The Broken Kingdom (39 page)

As it crashed to the ground Kalgen and
Shiressa laid into it. A few grunts and gasps escaped them as they
pummelled it with their bare hands. They didn’t scream and yell as
they fought, like they once had on the Plains.

As Karesh watched from above Kalgen suddenly
went down and the ehlkrid hopped over him with a howl, heading for
the trees again. Shiressa leapt after it. It knocked her over with
one swipe of its arm.

Karesh, painfully aware of the throbbing
ache in his legs and the sticky wetness spreading from his wound,
darted into the creature once more. He barely managed to stop
himself and retreat as it suddenly turned and swiped at him.

‘Keep it on that tree, Karesh!’ Kalgen
called, anger clear in his voice. ‘We’ll knock it down.’

‘I hear you!’ he called, hoping they didn’t
squash themselves in the process.

Karesh darted in and out, taunting the
ehlkrid. He came close to being knocked from the sky many times.
Suddenly with a howl of rage, the creature leapt from the tree
right at him. Karesh flew up, out of reach, and the ehlkrid landed
on another tree.

‘Karesh!’ Kalgen yelled. ‘That’s the wrong
tree!’

‘Hold on!’ he said. He darted back into the
ehlkrid, putting himself between the tree Kalgen and Shiressa were
ramming into, and the ehlkrid’s new perch.

‘Hurry!’ Shiressa called as the tree
swayed.

Karesh alighted on the tree they were
attacking, and then suddenly had to fly above it, he couldn’t
stand. He used his wings to keep himself in position, and ripped a
small stick off a branch. He chucked it at the ehlkrid on the other
tree. The ehlkrid snarled and leapt at him. Karesh flew off again,
as the ehlkrid landed on his branch.

‘Now!’ he called down.

‘Get out of the way!’ Kalgen called.

And then leaves and twigs were flying all
around him, and he was flying frantically to avoid the far more
dangerous branches.

The ehlkrid let out a startled howl.

There was a monstrous crash as the tree
collided with the earth. Above the dust and the chaos below, Karesh
couldn’t see what was happening. He cautiously approached through
the clear space left in the forest canopy. He heard a pitiful cry,
and then silence.

‘Kalgen? Shiressa?’ he called.

‘It is dead.’ He heard a tired, but
triumphant, voice call back. It was Kalgen.

Karesh landed on the ground before them, and
his legs gave way. As he fell he caught a glimpse of the ehlkrid,
half crushed by the tree. Kalgen and Shiressa had finished off the
job the tree began.

‘Karesh, are you alright?’ Shiressa called
in alarm.

‘It bit me.’ He gasped. ‘I-I’m fine, I must
bandage the wound though.’

Dizzily, he tried to right himself.

‘Stay where you are.’ Kalgen ordered.

‘Your clothes are soaked.’ Shiressa
muttered.

Karesh was rendered speechless by surprise
as Shiressa gently began bandaging his wound.

‘Your legs look bad. Very bruised.’ Kalgen
muttered.

Karesh looked down at his legs, and realised
he could see. Dawn had come. ‘Yes,’ he murmured. ‘It grabbed me.’
His legs were nothing but throbbing pain to him. At least his wings
were unharmed.

‘Aerlid will have to fix that.’ Shiressa
murmured. ‘Kalgen, we’ll have to carry him gently.’

‘Yes, I can see that.’ He muttered. ‘I
wonder how far the others went?’

‘We know which direction. We’ll find them.’
Shiressa said firmly. ‘They won’t go far without Karesh.’

‘I told them to go on ahead.’ Karesh said,
his voice weak.

‘They’ll wait for you.’ Kalgen agreed.
‘Come, let’s hurry. We don’t want to be attacked again.’

Karesh didn’t say anything as they gently
picked him up. Karesh was a light man, and it was easy for them to
carry him. They made good time through the forest and half an hour
later, spotted the rest of the group standing in a huddled
group.

‘You live!’ Avega announced, the first to
see them.

‘I told you we knew how to fight the
ehlkrid. Our Master taught us.’ Karesh answered immediately, and
flapping his wings, extracted himself from Kalgen and Shiressa and
flew over. The idea of all these warriors seeing him so vulnerable
was more than he could bear. But he knew he couldn’t fly all
day.

‘I was sure it had killed you.’ She said in
awe.

‘We fought it together, as a team.’ Karesh
said. ‘Kalgen and Shiressa came up with the plan.’

‘You look injured.’ Telag said, coming
forward.

‘Yes, what’s happened?’ Janisk demanded.

Karesh’s blood ran cold, seeing their
demanding gazes fixed entirely on him.

‘I was bitten.’ He said. ‘We need to keep
moving.’

‘We should make a stretcher.’ Kalgen said,
and Shiressa added her agreement.

‘No.’ Karesh said, his heart pumping as hard
as when the ehlkrid had attacked.

‘We’ll make a stretcher.’ Janisk announced.
‘And then you will tell us how you fought.’

‘I don’t need-!’

‘I’ll prepare food for you! You haven’t
eaten yet.’ Telag announced.

Karesh watched in disbelief and discomfort
as the gemengs set about making themselves useful for him.

Soon, all of his warriors were busy.

‘These gemengs obey you even when you’re
injured.’ Avega said, coming up to him as the others rushed
around.

His wings were starting to tire, and he
desperately wanted to sit but… ‘yes, they do…’

Kalgen and Shiressa came up to him and sat
down, hunks of meat in their hands. They were covered in scrapes
and bruises, and Kalgen had a fresh bandage wrapped around his
shoulder, concealing a more serious injury. Overall though, they
seemed alright.

‘Sit,’ Shiressa ordered, ‘eat, then we
go.’

Karesh hesitated a moment more and then
obeyed. He was simply too tired, and reason told him if they hadn’t
killed him when they were alone in the forest, they probably
weren’t going to do it now.

Karesh gratefully ate the food they handed
him.

Soon after, Janisk appeared with a
stretcher. ‘On.’ She ordered. ‘I carry you.’

‘Me too.’ Telag growled. ‘We both will.’

Karesh hesitantly sat on the stretcher made
from branches gathered from the forest and blankets, which they’d
carried with them. Karesh didn’t lie down, and instead sat, with
his legs stretched out before him. Lying on his back was
uncomfortable with his wings, and fear for his fellows still
coursed through him.

Telag and Janisk picked up the stretcher,
and the group headed off.

As they walked Karesh heard Kalgen and
Shiressa tell the story of their fight. He was surprised when he
heard what the others thought of him.

‘Flying right at the ehlkrid!’

‘Not a trace of fear!’

And though no one said it, he thought he
heard relief that he’d led the ehlkrid away from the rest of the
group.

His mind whirled with worried thoughts as he
was carried.
I shouldn’t worry; the Master would not approve of
them killing me, or leaving me,
while another voice said,
but the Master is far, and they could lie,
and another part
of him wondered that Kalgen and Shiressa hadn’t even hesitated in
looking after him.
Perhaps they would like to be looked after
when they are injured too. Warriors like them, warriors even when
on the Plains, must know fear as well.
He smiled slowly as it
occurred to him that perhaps the others of the tribe appreciated
the new way the Master had forced upon them, as he did.

‘We will have to tell the Master about the
attack.’ Shiressa mused. ‘They have never attacked when we’ve had
the knife before…’

‘We will tell her.’ Karesh agreed. ‘We will
tell her…’

Chapter 48

‘
K
aresh, what happened to
you?’ were the first words out of the Master’s mouth when they
arrived back at the camp.

‘An ehlkrid attacked…’ he mumbled, his voice
weak. The ache in his legs hadn’t faded over the days they’d been
travelling.

Kalgen and Shiressa quickly took up the
story. Karesh wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but soon he was
swaying again as he was carried somewhere.

‘Put him down, and don’t go far. I’ll want
to look at you two as well.’

‘I’m fine!’ Kalgen grumbled.

‘So am I.’ Shiressa agreed.

‘I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You may
wait while I examine Karesh.’

Karesh opened his eyes to see Aerlid looking
down at him. He felt a brief touch on his leg, and barely bit back
a cry of pain.

Aerlid frowned. ‘What did you do, Karesh?
You’ve broken both your legs very badly.’

‘He flew at an ehlkrid.’ Kalgen announced, a
hint of pride in his voice.

‘Yes, he fought it in the sky while we
prepared our trap. We crushed it under a tree.’

‘And managed to get bitten as well I see.’
Aerlid sighed. ‘At least you have enough ehlkrid in you that their
blood shouldn’t sicken you. Alright, Kalgen, Shiressa, you may
leave. This will take longer to fix than I thought. I expect you
both to come back tomorrow. I see your shoulder, Kalgen!’

Karesh heard some grumbling as the two
left.

‘I’ll fix your legs, Karesh.’ Aerlid
murmured. ‘You’ll be tired for a few days, but you’ll be fine. And
please, try to take better care of yourself in future…’

Karesh heard no more as the pain in his legs
eased and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

‘I am surprised to see you so well.’

Karesh turned to find Avega watching him.
‘Yes.’ He replied. ‘Aerlid is very powerful.’ It was the fourth day
since their return to the camp and Aerlid had fixed his legs. The
first two days he had slept, but he was feeling much stronger
now.

‘Yes, but he seems to be trapped, is
something wrong with him?’

Karesh nodded curtly. ‘Do not speak of it.
He assists our Master freely, but he must stay where he is.’

Avega nodded, accepting that, and perhaps
not very interested in Aerlid’s fate anyway. ‘You spoke true, we
have been welcomed here, we have been safe. I was concerned at
first, when Galis the Strong took over training the children… but
she has been good with them. Everyone has been… kind, and we have
been safe. Though the naming… it will take time to get used
to.’

Riley had recently decided children who had
not yet become warriors should have proper names. She’d told Karesh
it was partly to eradicate the thinking that if you weren’t a
warrior, you were nothing. A secondary reason was she hoped they
would meet people who named their children at birth.

‘Our Master is strong. The change to the
names is new… the children like it though.’ Karesh said.

‘But if they die…’

‘You’ve already seen we have ways of looking
after the injured. Children are healthier than they were before the
Master. They do not often die.’

Avega smiled, ‘that is good to hear.’

‘I must go speak with my Master.’ Karesh
said, ‘I am well enough to leave and look for more survivors.’

Avega nodded. ‘May I come?’

‘If you wish.’

Riley was not difficult to find. He found
her outside the shield, surveying her domain.

‘Karesh,’ she greeted him, smiling. ‘I’m
glad to see you well.’

‘I am well enough to leave again. You know
of the attack?’

‘Yes.’ She frowned. ‘I spoke to Adila about
it. Apparently that’s the knife she used to make her mark on her
arm,’ and Riley pointed at her own arm, ‘the mark that looks like
fire. She says it is so closely connected to her it shouldn’t
matter that she hasn’t handled it recently.’

‘Is there anything that can be done?’

‘She’s done something to the knife so it
glows now… Adila suggested the ehlkrid may have just been desperate
and hungry, and took a chance. Either way, the knife should be more
effective, however it is still a risk, Karesh.’