by Brian Murray
Rita took the child and looked at Thade. “You say you’re with Jill. How do I know that is true?”
“I gave you the message from her. I believe that if we had harmed her, she would have died before she told us where you were and what to say to you.”
The woman thought for a while, then nodded. To the others she said, “Let’s prepare to move.”
“You trust these men? They look like slavers,” said one fearful woman hugging two children.
“Slavers!” snapped Tanas heatedly. “Do I look like a goddamn slaver?”
“Watch your language, there are children present,” hissed Rita frowning.
Before realising what he was saying, Tanas answered, “I’m sorry.”
“Okay, let’s move, we don’t have all night,” said Thade with some authority. “Do you have wagons or horses?”
“They were taken back to Ubert. Do you have any news?”
“Let’s get going, we’ll explain everything when we reach our camp.”
The women and children of Ubert prepared to move. Within half an hour, they were heading east to the edge of the forest. They reached the warriors’ mounts and several of the younger children were put on the horses’ backs for the trip to the men’s camp. The group made slow progress.
Eventually the smell of cooking reached the group. The scent made them quicken their pace, for they had not had a hot meal in several days. The group arrived in the clearing and Jill rushed forward to warmly greet the women and children. Within minutes, the children were eating the hot rich stew, the younger ones helped by the women. With their bellies full and after the long march, the children started to fall asleep. When all the children were asleep, the women and the four men quietly ate their meals.
“I think you should explain to the others what has happened to Ubert and our men,” suggested Jill. She looked meaningfully from Thade to Dax.
Dax slowly chewed on a chunk of rabbit meat, reluctant to describe the aftermath, the death and slaughter they had witnessed at Ubert. He looked up at the women, who were all staring at him expectantly. He sighed. “There’s nothing left in Ubert.”
“What of the men?” asked one of the women.
“There’s nothing left in Ubert,” repeated Dax, his voice sombre and hushed.
“I don’t understand,” said one of the younger women. “My Bernie is there. He was in the battle with the Kharnacks. Wait, you were there with our new king. You’re Dax,” she said, then pointed to Tanas, “and you’re the blind warrior and that man was there, too.” She was pointing at Thade. Other women started to recognise the men and they felt more relaxed as they finished their meals.
“Ah, you remember us. I’m Dax, and I was at Ubert during the siege with the Kharnacks. These are my friends Tanas, Thade, and Gan-Goran. I have told you there is nothing left in Ubert. Nobody remains in the outpost—all were killed by an army more deadly, more foul than any these lands have ever seen.”
The women finally understood what Dax was trying to tell them and many silently sobbed for their loved ones.
After a while, Jill spoke, breaking the morbid silence. “What do we do now?” she asked, her question directed at Dax.
“You can go back to Ubert but I would not recommend it,” he replied honestly.
“Where are you travelling?”
“We are following the army. We have some unfinished business to attend to.”
“You cannot just leave us here,” said Rita, almost whining.
Thade rose and sat next to his mentor. “She’s right, my friend,” he whispered softly. “We cannot leave these women and children here.”
“They’re not my problem, Thade. We need to follow the army.”
“But they’re just women and children, Dax.” Thade’s voice was pleading.
Dax struggled with mixed emotions. He wanted to help the women and children, but his destiny was to face the army of creatures—that much he knew. He looked into the eyes of the man he would happily call his son. Thade was right but taking further care of the women would delay them.
At that moment, the small girl who had hugged Tanas back in the forest rose, silently crying.
She wandered across the clearing looking at all the adults around the campfire. She saw the one who could protect her. In her filthy rags, her matted blond hair, the three-year-old walked up to Dax. She stood in front of the old warrior with her arms out for him to take her, tears streaking her grimy cheeks. Dax looked at Thade, then the women around the fire. Something touched Dax and he held out his arms. The small child shuffled to Dax. Instead of hugging the girl, Dax held her at arm’s length, looking around the camp for help.
“Her name is Geena,” said Jill sadly. “Her mother died during childbirth and her father was in Ubert.”
Dax looked at the child, who rubbed her eyes, sobbing silently. Her tears tumbled from her dirty face, landing on Dax’s hands. Dax looked into the girl’s sad blue eyes and slowly pulled her in close. Feeling safe, the child looped her arms around his thick neck. Within moments, her sobbing stopped, her breathing evened and she slept. Dax cursed silently and looked again at Thade, who was smiling broadly.
“We can take them to our home,” suggested the former gladiator, shifting his weight to sit cross-legged.
Dax, who rocked the girl gently from side to side and nodded. “We will have to return to Ubert and get some more supplies and wagons for the journey,” he said.
Thade’s smile broadened. “We will leave at first light.”
“We will go now,” said Dax, who was for some reason feeling edgy having the small child sleeping on him. There had only been a few times the old warrior had held small children in his hands. Hands that could expertly kill any man or beast, hands of death, had rarely held something so delicate, so innocent and pure. Dax rose and moved towards Jill. He handed the sleeping girl to the woman. He hesitated and stroked the girl’s matted fair hair. Then, instantly, Dax returned to his normal self, his violet eyes hardening.
“Tanas, Thade, let’s go. Gan, you stay here with these people. We will be back in a day or two. Keep things quiet, we don’t know who or what is out there.”
The men prepared their horses, retrieved their weapons, and left the clearing in the dead of night, heading east back to the dead outpost of Ubert.
***
Marley and his two scouts continued their long push to Teldor. The journey so far had been uneventful as they approached the next change of horses. They had pushed their horses hard since the last change and now the animals laboured badly. Marley constantly thought about his companions since the group had split up at Single Tooth Gorge to guarantee success. They should have crossed paths by now and the fact that they had not worried him. If anything, the route taken by the other three scouts should have been quicker.
The three scouts changed course and headed northwest for fresh mounts. Marley and his men approached a village close to midnight. It was a small trading village and very little happened at night. Tonight, only a few lanterns were lit along the main street. The scouts rode their mounts silently down the main street, splashing in churned mud, and approached the tavern where they had left their fresh mounts. Marley dismounted in the stable yard and walked to the back door. He quietly knocked on the door and waited. From inside the tavern, he heard someone cursing. The bolts clunked back noisily and the door creaked slowly open.
“This had better be good,” snapped the innkeeper, a fat balding man who raised his lantern and peered into the scout captain’s face. “Ah, Captain Marley. Good to see you again. Do come in.” The man’s voice, like his eyes, mellowed.
“Thank you for the offer, but we would like to change horses and be on our way, if you don’t mind.”
“Do you need any fresh supplies?”
“Yes, if you have any to spare.”
The innkeeper smiled. “You see to your horses, the fresh ones are in the stables at the far end, and I’ll see to some supplies. How many men?”
&nb
sp; “Three, thank you,” said Marley, exhausted from their non-stop journey. He wished he could stay in the tavern overnight in a warm soft bed, but knew he had to reach Teldor quickly. The captain walked his mount to the stable. He got the tired horse settled inside and saddled up his fresh horse. Marley noticed the other three scouts had not arrived. He debated with himself whether to wait a while to see if the rest of his men would arrive or continue on. The orders had been quite specific—no stopping, no waiting.
Marley and the two other scouts walked their new horses out of the stables and Marley tethered his by the back door. He pushed the door that squeaked open and inside, the innkeeper was finishing up packing a bundle for the men. Smiling, the man handed the food to Marley, who reached in his jerkin for his coin pouch.
“No, no captain, I will not have it be said that I did not help the Crown.”
“Thank you, sir.” Marley left the inn and mounted his horse.
As silently as they had arrived, the three men left the village. The men reached a small wooden area and found a clearing where they made a cold camp. Two of the men slept for a while; Marley remained on guard.
***
The other half of Marley’s company made slow progress towards Teldor. They reached the first change of horses at the farmhouse just over half a day behind Marley. After changing their horses, the men decided to take a slightly different route to Marley, and headed for the hills. They camped in a hollow near a cliff face and lit a small campfire. This was against their captain’s orders but the men sat around the fire, talking quietly among themselves.
“We should not have lit a fire, it’s against Marley’s orders,” said one of the scouts, studying the wound on his hand.
“I’m in charge here and I decide what we do and when. If he was here then he could give the orders,” replied a second scout.
When he finished speaking, a strange howling started.
“Was that wolves?” asked one scout, peering about into the darkness beyond the firelight.
“I think so,” answered another scout, scanning the area.
Suddenly, the area exploded with movement. Two Shadows and several Talon Hunters leapt into the hollow, their claws cutting and rending flesh. Gurgling screams of death ripped through the calm stillness of the night, but the gruesome sounds went unheard by mortals and abruptly ended in death.
***
Marley jerked from his doze. Something had awakened the captain but he was unsure what. He peered into the night searching for something, anything. There was nothing. Quietly, he woke the two scouts. Within minutes, they were once again on their way to Teldor.
***
Dax, Tanas, and Thade reached Ubert at dawn. Silently, they entered the dead outpost and searched the shops and houses for anything that would be useful. They found some wagons and loaded supplies of blankets and dried food onto one of them. Four swayback mares were discovered that must have wandered back to the stables after escaping the carnage, and hitched up to pull the wagons. Dax and Thade tethered their own horses to the rear of the wagons and started the journey back to the clearing where the others waited.
They kept the wagons out of the Dread’s tracks to avoid the wagons becoming bogged down in the churned earth. There had been little talk among the friends, tiredness being one reason; the other was personal to each man. However, Thade, and Tanas did share the same glum expression as their women were both in Kal-Pharina. Thade peered over his shoulder in the direction of the white city and sighed.
“I’ll be with you soon,” promised the former gladiator.
“Pardon?” replied Tanas.
“Nothing, my friend, just thinking of Ireen.”
“I was thinking of Megan as well,” admitted the blind warrior.
Nothing else was said about the men’s loss. They did not have to say a word; all was expressed in their posture and faces.
Dax rode silently on his wagon, leading the way back to the camp. He was still thinking of the young child, Geena. He had found some clothes and picked out a brown dress with yellow flowers on it for her. Now he felt silly and remembered cursing Thade when he searched for the dress. The old warrior shook his head at his stupidity, but it was not stupidity. He cursed aloud.
“What’s wrong, Dax?”
Dax turned in his seat and looked back at Thade, who drove the second wagon. All of his anger faded as again he saw a small boy in rags crying in the woodlands north of Kal-Pharina, terrified by his fears. The boy had overcome his fears and grown into a fine young man. Dax smiled at Thade and shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong, boy.”
“I’m sure she’ll like the dress,” commented Thade.
Dax threw the ex-gladiator a glare that could kill a lesser man.
“What dress?” asked Tanas innocently.
“None of your business!” snapped Dax harshly.
Tanas pulled his horse up next to Thade’s wagon. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, my friend. Dax found a dress for the little girl and is now a little embarrassed about it.”
“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I think it is very . . . ” Tanas searched for the right word. “Sweet,” he finally said, smiling broadly.
“Dax, sweet?” said Thade, roaring with laughter.
Dax again turned in his seat and shot a glare of pure maliciousness at both Thade and Tanas.
“You’re right, I don’t believe that is the correct word for Dax. What about ‘noble’?”
Thade nearly fell off the wagon from laughing so hard. Dax stopped his wagon, dismounted, and stalked back to Thade and Tanas.
“What’s so damned funny, boy?”
“Nothing,” said Thade through his laughter.
“That’s it. Step down.”
“Who? Me?” asked Tanas.
“Both of you. You both need a lesson.”
Thade instantly stopped his laughter and swallowed. “Now?”
“Oh yeah, right here, right now. Both of you.”
Dax walked back to his wagon and removed his axe harness. He turned to face the two young men. Crack! Thade tried a sneak attack and caught him with an upper cut on the chin. Dax was glad the wagon was behind him, else he would have fallen onto the ground. The older warrior rubbed his chin, hunched his shoulders, and stretched his arms. Thade stepped back in disbelief—he had put everything into that punch. Slowly, Dax removed his coarse woollen top, exposing his scarred torso.
“Good hit, boy, but now I’m ready. Try your best,” he hissed menacingly.
Tanas removed his hat and coat, then stepped forward, smiling broadly. He was about to say something . . . Crack! The younger warrior flew in the air and landed heavily on his back. Dax lowered his arm that had delivered the punch and turned to face Thade, who stared at his fallen companion.
“Come on—your turn,” announced Dax.
Thade stepped in warily but the outcome was the same—Crack! He flew in the air and landed on the ground next to Tanas. Dax walked back to his wagon feeling a lot better with himself. He put on his top and pulled two water skins from the wagon, pulled the corks free, and stalked to the two fallen warriors. He smiled when he stood over his boys. Suddenly, they were on their feet—Crack, crack, thud! Thade and Tanas cheered as Dax landed on his bottom, still holding the water skins.
Thade danced around. “We got you, ha ha!” he squealed happily.
“I think you should step away from him,” advised Tanas, frowning.
Dax rose slowly to his feet and smiled. He stepped closer to Thade.
“Catch.” Dax threw a water skin up into the air and Thade watched the arching flight. His mistake. Before the water skin arced down, Dax threw a punch that connected with Thade’s chin. The former gladiator flew into Tanas, knocking the other man into a heap on the ground. Dax stepped forward and caught the tossed water skin. Smiling broadly, the older warrior took a drink from the skin, then threw it towards Tanas. The blind warrior caught the container and poured the contents over Tha
de’s head.
Thade roused.
“I told you not to get too close,” Tanas commented, grimacing.
Rubbing his jaw, Thade smiled. “I’ll listen to you next time, my friend.”
Dax looked at the two on the dusty ground and again smiled. Proud of his boys was he, and nothing would change that.
Donning his jerkin and axe harness, the older warrior mounted his wagon and turned to the others. “We have wasted enough time, let’s move.”
The other two scrambled to their feet. Thade slowly climbed onto his wagon, still rubbing his jaw. Tanas put on his hat and coat, smiling broadly, then climbed into his saddle.
***
The next morning, just after sunrise, the three men reached the clearing to the sound of children singing and Gan-Goran banging pots like a drum. The sweet sound of giggling filled the air, a sound the men had not heard for a long while. The innocence of children laughing and singing filled the warriors with a warm feeling. They were doing everything for a reason and this was it. Protect the innocent—give the children, the future a chance.
When the wagons entered the clearing, the children stopped their singing and Gan-Goran stopped banging. For the briefest of moments, fear washed over them.
“Welcome back, my friends,” called Gan-Goran, waving. “Want to join the fun?”
Dax’s demeanour remained cold as he dismounted the wagon. “We need to move soon. We still have much light.” Geena ran up to him and grabbed hold of his leg, hugging him. Dax looked at her and all his anger washed away as she looked up at him. Dax looked down into her large blue eyes and smiled. Geena giggled and reached up for him. He bent down and picked her up. The girl giggled when Dax put her onto his shoulders, and he turned to face Thade.
The young warrior just smiled at him and nodded slightly.
Jill walked up to Dax with a questioning look. Dax knew what the question was and shook his head. He reached out and squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. No-one survived,” he said softly. “We need to get ready to move.”
***
The group made their way slowly around the great forest, with the children singing in the wagons. Jill drove one of the carts, with Geena sitting next to her. Geena pointed at Dax and giggled, but did not speak. She had not uttered a word since they had left her father in Ubert.