by Dan Decker
Jorad tried to knee Thon in the groin but missed and hit his leg. It only served to make him angrier. Thon slammed a ham-sized fist into Jorad’s chest.
“Baurn!” Thon said to the guard that had pushed Soret. “Help her up.”
Through his blurred vision, Jorad saw Baurn hold a hand out to Soret but she sneered and stood without help. There was a tense moment when Jorad could tell that Soret was thinking of doing something to Baurn, but it passed and she turned to Thon.
Jorad took a deep breath and tried to calm his anger. Kneeing Thon had been a mistake. The next time he attacked, it would have to be a killing blow. That meant he had to get to a dagger and attack right after. Thon wasn't going to let him leave this room alive.
“Thon! Has Kore possessed you?” Anny asked, having just entered the room. “Get out of my house. Now!” She was breathing heavily, her apron straining under each breath. She waved a large wooden spoon at Thon. “Get out!”
“Jorad murdered Bram and he's resisting arrest.”
“He was complying until you started beating him!” Soret stepped towards Thon; she looked ready to slap him.
“Are you cotton brained?” Anny asked. “Jorad isn’t a murderer!”
“Multiple people saw Jorad arguing with Bram last night near the place where his body was found.”
“Is Erro your main witness?” Jorad asked, hoping to distract him by continuing the conversation. Thon’s glare was answer enough. The guard holding Jorad's left arm looked the weakest. If Jorad could free his arm, he could grab the dagger he kept on his right side. “I was with Adar last night. Did Erro mention anything about him?” Jorad eyed the guard who looked uneasy holding Jorad's sword. He put the sword out of his mind. His best hope was one of his daggers.
“You’ll have to do better than that.”
Xarda and Leron had appeared at the top of the stairs. The insanity of the last couple of days came crashing down unto Jorad, his insides swirled in turmoil and he found himself opening and closing his hand. As his anger spiked, he almost reached for his dagger prematurely. His head hurt and he was still having trouble breathing. He took another breath, trying to calm down. His timing would have to be right for this to work. He'd only have one shot.
Jorad stared into the eyes of Thon who was barely recognizable. His normally friendly face was pulled back into a scowl and his eyes were determined. He was going to kill Jorad if given the chance.
Would Leron and Xarda join the fight when Jorad attacked Thon? Jorad closed his eyes, took a breath, and released it again. This had all happened because of Erro, the bitter jealous fool.
“Erro is manipulating you,” Jorad said. “Bram--”
“Don't you dare utter his name!” Thon put his hands around Jorad’s neck. Xarda had a dagger out and was approaching. Leron was right behind her. They both wore the look of people headed into battle and looked ready to kill.
“Leave him alone!” Soret screamed.
Thon continued to squeeze and Jorad gasped as he struggled, all thought of his plan to attack pushed out of his mind by his desire to breathe. His head was starting to spin. It wouldn’t be long now.
Anny screamed at the other guards. “You can’t let Thon kill him!”
“Thon, let go.” Jorad recognized Baurn through his fading vision. “Once you’ve calmed down, you’ll see I’m right.”
“I won’t regret this!” Thon said.
Anny came up, stood right beside Thon, and touched his shoulder. “This is wrong.” Xarda was only a foot away from Thon now, but she waited. Jorad tried to speak, he wanted to urge her to attack, but all that came out was a groan.
Thon let go, snarling as he did. Baurn and the others dragged Jorad to the door as he gasped for breath. He’d never realized how much breathing meant to him, it was something he wasn’t going to take for granted again. He took breath after breath. The more air he got into his lungs, the hotter his temper became.
Thon wasn't any calmer. Several of the guards were standing at his side and one had placed a hand on Thon's arm. Thon hadn't taken his eyes off Jorad. That man would come at him again, Jorad didn't have any doubt. The attack had been delayed but it hadn't been stopped.
Jorad's eyes locked onto Soret. Her eyes were red and her face was covered with worry. Xarda and Leron stood at either side of her. He had to get her out of Neberan. That was paramount. He couldn't let his anger get in the way of that and if he continued to let his temper run, that's what would happen. He focused on pushing the anger away. When Thon came at him again, Thon would come at a time when he would be certain to win. Jorad would have to be ready. That meant watching and waiting.
“Who is going to pay for the damage?” Anny demanded.
Baurn avoided Anny’s glare as he took in the room and muttered. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Sorry.” He nodded and motioned towards the door.
“The mayor will hear about this,” Anny said.
“Jorad--” Soret began.
“Tell Adar.”
As the guards led him out the door, Jorad resisted the urge to feel his face, which felt as if it was a bloody pulp, or rub his neck, which he was sure had imprints from Thon’s hands. He swallowed. For a moment there, he'd been wondering if he’d ever be able to swallow again. The sun was almost down and he checked the sky, hoping that the Hunwei didn’t choose tonight to come. It was still cloudy and thank the gods, he didn’t see any ships.
Chapter 13
The setting sun covered the street in shadow and caused Adar to become more alert. Ruder had told Jorad that the Hunwei attacked Wasat at night. Adar didn't know if that meant that they preferred to attack at night or if he was reading too much into it. Regardless, he couldn't stop from becoming more wary of the possibility as the sky became darker.
Karn had spent the better part of an hour bringing Adar up to date on what had happened since he'd left Rarbon. The thing that surprised him the most about Karn's report was that the general attitude of the people about the Hunwei had changed. During the ride back to Neberan, Adar had told Tere and his men that the Hunwei had returned. Strangely, Tere had believed him without argument. When Tarner had guffawed at Adar's statement, Adar hadn't thought much about it. It appeared that Tarner's attitude reflected that of a majority of the people in Rarbon. That didn't bode well for Jorad gaining access to the Portal.
The rumor that had delayed Karn and Xarda was about an ancient artifact that had been embedded into a rock. When Adar had heard the story his first thought had been that it might be one of the weapon repositories of the fathers. Karn and the others had spent more than a month looking but hadn't been able to find the place.
The repositories reminded Adar of Semal Bray. He'd asked Karn about the old man and was pleased to hear that Semal was well. His role in Rarbon had been marginalized and while some of the generals still called him in for the occasional lecture, much of the populace regarded him as insane. Adar had been saddened to hear it. He'd been planning to guide Jorad to Semal for help.
Semal could still help of course, but if he no longer had much influence, he wouldn't be able to convince the Council to give Jorad access to the Rarbon Portal without going through all the trials. Semal had been lobbying to ease some of the restrictions in order to become Ghar back when Adar was making his claim. He'd been making headway until it became a moot point because Adar had finished his last task.
It had been years since Adar had thought about his final trial. Thinking of it again still filled him with anxiety. It had only been luck that had kept him from slipping into the molten metal. He could still remember the surprise on Abel's face when he'd come up, burned but alive. He hadn't believed that his father wanted to see him die, but it became clear that his father hadn't wanted him to succeed either. His father's surprise had been replaced by jealousy. He had often wondered if Abel had something to do with the murder of Nelion.
Adar scanned the people on the street, looking for anybody or a
nything out of place. There were a number of people going about their business. A small gathering of people had pulled chairs outside to enjoy the evening air. Adar could smell their alcohol from several shops away.
After six months in Neberan, he knew almost everybody by sight. It was part of how he operated. He spent a great deal of effort to familiarize himself with the people around him in every new place. It was now second nature for him to absorb the routine of their normal habits. Nothing jumped out at him as unusual until he looked behind. There was a man that he didn't recognize following them.
His quick glance told him enough information to know that the man was from out of town. His clothing didn't strike Adar as coming from any particular nationality, which in itself was odd. Was the man trying to hide where he was from? He wore two short swords and was a brawny fellow. The man hadn't made eye contact with Adar even though he was directly behind them. That was strange too. The man should have been looking in the direction he was walking. Adar looking over his shoulder would have drawn the eyes of the man.
“Your father remarried,” Karn said.
“I heard.” It made sense that Abel had felt the need for another heir.
Adar guided Karn down an alleyway while Karn continued his report. They hadn't made it very far down the alley when Adar heard rushing feet. He'd been expecting this and was prepared; he turned at the last moment, a dagger in each hand.
The man that had been following them registered a look of surprise before one of Adar's daggers took him in the eye. The other sunk into his chest. Adar had his sword out the next moment but there wasn't a need. Their attacker dropped his two swords and fell in a heap.
“Melyah!” Karn drew his sword and stepped away from the dying man. Adar looked out of the alley. There weren't any witnesses to the event and if they moved quickly they could keep anybody from becoming curious long enough for them to get away. “Killed him pretty quick, didn’t you? Didn't you want to know why he was attacking you?”
Adar grunted. He hadn't recognized it earlier, but the coat told him the dying man was from Colonipo. He searched the man’s pockets and pulled out a worn piece of paper, which he handed to Karn.
“Already knew what he wanted.”
It was unlikely the man had found them without help, Colonipo was a long way away and Adar had been careful to cover their tracks. Neare had mentioned a poster the other night and Adar wondered if Neare had helped the man find him or perhaps even sent for him. Adar retrieved his daggers and cleaned them on the bounty hunters jacket. Somewhere a woman screamed, but it didn’t seem to be connected to his kill as the alley was still empty and nobody had walked by on the street.
“Why you got a bounty hunter on your trail?” Karn asked.
“Caught a man doing something he shouldn’t and he didn’t survive my lesson. Grab his legs. I don’t think anybody saw me.”
“Lucky thing we’re leaving tonight.”
They moved the body over to the side of the alley behind some crates. Adar had been distracted by the bounty hunter so he hadn't given the scream a second thought. Now he wondered where it had come from, was somebody in need of help?
He was about to investigate further when a figure stepped into the alley. He prepared for another attack until he recognized Tere’s silhouette. For a moment, all Adar could see was Nelion soaked in blood as it spilled from her torn chest. Adar's anger surged when he thought of the other man lying in his gore. She’d loved Adar, he knew it and it didn’t matter how he found her, but the thought still fueled him to a full rage. A thought occurred to him. Tere had thrown that in his face, intending to get him angry. Why? Had Tere wanted to continue the fight?
Adar had never been satisfied with Tere's explanation that he'd just been passing by and happened to hear Adar as he tried to save Nelion's life. Adar regretted entering the truce earlier. If Adar had known that Xarda and Karn would show up today, he would not have entered into the arrangement so readily.
“Gone for all of an hour,” Tere said examining the body, “and you two have already managed to find trouble.” Tere was calmer than when Adar had last seen him at the boarding house. He tried to imagine how Tere felt. Tere had spent all those years looking for them so that he could return Jorad, only to find out that Adar had left a plan in place for Jorad to return anyway. If Tere had killed Nelion, it was only the beginning of the punishment he deserved.
Adar’s eyes narrowed. Tere could have put the bounty hunter on his trail; it would after all be a convenient way to get rid of him and still return with Jorad to Rarbon. It was too dark to make out much of Tere’s face. Perhaps Karn was right and Adar should have waited to question the man.
“Need something?” Adar asked as Tarner and Lous followed Tere into the alley. Both of them looked down at the body with a measure of surprise.
Tarner took it better than Lous did. Adar had to keep his hand from touching the tip of his ear that Tarner had injured. It had been a long time since he'd taken a wound. Even a small wound like that. Tarner had attacked him when his back had been turned. It was a cowardly thing to do because Adar had been keeping Jorad from killing Tere. He'd have to keep an eye out for Tarner in the future. Adar remembered giving Tarner some training back when he'd been a scrawny and short boy. Come to think of it, he hadn't gained much height since. He was a great deal more bulky and Adar wondered if Tarner kept that way on purpose to make up for his lack of height.
Lous was affected by the body. Adar didn't know Lous from before and hadn't yet had a chance to learn his last name. When he did, that might tell him a little bit more about the man and why he'd been sent on this particular expedition.
“Jorad was taken by the guards.” Tere looked down at the body of the bounty hunter. “He takes after you, he’s wanted for murder.”
“One of the guards almost killed him,” Tarner said. “Xarda was sure they’ll try again tonight.”
Adar didn't bother to respond as he pushed past them and ran out onto the street. The guards would have taken Jorad to the guardhouse. The quickest way to get there would be through the town square. Of all the times, why did this have to happen now? This smelled of Erro. The jealous boy couldn’t leave well enough alone, could he?
As Adar ran past the party of people who'd been relaxing and drinking, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at not doing more to try to save the town. He'd had a conversation with mayor Keerit when he'd reported the body. He'd told her that the Hunwei were back and would be attacking Neberan soon. Needless to say, she hadn't believed him. She hadn't even bothered to keep the amusement off her face. Throughout the day, he'd tried warning other people as well, but nobody would listen. Well, that wasn't true. Tere had taken him at his word. It struck Adar as strange that Tere had believed him without a problem about the Hunwei but he didn't believe Adar about Nelion.
As Adar got closer to the town square, he became alarmed. People were crying out, he’d didn’t remember anything of particular note happening at the town square tonight, but he rarely paid attention to those things. Despite his urgency to get to Jorad, he slowed down. The cries did not have a note of merriment to them. He thought about the scream he heard earlier.
Adar slowed as he approached the turn that would put him on the street that went to the town square. Knowing what he would find but having to see it firsthand.
He could hear the cries more clearly now and there was a lot of light coming from around the corner. The smell hit him next. He didn't have the right words to describe it but he could tell that it was smoke. It just didn't smell like anything that he'd encountered before. He noticed that Tere was walking beside him. Neither spoke as they turned the corner. The town square was engulfed in mayhem. Tere said something that Adar didn’t catch because that was when the explosions started. Adar dove to the ground, the rumbling thunder blocking out the sound of his own curse.
The Hunwei were here.
War of the Fathers
Read the r
est of the story! War of the Fathers is available in paperback and ebook formats.
About the Author
Dan Decker lives in Utah with his wife. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.
