Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three (17 page)

Hamath’s question killed the light mood of our group. It was like everyone was reminded that these were not the good old days and that Hamath had placed a huge gulf between the rest of us.

“Anyone got questions? We haven’t really talked these last few weeks. I can still feel the tension and it would be nice to put that all away.”

I bobbed my head in agreement.

Dekar surprised me. “I got one. How did you survive the eruptions? You were closer to Hol than us when they happened. Was there someone with a resistance in that crew you were raiding with?”

“Not until I joined.”

Dekar cocked his head.

Hamath grinned. “None of y’all know this, but I actually have a small resistance to sorcery myself. Not nearly as strong as Tyrus or probably his kids from what I heard, but more than the average person, enough where I only got a little sick and was able to help some of the others I was with.”

“How did we not know that?” I asked, blinking. “Especially Ava.”

“Because I did a good job hiding it. Anytime she had to cast a concealment spell on us, I was usually near you so the same tricks she had to use on you overlapped me. When I was taking point, I was good enough where I didn’t need her to directly affect me. Maybe the people or something near me, but that’s it. And like I said, it’s not that strong. Strong enough to help me out in a bind, but not so strong I couldn’t explain Ava having to work harder on me by her being tired or something.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It almost didn’t seem real for him to keep something like that from us, me especially. Even a small resistance could have saved lives on past missions.

“Why would you do something like that?”

“No crap, Ty. That would have come in handy in the war,” said Ira, shooting Hamath a foul look.

“Maybe. Not enough to make a difference. I would have said something if it came down to life or death. For example, that’s why I also made sure to help you and Ava take out that Master Sorcerer guarding the artifact at the end of the war. Besides not wanting to see either of you two killed, I knew I had an advantage others didn’t. In other instances, if we needed someone with a resistance, I just always let you use yours rather than reveal myself.”

“But why keep it secret?” Dekar asked.

“Balak. I figured that if he found out that there were two of us in the same unit with a resistance, he’d reassign me. Might even give me my own unit.”

I blinked. “I thought you wanted that?”

“Not so much then.”

“Then why now?”

He shrugged. “Time to embrace my life completely. Don’t know if I can do that living under your shadow and influence all the time.”

There was a hint of mirth in his voice as if to ease the words, but his face belied a seriousness to them.

“So you decided it made more sense to start kissing Balak’s rear?” asked Ira.

The question had some bite to it. I don’t think it was all because he was angry at Hamath, though there was that after finding out a squad mate lied to you for over ten years about something pretty significant. But also, Ira just hated Balak. And for good reason. I recalled the story he once told me about Balak ordering the death of a baby.

Hamath gave Ira a hateful stare. “I’m not kissing his rear.”

“Sure looks like it. All that time you spend with him.”

“Tyrus spends about as much time with Balak as I do.”

“The difference is that Ty is trying to make the best out of a crap situation. Balak sought him out. He didn’t have much of a choice but to rejoin. You sought Balak. The choice was yours.”

Hamath shrugged. “I don’t think Balak’s all bad. Definitely not like he used to be.”

I had to agree based on what I had seen, but Ira wasn’t having it.

“I call crap on that. Balak can come out here dressed in the robes of a priest of Molak and prostrate himself before me and I’d still think he was a lying sack of garbage.”

“If you hate him that much, then why did you reenlist?”

“I didn’t have a choice either.”

“Not true. You could have hidden rather than come out with Tyrus.”

“And leave Ty alone? Friends don’t do that to each other, Hamath. Running out on him would be about as bad as if I had attacked him in his hometown.” He paused, sneering. “Oh, but you know what that’s like, don’t you?”

“Ira,” Dekar hissed.

Ira turned to Dekar. “Don’t you start. I know you feel the same way. Only difference is that I’m saying it.”

Hamath put his cards down. “You know, I came over here to try to set things right between us and explain myself. Yet, everyone seems to think that they’re better than me because of a couple choices I made. I didn’t realize I was the only one less than perfect. So enough of me.” He swung his gaze my way. “Let’s talk about you, Tyrus.”

I didn’t like that tone. “What about me?”

“Jareb told me a lot of stuff about you. An awful lot.”

“And you said you didn’t believe him.”

“Not most of it. I know he colored it to favor him. But I found out more of the real story from some of the people you brought along,” he said gesturing to several men at other fires, including Zev and Caleb.

“I don’t know what things or real stories you supposedly heard, but I call crap on that too,” snapped Ira. “You wanted truths and you go ask a bunch of relative strangers rather than your old squad mates? You trusted them instead of coming to me or Dekar? Gods, you really ain’t worth more than a pile of dung anymore.”

Ira looked genuinely disgusted with Hamath. I think if he wasn’t so curious about the rest of the conversation, he would have left rather than remain in his presence. I was practically getting to that point myself. But I held it together, knowing that if there was ever any chance of repairing our friendship, it would likely hinge on me. Still, it stung that Hamath had gone behind my back to speak with others, and that those others hadn’t told to me that Hamath was probing into my background.

I bit back my disappointment and anger. Hamath misinterpreted my look while completely ignoring Ira’s biting remarks.

Hamath spat. “How does it feel, Tyrus, to have others question the choices you’ve made in your life? To pretend like they have all the right answers to situations they were never part of? To act like they can live your life better than you have? Yeah, well, you can relax. Unlike everyone else, I’m not here to scrutinize every past decision you made just because you didn’t do things as I would have.”

Admittedly, I still couldn’t quite grasp all that drove Hamath’s anger with me. A part of it seemed to relate to my criticism of his personal choices. Yet, I couldn’t apologize for what I had told him before about his choices. It would be like giving him my approval for raiding, raping, and killing.

“What are you here to do?” I asked, forcing myself to remain calm.

“Scrutinize just one decision. Or a lack of a decision, depending on how you look at it. Actually, let’s make that two.”

“All right,” I said evenly.

“Why didn’t you ever kill that piece of scum, Jareb?”

“We weren’t in the army. There are laws against killing someone. Or at least there used to be when we had a government in place.”

“That didn’t stop you from knocking him out and taking your kids back. I guess it’s all right to break some laws.”

“Crap argument again,” spat Ira.

I shrugged, letting Ira’s responses mimic the anger I wanted to let out. I knew Hamath was trying to raise my goad up. I wouldn’t let him.

“I never claimed to be perfect. And knocking someone out is much different than taking their life. If I’d have killed him as you say, I’d have had the whole town after me. Even as it was, before the first eruption, I had quite a few wanting to lock me up.”

“The fact remains is that it’s all right for you to break laws at your discretion, but not me at mine.”

“I rescued my kids. That’s a big difference over what you did. They’re not even comparable.”

“Sure. I thought you might say that,” he said as if conceding to my point. “You know, I can see you not killing Jareb before the eruptions. But afterward, what stopped you? There was no law. Just an angry prick who tried to do everything possible to make your life miserable. Someone who paid your wife for sex. Gods, Tyrus. You worshipped that woman and you let a man live who kept flaunting in your face that he had done that with her.”

I opened and closed my fists, recalling those moments. With a clenched jaw I whispered, “I actually was ready to kill him before you beat me to it.”

“Ah, but I was still the one who did it. What stopped you before then?”

“His kids,” interrupted Reuma.

“What?” asked Hamath, turning toward her in surprise.

He had ignored Ira’s constant interruptions, probably because he had expected the man’s temper to get the best of him. But Reuma had been so quiet I had practically forgotten she was there. Her calm voice was such a change to the tones we both spoke with that it was impossible to ignore it.

“His kids weren’t around when you killed Jareb. Before, they were. He didn’t want to outright murder him in front of them. I knew Lasha. She wouldn’t have wanted that, would she Tyrus? Not even for good reason.”

“No,” I whispered. My chest ached. “She wouldn’t have.”

Hamath shook his head. “Letting your deceased wife dictate your decisions probably isn’t a good idea. Look where it got you. Back in the army. Had you ignored what she would have wanted and killed Jareb early on, we might not have found you. He was the one who coerced others into telling Balak of your plans to reach the Southern Kingdoms.”

He had a small point. And he was right that I should have killed Jareb. But I don’t regret trying to live my life as Lasha would have wanted. That woman did more for me than Hamath or anyone else ever had. I was a better person because of her.

I looked up with narrowed eyes. “You think that was the first time my wife affected my decisions? Do you know how many countless times we survived in the Geneshan War simply because memories of her helped guide me through a tough decision?”

He grunted. “Interesting. But all right. That leads to my next question. What have you done to honor her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where is her killer? Why didn’t you bring the murderer of your wife to justice, the woman that meant everything to you? If there was a time to break a law, that seems like it would have been it.”

My knuckles were white, fingers aching from squeezing them. “You don’t think I wanted to find that man? You don’t think I’ve imagined beating him to a bloody mess with my bare hands?”

“Then why did you flee south instead of seeking your revenge. By the gods, the people I spoke with said you didn’t even talk about her killer much. That you didn’t ask around to find out more about him. Why?”

“Because revenge is a single man’s game,” I hissed. “Revenge is for someone with no children. Killing that piece of garbage might have eased my pain if I somehow managed to find him, but my pain wasn’t and isn’t what’s most important. It’s the pain of my kids from not having a father, from feeling abandoned, from being scared. They are far more important than my revenge.” I shook my head. “Molak knows where Lasha’s killer even is. Yet you think I should have dragged Myra and Zadok on some wild hunt that likely would have never amounted to anything? Especially in light of the eruptions? Lasha’s killer is likely already dead anyway. Revenge is not more important than trying to ensure my kids’ survival.”

Hamath grunted. “Well, I know what I would have done.”

I could take no more of his rationalization and rose to my feet. “That’s because you’re a piece of crap, Hamath! Barely even a shadow of the man you once were or at least pretended to be. You wanna talk about revenge? How was your revenge? You go back to your hometown and have a welcome every man here dreamed of, but many didn’t get. The woman you once loved threw herself at your feet and asked for your forgiveness. But no, you had to have your revenge.” I spat. “Revenge. All revenge did was turn you into a more bitter, more hateful, and more violent man. You know, the best thing you probably ever did for Bilhah was leave her after she poured her heart out to you. You had the right of it all along. A man like you shouldn’t have kids. Or a wife, for that matter. A man like you is too selfish to ever be a good father or a good husband.” I gritted my teeth. “Get away from my fire.”

He stared at me and cocked his head. I thought him confused at first, but then I saw the tiniest break in his demeanor and realized that there was hurt at what I had said.

I no longer cared. My eyes narrowed. I don’t think he understood just how much I was holding back, how much I wanted to beat him senseless for making me publicly address private feelings and emotions.

He stood slowly as if every part of him ached. He left taking long deliberate strides, shoulders sagging.

No one said a parting word. What could you say after that?

CHAPTER 16

When an enemy spots you there are really only two choices of action. Run or kill. When two of the enemy spot you, both hulking super soldiers with a whole slew of backup within shouting distance, those choices are narrowed down even further. Running was the only course of action.

However, running would cause the tent to empty in pursuit of me. By the time my little surprise went off, no one would be around to suffer the consequences.

I had to stick around. Or better yet, I had to make sure the globe went off sooner.

I scooped the globe off the ground with my free hand just as the two massive soldiers came toward me so they didn’t snatch it up. The one on the left yelled out the alarm. I spun as a hand grabbed my arm. The long, thick fingers slid off as I twisted away.

There was a benefit to being covered in human waste after all.

I duplicated hand positioning on the globe from earlier when setting the time, pressing two markings while tapping the other. My first attempt had given me ten minutes. But I’d never be able to survive for ten minutes. I pressed another eight times, stopping only as the D’engiti reached out for me again. Based on what the High Mages had told me about the way the globe worked, I now had less than two minutes before the globe went off.

It wasn’t much time to make it to safety, but it still felt like too much time to stay alive against the D’engiti.

I had reached a crossroads. Throw the globe and run, hoping enough damage would occur while giving me an opportunity to survive. Or stay and wait, because the more damage done now, the more likely the war would end. I might be killed and never see my family again, but I could potentially save them from a life of Geneshan rule.

I drew my sword, body deciding what my mind and heart struggled with. My blade licked out, slicing into the reaching arms of the two D’engiti. The taste of steel against their flesh gave them both a moment to reconsider their options. Neither was armed or armored. I guess I held an advantage after all. However, the soldiers were harder to kill than a normal man, and the wounds I gave them, though bleeding, slowed them for barely a breath.

Four more D’engiti rounded the corner, making the situation considerably more interesting, especially since these had warning from the first two and came prepared with weapons drawn.

“Molak-be-damned,” I muttered.

All six came at me. Six. Not six normal soldiers which would be nearly impossible to fight at once under normal circumstances. No, I had to face six seven-foot-tall behemoths that were stronger than oxen and as fast as a normal man.

I gritted my teeth. They fanned out, expecting me to run because any normal person would obviously take that route. But I was not normal, or I was at least not known to do the expected. I sprinted at the biggest one in the group. None stopped their approach, but they slowed, confused by my tactic.

With my last couple of steps, I started an attack high. My target shifted to defend himself, so I turned away and swung down with everything I had into the D’engiti beside him. It was one of the unarmed soldiers so my blade easily cut through the exposed thigh just above the knee. It struck bone and continued through, removing the D’engiti’s lower leg in its entirety. The soldier fell into the man beside him without a sound.

Eerie how they never showed pain despite their injuries.

I leaped over the both of them, splitting the two groups on either side of me. More D’engiti emerged from the side of the tent as others responded to the sounds of fighting.

I danced around, hacking, slicing, weaving, unsure if ten seconds or a minute had passed.

A sword swung at my head. I dodged.

A club came in from the side. My sword swept out to meet it.

A blade sliced across my upper arm. I spun.

Another hand grabbed and slid off my shoulder. I twisted.

Something hammered into my back.

It sent me sprawling. I caught my balance at the end and managed to roll back to my feet.

It was time to run. But with more D’engiti, there was really nowhere to run to.

Well, there was one place. That glorious, foul smelling hell that I had followed into camp.

I sprinted toward the latrine.

About four feet away from the edge, I jumped. A hand caught my arm. This one held, yanking me backward like a child. It lifted me off the ground and turned me until my eyes stared into the D’engiti’s angry face.

Gods, they were ugly with their pronounced nose and brow. My sword arm came up, but the D’engiti’s other hand wrapped around my wrist and squeezed with such pressure it felt as though a wagon had rolled across the bone. My grip faltered and I dropped my weapon.

I was a hundred feet away from the D’engiti tent and about to die. I twisted my body and swung my other arm, launching the globe in my hand toward my target. I couldn’t see its path as the D’engiti threw me to the ground after the globe’s release.

It said something in Geneshan, which startled me at first since we were under the impression that the D’engiti couldn’t speak.

“What?” I asked, unable to make out the thing’s garbled speech.

It spoke louder, but not clearer. It was angrier than before and picked me back up so that I was at eye level. Our noses were so close I could feel the D’engiti’s hot breath on my face. I would say I could smell its breath, but truthfully the only thing I still smelled was the latrine.

It spoke a third time. I shook my head and smiled. At this point, I knew there was no escape. Better I die a quick death by the hands of a D’engiti rather than it take me back to its superiors for torture.

The D’engiti barred its teeth and raised me up higher before slamming me into the latrine with a sickening splash. The impact took the wind out of me. Human sludge ran into my ears.

The D’engiti stared hatefully as it bent down to pick me back up.

But then the world shook and I was flying.

* * *

“Tyrus! Tyrus!”

I sat up fast, not sure where I was for a moment.

The only thing worse than waking from a nightmare was being awakened from a nightmare by someone shouting your name and, shaking the ever-loving crap out of you.

It was Dekar.

“I’m up. I’m up. What is it?” I managed while rubbing away the pile of crud at the corners of my eyes.

“You all right? You sounded as if you were choking. Like someone had knocked the wind out of you.”

Someone had. Sort of.

“I’m fine. Just a bad dream.”

He gave me a sidelong glance.

“I’m fine. Seriously.” I looked around noticing how dark it still was. The sky hadn’t turned to that light gray yet. “Let me try to get back to sleep,” I said starting to lie down again. I didn’t think I’d get back to sleep after my dream, but at the least I could lay still and rest my sore limbs.

He grabbed my arm.

“No. I was coming to get you up anyway when I saw you choking. Balak just sent a runner over. Said it was an emergency and you were needed.”

I swore. “Good thing I don’t have to take a leak. Latrines are in the opposite direction.”

He smiled.

I slipped my boots on. “All right, I’m on my way. Get back to sleep if you can. I’ll wake you later if needed.”

Heeling and toeing it under normal nighttime circumstances was quite the adventure. Holes in the ground, legs cast out by sleeping soldiers, stray rocks, and so on were no problem during the day. At night, they could twist an ankle or send a man flat to his face, hurting more than just his pride. Add the fact that Balak had me in ankle chains, and it only made things worse. I’m sure I looked quite the fool. The rattling I made woke more than a few sleeping soldiers, each rolling over and casting me a wicked look. The closer I got, the more my anger grew.

Somehow, I managed to get to Balak’s tent without killing myself. Etan waited at the entrance as usual, ready with his hateful stare.

I didn’t even bother with pleasantries given the foul mood I was in. “Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked.

I started to walk in and he thrust his arm out blocking my way.

“Seriously? You know who I am and why I’m here.”

He gave me a look, waiting.

I snapped. “Balak called for me.”

He waited.

I lined my voice with as much sarcasm as I could muster. “Hello, my name is Tyrus. Perhaps you remember me since we served for six years together, working intimately on quite a few missions. I’ve also been coming here periodically to talk to the general. Oh, by the way, I’m sort of training the entire blasted army!”

He ducked inside without a word, announcing me.

“Well, let him in you dolt,” I heard Balak say from inside.

He came out with a scowl, pushing the tent flap aside.

As I passed I said, “Maybe next time you’ll quit acting like a Molak-be-damned mule.”

The flap closed behind me. I looked to Balak. “Any chance you can have Noam or one of the other healers do an examination on him. I’d swear the man isn’t alive. Or at least he’s without a personality. Maybe they can cure that.”

He looked up from his maps. “I’m not in the mood, Tyrus. Get over here. We’ve got a battle to get ready for.”

That got my attention. I walked over quickly. “Tell me.”

He pointed. “Twelve hundred Geneshans are coming up from the southwest here. Another three hundred are expected to meet with them by midday. By this evening they’ll be within a day of our current position. We need to take care of this now as I expect another thousand to roll in from the southeast. Thoughts?”

I swore. Fifteen hundred Geneshans still gave us the advantage in numbers, but that didn’t mean I wanted battle.

“Can we get more globes? A couple of those could wipe out this entire group.”

“No. I told you the mage who worked on the last one is still recovering. He practically died. I can’t afford to have that happen again.”

“Then first things first. I’ll need you to remove these ankle chains so I can lead my unit. I’ll go in and try to take down their officers before the battle is under way. Then—”

“No.”

“Sir?”

“I’ll remove your chains, but only so you’ll be free to ride mounted and make adjustments as needed. And before you get any ideas about pulling what you did last time, you’ll have three bodyguards shadowing your movements. Etan will make sure you obey my command.”

“Etan? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“The discussion is over. When we’re done here, pick the replacement to lead your unit.”

“Already did. Dekar.”

He continued, “When we meet the enemy, you’ll be an officer in more than name so start acting like one.”

I grumbled a “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, let’s talk about where this battle should take place.”