The Marenon Chronicles Collection

Chapter Seventeen





Dink hunkered low behind a large rock about a hundred yards from where the Stühocs made camp. They were headed somewhere, but he could tell it wasn’t Mudavé. They had begun marching away from the villages, so there probably wouldn’t be any more attacks. The large group of soldiers and carriages headed consistently northeast. Voelif. The Stühocs were going to sell the people into slavery. At least they weren’t being taken to Mudavé to be turned and tortured as so many stories had said. He had heard awful tales of such things. He didn’t know the conditions in Voelif, but he knew that it couldn’t be as bad as Mudavé.

He tried counting the barred carriages full of people and he was almost certain that his wife Emma was in the very last one. He wanted to go to her and tell her that everything would be all right and that he would save her from the doom that was intended for her, but he didn’t have the certain faith that made him believe it. He had seen so much death and despair the past few days, all from this disgusting band of Stühocs.

Dink’s body was exhausted. He didn’t remember the last time he had slept and it was everything he could do to keep himself awake now. He shook his head vigorously, trying to keep his eyes focused on the small army. Most of them were bedding down for the night, while only a few stood guard. He was glad to see that there was some room in the carriages for prisoners to lie down, or at least sit up against the bars. At least they didn’t have to stand.

He was one man, facing hundreds of soldiers. He had tried to convince several people in Homestead to go with him to rescue those who had been captured, but none of them would listen. They had done their jobs in trying to defend their homes, and had more or less won the battle by driving out the Stühocs, but their spirits were defeated. Their loved ones had been taken, but it wasn’t enough for them to go out and die, potentially losing their own lives in the process. Dink didn’t see it that way. Losing Emma completely would be like dying again. It seemed like such a short time ago that he had gotten her back. To see her captured and taken away was gut wrenching. He had been distracted in the battle as he was surrounded by Stühocs, slashing and tearing. That’s when he had heard her screams. He saw her being carried away, yelling his name out into the open air. There was nothing he could do to save her. He tried to fight his way through to her, but she was gone. That’s when the Stühocs began to retreat. The Royal Guard had been responsible for that, he knew, but he wished that they could have stuck around to help him rescue those who had been captured. But there was no one to help him; no one to follow after the cages of innocent victims. He cursed himself for letting Emma get into the battle like she had. He knew he should have watched out for her more, and he intended to make up for it by freeing her. He peeked around the rock another time, looking for potential breaks in their security, and was happy to see there wasn’t much in the way of security at all. He watched a few guards taking their spots as they made camp. The one closest to him was alone, so that was good. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance trying to sneak into the camp, though. The moonlight was bright and he was obviously no Stühoc.

The plan then formed in his mind of somehow attracting the guard to where he was, then jumping him for his armor. It was a crazy idea with the potential to get him killed, but he saw no other chance of getting in with the crowd and to his wife. He thought that if he could just reach the carriages, that there would surely be a key somewhere to get Emma out and take her back to Homestead, or any place far from where he was. There was no way he would be able to travel into Voelif behind the group. He would be spotted immediately and turned into a slave himself, and that would help no one.

As he watched the Stühoc, he noticed that the soldier didn’t stand too much taller than he. Perhaps a little bit wider, but not taller. The armor would probably fit, but he had nothing to cover his face. He knew he only had one shot at this. With his left hand he gripped a sword and with the other he reached to the ground and picked up a small pebble. He threw the pebble as hard as he could, and it landed several yards in front of the unassuming Stühoc. It made little noise in the grass, but he could tell the Stühoc had heard it. His head turned slightly, but he remained at his guard. Dink reached down and grabbed another, launching it to the same spot. This time the Stühoc became more curious and stepped forward to examine the source of the noise. Dink threw his third pebble and it landed right at the Stühoc’s feet. The soldier’s head jolted up quickly, searching for the source. He slowly pulled out his jagged sword and marched quietly toward Dink’s position. The half-wit probably didn’t want to call out for help in fear that it would be nothing and he would be scolded. Better to check it out on your own, Dink thought.

This time Dink reached down and picked up a larger stone, almost as big as his hand. The Stühoc stopped just short of Dink on the other side of the bolder and sniffed the air. When the Stühoc lowered his sword only a little, Dink appeared and threw the stone point-blank at the Stühoc’s face. The Stühoc guard didn’t even have time to make a sound before he dropped lifelessly to the ground. Dink dragged the body behind the boulder, not quite believing what he did had just worked. He stripped the creature of armor and began to place it over himself. He tried to examine it once it was all on him, but it was difficult to tell if he looked believable. The darkness was his ally, and he would try to make any sort of adjustments before sunrise. He knew he had to hurry, because soon, someone would notice that he wasn’t at his post. Dink couldn’t afford to get into trouble.

He took one last look at the Stühoc on the ground. The soldier didn’t seem to be breathing, and he was pretty sure the impact had dealt a deathblow, but he had to make sure. With his sword, he cut downward on the exposed throat to make sure the job was finished. Gray blood poured out of the fresh body, and Dink gritted his teeth at what he knew he had to do. He reached down to the forming pool and started wiping the blood on the exposed white skin on his hands, face and neck. It was by no means a very good disguise, but he would just have to keep his head down. With the dark armor and dried blood, no one would take notice of him so long as he didn’t do anything suspicious. He left the sword and replaced it with the Stühoc’s. Quickly he made it to the Stühoc’s post to think about his next move.

What would be next? He couldn’t help but think that he should stay in the same spot and finish out the guard’s watch. That would minimize his chances of one of the Stühocs seeing that he was missing, but it also increased the chance of them recognizing him as something other than a Stühoc. He weighed the options in his mind and decided he would take his chances and leave his post. Besides, it was probably Dink’s duty to wake the Stühoc to replace him. If he didn’t wake anyone, then perhaps his replacement would simply sleep through the night.

His new destination was the back carriage where Emma was kept. He moved toward it with ease and silence, doing his best not to wake any of the sleeping monsters. If they caught him, he would be dead within moments. He was relieved to find there were no guards around the wheeled cages, making it possible for him to move up to it. Most of the prisoners weren’t sleeping. Some tried, but others simply looked up at the night sky, thinking of their end or what they had left behind. One man noticed Dink and began swearing at him, fuming with anger.

“You disgusting creature! Why don’t you let me out of here and I’ll show you what I think of you!”

Dink lifted his head and turned to the light, revealing his very Human face. “Because if I did that, I wouldn’t have time to rescue you.”

The man gasped with relief, and some of the other prisoners turned their heads to him. Dink held up a finger to hush them and then called out to his wife with a harsh whisper. “Emma! Emma!”

“I’m here,” he heard her voice say, and she moved to reach her arm out between the bars.

“Oh, I’m so relieved to see you,” he said.

She rubbed his head affectionately, tears streaming at the sight of her husband. “I thought I lost you,” she said.

“Not yet,” he said. “How do you suppose you open one of these things?”

“Not from the inside, that’s for sure,” she smiled through her tears. “What’s all over your face?”

“Mud,” Dink lied. “The Stühoc I stole this armor off of didn’t carry a key. I don’t know where to find one!”

“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” she said. “They’ll kill you.”

“I know. Sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll be able to just steal a key.”

The brief silence felt heavy in the air as they both began to realize that this moment could possibly be a goodbye.

“I know,” she finally said.

“But I’m not going to leave this carriage,” Dink promised her. “I’ll go into the depths of hell with you if I have to. In the mean time, I’ll try to figure out some sort of way to get you out. We might not be able to make a move until Voelif.”

“That’s where they’re taking us?” a voice asked from behind Emma.

“I think so,” Dink said. “There are a lot of slaves there, so I think that’s what you will be used for. They aren’t going to kill you.”

It wasn’t much of a relief, but it was all he had.

“We’ll try to think of something when we get there,” he said.

Emma nodded, unable to form words for a moment. Finally she said, “How will you keep them from catching you?”

He stood back from her and spread his arms. “I look like them, sort of.”

She nodded. “Pretty convincing. Just don’t get yourself killed. Please.”

He reached up to her, embracing as much as the bars would allow. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I want to tell you that I love you more than life. I’m going to do everything in my power to save you.”

“I know you are.”

They stared at each other for a long moment until she told him that it was too dangerous for him to stay. Reluctantly, he agreed and walked to the back of the cage and lay in the ground several yards away. He wasn’t going to let the thing leave his sight. He knew that if he were caught then that would be it. He was finished. But he had to stay with his wife. He had been separated from her before and it was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. He was not going to let it happen again. He would die before letting it happen again.