by Alan Black
Gadon coughed and said, “Woman! Speak up, let’s hear what you have to say.”
Tanden said, “Ask your question.”
She hesitated. Looking down at the rock, she said, “I think Tuller is right. It may take longer, but Gadon needs more rest.” Looking into Tanden’s eyes, she quickly cut off Gadon’s response. “He can’t even sit up without breathing hard. The fever has affected his lungs and sapped his strength.”
Tanden replied, “You’re right. I’d get him out of this swamp as fast as possible. This air can’t be good for him—or us. When we reach dry land, we’ll find a place to rest comfortably, build a fire to get warm and find food. I don’t believe this swamp will be any more comfortable during the heat of the day. We will certainly be less comfortable if Six Finger moves from the southern horizon. Its pull on the tides is considerable and its absence might allow the water to rise and cover this rock. I-Sheera, I thank you and Tuller for your suggestions, but the final decision is mine. We’ll move as soon as we have clear daylight.”
Gadon said, “I thank you for thinking of me, young lady, but don’t start treating my like a corpse just yet. And Tuller, what are you squirming around for. Sit still, boy, you’re making me dizzy.”
Tuller scratched at his scalp, “You were dizzy to begin with. If you must know, the salty water on my burns is beginning to itch.”
Tanden had forgotten that Bransch, the young Hummdhar warrior, had severely burned Tuller’s scalp two days ago. So much had happened since then Tanden almost forgot his own wounds, scrapes, and bruises.
Tuller continued, “Last night the salt burned, but today it itches enough to drive a man crazy.”
I-Sheera said, “It’s healing then, just leave it alone.”
Tuller said, “Tell me, I-Sheera. As a woman, do I look bad? I mean, do these burns make you want to turn away from me?”
Gadon snorted and coughing, rolled his eyes, “Oh, the pretty boy is worried about a few scars and losing some hair.”
I-Sheera smiled, “Any woman who would turn away from you for such a small thing is unworthy of you.”
Tanden said, “True enough. I don’t think any of us are fit to dine at King Krebbem’s table today. Besides Tuller, unless I miss my guess, someday you’ll be a wealthy man. You’ll have more women flocking to your side than you know what to do with.”
Seenger said, “I should be able to give you a hand with them. Not that I’m attracted to such frail creatures, but I can keep them in line for you until a nice sturdy ogress comes along for me.”
Gadon said, “While you’re dreaming, little brother, pick me out a young one, so I can leave an heir for our father.”
“Ha!” Tuller snorted. “Father and Mother already have a wife picked out for you and you know it.”
“That thing?! She’s why I keep going to sea. She’s as big as a house and has an old crow for a mother. All Father can see is her father’s money. Surely, Father has enough grandchildren already. He can’t want my children that badly.”
Tanden interrupted, “Gadon, be fair to your father. You are the eldest son. You’ll take all your father’s house when the time comes. And all of Marva’s father’s house, too—should you marry her—since she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters.”
Tuller laughed, “She isn’t as big as you are anyway. Marva’s a real sweet girl. No one in all Harkelle can match her cooking and you know it.”
“Well, maybe,” Gadon relented, “But I won’t marry and settle down until Tanden does.”
Tanden said, “Take care, Gadon. You may commit yourself to a wife before you know it.”
Gadon shot back, “Ha! You’ll never leave the seas. You treat your ships like your mistresses. Tell me you won’t follow the White Wind to the ends of the earth to get her back.”
Tanden nodded, “Yes. I’ll retake the White Wind. I have to, it’s my obligation. But I tell you this: I’ve had more pleasurable voyages than this trip. I’m not as young and spry as I used to be. And may I point out that the sun is up? Let’s go. Gadon, lean on me until you regain your strength. Don’t even begin to argue with me.” Tanden gestured for Tuller to lead the way and for Seenger to follow.
The water was not as cold as Tanden remembered from last night, though Gadon shuddered when he slid into the water beside him. Putting his friend’s arm up around his shoulders, Tanden grabbed him firmly. Without all of Gadon’s additional weight, Tanden did not expect to sink as deeply into the mud as they had last night.
Tanden said privately to Gadon, “You tell me if you get tired. We’ll get through this together, my friend.”
Gadon nodded.
The two men moved through the murky water, fighting in unison against the quagmire sucking at their feet. They pushed through the tangled reeds. Quickly, Gadon began puffing and turned pale, but his short muscular legs pumped through the mire.
The group quickly re-crossed the stream at the cave entrance. Tuller ferried I-Sheera across and returned for Seenger. Gadon put up a halfhearted protest, but allowed Tanden to tow him across the water to the other side.
A few yards beyond the cave entrance, Tuller led them up to a rocky area along the cliff's edge. They negotiated their way over broken ground, around large boulders, and through muddy low spots, traveling much faster than in the swamp. Gadon was able to move on his own with little or no assistance, though his color had not returned and he continued to cough and fight to breathe.
The sun was now shining brightly on the swamp and the rising heat was turning the area into a morass of steam and humidity. The little group was soon struggling for air.
Tanden was helping Gadon over a mud hole full of shifting sand when I-Sheera’s scream cut through the thick air. Tanden jerked Gadon up to a high spot as Seenger ran by them, bounding over the mud hole in a single leap. An angry shout from ahead of them rang through the air.
Gadon pushed at Tanden and shouted, “Go! I’ll catch up.”
Tanden whirled and raced after Seenger.
I-Sheera had been walking ahead of them with Tuller. Both had slipped out of sight some time ago while searching for the easiest path to follow. Tanden crested a small rise and saw Seenger leap over a boulder, disappearing from his sight. If they were running into trouble, Tanden did not want to rush headlong into the unknown. He angled away from the cliff onto a spit of land twisting away into the swamp. He should be able to flank any danger if he could move fast enough.
Vaulting a fallen tree, he circled around a small grove of young saplings, and jumped across a ribbon of water onto dry land. The ground was more solid than swamp and the area was thick with trees. Tanden ran, dodging around tree after tree, avoiding obvious bogs or sinkholes. After a short distance, he changed course, curving back to parallel the cliffs.
Struggling to fill his lungs in the heavy air, his heart pounding in his chest, he did not slow his pace until he heard shouts coming from his right. He jumped over a small, clear stream and stopped behind a jumble of vines entangling a grove. Tanden slid quietly along the stream bank. He crouched low and moved upstream using the meandering rivulet as cover.
When he heard voices shouting close to him, he hunkered down behind a deep cut in the bank. Squatting ankle deep in the stream, he strained to hear. He eased his knife from the sheath and held it at the ready. He calmed his breathing, willing his heart to slow. Reaching a cupped hand into the stream, he raised a handful of water and poured it over his head and down the back of his neck, cooling him. A few swallows wet his dry tongue. His body called for more of the refreshing liquid, but he ignored the call.
Slowly, he raised up, peeking over the bank, using small bushes as cover. Three men stood face-to-face against Tuller and Seenger. They all had their weapons drawn, ready for use in a tense standoff. Three men were hurrying out of sight away from Tanden.
One man was running like he wanted no part of any fight with an ogre coming out of a swamp. The other two were dragging I-Sheera. Her arms were bound behind her back an
d she was gagged, but she struggled against them.
Tanden tensed every muscle, desperately wanting to chase after I-Sheera’s captors. He was certain Tuller and Seenger could hold their own, but he was not sure he could take on her kidnappers by himself.
From his current position, Tanden could blindside the men facing his two crewmen. The five were standing in a small clearing near a spring that fed the stream hiding Tanden.
Tanden darted from cover, dashing as quietly as possible toward the three men.
Tuller spotted him almost immediately and began yelling and cursing. He waved his sword menacingly at the strangers. Seenger stood frozen, eyes cold, his thick red tongue flicking out to wet his tusks. The actions of both crewmen was such a distraction that Tanden was on the kidnappers before they knew he was there.
He slammed into the right rear of the first man he came to, sending him crashing to the ground at Seenger’s feet. His momentum sent him twisting into the middle man. Tanden drove the handle of his knife into the side of the man’s head and shoved, driving him into the next man. The collision sent both men to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.
Tanden veered to the side, remaining on his feet. He whirled around and quickly thrust his blade toward the top man in the tangle. He wanted to slice through the man’s throat, instead, he held the cutting edge inches from the man’s face.
“Hold still or die,” Tanden hissed through clenched teeth. His jangled nerves spiked with energy, making his muscles twitch, causing the knifepoint to flick from eye to eye on his captive. Tuller’s sword point lay inches from the other man’s chest. Out the corner of his eye, Tanden saw that Seenger had cleanly decapitated his adversary.
“Who in the name of the dark demons are you?” Tanden spat at the man under his blade.
The man’s clothing was leather and rough cloth like many tribes from this mountainous area, but he had light colored hair and pale bluish eyes. His companion was as dark as a Holdenite, but he sported a long red beard, braided as the Surr often did and his eyes were blue. Both men glared up at Tanden refusing to answer.
“Speak now or die,” Tanden commanded. His voice was low, tense and threatening.
Seenger stepped into Tanden’s line of sight where the downed men could see him. He picked up the dead man’s head by the hair. Flipping his hand, he set it to spinning around and around. Seenger’s face was emotionless and unreadable. He raised his bloody sword to his lips, flicking his tongue out to lick the flat of the dripping blade.
The blonde man began babbling at Tanden, his eyes pleading. Tanden did not recognize the language. He said, “Do you speak any other tongue?” He quickly asked in Geldonite, Tunstonian, Eastern, and Hummdhar, but there was no flicker of recognition on either man’s face. Tanden flipped his man over onto his belly and gestured for the other man to turn face down in the dirt. Tanden put his knee in the middle of the blond man’s back, pinning him to the ground.
Tanden said, “Tuller, search them and tie their hands behind their backs. We may need them alive. Seenger, backtrack and find Gadon.”
From behind, Tanden heard Gadon puff, “No need. I’m here. Too late for the fun, I see.”
Tanden looked at the heavyset man. He was standing with his hands on his knees. His face was pasty with flushed blotches of bright red on his cheeks. His breath wheezed in raspy gulps.
Tanden pointed at Gadon and then at a rock, “Sit,” he commanded. “There’s more to come. These animals have friends who took I-Sheera.”
“Then why should I sit? Let’s go after them.” He reached for a sword laying on the ground near his feet.
“I said sit,” Tanden wanted to shout, but he kept his voice low, but firm. “I don’t have time to argue with you. Seenger, gather up their weapons and give them to Gadon. Hurry, Tuller, we don’t want to leave the others alone with I-Sheera any longer than we have to. Gadon, you follow Seenger, Tuller, and me, bringing these two with you. I want them alive if possible, but if they give you any trouble, kill them. You catch your breath before you follow us, do you hear me?”
“I hear you, but I’m sound enough.”
Tuller bound the men with their hands behind their backs, wrapping leather straps wrist to wrist, bending and immobilizing their arms. He tied a strap from their wrists to loop around their necks and tied a third strap to that strap, halfway between their wrists and necks. A quick yank on the last strap would jerk their arms at the shoulders, tightening the loop around their necks, cutting off their air supply. He handed the loose end of the straps to Gadon as if they were reins attached to the halter on a saurus.
Seenger handed a long sword with belted sheath to Tanden and a sheathed knife to Tuller. He draped the belt of another sheathed long sword around Gadon’s neck, providing him with a pair of long weapons. He jammed a sheathed knife into his own belt and removed a wide copper bracelet from the dead man. With a casual flick of the wrist, he tossed the jewelry to Tuller. Reaching into the pool of blood at the dead man’s neck, Seenger pulled out a delicate-looking silver amulet on a chain. Without wiping any blood or dirt from the necklace, he dropped it over his head where it lay, shining wetly in the sun.
Tuller shrugged and slipped his new bracelet onto his wrist.
Tanden pointed at the two captives and told Gadon, “What you find you can keep. But try to keep them alive. We may need them to trade for the woman. Drink from the spring quickly, then Tuller and Seenger to me.” He sheathed his knife as he stepping to the spring. Watching their captives and the path where it disappeared into a small grove, he squatted and brought two quick handfuls of the cool water to his lips.
Tanden stood, spun on his heels and hurried down the path the three men had taken. It was not well trodden, but someone used it from time to time. He slowed cautiously when he reached the trees, alert for anyone coming back up the path. He did not want to stumble into the other men unprepared. He could not see anyone hiding in the trees, so he hurried on through the wooded area and halted at the other edge of the grove. The area ahead of him was not swamp, forest, or plains. There were a hundred places for a hundred men to hide. No one could cross the space unseen. There were scattered trees, rocks, and bushes, but no clusters of growth. A man would have to move stealthily from cover to cover. Tanden did not want to blunder foolishly forward, but he also did not want to spend the time slowly moving from cover to cover to remain hidden.
Tuller and Seenger stepped up next to him. Each of them held a sword at the ready. Tanden saw that the ogre had tied the severed head to his belt by its hair. Blood dripped down, coloring his leg. He had streaked his face with blood, giving him the look of a wild mountain ogre driven crazy by the dark demon and his minions.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Tuller said, “Tanden, this is my fault. I let I-Sheera move ahead of me. She seemed to like exploring and being out front. They had her bound and gagged before I could get to her. They would have taken me too if Seenger hadn’t arrived.”
“It isn’t your fault, nor hers, nor mine. If you have to lay blame, it falls on the men who took her and those who command them. I intend to get her back. I’ll take her from them or their leader, whether he’s a man or the Dark One himself.”
Holding his sword in his right hand and his knife in his left, Tanden stepped away from the trees. He quickly moved about ten paces forward following a parallel course across the open area. His new course should spoil the ambush plans of any man laying in wait for him along the path. Tuller and Seenger spread out to his right, each about five paces apart from each other. Quietly and resolutely, they pursued I-Sheera and her captives.
Tanden heard voices shouting ahead of them and began moving carefully from tree to tree, his eyes sweeping the area. Through a gap in the trees, he caught sight of a beach and the sea stretched out beyond. Quickly slipping up to a large wind-weathered oak, he surveyed the scene playing out on the sand.
Many old soldiers could describe the long boats the invading Surr brought when they p
oured out of the north, but Tanden had never seen one. Two such vessels stood anchored just off the shallow beach. They must have sailed down the DuVall River, slipping past the Holden outposts.
A dozen men were gathered on the beach, weapons ready. Another dozen herded a group of twenty-five or thirty men and women into clusters. The captors pushed and prodded until the captives huddled together, squatting in the sand. Each prisoner was tied to another, by hand and foot, with another link from neck to neck.
Many cultures used this method when transporting slaves. It allowed some measure of movement, but no one could run far or fast enough to escape.
I-Sheera was laying face down in the sand with a Surr slaver’s foot holding her head down. He appeared to be unconcerned whether she could breathe or not. He gestured wildly up the path, speaking to a tall, red-haired man who had the look of someone in charge.
Tanden plainly heard their words, but did not understand the language. The slaver pointed to I-Sheera, who squirmed at his feet, and then pointed to the path leading to the spring. He leaned down, reached under I-Sheera, grabbed her breast and jiggled it. He stood up to the laughter of the men gathered around him.
The red-haired man answered him with a laugh and a nod, then gestured to those around him and pointed at the path. The command was obvious. Tanden concluded that as wild as Seenger was, as smart as Tuller was, and as determined as he was, the three of them could not overcome twelve armed men. He was also convinced he would not give up I-Sheera without a fight.
Tanden sheathed his weapons. Leaving the safety of the oak tree, he stepped into the open at the edge of the sand, shouting in Geldonite, “Surrender or die where you stand.” The Surr slavers stopped in their tracks. Geldonite was the most commonly used language among the civilized, trading nations of the world, but Tanden doubted they understood his command. His presence and boldness caused them to hesitate. He decided if he could keep them hesitating, he could turn the situation to his benefit.