The Brightest Shadow, page 66
"Shit, that's Shifty." Veron looked up toward one of the corpses near her. "He was working with you, right?"
Hanfel nodded. "He was a local informant, yes."
"Sorry I vomited into your pants, Shifty."
Everyone turned to look at Veron, but Hanfel was the one who spoke. "What?"
When she didn't respond, Hanfel just shrugged it off. He turned back to look at them, briefly meeting Tani's gaze before looking back to the gruesome village. "Either Aryabaus believes that all the others will fall into line out of fear, or he's abandoned any possibility but total war. I didn't think it would come to this."
Everyone was taken aback by the corpses, but Tani found herself more horrified than the others... because the spears impaling the villagers were Rhen spears. Not patterns that she knew, but the binding was unmistakable, which left her with a growing feeling of dread.
Without warning, she felt an immense weight appear in one of the houses. Tani sensed it as it moved and was able to turn her head to look, but it emerged too fast for her to react. One of the thatch walls exploded outward as a Catai warrior burst from it, directly behind Hanfel.
Yet the half-Coran man reacted even faster than Tani, dodging the mace swinging at his head and instead lunging backward toward the Catai. The huge warrior looked surprised to see someone enter his range so quickly and tried to strike with his free hand, but Hanfel caught the blow and used his momentum to flip the Catai over his head and send him crashing to the ground.
Only then did Tani manage to react. In the time it took her to draw one of her knives, Veron had darted in, stabbing downward. The Catai spun from the ground, legs flashing in whirling kicks and forcing everyone back. Tani waited until he vaulted back to his feet and then threw as hard as she could.
The knife nearly hit his eye, the Catai jerking his head aside at the last second. It still drew a line of blood across his cheek. She saw his eyes widen, and a moment later Narenel lunged at him from behind. Instead of fighting, the Catai leapt backward to the top of one of the houses.
"This is what will happen to all your allies!" He laughed and nudged one of the spears with his foot. "But this message isn't for you. It's for everyone who considers working with you."
Then he kicked the spear, sending the corpse hurtling toward them. Everyone dodged backward on instinct, and in that time he leapt away, sprinting out of the village and into the grasslands. Before Tani could say anything, Narenel, Veron, and Hanfel sped after him. Though she might have been able to keep up, she was afraid she would be too vulnerable if she did catch up to the Catai.
Seeing the spear close up confirmed her suspicions. A knot formed in the bottom of her stomach.
"Unnecessarily cruel." The soft words came from Slaten as he came to stand beside her. "Look at the holes in the hands and feet - those were inflicted to cause pain but aren't visible from the ground, so they don't even help the effect."
She preferred not to look at the injuries, and Slaten's dark evaluation troubled her, but at that moment she was surprised by another presence. Melal walked up beside them, his eyes bright.
"This is an atrocity! Only the Deathspawn would do such a thing."
"I..." Tani took a deep breath and turned to face Slaten and Melal. "I'm not sure that's true. These spears look too familiar to me. I'm afraid Subenor may be involved."
"Who?"
"I explained this to you!" Tani glared at Melal's uncomprehending look, wondering if he had even been listening. At least Slaten shifted his stance and cautiously put a hand on the hilt of his sword. She hadn't given them all the details, but she'd told them about her encounter with Subenor and how dangerous he could be. It had never occurred to her that he could be involved with this...
"Because of the spears?" Slaten asked. "You think he's carrying out every attack personally?"
"Probably not all of them, but I have a strong suspicion he's behind it." Tani didn't want to talk about the subject and glanced toward Melal, but he seemed distracted, so she plunged forward. "There used to be a tribe called the Zihaa that would impale their victims like this. The Confederation of Tribes condemned the practice, but they didn't stop."
Slaten watched her thoughtfully. "I haven't heard of them. This happened recently?"
"No, before our generation. It's something most Rhen would prefer to be forgotten, but it was a major factor when the Corans were first invading the Expanse. Many of them still think of all of us as savages, but the Zihaa were the only tribe to ever practice impalement. My master said it didn't help international relations."
"You spoke of them in the past tense?"
"Most of them died during the invasions, and the Confederation of Tribes decided to expunge all trace of their heritage, techniques, and traditions. But my master didn't care and told me abo-" At that moment Melal moved between them, interrupting her. She wondered if he might throw condemnations, but the look on his face was strange.
"I just can't believe it..." Melal was still shaking his head as he looked at the corpses, though there wasn't much emotion in his voice. "I've been too complacent. Letting the Deathspawn live when we need to be exterminating all of them, before they can do more of this. If I get my hands on the person who did this..."
"That would be me."
The voice was exactly the one she remembered. Tani flinched in shock, drawing her sickle knife as she turned, but there was no attack forthcoming.
Subenor stood on top of another one of the buildings, holding his spear at an angle behind him. There was an amused smile on his face as he looked down at them, but in his eyes she saw only a hard darkness. Slaten drew his sword immediately and raised it in a defensive position, while Melal turned and glared at him.
"You see," Subenor said carelessly, "I'll actually be a bit offended if I don't receive the credit for this. It wasn't easy, believe me. These Deathspawn have weaker stomachs than you might expect."
Tani readied her sickle knife defensively while she drew three knives in her other hand and concentrated as much sein in them as she could. "Why are you doing this?"
"I have my reasons." Subenor shrugged, though his spear never wavered from combat position for an instant. "If you really know your history then you shouldn't object to this, little Nelee child. The Zihaa had the right idea, in technique and in diplomacy. The Corans have committed atrocities against us, swarming out into our territories and taking what wasn't theirs."
"Don't pretend you care about that!" Tani tried to breathe deeply and not allow her anger control her, but some of it leaked out into her voice. "You'll hurt anyone in your way, no matter who they are."
"That doesn't mean it isn't true. But you're right, I don't really care. The strong take what belongs to them. Rhen, Coran, or Deathspawn, it's not really any different."
"Then why are y-"
"Shut up!" The yell came from Melal, who drew his sword with a ringing sound. He thrust it into the air, pointing directly at Subenor. "Human and Deathspawn are completely different! If you're working with them, you're equally evil! I'll slay you here and now!"
Subenor gave him an amused glance, then his gaze returned to Tani before he spoke. "I see even this sight didn't break your spirit. I'll leave you alive for today, but your friends..."
Tani knew he was going to move quickly and she still couldn't react fast enough. This time she at least saw his lunge - a step to the edge of the roof and then propelling himself from it as his spear whipped forward - but she couldn't make her body move.
His spear hit Melal in the eye and he dropped like a stone.
Tani cried out, not sure if he was dead, and began throwing her knives in quick succession. The first two were effortlessly deflected by Subenor's spinning spear, but before the third landed, Slaten made a strange throwing motion with his hand, a flicker of blue light moving with it.
Something struck the side of Subenor's head and he flinched... but only slightly. It wasn't enough to keep him from deflecting Tani's third knife, not even looking at it anymore. He glanced toward Slaten with something between pity and amusement, then lunged at him.
Slaten deflected two thrusts, not even trying to hold ground, just struggling to gain enough space to leap away. He managed it, but even as he leapt back, Subenor's spear flashed out again, hitting his side and sending Slaten crashing to the ground in a trail of blood.
Subenor raised his spear to stab into Slaten, so Tani hurled a knife in between them. He turned back to her and shook his head. She had drawn her remaining knives, but didn't throw them. She didn't think they could win, the question was if they could hold him off long enough.
"Did they teach you arithmetic, girl?" Subenor turned away from Slaten's body to look at her, lip curling again. "It doesn't apply here. One and one and one does not equal three, it is only three ones. And now there is only one left."
Fighting him directly was hopeless, yet Tani knew that she couldn't outrun him. If she turned her back, she'd just give him a target for his spear. Tani went back to the lessons Veron had taught her, trying to force every bit of sein she possessed to flow through her at once. The fight wouldn't last longer than a few seconds, so she needed to put everything she had into those seconds.
"I'd like to take my time, but I should end this quickly. So, little g-" He cut off mid-word, lunging directly toward her, killing intent in his eyes.
This time, Tani was able to make herself move. She threw her knives directly toward his face, anticipating his movements so he couldn't dodge. Yet even coming directly toward her he was able to deflect all of them until suddenly he was in range, thrusting toward her.
She automatically threw up her sickle knife, deflecting his first thrust. Yet the shaft of his spear spun around, swiftly moving back into position to thrust again. Tani attempted to hook his spear and gain control of it, yet when she tried, he shifted in a strange cutting movement. Pain shot through her hand and the sickle knife fell to the ground.
All she had left was one knife at her waist, yet she didn't have time to draw it before he would impale her. Just as Tani was about to give up, she saw a dark object moving behind Subenor. Slaten was still alive - and he thrust his hand out again.
Subenor contemptuously let the burst of sein splash off his back, thrusting his spear behind him to stab Slaten. Yet the Oken warrior was already moving, hacking down - not close enough to strike Subenor, instead anticipating his thrust and striking toward it from the beginning. His sword hit the shaft of the spear, smashing it downward, and for a moment Subenor was actually off guard.
Tani drew her last knife and threw it at his chest with everything she had left.
It didn't come close. Though she forced Subenor to retreat instead of counterattack, he was able to leap away from them and land some distance down the street. He no longer displayed any amusement, not taunting as he shifted his spear into killing position.
Veron flashed from in between two nearby buildings, striking at Subenor's back. He barely managed to deflect the blow and the force of it knocked him back a step. Yet instead of retreating, he turned on her quickly. Only by throwing herself back did Veron manage to dodge his counterattack, and for a moment Tani feared that she would be impaled by the next thrust.
Yet her sword wove an agile defense, knocking aside Subenor's spear with enough power that he couldn't continue his assault so relentlessly. They exchanged several blows, then Subenor looked to the side. Tani almost suspected it was a trick, but a moment later he leapt away, fleeing the village.
Looking in the direction he had glanced, Tani saw Hanfel and Narenel approaching. Though the tension tried to keep its grip on her body, it gradually began to drain away. She saw that Veron was cursing and rubbing a cut on her shoulder. Slaten was barely standing, while Melal writhed and clutched his face.
But all of that faded away as Tani felt the pain coming from her hand. She tried to wipe it off and was surprised by the amount of blood. Only when she tried to wipe it off again did she realize.
The smallest finger on her hand was gone.
She stared at the cleanly sliced stump on her hand, not quite believing it and yet convinced by the growing pain as the shock left her body. It must have been while she was fighting Subenor hand to hand, yet she'd barely felt it. Tani clutched her hand to stop the blood flow and began desperately looking for her finger through the dust.
"Oh... Tani, I'm so sorry..." Only when he spoke did she realize that Narenel was standing beside her. He quickly moved to clean and bandage her hand. Just having someone care for it helped Tani's mind recover, though her hand...
Instead of that, she focused on the others. Slaten appeared to be heavily injured, but Veron was assisting him and it seemed that he'd survive. Melal was back on his feet and cursing violently, his hand clutching at his face. It took her some time to glimpse the injury behind it and saw the ugly gash that went straight through where his eye had been.
"I'll kill him! I'll fucking kill him!"
None of the others bothered to argue with Melal, just making their plans. Tani didn't have the strength to help, simply sitting in one place until Veron came by. "You okay, kid?"
Tani held up her hand mutely.
"Damn. Nothing I can say about that."
Thinking about it hurt more than the pain itself. To give herself something else to think about, Tani focused on Veron. "Could you beat him?"
"The Rhen? He's definitely faster than me, so I don't like my odds." Veron stared down at her for a while, opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it and moved away. That was just as well, since Tani doubted Veron would be any good at comfort.
They agreed that they needed to return to the base as quickly as they safely could, both for healing and to report what they'd learned. Tani nodded numbly. After running hard that night, they made camp without a fire. Slaten came and sat beside her without speaking. It helped a little, but eventually she pretended to lie down to sleep.
Instead she slowly placed her throwing knives into her hand. Her remaining fingers trembled, but she managed to grip two sufficiently. When she tried to add a third, it tumbled out of her hands.
Tani closed her eyes and did not sleep.
~ ~ ~
By the time they returned to the resistance base, Tani was able to act normally and the numbness inside her had become manageable. She focused on Jaer's technique almost constantly, not to defend against anything but just to maintain herself. This wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, and she still had her life.
"You should be proud of how well you did," Narenel was saying. "From what I saw, he wasn't holding back at all. The fact that someone that strong couldn't toy with you is a sign of how far you've come."
She nodded and smiled at him, but his words couldn't reach inside her. Tani never stared at her hand, but she always felt it, a dull ache where her finger should have been. The numbness was under control, now she just had to deal with the bitterness.
When they reached the entrance tunnel, they were met by a large group. Right, Veron had gone ahead to alert the base of their condition. Tani sat down where the healers told her to, let them see her hand... and watched as they pulled back. They also shied way from Melal, who glared at them, and went to tend to Slaten's injuries.
Laeri followed after the others. When she saw Tani's hand tears formed in her eyes, so large that Tani bitterly wondered if they were fake. A moment later the other woman embraced her fiercely. "Oh, that's so horrible! How awful for you!"
"Can you do anything about it?"
"I... I'm sorry. Even if I was there right after the cut, I don't know if I could reattach it. Better healers could. And regrowing... I've heard stories, but I don't think it's actually possible. I'm so sorry... if they had let me come along, maybe... maybe..."
Warm sein emanated from Laeri's hands, at least easing the pain. Her hand had been clenched for so long that it felt good to finally relax, though Laeri couldn't do anything about her internal state. Tani was just about to thank her when Melal moved in between them and grabbed her arms.
"That bastard took my eye! Heal it!"
"Ah!" Laeri gasped and shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, but... it looks like the whole eye was... oh, that's awful... I can close up some of the cut, but there's nothing else I can do..."
"Just try, dammit!" Melal wrenched her hand upward to touch his face.
Though she kept mumbling apologies, Laeri did as he asked, beginning to heal the cut on his face. Yet after a short time, she gasped. Tani frowned, trying to observe the sein between them more closely. She smelled mint, tasted spices, felt weight... yet all of those senses told her something that didn't make sense.
Sein gushed from Laeri like out of an open wound, flooding into Melal. Her body sagged, yet her hand stayed firm on his face for a while longer. Finally she fell, her blue robe fluttering as she crumpled to the ground.
Melal's eye was back. A scar from the cut remained, but his eye was restored as if nothing had happened. No, the white iris seemed to burn even brighter. As Melal gave a triumphant grin and sauntered into the base, Tani had to look away.
Her hand was beginning to ache again. Tani clutched it until it hurt more.
Chapter 50
-
"Until then, we must unite Corah. This proves a difficult task, as the traitors to the south consider themselves above us, while the west remains unwilling even to assist. I have sent letters to Rahler himself, showing him the truth of the Legend, yet he refuses to reply. Perhaps the rumors of his mental state are true, or perhaps the Deathspawn have deceived him."
- excerpt from a letter written by Lady Karerela of East Corah
-
Veron wandered the tunnels, drinking while she looked for a good drink.
There was nothing to do except prepare for the battle to come, and she didn't want to do that. Though she was starting to see sein a bit, she wasn't going to discover some new secret that would transform her strength. It was too late for that. Maybe the kids could gain a bit of an edge that would keep them alive, but she was too old for such last second training.
