Sisera's Gift 2: Sacred Blood

by Robyn Wideman

  “The last time I saw her she was running off into the night with one of the stonecutter boys,” Jaime said.

  Kai could see his lack of engagement had confused the group of infiltrators. They were getting restless but, pinned down by the Daxrah archers, knew if they attacked now they would be shot like fish in a barrel. Kai knew he had control of the situation and that controlling the tempo of the engagement was important. They needed to get as much information as possible.

  Kai looked back at Jaime. “Find her. And send out squads to scour the village in case there are more of these invaders hiding around.”

  Jaime nodded and gave him a quick salute before heading off in search of Isabella.

  Kai turned to Camdyn. “What do you think?”

  Camdyn shook his head. “I don’t know. I just cannot fathom what their plan was. It seems insane.”

  “They are a group of religious zealots. Who knows what they were thinking?” Kai looked at the group. The men were in a loose wedge formation with their backs to the high wall of the tower. All of them were wearing loose fitting robes made of dark coarse material. Kai noticed a few of the men kept looking toward one man who stood in the front of the group. He was short but even with the loose robe, Kai could see that the man was solidly built. “Let’s ask them.”

  Kai walked toward the men. When they saw him coming they all gripped their weapons a little tighter.

  “So, the Brotherhood has decided to pay us a visit. Anyone care to tell me why?” Kai's voice was stern. His eyes scanned the group. He got back nothing but cold stares. “Well, these archers may be able to loosen your tongues.”

  The Daxrah soldiers pulled their bowstrings a little tighter, each soldier focussing in on a target. The confrontation would be over quickly if Kai gave the order to fire. He put up a fist as a sign that they should hold their fire.

  “Give us the filthblood and we will leave in peace.” The leader’s tone was firm.

  Kai could not help but chuckle. As if that would ever happen, thought Kai. He looked into the stocky man’s eyes and saw hate, rage, and determination.

  “You’ve attacked us, set our home ablaze, with the intention of seizing our matron and still, somehow, expect peace?” Kai scanned group but no one moved.

  The stocky man gave a nod. Kai could see some movement from the men in the middle of the group. Suddenly the group of men disappeared.

  There were shouts of shock and dismay from the Daxrah soldiers. Even the battle-hardened veterans dropped their guard in surprise.

  “What in the seven hells just happened?” shouted Camdyn as rushed to Kai’s side.

  Just as quickly as they had disappeared the thirty robed men appeared from thin air already in positions amongst the Daxrah. They attacked but instead of the rusty blades and farmer’s tools they held previously their weapons were finely crafted blades, sharp and deadly.

  Thanks to his quick reflexes Kai narrowly dodged an overhead swing from the stocky leader whose face was now covered by a leather mask. The mask covered his whole face except for two eye holes and sculpted to resemble an actual face. Kai could see those hateful eyes staring right at him. He made a diving roll to avoid another quick thrust. As he came out of the roll he launched himself into a sprint away from the conflict. He needed to regroup and find a weapon. He quickly looked over his shoulder and could see that many of his Daxrah had already fallen to the blades of the Sacred Blood invaders, all of whom were wearing similar masks to their leader.

  Kai ran past a couple of buildings before turning sharply down a narrow alleyway. He checked again to see if anybody had followed. When he found they had not he launched himself toward the edge of a low-hanging roof. He pulled himself up and headed back in the direction of the conflict but this time from a high ground position. As he came over the peak of the closest house he could see his men were already starting to regain the upper hand but only because of numbers. The Daxrah now outnumbered the Sacred Blood attackers two to one. Kai cursed. It had been three to one when he first arrived on the scene.

  He spotted Camdyn on the far side of the open area fighting off two Sacred Blood. He dropped down from the roof and grabbed a sword from one of his fallen soldiers. He ran through the crowded courtyard toward his mentor, stabbing and cutting any robed figure he encountered along the way. As he approached one of the Sacred Blood turned toward him but not in time to block his hard jab. Kai could feel the vibrations fade from the man’s beating heart as he twisted the blade. Kai looked just in time to see Camdyn dispatch the other Sacred Blood warrior now that the fight was fair. Kai crouched next to his old friend as Camdyn stabbed the fallen Sacred Blood in the neck to ensure his death. Kai looked down at the leather face and watched as the life drained from the man’s eyes.

  “I don’t know what’s happening but we need to find out,” Camdyn said in a stern voice.

  “I agree,” said Kai. “We need to know what they intended with this attack.” In truth, Kai already knew what they intended, but it was how they intended to do it what confused him. This attack made little sense. “We must question them.”

  Kai stood and scanned the battleground. The Daxrah were victorious but with heavy casualties. The sounds of battle and death faded away as the last few blows struck home.

  “Take as many as you can alive. We need answers,” shouted Kai. He knew it would be hard for some of his men to restrain themselves as they were surrounded by the lifeless bodies of their fallen friends. He also knew that his men were well trained and loyal soldiers so he trusted that they would follow his orders. “And take the wounded to the infirmary.”

  The two moons were both in their half phases which, in addition to the torch lights, added to the eeriness of the situation. Kai looked around and assessed the grizzly scene. He shuddered to think what the battlefield would look like in the daytime. He would have to get a crew to clean the best they could before morning. Everyone was off fighting the fires so they had time.

  “I’m going to check on the status of the fires and make sure there are no more surprises waiting for us in the village,” Kai said to Camdyn. “Do what you can to clean this up. Move the dead to the saw pits so we can burn them.”

  “We should send out some scouts to track any that got away,” said Camdyn.

  “Do it,” said Kai. He gave Camdyn a quick salute and head off toward the edge of town.

  11

  Kai made his way through the dark streets of the village. The brightness of the two moons sufficed to light his way. Over the last two years, the village expanded quickly in a short amount of time. Kai had given little thought to planning so what developed was a twisted maze of hastily assembled buildings.

  All the newly erected structures were made of wood as there was an overabundance of lumber available from the Dark Forest. The Daxrah set up huge sawpits to the south of Mara when they first moved into the fortress. At the time, they did not have the amount of labor it took to cut into the side of the mountain, as the builders of the Tower had many years ago, so using wood was an acceptable alternative. The saw pits grew to deal with the demand for building materials. The Daxrah assembled a construction crew to create housing for the new immigrants who came to the Tower as word spread across the world of the powerful dragonblood princess who destroyed an army.

  It was only weeks after the battle with the forces of Kosal that the people had begun to arrive to confirm that the rumors that the dragons had returned were, in fact, true. At first, Kai had ordered the Daxrah to send the pilgrims away, but they arrived in such great numbers that it became impossible to do so. Sisera had offered to take care of the problem but Isabella suggested that it may not be a bad idea to use the people willing to serve them as additional laborers as there was a lot of work to do if they would restore the fortress. There was much deliberation as Kai and Camdyn were apprehensive about allowing so many strangers into their fledgling community. Isabella said Sisera could smell any trouble a mile away, and it was finally agreed that they
would allow the people to stay but only if they worked for the good of the community.

  It had been agreed that Amelia would take the role of lead administrator, queen in all but name, as she had the most experience. Camdyn and Jaime were given the task of expanding the ranks of the Daxrah to act as police and leaders of the labor force. Adina, with the help of Rosalie, would establish an infirmary to deal with the increased numbers. Oshri would tutor Isabella, who would focus on training. Kai and Raven were to oversee the construction and expansion of the village.

  Kai did not feel like they did a superb job. The village that grew amazingly fast was a twisted labyrinth. It was built on the ruins of Mara, some buildings built using the remnants of foundations from the former structures, others wherever they could find a spot flat enough to build a small wooden foundation. Kai gave no thought to layout until it was too late to correct the problem.

  He excelled at developing battle strategies but developing a village was a different skill. In the beginning, he had planned to structure it as he would an army camp, segregating into sections based on function. This went hell because many of the pilgrims were not soldiers and did not feel the need to follow orders and structure. They also had the strength of numbers. As a commander, he felt neutered. He brought his concerns up to Amelia who understood his grievances.

  “It is as if a floodgate was opened on top of us,” she had said.

  After meeting with Raven, Jaime, Camdyn, and Isabella they decided that they would focus on fortifying and expanding the Tower of Kings as well as the ranks of the Daxrah. They let the village grow on its own while encouraging structure by creating a town council that would handle the job of administering the growing community.

  Amelia called a meeting with those who lead the village and they struck a deal. They traded Daxrah milled lumber to the villagers in exchange for their work in the Tower. She decided that they must expand into the mountainside because expanding the fortress out was no longer an option. As part of the deal, the stone quarried from the mountain went to the villagers who began work on an ambitious project to build a massive wall around the valley to protect it from invaders which also served its purpose to the Tower. The Daxrah had also purchased a few of the larger farms around the valley and needed laborers to work the fields and handle the livestock. Workers were sent to the farms in exchange for a steady and ample supply of food that would feed the entire community.

  Both parties were happy with the arrangement and the communities flourished in harmony, even if a little disorganized. Major disasters were a worry for Kai from the beginning but there were always pressing matters at hand so he neglected to pay diligent attention. Perhaps, with tonight’s fire, Kai could convince the village council to change their construction habits.

  Kai rounded the corner of a large bakery and entered the square where the fires occurred. He could see that the fires were out with minimal damage to the surrounding buildings. The bucket brigade was still in full operation. They were sure to douse the ashes so there would be no chance of a flare up. As he took note of the scene a Daxrah captain that he had come to know very well over the past two years approached.

  Aarav Graham was one of the first to venture to the Tower of Kings with the goal of joining the ranks of the Daxrah. Aarav arrived just three months after the battle with the forces of Kosal. He begged Kai for a chance to join the protectors of the dragonblood. Camdyn and Jaime both thought it would not be a bad idea to consider new recruits but Kai was against it at first. Aarav was chosen to be the test subject.

  Aarav had joined the Prozian army when he was still a teenager. His mind was filled with dreams of glorious battles. Instead, he was sent to man an outpost in the mountains near the Valley of Tears. The outpost doubled as a relay station for the Capital. He had stayed at his outpost even though the Prozian army was disbanded because of the wars in the north. He claimed he stayed because he had been there for four years already and had nowhere else to go. One day a red striped pigeon arrived from the south and Aarav decided it was now time to find out if the dragons had returned. He packed his gear and headed south. He stopped at the Winking Pig in Shelby and heard the story of the battle at the Tower of Kings and the power of the Dragonblood Princess, as the locals were calling Isabella. Aarav knew that it was his calling to serve the dragonblood so he went to the Tower to try and join the Daxrah.

  Kai gave him a hard time at first but Aarav was very persistent. He had told Jaime that he had developed patience and a thick skin while manning a relay station for four years. Aarav was a quick learner and he fit in well with the veteran Daxrah. He worked hard and gained promotion quickly. He was already skilled with a bow. Aarav said it was the only thing he had to do on most days at the outpost. He would set up different practice ranges and run through them shooting at targets. It was good training but mostly it was because he had to hunt if he wanted meat and the only animals in any abundance around the outpost were large jackrabbits. They moved very quickly so he had to develop his skills if he wanted to eat.

  One day, Kai and Jaime got into a friendly argument and decided to settle the score on the archery range. Kai had split Jaime’s arrow as he had many times before. Kai was the best archer that anyone knew. Until Aarav came along and picked up Kai’s bow while he celebrated his victory. Aarav split Kai’s arrow then split that arrow with another. The crowd of Daxrah went silent. Kai was a little stunned but he recovered quickly. Jaime had started to howl with laughter.

  “Hello sir.” Aarav saluted as he walked up. “The fires are out. We managed to restrict the damage to just three houses.”

  “Good work, Captain,” Kai said.

  “Thank you, sir. The bucket brigade was a huge success.”

  “It seems so.”

  “There does not seem to be any signs of what started the blaze.”

  Kai looked at the young man, puzzled.

  “Did you not already hear about the battle that took place outside of the Tower’s walls?” he asked.

  “No, Sir,” Aarav said with an earnest look on his face.

  “It was an attack by the Sacred Blood Brotherhood,” Kai said. “It seems as if the war has come to us again already. We are still generally ill prepared to handle it but thanks to men like you, we can manage to compensate.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Aarav said. He saluted and went back to continue his work.

  Kai lazily returned the salute and began to walk around the scene, assessing the damage. As he looked at the charred remains of a house, he could feel anger growing inside of him.

  “How do we fight men who cause chaos like this?” he asked himself. “How do we protect ourselves from shadows in the night?”

  Kai wandered the scene, helping where he could. Once the brigade had ensured that the blaze would not flare up again, the people slowly disbanded and made their way back to their homes. Soon only Kai remained, walking through the ruins in contemplative silence, hands clenched furiously.

  “This is my fault,” he told himself. “We were not well prepared enough. Something must be done!”

  When the sky began to brighten and soon the sun peeked over the high mountains, Kai began a slow walk back to the tower. When he reached the yard where the battle took place he paused and took in the scene.

  The yard was deserted but the remnants of the previous night remained. Buckets of sand were thrown onto many pools of blood but in some places, it was so thick that it had soaked through and made the ground look as if it were covered with loose rust.

  Kai had calmed himself down throughout the night but seeing the battleground rekindled his emotions and he became furious again.

  He headed for the Tower to call a very important council meeting.

  12

  “We’ve been invaded! We need to do something.”

  “Calm down, Kai.” Amelia’s voice was sharp. She walked to a bench and sat down. She adjusted her overcoat and sat with her hands on her lap. “Now is the time for clear and concise decisions.�
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  Kai threw his arms up in the air. He looked around the group for support. Isabella, Jaime, Raven, Adina, and Oshri all returned his desperate look with blank faces. They all found their seats and waited for Amelia to continue. Kai looked to Camdyn who shrugged and found himself a seat. Defeated, Kai paced the width of the balcony staying silent.

  “Yes, we have been invaded. We cannot take this situation lightly. We know the Sacred Blood are responsible. So, what do we know about them?” Amelia instinctively looked to Oshri, who was picking his teeth with a stiletto. He put the blade away sheepishly when he realized everyone was looking to him for an answer.

  “A bunch of religious kooks who believe their saint Garron will return to the world if they kill all the dragons. They’ve been around for a long time. They have a castle on the mainland. North Partha somewhere. I have heard a lot of different stories about them. They use brutal tactics to gather information and in battle. We saw that last night.”

  “I’d say.” Kai interrupted as he was becoming worked up again. “They vanished then appeared again just before they attacked us. I’ve seen nothing like it. With some luck and sheer numbers did we survive. They killed thirty-six of my men. Thirty-six!! Not since the war have the Daxrah lost over five soldiers in any conflict.”

  “Kai, please.” Amelia’s tone and facial expression told Kai that he’d better hold his tongue. “Please continue Oshri.”

  “I don’t have too much more to tell. The Sacred Blood was never my main point of study. But what I know for sure is that my pappy was afraid of them so I’m afraid of them.”

  “That’s it?” Kai could not contain himself. “I cannot just sit here and wonder if when we will be attacked again. Who knows if we would ever see it coming. Sisera said she could smell trouble a mile away but trouble was at our doorstep and we were taken by surprise.”

  “This is not Sisera’s fault,” Isabella shouted.