Both adversaries seemed to decide at once that it was time to act.
The wolf crouched down to spring, a deep growl reverberating from its throat. Never breaking eye contact, Rai took careful aim and pulled the trigger. The gun kicked a little and the dart hit the creature's right eye, burrowing deeply into its skull. The Iron Wolf held eye contact with the left eye for a brief moment, frustration pouring through its gaze as blood gushed from the now empty eye socket. The creature gave out a final, agonizing shriek, and slumped onto the roof of the wagon. Its lifeless body slid off the wagon's roof, hitting the ground behind it with a dull thud.
Rai's eyes met Laan's, and she forced a smile at him, for lack of a better way to communicate the wolf's death. Soon enough they'd both be cleaning a large amount of blood off his wagon. Surely, he'd thank her later.
A high-pitched whining sound from behind them signaled the fall of the final Iron Wolf. Rai looked back just in time to witness the Guardian astride his horse, gazing at the last wolf. A bloody streak down its back was ample evidence of the mortal wound it'd just sustained.
Rai yelled at both Stoi and Laan to stop. Both brought their wagons to a crawl and then pulled the teams to the side of the road. Laan looked shaken from the ordeal -- his pallor an unhealthy shade of pale compared to his normal tan. Rai's gaze turned to the approaching Guardian, who was lowering a gun of his own and bringing his lathered horse to a stop. She could be angry, but instead was only grateful. Rai doubted she would have been as lucky taking down the last wolf on her own.
The wounded wolf regained its feet and turned to face its attacker. The Guardian dismounted from his horse and walked toward the beast, raising his weapon once again. The beast roared at the Guardian in anger, charging at him in a bloody rage.
Zzzt! Zzzt!
The Guardian pumped two more shots into the Iron Wolf. Rai hadn't seen anything exiting the weapon, but the two gaping holes in the creature's chest were evidence enough to the raw power of the weapon. The beast tumbled forward in a motionless heap.
The exhausted horses pulled the wagons back toward the Guardian. Rai saw a thick, black smoke pouring from the lifeless wolf. The Guardian had set fire to the body and was now watching it burn--something Rai found a bit disquieting.
Black blood smeared the Guardian's leather clothing. Even his travel cloak, which he'd thrown over the back of his horse, dripped the thick ooze onto the ground below. That blood hadn't come from the wolves. Their blood was red.
As the Guardian turned toward his horse, Stoi leapt off his wagon, running toward the Guardian and shaking his fist. His scar was deep purple against his skin. "What the blazes was that? What do you think you were doing, wandering off like that, leaving us to fend for ourselves? You almost got us all killed!"
The Guardian turned to face Stoi. He said nothing.
"What? You can't be bothered to explain yourself!" Stoi shouted, grabbing the Guardian's shoulder.
The Guardian's response was swift. He grabbed Stoi's wrist and brought it around to his back, and at the same time pulled a dagger from his belt, holding it up to Stoi's neck. Both Rai and Laan gasped, though neither made a move to interfere with the Guardian's actions.
"You need to calm down."
Stoi seethed in a bright red flush but he fell limp in the Guardian's grip. After a warning look at Stoi, the Guardian retracted his blade and took a step back.
"I did not 'wander off.' You stopped your wagons at lunchtime, so I circled the surrounding area in search of, shall we say, unwanted guests. I came across the Iron Wolf pack. They were already on to your scent and I proceeded to dispatch them. There were eleven of them and I was able to kill eight of them." He paused, waiting for the full impact to hit. Rai was sure she wasn't the only one to connect the copious blood covering The Guardian with this news. "When the other three continued their hunt, I pursued. As you know, I then dispatched two of them. The third was dealt with before I got to it." He shot her a look, and Rai stood up taller and stuck her chin out in defiance. He shook his head, a hint of a snarl curling his lip.
"Rai shot it?" Stoi asked.
"Sure did. She was cool as iced melon," Laan replied. "Had to have been a one in a million shot, too."
"If you recall, I did warn you that this area wasn't safe. The good news is these packs keep wide territories and we've dealt with the wolves in this zone. Now the rest of the trip should go more smoothly. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure all the bodies burn." He mounted his horse, paying no attention to the smears and streaks of both red and black blood--even when they came into contact with his clothing and hands on the reins. She mused that the Guardian's fight with the Iron Wolves must have included some close encounters to spill that much blood.
Stoi continued to glare at the Guardian. He'd lost the argument but appeared set to fume over the circumstances, and so said nothing. The Guardian rode off and Rai breathed a sigh of relief. She now understood why Stoi and Laan were so uncomfortable around Guardians.
They inspected the horses and wagons for any damage or injury. Laan looked at the scratches on the back and top of his wagon where the Iron Wolf had been. They were superficial but still an impressive reminder of how close the beast had gotten. Beyond this minor damage and the exhaustion of the horses, nothing would prevent them from continuing in safety to Kiya's Grace. After watering and rubbing down the horses they fitted them with feedbags. They would go no farther today.
Satisfied everything was in order; they retrieved the stools from Stoi's wagon, along with some bread and dried cheese, and sat down to complete their lunch. After a few minutes, they saw smoke and a few small fires in the distance. The Guardian had begun the process of burning the other dead Iron Wolves.
"Do you always have this much fun on these trips or are you just trying to keep me from getting bored?" Rai queried. Both men laughed weakly. "That way station job is starting to look real nice right now."
"I have to tell you, Rai, that shot was one in a million! Our fearless Guardian took the credit for saving the day, but from where I'm sitting, you saved my life--maybe all our lives," Laan said. Rai saw the gratitude in his eyes, and it filled her with a warm sense of accomplishment. He said this as if he were thinking about something else.
Rai had a good idea of what it was he was thinking. She knew he'd seen her take the shot, seen how calm and steadily she'd held the gun. The answer lay in the dark void of her mind, far beyond her present memory. Have I had training in the use of weapons like this? The thought gave her a shiver, which she hoped Laan and Stoi hadn't noticed.
At that moment, Rai realized she still had the dart gun in her belt. It felt natural somehow. Like it was a part of her. She wasn't eager to give it up.
"Hah! That'll be the last time Laan gives me grief about keeping all my weapons loaded! See!" Stoi basked in his cleverness.
Laan shot Stoi a smug look. "No. I guess I'll just have to find something else to pester you about!"
Rai's mind churned, trying without success to see beyond the barrier of her amnesia. Looking down at the gun at her waist, Rai wondered what other hidden talents she might have within her. You never could tell, maybe it had just been a lucky shot.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rai sat next to Stoi on the afternoon of their fifth day of travel to Kiya's Grace. To her great relief, there had been no other encounters with Iron Wolves or any other of the 'local wildlife' (as Stoi had come to refer to them). They were just a day out from Kiya's Grace and Rai was growing anxious about meeting her new sister. Rai's future lay at the Durmah Waystation and in the hands of its Innkeeper, Jesse Durmah. Rai had spent the rest of the journey wondering how best to make a good first impression on Jesse, considering that it sounded like she'd be staying with her indefinitely. However, to Rai's vexation, no good ideas had presented themselves.
The wagons passed a small rise in the road, and Stoi pulled back on the reins, bringing the horses to a quick stop.
"Is something wrong?"
>
"Underneath that tree up ahead," Stoi replied. "Do you see it?"
Rai saw nothing at first, nothing but the winding dirt road in front of them. Then her eyes found the tree Stoi was looking at; it looked no different from any other tree they'd seen so far. Then she focused on the shade under the tree and saw at once what Stoi meant. In the tree's shadow lay a four-legged animal of some kind. From the lack of movement, it was either sleeping or dead, but it was hard to know at this distance. Stoi contemplated it as though it were very much alive.
Laan pulled his wagon up alongside them, and scanned the road ahead.
"Look in the shadow of that tree at the base of the hill," Stoi said.
Laan nodded, and at once took on the same anxious look that Stoi wore. Rai was curious as to why a dead animal should be of such concern to them.
"Iron Wolf?" asked Laan.
"Nope, too small," replied Stoi.
"What do we do?" Rai asked.
"Well, we do nothing. We wait here while the Guardian takes a closer look," Stoi replied.
Rai became aware of the sound of horse hooves on quick approach. Rai turned to look. It was the Guardian, who she'd noticed had been following them at a much shorter distance since their encounter with the Iron Wolves. He noted their pause and was coming forward to investigate. The Guardian reached them and brought his horse to a stop just in front of them.
"What is it?"
"There's an animal of some kind under that tree. It's not moving."
"Stay here." The Guardian ordered, and then urged his horse into a gallop down the hill.
Rai watched him go, curious to see how he'd handle the unknown animal.
The Guardian stopped at the bottom of the hill. Rai watched him pull out one of his the devices from his belt. He keyed the controls as his horse shifted beneath him. The Guardian held the device out and panned it back and forth. Apparently satisfied with the results, he motioned for them to approach.
Rai looked back at Stoi and Laan, who had both relaxed now that the Guardian thought the animal wasn't a threat.
Stoi looked at Rai and Laan. "It's safe. Glad he didn't have to work too hard this time, right?" He urged his horses forward.
Laan followed and they continued down the road to the bottom of the hill. Throughout their descent of the hill, the Guardian gathered nearby fallen wood into a pile a few feet away from the animal. Rai scrutinized what she could now see as a dead animal under the tree. It appeared wasted away. It's skin leathern. The savaged and torn apart neck had nearly severed the head from the body.
"Swamp deer?" Stoi asked the Guardian. He hadn't even bothered to look up when the wagons had arrived.
The Guardian flashed Stoi an irritated glance, but didn't deign to answer the question.
"I guess this poor fellow didn't fare as well with the Iron Wolves as we did," Rai said.
The Guardian sighed. "Wolves eat what they kill, girl."
"What was it then?"
"I'd guess it was a Terror. Nothing will touch what they've come in contact with." The Guardian sized up the woodpile, and collected more sticks and small logs from the ground.
Although this didn't appear to upset the Guardian, the revelation disturbed Rai. Having another deadly beast along the road with them wasn't good news to any of their ears.
"Do we need to modify our travel plans at all to avoid it, assuming it's still in the area?" Stoi asked.
"No. You will follow this road to the next hill. That's about a quarter of a mile away," he said, pointing up the road. "That spot has a good mile of visibility in any direction. You will pitch camp for the night, eat a quick dinner, and lock yourselves in your wagons for the duration of the night. I will alert you when it is safe to exit your wagons in the morning."
"But if we traveled through the night, we would be safe inside the walls of Kiya's Grace by early morning."
"Whatever killed this swamp deer is lumbering around this forest, looking for other animals to kill. It could have already infected a few dozen other creatures, but it's hard to know for sure without a thorough sweep of the area. There are no other Guardians patrolling this sector today so I'm obligated to root out the beast and keep the road clear. While you're locked away for the night I will ensure your journey can continue tomorrow."
"We'll do as you say, Guardian," Laan replied. He gave the reins a flick with his wrist and his horses surged forward, as if eager to be away from the dead deer. Stoi guided his wagon behind Laan's as they set out again down the road.
"What do we do if morning comes and you haven't yet given us the all clear?" Rai called back to the Guardian.
The Guardian enigmatically swept his gaze over her in response before turning and walking toward the swamp deer's corpse.
As their wagon climbed the road before them, Rai tried to keep the fear from welling up within her. What if the Guardian couldn't find the Terror? What if there were too many of the beasts for him to handle? He'd said himself that he was the only Guardian in the area. Rai found herself looking in all directions for more animal corpses, for movement, for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing but endless road and endless forest against the dusk sky.
Laan's wagon pulled farther ahead of Stoi's, and by the time Stoi drew his horses to a stop at the top of the hill, Laan was unloading some feed for the horses. Stoi stopped their wagon and jumped down to start tending to his team as well. Rai opened the wagon door and was pleased to find that the lids on the food bins in Stoi's wagon had remained secure despite their bumpy escape from the Iron Wolves. She now extracted some jerky, dried cheese and a handful of dalnuts, and served it on the folding travel table. Rai ate some jerky as the brothers finished hobbling the horses for the evening so they wouldn't stray too far from the wagons.
A plume of smoke rose from the wood gathered around the swamp deer. Once the deer was engulfed in flame, the Guardian mounted his horse and rode into the forest.
"Don't worry, Rai, he'll find the beast," Laan said.
"What did he mean when he said the Terror would kill and infect animals?" Rai asked. "How can it infect something that's already dead?"
"He meant that corpses killed by Terrors carry the plague. Left alone, they will rise again, and seek out our human settlements. That's why they burn the bodies, to prevent the creation of new Terrors," Laan explained.
Rai knew there were crematoriums in the cities for burning the corpses of all Az'Un, plague-infested or no. It was just another necessary safety measure to slow the progress of the disease.
"How do we know the Guardian will be able to kill the Terror even if he does find it?" Rai asked.
Laan patted her reassuringly on the knee. "Because that's what Guardians do. They train all their lives to protect the Az'Un. They have toxins and weapons that can knock down the largest animals on this planet. They learn a variety of fighting techniques, to protect us from our own people, should that become necessary. Some even say that Guardians have an almost supernatural ability to find and protect us from dangers ... from the way they're able to detect risk well in advance to their amazing ability to fight off multiple threats."
"Surely you can't be serious?" she asked. "People actually think they're gifted in some way?"
"No, the only thing at all 'supernatural' about them is their use of machines and computers," Laan said. "Such technology is off limits on Az'Unda, and rightly so. The first Az'Un settlers felt strongly enough about it that it was even a stipulation in the original planetary charter. The Guardians only have it because they keep arguing it'd be impossible to protect us without it."
"The Temple, too," Rai replied. She remembered the birthing crèche she'd awakened in within the Temple. "But if we allow them to have it, then it must be for the greater good of Az'Unda."
Stoi, finished with his horses, pulled up a stool and sat down. "That's what they'd tell you, anyway. I imagine that's what the Temple healers did tell each other, back when they were doing who-knows-what to your memory, Rai." Rai and
Laan's eyes met his, each considering Stoi's grim words. "What's to keep the Guardians from behaving any differently? If a Guardian were to stroll into the Durmah house tomorrow and tell everyone that Kait had the plague--with only his precious technology for evidence--who'd argue with him? Who could argue with him? No. The more we assume they have only our best interests at heart with all their gadgets and machines, the more likely they are to get away with misusing them for their own purposes. Besides, they flaunt their use of technology, which is offensive to our ancestors' ideals."
"True enough," Laan replied. "The sun's starting to set. We'd best get locked up in the wagons for the night."
"Good idea," Stoi replied. "If a Terror is around, we'd make a pretty good target just sitting around here!"
They quickly ate the remainder of their dinner, then folded and stowed the table in the wagon. As per usual for the trip, Rai stayed in Stoi's wagon while Stoi and Laan bunked in his. Rai locked herself in securely, grateful for the safety of the wagon. It took Rai some hours to fall asleep, as every chirrup from a squirrel or hoot from a northern owl brought her awake.
*
A loud rapping on the door of the wagon brought Rai bolt upright. "Wake up! It's time to get moving!" yelled the Guardian. Whispers of sunlight crept in around the edges of the door.
"Did you kill it?" Rai croaked out, still half asleep.
"I'm back, aren't I?"
Rai was infuriated. She'd worried about the Guardian's welfare while he was off fighting the Terror! What drove him to his consistent flippant state of mind? Had he even cared if he made it through the night? Considering the sarcasm laden in those icy-blue eyes, why did she even care?
Rai didn't want to get up, didn't even want to move, because she knew doing so would force her to interact with the man. She knew the sooner they left, the sooner they'd be in Kiya's Grace, and away from this loathsome Guardian.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1) Page 10
