Empires of Moth (The Moth Saga, Book 2) (13 page)

Now she saw smoke and fire. Now
she smelled blood. Now countless voices cried in agony . . . then
fell silent . . . vanishing in the wind until only the chanting of
monks and the cheers of soldiers remained. And Koyee Mai knew: They
were gone. They were silenced forever.

Lips tight and eyes stinging,
she drove her wagon toward the docks where a hundred vessels moored.
The river would take them into darkness. She did not look back.

 
 
CHAPTER NINE:
THE WATER SPIDER

Torin was loading refugees into a
boat when he heard shouts behind him, turned around, and saw Ferius
at the city gates.

Torin froze and stared across
the boardwalk.

About a hundred yards away,
Ferius stared back and smiled—the smile a snake gives a mouse.

The
city gatehouse rose across the wide, cobbled boardwalk. Torin stood
upon a stone pier that stretched into the Inaro River. Several
refugees had already boarded the vessel, a rowboat named the
Water
Spider
.
It was the same vessel Torin had first rowed into this city six
months ago, a landing craft that had once hung across the hull of a
towering carrack. Eight oars rose along its sides like spider legs.
Cam and Hem were already manning two oars, while Elorian refugees
were grabbing the others. It was a small boat, and Torin had a good
fifty people to save, but his heart had already been rising with hope
. . . until he saw the monk.

For a few heartbeats, the two
only stared at each other across the dark distance. An Elorian child
in his arms, Torin could only stand, frozen and breathless.

Fifty more monks emerged around
Ferius, filling the gateway; here were the bloodsuns, the warriors of
Sailith, clad in crimson armor and bearing maces with flanged heads
the size of skulls. Two of the city guards, soldiers of Arden, were
bowing and groveling, pleading for mercy. Never tearing his gaze away
from Torin, Ferius snapped his fingers; his bloodsuns stepped
forward, clubbed the two guards, and sent them bleeding to the
ground.

The monk pointed at the docks.
"Stop that boat! Slay them!"

Torin
could finally move. Heart lashing, he all but tossed the child he
held into the
Water
Spider
.

"Bailey, hold them back!"
he shouted, grabbing another Elorian and guiding the elder into the
boat.

Eyes narrowed, Bailey was
already nocking an arrow into her bow. She tugged the bowstring back,
whispered a prayer, and sent her arrow flying.

Torin helped a wounded woman
into the boat, looked back at the monks, and sucked in his breath.
The arrow narrowly missed Ferius, instead slamming into a bloodsun.
The shaft snapped against the man's armor.

Torin
cursed and helped the last few Elorians into the rowboat. The
Water
Spider
was meant for twenty soldiers; fifty Elorians now filled it, pointing
at the monks and praying to the stars.

"Slay them!" Ferius
shouted.

His bloodsuns ran across the
boardwalk, heading toward the pier. They held lanterns and maces, and
their eyes blazed red. Bailey shot another arrow, and this one
punched through a man's armor, sending him sprawling across the
cobblestones.

"Bailey, Koyee, come on!"
Torin shouted, climbing aboard. "Into the boat!"

Koyee was struggling to untether
the boat from its peg, but the knot wouldn't loosen. She cursed, drew
her sword, and sliced the rope. The boat began to drift away, and
Koyee leaped inside, landing between the refugees.

"Bailey!" Torin
shouted. His friend still stood upon the dock, firing arrows at the
approaching monks; the enemy was only paces away. "Damn it,
Bailey, into the boat."

Her back toward him, she fired
another arrow, hitting a second man. The bloodsun fell, an arrow in
his chest. The boat floated several feet away.

"Bailey!"

Finally she turned, ran several
paces across the pier, and leaped. Her legs kicked and she landed in
the boat, missing the water by inches. She wobbled, arms windmilling.
Torin had to grab her and pull her forward.

Quarrels whistled around them.

Torin cursed, pulled Bailey
down, and leaned across several Elorian children. Metal bolts whizzed
above them. One slammed into his back, denting his armor; it felt
like a horse kick. Torin winced, looked over his shoulder, and saw
the bloodsuns upon the docks.

"They have crossbows,"
he muttered. "Lovely."

Another barrage flew toward the
boat. Torin raised his shield, wincing. A bolt slammed into the wood.
More flew overhead. Bailey stood with a raised shield beside him.
Together, they protected the boat's stern. Their shields blocked most
of the barrage, but one quarrel whisked between them. An Elorian
woman—a weaver clad in the azure sash of her guild—clutched her
chest and fell, a steel shard in her heart.

When Bailey lowered her shield
to fire another arrow, the bloodsuns on the docks entered three
rowboats. The vessels detached from the docks like leeches off flesh,
bloated with red steel. The warrior-monks began rowing, lanterns held
high. Ferius stood behind them upon the docks, and his roars rolled
across the river.

"Bring them to me alive!
They will confess their sins before they burn."

Cam
and Hem were rowing madly at each side of the
Water
Spider
.
The vessel tilted toward Hem's side; the baker-turned-soldier was
thrice his friend's size. Three more oars lined each side, and
Elorians manned them. They chanted for their stars as they rowed,
pushing the boat on.

Standing at the stern, Bailey
kept firing arrows, but her quiver was running low. Upon the docks,
more monks came racing from the city, leaped into more boats, and
joined the pursuit; two hundred warriors or more now rowed toward
them.

Do
we die in the water?
Torin wondered. He drew his sword.

"If we go down, we go down
fighting," he said.

Koyee came to stand beside him.
She too drew her sword; the curved katana seemed slim beside Torin's
wide longsword, but he knew the blade could cut through armor. Koyee
nodded, tossed down her beaked mask, and snarled at the approaching
enemy.

"We fight side by side,
Torin." She raised her chin, teeth bared. "We die side by
side."

Beside them, Bailey fired her
last arrow. The projectile whistled across the water, dived toward a
boat full of bloodsuns, and sent a man falling into the water. Her
quiver empty, Bailey drew her double-edged longsword.

"You two can die," she
said and spat at the enemy. "I'm going to kill all of these
beasts myself then stomp upon their corpses."

Behind them, Cam raised his
voice. "Nobody is dying or killing anyone! We row faster than a
deer fleeing a wolf. Hem, damn it, row faster—keep up!"

Sweat dampening their faces,
they rowed. The refugees pushed themselves low as more bolts flew
above. Torin stood at the stern between Bailey and Koyee, staring as
the enemy approached. Even Linee came to stand by them, shivering,
and raised a dagger Bailey had given her. A dozen boats now followed,
armed monks in each. Ferius, however, remained upon the pier,
watching the pursuit.

The
coward dares not fight,
Torin thought, staring at the distant figure in disgust.
He
spews bravado but still fears our blades.

"We'll row to the southern
riverbank." Torin adjusted the rudder. "We're floating
targets in the water."

Bailey looked at him, eyes wide,
her chest rising and falling as she panted. "And we won't be
targets on the land?"

"Easier to hide there."
Torin glanced behind him; the southern bank was still too far to see
in the shadows. "The moonlight glows on the water. Hills and
valleys roll in the south. We'll move in shadow. It's the only chance
we have."

They rowed. The boat moved
south, tilting, low in the water. The enemy pursued, a foot or two
closer every stroke of the oars. The monks' lamps burned like demons,
painting their faces red, and they shouted.

"We will slay the savages!"

"We will break the
traitors!"

"Children of sunlight breed
with demons; they will scream in our fire!"

Muttering curses, Torin
unstrapped his breastplate and tossed it into the water. "We're
too heavy! Toss off your armor." He threw his helmet overboard.
"What we need now is speed; steel can no longer help us."

Bailey stared at him, eyebrows
raised, lips curling in dismay. Finally she groaned, reached behind
her back, and unstrapped her own breastplate. She sent pieces of
armor flying overboard, remaining in a woolen tunic. She raised her
shield just in time to block two more crossbow quarrels. Behind her,
Koyee shrugged off the Sisterhood's clunky suit of leather and iron,
remaining in a silk tunic; she tossed the heavy outfit overboard.

It seemed ages that they rowed
across the river. The Sailith boats oared closer and closer; soon
they were close enough that Torin could see the white in his enemies'
eyes. One Sailith boat—the first to have left the docks—cut through
the water, closing the gap. They oared only ten feet away, then nine,
then eight . . .

"Row faster!" Torin
shouted.

Cam and Hem shouted back. "We
are!"

The
enemy boat moved closer; eight bloodsuns lined its sides, rowing like
machines. Ten more stood upon the decks, maces raised. With another
swipe of their oars, the Sailith boat rammed into the
Water
Spider
.

The
two vessels jerked and Torin swayed, nearly falling. Bloodsuns leaped
onto the
Water
Spider
,
their lamplight reflecting against their red armor, their maces
swinging.

Shouting, Torin raised his
shield. A mace slammed into it, showering splinters. Torin thrust his
sword, hitting the monk's breastplate. Sparks flew. The mace swung
again, and Torin ducked, barely dodging the blow. He leaped forward,
shield held before him, and slammed into the enemy. The bloodsun
teetered, crashed into the water, and sank.

More monks fought around him,
shouting and waving maces, clambering to climb aboard. The Elorian
refugees, unarmed and clad in only silk, screamed; most cowered, but
three began to slam their oars against the enemy.

"Don't fight—keep rowing!"
Torin shouted; more Sailith boats were still driving toward them.

At
his sides, Bailey and Koyee fought too, swinging their swords. Even
Linee lashed her dagger, squealing in fright. Two more bloodsuns fell
into the water. A third leaped at Torin, who sidestepped; the man
crashed into the
Water
Spider
,
and Elorians leaped upon him, kicking and punching, tearing the man's
helmet off and pounding his head against the bulwark.

Torin
stared through sweat that dripped down his face. A dozen monks still
stood upon the boat ramming them; they could not defeat them all.
Holding his shield before him and cursing with every foul word he
knew, he knelt, grabbed the rudder, and tugged. The
Water
Spider
turned. Several of the refugees swayed and fell. Torin tugged the
rudder again, pressing the
Water
Spider
's
starboard bow against the enemy's port side. Several bloodsuns rowers
sat there, staring down at him. Catching a crossbow dart on his
shield, Torin lashed his sword.

His blade sang and crashed into
the enemy's oars. Wood shattered. An oar splintered and fell into the
water. Koyee leaped up beside him, grinning savagely, and swung her
katana, shattering more enemy oars.

"Keep
rowing, boys!" Torin shouted, grabbed the rudder, and directed
them south again. The
Water
Spider
kept moving toward the dark riverbank, leaving the crippled enemy
boat behind. Only one bloodsun remained upon their deck; Bailey drove
her sword into his neck, sending him into the water with a spray of
blood.

They
kept rowing. The
Water
Spider
drove through the river. The remaining enemy boats—each one laden
with monks—kept pursuing.

When
the
Water Spider
finally slammed against the southern riverbank, Torin exhaled shakily
with relief, only for new fear to flood him. They had survived the
water; how long would they last upon the plains?

"Out of the boat!" he
cried, leaped onto the riverbank, and began helping refugees descend.
"Follow—into the darkness."

Linee stood at his side,
shivering but helping children and elders out of the boat. One young
child leaped onto her back and clung. Torin helped a few others
descend onto the bank, lifted an elderly woman, and held her in his
arms. When everyone was off the boat, the strong holding the weak,
Torin began to run.

"Follow!" he shouted.
"Into shadow."

He ran, heart thrashing, teeth
grinding, the old woman in his arms. His companions ran at his sides,
leaving the water and racing up a rocky hill. The stars shone above.
When Torin looked over his shoulder, he saw the enemy boats reach the
riverbank. The monks began to emerge; two hundred or more pursued,
each armed and howling for blood.

Torin returned his eyes forward,
cursed, and ran as fear flowed through him like poison.

 
 
CHAPTER TEN:
THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN

He lay with Suntai under the
stars, kissed her lips, and stroked her naked body. Lying on her
back, she gazed up at him, eyes half-lidded, and smiled lazily.

"My stars in the night,"
she whispered, caressing his strands of white hair. "My alpha.
My mate. My lantern in the dark."

Her hair flowed around her head,
covering the black fur rug like strands of starlight, silvery and
gleaming. Her eyes, large and indigo, reflected the true stars above.
Okado touched the tattoos of lightning upon her high, pale cheeks,
the marks of a warrior.

"And you are my fish,"
he said.