by Dan Decker
Gorew and Lel were passing the time by telling stories and sipping on wine. Jorad figured that this meant that they didn’t seem to regard him as a threat. Lel almost seemed to have forgotten that he was there and had been chatting on about gossip involving people that Jorad didn’t know. News of Jorad’s fight with Tere and the others must not have reached these men yet; otherwise, they would have been more cautious. So much the better for Jorad.
Gorew noticed Jorad staring at them.
“Enjoy your last evening,” Gorew said with a growl.
“Have you considered the possibility that I'm innocent?”
“You attacked Thon. Hardly the actions of an innocent man.” Gorew was shorter than Lel but about the same height as Jorad. He was a stocky fellow, but Jorad was confident he could handle the man if Lel were taken care of first.
Jorad didn't respond, and he stared at Gorew until he looked away. Jorad crossed his leg and started to pull the dagger out of his boot. His heart quickened when Gorew glanced at him again, but Gorew went back to his wine after a few moments.
Once Jorad had finished removing his dagger, he kept his crossed leg between the dagger and the guards. They were only armed with staffs, and those were leaning against the wall. After he was certain that his dagger was hidden from their view, he waited, trying to think of an excuse to get one of the guards to approach him. If he asked for a drink of water, would they see through it? Lel was a little bit slow, but Gorew might become even more suspicious than he already was. Jorad was just about to try it out when Gorew stood and saved him the trouble by coming several steps closer.
“You're awfully quiet over there,” Gorew said, “What are you up to?”
Jorad looked into Gorew’s suspicious face as innocently as he could. So much for trying to incapacitate Lel first. When Gorew seemed unlikely to move any closer, Jorad decided that it would have to do. He could cover the distance between them quicker than Gorew could react. Springing off the chair, Jorad lunged for Gorew but he immediately tripped and fell.
Cursed by Melyah! What he’d do for a little luck now. He sprung to his feet and took a swipe at Gorew with his dagger, trying to miss anything important. Gorew saw it coming and easily sidestepped the attack.
“Watch out!” Gorew said as Lel started to stand, blinking in surprise. Jorad charged Gorew, grappled with him for a few seconds and then had his dagger to Gorew’s throat before Lel had figured out what was going on.
“Stay where you are Lel.” Jorad eased back towards the door while keeping a tight hold on Gorew. His dagger was digging into Gorew's throat, but it hadn't drawn any blood because Jorad had angled the edge of the blade away from the man’s neck.
Lel stopped, the confusion evident on his face. His mug lay broken on the floor in front of him, and red wine had spread out like blood. Jorad was relieved that he'd been able to take control of the situation so easily. He hoped that Adar and the others were ready to go so that they could leave as soon as he found them and he prayed that Soret would be with them. He almost welcomed the thought of seeing Barc and Hira if that meant that Soret would be coming.
Jorad had just reached his sword where it hung on the wall when the door opened beside him. He put his back against the wall and turned Gorew toward the door.
“Don’t come in or I’ll kill him.”
Thon walked in. “Kill him or not, it doesn’t matter, you’re a dead man.” He was followed by three men, one of whom held a coil of rope with a noose tied at the end.
Jorad pushed the dagger tighter to Gorew’s throat who in turn cried out in terror. It reminded Jorad of the first time he’d slaughtered a chicken, and he almost vomited. This wasn’t Gorew’s fault. It wasn't even Thon's.
The look in Thon’s eyes dared Jorad to slice Gorew’s throat. Jorad pressed the dagger and strengthened his resolve; he wished that he'd acted sooner. He shouldn't have spent so much time letting his thoughts wander while the guards had settled down.
“Thon, don’t let him kill me! Please--”
“Shut up, Gorew!” Thon said.
Jorad was trying to decide what to do next when somebody kicked in the door. His first thought was that it was Adar coming to his aid, but he realized that something was wrong when the end of a black stick was shoved in through the doorway. An explosion filled the room, and a mist of blood, chunks of bone, and bits of brain matter appeared where Lel's head had been.
A black armored Hunwei entered the room. He was several feet taller than Thon and almost double the width of a normal man. He had to duck as he walked through the doorway. Jorad had never before seen armor like that which the Hunwei wore. It didn’t appear to be made of metal and the closest thing he could think to compare it to was rock, but that couldn't be right either. Armor made of rock would have been impossible to move, let alone wear. The helmet had a face shield, and the Hunwei was looking at them through clear glass. The helmet only partially covered the monster's neck, leaving room for him to move his head.
The Hunwei pointed his weapon at one of Thon's men and another explosion filled the room. Jorad could feel the concussive blast from the weapon on his exposed skin as he saw the man fall over.
As the other men in the room began to react, Jorad considered his options. His sword was right beside him on the wall, but it was sheathed and would be unwieldy in the tight quarters of the guardhouse. He still had his daggers. Could he get close enough to the Hunwei to slip one between the helmet and the neck guard? Given this new enemy, could he somehow coordinate an attack with the remaining men? Surely, if the four of them rushed the Hunwei, they'd be able to bring him down. Jorad discarded the idea, Thon would sooner kill him. It would have to be the daggers.
Jorad didn’t have time to act on his plan because the Hunwei pointed the weapon his way and he was forced to dive to the ground, pushing Gorew out of the way as he did.
Just after the blast went over his head, Jorad charged the Hunwei. As he ran, he realized there was a good chance it would be the last thing he would ever do. Not to mention the stupidest, he thought. The Hunwei was taking aim at Gorew, giving Jorad just the amount of time that he needed to close the short distance.
He put his head down and shoulder out as he collided with the monster. Pain ran through his body, and he was afraid that he’d broken a bone or two in his shoulder. He didn't know what he'd imagined would happen but he hadn't been expecting it to feel like he'd just charged into a rock. The Hunwei eyes didn't even register a look of shock.
Regardless of the pain, Jorad threw his weight into the Hunwei again and managed to cause the Hunwei to lose his balance. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he pushed off the floor with his feet and into the monster again. He wasn't sure if it was the force of his attack or the weight of the beast's armor that caused it to fall, but he felt a surge of hope when the Hunwei toppled over towards the floor.
He fell in a heap on top of the monster. Even though his breath was knocked out of him, he didn't wait as he started stabbing at the neck in between the gap in the armor. The dagger couldn’t penetrate, despite the fact that he could see rough light brown skin peeking through the cracks. The crack was big enough that the dagger should have been able to reach it with ease. The blade of his dagger was stopped just a little bit above the skin and try as he might, it would go no further.
Screaming in rage and frustration, he tried to break the glass that covered the Hunwei's face, but his dagger glanced off it without making a scratch. It wasn't until the third try that he realized that the dagger wasn't even making contact with the glass either. It was behaving in much the same manner as when he'd tried to pierce the Hunwei's neck. Was that laughter he saw in the orange eyes of the beast? The Hunwei flung him off, as easily as Jorad might have kicked a small dog and sent it flying. Jorad bounced off a wall before skidding to a halt on the floor.
Chapter 15
Adar would have liked better cover than the small bush he was hiding behind, but it was better than nothing he supposed. So fa
r his luck had been far better than that of the many others whose bodies he could see scattered around the town square. He could hear Tere cursing and muttering under his breath in the bush behind him. If they hadn't been surrounded by explosions, Adar might have been concerned that the Hunwei would overhear Tere. Adar could just make out a particularly vulgar curse that he’d heard Tere mutter for as long as he’d known him.
Some things never changed. Over the years Adar had come to believe that the seeds of Tere’s betrayal had been there all along but it wasn’t until they were older that they’d finally manifested. Adar shook his head to clear his thoughts and try to get the ringing to go away.
When the bombs had gone off, and the town square had flooded with Hunwei, they had been close enough to Arnie's blacksmith shop that they’d been able to hide behind several small bushes at the side of the building. Adar was doing his best to keep from moving but found it hard. He hated feeling exposed, it made him uncomfortable, it was like an itch on his back that he couldn’t scratch. The bush in front of him didn't offer much cover, but it was his only alternative for the moment. The Hunwei were everywhere and moving would mean capture or death. If it hadn't been for all the chaos, the Hunwei would have found them for sure.
Adar was afraid that the ringing in his ears meant he would be left partially deaf because his head felt like somebody had put a bell on him and rung it for hours. He fidgeted and was surprised when his hand touched his arm and came away wet. Cursing, he wiped the blood on his pants and flexed his arm as much as he dared. It didn't feel like the wound had affected his ability to use it. It was small, and the blood would soon clot, so he put it from his mind. He checked the rest of his body as best he could from his crouch and determined he hadn't sustained any other notable injuries.
During one of the explosions, Adar was able to see that Tere had a huge gash on his forehead. The blood from the wound had already covered half his face, but his eyes were alert, and Adar believed that was the worst that he'd suffered. It shouldn't keep them from moving when the time came.
For a brief moment there, when they’d made eye contact, it had felt like nothing had ever happened between them and Adar was reminded of a time they'd both nearly been killed during a skirmish with some bandits and Tere had saved him. He had hopped into the middle of a fight without looking to the side, and Tere had killed a large one-eared man who had been hiding in the brush. Later on, in the same battle, Adar had skewered a man that had come from the ground where he’d been pretending to be dead. Tere would have died with his head lopped off if Adar hadn’t been there to stop the man.
It was a shame they'd lost their friendship, but the regret washed away quickly. It was too late to go back now.
A man's body fell in front of Adar, and a large armored figure loomed above him in the smoke. The Hunwei glanced down at the corpse, looked away, and brought something to his shoulder. Fire erupted from the end, illuminating the Hunwei's armor. Adar frowned, wondering what his chance of survival was if he were to attack the Hunwei. He decided to do nothing because the Hunwei didn't appear to have noticed them. The light from the blasts and the nearby burning buildings reflected off the Hunwei's helmet and the rest of the armor. It was the first real look that Adar had gotten of the Hunwei. The creature towered over him, and the helmet obscured most of the head, but Adar could see there was a faceplate that allowed the Hunwei to see. The light reflected off of it, making it seem to glow and completing the Hunwei's unearthly look.
Melyah! Adar should have dragged Jorad to Rarbon months ago, back when he started feeling uneasy. He'd been angry with Jorad for not telling him about his encounter with the Ou Qui, but Adar was actually angry with himself. He'd had a premonition that this was going to happen and he'd ignored it.
The Hunwei fired repeatedly. Each time the blast from the end of the thing he held to his shoulder lit up his armor. After several more explosions from his blaster—what else could it be?—the Hunwei moved away from them.
Similar explosions came from all around as Adar examined the dead man several feet in front of him. A hole had been burned all the way through his chest. Light from a ship passing overhead showed the ash, mixed with blood, flesh, and bone that covered the ground where the man had fallen.
Adar didn't dwell on the scene before him and instead surveyed the town square. Flames burned everywhere he looked. The fire, the continuing blasts from the Hunwei weapons, and the light from the roving Hunwei ships above them lit up the town square to the point that he had a good idea what was going on even though there was smoke everywhere.
As he viewed the scene around him, trying to formulate some semblance of a plan, he gradually became aware of the smell. It had probably been there for some time, but the smell of burning flesh and smoke from the fires began to assail him to the point that he finally noticed. With everything else going on, he hadn't been paying attention, but now that he finally did, it made him feel weak in the stomach. He set his jaw and calibrated his mind as he swallowed down bile. He needed to rescue Jorad.
While some of the Hunwei were firing blasters and killing everything they came across, most were gathering people into the middle of the town square. Adar remembered hearing from Semal that the Hunwei had taken many slaves. He assumed that this was to be the fate of those that were being rounded up.
The explosions weren't coming quite so often now, but they were still occurring at a steady rate.
Tere growled. Adar looked at the man that had at one time been like a brother and wasn’t surprised to see that even now behind the fear in Tere’s eyes, the anger and hatred burned. One small oath was all that kept Tere from trying to kill him. Adar doubted that even the Hunwei would be reason enough to stay his hand. What was an oath to Tere anyway? Wouldn't Tere see this as his final opportunity to get revenge on Adar?
“Did you see what happened to the others?” Adar asked, he hadn't been able to find Karn, Tarner, or Lous in either the forming group of slaves or among any of the nearby bodies.
“They were behind me when the explosions started,” Tere said. “I saw Tarner trip, but I can’t find his body.”
They fell silent again for some time; as they watched the mass of swarming people in the square grow substantially. There was now a sizable number of Hunwei patrolling the outside perimeter, but the people in the square far outnumbered the Hunwei surrounding them. If they were all to run, a majority would be able to escape.
“Melyah has cursed us.” Adar surveyed the crowd, hoping Jorad wasn’t there. If he could get his hands on one of the Hunwei weapons and figure out how to use it, they might have a chance at getting away. Their swords wouldn't do much good unless they were right on top of a Hunwei. Tere mumbled something Adar couldn’t make out, but he didn’t ask for clarification.
“Tarner,” Tere said a few minutes later while pointing to the prisoners. “You see him?”
Adar nodded as he recognized the sharp angular face of Tarner. He was surprised to see that Tarner was still armed with his sword, but with the armor the Hunwei wore, maybe an armed man wasn’t much of a threat to them.
“Never figured he'd end up this way,” Tere muttered.
“The others are probably there as well.” Adar scanned the crowd, looking to see if he could spot Karn and Lous. He recognized most of the people, and while he didn't know many of them by name, he knew who they were. He felt a sharp stab of guilt when he noticed the women and children that were among the captives. When Adar recognized Soret in the crowd, he growled quietly as he examined everybody close to her, trying to see if Jorad was there as well. Adar couldn't find him and was unable to spot Soret again. If Jorad had managed to escape from the town guards, his first thought would be for Soret.
Adar hadn't thought of trying to rescue Tarner or any of the others, but seeing Soret changed his mind. If Jorad was there, Adar had no choice but to go get him and everybody else. If Jorad wasn't there, he'd never forgive Adar for leaving her.
“I'm going in,” Ada
r took a deep breath as he stood. Causing a stampede might prove a challenge, but he'd make it happen one way or another. The odds were in their favor, but they'd have to act quickly before more of the Hunwei congregated around the captives.
“We can’t just walk out there,” Tere hissed from the bush.
“Doubt they’ll stop us from joining them.”
“What’s your plan?”
“Mass exodus. Unless you want to leave Tarner.” It didn’t seem like a good idea to mention that Soret was Adar’s reason for the insane plan.
He stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the crowd. Tere followed him before he got too far, cursing as he caught up to Adar. As much as possible Adar avoided looking down at the bodies. The remains of the women and children would rile him up, and he couldn’t afford to lose control of his temper. They hadn’t made it five steps when he heard snarling from behind.
Adar turned and faced the Hunwei, looking up into the faceplate of the creature; he was able to see the orange eyes that glowed behind it. The Hunwei motioned with his weapon towards the center of the square. Adar eyed the blaster, it might be his only chance to get one, and he was tempted to try, but then he’d have to run if that failed. He doubted the Hunwei would let him live through the attempt.
“Just on our way there,” Adar said.
Tere smiled. “You’re not excluding us from all the fun.”
The bulge of one of Adar’s daggers dug into his side, and he ached to try to slip it through some of the gaps in the armor he had noticed, but he turned and marched towards the crowd of captives. Tarner and Karn found them when they joined the group.
“Fools!” Tarner said. “Should have run when you had the chance. Now we’re all stuck.”
Tere said something but Adar didn’t hear, and he wondered if the ringing in his ears would ever go away. He noticed Soret and headed in her direction. The people were scared, and many showed signs of shock. Several of the people he moved by lay on the ground. Whether they were passed out or dying, he didn't stop to check. They had to act quickly if this foolish plan of his was going to work.
