Draggah (31 page)

They came upon a group of three attackers trying to steal goods from an ox cart.  Rafe leapt at the closest raider, his club batting down the man
’
s meager defense while Rafe
’
s free hand chopped into the attacker
’
s throat.  The man fell, gasping and coughing, both hands now clutching at his throat.  The other two men dropped the goods they were stealing and raised their clubs.  Tiberius took the man on the left, while Rafe fought the man on his right.  Tiberius kept his distance, letting his whip lash out at the man.  Rafe heard the swoop and crack of the whip, mentally thinking the other attacker was in for a painful encounter.  Then all of Rafe
’
s attention was on the man in front of him.

The raider was bigger than Rafe, his shoulders and arms thick with muscles that seemed to shine in the glowing light of the fires.  The attacker
’
s club lashed out more swiftly that Rafe would have guessed such a big man was capable of.  Rafe knew how to use angles to reduce his opponent
’
s strength and deflect the heavy blows that the attacker was raining down on him.  Still, he marveled at the man
’
s strength.  It took all of Rafe
’
s skill and strength to hold the man at bay.  Then, from the corner of his eye, Rafe saw Te
’
sumee leading a group of Rogu back through the camp.  They hurried toward Rafe.

The attacker saw the Rogu advance too, and turned to flee.  Rafe chased the man, but the attacker was faster than Rafe.  Then a club flew past Rafe
’
s head and hit the attacker between his shoulder blades.  The man fell and Rafe jumped onto his back, letting his club smash down on the back of the bigger man
’
s head in a heavy blow.

“
You okay?
”
Tiberius asked. He was panting as he hurried up after Rafe.

“
I
’
m fine,
”
Rafe said getting back to his feet.

“
There are more,
”
Te
’
sumee said. 
“
This way.
”

They joined the group of Rogu racing through camp.  Most of the attackers were now trying to escape.  They had run through the camp, and would keep moving to the far side once they found something or someone to steal.  The group of Rogu caught three more before reaching the center of the camp.  There were a dozen attackers pulling Tiberius
’
harem out of the large tent.

“
Lexi!
”
Tiberius shouted, but there was no reply.

Several of the women called out in alarm.  They were held fast in the grip of the brawny attackers, but when the raiders saw the Rogu, they called to their companions and turned to face Rafe, Tiberius, and the Rogu.

Rafe spun into action, ducking beneath the closest attacker
’
s club and whirling around.  He let his club extend, catching another attacker off guard before coming back around to smash into the first man
’
s side.  The attacker grunted and staggered sideways where Te
’
sumee
’
s elbow knocked him to his knees.  Rafe was parrying another attacker
’
s club, when yet another man rushed at him.  Rafe waited as long as he could, then dropped to the ground.  The man rushing at him started to jump over Rafe, but the man he
’
d been fighting accidentally hit the other attacker on the head with his club, knocking him senseless.  The attacker flew over Rafe, who then launched himself upward, raising his club as he did so, catching the first man on the chin with an upward shot that snapped the attacker
’
s head back and sent him sprawling into yet another raider so that both men fell in tangle of arms, legs, and wooden clubs.

Rafe turned to find his next opponent when he saw an attacker snatch Olyva up.  She was flung across the raider
’
s shoulder, her body limp.  Rafe couldn
’
t tell if she was hurt, but he knew he had to stop the man.  He ran forward, only to be hit from behind with a heavy club.  He fell, pain exploding in his shoulder.  His hand felt weak on his club as he scrambled back to his feet.

The man who had hit him was closing in to finish the attack, but Rafe was ready for him.  He turned suddenly, switching his club to his left hand and swaying back away from the raider
’
s clumsy swipe.  Rafe felt the wind from his opponent
’
s club as it passed right in front of his face.  As Rafe staggered backward, he swung his own club, but without any real intent on landing a blow.  He just needed the split second to regain his balance before his opponent attacked again.  As the man rushed forward, Rafe stepped to meet him, closing the distance between them so that the attacker
’
s club was a less potent weapon.

Rafe grabbed the man
’
s shirt and pulled him even closer before slamming his head straight into the attacker
’
s face.  He felt the bones in the attacker
’
s nose shatter, then the man dropped.  Rafe was stunned by his own attack, bright spots of light danced around the perimeter of his vision.  It took another second for him to remember that Olyva was being kidnapped.

He turned around once again, ignoring the furious brawl between Te
’
sumee and the other Rogu who were trying to stop the cluster of attackers around Tiberius
’
tent.  He saw the man with Olyva in the distance.  He was sprinting through the camp, running fast.  Rafe hurried after him, but he was too slow.  His legs felt so heavy, and the ground seemed to be pitching and rolling under him.  Still, he kept moving, keeping his enemy in sight.

The attacker fought off another Rogu and Rafe closed in.  He was close behind the man now, but not quite close enough to engage.

“
Stop!
”
Rafe bellowed, but the attacker only increased his speed.

Suddenly they were on the edge of the camp, the light from the fires behind them fading quickly.  Rafe watched with fury and despair as the attacker disappeared into the darkness.

“
No!
”
Rafe screamed, forcing his tired legs to run faster.

He ran into the darkness, unable to see the man or Olyva anymore, but he refused to let her go.  All he could think of was the fight they
’
d had earlier that evening.  He would have gone to her and begged her forgiveness, but he knew she would be sleeping.  He had planned to make things right when the sun rose, but now his chance to earn Olyva
’
s forgiveness was slipping away.  He felt panic raging through him, but he didn
’
t stop running.  He could hear the other man grunting with exertion ahead of him and Rafe knew at some point the man would have to stop running.  When he did, Rafe would catch up, and then he would save Olyva, even if it cost him his own life.

Chapter 23

Lexi

Before the attack, the entire tribe seemed restless.  Sleep was hard to come by for everyone except Olyva, who seemed so peaceful that Lexi was jealous.  She laid down by Olyva and tried to sleep, but the spongy turf seemed lumpy and uncomfortable.  She knew that when the camp was attacked, there would be plenty of warning, but Lexi still couldn
’
t rest.  When the other women went into the large shelter for the night, Lexi got back up.

She paced for a while by the fire, before deciding to go check on the horses.  She told herself she was being practical, but the truth was she didn
’
t like being near the fire or by the largest shelter in the camp.  The tents made of tanned leather were great for keeping the rain off her head, but they didn
’
t offer much in the way of protection during an attack.  She preferred being near the animals.  It was much darker since campfires did nothing for livestock but spook them.  Quntah maintained a small fire, but that was several yards away.  The oxen seemed oblivious to anything but the mossy grass they were grazing on, but the horses were more alert.

At first, Lexi just stroked their long faces and patted their necks reassuringly, but before long she had all four horses saddled.  She even managed to gather several of the Tamaka rib torches just in case she needed to leave the camp.  She silently scolded herself for making plans to flee.  She had promised Tiberius that she wouldn
’
t leave the camp alone again, but she couldn
’
t help herself.  In Avondale, she would simply disappear whenever trouble came calling.  She always preferred stealth and subterfuge to direct conflict.  That isn
’
t to say that she couldn
’
t hold her own in a fight.  Living on the streets meant that she had to assert herself periodically; otherwise, she would just have been marked as an easy target.  Still, the idea of fighting when she could hide seemed unnatural to her.

She eventually got up into Star
’
s saddle when the horses grew agitated.  She guessed the animals could sense the raiders approaching.  Lexi trusted the horses’ senses much more than her own in the darkness.  She doubted that they could see much better than she could in the gloomy night, but at least they had a much more powerful sense of smell and hearing.

“
Easy there,
”
she told Star. 
“
It
’
s going to be okay.  I
’
m here.
”

She tied the horses to a rope lead and waited to see what would happen.  She felt hidden well enough, even on horseback.  They were in the darkness, and had a good view of the camp.  When the first of the horns blew, she had to soothe the horses again.  She began to hear shouts from the raiders and cries from the wounded.  She saw a lot of movement, but she couldn
’
t really make out what she was seeing.  Instinctively, she began moving the horses to the far side of the camp, away from where the raiders were attacking.  She erroneously thought the raiders would do their thing then flee back the way they had come.  She had no idea they would run straight through the camp.

She had to turn the horses back, circling wide around the perimeter of the camp to avoid the raiders.  The Rogu had hurried to the sounds of the horns blowing, so there were no warriors on the far side of the camp.  When the first of the raiders hurried back out into the darkness, Lexi
’
s anger flared up.  She was a gifted cat burglar, but the first rule of the streets was to never let anyone else steal from you.  She saw the first of the raiders running past with various items.  One had a cask of the spirits.  Another had some of the highly prized Graypee skins.  Then she saw one carrying a young girl and Lexi found herself kicking the horses into action.

She had to go back into the camp to light her torch.  She didn
’
t even realize she was still leading the horses until she bent low in the saddle to thrust her torch into a small campfire.  The horses tried to pull away, and she wrapped the lead rope around her saddle horn and then lit her torch.  She held it up, casting a ring of wavy light around her.  She was just about to gallop back out of the camp in pursuit of the raiders when she heard someone shouting her name.

“
Lexi!  Lexi!
”
Tiberius called.

“
Over here,
”
Lexi replied.

She clicked her tongue and dug her heels into Star
’
s flanks to get the horse moving again.  She had the reins in one hand, and the torch in her other.  She had no idea what she was planning to do, but she felt she had to do something.

“
What are you doing?
”
Tiberius called to her when they finally came within sight of each other.

“
They
’
re taking our things,
”
Lexi said. 
“
Even some of the children.  We have to stop them.
”

Tiberius nodded.  He was panting hard from running to find her, but he climbed up into the saddle she had put on Shadow and nodded.

“
I thought I had lost you again,
”
he said. 
“
You weren
’
t at the shelter.
”

“
I couldn
’
t stay there,
”
Lexi said, as she led the way back out of the camp. 
“
I felt more comfortable with the horses.
”

There was a lot of noise from the camp now, as the Rogu and the raiders fought one another.  There were wails of lament as daughters and wives were taken against their will, and shouts of alarm as the raiders raced past the other shelters of the camp.