As we left, I whispered to my brother, “You seem to be taking his eloquence awfully well. I’d expect you to be more shocked.”
Rex aimed a rueful look at me. “I was, at first. But remember, I was listening to you two for a while, before I stepped in.”
It took most of the night to reach the western corner of the isle. As we approached, I spotted multiple campfires, small enough that they wouldn’t draw attention. Out here I detected only the wet silt scent of the river and the crushed pine aroma from the bed of needles where the Uroch camped, along with smoky wood. Szarok led us through his soldiers with complete confidence, and though they stared, none of them moved toward us. Fear quaked through me; I’d never been so close to my enemies with no defensive measures in place. Memories of my flight through the horde threatened to drown me.
“You see,” he said when we reached his fire, tended by a young Uroch. “They fear you, for you have killed so many of their mothers and fathers, but they will not harm you. We want the same thing.”
“A better world,” Rex said.
I was flummoxed by the idea that these powerful creatures feared me. Was I the terrible story that Uroch mothers told to their brats in order to persuade them to behave? I sank to my knees, unnerved by the way the world had spun tonight.
I don’t want to be the monster that haunts a child’s sleep. A small voice added, And neither do they.
Szarok nodded. “Do you wish to converse with them? A few speak your tongue as I do.”
Freezing, I had an awful thought. “My man was taken a while back, treated like an animal, and he suffered greatly. Did you learn our language from human captives?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “A number of the old ones saw humanity as a useful food source. We argued, but when only a small minority supports your view, you cannot always stop awful things from happening.”
That, I understood too well. With a pang of regret, I recalled the blind brat Fade and I had let the Hunters kill down below. “You didn’t answer my question, though.”
Sidestepped it, at best.
“They weren’t captives when they taught us,” Szarok said.
“You freed some human hostages?” Rex sounded surprised.
“One night on the plains, there was a disturbance,” the Uroch explained. “We saved as many as we could when the old ones gave chase. But your people were weak. They required care before they could return to their homes. As we looked after them, they taught us your tongue.”
My mouth hung open. “I … I’m pretty sure you’re talking about the night I saved Fade.”
I’d finally startled Szarok. From his wide-eyed reaction, he hadn’t known I’d crept into the horde and opened the slave pens. “How extraordinary. It seems as if our paths have been converging for some time.”
I agreed. And until dawn broke, I talked with the Uroch warriors. Szarok had shown them the Otterburn girl who saved his father’s life, and unlike their parents, the young Uroch could choose another course. Hatred was not emblazoned in their bones.
“I want to learn to plant things,” one young Uroch whispered to me. “To put seeds in the ground and make the greenings grow.”
“So do I,” I admitted.
That was the skill I coveted most. Last summer, I had envied the planters who knew what to do with the earth, how to treat the plants, and make them strong. I wanted to grow food people could eat and flowers they would admire. It was one secret I’d never admitted aloud because it was so silly for a Huntress, yet I told this Uroch with eyes clever as a cat’s.
Rex moved amid the camp too, his hostility fading. I recognized the moment when he accepted that these weren’t monsters, but another people. With the proper support, he and I could pave the way to peace. My spirit lightened when I imagined an end to the war that might not result in complete annihilation on our side.
“Do you accept the alliance?” Szarok asked as dawn broke.
Though I trusted my instincts, I couldn’t be sure this wasn’t a trick … and I still had to persuade my men to work with their former enemies. Exhaustion flared in a headache, tightening my temples. I don’t want to make such a big decision. But there was nobody else.
“It will take some convincing,” I said, “but I’ll bring the men around. Your warriors will need to wear armbands or something, so there’s no confusion when we attack.”
And if you betray me, I’ll die trying to make you sorry. Yet I was willing to gamble everything on the promise of a lasting peace. If I was wrong about Szarok, that’d be a sad thing for someone to carve on my grave marker.
Here lies Deuce Oaks. She was gullible, but she tried.
“I’ll find a way to distinguish us from the old ones.” He offered his hand and I shook it.
This time, no images or memories came with the contact, so he must control that ability; the Uroch were fascinating when they weren’t trying to kill you. He released me with a tip of his head, and I had seen enough of the way they interacted with one another to take that as a sign of respect. Since I came up from down below, I had gotten skilled at recognizing other people’s customs, mostly because I learned them anew, everywhere I went.
“You mentioned other allies,” I said.
Between his five hundred and my two, it was hard to fathom the battle ending well against two thousand feral Freaks. And they squatted on the banks of the big river, poised to destroy the last bastion of peace in the territories. Rosemere.
They come no farther. It ends here.
Szarok nodded. “I’ve made contact with the small folk. They live in the caves and tunnels and they, too, have suffered from the endless fighting.”
“The small folk?” Rex asked.
I thought of Jengu and his kind, then I described them to the Uroch leader, who said, “Then you know of them. They call themselves the Gulgur.”
“How many are there?” I asked.
“Willing to fight? A hundred or so. They’re few but cunning, masters of remaining unseen. They’ll slip in while the old ones sleep and poison their meat.”
“Can you be ready two days from now?” That would give me time to make arrangements and persuade the men.
Szarok nodded. “I’ll coordinate with the Gulgur and ensure they carry out their role.”
“My men will attack from the east. You strike from the west. And let’s hope it’s enough.”
If the horde was weak and sick from the tainted meat, eight hundred of us might be able to defeat them, though we would take heavy casualties. I shared a glance with Rex, who said, “It’s time to tell the others. We can win.”
Resistance
The village was in an uproar when Rex and I returned. I was reeling with fatigue after so long without sleep, so my head was fuzzy as to why. For obvious reasons, we left Szarok in the Uroch camp, and as we strode into the village, I saw that Company D was already assembled and listening to orders shouted alternately by Tully, Spence, and Fade. Thornton had our smith checking all the weapons; it was like they’d decided to go to war overnight.
“What’s going on?” I called.
At hearing my voice, Fade spun and covered the ground between us in three strides. He crushed me against him, shaking. For a few seconds, I couldn’t breathe … and I was confused about his reaction. Then I knew. Before he spoke, I knew.
“I thought they took you, somehow.”
Like they did you.
With everything that had happened, I hadn’t considered how worried he must be. I go out for a walk and I don’t come back? Stupid. You should’ve sent Rex with word. Shock from the night’s events had driven all other considerations out of my head … but I couldn’t get enough breath to speak, let alone apologize.
“I realize you’re glad to see her,” Rex said, “but you’re crushing my sister’s ribs.”
I didn’t fight to make Fade let go, though; instead I hugged him back as tight as I could. The rest of Company D, currently watching, could wait. It took a while for him to calm down enough to release me, and when he stepped back, his dark gaze glittered with fury. I could expect a proper quarrel later. Since I wasn’t injured, his eyes said, and clearly I hadn’t been taken, there was no excuse for putting him through that much grief.
And he didn’t have Stalker to help him figure out the way I went, either. He must’ve felt so helpless.
Personal matters had to wait, however. “There’s been a most unexpected development,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll explain everything.”
Since we were standing in the middle of the market, I thought it best not to talk about the Uroch camped on the western part right then. The villagers might panic, and that was the last thing we needed, two days before engaging the horde. Company D was well trained, luckily, so they fell in and followed me past the docks, along the coastline to the east. I marched until it was safe to talk. The only fishermen I saw were out on the river, not working from shore.
“I’d sure like to know why I gave up a night’s sleep searching for you,” Thornton said. “When you’re clearly fine.”
Taking a deep breath, I answered, “I’m glad you asked. You may not like what you hear, but don’t say a word before I’m done. There will be a chance to talk afterward. Not during.” I scanned all the men’s faces and added, “That’s an order.”
Rex put a hand on my shoulder in moral support. Then I explained where I’d been all night—and with whom. Shock and rage governed most faces, although Tegan and Morrow looked intrigued rather than angry. That was about what I expected. When I wrapped up the story, Company D exploded with outrage, protests, and disbelief. I didn’t address their collective fury until it started to die down. Once they realized I wasn’t arguing with them, the men paused and glanced among themselves, as if wondering at my tactics.
Since it was our only chance against the horde, I didn’t much care what they thought of the idea. “I don’t expect you to like them … or even trust them. But your goal hasn’t changed. You’re still tasked with defeating the horde. The only thing I ask is that you don’t harm the Uroch. They’ll be fighting alongside us … and if you reckon they can’t think, feel, and hurt … well, you’d be wrong. They’re people. Not like us, true, but they’re not monsters. The fact that they’re willing to fight their own to save us proves it.”
“We don’t get a say?” one soldier shouted from the back.
“You can walk,” I said. “But then you have to live with knowing you were too much of a coward to complete your mission. It’s your choice. I won’t make anyone fight, but I’ll be awfully proud of those who do.”
My brother stepped forward. “Last night, I almost stabbed my sister rather than listen to reason. I hope you won’t make the same mistake. I was there with her. I talked with them too. They may not look like us, but they’re not violent, unthinking beasts.”
