Joshua Simon - Forgotten Soldiers

Once outside, I took a moment to study the sky over Hol. The devilish hues of red and orange pierced the black clouds like a sunrise fighting against a raincloud.

However, unlike a sunrise, the demonic colors started in the middle of the sky rather than at the horizon. The spot seemed to brighten slightly and then fade. I blinked, unsure if my mind was playing tricks on me. I didn’t notice it again.

“The end of the world,” I muttered to myself while staring at the anomaly.

Molak be cursed, I hoped Ava was wrong.

One minute my unit was slinking through an overgrown field, the next we were caught in the middle of an ambush.

A flight of arrows peppered my unit, thudding into hastily raised shields. I barely managed to avoid a sword swept at my face. A spear pierced the gut of the man next to me before I could warn him of the incoming attack.

His high-pitch scream shook my bowels.

“Not even hell could be this bad,” a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

I grit my teeth to stave off the pounding headache brought on by my racing pulse. My sword crashed down, severing both hands of the spearmen. My backswing slid across the chest of a man carrying a morning star. The man fell back as a spray of crimson sprouted from his torso, the spinning ball of metal clipping the man next to him.

I screamed and ran forward, eager to meet the enemy on my terms.

“Ty! Wake up!”

I sat up quickly, hand darting to the dagger at my side. Someone grabbed my arm tightly so that I couldn’t move it.

Waking up is never an easy thing.

Waking up in a hard chair, hunched over the bed that your unconscious sister is lying in doesn’t make it easier. The harsh memories of war haunting my dreams made the entire process infinitely worse.

Ira stared into my face. “Calm down, Ty. You were dreaming. We ain’t in the field anymore. We’re in Denu Creek. Remember?”

Slowly, my mind relaxed. Visions of the men under my command dying began to fade. Memories of the last day in the present took their place, essentially replacing one hell for another.

My chest tightened when I remembered Lasha.

“Sorry. I’m all right.”

I checked on Ava. There was still no change in her condition, but at least she looked peaceful. That didn’t stop me from saying a quick curse to Ao though. The goddess of sorcery had to have some sort of hand in this mess. I figured Ava’s lack of improvement probably stemmed from a closer connection to it than Abigail’s.

I finished my inner tirade and added a quick curse to Molak for good measure. In my opinion, there was no such thing as saying too many curses to the father of the Turine gods.

“Which one was it?” asked Ira.

“Huh?”

“You were talking in your sleep. Sounded like a battle.”

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. “The ambush on the Safed Plain.”

He closed his green eyes, blew a deep breath, and rubbed his hands through his blond hair. “Xank, that was brutal.”

I nodded, thumb and forefinger moving down to rub my tired eyes.

Ira snorted. “You know I can barely distinguish where my dreams take place. The gods-forsaken things all run together. One blood bath after another.”

“Yeah, it’s getting that way for me too. Not sure what else to say to that.”

Ira pulled up a chair and sat. “You don’t necessarily have to say anything more. I know what you’re going through and just trying to let you know you ain’t alone. Anyway, Zadok told me you went to check on some people you knew in town. What time did you get in?”

“Just before dawn I think. What is it now?”

“Still early morning. Your kids are still asleep in the other bedroom. Dekar went downstairs to get an idea about what’s going on outside.” His voice lightened. “You hungry?”

Only then did I notice the smell of cooked oats. Ira held a bowl.

“Starved.”

“Figured as much.” Ira placed the bowl on the bed, next to Ava’s arm. “The innkeeper’s wife brought some breakfast up a few minutes ago. Said it was on the house, as is the room, on account of what you did for her daughter.”

I began spooning the warm oats into my mouth with my free hand while the other stayed in contact with my sister. The honey sweetening the dish was a welcome surprise.

“Her daughter’s still doing well then?”

“I guess. She didn’t say otherwise.”

That was encouraging. Since Abigail had recovered, I held out hope that Ava would eventually do the same. She just needed time.

“Do you have a water skin?” I asked, noticing Ava’s lips had begun to crack.

He raised one.

I set the oatmeal aside. “I’ll lift Ava up and tilt her head back. Slowly pour a bit of water in her mouth. Just a little at a time.”

It took a few minutes to get Ava in the right position without exposing her, but eventually we managed to get a few sips down her throat without completely soaking her pillow in the process. I eased her back down just as Dekar returned.

“I asked the innkeeper’s wife to bring up some broth when she had the chance,” he said, entering the room.

“Good. Water isn’t going to cut it.”

I wolfed the rest of my oatmeal between sips of water. During the process, Dekar filled us in with what he had learned.

“For the most part, everyone’s still in really bad shape. Most of the people from yesterday are still in the streets. A couple might even be dead. Those that can stand on their own, are trying to drag others inside. The way they’re moving reminds me of watching people affected by a confusion spell.”

I grunted. “Well, as long as they’re busy with each other, then maybe they’ll leave us alone while Ava recovers.”

“About that. .”

I set the empty bowl aside. “What?”

“Well, the innkeeper and his family are out there helping people. I also saw an old man and a younger blonde down the street doing the same. I guess that’s that tailor and his daughter that Myra told me about?”

I nodded.

“What do you think the likelihood that your friend Nason and his family will start helping too?”

Nason had gone out of his way to help both me and the kids, despite the risk. “Pretty good, I’d say.”

“That’s what I figured.”

I cursed. I hadn’t considered what would happen as a result of my kindness.

I muttered a few swears to Molak when it dawned on me what Dekar was getting at. I could never curse Molak enough as far as I was concerned.

“What are you so upset about? Who cares what they’re doing?” asked Ira.

“Because eventually people are going to start asking why the innkeeper, the tailor, and the tanner aren’t as bad off as everyone else,” said Dekar.

“And then it’s only a matter of time before it comes back to me.” I shook my head.

“You mean us,” said a voice.

We turned to Myra standing in the doorway. Her black, curly hair looked a mess. Her eyes, red and puffy with sleep, stood out against her copper skin.

“Sorry, if we woke you,” I said. “You can go back to sleep. We’ll keep it down.”

“I’m up now, but you can keep it down for Zadok.” She walked over to the edge of the bed. “So, what are we going to do if people figure out where we are?”

I looked at Ava and sighed. I had hoped she would be better by morning. Conscious, at least. In her current state, there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do except make our stand in the inn and hope the innkeeper, Boaz, might make a case for the rest of the town not to burn us out.

Of course, if it came down to losing his inn, I couldn’t fault the man if he had a change of heart and decided to side with the rest of town.