by Dan Decker
“Find an empty home and keep watch. Keep the blaster close. If Isak or any of his men find you, shoot first. You remember how to use it?”
“That’s easier said than done.” Kura's voice had a sharp edge to it. “For one, if it’s Isak, it won’t just be him. For another, you want to try to shoot a blaster while wrangling a toddler? I’m more likely to shoot my own foot off. We’re better off coming with you. I’ll take care of him. You won’t even know we’re there.”
Adar shook his head. “That’s no place for him and you know it. If the way is open, I’ll come back for you. If not, we’ll get out of the city another way.” He scanned the horizon. “It also wouldn’t hurt to be on the watch for more of these falling ships. I don’t think we’ve seen the last one.”
Kura was red in the face and Adar suspected her hands would have been shaking if she wouldn’t have been holding so tight to the baby. “You’re just going to leave me here? Defenseless with a babe that can hardly walk on his own?
“Give me a quarter hour. If I’m not back by then, you’ll need to make a break for it.”
“So it’s like that, is it? A poor woman and a baby are going to slow you down. Don't you dare abandon us now. They’re after me because of you.” She snorted. “None of this would have happened if you would have just left well enough alone.”
A mistake I won’t repeat. “I’ll come back. Whether you’re here or not. Whether the way out is blocked or not.”
Kura snorted again.
“Look lady, you want to run? Fine.” Adar cleared his throat and lowered the volume of his voice. “As long as you stick with me, I'll do what I can to help you. See that house on the corner? It looks empty, the door’s flapping in the wind and all the windows in front are broken. I’ll look for you there.” He walked off without waiting for another response.
After he’d gone a ways, Adar looked back and wasn’t surprised to see her staring at him, her lips pulled back into a snarl. He made a waving motion with his free hand, urging her to go to the abandoned home.
I should have told her I’d come back for the kid, returning for her is optional.
His eyes followed the second falling ship. It was the work of the tower, what else was there to explain it?
He felt a new glimmer of hope. If the tower could bring down ships, they might have a better chance of surviving this than he'd thought. He just hoped that the Hunwei didn't figure out what was going on.
The thought gave him pause. The turncoats who had escaped had witnessed everything that had happened. They had seen what the tower could do.
He needed to protect the towers.
They hadn't done anything until he'd given them the command to attack. The first step to defending them would be to get the tablet back from Tere. If Adar had that, he could keep somebody monitoring what was happening so that they could activate the towers when the Hunwei drew near.
Have somebody do something for me? Adar thought with a snort that made him cough. It had been a long time since there had been anybody to obey his orders. He still sometimes thought like he was a general but Jorad was the closest thing he had to his former days at the head of any army. And Jorad was more inclined to argue than obey.
Everything had changed now that Adar had established that the weapons were still active and could be used. All he had to do was to get that tablet back.
Maybe it was time he consider going to Rarbon with Jorad. There was no reason not to now. Leron had said most of those back home expected him to return. Every time Adar had considered going home to Rarbon, he usually had a good reason to put the thought off. He'd told Jorad he didn't want to return because of the banishment, but the truth was he used that as more of an excuse than an actual reason.
He would be able to get past that hurdle. If the general sentiment among the people of Rarbon was that he didn't kill his wife, there must be some on the Rarbon Council that would see it that way as well.
The sudden clarity surprised him. It was a jarring thought. He'd been telling himself the same story for so long that when the facts on the ground changed, it felt as though somebody had punched him in the gut.
When he looked back, he was happy to see that Kura was heading towards the abandoned home with a forlorn look on her face. I’ll have to make sure nothing gets in the way of me coming back to her. If I don’t return, I’ll have yet another person out to get me.
Since the alley he’d planned on using was blocked, he jogged up the street until he came to another alley parallel to the first and cut into it, barely slowing as he took the corner.
He could make out the form of the ship as the dust settled. At least, he thought it was dust, but with all the rain, it was more likely to be smoke. The rear of the ship still burned. The flames pointed away from the back, instead of dancing upward in the fashion to which he'd become accustomed to fire behaving. The observation bothered him until he remembered the ships he had watched take off had used the same mechanism to fly. He had been thrown off because those flames had pointed downward.
He leaped over another Hunwei corpse—dead from the tower—and almost slipped but was able to push a hand up against a rain-slicked wall of a home to steady himself. The hilt of his sword struck the weathered bricks, and the metallic sound seemed far away to Adar’s ears. The blasters on his back clunked into one another, but he felt that more than he heard it. Even from this distance the roar of the ship's engines was loud. It blocked out every other sound.
Before he got close to the alley’s exit, the intense heat from the engines forced him to slow to a walk. Sweat trickled down his face and into his panting mouth. It tasted like salty dirt. He spat. There had been splinters of wood in there as well. He could feel moisture forming around his armpits.
He took several deep breaths to clear his mind, inhaled a bunch of sweat, and spat again.
Smoke billowed up from the site of the crash. He couldn’t tell if it was all coming from the ship or if the buildings on either side had caught fire. The one on the left had caved in and covered much of the ship. The building on the other side still maintained the top part of its structure but what remained hung precariously. A strong wind would knock it over.
Adar ground his teeth. The closer he got, the more it looked as though the confounded ship has blocked off the Arches.
When he had first exited the Arches, he had noticed chisel markings around the rock within which the entrance had been built. He had assumed something had been done to the rock that warded off previous attempts to destroy it. He had a sinking feeling the ship had been able to accomplish what so many others had failed to do.
The wind shifted, and he could see now that the building on the left was burning. While he watched, more of the flames climbed ever higher. It wouldn't be long before the building on the right would be in flame as well.
Cursed by Melyah! Adar thought. And left for dead. The strength of the heat was enough to make him take several steps back. He feared the buildings to either side of him in the alley were at risk of taking flame as well.
Well, Kura is going to like this, I’m going to return as soon as I left. He was at risk of being burned if he stayed much longer. The sweat wasn’t as much of a problem as it had been several minutes ago because it was evaporating.
Adar wasn't certain what made him turn. Maybe he'd somehow heard the hinges of the door as it had opened. Or it might have just been his paranoia that kept him looking about. The way Jorad always talked about Adar’s paranoia as if it were a bad thing had been a thorn in Adar's side.
The snide comments Adar had to endure from his son had subsided in the weeks since the Hunwei had come. Under other circumstances, it might have been satisfying to have Jorad's rebellious streak beat down.
A man stepped out of the open door and Adar was surprised to see he knew the man.
It was Barc Tedenhel, Soret's father.
Chapter 15
The short man had lost weight since Adar had last seen him. Barc's belt was ci
nched up over pants that looked like they might fall right off of him and there was blood on his face.
Barc froze when he saw Adar, his hand went to the sword at his side. That too was a change to the man. By the look of it, Adar would venture to say the sword was from one of the Zecarani town guard.
Adar shook his head. Barc had probably picked it up off a dead man. If Barc stuck around Zecarani for long, it would be wise for him to get rid of it. It would only be a matter of time before one of the town guard recognized it for what it was and started making accusations.
Barc's hand rested on the hilt as if he appeared to be thinking of attacking Adar. The absurdity of the situation made it impossible for Adar to keep from smirking. As soon as he felt it forming, he tried to smother it, but he was too late, Barc had already noticed.
The man went red in the face.
Adar held his hands out to the side and approached. Why does everybody from Neberan want to kill me today? He wondered. If anything, we should all be happy about the fact we’re still alive.
Was it a coincidence to find Barc so close to the Arches? Or had he stumbled across Jorad and followed them here?
Adar could make out several scrapes and bruises on Barc, but other than that, Barc looked as though he'd done all right. He had managed to survive two invasions. Maybe the guy was made of sterner stuff than Adar had originally thought.
Barc's eyes narrowed as Adar approached and it looked as though he wasn't going to move his hand. Adar didn't care, he was certain he could take Barc without needing either his sword or blaster. Unlike Erro, Barc hadn’t charged, waving his blade like a lunatic.
By the time that Adar closed the gap, Barc had apparently decided not to risk it because his arms were folded as he scowled at Adar.
“Have you seen Jorad and Soret?” Adar asked.
Barc shook his head. At first, Adar took that as a no, but then he recognized that Barc had been unable to hear him over the ruckus the ship was making. When Adar tried again, Barc held a hand up to his ear and shook his head, yelling something that Adar couldn’t make out as well.
The noise had receded from Adar’s consciousness, but now that he focused on it, he realized that the middle of the alley was no place to have a conversation.
He looked back at the ship. What if there were living Hunwei onboard? He had assumed any Hunwei would be dead, but what if the tower had only been able to bring down the ship, not kill those aboard? Even if it had killed the Hunwei, that didn’t rule out the turncoats.
At any moment, its door might open and the street could flood with the enemy. It was also possible they might know how the other Hunwei had died and would be looking for revenge.
The ship that had escaped probably had a method of communicating with the others. Perhaps they would do something similar to what ship captains did at sea and use mirrors that reflected light to communicate messages.
Adar stared at the ship's door, wondering if it would open. When nothing happened, he shook his head and looked back towards Barc stared at the ship as well, with his hand back on the hilt of his sword. His face was pulled back into a scowl, and his eyes were brimming with tears.
Even though Adar felt like he should be watching the ship to determine if there were living Hunwei inside, he decided learning if Barc knew anything about what had happened to Jorad and Soret was more important.
It couldn't just be coincidence Barc was positioned here on the doorstep of the alley that led to the arch. No, he had to have seen something.
It also isn’t a coincidence his hand went to his sword when he first saw me. Has there been a confrontation between Jorad and Barc as well?
Adar made eye contact with Barc and pointed back down the alley, the safest thing to do was get out of here. It wouldn’t be long before the fire spread. He made a motion with his mouth and pointed to his ears, hopefully communicating his desire to have a conversation with Barc.
It looked as though Barc had noticed what Adar wanted, but he hesitated, staring at the blaster Adar held in his hand. Adar had been careful to keep it pointed away from the man, not wanting him to feel threatened.
Barc nodded and started to move down the alley. Adar looked back at the ship and froze. The door was down, and Hunwei were coming out, some were heading their way at a run. Adar and Barc would never make it out of the alley in time. Cursing, he snagged Barc’s arm and dragged him through the still open door.
He slammed the door shut, trusting that the noise outside would cover it up.
Adar's ears felt as though they were filled with water, but there was an appreciable difference in the noise from outside. He shook his head as he looked around the room. Was there another way out of here?
They were in the living quarters of a family. A table to the left held a broken vase, beyond that was a door that appeared to go to a kitchen. To the right, was a staircase that went up to the next level. He was hoping to find a door at the back, but there was nothing but a wall. He hadn’t paid close attention as he’d traveled down the alley and couldn’t remember what was on the other side of that wall. Had there been an alley or was it right up against another building?
The disarray of the room made it look as though there had been some people here recently.
Adar’s eyes narrowed when he noticed blood on the stairs. The hair on the back of his neck stood on edge when he saw Barc staring at the blood without expression. Whatever it was that had happened, Adar guessed that Barc had been here to witness it firsthand.
Barc's hand went to the dagger on his belt. The subconscious motion made Adar more curious but he didn't see a body nearby, and they needed to find a way out of here.
“Is there another way out?”
“Just the front door.” Barc pointed towards the kitchen. It was in the direction of the ship.
“Confound it. What are you doing here anyway? Have you seen Jorad and Soret? The last time I saw them was in the alley where that ship just crashed.”
“They're dead.” Barc's lips quivered, and he whispered something under his breath that Adar was unable to catch. “I told her not to go with him.” He looked at Adar with bloodshot eyes. “She’d still be alive if it wasn’t for your bleeding son! Melyah send him to the nine fires.”
Adar ignored the outburst as he moved over and put his ear to the door they’d just come through. He thought that he could hear Hunwei stomping down the alley but wondered if it wasn’t just his imagination.
“You saw them die?” Adar frowned, doubting that Jorad was dead. He turned back from the door while trying to stamp down the panic and anger he felt. Despite Barc’s conviction, he wouldn't believe Jorad was dead until he saw a body. An image of Jorad as a boy running through the ballroom of the Rarbon Palace came to mind. It was replaced by tears from his boy at his mother's funeral.
Stop that, Adar thought, learn the facts. Barc might be shrewd with money, but he doesn't know much else.
“You saw them get killed by the Hunwei?” Adar prompted when Barc didn’t respond. “Where are their bodies?”
Adar noticed tears running down Barc's face now, he stared at the bloody stairs again. There was something else there besides sorrow. Guilt? Shame?
“Did they die there?” Adar pointed at the stairs. “Is that Jorad's blood?” He walked over to the stairs and saw a boot print in the blood. He recognized it as the right size and shape for Jorad’s, but that was hardly conclusive. Half the men in the city would have a footprint that size.
Barc looked away and pulled a chair from the table before slumping into it. He sobbed, heaving in and out with great breaths.
Adar’s eyes narrowed. It had been no secret that Barc didn’t like the fact that Jorad had been spending time with Barc's daughter Soret. He’d freely run Jorad down, spreading gossip and rumors. Right before the Hunwei had come, stories had been going around that Jorad was a murderer. Adar had suspected they’d come from Erro, but it wasn’t much of a leap to think Barc might have been the source of some of tho
se as well.
At the very least, he had repeated what he’d heard without attempting to learn about any truth that might have been associated with them.
Barc’s hand was still near his dagger, his hand hovering above it as if he was afraid of touching it but also afraid not to have his hand near it.
“Tell me what happened, Barc.” Adar kept his distance and moved the barrel of his blaster away from Barc when he realized it had been directed right at the man.
Barc didn’t respond as he continued to sob.
“Pull yourself together.” Adar walked over to the door and put his ear to it again. The roar of the engines was all he could hear.
That’s not only the engines, he realized. It’s the fire too! This whole section of town is well on its way to burning.
What if the ship had been damaged beyond repair? What would the Hunwei do then?
Adar thought of the ship the turncoats had taken right after the tower had performed its work. Despite the increasing heat in the room, he felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead as bumps formed on his arms.
The Hunwei might try to collect the ships that were around the town square. How many Hunwei did it take to operate a ship? Would a handful of Hunwei be able to take all of the ships with them?
Adar ground his teeth as he stared at Barc whose sobbing had subsided. That wasn’t going to happen on Adar’s watch.
I’ll go back and arm that old man if I have too, risk Erro shooting me, or Neare stabbing me in the back. Add Kura to that, and there are enough blasters to do some real damage. The Hunwei won’t be expecting us to fight back.
The baby would have to be seen to, they couldn’t very well bring Lars along on something like that.
Barc wiped the tears from his face with a dirty handkerchief he pulled from this pocket, he then used it to clear his nose.
Adar walked over to the man, pulled out a chair and sat in it sideways so he wouldn’t have to remove either his sword or his blasters. He kept the blaster he held pointed at the door, with his one hand on the button and the finger of his other hand on the trigger.