The Broken Kingdom (38 page)

‘We have meat in the camp.’

‘Mmm, yes, well, you can say whatever you
like. I can’t check, can I?’ Her eyes travelled over the group.
‘And there are what, nine of you?’

‘You think this is some plot to harm you?’
he asked.

She frowned and nodded.

Karesh shrugged. ‘We will stay one more day.
Now we have spoken, the choice is yours. I suggest you think
carefully, there are others we must extend the same offer too, we
may not ever come back to you, and if we do, it would not be for a
long time.’

‘The creatures don’t seem to attack you. But
who is to say they will not attack
us
? They even attack the
stone that blocks the entrance when we venture too close!’

‘They may.’ He agreed. ‘The larger the group
the more danger. However our Master has taught us how to fight the
monsters. Once we reach the tribe, we will be safe. The journey
there may be dangerous. How many are in your group?’

She frowned and did not answer. Instead she
asked, ‘what will be expected of us in the tribe?’

‘To follow our Masters rules. No fighting or
killing is allowed.’

The woman stared at him, her eyes wide.
‘Excuse me?’

Karesh turned then to the rest of the group.
‘Kalgen, would you care to explain?’

Kalgen, surprised at the opportunity,
nevertheless stepped forward and in his gruff voice said, ‘the
Master is a strange creature, and dislikes violence, despite her
power.’ He frowned, as if the idea still troubled him. ‘She does
not allow fighting, though she punishes those who disobey her
severely.’

The woman appeared to have trouble
processing this. After a moment she said, ‘I see… I will think
about it. Do not try to enter, the passage way behind me is blocked
by another boulder, so even if you got past this door, there is
another one protecting us.’

Karesh nodded. ‘Smart.’

Taken aback the woman said, ‘y-yes, we
thought so.’ Then she slipped back through the crack in the door,
and the boulder rolled back into place.

Karesh turned back to the group and smiled.
‘We stay tomorrow, and leave the next day.’

‘We could force them to come.’ Janisk
murmured.

‘We discussed this already, Janisk.’

‘I know, but it is an option.’

‘No, it is not.’

‘The Master wouldn’t like it.’ Telag agreed.
‘It is not what we’re here for.’

There was murmured agreement from the
others, and Karesh was surprised Telag understood their
assignment.

They had enough food with them for the trip
back, as well as extra for any others they convinced to join them.
They had no need to hunt, and so sat down to wait out the day.

The next morning the woman returned.

‘You’re still alive.’ She said, her eyes
roving over the group.

‘Have you made a decision?’ Karesh asked,
standing but not approaching her.

She looked towards the red-faced snake
ehlkrid, and a flash of fear crossed her face. Then she looked back
to Karesh. ‘Yes, we’ve spoken about it. We’ll leave now.’ Despite
the confidence of her tone, her face was ashen.

Karesh nodded firmly. ‘How many in your
group?’

‘Eight. Six warriors, including myself, and
two children.’

‘And are you in charge of your group?’

‘Yes, I am Avega the…’ she shook her head,
‘just Avega now.’ And she shot another look at the ehlkrid.

‘Avega.’ He repeated. ‘Get ready as quickly
as you can. When everyone is out here, I’ll explain the travel
arrangements.’

In under an hour, Avega’s tribe of thin,
lean gemengs was gathered outside. They carried all their
possessions on their backs, and had their own food and water.

Karesh explained to Avega and then the rest
of the tribe that they must stay close together, with the knife at
the centre. Karesh and his warriors would remain on the outside on
the group, and would defend them if they were attacked.

‘We should arrive at our Masters camp in
four or five days.’

The other gemengs whispered amongst
themselves. They often glanced towards the ehlkrid. Their fear was
obvious, but so was their hunger. Avega hadn’t told him what had
convinced them, but Karesh thought perhaps they were just tired of
hiding in the darkness of the mountain. They were warriors after
all.

Watching them, Karesh was hopeful. Avega was
their leader, but she spoke with them and considered their opinions
more than most gemeng leaders. The coming of the ehlkrid had
changed things.

The group set off in an orderly manner. The
snake ehlkrid slithered after them, keeping pace. Occasionally,
they saw other ehlkrid as well. Avega’s gemengs did not speak to
Karesh, and were tense and uncomfortable.

‘Why does it follow and not attack?’ Avega
asked him when they stopped for lunch. They stopped in a small
clearing, shaded by the tall trees of the forest. Four warriors
stood guard at all times, and rotated with the other warriors once
they’d eaten.

‘This is probably its territory. It will
probably leave us soon.’

Avega grunted. ‘Perhaps we will all die out
here.’ Up close, he saw she had short, sharp claws, and a light
dusting of white fur over her arms. He noticed when she tensed her
fur stood up, glinting dangerously in the light. In a
close-quarters fight, she would likely be a devastating opponent.
He made a mental note not to get too close to her.

‘How did you find the hill?’ he asked,
changing the subject.

‘We used to rule this area…’ she hesitated,
and Karesh got the feeling she hadn’t been the original Master of
the tribe. ‘When the creatures appeared… one of the children found
it. There are tunnels in the hill, and strange stone walls. I have
seen nothing like it before. But we were able to block the tunnels
and protect ourselves… as long as we stay far from the entrance,
and put many stones in the way, the monsters do not bother us… I
don’t know how long it’s been.’

‘The ehlkrid have been here over a year
now.’ Karesh said.

‘Only a year? It feels like an
eternity.’

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
Late in the day, the snake ehlkrid dropped back, and left them
alone.

‘I do not like the look of that one.’ Janisk
muttered to Karesh, the afternoon of the second day of travel.

‘Nor do I.’ he agreed. A furry ehlkrid, with
long, muscly arms and huge jaws had begun following them a few
hours ago. There was something about its movements, about the way
it watched them, that made Karesh feel it was hungry.
Desperate.

There are hierarchies among the ehlkrid
too,
he reminded himself,
and perhaps with few gemengs
around, there is little left for this one to eat…

Karesh watched it as it hung from a branch
high above, its jaw hanging open, revealing long, razor sharp teeth
and a red tongue.

He stopped. ‘Shiressa, you have the knife?’
he said, his heart pumping.

‘Yes, why, what is it?’

‘Is something the matter?’ Avega demanded, a
note of alarm in her voice.

‘No, continue walking.’ He ordered,
following his own command. The black, oily eyes of the ehlkrid
remained fixed on him.

For the rest of the day, the ehlkrid
followed them. They set up camp as the sky began to darken.

‘The creature still follows us.’ Janisk
muttered, her voice thick with anger, and perhaps fear.

‘Yes.’ Karesh’s skin prickled unbearably. He
could not shake the sense of danger. ‘They are more comfortable at
night, Janisk.’ He said in a low voice.

‘It wouldn’t…’

‘Have you noticed we haven’t seen any other
ehlkrid for the last hour?’

‘Yes, but isn’t that good?’

‘If the knife keeps them away, because they
fear the Shining Lady… perhaps… they fear her retribution if…’

‘You think?’

‘Perhaps. We will set double watches
tonight. While we still have light left I want to remove the
branches of the trees directly above us.’

Janisk was silent for a moment as she turned
that over. Then she said, ‘I will help, together we can push the
trees over entirely…’

‘Some of them are too thick and strong,
Janisk, and the tree might fall in a bad direction. It would be
easier to remove the branches.’

As Karesh and his warriors began the arduous
and difficult task of removing the branches, the other gemengs
watched nervously. Half of Karesh’s gemengs stayed on the ground,
keeping the others out of the way of the branches incase they fell.
Karesh and the others flew or climbed up to the branches, ripping
them off with pure strength, or hacking at them with weapons. The
furry ehlkrid followed them all the time. Karesh had a bad feeling
it was keeping a close watch on whatever feelings the knife gave
off… and he wondered whether it was starting to realize their
ruse.

Full dark fell within the hour and they had
to stop. Sweaty, dirty and tired, Karesh was satisfied with their
work. They’d cleared the branches directly above them. He thought
the creature could still jump, but at least they’d made it harder
for it to attack them.

That night Karesh slept fitfully. A few
hours before dawn, he gave up trying to sleep and joined the
gemengs on watch. He’d already taken a turn earlier in the
evening.

‘It’s still there.’ Kalgen murmured
softly.

‘I know.’

‘What do we do if it attacks? You said the
knife won’t work if we kill it.’

‘We’ll have to lead it away from the group
with the knife.’

Kalgen didn’t respond.

Karesh watched the dark shape of the ehlkrid
as it crouched in a tree a short distance from the camp. Karesh
flexed his wings, and felt the stone knife at his belt. He’d
sharpened it after using it to hack at tree branches.

Suddenly Kalgen let out a yell. Karesh saw
it too, the dark shape suddenly moving, hurtling through the air
towards them. Karesh launched himself from the ground at the
ehlkrid, colliding with it in mid-air.

He frantically flapped his wings and kicked
at the beast as it tried to grab him.

‘Move away,’ he yelled at the same time as
he flew higher and further from the camp. ‘Kalgen, Shiressa, to me!
Everyone else, head back to our Master!’

He had no time to see if they obeyed, and it
was dark besides. He couldn’t dislodge the creature, its strong
arms had a vice like grip around his legs. It felt like his legs
were going snap in two. The creature began crawling up him. He
couldn’t fight an ehlkrid one on one. Frantically, he flew towards
a tree and rammed into it, jolting himself and the ehlkrid. The
creature let out a howl of rage. Karesh continued flying, whacking
his legs and the creature against trees and branches.

‘Karesh!’ he heard voices call.

‘We’re here, down here!’ another voice
yelled.

Karesh let out a scream as he felt jaws sink
into his leg. He half fell half flew to the ground. He landed with
a bump. The ehlkrid was all over him. He pulled his knife from his
belt and slashed at the creature above him to no avail.

Suddenly it was gone. He looked up and saw
Kalgen and Shiressa, and the ehlkrid crumpled against a tree.
They’d pulled it off him while it had been entirely focussed on
him. Quickly, he staggered to his feet. Sharp pain exploded in his
legs as he tried to stand on them. They couldn’t hold him up and he
had to use his wings.

‘Remember our three-point manoeuvre.’ He
gasped. ‘I’ll distract it, you two take it from the sides.’

The three gemengs advanced on the ehlkrid.
By now, it had gotten to its feet. It snarled at them and then
quickly turned and climbed up the tree with an amazing show of
speed and agility.

Kalgen swore, ‘we can’t fight it in the
tree!’

‘We need to kill it now its attacked us.’
Karesh replied. ‘Be ready for it.’ And he flew up above the
ehlkrid. He dived at it from above, stone knife in hand. With his
weight he bowled into the ehlkrid and knocked it off the branch. He
was more careful this time, and managed to avoid being grabbed.