The Awakened Book Two (13 page)

A few minutes of thoughtful silence passed before Dacien rose from his chair. “I will see you in the morning. I’m sure the General could use some help getting started.”

Kael took the hint and headed for the door, only to find that his escort was waiting outside to see him to his own quarters. “Good evening,” he said to Dacien and walked out.

Morning came far too quickly for Kael, who awakened to a bright shaft of sunlight streaming in through an open window. He lay still for a few minutes, aware that he hadn’t slept this well in months. Suddenly, the realization struck him that he had overslept. Dacien had asked for his help, although not in a very eloquent manner.

Within seconds, Kael had donned his clothing and was headed out the door. Nearly tripping over his escort, Kael let out a laugh. His amusement wasn’t matched by the man who quickly straightened his clothing and proceeded to stand at attention. Kael brushed off the man’s sour demeanor and headed toward the stables.

The city was alive with activity; people were rushing here and there. For most, it would have been easy to get lost in a new place, especially with the change in appearance from night to day. But Kael possessed an ability to memorize his surroundings and rarely lost his way. Navigating the streets as if he was a citizen, he reached the stables without any hesitation, only to find them empty. “Where are they?” he asked aloud, mostly to himself.

“They’ve already left.”

Kael turned to his escort. “That would have been useful a few minutes ago.”

But once again, his companion had grown silent, as if he would only speak to point out Kael’s mistakes.

With all the morning’s bustle, it took nearly half an hour to reach the city gates. He found Dacien standing outside the walls on the road which spanned the lake. “Sorry. I must have overslept.”

Dacien dismissed the apology with a quick shake of his head. “It doesn’t matter. The General left before I could be of any help. There,” he said, pointing to the southwest. “You can see the rear of the party just before the forest edge.”

Kael scanned the horizon and caught sight of the standard bearer, just in front of the supply train. Kael shook his head in disapproval. “Is he expecting a long confrontation?”

“What do you mean?” Dacien replied.

“Why do they have a supply train?”

“So the animals aren’t over-burdened with the weight of the weapons and armor.”

Kael nodded, anticipating the answer.

“Would you care to elaborate?” asked Dacien with a smile.

Kael smiled in return, enjoying the banter developing between them. “A fully loaded wagon cannot move as fast as if each rider were to carry his own weapons. And given the terrain that they will encounter, they will need to be agile in their travel. Supply trains only make sense when staging long range campaigns against an enemy in flat open territory.”

“And where did you learn this philosophy of war?” Dacien asked, half joking and half serious.

Kael avoided the question. “I only mean that those men are vulnerable against the Syvaku and the way they fight.”

“Really? So if you were the enemy, how would you do it?”

“Attack the
Leoran
soldiers?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Kael paused. “Since you ask, I would have scouts several miles out front. These men would see the Orud standard in plenty of time to relay their findings. I would then anticipate the path of the Leoran and stage an ambush in terrain that gives me an advantage. I would attack quickly at the supply train first and separate the soldiers from their weapons. Then, they would be nothing more than men on horses, no match for the fierce ground warfare style of the Syvaku.”

Dacien looked puzzled and skeptical at Kael’s answer.

Kael continued. “Anyway, I just fear for their lives. Who is this General and how much experience does he have?”

“Actually…” Dacien countered, “…he’s quite a formidable opponent. I can assure you that if he lacks anything in strategy, he more than makes up for with brawn. Big as an ox and just as strong. I have been told that he cannot be bested in hand-to-hand combat. No, I think he will do just fine against your Syvaku.

“Oh, my Syvaku?” Kael replied. In reality, they were his mother’s people and so he was related to the enemy, but he thought it best to keep this to himself.

“Come,” said Dacien. “You need breakfast; I can smell your hunger from here.”

“Well, I apologize for hurrying to your aid. Next time perhaps I will move at a more leisurely pace.” Even though his words spoke sarcasm, Kael felt embarrassed.

Chapter 10

The days passed by slowly for Maeryn as she watched the ocean from the security of her vantage point. She had many hours to herself to ponder Thaddius’ words and to prepare herself for the work that lay ahead. But these thoughts were distracted by the fact that Thaddius hadn’t yet returned and it had been seven days. The trip was only supposed to take six days and she was getting nervous. Watching until the sun went down, Maeryn returned to the camp for the evening meal and then retired to her bed. Aelia quickly fell asleep but Maeryn struggled for several hours.

Sometime in the early morning, Maeryn felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and then realized that it was the evening watch, a younger male slave that had agreed to keep a lookout for Thaddius’ return.

Maeryn rose to her feet and quietly followed him out to the shoreline. Visibility was poor but she was just able to make out the small sailboats. They waited patiently and eventually the boats came to shore in a disorderly clump. The Resistance soldiers stumbled out of the ships with weak knees. Maeryn scanned the crowd for Thaddius, realizing that something was terribly wrong and wanting an answer. But Thaddius didn’t appear. Before she could say anything, one soldier approached her.

“My lady…” the man paused to catch his breath.

“Where is Thaddius? And what is wrong with your men?”

“My lady, we have taken ill…all of us. Thaddius was not well enough to make the trip.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The food, my lady… The supplies at the outpost are spoiled. We didn’t know until after… We’re dying!”

The soldier’s words trailed off as her mind began to spin with questions.
What are we supposed to do? Should we continue to the outpost? Will we catch the sickness? Where are we supposed to go if not to our original destination?

“How many?”

“Only Thaddius and a handful of others are left.”

Maeryn looked to the sky and her emotions welled up, even though she knew that crying wouldn’t help the situation. “Thank you for coming back; I know it must have been difficult,” she managed to say.

“Of course, my lady. We had to return the boats. You still have a chance, but I don’t think we’re well enough for the return trip. It’s probably better to stay separated until…” The man stopped before stating the obvious.

“Thank you,” was all she could think to say.

The rest of the night was sleepless for Maeryn. She hadn’t bothered to wake anyone from her group. They would need their rest. After hours of great consternation, she knew that they had to continue on to
Tur’cen
. There was no going back; there never was! Once this decision was realized, Maeryn began to ponder the realities of reaching their ultimate goal in light of the current grave situation. Getting to the outpost was the easy part. From there, they would have to quarantine the sick from the rest of the group, discard the food and set out to replenish the food stores with fresh supplies. Winter was fast approaching and starting from scratch would make for a tough season. With any luck, Thaddius and the others would pull through.

That’s when it hit her. What if Thaddius died before she arrived? He was the only one who knew the protocol for contacting the Resistance leader. Without Thaddius, this whole trip was meaningless!

The sun had just risen when Maeryn awoke. The smell of cooking food told her that the rest of the camp was already stirring. Aelia was gone and probably helping with the breakfast. She felt exhausted and didn’t remember coming to her bed, but she had apparently returned at some point during the night. Almost immediately, her fears about Thaddius returned and she realized that for all her worry, she hadn’t reached a conclusion during the night.

After a few minutes of walking, she came to the secluded place where the soldiers had retired for the evening. An eerie feeling crept over her as she saw that all of the men were still lying down. She hoped that they were just tired from their trip across the channel, but the smell of vomit confirmed her worst fears.

“They’re all dead,” she heard herself say. Their lifeless skin looked pale in the morning light, as though bleached by the sun. She was at once overcome with grief for these men, who had suffered an evening of agony, and fear for herself and the others that remained. Thaddius was likely dead and that meant that they were lost, stranded in the middle of nowhere, hiding from an empire that would kill all of them for their rebellion. It was too much. There was no one to impress and no way to be positive about the situation. The tears began to flow and she couldn’t stop them. Her cry turned into a wail and she collapsed on the sand.

Why did Adair leave me? Why can’t I go back to the only happy time in my life? He was everything. Since he left, all I’ve managed to do is survive. And now even that prospect has changed.

Long moments of silence passed before Maeryn finally rose to her feet. Her face was dry and she felt relieved somehow. She had tried for so long to be brave and had lived through her fear. And now she had come to the realization that she could die at any moment. There was no way to go back to the life she had with her first husband. That was past and though it saddened her, she also felt a sense of satisfaction at having experienced those happy times. Adair, Kael, and
Bastul
were gone, as well as Thaddius and all of his soldiers. All she had now was Aelia, her new friends, and a renewed sense of purpose. She couldn’t change the past, but she was willing to die to change the future. She would make sure that these free people would survive, and if it was possible, she would be happy again. But first, there was much work to do.

* * * *

After almost a week in the beautiful city of
Leoran
, Kael was starting to feel at home. However, the sense of belonging quickly faded with the first signs of bad news. Refugees from the northwest coastal cities began arriving in scattered groups. As these displaced citizens of the Empire brought their necessities with them, they also carried stories of the blonde barbarians who had ransacked their homes and destroyed their towns. With each passing day, Kael’s understanding of the scope of this crisis deepened. There were several groups of barbarians moving throughout the southwest region, not just the group from
Bastul
.

In the absence of the General, Dacien commanded the remaining soldiers of the city and placed them in support of the efforts to house the travelers and to heal the wounded. Eventually, the arrivals slowed and stopped altogether and as soon as the city closed its gates Dacien sought Kael’s council.

Kael waited at the southern wall, overlooking Lake
Leoran
and the reflected light from the evening activity along the shoreline.

“These are strange times, my friend.”

Kael nodded silently.

“Never did I think that I would see the day an enemy dared to attack the Empire.” Dacien let out an exhausted sigh. “I’ve seen my share of skirmishes, but they’ve been minor by comparison. This…this is something else.”

Kael didn’t respond. It wasn’t that he was trying to keep silent; he just didn’t know what to say.

Dacien seemed to understand and continued to talk anyway. He had a way of putting people at ease when he wanted to. After a few minutes of one-sided conversation, they were interrupted by one of Dacien’s soldiers.

“Excuse me, Sir!”

Dacien nodded for the man to continue.

“Sir, you should come with me and hear for yourself. We have just received urgent news from
Ampur
.”

Dacien followed at a brisk pace with Kael close behind. As they walked, Kael’s mind was racing. He had noted a few days prior a pattern to the arrival of refugees. The first groups came from the north, and each successive group from cities and towns farther to the northwest.
Ampur
was situated almost directly west of
Leoran
and Kael guessed that the barbarians were moving southwest and sacking every town they crossed, thereby displacing the citizens and sending them to the capital city of the southern region for shelter.

The walk took only minutes before they reached the town hall. A small group of soldiers was gathered around a man who had clearly ridden hard to deliver his message. His face and clothes were speckled with mud and his eyes were red around the edges.

Dacien stepped into the circle and introduced himself as the ranking officer in charge. “I understand you bring news from
Ampur
?” Before the man could speak, Dacien called for some wine and then turned his attention back to the stranger.