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

  When the turncoat passed, he took a deep silent breath and rolled out. Adar sprung to his feet and plowed into the turncoat’s knees, sending the turncoat sprawling to the cobblestones.

  A man broke from cover behind a nearby building and charged in their direction.

  Was it Barc?

  Unable to determine in the early morning light if the man was coming to help, Adar kept his focus on the turncoat. He and the man would both be dead if the turncoat weren't taken care of first. After that, he would have time to deal with the newcomer.

  Adar had hoped the force of the turncoat’s fall would send the blaster skidding away, but he hadn’t been that lucky.

  The turncoat flipped to his back, bringing up his weapon.

  Adar grabbed hold of the blaster and pointed it away from himself as the turncoat fired. He tried without success to rip it free from the turncoat. The man behind the clear faceplate of the black Hunwei armor grunted with exertion while they wrestled. Adar, who was still on his feet, slammed down atop the turncoat’s chest and tried to leverage the weapon free by yanking the turncoat’s arm around.

  It didn’t work.

  Adar had made his move with enough force it would have snapped the man’s arm if he hadn’t been wearing the protective armor. While Adar hadn’t been expecting to break any bones, he had been hoping to steal the blaster.

  A sword swung past Adar’s face and slammed into the turncoat’s chest plate. It had come within inches of his blistered nose.

  “Watch it—”

  The words died on Adar’s lips when he saw it was Erro, taking with them any hope he might have had it was somebody coming to help him out.

  “Confound it,” Adar said, struggling with the turncoat while he lashed out at Erro’s feet. “You bleeding fool! You’re going to get us both killed.”

  “A price I’d pay!” Erro danced back from Adar, brought up his sword and attacked again. Adar dodged the strike. It hit the turncoat in the head, glancing off the faceplate. Adar fell to the ground as the turncoat released his grasp on the blaster and reached for the blade. It had to have been an involuntary response on the part of the turncoat.

  Adar didn’t have a chance to catch his breath as Erro was already moving to attack again.

  Standing up, Adar used the blaster to block Erro’s sword. He caught a whiff of pig dung as he did.

  A cracking sound sent a chill down Adar’s spine as the blade whisked by his finger. Whatever had been cut off the blaster bounced off Adar’s thigh as he rushed the boy and used the back of the blaster to strike Erro in the head. Holding the blaster with one hand, he yanked the sword away from the boy with other and kicked his feet out from underneath him.

  Erro swore as Adar left him where he fell, flung the smelly sword away, and turned the blaster on the Hunwei. He wasn't surprised nothing happened when he pulled the trigger. That was just the way his luck was running today.

  Erro, you've killed us both, he thought as he ran around to the front of the ship. It wasn’t long before he could hear the turncoat chasing after him. The area where Kura should have been was empty. He glanced about but didn’t find her. Hoping she’d made it safely away, he ran towards the hole in the ship and dove in.

  He heard a blast from outside the ship cut through the air, but he didn’t turn back. He figured that meant there were now two turncoats to deal with. At least one was no longer armed.

  A big metal box was in the hold of the ship that hadn’t been there before. It was ten feet high and fifteen feet long. He took it in but didn’t focus on it as his eyes swept around looking for a stray blaster.

  There has to be something around here, he thought. Before he had been attacked, he’d had three normal blasters and the same number of the smaller one.

  A thudding sound came from within the box, but he ignored it because the turncoat was now just outside the hole.

  He was about to run up the ladder, intending to head to the weapons cache, when he saw the hilt of his sword on the far side of the box and ran towards it. Footsteps on the grate behind him let him know that the turncoat was now inside the ship as well.

  I should have just gone up the ladder. It was too late now to change directions.

  When he turned the corner, he was relieved to see his blasters were beside his sword.

  More thumping came from the box, and he heard a voice on the other side that registered as human. He wasn’t able to make out the words as he snatched up a blaster and flipped back towards the turncoat.

  The unarmed turncoat saw the blaster and snarled, taking a step back. He smiled when Adar pulled the trigger and nothing happened.

  Flinging the weapon away, Adar reached for one of the other blasters, but the turncoat kicked it from his grasp and followed it up with a kick to his side. The move knocked the air from Adar’s lungs as he grabbed onto one of the smaller weapons.

  Moving quickly, the turncoat picked up the blaster Adar had tossed aside and aimed it Adar. The turncoat’s smile told Adar all that he needed to know, he rolled out of the way just as a blast from the weapon hit the floor and burned a hole in the grate.

  Adar brought up the small blaster and fired a shot into the turncoat’s chest. The man’s face wrenched in pain as he screamed.

  Chapter 26

  Kura wanted to stab Adar with a dagger as he took off. Stay? Look captive? His actions had unfortunately caught her off guard, and she had no choice but to do as he said. She closed her eyes until they were slits, so she looked asleep but could still make out what was happening above her.

  It gave her a great view of the starry sky and not much else. A lazy trail of smoke danced above. She could make it out as it twisted and turned, almost looking playful. It was in stark contrast to everything else around it.

  Adar’s boots crunched against the cobblestones as the much heavier boots of the Hunwei ran towards her. Biting down on her teeth and imagining Adar with a knife sticking out of his eye, she held her breath and counted to thirty. Her heart beat three times for every count. The heavier footsteps slowed to as stop as the monster came and stood over her.

  Through the slits of her eyes, she recognized a human face that looked down at her. It took an effort to keep still as her chest began to hurt. Surely, this man could see the sweat beading up on her forehead?

  She let out a breath as if she were asleep and after a pause took in another.

  The human Hunwei chased after Adar. She waited until the count of five before opening her eyes and turning to her side to see if the way was clear.

  I’m going to be killed, she thought, as she sat up and reached for the rope at her feet. She hadn’t made much progress before Adar had pushed her down and told her not to move. Her shoulder blade had landed wrong and twinged with pain as she worked on the knots. No doubt, a bruise was forming to go with all the others she had picked up today.

  After the events of last night, she was surprised she’d come through it all so easily. She was just shrugging off the rope when Adar called out. His yell was followed by blaster fire.

  Hoping he hadn’t been hit, she bounced to her feet and made as if to run to him. She stopped dead in her tracks before going more than a couple of steps.

  What would she do when she caught up to Adar? Die with him?

  Instead, she surveyed the field. Adar had never explained to her how he’d come by the blasters, but it was easy enough to figure out. After the Hunwei had burned to death, he’d picked up weapons off the corpses.

  Dead Hunwei were all over the town square.

  She ran to the closest and found four dead Hunwei. Two had fallen on top of one another, and their armor had fused together. One of their blasters was in between the two bodies and broke in half as she tried to pull it free. The piece she pulled out was still warm. She tossed it to the side.

  After hesitating, she touched the armor of the closest body. It was cool. When she reached to touch the place where the armor had joined, she pulled her hand back before making contact.
It was too hot to touch.

  She found another blaster beside one of the other bodies, but the Hunwei had been holding it as he died and the weapon was fused to his hand. She couldn’t find the other blasters. Perhaps this was where Adar had got some of his.

  More blaster fire cut the early morning air, and it sounded like somebody had taken a sword and was attacking a boulder. Whoever it was didn’t have long to live.

  Cursing, she ran to another group of Hunwei and found all the blasters either destroyed or fused to the armor of the Hunwei. It wasn’t until the fourth group that she found a whole blaster.

  As she bent over to reach for it, a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

  “Why’d you let him kill Tate?” Isak was red in the face, and his hair was askew. His white silk shirt was torn and covered in enough ash she wouldn’t have known its original color if she wouldn’t have already been familiar with it. “You had the chance to stop him but let it happen.”

  “Is that was Billy told you?” Kura ripped her arm free. “He left out the part where Tate was trying to force himself on me yet again.” Isak scowled. “That’s right. Again. I’m tired of you blaming me. Even before you tossed me aside, you could never accept you were wrong. Everything that went bad with us was my fault.” She stopped for a breath. “I did not kill your brother. He was trying to force himself on me.” She paused. “Again!”

  “Why would he use force? You’ve gone willingly before.”

  “That isn’t true. I know you don’t believe it, but I’ll say it until the day I die. You walked in and only believed him. Well, I’ve told you all I can. You need any more proof, start with Billy. This time, Tate brought the blathering fool to help out, he knew I’m no easy meat.”

  “Stop lying!”

  “I’m not. You saw my black eye and the scratches down his chest. I wasn’t trying to express my affection for the man.”

  “I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

  “Look at him?” Kura snorted. “Have you seen your brother? A goat wouldn’t want him. A pig would turn her nose up at him. No, I only ever had eyes for you. I know you don’t believe that and with time, I’ll come to accept that.”

  “Enough! Where is the man that killed him?”

  Kura almost sent him after Adar.

  She thought of Isak approaching the ship and having a blast rip through his body. She wasn’t surprised the idea of it filled her with terror. She could never go back to Isak, but that wasn’t a reason to send him to his death.

  Isak, for all his faults, had always been kind to her. Even after finding her with Tate, he’d beaten Tate to a bloody pulp but had never laid a finger on her.

  He had ended their engagement and scared away the tavern’s customers. That had almost been worse.

  “Are you angry somebody else killed Tate before you could? Or are you seeking vengeance? If you’re looking for people to blame, start with Billy. I’d have killed Tate myself if Billy hadn’t been there holding me down.”

  “Where is he?” Isak’s voice was cold, and the emotion that had been there before was gone. He’d done that as well, just before he’d told her to leave him and Tate.

  This was when Isak was at his most dangerous. Not only did his willingness to kill come out, he rarely ever made a misstep when he got like this.

  In response, Kura kneed Isak in the groin. Or at least, tried to. He saw it coming and turned so that she caught his thigh. She spun away to run, but he snagged a hold of her shoulder.

  For a brief second, Isak was about to hit her. She could see it coming and braced for the impact, but he stopped short of carrying through with it. Instead, he took hold of her other arm as well and pulled her towards an overturned wagon cart she hadn’t noticed in her hurry to find a blaster.

  Billy was there along with Kane Cupli, and Frander Deor.

  “Where are the others?” Isak asked nobody in particular. “They should have been here by now. I was clear about meeting in front of the governor's mansion.”

  “Maybe they’re having a hard time seeing as how it’s destroyed,” Kura said. “Some of your men aren’t the brightest.” She looked at Billy as she spoke. If he realized she was referring to him, his face didn’t show it.

  “It’s not too late to run,” Kane said, rubbing his hand along the scar on his arm. Kura knew him well enough to know it was an anxious habit of his. He had refused to tell her how’d he’d come by the old wound but she’d heard as a kid his father had been prone to fits of rage.

  “Don’t suggest it again.” Isak’s voice was still cool but had an edge to it. “This is our town. We don’t run. I don’t care if the Hunwei send a hundred more ships. You saw what happened to them. Zecarani protected us.”

  “Against some, but not all.” Everybody looked at Kura. “They have humans on their side too. Kane’s right, we need to go.”

  “The city will save us again.” Isak pushed her forward, towards the ship she'd just come from, with Billy and the others close behind. She went without a fight until they were beside the bodies of the dead Hunwei. The blaster was hidden in the shadows, but it hadn't been her imagination. It was there.

  She stomped down on Isak's foot, twisted free and lunged for the weapon. Hands closed around her legs as she grabbed it and flipped to her back. She sat up and pointed the weapon at Isak. He was kneeling and took hold of her legs again. Her sudden movement knocked him back.

  “You going to shoot me?” His voice was cold, so very cold. Just behind the distant edge of it, she could sense the wrath that he kept at bay. Like a fire that was burning inside a building but hadn't yet broken free.

  “I'm not—”

  A hole appeared in Frander's chest as he cried out. Another blast took Kane as well. Billy dove out of the way as a shot sailed through the space he had been mere seconds before.

  She and Isak had been in front of the others. If she wouldn't have done what she did, both she and Isak...

  She let the thought go. The look of shock on Isak's face sent a chill down her spine. He was usually in control, it was unnerving to see him afraid.

  A Hunwei appeared out of the shadows, and Kura pointed the weapon and pulled the trigger. As the monster fell, she realized she'd shot right over Isak's head. He'd gone pale, expecting that she had been about to put an end to him.

  She reached out and touched his hand, he was still touching her shins, but the grip had faded away. He looked up, anger rekindling in his eyes.

  “Honestly, Isak. If I'd have wanted your brother, I would have made sure to end it with you. I know you never forgive. Can you set it aside?” Even though it was foolish, she couldn’t repress the feeling of hope she had growing in her chest.

  “I know what I saw.”

  “You bitter, blind fool.” Kura stood. Wanting nothing more than to bash him over the head with her blaster. Maybe force could convince him of a truth that he was unwilling to see. She bent down, intent on telling him to his face to leave her alone as a blast flew over her back.

  She dove forward, realizing how close she'd come to death—again—and brought up her blaster. The area around them was calm, and she couldn't tell where the shot had come from. Cursing, she moved over beside Isak who was on his stomach as well. She could hear Billy scrambling as he made his way back to the overturned wagon.

  “You see them?” She asked.

  Isak scowled. “Perhaps the Hunwei will do what I cannot.”

  She almost did take the blaster and whack him over the head at that, but she bit her lip and kept looking around, using the Hunwei bodies for cover. It would have been just her luck that the Hunwei spotted the movement and killed her before she'd had the satisfaction of hearing Isak howl with pain.

  “So you want me dead but can’t do it yourself.” She shook her head. “I keep asking why I didn’t see you for who you are. It’s so obvious now, how could I have been so blind before?”

  There he is, she thought as she looked through a gap in the Hunwei corpses
, feeling a little foolish for not having spotted the Hunwei earlier.

  The monster had hidden among a pile of the dead as well. While all the others were on their back, he was on his stomach with the blaster pointed their direction. He must have been behind the Hunwei Kura had killed and had gone to ground right after it had happened.

  She pressed the button and was about to pull back on the trigger when she spotted a group of Hunwei moving behind her target.

  They weren't heading towards her, but she decided to wait until they passed. There was no sense calling attention to themselves if unnecessary.

  Isak's breathing returned to normal. When his arm brushed up against her, she had to force herself to not recoil.

  “He's right in front of us,” Kura said. “Hiding among the dead. I won’t have a clear shot unless I move up.”

  Isak nodded his head. With another man, there might have been a flippant comment about how he had already spotted the monster and was waiting to see if she would find him too.

  That wasn't how Isak worked. He gave credit where it was due, even to a woman. One of this few redeeming qualities.

  “I'm going to find and kill the man that murdered Tate. If you help me, I’ll take it as a sign of good faith that your story about Tate is true.”

  Kura snorted, she knew a lie when she heard one. “I'd only do that if I wanted you dead. I've watched this man kill. He's reckless and fearless. The only thing you'll accomplish is dying the same way Tate did. Come with me, we'll flee the city. Start fresh.”

  The words left her mouth before she could stop them and she cringed. She didn’t really mean that, did she? She was about to take them back until she realized Isak appeared to be considering them.

  He was quiet for a long moment. “Tate must be avenged.”

  Tears welled up in Kura's eyes, but she blinked them back. “You're going to die. He knows you're chasing him. With a man like that, it won't be long before he's hunting you.”

  Isak nodded his head as if to say that was exactly what he wanted. Kura took her hand off the trigger, while keeping an eye on the Hunwei, and brushed it across Isak's hand.