She yelled down. “Nason!”
He turned.
“Let someone else do that. Get your kids and the other young ones to the basement beneath the barracks.”
He nodded and ran off.
“I think we’re all right. I don’t see anyone pursuing Sivan and the others,” Zadok called.
She turned. It was true, no one followed them.
But they’re not slowing either.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “But I don’t think we’re all right.”
* * *
Sivan barreled through the open gate like some hero out of story, galloping into a castle to save a princess. He reined in quickly and leaped down. Unlike the hero of story, he immediately showed his age once unhorsed, landing awkwardly in his rush and grabbing for his knee. Damaris ran to check on her father, but he shooed away her ministrations. Everyone crowded around him. The other riders entered the courtyard a moment later, looking just as worn.
Ava pushed her way to the front.
“Good,” said Sivan upon seeing her. Then he saw the former mayor and nodded. “You two walk with me.”
Others started to come along, but he cast them a severe look. They froze which seemed to satisfy him.
“What’s going on?” asked Rezub as they stopped on the opposite side of the courtyard.
“We’ve got trouble. An army is headed our way,” said Sivan.
Ava swore. “An army or a group of raiders?”
Sivan met her eyes. “My guess is something in between. Not nearly as large as what Balak had, but larger than what we’ve seen from raiders.”
“What did you see?”
“Two different trails of advanced scouts. Raiders aren’t likely to be that organized.”
“But it still could have been raiders,” said Rezub. “You don’t really know for sure. Right? It might have even been a couple people bumbling around on their own.”
Sivan gave him a look that seemed to say that he couldn’t believe he had to explain himself. Ava understood. Sivan knew his business scouting. Tyrus saw it immediately and never once questioned the man’s conclusions.
“They tried to cover their trails. A couple people ‘bumbling around’ wouldn’t have bothered with that. There were other signs too.”
“Like?” asked Ava.
“I found this.”
She cocked her head as Sivan reached into a pocket at his waist. He pulled out a smooth stone half the size of his palm.
Rezub said. “That’s just a rock,”
Sivan held it out to Ava. “Is it?”
He probably expected her to take it from him to study, but she had recognized it immediately. It was gray like granite. On one side were several intentional scratches. Images ran through her mind, images she had hoped not to recall again.
Anyone who had been part of the elite units of the Turine army knew those markings. More than once Balak had tasked them with eliminating, or at least whittling down, the groups that made them.
She cursed a few gods.
“I thought you might recognize it,” said Sivan.
“Why?”
“Because I remembered the Byzans used markers during their war with Turine. I figured another army might do the same.” He paused. “Is this Geneshan?”
“No,” said Ava. “That was made by the Malduks.”
What in the name of Molak are they doing this far south?
Rezub gasped. She knew like most, he had never had any up close experience with the Malduks. Still, he heard the stories. Villains of the children’s tales told to young Turine children often emulated or borrowed from the Malduk culture. Having seen the people up close, and having fought against them after they had allied themselves with the Geneshans, she knew the descriptions were not far off.
The mountainous people distinguished themselves from other nations by scarring their body with sharp blades or hot irons. The scars formed patterns and symbols that in their eyes were sacred, a way to show dedication to not only their own unique tribes, but also the gods each tribe followed.
She had once thought such practices were unique to their warriors, or at least their men. But she later learned of the deformities their women put upon themselves. Worse still were the scars forced on young children. Their culture believed that the younger the devotee to their gods, the stronger the tribe.
“How could you possibly know that rock was made by the Malduks?” asked Rezub.
“It’s not rock,” said Ava. “It’s bone they treat with potions to discolor it. The bone is always from their enemies.” She gave Sivan a look. “Gods, how did you even see this?”
“Because I know what I’m doing,” said Sivan as he glared at Rezub, daring the former Denu Creek mayor to question him again.
“We need to tell the others,” said the former mayor.
“No,” said Sivan. “Not yet. We tell the others when we have a clear plan.” He eyed Ava. “This mob mentality to leading isn’t working. I asked you both over here for your opinions before I decide on what we do.”
She gave a nod of approval.
About time.
“Do they know we’re here?” asked a female voice from behind.
Ava spun. Somehow Myra had sneaked up next to them.
Sivan seemed surprised too, but he answered anyway. “I don’t know. The tracks I saw were farther out so it’s possible they didn’t see the outpost due to its position. Or if they did see it, I doubt they could tell it was inhabited from that distance.”
Myra continued. “We should probably assume they know the outpost is here. It’s possible there were more than two scouts, some that came in from another direction.”
Ava grew proud at seeing her niece’s mind working.
Sivan answered. “There could have been other tracks. I didn’t stay to look for more. I saw enough for me to get back and warn everyone.”
“We could leave before they attack us,” said Ava.
“No,” said Rezub. “We should stay where we have protection. If we leave, they can attack us on the road where there’s nowhere to hide. We still don’t really know for sure if they know we’re here. They could pass right by us, especially if they think this place is abandoned.”
“An army of any decent size will see this place as more scouts are sent out,” said Myra. “And no one with at least half a brain will not search it.”
“Then we hide,” Rezub offered.
Ava shook her head. “Not a good idea with the way things are. There are tracks all around the outside of this place, going in and out of the gate. They’d see the remnants of our fire, our refuse, holes for our night soil, where we’ve dug in the garden. Then there are our animals.”
“So, we’re doomed if we stay and doomed if we go,” Rezub said, rubbing his hands.
“Not doomed. It’s just both paths have negatives,” said Myra.
Sivan sighed, looking to Ava. “You were right. We should have left days ago.”
“Really doesn’t matter now who was right. How much time do we have before we’ll see the Malduks?”
“Don’t know for sure, but I’d guess less than a day.”
Worse than I thought.
“Then we shouldn’t try to get on the road,” said Myra, interjecting herself again.
Everyone looked to her.
“Why?” asked Sivan.
“Because by the time we get everything ready to move out, it will be too late to do any real maneuvering with a group our size, especially with the wagon and animals.”
“So then we fight,” said Sivan with a heavy sigh.
The weight of leadership seemed a heavy burden on his shoulders.
“That’s crazy,” said Rezub.
“Even so, she’s right about us trying to evade them on the road this cl
ose to their main body of troops.”
“And do you have a plan for how we should go about fighting an army?” asked Rezub, his voice biting.
Sivan opened his mouth, then closed it. He glanced to Ava. It was obvious he had nothing.
Ava caught Myra out the corner of her eye, worrying her lip. She could tell the girl had some thought on the matter but again was hesitant to speak up.
“Myra? What do you think?”
Her niece seemed doubtful, so Ava squeezed her arm, trying to get her to relax.
After a moment, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
“Well, I remember you and Pa saying the Malduks are a very superstitious people, right?” she asked, looking to Ava.
Ava nodded.
“I was thinking we could attack from odd places like cracks in the walls, holes in the ground, or even from the ceiling. We set traps throughout this place with the goal of making them seem like accidents so that one Malduk dies at a time. When others find the bodies, they’ll wonder what happened. Aunt Ava, do you know of any effigies or signs that would act as a warning to them? We can make this place seem cursed.”
Gods, that’s a crazy idea. But creative.
Ava bobbed her head, mind turning at Myra’s suggestion. “I do know of a few things and I like where you’re going. We would need to do things much differently than we have before though. Rather than fighting in small units as Tyrus trained us, we’d have to fight more as individuals.”
“Why?” asked Sivan, not skeptical, but curious.
“It just wouldn’t be feasible for a small group of people to lurk around the outpost in the same way several individuals could.”
“So you want to scare an army of known savages with tricks better suited to giving children bad dreams?” asked Rezub.
Why not? Tyrus’s trick with the dead bodies at Denu Creek worked on scaring away most of the raiders with that square-helmed man.
She kept that thought to herself, knowing that it hadn’t worked on everyone.
“Do you have a better solution?” Ava asked.
He hesitated, then shook his head.
Ava continued. The more she thought about Myra’s idea, the more she liked it. “She’s right about the Malduks. They can be superstitious. It might make sense for them to even catch a flash or shadow of movement here and there to further the impression this place is haunted. If we spook them enough, they’ll get out of here fast.”
Sivan bobbed his head. He looked to be on board. He stood straighter, seeming more like the old war vet he should have always portrayed, rather than the compromising former tailor. “That settles it. Ava, you and Myra get together and start laying out exactly what we need to do to make this happen.”
Myra’s eyes widened. She started to pale, but Ava leaned in and whispered.
“Calm down. I’m here with you. You won’t be giving orders or anything like that. That’s on me. I just need to pick that brain of yours and talk through how we should do things.”
Something inside of Myra changed. Her eyes hardened, her jaw twisted, and she set her stance in a way that was the spitting image of her father.
That’s eerie.
“All right. I can do that.”
“Good.”
Ava turned to Sivan “Can you take two men and get back out there? I want you three to cycle in with reports regularly with what’s going on. We need to have as much warning as possible. While you’re out there, look for a place where we might be able to temporarily stash our animals. We can’t leave them here and hope to pull off the ruse.”
Sivan started to leave, but Ava grabbed his arm. “Before you do that, announce to the others what’s going on.”
“I will. And I’ll let them know that they should listen to you in everything.” He gave Rezub a questioning look.
The former mayor nodded in agreement.
The realization of what had just happened punched her in the gut.
Gods-be-damned, I ended up taking charge anyway.
Myra spoke while the weight of the situation continued to hit Ava. “Rezub, can you find some cutting shears and a razor? Then get a team of four men to gather as much ash, soot, and dirt as possible.”
“But—” he started.
Myra turned away from him to Ava. “I’ve got some ideas if you’re ready to hear them.”
CHAPTER 6
A concentrated gust of air Ava controlled rolled back and forth across the loose dirt of the courtyard. It shifted the countless tracks made by those who called the military outpost home, hiding indicators of a recent presence.
She had performed a similar spell many times in the past, learning that the key was not to eliminate all tracks because that would raise suspicion as well. The trick was to confuse the number of people, and more importantly, age the tracks themselves. Months ago, the spell would have barely taken her a minute.
However, she had sectioned the outpost off, and over the last hour she worked on her task at a frustrating pace. That being said, the repetition and required concentration had admittedly done her good. Her control and speed had seemed to improve.
She looked over the latest section of work, pleased with what she saw. The dirt and ash that littered the land and the fort was spread in a much more natural way, as it had been when they first arrived. Pieces of dead vegetation, as well as bits of crumbled stone, randomly sat in the courtyard.
Dinah, wife of the innkeeper Boaz, ran up to Ava, carrying an armload of junk. “It’s mostly trash, an old sack filled with vegetable peels and bones.”
Ava asked. “Is that all of the stuff we brought in from the east side then?”
“Every last bit.”
“Take it downstairs and give it to Nason to hide in the cellar.” She paused, casting a glance about. “Where’s your daughter? And the boy?”
It was odd to see Dinah without Abigail and the young boy, Nadav, they had saved from a patch of briars months back. Since Boaz left with Tyrus, the two were always by Dinah’s side.
“With Zadok, doing one last sweep of the west side of the outpost.”
“I just took care of masking those walkways,” muttered Ava.
“I know. That’s why Myra wanted them to go. Said they’d make less obvious tracks than an adult. And it would be easier to hide their presence afterward.”
No. It would have been easier to hide their tracks if they’d have done their sweep beforehand. Little feet or big feet are all the same to an experienced tracker.
Ava gestured to the load Dinah carried. “After you put that away, start rounding up everyone still out into the cellar.”
“Already?”
“We don’t want to wait until the Malduks are here and rush around. Better to be ready for them. Plus, it will make it easier for me to finish hiding our presence.”
Dinah nodded. She started to go, stopped, and asked. “What are the Malduks like? Are they worse than the Geneshans?”
Ava didn’t really have time to answer that sort of question, not with other things still left to do that required so much of her focus. However, she liked Dinah and decided to give her something to satisfy her curiosity.
“Worse or better is all relative. I’d not want to be around either. The Malduks are sometimes deemed as more evil since their home is farther away and they dress less civilized than what we’re accustomed to. Mostly crude furs. Ugly too from purposefully scarring their bodies. Not too far off from how they’re described in the stories we all know. The Malduks use the bones of their enemies for scouting and such, but then again the Geneshans are the ones who are known to brutally sacrifice large numbers to honor their god.”
Dinah looked as though she wished she hadn’t asked her question. “I better be going.”
Ava watched her, wondering if she should have sugarcoated the answer. Then she
shrugged. She’d second guess herself later when she had more time.
Spinning away from the courtyard, she walked carefully along the designated path to the run-down armory. Voices inside carried several conversations.
A sliver of movement from above and to the right caught Ava’s eye. She paused, looking up at the nearest tower where two small figures flashed in front of the window.
She called out. “Abigail? That you?”
A little girl’s head popped out of the window. She waved and smiled, an expression rarely seen among the group since the eruptions began. It happened less frequently after Tyrus’s departure.
Zadok’s head poked out next. He also smiled. “Hi, Aunt Ava.”
“I hope you’re being careful up there,” she said, more than a little annoyed. “I already removed the tracks from that section of the outpost.”
“I know, but Myra wanted us to set a couple of small traps. We’re almost done.”
Ava sighed. “Hurry up then so I can go back over the area.”
She didn’t wait for a response, heading into the open door of the old armory. On the way in, she glanced at the rotted frame, noticing that there wasn’t much of a door remaining.
Ava’s eyes adjusted to the dim, candlelit space. She was surprised her eyes needed adjusting at all since yellow sunlight seemed like a fairy tale to pass on to the next generation. With an orange sky after the first couple of eruptions and now gray brought on by the third, color really mattered little, only brightness.
Her eyes focused. Nearest to the doorway sat the crumbling remains of old barrels that once stored arrows and quarrels. Rusted metal racks, bent and leaning, stood more toward the center of the space. The racks were empty now, but Ava imagined that when the outpost had been in use during the Byzan Wars, they held spears, swords, and the like.
Despite blocking some of the light entering the space as she walked in, only a couple people acknowledged her. The attention of most remained on the back of the room.
There, stood the half dozen volunteers from among their group. They were mostly nude and recently made hairless. The men varied in age, but overall, most were young, several on the borderline of what some might even consider to be men at all. She realized as her eyes continued to adjust that of the six, four were teenagers that had joined their group after Uman when they came across the town destroyed by raiders.
Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three Page 8