Chapter 32
After exiting the Arches, they found themselves emerging from the rock face of another mountain. Jorad looked up as he felt the rising sun on his face. An overgrown trail lead from the arch down the mountain. The majority of the leaves here were orange and yellow. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The hardest task that he ever faced was now only a couple of days away. The scent of nearby flowers filled him with hope. Hope that he would succeed. It was not going to be an easy path, but the fact that he had fought and killed Hunwei provided him confidence that he was ready.
Soret had cried through the night while the others had tried in vain to reopen the Zecarani arch. After the others had given up, despite the fact he could barely stand, Jorad had tried as well. He didn't know how long he had stood there, leaning against the wall touching his thumb to the top of the arch, but it finally got to the point where he had to sink down to the floor. Whatever it was that made it work before, it wasn’t working now.
Even as his heart went out to Soret, that didn’t dampen his mood much. They’d saved almost two hundred people from Zecarani. Jorad smiled. It was his first real smile in quite some time.
The young man with the baby—Kivin—walked several feet ahead. Jorad had learned that the baby was his younger brother, their father had died several years ago, and their mother had died in an explosion during the attack. Kivin was somber, but as Jorad made a face at Noal, the baby, he almost felt like breaking out in laughter. Which of course he didn’t do, afraid the others wouldn’t understand. The refugees were depressed and there was little talking and no joviality among the members of the group. Even Leron and Wes were mellow.
Soret sighed. Jorad examined her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking better today. Her dark brown hair needed to be brushed, but Soret had managed to clean off her face. She'd even changed out of the mud soaked clothes she'd been wearing yesterday. Jorad hadn't bothered to try changing. Right now, his body complained if he tried to bend over.
“Your father may have survived.” Jorad realized he was rubbing his shoulder where Barc had stabbed him and lowered his hand. Soret didn’t need the reminder. When Xarda had asked about what happened, he’d left out Barc’s attacks and Soret hadn’t bothered to correct him. “He survived Neberan after all.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Soret didn’t look convinced.
“Adar’s still there. Tere said that he was alive when they were separated. You can believe me. Adar will survive. Maybe he’ll meet up with Barc. If they do, Adar will keep him safe.”
Soret smiled weakly. “Let’s hope so. Did Tere say anything about the tablet?”
“They couldn’t find it.”
“So our only option is the Rarbon Portal. Are you sure about making a claim?”
Jorad paused and looked at Soret as he tried to put into words everything that he felt. Soret's question echoed his own thoughts. He'd made his decision weeks ago. It was his duty. It was his responsibility. All the dead he’d seen in Zecarani and Neberan were signs of things to come. There had been something nagging him though.
Was he fully committed? Were his motives right?
“Do you see it?” Xarda pointed ahead and Jorad was glad for the interruption, he needed a moment to gather his thoughts.
They were at a place on the trail were there was a gap in the trees. He could make out what appeared to be a small mountain in the distance. He smiled as he recognized Rarbon, even though the last time he’d seen it had been as a boy. How many times had Adar been back since they’d left? It still bothered Jorad that Adar had kept the Arches a secret until recently. All those long days and months that they spent traveling. Wouldn’t it have been much more effective to use the Arches? Jorad paused when he remembered that Adar spent much of that time teaching. As usual, there was a reason for the things Adar did.
“The mountain?” Soret asked.
Xarda started to laugh but cut it off short, looking around at the downcast group. “We’re less than two days from Rarbon. Wes may be right; those Arches might just be magical.”
Soret just nodded and stared at Rarbon in wonder. Jorad could barely believe it himself, traveling miles in a single step.
“You never answered my question,” Soret prompted a few minutes later after their view of Rarbon had been obscured again by trees.
There had been little time for Jorad to think about his motives during the last few weeks. He’d been planning to make his claim because he felt that he should and it was the only way to protect Soret. The more he thought about it, he realized that wasn’t enough. He had to be committed to see it through or die. That's what it would take to keep from failing.
As he lay in pain last night, he’d realized the deaths of Thon and Gorew were partially the result of his desire to protect Soret. Erro’s lies contributed to the problem, but still there might have been a different solution if he hadn’t been focused solely on getting her safely to the arch. Thon would have been a good ally. If Jorad had taken time to reason with him, would he have been able to get Thon to come around?
There were also the people that they’d saved yesterday. And more importantly, those that they hadn’t. Jorad had always known that the reason to make his decision was to help other people, but it wasn’t until last night as he lay with his body wrought in pain, that he truly understood that his desire to protect Soret wasn’t enough.
If he were to succeed in Rarbon, he’d have to think clearly. The decision hadn’t been easy, but he’d realized that he’d have to set aside his fear for Soret. In of itself, his fear was selfish. Focusing on helping everybody he could was different, especially when he was able to put the face of little Noal on it. It was for Noal and all the others that he represented that Jorad would make a claim.
“I’ll see this through to the end.” Jorad meant it without reservation. Oh sure, he’d still try to look out for Soret along the way, but she was now part of a much larger group that had claim for his help.
“Do you think we’ll live through this?” Soret drew closer, but didn’t touch him. She’d been avoiding contact all morning; he hadn’t worried much about what it meant. She probably didn’t know herself what to make of things between them. He couldn't blame her. After all, he had killed two people that she'd grown up with. Perhaps it would be for the best if she distanced herself from him. Many people around him were going to die in the days ahead.
“I hope so.” Jorad smiled as confidently as he could. The truth was he doubted he would live. Many died during the trials, and that was during times of peace, it would be a different game during war. He’d kill Hunwei for as long as he could, but figured he’d die along the way. Until then he had work to do.
Epilogue
The rising sun flashed off the large metal tower that disappeared into the sky. Lusitan Vuri had often wondered what Zictar looked like. Now that he saw it firsthand, he realized that none of the descriptions did it justice. He’d sent scouts ahead to Neberan, which was less than a couple miles away, but he already knew what they’d find. The Hunwei had already been there and done their work.
As Vuri approached the tree line, he guessed that he was still three weeks behind the other Ou Qui. He’d been away from Wasat when the Hunwei had attacked but his wife had been among the survivors. Thankfully, many others had survived as well.
The metal gods had been there for them. Vuri wished that he could have been there to witness it firsthand, but the story of it was miraculous enough.
His men started to mutter as he approached the edge of the tree line. They were afraid and he couldn’t blame them, but he could not pass this close to Zictar and Melyah’s impure ground and not take a look. He stood at the edge of the trees and looked up as the tower disappeared into the sky.
Behind him, the men continued to murmur but he ignored it. The impure ground didn’t taint Zictar as many thought. Zictar was a gift from the gods.
“Vuri,” Nisal said from behind, afraid to get any c
loser. “Let’s leave this place. Even the Hunwei can’t survive Melyah.”
Vuri looked where Nisal was pointing and was glad the men behind him couldn’t see the expression on his face. Thousands of Hunwei lay rotting in the sun, the bodies stretched off to either side, surrounding Zictar.
Vuri took a step out of the tree line and onto the impure ground to the sound of gasps from those behind him.
As he approached the Hunwei, he imagined the fear his men must be feeling. Vuri wished again that his people better understood Zictar. It was forbidden for an uninitiated Ou Qui to walk the impure ground, but Vuri had been cleansed. He could cross all the way to Zictar if he wanted and would be fine.
The sound of his men dwindled as he got closer to the Hunwei corpses. He readied his bow with an arrow that had been dipped in the black tar the metal gods had given them, just in case some were still alive. When he reached the Hunwei he almost vomited at the smell of the burned flesh, but he continued forward to examine the bodies and was amazed to learn that every single one he examined had the flesh burned away to the bone. He continued into the field of dead Hunwei, checking as many as he could until the smell drove him away. The Hunwei were dead but this hadn’t been done by any mortal weapon.
Nisal chastised him when he returned. “Vuri, you shouldn’t have done that. There’s no telling how Melyah would have reacted if he found you on his land.”
Vuri ignored the doctrinal error in what Nisal had just said. Melyah couldn’t touch one of the initiated, the cleansed. “A Scathen walks the earth again, these Hunwei are dead by his hands.” As his men cheered, Vuri smiled and clapped Nisal on the shoulder.
About the Author
Dan Decker lives in Utah with his wife. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.
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