The Exile's Redemption (The Heart of a Tyrant Book 1)

by Reece Dinn

  Ekviv and Red hacked down the last of the Drowners near them, bodies lying in pieces around their feet.

  Red pointed at Awon and Norox. 'You two. Follow that tunnel. Kill anyone yer find there. Go.' Or at least that's what Awon thought he'd lip read him say, his ringing ears and the wail of the rifles drowning all other noise out.

  The two of them ran off down the tunnel, leaving the chaos of the cavern behind them. The tunnel wound this way and that, splitting off at intersections frequently. Awon didn't bother to stop and think which way to go, he picked the left each time, Norox following behind him on two feet.

  The ringing in his ears eased as they emerged into a small room furnished with a long wooden table and bunk beds that lined the walls. A candle burnt on the table and there was a plate of bread and cheese, and another with a slab of pink mastapane meat on it. Only the edges of the slab had been cooked. He picked it up, it was still warm.

  'Dead end,' said Norox.

  Just as he turned around to go back several guys sprang off the top bunk beds onto the two of them. Awon was smashed to the ground by one thin, dark skinned guy. Awon slapped him in the face with the mastapane meat, then slammed the butt of his cleaver into his nose. The guy squealed, covering his own face to protect himself, and Awon shoved him off him. Before he could stab him though the guy lashed out with a knife, grazing Awon's neck. The guy attacked again, but this time Awon caught his arm with his free hand before the knife could get near him.

  'Fuckin' cunt,' Awon yelled, and buried his cleaver into the guy's eye.

  Norox was struggling with two guys hanging off his back while battering him with clubs. A knife stuck out of one of his shoulders, right between the two broken fins. Awon sprang up to help him, but as he did he caught the eye of another Drowner guy also rising to his feet.

  'You?' gasped Awon.

  He knew the face all to well. The last time he'd seen it he'd leapt over a fire to kill him.

  'Of all the fuckin' people,' cried Tombu through gritted teeth.

  'I'm gonna fuckin' kill yer,' Awon screamed at Tombu, and barrelled forward.

  Tombu though was already up and swinging his club. It connected with the side of Awon's head, pain exploding through it, and he was knocked back down.

  'Not if I kill yer first,' Tombu spat at him. He raised the club over his head. 'This is for my old man.'

  Awon sprang back up and lashed out with his cleaver as Tombu brought the club down onto his head. The cleaver was knocked out of his hand and Tombu's club thudded into his shoulder, bringing Awon to his knees, then it struck his back once, twice, then Tombu's boot thudded into his side, winding him.

  'Wondered how long I'd 'ave ter wait ter get ter kick the shit outta yer,' said Tombu.

  Awon grabbed his cleaver and stabbed at Tombu's foot with it, but the other lad swiftly moved it, then stomped down hard on Awon's arm, making him cry out.

  'Yer fuckin' cunt. Yer killed my father,' screamed Tombu, bringing his club down hard on Awon's back.

  'Yer burnt down my shop,' Awon screamed back, dull pain burning all over his back as Tombu rained blow after blow down onto him. In desperation he punched upwards and connected with something small and soft.

  Tombu grunted, then moaned, staggering back, clutching his crotch, lifting his weight off Awon's arm. 'Fuckin' dirty prick,' he whimpered, and limply swung down at his head.

  Awon rolled aside, then sprang up and lashed out with the cleaver, this time grazing Tombu's side. Tombu cried out and swung again, connecting with the side of Awon's head, sending him sprawling onto one of the bunk beds.

  Tombu crouched down and picked up the knife of the downed dark skinned guy. 'I'm gonna gut yer,' he hissed.

  Awon had his cleaver up and ready, while doing his best to ignore the blood stinging his eyes, blurring his vision.

  The two guys on Norox's back screamed as the yegeyor stabbed his fins into each of their heads. They instantly fell still, hanging limply from Norox's back..

  Even through blurred eyes Awon could see Tombu was panicked. 'Don't worry 'bout 'im,' said Awon. 'He'll stay outta this one.'

  Norox threw the two guys off him then staggered back, falling down on top of one of the bunk beds, blood seeping out of several wounds on his body, including one on his head.

  Tombu wasn't convinced. 'Yer should be rottin' in a cell,' he snapped.

  'Yer should be returnin' ter the world soon,' Awon spat back. 'Yer'll get ter see yer father again.'

  'We're gonna settle this one day. Jus' you an' me.'

  'We're gonna settle this now,' said Awon, springing off the bed.

  Tombu was already fleeing down the tunnel.

  Norox lifted himself back to his feet, panting and grunting.

  'Yer 'urt?' Awon quickly asked.

  Norox nodded. 'I'll be fine though.'

  Awon didn't wait a second longer and ran off after his most hated enemy. His back throbbed from all the blows he'd taken, the muscles there tightening from the pain. His head swam, but he managed to keep going, blood lust fuelling him.

  Norox bleated, the yegeyor's pounding footfalls following behind him.

  He'd no idea which way Tombu had gone, or in fact which way they'd even come from. He remembered going left every time, which meant they had to go right every time to get back to the cavern, but would Tombu have gone right? At the first intersection Awon went left, then at the next junction made a right, left, right, left again. Every tunnel he entered looked the same as the last. Now he was lost.

  'Who built all these tunnels,' he grumbled to himself.

  'No idea,' Norox said behind him, his voice strained. Awon hadn't realised he'd been trailing him.

  In the distance the wail of rifle fire could still be heard, as could the cries of dying men.

  They took rights and lefts, running aimlessly, the tunnels ascending and descending, until they came upon a set of stairs that went down a level. At the bottom the tunnel went straight for a while, then disappeared into darkness. They hadn't come upon anyone else, which irritated Awon. Tombu was gone, he'd let him get away again, which irritated him even more. His thirst for vengeance would be left unsatisfied yet again.

  The two ran into the darkness, then moments later emerged into another cavern, this one smaller than the main one, and appeared to be natural. A large body of water filled over half of it, the lights of two torches burning before the water reflecting off its surface and up onto the cavern ceiling, the light refracting into different colours on the shiny rock.

  Norox bleated, ran, and dived into the water. He made a whining noise, this one much higher in pitch than usual.

  'Whatcha doin',' Awon snapped. 'We gotta go back. That prick's still out there. I 'ave ter find 'im.'

  Norox growled.

  Awon clicked his fingers. 'C'mon.'

  'What are we doing?' asked Norox as he plunged his head under the water.

  'Fightin' a war, obviously,' Awon shot back when the yegeyor came back to the surface .

  Noroz shook his head. 'No. No it isn't. Not a real one. This is murder. I killed three more people. For what? What are we doing here?' Norox splashed water all over himself, washing off the blood.

  'It was them or you,' said Awon.

  'My family are right. Right not to let me come back. I'm a monster. Look at me.' He stood up in the water and spread his arms wide, displaying his muscular, stone white body marred with cuts and bruises. 'I'm a disgrace.'

  'Better than bein' dead.'

  'I've become a murderer because of you. For following you. For helping you.' He bleated, then burst into tears, covering his face, making that awful whining noise, then fell back into the water.

  'Yer cryin' like a fuckin' jenni. I don't 'ave time fer this. I gotta find that prick,' said Awon.

  'And what, kill him?' Norox sat back up, removing his hands, tears still streaming down his face. 'This is how it all started. You and him. People have died. Buildings have burnt. The whole city living in fear and chaos.
All because you burnt down that bakery. Because you couldn't just make peace with someone who'd been wronged by your friend. Someone you had no business fighting with to begin with.'

  'Fuck off. Yer don't see it do yer?' snarled Awon. 'This was gonna happen sooner or later. This was jus' an excuse ter start it. The gangs 'ave always fought. Always 'ave, always will. This way we get ter be apart of it. Get ter take a piece of it fer ourselves. Finish with more than we started. Yer 'ave no vision, that's yer problem.'

  Norox snorted. 'Who are you? You're not the lad I've known all my life. He was a prick, sure. He got into fights all the time. But he wasn't this. Killing and not caring about the consequences. You're someone else.'

  'I'm same as I've always been. Jus' 'ad enough of bein' second best. Doin' sumthin' 'bout it. Yer the same as me. 'cept I ain't bein' a jenni 'bout it.' Awon approached the edge of the pool. 'If yer don't like it then why'd yer not run away, eh? I dragged yer in ter this, but yer 'ad plenty of time ter get out. Why stay? It ain't cos of yer folks. They kicked yer out, but you've other options.'

  Norox remained quiet.

  'Thought so,' Awon snorted. 'Tryin' a blame others fer who yer are, but yer love it too, jus' don't wanna admit it.'

  'I can't just leave you here, with these people. I can't let you die,' Norox said quietly.

  'Why? I ain't askin' fer yer 'elp.'

  'Because you're the only human whose ever stood up for me. Defended me from a gang who would have killed me, even if defending me meant getting beat up yourself. Stepping in stopped them. You've always had my back, and I'll always have yours. You're brother to me.'

  Awon didn't respond.

  'But this is too much,' said Norox, slapped in the water with his hand. 'You aren't these people. Deep down you know it, you just won't admit it.'

  'Yer right,' said Awon. 'I ain't. I'm sumthin' better. An' when I rule this city things are gonna change. There'll be no more fightin'. Everyone'll answer to me. But ter get there I 'ave ter get my 'ands dirty. Settle the scores. Get rid of the shit. If yer can't handle it then yer can leave. I won't hold it against yer. But if yer stayin' yer need to stop bein' a fuckin' jenni. These cunts ain't worth cryin' over. This is war, people die. Worry 'bout what yer did later, if yer want. Right now we need ter fight. Yer with me?'

  Norox snorted, then nodded, not saying anything else.

  'Good. Now get outta the fuckin' water an' go find more of these cunts. We'll miss the rest of the fightin',' said Awon.

  Norox rubbed his face, whining again, then got out of the pool. Red tainted water dripped from his body. He shook himself, becoming a blur of motion, water flicking off him in many directions. When he was done he grunted.

  'If yer need ter jus'ify ter yerself then think of it as cleanin' out the city's scum, one guy at a time, like sum kinda vigilante,' said Awon.

  Norox flared his nostrils. 'Let's go. Hopefully they've found the Drowner and this'll all be over with,' he said.

  'Long as no one's killed that cunt Tombu 'fore I can I don't care,' said Awon.

  Norox snorted, but said no more.

  The two of them walked back to the tunnel and into the darkness beyond.

  Chapter Forty Five

  'Kanisha, Kanisha,' Flosha shouted. The little strands of her short black hair ruffled in the wind like grass. Her plump, round face beamed as she ran over to Kanisha, her pale green skirt billowing up to her waist, no doubt exposing her rear. Such a carefree girl. I wish I was just so, thought Kanisha.

  Kanisha climbed down from the large yeblee tree, its long, thick, twisting branches a climber's paradise. She'd climbed the tree so many times that she knew it even better than she knew the backs of her hands. She jumped down and landed gracefully on the grass, for once. I have become adept at this. At last.

  'Kanisha. Kanisha. Look.' Flosha nearly collided with her as she skidded to a stop, one of her sandals flicked off her feet across the dirt track. She held out something in the palm of her hand.

  'What is it?' asked Kanisha.

  'It is a ludwif egg,' said Flosha, stroking the small brown egg with a finger.

  'Yuck. Get that wretched thing away from me. What in the name of the Ragi are you doing with it?'

  'Donoko has been excavating them from the ludwif nest down by the riverbank. It is very exciting.'

  'It is disgusting. Demand that she stop it this instant, otherwise mother will be angry. She frequently complains to me that I fail to prevent you, and your sisters, from dirtying yourselves.'

  'But Donoko has nearly unearthed the whole nest. We shall have all the eggs and be able to take them to the pond behind our home. We will have our very own pet family of ludwifs.'

  'Demand that she stop it at once, Flosha,' Kanisha said more firmly.

  'She does not listen to me.'

  Kanisha huffed. I retract my earlier sentiment. I do not wish to be like Flosha. To be carefree is one thing, but to dig up ludwif eggs is something else. 'Fine. Take me to her.'

  Flosha nodded like a simpleton, then ran off back down the dirt track, forcing Kanisha to chase after her. Her sandals made her stumble repeatedly, only her longer stride allowed her to keep pace. To her relief Donoko was only a short distance away. Her youngest sister was on her hands and knees, hanging over the river, scraping away at the riverbank with a thick stick.

  Jayeh, the eldest of her younger sisters, sat further up the embankment, her light pink dress puffed up around her. She had a big grin on her face as she regarded Kanisha.

  'You allowed her to dirty herself like this?' Kanisha said, with a scowl, to Jayeh.

  Jayeh shrugged. 'I wished to see your expression when you witnessed this for yourself. I sent Flosha to retrieve you. It was worth it. The look on your face is priceless.' She giggled.

  'Donoko,' she snapped, turning her back on Jayeh. 'Donoko, what in the name of the Ragi do you think you are doing?'

  Donoko lifted her head, her beautiful, long blonde hair swaying in the wind. 'We have ludwif eggs.'

  'Remove yourself from there at once, young lady. There are bugs and insects lurking within that nest. What if one of them were to bite you?'

  'But, Kanisha. I believe that the baby ludwifs' mother and father have been caught by the fishermen. We have been excavating for an hour now and neither mother or father has appeared to defend them.'

  Kanisha sighed, cautiously moving down to the river's edge. 'Baby ludwif are called ludi.' She crouched down beside her sister. 'When mother ludwif lay their eggs in a nest they leave them to hatch on their own. Unlike humans, ludwif learn to survive without assistance from their parents.'

  Donoko's eyes widened. 'Really? That is incredible. How in the heavens are they able to do that?'

  'I am not sure. I believe that they impart all their life lessons their children shall need through their blood. Pass on an essence of themselves inside it. Humans are different. I do not think that they do this. That is why human babies must learn from their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Humans have too much information to be able to impart it all through blood. I believe so anyway. I am no doubt wrong in my thoughts.'

  'That is amazing,' said Donoko.

  'Did you just imagine all of that?' asked Jayeh, who was now stood behind her, Flosha too.

  Kanisha shook her head. 'I mused about it one time when I was observing ludwifs.'

  'So the ludi will be able to survive on their own?' asked Flosha.

  'They most certainly will, but only if you return them to their nest and restore it to what it was.'

  'Donoko we shall mend what we have broken and return the eggs,' said Flosha, crouching down on the riverbank. Carefully she placed her egg back inside the exposed nest. The two sisters proceeded to place the rest of the eggs they'd removed back into the nest.

  'When you are done with this the two of you must wash yourselves in the river. Mother will be furious if we return home and you are speckled with mud,' said Kanisha. She turned and walked back up the em
bankment. Jayeh hurried after her.

  'That was a pleasant story,' her sister said. 'It manipulated them to do your bidding remarkably well. I think you shall make a great mother one day.'

  Kanisha glanced over her shoulder at her. 'You go and wash yourself too. All that dancing has left you coated in dust.'

  'I don't think this is a good idea, Sabu,' said Koma as she dressed the Monster in a silken yellow dress. The dress would have clung to most girls' frames, but not the Monster's.

  'Then you shouldn't have found the answer to my prayers then, should you?' The Monster shrugged Koma's hands off her and smoothed the dress against herself. 'This feels really soft. Why can't all my clothes be like this?' She slid her white glove over her deformity.

  'It is expensive,' said Koma.

  The Monster regarded Koma with cold eyes, not too dissimilar to the way she used to look at her. 'Am I not the daughter of the Saban? Expense is not an issue.'

  'As you say, Sabu.' She's returning to normal. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. 'But really? Venturing down below with all those gangs running riot is not the best idea.'

  'We're taking ten Saban's Guard with us. We'll be perfectly safe.'

  'Ten?' I highly doubt Lerama has approved of that.

  'Yes. I asked the Socrae of the Saban's Guard and he said he would send me his best men.' The Monster leaned in a little closer. 'Personally I feel a little bad as I fear he's ordered men whose day off it was to work instead to accommodate my request. They're good men, so please try to be nice, yes?' She winked at her.

  Koma forced herself not to squirm. Don't ever do that again. 'I'll try.'

  'I haven't been down to the Lower Tier in at least a year. The last time was with my father. We walked the streets of each district looking at all the people preparing for their celebration of the New Year. I love New Year. Do your people celebrate New Year? Or something like it?'

  No. The realms of the Ragi are eternal. One year is nothing to them. 'Yes.'

  'Do you enjoy it?' The Monster was examining her face in the mirror. I think this is the first time I've ever seen her care about her appearance. What's going on? She wants to look good for the lower-born savages?