War of the Fathers

by Dan Decker

  Chapter 30

  Jorad tried to ignore his pain and the rain as he looked out from behind the overturned cart at the thirteen Hunwei that were still congregated around the alley that led to the arch. Two of which were snarling at one another. If there had been one or two, Jorad would have taken his chances and used the blaster.

  Unfortunately, from his vantage point, he was unable to tell if the arch was still open. If Xarda hadn't been able to close it in time. . . He didn't dwell on the thought. She had most likely closed it, but not before the Hunwei saw something that made them want to investigate further.

  As he ran his hand through his hair, he grimaced when he realized he’d just smeared blood from his hair onto his hand. He tried wiping it on his pants but his hand seemed more bloody afterward. That was hopefully caused by the rain still pouring down on them. He didn’t dare touch his face, not wanting to feel how swollen it was.

  As he studied the Hunwei, racking his brain for a plan, he wondered how Adar was doing. Had he gotten to the tablet before the invasion had started?

  Soret and Barc were whispering behind him. The others that still followed, hoping he could save them, were hidden throughout the alley. There weren’t nearly as many as before the fight with Thon, but there were still half a dozen. The young man was several feet away clutching the baby to his chest. Jorad wasn’t sure how he’d managed to keep the kid quiet, but he was glad that he did. He glared at Barc and Soret hoping they’d notice. When they didn’t, he touched them both and put a finger to his lips. Barc looked angry and Soret indignant.

  Never mind all the Hunwei, Jorad thought, or that you’re putting everybody else in danger, go ahead and ask your questions now!

  One of the Hunwei were getting louder. If Jorad would have been able to speak their snarly language, it was loud enough he would have understood it. The longer the Hunwei argued, the more worried Jorad became. He didn’t want them to discover the truth. The arch was his only hope of getting everybody with him out alive. He hated staying in the open like this. Where was Tarner? A second blaster would be handy just about now.

  Jorad waited as long as he dared. When the Hunwei still hadn’t moved he withdrew from his hiding place. He backtracked and opened a door to the building they'd been crouched beside and motioned for everybody to enter. The building turned out to be the bakery where Jorad had set the Hunwei head down on the counter top to the consternation of the baker.

  It was an indication of how tired he was that he hadn't figured that one out sooner. The room they entered was the bakery living quarters. There was no sign of the baker or his family. Jorad couldn't remember if they had gone through the arch. He hoped they had. There was a table with four chairs and stairs going up on the left. To the right was a fireplace that still had a small fire burning and a door to the kitchen that was ajar.

  Jorad approached the door, examined the kitchen to make sure it was clear and eased it shut. It was a good deal warmer in here and he relished the idea of drying out by the fireplace. Too bad, they couldn't stay here for long. He needed a plan to get rid of the Hunwei.

  Once everybody was inside, Barc barely waited for the door to shut before he laid into Jorad.

  “This is crazy! We need to run. Why are we waiting around for them to catch us?”

  Jorad snorted. “Run where? Considering how many people we have, we’re lucky to have made it this far. You can bet the gates are well guarded. But I’m not keeping you, leave any time.”

  “Anything is better than to pin all our hopes on this magic door of yours.”

  “Papa,” Soret said. “How many times do I have to tell you? We came through it to get here.”

  Barc reached for the dagger on his belt. “Soret, he murdered Gorew and Thon. Don't trust anything he tells you.”

  Soret refused to meet Jorad’s gaze and didn’t bother to defend Barc’s accusation. Was she trying to avoid an argument or did she now see him as a murderer as well? Melyah! He’d only been defending himself. Regardless, the guilt started to creep into his chest. He pushed it away.

  “This is your fault.” Barc’s knuckles were white around the hilt of his dagger. Apparently, Soret had told Barc that Adar and Jorad had advance warning of the Hunwei. “Hira would still be alive if you had told us. You knew the Hunwei were coming.”

  “Like you were going to trust me with Erro whispering lies into your ear.” Jorad didn’t have time to try to sort this out. Little good it would do anyway and the others in the room were beginning to look uncomfortable.

  “Well,” Barc said, “he was right about you, wasn’t he?”

  Jorad was too tired to fight. As it was, he was having trouble standing. Barc moved faster than Jorad had thought possible for the fat little man. One moment Barc was standing several feet away, the next Barc was lunging with a dagger and Jorad only had time to turn and take it in his right shoulder instead of his chest. Jorad threw Barc to the ground and brought his sword to Barc’s neck. Soret started to scream but covered her mouth.

  “Kill me, you murderer.”

  “Fool,” Jorad said. “I’m your best chance of getting out of here.” He pulled the knife out of this shoulder, and flung it at the fireplace as he went upstairs to look for a bandage. On the first step, he slipped and almost fainted. After several labored breaths, he pushed himself to go up the stairs. There were several doors on the second floor. He went to the first and found that it was a bedroom.

  After he laid his sword down on the bed, he used a dagger to rip shreds from the bedding. After several attempts at trying to wrap the torn cloth around his shoulder, he lost hold of it. As he bent to pick it up, the pain stopped him halfway. Melyah, he could have done without a bleeding shoulder. It was crazy that Barc wanted to fight now. All of their lives were in danger and he was just making it worse.

  There was a footstep outside the bedroom door. He grabbed hold of his sword until he saw it was Soret.

  “Here, let me help you,” she said. In answer, Jorad bent down and this time was able to get the cloth from the floor, though it was painful. He tried again to tie it before Soret took it from his hands and wrapped it around his wounded shoulder.

  “Not that I am trying to make excuses for my father--”

  Jorad interrupted. “This isn’t your fault.”

  She made eye contact briefly. “Mama’s dead.” Tears rolled down her face and Jorad hesitated as he watched her tears flow anew. He felt bad for the hope she must have felt for her mother when she’d seen her father, only to have it ripped away again. Would she reject his comfort?

  He put his arm around her waist. “I’m sorry. Barc’s right, I should have done more to warn them.”

  Soret continued to cry but didn’t pull away from his touch. Painfully, he stood and embraced her as best he could. He didn’t know how long they stood there but he had to pull away, his shoulder was hurting too much and he needed to check on the entrance to the arch.

  “I’m sorry. Now’s not the time for this.”

  He tried to give her a comforting smile but found that he couldn’t. “If not now, when?”

  Downstairs, they found Barc pacing. He stopped and his eyes narrowed when he saw Jorad’s arm around Soret. Barc’s dagger was back in its sheath and Jorad eyed him warily as he noticed there were several less people. He was too tired and in too much pain to ask about them. He wished them the best and hoped they would make it.

  Jorad went to the door that led to the kitchen and released his hold on Soret, motioning for her to stay. As he opened the door and examined the kitchen, pain shot up his back and through his shoulder. He ignored it as best he could. There was a pot on the floor. It sat beside a small doll. On the other side of the kitchen was the door to the bakery and it was partially open. As he bent over and entered the kitchen, his back and shoulder complained. He did his best at first to keep below waist level, but he was in enough pain that he finally just straightened and hoped for the best.

  At the door t
o the bakery shop, he paused and considered the room. It was empty and undisturbed. The strawberry cake still stood on the counter where the baker had moved when Jorad had set down the Hunwei head. It was a wonder with all the commotion earlier that the cake had been undisturbed. Amazingly, both of the store windows were still intact.

  After determining it was safe enough, Jorad inched forward until he could look out the alley through one of the windows. There was now only a single Hunwei guarding the alley. The window had a direct line of sight on the arch and he was relieved to see that it was closed.

  Jorad waited while the Hunwei paced. It could be a trap, but it also might be the only opportunity they had; they only needed a few minutes. He brought up his blaster and took aim through the window hoping the glass wouldn't affect his aim very much. Before he could fire though, somebody else beat him to it and a hole appeared in the middle of the Hunwei. Adar or Tarner must have returned.

  Ignoring his pain, Jorad burst back into the living room where Soret and the others were waiting. He grabbed Soret’s hand, called out to the others and almost fell in the process. Soret steadied him and kept him on his feet.

  “Come on! The way is clear.” As he raced for the door, he almost fell again, regaining his balance at the last moment. When he stepped outside, he slipped on the wet wood and fell down the stairs. He landed face first in a puddle. Luckily, he hadn’t dragged Soret down with him.

  “I'm okay, run!” Jorad whispered to her and the others. When he stumbled to his feet, he was glad to see that Soret and the rest were already halfway across the street. Jorad did his best to chase after them, hoping that he wouldn’t black out before he reached the alley. The rain hadn't lessened at all and he had to keep wiping it out of his eyes.

  Tere and Karn were coming from one side of the street, while Tarner was approaching from the other direction. Where was Adar?

  “It’s a trap,” Barc bellowed.

  Jorad could do nothing more for the man. He was hobbling across the street when he felt a sharp pain as a blade plunged into his back.

  As Jorad turned to face Barc, he knocked the dagger out Barc’s hands with his blaster. It felt like his coat had taken the brunt of the thrust, but regardless his upper back was now lit up in pain as well.

  Lightning and thunder filled the sky; it had been sometime since Jorad had heard actual thunder. Now as he thought about it, he realized that the thunderstorm must have continued, but been drowned out by the sounds of the invasion. He did remember seeing some lightning during his fight with Thon.

  Barc backed away as Jorad brought up his blaster, but something made him stop and he turned toward the alley. Soret was watching. Her face was disfigured with terror as she screamed. Only now did he recognize that was why he’d turned towards her. It sounded far away, as if he had wax in his ears.

  “Let my daughter go!” Barc screamed.

  “If I ever see you again. . .” Jorad left the sentence unfinished as he backed towards the alley with everything tuned out except for Barc, who clenched his fists and took a step forward.

  “Run!” Karn appeared beside him and yelled in his ear. “The Hunwei are coming!” Jorad tried to move faster but he was in too much pain. On his left, the Hunwei had turned onto the street and were running towards the alley.

  He tripped and fell onto the dead Hunwei, the rock hard armor breaking his fall and ensuring that any place on his back that wasn't already bruised would be now.

  Where was Adar?

  As Jorad stumbled to his feet, he trained the blaster on Barc again but then turned towards the Hunwei and fired. Karn, Tere, and the others were there, firing blasters as well. Jorad didn’t pause as he continued back and hoped that the moment of betrayal he’d been expecting from Tere hadn’t come. It took every bit of strength to hobble forward as the rain pelted him, he could go no faster. Before he knew what was happening, Karn and Tere were at his side, helping him to get through.

  As Jorad slumped to the floor, he realized it was noisy inside. The Arches were full of people. Jorad smiled. The young man with the baby, who was now crying, was trying to calm it down. The baker and his family had made it as well.

  Using the last bit of his strength, he leaned against the wall while he located Barc who was back in the house staring at them through the window. Did he believe them now? As the alley filled with Hunwei, Soret screamed for Barc.

  The Hunwei disappeared when Karn thumbed the top of the arch causing the rock wall to reappear. The last thing that Jorad remembered was Xarda saying something about the blood that covered him. He tried to explain that some of it wasn’t his but before he was able to get a word out, he lost consciousness.