Back in the trees, out of bowshot of those on the walls, Sam set Inoria down on the loamy ground. She had eight arrows in her, many of them in vital locations. There was no way she would survive.
“I’m sorry Em,” she said, trying to breathe but mostly failing. “It was the only way…the only way to protect Ancha.” She closed her eyes in pain, trying to maintain consciousness.
“In,” Emerius said, tears carving hot streaks down his cheeks, “what are you talking about. What did you do?”
“I made a deal with that bhor, Vahi. The leader of the mutant assassins.” She pulled out a small object and handed it to him. “All I had to do was carry this, so they could tell where we were. He promised…Ancha would be safe. He…promised…they would just track us to avoid us. I’m…sorry. I should…should…have known…he’d betray…”
“Oh, In,” her brother said. “We’ll talk about it when you’re better. Save your strength. We’ll fix you up. Then we’ll talk about it.” He looked to the others. They were not making any move to help, to remove the arrows, to do anything.
“Em,” Inoria panted. “don’t…flee.”
“What? No, In, I won’t. What are you talking about?”
“Be…Suka…” she whispered, barely audible. Her head slumped and she lay still.
“No,” Emerius said. “No! In, don’t leave me. In, please. I’m no good without you. I need you. You are the good one, you’re the hero. Please…” He hugged her to himself and whimpered.
Chapter 44
“I think we can chance cutting some distance from our travel on the way back,” Chisin Ling told Nicole. “On the way here, we had to make sure to find the location of the hapaki community. On the way back, we only have to be concerned with not getting lost as we go east. When we reach the water, we’ll have gotten to the edge of the peninsula. If we skirt the mountains, right at their base, we should make better time.”
Nicole considered what the warrior was saying. “There will be worse weather on this side of the mountains, maybe even snow.”
“I’d rather have a little snow than a lot of rain.”
“There’s that,” Nicole said. “It would be nice to get back sooner. It’s been thirty-nine days since we left. Anything could have happened while we were gone.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Okay, let’s do it. If the weather or terrain get rough, though, we head north until we hit the coast and then go the long way around.”
“Agreed.” The captain went to check on the men, who were just finishing up loading the supplies onto the manu birds. They had used the time while she was talking to the hapaki wisely, ranging out in the forest away from the community to hunt for deer and rabbit and forage for wild onions, edible roots, and herbs. They had enough food for at least a week, even if they didn’t hunt again.
The rain had come, off and on, but there were no large storms. The air was on the edge of making the precipitation snow, Nicole thought, and it even hailed at times, but hunkered down underneath the tarps and tents they had set up, it wasn’t that bad. Now that they would be moving, they may have to get used to traveling in wet clothes again. Well, there was nothing for it. The sooner they got started, the sooner they’d get back to the fortress.
The party settled back into a comfortable traveling pace. The rest had done Nicole some good. She was refreshed and content with getting through the heavy forest as they plodded along. She couldn’t really tell if the soldiers were in better moods because they always looked the same: content with doing their assigned tasks.
Another thing Nicole had been able to do as they were immobile was to practice with her knives. She could now throw them well, striking her target with every throw, if is was within twenty feet. She also felt better about fighting with the blades, though she was still nervous about going up against a sword because of the superior reach of the longer weapon. She continued to practice at least a little each evening, throwing as well as sparring with Chisin Ling or some of the other soldiers using dummy weapons.
The first two days they traveled virtually the same path as when they had come, but on the third day, they were able to follow the edge of the rising land and head northeast instead of due north. Looking at the map they had brought—Nicole wasn’t sure how accurate it was but they had made notations on their way to the community—it looked as if they could be able to cut a fair distance off the trip. The weather had cooperated with them so far and she was optimistic about making good time.
They found a nice valley that ran east to west and traveled in it for two more days until they came to a beautiful lake that stretched farther than Nicole could see along it. She marked it on the map, guessing at its size. They set up camp on the western edge and ate their meal. As Nicole lay on her bedroll just outside the tarp that had been set up, she marveled at the stars.
“It’s hard to believe that there are that many stars,” she said to Chisin Ling, who had come to sit on a log nearby. “I’d been camping on my world, but even so, there never seemed like there were this many. Near the cities, you could hardly see any because of all the lights around.”
“That would be something to see,” the captain said, “so many lights that you cannot see the stars. I can’t imagine such a thing.”
Nicole laughed. She was awestruck by the beauty of the stars and her friend only thought of marvels of technology she hadn’t ever seen. They had talked about many things during their travels. Chisin had told her what it was like where she grew up and Nicole had done the same. The woman was interested in all the stories of technology and science and especially how it was used in warfare. She was, after all, a soldier, so it was to be expected.
She would sit in rapt attention for hours as Nicole told her of modern military technology and of armies, navies, and air forces—people, actually flying in the sky in wagons!—and the captain asked many questions, some of which Nicole had no idea how to answer. “Ask Sam or Dr. Walt,” Nicole would tell her. “They know more about those things than I do.” Chisin assured her that she would ask.
As normal, the hapaki were near Nicole, listening to the two humans talk through her mind, but they were uncharacteristically quiet. She thought that maybe they were communicating to each other without allowing her to hear. She still meant to ask Sam how to do that.
The next day, they made it to the far end of the lake. They ended the day’s travel early so they could stay near the water for another day. Some of the soldiers speared fish or caught them with makeshift poles and hooks they had fashioned from the bones of some of the game they killed. Stomach full and happy that it had not rained all day, Nicole went to sleep, mentally calculating how long it would take them to get back to Whitehall.
When the party started packing up to move out again in the chilly dawn air, one of the sentries whistled the alarm. Nicole froze in the middle of rolling up her bedroll and looked around. All of the soldiers had weapons in their hands, as if they had magically appeared there. Chisin Ling had both her swords out and was running toward the sound. Nicole followed her, though not as quickly.
All those in motion skidded to a halt on the damp forest floor when they got to the sentry. The woman stood there, arms raised, sword on the ground beside her. Around her were no less than twenty people, the strangest people Nicole had ever seen. Half of them had bows in their hand and arrows nocked. Some had them drawn, ready to loose. There was movement further into the trees. No, Nicole thought, not twenty. There had to be at least two or three times that number.
“Drop your weapons,” Chisin shouted to her soldiers. “Stand down. We can’t survive this if it comes to a fight.” They all did as their captain commanded.
Nicole raised her hands—she hadn’t even drawn her knives yet—and looked more carefully at the people surrounding them. They all seemed to share the same features, wide faces and flat noses, dark eyes and dark hair. They wore what looked like leather clothing, their outer garments made of the skins of wolf, rabbit, and fox, maybe a badger o
r beaver thrown in occasionally.
One of the strangers, a large man with hair pulled back into a braid that extended almost to his waist, started speaking at them in an accusatory fashion, harsh and demanding.
Nicole didn’t understand a word of it.
“Did you understand any of that?” she asked the captain.
“Not a bit.”
“Uh-oh,” Nicole said. “That’ll make things tougher.” Addressing the man, she spoke loudly in Kasmali. “I’m afraid I don’t understand you. Can you understand me?”
The man loked confused, then angry. He spoke again, spittle flying from his mouth as he raised his voice, as if speaking more loudly would make her understand. Nicole was afraid things were escalating.
A woman stepped up to the man and whispered something to him. Irritated at first that he was being interrupted, his whole demeanor changed when he recognized who it was that was speaking to him. He kept eye contact with her and ducked his head in respect as he listened to what she was saying. Finally, he nodded and moved back a step.
“You…” the woman said. Her face, sharing features will all the others around her, looked toward Nicole, chin raised and eyes drilling into hers. The way she said the word was strange, with an accent Nicole had never heard. It took her a moment to realize it was actually a word she understood. Either that, or it was a coincidence that it sounded like Kasmali. “…trespass here. Our land.” She was speaking Kasmali, or at least a dialect of it. Her mouth worked as she spoke, as if unfamiliar with the sounds she was making.
“We’re sorry,” Nicole said. “We are traveling back to our place. We did not know this was yours. We will not stay. Just passing through.” The woman was watching her mouth as she spoke, concentrating on the words. Nicole decided she needed to speak more slowly. “Do…you…understand?”
The woman nodded. “Understand. You trespass. Trespass mean death.” Some of the strangers around them raised their bows or the spears they carried. One or two had swords of crude bronze, and Nicole saw them gripping the hilts more tightly.
“We…mean…no…harm. Want…to…leave. Peacful.”
“No leave,” she said. “Steal food, take children, hurt. No. You die. It is law.”
Chisin Ling tensed. It was obvious that the soldier was going to go for the swords that were on the ground at her feet. Either that, or something stupid like shielding Nicole from the arrows with her own body. Nicole’s mind searched frantically for a solution. The others, more coming from the forest all the time, must have numbered more than fifty by this time. There was no way they would survive if it came to battle.
Nicole? Max’s voice came into her mind. What’s going on? Is everything alright?
The hapaki had gone out foraging for roots earlier, as was their habit. She could tell from the strength of the sending that they were coming closer. No, Max, Sammy. Stay away. We’re in danger. We may not get out of this alive. Don’t show yourselves.
But it was too late. The two came out of a section of undergrowth behind her, shuffling with their distinctive gait. When they realized that there were many more people there than they had expected, both of the creatures did what the hapaki always did when threatened. They froze where they were.
Sudden movement made Nicole flinch, expecting to feel an arrow—or many arrows—piercing her. Instead, what she saw made her mouth drop open.
All the strangers, every last one of them, had dropped to their knees, faces almost to the ground, hands outstretched as in worship.
Nicole looked at Chisin and then around at the soldiers. They looked as shocked as her. When the captain’s eyes shifted to the weapons at her feet, Nicole whispered, “No.” Even distracted, there were too many to fight.
“Quinshin,” the woman who had spoken earlier said, and the others repeated it.
“Quinshin, Quinshin, Quinshin.” They chanted it softly, all of them remaining prostrate.
“What’s going on?” Chisin Ling asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nicole said, “but I think they’re worshiping the hapaki.”
“Oh.”
Max, Nicole sent. Please come over here and let me pick you up.
The hapaki didn’t move.
Max. Please.
I’m…I can’t move, he said, as close to a whisper as Nicole had ever heard a sending be.
She exhaled. You have to, or we may all be killed. If I step to you to pick you up, I’ll be dead before I even reach you. I know it. Try. Please.
The hapaki, sendings full of fear, radiated his resolve. Slowly, as if forgetting how to do so, he moved. The strangers stopped their chanting and looked toward him from their prostrate positions. He finally went into motion and stepped toward her. When he was at her feet, she reached down and picked him up, holding him to her chest.
The fur-clad people all let forth sounds of astonishment.
“Quinshin,” she said to the woman who was ten feet in front her, still bowing down. “Quinshin…is…my… friend.” She pet Max along his head and back and received grudging thoughts of pleasure from him. “Friend. Travel…through…here…for…them.”
The woman looked toward the man that had spoken earlier, a question in her eyes. His eyebrows raised and he said something in that harsh tongue of theirs. She nodded.
“You friend of Quinshin, friend to Kechaala.” She looked to the man, who shouted in their guttural language. The others began to stand up, slowly, still bowing their heads to the hapaki.
“We…can…go?” Nicole asked the woman.
“Yes. Go.” With a final bow to the hapaki, she slipped into the trees. Others were doing so as well. Soon, there was only the man left, apparently their leader. He looked at her significantly, bowed his head toward the hapaki, and followed his people back into the trees. The forest became quiet again except for the heavy breathing of some of the soldiers. And Nicole.
Can you put me down now? Max sent. And can you explain what that was all about? I think maybe you owe me a big favor.
Chapter 45
Rindu watched the big hunter Emerius as he grieved for his sister, talking to her corpse and smoothing the hair from her face. They would have to give him some time. He had just lost all the remaining members of his family. That was a heavy burden to bear. He did not know if the man would survive it. Rindu had seen people crack under such stress, even Zouyim. He thought of Torim Jet and the madness that came upon him when the temple was destroyed and all his brothers and sisters were killed. Yes, they would need to give him some time. Perhaps not as much as he would need, but some.
Sam was sitting with Nalia, speaking softly. He still had tears in his eyes as well. Rindu walked the few feet to the pair.
“It was stupid for her to think that she could trust the mutant assassin,” Sam said, “but I don’t think it was malicious. She was heartbroken over her brother and reached out for whatever she could find to protect him.”
“Yes,” Nalia said. “I do not believe she ever meant us harm.”
“I just wish she would have confided in us, or in her brother. This,” he pointed toward the twins, Emerius still talking to his sister in hushed tones, “might have been prevented. I guess we know now how they were able to ambush us, how they knew where we were each step of the way.”
“It is so,” Rindu said. “I am curious about the object Inoria had, if it works with rohw or by another means. I cannot detect it, so perhaps it does not use rohw. It may be possible to use it in reverse. If the bhor utilized it to track us, could we use it to track him?”
“Chances are, it’ll just tell us he’s on the other side of those walls,” Sam said.
“Perhaps.”
An hour later, Emerius came over to where they were. “Rindu,” he said quietly, “can you make another grave? I’d like to lay In and Ancha to rest. They deserve that much.”
“Of course,” Rindu said, getting up from the log on which he was sitting. “Choose a location and we will help you.”
Emerius chose
an open space away from the battle location, one with ferns and a patch of moss that was thriving—despite the cold weather—between two white birch trees. Those trees were her favorite. As Rindu was phasing out the soil, the hunter went and retrieved his sister’s body. He wanted to move both corpses himself, so Sam and Nalia stood back, watching silently.
The bodies were gently laid to rest and Rindu covered them. He was able to place the moss and ferns back in place on top of the dirt. He hoped the plants would not die from the shock. He liked to think this beautiful, peaceful space would continue to be so.
Emerius said some things over the grave, doing so softly so that no one else could hear. The Zouy, the Sapsyr, the hapaki, and Sam moved a dozen feet away to allow the big man to have his privacy.
“We should give the rest of the mutated people and hapaki a similar burial,” Sam said, eyeing Emerius as he was on his knees still quietly talking to the grave.
“Yes, Sam,” Rindu said. “I think you are correct.”
Rindu excavated a large pit and the three humans busied themselves in dragging mutant corpses into it. It took another hour and a half to put them all in the grave, and then Rindu covered them up. The volume of all the bodies made the dirt pile up into a large mound. The Zouy knew that the body did not feel anything after death, but he hoped that honor was fulfilled in their simple act of respect.
“I wonder why they haven’t attacked us while we’ve been grieving,” Sam said. “There has to be a reason. They have been cruel and heartless every step of the way, so why leave us alone now, unless they’re out of mutants to send at us and they don’t have the numbers to leave the walls?”
“I think you are correct, ” Nalia said. “but if you are, that means that Rasaad and Tingai are perhaps not in the fortress. We must get inside to find out.”
“I think I can help you there,” Emerius said, approaching them. His voice was rough and hoarse. “I have the beginnings of a plan.”
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 86
