B008P7JX7Q EBOK (23 page)

He struggled to make it to his feet, and looked
to his right in time to see a large leg come crashing into his ribs. He was
thrown aside and went rolling in the dirt. His sides ached, worse than they had
before, and the arrowhead in his shoulder announced itself with equal vigor. He
made it to his knees, one hand clasped to his ribs, and looked up. Standing
over him was one of the large creatures, looking down at him with something
very much like disdain and pride in its black eyes. Behind this one Alexis
could see the rest catching up, fervent eyes locked on him.

He raised the gun he had managed to hold on to,
and found his arm gripped in a vice. The beast began to tighten its grip, and Alexis
screamed aloud. He punched the creature in the ribs with his free hand but it
was like hitting solid rock. With its other hand the beast grabbed him around
the throat, large fingernails like talons digging painfully into his flesh. The
creature sneered at him, its breath hot and rancid, and tightened its grip. Alexis
moaned aloud, and his free hand slipped beneath his coat.

He did not think he could escape the tribe now,
but he did not plan on being an easy prey. He brought his knife out and buried it
in the creature’s neck. The beast screamed and let go of him. Alexis’s squeezed
the trigger and the beast’s head disintegrated in a mess of bone and blood and
brains.

He fell to the ground, his body screaming for a
rest from the pain. Three more of the creatures set upon him, all of them
salivating at the mouths. Alexis’s gun bellowed three times, and the beasts
fell to the ground. He crawled to his other gun, and then began the arduous job
of making it to his feet.

Two more of the creatures rushed at him, ahead
of the rest, and Alexis raised his guns and fired. He killed one of the beasts,
and then his guns were spent. With his guns empty, and still a dozen or so of
the beasts chasing after him, he knew that he was on his own. He watched the
ship near the bend in the river up ahead, and knew it for his only chance. He
began to run once more. Another arrow struck the pack, and this time he did
fall to the ground.

He made it to one knee with agonizing effort,
and could hear the tribe closing in the last few feet between them. He looked
up ahead and saw how close he was to the bend. He holstered his guns and
lurched to his feet. He then took the haversack off and threw it into the face
of the beast closest to him. It was not much, but he hoped it would prove to be
enough.

He ran on, free of the sack’s weight, but prone
to the arrows that flew past him. His breath came out labored and sweat matted
his hair. The wound in his shoulder pulsed with the beat of his heart, and
every movement of his left arm made him want to howl. He was aware of the harsh
panting of the beasts behind him, could almost feel their hot breath on his
neck. He glanced over his shoulder to see the closest ones three feet behind
him. In another moment they would run him down and rip him apart.

Alexis ran towards the bend with as much force
as he could muster. As he neared it, he could feel the breath of the beast
behind him, and in that moment he knew he was going to die. Then a loud crack
broke through the air, and the beast behind him fell. Alexis ran at the bend
and leapt, arms and legs flailing.

He landed on the deck of the cargo ship and went
sprawling, his guns sliding across the deck. He glanced over his shoulder, and
saw the hazy image of a large man with a rifle leveled towards the creatures that
stood at the embankment.

His body was in pain, and his lungs felt about
ready to explode, but one thought made it through his head clearly.
Safe.

    
 The
ship sailed down the river, followed by the furious howls of what remained of
the strangest tribe he had ever seen.

Chapter
16

Down
The River

1

Alexis hit the deck and went sprawling. Adrian
and Connor rushed to his side.

“ Alexis! Are you all right?” Adrian asked.

“Alexis?” Connor said, but the Legionnaire
simply lay there, prone and still.

 The large man came over to them, resting the
rifle on his shoulder. “Now, do you mind telling me just who you lads are?” His
gut spanned before him, barely covered by a short plain vest. His head was
layered with a thin grove of light-brown hair, and his round face looked down
on them, waiting. He was dressed in baggy trousers and was barefoot, as was the
rest of the crew.

Adrian looked from the large man to Connor. He
didn’t know what he could possibly tell the man, but he knew that it could only
be a small measure of the truth.

“Well?” the large man asked, frowning.

“We’re ... we’re lost,” he stammered.

“Lost. Those woods run pretty deep, lad, how did
you ever end up inside them?” Most of the crew gathered around them curiously.
Some still looked back the way they had come as if not believing what they had
seen.

“We ... we we’re running,” Adrian told the man,
and then to change the subject, “Please, you have to help him.”

The man frowned and Adrian suspected he knew
that he was not being given the whole truth. The large man’s eyes went to
Alexis and he whistled softly through his teeth.  

“This one looks like he got the bad end of a
tavern brawl, or perhaps worse judging from those monstrosities behind us,” he
remarked. His gaze lifted to Adrian and Connor again. “I don‘t think you
realize how lucky you are. Reason no other ship travels this fork of the river
is ‘cause it`s too treacherous. Only time I come down this way is when I’m
running late and left with no other choice. Lucky as hell, you are. Well, then
I would say it’s a good thing we found you, wouldn’t you fellows? Here, Pacha, put
the rifle back in my cabin.” The man he spoke to came and took the rifle away.
“Well, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Matin Lavos, captain of
the Sea Spirit, the finest steamship ever built.”

He knelt beside Alexis and rolled him over onto
his back, studying him closely.

“I’m Adrian Moor.”

“Connor Moor. Is he all right?”

“Well, I believe he’s still alive.” The captain
turned to the men looking on and began shouting out orders. “All right, you
damned louts, lend a hand and get the man beneath decks! And I believe he had
guns on him, they better turn up; if one of you lot filches them I’ll throw you
overboard and drag you back to port!”

His words seemed to break the gathered crew from
their trance and they rushed forward to help carry Alexis bellow.

Lavos stood and turned towards Adrian and
Connor. “Don’t worry, lads, we have a fine doctor on the Spirit, he should be
able to help your friend.”

“Thank you,” Adrian said. “We... we have no
method of paying you ... but I’m sure that once our friend regains his health,
he’ll be able to arrange it.”

“Forget about payment,” Lavos said. “What I
would like, however, is to know what happened in those woods, and just what in
God’s name those beasts were.” He stared back up the river, a frown creasing
his features. He turned back to face them. “Hmm, I suppose you need a room to
stay in, the deck’s no fit sleeping place for young boys. Follow me.”

Adrian and Connor followed the captain quietly
below decks, shying away from the curious gazes of the crew. Adrian knew the
captain still had questions for them, he didn’t seem a man to simply drop a
matter and let it go, but he wasn’t sure what answers they could give him. He
wished Alexis would wake up soon.

The room they were shown to was small with two
folding cots attached to the walls. Everything else was nailed down. The deck
beneath their feet swayed with the ships progress down the river, making them
teeter and totter.

“Your friend is down the hall, if those
half-wits put him in the right room,” the captain said.

“Thank you, captain,” Adrian said. “I ... I
think we will stay in here for now.”

Lavos watched them for a moment. He opened his
mouth to say something, and then closed it then and left the room.

“Why didn’t we tell him about what happened?”
Connor asked once they were alone.

“Because we don’t know if we can trust him. I’m
beginning to wonder if we can trust anyone,” Adrian said. He went and sat down
on one of the cots.

“What about Alexis, do you think he will be all
right?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know,” Adrian said. “I hope so.”

Connor walked over to the other cot and lay
down. “What
were
those creatures in the woods?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to
know.”

The two had not been alone for more than a few
moments when the door burst open and a crewman poked his head inside.

“The captain says to let you know that Nemoy’s
working on your friend.”

The two stood and followed the crewman down the
hall.

2

The room that Alexis was being kept in was small
enough to seem crowded with only five people. Captain Lavos was there, and so
was a tall man that was kneeling beside Alexis’s bed. Adrian and Connor stood
aside and watched as the doctor, who looked like any of the other crewmen,
worked on Alexis. A small, round window gave the room a dim light. Alexis lay
on the bed, his face beaded with sweat and his hair coated to his forehead. He
was stripped to the waist and sweat seemed to cover the rest of his body as
well. Adrian was glad to see that his leather gloves still adorned his hands.
He didn’t know why he didn’t tell the Captain that Alexis was a Legionnaire,
only that some part of his mind told him to keep it secret.
Who can we
trust?

“This arrow’s gone real deep in him,” remarked
the tall man.

“Can you get it out, Nemoy?” Lavos asked.

“I can try.”

Adrian moved closer to the cot. He watched as
Nemoy brought out a small pair of tongs. He averted his gaze as it fell on
Alexis’s wound. Dried blood covered one side of the Legionnaire’s torso, and
the flesh around the wound was swollen a dark red and appeared agitated. But he
couldn’t help but watch on as Nemoy grabbed the broken haft of the arrow with
the tongs, and then began to draw it out slowly. Alexis’s eyes rolled behind
his lids, and a soft, painful moan escaped his lips. Adrian winced as the
arrowhead left his body with a wet sound, and fresh blood immediately began to
seep out.

“Well, that part of it is done,” Nemoy said,
holding the small arrowhead before his eyes. “Now I must stitch the wound
close.”

“All right,” Lavos said. He turned to Adrian and
Connor. “You may not want to see this, lads. It’s not a pretty sight.”

Adrian thought he spoke the truth. He and Connor
gave Alexis one last look, and then left the room, followed by the captain. They
stood in the hallway, looking at the closed door.

“You lads want something to eat?” The captain
asked.

“I’m not hungry,” Adrian said. “I think I will
stay in our room.”

“I don’t feel like eating, either” said Connor.

“All right, if you want something, let one of
the crew know.”

The two boys told him that they would, and then
went back to their own room. They lay down on their cots, both exhausted, and
with the gentle sway of the ship they both soon fell asleep.

3

Matin Lavos was in his quarters, sitting behind
his desk and going through the paperwork for the cargo that he carried, when a
knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and in strode Joni, a thin sailor
with a grizzled beard. In his hands were two large, hard-caliber revolvers. He
carried them as if they were holistic artifacts.

“You said to find the guns, Captain,” Joni said,
and lay the guns on Lavos’s desk.

“Where did you find these, Joni?” Lavos asked,
putting aside the paperwork. “I’ve had Glib and Haram looking for them all
morning.”

“They were under the nets, Captain,” Joni said.

Lavos reached across the table and picked up the
heavy guns, he turned them over in his hands, looking at them, and his eyes
grew wide. “These are no ordinary guns,” he whispered.

“What do you mean, Captain?” Joni asked.

Lavos didn’t hear him; he stared at the guns in
silent wonder. Before him, Joni shifted his feet, and then when it was apparent
he was forgotten, he turned and left.

Lavos set the guns down again and breathed a
deep sigh. When he looked up he saw that Joni was no longer there. He reached
beneath his shirt, and drew out a small key on a long chain around his neck. He
stood and went to the wall, where he pulled open the cleverly constructed hatch
to his small private safe. Inside were a few pouches of money, and copies of
the forms designating him the ownership of the Sea Spirit. He put the guns in
the safe, marveling at their beauty, and closed it and locked it.