Chronicles of Kin Roland 1: Enemy of Man (13 page)

NEITHER gate nor sentinel guarded the
rock formation around Maiden’s Keep. Columns of stone flanked a crystalline waterfall where the portcullis should be. Closer inspection revealed a gentle curtain of water incapable of repelling invaders. At times, Kin could see through it.

“Rickson, stay
with the horses.”

Rickson nodded and gripped his staff, which made Kin nervous. He expected
an argument. The boy must sense something. Maiden’s Keep was a quiet place. No one ever came to greet him when he visited. A month ago he followed the trail around the cliff to the dry gate and entered to find several women going about their daily activities—reading, mending clothing, cooking, or meditating. Despite the quietude, an aura of happiness and energy normally pervaded the atmosphere.

“I’ll go first,” Bear said. He gripped his axe and
stepped through the waterfall.

Rickson laughed.

Kin shook his head. “I guess we’re getting wet.”

“Bear has never been here, apparently.”

“And you have?”

“All the time. They like to mother me and I like to eat.”

Kin nodded and followed Bear through the waterfall.

“It’s dark,” Bear said.

The cavern was large. Though Kin wasn’t surprised to find it empty, his unease grew.

“Hello!” Bear called.

No one answered. Kin slid his sword free, moving around the room, checking the corners and poking at the ashes in the hearth.

“I don’t like this, Kin. Did Captain Raien’s troopers come here or is the Reaper feasting in the tunnels?”

Kin examined the ground, finding large boot prints with a familiar tread pattern. Fleet armor was heavy. He wasn’t surprised to find evidence of troopers. He didn’t see blood, which was a good sign, though they had probably not come to Maiden’s Keep to kill.

With Bear’s help, he
explored the tunnels for an hour before coming to a fortified door he built years ago. The safe room was never closed. Apparently, the women of Maiden’s Keep decided to shelter from the attentions of their recent visitors. He saw more boot prints, but no marks on the door. He rubbed the back of his neck, moved away from the door, and tried to think.

“Move away from the door. There’s a peep hole. They could be watching us,” Kin said.

“Good. Maybe they’ll let us in.”

Kin shook his head. “The door must have been open when Raien’s troopers came, because they would have forced it otherwise. I see boot prints leading
to the door. They wouldn’t come this far and just turned around.”

“Are they still in there?”
Bear asked. “Maybe the women learned their lesson and started locking the door after the men left.”

“That is one possibility.”

“I don’t think I’m going to like the other possibility. God damn these troopers. I thought the Fleet was supposed to protect people, not rape and kill.” Bear gripped his axe tightly, clenching his jaw and closing his eyes for a moment.

“We don’t know what they did. Things could have been a lot worse at Go
ld Village. Remember, a pair of AWOL troopers returned to Gold Village in search of young women. They could have come here as well.”

“But they high-tailed it back to Crater Town after the Reaper came,” Bear said.

Kin nodded. “I’m going to open the door. Stay alert, and don’t tell Rickson what we find.”

“He isn’t stupid.”

“Then we’ll lie to him. These women were like mothers and sisters to him. Whatever we find, he doesn’t need to know the details.” Kin approached the door from the side, avoiding the peep hole, and worked the secret latch.

The lock
clicked. He pushed. The heavy timbers of the door swung inward. Firelight flooded into the passage, but no sound. Eventually, he heard something, possibly a woman’s sobbing, but it sounded muffled.

Kin looked Bear in the eyes and held up three fingers. Then he closed his fist before lifti
ng one, two, and three fingers.

They rushed through the doorway. A rifle b
oomed, blasting bits of rock from the wall where they would have been had they stopped inside the door.

“You son-of-a-bitch,” Bear yelled, as he rushed
forward with his axe held high.

Kin charged the trooper, scanning the room as he moved, spotting a second man in half armor. His attacker hastily put on his hel
met and breastplate, but didn’t have time to fully equip the FSPAA unit. Kin sliced off the man’s hand and shoved him backward as the weapon fell.

Bear ran at the other one, but wasn’t going to make it. His opponent aimed a rifle. Kin pivoted on the balls of his feet, drew his pistol, and fired three times. Two bullets hit the man in the chest and the third hit him between the eyes.

Kin returned his attention to the man he had slashed, kicking him in the gut. As soon as his foot came back, he kicked again. His foot slammed into the helmet and flung the man against the wall. Kin’s victim stumbled and fell, holding the stump of his wrist as it gushed blood.

“Grab hold of this one. Tie up his wound if you can,” Kin said, holding his pistol in one hand and his sword in the other.

Bear grunted and forced the one-handed trooper onto his stomach. He pulled both arms behind the man’s back and began tying a tourniquet above the amputated wrist. When the bleeding stopped, Bear tied the arms together.

“Good work, Bear,” Kin said without looking at the man.
He focused his attention on twenty women of various ages sitting at a long table, gagged and bound with rope.

“Untie them,” Be
ar said.

Kin shook his head. He approached
a corridor on the far side of the room, unable to see into it from where he was. Instinct warned him another trooper lurked just out of sight, waiting for Kin or Bear to move into view. No trooper he knew would hide without a reason. A Fleet soldier would be waiting for a kill shot.

“Damn it, Kin,” Bear said. He stood and moved quickly toward the table. A bullet grazed his head. He flung up his hand to hold the wound and turned to face the new threat, but didn’t move out of the kill zone.

“Get down!” Kin ran forward, kicked Bear’s legs from under him, and faced the danger. A young man, his body dark with Fleet tattoos, stood aiming a rifle.

Kin dropped and rolled, coming to his feet close to his attacker, firing his pistol one-handed as he moved, sword ready in the other
hand.

The trooper fired
. A stream of hot bullets flashed past Kin’s head.

Should have aimed for my chest
.

Time hadn’
t slowed, but in battle he saw things that shouldn’t be possible. His senses grasped information greedily. He saw the muzzle flash and the air behind the bullets, even as they passed him. His pistol pumped rounds into the young man not much older than Rickson.

Bear grunted and yelled. Kin backed out of the doorway, then turned to see the one-handed trooper on his feet, arms still tied behind him. He had just kicked Bear in th
e back and was stomping on him.

Kin raised his pistol, but dashed forward, holstering as he moved. He held the sword in both hands now, but chose to jump high and kick hard, just as the trooper turned to face him. Kin’s foot drove into the man’s chest and flattened him.

He stood over his only living victim. “You wouldn’t be that stupid if you understood who I was.” The words escaped before he could think and he regretted them immediately. The violent work of close combat overworked his adrenal glands, subverting his judgment.

“Piss off! I was on Hellsbreach!”

Kin laughed. Everyone claimed to be on Hellsbreach. From Captain Zelig to this grunt, they all craved glory from a campaign that was anything but glorious.

“I know you. You’re Kin Roland. You’re the Enemy of Man!”

Kin knelt next to him and whispered into his ear. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. You’re delusional, because if I were that kind of traitor and not just a deserter like you, you’d be dead.”

“Captain Raien will kill you herself when I tell her.”

“Captain Raien likes me,” Kin said, as he stood and looked down. A piece of FSPAA armor caught his attention. The insignia was a red dragon. This was one of the men who had killed Brian Muldoch.

“She likes everyone.” The man clenched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose. His pain, anger, and awkward position on the ground tortured him, but he was acting tough.

“Untie the women,” Kin said.

Bear grunted and started cutting ropes with his belt knife. He carefully removed each gag. The women gasped for breath but didn’t say anything at first. The gags had been cruelly tight. The younger girls started crying and the older moved to comfort them.

Kin watched Bear and the women for a moment, then knelt by the trooper. “I think your tourniquet is too tight.” He untied it.

“What are you doing? I won’t tell anyone. Don’t. Don’t do that.”

Kin saw Bear glance at him, but the big man didn’t move to stop him. Blood pooled on the floor. The man passed out. Kin rubbed his forehead, staring at what he had done.

“Give me another cord from your pack,” Kin said.

“Leave him. He’s no use to anyone.”

“Give me the cord,” Kin said. Bear took his time, but handed Kin a cord without a word. Kin tied the man’s wrist and propped him up against a wall.

“What’re you going to do with him?” Bear asked.

Kin stared
wordlessly at the unconscious trooper. Then he met and held Bear’s gaze. “I don’t know.”

Bear shrugged. “He can only make your situation with the Fleet worse.”

Kin gathered ammunition and weapons from the troopers. Bear helped him drag the two bodies through the tunnels and found Rickson on his way inside.

“I tied up the horses before I came in,” Rickson said.

“Never said you didn’t,” Bear said. “Give me a hand.”

“Put the weapons on a
horse. I’m going to lock the prisoner in a closet for now.” Kin regretted tying the new tourniquet almost as much as he regretted untying it. Killing during the heat of battle didn’t bother him, but murder brought guilt he didn’t need. He wasn’t good at it, despite his lethal training and years of combat experience. He tried to murder Orlan, now this trooper, and failed both times.

SOPHIA was the oldest woman at Maiden’s Keep. She hadn’t been tied up. The AWOL troopers either hadn’t found her in the study or hadn’t bothered to subdue her.

She guided Kin to a waterfall on the north side of Maiden’s Keep, holding his hand as they walked. The woman was childlike in her smallness. She moved with cautious dignity. Her eyes betrayed hard won wisdom, but also mischief.

“Sit,” she said.

Kin helped her to a chair on the ledge overlooking the waterfalls. He lowered himself into a cross-leg sitting position beside her and waited. Sophia never rushed conversation, but she clearly had something she wanted to tell him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” Kin said.

“As am I,” Sophia said. “You were very close. One of the girls saw you come out of the Rabbit Hole. She said the devil must have been chasing you.”

“Why would she say that?” Kin asked.

“Because you looked so serious.”

“I’m always serious.”

“Are you not the same Kin Roland who brings us wine and books and tells stories about falling down a hill while chasing a girl?”

“That story is the reason I normally refuse to drink the wine.” Kin smiled at the old woman.

Sophia patted his shoulder. “You are a fierce warrior and a superb guardian. We owed you many debts before today, but I must thank you again.” She adjusted her coat. “You know that my study has a window.”

“And you gaze at the sunset thinking of suitors who pursued you in your youth,” Kin said.

Sophia smiled. “I do! You must be tired of my stories, but that is not why I mention the window. I saw Clavender. Droon has taken her and will eventually feed her to the Clingers.”

“How do you know his name?”

“I know many things,” Sophia said. “Clavender’s people hunt the Clingers. They are ancient enemies. You are an intelligent young man. You know this planet is much larger than the Earth of your ancestors.”

Kin nodded and listened. Sophia knew more of the planet than anyone. She had been here a long time and spoke with many travelers. He had asked her to read her journal, but she claimed it was private and full of situations that would make him blush.

“Yet, you have visited only a small portion of this world,” she said.

“The landscape and atmosphere are dangerous farther from Crater Town,” Kin said.

“Yes and no. The planet is dangerous, true. But what you describe does not
cover all of the land. A defensive ring surrounds Crater Town. Beyond that perimeter, traveling would be easier if you made it that far.”

The thought of a defensive perimeter alarmed Kin. He was a trained soldier and responsible for protecting the people of Crater Town, those from the
Goliath
and others who found their way to the coast. “Why would there be a defensive perimeter?”

“Perhaps I misspoke.” Sophia folded her hands on her lap. “It also keeps people in.”

“Why?”

She held his gaze, when normally she stared at the waterfalls as she talked. “You should ask Clavender.”

“Because she knows more of her home world than you?” Kin asked.

Sophia didn’t answer.

Kin waited, hoping silence would prompt her to elaborate, but it was a futile effort. She returned her gaze to the waterfalls and the river, falling into her silent contentment.

“You could spend a lifetime exploring this planet and not see half of it. Clavender’s people are on every continent. They are many. Once, they were a peaceful people, but have learned
the art of war. Do not judge them by what you know of Clavender, for she is very different.”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“There is going to be a battle,” Sophia said.

“How do you know that?”

She smiled. “You are here, Kin Roland, and there is always a battle.”

“My wars are over. There is only Droon now. A fight between one man and a Reaper is a fight, not a war,” Kin said. “Are you
telling me Clavender’s people will attack Crater Town and the Fleet?”

“Not the Fleet,” Sophia said levelly. “And not Crater Town.”

“Then who?” The Fleet came through the wormhole badly damaged from a battle, but as yet, no one had pursued Commander Westwood and his armada.

“When Clavender’s people and the
Mazz
clash, your Fleet and the Reapers will be minor players, bystanders,” Sophia said.

“That’
s hard to imagine.” Kin could believe anything, but the Fleet was never a minor player. Hundreds of worlds had submitted to the Fleet’s power since the people of Earth took to the stars.

“Who are the Mazz? Are they human?”

Sophia shrugged. She patted his arm again and watched the splendor of the waterfalls.

“We need to go,” Kin said, hoping she would keep the conversation alive by elaborating on the strangers.

You’re as stubborn as you are beloved.
Nothing he said would force her to speak. In the arena of patience, Sophia reigned supreme.

Sophia closed her eyes and allowed her smile to fade. “Tell me, Kin Roland, what is the burden you carry?”

“We can’t linger, Sophia. I must find Clavender.” Images of Hellsbreach and the bloodshed of total war crowded his mind.

“You must,” Sophia said. “Give me a kiss before you go.”

He kissed her on the cheek and held her hands. “You should go to Crater Town. I don’t think the Fleet is staying on Crashdown long. If you want to leave this planet, time is short.”

Sophia
nodded. “Be careful of skittish horses and steep cliffs. And be wary of travelers. There was a group that came through this area, not Crater Town people or Fleet troopers.”

“What kind of people?” Kin asked.

“The normal kind that travels this planet, foolish adventurers hoping to explore and learn secrets better left untouched,” Sophia said. “Goodbye, Kin Roland.”

Kin squeezed her hands and left. She had never said go
odbye before. The peaceful ambience of Maiden’s Keep seemed somehow final, as though he would never see it again. He paused to look back at Sophia. Waterfalls continued to flow. The woman remained at ease. Kin felt an overwhelming desire to protect her. He didn’t want to leave, yet, Clavender’s dire situation called to him with its own sense of urgency.

He found Bear, Rickson, and the prisoner waiting by the horses and belatedly wondered if he should have asked about Sophia’s warning. At the time, it seemed a simple and reasonable warning when travel
ing the mountains on horseback.

Kin wasn’t an excellent rider, but he had no fear of horses or falling. Now, as he stared at Bear and Rickson, he felt the effect of Sophia’s mysticism. She claimed to be just a woman who meditated and considered events with a sharp mind, but Kin always left feeling he had been in the presence of an oracle. He hadn’t told her of the packhorse that had fallen and how Rickson had almost been pulled over the edge with it. He would watch the boy more closely next time they rode near a dangerous ledge.

“Do we stay or do we go?” Bear asked. He tugged on the rope tied around the prisoner’s neck.

“Do whatever you want, just
let me go,” the prisoner said.

Bear yanked the rope harder and caused the man to fall. His stump and his other arm were tied together in front of his belt. He caught the ground with his good hand and pushed himself back to his feet, glaring at Bear.

Kin took hold of the prisoner’s stump and held it lightly. The man winced and held his breath. “Give me the codes to your armor.”

“Not on my life.”

“Poor choice of words. I should dress you in the armor of your companions,” Kin said.

The man swallowed hard. Donning armor without the proper code caused it to melt from the inside. Battery packs leaked under the armor, eating away at the thief an
d eventually disabling the FSPAA. Apparently, the man’s friends hadn’t trusted him.

Kin released the man’s arm and walked to his horse. He wanted to bring the armor, even though it was useless to him, but the horses couldn’t handle the weight. Maybe he could come back for the armor and figure out the codes.

“It’s really dark up here,” Rickson said. He eyed the prisoner. The distant wormhole did little to illuminate the overcast sky. Clouds moved quickly overhead and revealed the moons of Crashdown, but infrequently and never all at once.

“Are the horses ready?” Kin asked.

Bear shrugged. Rickson nodded at the same time.

“Then we go. We have wasted too much time already,” Kin said.

“Corporal Raif is going to slow us down,” Bear said.

Kin looked at the man. “Can’t be helped. He’ll keep up or he’ll be left behind. I’m sure he could survive with no weapons, food, or maps, assuming he’s a lot smarter and tougher than he looks.”

“We should leave him,” Bear said.

“We can’t leave him
.” Kin worried about Sophia and the other women. He wouldn’t leave Corporal Raif to prey on them.

Bear mounted his short, sturdy horse.
“We could kill him.”

“There is that option,” Kin said, staring at Raif.

“I knew you were a murdering deserter,” Raif said, holding Kin’s gaze.

“That’s good, coming from you,” Rickson said.

Raif spun toward him. “I’ll cut your throat, boy.”

Bear yanked the rope and
rode closer to Kin, dragging his prisoner.

“I’ll cut your throat too!”

Bear ignored the man and spoke to Kin as though Raif didn’t exist. “Some of the ladies claimed the Reaper passed this way not long ago, though I don’t know how they could have seen anything, being tied up as they were.”

“Sophia probably told them,” Kin said. He adjusted the reigns and prepared to ride as Bear stopped with the
prisoner.

“How would she know?” Rickson asked.
He stood by his horse, stalling. The shepherd had never ridden a horse before this adventure. His eyes went to Raif more than once, his usual cockiness absent.

“She knows many things,” Kin said, and smiled, remembering the words as Sophia had said them to him.

Bear laughed. “Sure she does. Like how to lock the doors when strange Fleet troopers come to visit.”

“I’ll lead for a while,” Kin said.

“I’ll bring up the rear,” Bear said. “Mind that horse, Rickson. Try to relax. She can feel your nervousness. Probably remembers there used to be four of them.”

Kin looked back at Rickson. The boy held the reigns too tight
ly. He wasn’t in rhythm with the mount. He was probably remembering the screams of the pack horse before it smashed against the rocks. Sophia’s admonition echoed in Kin’s mind and he hoped Rickson would be more cautious.

Raif jogged behind the
horses, stumbling due to his bound hands and the rope around his neck. “Let me go now and give me my guns, and I won’t say a thing to Captain Raien.”

“Shut up,” Bear said.

“I’m not talking to you,” Raif said. He faced Kin, tripped, recovered, tried again. “I won’t tell them who you are. By my Oath of Service, I won’t say a word.”

“Shut him up
,” Kin said, without looking at the trooper.

Bear slowed his horse abruptly so that Raif ran beside him, then struck the man with one large hand and pulled him up with the rope when he fell. “Next time
I’ll use my axe.”

“You’re all going to die. You’re going to pay. I’ll kill every one of you. Fucking wait and see.”

Bear swung at him and missed. Raif laughed. Bear jumped from his horse, tackled the smaller man, holding him down on the dirt path. He grabbed Raif’s throat and squeezed until his eyes bulged. He leaned forward, breathing into Raif’s face.

“I’ve been ready to
die for a long time. Your type surrenders when things get tough. That’s the difference between you and me. Next time, remember this; I don’t show mercy and I don’t give second chances.” He pulled a hand axe from his belt and struck Raif with the flat of the blade.

Kin walked his horse back and watched Bear fling the prisoner across his horse.

“Should’ve done that in the first place,” Bear said.