Chapter 2.3 Journey Home
Audiobook Version
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"The fires!" shouted Urlock. Alam grabbed branches of leafy brush. He threw them onto the small fire at the opening of his gap.
The dry leaves burst into flame. Behind to him Tajar loosed an arrow. A dargu shrieked in pain on the field beyond.
"They come to kill your friends!" bellowed Urlock.
"They will fail!" Alam screamed the ritual reply. His heart pumped hard.
Alam heard bowstrings twang in front of him. An arrow bounced off the cart to his left.
"They come to kill your family!" shouted Urlock.
"Ahhhh!" Alam screamed to build up the fury.
Thirty paces away.
The clan archers were firing as fast as they could reload their bows. More screams on the field. Alam saw one of the chest height creatures take an arrow in the belly. It fell writhing.
"Will you let them?!?" shouted Urlock.
"No!" Alam bellowed. The fury absorbed him - fueling the adrenaline, fueling his strength.
Twenty paces. An arrow came out of nowhere and struck him on the side of his abdomen. It was nothing. A fly. It barely pierced his chain. He flicked it away and threw a spear at the closest creature. Dead.
Ten paces. He bounced on his feet. "Come on!" he roared.
"Protect your clan!" shouted Urlock.
An arrow struck Alam's helmet and spun away. The creatures had arrived. Three of them. Grey-brown skin covered in matted fur clothes. Small black glinting eyes. Upturned noses. Large ears. Tajar shot one. Two left. With spears. Alam did not care. Nothing would pierce his shirt. He was invincible. He swung and one went down.
"Argh!" The remaining creature's spear jabbed into his chest. Not deep. But it came out with blood. Alam looked up. There were two more now. Somehow seeing his own blood increased his fury. He jabbed the head of his axe towards the one with blood on its spear. The blow knocked it backwards into the fire. It rolled out screaming. Its filthy clothes ignited. It sprinted towards the river.
Alam just barely saw the spear tip aimed at his neck. He twisted out of the way. It caught his sling. The cloth ripped. The other dargu had a long notched knife. Alam could not dodge both the spear and the knife at the same time. The blade raked across his thigh. No chain there. It went deep but his fury muted the pain. Tajar's arrow found the knife creature's throat. It dropped writhing and screaming. Alam's leg quivered as he dodged another spear thrust. The movement was enough to dislodge the box at his back. It fell from the ripped sling.
"Chak a graan!" squealed the creature with the spear in front of Alam. It was pointing to the box on the ground. Alam struck while it was distracted. It fell dead.
"They flee!" shouted Urlock from his gap in the carts.
"No!" said Shaleh. "They are running to Alam!"
Within seconds there were more creatures than Alam could count. All thought of attack was gone. Duck. Dodge. Parry. He swung his axe, but only to keep them away.
"Alam, I'm here," said Shaleh, appearing at his side.
One of the creatures took an arrow in the chest.
"Arrows gone!" shouted Tajar.
The creatures clustered around the gap jabbing but not striking. Crack! Behind them a whip snapped.
"Jur traab!" was shouted by a creature somewhere on the field. One creature dashed forward, arm outstretched towards the box. Alam was ready. His axe struck first. That was all the others needed. A wave broke on Alam. They recklessly charged. No formation, no clever plan. Simple mass rush. Another spear caught him in the abdomen. The chain held most of the blow. Not all. He fell back.
"Alam!" Shaleh screamed. Swords flashing. Ducking, dancing. Two creatures landed on top of Alam. One dead, one gurgling. Tajar, Arj and Urlock had joined the chaos. One of the clan screamed in pain. Impossible to tell who. Alam pushed the creatures off him.
"U Grar o kae!!" shouted a voice that sounded like Serik's. Alam saw a melon sized thing fly from the field, over the fire. It landed amidst the battle. It was a head - war painted and decorated with ear and nose rings. It had to be the dargu leader's.
Seeing the detached head destroyed the creatures' courage. They fled.
"Let them go!" commanded Urlock.
The box was missing.
No!
A creature just past the fire was running with it. Alam ignored the pain in his leg. He set after it as fast as he could.
"I said let them go!" Urlock shouted.
Alam ran into the darkness of the field. Light from the fires glinted on the box and the spear the creature carried. All else was blackness after being so near to the fire.
"Alaaam!" Urlock again shouted from behind.
Alam was gaining. Suddenly his quarry stopped and turned. But now there were four of them. Alam could see the light from the fires reflected in their teeth as they charged. Behind him, out of the darkness, a spear sped past Alam. It struck the creature carrying the box, knocking it to the ground. The others paused. Serik stepped next to Alam and shouted something in the language of the creatures. He held up a crude whip and cracked it in their direction. It was enough. They fled.
Alam picked up the box. He was suddenly aware of the pain. Limping, he returned to the carts. Urlock strode up to him and punched him in jaw. Alam collapsed onto his back.
"When you disobey me you betray the clan!" he shouted. "When you disobey me you are being selfish!"
I wasn't being selfish.
"I went to get the box," he explained.
"So what? It is just a little box! We have four carts of prizes and you risk the safety of our party, and your clan, by chasing a box?"
"But..."
"Do not argue with me!" Spit flew from Urlock's mouth as he shouted. "If you had died there would only be five of us left to protect the cart home, let alone protect the clan."
"What do you mean five of us?" asked Alam.
"You will fast for two days and no-one will speak to you until we return home!"
"What do you mean five of us?!?"
No one replied.
Arj had died, as had two brothers that were a decade older than Alam. It would be a hard year for their families. Most of the others had received injuries of some kind. Shaleh had a horrible gash on the side of her neck. She was lucky to be alive. Urlock's left shoulder was badly cut. Alam's chain shirt had saved his life three times. He was cut in the chest and stomach and had an arrow wound on his side but none of them were serious. His thigh wound was another matter entirely. It was a deep and ragged mess.
Wounds were washed with the cold, clear river water. They then bit into sticks as the larger wounds were stitched and bandaged. As the sun rose the survivors buried the three fallen friends and prayed for the progress of their souls.
***
"Chief. Look." Serik handed an amulet to Urlock. "It was on the body of the whipper."
It was a simple leather strip necklace with a coin-sized red enamel trinket hanging from it. Urlock looked at it and soundlessly passed it around the group. Etched in black on one side of the trinket was a crude image of an open mouth. On the other side a fire symbol on top of five vertical lines was etched.
"What does it mean?" Shaleh asked what Alam was thinking.
"It means trouble," said Urlock. "I don't know what the mouth means but the fire symbol is used by the sorcerers of Morcham."
"What were dargu doing with it?" wondered Tajar. "Do you think they killed a sorcerer?"
Urlock let out a mirthless laugh. "No. I don't think so. If we are lucky they simply found it somewhere and took it as treasure."
"And if we're unlucky?" asked Tajar.
"If we're unlucky, a sorcerer gave it to them for some reason that can not be good."
"It could be enchanted," said Shaleh.
"Yes," agreed Urlock. He took it out of Shaleh's hand and placed it on a flat rock. Picking up a hefty rock, he smashed the amulet over and over until it was nothing but red enamel dust and a thin twisted copper circle. Alam was slightly disappointed that nothing spectacular or mystical happened when it was destroyed. Urlock picked up the remains and threw them into the river.
"Mount up. We do not stop, we do not rest, we do not sleep until we reach home."
It was a long two days before the clan's home camp came into view.
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