Zyena perched on a low branch above Braden’s head. Another branch close above acted as a roof. G-War was next to his feathered friend, staying out of the majority of the rain. The Lizard Men found trees to lean against and disappeared into them as they settled back to rest.
Braden walked back and forth, trying to make no noise, and looked at the spots where he knew an Amazonian rested. He started to pick out slight differences between a place where there was only a tree and a place where an engineered creature’s natural camouflage worked to conceal it. When it was too dark for further study, he was happy with his progress in learning to protect himself by seeing that which wasn’t meant to be seen.
Fighting Their Way South
The sun rose and Braden’s group roused itself to prepare for another long daylight of travel. They’d barely gotten started when the first human took a spear to his side. Some others ran after the thrower, only to find themselves in the middle of a second barrage. Braden screamed for them to return, but it was too late. He hustled the others into a hasty defensive position, but by then, there was nothing to defend against. The attackers were gone and five of his people were dead.
They tried to bury them, but gave up as every hole filled with water. They leaned them against trees, passed out the food they carried, and wished the dead well on their final journey.
Braden was furious. He had the volunteers who were willing to fight for what they believed in, for what he told them was important, but they weren’t trained to fight like this. The enemy would continue to pick them off until only Amazonians, Braden, and his companions remained. He pulled the humans together and told them in case of future attacks, everyone stops where they are and takes cover. Anyone running into the rainforest would be turned loose to find their way out of the Amazon on their own.
Braden cooled quickly as he stood in the rain, looking at the anxious faces of the volunteers. He hoped that he made his point and that while they walked, they’d think about what to do during the next ambush. There’d be one, he was certain. He figured there’d be at least one a day as the enemy whittled their numbers down.
There was one more attack that day, but G-War alerted Braden a couple heartbeats before the spear was thrown. At his command, the humans dropped to the mud and looked for the nearest tree to hide behind. Braden was pulling his blaster as the spear appeared. He watched the thrower try to hide by blending in with a large tree, but Braden saw him because he knew what to look for. He carefully took aim and with a short, narrow-beamed blast, he reduced the enemy’s numbers by one.
One human had been hurt, but it was only a glancing blow. Braden sewed up the wound, letting the rain wash it clean before slapping on numbweed.
Akhmiyar complimented Braden on his improvement in seeing the Lizard Men when they were trying to hide. He still had more to learn as there were seven of the enemy watching them, six now. Braden asked Akhmiyar to tell him next time, but Akhmiyar said he’d tell Braden when the human could do something about it. They were too far away and it would have only wasted the energy of the blaster.
They continued the rest of that daylight and all the next without another attack. By then, Braden and the companions were thoroughly disoriented. Everything looked the same, but Akhmiyar assured them that they continued to travel a straight line south.
It was the third turn into their travels that Akhmiyar held up his clawed hand and called for a stop. His warriors melted into the rainforest. Braden wanted the humans to gather closer around him and stay down, but they were spread out, fighting their way through the swampy footing. He waved for them to get down. They stopped in place and most faced one direction. He couldn’t get their attention to have every other person look the opposite way.
The Rabbits readied their weapons and the Wolfoids pointed their spears into the murkiness of the rain. Braden held one blaster, more confident firing one at a time. The loss of two fingers limited what he could do. He wanted each shot to count.
The attack came from all around. The biggest surprise was from the Lizard Men who dropped from the trees onto unsuspecting humans. Braden’s group found that they were outnumbered with nowhere to run. The women with swords were better trained and equipped to fight this battle, especially since the enemy targeted the men with their first wave.
Most of the men fell to the onslaught, while the women slashed the attackers from behind. Braden picked his targets carefully, firing short, restricted beams. The Rabbits fired at the targets closest to them, while the Wolfoids hesitated because they couldn’t be as accurate with the lightning as the others were with their pistols.
As the fighting grew close, the Wolfoids charged the nearest Lizard Men, spearing two and saving their intended victim. They jerked their spears free from the twitching bodies and engaged two more. The Wolfoids were far quicker than the Lizard Men. They appeared to effortlessly knock aside the attacking spears, parrying to tear into the green flesh. A quick blast of lightning and the dead bodies flew away from them. As they waded into the fight, they put humans at their back and fired again and again into the enemy’s ranks.
Braden changed position, but kept Bronwyn between him and a stout rainforest tree. He had to protect her. They all needed to protect her. The Rabbits flanked him, firing to the sides so he could shoot Lizard Men when his line of fire was clear.
He called to Loper and Sunny when they started to get too far away from him. They were trying to reach the end of the human line to join a small group of humans in a desperate fight. The Rabbits moved behind Braden to protect Bronwyn. A Hillcat screamed from the other side of the tree as G-War held that side against other attackers.
Braden bolted through the swampy footing as he headed down the line of humans, shooting as he high-stepped over roots. Those he passed were dead or terribly wounded. The Lizard Men had moved on and were concentrating their efforts on those left in the rear. Braden dialed the flame setting and scorched the backs of a dozen Lizard Men lined up to charge the surviving women. The enemy broke as the swords sang and lightning crackled.
The enemy ran into the rainforest, disappearing after only a few paces. Braden dialed a tight beam and fired after them. He looked the area over carefully to be sure they hadn’t remained close by. He walked slowly backwards toward the women, keeping his eyes on the rainforest as he tried not to trip.
The six women from McCullough were mostly uninjured, having held their own against the Amazonian enemy. The Wolfoids were uninjured, but panted heavily in the warm rain.
“Survivors,” was all Braden said and the group started to fan out, checking the humans for life. Those who weren’t dead would die soon. It grated on Braden’s soul to prop them up and give them a drink of water, knowing that there was nothing he could do. His supply of numbweed was limited. He couldn’t use any of it to provide them even the least bit of comfort. He did the only thing he could and that was to thank them for volunteering, praise them for how far they’d come.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Braden didn’t feel any better and they were still dead.
Bronwyn was safe, as were the animal companions. Zyena hadn’t seen the Lizard Men until it was too late. She was able to get her claws into one as he jumped from a branch, but it only made him land awkwardly. He resumed his attack after shrugging off the deep scratches to his shoulder.
Zyena felt helpless. She hadn’t seen the trap even though she flew through the area heartbeats before. And where was Akhmiyar and his people?
Braden asked Bronwyn, who told him that they fought a large group of the enemy to the front. The plan was to stop Akhmiyar’s advance while the rest of the enemy force attacked the line of people. Akhmiyar saw the enemy before they sprung the trap and engaged. He lost three of his men this day as well. Braden added the nine humans. They were down to the six female swordsmen from McCullough who survived because they trained together to fight. Braden wished those in the north could see the power when you gave any intelligent being an equal chance.
Th
e remaining warriors scavenged the food and supplies from the unfortunate souls whose journey was at an end.
Braden and Akhmiyar arranged the smaller group and pointed ahead. They wanted to put distance between the ambush site and where they were headed. They agreed to angle slightly to the west, hoping to reduce the predictability of where they were going. Akhmiyar would then change east for a while, then go back south, creating an irregular route.
They needed to avoid another ambush. They couldn’t stand to lose any more warriors.
Turns Melt Into Turns
By the end of the first seven turns, Micah thought there was no way she could possibly be more miserable. Her skin was wrinkled and every bit of her was wet, except her feet because of the Old Tech boots, as long as she didn’t take them off.
Aadi was surprised that they hadn’t yet come across any hostile Amazonians. The group was starting to tire from always being on alert, but the plan was for Pik and Dal to intimidate the Amazonians, because they looked like the Overlords.
The Wolfoids shook and shook, but could never dry out. Skirill fluffed his feathers and shook, but remained wringing wet. Aadi and the Lizard Men seemed to gain energy as the others grew increasingly unhappy.
Micah watched the group carefully for any signs that one of them was ready to break. The individuals remained steadfast but miserable, while Pik led them deeper and deeper into the rainforest.
On the eleventh turn, Pik saw something that concerned him and called a halt. The aches and weariness seemed to evaporate as the group crouched low, half-submerged in the swampy water, watching the approaches to their position. Pik casually strolled forward with Dal following. Aadi swam slowly to get a better view of what the Lizard Man had seen.
He stopped before a tree and poked at it with the modified spear that Holly had made for him. A Lizard Man stepped away from it, then shook his head at Pik, who responded by crouching and hissing. He slapped at the other Lizard Man with his spear until he backed away and bowed. The two talked in their unique way.
Micah wondered how Braden was getting along and if Bronwyn was able to keep up with Akhmiyar’s pace.
Micah shook herself back into the moment. They could be knee deep in a fight while her mind drifted. She hoped the others weren’t as distracted. The Wolfoids sniffed the air, trying to detect the scent of the enemy, but they only smelled the mossy wetness of the rainforest. Skirill perched on a branch, trying to look inconspicuous while Pik continued talking with the Lizard Man. Micah wondered if he was one of the Overlords’ warriors or one that was friendly. Both would probably have a similar sense of fear to an Overlord’s appearance.
The conversation finished with Pik and Dal backing away. Aadi remained facing the other Lizard Man. As he stepped toward the safety of the trees, the Tortoid hit him with a focused thunderclap at point blank range, splitting the creature’s head open. Micah rushed forward to find out why.
‘Master Micah, yes, all is well. This one was a lone sentry. They didn’t expect anyone to be this way, so they spread the sentries thin. Within one turn’s walk east, there are four more Lizard Men posted. Having dispatched this one, we will be able to continue unnoticed into enemy territory,’ Aadi said.
‘He saw me as an Overlord, even though he saw all of you, too. He’d been taught not to question the Overlords, so he didn’t ask,’ Pik added with a hint of smugness. Aadi bobbed his head in agreement. ‘The stronghold is maybe two turns travel ahead. We are following the trail to it.’
Micah looked but couldn’t see a trail. Bounder and Gray Strider craned their necks back and forth, before shaking their heads. They couldn’t see it either. Skirill squinted into the rain and thought he could tell the difference between the trail and the normal rainforest swamp. Then he decided that he would be lost without Pik and Dal. Only they knew where they were going. Maybe they made up the part about the trail in a twisted way that Lizard Men found funny.
She couldn’t read the emotions of Lizard Men like Pik any more than she could read those from an Amazonian like Zalastar. She gave up and signaled that it was time to get moving.
Micah expected Braden was moving more slowly as he had to be fighting his way through the enemy. But he was with Akhmiyar who moved quickly. She remembered the run after the villagers from Bliss. He had been relentless in his pursuit of the Overlords’ warriors. She also remembered how quickly he moved after he was wounded. At the end of her conversation with herself, she wasn’t able to draw a conclusion. He would get there when he got there, unless the resistance was too great and he was unable to fight his way through. Without the neural implant, she had no way to find him if he fell in battle somewhere in the depths of the dark, wet rainforest.
She’d wondered earlier if she could be more miserable. She had found a way. Her feet suddenly felt very heavy, and she struggled to keep moving. Skirill had flown ahead, scouting the so-called trail. Aadi and the Lizard Men moved almost mechanically. But the Wolfoids were there and came to her aid. With a furry foreleg under each arm, they helped support the human as they all slogged through the swamp, ever onward, always wet from the perpetual rain.
Running of the Bulls
After watching Braden and his army enter the rainforest, Brandt was ready to go. The traders Candela and Tanner had to make some minor repairs to the wagons and the harnesses, which were stressed to breaking by the wild run from Dwyer to Bliss.
While the humans were finishing their work, Lomen walked out of the rainforest, head held low. He hadn’t been gone long. The King of the Aurochs checked the sky and wasn’t sure the sun had moved at all.
‘They say I make too much noise and that I too big. I sorry, my King, I fail all in not fight for freedom,’ Lomen told Brandt Earthshaker.
‘I know Braden well. If he sent you back, then the rainforest was nowhere for you to be. You tried, and that is all we can ask of anyone. We have a great deal of travel before us. We will return to your home pasture, where you will not eat any of the grass while we convince the rest of the herd to join us. We will bring them all back. The plains here are vast and they will be your new home, where all of our people can live healthy lives. Then we will know our place in this land, live with the humans and all creatures great and small.’ Brandt stood tall as he talked with Lomen. Brandt had wanted to go with Braden to fight the Overlords as well, but knew he didn’t fit. He was surprised that the human even tried to bring an Aurochs along.
With nods of his head, Brandt attempted to get the traders to hurry their repairs. They seemed not to notice and went about their work at a normal pace. When they were finally ready, Brandt pawed the ground, anxious to leave. He wanted to reach Dwyer before nightfall and that meant another full turn’s sprint. He was up for it, but were the others?
Before Candela and Tanner climbed into the wagons, they dutifully updated their rudder with only one small notation. They put the paper journal back into its oilskin pouch and let the Aurochs know they were ready.
The humans hung on, understanding that Brandt was in a hurry. They didn’t know why because neither Braden nor Bronwyn had told them. The Aurochs started slowly, but picked up speed quickly. Without the weight of the warriors and their equipment, the wagons bounced violently along. The wagon without anyone in it seemed to have it the worst as it bounced and slid sideways, getting dragged before righting itself and bouncing more. Brandt let Lomen set the pace. The young bull ran hard, but wasn’t breathing heavily.
Since he’d followed his King from the Valley of the Aurochs, as he called it, it seemed like the only thing he’d done was run. He was always hungry and thought he was losing weight. But he felt strong, stronger than ever before. His mind was clear, and he saw the world in different colors. The human had said the grass he’d eaten his whole life was tainted, was bad for him.
Bad for all Aurochs. He scoffed at first, but the more he ate of fresh vegetables and grasses elsewhere, the more he realized that the human was right. They needed to save the herd.
The Earthshaker Herd. Lomen’s new herd, established the second the great King killed their former leader. He fought without honor because his time had come and gone. Lomen was ashamed, but then proud that Brandt had selected him as his travel companion.
Loyalty wasn’t about being forced. The King had asked the young bulls if they wanted to come. At the time, they didn’t feel like they had a choice, but with what Lomen had seen since, if he’d said ‘no,’ Brandt would have respected his decision and chosen someone else.
Loyalty was earned by leaders who stood up for themselves. Why hadn’t he seen that before? He knew it was because his brain had been addled by the accursed grasses of his home. He understood Brandt’s sense of urgency and agreed. They needed to get there and save the Aurochs from the daze of their existence. When they moved the herd north, they’d be free to choose their own paths.
Lomen had talked with the one they called Bronwyn. Her mind touched his, clearing away any remaining doubts. Loyalty, camaraderie, friendship, and a shared goal to see a peaceful world. He felt that she was young in years, but old in wisdom. He didn’t care why or how, only that where she was, he would be, too. As soon as she returned from the rainforest, he vowed to stay by her side and protect her.
The young bull talked to himself, unaware that Brandt could hear him. The King kept his secret, approving of Lomen and his commitment to the things Brandt agreed were most important. Once the light shone on the path they followed, no one could turn away.
Lomen increased speed, energized by his thoughts. The Aurochs pulling the wagons were challenged, but kept up. Brandt watched the land fly by, seeing how it was changing as the tide flowed across the south. He liked the new world that he was playing a part in shaping.
Free Trader Box Set - Books 4-6: Battle for the Amazon, Free the North!, Free Trader on the High Seas Page 19