Now, as he walked through the ranks of his new and ever-growing army, Darius could see how they all looked at him, and it was like watching his own imagination come to life, unfold before his eyes. He knew, he just knew, that it was his tenaciously clinging to his imagination, his vision, that had caused this. It was his ability to drown out all the voice of negativity around him that had tried to keep him down, had insisted on telling him what he could never be. To rise to power, he knew, he felt, all depended on one thing: how strong you can block out the voices of others, block out the sea of negativity that tries to tell you who you are, tries to tell you what you can never do in this lifetime. It is a sea that pounds at you every day, from every angle, Darius realized, like fresh waves washing up on the sands. Those who could block it out, who could cling to their own visions of themselves, could, Darius knew, rise above anything.
As Darius walked through, looking at all the new faces, his own friends following him as a leader, he saw that it was important, for their sake, that they thought of him as a leader. They all needed and craved a leader, someone to navigate them through these uncertain times. He gave them hope, confidence, direction, however bleak the picture might seem. He knew he had to give it to them. He owed it to them, even if he didn’t entirely feel it yet within himself.
“Thank you, Zambuti,” one of the freed men said, rushing forward and grabbing Darius’s hand with both of his. “You have freed us all. You have given us life.”
Darius was shocked at the expression of reverence. Zambuti was only reserved for the highest possible respect, a term that meant beloved leader, of such endearment that even the village elder did not receive it. As long as he had known, the slaves had had no real leader. Not a true one.
Darius shook his head.
“You gave yourself life,” Darius said. “And I am not your Zambuti.”
“You are,” another freed man replied, rushing forward, shaking Darius’s hand, too.
“It is a duty!” echoed another man, as more and more men gathered around him. “You are our leader now! The only true leader we’ve ever had. The only who has stood up to them. You’ve given us back our lives. Now it is up to you to lead us slaves!”
There came a cheer of approval.
“You are not slaves any longer!” Darius called out to the growing crowd. “Do not call yourself that again! You are free men. You have chosen your fate, you have chosen your freedom, and for that I am very proud of you. I shall lead you—if you shall lead yourselves!”
There came another cheer of approval.
There came a sudden commotion, the sound of men cheering, agitated, and Darius, curious, turned and walked through the crowd, thick with people, all parting ways for him.
As he reached the far end of the crowd, Darius spotted a small clearing, the center of the commotion, and inside he saw the village elders congregating, addressing the new slaves.
“We have won a victory here this day,” an elder called out. “We have been graced by the gods. And yet, do not be emboldened to think this should lead to more victories. Now is not the time to fight more. Now is the time to try to negotiate peace with the Empire.”
“There shall be no peace!” one of the villagers yelled out.
“The days for talking peace are over!” yelled another.
“How dare you defy your elders!” one of the village elders, a thin, stern man whom Darius recognized from his village, yelled back.
“You are not our elders!” yelled back a freed man from the new village. “We have not survived here today to listen to your commands. We have not thrown off one slave taskmaster to place on our heads a new one!”
The villagers cheered.
Zirk suddenly pushed through the circle, jumped up onto a large boulder in the center, and faced them all, demanding attention.
“I am commander of our forces!” Zirk yelled. “It is I who trained all the warriors here today! And I am the eldest among these warriors! It is I who will lead you to our next fight, wherever it shall be. You are now all under my command!”
Darius stood there, watching it all, irate. Zirk had always been threatened by him. And now here he was, the same man who had tried to keep him down, to stop the insurrection, claiming credit for it.
Darius watched as there came a tense silence among the crowd. He wanted to call out, to set wrongs right—but he realized it was not for him to seize power. It was up to these men to want him.
Slowly, the silence broke as a group of slaves stepped forward into the center, and pointedly ignored Zirk, turning their backs to him. Instead, they turned and faced Darius.
Darius was shocked to see them all looking his way, pointing right at him.
“You are not our leader,” they said to Zirk. “Darius is.”
There came a cheer amidst the villagers.
“Darius is the one who led the battle here today. Darius is the one who freed us, and our families. It is to Darius that we owe our allegiance. Zambuti!”
“Zambuti!” the others echoed.
Darius felt a rush of gratitude as he stood there—but suddenly, Zirk, indignant, jumped down from the boulder and rushed between them.
“You cannot take him as leader!” Zirk yelled, desperate, looking at Darius with envy and jealousy. “He’s just a boy. A boy who I trained. He is not even the greatest of our fighters. He can lead no one.”
One of the villagers stepped forward and shook his head.
“It is not the age of a man that makes a leader,” the man replied, “but the heart within him. It is he who shall lead us.”
The villagers erupted into a great cheer.
“ZAMBUTI!” they cried, again and again.
Zirk, outraged, scowled and stormed away, pushing his way through the crowd and disappearing.
Several slaves rushed forward, grabbed Darius, and to his surprise, placed him atop the boulder. As they did, all the other slaves cheered, and they all looked up at him, rejoicing.
Darius looked out at the sea of faces, all looking up to him in adulation, and realized how much he meant to them. How much they needed him. How much they needed someone to believe in. Someone to lead them. He could see in all their eyes that they would go anywhere in the world he would lead them.
“It was the honor of my life to fight by your side today,” Darius called out. “It was an honor to witness your bravery. You are free men now and the choices are yours. If you wish to join me, I cannot promise you life—but I can promise you freedom. If you wish to join me, we will not sit here and cower in fear in the desert, but, come what may, we will carry this fight all the way to the Empire cities!”
The men cheered wildly, rushing forward and embracing him, pulling him down off the rock, and Darius knew the great war was just beginning. He knew that he now had his army.
“ZAMBUTI!” they cried. “ZAMBUTI!”
*
Darius walked through the camp, concerned, as he was being led by Loti. She held his hand as she weaved in and out of the camp, and he could not stop thinking of the news she had just given him.
“Is he dying?” Darius asked her.
Loti shook her head sadly.
“I don’t know, my love,” she said. “But it’s best to hurry.”
Darius’s heart pounded as they weaved in and out of the camp, wondering if this was it. His grandfather, she had informed him, lay gravely wounded. He had been injured in the last skirmish, even though he did not fight, a random spear thrown through his spine, and he lay unmoving. Loti had stumbled upon him, tending to him as she had made her rounds of the wounded, and had come right to Darius.
Darius’s emotions swirled with mixed feelings as they marched toward him. He thought of how his grandfather had treated him so harshly his whole life, recalled all the resentment he had against him. Yet at the same time, he was also his grandfather, had been present when his father was absent, had raised him and given him a place to live. He was also his only living relative, aside from Sandara. That cou
nted for something. As upset as he was with his grandfather, he had to admit he had some love for him too, this fixture in his life. And Darius could not help but feel as if his being injured in the skirmish were all his fault.
They finally reached a clearing, filled with the wounded and the sick, and Darius’s heart fell as he spotted his grandfather amongst the bodies, lying there, a large wound through his spine and into his stomach, covered in bandages, already seeping blood. His grandfather looked weaker than he’d ever seen him. He looked to be on death’s door.
Darius felt overwhelmed with grief, and he did not want Loti to see him like this.
“I would like to see him alone,” Darius said.
Loti nodded, seeming sad but also seeming to understand, and she turned and walked away, giving them their privacy.
Darius hurried over to his grandfather, knelt down, and held his hand.
“Potti,” Darius said, using the affectionate term he had always used for his grandfather.
His grandfather opened his eyes weakly and looked up at Darius. Darius could see the light in them fading.
“Darius,” he said, with a weak smile. Darius could see how much it meant to him that he was there.
“I waited for you,” his grandfather continued, weakly, his voice hoarse. “I waited for you before I die.”
Darius squeezed his hand, fighting back tears as he clutched it, hating the idea of his dying. There had been so much tension between them all their lives, such a battle for control—and yet there had also, Darius had to admit, been so much love. His grandfather was a stern man, but at least he had been dependable, always there for him. He felt overwhelmed with guilt, feeling that perhaps he, regardless of how he had been treated, should have been more respectful toward him, less defiant.
“I’m sorry,” Darius said. “I’m sorry I was not here to receive this blow for you. I am sorry that you lay dying.”
His grandfather slowly shook his head, eyes welling with tears.
“You have done nothing to be sorry for,” he finally replied, his breathing shallow. “You are like a son to me. You have always been like a son to me. I was harsh with you because I wanted you to be strong. I wanted you to learn. I didn’t want you to rely on anyone but yourself.”
Darius brushed back tears.
“I know, Potti,” he said. “I have always known.”
“I did not want you to end up like your father,” he said. “And yet, deep down, I knew it was your destiny.”
Darius stared down at him, confused.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
His grandfather coughed, blood coming up, and Darius could feel him dying in his arms. He was burning to know what he meant, what he had to say about his father. His father’s disappearance had been a mystery that had been gnawing at him his entire life. He was dying to know who he was, when he had left, where he had gone, and what had become of him. But his grandfather had always refused to speak of it.
His grandfather shook his head and fell silent for a long time, so long that Darius did not think he would reply.
Finally, though, he spoke, his voice hoarse.
“Your father was no common slave,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper. “He was not like the others. He took after my father.”
“Your father?” Darius asked, confused.
He nodded.
“A great warrior,” he said. “The man after whom you were named.”
Darius’s heart stopped at the news.
“A warrior?”
His grandfather nodded.
“And much more. He was not only a warrior. You see, the blood in you—”
He suddenly erupted into a long coughing fit, unable to speak. Darius watched, tortured to know more, feeling as though all the mysteries of his life were finally opening up.
Finally, he stopped coughing, and this time, his voice was even weaker.
“Your father, he will tell you all,” he whispered, gasping. “He lives. You must find him.”
“He lives!?” Darius asked, shocked. He had always been certain he was dead. “But where? Find him where!?”
His grandfather suddenly closed his eyes and let go of his hand, and Darius sensed him leaving.
“Potti!” Darius cried out.
But there was nothing more Darius could do. He knelt there and watched his head fall back limply, watched him die, so many unanswered questions still swirling in his mind, feeling his destiny hanging before him for the first time in his life.
He leaned back and cried a wail of grief.
“Potti!”
*
Loti stood on the far side of the clearing and watched Darius at his grandfather’s side, holding his hand, crying, and she turned away, unable to bear the sight. She could not stand to see Darius so overcome with grief, and she wanted to give him his privacy. She watched Darius’s expression change as his grandfather spoke and she was, of course, burning with curiosity to know what he was telling him, to know what could be affecting him so much. As far as she knew, they had never really gotten along.
As Loti thought of Darius, she realized she had come to love him with all her heart—and even more, to respect him. She still could not comprehend how he had saved her, how he had sacrificed himself for her like that, how he had taken all those lashes on her behalf, had been prepared to submit himself to awful torture and death for her. In some ways she felt that this entire war had started as a result of her actions, of killing that taskmaster who had lashed her brother, and while she was proud of her actions, she felt a sense of guilt. She also felt intense gratitude: she knew that if it hadn’t been for Darius she would be dead by now, as would her people, and she felt more love for him than she could possibly express.
“There you are,” came a voice.
Loti turned to see Loc coming up beside her, a smile on his face.
She looked down and saw the wound on his arm, and her face flashed with concern.
“Do not worry,” he said, “it is just a scratch.”
She examined the slash in his left bicep, his good arm, bulging with muscles and now, covered in dried blood.
“How did you get this?” she asked.
He smiled.
“I might be lame,” he replied, “but I can fight too, sister. I may not be not as fast or as strong as the others, but my one good arm is far stronger than a lot of people’s regular arms. With the proper spear or mace or flail, I can reach an enemy ten paces away. More than one taskmaster lies dead in the field today because of this lame man—and I have just paid a small price for it.”
Loti, so proud of him, was nonetheless concerned at the wound, which seemed deep; she quickly took out a spare bandage from her waist and wrapped his arm, again and again.
“You are brave,” she said. “I don’t know anyone else in your condition that would risk going into battle.”
He smiled.
“I have no condition, sister,” he said. “I am as happy and as free as any man on this earth. Conditions and limitations exist in the mind only. And they do not exist in my mind. I am proud of the state I was born into.”
She smiled back, so uplifted by him, as always.
“Of course,” she said. “I am proud of you, too. I didn’t mean to say—”
He raised a reassuring hand.
“I know, my sister. I know what you meant. You always mean well for me. You always have. You could never offend me.”
“LOTI!” shrieked a voice.
Loti flinched at the strident sound, a voice she knew well, one that sent a chill up her spine, so disapproving, so scolding. She did not need to turn to know it was her mother fast approaching.
She reached them and glared disapprovingly back and forth between her daughter and son.
“Stop this nonsense, whatever it is you are doing, and come with me at once,” she demanded. “Your people need you.”
She looked back at her, confused.
“My people need me?” she echoed. “What do
es that mean?”
Her mother glared back at her; she hated being questioned.
“Don’t you question your mother!” she snapped. “Come with me at once—both of you.”
Loti and Loc shared a puzzled look.
“Come with you where?” Loc asked.
Her mother placed her hands on her hips and heaved a great sigh.
“A great group of slaves turned warriors, from another village, might wish to join our cause. They only wish to speak to you, as you are the famed one in their eyes, the one that started it all, that killed the first taskmaster. They will not join us otherwise. Come now, quickly, and do your people a service.”
Loti looked back at her mother, confused.
“And why would you care so much about our cause?” she asked her. “You, who are opposed to fighting?”
Her mother seethed, taking a step closer.
“It is because of you that this war started,” she scolded. “We never would be fighting otherwise. But now that we are fighting it, we must win. And if you can help, then so be it. Now are you coming or not?”
Their mother stood there, glaring down at both of them, and Loti could see she would not take no for an answer. The last thing she wanted to do was go with her mother anywhere; but for Darius, for the cause, for her people, she would do anything.
Her mother turned and stormed off, and they fell in behind her, weaving in and out of the crowd, following her as she led them God only knew where.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gwendolyn lay curled up in a ball on the hard desert floor of the Great Waste, awake, as she had most of the night, and looked out into another desert morning. The sky broke in a scarlet red, the first of the suns rising, impossibly large, seeming to fill the entire universe. It cast a somber light onto everything, this desolate place, and already she felt the heat beginning to rise.
Krohn, curled up in her lap, shifted and whined, snuggling against her, sleeping contentedly, the only thing that had kept her warm during the freezing night. Gwen shifted, too, but was in pain as she did, her body still scratched up from their encounter with the Dust Walkers.