The ruins of Kih Bayar were worse than they could’ve imagined. They looked around, trying to take in the whole of the devastation. What had once been a prosperous and thriving city was now nothing more than an empty shell. Magnificent temples that reached towards the sky had been reduced to rubble. The city had literally exploded. Charred blast marks littered the foothills to the west. Homes—or what was left of them— were coated in black ash. The lingering perfume of fire and smoke filled the air. The people had simply vanished, either dead or escaped east. Nevermind the bands of marauding Gokstads and Pilgrims of Fate, who had abandoned their obligations to the Vicedonians, and now headed off in the same direction. Whatever had destroyed this city was much more dangerous than any Vicedonian colonist army.
Raden noticed the burnt out remains of a home along the side of the road. One wall of the house had completely crumbled, allowing for a full view of the kitchen. The room was small, and the circular dining table still remained miraculously intact. It seated four and reminded him of the elderly couple’s home that had cared for him and Kimi when they were orphaned. The memories came flooding back.
“There, there, child, you’re safe now. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
Raden stared at the elderly woman as she patted his head with a warm towel. Her friendly smile radiated warmth in the room. He was lying on a small cot in the kitchen, just beside the dining table. “The Vicedonians… they attacked my village… Carhay… I have to warn somebody… father said…”
“Hush, child, it’s okay. Save your strength. We’ve already had some other people from your village arrive telling us what happened there. Messages have been sent, and soon the Renzai army should be here to defend us. You needn’t worry. You’ve been so brave already.”
“Kimi… where is she…”
“She’s doing fine. Oba is watching her now. She’s sleeping peacefully. And your dog friend is waiting outside the door. He seems very concerned.”
Knowing that Kimi was safe, Raden finally allowed himself to rest, the exhaustion catching up with him. He awoke the next morning and could hear the elderly couple whispering in the next room.
“But, Oba, we can’t just abandon them. They’re too little. They’re just children.”
“I know, Oji, and I feel awful, but we don’t have enough money or food to take care of two young children. We barely have enough for ourselves. I know it’s hard, but once they regain their strength, we’ll have to take them to someone who can really help them.”
“There’s nobody in the village who can do that, Oba. We’re all simple farmers here. There’s no other place for them to go.” The elderly woman was on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know… we just don’t have enough food here for all of us. They need to go somewhere with more resources, somewhere bigger, and with more opportunity, a place like the capital. They’re bound to have orphanages or schools that can help them. I think that may be our only choice, Oji. I’m sorry. We can continue caring for them for about a week, but then I’ll have to take them to the capital.”
“… Okay… I understand.” The elderly woman replied meekly as she continued to sob.
Raden heard them make their way into the kitchen where he and Kimi laid. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He could feel them watching them. The elderly woman sniffled softly. Raden prayed silently, thanking the One for sending him and Kimi these two guardian angels.
The next week passed by quickly. Raden regained his strength fully, Kimi was healthy as ever, and Lulu still waited patiently by the front door with leftover vegetable skins piled nearby. Before he knew it, it was already time to leave. The elderly man was prepping the horse and wagon, while the elderly woman packed them food for the trip.
“Take care of yourself, Raden. You’re a strong boy, and I know you’ll do whatever it takes to care for your family. Be brave, child.” She held him tightly and kissed him on the forehead. “Goodbye.”
Raden held Kimi as he sat next to the elderly man. Lulu jumped into the back of the wagon and curled up to sleep. His life had been flipped upside down the past week. He thought about losing his parents, somehow surviving the river, and miraculously making it into the loving arms of his own people. If his parents had lived to grow old, he believed they would be just like this elderly couple, loving and caring, especially for their own people, the Renzai people. He felt blessed to be part of such a special community. He promised right then and there that he would protect his people from any harm.
Raden waved a final goodbye as the wagon pulled away. Raden tried not to cry as the elderly woman waved back. Be brave. I have to be brave, he reminded himself. He stared off across the high grass fields and settled in for the journey to the capital, unsure of where fate would take him next.
“Raden?” Gama tapped him on the shoulder, but Raden had a blank look in his eyes. “Rad! Can you hear me?”
Raden awoke from his reverie. “Oh, sorry, Gama. I was… thinking about something else.”
“I was just saying how ominous those mountains look. They’re a thousand times scarier than I imagined they’d be,” Gama said as he pointed to the foothills of the Voras Mountains.
Raden looked to where Gama was pointing. A cold chill went through his spine as he recognized the now-familiar markings. The strange glowing patterns had now matured into what he believed to be symbols. More than that, they were littered across the hillside. Raden dismounted his horse and instinctively found himself walking over to the nearest symbol on the ground. He touched it with his foot, and in it, he could feel a strange sensation. As if the symbol itself was alive, giving off energy of its own. He looked up towards the looming peaks above. The Prophet was right; I’ve found the trail.
“This is the way. Let’s go. Leave the horses here, we’ve no time to waste,” he said.
As they continued upwards, the size of the markings began to dwarf them. Gigantic symbols, some he had seen before and some were new. If only he knew what they meant. If they were a literal warning to stay away, he was dangerously oblivious.
A sudden loud crackling sound startled them and sent the horses fleeing. The noise came from off in the distance, on the other side of the Voras Mountains. It sounded like thunder, but there was no rain, and no flashes of lightning. Another warning perhaps, telling them to stay away.
They made their way up the mountain pass when they saw a flash of movement. Quickly they took cover behind a large boulder.
“Crap, it’s a Vicedonian soldier,” Gama snapped. Oli began to growl softly. Gama patted her head, trying to calm her down. “Easy girl. We’re not jumping into battle just yet.”
“What’s the plan, Raden?” asked Kara as she slowly removed the sword from off her back.
“We follow him. Up there.” He pointed over to another hill overlooking the area where the soldier was standing below. “We can watch him undetected from there,” he whispered.
When the soldier turned his head the opposite way, they scampered over to the base of the other hill. One by one they crawled to the top, trying to minimize the sound of their movements. From this new vantage point, they could see the soldier down below, patrolling a small pathway that was blocked off with massive chains.
“So are we sneaking by him or putting him to sleep?” whispered Gama.
“We need to figure out a way to get by him undetected. I think if—” Raden’s words were cut short as he watched Kara maneuver her way down the hill.
“Umm… Kara’s already decided to handle it,” quipped Gama.
She was crawling, keeping low to the ground. The soldier looked suddenly to his left, freezing Kara in her path, but he didn’t see her. She made her way to a lower ledge, just above where he now stood. She looked at Raden, motioning for him to throw something to the right of the soldier. Raden grabbed a nearby stone and flashed it at her. She nodded in agreement and whispered. One. Two. Three. Raden threw the rock. It bounced off the ground with a loud snap. The soldier glanced over immed
iately. As he made his way over to investigate, Kara leapt off the ledge, landing behind him. She grabbed him by the neck and plunged her sword into his back. He squirmed for a bit. When he drew his last breath, Kara dropped him to the ground.
The three of them rejoined Kara down below. They hid the body behind a makeshift pile of stones, and laid more upon him in a crude attempt at concealment. They were in a hurry, and this would have to suffice. They ran past the chains and saw the path open up before them. A couple of doors were built into the hillside. Most of them were much too small for any person to fit into, perhaps meant to be windows for ventilation of some sort. There were two larger doors they could see, but in front of them stood two more Vicedonian soldiers.
“Why don’t you go and handle them, too, Kara?” asked Gama.
Kara gave Gama a stern look. “I would, except there’s no way for me to get the drop on them.”
Raden searched the area, looking for an alternate route where they could maneuver silently through, but none presented itself. “We need a distraction. We need to split them apart, to get at least one of them away from the door. It’s hard to tell if there are more guards watching from those window shafts, too.”
He stared at Kara. “Do you think you’re fast enough to take both of them out? If you kill one, but the other escapes, it’s over for us.”
Kara never took her eyes off of the two guards until Raden had spoken to her. She met his gaze, holding it for a long moment, before turning her attention back to the guards. She could never handle it when Raden stared at her too long. It was as if he was accessing every secret, every emotion within her. It both unnerved and exhilarated her. He was the only one who had that effect on her; if he knew it, she was unaware.
“No, I’m quick but I cannot guarantee it. It’s too much of a risk. Why don’t you go with me, Raden? The two of us could take them out together,” she suggested.
“No, it’s too dangerous. Who knows what kind of warning system they have in this place? They can’t know we’re here.”
“What about this one?” Gama pointed down to Oli whose ears perked up, ready to hear her orders.
“If we send her in as a distraction, they may just think her to be a wild animal. If Oli can get them to follow, she could give them a little surprise.” Oli wagged her tail in apparent agreement.
“You know, that’s actually a good plan, Gama.” Kara nodded at him, patting him on the shoulder. “Oli, try to get them to follow you over here. We’ll wait in ambush.”
“Alright, go ahead, Oli.” Gama placed her gently on the ground.
Oli jumped out from where they were hiding. She walked down the pathway right in plain view of the guards. Immediately they took notice. They watched Oli make her way towards them. She stopped to urinate, and continued on her way. When she got within a couple feet of them, she began to bark. The taller guard took the end of his spear and swatted at Oli. Oli jumped back, front legs spread out, rear high in the air, and tail sticking straight up, ready to fight.
“Look, the mutt wants to pick a fight with you,” the other stockier guard said. “We’ve had nothing to do for days now. Why don’t we see who can skewer it first? Maybe we’ll eat some barbeque dog tonight.” They chuckled at the proposition, eager to break up the monotony of the day. They lowered their spears, ready to pounce at Oli.
“This was a bad idea, Gama. We shouldn’t have sent her in.” Raden spoke with doubt in his voice.
“She’ll be fine, just keep watching,” Gama answered. His eyes glued to the happenings before him.
Oli started to leap left and right as the two guards jabbed at her with their spears. She was much too quick for them, and the sudden frustration on their faces was apparent.
“Mangy mutt, stay still so I can shaft ya!” blurted out the taller guard. The guard jumped into the air, leaping a good distance towards Oli, and drove his spear into the ground. Oli rolled out of the way just in time to see the spear puncture the ground beside her head. The guard was furious now. He continued his attack, piercing haphazardly at her. Oli backed up a good distance from the guard, barked at him, and started making her way back towards the group.
“Here he comes, be ready,” whispered Raden.
Oli came running towards them. The three of them readied their weapons. In any moment they would launch their ambush. Suddenly, Oli veered away from them, running off behind a hill in the wrong direction.
“What in the world is she doing?” Kara punched Gama in the lower back.
“I have no idea. Sometimes she doesn’t listen to me either,” he loudly whispered.
“Well, do we go help her or what?” Kara punched Gama again.
“Heads up,” Raden interrupted. The other guard was making his way down now.
“Nico! Where’d you go? Did you get him or what?” He started making his way closer to the group. The three of them looked at each other in understanding. They waited for the stockier guard to be within distance. They readied their weapons in anticipation. As he drew closer, the taller guard’s body came flying over the hilltop. He landed face down with a thud. The guard bent over to check on his comrade.
“Nico! What happened?” He rolled him over. The guard had three deep gashes that ran down the length of his neck and across his torso. His armor had been completely shredded. A deep growling could be heard from above. When the guard looked up, he saw a large wolf-like beast with red stains across her mouth and paws. He tried to turn and run, but Oli was too quick. She pounced on him, biting deep into his neck and ferociously twisting him like a rag doll. Within seconds, his neck had snapped as a loud crunch ended his struggling.
Oli let the guard go, and made her way over to the group. Slowly her body began to shrink, and once again she was her normal size. Gama picked her up, wiped some of the red stains away and put her back in his pouch.
“Told you she could do it.” Kara and Raden couldn’t argue. They grabbed the bodies and hid them in the shadows of the hill. Cautiously they approached the doors as night was beginning to fall. It seemed that nobody was present. No movements could be seen or heard. They crouched before the two large, ironclad doors. Gama tried pulling them open, but neither side would budge. “They’re locked tight,” he said, exasperated.
Kara glanced at the door, and then to the smaller shafts along the sides. She crawled over, put her arms on the shaft and slowly slid it open. The shaft was only about one square foot. She looked at Gama. “I’m sorry to ask this, but we’re going to need Oli again. She’s the only one that can fit.”
Gama took Oli out of the pouch. “You ready for round two, girl?” Oli wagged her tail. “I guess she is.”
“Go inside, and try to unlock that door, Oli.” Raden felt a little strange giving orders to an animal, but Oli had already proven herself.
Oli jumped into the shaft. They closed it shut and ran back towards the iron doors. Minutes felt like hours. They waited for an eternity it seemed, listening for any indication that the doors were unlocked, but still they heard nothing. The cool evening air had turned piercingly bitter. Hours passed and the darkness of night had shrouded them, hiding them in its shadow. Patiently they waited.
“What is taking her so long?” said Gama nervously.
Finally they heard a sound, but it wasn’t what they expected. It was the sound of an animal crying out in pain.
Chapter 25