The Rage of Dragons (Book of the Burning)

by Evan Winter

Thoko snorted, snatching back a handful of coins from Umqondisi Njere. "Next time they face an Indlovu? There's no example here. Tau is no Indlovu."

  "Thoko," Njere said, "be thankful Jayyed saved you your drinking money."

  That drew stifled laughter from many of the initiates. "The match is over," Njere continued, "and Umqondisi Jayyed has called it a draw. Enough gawking and back to training. You can be sure the hedeni are sharpening their spears while we sit in the heat, like sun-dazed lizards." The initiates dawdled. "Go!" ordered Njere.

  The circle of men wandered off. They wanted to see what would happen next. Jayyed didn't give them much of a show. He moved close to Tau, speaking to him alone. "Your swords are raised but the battle is over."

  Tau lowered his weapons, trying to come back to himself. He had been ready to kill. The thought frightened him and he looked past Jayyed and down at Uduak. The big man was still on his knees, breathing with difficulty. He was cut all over and blood flowed from his head.

  "Uduak," Tau said.

  "There's a demon in you," the big man said, without the strength to lift his head.

  "That's enough for now," Jayyed told them both. He turned to the men of his Scale. "Yaw! Hadith! Help me get Uduak to the infirmary."

  "I'll help," said Tau, leaning down to take one of Uduak's arms.

  Uduak flinched, grimacing in pain. "No."

  Tau didn't know how to make things better. "I'm sorry. I'm—"

  "Give it time, Tau," Jayyed told him as Yaw and Hadith ran over.

  They put Uduak's arms over their shoulders and hoisted him off his knees. He groaned, fell against Hadith, almost bowling the smaller Lesser over. Hadith found his balance, glared at Tau, and the trio stumbled off towards the nearest infirmary.

  Jayyed's eyes followed the three me as he spoke to Tau. "You should continue with two blades. If you train with as much dedication as you have been there will come a day when no Lesser, in all The Rend, can stand against you." Jayyed paused. "But Uduak is your sword-brother." He stepped closer, so no one else could hear. "Tau, would you have killed him if I had not stopped you?"

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  DRAW

  The next morning Hadith stopped Tau on their way to the practice fields. "You need to see Uduak," he said.

  Tau hadn't slept. He'd lain awake thinking about the hurt he'd done to Uduak. Still, Hadith's urging felt like chastisement and Tau brushed past him, resenting the request.

  Hadith took hold of Tau's arm. "You need to do it before it's too late. I'm here as a friend."

  "Are we friends?" Tau asked, looking to Hadith's hand.

  Hadith released him. "I had thought we were becoming so," he said, walking away.

  The practice was even more rigorous than normal and Jayyed was there, pacing the whole time. "We fight in the Crags! We fight Indlovu! We fight Enervators! Are you ready? Is this what ready looks like? Feels like?"

  Tau hadn't seen Jayyed this anxious and perhaps he should be. His Scale would be put to the test and his methods would be under scrutiny. Jayyed had taken liberties and the other Umqondisi, as well as the Citadel Isazi, would be quick to use a poor performance to pull him down further than the Guardian Council had already done.

  Despite Jayyed's prodding, when it came time to spar, Tau held back. He was still shaken up but Jayyed wanted none of his half-hearted performance.

  "You think to move behind the Goddess' back?" he shouted at Tau. "Don't dishonor our efforts with false humility and feigned weakness. Fight, damn you!"

  Tau increased his effort and pace against a concerned looking Chinedu.

  "Not enough, Tau! You'd like to lose to the Indlovu?"

  Tau pushed harder, forcing Chinedu back.

  "I want all of it. I'll take nothing less, burn you!"

  Tau fired a look at Jayyed and Chinedu took the opening. He leapt forward, shooting his sword at Tau. Tau reacted at full speed. He swatted the thrust aside, slapped his second sword against Chinedu's neck and twisted the blade of his blocking sword free, blasting it into Chinedu's side.

  Chinedu, taking near simultaneous hits on either side of his body, contorted as if he didn't know which way to fall.

  "Ack! Mka!" Chinedu dropped his sword and shield, grabbing for his neck to see if the sting meant he was bleeding. "Goddess' mercy. Goddess' mercy! Char to ashes!" he said too fast to cough.

  Jayyed nodded at Tau. "It's never acceptable to be less than you are. Chinedu!"

  "Umqondisi," Chinedu said, nursing ribs with one hand and neck with the other.

  "You tried to stab Tau when he wasn't looking... a truly honorable and valiant effort, but you lowered your shield as you went in. Don't treat combat like you do women. Keep it up next time."

  Yaw and Hadith were sparring nearby. Yaw snickered, Hadith guffawed.

  "To Isihogo with both of you," Chinedu hissed. "You fight him then."

  "Why not?" said Hadith, tapping Yaw with his sword. "Ready?"

  The two men came for Tau.

  "Two on one?" Tau asked.

  "I see two swords in those soft hands," said Hadith, pushing Yaw to one side of Tau while he moved to the other.

  Tau was about to protest, saw Jayyed watching them without stopping it, made a choice, and attacked. He went for Yaw first. Hadith was the better fighter but Yaw had a precision with his sword that a man would regret if it was ignored. Yaw saw Tau coming and shimmied back, blocking Tau's first strike and second, but taking the third and hardest swing full on the thigh.

  "Goddess!" he yelped.

  Tau spun, crossing his two swords in time to catch Hadith's down cut. Tau captured Hadith's blade between his two and turned it, forcing Hadith off balance. Tau drew side-to-side with him, their three blades pointed out at empty air. He disengaged one of his swords, the one closer to Hadith, and elbowed him in the chest.

  Tau pushed away, squared up, and came at Hadith with his swords whirling, attacking from two angles. Hadith, learning from Chinedu's example, raised his shield high, but couldn't bring his sword to bear. He took a punishing hit on his sword arm, then helmet, and, when he got his sword in position, Tau avoided it, hammering his blade flat into Hadith's armpit.

  Hadith grunted and stumbled away. Swords still whirling, Tau swung for Yaw, who had been slinking over. Yaw's eyes widened when he saw he was expected. He swung for Tau's face, a well-aimed thrust, but Tau was faster. He leaned out of the way, spun in a tight circle, and pounded both swords into Yaw's side.

  Yaw went down gasping and Tau returned his attention to Hadith, who came for Tau, yelling at the top of his lungs. Their blades danced a few steps until Tau increased the pace beyond Hadith's ability to match.

  His loss inevitable, Hadith risked a sacrifice swing that Tau blocked, turned, and used to disarm him, sending Hadith's wooden sword flying through the air. Hadith lifted his shield again, but Tau went low, knocking Hadith's legs out from under him, putting him in the dirt. Tau stood over him, sword at Hadith's throat stone.

  "Cede," Tau told him.

  "Thank you, I'll wait for the draw."

  "What?"

  "Any breath now."

  Smiling, Jayyed came over. "This match is a draw."

  "What!" said Tau and Jayyed couldn't hold it in. He laughed, a full and infectious sound. The rest of the Scale joined in. Tau looked from face to face, stopping on Hadith's. Hadith was smiling broadly.

  "If it worked for Uduak..." Hadith extended his arm. Tau grabbed him, wrist-to-wrist, and pulled his sword-brother to his feet.

  Jayyed was still chuckling. "A draw. Char to ashes, a draw. Well fought, all three of you. Well fought."

  Jayyed called the men back to sparring. "A draw," he muttered to himself and then guffawed, startling the nearest initiate.

  "When will you see Uduak?" Hadith asked Tau.

  "I don't know that he wants to see me."

  "Only one way to find out," Hadith said.

  Tau breathed deep and nodded. He walked over to where Jayyed was watching Mshindi
and Kuende, the two twins, spar. "Umqondisi Jayyed, permission to step off the fields."

  "Where to, Common Solarin?"

  "The infirmary."

  "Eh, granted. We'll be here when you're back."

  Tau saluted and left the training grounds. It was past time to see the big man.

  BROTHERS

  Uduak's face and body was a rash of welts. His shield arm was in a splint and his left eye was swollen shut.

  "Uduak..." Tau had no idea what to say.

  "Tau."

  "... I'm sorry."

  "Nceku."

  Tau bristled.

  "Nceku."

  "Should I leave?"

  "No, I want to insult you. Nceku!" Uduak said.

  Tau glanced around the infirmary. Most of the other cots were empty and he didn't see any of the Sah priests but three beds over a thin initiate, with a broken leg, was watching.

  "Would you stop?"

  "Nceku!" Uduak said with vigor, like he was singing a fireside song.

  "You've lost your mind."

  "Doing less than when you lost yours, neh?"

  Tau softened at that. "You are my sword-brother and deserved better from me."

  Uduak laughed and winced. "Might not survive better'n what you already gave." Uduak watched Tau from the eye he could open. "Never happened."

  "What?"

  "Not since I was small. Not since I grew and whooped that Petty-Noble for being a wretch to my cousin."

  It was the longest sentence Tau had heard Uduak speak. "You whooped a Noble?"

  "Whooped him. Whooped him good." Uduak's eye twinkled. "Could have had me hung. Guess he didn't want anyone to know a Low-Common blooded him."

  "You beat a Noble..." Tau said.

  "Went on whooping everyone. Got good at it. Got to like it. Then you come along in the testing and I whooped you too, except you kept getting up. Thought it then, think it now, you've a demon in you." Uduak went silent for a beat. He seemed hesitant. "Won't let you stop, will it?"

  "I've more to do," answered Tau, not sure why he said it.

  "Can see that." Uduak shifted on the cot. "It's in me too. Think mine's smaller than yours, but it pushed me until I could stop that mka of a Noble."

  "It left you, then?"

  Uduak held Tau's eyes with his own. The twinkle was gone. "No. There's always more to do." The mood had darkened and both men seemed uncomfortable. "Never been beat," he said. "Not like that."

  "Two swords. Few people are used to it."

  "Wasn't two swords that beat me. And, when I knew I was beat, couldn't surrender."

  "Your demon?"

  "No. You would have killed me."

  That startled Tau. "I'll be better," he said, unable to deny Uduak's words outright.

  "You'll try."

  "I'll be better."

  Uduak grunted. "Strange not to be the strongest," he said, changing the topic. "Been it for so long."

  Tau tried a smile. He meant it to be comforting as he issued a gentle challenge. "A bit more work and maybe you'll be it again."

  Uduak stared at him for several breaths. "Not as long as you live, I won't."

  Tau's smile faded.

  "It's fine. Maybe now the thing inside me will quiet a bit." Uduak rolled over, turning his massive back to Tau. "Thanks for coming."

  The conversation had been unsettling but Tau was glad his sword-brother would be fine, that they would be fine. He nodded and realized Uduak couldn't see it with his back turned.

  "Don't let that demon go too quiet," Tau said. "We're for the Crags. It's time to introduce the Nobles to Scale Jayyed."

  PAIN

  Scale Jayyed arrived at the Crags without Uduak. The big man had tried to join his brothers but Jayyed had forbidden it, telling him to take the proper time to heal. Uduak's absence was felt and Hadith did what he could to lift the spirits of the men.

  It was for that as well as his mind for military strategy that Jayyed made Hadith the Scale's Inkokeli. During the march Hadith had gone over and over his battle plans with Tau, Yaw, Chinedu, Oyibo, Runako, Themba, and Mkiwa.

  Tau wasn't sure why he was being involved. He had little interest in tactics or strategies and had told Hadith, 'point me in the direction you want me to fight and I'll fight'. He didn't need more than that.

  Hadith had called him an ass and demanded that he listen, so he would understand. Tau had listened. He wasn't sure how much he understood.

  Besides, how much could they plan for something that had not happened yet? Their actions would depend on what the Indlovu did and on who the Enervator hit. Itembe had gone into his skirmish with a detailed plan. Tau had seen how that went.

  "Remember, Oyana is a brawler," Jayyed told them as they formed up at the edge of the battlefield. "His initiates will be too. We're on the urban battleground and they'll try to use that to their advantage. They'll come out hard, fast, looking for quick kills, and immediate victory. Hold off their initial push and you'll make them doubt themselves."

  Tau eyed the battleground in front of him. In the spaces, between the tightly packed adobe buildings, he caught glimpses of the Indlovu lined up at its other end. All of them had their dulled practice swords out and ready. All of them wore shields. That was good. He liked fighting men who believed a shield could save them.

  He also saw their Enervator. She looked scared. He imagined she was. Funny, she was the only person who would come out of this without a scratch and she was unsettled. Chances were that it was her first skirmish. Though, that was true for Tau as well.

  Tau glanced at the men beside him. Hadith was there, ready to run in and take point as they wound their way through the pretend paths of a pretend city. Hadith wanted them to push deep into the battleground. He wanted them to make it to one of the two circles, built to reflect the much larger circles all Omehi cities had.

  Hadith wanted enough fighting space for his superior numbers to have an effect. The circle he was targeting had three entrances, two that were on opposite sides, and a thin path that was closer to the direction from which the Indlovu would come. Hadith wanted Tau, Yaw, Chinedu, and Oyibo to hold the thin path against any Indlovu that tried to splinter off from the main group to flank Scale Jayyed.

  It would be difficult for more than two Indlovu to stand abreast in the narrow path, which was bordered by single-story buildings. This, Hadith hoped, would give the advantage to Tau's group.

  "When the war horn sounds we make for the circle," Hadith told the men. "Keep close. Fight as a Scale. No heroics. We're here to win and we'll do that by taking the bastards down together!"

  The men cheered.

  "Watch out for the Ennie. You see that inyoka so much as twitch in our direction and you call it out."

  The men passed that message back and Tau saw fear flicker over the faces it reached like a receding tide. No one liked the idea of being hit by enervation.

  "Make ready, he's going to blow it," said Yaw a breath before Tau heard the war horn's call. The Indlovu roared a call of their own and sped onto the battlefield, making Hadith curse.

  "Go, go, go!" he yelled at his men, urging them on.

  Tau ran with the others, racing into the winding maze of the false city. The paths twisted and crisscrossed and Tau was thankful Hadith had made him listen. It would have been an easy thing to make a wrong turn. Yaw, small and quick, kept pace with Tau and they sped along, shoulder to shoulder, Chinedu and Oyibo just behind them. Tau could hear Chinedu coughing as they ran. Strange how much of a comfort that was.

  It was one more turn and they emerged in the circle. They had arrived first. Tau looked up to the building rooftops. An Aqondise stood up there with an Umncedi, a Second to one of the Citadel's Isazi. They would make sure the defeated men stayed out of the contest and would call fouls where they saw them.

  Moving his eyes lower, Tau spotted three Indlovu thundering down the main path just a hundred strides from the circle. Hadith emerged with a dozen men from the path nearest to Tau.


  "Tau, hold the side path. We have the circle!"

  In the time it took for Hadith to speak, ten more of his sword-brothers had reinforced the circle. Tau hoped they would be enough as the two dozen Lessers engaged the three Indlovu, who had backed up into the path, where they could not be surrounded.

  No time to waste, Tau ran for the side path with his men, getting there at the same time as four Indlovu and the Enervator.

  Yaw skidded to a stop. "Mka!"

  "At them!" screamed Tau, charging.

  "Really?" said Yaw, running after him.

  "Touch the Enervator! Take her out of the skirmish!" Tau yelled, launching himself at the first Indlovu.

  Their swords smashed together. The Indlovu, bigger than Uduak, had on a thick leather gambeson that would have cost Tau's stipend for his entire cycle at the Isikolo. The Noble's face was flat, nose broad and flared, and he snarled at Tau, teeth out.

  They exchanged a flurry of attacks, the Indlovu battering at Tau with all his might, seeking to bury him under the weight of his much greater strength. Tau deflected each strike, shifting the force of them down and away. The Noble growled in frustration, coming at Tau again, but Tau danced back and Yaw was there, ramming the point of his dulled bronze sword as hard as he could into the Noble's side.

  "Gah!" the Indlovu roared, a rib broken. He swung at the much smaller Yaw, who skipped out of reach.

  Tau gave the injured man no second chance. He thundered his two swords into his helmet, chest, side, and arm. The Indlovu seemed to weather the first hits then collapsed when Tau delivered a more violent blow to his head.

  A woman screamed. It was the Enervator. She had her hands over her mouth. She looked horrified by the violence, as if she wasn't there with the intent to yank their souls from their bodies.

  Tau moved his head on a swivel, saw that Oyibo and Chinedu were losing their fight. Oyibo's shield was on the ground, his shield arm limp, and his sword wavered. Chinedu was giving all he could, but the Indlovu he faced shrugged off his attacks.

  "Help Chinedu," Tau told Yaw.