Trident's Forge (24 page)

I
t was almost
nightfall of the second day before they reached the end of the road. Halfway to the Dwellers' canyon, but with no road, the other half would be twice as hard. Kexx signaled for the caravan to stop.

“What's wrong?” Kuul asked.

“Nothing,” Kexx said, pushing aside the feeling of mud crawlers doing laps around zer stomach. The end of the road was more than just symbolic, it also marked the nominal end of the village's territory and Tuko's authority, assuming ze was still alive. Here, there was true wilderness. It was no one's territory, not even the Dwellers, not really. Nomads, raiders, and wild predators ruled these grasslands. It wasn't a place for civilized people of any race.

“Nothing,” Kexx repeated zerself. “We make camp here for the night.”

“Already?” Kuul looked at the sun creeping toward the western horizon. “We can march another two stones before dark.”

“There are no stones out here,” Kexx said.

Kuul chuckled. “Afraid of the night, truth-digger?”

“How many nights have you spent beyond the trees, Kuul? Alone, with the day's heat seeping from your bones with no fire to replace it, only a spear between you and whatever lurks in the shadows? Of course I'm afraid. Only the cold-headed wouldn't be.”

Kuul's skin flickered irritation, but ze let it drop. “What would you have us do?”

“Put up camp while we still have the light. Clear the brush as far out as you can so we can put palm to spear if anything steps out from the dark with ill intentions.”

“Does anything step out from the dark with good intentions?”

Kexx laughed. “No. Not generally.”

“And the deadskins?” Kuul managed not to spit out the last word, but it took effort. It wasn't the first time Kexx had heard the slur, referring to how the pale, monotone skin of Mei's people resembled a freshly returned G'tel corpse. “What will they be doing while we set up camp?”

“Our
human
friends–” Kexx emphasized. “–will be collecting firewood.”

“Ah. A task equal to their talents,” Kuul said. It was not a compliment. Collecting firewood for camp was the sort of work reserved for children or the very old, but Kexx didn't know what else to do with Benson and Mei at the moment.

“Let's hope one of them doesn't get a splinter,” Kuul said. “What a tragedy that would be.”

“It would be unfortunate if anything happened to
any
member of our group. We are already too few.”

“We would have been many more if my plan had been followed.”

“Yes, an army of farmers and fishers just large enough to draw out the Dweller warriors and small enough to be crushed like baitworms.” Kexx shook zer head. “That's not a plan, Kuul. Except for a noble, but futile death.”

“You spend too much time with the deadskins. You've even picked up their mannerisms. That's why you overestimate them. Without their gones, what are they?”

“Guns, Kuul. And if you hadn't been pinned on your back by invaders, you would have seen what the humans did without their guns outside the temple. It was memorable.”

“You should pick your friends more carefully, truth-digger. If Tuko doesn't wake–”

“Then I will mourn zer,” Kexx cut off the budding tirade. “Do you wish to say anything else?”

Kuul's skinned darkened like dux'ah meat cooking on a fire. “Not to you, no.”

“Good, then please get camp established and assign the early watch.”

The warrior stalked off and barked orders to zer followers. Kuul was a perfectly good ally to have, provided you could keep zer pointed toward a fight. Otherwise, ze would make one for zerself.

Kexx scanned for Benson. It didn't take long. The human's tan skin, dark hair, and dark clothing stood out against the grassland as if it were trying to be seen. The humans were clearly very skilled at many things. Camouflage did not number among them.

“Benson.” Kexx motioned zer over.

“Everything all right?” the human asked. “I saw you and Kuul talking. It sounded heated.”

“Kuul was just reminding me of zer disapproval. We're stopping here for the night to set up camp. I need you and Mei to gather up as much firewood as you can.”

Benson glanced around the grassland plain. “Um. I don't see a whole lot of trees out here.”

“Forgive me. We pick the straight grass, then tie it into tight bundles with gut to keep them from burning too fast.”

Benson's eyes narrowed. “We'll need a
lot
of grass.”

“And you have the rest of the day to pick it. Start where we're digging the fire circle and work outwards.”

Benson put up zer hands, palms outward. Kexx recognized the gesture as a sign of surrender/acquiescence. “OK, I get it. Low man on the totem pole.”

“The
what
pole?”

“Totem pole.” Benson held a hand high over zer head. “Great big stack of faces of gods and spirits and so forth. First American tribes used to carve them out of the trunk of a whole tree. We've got a small one back in the museum.”

“These were human tribes?”

“Yeah,” Benson said. “You would probably have had a lot in common with some of them. They were experts at living off the land and staying in balance with nature too.”

Kexx nodded. “They sound very wise. I should like to see this ‘totem pole.' Someday.”

“Bet on it,” Benson said. “I should get to work.”

The caravan laid out camp quickly. By the time the sun had ducked below the horizon, the tents were erected and the fire circle had been dug. Benson and Mei, with some help from members of the other villages, picked a clearing large enough that an adult couldn't cover the distance in less than three great strides. By the time the last splash of red-orange faded from the night sky, the first grass bundles were burning brightly. They'd been fortunate; the grass this far from the sea was parched and lit easily. As it burned, the strips of dux'ah gut that held the ends together dried and tightened, pulling the bundle together until it was nearly as dense as actual wood, slowing the burn and letting the fire last well into the night.

Kuul's warriors sat closest to the fire, roasting the flesh of some unfortunate creature whose curiosity had drawn it within range of one of their spears. It had been an excellent throw, Kexx had to admit. The rest of the caravan sat in a semicircle just a little further away. Benson and Mei sat just a little further back still, sharing their own food and talking quietly in one of their languages.

Kexx didn't try to eavesdrop. Instead, ze sat down with the warriors from Jumar and Icho, villages west of G'tel and Pukal, and traded some of zer dux'ah jerky for a generous portion of candied bitterroot and a pair of still-wriggling popper bugs. Bitterroot was a foreign delicacy near the coasts, where it refused to take in the salty water. Jumar did a brisk trade in it, as their crop's flavor was intense enough to burn the mouth. Some said one could make river water safe to drink just by sucking it up through the hollow in the root's center. Kexx snapped off a piece as long as a finger and put it on zer tongue. It was sweet at first, owing to the sticky coating of nectar it was rolled in as a preservative, but in moments the heat and sharpness of the dried sap hit zer mouth like a liquid dagger, stabbing at zer tongue and cheeks as it flowed into every crevice. Kexx's face scrunched up even as zer skin sent out and involuntary warning pattern. The older of the warriors laughed.

“It's not so bad,” Kexx said, trying to recover. “Would make a weak tea.”

The one from Jumar laughed even louder as ze cut off strips of jerky and started chewing diligently.

“What are your names?”

“Surea,” ze said with a mild accent through a mouthful of meat. “And this is Eklo.” Surea slapped the younger warrior on the back. Surea had seen many summers. Ze was starting to show the telltale signs of transitioning to elder. The softening of zer muscles, fading color at the edges of zer crests. It would probably be zer last year as a warrior, assuming they survived this trip. Eklo, by contrast, was very young with vibrant crests, smooth skin, and no scars to tell the stories of past battles. Ze was quiet, nervous.

All but two of the warriors Icho had sent to the gathering had been killed in the attack back in G'tel, and the more experienced one was needed to escort their chief back to their village. That left young Eklo as Icho's contribution to the caravan by default. Surea seemed to have adopted the youth.

“Is this your first time in the wilds, Eklo?”

“Yes, elder.”

Kexx chuckled. “There are a few years yet before I transition to elder, young warrior. Stick close to Surea, ze looks like ze knows the tricks.”

“Most of them, anyway,” Surea added with a smirk.

“Do you two need anything? Blankets? Water?”

“We're well-provisioned, truth-digger Kexx. We're fine for now. Thank you for the jerky.”

Kexx thanked them for the treats, tucked the popper bugs away for later, then walked off to the edge of the perimeter. Ze would take the first watch. Kuul had volunteered zer pair of guards for the duty, and surely they would perform it, keeping themselves warm and limber by the fire waiting for the first sign of trouble. But Kexx didn't want to wait to be found by trouble.

Ze knew about nighttime on the plains. It was quiet. Peaceful. Deceptive. Only out here, removed from the crackling and snapping of the burning bundles, facing away from the fire that would foul zer eyes to the dark, could ze spot trouble before it could surprise the camp. It wasn't that the warriors didn't want to do the job properly, they just didn't think in those terms.

Warriors were all drawn to fire. Battle was something done during the day, when everyone was hot and flexible, and the sun cast its light down to illuminate the battlefield. Warriors didn't hide in shadows, and they were usually half deaf from the shouts and screams of war. All but the very best of them, the legends, simply reacted to situations as they arose. They didn't spend much thought trying to anticipate them.

Truth-diggers, on the other hand, spent their lives trying to work backward to reconstruct how things had happened. It wasn't a stretch then to flip it and guess how things were going to happen. Ze had to remain alert. Kexx slipped into the shadows just beyond the clearing and blended into zer surroundings, patient, quiet, and eternally vigilant.

K
exx shot
up with a jolt and tried to grab the hand clasping zer shoulder, but zer cool body was tight and slow and it pulled away before ze could get a finger on it. Instead, ze rolled forward and planted zer feet into the sandy soil, then spun around, coming face to face with.

“Benson,” Kexx said breathlessly.

“Yes, it's me, Kexx.” The human stood erect, one hand held out, palm down urging calm, while the other gripped the handle of zer gun. Light poured out of a cylinder on the side of the weapon. “I'm sorry, buddy. You fell asleep.”

“I did not,” Kexx bristled. “I was… checking my eyelids for mites.”

Benson smirked. “Sure, we'll go with that.”

“Why do you hold your gun, detective?”

Benson pointed north. “You were overdue coming back from your watch, so I came out to find you. I thought I heard something moving around in the brush just now.”

Kexx froze. “Put your light out, and don't move,” ze said quietly. Benson obeyed without comment. Kexx stuck the point of zer spear into the ground, then held out zer hands, tasting the air, looking for any hint of sweat, musk, urine, any signs of something nasty hiding in the dark. Ze listened for the rustling of grass being brushed aside, felt through the pads in zer feet for the rhythm of footsteps, extending zer senses as far out into the dark as ze could, but the search came up empty. All ze heard was the ocean breeze playing through the stands of grass.

“I'm sorry, Benson, but you must have heard the wind. There's nothing out–”

The impact took Kexx clean off zer feet. A moment later, the ground struck zer as well, but ze'd braced for it at least. Searing pain shot through Kexx's shoulder as a hundred teeth thin as bone needles sank into the flesh. Kexx shrieked in pain and surprise, then shoved hard against the animal with zer free arm and one of zer feet, but to no effect. Whatever it was, it outweighed Kexx by double or more.

Ze managed to get a hand on the creature's face, felt around for its eye socket, and dug in with a finger. For a moment, the beast released its grip, but then it redoubled the attack and clamped down until Kexx heard something in zer shoulder give out with a sickening pop.

A light flashed on in an instant, bathing both Kexx and zer attacker in a pure white glow, bright enough to nearly blind them both. Kexx saw the outline of the monster trying to eat zer and gasped. It was an ulik, but far bigger and more solidly built than any of the half-starved, mottled packs ze was used to seeing scavenging near the village.

And it was warm. Much too warm.

Zer spear was out of reach. Shock and pain were quickly giving way to panic. A hand reached out from the light and grabbed the freakish ulik by the nape of the neck. A human hand.

“Hold still, you ugly motherfucker!” Benson shouted in human as ze pressed the point of zer gun against the creature's face. Thunder clapped and lightning flashed three times, deafening Kexx even as the ulik's head exploded in a shower of bone fragments, blood, and brains. The corpse was still convulsing as Benson rolled it off Kexx's chest and offered zer a hand up.

“Thank you,” Kexx said.

“What?” Benson shouted back, cupping a hand over zer ear. Kexx could barely hear the reply over the ringing in zer ears.

“THANK YOU,” Ze shouted back.

Benson nodded, then pointed at Kexx's shoulder. “ARE YOU HURT?”

Kexx felt at zer shoulder joint, felt it dipping out of place. Ze'd felt it like that once before after falling out of a tree as a youth. Kexx gripped zer forearm with zer good hand, and with a decisive jerk, shoved the shoulder back into its proper place. Zer knees almost gave out from the surge of pain, but it worked.