Chapter 28: Out of the Woods

I looked at both groups, trying to assess what was happening as quickly as possible before making any rash decisions. The King looked absolutely stunned at what was happening, more off balance than I’d seen him since I’d arrived. Both groups glanced over to me, but didn’t move their weapons from the targets they’d chosen.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Atlan smiled. “We’re claiming this settlement for the Horde. A blessing and an honor for them.”

“This woman threatens the king and makes demands! She waited until we were distracted at the walls to make her move. She’s caused the deaths of good men,” yelled Shay in response.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. The novelty of the Rens and the woods had distracted me from the realities of the wastes. I’d been drawn into their little fantasy land. It made perfect sense for Atlan to do what she was doing. The entire reason the Horde had started up patrols in the woods was to determine if there was someone to subjugate or a way to expand their reach.

Shay spoke up. “Join us in saving our king, Donovan. One such as you, an undead who understands the honor of quests, who fights with steel. Surely you feel a kinship with us?”

I walked over to her, keeping an eye on Atlan’s expression as she adjusted the calculations she was making in her head. Shay’s expression shifted into a hopeful one as I approached her. My answer was obvious. I took out my pistol and pointed it at Shay’s head.

“Drop your weapons. All of you.”

Shay’s expression crumbled as the gun appeared in front of her face. I felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly quashed it. I hadn’t come here for them, I’d come to retrieve the patrol, and I intended to do my job. The Ren’s couldn’t offer me anything even close to what the Horde could in terms of freedom and authority. Even if I did help them, their settlement likely couldn’t survive forever on its own. The ursans were getting smarter, and even with their walls and advantages they wouldn’t last forever. Getting them under the Horde’s umbrella would help them. At least that’s what I told myself as I looked at the expressions of betrayal on the people all around me.

“If you comply then no one has to die. The Horde can be brutal, but only if you choose to resist.” I glared a threat in Atlan’s direction as I spoke. If she took this further than it needed to go, there would be consequences. I began marking all the combatants on the Ren’s side with my ability, placing them all under arrest to limit the damage they could do and keep them highlighted in my vision.

“He’s right. I’m just going to take your king to the Khan, have him swear fealty, and from there we’ll return with him, and have you pay your first tribute.”

The king finally seemed to regain control of himself. He looked at Shay and everyone else. “I’ll go with them. I don’t want any more deaths today.”

I watched the Rens visibly deflate at those words, the fight staring to leave them.

“Go back to the walls and make sure there are no ursans left after the fight at the gate.” Atlan said, gesturing with her gun to the rangers, but not letting it drift too far from the King’s head. Rhett, Steve, go get our bikes and gear together at the gate.”

The group began to disperse, but not happily. The Iron Horde patrolman took positions with their guns and we all moved out onto the courtyard. I kept my pistol at my side and my eyes on the highlighted forms around me.

“Looks like the Khan picked the right guy to bring me home,” said Atlan as I fell in beside her and her bodyguards. “He always knows how to pick the right bastard for a job.”

I stopped and turned to her, pulling off my goggles and bandana. “Put me in a situation like that again and you’ll see how much of a bastard I can be.”

The male guard, Ba’al, stepped toward me, but Atlan shook her head at him. She was smiling, but didn’t say anything. I’d already chosen her side, she didn’t have any reason to antagonize me further than she had, and she knew it.

We walked back onto the courtyard, where the Rens were all massed, and angry, but their weapons were no longer drawn. We stood there while the bikes and gear was all retrieved, and then waited for the all clear from the rangers on the walls.

“Remember, anything out there that could kill us, could kill him too,” said Atlan gesturing to the king who she’d handed off to her shorter female guard.

“It’s clear,” yelled one of the rangers after receiving signals from all the others. From there the gate was opened. The bodies of the ursans and the dead group of Ren’s came into view. We started to walk out, and I took a deep whiff trying to double check the work that the Ren’s had done and make sure that there really weren’t any ursans nearby. I was the last one through the gate, and I took a moment to look back.

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Shay was standing behind me, hate in her eyes. “I should’ve known.”

“You will next time.” I turned my back and joined the Horde patrol. The gate slammed behind me.

…

The walk through the woods was tense, and I kept my senses scanning for any signs we were being stalked. We had enough firepower between us that if we encountered one we were prepared for we should be able to deal with it before it killed too many of us. Still, I stayed near the center of the group as we moved, just in case.

The center put me close to the king and Atlan. The king was no longer being held at gunpoint. No reason, he’d be defenseless and weaponless if he got away. Atlan was on the back of a bike, being pulled along by her bodyguards, her balance steady even with her missing foot.

We were about halfway out of the woods when the king decided to speak. His voice came out weak, without the projection I was used to hearing him use. “I… I thought you cared for me.”

Atlan looked over to him with a pitying smile. “I do, but there’s no room for affection in the Horde.”

The King shook his head. “But the time we shared together.”

Her smile turned from pitying to mocking, consciously, I thought, “I just wanted to enjoy the royal treatment for a change.”

The King glumly tilted his head downward and got back to focusing on placing one foot in front of the other.

That little conversation confirmed what I’d thought since I’d first seen them interact. Whether it had been an honest affection or a ploy by Atlan to make him more vulnerable was unclear to me. She was certainly vicious enough for the latter to be the case, but I didn’t get that impression. Somewhere between the two options seemed to be most likely to me. I didn’t dwell on it too much, it wasn't my problem unless they made it one.

We were lucky for the first half of the journey. There was no sign of any ursans and we made relatively quick progress through the woods. The worst fright the patrol had was any time they looked back to see me cloaked in black and close behind them. I’d covered my face back up, but I moved a lot more quietly than they did.

Just when the edge of the woods began to come into view, the powerful scent of musk drifted into my nostrils.

“Move!” I yelled, startling everyone. They complied, and I heard the crashing of trees behind us.

We all ran, with those on bikes, including Atlan riding with her guard, turning them on to ride out of the woods as quickly as possible. I was under no illusion that the edge of the woods would stop an ursan in pursuit of its prey, but getting it out of the cover of the trees, where we could all fire on it at once seemed like the soundest possible strategy.

I was out just a moment before the ursan, who managed to tear the man behind me in half as he ran the rest of us down. I unholstered my pistol and popped off several shots vaguely in the creature's direction as I moved. The other’s around me followed suit, unloading on the creature as it broke through the treeline.

It pushed forward, seemingly ignoring our bullets. In the midst of the gunfire the sound of engines started to break through. I looked around and saw a convoy approaching, with two large trucks on which were mounted massive .50 Caliber machine guns. Those guns unloaded, shredding through the ursan and sending it reeling. It let out a last defiant roar before collapsing in front of us, too close for comfort.

I watched as the convoy rolled up to us and stopped. Someone got out of the driver’s seat and I could see the edges of a mohawk appear behind the truck. It was Angela, she walked over to where Atlan and I stood, and took a look at each of us.

“Well shit. I thought for sure you’d both be dead.”

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