Horde (Enclave Series)

by Ann Aguirre

  “Happy now? Can I go back out there?” Even as the words spewed out in that tone, I knew my brother deserved better than this.

  To his credit, he only nodded. “Let’s keep looking.”

  More bodies rolled beneath my hands, more dead faces to haunt my dreams. Beside me, Rex was grim and silent, but I was glad to have him. With Tegan tirelessly treating patients and the men looking for their own friends and loved ones, I’d be alone otherwise. And without his calm determination, I might be screaming and tearing out my hair. We’d been searching for some time and it was starting to get dark when Gavin rushed at us.

  The brat was so breathless he could barely talk, so the words juddered out in fits and starts. “Deuce, this way … please. Hurry.”

  His urgency was contagious. I pushed to my feet and stumbled after him, the riverbank a mass of bodies, so much death. There were small forms, the Gulgur, and larger ones: Uroch wearing armbands, townsfolk with hoes beside them, and the fallen men of Company D. The stench was becoming dreadful. If we didn’t do something about the corpses, they’d poison the river, ruining the tranquil beauty I’d so admired. Rex ran behind me, steadier on his feet.

  I hoped with all my heart for good news.

  Ahead of us, Gavin led the way with the bloody banner still flying in the wind. The brat ran lopsided, but if he was capable of moving on his own, then he was low on the list of people Tegan needed to see. There were so many who wouldn’t last the night, maybe including Morrow. My own injuries cracked and stung as I churned the earth, trying to keep up.

  When the boy stopped, he stood beside a lean figure sprawled upon the ground. And there was so much blood, so much, all over his face, that I was afraid to look closer. As I braced to scream, Fade opened his eyes.

  Relief drowned me, and I lost my breath. “You promised you’d be on your feet.”

  Memorial

  It took thirty-two stitches to put Fade back together. While Tegan sewed, I hovered and paced, shadowed by Rex, who seemed to think I might do something drastic. Mercifully, Fade passed out before she finished. Her eyes were bleak as she raised her head.

  “This wound could be tricky.”

  “Give me everything that Doc used on you. I’ll take care of him and fight the infection.”

  Without another word of protest, as she had other patients to tend, Tegan handed me a collection of dried herbs and bottled remedies. I listened to her instructions, memorized them, and then turned to Rex. “I need your help getting him to Rosemere. We can’t stay here.”

  In reply, my brother swung the man I loved up into his arms, and we left the medical tent, leaving Tegan to hover over Morrow and wait for the next soldier to be carried in. Gavin went with us, and I was eager to escape the smell of death. Flies were thick in the air, buzzing in the reeds and laying eggs in something I didn’t want to see. Rex shouted to a boatman; they were in constant motion, ferrying supplies and wounded back and forth across the water. I was desperate for the sanctuary Rosemere represented. Though there might not be any danger on the mainland, I needed to get away from the battlefield.

  The fisherman came in response to Rex’s call. He couldn’t come all the way to shore, lest his boat founder, so we waded out, and I helped my brother lift Fade into the boat. Gavin clambered in on his own, the banner still in his hand. It looked more like a rag, smeared with mud and blood, but my symbol was still discernable in the center. Wearily I climbed aboard myself, and the man sailed us silently back to the Evergreen Isle. On the docks, the fishermen chattered about the battle and more volunteers had assembled to help with the wounded.

  Our boatman went back out, along with two more, in case they were needed. Villagers peppered me with questions and I answered in a monotone, thinking only of getting Fade to safety. Just when I was about to lose my temper, Stone shouldered through the crowd, his handsome face lighting with relief when he saw me.

  “I can take him,” Stone said, but my brother shook his head.

  It must have been a matter of pride since Rex had to be as exhausted as I was. With Stone leading the way, I trudged to his cottage, where Thimble stood with Robin balanced on her hip. She stepped back and made room, her face creased with worry.

  “How bad is it?” she asked. There was no answering that yet, so I kept quiet, and she turned her attention to Gavin and Rex, who seemed pleased by her care. “If you’d like to wash up out back, I’ll feed you, then you can rest in the loft.”

  Stone carried Fade into Robin’s room; it was small, little more than a nook, but large enough for a narrow bed with a feather mattress. He laid him down and said, “Robin will be fine with us for a few nights. Do you need anything?”

  “Some soap and water. Clean bandages.”

  As he left, I stripped Fade out of his torn and ragged clothes. He had a number of less serious slashes on his shoulders and chest, none as serious as the wound on his side. My stomach clenched when I thought of Tegan pinching his muscle together and sewing tight, before stitching another layer in his skin. Stone returned with the supplies I’d requested and I washed Fade from head to toe. Mercifully, he was still unconscious.

  It never occurred to me that he could die, even when his fever spiked later that night. He sweated and thrashed while I bathed him and plied him with the treatments Tegan had provided. There were special teas and poultices to draw out infection before it deepened. While I tended Fade, others buried the dead, burned the Freak corpses, and cleared the battlefield. I didn’t sleep much; a blanket on the floor beside his bed didn’t offer much comfort, but I had to be close enough to hold his hand. I was convinced as long as I didn’t let go of him, his fever would break and his body would heal. I might’ve been delusional by that point from lack of sleep and food, but there was no budging me. Thimble tried, but I snarled at her, and she backed out of the room.

  On the third day, Thimble came to the doorway again. “How is he?”

  “Better, I think. Have you heard anything about Morrow?”

  “Tegan’s with him at the governor’s place. He nearly died in the night, but she opened one of his wounds and brought him back.”

  “Multiple infections?” That explained why she hadn’t checked on us.

  She nodded soberly. “Why didn’t you tell us about the battle, Deuce?”

  “Because I knew you’d fight. So would Stone. You both feel like you need to make amends with me, and you have Robin to think about, which is more important than guilt.”

  “Topside’s been good for you,” she said, smiling. “You’re smarter than you used to be.”

  “I understand more how people think now. It doesn’t always make me happy.” I thought of Stalker when I said it, and melancholy twisted my heart.

  Fade moaned then and I spooned some water down his throat. Thimble tiptoed out. Fade’s lips were dry and pale, his cheeks flagged with color. Knowing it would hurt him, I changed the dressing on his wound. It was seeping a little as Tegan had warned, but the poultices kept it from swelling up and turning red. I made more of the black goop and smeared it down the stitches; it didn’t look clean or healthy, but she’d promised that was what Doc Tuttle said had saved her life. And after it dried, it smelled horrible, like it was really drawing out the impurities. I washed it off and started all over again with the bandages.

  My monthly started the next day, which Momma Oaks had told me meant I wasn’t breeding. That was a relief; and I made a mental note to ask her how to prevent brats when I saw her next. It wasn’t that I was against the idea, but I wanted us to be ready when we had our own. With him so hurt, it sure wasn’t the time.

  Five days passed in more or less the same fashion, but that night, his fever broke. And when his eyes opened, they were clear as the night sky; and he knew me. I wasn’t even surprised, just overcome with love and satisfaction, as if my stubbornness had any impact on his health. His beautiful mouth curved into a smile.

  “You look awful,” he whispered.

  “Then we’re a matched s
et.”

  “My side feels like somebody’s branded me with hot irons.”

  “I’m not surprised. A Freak talon opened you up.”

  He pushed out a breath, then reached for me. The movement prompted a cry of pain, so I scrambled onto the edge of the bed. “Stop, I’m here. I haven’t left you for a single minute.”

  “I remember the battle … and seeing the Gulgur dodging around, slinging stones. They’re not fierce, but they’re annoying. I killed a lot of Freaks who were dumb enough to chase them.”

  I nodded, smiling. “They pulled their weight. I wonder if Jengu’s still out there.”

  “I hope so.” He winced, probing the stitches with his fingertips, and I stilled them by covering his hand with mine. “After our reinforcements arrived, I got careless. I tried to reach you, but I must’ve blacked out.”

  “Gavin found you. I had been looking all day.”

  “I owe him, then.” Fade shifted to favor his injured flank and drew me close. I must have smelled awful, but compared with the stuff slathered on his wound, maybe he didn’t notice.

  “So do I.”

  For the first time in days, I curled up and went to sleep. He improved steadily after that, enough to stay awake for hours at a time, eat on his own, and drink endless cups of herbal tea that Thimble claimed would hasten his recovery and Fade said tasted like weeds. I relaxed enough to take a bath and brush my hair.

  “How’s Morrow?” I asked, the first time Tegan came by.

  “Healing, slower than Fade.”

  The deep shadows under her eyes said she was nursing him with the same care I’d granted Fade, but she probably didn’t realize what that meant yet. I wondered how long it would take for her to figure out that she loved him. She had help from his family, however, whereas I was like a mother bear with a single cub; I’d snarled and threatened to take the hand off anyone who came near my man.

  “How many are left of Company D?”

  “I’ve been going through Morrow’s journal while I tend him. Less than seventy.”

  I bowed my head for a few seconds. “I need all their names.”

  “I’ll put Sands on it.” Soon after, Tegan left.

  Only one of Stalker’s original scouts had survived the battle. Since he’d been with us from the beginning, Sands would likely know the names of the dead and where they’d come from. Time for me to keep my promise. A little food and sleep had worked wonders, especially since I knew I could cross the river, and there was nothing much to fear anymore.

  The next day, Fade protested when I kissed his forehead and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

  He tried to follow me, but he wasn’t strong enough. A blue streak of cursing ensued, quickly staunched when Thimble stuck her head in the room wearing a ferocious scowl. “If my son picks up that language from you, Fade, there will be a reckoning.”

  “Let me come with you.” Fade’s desperate voice followed me, and I turned.

  “You need to heal … and I need to get this done before the first snow. Don’t worry. This is the last time we’ll be apart. That’s my promise to you.”

  He didn’t like it, but he settled against his pillows. I ran back and kissed him properly, just to give him some motivation, then I hurried out of the cottage, knowing I couldn’t linger or my resolve would falter. I didn’t look forward to this task, but my conscience would plague me if I didn’t give these families the news about their loved ones. They deserved to know what happened, why their sons and daughters were never coming home.

  After a little searching, I found Rex in the pub with Spence. Morgan had taken my request seriously, and before he’d left, he assigned my brother to look after Spence because he wasn’t even half sane after Tully’s death, and he still sought ways to do himself harm. I hoped his grief would ease in time.

  “When Fade’s better,” I said to them both, “I need you to take him to Soldier’s Pond. Wagon is fine. I’ll come as soon as I finish one last thing.”

  “Carrying word.” Spence’s blue eyes were flat and sad.

  I agreed that was so. “Will you?”

  “We’ll take care of him,” Rex promised.

  Thimble met me at the cottage door with my pack; she was every bit as resourceful as I remembered from our days down below. She must’ve figured I’d be heading out as soon as possible, better to get the grim journey out of the way. I hugged her tight, but I didn’t say good-bye. Now that I knew they were here, I’d be back. I just had some traveling to do first.

  To my surprise, Gavin met me at the docks. He still had the Company D banner, but he’d taken it off the pole, and he wore it around his shoulders like a cape. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he looked ridiculous; he seemed so proud of the dirty, disreputable thing. Maybe Momma Oaks could sew him a proper cloak when we got to Soldier’s Pond, possibly with our emblem, if it would make him happy.

  “I’m going with you,” he told me.

  I didn’t try to talk him out of it. “You know it’ll be a long, sad trip.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  The survivors of the company had split up while I tended Fade, leaving Rosemere in twos and threes, to return to their homes. Part of me wished I could’ve given them something worthy of their courage, but there were only words, and I had never been skilled with those. So it was best they went before I could ruin whatever good thoughts of me they might carry away.

  A boatman took us across with an oddly deferential air, and when I stood to clamber out of the boat, he kissed the back of my hand. I pulled away, eyeing him in abject confusion.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because you’re the Huntress,” he said. “And you won the War of the River. You made the territories safe again.”

  I hadn’t done so without a lot of blood and pain, many sacrifices from people smarter, braver, and better than me. But I was so flummoxed by his words that I let Gavin drag me out over the side, into the water, and all the way to shore. I cast a look back, but the man was already trimming his sail and turning the little boat back toward the Evergreen Isle.

  When Gavin and I returned to the battlefield, it had become a graveyard. Row after row of wooden markers stood neatly commemorating where brave men and women died. I stood for a few seconds, my throat too tight to breathe. The brat’s fingers stole into mine, and I squeezed them. It seemed so wrong that we were here when Stalker wasn’t, when Tully and Thornton were probably buried beneath these fresh black mounds.

  “Do you ever wonder why them and not you?” Gavin asked.

  “All the time.”

  The trade routes were oddly clear. Breaking the horde had driven any straggling elders into hiding, where they would doubtless hunt small game until they died. If they grew bold again, the Uroch would send word. Now and then we saw our allies on the road, going about their business. They wore white armbands and lifted their clawed hands in greeting. I wondered if I would ever get used to that.

  So blasted strange.

  Gavin and I traveled without trouble; and in the fall, it was easy to find forage—berries and nuts, ripe fruit on wild trees and fat hares lazy from eating all summer long. In that fashion we traveled from town to town carrying our tidings. Gavin stayed with me as I found the families and told them, one by one. In Gaspard, there weren’t many, but the weeping was fierce in Lorraine. We stayed there for two days, telling stories so that grieving relatives could comfort themselves with the knowledge that their loved ones had been heroes. And they were, of course, every last one of them. It didn’t require daring deeds, only the courage to stand when everyone else was running.

  In Lorraine, I also visited Stalker’s grave. As promised, the stone marker had been carved with his name, Stalker the Wolf, and I touched the letters with reverent fingertips. Gavin watched me in silence for a few moments.

  “Do you miss him?” he asked.

  “Every day.”

  We won, my friend. I wish you were here to see it.
/>   We went to Otterburn next, and it surprised me a little because I hadn’t expected them to send anyone, ever. The counterman had been so definite about the tithe and their determination not to get involved in the war. But there were fifteen names on my list, men and women who decided they’d rather fight than cower.

  “This is an ugly town,” Gavin said, as we approached.

  Though I agreed, it wasn’t polite to say so where the residents could hear. I shushed him. People were already gathering; at first I didn’t understand why, but then John Kelley called, “I wondered when you’d get here.”

  As he had before, the trader must’ve carried word about my mission. So the people were already braced and waiting. Without further delay, I read out the names, and two women fell to their knees crying. Others comforted them. I was tired of walking, tired of bearing bad tidings, but I still had Winterville before I could return to my family in Soldier’s Pond. Rex, Fade, and Spence should be there by now.

  I hoped so, anyway.

  “Thank you,” I said, striding through the dispersing crowd to meet the trader. “The only reason we won at the river is because you blackmailed the towns into sending help.”

  The trader grinned. “Not just me. Vince Howe and Marlon Bean got in on the action too. We all did some shooting that day. Haven’t felt so alive in years.”

  “It was a day to remember all right,” I admitted.

  Not just in good ways. But I wouldn’t spoil the moment with my dark memories.

  “Where are you headed next?”

  “Tomorrow, we’re off to Winterville,” I said. “Then Soldier’s Pond.”

  “I’ll buy you a round at the pub, if you like.”

  I shook my head. “There’s somebody I need to find, here.”

  “Who? I might know him. Otterburn’s a pretty small place.”

  I tried to picture the girl Szarok had put in my head, then I did my best to describe her. “I’m not sure of her name … and she’d be older now, maybe by as many as ten years.”

  “There aren’t too many black-haired, blue-eyed girls living here. Let me ask around.” Before I could say this was my responsibility, John Kelley took off.