Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three (7 page)

“Hopefully I can march that out of them.”

“I hope they only think about doing something stupid.” He paused. “You’re wondering whether I regret her coming along, aren’t you?”

“The thought crossed my mind earlier.”

“I don’t. I’d rather be worrying about her under these circumstances than worrying about her miles away.”

“I hear you.”

He spat and swore to Prax. “Sorry, Ty. I forgot for a second about your kids and—”

“I know you didn’t mean anything. Still, you have me wondering if I shouldn’t have lied to Balak about them being dead. It might have made more sense to bring them along so that I could keep an eye on them.”

“Since when do you second guess yourself after listening to me?”

I slapped his shoulder. “Don’t sell yourself short. If I thought you didn’t have anything to offer other than being a warm body, I’d have dropped you from my unit a long time ago.”

He chuckled.

I looked over my shoulder toward a line of low hills in the distance. I kept waiting to see a rider come over the rise, but nothing except a darkening gray sky topped them.

“He’s definitely been gone awhile,” said Ira.

“Huh?” I asked, turning.

“Hamath. That’s who you’re looking for, right?”

“What makes you say that?”

“After your talk with him yesterday, you haven’t said anything to anyone about it. Dekar noticed earlier how you keep looking out in the distance. I doubt it’s because you’re expecting a rain cloud to come our way.”

I tried to deflect, feeling put off for being that easily read. “Could be looking at the sky for another eruption.”

“Except you’re not just looking toward Hol. You’ve been looking everywhere, probably because you don’t know where Balak sent him.”

I chuckled. “Am I really that easy to read?”

“Sometimes. So what happened? You find out why he became such a jerk?”

“We didn’t exactly get to finish our conversation, but he’s definitely changed. Doesn’t care about much of anything anymore.” I paused. “He actually enjoys this life.”

“I’m not sure if he’s changed all that much then.”

“What do you mean?”

“After those first couple years Hamath never really cared about a whole lot of anything except Hamath.”

Past events clicked into place. “That’s about when Bilhah would have sent him that letter he kept from us.”

“Yeah. I mean he complained a lot, but half the time I think he just complained to pass the time. He never seemed to exactly hate what we had to do like others did. And you know how much he liked whoring. Did it more than just about anyone.”

“True. He complained most about Balak though. And also about the possibility of dying.”

“What soldier didn’t complain about those things? The one thing I never heard him complain about was the killing.”

I frowned. I hadn’t really thought about that before, but I think Ira was on to something. That was perhaps more unsettling than the conversation with Hamath. I might have raised Hamath up into being something he never was.

If that was true, what would have caused me to do something like that?

I shook my head before I went too far down that line of thinking. Hamath had his faults, but he was a good man. He had to be.

I could see Ira was waiting for a response, but I really didn’t feel like giving one right then.

“You mind going to check on Boaz and the rest of our group? It looked like a few were starting to limp. If it’s soreness that’s fine, but the last thing I want are blisters forming.”

He gave me an eye, knowing what I was doing.

“Sure, Ty. Blisters.”

As he walked away, I took a deep breath. Alone and not under the watch of so many, I relaxed a bit, and felt my own fatigue more fully. That weight of exhaustion caused me to stiffen back up so I didn’t relax any further. At least not yet. I still needed to maintain that appearance of strength to others who might be watching.

I started walking in search of Dekar. I had a couple ideas for the next day that I wanted to run by him. Though Ira had the drill sergeant attitude and the ability to get the most out of men, Dekar better understood what we could do to mitigate our weaknesses. And though our weaknesses were pretty much everything, I thought it would help to talk things through with someone I trusted.

I took barely two steps when a messenger came running up.

“Captain Tyrus!”

“Yes?”

“General Balak wants to see you right away, sir.”

I sighed. “Tell him I’m on my way.”

* * *

After another cold exchange with Etan I walked inside Balak’s tent. I made a note that I might have to find some time to learn what Etan was so bitter about. Either that, or decide whether or not I even cared.

Balak was at the map again, hands behind his back. Though there wasn’t a bottle in sight, I caught the scent of alcohol in the air. That surprised me. Balak had never been one to drink, but then again I knew the man was under a lot of stress. I took note of the observation, but refrained from commenting on it for the time being. Despite my earlier decree of no alcohol for the army, I still answered to Balak. I’d only bring the matter up if I felt it would negatively impact his thinking and our success.

“Sir?”

His big eyebrows rose as he looked up. “We got problems.”

“I didn’t think you’d be calling me in to share any good news,” I said sarcastically as I walked over to him.

His eyebrows rose higher. I knew that aggravated look well.

I ignored it. “So what is it?”

“The Malduks.”

I froze. “What?”

“The blasted Geneshans still have the Malduks working with them.”

“How many?”

“Thousands, though I don’t have an exact number because they’re moving up north in small groups of a couple hundred. Could be dozens of those groups, but I only have three already overworked High Mages to investigate and none are at full power.”

I swore, then paused as something he said struck me. “Sir, did you say that they’re moving north? I assume you meant south since north would have them marching right back up to their homes in the mountains.”

“I meant north. There are dozens of small companies of both Geneshans and Malduks coming up from the south. Some are only a few days march behind us. They’re all heading toward Hol as are other Geneshan forces coming in from the west.”

I blinked in confusion. No matter the advantages our brutal enemies once had over us, I was always able to work out the strategies used by the Malduks and Geneshans. However, I couldn’t make any sense of their movement from the south toward Hol.

“What were their forces doing in the south?”

“I don’t know yet. It looks like some are carrying prisoners with them though.”

“Sacrifices?”

“That was my guess. But you haven’t asked the most important question yet.”

“You mean why there are armies coming in from the south at all?”

“Yes! And how did they get there?” He slammed his fist on the table which prompted Etan to poke his head inside.

Balak waved him off with a hand.

Etan dipped his head back out. Balak started pacing.

“Those blasted Geneshans made us all look like fools,” he said, voice growing tight with anger.

A sick feeling twisted my insides. I already didn’t like the way the conversation was developing. With enemy soldiers in the south, Ava and my kids would be in greater danger than I had assumed. A part of me wanted to ask Balak for the drink I knew he had hidden somewhere. I could use something to ease my worries. But I refrained. It wouldn’t look good on me to smell like alcohol after my earlier announcement to the army. Besides, the last thing I needed was to go down the path and begin finding comfort in a bottle.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It was all a set up.”

“What was?”

“The artifact! They wanted us to find it.”

“You know this for sure?”

“No. But it makes sense. They were losing the war and they knew they had this weapon that once activated would cause a great deal of devastation. But they didn’t want to use it themselves or they might wipe out all their own forces. So, they let us win, sacrifice a few thousand to convince us of our victory. They signed a treaty they had no intention of keeping, then piqued our interest in the artifact with all their stories of immense power. So when the Council of High Mages grew worried about my approach on Hol . . . Well, you know the rest.”

I had to admit that it did sound like something the Geneshans would do. They had shown in the past they would sacrifice their own if they thought it would mean victory later. The more I thought about it, the more I began to internally berate myself for not reaching the same conclusion.

“You think they’re going to Hol to reclaim the artifact?”

“That and to take Turine into their empire.”

“Turine isn’t much of an addition anymore.”

“Maybe, but the Geneshans will still have it.”

“Do you think they can shut down the artifact?”

“Why else would they be going north unless they knew for sure?”

I rubbed my jaw. “This changes things. We can’t just kill them. We have to capture their leaders so they can turn the artifact off first. If it looks like we’re winning, they might decide to do something worse with it in order to wipe us out.”

“I know. Which is also why I wanted to see you. You’re going to need to get a new unit ready. I’ll need to eventually send out some small groups for special missions based on this new information.”

“Does that mean someone else will train the army while I get my group ready?”

“No, that’s still your job too.”

Just great.

His face grew stern. “I know you wanted to look out for those you brought from the outpost, but you’re going to want to pick mostly veterans for this new unit, people that aren’t going to require a great deal of training to contribute immediately. People who can handle the pressure. Things are going to get dirty.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “How dirty?”

“As dirty as necessary to win.”

I was right not to like the sound of that. Once a man started to cast aside his morals, I wondered if he was much of a man anymore.

“When will Hamath return? I’ll want to get with him about re-joining my unit.”

“Hamath is off limits,” he said quickly while shuffling papers.

“Why? Because he’s a scout? That didn’t matter before when you let him pull double duty.”

He snorted. “I guess he hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what?”

“I already talked to him a little earlier before sending him back out. He wants to run his own squad.” He chuckled. “I guess he wants to get out of your shadow.”

That stung on multiple levels.

Hamath must have returned from scouting without my knowing and made no effort to continue our conversation. Then, rather than using an opportunity to mend our relationship by reforming our old unit, he chose instead to go off on his own.

Molak-be-damned.

CHAPTER 5

“C’mon Aunt Ava, it’s your turn,” said Zadok, nudging her with his elbow as the two sat at the top of the small tower.

Zadok had found her staring out at the landscape where Balak and his army had stood less than two days ago. She had been contemplating the gruesome fate awaiting her brother and friends. It was an awful way to spend her time, but it at least distracted her from worrying about the results of Sivan’s efforts scouting with the others.

My luck he’ll come back with a change of heart and singing of dark, rich soil.

Ava sighed. “Do we really need to play this game? It’s a little beyond your age. And way beyond mine.”

“It passes the time. Nason’s kids like to play it.”

“That should tell you something.”

He gave her a cross look. “You’re not suggesting a better alternative.”

She shook her head. That boy. As much as Myra is like Tyrus, Zadok is definitely like Lasha.

Ava remembered when Tyrus first brought Lasha home all those years ago. Ava hated her at first because she was a foreigner who looked like no one else, and was beautiful to boot. To make matters worse, Tyrus married Lasha without ever bothering to get Ava’s approval.

But the hate didn’t last long.

After a ten-minute conversation that ended with them both laughing uncontrollably, she had understood Tyrus’s decision. In fact, she would have been angry at him for not marrying her.

She snorted to herself. “You remind me so much of your mother at times.”

Zadok smiled, obviously pleased at the comment. “How so?”

“Because of something like that,” she said, pointing to his smile. “Despite all we’ve been through, and the uncertainty still out there, you’re smiling and trying to cheer me up with children’s games. Somehow you always look on the bright side. Just like your mother. And, just like Lasha, your propensity toward the positive doesn’t annoy me like it does with just about anyone else.”

“Thank you.” He smiled wider. “But you still need to take your turn.”

“Ao-be-damned. Why can’t I have a stupid niece and nephew? It’d be nice to put one over on you two from time-to-time.”

“Aunt Ava,” he urged.

“You ever thought that maybe I don’t want to pass the time? That I like being miserable?”

He scowled. “If I remind you of Ma, then you remind me of Pa and Myra. You both like to go off alone and dwell on every little thing. You worry that if you don’t, something awful will happen that you won’t be prepared for. That’s a bad way to live.”

“It’s worked so far.”

“Has it? Were you able to prepare for everything that happened the last few months?”

She didn’t like that questioning and snapped. “No.”

“Yet, we’re doing all right for ourselves.”

She chuckled. “You call this all right?”

“We’re alive. And we have each other.”

He’s got me there.

“Definitely like your mother,” she grumbled.

She sighed, deciding to give in to her nephew rather than continuing to argue. Especially since the only way she could fight back and make her point was bring up all the stuff that could happen to them or Tyrus now that they had separated.

And that won’t exactly win me the title of best aunt.

“Fine,” she huffed. “I spy with my eye, something gray.”

“Seriously? Gray?”

“Yes. Is that too hard for you?” she teased.

“Aunt Ava, almost everything is gray thanks to the last eruption.”

“If you want me to play a game, then I’m going to play to win. You have ten questions. Go.”

Zadok never had a chance to ask his first. They both caught sight of dust being kicked up in the distance. Three approaching figures on horseback emerged from the cloud.

“That looks like Sivan out front,” said Zadok. “Wow, they’re really moving.”

Scouts don’t return that carelessly unless there’s trouble.

“Yeah, that can’t be good.”

She wheeled toward the inside of the outpost. She hung over that side of the tower so the people in the courtyard could see her. She waved her hands and shouted.

“Everyone on alert! We may have trouble!”

Everyone froze, faces paling as they met her gaze.

“Molak-be-damned!” she continued. “That means move and find something useful to bash someone’s head in with. Not stand around like idiots! It hasn’t been that long since we last drilled!”

People shook off their shock and acted, dropping baskets, clothes, buckets, and barrels. They filled their hands with bows, swords, knives, shovels, and spades. Nason was in the middle of them, directing others to preassigned stations.

She yelled down. “Nason!”

He turned.

“Let someone else do that. Get your kids and the other young ones to the basement beneath the barracks.”

He nodded and ran off.

“I think we’re all right. I don’t see anyone pursuing Sivan and the others,” Zadok called.

She turned. It was true, no one followed them.

But they’re not slowing either.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “But I don’t think we’re all right.”

* * *

Sivan barreled through the open gate like some hero out of story, galloping into a castle to save a princess. He reined in quickly and leaped down. Unlike the hero of story, he immediately showed his age once unhorsed, landing awkwardly in his rush and grabbing for his knee. Damaris ran to check on her father, but he shooed away her ministrations. Everyone crowded around him. The other riders entered the courtyard a moment later, looking just as worn.

Ava pushed her way to the front.

“Good,” said Sivan upon seeing her. Then he saw the former mayor and nodded. “You two walk with me.”

Others started to come along, but he cast them a severe look. They froze which seemed to satisfy him.

“What’s going on?” asked Rezub as they stopped on the opposite side of the courtyard.

“We’ve got trouble. An army is headed our way,” said Sivan.

Ava swore. “An army or a group of raiders?”

Sivan met her eyes. “My guess is something in between. Not nearly as large as what Balak had, but larger than what we’ve seen from raiders.”

“What did you see?”

“Two different trails of advanced scouts. Raiders aren’t likely to be that organized.”

“But it still could have been raiders,” said Rezub. “You don’t really know for sure. Right? It might have even been a couple people bumbling around on their own.”

Sivan gave him a look that seemed to say that he couldn’t believe he had to explain himself. Ava understood. Sivan knew his business scouting. Tyrus saw it immediately and never once questioned the man’s conclusions.

“They tried to cover their trails. A couple people ‘bumbling around’ wouldn’t have bothered with that. There were other signs too.”

“Like?” asked Ava.

“I found this.”

She cocked her head as Sivan reached into a pocket at his waist. He pulled out a smooth stone half the size of his palm.

Rezub said. “That’s just a rock,”

Sivan held it out to Ava. “Is it?”

He probably expected her to take it from him to study, but she had recognized it immediately. It was gray like granite. On one side were several intentional scratches. Images ran through her mind, images she had hoped not to recall again.

Anyone who had been part of the elite units of the Turine army knew those markings. More than once Balak had tasked them with eliminating, or at least whittling down, the groups that made them.

She cursed a few gods.

“I thought you might recognize it,” said Sivan.

“Why?”

“Because I remembered the Byzans used markers during their war with Turine. I figured another army might do the same.” He paused. “Is this Geneshan?”

“No,” said Ava. “That was made by the Malduks.”

What in the name of Molak are they doing this far south?

Rezub gasped. She knew like most, he had never had any up close experience with the Malduks. Still, he heard the stories. Villains of the children’s tales told to young Turine children often emulated or borrowed from the Malduk culture. Having seen the people up close, and having fought against them after they had allied themselves with the Geneshans, she knew the descriptions were not far off.

The mountainous people distinguished themselves from other nations by scarring their body with sharp blades or hot irons. The scars formed patterns and symbols that in their eyes were sacred, a way to show dedication to not only their own unique tribes, but also the gods each tribe followed.

She had once thought such practices were unique to their warriors, or at least their men. But she later learned of the deformities their women put upon themselves. Worse still were the scars forced on young children. Their culture believed that the younger the devotee to their gods, the stronger the tribe.

“How could you possibly know that rock was made by the Malduks?” asked Rezub.

“It’s not rock,” said Ava. “It’s bone they treat with potions to discolor it. The bone is always from their enemies.” She gave Sivan a look. “Gods, how did you even see this?”

“Because I know what I’m doing,” said Sivan as he glared at Rezub, daring the former Denu Creek mayor to question him again.

“We need to tell the others,” said the former mayor.

“No,” said Sivan. “Not yet. We tell the others when we have a clear plan.” He eyed Ava. “This mob mentality to leading isn’t working. I asked you both over here for your opinions before I decide on what we do.”

She gave a nod of approval.

About time.

“Do they know we’re here?” asked a female voice from behind.

Ava spun. Somehow Myra had sneaked up next to them.

Sivan seemed surprised too, but he answered anyway. “I don’t know. The tracks I saw were farther out so it’s possible they didn’t see the outpost due to its position. Or if they did see it, I doubt they could tell it was inhabited from that distance.”

Myra continued. “We should probably assume they know the outpost is here. It’s possible there were more than two scouts, some that came in from another direction.”

Ava grew proud at seeing her niece’s mind working.

Sivan answered. “There could have been other tracks. I didn’t stay to look for more. I saw enough for me to get back and warn everyone.”

“We could leave before they attack us,” said Ava.

“No,” said Rezub. “We should stay where we have protection. If we leave, they can attack us on the road where there’s nowhere to hide. We still don’t really know for sure if they know we’re here. They could pass right by us, especially if they think this place is abandoned.”

“An army of any decent size will see this place as more scouts are sent out,” said Myra. “And no one with at least half a brain will not search it.”

“Then we hide,” Rezub offered.

Ava shook her head. “Not a good idea with the way things are. There are tracks all around the outside of this place, going in and out of the gate. They’d see the remnants of our fire, our refuse, holes for our night soil, where we’ve dug in the garden. Then there are our animals.”

“So, we’re doomed if we stay and doomed if we go,” Rezub said, rubbing his hands.

“Not doomed. It’s just both paths have negatives,” said Myra.

Sivan sighed, looking to Ava. “You were right. We should have left days ago.”

“Really doesn’t matter now who was right. How much time do we have before we’ll see the Malduks?”

“Don’t know for sure, but I’d guess less than a day.”

Worse than I thought.

“Then we shouldn’t try to get on the road,” said Myra, interjecting herself again.

Everyone looked to her.

“Why?” asked Sivan.

“Because by the time we get everything ready to move out, it will be too late to do any real maneuvering with a group our size, especially with the wagon and animals.”

“So then we fight,” said Sivan with a heavy sigh.

The weight of leadership seemed a heavy burden on his shoulders.

“That’s crazy,” said Rezub.

“Even so, she’s right about us trying to evade them on the road this close to their main body of troops.”

“And do you have a plan for how we should go about fighting an army?” asked Rezub, his voice biting.

Sivan opened his mouth, then closed it. He glanced to Ava. It was obvious he had nothing.

Ava caught Myra out the corner of her eye, worrying her lip. She could tell the girl had some thought on the matter but again was hesitant to speak up.

“Myra? What do you think?”

Her niece seemed doubtful, so Ava squeezed her arm, trying to get her to relax.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

“Well, I remember you and Pa saying the Malduks are a very superstitious people, right?” she asked, looking to Ava.

Ava nodded.

“I was thinking we could attack from odd places like cracks in the walls, holes in the ground, or even from the ceiling. We set traps throughout this place with the goal of making them seem like accidents so that one Malduk dies at a time. When others find the bodies, they’ll wonder what happened. Aunt Ava, do you know of any effigies or signs that would act as a warning to them? We can make this place seem cursed.”

Gods, that’s a crazy idea. But creative.

Ava bobbed her head, mind turning at Myra’s suggestion. “I do know of a few things and I like where you’re going. We would need to do things much differently than we have before though. Rather than fighting in small units as Tyrus trained us, we’d have to fight more as individuals.”

“Why?” asked Sivan, not skeptical, but curious.

“It just wouldn’t be feasible for a small group of people to lurk around the outpost in the same way several individuals could.”

“So you want to scare an army of known savages with tricks better suited to giving children bad dreams?” asked Rezub.

Why not? Tyrus’s trick with the dead bodies at Denu Creek worked on scaring away most of the raiders with that square-helmed man.

She kept that thought to herself, knowing that it hadn’t worked on everyone.

“Do you have a better solution?” Ava asked.

He hesitated, then shook his head.

Ava continued. The more she thought about Myra’s idea, the more she liked it. “She’s right about the Malduks. They can be superstitious. It might make sense for them to even catch a flash or shadow of movement here and there to further the impression this place is haunted. If we spook them enough, they’ll get out of here fast.”