He was one man, facing hundreds of soldiers. He had tried to convince several people in Homestead to go with him to rescue those who had been captured, but none of them would listen. They had done their jobs in trying to defend their homes, and had more or less won the battle by driving out the Stühocs, but their spirits were defeated. Their loved ones had been taken, but it wasn’t enough for them to go out and die, potentially losing their own lives in the process. Dink didn’t see it that way. Losing Emma completely would be like dying again. It seemed like such a short time ago that he had gotten her back. To see her captured and taken away was gut wrenching. He had been distracted in the battle as he was surrounded by Stühocs, slashing and tearing. That’s when he had heard her screams. He saw her being carried away, yelling his name out into the open air. There was nothing he could do to save her. He tried to fight his way through to her, but she was gone. That’s when the Stühocs began to retreat. The Royal Guard had been responsible for that, he knew, but he wished that they could have stuck around to help him rescue those who had been captured. But there was no one to help him; no one to follow after the cages of innocent victims. He cursed himself for letting Emma get into the battle like she had. He knew he should have watched out for her more, and he intended to make up for it by freeing her. He peeked around the rock another time, looking for potential breaks in their security, and was happy to see there wasn’t much in the way of security at all. He watched a few guards taking their spots as they made camp. The one closest to him was alone, so that was good. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance trying to sneak into the camp, though. The moonlight was bright and he was obviously no Stühoc.
The plan then formed in his mind of somehow attracting the guard to where he was, then jumping him for his armor. It was a crazy idea with the potential to get him killed, but he saw no other chance of getting in with the crowd and to his wife. He thought that if he could just reach the carriages, that there would surely be a key somewhere to get Emma out and take her back to Homestead, or any place far from where he was. There was no way he would be able to travel into Voelif behind the group. He would be spotted immediately and turned into a slave himself, and that would help no one.
As he watched the Stühoc, he noticed that the soldier didn’t stand too much taller than he. Perhaps a little bit wider, but not taller. The armor would probably fit, but he had nothing to cover his face. He knew he only had one shot at this. With his left hand he gripped a sword and with the other he reached to the ground and picked up a small pebble. He threw the pebble as hard as he could, and it landed several yards in front of the unassuming Stühoc. It made little noise in the grass, but he could tell the Stühoc had heard it. His head turned slightly, but he remained at his guard. Dink reached down and grabbed another, launching it to the same spot. This time the Stühoc became more curious and stepped forward to examine the source of the noise. Dink threw his third pebble and it landed right at the Stühoc’s feet. The soldier’s head jolted up quickly, searching for the source. He slowly pulled out his jagged sword and marched quietly toward Dink’s position. The half-wit probably didn’t want to call out for help in fear that it would be nothing and he would be scolded. Better to check it out on your own, Dink thought.
This time Dink reached down and picked up a larger stone, almost as big as his hand. The Stühoc stopped just short of Dink on the other side of the bolder and sniffed the air. When the Stühoc lowered his sword only a little, Dink appeared and threw the stone point-blank at the Stühoc’s face. The Stühoc guard didn’t even have time to make a sound before he dropped lifelessly to the ground. Dink dragged the body behind the boulder, not quite believing what he did had just worked. He stripped the creature of armor and began to place it over himself. He tried to examine it once it was all on him, but it was difficult to tell if he looked believable. The darkness was his ally, and he would try to make any sort of adjustments before sunrise. He knew he had to hurry, because soon, someone would notice that he wasn’t at his post. Dink couldn’t afford to get into trouble.
He took one last look at the Stühoc on the ground. The soldier didn’t seem to be breathing, and he was pretty sure the impact had dealt a deathblow, but he had to make sure. With his sword, he cut downward on the exposed throat to make sure the job was finished. Gray blood poured out of the fresh body, and Dink gritted his teeth at what he knew he had to do. He reached down to the forming pool and started wiping the blood on the exposed white skin on his hands, face and neck. It was by no means a very good disguise, but he would just have to keep his head down. With the dark armor and dried blood, no one would take notice of him so long as he didn’t do anything suspicious. He left the sword and replaced it with the Stühoc’s. Quickly he made it to the Stühoc’s post to think about his next move.
What would be next? He couldn’t help but think that he should stay in the same spot and finish out the guard’s watch. That would minimize his chances of one of the Stühocs seeing that he was missing, but it also increased the chance of them recognizing him as something other than a Stühoc. He weighed the options in his mind and decided he would take his chances and leave his post. Besides, it was probably Dink’s duty to wake the Stühoc to replace him. If he didn’t wake anyone, then perhaps his replacement would simply sleep through the night.
His new destination was the back carriage where Emma was kept. He moved toward it with ease and silence, doing his best not to wake any of the sleeping monsters. If they caught him, he would be dead within moments. He was relieved to find there were no guards around the wheeled cages, making it possible for him to move up to it. Most of the prisoners weren’t sleeping. Some tried, but others simply looked up at the night sky, thinking of their end or what they had left behind. One man noticed Dink and began swearing at him, fuming with anger.
“You disgusting creature! Why don’t you let me out of here and I’ll show you what I think of you!”
Dink lifted his head and turned to the light, revealing his very Human face. “Because if I did that, I wouldn’t have time to rescue you.”
The man gasped with relief, and some of the other prisoners turned their heads to him. Dink held up a finger to hush them and then called out to his wife with a harsh whisper. “Emma! Emma!”
“I’m here,” he heard her voice say, and she moved to reach her arm out between the bars.
“Oh, I’m so relieved to see you,” he said.
She rubbed his head affectionately, tears streaming at the sight of her husband. “I thought I lost you,” she said.
“Not yet,” he said. “How do you suppose you open one of these things?”
“Not from the inside, that’s for sure,” she smiled through her tears. “What’s all over your face?”
“Mud,” Dink lied. “The Stühoc I stole this armor off of didn’t carry a key. I don’t know where to find one!”
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” she said. “They’ll kill you.”
“I know. Sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll be able to just steal a key.”
The brief silence felt heavy in the air as they both began to realize that this moment could possibly be a goodbye.
“I know,” she finally said.
“But I’m not going to leave this carriage,” Dink promised her. “I’ll go into the depths of hell with you if I have to. In the mean time, I’ll try to figure out some sort of way to get you out. We might not be able to make a move until Voelif.”
“That’s where they’re taking us?” a voice asked from behind Emma.
“I think so,” Dink said. “There are a lot of slaves there, so I think that’s what you will be used for. They aren’t going to kill you.”
It wasn’t much of a relief, but it was all he had.
“We’ll try to think of something when we get there,” he said.
Emma nodded, unable to form words for a moment. Finally she said, “How will you keep them from catching you?”
He stood back from her and spread his arms.
“I look like them, sort of.”
She nodded. “Pretty convincing. Just don’t get yourself killed. Please.”
He reached up to her, embracing as much as the bars would allow. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I want to tell you that I love you more than life. I’m going to do everything in my power to save you.”
“I know you are.”
They stared at each other for a long moment until she told him that it was too dangerous for him to stay. Reluctantly, he agreed and walked to the back of the cage and lay in the ground several yards away. He wasn’t going to let the thing leave his sight. He knew that if he were caught then that would be it. He was finished. But he had to stay with his wife. He had been separated from her before and it was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. He was not going to let it happen again. He would die before letting it happen again.
Chapter Eighteen
Nalani was grateful to have the mask off her face as the hot morning sun inched its way over the city of Voelif. Though she was in a cage, she no longer had to hide and that offered her a bit of comfort. She didn’t know what was in store for her and Alric, but it didn’t seem like they would be going anywhere anytime soon. She knew they shouldn’t have trusted Grif. He had sold them out and the medallion had never actually been within their grasp. It hung around the neck of Mintuk, which was no help to them.
She was the only one awake in the hanging cages overlooking the city. Alric lay curled into a ball, having gone to sleep a couple of hours before. There were two more empty cages, then another cage with an Erellen who had not even woken up when she and Alric were brought in. At first she thought he was dead, but a couple of times during the night she heard him talking in his sleep, though she couldn’t decipher what he was saying. She wondered to herself what an Erellen was doing in the sandy city of Voelif so far from his home. It didn’t matter. They were all prisoners. The only hope they had of getting out would be for Coffman to find them, but even then what could he do? He was as much of a captive as the rest of them; he just wasn’t in a cage. With the tight security and without any weapons, something big would have to happen for them to get out. Had the mission been a failure before it started? Was it destined to fail from the beginning? Perhaps it was. She shook her head at the thought.
I should have planned better than this…
Her gaze turned to the pyramid structure to the north of them and she wondered what it could be. What sort of weapon could the Nestorians be making that would require so many slaves to build it? With this kind of priority placed on one object, Nalani knew it was something the Dunarians would have to pay attention to. They would also need Julian’s help. Something big was happening and their mission had become more complex. Not only did they need to get the medallion, but they also needed to find out what kind of weapon was being made. She was sure that Coffman would be on top of that, but she didn’t know what kind of condition the big guy was in. For all she knew, he could have been killed. They had been separated for almost an entire day now. Their situation looked hopeless from the outside, but it wasn’t the end. Unless the Nestorians decided to execute each of them, it was not the end.
Alric began to stir, quieting her thoughts and bringing her attention to him. He shook his head awake and slapped himself in the face a couple of times. He scratched at his thin black beard and smiled at Nalani briefly from the other cage.
“Beautiful morning isn’t it?”
She couldn’t help but smile, even being suspended twenty feet in the air like a bird in a cage. Somehow Alric always knew how to keep an upbeat attitude about whatever situation he was in.
“I’ve seen prettier,” she responded.
Alric sighed and looked out toward the city. “So have I.”
“I don’t suppose you have some sort of plan for getting out of something like this?” Nalani asked the mercenary. “Seems like in your line of work you might have found yourself in a few of these situations.”
He waved her off, acting as though it was nothing. “Hundreds of times,” he boasted. “You just gotta have patience. They don’t really want to get their hands dirty with us. We’ll eventually be released back out into the workforce and we’ll form a new plan then.”
“That easy?”
“Yep. That easy.”
“What if they decide to kill us?” she asked.
“I doubt they will, but if that’s the case, then our chances are a bit slimmer. But don’t forget, we’ve got Coffman out there. We won’t go out without a fight.”
“That’s not very comforting.”
“I didn’t think you were the type that needed comforting, Nalani.”
That was what people were supposed to think. She didn’t know how to answer him, but she knew that as part of the Dunarians Council, she needed to be strong. Truth was, she had not been on too many dangerous missions and she was afraid she was letting her inexperience show through to Alric. From the beginning she wanted to convey her strength and superiority, but from the beginning Alric had taken charge and shown her how things were done.
And it got you locked up in a cage, she thought to herself.
She wondered what other kind of missions she might have been on if it weren’t for Julian. He had held her back significantly. She had often been assigned tasks that he ended up doing for her because he didn’t want her to get hurt. She let him, mostly because he demanded it. He loved her, she knew, but it had been too much. Then he said he wanted her to run off with him to the castle and that was the final straw. She had her own path to think of, and she couldn’t let Julian dominate it forever. Her love for him had been strained, but Julian leaving the council made the relationship decision easier for her. She had been planning the mission to Voelif for some time, but she was sure Julian would try to take it for himself. As soon as he left the council, she made sure that she would be the one leading the way this time.
And it got you locked up in a cage, she thought again. She blamed herself more than Alric. This was her assignment. She was in charge and here they were.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Alric said, sensing her feelings. “No amount of planning could have prevented this from happening.”
“I was stupid for taking this on by myself,” she said. “I was a good soldier in the Dunarian Order, but I’ve never led a mission for the council before. I rushed in to it.”
“The only way to get experience is to do it,” Alric said.
“I guess.”
“I remember my first job here in Marenon,” he said, staring absently into the waking city. “It was just me and Lorcan. We had been hired by this guy to hold up a caravan of goods and steal something that had been taken from him. Anyway, we didn’t exactly anticipate the size of the caravan before going after it, and when we saw it, we knew we were outnumbered a hundred to one.”
“So, did you leave?”
Alric laughed. “Nope. We charged in there with our swords held high, ready to take on anyone. We pretended to have a whole band of thieves waiting in the trees to attack the caravan if anyone resisted. Well, they called our bluff and before we knew it, we were tied up, on our bellies listening to them decide what to do with us.”
Nalani sat silently, eagerly waiting to hear the next part.
“They were so busy arguing about whether to kill us or to leave us, they never saw the big man that came and cut our ropes to set us free. We were long gone before they came to check on us.”
“Did you get the item you were hired to steal?”
“Actually yeah,” Alric said. “It was a jeweled necklace that had belonged to the man’s late wife. It meant enough to him to shell out a handsome amount of coins.”
“Was that big man named Coffman by any chance?”
Alric smiled. “One and the same. He’s been with us ever since.”
“That’s a nice story, but what’s your point?”
“The point is that we had that unexpected third person to get us out of that situation. We were
as good as dead, but someone was looking out for us. We’ve got that in Coffman, and possibly some person we haven’t even met yet. There are thousands of people surrounding us that absolutely hate the Nestorians. I’d say the odds are in our favor.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said.
“I am,” he said with finality. There was a brief moment of silence, but Alric never took his eyes off her. “Julian was a fool to leave you the way he did.”
Nalani could feel her cheeks go red instantly. What did he mean by that?
Alric shrugged. “You’re worth more than a stinking throne in Farlaweer.”
“That’s very nice of you, but we need a good king on the throne. The Dunarians need him in Farlaweer now more than ever.”
“Psht,” Alric waved her off. “He didn’t have to go. He had the power to appoint someone else to the position. He didn’t really expect you to go with him, did he? You worked as hard as he did to get where you are, maybe harder. I’ve heard he was only appointed because of his ties to the throne.”
Nalani didn’t know what Julian had expected. Surely he hadn’t thought she would just quit. However, she felt Alric may have gone too far with his last claim.
“Julian wasn’t unqualified,” she said in his defense. “They appointed him to the council because he was great at what he did. He was a good soldier. He has the qualities of a good king.”
Alric shook his head. “Not buying it. Every one of them knew he would find a way to get to the throne and then they would have the greatest ally of all. They couldn’t win this thing without Farlaweer’s support. Jekyll Rock is way too small.”
Alric had a point. There was no way they would be able to survive a full-scale war against the Stühocs and Nestorians without some help. In the past they had hoped for support from the Erellens, but no help had come.
The Marenon Chronicles Collection Page 46