“I’ll be waiting for him as well,” Brimgor replied. “I’ll be moving west, back to the warmer parts. Come find me when he gets back.”
“We’ll see. You may have to follow the screams and find us.”
“Helkree!” Hildr screamed from the mouth of the cave.
“What in the hell is her problem?” Helkree mumbled, looking up at her with confusion. “What?!”
“Come quickly! Bring your crew!” she yelled. “Your friend is back!”
“You’re expecting a friend?” Brimgor asked. “I haven’t seen anyone come in from the front…”
“Raegith,” she said.
“The Grass-haired dude is back! He’s with Thorin! Everyone, to the meeting chamber!”
Fenra exploded through the door with Freya right behind her. “What did she just say?”
Helkree did not respond. She dropped into a sprint and ran straight for the opening of the cave. Fenra and Freya were right beside her, but knew better than to get in front of her no matter how much faster they were. The three of them brushed people aside and ran through the caves and into the area where everyone was convening.
There at the front of the room, before all of the benches and tables, stood Raegith.
He was wearing white and grey robes that had some wear on them and his green hair was long again, like the day she had met him. Other than his clothes and hair length, he looked the same. His face was still youthful and smiling and his stance was loose and tall. Beside him was the Urufen Elder and another person cloaked in all black with a large, billowy hood that hid any hints of who was underneath. Had he brought one of the Junrei’sha with him? Was it Noriko?
Raegith caught sight of her standing there, taking him in and his expression softened. He tilted his head with a smile and opened his arms toward her.
Helkree did not think of her surroundings or her reputation as a stone-cold bitch. She thought of nothing but the space between her and Raegith and how to shorten it. She rushed to him, almost knocking him over as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
“You’re still here,” he said, holding her head to him and letting her hold on to him.
“Where the fuck else would I be?” she replied. “You didn’t have to take so damn long, though.”
“It’ll be worth it.” He pushed her back and looked into her eyes. “I promise you, I’ll make it worth it. I’m never failing anyone else again.”
There was something else different about him. Something had changed in his green eyes. It was a madness that she had seen before, when the Empress had died; only this time it wasn’t a chaotic, unbridled force, but one with focus. He had lost another piece of himself since he left, but he had channeled the rage inside of him. For a moment, to her, he looked like a demi-god that had swooped down from its mountain home and changed its form into one of a mortal. Beneath his skin and steady gaze, she caught a brief glimpse of something sinister; with scales and claws and slitted eyes that laughed with demonic glee.
“I found it, Helkree.”
“But you’re still… Raegith, right?” she asked.
“Even better,” he replied. “Stay up here with me a moment.”
Raegith turned to Thorin. “Is everyone here?”
“Everyone that I’ll allow,” the Elder said. He did not look nearly as pleased to see Raegith as Helkree and the others were. “I’ll uphold my end of the deal. You just make sure you do the same. I’m only doing this for the sake of my own people.”
“That’s noble of you, Elder, but you’ll be getting the recognition of your entire race once this is over.”
“What is going on, Grass-hair?” Fenra asked, embracing him. “Do I not get a hug as well?”
“Of course you do, Fenra,” Raegith said, grabbing her around the shoulders and squeezing her.
“You won’t believe the training we’ve undergone. I need to show you…” she started to say.
“In a moment, I promise,” Raegith interrupted. “Right now I need to address the crowd.”
Helkree was concerned. She wondered why Raegith would choose to see them like this, in front of the entire village. He had obviously been here long enough to strike up some sort of deal with Thorin. Why had he not come immediately to see her and Fenra? Why was he so eager to address a room full of strangers that he could not speak more than a few words to Fenra, his most devoted follower besides her?
“Everyone, the man called Grass-hair would like to speak to you for a moment. As Elder of the tribe, I insist you listen and take his words into consideration.”
“Thank you, Elder,” Raegith said, taking his outstretched arm and bowing his head in respect. He then turned to the gathered villagers in the room. “It’s been a long journey back to this place and I have friends to catch up with, so I’ll make this brief.”
He turned and winked
at Helkree as he said this and she smirked back at him.
“Five years ago, I came to this village in search of a way to find the Junrei’sha; to find a way to save this land from the shadow of death you have all lived under for centuries. I found the Junrei’sha… and I found the power. Now I return to you and everyone else in this land that would die without ever tasting true freedom and I return with the power to give it to you!”
Raegith turned to the figure dressed in all black. “An offering of stone, please.”
The figure nodded its head and walked to the side of Raegith. With a slender, white hand, the robed figure touched the ground and drew a symbol upon it with blood.
The ground shook slightly and a pillar of smooth stone rose from the circle she drew, stopping as the top reached head height to Raegith. He asked a few of the young Urufens in the front row to test the pillar, making sure it was composed of pure stone. The youths could not dent or budge the pillar and soon sat down, astonished at the magic trick and applauding.
“Quite impressive, isn’t it?” Raegith said, drawing amazed looks and murmurs from the others. “This kind of magic is useful, but nothing that a mage from my homeland could not do with the right training. This is nothing to be impressed by.”
Raegith took a deep breath and released it slowly as the robed figure backed away. Thorin took a few steps back as well, unsure of what was happening and everyone quieted as Raegith steadied his breathing and focused, bringing his hands up at the elbow before him.
Suddenly blue flames erupted along his forearms and wrapped around his fists. He opened his eyes and turned to the stone pillar. Helkree had seen him step in with a straight punch before and it was beautiful the way he moved his body. As light as he was and the way he moved like a dancer, everyone who had ever received that punch was always stunned by how much power could come from a move so graceful… but this was different. Raegith seemed almost to glide across the distance more than step and the movement of his fist could not be tracked. One moment he was dashing forward on the air just above the ground and the next moment the pillar was exploding at the point of contact.
Shards flew out the back of the pillar like deadly arrows, shattering against the wall behind it. The top of the beam above his fist buckled and fell forward as everything six inches above and below his fist was obliterated. Cracks spider-webbed along the entire column and as Raegith slowly withdrew his fist everything crumbled to the ground in a pile of debris. It was as if the pillar had been hit by the hammer of the gods.
“Holy shit!” Helkree yelled, backing away.
Thorin nearly hit the ground and others scrambled over their seats and tables. Some were screaming while a few of the young boys cheered in excitement and called for more. There in the middle of all of the madness, Raegith looked about the room with a satisfied grin.
“It’s power that will bring us what we need. We have always relied on power here in the Greimere; that is our way. You follow those who have the power, and those who have power are responsible for leading. For too long we have followed those with power who are comfortable with leading not upward, but downward, into our graves.
“When those souls below you, in the villages and fields and in the Citadel die off, and they will… your proud tribe will soon follow. Sure, you’ll outlast everyone else, because the Alfhildr has made you strong and you have never been conquered, but death for you will not come from a spear or axe. Death for you will be slow, agonizing and devoid of company. The Tyrra Clan has strength that no other clan of Urufen possess; it is your duty to lead the others to that strength! If not you, then who? Who will save your kinsmen from death? Who will save themselves from death?”
Raegith lifted his hands to calm the crowd and bid them all to sit back down.
“Because I need the Tyrra Clan… because I need the strength you possess, I have extended an offer to your Elder that will not be extended to the others below. I will allow you to volunteer into my army; the army that takes back the Greimere. I will take men and women; as long as they are able to fight, they will be allowed to. Any who join me will be expected to teach the Turning to others outside this Tribe and to give their all for me. In return, the Tyrra Clan will remain unconquered and will be exempt from any conscription laws. You will also receive immigrants from other Urufen tribes, sent by me to replenish your dwindling pool of suitable mates for your youth. A village this small cannot survive free of inbreeding without fresh boys and girls from other areas.”
“What makes you think we need your help at all, stranger?” a young Urufen boy asked. “Maybe you think your fire hands are enough to match all of us, but you don’t stand a chance here on our turf.”
“I won’t make threats,” Raegith replied. “I owe too much to you for the hospitality you’ve shown my allies and the assistance of your Elder.
“But know this: if you refuse me any volunteers… if you banish us from your village, I will isolate you. You’ll receive no visitors from other villages and when the clans below begin to grow and encroach upon your hunting lands, I will side with them in any conflict. The Empire will rise again, stronger than it has ever been before. At some point you will either become a free ally or an unwanted enemy.”
“And what is your opinion of this, Elder?” another, older Urufen asked. “What guidance do you have for us?”
“Adaptation is survival,” Thorin said. “I will not stop any of my people from joining the Grass-hair and if that is all it takes to keep our people from making enemies of whatever he plans on creating, then that is fine. I will not demand this sacrifice of any of my people, however. If none choose to follow him, then we will endure as we have always done… but it will be more challenging once this empire is resurrected. Grass-hair is the only man I have ever known to reach the Junrei’sha and return.”
Thorin turned a sober look towards Raegith. “From what he tells me of his time among them, he probably should not have returned at all.”
Helkree could not stand it anymore. She needed to know what had happened to Raegith and was seconds away from ending this meeting herself in order to get him away from everyone. Then he spoke again.
“Think on it, Urufen of the Tyrra Clan. I will spend the rest of the night among friends that I have not seen in far too long and in the morning I will descend the Alfhildr. Those who are willing to be a part of this revolution… who are willing to sacrifice themselves for something much greater than simple survival can meet me outside the mouth of the cave at dawn. I’ll see you there.”
“Do you mind telling me what the fuck that was back there?” Helkree asked as they exited the meeting room ahead of the crowd. “And who the fuck this is? Did you bring one of those Junies back with you?”
“Me… a Junrei’sha? Is she kidding?” Izanami asked.
“It talks?”
“Helkree, this is Izanami and she’s not a Junrei’sha,” Raegith said. “She’s a Witch from the Old Order, before the Treaty destroyed them. She saved my life and was the reason I was able to get back to you in just two days instead of two weeks. Now, where is the tavern? I want a drink.”
“We’ll probably be the only ones there after what you just did,” Fenra said. “Speaking of which…?”
“Yeah… that’s going to take a bit more explaining than I’m ready to do right now,” Raegith laughed. “I’ll get to it, don’t worry, but… wait, is that Freya?”
“Uh… hi…” she replied, bashfully.
“Holy shit, it’s the first time I’ve seen her speechless,” Helkree marveled.
“Shut up…”
“Seriously, who is this Izanami chick and why is she attached to the back of your ass?” Helkree asked.
“I wanna hear what the fire shit you did back there was,” Fenra pressed.
“Hey, Grass-hair!” Brimgor yelled, approaching them. “Are we ready to war, yet?”
“Nope, no and hell no! Not until I get a drink,” Raegith laughed. “I’ll answer questions in order of who’s
buying.”
Chapter 46
Smoke from the funeral pyre rose high above Gimlet City and the smell of burning flesh choked the few remaining inside the walls. Among the frightened and weeping Gimlets only a handful of figures rose above their heads. They all stood around the emerald inferno in the crisp morning, paying their respects and readying their spirits for the end that would surely find the rest of them that day.
In the past two years Greela’s paranoia and desperation had worsened. Convinced that the organized Gimlets in the Barren Wastes were engineering some kind of super weapon, the self-declared Emperor planned the destruction of Gimlet City and the assassination of its founder, the Infernal Beretta.
Kimura had stayed inside the walls of the Citadel long after the gates were shut and barricaded. She had gathered incredibly beneficial information, but at the cost of most of her informant’s lives. She barely escaped and went straight to Haruka Village without resting. Greela had pooled his resources, absorbing the other Rathgar dominions by force and arming every Rathgar male able to hold a spear. Before the men from the north had destroyed the walls of the Citadel, a thousand Rathgar would have just been an expeditionary force. The invasion decimated the most populated area in all of the Greimere and now a thousand armed Rathgar was all that remained of the Imperial Army.
Five hundred Rathgar with spears and axes descended on Gimlet City. Despite the advanced warning from Kimura and the brilliant strategies of Hitomi, the defenders that had assembled at the city were heavily outnumbered. Hitomi’s militia numbered thirty, there were nineteen trained Naga with Kimura and close to a hundred Gimlets armed with crossbows. Only a handful outside of the Helcats had any battle experience at all and none of them had ever fought an organized contingent of Rathgar before.
Two weeks of fighting had reduced the number of guards by half. The defenders got lucky on the first day. Using the traditional strategy of pouring into a village with all of their might, the Rathgar charged right into an ambush. Crossbow bolts rained down from every roof and tower, pushing the bewildered guards into a bottleneck with Hitomi’s militia and Beretta’s flames.
Beyond the Hell Cliffs Page 45
