A Sword Of Wrath, Book I, K. E. MacLeod [e book reader for pc txt] 📗

will you do with your freedom?"

He grinned broadly, "I hope to go to the North. I want to buy land and become a farmer."

Then, for the first time since he'd arrived in Lycania, Juko laughed. It started as a small chuckle and then progressively grew into a large guffaw that wracked his entire body as he pictured the large man before him sowing a field in a farming tunic. "A farmer?"

T'tembo began to laugh, too, until they both laughed so hard that tears streamed down their faces. Eventually, Juko stopped to catch his breath and T'tembo took the chance to ask him the same question.

His eyes saddened slightly, "I will not leave here with my freedom and, in all probability, I will not leave here with my life."

"But your father?"

He shook his head, "He will never know. It is better for him to think that his two sons are living a carefree life in the Lycanian capital together than it will be for the reality." He nodded as if convincing himself, "It is better this way."

"Your brother was a good fighter. The crowd loved him and he loved the crowd."

"He was happy here, wasn't he?"

"He was," T'tembo nodded, "very much."

Juko smiled solemnly, "I am glad to know that at least."

 

***

 

Back on the Eastern Shore, Timonus, Julian and Camilla crawled along the ground until they found a grouping of large stones they could hide behind as they spied on the Giants' caravan. The rest of Lupa Faction's members had headed northwestwards a few hours before, leaving the three of them behind in order to wait upon the arrival of the Giants to see if they were actually holding Hannah.

"I hope she's alright," Julian spoke in a loud whisper, trying to spot her within the cart that rested in the middle of the caravan.

"I'm sure she's fine," Timonus whispered back, flatly.

"You shouldn’t be angry with her."

"Of course I should! She sold me to you!"

"Yes, but she had her reasons!"

Camilla shushed them, "Please, men, if you continue on like this then they'll hear us for sure."

Julian blanched slightly, "Sorry!"

They observed the Giants for a little while longer, noting that while most lay asleep on the ground there were four posted lookouts patrolling the camp's perimeter.

Timonus leaned into to Camilla, "I think these must be the same Giants that we saw the other day on the road to Feronia."

She watched, "What could they possibly be doing? And why have they left her alive?"

"Can you see her?" Julian asked excitedly.

"Yes, she's in the cage. But why is she alive? Gigantes never take prisoners."

Timonus shook his head, "Something is brewing on the horizon but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what it is. And why would they be going to Odalia, of all places?"

"Perhaps their own form of rebellion?"

"They are nomadic in nature. What use would they have with a city?"

"I suppose that is true. I know very little of them for we do not have anything like their kind in Noba."

"I don't know much about them either, honestly. Up until the other day, the only thing I knew of them were the stories that my men had brought back from their patrols. Wait," Timonus turned around and looked for Julian who had gone uncharacteristically quiet. Not seeing him in the immediate vicinity, he asked Camilla where he was.

She groaned, "I don't know."

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of large stones being thrown into the direction of the caravan from deep in the shadows to their left.

"What is he doing?" Timonus whispered to her.

She laughed slightly as a smirk crossed her lips, "My god, look! He's distracting the guards!"

Julian, banking on the low intelligence but high distractibility of the Giants, had perched himself atop one of the large boulders that surrounded the area and was tossing rocks into the long grass around the caravan, just out of sight. While the sound of the stones hitting the ground wasn't enough to wake the sleeping Giants, it was enough to cause the guards to start searching for the origin of the sounds, which lead them away from the cage were they held Hannah.

Meanwhile, Camilla and Timonus eased forward, staying low in the shadows as they crossed the grass into the Giant's caravan. Timonus mind flashed back to a few days before and just how close that had come to being the Giant's next meal. He took a deep breath and held it as he stepped over the sleeping form of one of Giants. Then, all of the sudden, he froze, his fear becoming nearly unbearable until he realized that Camilla had already reached the door of the cage-cart. She appeared to be having difficulties as she struggled with pulling the wooden stake out from the locking mechanism that kept the cage door closed.

In the cage, Hannah's eyes widened when she saw what Camilla was trying to do and she crawled over to help as best she could but try as they might, neither could loosen the wedge. Timonus gritted his teeth and forced himself closer so that he was able to reach up and wrench it with all of his might, dislodging the wood and opening the cage.

As the Legate helped Hannah down from the cart, she opened her mouth to say something to him but he shook his head, stopping her as he grabbed her by the arm and the three of them began to run from the Giant's camp. But upon finding nothing out of the ordinary, the guards had returned as well and spotted the three of them just as they disappeared into the shadows in the direction of the forest of Odalia.

As they ran, one of the guards lifted his head high in the air and howled at the top of his lungs in a call-to-arms that awoke the other Giants almost immediately. The sound sent ice down into the souls of Timonus, Hannah and Camilla as they ran, passing Julian along the way. He joined them as they continued to run through the slightly rocky terrain, which soon became grass. They then ran through the grass until it became forest, all the while feeling the diseased breath of the Giants upon their necks.

Only, the Giants, they soon discovered, weren't actually following them.

For had they been able to look behind them, they would have seen that, once awoken, the Giant's leader had stopped his guards from pursuing the escaped prisoner and her rescuers. He instead chided the guards, pointing in the direction of Odalia and in his gruff language told them that arriving in the capital city by the next day was far more important than pursing anything else.

 

***

 

As the sun rose over Two-Crows, seven men, two women and four horses prepared for their journey out of the Aulus Forest and on to wherever the trail of the Giants would lead them.

Severus gathered his daughter into his arms, telling her that it was her responsibility to keep her mother and brother safe. The little girl dutifully kissed him on the cheek and said she would. Severus then looked at his wife and infant son, stating in his most pragmatic tone, "I know you will be fine."

"Yes, my husband, for we have rusty swords and old men to protect us," she laughed wryly, though her comment wasn't entirely said in jest.

"Yes," he nodded. "Perhaps a forge is needed in the Order first before a set of barracks are built."

"Perhaps. But, those are thoughts for another time." She smiled, though it was slightly distant, "Be well, my husband. I know you will be safe."

He gave her slight bow and then after handing Aelia back to her, hoisted himself onto a black gelding that was on loan from the Running Deer village.

A few steps away, an anxious Tacitus was unsuccessfully attempting to tie his medical bag to the back of a just-as-nervous Bellona. "Whoa, girl," he said as he tried to steady her, but failed as she stepped away from him once again with a neigh and a snort in his direction.

"Here," Nona laughed as wrapped the wayward strap through a loop on the horse's saddle.

"She's not used to saddles," Tacitus said, sheepishly. "And neither am I for that matter."

"She will do alright, Tacitus, but you," she breathed deeply, trying not to let any of the private ache of her heart be known publicly, "please stay by your brother. Just promise me that you will."

He nodded, glancing towards Severus, "I will. Of that you can be sure."

She embraced him in a quick fleeting movement, then stepped back as she called out to them all, "Goodbye, my fellow Cavalli warriors! May the gods grant you a safe journey and quick return!"

They finished saying goodbye and those of the party that were riding climbed onto their mounts, while those that were walking hoisted their bags onto their backs as the small force of nine set out for the Aulus Forest's easternmost edge.

As they left the village, Severus' heart soared as if it had been cut free from some invisible restraint. It had been far too long since he had felt such an excitement within his bones and as they rode on, a few of the older Cavalli started up the war songs of old. Severus closed his eyes and joined in and as their voices lifted to Heaven above, he knew that his people would one day rise again into a great nation.

As Tacitus watched Severus' back, he thought of the first time that the threat of the Giants had arisen - nearly two decades previous, when he was both still a father and a husband.

He smiled as he thought of his wife, Valeria. She was very different from Nona, with black hair and dark eyes and a gentle, submissive spirit. She had also possessed a lovely singing voice and it was that voice that had driven Tacitus to her while he was foraging for medicinal herbs. He'd come upon her dancing and serenading the trees while seemingly lost in her own private world but as soon as she discovered him watching her, she became very embarrassed and stopped. Tacitus begged her to continue, telling her it was the sweetest sound he had ever heard upon his ears.

Their young love blossomed quickly and the wedding soon after had been a gorgeous affair - held in the springtime near the river. Neither had quite reached their second decade but Cavalli often married young in order to increase the chances of fertility. She looked so beautiful that day as she stood waiting for him patiently while his brothers carried him up to the altar upon their shoulders in the Cavalli tradition.

The entire village of Two-Crows had come out to watch and celebrate with them. He had never seen so many people gathered but was pleased when he saw that his father stood proudly beside her father and their mothers wept upon each other's shoulders. It was the second happiest day of Tacitus' life and he thought life would never be any different than it was in that moment, surrounded by people that knew and loved him so well. For ten years life seemed impossibly blissful, until rumors of Giant sightings began to crop up.

The rumors had persisted for so long that most of the Cavalli, including his father, believed that the Giants were a myth, much like the forest goblins. Growing weary of what he saw as nothing more than scaremongering among the villagers, Atticus put together a scouting party in order to investigate the validity of the claims.

It was expected, of course, that all men of the village would join him but Tacitus, reluctant to leave his wife and young daughter, couldn't bring himself to join them. He saw no benefit for his family should he be killed or wounded but knew that participation in the hunting party was expected of him. He agonized over his dilemma before finally deciding to go to his father with his concerns.

His father surprisingly understood and even gave him a way to