“I was more than that. And I’m going to prove my loyalty by bringing Sri back to them. They will see the mistake they made. They will see that I never wavered.” She reached out for him but this time he withdrew from her touch. “Help me, Wayan. Help me get the heir back to the capital. We can win back what we lost.”
“You’re blind, Maja. We can never get back what they tore from us. They scarred the world for us. The only time I’ll ever return to the capital is with blades drawn ready to taste the blood of God-Emperor.”
“You won’t help me? After all we had, you won’t help me do the right thing?”
He laughed. “The right thing?”
“You won’t help me bring Sri to the capital.”
“Never.”
25
EVEN THOUGH SHE still stood in the shade of the former temple, sweat dripped down the sides of Maja’s face. She lingered at the door where the temple opened up to the jungle. Behind her stood, Hanu and Sri. None of the Fallen had escorted them to the walls of Land’s End to say goodbye or wish them well. She had expected more from them.
Down the stone steps, riotous growth took over.
A small footpath led from the steps into the jungle. The path was well worn but vines and creepers stretched across it. A webbing of pale yellow fungus hung from the trees. Further ahead, large red-headed mushrooms blanketed a large fallen tree. In the light, spores floated golden and heavy. If left to itself, the jungle would swallow the path and eventually the temple itself. Wildness would reclaim Land’s End.
She swatted at a cloud of mosquitos, her hand cutting a temporary opening in the black mass. But even then, their buzzing filled her ears. She needed to get moving. Force the mosquitos to at least work for her blood.
“Unbearably hot already,” said Hanu. “We should have never left the seas. We should be heading east.” He had borrowed a sarong from Wayan and wrapped it around his head like a cowl. In his hand, he also held an incense stick and waved it in front of his face to clear the mosquitos.
“No need to pray to the gods yet,” said Maja. “We haven’t even left.”
“Praying these blood suckers will drop dead in the heat.” He fanned the incense stick to create a thin wall of smoke.
Maja thought it did little good with the insects. Moving would at least buy them some respite.
“Why are we staying here?” Sri’s skin was welted with bites from the prior night. Blood streaked his arms where he had been unable to resist scratching. “If we wait too long, we won’t get far. We’ll never reach the capital.”
“All in good time,” answered Maja. “You two start ahead. I have one more thing to do.”
“Don’t be long,” said Hanu adjusting his shoulder bag of food. “You might upset the little prince.”
“Get me to the capital and I’ll pretend I never heard your sharp tongue,” said Sri. “Let’s go. Doesn’t matter to me which of you wants to get the good graces of my father.” And without another word, he set off down the trail in the shadows of the jungle.
Hanu let out a long sigh and looked at Maja. “Seriously. Don’t be long. Or the boy might get lost in the jungle. Never found again.” Then he too trotted down the trail.
Maja turned back into the temple, walked through the cool halls, and returned to the courtyard that looked out over the sea. She inhaled the salty air. She could imagine herself on the waters again, heading east, away from all of this. For a moment, she was tempted but she had a duty to the Empire, but mostly to the Queen.
The Fallen sat and sprawled around the smoldering embers of their fire pit.
“Back so soon?” asked Bui, who cradled his spear in his lap and ran a whetstone along the blade. “You disappear the little scum?”
“I need help,” she said. “I need blades and spears with me. Khirtan is looking for us.”
“They leave us alone here,” said Bui. “We keep to our business and they keep to theirs. Not getting back into that again.”
“The boy is the heir,” said Maja. “He is the future of the kingdom. We have to bring him back safely.”
“We don’t have to do anything. Not lift a single finger. We owe them nothing.”
Maja turned her gaze around the half circle of former bodyguards. “Is there no one among you who still believes in the oath we took? To preserve the Empire. To defend the lives of the royal family.”
Bui slammed his spear to the ground. “They broke that oath! They betrayed us! And you want us to risk our lives for them again? Always knew something was wrong in your head.”
“This is our chance to show that we never wavered. This is our chance to win back our rightful place. We can show them that we never truly fell. Everything can be made right again.”
She looked around pleadingly at the former Demon Guard. Giant Trilli’s face was carved in a frown and he shook his head slowly. Ji and Gima refused to make eye contact. Arimanu, eyes wide, nodded his head ever so slightly.
She found Wayan’s grim set lips. “Wayan, a chance to make things right again.”
“Won’t bring back our child,” he said. “Won’t do that.” His eyes watered and he turned away to stare at the sea. “Take the boy. Leave us alone. Bring him back. Do what you want but don’t be such a fool as to believe your own lies. Maybe they will fete you for a day or two. Maybe they will allow you to come back into the fold, return to becoming a Demon Guard again. But don’t tell us the lies that everything can be made right again. Don’t tell us those lies.”
Maja staggered down the trail, branches whipping across her face, following a path of cut branches and snapped twigs. She had been walking for several minutes already and had not yet caught up with Sri and Hanu. They had set off at a quick pace and she had taken too long with Wayan, but the trail was clear and their passage obvious. Sharp pain seared behind her eyes, almost blinding her. She forced herself to walk quickly away from the temple. She wanted to turn back. She wanted to take Wayan’s hands in hers and tell him that she would come back. She wanted to tell him that she knew what was really important.
But her limbs trembled and she ground her teeth. He should not have talked that way to her. She wanted to smash him with her fists until he saw that she was right. How could he be so blind to the one chance that they had to free themselves from exile? It was as if he wanted to die in misery at Land’s End, wallow in the mistakes of the past when opportunity lay before them. Was he really so stubborn?
“Maja.” A voice called from behind. She turned. Gima hurried down the trail, her armor and swords looped awkwardly over one arm, a bulging shoulder bag bouncing on her opposite shoulder.
“You’ve changed your minds?” asked Maja. She could not suppress a sudden smile. “The Fallen are coming?”
Gima’s fire-scarred face twisted in a grimace. “No. Just me and Arimanu. We have to do what is right. I was born to be a Demon Guard. And I know my destiny is to return. I will survive these trials and tribulations.”
“The others?”
“If they return to the capital, it will not be to protect the life of the God-Emperor.”
“I thought they would have stood with me. We once would have done anything for each other.”
“That was another life,” said Gima.
Maja saw movement further up the trail and Arimanu, dressed in his armor, trotted down the trail. With his helmet on, he looked strong like a Demon Guard of the past, his mutilated face and damaged mouth hidden from view.
“It was another life,” agreed Maja. “How long until we get to an imperial road?”
“Closest one is about half a day, but before we get to that we will need to pass through the outpost.” Gima lay down her swords at the side of the trail and slipped one arm through her leather armor and then began knotting the sides.
“Why is there an outpost? There’s nothing out here. No need for soldiers. Middle of the jungle.”
“An outpost to watch an enemy.”
“For the Fallen?”
Gima
finished adjusting her armor and then slid her swords in place across her back. “The God-Emperor keeps an eye on us. He saved us from the knives and flames of the Duke and gave us refuge in Land’s End. Just not sure he wants us to leave.”
“How many are there?”
“A dozen roughly at any one time. Sometimes twice that when they send in fresh recruits.”
“Do you think that they will give us trouble?” asked Maja.
“We’re returning the lost heir,” said Gima. “The First Son is dead. The country weeps. We will be hailed as saviors. These men will escort us back to the capital, protect us along the way, and, like you said, we can return to where we once belonged. You’re not the only one who has dreamed of this. You’re not the only one who longs to serve the God-Emperor again.”
Arimanu arrived panting, a faint whistle leaking out with each heavy breath.
“Thank you for joining us, Arimanu. It’s been far too long since we have walked together,” said Maja.
The helmeted man nodded, no words coming from his mouth, and Maja felt uncomfortable, suddenly embarrassed that she had tried to engage him in conversation. But she let that feeling pass. He was with them. They were four now, four Demon Guard to escort Sri back to the capital. With the soldiers from the outpost at their side, she liked their odds. Khirtan’s men would fall beneath their blades. But likely they would just run when they saw the Emperor’s white armor.
“Let’s get going then,” she said. “We’ll catch up to Hanu and arrive at the outpost together.”
Maja stared down the slope at the walled compound. Unlike the temple at Land’s End, the outpost was built completely of timber. A wall of wood and thorny vines rose from the muddy earth. In the center, several houses sat on stilts. The smoke from small cook fires rose and she heard the crying of roosters and the chopping of wood. White mourning pennants hung on either side of the main gate.
“Things will get easier from here,” said Gima.
Hanu rolled his eyes. “Nothing ever gets easier. We have a long road to get to the capital, and even then we don’t know what waits us. The boy may not be the heir, and even if he is they might not want him anyway.”
“I am standing here, little man,” said Sri. “I hear everything you say. You keep this up and when we get back, I’ll reward all the others but you.”
Hanu lashed out and smacked the back of Sri’s head with the curved section of his hook. The boy yelped and fell to his hands and knees.
Maja jumped between them and shoved Hanu away. “Why’d you do that? He’s a boy.”
“He’s a little pain in the ass is what he is. Self entitled prick! We’re risking our fucking lives for the boy.”
“You don’t hit a child!”
“I hit mouthy shits!”
Sri slowly rose. His hands slick with mud. He wiped them on his thighs and sarong. “No reward for you.” His lips curled in a toothless smile.
“Enough!” Maja grabbed Sri by the shoulder and marched him forward. “You stay with me. And keep your mouth shut. Honor what we do for you.”
“It’s your duty,” he muttered beneath his breath. “A price will be made.”
“Enough!” Maja shoved him forward again. “Next time he’ll strike you with his sword. Let you taste the scarred life.”
She prodded him forward down the trail, glancing over her shoulder. Luckily Gima read the situation and put herself and Arimanu between the boy and Hanu. Maja swallowed curses in her lips. If they kept this up, the journey to the capital was going to be unbearable. Maybe it would be easier just to hand Sri off to the guards. Be done with him. She could head east with Hanu. Or maybe even slink back to Land’s End and have that talk that she and Wayan needed to have. They needed to smooth out the past. Even if she never saw him again after that, she burned with the desire to make things right between them. He was right though. Things could never be the same again. Not after the blades. Not after the fire. Not after all that had been done to them. Thing could never be the same.
Maja had reached the bottom of the slope and was walking past the stumps and burnt ground that formed a buffer around the outpost, when a figure called at them from the top of the compound wall.
“Why have you left Land’s End? You know the rules.”
Maja shot a look at Gima. She frowned. “We’re not supposed to leave. We can but we agreed not to.”
“I never would have agreed to anything like that.”
“No, you wouldn’t have, would you? But it works for us. They bring us food, chickens, pigs, rice. We follow their rules. We survive.”
“How far we have fallen…”
“You left. You weren’t here. We talked. We came to an understanding. You need to open your eyes and realize that we were always one step away from returning to that dungeon. Only a fragile thread kept us away.”
The man at the wall called again. “Why have you left?”
“We bring the heir to the God Throne,” said Maja. “And we need your protection.”
26
THE HEAVY WOODEN gate groaned as the soldiers pulled it open. Maja put a shoulder to it and leaned her weight. The gate was heavier than she thought. A pain in the ass to open but a good defense against enemies. She drove forward with her legs and the heavy door scraped along the dirt and stone ground. She was tired of running and her nerves were frayed from the constant fear that Khirtan and his men were in pursuit. She wanted to get into the safety of the outpost and have soldiers who would defend her and escort her and the boy on the way to the capital. The Demon Guard should have risen to this task. It was their duty to protect the royal family. Finally after much effort, the gate opened wide enough so that Maja would be able to slip through.
Only two soldiers stood on the other side of the gate. She looked past them expecting more soldiers to come forth. But none did. Only these two. Both wore simple leather tunics. Their armor looked older than they did. One of the tunics had a gaping hole near the bottom as if rats had chewed through it, and the other tunic was peppered with gashes and dried blood stains. Neither soldier wore fungal armor. Not the white armor indicating allegiance to the God-Emperor. These men were raw, not having proven themselves or earned the right to wear fungal armor. They were more likely mercenaries hired locally than trained soldiers from the capital. Their allegiance had never been tested. This was a problem.
Maja’s smile quivered and then dropped. “You hold this outpost?”
“Come in, come in. Quickly.” The taller one waved with grubby fingers. In his other hand, he held a short unadorned sword.
Maja and her four companions slipped through the gap in the wall.
“Give us a hand now,” the soldier said, and all of them leaned on the gate to close it. He and his thin companion wrestled with a large timber dropping it in place to lock the gate in place.
Maja surveyed the grounds of the outpost. Several rickety wooden buildings on stilts, barracks she imagined, and a few sheds for storage. Three black, pot-bellied pigs snorted through a pile of vegetable trash on the far side of the outpost. The sour stench of the refuse pile made Maja grimace. Posts had been driven in the ground in the center of the courtyard, wooden practice dummies, but they looked untouched as if not a single soldier had run through his strikes.
An old woman, white haired and wizened, squatted in front of a dying fire, feeding in slivers of wood and fanning it with a banana leaf. A black iron pot on a tripod simmered over the embers. A skeletal dog panted on the ground at her side.
“Where are the others?” asked Maja.
The tall one plucked at Sri’s robes. “This one the heir to the throne?”
Sri puffed up his chest. “I am Srirampaharit, the heir to God Throne, Emperor to be.”
Both soldiers dropped to their knees and touched their foreheads to the ground. The thin one trembled for a moment. Then they both stood.
“Come inside,” said the tall one. “Rest and we’ll get the crone to cook up some rice.”
&nb
sp; He led them towards one of the raised longhouses. The other soldier climbed back to the catwalk near the gate.
Maja slowed her pace, and her hand slowed Hanu to her side. “Something’s wrong. The other soldiers should be here. I’m not liking this.”
Their escort suddenly stopped at the base of the longhouse, his gaze on Maja. “The others will come. They’re out on patrol. They’ll be back before night fall.”
He climbed to the top of the ladder. “In here.”
Sri scampered up the ladder and ducked into the longhouse. The soldier climbed in after him.
Maja turned to Gima and whispered. “Follow them in, you and Arimanu. Hands on blades. Shout and we will come running.”
“Where are you going?”
“To talk to the other guard. Look around. Be ready to leave immediately.”
Maja watched her two companions climb into the longhouse. Arimanu popped his head back out and nodded slightly.
“No one else is here,” said Hanu. “What do you think we’re going to find? That other guard is going to be just as cryptic.”
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
“He just accepted that we had some lost heir to the throne. That doesn’t sound right. But then again it’s not always the brightest ones left behind to guard the fortress.”
“I expected more. Emperor’s men. Soldier in fungal armor. These two are barely more than boys. And why would the others be on patrol?” She marched towards the gate. The man on the wall had not heard them and instead waved his hand towards the jungle.
“He should have questioned us,” said Hanu. “He should have laughed when we said we had the heir to the throne. The real heir just died. Instead of bowing down, he should have put a sword to our throats for our treasonous words.”
“Fuck this,” said Maja. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t trust these men.”
She turned back towards the long house. The old woman by the fire wagged an arthritic finger at Maja. “They came last night.”
The Rise of the Fallen (The Rotting Empire Book 1) Page 16
