by Glynn James
She turned back to him. “Surely they won’t be going as far as Greensboro? They must have found other Cygoa scouts. They must already know how dangerous it is to go farther west?” She looked at the ground. “I was hoping to catch up with them before they reached that far, to warn them.”
“Well, Raleigh seems to be the best choice,” said Declan. “At least I wouldn’t go any farther west than that.”
“Maybe they went farther south?” Seren suggested.
Declan shrugged “Too far and it’s all tainted lands that way. South-east maybe, but straight south is not an option.”
“Not all of it,” Seren said. She watched as Sorcha entered the building and started sniffing at the ground. The wolf was oddly sullen and had been all morning.
“So where now?” asked Seren.
“Back to the road, I’d say,” said Declan. “Looks like they used these ruins to camp overnight. The tracks of the carts are still reasonably clear on the road and they carry on west from here.”
“Let’s just hope we’re following on the right tracks,” said Seren.
Declan shrugged. “Can’t imagine there being another group of folks that big wandering around here.”
“Cygoa,” said Seren.
“Ah, well, yeah,” said Declan with a shrug. “You know what I mean. They’re much farther west, and I don’t think the majority of them are moving. I’d say they are quite happy to have stolen Wytheville and our lands. Why would they be coming this way?”
Seren was about to speak again when Sorcha’s head snapped upwards. The wolf had sensed something, and she trotted towards the other side of the ruin, sniffing frantically.
“What’s wrong, girl?” Seren asked. Sorcha seemed to ignore her, carrying on through the other side of the building and out onto the road. She headed towards one of the other ruins at the edge of the hamlet.
“What’s got her back up?” asked Declan.
“No idea,” Seren said, following the wolf. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“Go,” said Declan. “I’ll catch up.”
Seren nodded and jogged after Sorcha, who sped up, sniffing at the ground, almost running towards the building opposite.
It was the largest of the ruins and seemed to have just one arched entrance. A huge metal door lay on the ground nearby and there were dried patches of blood scattered across the ground. There had been a battle here; even before she stepped through the archway, she could smell the scent of death, and she didn’t step farther into the courtyard. It was a huge space between the walls of the building, which once had been covered but was now open to the sky. It may once have been part of the hall, or a shop, and had balconies overlooking it, some of them still intact. Quite a lot of the upper floor hung from broken rafters that should have fallen long ago. Scattered over the ground were broken arrows, nearly all of them bloodied, and there were similar patches of dry blood across the ground.
She stood for a moment, her mouth open, looking across the flat ground. Dozens had been killed here, she thought. But were they her people or an enemy? Sorcha sniffed the ground and paced the area long enough for Declan to catch them up. “What the hell happened here?” he asked, peering through the entrance. Seren just shook her head. Sorcha stopped sniffing at the patches of blood and scurried towards the entrance where Seren stood, but she didn't stop. Instead, the wolf hurried straight past Seren and began sniffing around outside.
“She certainly picked up something,” said Seren. “Maybe someone survived this? Maybe someone’s wounded?” Seren knelt by the patch of blood, pinched at the darkened ground, and sniffed it, cringing. It was certainly blood. “Doesn’t smell human,” she said. There was something odd about it that she couldn’t place. Logan would have known just by the smell, she thought, and she stood again.
“Wait here,” she said as Sorcha started off toward the tree line. “No need for you to be traipsing through the trees. I’ll be back soon.”
Declan sighed and leaned against the archway. “No problem with that,” he said, reaching round to take his pack from his back. Seren jogged after Sorcha as the she wolf headed into the woods.
***
Sorcha slowed as they approached a more dense area in the forest. It was still deathly quiet, but Seren was beginning to worry about the distance they had travelled from the ruins, where they had left Declan. Already nearly half a mile, now, she thought.
The wolf sniffed around at what appeared to be the entrance to a den of some kind, maybe that of a badger. Seren had seen similar dens in the forest before but had rarely seen such a creature.
“Don’t tell me you brought me all the way out here for a badger’s den,” she said, her hands on her hips. Sorcha whined in reply, and Seren was about to scold her when another whine answered, this one coming from the hole in the ground. Seren stopped, frozen on the spot, frowning at Sorcha, who immediately ran back to the hole and sniffed at the slope. Seren knelt down and peered into the darkness. The hole was bigger than she had thought, big enough for maybe a creature half of Sorcha’s size to get in and out comfortably. She spotted something reflecting the light, used her hand to shade her view from the sun, and peered into the darkness, into a pair of eyes.
Sorcha growled, and a series of whimpers came from the hole. A moment later, the first of the wolf pups stepped cautiously out into the sunlight.
Declan was still leaning against the wall of the ruin when Seren stepped back out of the tree line an hour later. He stopped chewing on the dried piece of meat he had been saving and looked up. “Took you long enough,” he said. “At this rate it’ll be dark in a few hours, and we won’t get much farther—”
He stopped mid-sentence as Sorcha followed Seren out of the trees, and behind her came a troop of half a dozen wolf pups, frantically biting at each other and at Sorcha’s tail.
Seren looked at him, then at the puppies, and shrugged. “I seem to have gained more friends.”
“Oh, you have got to be kidding,” he said.
Chapter 36
Rav found the flask, removed the cap, and took a drink. The liquid scorched his lips, and he felt the fire burning in his chest. Whatever the Cygoa had brewed was almost as vile as the stench of the Valk. The sun had begun to illuminate the eastern horizon, and the first few birds chirped in the early morning hours. Rav raised the flask again and nodded at several of Briar’s hunters as they went through the last of the gear scavenged from the dead bodies. Even Briar held two hammers in one hand.
Rav couldn’t believe it had worked. Each enemy had pursued so quickly that they hadn’t had time to process what was happening. Rav expected the Valk to come fast and furious, in-keeping with their animalistic instincts. But he thought the Cygoa would have been somewhat more cautious. The men in that warband committed early to a full-on chase, and that decision had cost them their lives.
“Now what?” Rav asked as Briar walked toward him. “I mean, we have to get to Jonah and the rest of the Elk clan. But how?”
“Due south-west,” said Briar. “I’m not sure I understand your question. My men are almost finished sorting the weapons and valuable items. We have not seen another Valk or Cygoa coming through the trees, and I haven’t heard anything either. I think we can make it to the clans in half a day’s travel.”
Rav had really come to admire and respect the leader of this hunter clan. Briar appeared to be nothing more than a man of the woods, able to track game and find whatever medicinal herbs were needed to keep his people healthy. And that he was. But he also possessed a sophistication and intelligence hidden by his natural ability to read the environment, and it was something Rav had not seen before.
He’d had the opportunity to talk to hundreds—if not thousands—of travelers as they came through the pass, one year after another, season after season. Rav had collected their common wisdom, and even though he had not spent time living in the high-rise structures of the old ruins, he believed himself to be familiar with the history and ways of the world. Bria
r had spent the majority of his life crawling through the forest, but he seemed to have gained his own level of knowledge. Rav shook his head and listened.
“Then let’s pack up, asshole. Let’s get these guys moving again.”
Briar winked at Rav. He grabbed the flask from his hand. “Jonah will be happy to see you alive once again.”
“And I, my friend,” Rav said taking the flask back, “will be happy to get my buzz on again.”
***
By the time the hunters had re-gathered and packed their belongings, the sun had crested the eastern horizon. Rav had stayed out of the way, allowing Briar to direct his men to get them on the trail as quickly as possible. There had been some discussion about hiding the bodies, but Briar decided to leave them on the battlefield. If the hunters moved quickly, and kept up the pace, they would meet up with the other clans in a matter of hours. There had been no other sign of Cygoa warbands in the forest or the Valk coming from beneath the earth.
“Raleigh Correctional Facility.”
“What?” Rav asked.
“What do you think they corrected at that facility?” Briar asked. “I would have to imagine that Raleigh is the name of the settlement, although it could be something entirely different.”
He looked up at the sign as they got closer. It stood on the edge of the trail, and Rav was quite surprised to be able to still read the letters after all of these years. Most of the signs from the old world had faded or rusted over. For some reason, this one had not.
A winding trail originated behind the sign and Rav followed it to the trees where it stopped at the base of a massive fence. It was one of those steel chain-link fences, the kind that one could climb if they were brave enough. Sections of the fence had fallen, but other sections remained upright, and a few still had barbed wire across the top. Whatever they had been keeping inside that facility must have been extremely valuable.
“I try not to think about those ancient people,” Rav said. “Reading some of that old nonsense will make your head hurt. Even more than the shitty firewater the Cygoa have in their flasks.”
Briar chuckled. “I’ll avoid it. Anyway, my men tell me the clans are headed due west, through and around the ruins, mostly keeping to the southern edge of the city. Several trails lead that way that couldn’t be missed.”
Rav looked up.
“Do you think your runner made it to Jonah?”
“I do, Rav. But I’m sure Jonah will want to hear much more from you.”
***
Rav saw the carts littered along the trail. He was able to recognize the old, rusted steel better than the types of trees that grew in the region. Several of the old women looked up as they washed pots or hung, dripping, tattered rags on hemp lines. He wasn’t sure how many of these people had come with Jonah from the north. The Elk had absorbed clans as they moved south, and judging by the number of carts Rav saw, Jonah had continued that practice.
Briar’s men walked with their bows slung over their shoulders, surrounding their leader and Rav as they walked.
“Where’s Jonah?” Briar asked one of the old hags hunched over a dying fire. “I need to see him.”
“He’s at camp,” she said, her tongue slapping empty gums.
“Which direction?”
She pointed to a trail branching off the main one that appeared to be nothing more than a buck run. “Few miles that way. Ghafir and Gideon are with him. Wolf pack been on our trail for a long time. Jonah went to take care of it. We’re just picking up what’s been abandoned. You know, broken carts and stuff.”
“Donast of the Nikkt?” Briar asked. “Is he with them?”
The old woman chuckled and shook her head, her eyes glazed over with cataracts. “How should I know? So many clans from all over. Strange folk. Don’t think they all belong here, neither. Time will tell.” She turned her back on Briar and never even looked in Rav’s direction. He pulled Briar to the side while the rest of the hunters remained on the trail.
“There are a lot of new people here. You think anyone has a flask?”
“Let’s follow the trail,” Briar said, shaking his head and trying to keep the grin from spreading across his face. “You fucking drunk. I’m sure there will be some in the camp.”
Briar and Rav led the men down the trail. They crossed a narrow creek and climbed out of the valley to where the trail took them to the east. Nobody from the clans had pulled their carts across, and it didn’t look like anyone had been hunting on this side of the stream.
They walked for several miles until Briar held up his hand, stopping the group. Rav looked around and back to Briar. The man put a single finger to his lips and shook his head. Rav held his breath through the silence.
“As long as you don’t have a tail or bark at the moon, you’re welcome here.”
Rav knew it was Jonah before he even saw his face. Ghafir and Gideon stepped out from behind the trees while Donast and Jonah approached the trail from the other side. Jonah smiled at Briar before his eyes fell upon Rav.
“Holy fuck,” Jonah said, visibly shocked.
“Ain’t never been nothing holy about me, Jonah,” Rav said with a grin.
He felt Jonah’s arms around him. Rav embraced the chief of the Elk clan before stepping back and looking at the man.
“I thought you were dead, Rav,” Jonah said, shaking his head.
“Then maybe you should do less thinking.”
Briar’s men, and those who had been in the woods with Jonah, laughed. Handshakes and hugs followed while Jonah and Rav stepped to the side.
“Briar’s scouts told me of Ninety-Five. They didn’t mention you. We should talk—“
“Jonah, wait. There’s more.”
Jonah crossed his arms. “Of course. You must be exhausted, and I want to know how the hell you are standing here before me.”
“All I need for that is a flask and a warm fire to get me going—and maybe some of those northern apples. But there are more important things we need to talk about, things I’ve seen, things that are coming our way.”
The corners of Jonah’s mouth dropped, and his brow furrowed. He glanced back at the men sharing firewater and stories. “What about Gunney?”
Rav shook his head. “He didn’t make it, and we will celebrate that warrior’s Dustfall. But now, you really need to know what is happening to the north.”
“Cygoa?”
“Yes,” said Rav. “And more.”
He could tell that Jonah knew what he was about to say, but Rav had to say it anyway.
“The Valk. They’ve crawled out of their holes. They are moving through the forests, and it doesn’t look like they’re satisfied with just corpses anymore.”
Jonah put a hand to his forehead and sighed.
Chapter 37
“I found another one,” Keana called. She stood looking down at the bright orange flowers sticking out of the top of the weed that was huddled between some ferns. Leta arrived a few seconds later and stood nodding.
“Good, excellent. Just another two—maybe three—more of those and the salve will be perfect.”
Keana grinned. She wasn’t really that keen on Logan, and had always found him to be rude—too short with people, unless that person happened to be Seren. He also didn’t smell too good. Since Seren had left them, Logan had gone further into his moods and was barely friendly these days. But she didn’t wish the man to die, and she knew that Leta only wanted to help. But finding the damn orange plant was becoming laborious. Leta had said they were rare, but this was ridiculous. This was only the second, and they had been searching for most of the morning. When Leta had said they could go out and find them, she had hoped to be back for lunch. Now they were three, maybe four miles from the camp, and deep into the woods to the east, not really too far from where the ruins began, and that made her nervous. She didn’t mind buildings, but huge, sprawling, unknown areas of large ruins like those of Raleigh reminded her of the things that had crawled out of Eliz’s undergrou
nd.
What if the Valk lived under every city? What if they were just waiting in the ruins?
While Leta picked at the orange flowers, carefully cutting off the small cloves that grew underneath them, Keana squinted and looked across the expanse of fern, hoping to see a glint of orange amongst it, but her eyes didn’t settle on a flower. Instead they landed upon two figures moving through the forest toward them. One was tall, but seemed to be limping, and was using a crutch, and the other was smaller, only shoulder height to the first, and was shrouded in furs. Then she noticed the other movement around the pair. Dogs, maybe, or some other animal. There were a few of them following the pair.
“Ah, Leta,” she whispered. “How far are the guards? We have company.”