War of the Fathers by Dan Decker
Chapter 18
Jorad welcomed the chilly afternoon air. It was a good deal better than the heat wave they'd had most of the week. It was nicer for traveling and he was much more alert. It had been overcast for most of the day and had rained several times. The breeze had a cold edge to it, finding its way underneath and through his light wool jacket. It smelled like rain again and he wouldn't be surprised if he'd soon feel drops on his head.
The clouds seemed to be a bit darker than this morning and he was beginning to wonder if winter was going to come early this year. He buttoned his jacket and wished he’d thought to grab his gloves in his hurried flight from Neberan. Maybe he’d have an opportunity to pick up another pair in Zecarani. If it was still there.
It had been four days since the encounter with the Ou Qui and they’d started stopping for the entire night to rest. Adar didn’t trust anybody but Jorad to stand guard while he slept, so Jorad was running with only a half a night’s sleep. He yawned but he wasn’t that tired, splitting the watch was normal, even when they traveled alone. It was something he'd been accustomed to for many years.
Adar had become concerned that they weren't moving fast enough and the morning before last, he'd announced that they would start using the road to travel. This had been met with enthusiasm by most of the group. Tere had opposed it, but Jorad was certain he'd done so because it had been Adar's proposal. Everybody was anxious to put Neberan as far behind them as they could. Jorad estimated they were only a couple of days from Zecarani and he was beginning to think they’d make it without encountering any more Hunwei. He tried not to think about what would come after Zecarani.
Holding his bow and arrow with one hand, he reached beneath his pack and knuckled his stiff back as best he could. He hadn’t realized that he’d been sleeping on rocks until morning; they hadn’t been obvious in the dark and had been covered by dirt that shifted as he slept. Perhaps he’d just been too tired to notice as he fell asleep. Either way, he was paying for his carelessness now. Stretching, he tried to ease the pain but there was a limit to how much you could stretch while wearing a pack, sword and arrow quiver.
Adar gave Jorad a grim smile. For Adar, the coming of the Hunwei hadn’t changed things much; it only served to confirm the things he’d already been doing. Jorad couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Adar happy. There had been a few times when he’d seen his father relax enough to laugh, but not too long afterward, his grimness always returned. Jorad returned the grin with one of his own, hoping that he appeared more cheerful then he felt.
They had traveled through the morning without incident. Now, in the early afternoon, Adar and Jorad were in front scouting. It was the first time Jorad had taken a regular scouting rotation because Soret was doing better and starting to move past her grief.
Up ahead, the road turned around a bend. They’d been following it as it made its way around a mountain to the west since morning. For a brief moment, the sun peeked out and Jorad smiled when the light touched his face. He closed his eyes, glad for the extra warmth.
When it was gone, he was surprised to see that Adar had stopped a few paces back and was staring into the trees. Jorad yawned, trying to massage his back again. Adar stared a few moments longer into the woods and then moved off the road motioning for Jorad to follow. Silently using a dagger, Adar made a notch in a tree that would be seen by those behind. Jorad became more alert. It was a sign for danger. Ou Qui or Hunwei?
Adar motioned to the woods between them and the mountain, indicating that they were going to move in that direction. They moved slowly, keeping behind trees, shrubs, and other cover.
Half an hour later, Jorad crouched uncomfortably behind a small tree while he waited for Adar, who was ahead and had not moved in some time. Adar was peering out from underneath a willow tree as he took cover in its low hanging branches. He turned and made a motion with his hand by extending his thumb and little finger. This was a Radim sign to ready his bow with an arrow, a signal that Adar had given to him hundreds of times in practice.
Jorad brought up his bow and pulled the string back a little ways. Adar already had his sword out and motioned for Jorad to move around the other side of the willow tree. So much for hoping to make it Zecarani without seeing any more Hunwei, Jorad thought. He moved as quietly as he could, taking care with every footstep. He kept as close to the branches as he could without disturbing them.
When he was in place, he had to force himself to start breathing again but he kept it shallow and silent. Thirty feet in front of them were four Hunwei with their backs to them. This was his first experience seeing Hunwei during the daytime. He'd often heard it said that daylight chases away fear but that wasn't the case with the Hunwei. They towered over Jorad by a solid three feet. Their shoulders were wider than Karn's by half. The armor they wore was colored a dull black.
Jorad was reminded of the first Hunwei he'd attacked. How his shoulder had hurt afterward. How he'd been unable to do any damage to the Hunwei. He thought of the dagger the Ou Qui had given to him and wondered if it could work on the Hunwei. If he got close enough to use it, he'd wouldn't have long to live.
As the Hunwei snarled, Jorad realized his grip on the bow with his left hand was in danger of breaking the arrow against it. Instead of trying to push away his fear, Jorad did as Adar had taught him and let the fear stay but he ignored it. Or tried to.
Jorad took several slow breaths. Adar wasn’t foolish enough to attack when he didn’t have any idea about the tactical situation. Besides, they already knew that their weapons would do little good anyway. Sure enough, Adar signaled to fall back just as they heard noise from the direction of the road.
It sounded like people arguing. Adar grimaced as Jorad cursed under his breath and thought of Soret. Why were they here? One of them should have seen the notch in the tree. Jorad couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they might as well have been screaming at one another.
The Hunwei were now gazing towards the road and one of them had readied his blaster. The others followed. Adar sheathed his sword, pulled out his bow, and notched an arrow.
Adar looked at Jorad and nodded. It would do little good other than causing a distraction, but maybe it would give Soret and the others a chance. Melyah take the Hunwei, Jorad hoped she’d be okay. He singled out a Hunwei and aimed at the gap between the helmet and the body armor as there was no sense wasting a chance, maybe it would get through.
The whistle of Adar’s arrow sounded at the same time Jorad let his loose. He didn’t take his eyes off the Hunwei as he let another arrow fly. Both arrows flew true but—as expected—instead of piercing through the chinks in the armor, they bounced off the Hunwei skin. The Hunwei his first arrow hit, turned in time for the second to bounce off his face. Melyah! It had bounced right off his eye. Even though he’d been expecting that, it was still shocking to see.
“Run!” Adar cried. The order wasn’t needed as Jorad had already turned and was sprinting away, praying as he did that Soret and the others would be okay. They’d done what they could to distract the Hunwei, now it was in the hands of the gods.
Jorad slung his bow over his shoulder as he ran. The arrows, like his dagger and the ax, had bounced off the Hunwei as if their skin itself had been made of armor. An arrow had been turned away by a bloody eye. If they were that tough, why did they bother to wear armor at all?
As Jorad passed a tree, it burst into flames and a hole the size of his head emerged in the trunk. Adar sprinted ahead and turned up towards the mountain. As Jorad followed, the full gravity of their situation fell upon him. They were going to die and the certainty filled him with dread.
More trees around him burst into flames and a blast of heat rushed over his head. He ducked without thinking and chanced a look back. The Hunwei were right behind and his eyes were drawn to one pointing a blaster at him. The Hunwei pressed a lever and a blast exploded from the end.
Jorad hit the ground as the blast went just o
Several minutes later, he came across Adar leaning up against a tree trying to catch his breath. Jorad slowed to a stop while gulping down air in great heaving gasps. The Hunwei weren’t visible but he could hear crashing coming their way. At most, they had a few minutes. Jorad was glad that they were able to outrun them. Whether it was because of the dense forest or the weight of their armor, he didn't know.
“We need to get to higher ground.” Adar panted.
“We’ll end up like a treed cat.”
“I want to see what happens if we can push one off a cliff. Maybe we can crush one with a rock. Besides, with all these hills, we have a better chance of hiding.”
Jorad thought Adar might be joking, but one look at Adar’s face showed he wasn’t. They were facing certain death and he wanted to test the vulnerabilities of their armor, never mind their blasters.
“My arrow bounced off that Hunwei’s eye.”
“They’ve got to have weaknesses, this isn’t magic. Come on, we have to keep going up. If they get close, try the Ou Qui dagger.”
“Suicide.” Jorad gulped for air. “This is suicide.”
Adar grinned, if Jorad didn’t know any better Adar almost looked happy. “This isn’t the first time we’ve danced with death.”
“Hopefully, it won’t be the last.”
“Pray to the gods.”
The afternoon air felt heavy with the potential for rain. The feeling had been getting worse for hours and Soret just wanted the clouds to rain so the feeling would pass. There had been several small showers earlier in the morning, but the afternoon clouds had become worse without a shred of precipitation. The anticipation was wearing on nerves that were already so frayed that she couldn't stand even a single strand more of additional anxiety. She wished that the rain would just come.
Today was the first day since the loss of her parents that she'd felt like she might be able to return to something like her normal self. The guilt she'd felt about the arguments she'd had with her parents had subsided and the pain of their deaths had been replaced by a dull ache that she was certain would return whenever she thought about them.
She wasn't feeling hope for the future though. The reality of their new situation was starting to sink in. It was a topic everybody avoided, but was evident on everybody's mind. The life they'd known before was gone. The life they had ahead of them was unknown.
Soret was glad for the strong presence of Adar, Jorad, Xarda and the others. If they hadn't pushed her to keep going in the days after the attack on Neberan, she would have probably found a comfortable tree and curled up, waiting to die.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to kindle some hope. It was nice to be traveling on the road. She'd always thought that she enjoyed walking through the woods, but the last week had taught her otherwise. Having a maintained road to follow was a luxury that she was doing her best to enjoy. It might not last long. The slightest hint of the Hunwei would send them back into the woods.
There was a shout from somebody up ahead. To Soret's surprise, it sounded like Leron and Wes were arguing. There wasn't anything alarming about either of their actions and it was evident that they were horsing around. The sudden sounds of their jostling filled her with fear. Those two should know better. The Hunwei could be anywhere.
“I'm going to kill them,” Xarda said, storming past Soret with Karn and Lous beside her. Xarda and Karn were carrying their bows with arrows notched. Lous held several daggers. All of the Radim had been traveling with some manner of weapon always at the ready.
Soret ran after them, not wanting to be away from the main group. By the time she caught up, Xarda was chastising Wes and Leron, not bothering to notice how loud she was talking. Her voice carried through the air and heightened Soret's unease. Xarda needed to quiet down.
Soret looked around the trees, trying to spy signs of trouble and hoping everything would remain quiet. There was a freshly made notch in a nearby tree.
Her mouth went dry, it looked like the warning that Adar had carved into the tree the day they'd run into the Ou Qui again.
“Xarda,” Soret hissed, pointing at the tree. Xarda stopped in mid sentence when she saw where Soret was pointing. The others looked as well and their attitudes changed in an instance. Both Leron and Wes, who only moments before had been belligerent, changed their tune. Leron pulled out his sword while Wes fumbled for a dagger. Xarda brought her arrow up and ordered everybody to get under cover.
Soret had only taken several steps toward the trees, when the sound of small explosions reached her ears. She recognized them. Hunwei blasters. Melyah, she thought, they've killed us all. As she continued to run for the trees, she noticed that Xarda was taking aim with her arrow. Soret turned to see that a Hunwei was approaching. Xarda's arrow glanced off the Hunwei without harm; it was followed by several more. Soret didn't see the source of the other arrows but she assumed that Karn had loosed one as well.
“Soret, get down,” Xarda yelled.
Soret, hearing her name had turned to look at Xarda and tripped, falling to the ground. Her hands took the brunt of it, but she fell into a patch of mud that had formed during the rainstorms earlier. There was heat as a blast from the Hunwei went over her head. She exhaled. Saved by luck.
The Hunwei that had aimed at her turned his attention elsewhere and fired again. Soret tried to get up and run, but she couldn't move. Wes and Leron had already disappeared into the forest. The same feeling of helplessness she had the day Neberan was attacked, fell onto her like a bag of bricks. It became hard to breathe. She needed to run.
As she lay paralyzed, the Hunwei fired again. His aim was true and Lous went down with a hole in his chest. Tears welled up in Soret's eyes as the fear tore at her. She was going to die. She didn't blame Wes or Leron for running away. It was the only sensible thing to do. There was a war cry and the next thing she knew, Karn had charged into the Hunwei and knocked him to the ground.
“Hurry,” said Xarda from behind. Tugging on Soret's arm. Soret was amazed at how in control Xarda was of her emotions. The man she loved was charging a Hunwei and could die, but Xarda was trying to save Soret's life instead of worrying about him.
The shame that enveloped Soret spurred her to action. She sprung to her feet and followed Xarda into the woods. She looked back in time to notice that Karn had knocked over the Hunwei and then dashed away. The Hunwei was just sitting up.
Soret followed Xarda into the woods. She'd never stopped to think about what Xarda represented because she'd been so overwhelmed with the loss of her parents. Xarda was strong like Adar, Karn, and Jorad. She fought as well as them and controlled her emotions, even when the man she loved was putting his life on the line.
It was a new reality, and that meant it was time for Soret to face it and make the changes necessary to survive. For the first time since the death of her parents, Soret felt something very much like hope. Xarda represented to her a pathway forward. If Xarda could do it, so could she.
The sun shone through the ever-darkening clouds and Jorad was surprised to see that it was already so low in the sky. They only had a few hours of daylight left. Truth be told, Jorad was surprised that they were still both alive. Attacking the Hunwei had been a stupid thing to do. He only hoped that the others had been given a fighting chance by their brash action. With the brief glimpse of the sun gone, Jorad turned his attention back down the hill, careful to keep his head low.
Any minute now.
He was crouched behind a rock with Adar at his side. Broken rock covered the steep decline before them and disappeared into the forest. His back was starting to ache and one of his leg’s would likely fall asleep soon, but he didn't dare move. There was movement in the trees below. He strained his ears, he could just make out the sound of the Hunwei moving between the trees, but he co
If there was only one, they were going to put Adar's crazy plan into action. If there were more, they'd have to run again. The Hunwei walked out of the trees and sniffed the air. Could it smell them? Jorad hadn't anticipated that. The grizzled gray face of the creature was visible even at this distance and his bright yellow eyes scanned the hillside looking for them.
“We’ll have one shot,” Adar said, his breath stank.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“There’s just the one and if it doesn’t, we’ll run away and try something different.”
Jorad grunted softly.
The Hunwei followed their trail, up the steep hill, moving slower than before. It wasn’t clear if he knew they were here or if the hill was slowing him down.
Soret was out there with little for protection. The image of a Hunwei blasting a hole into her chest came unbidden and he tried with little success to push it away. He tensed, hoping he’d see her again, hoping the distraction had worked and she and the others had gotten away. For all he knew, an army of Hunwei stood between them now.
“Stick to the plan!” Adar whispered. It took Jorad a second to recognize the source of Adar's worry. Jorad had gripped his sword hilt; he relaxed and moved his hand back to the rock without comment.
“On my mark,” Adar whispered.
Jorad readied himself. They’d tested the rock earlier to make sure that they could push it down. It was going to be a struggle but they should be able to move it. The Hunwei still followed in their tracks. That would be the rock's path on the way down.
“Now,” Adar said.
They pushed against the rock but it barely moved. It was heavier than they’d estimated.
“Again.” They pushed repeatedly and each time the rock seemed to move a bit further but they still hadn’t come close to pushing it over.
“We need to run, he’s too close,” Jorad said.
“Not yet.”
They continued to push and Jorad was wondering how long it would be before the Hunwei noticed them, when there was a loud clap and the ground exploded in front of the rock. That answered his question. The blast from the Hunwei loosened the rock and one more push sent it over.
Jorad lost his footing and slid down the hill face first after the bouncing boulder. As Jorad tried to stop, digging in his hands and feet as best he could into the loose rock, he caught a glimpse of the boulder as it fell towards the Hunwei. He still had his blaster aimed up at them.
The rock hit the Hunwei at the same moment he fired several shots, one shot hit the rock and the other continued on to Jorad. Having slid to a halt sideways on the slope, Jorad screamed in pain as the blast grazed him. Blinking back tears, he touched his lower back. He withdrew his hand at the flash of pain. Blisters were already forming and part of his shirt was burned away, melted into his skin. He got to his feet and found that despite the searing pain he was able to move.
Adar ran past him, down the hill.
“Wait!” Jorad cried. “He’ll kill you.” Then he saw what had happened. The boulder had hit the Hunwei, sending him to the bottom of the hill. The blaster hadn’t tumbled down the mountain after the Hunwei. Adar neared the blaster, but he was moving too fast. He tried to slide to a halt but missed and plummeted down the hill.
Jorad walked down the slope. Every step hurt. When he picked up the blaster, his back felt like it was on fire. As he straightened, he lost his balance and slipped down the slope. He gripped the blaster while he rolled, his back wrenching with pain. The string of his bow snapped and it fell away.
At the bottom, Jorad lurched to his feet and fell on his face, the weapon flying out of his hands. He took a breath. Then another. Crawling forward he reached the blaster, picked it up and held it like the Hunwei did. It felt awkward, not at all the way a weapon should.
Adar was swinging away at the Hunwei with his sword, who was parrying the blows with his armored arms. Every hit rang out as if the armor was a bell and Adar’s sword the hammer. The Hunwei grabbed the sword with his gloved hands. In response, Adar jumped back pulling the sword away and attacked again.
Jorad leveled the blaster at the Hunwei and pulled the lever as he’d seen the Hunwei do, nothing happened. He tried repeatedly. The blasts of fire he’d been expecting didn’t come.
“Melyah!” He threw down the weapon, unsheathed his sword and charged.
Jorad thrust his sword into the face of the Hunwei, it jarred in his hands and he nearly lost his grip. The point of the blade stopped on the Hunwei’s face without doing any harm. The Hunwei bared his teeth and let out a howl through his glistening fangs. Jorad thought of the Ou Qui dagger but didn't dare let go of his sword. The dagger was blunt; there was no way he was trading his sword for that.
“He’s calling to his companions. We need to run!” Jorad hit the Hunwei again.
“The blaster. It’s our only chance.” Adar was attacking the Hunwei’s legs now, testing for weakness. “He’s just playing with us.”
“I already tried the weapon. It didn’t work.” Jorad began beating down the back of the Hunwei. Every hit seemed to be hitting just above the creature. He increased the ferocity of his attack but to no avail.
“Keep him distracted, I’ll try the blaster.” Adar stepped out of reach. The Hunwei made to follow but Jorad jumped into its way. When the Hunwei saw where Adar was going it slapped away Jorad’s sword and charged past.
“Adar he’s coming. Run!”
Adar picked up the blaster and took off into the trees with the Hunwei close on his heels. Jorad gasped for breath as he followed.