Reborn (21 page)

“Are you sure?” she muttered meekly. “I can still have them ready, just in case she proves to be a problem. Yes, that’s it. I’ll have a team on standby and tell them to go in, you know, only if the job proves to be too big.”

He sheathed his blades and dropped down to all fours, growling and snarling. “You will do nothing until I return with her head, then I will hang it on the wall for all to see. If anyone doubts my authority after that, their head will hang next to hers.”

He dashed toward the closed door, knocking it off its hinges with a heavy shoulder, then galloped down the hall on all fours like a raging tiger. The room was now quiet, save for Hashiki’s legitimate snickering. He looked to Morita, cooing and popping his usual nonsense. “It doesn’t matter now,” she said. “Even if he finishes the task, that’s one less enemy to worry about.” She smiled down at the little creature, her bright-yellow, yet seductive eyes twinkling with satisfaction. “A leader must always use every situation to their advantage, then continue to adapt from there—a worldly lesson lost on my predictable brother.” She looked to the broken door, hanging diagonally from a twisted hinge. “Whether today, or ten years from now, revenge will still be mine.”
Patience, dear...patience
.

Chapter 13

After putting several miles between herself and the village, Athel decided to stop for the night. She found an open area that was at least semi dry. With plenty of damp wood lying around, and the vial of oil she had in one of her bags, making a small fire would be easy enough. A click or two from her flint and steel, and the fire was going in no time.

She settled down on a pile of damp leaves and watched as the small flames licked the cool night air. It popped and hissed as some of the damper pieces began to release their moisture. Once she felt settled in, Athel pulled one of the bags to her lap and began to rummage through it. An apple and some jerky would be supper for tonight; there was no telling how long she would be traveling, or where she would find more food.

Athel gnawed away on the jerky, trying to deny what she had known for some time. Finally, it became too much, she couldn’t handle the guilt anymore.
He must be cold and hungry by now. I just can’t pretend any longer
. “Jacob, come out. I know you’re there,” she shouted.

A far-off bush began to rustle about before Jacob peeked out from his distant hiding place. He was still so far away, all he could see was the feint light from her cracking fire. He sighed and began to drag his way toward her camp.
I was a fool to think I could track her
. He walked right up near the fire, vigorously rubbing his arms and shoulders to help get some feeling back. For a time, they didn’t even look at each other. The popping and hissing of the fire resonated loudly against the silence. Jacob felt stupid for ever believing he could fool this remarkable girl. “How long have you known?” he said, subtle shadows dancing across his face from the flickering fire.

She shrugged. “Most of the time, I suppose. I had only just left the village when I caught your scent.” She grinned, somewhat breaking the tension, then looked at him for the first time. “It was all I could do not to laugh, watching you crawl on the ground like a critter.”

He snickered to himself, visualizing for the first time just how foolish he must have looked. He felt his face grow warm as spots of color slowly emerged on his cheeks.
I hope the light from the fire is hiding this
. However, her widening grin proved otherwise. His smile began to fade, and he was now feeling both stupid and irritated. “If you knew all this time, how long were you planning to let this go on? I don’t have any food or supplies. I could have frozen out there.”

Athel hung her head at the stinging truth of his words. “Because I’m greedy, that’s why.”

Jacob approached her, touching her cheek and wiping a tear with his thumb. “No, you’re not, Athel, not even close. Here you are in a strange land, far from your home. No one forced you to join us, yet here you are, fighting for our cause.”

She turned away from his hand, ashamed to look him in the eye. “Yes I am, Jacob. You don’t understand.” She stood and walked closer to the fire, watching as drops of water sizzled against the wood. Wrapping herself in a hug, Athel shivered as her beaded hair rattled away. “I had to leave, Jacob. I’m a danger to everyone, and can’t be trusted. This curse...the seed within me—”

“I’ve heard enough about this,” he said angrily. “You’ve already beaten it, remember? This is over, and I don’t want to hear—”

“No it’s not,” she shrieked, fists trembling as the rain began to fall harder. “I’ve subdued it once, but it will resurface again and again. Each time, the urges will grow, until sooner or later, it will overtake me. The Circle told me so.”

“Then you will beat it again. You’re a warrior Athel, you can’t be stopped by some—” Jacob stuttered, his shaky voice sounding desperate now. He knew in his heart what she was saying, but just couldn’t accept it.

“Oh, Jacob,” she said, tears mixing with rain. “How long do you think we can go on like that? How many times can I resist before it destroys me, my memories, everything that makes me who I am?”

“As many times as it takes,” Jacob sputtered, his wall of denial crumbling at the weight of her logic. “The–the Circle–yes, they can do something, right? Eric...he can—” She slowly shook her head side to side. “No. No! There has to be a way. I can— We can try to—” He fell to his knees, trembling hands gripping his hair as the cold reality of all this pierced his heart like an arrow. There was nothing he could do. The woman he loved had no future with him, no future at all.

He felt her hands rub across his shoulders. “Don’t you dare shed a single tear for me,” she whispered. “I knew you were following me, yet I said nothing. Part of me wanted nothing more than to have you come with me, even if that put you in grave danger. Like I said, it was a final act of greed that deserves no forgiveness. I just–I just didn’t want to be alone. Now please, just go back. Tell the others I love them and that I’m sorry. Tell them there was no other way.”

“You speak of greed as if it were a bad thing,” he mumbled weakly, still kneeling on the cold ground. “I would kill a hundred men to make this all go away. Is that not greed? You punish yourself by mistaking passion for greed, when the gods have already punished you enough.” He crept over to her on his knees like a wounded animal, then wrapped her legs with both arms. “Please, tell me there is something I can do.” His voice was so weak, even she could barely hear him.

Gripping his shoulders, she hoisted him to his feet. They embraced for several minutes before Athel spoke. “I do have one final, greedy request. Stay with me tonight, then go back in the morning. That’s all I ask.”

* * *

The morning sun hung low on the horizon. Even at this early hour, children ran through the dirt paths of Chiveran, a tiny village to the east. They scampered about in circles, playing their usual game. One child would purposely touch another, turning him into the chaser. He would then chase the other children with the single goal of touching another one, thus turning that child into the new chaser. On and on it went, with no real winner to the endless game, yet they still played every morning.

Men marched along with large sacks of rice slung over their shoulders. Most of it would be put into storage, but a little would be cooked with vegetables, and served that evening with their families. Women were returning home from the nearby stream with colorful baskets of freshly washed clothes balanced sideways on their hips. The low sun was bright this morning, bringing on the promise of yet another warm day.

Aruki, a young boy with dark eyes, a long black ponytail, and a flashy smile ran from his hut. “Don’t play too long,” his mother called after him. “We’re going to eat soon.”

“Just for a little while, Mom. I’ll be back soon,” he called over his shoulder.

He ran toward the other children, who were now huddled in a tight circle, apparently taking a break from their game. “So who is
it
?” he asked, looking around the circle.

The other children looked at him with mischievous grins. “You are,” said the girl with pink ribbons and a blue tunic before smacking him in the chest. He hesitated a moment as they all scattered in different directions, laughing as they ran. After whipping his head this way and that, he decided to chase the girl that touched him in the first place.

The girl sprinted down the uneven path before taking a hard right down a narrow alleyway. She laughed as she ran, constantly looking back over her shoulder at the boy. The girl was fast, and stopped now and then just to make faces at him, taunting him to try and keep up.

She sprinted from the alley and dashed down the trail that led to the nearby stream. Aruki began to slow down, remembering what his mother had said. He’d never meant to go this far from the village. “Sari,” he called out. “Don’t go too far.”

From a dead sprint, she reached out and grabbed a small tree, then used it to spin back, now facing her tired pursuer. “Now, why is that?” she said, leaning at a slant while still holding the tree trunk. “Are you afraid, Aruki?” she sneered, making a scared face with her eyes enlarged. “I hear there are monsters in the woods, that they catch children and drag them back to their caves.”

“Nonsense,” he said breathlessly, trotting along slowly. He stopped and bent over before placing his hands on his knees. “I just don’t want my mom to worry, that’s all. She didn’t know I was going to run off this far.”

“Go back if you’re afraid. Tell the others you weren’t able to catch a girl,” she said with a wink, then took off running again. He took the bait, taking a deep breath before giving chase once more.

Even as she approached the creek, Sari never even slowed down. With a running leap, both feet splashed into the shallow water. She glanced back with a squeal as Aruki splashed in right behind her, just missing her shoulder with a stretched-out hand. “You almost got me that time,” she said, advancing through the water, then scampering out the other side.

Disgruntled at the near miss, he slowed down again. Lethargically sloshing after her, he called out, “We really can’t go any farther. I need to go back.” He emerged from the other side of the creek and sat down on a large rock.

“Fine then, we’ll go back,” she said, slowly walking toward him, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Just when this was getting fun.” Then suddenly, her expression changed. Her eyebrows crinkled together as a look of concern washed across her face.

“What’s the matter?” he said, following her gaze back toward the village. “Do you see something?”

* * *

The people of Chiveran stopped dead in their tracks, dropping whatever bundles they carried when a yellow glowing line appeared right before them. The strange, glowing aperture hung in the air for several seconds as the locals looked on, having no idea what to make of it. Within seconds, it snapped open, leaving a glittering golden hole in its place. Some folk looked on, mesmerized by the supernatural sight. Others ran away, frightened that the gods were angry and ready to unleash justice.

A tall man marched through the glowing hole, wearing a long, white, hooded robe. Those who hadn’t run already began to back away, clinging to their loved ones. Most of the man’s face was concealed under the hood, exposing only a wicked grin. He began to laugh at nothing, his shoulders shaking up and down with the mad cackling. “Come out and greet me, false god,” he mumbled incoherently through his broken laughter. “If your power is so great, come protect the little fleas.”

An arrow whizzed toward the being, shot from a nearby rooftop. He raised his hand sharply as a small golden hole formed in the air, no bigger than a fist. It swallowed up the arrow, before firing it back the way it came in a burst of golden sparkles. The man on the rooftop grabbed his chest with a gurgling cry, before falling to the ground below, impaled by his own feathered arrow.

An entire volley of arrows came streaking toward the cloaked being, all fired from different directions. He casually held up two fists, then opened his hands as several of the same glowing holes dotted the air around him, each one placed perfectly in the flight path of a given projectile. Each hole swallowed one, before firing it back in a burst of yellow sparkles. Every man who had unleashed an arrow now lay dead on the ground.

He threw his head back, roaring with mad laughter as golden light shone from his eyes and mouth. The powerful being swept his hand through the air, cackling away as the terrified people ran in all directions. One by one, golden holes appeared right underneath the folk, who scattered like frightened squirrels. One by one they fell through the ground, swallowed up by golden quicksand. It happened so quickly, the lost souls never even had time to scream. The holes instantly snapped shut, leaving no trace they ever existed at all.

The tall, muscular man rubbed his hand along one arm, lifting the sleeve as he fingered the black burns. Digging his fingernails deep into burned skin, fresh blood began to run down his arm, pooling on the dry ground below. Drooling from the corner of his lips, he silently mouthed the words, “Leave none alive.”

A lean, catlike creature leapt from the glowing doorway, then skidded along the ground. Its flattened head with high-set eyes darted left and right, excitedly trying to decide which direction to give chase. With a high-pitched screech, two tongues flapped about as it showed off three sets of white teeth. With a final snort, it bounded toward its nearby prey, a slow-moving, elderly man. Knocking him to the ground, it ripped and tore at its victim, killing the man in seconds. Within half a minute, there was no longer any way to tell the remains were once a man.