All the New Fallen ever seemed to say were kill, hunt, eat, and a spiel of numbers that came from overexposure to the resurrection countdown clock displayed after their deaths. Most everyone was surprised to hear a New Fallen say something coherent though Izusa and I weren’t. We’d run across something similar on our way to Doraga, a pale skinned man named Robin who’d developed enough in Low Temperature Resistance to withstand the cold northern climate and had been fortunate enough to be able to acquire enough food on his own that he never experienced repeated insanity inducing starvations like the other New Fallen.
I stepped over Wy-1’s hammer and kneeled down to get a better look at my captive. Most of his body was buried so I could only look at his face. The captive had the white skin of all the New Fallen, so he’d definitely trained in Low Temperature Resistance, but his thinness lay somewhere in the middle. It didn’t possess the fullness of a regular person, nor was it virtually skeletal with points of bone jutting out under sunken cheeks. If I were to hazard guess this man was somewhere in the middle of the transition.
“I am going to kill this bastard,” Wy-1 returned to his senses.
“Don’t, this one’s different than the others. He can communicate,” I said.
“If anything, that just makes it worse. The others were just animals. If this one can think than he should know better,” said Wy-1.
“Like he should know better than to throw out thousands and let them all starve,” I said in an attempt to ease the situation. They all understood that in some regards the Othans were responsible for the New Fallen in the first place.
“No, this bastard did not… it is all his fault,” said Wy-1 as he lifted high his hammer.
“Don’t kill James. Beg you. Do what James must. Do what he commands,” the New Fallen said.
Wy-1 heard and despite his grief must have comprehended some of the importance in that last bit.
“What do you mean by that?” Wy-1 held his hammer directly above the New Fallen’s face both to give him a good look at all the blood and gore hanging from the hammer’s grooves and to let him know that at a single twitch Wy-1 could let all that weight crush his face.
“Don’t want to die. Don’t want stuck there. Better to die for good,” said the New Fallen.
“That’s enough, Wy-1. Can’t you see that you’re scaring him stiff?” I moved the hammer a bit to the side so that death was no longer literally hanging over the New Fallen. “Now, James was it? Is that better?” I asked, taking the name from some of the man’s earlier comments.
‘Wow, I can’t believe you’ve been cast as the good cop,’ said Mai.
“Some better. Let James free and he be much better. Give James food and… and…” James didn’t seem to be able to find the appropriate word for how good that would be.
“No, you will not be released. Not until you answer some questions,” I said.
“Ask questions. James do best,” said James.
I nodded.
“First thing, you said you only did what you were commanded. Who commanded you and what exactly were you to do?” I asked.
A faint hush filled everyone. Not all of them had caught onto what James had said earlier. Not all of them had been interested in what James could possibly say. They were interested now.
“James told do same James always told do. James lead them to attack. This time James told go very far north and find and let them do what they do,” said James. The ‘them’ James referred to were the other New Fallen, apparently James didn’t see himself as one of them.
“James no want go north. Nothing eat. But he said James must,” said James.
“You were specifically sent after us? But the Ice Lands are so large. How did you find us?” I asked.
“Told James to follow edge of land. Go north to find. James feared failed but end found,” said James.
“He was told our path,” Izusa came forward now. “It must have been someone from Doraga. No one else knew. Who is this ‘he’ you are talking about? Who commanded you to do these things?”
“No name,” James shook his head vigorously. “Never tell James name. Just tell what do.”
“How did you meet this mystery man?” I asked, hoping that might give me some more insight, even without a name there might be other ways to figure out who it was.
“James was with them before trapped death cycle. Whenever came back begged for help but whatever tried always refused. Then the man took us away. He gave us food and broke cycle and all asked was do few things like today,” said James.
A cold pit filled my gut. I could picture it in my mind, the desperation and through it, the drive to do anything even the monstrous, even leading a bunch of insane immortal skeletons to slaughter people. In a sense, James wasn’t the only one to engage in such behavior. The Othans had done it twice. Once, in the rejection that created the New Fallen in the first place and again, in the invasion of Xebrya. Both were similarly acts of desperation, a way for a resource strapped civilization to survive.
I looked to Izusa and the other Othans. I saw in the profound sadness in their eyes that they understood. Still, even knowing or even forgiving James for his actions didn’t change our need to stop it from happening. Too much was riding on our mission to risk something like this happening again. We needed to find James’ boss.
“Can you describe him?” I asked.
“He very big. And has short dark hair,” said James. Neither descriptor was of much use.
“Any defining features?” I asked.
“Umm… has scar across eye.” James winked his right eye several times to indicate which one.
“Describe his beastform, if you know it,” I requested, already sure who James was talking about. Izusa gave me a surprised look as she heard my question and realized what I was getting at.
“Yes, know,” James nodded vigorously. “Is large brown bear.”
The description matched Truant perfectly. A collective gasp filled all assembled as everyone, or at least all the Doragans, knew exactly who that was. Only a member of the clan would have known the route they had taken and only one matched all the features James had described. Truant was one of the individuals most against this mission, believing that Doraga’s future lay in the south. He also possessed large political ambitions, potentially plotting to take over the position of clan chief should the correct circumstances for change were to come around. Truant had means and motive and there was a witness that could attest to everything.
“Truant,” Talia whispered.
“He did it?” Bullseye was still stunned.
“That bastard, I’ll kill him,” Wy-1 roared, his brother’s death still on the forefront of his mind. Wy-1 started to pace back in forth as if he wanted to go right then.
Everyone was so entranced by this revelation that they didn’t notice the hidden elephant in the room, at least not until Izusa mentioned it.
“What do you mean by us? You said, ‘the man took us away. He gave us food.’” Izusa asked. My head snapped back to James, awaiting his answer. Izusa had caught something that I had missed earlier.
“Mai, is there anyone else?” I whispered, though given how preoccupied everyone else was I doubt it would have mattered.
‘No, there was only one New Fallen attacker that was acting strangely. Or at least only one in range,’ said Mai.
“James and Dustin. The man took James and Dustin away. Gave James and Dustin food. Had James and Dustin do things,” said James.
“Dustin. Who is this Dustin? Where is he? And more importantly, what is he doing?” Izusa asked.
“Dustin is like James. Dustin struggles against hunger. Where Dustin is, what doing, James don’t. Just know that man gave him task to gather more of those things,” said James.
“More of what things? More of the New Fallen?” Izusa wanted a bit of clarity.
“Yes, James takes them here so man needed Dustin get more,” said James.
“There is someone else coming after us wi
th more of those things,” Bearballs exclaimed, a hint of worry met his eyes which he quickly covered up. “Does not matter. We mutilated these fools. We will castrate the next batch just as easily.”
“No that doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why would a second group be sent after us?”
“In case we ass-rammed the first group,” Bearballs suggested.
“But James just said that he led away all the New Fallen they had on hand and used them to attack us. The other New Fallen, Dustin, was to gather more. It will have taken a long time to do this. It’s not like there are swarms of New Fallen all over the place, just a few thousand or so spread across a million square miles of terrain. It’ll take weeks perhaps months to gather a significant number,” I shook my head. “No, I don’t think we are Dustin’s target. Given the amount of time it’d take Dustin to gather a force and catch up to us, we’ll probably have already reached the Permerine Shrine.”
“Truant could be sending Dustin to attack us on our way back,” Talia suggested.
“What would be the point? If our work at the shrine is a success, people will realize it when the weather improves. It doesn’t matter if we make it back to brag about it,” I explained. “And if we fail, our return would be even better for Truant. We would be a persistent visible reminder of Jutmaek’s error.”
“Then what is Truant going to do with all the New Fallen?” Izusa asked.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I only know that we probably don’t have to worry about it. It doesn’t really change anything. This place is still filled with danger. We still need to be careful.”
“What we need to do is notify my father. He needs to investigate and see if he can prove any of this,” said Izusa.
“I’ll go,” said Wy-1. “Truant is responsible for my brother’s death. I’ll see that he pay for it. I can also get back a lot faster than the rest of you.” It was too cold here for Wy-1 to fly in his wyvern form but once he was back a bit further south, he would be free to use it.
“That can work,” Izusa nodded. “But you won’t be going alone. Once you get back, you have no way of sneaking in. If people saw you it might cause a panic and besides, if my father has any chance of catching Truant, there can be no signs that anything might have happened.”
“Then, I will go as well,” said Talia.
Izusa thought it over for a moment and agreed. Talia was familiar with the clan’s daytime scouting patterns and her hawk form was small enough that it had an excellent chance of sneaking in.
It was getting late so we buried Wy-2, set up camp, and spent the day resting. In the evening, Wy-1 and Talia headed back for Doraga. They took a tied up James with them so he could be used as a witness.
Meanwhile, the rest of us continued north. Our original 10-man team was down to seven, Izusa, Rose, Titania, Zelus, Bearballs, Bullseye, and myself. All we could do is hope for a smooth trip and that we wouldn’t lose anyone else.
Jutmaek’s eyes snapped open. He could tell from the faint glow leaking through the canvas above it was daytime and although he was having a harder and harder time sleeping through the day with his advancing age, Jutmaek knew there was a reason for this particular awakening. Jutmaek heard the soft puff of a footstep a few feet short of his bed.
The clan chief shot up. His decades had done little to affect his reaction time and in an instant Jutmaek spotted the shadowy figure standing over him. Jutmaek reached out and grasped the intruder by the throat.
“Trying to sneak up on me,” said Jutmaek. “Who are you? And what are you up to?”
“Open your eyes, old man. You know exactly who I am and I am doing the same thing I always seem to be doing. Can you let me go? This is kinda uncomfortable?” said a croaky though clearly feminine voice.
It was only then that Jutmaek’s eyes adjusted to the light and he could make out whom he was holding onto. It was Talia.
“What are you doing here?” Jutmaek exclaimed as he released her. He’d last seen Talia when she left for the Permerine Shrine a month ago with his daughter.
“Shhh, quiet down. What are you trying to do wake up half the neighborhood?” said Talia, enjoying the opportunity to make demands of the clan chief with a bit too much relish. “I came here all sneaky specifically to avoid everyone from finding out that I am back.”
“Explain everything. I assume by doing the same thing you always do you have a message for me,” said Jutmaek. A swirl of possibilities flowed through his mind. They couldn’t have finished this soon. Did the mission fail already? Was his daughter dead? But then why all the secrecy.
“Yes, the message. Do not worry Izusa is fine and most of the team is still working on the mission, but we discovered something and thought you should know,” said Talia.
She went over the boring part with all their traveling quickly, hoping her audience of one would forgive her spottiness, and got to the good stuff, the attack of the New Fallen and the interrogation of James. Talia glossed over the trip back to Doraga as well. It was uneventful. Talia and Wy-1 escorted a tied up James back down the coast the same way in which they came. Once they reached a low enough latitude, Wy-1 flew them all back to Doragan territory, stopping just short of the village itself. Then hawkform Talia snuck in, not shifting back until she was inside Jutmaek’s tent.
Throughout the story, Jutmaek silently nodded, taking everything in calmly and reserving judgement for the end, which wasn’t easy given how dark the revelations were.
“Where exactly are Wy-1 and this New Fallen, James you called him?” Jutmaek asked.
“They’re hiding near the Tiger God’s Fierce Swipe. Why?” Talia asked.
“I need to see this for myself.”
“So, why did you want us to come here?” Snakefang asked. “I thought we were trying to lay low for a bit.”
Truant inwardly scoffed at Snakefang’s reminder. It had been an embarrassment for Truant. For the first time in his life, he was forced to retreat. After the horrific blunder where a pathetic New Fallen brat defeated the three young ones he’d sent and wound up in possession of a powerful never before seen fiery beastform, Truant had little choice but to put up with the old clan chief’s way.
Truant had a lot of support, especially amongst the younger Doragans. Many saw things the way he did. In nature, many animals migrated when conditions of the land grew unfavorable. In the past few years, that was exactly what the animals had done. The clan needed to do the same.
Things were gradually going Truant’s way. In a few years, Truant would have been able to take over the clan cleanly, but Doraga didn’t have that much time. Truant told himself that everything he was doing was for the good of the clan and any personal benefits he’d gain were simply auxiliary. He had to convince everyone that Jutmaek was no longer suitable as clan chief and if that meant Doraga had to suffer a bit, then so be it. Sacrifice is often necessary to survive, essential to survive.
“We are still lying low, but that does not mean we can ignore each other completely. That could draw even more attention. I thought we might all go out on a mass hunt like the good old days,” said Truant. Of course, all of this was really a cover.
It was a plausible excuse for Truant and a large number of Doraga’s strongest fighters to be away from the clan when the situation unfolded. It also didn’t hurt that the ones here were Truant’s staunchest supporters so after the dust settled, Truant’s power base would remain largely intact. And perhaps most importantly it would ensure his own safety.
‘It is important that someone with leadership makes it through,’ Truant told himself.
“But, is it not too early in the season for that?” another one of the assembled men asked. It was late spring. Usually, you would wait until late summer or early fall to truly commit the clan’s efforts towards hunting. This let the animals spawn and replenish their numbers, so they could continue to be a reliable clan resource for years to come.
“It is, but that is why I thought we might take our hunt into the Ki
runa Valley,” said Truant. The Kiruna Valley was a good hunting ground eighty miles south of the village, but it belonged to the Trebe clan, Doraga’s neighbors to the south, so hunting out of season wouldn’t affect Doraga’s bottom line. Instead, it presented a few other difficulties.
Raiding, even amongst the clans, often especially amongst the clans, was a long held practice that bordered on tradition. If they were caught, they risked a nasty fight and losing their ill-gotten gains, but if they weren’t, well, if you are too weak to defend what’s yours, you are undeserving of it.
“That sounds like a good time,” said Snakefang to a general round of agreement.
Truant couldn’t help but beam. Everything was perfect. It was all as he’d planned.
“Great, well, I still think it best we are not all seen leaving the village together, so we shall depart individually and rendezvous…” Truant paused for a second to think of a proper landmark, but he didn’t get the opportunity to finish.
A low flying wyvern crashed into the large yurt where they were meeting. At first, Truant thought it was some horrific accident, but it was too clean. The wyvern had gone at just the right level to take the structure but not the inhabitants and afterwards there wasn’t a crash as the beast ran aground, but a clean whoosh as it took back to the sky.
Of course, the real proof something was going on was the fifty clansmen set just outside what used to be the boundaries of the yurt. They were arranged in a perfect circle, wrapping around Truant and his cronies. All were in their beastforms, and fierce ones at that.
A single large grey wolf passed through the encirclement and dashed past Truant’s flunkies, stopping a few feet short of Truant himself.
“Did you really think no one would ever figure it out?” the wolf roared.
Ch. 23: Cleanup
Even after all the ruckus, even after the daring reveal and shocking display of aggressiveness, all was silent. It felt alien, even for Othans, to hear human speech emitted from a beast. Normally an Othan’s transformation was all or nothing and when transformed the only thing remaining of the original was the mind and intellect. It was considered a refined skill to shift a single body part, to turn a hand into a claw for slashing or to shift just a head to use a beast’s more acute senses.
The Ice Lands Page 32