“You’re much better at being loud. I need their attention,” Thera told him as they stopped on a small rise overlooking the column.
Ashok raised his voice. “Your prophet speaks!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked his way. “Heed her words and relay them down the line.”
Thera stood up in her stirrups to be a bit taller. In the preceding weeks she had gotten quite a bit more comfortable with her role as a figurehead, so she spoke with confidence. Even Ashok could not tell if this confidence was real or feigned. She had given these people no signs beyond keeping them alive, yet they followed her. The Voice had not come upon her since the graveyard, but truthfully, Ashok thought she was better off without its meddling.
“Our long journey is almost done. In a few hours we will be able to enter the Creator’s Cove. There, we can be safe. There’s only one small part left, only a few miles, but it will be…different. Right away I need everyone to fill all their canteens and water the animals. Then I need you to find dry wood to make torches.”
That too was curious. Thus far they had not marched at night. And it was only lunchtime, they still had quite a bit of daylight remaining. Perhaps they were going underground? There were many caves in Lok. Since they were a popular place for smugglers or criminals to hide, he had been inside several cave systems over the years. Only Ashok could not imagine there being one big enough for the population of a town to live in, and even if there was a cavern so gigantic, surely the residents therein would become sickly without the sun.
“One torch for every five or six of you should do. Now come on, get to it,” Thera ordered.
A month ago, they would’ve milled about stupidly, a few would have even argued with her or murmured about being forced to labor. Now, they simply hopped to and did as she said. There’d been no miracles on the plains, but Thera had been a consistently good leader the whole time, addressing their problems, while keeping them moving, motivated, and fed.
“I think Keta would be pleased with how you have done,” Ashok told her.
“He’d better,” she said smugly. She clicked her tongue, and her horse began descending the rise. “I’m not too ashamed of this bunch myself.”
Ashok had to admit that they had accomplished far more than he’d expected. Taking Chakma and then leaving it in Pankaj’s prideful hands had caused a far greater distraction than anything he would have been able to accomplish by himself. His scouts reported that every warrior they came across had been heading toward Chakma or hunkering down to protect their home garrisons from attack. The order of casteless extermination was so neglected, it might as well be forgotten. As for the casteless, most were staying in place hoping that this threat would pass, but many others were fleeing the region. Apparently, it was only in the northern provinces of Great House Akershan that they’d been ordered killed. What would happen to the casteless in the future he did not know, but for now they were still alive because Thera had directed him to take action.
The slaves came to take their horses and left them with some freshly cooked rabbit on a skewer. Thera had declared the silent people to be free, but since they were still doing the exact same things for them that they’d done for the House of Assassins, Ashok had a hard time thinking of them as anything other than slaves. If the magical pattern that had broken their minds was weakening, the process had been too gradual for him to notice.
They sat together on a fallen tree. “Meat on a stick while sitting on a log…I do miss my glorious command tent.” Thera had abandoned the ostentatious thing on the third day of their long journey. It simply took too long to set up and take down and required several animals to lug it about. She had kept a few of the pillows though.
While he and Thera ate, a shout went up at the back of the column. Riders incoming. Ashok had left a string of spotters trailing behind them to relay warnings of danger. He tensed, but then relaxed when he heard some shout that Toramana’s expedition had caught up with them.
Thera couldn’t sharpen her hearing like he could, so she looked to Ashok. “What is it?”
“The Wild Men have returned.”
“Excellent. I can’t wait to hear how our diplomatic mission went.”
“You sent the barbarian chief of a gang of lawless swamp dwellers to deliver prisoners and an ultimatum to the most delicate members of the first caste. It was doubtlessly the least diplomatic thing imaginable.”
“Don’t underestimate Toramana, Ashok. Keeping his people alive beneath the wizards’ shadow made him rather cunning. I told him to try and look like a frightening savage, I’m certain he delivered.”
“Do you think all his men painted their heads to look like skulls again?”
“I certainly hope so.”
A short while later the returning Wild Men were greeted with great enthusiasm as they made their way up the stretched-out column. From the smiles on their faces their mission had been a successful one. Sure enough, they had covered their faces with white ash and black charcoal around their eyes to create pits and lines across their mouths to create the illusion of fangs. War face they called it. Ashok found the habit odd. Personally, he had never needed to try and look intimidating. He was intimidating simply by existing. But then again, these were the same odd people who thought burning eerie sin dolls made for a fine celebration.
The contingent of Wild Men rode toward Thera, proud in their furs and feathers, waving to their wives and children and all the adoring refugees. They were popular among the camp because to the Faithful the Wild Men were the ones who had saved the Voice from the wizards and dug the Forgotten’s warrior out of the rubble. To the not-so-faithful, they were a fearsome bunch of archers who could be nearly invisible when they put their minds to it. The Wild Men were still awkward horsemen, but they had improved greatly over the last month. They had, after all, gotten a seemingly endless amount of practice.
“Greetings, Chief Toramana.”
“Hail, Prophet.” Toramana dismounted, almost graceful now, for such a large man who seemed chiseled from a brick of muscle. “I hope all is well.”
“Better than well. You caught up to us right as we were about to enter the Cove.”
“Then the gods have smiled upon us,” Toramana shouted. His men made the repetitive, deep bark that they used as a cheer. The fanatics seemed to love that.
Ashok was uncertain just how much Toramana actually believed in the gods, and how much of his loyalty to Thera was based on pragmatism, but he was nonetheless an effective leader dedicated to making a better life for his people. Hopefully Keta’s secret kingdom would live up to their dreams.
“It was slow getting there, but swift as the wind to return to you. The gods blessed us with good timing, but it was the Voice who had the wisdom to send us with a guide who kept us from getting lost on those awful, featureless plains.”
Ongud Khedekar dar Akershan approached. “It’s only confusing if you’re not from here.” The young warrior had left behind his uniform and had dressed to blend in with the swamp people, though he’d not bothered to smear ash on his round face. There was only so much indignity a civilized man would bear. “There’s plenty of landmarks when you know what you’re looking for.”
“Grass, grass, and more grass,” Toramana said. “Occasionally, a stick.”
“It beats swamper directions like turn left at the alligator,” Ongud responded.
“Ha! Accurate.” The chief slapped the much shorter warrior on the back, nearly knocking him over.
“How did you fare in Kochar’s Pass?” Thera asked.
“We delivered all the hostages, warrior and highborn both, alive and mostly in one piece. The perfumed sissies living there didn’t really know what to do with all of them.”
The location had been Ongud’s suggestion. The palace at Kochar’s Pass only had a tiny garrison stationed there. It was best known for its artisan’s school, renowned for the sweeping vistas where the first caste could practice their painting and be inspired to write bad poe
try, and not much else. It had also not been too far out of their way.
“I made your ultimatum clear. These lives were a gift to the Akershani chief. A showing of respect. We let these warriors live so that he would be moved to let the casteless live. I said our prophet only wants to be left alone. There was no need to hunt for us, because they would never see or hear from us again. Unless they came again against the casteless, because then Ashok Vadal would return to kill more of his men and capture more of his towns.”
“How did they take that?”
Toramana gave her a sly grin. “The ones I told this to were feeble, girlish men, who stank like they’d rolled in flowers. Their perfume made my nose itch. I think they were very frightened of me, but better to remember it that way. Their chief will get the message.”
“And you were not followed?” Ashok asked.
“We’re clear, General,” Ongud replied. “I’m certain of it. The swampers got a little exuberant.”
“We stole all that garrison’s horses,” Toramana explained. “But do not worry. There was a village a day’s walk from the pass…In the wrong direction, but we’d already made the prisoners walk so far already, what’s another day?”
“Fantastic work, all of you,” Thera said. “Now go see your families and get some food in your bellies. We should be moving out in a couple hours.”
“There’s one other thing,” Ongud said. “On the way to the pass we encountered some merchants fleeing south. They said the warriors had laid siege to Chakma, but when the Protectors got there they just climbed the walls and ripped the place apart. The Protectors executed many men.”
For a moment Thera looked stricken. The news wasn’t surprising, but Ashok knew she had felt guilty about how things there had turned out there. “Pankaj’s pride killed them. Not you.”
She sighed. “I tried to warn them. Only if they’d not been there like a big defiant beacon drawing every warrior in the country, then we might not have ever made it this far unseen.”
Toramana grinned. “I like to think just as Mother Dawn picked my people for our courage and skill, she picked that tax collector precisely because he had such a swollen head. Perhaps this was her plan all along. She is plainly a divine being sent by the gods, able to see into the future. We should be thankful that she has been preparing the way.”
“That sounds absurd,” Ashok said.
“Yet she appeared in my swamp and told my people to expect you,” Toramana replied as he spread his hands apologetically. “Long before you ever thought of traveling to the Bahdjangal, as you said yourself.”
“And she told mine when to be on the road to Haradas so we could join you,” said Ongud. “But regardless of what the Mother really is, the merchants said all the rebels and suspected collaborators in Chakma were put to the sword by a Protector with a big scar on his face.”
“Devedas,” Ashok muttered. “This is dire news.”
“You know him?” Thera asked.
“The Lord Protector of the Order, who was once my brother. I am the one who gave him that scar.”
“There’s a story there I’m sure,” Toramana said.
“There is. Though I will not tell it.”
“But this Devedas won’t find us now,” Thera said. “We’re a long way from Chakma.”
“Distance does not matter. Underestimating him is a fatal mistake. Devedas is perhaps the most dangerous man in the world.”
Thera was incredulous at that claim. “Even more than you?”
“What I accomplished with an ancestor blade he did nearly the equivalent by strength of will alone.”
Ashok’s ever truthful nature was now well known to all, so Toramana and Ongud shared a nervous glance. There were many fearsome combatants among the Sons, and Ashok rarely gave praise. For him to speak so highly of an enemy…
“How long ago did the Protectors take the city?”
“Six days, General.”
Protectors would move with far more swiftness than this cumbersome mob. Ashok looked to Thera. “Then if you have a way to make Keta open the door faster, I suggest you do so.”
“Don’t worry.” She pointed toward the nearby stream. It took Ashok a moment to realize that the water level had dropped nearly a foot while they’d been standing here. “It’s already started.”
Chapter 22
The small mountain lake was now less than half its original size. By what mechanism the flow into the lake had been stopped, Ashok could not tell. The remaining water was waist deep and clear enough that the rocky bottom could be seen all the way across. They wouldn’t even have to worry about demons. Not that there should be any this far into the interior anyway, but with the creatures of hell, you never knew.
Havildar Eklavya was standing nearby, and had been studying the situation for quite some time. Jagdish had said the clever young warrior had a mind for fortifications. Apparently, his love of engineering extended to drainage systems as well, because he seemed rather fascinated by it all. He’d been tossing sticks in the water to watch where the current took them.
“See that shadow beneath the water back there?” Eklavya said to the other Sons. “A banknote says that’s the secret entrance.”
Nobody took Eklavya up on his bet.
“I’m guessing there’s a reservoir above us somewhere, and it was draining downhill enough to keep this lake full. They shut if off somehow. The entrance to the Keeper’s secret kingdom will be revealed soon.”
Ashok would have asked Thera if Eklavya’s theory was correct, but she was busy using the time to give instructions, riding her horse back and forth along the shoreline as her people crowded close to hear. “We’ll have to lead the animals. It’s dark in there so don’t spook them. The water should only be about ankle deep, but there are a few lower spots where you’ll have to carry your little ones. It’s not that far. Don’t be afraid. It’s safe.”
“Are we going to live under the ground?” asked a casteless child. “I don’t want to live in the dark!”
“Don’t worry. We’re only passing through the mountain to what’s on the other side. We’re not going to stay under it for very long.”
“What if it falls and smashes us flat?” cried a woman.
“The tunnel’s not going to fall on us,” Thera assured her anxious mob.
Gupta was one of the Sons of the Black Sword who had once been a miner in Jharlang. “Eh, with tunnels, you never know.” But thankfully he kept his voice low so only the other Sons around him heard. They laughed nervously, but warriors weren’t about to show apprehension in front of these people.
Only Thera overheard Gupta, and she asked him, “Have any of your mole holes in Jharlang lasted a thousand years?”
“No, Prophet, I don’t think so.” He looked down, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“Then this is a bit better. They knew how to build things back in those days.” Thera went back to the adoring crowd. “As I was saying, there’s no need to fear. I was nervous the first time I came here too. While we wait for the water to go down, I’ll tell you the story of this place, as it was told to me by Ratul, who was the Keeper of Names before Keta. It was Ratul who discovered this secret path. Like our General Ashok, he had also once been a Protector of the Law.”
Many of the fanatics grimaced or spit when Thera mentioned his old Order. That annoyed Ashok to no end. Even though he was nominally on their side now, and the Order’s primary goal was his death, it remained a struggle to see such flagrant disrespect for something he’d devoted most of his life to.
“Ratul did a great many terrible things, hunting down the faithful or anyone who didn’t follow the cruel and often senseless commands of the Law. But he learned the truth, that the gods still lived, and so he began to prepare for this day in secret. Ratul always did what was necessary, no matter the danger. Once, I was thrown into the ocean by a wicked man, and I was about to be eaten by a demon, but Ratul dove into the ocean to save me. He fought the demon and scared it away.”
“That’s right. Ratul was very courageous.”
And possibly insane, Ashok thought.
“He knew that our uprising would need a place to be safe, beyond the reach of the Law.”
“Like Fortress!” shouted one of the workers helpfully.
“Sort of. But those on the frozen island are no friends of ours. Not really. They’ll sell us powder and weapons, but in their own way they’re just as stuck-up as the Law. The Keeper knew we’d need our own land for the faithful to build homes and grow crops. Ratul learned of this place from one of the forbidden books in the Capitol Library, so he went looking for it. It’s older than the Law. Older than the kings. It was here before the demons fell from the sky even.”
The people seemed confused. Since the Law had done such an excellent job erasing and rewriting their history, most of the people had no idea what Thera was talking about beyond vague associations with their illegal stories that had been passed down in secret. To most Law-abiding people, Lok was as it always had been, and if you wanted to know about what came before, you needed permission from a few specific orders to learn about it. The secret fanatics may have had long memories, but they were blurry ones.
“Look, I’m really bad at explaining all this. But Keta’s really good at it and you will be able to speak to him soon enough. Just bear with me a little longer and he can explain it to you. Once Ratul got close he said that he could feel this place calling to him, almost as if it was singing. We have to pass beneath this mountain, but on the other side is the Cove, and it’s a fine place to make a home.”
“What if we don’t want to go down there?” someone in the back of the crowd shouted.
Destroyer of Worlds Page 20