Draggah (17 page)

“
Sounds good to me,
”
Rafe said, then he kicked the horse into a fast canter.

The horse was nervous and would have preferred to be riding away from the danger, Rafe guessed, but he knew that physical action would calm the horse down.  It was difficult to see in the camp.  There were very few fires still burning at that late hour.  Unlike wood fires, the dung did not lend itself to makeshift torches.  When Rafe reached the edge of the camp, there was nothing but total darkness ahead of him.  He reined in his horse and waited.  It only took a moment before the Rogu began to cluster around him.

When Tiberius arrived, he was riding Shadow.  He was also carrying a makeshift torch made from a Tamaka rib bone.  The flame was kindled on a layer of thick rawhide that had been dipped in rendered animal fat.  Te
’
sumee was passing out a dozen more of the torches, while several other members of the Rogu carried large woven baskets filled with dried Tamaka dung.

“
What
’
s the plan?
”
Rafe asked.

“
They
’
re going to walk out and start a fire,
”
Tiberius said, waving his sputtering torch at the Rogu. 
“
Maybe the creature is afraid of fire.
”

“
Sounds reasonable,
”
Rafe said.

“
You and I are riding out to have a look at what we
’
re dealing with.
”

“
I knew you
’
d come up with some crazy scheme,
”
Rafe said, only halfway joking. 
“
You want me dead, don
’
t you?
”

“
We have horses,
”
Tiberius said seriously. 
“
It
’
s logical.
”

Rafe bent low in the saddle and took an unlit torch from Te
’
sumee.  He had the butt of all three spears on his left thigh, their points rising high above his head into the dark night.

“
This isn
’
t the most promising start.
”

“
Can you hang on to all of that and ride at the same time?
”
Tiberius asked.

“
Sure, but let
’
s just hope you
’
re plan works.  I can hang on to this stuff and ride, but not fight.
”

“
We
’
re just going to scout, not engage.
”

“
Famous last words,
”
Rafe said, then he touched his torch to Ti
’
s until the greasy rawhide caught fire. 
“
Let
’
s go.
”

They rode at a fast canter.  The light from their torches cast a flickering yellow circle of light around them.  Rafe felt an impending sense of doom as they rode.  He strained his eyes to see in the darkness.  It was difficult to keep moving forward.  All his training screamed that he was riding into an ambush.  Scouting was usually done at a distance and from a position of safety.  It did no good for the scouts to get killed before they could report back what they had discovered about the enemy.  But on the open plain, there was no place to hide, and in their present circumstances, they simply didn
’
t have time to do anything other than ride forward blindly.

Soon, they heard a deep, guttural growling.

“
You hear that?
”
Tiberius asked, his face pale with fright.

“
Yes,
”
Rafe said, hoping he didn
’
t look as terrified as his friend. 
“
How sure are you that this is the right thing to do?
”

“
I
’
m not sure at all,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
But maybe the fire will scare the creature away.
”

“
You mean the fire of our torches?
”
Rafe asked incredulously.

He had to hold the curved rib bone torch at an angle so that the burning grease didn
’
t drip down on his hand or his horse.  The torches were weak.  Rafe saw the ingenuity that Tiberius had used to create them when the Hoskali tribe had no traditional torches, but he doubted they would be enough to scare away one of the huge creatures from the blighted lands.

“
They might,
”
Tiberius said, shrugging his shoulders.

The horses slowed and neither man tried to speed them up.  They strained, trying to see the huge creature they could hear but not see in the darkness.

“
Why don
’
t you use some magic?
”
Rafe asked. 
“
Can
’
t you cast a spell and send this thing off in a different direction?
”

“
No,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
It doesn
’
t work that way.
”

“
You made lighting strike when we were fighting Moswanee and his gargantuan thug.
”

“
Yes, and I couldn
’
t control it.  We
’
re lucky we didn
’
t all die that night.
”

Before Rafe could say more, their horses both slid to a stop and tried to turn away.  Rafe and Tiberius fought to control the horses, who were neighing in terror.  Rafe guessed the smell of the creature was terrifying them.  Suddenly, the growl turned into a roar.  It took all of Rafe
’
s self-control not to drop his weapons and cover his ears.  He was having enough trouble as it was with the spears and the torch, while holding the reins of his horse.  If he hadn
’
t been trained not to drop his weapons, he
’
d have thrown them to the ground and cowered.  On the walls of Avondale he
’
d heard the roars of various monsters, their savage cries rolled up the mountainside in a deafening crescendo.  But on the empty plain, in the darkness, the roar shook Rafe
’
s entire body and reverberated through the horse and into the very ground.

The horses reared and then raced away.  The horses had been farm animals in Avondale, not trained warhorses.  They were neither fast nor fierce, but they were strong enough.  Rafe struggled to stay in the saddle.  The spears jostled against his bouncing thigh, and he finally dropped the sputtering torch so he could take hold of the saddle horn.

“
Did you see it?
”
Tiberius shouted from beside Rafe as their horses galloped back toward the camp.

“
No.  You?
”

“
No,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
But it
’
s big.
”

“
Of course it
’
s big,
”
Rafe shouted back. 
“
What were you expecting?
”

They managed to rein their horses in as they rode into the group of Rogu warriors.  Rafe quickly dismounted.  He would have preferred to face the creature on horseback, but he couldn
’
t trust his horse not to run away when the creature was close.  Not that Rafe could blame Mars.  Rafe wasn
’
t afraid of facing any man in combat.  He was a confident warrior, but fighting a huge monster was nothing like fighting another person or even facing an opposing army.

“
What now?
”
he said to Tiberius, who was still on his own skittish horse.

“
Light the fires,
”
Tiberius ordered the Rogu as he handed Te
’
sumee his torch. 
“
Have you ever fought a creature like this?
”

“
No, Tiswanee.  We do not battle the larger beasts.  We run.
”

“
We don
’
t have time to run,
”
Rafe said. 
“
We
’
ll lose the camp and most of our supplies, not to mention many of the Hoskali in the process.
”

“
Is there any chance that this creature just wants the water?
”
Tiberius asked. 
“
Could we march out and leave the camp?
”

“
The Draccon
’
s are not natural creatures,
”
Te
’
sumee said. 
“
They are Kuja-born murderous creatures.  It will pursue us.
”

“
So we have no choice,
”
Rafe said.

“
We
’
ll stay,
”
Tiberius said. 
“
Te
’
sumee, take half of your men and lead the tribe away.
”

“
I will stand with you, Tiswanee,
”
the tribal warrior said.

“
No,
”
Rafe said. 
“
Tiberius is right.  Your people will need your strength if we fail.
”

“
Leave everything,
”
Tiberius ordered. 
“
There is very little time.
”

The light from the fires was beginning to illuminate the plain and Rafe could see that Te
’
sumee was torn.  He knew the danger that the group faced who stayed behind, but he was not the type of man accustomed to fleeing.  He was a proud man, but also an intelligent one.  He knew his tribe would need him.

“
If we don
’
t survive,
”
Tiberius continued. 
“
You will be the new Swanee.  Make sure our people are safe.
”

“
As you wish,
”
Te
’
sumee said, bowing. 
“
But my heart will stay with you and give you strength, Tiswanee.
”

The Rogu acted instantly on Te
’
sumee
’
s orders.  Those with torches spread out in a long line; the rest ran back toward the camp.  Tiberius looked at Rafe and for a short moment they took courage in the familiarity of one another.  They had always been close friends, even sharing their hopes and fears as children.  Rafe knew that if he was going to die, he wanted it to be fighting beside his friend.  Tiberius wasn
’
t a warrior though, and Rafe hoped that his dearest friend would survive.

“
You going to stay on that horse?
”
Rafe asked.

“
Probably not,
”
Tiberius said, starting to climb down.

“
No,
”
Rafe said. 
“
You should stay mounted, just in case.
”

“
I
’
m not running away,
”
Tiberius said.

“
We don
’
t even know what we
’
re fighting here,
”
Rafe argued. 
“
Besides, you aren
’
t going to take a spear beside me, we both know that.
”

“
He
’
s right.
”

The voice was tense, but familiar.  Both men turned and looked to see Lexi and Olyva on horseback approaching out of the darkness.
”

“
What are you doing here?
”
Tiberius asked incredulously. 
“
You should be with the tribe.  Te
’
sumee is leading them away from the camp.
”