by Dele Daniel
Most. That was good enough.
They stared back at me with wide and fearful eyes, silently asking what to do next. “Don’t worry, don’t worry,” I muttered.
“Genesis, where are you going?” someone asked. But I didn’t answer. I just kept going. I had to see . . .
Aided by the adrenaline coursing through my system, I began climbing back up the rock, ignoring the way my hands sweated and how the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end in anticipation.
My heart was swelling in my chest, but it wasn’t from fear this time.
It was because I had a feeling that things had gone according to plan, just like I’d hoped they would.
I held my breath as I returned to the top of the rock. When I glanced down, I saw the guards. The confidence they had radiated was quickly melting away. Their bravery was dissipating.
Their organization was collapsing.
My lips curled upward into a feral grin. “VICTORY!” I yelled.
I heard the murmuring of the Hawks below me as they began to climb back up the rock as well. In groups of twos and threes, helping one another up, they rejoined me at the top of the rock.
Their cheers echoed through the air as they saw what I saw. The king’s guards were sinking in the quicksand.
When we had started running downhill, they had all charged forward, eager to catch us and start their next killing spree. Their blind rage and ignorance had sent them straight into the deadly ground, just as I knew it would.
What a horrible way to die.
The whoops and cheering around me grew, decorating their air with our defeat of the king’s guards. We all knew that such a massive loss of guards was going to cripple the king. The thought left me feeling smug. I hoped he would feel the loss just as sharply as I felt in losing so many of my people. And Jason.
Thoroughly caught up in the celebratory mood around me, I raised my fists in the air victoriously . . .
Until two thunderous cracks blasted through the air.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw two Hawks drop to the ground, one of them being one of the guys who had helped me with Tonabi. Blood seeped onto the ground from where he and the other lay.
The cheering trickled down to a hush as we all slowly caught on to what had just happened.
“GET DOWN!” Remington yelled out.
Everyone, myself included, ducked. Meanwhile, Remington snatched a gun from a nearby Hawk and peered over the rock. He fired off a shot, and I hurried to his side, looking over the rock just in time to see one of the guards finally fall and succumb to the quicksand, dropping the gun he’d been carrying along the way.
The sight sobered me instantly. I slowly turned around, hearing the cries behind me as it sank in that we had just lost two of our own. In shock, people began to huddle around lifeless bodies, sobbing.
I swallowed.
Those two Hawk deaths were on me.
An arm circled around my shoulders. “Not your fault,” I heard Remington say in my ear.
I stared at the ground, which began to blur before me. When I spoke though, my voice was surprisingly clear. “We have to be careful. There might be another guard or two who managed to get out of the quicksand. So no more celebrating for now.”
CHAPTER 28
“What now?” someone asked.
The mood had collectively subdued after our premature celebration, and now everyone stood on the spot, looking somewhat lost.
I took a deep breath, trying to make sure that I stayed in a fighting spirit. During war, there would always be losses; that was something I needed to accept no matter how much I wished otherwise. There was just no way around it.
“We . . . we can’t leave the bodies,” another voice said.
Reluctantly, I turned and saw several Hawk members crouched around the bodies of our fallen. A lump formed in my throat, knowing that those two Hawk men had resisted my brother’s orders and came out to help me. To fight for what they believed in.
They had risked our lives for the cause.
I exchanged glances with Remington. On the surface, his expression was neutral. Blank. Yet, as he stared at the two bodies, I saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. He’d known these men. Had more than likely worked closely with them. Maybe even became friends with them.
Feeling my gaze, he looked my way. Immediately, I saw and understood his concern. Like the others, he didn’t want to leave the bodies behind. While we had left bodies behind before, those had been the bodies of our enemies. These were our allies. This was different. They deserved a proper burial.
However, each passing second marked a moment closer to Black Forest possibly being at risk. Word traveled quickly amongst the Kingfisher communities and hence, the king would know about our slaughter of his men soon enough. The very moment news of the massacre reached his ears, he would be ready to retaliate and the entirety of Black Forest would be punished for our actions. Under no circumstances could we let that happen, especially with Black Forest being filled with defenseless people.
It went without saying that they needed us immediately.
Remington sighed and ran a hand across his head. “We can quickly pay our respects and then be on our way.”
One of the men crouching beside the bodies stood and turned toward Remington, his eyes wide. “Be on our way?” he said incredulously. “Without burying them?”
Remington held out his hands in exasperation. “There’s no time,” he said grimly.
The man stared at Remington for a moment longer and then looked at me, as if wanting me to chime in. Not before long, several pairs of eyes had turned in my direction. I could help feeling slightly taken aback. While I was used to everyone, particularly the men, looking toward Remington as a de facto leader, I wasn’t at all accustomed to them looking toward me.
I was only used to being a leader of my small group of girls, not such a large chunk of the Hawk membership.
Nevertheless, more and more people began to look at me, evidently waiting for me to settle the score with Remington.
Unable to ignore the pressure they were putting on me to speak, I awkwardly cleared my throat. I gazed at the ground for a moment, thinking of how to appease everyone without taking too much time because we desperately needed to get to Black Forest.
Lifting my gaze to take in the expanse of quicksand around us, there only seemed to be one logical explanation. I already knew everyone wouldn’t agree to it though. I could only hope it wouldn’t lead to Remington and me being left guiding a group of people who were frustrated with us.
“Remington is right,” I said slowly. “We do need to get to Black Forest, but . . .” I sighed. “You guys are right too. We can’t just leave them.” I locked eyes with Remington, and then gestured toward the quicksand. “We can say a few words, pay our respects. Let the earth bury them near the battle they helped us win. I think . . . I think it’s the most fitting thing we could do under our circumstances.”
No one spoke for what felt like an uncomfortably long time. But then those surrounding the bodies slowly stood, lifting the bodies along with them.
Remington gave a curt nod. “Yes. That’ll do. Quickly then.”
***
The impromptu ceremony we conducted for our fallen was short and sweet. We tossed the bodies into the quicksand, some distance away from the king’s guards, and watched as they sank to their graves. After a few quick but heartfelt prayers, we were on our way, our moods heavy, but our minds determined.
We weren’t going to let the royal guards take down Black Forest without a fight. They were going to learn the hard way that we were a much more formidable opponent than they anticipated. Fighting with us would be more than they had bargained for.
“Guys,” I said, gesturing to the men who’d been keeping hold of Tonabi, “do you mind letting him ride with you? Keep him tied up well. Make sure he stays bound and gagged.”
The guys each gave me a nod and proceeded to drag Tonabi to their horses.
The rest of us also went to retrieve our horses, quickly preparing for the journey ahead of us. I retrieved Dolly and Max and then nodded at Remington. “I think you and your guys should stay in a circle around us. You know, since you have the guns. You can respond best if we are met with a surprise attack.”
Remington looked around at the men he’d come with. “All right, fellas. You heard what she said. Let’s make it happen.”
“You’re getting pretty good at this leadership thing,” Remington said some time later, once we were on the path heading back to Black Forest. I turned my head to see him moving beside me on his horse, offering me a sideways smirk.
I shook my head and put my eyes back on the road. We were almost there. “Trust me—it’s not a role I actively sought. I’m just trying to do what’s right. For our people and . . .” My voice trailed off, catching slightly for refusing to add, “and avenging Jason.”
“Yes. You’ve always been passionate about doing what you think is right,” Remington said. “So I can see how you landed yourself in this role, even if you did so somewhat reluctantly. I get it. It’s a role you stumbled into, really. But that’s usually how it goes, at least for good leaders, anyway. Those who get power hungry and actively seek leadership—well, people like that are a different story.”
I nodded. No names needed to be said to know that King Henry and his power-hungry ways were on our minds. It was how we got into this whole mess in the first place. The people most anxious to be in charge were usually the last ones who actually need to be in charge. It was one of the world’s greatest ironies, and we had spent plenty of time in school learning how great empires had fallen specifically for that reason.
Studying about things of that nature before our time was one thing. Having to actually live through it was another entirely.
How I longed for the times when such a lesson was only occurring in my schoolbooks rather than in my reality.
“Your brother,” Remington said a minute later, “he’s never truly been the power-hungry type. That’s why there’s still hope for him.”
I was just about to respond when my vocal chords completely froze. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as a horrific scent drifted through the air.
The smell of death.
I recognized it all too well. I started to feel dizzy right there on the spot. Had I not been gripping Dolly’s reins so tightly, I probably would have slipped right off and hit the ground.
“Genesis?” Remington said. But just mere seconds later, he too fell silent, the sense of dread engulfing him just as it had me.
I hadn’t even realized that I’d pulled Dolly to a stop until I noticed everyone else had come to a stop too.
I couldn’t even fully process what was wrong until, finally, the screams broke through the silence around us.
The screams, the cries, the wails. The panic. The chaos.
We had just reached Black Forest and it was obvious that something was terribly wrong.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Remington jump down from his horse and run forward. “WHAT HAPPENED?!” he screamed over the pandemonium.
But as my eyes finally adjusted and processed what they were seeing, it was obvious what had happened.
We were too late.
The king’s army had already been here. Like Remington had said, the king had enough guards to carry out more than one mission at once. I’d been terribly mistaken to think that he would solely send out people for Tonabi before bothering with Black Forest.
He had killed two birds with one stone.
Hawk members around me began to jump down from their horses, running forward to greet the chaos along with Remington, stunned by the devastation.
Finally, I managed to climb down off Dolly. I shook from head to toe. How could my calculations have been so wrong?
I’d been shortsighted, yet again. And it had cost me all of Black Forest.
Dead bodies. There were so many dead bodies everywhere. Again. It was a scene that I was growing far too used to seeing, even though it never got any easier to see.
My people littered the ground, their formerly beautiful brown skin turned crisp black from burns they’d endured.
Black Forest had been burned to the ground. It was more than the scent of death in the air. It was the scent of death and destruction.
My stomach heaved as the nightmarish aroma hit me again. I clenched my teeth, fighting back vomit. On wobbly legs, I walked forward, shaking my head in utter disbelief.
This just couldn’t be real . . .
We’d quickly made our way back specifically to prevent this from happening. How could it have happened already?
Everywhere I looked, people were yelling and crying. Women roamed the streets, screaming out the names of their children at the tops of their lungs. The children who walked about screamed back in return, yelling for their parents or siblings. And then there were others who were less fortunate still, hysterical as they clutched the bodies of dead loved ones, burned to a crisp and damaged beyond visible recognition. They clutched and cried over bodies—some men, some women, and some even small children who’d likely died from the smoke before the flames even had a chance to reach them.
I felt like I was going to be sick. How I hadn’t already collapsed was nothing short of a miracle. My jellylike legs carried me forward until I couldn’t stand to move anymore. When I came to a stop, I was near Sentana and Remington. They were standing before a sobbing woman, her clothes in tatters and her skin covered in blood and soot.
“They burned everything!” she cried. “Everything! They’ve destroyed us! They killed us! They murdered almost all the men, some women, and even some of the . . . some of the . . . ch-children!” Overcome with emotion, she fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground, guttural cries leaving her throat as her body trembled. “We’ve lost everything!” she choked out with the last of her strength.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to collapse onto the ground right next to that woman. But thoughts of the Hawk hideout came to my mind, and panic practically took my breath away. I swayed on the spot again, nearly losing my balance and colliding with Shiva, who I hadn’t realized had come to stand behind me.
I clenched my fists and looked up to Remington. His expression was hard and angry—the trademark look he got whenever he was fighting back overwhelming sorrow. He was trying to hold himself together but was just barely making it.
“R-Remington,” I sputtered. “The hideout. The-The Hawk hideout. What if . . . ?”
I couldn’t even finish the thought, but I didn’t need to. Remington seized me by the arm, rushing back to our horses.
CHAPTER 29
The others were quick to notice Remington and I making our exit, and even quicker to react and follow behind us.
“What’s going on?” Nasheeda called out, making her way over.
Remington released my arm once we’d made it back to our horse. “We need to get back to the Hawk hideout,” he said grimly over his shoulder. “Unfortunately, as you all can see, there is nothing we can do right here. We were too late.”
My heart sank to my stomach hearing Remington say that we’d been too late. Primarily because I felt like it was my fault. Did he feel that way too? If so, he had every right to. He had warned me that the king might pull something like this. But I had been so naive that I dismissed it as an improbability.
And now look.
Remington mounted his horse. “We need to make sure our hideout hasn’t been discovered. That it’s still intact.”
A hush fell over the group, and it was evident that everyone immediately understood the severity of the situation. If we were too late getting back to the hideout, we could pretty much kiss the Hawk organization goodbye, for we would be ruined beyond repair.
Snarling and appearing personally insulted, Remington seized the horse that Tonabi had been tied to, tugging its reins until it was directly beside him and his hor
se. With a grimace, he then gave his horse two kicks on the sides and sped off. Dolly and I followed directly behind, right on his trail, and the others hurried along after us.
Adrenaline and fear speeding things along, we seemed to reach the Hawk hideout in record time.
I instantly breathed a sigh of relief to see that nothing appeared disturbed. There was no smell of fire and smoke. No smell of death. No signs that the king’s guards had been anywhere near it.
Remington and I exchanged relieved glances.
“Thank goodness,” Shiva said, giving voice to what we were all thinking.
“How do we go about telling the Chief what we did, though?” someone else asked. “If he has any functioning brain cells left, he should have an idea of where we were and what we were doing,” a young man chimed in and looked sheepishly at me. “Sorry, Genesis. No offence. I know that’s your brother and all.”
I waved my hand. “Don’t worry about it. No offence taken. I know better than anyone that my brother’s brain cells haven’t been functioning properly.”
“We do need to tell him about the ones we lost,” he replied. “He keeps track of who’s at practice, so he’s bound to notice when they aren’t there next time around.”
“One step at a time,” Remington said tiredly. “Let’s put the horses up. Someone, put Tonabi in the prison room. Then in about fifteen minutes, we all need to come together for a meeting to let the chief know what’s going on.”
Everyone muttered in agreement. When the muttering died down though, other voices began drifting to our ears, sounding far too close by for comfort.
“Hey, over there. What’s going on?” Nasheeda said. She pointed off in the distance, near the woods behind the horse stable.
There they were. Prince, Leni, and the Hawk members who had stayed behind, choosing to follow his orders over Remington’s. They were gathered for what looked like a very tense meeting. I couldn’t tell who was speaking, but the voices were coming out in low and angry-sounding hisses.