Beyond the Hell Cliffs (41 page)

“I’m not going to ask who all participated in this.  No, that knowledge will just piss me off too much.  For your own sake, I’m going to let you keep that shit a secret.  Instead, you’re all going to stand here and watch as this man takes on all of your sins.”

Raegith motioned for Helkree and Indie.  The two women grabbed the guard and stripped the rest of the clothes from him.  Once he was naked, they made him kneel before Raegith.  The frightened Rathgar pawed at his leg, begging him to choose someone else.

“What’s your name?” Raegith asked.

“Nergui… from the Citadel,” he blubbered.

“Nergui is asking if I will switch him out for one of you,” Raegith announced.  “Would any of you like to volunteer to take his place?”

“Stranger, I would ask that you spare him,” Coda said, stepping forward.  “I will take a beating for him.  Twenty lashes of the cane from any prisoner you pick.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Raegith said, pointing at him.  “You earned
some respect for what you did back at the barracks, but unless you’re willing to exchange fates with this one, you need to fall back in line and keep silent.”

Coda looked at the terrified guard and back to Raegith.  There was a moment of hesitation, but the older Rathgar sighed and took a step backwards to take his place among the men.

Raegith addressed the guards again.  “Before she was murdered by the men from the north, the Empress listened to my advice and ordered that a brigade of females be formed to determine their worth in combat.  Over fifty women were sent to Shimada Village on those Imperial orders.  Fifty brave women abandoned their families, professions and a peaceful future, all to come learn how to better die for their empire.

“This was my idea that you corrupted.  These women died, at your hands, before they were ever given a chance to
show this land what they were made of and their souls cry to me for a reckoning.”

Raegith looked down at the guard sobbing at
his feet.  “This will have to suffice.”

Raegith turned away from the guard, pulling out of his grip forcefully and walked to the nine survivors of the prison.  Several of them were red-eyed and Naoko openly wept. 
Magda just stood stone faced, her jaw clenched with fury.

“You nine are all that’s left,” Raegith said.  He pointed back to Nergui.  “He doesn’t leave that spot alive, do you understand?  No weapons.”

Magda stepped forward without a second thought.  Nergui screamed and scrambled away, but the scarred Rathgar woman caught him by the leg and dragged him back to the spot he was at.  She quickly flipped him over and with a strong stomp, snapped his knee in half. 

Nergui screamed and some of the guards turned their heads in disgust.  Raegith motioned and the Helcats waded out into the group, grabbing heads and twisting them back to the front.  Helkree clawed a man’s eyelids open and held them in place.

Naoko was next, dashing forward and falling on the wailing guard.  He pushed her frail form away easily, but the Lokai behind her was harder to dislodge as she pulled his hair out of his scalp.  The others were quick to join in and Nergui was overwhelmed.  They were like pack animals, tearing and biting and breaking.  A few of the guards puked and the smell caused a chain reaction among the group.  Kensei and the villagers turned away and put distance between them and the prison.  Helkree moaned and started rubbing up against the guard she held, causing him all kinds of distress.

Finally the women had vented all of their rage and there was nothing left of Nergui except for red mush.  The nine survivors looked like beasts from a nightmare as they stood panting over the remains of the guard.  Raegith had Beretta and Kimura lead them away and Raegith returned to the spot to address the men.

“I’m keeping a dozen of you here,” Raegith said.  “Coda can pick out who he thinks are unlikely to be killed by the villagers to dig graves for these women and clean this mess up.  The rest of you are marching out of here with the vision of Nergui’s last moments carved into your minds.  Keep it there, in case you ever get the urge to return.  It’s not worth it.  You go back to the Citadel or an Outpost or off into the fucking darkness and you forget that this place even exists, because coming back isn’t worth the pain I’ll give you.”

Coda stayed put as the others filed out of the prison.  He helped Raegith pick out a dozen men to stay behind and the others were escorted out of the village by Kensei and his Naga
.  Once the prison was cleared of guards, Coda turned to Raegith.

“What you said at the barracks, about the wars in the north…”

“It wasn’t just baiting,” Raegith answered.  “I was telling the truth.”

“
I think I’ve known that already.  Higerth and the others said I was just disillusioned and kept me at this low rank, but I think I always knew.  The officers always took the loot from the villages and left right before the soldiers appeared.  It was too… convenient.”

“Your instincts were right.  I’m sorry you had to find out this way.
”

“I’m sorry you had to find me among this lot.  There are some of us who are not like this.  We cannot
choose our assignments.”

“You can choose to
stand aside while your comrades rape and kill,” Raegith said, coldly.

“Yes… that is true, as well,” Coda replied, lowering his head.  “We’re all doomed anyways, if all of the men from the north are as vengeful as you.”

“The men from the north have never seen anything like me.  Get your men to work, Coda.  The faster you get these warrior angels buried, the faster you can get the hell away from this place.”

“
That was fucking amazing!” Helkree said, coming up to him.  “I almost got off.”

“
Do you not see what happened here, Hel?” Raegith asked.  “I did all of this.  I sent these women here and I couldn’t save any of them.”

“
What are you talking about?  You saved like nine of them,” Helkree said.  “You’re just not used to the Greimere, yet.  This shit happens every day, Raegith.  You’ve gotta get over it.”

“I can’t just get used to it, Hel!” Raegith exclaimed.  “I’ve had enough of your justification of everything that happens here.  I’m not satisfied with that excuse.”

“
Whether you’re satisfied or not, the Greimere doesn’t give a shit, Raegith.  You kicked ass here today.  You saved nine girls who might not have seen another morning… except that Magda bitch.  She looks hard as a Gimlet’s skull.  You freed a whole fucking village with just a dozen pairs of tits.  What more do you think you can do?”

“
I can save them all, Hel.” Raegith gripped her by the shoulders and stared hard into her eyes.  “With more power, I can save the rest of them… the whole damn empire.”

Chapter 38

It was cold in the east.  The wind bit at Raegith’s face and seeped through his armor as he stood on the hill.  Even worse than the bitter wind was the feeling of weakness that it brought.  That’s why he was there; to beat that weakness into submission.  Comfort was his enemy.  He kept himself cold; kept his belly half-empty and his lungs heaving.  Every morning began with exercises lasting until muscle failure, before anything else was accomplished.  It was all to one end.  He would grow stronger.

Helkree and Fenra were with him, following him far into the eastern mountains.  Unlike the villages in the west, the Urufen tribes had mostly managed to overthrow their Rathgar guardians.  The Rathgar were unsuited for the cold and the tribes had always been difficult to keep under control, even with a living Emperor.  It made things easier for him that he did not have to liberate the Urufen.  It allowed him to leave the others behind, placing them where he needed them.

The guards they drove out of the Lokai villages would eventually coalesce, most likely at the remnants of the Citadel.  At some point, before they all starved to death, the unified guards would make a push for one of the villages.  Domination would be sought by whoever took charge.  The Rathgar would not give up their hold on the other races so easily and Raegith needed to keep a presence among the people who were in danger of that eventual wrath.

Kimura was taken with Goji and the ways of the Naga and Raegith granted her request to train among them
.  Indie and Hitomi took up residence in the old guard barracks and began Magda and Naoko’s initiation into the Helcats.  Beretta went out among the Gimlets to learn from them and to do her best to assemble their knowledge and study it.  Fenra and Helkree followed him east, into the mountains, to seek out the Lupa Tribe and Chief Freydif.  Now they stood upon a mound overlooking a large village that Fenra assured them was the home of the Lupa Clan.

“
Do you think they’ll let us in?” Raegith asked.

Helkree sat on the ground at his left and drank from a strong-smelling jug. 
“Probably.  Are you worried they’ll tell us to fuck off?”

“Shouldn’t I be?  We’ve no food left and Fenra seems to think a blizzard is on the rise.”

Raegith reached down and Helkree passed him the grog.

“Well, I know you don’t want to hear this, but
you should have thought about that before you marched us up here,” Helkree laughed.  “I don’t even know what the hell we’re doing here.  You don’t need that Junie bitch to make you stronger, if she even can.  You need to learn how to use a fucking weapon if you want to be strong.”

“
Noriko told me to come find her when I was strong enough to make the journey.  She could do amazing things, Helkree and I know the Junrei’sha can teach me those things.  They can make me stronger, I know it.  This is the harshest place in the Greimere and I’ve lasted for months now, during the winter.  I’m ready.”

“I’m
not one to knock a guy for wanting more power,” Helkree said, taking the grog back.  “I’d fuck a Gimlet… one of the dumb ones, if it would give me an edge over my enemy.  I’m just letting you know, I think this is an even dumber plan than that.”

“
There’s Fenra, coming our way.” Raegith kicked her lightly in the shoulder, making her spill some of the grog and growl at him.  “She’s got someone with her.”

Two dots came out of the village gate and turned toward them
.  One was small and quick, trotting like Fenra did when she was anxious.  The other was even smaller and looked as if it were trying to race her.  In seconds the two were in front of Raegith, breathing quickly and grinning at each other.

The Urufen girl was younger than Fenra, with black hair and pale skin.  She had a scar running over the bridge of her slender nose and her eyes were bright yellow
.  She looked Raegith and Helkree over for a moment before Fenra introduced them.

“This is Raegith the Grass-haired and Helkree of Edge.”

“
Father told me of the Grass-hair,” the girl said, looking at Raegith curiously.  “He’s weird-looking.”

“Who the fuck is this brat?”
Helkree asked.

“This is Freya, the youngest daughter of Chief Freydif,” Fenra said.  “I have spoken to the Chief and we are welcomed into the village.  She wanted to come with me, to see Grass-hair first hand.”

“Father was impressed that you survived the assault on the Citadel,” Freya said.  “He’s eager to meet with you.  The Rathgar lady might want to keep her hood up.  Her kind is not exactly welcomed here.  If she were a man, we would never allow her to enter.”

“That’s stupid.  I’m more dangerous than fifty male Rathgar,” Helkree replied.

“Helkree, you’re not helping,” Fenra said.  She turned to Freya.  “She’s joking.”

“I don’t think so
,” Freya replied, eyeing her pair of axes lashed at her waist.  “You really are a warrior, huh?  Have you killed anyone?”

“Lots!”
Helkree answered, leaning in close to the girl.

“Tell me about it?”

“Freya, can you lead us back to the village?  I’m sure your father is waiting,” Raegith said.

“Oh, yeah, follow me… if you can keep up!”

“It’s been some time since we last saw each other, Raegith the Grass-haired,” Chief Freydif said as Raegith and his Helcats stood in the great hall before him.  “I wish it were under different circumstances.  I, too, mourned the death of Empress Kalystra.”

“You were quick to shrug off her Old Guard,” Raegith said with a smile.  “You’re probably better off now that the Empire is gone.”

“Ah, that it was that simple,” the Chief replied.  “The Treaty gave us seed; seeds we desperately need up here in the mountains.  Your kind developed a variety of grain that can grow out here and over the centuries my people have grown dependent upon it.  We are already rationing what food we have and the winter is only half past.”

“You
lived off of the gifts of the north?  I thought the Urufen were hunters and gatherers.  I imagined that being unshackled by the Empire would be your benefit.”

Freydif sat in silence, staring at Raegith fo
r some time before speaking.  “I think you’re seeing that not everything is as simple as you’ve read in your books.  This Empire and everyone in it have been living off of the loot taken from your lands in the north for ages.  We took what we were given and learned to survive off of it.  The riches, the conveniences that came from them, the power over others it gave us… we have all become very accustomed to the way of life the Treaty has given us, even those of us who tried so hard to resist it.”

“
But you can relearn the old ways,” Raegith said, stepping forward.  “You will change.  Adapting and surviving is the way of life in the Greimere.”

“
Perhaps.”  Freydif humored him, but he could tell the old Urufen was not convinced.  “This was always a harsh, murderous land, Grass-hair.  The gifts we received from the north made it more livable.  The advanced technology, the determined foodstuffs, the valuable metals we could never refine here in our primitive forges… it became our lifeblood.  There is no doubt that most of us, here in the mountains and in the plains and swamps and forests, will all die with this change.  Maybe some will live, to start civilization over from day one, but this will be the end of the Greimere as any of us know it.”

“
This is why you invaded the north in the beginning,” Raegith replied, barely over a whisper.  “You weren’t trying to destroy our civilization, as we recorded in the histories.  You were just trying to take enough food from the bountiful north to survive.”

The Chief’s face
brightened and he rose from his chair.

“
Enough of the woes of an old Urufen tribesman.  I have yet to learn what brings the Champion of the Pit to my village.”

“
I’m looking for someone.  Noriko.”

“
Noriko?” Freydif asked, puzzled.  “I’m afraid you won’t find many Lokai up here, if I’m hearing the name right.”

“
She’s a Junrei’sha.  I came up here to strengthen myself in preparation for my journey to find them.”

The Chief laughed.  “You’re looking to find the Junrei’sha home?  By the Great Wolf, why would you want to go there?  It’s a dead religion that’s as mysterious as it is useless
and none who have ventured forth to find them have ever returned.”

“
All the same, I will find them and when I do, I will become stronger and do something about the pitiful state of these lands that you describe.”

“You’re looking to be a savior to the Greimere?”  Freydif chuckled.  “That’s admirable, if not completely naïve.
  The Empress got you to love this place, I see.  I would call that a miracle if it were not so tragic.”

Freydif stepped down from his throne and approached Raegith.  “You’re from the north and there is certainly somewhere there that will accept you.  Surely there are those who would not recognize you or turn you over to your leaders.  Go home, Grass-hair.  Find a woman who can bare your children and forget us; that is the best advice I can give you.”

“I’m not looking for fruitless advice,” Raegith replied, his tone becoming more angered.  “I would rather die frozen in these mountains and lost to time than return to Rellizbix, defeated.  If you do not know where we can find the Junrei’sha, then we will be gone in the morning to find someone who does.”

Freydif paused, shocked by the boy’s tenacity.  “
My daughter will show you to a hut.  There is a blizzard coming down the mountain tonight.  Please, rest for a time while I see to some tribal matters.  I will come to you before dawn with information for your quest.  As foolish as I think it is, it is not my place to govern your life.  I am not an Emperor.”

“
We accept your hospitality, Elder,” Fenra said quickly, bowing her head towards him.

“You are most welcome here, little
pup.  If I may ask, what tribe are you from and why do you follow the Grass-haired One?”

Fenra looked up at Raegith as she answered.  “
He saved my life.  I was of no tribe and a criminal.  He gave me a purpose and I will follow him through fire for it.”

“You’re a strange breed, Raegith the Grass-haired,” Freydif said.  “Taking in Urufen and Rathgar and inspiring such devotion… I would have never expected it from your kind.  Freya will show you to some lodging and bring you some food.”

Raegith nodded at the Chief and followed the young Urufen out of the main hall and into the cold night.  The snow was coming down hard and the wind pelted them with large, white flakes.  Other Urufen wandered around the village, carrying water or just moving in between buildings.  Fires along the wall whipped violently, threatening to blow out.  Raegith wondered how anyone could live in such a place their entire lives.

The hut was small, but warm and there was room for all of them to store their gear and sleep.  Raegith thought briefly of sleeping in shifts, but they were all exhausted from so long in the open.  He did not see any reason why the Chief would harm them.  If that was his intention, then refusing them entrance to the village would have done the job just as quickly.

It felt like only a few minutes before Freydif was shaking him awake, but the Chief informed him it was close to dawn. 

“I may have a way for you to find the Junrei’sha,” he said, sitting on the edge of the cot Raegith leaned in.  “
There is a group of Urufen that live very far to the south, where the cold is too bitter for Rathgar from the Empire to endure.  They hunt the mountains and have never been conquered.  Their chief, Thorin, is very old.  If anyone knows where the Junrei’sha are, it is him.”

“Point us in the direction,” Raegith replied.  “We’ll leave immediately.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

“Why is that, old man?” Helkree asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“The blizzard is still going.” Freydif stood, stretching his muscles.  “These blizzards are dangerous enough where we are now, but high up on the Alfhildr, where the Tyrra Clan dwell, it will steal the air right from your lungs.”

“How long then?”

“Could be hours.  Could be days,” Freydif replied.  “You’ll stay here and build your lungs for the climb.  For helping us out around the village, we will feed you.  Give it a month, please, and then you can be on your way.”

“A
month?” Raegith scoffed.

“We have exercises that will prepare your body for the hostility of the mountain.  You will need the entire
month.  Without the proper training, you will only die.  Trust me.”

“A
month of exercises and chores… deal.  You get the three of us ready to climb the mountain and we’ll give you a month of work.  Then you tell us where we can find this clan.”

“
Telling you would do no good for ones unfamiliar with this place.  Freya will take you.”