Slavers of the Savage Catacombs (6 page)

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Ran eyed the body for a few seconds. While he’d never personally seen this, he had heard accounts of robbers using a corpse to conceal some type of booby trap—usually snakes or dangerous spiders. When someone came around and rolled the body over, the snake or spider would bite them. Ran frowned. He had no desire to be bitten by some poisonous beast. The convoy was only a day old; getting injured now would be the worst.

Ran knelt in the dirt track and studied the clothing. Something seemed familiar about the clothes. Ran recognized the pattern; he’d seen it somewhere recently but couldn’t quite place it. He moved around and tried to examine the corpse from every angle. As he got closer to the face, his heartbeat quickened. He glanced down toward the arms, but the hands were tucked under the corpse.

Ran used the scabbard to pry it under the corpse and heave it over.

He exhaled as he did so, almost surprised that there were no snakes underneath. But what he saw confirmed for him what he had suspected only moments earlier. He walked back around the corner and waved the caravan forward. As he waited, Ran kept eyeballing the surrounding landscape. It was possible that even now they were being watched. He tried to pick out which of the high hills that encircled them would provide the best cover. There was one he thought a likely candidate a half mile away.

His concentration was broken by Yasseh riding up. “What have you found?”

“You’ll need to see it,” said Ran. “Come down off of your horse, though.”

Yasseh frowned but slid down from the saddle. Behind him, Gunj reined in his horse and slid down as well. As his feet touched the ground, Ran noted that he had one of his hands on his sword scabbard.

Yasseh rounded the corner with Ran and then stopped short. “Is it . . . ?”

Ran nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Yasseh fell beside the corpse of Ejul and took one of his son’s lifeless hooked hands in his own. Ran heard a smattering of some obscure language, and then turned away to give Yasseh time to grieve. He met Gunj’s stare.

“You found him like this?”

“No. He was on his stomach. I turned him over in the event that his murderers chose to leave something nasty behind.”

Gunj only nodded. “Good thinking.”

Yasseh had recovered himself, and, as he stood, he dusted his pants clean of dirt and dust. “Who did this to him?”

Ran looked at the gaping wound in Ejul’s neck. They’d slit his throat and bled him dry before leaving his body in the middle of the road. The only candidates that Ran could imagine were the band of robbers Ejul had been convincing to attack the caravan the other night. But could he tell Yasseh that? Ran didn’t think he could without bringing undue suspicion down on himself.

“If I had to guess,” he said finally, “I might think that a band of robbers kidnapped and tortured Ejul into revealing the direction of our travel.” Ran pointed at Ejul’s corpse. “This is a warning that they’re out there. Watching us. Even now, perhaps.”

Yasseh drew close to Ran, rage on his face. “That . . . is my son.”

Ran held his gaze and didn’t blink. “I know it. I mean no disrespect to him. But they clearly wanted us to find him here. They wanted us to know what they did and what they know.”

Gunj steered Yasseh away from Ran. “He is right, master.”

Yasseh let a big gulp of air slide from his lungs. “I know it. Damn it all to the gods. I know it. My poor son . . . my poor son . . .” His voice trailed off, and Gunj nodded toward Ran as he steered him back toward the horses.

The remainder of the caravan trundled up and slowed down some distance once they spotted the figure in the middle of the road. Ran waved Kuva over, and the big man jumped down from his horse.

“What is it?”

Ran thumbed over his shoulder. “Yasseh’s son. They murdered him and left him here.”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“I don’t know,” said Ran. “But what matters now is that we keep our guard up. There’s every likelihood that they’re watching us even now.”

“You think?”

“It’s what I would do,” said Ran. “They’re probably trying to judge our strength and the best time to attack us.”

Kuva shielded his eyes and looked off into the landscape. “Where would they hide?”

“Pick any of the hills that are encircling us right now. Any one of them could provide enough cover for an attacking force.” Ran wondered if the men he had seen talking to Ejul the other night had recruited others to help them or if they were still the same number. He’d have to assume the force would be large enough to overwhelm the caravan. That meant at least a dozen heavily armed men against Ran, Gunj, Kuva, and the three other guards. Probably some of the merchants and their employees would fight, but not all of them. They were merchants, after all. Not warriors.

“You think the attack will come soon?” asked Kuva, lowering his hand.

Ran nodded. “They will wait for what they think is inevitable.”

“Which is what?”

Ran held up his hand. “Wait a moment.”

Gunj walked over. “Yasseh says that we are to bury Ejul now.”

Ran eyed Kuva. “You see?” He looked back at Ejul. “If we bury Ejul now, we will be attacked either before or during the funeral proceedings.”

Gunj sighed. “I tried explaining that to Yasseh. He is insisting that his native traditions be followed, however.”

“Is he willing to risk the entire caravan for that?” asked Ran. “Because if we stop to do this, we are handing it over to whoever killed his son. That doesn’t strike me as being very smart. And I would think Yasseh would understand that.”

“He’s just lost his son, Ran,” said Gunj. “Perhaps we can all use a bit more latitude in our thinking? Empathy, perhaps?”

“I was hired to help guard this caravan,” said Ran. “I’m not trying to be heartless. Or cruel. But I am trying to make sure that we consider all of the eventualities of our decisions. And deciding to hold a funeral right now while we’re sitting here surrounded by hills that could easily conceal an overwhelming attacking force is a foolish thing to do. If you don’t want to tell Yasseh that, then I will. I didn’t sign on for a suicide mission here.”

“You are right.”

Ran turned and saw Yasseh standing there. The merchant’s face looked pale and haggard. But Ran saw enough anger still lurking in the man’s eyes that Ran hoped he’d be a decent fighter when the attack came.

Yasseh walked over to Gunj. “He is right. Wrap Ejul’s body in the funeral shroud and place him in the back of one of my wagons. We will bury him later, after we are free of these accursed hills. Hopefully, the gods won’t be too angered by my actions.” He walked away and remounted his horse.

Gunj eyed Ran. “That was fortunate.”

“Shall I detail the men to wrap the body?”

Gunj held up his hand. “I’m more familiar with the customs of Yasseh’s people. I will take care of it.”

“How long?”

Gunj shrugged. “A few more minutes shouldn’t matter.”

Ran eyed the hills. “I hope they believe that.”

“Let them come,” said Gunj. “I’ve seen Yasseh fight when he’s angry. It’s not a pretty sight. But it is effective. He’ll hold his own when we’re hit.”

“Good to know,” said Ran. “We’re pressing on though, right?”

“Yasseh appears to be taking your advice, so yes, we are. Let me get Ejul’s body taken care of and then we’ll keep moving. Make sure your men have their wits about them as we continue. This is going to get tricky now.”

As if it wasn’t already, thought Ran. He glanced at Kuva. “All right, pass the word to the other men. I’m going to scout ahead of the main caravan. See if I can find any tracks or sign of what we’re dealing with here.”

Kuva’s eyebrows knotted. “You sure that’s a good idea, boss? Being out there alone . . . I don’t know.”

Ran smirked. “Don’t call me boss. And I’ll be fine. Hopefully, they left some sort of sign when they ditched Ejul’s body in the middle of the road. If I can use that to locate them or at least get an idea of how many we’ll be facing, it’s worth the risk to me.”

“Fair enough. Give a yell if you need backup.”

“I will.” Ran eased through the throng of the caravan and slid up into his saddle again. It had been years since he’d tracked from atop a horse. Ordinarily, he would have preferred being down on the ground, where he could read the sign better. But his reasons for staying on his horse were twofold. First, if he got into trouble, he could hopefully outrun his attackers and at least get back to the relative safety of the convoy. Second, if they were being watched, and the attackers suspected someone was tracking them, it might compel them to attack early. Ran wanted to know what he was facing without giving them any indication of what he was doing.

At least that’s what he hoped to accomplish.

From his saddle, Ran looked at the edges of the road. In particular, the scrub brush that framed the dirt highway. He recognized a few species of scrub pine and juniper, but otherwise the flora was foreign to him. Regardless, Ran knew what he was looking for and roughly two hundred feet down the road, he found it.

The broken branch might have been the result of a bird landing on it. Or it might have been due to a large animal passing through the underbrush. As Ran drew closer, however, he saw the impact of a boot heel in the soft earth near the branch. Judging from the lack of wear on the track, it was recent. Ran estimated it was perhaps an hour old. He eased his horse over to a nearby bush and let it munch on some of the branches while he studied the ground. From where he spotted the track, the ground sloped up and away into the hills. A few feet farther up he saw more tracks and counted at least three distinct sets.

Ryu squawked overhead and landed on Ran’s arm. The bird perched there quietly. Ran eyed it. “You’re not fidgeting.”

Ryu’s eyes swung and met his. The bird blinked once and then took off again. Ran watched it spiral around the sky overhead, gradually extending its circles as it did so. At the outer edge of its circle, perhaps two miles off in a northwesterly direction, the falk squawked again.

Ran grinned. He’d have to remember to thank Tanka when he saw him again. The falk was proving to be a very useful companion. Ran watched as it came zooming back and then lighted on his arm again.

“Thanks.”

Ryu cooed and then settled down on Ran’s arm. Ran turned his horse back toward the caravan and trotted back to meet them as they approached. Kuva’s face lightened as Ran drew in alongside him.

“Find anything?”

“Tracks,” said Ran. “They lead up into the hills. At least three men, but I’m guessing there are many more. They probably just used three to get the body down and then to erase the signs as they retreated.”

“Which hill?”

“According to this fellow,” said Ran, pointing at Ryu, “there’s a hill to the northwest of our current position. That’s where they are.”

Kuva raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to trust a bird now?”

Ryu’s head swung toward Kuva, and the falk squawked once at him. Kuva drew back. “What in tarnation is that thing anyway?”

“Falk,” said Ran. “They’re very special birds, apparently.”

“Bred and raised in Nehon,” said Gunj as he rode up. “Most people have never seen them outside of that island nation. But they are excellent trackers. Their eyesight is rumored to be extraordinary. If Ran thinks the bird was able to locate the raiding party, then I think it’s wise that we trust it. The bird, after all, can see things we cannot.”

“You heard?” asked Ran. “About the hill?”

Gunj nodded. “What do you think?”

Ran smiled. “If it was up to me, I’d pitch camp. Make a show out of preparing a funeral. Once the sun sets, we lead a small party out to that hill and ambush them before they can mount their attack.”

“Risky,” said Gunj. “What if we stumble into them on the way to the hill?”

Ran shrugged. “We’ll hear them coming, and we can put an improvised attack in on them still. They’ll think that they have the element of surprise when it’s us that has it. Even if they have superior numbers, our offensive move can disrupt them. If they haven’t planned for it, they won’t know what to do.”

“Most of these raiding parties are comprised of thugs, not warriors,” said Gunj. “There’s a chance your idea might work.”

“The other option is to sit here and let them work their way into a superior position and attack us. We’ll be purely defensive. I don’t like waiting to be attacked.”

“Nor I,” said Kuva. “I say we bring the fight to the bastards and get vengeance for Ejul.”

“Don’t let vengeance cloud your judgment,” said Gunj. “I happen to agree with you both, but I’ll have to talk it over with Yasseh.” He wheeled away and worked back toward where Yasseh sat. Ran watched the smaller man talk to Yasseh and then glanced at Kuva.

“Here’s hoping.”

Kuva grunted. “Your plan makes the most sense. Yasseh is a reasonable enough man. He listened to you back at the kill site. He should listen to you again.”

“Or at least listen to Gunj. Either way is fine.”

“How many of us in the raiding party?” Kuva eyed Ran. “Because I don’t want to be left behind and miss out on the fun.”

“All of us,” said Ran. “It’s a risk, but it’s a bigger risk to leave any capable fighters behind. Especially if we blunder into a huge force. We’ll need everyone there. If we lose, it won’t matter anyway. Will it?”

Kuva grinned. “I like the way you think. Big risk, big reward.”

“I’m young,” said Ran. “Some would say I’m impulsive.”

Kuva shrugged. “If it works, who’s going to argue?”

Gunj rode back over to them. “All right. Yasseh agrees to the plan. We will pitch camp at the next suitable location and wait.” He eyed Ran. “There’s just one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Yasseh wants to come along on the raid.”