by Dan Decker
“The mountain?” Soret asked.
Xarda started to laugh as she nodded her head, but cut it off short, looking around at the downcast group. “We’re less than two days from Rarbon. Wes may be right; those Arches might just be magical.”
Soret nodded her agreement and stared at Rarbon in wonder. Jorad could barely believe it himself; they had traveled hundreds of miles in a single step. They continued on their way after several more minutes of appreciating the view in silence.
“You never answered my question,” Soret prompted a little while later after their view of Rarbon was once again obscured by the forest.
There had been little time for Jorad to think about his motives during the last few weeks, the anxiety and stress of running from the Hunwei had driven everything else out of his mind. He’d been planning to make his claim because he felt that he should and it was the only way to protect Soret, but the more he thought about it, he realized that wasn’t enough. He had to be committed to seeing it through or die. That's what it would take to keep from failing.
As he lay in pain last night, he’d realized the deaths of Thon and Gorew were partially the result of his desire to protect Soret. Erro’s lies had caused the problem, but there still might have been a different solution if he hadn’t been focused solely on getting her safely to the arch. Thon would have been a good ally. If Jorad had taken the time to reason with him, would he have been able to get Thon to come around? He snorted, remembering what it had been like back in the boarding house. There had been no opportunity to reason with Thon.
There were also the people that they’d saved yesterday and more importantly, those that they hadn’t. Jorad had always known that the reason to make his decision was to help other people, but it wasn’t until last night as he lay with his body wrought in pain, that he truly understood that his desire to protect Soret wasn’t enough.
If he were to succeed in Rarbon, he’d have to think clearly. The decision hadn’t been easy, but he’d realized that he’d have to set aside his fear for Soret. In of itself, his fear was selfish. Focusing on helping everybody he could was different, especially when he was able to put the face of little Noal on it. Jorad would make a claim for Noal and all those like him.
“I’ll see this through to the end.” Jorad meant it without reservation. Oh sure, he’d still try to look out for Soret along the way, but she was now part of a much larger group that had claim for his help, and she would no longer outweigh everybody else on the scale.
“Do you think we’ll live through this?” Soret drew closer but didn’t touch him. She’d been avoiding contact all morning. He hadn’t worried much about what it meant. She probably didn’t know herself what to make of things between them. He couldn't blame her. After all, he had killed two people that she'd grown up with and come close to killing her father. Perhaps it would be for the best if she distanced herself from him. Many people around him were going to die in the days ahead; maybe things would go better for her if she wasn’t constantly by his side.
“I hope so.” Jorad smiled as confidently as he could. The truth was he doubted he would live. Many died during the trials, and that was during times of peace, it would be a different game during war. He’d kill Hunwei for as long as he could but figured he’d die along the way. Until then he had work to do.
Epilogue
The rising sun flashed off the large metal tower as it disappeared into the sky and Vuri Lusitan looked up at it and smiled. He had often wondered what Zictar looked like and now that he saw it firsthand, he realized that none of the descriptions did it justice. As he approached the tree line, he guessed that he was still three weeks behind the other Ou Qui armies and he wasn’t closing the gap quickly. He’d been away from Wasat when the Hunwei had attacked, but thankfully, his wife had been among the many survivors, and he hadn’t felt the need to push as hard as the others ahead of him. That meant that he noticed things they didn’t because he took the time to examine things they did not.
His men started to mutter as he halted at the edge of the forest, they had already stopped several feet back and left him to continue on alone. They were afraid, and he couldn’t blame them, but he could not pass this close to Zictar and Melyah’s impure ground and not take a look. He looked up as the tower disappeared into the sky, lost in its majesty. Behind him, the men continued to murmur, but he ignored it. The impure ground didn’t taint Zictar as many thought. Zictar was a gift from the gods.
“Vuri,” Nisal said from behind, he had managed to only go a few steps beyond the others before his fears had stopped him. “Let’s leave this place.” He pointed. “Even the Hunwei can’t survive Melyah.”
Vuri looked where Nisal was pointing and was glad the men behind him couldn’t see the expression on his face. Thousands of Hunwei lay rotting in the sun, their bodies stretched off to either side, surrounding Zictar. Vuri took a step out of the trees and onto the impure ground to the sound of gasps from those behind him; he didn’t look back as he continued walking. He’d heard of reports of Hunwei in the area, and he’d sent scouts ahead to Neberan, which was less than a couple miles away, but he knew what they’d find. The Hunwei had already been there and done their work. This was a surprise, though; he’d never expected to find something like this.
While he was approaching the Hunwei, he imagined the fear his men must be feeling and he wished again that his people better understood Zictar and Ou Qui customs. It was forbidden for an uninitiated Ou Qui to walk the impure ground, but Vuri had been cleansed. He could cross all the way to Zictar if he wanted and would be fine.
The sound of his men dwindled as he got closer to the Hunwei corpses. He readied his bow with an arrow that had been dipped in the black tar the metal gods had given them, just in case some were still alive. Their gods and the aid they provided were the reason why the Hunwei hadn’t completely laid waste to Wasat and Vuri wished that he could have been there to witness it firsthand, but the story of the battle was miraculous enough.
When he reached the Hunwei, he almost vomited at the smell of the burned flesh, but he continued forward to examine the bodies and was amazed to learn that every single one he examined had the flesh burned away to the bone. He continued into the field of dead Hunwei, checking as many as he could until the smell drove him away. The Hunwei were dead, but this hadn’t been done by any mortal weapon.
Nisal chastised him when he returned. “Vuri, you shouldn’t have done that. There’s no telling how Melyah would have reacted if he found you on his land.”
Vuri ignored the doctrinal error in what Nisal had just said. Melyah couldn’t touch one of the initiated, the cleansed. “A Scathen walks the earth again, these Hunwei are dead by his hands.” As his men cheered, Vuri smiled and clapped Nisal on the shoulder.
Author’s Note
If you have enjoyed this novel, please leave a quick review and tell your friends. Also, if you would like to receive notifications about other upcoming works, sneak peeks, and other extras, go to dandeckerbooks.com and sign up for my newsletter. Finally, if you would like to reach out, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. I always enjoy hearing from readers.
Books by Dan Decker
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Monster Country
Monster Country: Genizyz
Monster Country: Recruit (Novella)
Dead Man’s War
#1: Dead Man’s Game
#2: Dead Man’s Fear
War of the Fathers Universe
Prequel: Blood of the Redd Guard
Volume One: War of the Fathers
Volume Two: Lord of the Inferno
Volume Three: Enemy in the Shadows
The Containment Team
Volume One: Ready Shooter
Volume Two: Hybrid Hotel
Thrillers
Jake Ramsey Thrillers
Black Brick
Dark Spectrum
Blood Games
Silent Warehouse (Short Sto
ry)
Nameless Man (Short Story)
Money Games (Short Story)
Other Short Stories:
Monkey House
The Hikers
Red Survivor
Exit
Grizzly Wolf
About the Author
Dan Decker lives in Utah with his family. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.