Ramaeka (The Ramaeka Series Book 1) (15 page)

Covered in
grime and mud, ashes burning his eyes, he continued to search without hope,
unsure of how long he had been working.  He had even lost sight of Amar at some
point during the afternoon and now the sun had disappeared and still he
continued to search through the darkness.  Walking into a new house he called
out hoarsely, not expecting a reply as he tiredly searched each room.  In one
of the back rooms he found the bodies of a man and a woman.  From the look of
the room and the bodies, the pair had fought hard to protect themselves. 
Picking up a colourful rug he spread it over their bodies.

A whimper
caught his sharp ears.  Turning he scanned the room intently; everything had
been knocked over and destroyed.  However his sharp eyes caught sight of an
irregularity in the floor where the rug had been.  He ran his fingers over the
area, his nails catching slightly on the edge of a very well hidden trap door. 
Who ever had built this had known what they were doing.

“It’s alright,”
he called out soothingly, his heart lifting at the possibility of finding
somebody who had survived.  “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help.”

He lifted the
trapdoor up and peered down.  Five children squatted in the damp hole beneath,
staring suspiciously up at him.

“It’s ok,” he
said quietly.  “The army has moved on.  Let’s get you out of there and see if
we can find some food and water ok?”

The children
still didn’t move.  Reaching down he pulled one by the arm.  The little girl
immediately started to cry.

“Hush,” he
soothed her gently.  “Look at me I’m only a kid as well, I’m definitely not
part of any army.”

After some
persuasion he finally managed to cajole the rest out of the hole.  The oldest
was around his age and she quickly rounded up the children and took them into
the kitchen.  Ramaeka followed wondering how to get hold of Amar.

“Do you know
what happened?” he asked the oldest girl.

She shook her
head.  “No, everything was normal, Ma and Pa was getting us ready for schooling
then these giant bird things attacked the city.  Ma and Pa made us get into the
hole.”  She stopped there obviously unable to go on, tears flooding her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,”
Ramaeka said helplessly, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Ramaeka,”
called a voice from outside.

“I’m in here,”
he called back.  “I found some survivors.”

Shady walked
in.  Ramaeka did a double take as he took in the appearance of his friend.  He
was covered in so much ash, blood and muck that Ramaeka almost didn’t recognise
him.  Tear tracks marked his face though he appeared calm.

“Good work kid,”
he croaked.  “Amar’s got a place set up for survivors, he sent me here to find
you.”

Ramaeka didn’t
question how Amar knew he was here; he just nodded tiredly and turned to the
children.  Between the two of them he and Shady managed to herd them to the
large building where Amar was looking after those who had managed to survive. 
He was bandaging a man’s arm as Ramaeka entered and only looked up to wave
quickly.  Several haggard appearing women appeared seemingly from nowhere and
took the children under their wings.  Relieved Ramaeka followed Shady over to a
man serving water from a huge barrel of water.  He gave each of them a cupful
before waving them on.  There was little chatter in the room; it seemed as if
everybody was still too shocked to talk about what had happened.

He sipped at
his water as he followed Shady.

“Where did all
these people come from?” he asked voice cracking tiredly.

“Who knows,”
Shady replied shrugging tiredly.  “Found some hiding in a well, some of them
ran into the woods and hid, most just found themselves alive when they thought
they were dead.”

He drank the
last of his water and stood with a sigh.  “Still gotta check out the rest of
the eastern part of the city.  You coming?”

Ramaeka nodded
and, ignoring the ache in his feet and legs, followed him out.  As they walked
eastwards, Ramaeka noticed more people searching and helping others.

“There’s more
alive than I thought,” he said to himself.

“Not many
though, not from a city of thousands.”

Shady pointed
down one street.  “You check that one and I’ll check the next one.  Meet you at
the end.”

Ramaeka nodded
and got to work.

It was seven
streets later when he found Stripe.  It was the second to last dwelling on a
street which was full of small rundown houses.  Ramaeka noticed a light
flickering through one of the smashed windows.  Entering cautiously he called
out as he checked the rooms.  In the room with the light he found his friend.

Covered in
blood and dirt Stripe was kneeling beside the bodies of three men and two
women.  The tears that rolled down his face were the only part of him that
looked alive.  Ramaeka put a hand on his shoulder hesitantly, jumping slightly
as Stripe looked up at him.

“I hated them
but I didn’t want this to happen,” he told Ramaeka in a tone of bewilderment.

“I’m sorry,”
Ramaeka pulled his friend into an awkward hug as he began to sob.  He noticed
an open trapdoor made from stone.  They must have tried to hide down there he
thought and been dragged out.

“That’s where
they used to put me,” Stripe said pulling back and indicating the stone
trapdoor.  “When I did something wrong they would chuck me down there with all
the monsters.  Kind of a twist that the monsters pulled them out of there huh?” 
He hung his head.  “I used to wish they were dead, does that make me a bad
person?”

“Come on,” he
pulled Stripe to his feet.  “I feel the same way about my family.  It doesn’t
mean that you really wanted them dead no matter what you say.  And you saved me
so I know you’re a good person.”

Stripe nodded
jerkily wiping at his face.

“I’m gonna get
something to cover them ok?”

Ramaeka helped
him to cover his family with several blankets that Stripe had found.  They
walked out together.

“Thanks Ra,”
Stripe said softly glancing over at him.  “Didn’t mean to go all mushy on you.”

“You’re always
mushy to me,” Ramaeka smiled at him, shoving him gently.  Stripe ducked his
head in embarrassment and started to walk up the street as Ramaeka followed.

“Hey,” Shady
called out to them walking down the street.  They stopped and waited for him.

“Part of the
King’s army just arrived; they’re finishing the search through the city.  Amar
said to bring you both back to get some food and some rest.”

Ramaeka sighed
in relief, help had arrived, and though he still wasn’t sure what a king was,
he guessed it must be a very good thing.

When he
arrived back at Amar’s base the area seemed to be dominated by men and women
dressed alike in green and gold.  Ramaeka stumbled over to Amar feeling
completely exhausted.  His friend was talking quietly to a stout, grizzled man
dressed in the same green and gold uniform.  However, even through his
exhaustion Ramaeka recognised a natural air of command about the man.  As he
sat down, Amar introduced the man as General Grady.  The General nodded at him
politely.

“Amar was just
telling me how hard you and your friends worked to help the survivors.”

Ramaeka
shrugged tiredly.  “We did our best; I never knew war was like this.”

The General
nodded grimly.  “This wasn’t war lad, this was a massacre.  But there will be
war as soon as we catch up to the miserable animals that did this.”

Ramaeka’s
stomach churned at the thought of more death, he bowed his head to hide his
reaction not wanting this commanding man to think him weak.

“Gasha’s army
will not be defeated by one battalion,” Amar murmured as Stripe and Shady
joined them carrying food and drink.  Shady silently handed Ramaeka a plate of
food and a jug of water.

“You mean
you’ve only got one battalion?” Stripe asked incredulously.  “Where’s the rest
of the King’s army?  We should be throwing all of our forces at them.”

“King Phaenin
feels that the rest of the army will be needed to defend himself,” the General
replied calmly.  “As that is where Gasha is ultimately headed, up to the
capital.  We were further south helping fight against raiders when we were
recalled.  Our instructions are to stop or at least slow his army down.”

“That’s
ridiculous!” Stripe exclaimed furiously his voice rising.  “The capital is at
the top of the peninsula!  What about all the cities in between?  All the
innocent people?”

The General
frowned sternly at him.

“He is our
King and when I became a knight in his army I took sacred vows to obey him
without fail.  I promise you this I personally will stop at nothing to destroy
this madman, I will gladly give my own life if necessary.  This is the third
city he’s wiped out in the last two weeks.”

He stopped and
looked at Stripe thoughtfully. 

“We’re always
accepting new soldiers if you’re interested.”

“We’re not,”
Shady interrupted firmly ignoring Stripe as he scowled at him.

“Where are you
headed next General?  If I may ask?” Amar asked quietly.

“The next city
they will hit is Jangor,” the General informed him.  “He’ll find that one a lot
harder to take than this.”

“Why?” Ramaeka
asked absently chewing on a piece of bread.

“Jangor is a
natural fortress,” Amar explained.  “The city is set into the side of a cliff
and walled off completely at the front.  It is a trading city which is often targeted
by sea and land raiders, therefore its defences are impressive.”

“But not
enough without reinforcement,” the General interjected.  “Especially with the
flyers Gasha’s wrangled up, but perhaps if we can get there first they might
have a chance.”

“Can you get
there faster?” Stripe asked intently leaning forward.

“I hope so. 
Gasha is taking the long way around along the great northern road.  There’s a
shorter way that only a few people know about,” he grinned.  “And I am one of
those people.”

“What about
the flyers?” Amar asked.  “Have you conceived a plan for fighting them?”

“I’ve been talking
to a few Dragons who might be willing to help out”

Ramaeka’s head
snapped up so fast his neck cricked, the others were staring at General Grady
in shock.

“Dragons?”
Stripe gasped.  “But we can’t trust them.”

“There’s only
a small group that still hunt humans and soon hopefully that will be made
completely illegal.  I’m not saying that I have their help yet, but I have
spoken to one dragon in particular with a lot of power.  He told me he would
try his best to bring some fighters.”

“And you trust
him to keep his word?” Stripe raised an eyebrow.

“I do,” the
General countered firmly.  “A dragon never breaks his word; they hold honour
even higher than us people.  Plus I know this dragon very well, as does the
King.”

“Sir?”

A soldier
saluted the General.

“Alright, I’m
coming.”  He stood up and nodded to the group.  “Lads, it was a pleasure
meeting you.  Perhaps we’ll see you on the battlefield.”

Ramaeka
watched him leave feeling slightly numb.  Was it possible he wondered, dragons
in an alliance with humans?  And which dragon was he talking about.  A hand
shook his shoulder pulling him away from his thoughts.  Stripe indicated his
plate of food.

“Keep eating
Ra, you’re going to need your strength.”

Though he
wasn’t hungry, Ramaeka forced himself to keep eating.  Never thought I’d see
the day where I didn’t feel hungry he thought faintly amused.

“What are the
three of you going to do now?” Amar asked.

“We should
fight,” Stripe replied immediately.  “Help stop this from happening again.”

“No way,”
Shady said flatly.  “We’re thieves not warriors.”

“What do you
think Ramaeka?” Amar looked at him.

“He’s too
young to fight,” Stripe dismissed instantly.

What did he
think? Ramaeka wondered to himself.  To tell the truth he was thinking that he
never wanted to see what he had seen today again, he just wanted to leave with
his friends and pretend it had never happened.  But you’ll know it’s still
happening, the annoyingly persistent voice in his head pointed out.  And that
was the problem really; it was time he started acting like a real dragon, and
fought for what he believed in.  He would have to tell them what he was, and
soon he thought as he looked at his friends sad, tired faces.  But not today.

“I want to
fight,” he said interrupting Stripe and Shady’s argument.

They all
looked at him in surprise.

“You’re too
young,” Stripe said.  “If we go to war then you’re staying here where you’re
safe.”

Ramaeka stood
up to his fullest height.  “I am not your son or your little brother, I am your
friend,” he told Stripe fiercely.  “And I can make my own choices, I want to
fight and make sure that this does not happen again and to make sure that it
doesn’t happen to you and Shady and Amar and everybody back in Talok!”

He glared down
at them.  Shady tugged on his arm and pulled him down.

“Touching as
that is, we are not going to fight.”

He waved at
Stripe to be quiet.

“I’m the only
one old enough to fight anyway, the rest of you are all under eighteen.  But
we’re not fighting, we’re thieves not warriors.  I know you love waving that
sword of yours around,” he said scathingly to Stripe who glared at him.  “And
maybe you’re decent enough at fighting one on one with someone who isn’t going
to try and kill you, but this is different.  There are no rules.  And if you
run off you’ll be risking my life and probably Ramaeka’s because we will follow
you.  Do you think you could live with yourself if one of us dies?”

He stopped and
stared at Stripe until he hung his head.  Really that was going a bit far
thought Ramaeka a little shocked.