“That’s horrible.” Zeldos gasped, thinking for a moment of what happened when the Corricans had captured and enslaved him, nearly killing him in the process.
Beside him, unheard of by the others, Rhona hissed at Paracleus, “Now do you see how terrible these humans can be?”
“Yes, but some of them are innocent in this. Where’s Fato?” Paracleus asked her.
“Isn’t he with you?” Rhona asked him.
Wintha glanced at them, but didn’t bring any attention to them. The Corricans with Hasbas, Marko, Dahlia and baby Jomo, Buzzbo, Geneva and her family along with the sailors arrived in the clearing and they heard the news just as the first evacuees from the village reached the boundaries of the Corrican settlement. Hasbas hugged his little brother Corr and searched frantically for his wife to no avail, while Kovu and Kiki told the others what was going on when they left.
With Buzzbo by his side, Marko quickly rallied as many of the Corricans as he could to join in the battle, grabbing weapons, and they marched out. Even Zeldos and Cassandra were swept up in the furor, knowing they had to defend their home. Hasbas bid farewell to Corr and went along with the troop, hoping to reunite with Lapida.
As Kovu, Kiki, Geneva and Dahlia hustled the defenseless and weak like Wintha to a secure location, Corr managed to slip out of the crowd when he spied Rhona and Paracleus. He went up to the fox and the cat, who lifted their heads as they recognized him from Fato’s description and all of the chatter they’d overheard.
“Corr! Have you seen Fato?” Paracleus asked.
“Yes, he was back at the village looking for you two. I had to leave him when we were all running, but I’m sure he would’ve flown off, too, before the battle started.” Corr told them.
“Don’t be sure about that.” Rhona grimaced. “He’s stubborn and his curiosity might be insatiable enough that he’d want to see what happens next.”
“Oh, no, he wouldn’t, would he?” Corr asked, glancing back towards the village. “Doesn’t he know how terrible it might be?”
“He doesn’t listen sometimes, or he wants to find out for himself.” Paracleus said.
“I’ve got to go back and look for him. It’s my fault he didn’t leave. I should’ve grabbed him and carried him off myself.” Corr muttered, running back towards the village.
“Wait, Corr!” Rhona cried, dashing after him. “Don’t do it!”
“It’s Fato’s own fault. You’re not to blame!” Paracleus shouted, also following after him.
With cat and fox in tow, Corr trailed after the Corricans.
ℜℜℜ
As the Corricans hurried towards the village, Porran and Kalino continued to stand together, creating typhoons and hurricanes with their combined wind and water powers that blew away the enemy. Rowena and Mogame enhanced their shadowy creations to traumatize the Savorre and warded off Yagidehama’s shades trying to attack them.
Oran and Demetrius also worked well together, their earth and stone techniques smashing through the Savorre and shielding their allies. Demetrius also used his Stone magic to strengthen the metal alloy in the steel and iron weapons the villagers employed.
Some of the Savorre warlocks also utilized the same techniques with their copper and bronze weapons, but the raw material was still weaker than iron or steel, and there was only so much room for improvement. Huette and Anya mended the injured and protected them from the raiders, but there was only so much they could do.
Wilama continued to stand out as a lone wolf, savagely mauling the Savorre with her attacks. The mages attempted to protect Wilama along with everyone else, but Wilama might’ve gotten too bold or confident in her talents, and she darted out, further and farther away from their defenses. They might’ve relaxed their guard with her, too, not wanting to get too involved with her ferocious attacks that could turn on them.
Yagidehama noticed this, and she started luring Wilama out, feinting her Vanahatora forces to go around and attack the villagers while the warlocks continued to distract and engage the Bahealfisaba mages. Wilama fell for one of these ploys, coming out from the mages’ guard to attack the Vanahatora, and Yagidehama struck her then.
She separated and surrounded Wilama with a cloud of shades, trapping her inside. Wilama attempted to fight against them, but her Bone magic was no match and she was powerless as the shades engulfed her, flooding her mind with chilling thoughts and images, freezing and numbing her with fear.
“Wilama!” Anya cried, seeing her friend was in danger, but Huette held her back from charging out there.
“It’s too dangerous.” Huette told her, hoping it’d be all right soon.
The Bahealfisaba mages noticed what was going on and attempted to save Wilama with Rowena and Mogame trying to defeat Yagidehama’s shades with their own, and Porran and Kalino tried to blast the sorceress. However, Yagidehama’s shades were too strong for Rowena and Mogame, overwhelming them, and Yagidehama turned Porran and Kalino’s attack against them.
“Oh, no,” Anya wept as Huette clung onto her.
With Yagidehama’s shades carrying off the incapacitated Wilama, Yagidehama created a portal to transport them back to Savorre, sealing it off behind them. Most of the Savorre warlocks and Vanahatora started calling for a retreat then with one of their leaders having deserted them, and so they started vanishing and disappearing the same way, too, carrying off some captives.
The Corricans from the settlement arrived at the village at this point and hastened the Savorre’s escape, harrying the stragglers, trying to save their victims, and lashing out at the Savorre and those too wounded to flee. Some of the Corricans, like Marko, even charged at the portals, hoping they might find a way through and reach Savorre, not having a plan for what they’d do after that.
However, the Savorre were fast and experienced enough at such methods that they sealed off the breaches before anyone else could get through, leaving their pursuers scrambling at thin air. In a short while, only the surviving Corricans and villagers were left behind in the ashen ruins of the village to survey the damage they’d done, and what harm had befallen them.
Oran and Demetrius had been pummeled throughout the fight, but they remained standing for the most part, though they were bruised and exhausted. Huette and Anya were swamped trying to heal as many people as they could, though they felt guilty they couldn’t do more to save others like Wilama.
Rowena was in a coma when she’d borne the brunt of Yagidehama’s last attack, while Mogame was haunted and traumatized by what he’d seen, a pallid sheen covering his face. Lapida staggered through the wreckage, bleeding in a number of spots from nicks and scars as she searched for the other blacksmiths that had fought alongside her, only to discover that almost all of them were dead or missing, probably taken away.
Hasbas called out frantically for her until he found her, rushing over to hug her in a tight embrace, but Lapida barely responded. “It’s okay, it’ll be okay,” He told her, knowing it wouldn’t be for a long while yet.
Zeldos and Cassandra stumbled about the ruins, too, as Zeldos murmured, “It’s just like my village. I think this is what it must’ve been like when the Corricans attacked it.”
“What do you mean?” Cassandra asked, turning to him.
Zeldos told her part of his painful history then, when he hadn’t wanted to share it with her before. He’d wanted to leave his past behind him when he settled down here in Bahealfisaba, but it seemed like it’d always haunt him, especially now. Cassandra nodded, understanding some of what he’d suffered when her people were experiencing something similar now.
Marko and Buzzbo combed through the rubble to recover the dead and wounded, and they came across Kalino’s corpse, killed in Yagidehama’s onslaught. They thought Porran was dead, too, lying close by, but they managed to revive him as he coughed up water, choking.
“Kalino? Is he okay?” Porran asked. When they shook their heads and Porran saw Kalino’s body, he wept. “He was a good man, a good leader, a good fath
er.” Porran kept saying.
“He certainly was.” Marko sighed, wishing they could’ve saved Kalino.
“What’re we going to do now?” Buzzbo asked, looking around at the debris. “We can’t stay here when the village is gone. What about the others?”
“We’ll take in the villagers at our settlement. Most of the buildings are finished, so we can shelter them wherever there’s a roof and fix up any place that doesn’t have one as quickly as we can to fit everyone that’s left.” Marko said. “We better move everyone who can be moved before it gets dark. We need to make up some stretchers, too.”
Buzzbo nodded and they quickly got to work, starting off with transporting Kalino’s body and Porran, hustling them back towards the others. Corr, Rhona, and Paracleus arrived at the remnants of the village at this point, seeing the grave extent of the disaster, the lines and rows of wounded and dead people, the crying and mourning from villagers and Corricans alike.
“This is awful.” Corr stared, unable to believe it as tears drenched his eyes.
Rhona and Paracleus slipped away to peruse the scene, softly calling for Fato as they observed the death and destruction surrounding them. “I’m not sure what to think now.” Rhona murmured to herself.
“What do you mean?” Paracleus asked her.
“I’ve heard so much about humans over the years. It’s been branded in my head. Yet being here and seeing them like this…I’m not sure what to think now.” She said.
Paracleus nodded and suddenly he spotted the falcon flying overhead. “Fato!” He cried.
The bird circled and landed close by as they rushed over to him. “How’re you doing? What happened to you?” Rhona asked him.
Fato shook his head. “They were fighting and I couldn’t do anything to save them, the Corricans or the villagers, from the Savorre. It was monstrous, some of what I saw, on both sides of the conflict, yet at the same time I still wanted to aid the people of Bahealfisaba.”
“But there’s nothing you could’ve done, right? We shouldn’t get involved here.” Paracleus said.
“I don’t know, but it isn’t right to leave them like this either.” Rhona said, looking around. “Maybe you were right, Fato. Maybe we should protect the humans from themselves.”
Fato and Paracleus gaped at her, astonished. “Is this the same Rhona who wouldn’t look up the answers in her notes, even if it was allowed for a test, because she still thought it was cheating?” Paracleus remarked.
“Oh, shut up, this isn’t the time or place for that.” Rhona said, turning away from him.
“I’m glad you changed your mind, Rhona. Maybe we should go find Corr and see if he’s okay.” Fato said.
“He was this way, last time we saw him.” Paracleus said, and he and Rhona filled Fato in on the people they met as they headed back towards Corr.
ℜℜℜ
Kozu and Kiki had noticed that Corr was missing when they scanned the crowd of villagers hiding at the Corrican settlement. They used his absence as an excuse to go back to Bahealfisaba and see if he was there, knowing their father Kalino would be mad if they showed up in the middle of a battle or its aftermath with no good reason at all.
As they headed back to the village, armed and prepared to defend themselves if they were attacked by a random Savorre warrior wandering away from the combat, they spotted smoke rising from Bahealfisba. “There must’ve been a fire.” Kiki grimaced as bad memories haunted her once more.
“Father can put it out and we’ll help him. Come on.” Kozu said, clutching her hand, and they continued on.
It was quiet, no ruckus from the clash, and they knew it must be over by now, though they didn’t know what the outcome might be. With dread and trepidation, they braced themselves for a shock as they broke past the trees, but it still horrified them to see how devastated the village was.
“How’re we going to rebuild this?” Kiki asked.
“Like we’ve always done whenever the Savorre come.” Kozu said, but even he admitted that this was worse than any of the previous raids he’d heard of or experienced himself.
They spotted some people grouped around and headed in that direction, identifying Corricans and villagers amongst them. Everyone turned to them in sorrow and grief, which almost readied them to see their father lying dead, but it still wasn’t enough to soften the impact.
Kiki broke down crying, bending down beside Kalino, but Kozu had to remain standing, no matter how wobbly his legs were, gazing down upon his father. He couldn’t show his anguish and misery, not when there might be people counting on him to make a decision now as his father’s son, when Kiki might depend upon him.
His father had been in charge of Bahealfisaba, and though there was no guarantee that Kozu would fulfill his father’s role upon Kalino’s death, considering how young Kozu was and how experienced others might be, still Kozu had to be ready for such a possibility. His father would be proud if he took on such a burden, Kozu told himself, and he was up for the challenge.
Porran approached first, murmuring his condolences and apologies, as he’d been with their father and fought alongside him just before their last attack was rebuffed and the final salvo threw them aside, drowning them in their own wave. The only reason why Porran might still be alive was that his air magic preserved him longer, but he wished he could’ve done the same for Kalino.
Kozu nodded and accepted it as Porran shared his father’s final words and moments, though he wished he could’ve lashed out at the sailor like the mad, grief-stricken boy he was inside. Kozu noticed Mogame sitting off to the side next to Rowena, who was still comatose to the world around her, and he wondered what the scholar was thinking now.
Maybe Mogame would give anything to have Rowena wake up, pondering everything that they shared, just the same as Kozu felt about his father. Then Marko appeared, paying his homage to Kalino and offering his sympathies to Kalino’s children as he insisted they should all stay at the Corrican settlement to guard themselves from another foray, and together they could plan how to retaliate against the Savorre, and rescue what captives they could.
“No, there shouldn’t be another raid from the Savorre, at least not for a few more years.” Kozu shook his head. “They’ve always done this, once every ten or twenty years: they swoop in, steal away a few people, and then they leave as fast as they came.”
“What? This has happened to you all before?” Buzzbo asked, starring around at the villagers.
“They took our mother Aradia last time they came.” Kiki murmured, clutching her father’s hand. “He wouldn’t have wanted to die the same way she did.”
“Yes, but not at this scale.” Oran shook his head as he told the Corricans, “Usually they assault the farms and then desert before they reach the village. They don’t burn everything down.”
“We’ve heard rumors that they’re in the middle of a war with Gorbasa.” Demetrius said. “Some of our neighbors have reported an increase in the Savorre’s incursions, as if they’re trying to replenish their supplies before they launch another assault on Gorbasa. But I don’t think anyone has been mauled like we were.”
“No, this was different.” Huette murmured as she walked over towards them. With Rowena currently incapacitated, she’d assumed command of the remaining mages. “They were targeting us, I think, maybe even targeting the Corricans.”
“Why us? Why would the Savorre want us?” Anya asked, coming up to her.
“Your magical powers. They might’ve sensed an exponential increase in the energy in our area, with all of you training and gaining new abilities.” Huette remarked. “Perhaps they were coming after you all, and when they snatched up Wilama, they were satisfied enough with her capabilities to leave.”
Kozu grimaced. “It could’ve been your faults that the Savorre came, but we’re not pointing fingers here.” He told Marko and the other Corricans. “We need each other to survive now. Yes, we’ll come to your settlement, but I’m not sure if we should assail the Savorre y
et.”
Marko stammered, wanting to protest, but Buzzbo elbowed him to shut him up for now. Perhaps later, when their mourning was over, they could discuss the issue again. Hasbas had his arm wrapped around Lapida, watching the scene unfold, but then he looked up as he recognized Corr coming over towards them.
“What’re you doing here?” Hasbas cried as he and Lapida headed over to his brother.
“I wanted to see, I wanted to know what was going on.” Corr said as he glimpsed Kiki and Kozu grieving over their father. “Kalino’s dead? Oh, gods, I’m sorry.”
“You should head back home, Corr.” Lapida told him, and then she paused as she noticed the strangest thing. “What’re these animals doing here?”
Everyone turned their heads and stared at a falcon, a kitsune fox, and a purple-eyed cat coming up behind Corr. “Meow?” said the cat.
“Squawk?” said the falcon.
“Bark? I don’t know what foxes say.” The kitsune fox said.
The other animals groaned as everyone gaped at them. “What’re these animals doing here? Did they just talk?” Porran asked.
“Is that the falcon Fato you told us about, Corr?” Mogame asked.
“What’s going on?” Kiki asked, wiping away tears as she came over to join them.
“We’re not sure, but these animals seem to talk. Care to explain, Corr?” Oran said, crossing his arms.
“It’s nothing much, really.” Corr hesitated, looking around. “They were just passing through.”
“Don’t bother, Corr. We can speak for ourselves.” The female cat said, facing the humans. “My name’s Rhona, this is Fato, and that kitsune fox is Paracleus.”
“Technically we’re not animals, but Fay.” Fato confessed.
“Fay!” Cassandra gasped as the villagers murmured amongst themselves and the Corricans glanced at each other, perplexed. “What’re you doing here?” She asked.
“We sort of got involved when we shouldn’t have.” Paracleus said. “We saw the Corricans land on the beach, and we were told not to intervene by our council, but Fato went back anyway, and he met Corr.”
Survivors of Corrica Page 15