by Dan Decker
“Hunwei? How stupid do you think I am? I follow you out into the street, and your friends come in from the back and rob me. I wasn’t born yesterday, son.”
Jorad reached into the bag, pulled out the Hunwei head, and set it on the counter beside the cake. “Ok. You tell me what this is then.”
The baker cringed, moving the cake further away. “Get that smelly thing off my counter.”
“Take a close look. Ever see a man or an animal that has horns like that? That’s a Hunwei, sure as anything. Meet us or not. When the bombing starts, you’ll be convinced. I just hope it’s not too late by then.” Jorad stuffed the head back into the bag, and they left with the baker staring after them, uncertain what to make of the encounter.
The next several shops and houses went about as well. Once Tarner and Xarda had finished with their side of the street, they helped Jorad and Soret with theirs. When they met back in front of the alley, they’d only managed to collect a handful of people. A mother with small children, several older women, a group of young men, and an old man that looked drunk. While Wes showed the mother and children into the arch, Jorad pulled out the head for the benefit of the others. Several drops of rain fell onto his head as their new recruits examined it.
This wasn’t going well; he’d thought that the head would be more convincing. Most people regarded it with morbid curiosity but little fear. He’d been hoping that this first attempt would gather a crowd of people that could break out to spread the word. He gave their recruits a quick explanation of how much time they had, several of them caught the urgency, and he was about to instruct them to spread the word when the first explosion came. It was on the far side of Zecarani, but several others followed, and they were much closer. It took Jorad a moment to realize that the explosions sounded like they were coming from the city gates. He was wrong when he had compared the thunder to the explosions earlier. There was a big difference.
Overhead, ships were descending out of the clouds. So much for hoping that they only attack at night, he thought. There looked to be about twenty ships, two were very large, and the rest were much smaller. The Hunwei hadn't used large ships in Neberan and Jorad had a hard time looking at anything else.
All around them, doors opened, and the people that they’d just tried to warn came out into the streets. The baker was at his door; hand on his hips as he looked into the sky.
Jorad pulled out the head. “The Hunwei are attacking, and I know the only safe way out of the city.” An explosion sounded halfway through his words, once it passed, he repeated himself. In the silence after, his voice rang out through the street. “Hurry!” Pandemonium broke out, and the explosions did what they hadn’t been able to do. Before Jorad knew it, a large group of people surrounding them.
“All women and children over there.” Jorad pointed to Soret and Wes who were halfway down the alley. Xarda stood in front of the entrance to the Arches with her blaster ready. Jorad was glad to see that she'd thought of protecting the entrance. If he was killed, somebody needed to close it in time. It was their only advantage against the Hunwei. “We need to spread the word and gather in all we can.”
Despite his words, many of those who could have helped followed those going into the arch. Several remained and he instructed them to go to the other streets. Some of them did, but there was a severe round of explosions, and the rest ran into the arch. A ship zoomed by overhead, causing even more alarm for the people still out on the street.
When Jorad recognized the sounds of blasters, his heart froze. The Hunwei ground invasion was still several blocks away, but they were running out of time.
Where was Adar?
Jorad put the head back into his sack, slung it over his shoulder, and readied his blaster. He was prepared to protect the arch until the last possible moment. Tarner took up guard on the other side of the alley, the resolute expression on his face mirroring Jorad's determination.
Jorad continued to call out to passing people, but the explosions drowned out his voice much of the time. During a long string of explosions, he was startled when Soret grabbed his arm. He’d been watching the streets, expecting the Hunwei to show up at any time. It was going to be tricky; his plan was to keep the arch open as long as he could but to close it with enough time to keep the Hunwei ignorant.
“We need to go,” Soret yelled. He could barely hear her.
“Not yet.” He’d been expecting further argument when Soret yelled something he didn’t catch, and she ran into the street.
“Bleeding Melyah!” Jorad chased after her. Where was she going? Several struggling men got in between him and Soret. Once he was past them, he’d lost her. He continued to run in the direction she’d gone, hoping that he’d find her. Several blocks ahead, dozens of Hunwei flooded into the street, and he ran faster, cursing as he did.
He almost missed her because she was hugging a man. As Jorad backtracked, he recognized Barc. He didn’t have time to wonder about where he’d come from because the Hunwei had opened fire.
“We have to go.” Jorad grabbed Soret’s arm, and Barc’s smile disappeared.
“You’re still with this murderer?”
“This isn’t the time.” Jorad brought up his blaster as Soret let out a scream. He fired into the approaching Hunwei. A glance at her showed a relieved look, had she really thought that he’d shoot her father? Jorad fired several more times. With satisfaction, he saw that he hit a Hunwei and took aim at another and fired.
Even as the Hunwei’s head disappeared in a fog of blue blood and chunks of brain, another took its place, there were too many for him to hold back alone. If their whole traveling party were here with their blasters, they wouldn't have made much of a difference. He wiped the rainwater out of his eyes as he took aim and fired again.
“Jumping Melyah man!” Tarner screamed appearing at his side. “You can’t take them all down yourself. Get back to the arch!” Jorad fired several more times, hoping to take another down. Despite the horror of the attack, the anxiety in waiting for the Hunwei was gone and he had something to do, kill as many Hunwei as possible.
Tarner shook him. “Get going!” The Hunwei were closing in, and several had noticed that they were receiving return fire.
Jorad ducked as a Hunwei fired at him. The blast came dangerously close; he felt the wind of it rushing by overhead. Another couple of shots and that Hunwei went down, but the close encounter brought him back to reality. He grabbed Soret’s arm and pulled her after him while Barc yelled something about others. Jorad didn’t pay attention as he followed Tarner back to the arch; calling out to the people they passed to follow him. He could barely hear his own voice.
Tarner stopped, and Jorad immediately saw why. Hunwei were sweeping up from the other side of the street and they’d already passed by the alleyway that led to the arch. Jorad hoped that Xarda had closed it in time, but thought it might be a vain hope because the Hunwei were milling around the alley entrance.
“This way.” Jorad ducked down a side street, still leading Soret. He'd taken hold of her hand as they ran. Jorad was unsure how long she’d been yelling at him, but he finally realized that Soret was trying to get his attention when she stopped running, breaking his grip on her hand. He slid to a halt.
As Jorad grabbed her hand again, she pointed back to the street. “We lost Tarner.” Barc was several steps behind her, and there were other people following them.
“Where’s your safe place?” Asked a young man who was holding a screaming child that looked too old to be his. Jorad hadn’t realized that his efforts to collect people had been successful. Frantically, he tried to think. How to get back to the arch?
“Tarner can take care of himself,” Jorad said to Soret. “Follow me.” Taking the blaster in both hands, he dashed down the alley in the direction he'd been going before Soret had stopped him. A quick glance back showed that Soret was on his heels and the others were trailing behind. A door burst open, and several men ran out carrying bolts of fabric, behi
nd them came a shopkeeper waving a big knife. One of the men tripped and dropped his fabric into a puddle. He didn't stop to pick it up as the shopkeeper yelled out even more when he saw his damaged property.
Fools! Jorad thought as he dashed past them. Didn’t they understand that the world was ending? Running was the only chance that they’d have.
When he turned onto the next street that ran parallel to the street with the alley that led to the Arches, he was relieved to see that the Hunwei hadn’t made it here yet. Despite the rain, the street was full of people trying to flee. The explosions continued as the ships flew overhead. Trusting Soret, Barc, and the others to follow, he dashed up the street looking for an alley that would allow them to backtrack to the arch.
It happened suddenly.
A man came out of the crowd swinging a sword at Jorad who fired his blaster without thinking. As the man fell, he recognized Gorew. His heart stopped. Barc had mentioned others. Who else had he brought with him?
Jorad looked up at the sound of screaming. Thon had been behind Gorew, and his hand was missing, the blast having taken it as well. As Thon fell to his knees clutching his bloody stump, the sword that he’d been holding fell to the ground. Erro stood beside him with his sword ready looking at Gorew’s body in shock.
Jorad followed Erro’s gaze as the horror of what he’d done sunk into him, killing a man with a Hunwei weapon. If Barc had any remaining doubts about him, they were gone now, a fact which was confirmed a moment later.
“Murderer.” Barc approached Gorew and Jorad couldn’t find words to explain that Gorew had been attacking him, little good it would have done anyway. Soret and the others had stopped behind him, and she looked like she was crying. It was hard to tell in the rain.
Melyah! What a mess.
“Fight us like a man,” Thon yelled, blood trickling between the fingers of his remaining hand, “not a bleeding Hunwei.”
Jorad didn’t answer because half a dozen Hunwei burst out of an alley and he fired several shots taking one down. Another fell that he hadn’t been aiming at and he caught a glimpse of Tarner through the crowd.
Jorad was firing again when Thon tackled him. They fell in a heap as Thon wrestled his way to the top.
“Gorew’s dead! Bram’s dead.” Thon rained down blows onto Jorad with his remaining hand. From all around, came the sound of blasters burning into people, explosions further away continued to rock the city, and the cacophony was like that of fire burning through a lumberyard stacked with fireworks. Jorad lay stunned as Thon continued to pummel him. Lying face up with the rain coming down in conjunction with Thon's fist was making it hard to breathe.
I’ve killed a man. The pain in his face became numb. Slowly, through the numbness, through the pain, he remembered Soret. He had to get her back to the arch and get to Rarbon; he couldn’t allow Thon to defeat him.
Jorad tried to reach into his pocket with his right hand but couldn’t move it because Thon was kneeling on it. With his left, he was able to grab a dagger. Through his blood covered eyes and the continuing beating from Thon’s remaining fist, he caught a glimpse of Thon’s face. It was contorted beyond recognition while he screamed. Losing a hand would have been enough to stop another man, but not Thon.
It was too bad the man hated him. He could have been a great ally.
Jorad’s hand closed around the handle of the dagger. Summoning his strength, he plunged it into Thon’s massive chest, causing him to scream. It was blood curdling, but Jorad wrenched out the dagger and plunged it in again and again until Thon stopped hitting him. He pushed Thon off and scrambled for his blaster. He avoided looking at Thon’s chest which was now covered in blood as his life ebbed away. As Jorad reached for his blaster, he felt the blade of a sword against his neck.
Jorad had forgotten about Erro.
Erro pressed the blade against Jorad's skin, but for some reason, he hesitated. Jorad grabbed the blaster and aimed at Erro, only now did he realize that Soret stood to the side of them.
“Don’t do this,” Soret said. “I'll never forgive you.”
Jorad wasn’t sure if she meant Erro or him, but he pushed Erro’s sword away and got to his feet. Having just watched Jorad kill two people she’d grown up with, he doubted that she’d be forgiving him anytime soon.
“We know a way out.” Jorad backed away from Erro’s blade. “You’re free to come with us.” He was surprised that after all that had happened, his anger at Erro had dissipated. He’d been planning to make sure Erro learned to not mess with him, but now as he looked at Erro, drenched in the rain, he knew that he couldn’t go through with it.
“I'll kill you,” Erro said.
Tarner yelled while continuing to fire. “Run, Jorad! Leave the girl if you have too!” Hunwei were now flooding into the street.
“Run Erro.” Jorad looked at Thon a final time. He wasn't breathing. “Run if you want to live.” Jorad turned to the others. “Did Melyah rob you of all sense? Run!” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tarner but then he disappeared into the mass of people.
“Jorad, you killed Gorew and Thon. You’re covered in blood.” Soret shivered and looked away. Guilt swelled up in him, but he refused to pay it heed.
“RUN!” Both Barc and Soret stood frozen. Jorad wanted to scream in frustration. Instead, he grabbed Soret’s hand, shouldered Barc out of the way, and dragged her behind him. He looked into an alley, saw it was clear and ran in.
Chapter 29
It had taken Adar and Tere the better part of half an hour to get to the archive on the second floor. During that time, they still hadn't been able to find Karn, and they'd managed to kill another group of Hunwei. During his years in exile, Adar had sometimes wondered what it would be like when the Hunwei came back. He'd never once thought that the person at his back would end up being Tere. He’d expected that it would be Jorad and had spent countless hours training Jorad on what he would need to do when the time came. As much as Adar hated to admit it, he could have been stuck with a worse person. At least he knew how Tere fought and what he could expect.
After the first battle downstairs, they’d settled into a sort of rhythm that they’d used in the years past. Adar would take the lead while Tere watched the rear and then after they advanced for a bit, they would switch. It had been their habit to keep them both alert to their surroundings by constantly changing up their role. They’d settled right down into it again, without even a spoken word between them. Working together with Tere reminded Adar of what it had been like when they had still been in training. Back then, they had been inseparable. As much as Adar wanted to let Tere back into his life, he knew that it would be a mistake.
Now, as Adar constantly watched for an attack from Tere, he couldn’t help but wonder what he would have thought back then if he’d known that more than twenty years later they’d be just a hair away from killing one another. He shook his head and pushed away the sentimental feelings, there was no going back.
He’d been wrong to trust Tere before, and it would be wrong to do it again. During his time in Rarbon, Adar had never been able to find out for certain, but he’d come to believe that Tere had been Abel’s man from the beginning, specifically assigned to befriend Adar and become his confidante. Every time that Adar had thought that he was closing in on the truth about Tere’s allegiances, he’d been unable to prove the connection; something had always obfuscated the truth. It was only now, in the face of the knowledge that Tere had been looking for him all these years at the behest of Abel that Adar had finally decided that he could deny the truth no longer. Tere was sworn to Abel and always had been.
Adar took a deep breath and had to keep from gagging as he stepped over the Hunwei he'd just killed to get to the door of the archive. The smell of burned Hunwei flesh was disgusting. The town hall was swarming with the monsters. Even though they’d gotten the drop on some of the Hunwei and made quick work of them, more than once they'd been forced to turn and run. Adar hadn’t realized how big this buildin
g was until now. They’d gotten lost twice.
“Help me pull him in here?” Adar asked, motioning to the dead Hunwei at his feet. Leaving the body in the hall would be as good as hanging a sign announcing their presence.
Tere nodded and grabbed a leg as Adar took the other. The fresh corpse made it pliable enough to drag, but it was heavy; Adar estimated that it weighed about four hundred pounds. As they pulled, the body left behind a blue trail of blood on the floor. Adar looked around for something to wipe it up with but couldn’t find anything. Leaving the blood smear wasn't ideal, but at least the body would be out of sight. Once they were through the doorway, they pulled the body to the side of the room.
Adar shut the door and looked around the room and was happy to see that the Hunwei hadn’t been through it yet, or if they had, they’d left it largely untouched. Many of the books had fallen off the shelves, some of the windows were broken, and one of the freestanding bookshelves had toppled over against the back wall, but that looked like it had all been the result of the explosions, some of which had been close enough to the building that the whole structure had shook.
Adar approached the third safe and looked through the keyhole. He couldn’t make out anything inside, but he could have sworn he'd seen light glinting off some metal. He closed his eyes and became certain that he was just imagining things now. Wanting something bad enough made a man start seeing it in the shadows; nobody knew that better than him. There was only one thing to do, he took the blaster and leveled it at a hinge. He fired a shot that caused the safe to fly into the wall. The blast had replaced the hinge with a gaping hole.
“What are you doing?” Tere demanded. “You’re going to destroy the tablet!”
“What did you think we were going to do? I don’t have the key.” Adar reached into the hole and felt around. He began pulling things out, much of it was jewelry and gold coin, there were several other artifacts but nothing resembling Deren’s tablet. He tossed everything onto the floor and continued to dig until he’d emptied out everything he could reach. Aiming from above, he took out the other hinge while putting a large hole into the floor in the process.
