Forgotten Soldiers (36 page)

Worried about what nightmares might plague my dreams, I almost said a prayer to Molak to ease my mind.

Almost.

I fell asleep before I made that mistake.

CHAPTER 22

Two days later and life went on. People kept bringing us stuff, some junk, some valuable. Most of it I turned away only to find later that Ira had brought it back inside while I slept. We got into a couple arguments about that until I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Whatever was useless, I’d just make him leave behind anyway.

It took over a day to get mounts secured, mainly because Ira had been adamant about inspecting every horse in excruciating detail. He didn’t want to take any chances. The two he settled on cost nearly ten times what they normally would, but considering so many animals had died in the eruption, it had definitely become a seller’s market.

According to Boaz, normalcy had returned to Denu Creek. Even Jareb and his bunch had recovered enough to return to their homes and jobs. It seemed that Jareb could no longer draw up enough support to have me arrested for taking Zadok and Myra away from him. The town was more than split in our favor now.

I finally stumbled out of bed a couple hours after dawn. That was late for me, but I was still recuperating.

I shuffled over to a basin of cool water atop the dresser. I held my breath and dunked my head, using a hand to rub the water over my neck and head. I came up huffing for air. Reaching for a towel, I threw a few curses at Molak while drying myself. I hated the feeling of first waking up and thought the Father should suffer a bit himself because of it.

After a quick visit to the chamber pot, I dressed, and walked into the sitting room.

Dekar and Myra sat opposite each other at a small table supporting a flat, thin, board covered with military markings and various terrains. Wooden pieces of various colors, shapes, and sizes stood atop it. Each piece represented units a general might have at their disposal such as cavalry, siege equipment, archers, infantry, spies, various levels of mages, and so on.

Dekar had begun teaching Myra Crests.

I scratched the patchy stubble on my neck. “Have you been at it all night?”

“No,” said Dekar as he moved one of his cavalry units up into a flanking position. “But we were both up early and she’s a determined player.”

“You know he’s never lost before, Myra.”

“Yet,” was all she said, staring intently at the game board.

Dekar grinned in my direction. “She’s got skill, Tyrus. A good mind for strategy. Might be a natural.”

“That’s my girl.”

Myra whipped her head up wearing a look somewhere between a scowl and a frown. It wasn’t pleasant. “Don’t call me that,” she said.

“Sorry,” I said, unsure how else to respond. Any approach I tried at bonding with her had fallen flat, and in many cases only increased the gulf between us.

Fatherhood was much easier when all I had to do was patch her skinned knee or cut up her meat.

She put her head down. “Zadok and Ava are awake. There’s leftover breakfast with them.”

I could take a hint. “Thanks.” I took a step toward Ava’s room and stopped. “Where’s Ira?”

“Walking the horses,” said Dekar. “They’re eating better, but they aren’t quite back up to full strength yet.”

“Shouldn’t he be back by now?”

He grunted. “Maybe. I’ll go check on him.”

I waved him down as he started to stand. “That’s all right. I’ll go. Finish your game. I can wait to eat.”

I left the inn, passing Dinah on the way as I cut through the kitchen. She smiled and pointed me to some food. I grabbed a cold sausage, realizing I was hungry after all. I gobbled the whole thing in three bites. This one had a bit more pepper, which I liked.

I left through the back entrance and cut around an old storage shed. It was where Ira had moved our wagon.

The two horses he purchased were harnessed. However, neither the horses nor the wagon were moving. Ira stood next to them arguing with a handful of people from town. The only one I recognized immediately was Mayor Rezub. He still had the presence of someone who thought too highly of himself. I did have to give the man credit for holding that demeanor while squaring off against Ira. Ira probably had the skinny mayor by at least seven inches.

Given the angle I approached the group, none saw me at first. I wasn’t sure what was said next, but Ira’s voice rose significantly and included quite a few colorful phrases that were common during our stint in the military.

Mayor Rezub took a step back at the outburst, showing his first sign of wilting. His supporters took two steps back further, much keener on supporting him from a safer distance.

“Everything all right?” I called out.

Heads swung my way. Relief washed over Ira’s face, his brow over his green eyes relaxing. “Ty, please talk to these people. I just don’t have the patience.”

Rezub took the opportunity to jump in. “I was just discussing your future with your friend.”

My eyes narrowed as I stopped next to him. “What about my future?”

“Well, we couldn’t help but notice that your group has been buying supplies.” He nodded to the wagon. “Including those two horses. From what Sered said, you paid him a pretty inflated price for them.”

“Supply and demand.”

He smiled. “Of course.”

“Do you have a point, Mayor?”

“It’s just that I’ve been hearing rumors that you and your group are planning to leave town. And after seeing all this, I realize that those weren’t just rumors.”

“Again, your point?”

The others exchanged worried looks and began murmuring.

Rezub looked over his shoulder at them, then back at me. “Can we talk somewhere a bit more private?”

“No. Say what’s on your mind and quit all this dancing around. This isn’t a political debate.”

He cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Yes, I guess not. I’ll just lay it out for you. We don’t want you to leave.”

That took me off guard. “Really? Well, as flattered as I am, that’s just too bad. Because we are.”

“You don’t understand. We don’t want you to leave and we are willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure you don’t.”

I stepped closer and leaned in. “That sounded like a threat. I hope that wasn’t a threat. You saw what happened last time you and yours tried to stop me and mine from leaving town.”

He swallowed hard, but held his ground. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “That wasn’t my idea. It was Jareb’s. I don’t want it to come to that again. In fact, I plan to do everything I can to stop it from coming to that. I know it was wrong then and I know it’s wrong now. Especially after all that you and your children did to help us. I know I appreciate it.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

He nodded. “The thing is I am the mayor and represent the people of Denu Creek.”

I gestured to the people behind him. “So what you’re saying is that this is their idea. Not yours. You’re just the mouthpiece.”

“More or less. Trust me, they don’t want to hurt you either.”

“But that doesn’t mean they won’t if it comes down to it.”

“Well, it’s just that they’re scared. People are trying to go on living their lives as before, but it’s hard to do that with the sky as it is and the memories of those who died fresh on everyone’s minds. They know we would have lost more if not for your help. Trust me, they’re grateful. Plenty grateful. But when it comes to family, people will do drastic things to look out for them. Considering what happened between you and Jareb, I’m sure you of all people can understand where they’re coming from.”

I understood completely. That didn’t mean I cared. Just as they wanted to look out for their family, I wanted to look out for mine. Staying in Denu Creek wasn’t an option for us.

I finally answered. “Yeah, I understand.”

Rezub noticeably relaxed. “Thank Molak. And thank you too, Tyrus. I’ll tell everyone the good news,” he said, taking my answer not as I intended it.

I decided quickly that was probably for the best.

Rezub went back to the group and informed them of what they couldn’t hear. Smiles and waves flashed my way from the others. They turned and left, walking lightly as if they had won some great victory.

Ira who had stood off to the side, uncharacteristically silent during the whole exchange, gave me a sidelong glance. As usual, he had snuck in close enough to the conversation where I didn’t doubt he heard everything.

“Change of plans?” he asked.

“No.”

“So you lied? Good for you.”

“I didn’t lie. I told him I understand their situation. Not that I agreed with their solution for solving it.”

“But you let him think that you did.”

“Yeah. We’re leaving tonight regardless of how ready the horses are. C’mon. I’ll help you unharness them. Then we need to go finalize things with the others.”

* * *

We made it back to the inn quickly. I let Ira fill in Dekar and Myra while I went to check on Ava and Zadok.

Ava was at the window, fully dressed in her black leathers and a gray shirt. I bought the shirt from Sivan the day before. Zadok stood next to her as they gazed in the direction of Hol. Neither turned as I entered the room.

I wondered what had them so engrossed. Ira was making a ton of noise in the common room, taking too much enjoyment from interrupting Dekar’s game of Crests.

I cleared my throat and finally got a response. They both jumped, wheeling.

“Gods, you could have said something,” said Ava.

“I didn’t think I needed to shout. What are you looking at?”

“The sky, Pa,” Zadok said. “It’s doing all sorts of crazy stuff.”

“Like what?” I asked, walking over. “I was just outside and didn’t notice anything.”

“It just started,” said Ava. “Come see for yourself.”

Thankful for a mostly overcast morning, I didn’t have to shield my eyes much from the glare. Staring out of town, past hills, forest, and distant low mountains, the sky flickered like a wind-blown candle, shifting in and out of oranges, reds, and purples. Other than the speed of each flicker not much had changed from minutes before. Or so I thought.

As the last deep purple ended, an almost lavender color pulsed, a white flash reminiscent of lightning followed, expanding and contracting before the color sequence started over again.

“What in the name of Molak was that?” I asked, stepping away.

“I told you the artifact wasn’t done. I assume it will keep on erupting until it does whatever it’s supposed to do.”

“I don’t understand why anyone would want to build something that would destroy so much,” Zadok said.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Me either. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things in this world I don’t understand and that number seems to grow by the day.” Another white flash at the end of the color sequence occurred. “That one seemed brighter,” I said to Ava. “What does that mean?”

“I’d guess that with each white flash, the artifact is that much closer to releasing the next wave of power. I can feel something in the air. It’s not good.”

“Define not good.”

“I can’t. The sorcery is just different. Twisted almost.”

I tore my gaze from the foreboding sky to the street where many of the townsfolk congregated. They pointed and stared in the direction of Hol, exchanging worried and excited looks. Several looked back toward our room at the inn. I wondered how many thought we had the answers to the very questions I had running through my head.

I swore. “We might not be able to wait until tonight.”

“What?” Ava asked.

“I was coming to tell you that we are going to leave tonight. Things are happening in town and I thought it best if we snuck away.” I looked at the sky once again. “But now, I think that might not be soon enough.”

I recalled my conversation with Balak about the artifact from months ago. We had yet to see fire and brimstone raining down on us or the earthquakes.

“How much time do we have before the next eruption?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“We’ll just have to leave now and take our chances. Zadok, go tell the others to come in here? I’ll keep an eye on your Aunt Ava.”

“Sure Pa, but she really doesn’t need it anymore.”

I looked down, realizing that though Ava and Zadok had been standing next to each other, they had not been touching. My mouth opened, ready to yell at them.

Ava placed a hand on my arm. “I’m fine,” she said calmly. “It was my idea.”

Of course it was. I couldn’t see Zadok making that call on his own. “Are you crazy?”

“Calm down. I had to see how I would feel. You think I wanted to live the rest of my life with someone holding my hand like a child. Don’t worry, we did it a little at a time.”

“You still should have waited for me.”

“But I didn’t. And I’m still alive.”

I sighed.

“You aren’t upset with me, are you, Pa?”