War of the Fathers: War of the Fathers Universe: Volumes One - Three Box Set (War of the Fathers Series Box Set Book 1)

by Dan Decker

  Melyah be cursed if she didn’t have a dry roof over her head before that happened. If she hadn't known Lars’ mother, she would have forced Adar to take him.

  Bleeding Melyah send me to the nine burning bleeding fires.

  She took a deep breath and let out a low, quiet growl, this time, her frustration was aimed at herself. She would not ever abandon a helpless babe to fend for himself. That had just been her anger talking.

  Increasing the pace of her stride, she soon came to an intersecting street. She let out a sigh as she looked carefully around the corner before turning onto the roadway. While it was a small comfort to have the blaster, it wasn’t going to do her much good because it required both hands to hold Lars. The weapon required both to shoot. How was she going to fight if it came down to it?

  The street was clear, but she hesitated for several heartbeats to make sure. Once she moved out, she kept to the side, ready to hide at the slightest hint of somebody else turning onto the street. She would assume anybody she encountered reported to Isak until she knew otherwise. It was the safest thing to do.

  Her eyes went from a bush before one home, to a flower garden in front of another, looking for places to hide. She couldn’t help but wonder if some of Isak’s men hadn’t just gone to cover, lying in wait for her to pass.

  The first time Isak had come to her father’s tavern and she’d fetched him an ale, his smile had been warm. She searched her memory of the incident, hoping to notice something she’d missed before, something she could look for the next time. Not all men were cold, calculating motherless mongrels, but it was hard to tell the good ones from the bad.

  She tried to push away the memory. She’d been through it a hundred times and was certain it would take at least a hundred more before she was satisfied that there hadn’t been some giveaway, or something else she had missed that she could use to protect herself the next time.

  Her father had always said the more a man smiled, the less she should trust him. She’d lost count of the number of times that had proven untrue but was that perhaps part of the reason why she’d been drawn to Isak. The man hardly ever laughed or joked. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen him crack a grin.

  Shaking her head and looking down at Lars, who still had a smile on his face and was flapping his hand against her shoulder, she stoked her resolve to find Donni and return the boy to his mother.

  If Donni were even still alive, it would be a miracle. Kura didn’t want to think about what she’d do if something had happened to Donni. Lars’ father had died before he was born. Donni was from out of town, but Kura couldn’t remember where Donni had lived before moving here.

  She’s alive. Kura told herself, willing it to be true.

  After she’d found Donni, maybe she really would go to meet Adar. She’d take Donni, her sister, and anybody else she could find with her. She wanted to think she would go to meet Adar just to see if he would come—she was curious about whether he could take a ship—but she knew there was more to it than that.

  There hadn’t been much of an opportunity to think about it yet, but Zecarani was done, that much was obvious. She didn’t have any idea why the Hunwei had all stopped in their tracks and burned to death, but she had a suspicion it wouldn’t be long before others would come to find out what had gone wrong.

  The smartest thing to do would be to leave the city. Adar did seem to be more capable of a man than most. He hadn’t hesitated to use his blaster to kill Isak’s men. He also had the presence of mind to hand her a weapon and show her how to use it. She couldn’t think of many men she could say that about.

  Why is he half-insane though? She couldn’t shake the memory of him blackened with soot, trying to convince that other man to help him in his crazy, ill-conceived plan.

  Kura had been furious when she’d seen Adar appear out of the midst of the fire. When she’d seen the alley become engulfed in flame, she had feared for his life, yet had continued to wait, hoping that he’d made it through and would return from a different direction.

  As Adar had stumbled out, hacking and coughing, her blood had boiled. What was the fool man trying to do, get himself killed? In her experience, men were much more likely to make such a stupid move. A woman would have seen the approaching fire and left long before it had become a danger. She shouldn’t have been so surprised that a man would have waited until the last minute to make a run for it.

  He had seen there were flames on the buildings lining the alley and run headlong towards them anyway without a second thought.

  Honestly Kura, she thought to herself, this is just like Isak all over again. A strong man that seems to want to do the right thing. You can’t help but abandon all caution and trust him, even when he starts talking about ridiculous things. A hidden way out of the city? Needing to capture a Hunwei ship?

  Well, there had been enough of that.

  In fact, there had been too much of it. She had a weapon of her own that could kill men and Hunwei alike. Adar had made it sound so simple: point, press the button and shoot. But then he’d shown her exactly how it worked when they had been attacked. She was surprised it had been just like he’d said.

  She had recognized all but one of the men Adar had killed and had even known one by name. The world wasn’t going to miss Sanwal Smyth and neither would she, but she knew that not all of the others had been bad men.

  Some who worked for Isak didn’t have a clue about his hidden dealings and the way he didn’t shy away from threats or brute force to get what he wanted. Others knew and willingly went along with it. She had always suspected there were some who had been blackmailed into joining his organization, but she’d never seen proof of it firsthand.

  Kura growled again while shaking her head. Here she was, running for her life, with an innocent babe that was depending on her for protection, and she was focusing more on Isak instead of her own miserable desperate circumstances.

  She took her bearings on the next street and headed towards Donni’s home at a fast pace. It felt good to have the heat of the fire behind her, but the smell of smoke still hung heavy in the air. With every footstep she went from the fires, the stench of the dead Hunwei became that much more potent.

  It was enough to make a woman gag. She focused on breathing through her mouth and really did begin to choke. She could taste the smell. That couldn’t just be her imagination.

  It’s fine, she thought. I can do this and much more. I don’t need Isak. Or Adar. She gritted her teeth as she thought about how she had waited for Adar to come back. Hadn’t she promised herself she was done being that type of person?

  As a child and well into adulthood, she had always been the dutiful daughter and done what her father had asked, right up until his passing. She could have struck out into the world on her own, but she’d chosen to stay and help run the tavern.

  Wasn’t she still the woman who had continued to run the place after her father had died? Several men had tried to marry her just so they could have the tavern, but she’d fended off their advances.

  Her only mistake had been Isak. If she hadn't been lulled into complacency by the fair promises he’d made and his gentle way of dealing with her, she would have been better prepared for everything that had happened.

  She continued to stew about the time she wasted waiting for Adar, he’d gone back on what he’d said about leaving right away and now had a crazy plan that was going to leave him dead. What kind of madness was this?

  Had the whole world gone insane? Just two weeks ago, she’d been betrothed and planning a wedding to one of the most influential men in all of Zecarani.

  She shuddered, thinking of the hard lines on Isak’s face when he’d discovered her and Tate. She’d tried to explain, but Isak was one who trusted his view of an event rather than let another person tell their side.

  Tate had intentionally made matters worse. Isak had refused to acknowledge what the bruises on her face and those up and down her arms had meant. At le
ast, Tate had got what was coming to him in the end. She only wished she could have been the one that had done it. She hated feeling like she owed Adar.

  Well, she was better off without any of them.

  The old Kura, the one who had run the tavern while carrying a club to fend off the drunks, that was who she needed to be. She thought of the night Timie had had too much to drink and had taken a swing at her when she’d told him to stop touching her. Many of the other patrons had been impressed when she’d held her own using only an empty pitcher. Some of the others that had been getting handsy as well had backed off. She’d even overheard one man refer to her as Kura Head Splitter. He’d been half-drunk and likely hadn’t remembered uttering the words the next day, but it had stuck with her.

  The name made her smile, even now.

  Why in the nine burning fires was it so confounded hard to find her way back to being that person? Had Isak damaged her so badly she could no longer be herself?

  “No!”

  It took her several seconds to realize she’d spoken the words aloud.

  Melyah be cursed! She hadn’t just said it, she had yelled it. She looked around, afraid she would see Isak’s men approaching. The road continued to remain clear, the only sounds came from the rain pattering on the roof of the homes that lined the street and the rustle of leaves from a nearby tree.

  Lars, let out a squawk.

  Kura bounced him on her side without slowing down. She didn’t know exactly where she was, but she couldn’t have been more than a few blocks away from Donni’s place. She covered the ground as quick as she dared, continually watchful.

  A few minutes later, she went into hiding to let a group of men pass. She knew a couple by sight but couldn't recall if she’d ever seen them with Isak. That didn’t stop her from remaining behind the cover of a fence that was overgrown with weeds until they passed.

  Just as the men turned the corner, Lars fussed and she cringed. Please let them leave it alone, she prayed. Without thinking about it, she shoved the knuckle of her forefinger into his mouth, hoping that would keep him quiet.

  It only served to further agitate the boy.

  As she’d bounced him in her lap, her thighs were past feeling as water continued to soak through her breeches from the wet grass. She cursed when she realized his lips were beginning to turn blue. She stood up only to find herself looking into the eyes of the men that had just passed.

  “See, what did I tell you, Rory?” said a man she’d didn’t know. He was tall and half a decade younger than her by the looks of him. “I said we should find the crying babe and you said to ignore it. Well, turns out that the crying babe was being tended to by the very Kura Maver we were sent out to find.”

  “Shut up,” said another much older man who Kura decided was Rory. “Now look here miss, Isak sent us for your protection.”

  Kura snorted, wanting to run, but afraid her feet weren't going to work. “Protection? Is that what Tate was trying to do to me while Billy held me down? I’m going to give you to the count of three to run. Otherwise, I will kill you.”

  That earned laughs from the men, several of whom hooted in derision.

  “What ya going to do?” Hollered a gangly man with a misshapen head. “Throw the baby at us?”

  “Come along quietly,” Rory said. “All you have to do is come along. We’ll see to the rest.”

  I am Kura Head Splitter.

  The laughter and mocking continued as Kura set Lars on the ground, holding him until he was stable enough on his feet to stand on his own. By the time she was done, several of the men had started to make for the gate.

  The laughter died when Kura pulled up the blaster from over her shoulder.

  “Now what’s a pretty little thing like you doing with a thing like that.” Rory held out his hands. “Better hand that over before you do something to hurt yourself.”

  The man with the misshapen head put his hand on the gate and moved to open it.

  I’m still the same woman! Kura screamed inwardly, in defiance of what Rory and the others had been lead to believe about her. She covered the button on the front just as she'd done before, pointed it at the gangly man, and pulled the trigger.

  The sound of the blaster sent a shudder down her back, and she cried out when the man’s hand was severed from his body. It thunked against the gate as it fell. The gangly man let out a howl and clutched at his arm. It should have bled, but it didn’t. Instead, a small cloud of ashes filled the space.

  Clamping down her teeth, she spun the blaster on the others, most of whom were already running in the opposite direction. Rory stared at her, stunned at what she had done. Satisfied with the surprise that registered on his face, she forced a smile. When she shook the blaster, he spun around and took off after the others.

  A chuckle broke out of her mouth, and she was immediately ashamed. The gangly man was hopping from foot to foot, shrieking.

  She slung the blaster over her back and bent to pick up Lars as another blast cut through the air.

  Adar, she thought. So the man followed me after all. She forgot whatever it was she had been about to say when she straightened up, slinging Lars over her hip.

  A squad of Hunwei stood over the body of the man she’d wounded, a big hole had been burnt through his chest. One of the Hunwei turned, and she was surprised to see the face of a man looking back out at her, just like the one Adar had killed back at her tavern.

  She turned to run but found two more coming at her from behind. One of the men in Hunwei armor clamped onto her arm while the other ripped away her blaster. When Lars screamed out in terror, she clutched him to her chest and gritted her teeth to keep from screaming herself.

  Chapter 19

  The front of the town hall was all but destroyed. Adar was relieved to see that the back of the structure near where the archives were located still stood firm. He intended to go back into the archives to poke around if he got a chance, there hadn’t been time to explore during any of his previous visits. The rest of the building was on its last legs. It looked weak enough that the smallest of breezes should be enough to topple it.

  It must be sturdier than it looks, Adar thought when the wind picked up, and the remaining part of the destroyed structure didn’t move.

  A Hunwei ship had crashed into the field before the town hall and slammed into the building. The small side door Adar had used when leaving the town hall earlier in the day was still standing, but the great double doors were not, they had been shattered by the impact.

  A large piece of the great door lay on the ground not far from where Adar knelt, peeking out of the open door of an empty home. The great doors had been works of art. It saddened him to see them lying in pieces.

  The same could be said for the town hall itself. It was a relic of the ages past. It was a shame it had made it through the invasion only to be taken out now. It may have taken more than a decade to build, but it had been destroyed in the blink of an eye.

  The domed roof over the great meeting hall had caved in. Adar had noted it had suffered a lot of damage when he had passed through the large room earlier in the day, right after the tower had been activated. At least something had still been there. Now the whole of it was gone. It had stood for more than a thousand years and was gone in an instant.

  Smoke still rose from the pile of burning Hunwei bodies that had blocked his path earlier. The flames had died down, and it was possible to see bits of the armor pointing out here and there, but much of it had melted as it slowly formed into a single mass.

  The church building right next to the burning Hunwei that had looked like it was about to catch fire was still standing. A large section of the wall of the church had blackened, but it had never caught fire. Before Adar could wonder about it, a man appeared in a window just above the blackened area and lifted up a bucket. He carefully poured water out of the pail so that it slid down the wall. When he was done, he brought up a second bucket and did the same thing.

  Adar s
miled, wondering whether the man knew that he had saved more than his house. He had probably saved the town square as well.

  From Adar’s vantage point, he could only see the back of the ship that had plowed into the town hall. It was considerably smaller than the one that had taken out the Arches. If the engines had been working when it landed, they weren't working now. There also didn’t appear to be any flame in the rubble.

  Another small mercy, Adar thought, wondering how much longer their luck could hold. Several other smaller piles of dead armored Hunwei still burned throughout the square, but they weren’t located near anything that would threaten the rest of surrounding area.

  It all might go up in flame anyway. If the wind didn’t let up, the fire back at the entrance to the Arches would spread, and there wouldn’t be a building left standing by this time tomorrow.

  If he hadn't had to deal with the Hunwei, Adar would have done something about these other fires. Chances were that throwing water on the burning Hunwei remains would accomplish little, but perhaps volunteers could have been found to keep the ground around the other fires damp.

  Barc peered through a window of the home where they hid, without parting the curtains. He understands the need for caution, Adar thought. I'll give him that much.

  Barc looked over when Adar made a motion for him to come to the door, but Barc turned back to the window while shaking his head. His face was pale. The anger hadn’t lasted much longer than the time it had taken to run through several city blocks.

  Adar resisted shaking his head as he turned his attention back to the town square. I played the bit about Barc’s wife too soon. I should have saved it until right before it was necessary.

  As he looked at the ship, Adar was painfully conscious of the fact that he'd armed Barc with a weapon that could kill with a touch of a button.

  I intentionally stoked his anger, gave him a weapon, and told him to follow me. Melyah, I must be mad! It won’t be much of a mystery if he decides he’s better off without me and sends me to the eternal worlds to meet the makers.