The Inheritance of Wrath, page 8
“I supposed it’s difficult not to have a certain amount of respect for him,” Tummu said. “I certainly wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.”
With Alexander gone, Liwanu turned back toward the table and helped himself to some of the food that was set out. A nearby dish made mostly of diced potatoes rested nearby, and beside that was the fried eggs. He helped himself to the eggs first, which oozed out golden yolk when cut into. Still unsatisfied after that, he reached for the potatoes and some mixed fruit, which consisted of sliced apple, blueberries and grapes. Both he and Tummu piled on multiple servings, competing to see who could eat the most.
After eating his fill, Liwanu sat back and chuckled at his friend. Tummu was still eating and didn’t show any sign of slowing down. As Liwanu’s chuckle died down his thoughts grew introspective. Although they had been given a warm welcome, he wondered how long it would last. And once their time with the group was up, where would they go? Perhaps they could attempt going back to Kanti and start their search anew. The people didn’t seem very friendly, but perhaps they could find more information about Hiroki if they tried a little harder.
While he was deep in thought, he glanced down the other side of the table and noticed Jaya looking at the two of them. She held eye contact for a moment before turning her entire head down toward her plate to stare at her food.
“I think she was checking you out. She must think you’re cute or something,” Tummu whispered with a broad wink.
“I don’t think so. You saw how weird she can be when we first met her. Besides, if she was staring at anyone, it would probably be you, my friend. She’s likely never seen a man eat so much food in one sitting.”
“Well, I guess I can’t blame her for that. You know, in some cultures, women view eating as an attractive trait in a man.”
“Name one culture where that’s true. In fact, name one culture period other than our own.”
“I may not know the names of them, but they exist. And when we find one of them, I will be hailed as a king.”
Niccolo, the rotund man that the two friends had met the night before, sat down next to Tummu. To the surprise of the two friends, he was carrying five separate plates, each one piled high with copious amounts of food. The pair gawked as the man downed the entire meal within a matter of minutes. Once finished, he looked over at Tummu’s plate.
“Are you going to finish that?” he asked. Tummu offered the rest of his food to the large man and made several mock bowing gestures, recognizing and appreciating the man’s clearly superior skill at the sport of face stuffing.
“Holy smokes,” Tummu whispered to Liwanu. “This guy will be accepted into that culture as a god.”
“You guys are all right in my book,” Niccolo said. “You keep to yourselves and you don’t mind sharing your food. I think we’ll get along just fine. Of course, nobody shares as much food as Cui. That little beanpole doesn’t eat very much at all. It’s a shame he’s not here.”
“Where did he go?” Liwanu asked.
“He was sent out early this morning to Kanti to see if he could learn anything about The Crows. Because he’s so good at running, he usually gathers and puts out information for the group. Sometimes he even brings me a little extra food.”
Liwanu nodded his head. The unique dynamic of the strange group seemed to work well. By acknowledging their diverse backgrounds and abilities, they were able to turn their differences into an advantage. Everyone had a role to play it seemed.
A loud noise from the woods grabbed his attention. Toba burst through a cluster of bushes and into the clearing where the company was eating breakfast. Everybody smiled and waved at him. The warm atmosphere was cut in two as Toba looked back over his shoulder. A group of men carrying an assortment of weapons were following right behind him. One of them tackled Toba to the ground then wrestled him back to his feet, a knife at his throat.
Liwanu drew an arrow from his quiver and set it to his bow. He aimed it at the man holding Toba and released the arrow. No one was more surprised than he at how fast he had reacted. Even more shocking was his accuracy. The man with the knife fell on his back, with Liwanu’s arrow standing straight in the air out of his eye socket.
Before Liwanu could think about what he had done, more armed men advanced on the camp. For a moment, he was reminded of the dark shapes that he had seen in Empyrean. He could feel himself going numb. The blood drained from his face.
He panicked.
Then the anger came. Blood pumped feeling back into his arms and he tightened his grip on his bow before setting another arrow to it. All fear was gone. Vengeance was once again at the forefront of his mind. Before him was a group of killers. Father stealers. Pain bringers. And the only way to stop them was to enact revenge for his father’s death by whatever means possible.
Even if it meant killing those men that he didn’t know.
Especially if it meant killing them.
Chapter 8
Arrows flew from Liwanu’s bow in rapid succession, each one hitting its mark. Different members of The Crows rushed the camp, replacing their allies as they fell. Not thinking about his own wellbeing, Liwanu stood in the open, firing as many arrows as his anxious hands could handle. Without a proper arm guard to protect him, cuts and abrasions formed on his left forearm with each shot he took. The injuries didn’t slow him in the least.
In a way, they fueled him. They fueled his anger. A low growl rumbled in his throat as he let loose two more arrows. Two more men dead. A small part of him was sick, but the stronger part reveled in the violence.
Liwanu was surprised when Tummu tackled him, placing them both behind a large tree. Where he stood a moment before, an arrow from an enemy archer penetrated the dirt, quivering furiously.
“Are you crazy?” Tummu scolded. “You almost died. Just because you got the hang of archery overnight doesn’t mean you’re invincible.” After taking a moment to catch his breath, Liwanu looked at his friend. Tummu helped him to his feet, and he could feel his anger subsiding slightly. Only enough to reintroduce a semblance of judgement to his thoughts.
“You’re right. I should be more careful.” With a certain level of caution, he poked his head out from behind the tree and observed the battlefield before him. The Crows outnumbered the professor’s group by about four to one.
To the left, Jaya faced off against several men, a sword in each of her hands. Three precise slicing movements cut down most of The Crows before her. Without looking back at the destruction she caused, she continued forward, twirling her weapons continuously. As she went, her body twisted and contorted in seemingly impossible movements. The two remaining men in front of her dropped their weapons and ran. The twirling stopped. She saw more members of The Crows walking in her direction cautiously and she started up her dangerous dance once more.
Liwanu continued to observe the battle and noticed Zakiya fighting alone. Armed with only a simple staff, a great number of the enemy rushed at her. They likely saw her as an easy target.
They were woefully mistaken.
What struck Liwanu was the stark difference in fighting styles between her and Jaya. Whereas Jaya kept a strong, continual motion for the entirety of the fight, Zakiya was incredibly agile. With hard and fast movements, she would dodge or block oncoming attacks before whirling her staff with enough force to crack bones. And crack bones she did.
A man behind a tree caught Liwanu’s attention. As he stepped forward, he readied a small javelin, aiming it at Zakiya’s back. Liwanu drew his arrow and fired. The javelin fell harmlessly from the would-be killer’s grasp.
On the other side of the camp, a large group surrounded Alexander. He swung his mace again and again with no sign of fatigue. Bones splintered with each blow, and screams washed over the battlefield. Waves of enemies crashed into him, only to break upon his unrelenting onslaught. The fools.
With each swing of his mace a disappointed grimace grew deeper on his face. He was a starving man feeding off nothing more than crumbs. A craving for a true warrior to face, a real challenge, made the battle dull.
“Why are they attacking us so directly?” Niccolo asked as he ran up next to him. With the two large men standing side by side, The Crows hesitated. Alexander took the opportunity to consider Niccolo’s question. With an experienced eye, he watched the movements of his opponents. Their wild charge seemed to be so erratic that it was unnecessary. Some even screamed and yelled as they charged in, only to be taken out of the fight as quickly as they joined it.
“It’s a distraction,” he said in a moment of realization.
“But from what?” Niccolo asked. Alexander didn’t respond. Instead, he ran back toward the tents, knocking members of The Crows out of the way as he went. When he got to the center of the camp, he looked about frantically. Movement at the forest’s edge caught his eye. A large man could be seen fleeing with Professor Baker slumped over one shoulder.
Liwanu fired another arrow. The enemy seemed to be slowing down their attack. A part of him was relieved. But a part of him was not yet satisfied. His anger demanded more.
“They have Baker!” Alexander cried out over the roar of battle. Liwanu jerked his head in his direction, the loud voice pulling him from his dark thoughts. “Get him back! Now!”
Liwanu looked at the man that was carrying the professor. He drew his arrow and notched it into place. His hands shook as he aimed. Once again, his body went numb. However, his anger didn’t rise like before. Self-doubt outweighed everything else. If his aim wasn’t true, the professor could be struck. There was nothing he could do as the old man was carried off into the woods.
“After them!” Zakiya yelled. She headed the charge, speeding off in the direction of the retreating men. With incredible ferocity, she swung her staff down on the head of a man before her, breaking both his skull and the staff. Ignoring the blood and brain matter that leaked out from the wound, she took the spear from his limp hand, and threw it at the professor’s kidnapper. The man swerved behind a tree at the last second, unharmed.
Liwanu’s feet were still firmly planted where he stood. Why hadn’t he taken the shot? Everything had happened so quickly, and because of his one moment of hesitation, the professor was now in far greater danger. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a very angry Alexander walking toward him.
“You had the shot! Why didn’t you take it!?” he screamed. Liwanu bowed his head, unsure how to respond. With a shove, Alexander sent Liwanu to the ground and proceeded to step right over him. “We’re going after them,” he called out to the camp. “Let’s move.”
Regret prevented Liwanu’s body from doing anything. The feeling operated as a tangible weight, sitting directly on his chest. With his face to the sky, he squeezed his eyes tight and pounded his forehead with his fists. Why didn’t he take the shot? When he opened his eyes again, Zakiya was standing over him. Her expression was a mix of sympathy and determination. With an outstretched hand, she helped him get back on his feet.
“Don’t let Alexander get to you,” she said. “You’ve been with us for less than a day. Nobody expected you to do any more than you did. In fact, you did great. Especially when you helped out Toba.”
As Liwanu surveyed the aftermath of the battle, he could see dead bodies scattered all around the camp. Many of the bodies had his own arrows protruding from them. He looked at a man a few meters away with an arrow in his throat.
With the anger no longer overriding every other emotion, his breath escaped him. A chill ran down the back of his neck. His mouth went dry and his eyes widened. The horror expressed on the dead man’s face was duplicated in Liwanu’s heart. He was as mortified at the before him as he was with himself. The way he felt when he killed. That part of him that seemed to revel in the violence. After shutting his eyes tightly, the image of the man’s face did not leave him. He knew that it would never leave him.
“I know it isn’t easy to kill for the first time,” Zakiya said. “But you did what you had to. It’s important to keep perspective. I don’t know how many of us would have been wounded or worse if it wasn’t for you.”
“I… I need to sit down,” Liwanu mumbled
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that. The professor needs our help. And that includes you. There will be enough time later to sort through all of this. Right now, we need to get going.” Liwanu nodded and tried his best to push his emotions aside. Within minutes, the two of them caught up with the rest of the group.
With ragged breathing, Tummu ran beside Liwanu. “Hey bud, you were incredible out there,” he said. “Honestly. I can’t believe how many guys you were able to take out.” Liwanu dropped his head and his shoulders but didn’t slow his pace.
“I thought you’d be happier.” Tummu said. “Not only are you strong, but now you’re an expert marksman. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Think of how many deer you can hunt now with that bow of yours.”
“It’s just a lot to take in,” Liwanu said with a grimace.
“Save your breath,” Niccolo said as he jostled up beside them. Both Liwanu and Tummu were bewildered when they looked over at him. Mounted to his back was a comically large pack, ready to burst with supplies. With blue buckles and tassels dangling as he moved, it was the most conspicuous object the two friends had ever seen. It rose far above Niccolo’s tall head, standing at least two meters tall from top to bottom.
“How in the name of all that is good are you carrying that?” Tummu asked. “It must weigh almost as much as you do. Do you have unnatural strength like Liwanu?”
“I am pretty strong, little buddy, but my true gift lies in my endurance. After putting the pack on, I can go all day without tiring. That’s the tricky part.”
“That is a discussion for another time,” Alexander called back. “Let’s focus. Did anyone see which way they headed?”
“I’m tracking them right now, mate,” Toba called from further ahead. “The rest of ye try to keep up. Those fools will pay for what they did.”
“What happened, anyway?” Zakiya asked once they all caught up to Toba.
“I was following them for a few days. I finally found them hiding out in a large glade to the south. If I’m not mistaken, that’s exactly where they’re headed right now. Unfortunately, they got the drop on me while I was gathering information. One of those buffoons whacked me from behind, and next thing I knew, I was being carried back to all of ye. When I woke up, I killed one of them and ran the rest of the way here.”
“What did you learn when you found them?” Zakiya asked. “Did you see how many there were?”
“I didn’t get a very good look,” he said. “But I think just about all of them showed up earlier. All of them but their leader, I’d say.”
“You saw their leader?” Niccolo asked.
“Only a glimpse,” Toba replied. He spat into the dirt. “A hulking brute he was, in a big, goofy cloak. The others called him Nanuq. I can’t wait to have a bloody crack at him.”
“Did you get any sort of indication as to why they are here?” Zakiya asked. Toba shook his head.
“It is no coincidence that they’re out here at the same time as us,” Alexander said. “We are gaining a reputation. The Crows know that we’re targeting them, so now they’re going on the offensive. That’s why they were bringing Toba back to us. Perhaps they wanted to arrange some sort of trade for the professor. And now they have him.”
“What do they plan on doing with him?” Liwanu asked.
“They could be holding him hostage in hopes of getting a ransom,” Toba offered with a stroke of his chin. “I wonder how much money ye could make from such an operation.”
“Or perhaps they plan on using him to lure us all into a trap,” Zakiya countered.
“I don’t think you are far from the mark,” Alexander said. “But I’m afraid there’s more to it than that. It is evident in the way we fight that we are Empyreal. And it is also apparent that the professor is not. To outsiders, it may seem odd for him to be included in our small band of warriors. It is not farfetched for them to think that he is responsible for all of this. They may try to force the professor to give them similar abilities that all of us have.”
“But he is incapable of making someone Empyreal,” Jaya chimed in.
“Without question,” Alexander said. “But they don’t know that. The likelihood of any of them being able to travel to Empyrean and back is next to nothing. Which is why we must hurry. Who knows what all they might put Baker through with false hopes of gaining powers?”
Liwanu had only known the kind old man for a short time, but already he felt a certain closeness to him. When his life stopped making sense, the professor offered answers that no one else could. He shuddered at the thought of his new friend getting tortured. Every member of the group increased their pace at the mention of their mentor facing unknown horrors.
With a burlap sack over his head obscuring his sight, Professor Baker was clueless as to where he might be. After being placed onto the back of a horse, his sense of direction and time both melded into obscurity. Although he had fast and powerful friends, he knew that the horse would carry him further than they could keep up with. He had to place his confidence in the tracking abilities of Toba.
After a few hours of riding, the horse slowed down, and the professor knew they had reached their destination. The sack was yanked from his head and he squinted his eyes in response to the sudden flood of light. It was the afternoon and he was still somewhere in the forest, far from any established city, as far as he could tell. In front of him was a large canvas tent. The flap was slightly open, and Professor Baker couldn’t make out any details about what lay within. Despite the warm sunshine outside, however, the interior of the tent appeared dark and dank.
After being shoved violently from atop the horse, he was dragged inside. His eyes took a moment to adjust after he stumbled to the floor. When he dared to look up, a large man with long hair stood before him. Ethnically, he appeared similar to Liwanu. A crimson colored scar ran horizontally across his large nose and his lip curled into a snarl. There was no doubt that he was the group’s leader.
