James West - Shadow and Steel

“As would I,” Adham said, using a thick splinter to pick his teeth. “I have seen such wounds before. No man can survive the corruption that has seeped into him.”

“Before … before we do that,” Ba’Sel said, “I will ask him what he wishes.”

“Try as you will,” Ulmek allowed, “but Ke’uld may never be able to answer. More and more, he raves like a madman. His blood spreads the poison, blackening his veins. Soon, he will fall into a stupor.”

“I will not kill one of ours without making the effort to find out what he would choose for himself,” Ba’Sel said.

“And what of these Yatoans?” Ulmek said, refusing to let the matter rest.

“We do not know if enemies await us here,” Ba’Sel said. “There is just as much chance we have unknown friends spying upon us.”

“With so much doubt as to what these lands hold,” Adham advised, “we should put a few of these sea-wolves to the question.”

Ba’Sel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “In time, Izutarian, in time.”

Leitos looked away from Ba’Sel, trying not to hear the words that came unbidden to his mind. Weak … indecisive … useless .

Glaring, Ulmek abruptly jumped to his feet and strode down the shoreline.

Adham gestured to Leitos, and they walked to the surf. “I fear Ba’Sel has grown incapable of leading.”

Leitos thought to argue, but he found no words to counter his father’s observation. “What can we do?”

“What soldiers have always done,” Adham said grimly. “We follow his commands, until enough of us die that the living revolt.”

“Can we not reason with him?”

Adham toed a bleached shell half-buried in the sand. “Ulmek is his lieutenant, the man he should heed, and still Ba’Sel refuses to listen to him.”

“Maybe Ba’Sel refuses to listen,” Leitos said, “because Ulmek lives only for the destruction of his enemies.”

Adham shot him a quizzical look. “And all you have done in the last year, my son-the training, driving yourself beyond the requirements of even the Brothers of the Crimson Shield-you did those things because you wish to make amends with the Faceless One? Is yours not a heart bent on vengeance?”

Leitos frowned. “It’s different for me. I-”

“You lost your love,” Adham said bluntly. The breeze pushed back his gray locks, and he squinted against the glint off the sea. “Do you think Ulmek was born with rage and hate in his heart for the Faceless One … or do you suppose that he, too, has suffered loss?”

“I never thought about it,” Leitos admitted. In truth, he knew nothing of Ulmek’s youth, and only a little of how he had become a Brother.

“Do not judge Ulmek too harshly. He and the rest of us are fighting a war with small hope of victory. But we will fight it, because we must. As I have always taught, you must become strong and cruel. To fight against the Faceless One and his demon-born armies, a man must be hard and utterly merciless … and the leader of such a man, all the more so. If Ba’Sel cannot see that the loyalty of the Brothers is disintegrating, if he cannot accept that he must stand and fight, then I see no other choice than to replace him.”

“Would you lead?” Leitos asked.

Adham shook his head. “I am an outsider. They must choose one of their own. Ulmek is the rightful choice, and he will need supporters. You, my son, can be the key to making that happen…if you are willing.”

Troubled, Leitos rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. He had coveted the weapon a long and trying year before passing his tests. Now he had it, and had used it to prevail against the agents of the Faceless One … and now his father wanted him to betray Ba’Sel, the man he had entrusted with his life, the man who had taught him so much, even beyond waging war.

“I cannot stand against Ba’Sel,” Leitos said, making up his mind. “When the time comes, he will stand for us, and all men. I know he will. He must.”

“I pray you are right, for time is short.”

“How do you mean?”

Adham glanced back at the waking Brothers, then farther down the beach, to where Ulmek stood looking into the forest. “Ulmek will act, even if opposed, because he, too, feels that he must. If the change of power is not smooth, infighting will destroy the threads that hold the Brothers together.”

Leitos sighed “We have to give Ba’Sel time to come around. I will talk to him myself. If I say nothing, and let Ulmek overthrow our leader, then I become a conspiring scoundrel. Such a road can only lead to destruction.”

“I understand your heart, my son. And without the threat of the Faceless One, I would agree with you. But we live in an age where pity, softness of any kind, leads only to death. I will not command you to go against your convictions, but trust that the odds are against those beliefs bearing good fruit.”

With that weighing on Leitos’s heart, they returned to Ba’Sel and the others, who had gathered around Ke’uld. Ulmek looked their way, his lean face a brooding mask.

Ba’Sel knelt beside Ke’uld and took his hand. “Brother,” he began, “you are not well.”

Ke’uld’s dark eyes rolled. Sweat beaded his sable skin, dampened the brittle fronds beneath him. “Surely you jest?”

“Your leg is….”

“Rotten,” Ke’uld finished for him, “and must come off, if I have any chance to live. Is that the way of it?”

Ba’Sel nodded, his eyes wet with unshed tears. The Brothers shuffled their feet, some peering at Ke’uld, others looking away, perhaps fearing to ever have to make such a decision for themselves.

“You have been as a father to me, since my own was killed,” Ke’uld whispered. “I’m glad you found me, but our time together has passed. Pa’amadin calls me home.”

Ba’Sel acknowledged this with a silent nod.

“Give me to the sea,” Ke’uld urged. “The sea will take me the rest of the way.”

“Brother,” Ba’Sel said, “are you sure this is what you want?”

“There is nothing you can do for me. Quickly now, give me the death I choose. Quickly . I hear Peropis’s breath in my ears, I feel her unholy touch upon my soul. She will devour my sin … but I will be free.” He grinned then, lips trembling. “Unlike you sad lot of bastards.”

A few rueful chuckles met this, but Ba’Sel looked horror-stricken. “I…. No. No, I cannot.”

“I understand. I do. But if not you, then Ulmek will do as I ask.”

Ba’Sel abruptly stood and moved off, struggling through the sand.

Halan gestured to Ulmek, and the stoic warrior dear near. Face unreadable, he looked after Ba’Sel for a time, then down at Ke’uld.

“Are you ready?” he asked without preamble, though his tone was gentle. When Ke’uld nodded, Leitos thought sure he saw a flash of remorse cross Ulmek’s rigid features. Then it was gone, replaced by a visage of stone.

“Help me,” Ulmek ordered. Not waiting to see if anyone would, he caught Ke’uld under the shoulders. Halan and five others joined him, and they gently lifted their fallen brother.

Leitos glanced at Ba’Sel, who had fallen to his knees, head bowed, shoulders shaking.

“Go to him,” Adham said gently. “Though I wish you would not, tell him what you feel you must.”

“What of Ke’uld?”

“He is with his kindred. At a man’s end, there is little else he could ask for.”

Leitos was halfway to Ba’Sel, when a shout from the forest drew him up short. Ulmek and the others, waist deep in the cove’s gentle surf, with Ke’uld floating between them, paused as well.

For a long moment, nothing moved. Then a Brother burst out of the forest, and behind him came a dozen men, tall and slender, with the most striking features Leitos had ever seen. Despite their peaceful expressions, he instinctively gripped his sword hilt.