by Scott E Moon
Kin dropped and rolled, coming to his feet close to his attacker, firing his pistol one-handed as he moved, sword ready in the other hand.
The trooper fired. A stream of hot bullets flashed past Kin’s head.
Should have aimed for my chest.
Time hadn’t slowed, but in battle he saw things that shouldn’t be possible. His senses grasped information greedily. He saw the muzzle flash and the air behind the bullets, even as they passed him. His pistol pumped rounds into the young man not much older than Rickson.
Bear grunted and yelled. Kin backed out of the doorway, then turned to see the one-handed trooper on his feet, arms still tied behind him. He had just kicked Bear in the back and was stomping on him.
Kin raised his pistol, but dashed forward, holstering as he moved. He held the sword in both hands now, but chose to jump high and kick hard, just as the trooper turned to face him. Kin’s foot drove into the man’s chest and flattened him.
He stood over his only living victim. “You wouldn’t be that stupid if you understood who I was.” The words escaped before he could think and he regretted them immediately. The violent work of close combat overworked his adrenal glands, subverting his judgment.
“Piss off! I was on Hellsbreach!”
Kin laughed. Everyone claimed to be on Hellsbreach. From Captain Zelig to this grunt, they all craved glory from a campaign that was anything but glorious.
“I know you. You’re Kin Roland. You’re the Enemy of Man!”
Kin knelt next to him and whispered into his ear. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. You’re delusional, because if I were that kind of traitor and not just a deserter like you, you’d be dead.”
“Captain Raien will kill you herself when I tell her.”
“Captain Raien likes me,” Kin said, as he stood and looked down. A piece of FSPAA armor caught his attention. The insignia was a red dragon. This was one of the men who had killed Brian Muldoch.
“She likes everyone.” The man clenched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose. His pain, anger, and awkward position on the ground tortured him, but he was acting tough.
“Untie the women,” Kin said.
Bear grunted and started cutting ropes with his belt knife. He carefully removed each gag. The women gasped for breath but didn’t say anything at first. The gags had been cruelly tight. The younger girls started crying and the older moved to comfort them.
Kin watched Bear and the women for a moment, then knelt by the trooper. “I think your tourniquet is too tight.” He untied it.
“What are you doing? I won’t tell anyone. Don’t. Don’t do that.”
Kin saw Bear glance at him, but the big man didn’t move to stop him. Blood pooled on the floor. The man passed out. Kin rubbed his forehead, staring at what he had done.
“Give me another cord from your pack,” Kin said.
“Leave him. He’s no use to anyone.”
“Give me the cord,” Kin said. Bear took his time, but handed Kin a cord without a word. Kin tied the man’s wrist and propped him up against a wall.
“What’re you going to do with him?” Bear asked.
Kin stared wordlessly at the unconscious trooper. Then he met and held Bear’s gaze. “I don’t know.”
Bear shrugged. “He can only make your situation with the Fleet worse.”
Kin gathered ammunition and weapons from the troopers. Bear helped him drag the two bodies through the tunnels and found Rickson on his way inside.
“I tied up the horses before I came in,” Rickson said.
“Never said you didn’t,” Bear said. “Give me a hand.”
“Put the weapons on a horse. I’m going to lock the prisoner in a closet for now.” Kin regretted tying the new tourniquet almost as much as he regretted untying it. Killing during the heat of battle didn’t bother him, but murder brought guilt he didn’t need. He wasn’t good at it, despite his lethal training and years of combat experience. He tried to murder Orlan, now this trooper, and failed both times.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SOPHIA was the oldest woman at Maiden’s Keep. She hadn’t been tied up. The AWOL troopers either hadn’t found her in the study or hadn’t bothered to subdue her.
She guided Kin to a waterfall on the north side of Maiden’s Keep, holding his hand as they walked. The woman was childlike in her smallness. She moved with cautious dignity. Her eyes betrayed hard won wisdom, but also mischief.
“Sit,” she said.
Kin helped her to a chair on the ledge overlooking the waterfalls. He lowered himself into a cross-leg sitting position beside her and waited. Sophia never rushed conversation, but she clearly had something she wanted to tell him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” Kin said.
“As am I,” Sophia said. “You were very close. One of the girls saw you come out of the Rabbit Hole. She said the devil must have been chasing you.”
“Why would she say that?” Kin asked.
“Because you looked so serious.”
“I’m always serious.”
“Are you not the same Kin Roland who brings us wine and books and tells stories about falling down a hill while chasing a girl?”
“That story is the reason I normally refuse to drink the wine.” Kin smiled at the old woman.
Sophia patted his shoulder. “You are a fierce warrior and a superb guardian. We owed you many debts before today, but I must thank you again.” She adjusted her coat. “You know that my study has a window.”
“And you gaze at the sunset thinking of suitors who pursued you in your youth,” Kin said.
Sophia smiled. “I do! You must be tired of my stories, but that is not why I mention the window. I saw Clavender. Droon has taken her and will eventually feed her to the Clingers.”
“How do you know his name?”
“I know many things,” Sophia said. “Clavender’s people hunt the Clingers. They are ancient enemies. You are an intelligent young man. You know this planet is much larger than the Earth of your ancestors.”
Kin nodded and listened. Sophia knew more of the planet than anyone. She had been here a long time and spoke with many travelers. He had asked her to read her journal, but she claimed it was private and full of situations that would make him blush.
“Yet, you have visited only a small portion of this world,” she said.
“The landscape and atmosphere are dangerous farther from Crater Town,” Kin said.
“Yes and no. The planet is dangerous, true. But what you describe does not cover all of the land. A defensive ring surrounds Crater Town. Beyond that perimeter, traveling would be easier if you made it that far.”
The thought of a defensive perimeter alarmed Kin. He was a trained soldier and responsible for protecting the people of Crater Town, those from the Goliath and others who found their way to the coast. “Why would there be a defensive perimeter?”
“Perhaps I misspoke.” Sophia folded her hands on her lap. “It also keeps people in.”
“Why?”
She held his gaze, when normally she stared at the waterfalls as she talked. “You should ask Clavender.”
“Because she knows more of her home world than you?” Kin asked.
Sophia didn’t answer.
Kin waited, hoping silence would prompt her to elaborate, but it was a futile effort. She returned her gaze to the waterfalls and the river, falling into her silent contentment.
“You could spend a lifetime exploring this planet and not see half of it. Clavender’s people are on every continent. They are many. Once, they were a peaceful people, but have learned the art of war. Do not judge them by what you know of Clavender, for she is very different.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“There is going to be a battle,” Sophia said.
“How do you know that?”
She smiled. “You are here, Kin Roland, and there is always a battle.”
“My wars are over. There is only Droon now. A fight
between one man and a Reaper is a fight, not a war,” Kin said. “Are you telling me Clavender’s people will attack Crater Town and the Fleet?”
“Not the Fleet,” Sophia said levelly. “And not Crater Town.”
“Then who?” The Fleet came through the wormhole badly damaged from a battle, but as yet, no one had pursued Commander Westwood and his armada.
“When Clavender’s people and the Mazz clash, your Fleet and the Reapers will be minor players, bystanders,” Sophia said.
“That’s hard to imagine.” Kin could believe anything, but the Fleet was never a minor player. Hundreds of worlds had submitted to the Fleet’s power since the people of Earth took to the stars.
“Who are the Mazz? Are they human?”
Sophia shrugged. She patted his arm again and watched the splendor of the waterfalls.
“We need to go,” Kin said, hoping she would keep the conversation alive by elaborating on the strangers.
You’re as stubborn as you are beloved. Nothing he said would force her to speak. In the arena of patience, Sophia reigned supreme.
Sophia closed her eyes and allowed her smile to fade. “Tell me, Kin Roland, what is the burden you carry?”
“We can’t linger, Sophia. I must find Clavender.” Images of Hellsbreach and the bloodshed of total war crowded his mind.
“You must,” Sophia said. “Give me a kiss before you go.”
He kissed her on the cheek and held her hands. “You should go to Crater Town. I don’t think the Fleet is staying on Crashdown long. If you want to leave this planet, time is short.”
Sophia nodded. “Be careful of skittish horses and steep cliffs. And be wary of travelers. There was a group that came through this area, not Crater Town people or Fleet troopers.”
“What kind of people?” Kin asked.
“The normal kind that travels this planet, foolish adventurers hoping to explore and learn secrets better left untouched,” Sophia said. “Goodbye, Kin Roland.”
Kin squeezed her hands and left. She had never said goodbye before. The peaceful ambience of Maiden’s Keep seemed somehow final, as though he would never see it again. He paused to look back at Sophia. Waterfalls continued to flow. The woman remained at ease. Kin felt an overwhelming desire to protect her. He didn’t want to leave, yet, Clavender’s dire situation called to him with its own sense of urgency.
He found Bear, Rickson, and the prisoner waiting by the horses and belatedly wondered if he should have asked about Sophia’s warning. At the time, it seemed a simple and reasonable warning when traveling the mountains on horseback.
Kin wasn’t an excellent rider, but he had no fear of horses or falling. Now, as he stared at Bear and Rickson, he felt the effect of Sophia’s mysticism. She claimed to be just a woman who meditated and considered events with a sharp mind, but Kin always left feeling he had been in the presence of an oracle. He hadn’t told her of the packhorse that had fallen and how Rickson had almost been pulled over the edge with it. He would watch the boy more closely next time they rode near a dangerous ledge.
“Do we stay or do we go?” Bear asked. He tugged on the rope tied around the prisoner’s neck.
“Do whatever you want, just let me go,” the prisoner said.
Bear yanked the rope harder and caused the man to fall. His stump and his other arm were tied together in front of his belt. He caught the ground with his good hand and pushed himself back to his feet, glaring at Bear.
Kin took hold of the prisoner’s stump and held it lightly. The man winced and held his breath. “Give me the codes to your armor.”
“Not on my life.”
“Poor choice of words. I should dress you in the armor of your companions,” Kin said.
The man swallowed hard. Donning armor without the proper code caused it to melt from the inside. Battery packs leaked under the armor, eating away at the thief and eventually disabling the FSPAA. Apparently, the man’s friends hadn’t trusted him.
Kin released the man’s arm and walked to his horse. He wanted to bring the armor, even though it was useless to him, but the horses couldn’t handle the weight. Maybe he could come back for the armor and figure out the codes.
“It’s really dark up here,” Rickson said. He eyed the prisoner. The distant wormhole did little to illuminate the overcast sky. Clouds moved quickly overhead and revealed the moons of Crashdown, but infrequently and never all at once.
“Are the horses ready?” Kin asked.
Bear shrugged. Rickson nodded at the same time.
“Then we go. We have wasted too much time already,” Kin said.
“Corporal Raif is going to slow us down,” Bear said.
Kin looked at the man. “Can’t be helped. He’ll keep up or he’ll be left behind. I’m sure he could survive with no weapons, food, or maps, assuming he’s a lot smarter and tougher than he looks.”
“We should leave him,” Bear said.
“We can’t leave him.” Kin worried about Sophia and the other women. He wouldn’t leave Corporal Raif to prey on them.
Bear mounted his short, sturdy horse. “We could kill him.”
“There is that option,” Kin said, staring at Raif.
“I knew you were a murdering deserter,” Raif said, holding Kin’s gaze.
“That’s good, coming from you,” Rickson said.
Raif spun toward him. “I’ll cut your throat, boy.”
Bear yanked the rope and rode closer to Kin, dragging his prisoner.
“I’ll cut your throat too!”
Bear ignored the man and spoke to Kin as though Raif didn’t exist. “Some of the ladies claimed the Reaper passed this way not long ago, though I don’t know how they could have seen anything, being tied up as they were.”
“Sophia probably told them,” Kin said. He adjusted the reigns and prepared to ride as Bear stopped with the prisoner.
“How would she know?” Rickson asked. He stood by his horse, stalling. The shepherd had never ridden a horse before this adventure. His eyes went to Raif more than once, his usual cockiness absent.
“She knows many things,” Kin said, and smiled, remembering the words as Sophia had said them to him.
Bear laughed. “Sure she does. Like how to lock the doors when strange Fleet troopers come to visit.”
“I’ll lead for a while,” Kin said.
“I’ll bring up the rear,” Bear said. “Mind that horse, Rickson. Try to relax. She can feel your nervousness. Probably remembers there used to be four of them.”
Kin looked back at Rickson. The boy held the reigns too tightly. He wasn’t in rhythm with the mount. He was probably remembering the screams of the pack horse before it smashed against the rocks. Sophia’s admonition echoed in Kin’s mind and he hoped Rickson would be more cautious.
Raif jogged behind the horses, stumbling due to his bound hands and the rope around his neck. “Let me go now and give me my guns, and I won’t say a thing to Captain Raien.”
“Shut up,” Bear said.
“I’m not talking to you,” Raif said. He faced Kin, tripped, recovered, tried again. “I won’t tell them who you are. By my Oath of Service, I won’t say a word.”
“Shut him up,” Kin said, without looking at the trooper.
Bear slowed his horse abruptly so that Raif ran beside him, then struck the man with one large hand and pulled him up with the rope when he fell. “Next time I’ll use my axe.”
“You’re all going to die. You’re going to pay. I’ll kill every one of you. Fucking wait and see.”
Bear swung at him and missed. Raif laughed. Bear jumped from his horse, tackled the smaller man, holding him down on the dirt path. He grabbed Raif’s throat and squeezed until his eyes bulged. He leaned forward, breathing into Raif’s face.
“I’ve been ready to die for a long time. Your type surrenders when things get tough. That’s the difference between you and me. Next time, remember this; I don’t show mercy and I don’t give second chances.” He pulled a hand axe from his
belt and struck Raif with the flat of the blade.
Kin walked his horse back and watched Bear fling the prisoner across his horse.
“Should’ve done that in the first place,” Bear said.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
DROON cut Cla-ven-da’s skin carefully, crooning at her fear. For a moment, he thought of eating her, starting with her face because her eyes didn’t please him. He looked at the sky, but concentrated on the feel of his claw lightly breaking the skin from her chest to her navel.
Just a scratch. Just a shallow mark to terrify her.
He jumped back when the Clinger, aware of his distraction, leaped from his body to attack her.
Stupid Droon.
He grabbed the Clinger from the air and smashed it against the ground as it coiled around his arm. He punched it several times. The Clinger had his arm, but wasn’t coiled around his body as it had been. This was his chance to be free of the thing.
He hesitated.
Then, without understanding why, he draped it over his back. He hadn’t noticed the oppressive weight of the monster before. The Clinger whispered wordless thoughts, dulling his senses. Droon reached behind his back and squeezed the Clinger until it was silent. He slumped and despaired. The Long Hunt was ruined.
Cla-ven-da began to crawl away. Droon lazily grabbed her by her foot and pulled her back. He needed to eat. The mistake with the Clinger taxed him. Fighting for control took effort, physical and mental. Her fear pulled him out of his stupor, but he didn’t eat her. He slid one claw into her mouth, pressing it against her tongue. He considered pulling it out. She trembled and tried to turn her face away but his hand was too strong. His palm covered most of her face as his claw explored.
She doesn’t like this game.
Droon understood Kin-rol-an-da was following him. The Long Hunt could be won if only Droon could turn and face the world breaker. Instead, he carried this alien woman like a child, teaching her about fear and pain, things a young Reaper should know. He slid his claw free of her mouth as she gagged. He pushed away her sobbing face and turned to look the way he had come.
He needed to hunt Kin-rol-an-da, but he ran instead, not knowing why, not controlling his thoughts or emotions.