Tribal Dawn: Mordufa: Volume Three Read online

  “I’m going to die!” she shrieked.

  He held her firmly and laughed dryly. “I’m going to die with you!” He slammed her back down, one hand cradling her neck to keep their gaze, the other caressing between her legs, bringing it on before she could separate.

  Zura tried to bite down. She couldn’t. She was nearly crying. Her thighs squeezed his waist. She threw her chest forward and clawed his back, erupting into a series of uncontrollable, harsh moans, hips swaying, taking him deeper inside.

  Vakaar caved. The scratches burnt. He buried into her neck, hiding, and climaxed with a rough groan, clutching her waist.

  They stayed sitting together, rolling out the last of their orgasms, delicately kissing each other. Fatigue hit Vakaar hard. He thought he saw stars when he looked up to meet her flushed, dreamy gaze.

  He lay back, pulling her with him. She giggled and rested on his chest, fingers tracing the lines of his scars. He stared at the ceiling, lost. With all his strength, he raised his hand and lazily stroked her hair. “That took it out of me.”

  “I wish I’d done it sooner,” Zura said, lovely smile wide. “I heard mating does funny things to people, but… I can’t help but think that it felt right.” She rested her head back on his chest. “Did it to you or is it my inexperience?”

  Vakaar couldn’t control words for his haze. “It did feel right,” he realised. Sleepily, he placed Zura on her side and stroked down her nose. “You should sleep, Kreiess. You’ll wake up aching in places you didn’t think were possible.”

  Zura affectionately rubbed against his facial hair. “I would, but I know when I open my eyes, you’ll be gone.”

  Vakaar smirked. “And that’s exactly why I need to go. If you’re learning how I work, that isn’t a good sign.” As she flickered her eyelashes, he softly kissed her. “I won’t leave straight away. I’ll still be here, I promise.”

  - CHAPTER THIRTY -

  Weeks burned to cinders in the scorching heat. The war had no end in sight. Aqua women weakened the walls, crumbling them into sandy mounds, people crushed beneath. They destroyed every building they could with fire wrapped boulders. If they were misdirected, it didn’t matter. At some point, they would have gone for what it hit anyway.

  The district Tau stayed in was unsafe. The rocks were getting closer, and it had been a miracle no more had hit. Everyone was evacuated. Several Chiefs got into arguments about who’d take the burden of the homeless and the Sun tribe guests. Food was running low and healers were assassinated in the shadows, their bodies found in the early hours of dawn.

  With the arrival of spring, the goddess Lentavera, the heat worsened. Corpses strewn on the ground rotted away. The stench made people vomit, and disease spread amongst the survivors living now in tents. Wells were dried up or tainted by the remains of the dead.

  When the Sun warriors left the barracks, they had to make sure everyone else was safe first. They escorted and helped those they could. Most were eternally grateful and cried tears of joy. A few blamed their presence for making it worse, spitting and fighting, riling up others and causing riots in the streets. They were quickly stopped. Those who left their assigned districts went further, where they knew it was safe. They snuck through barriers and climbed over walls, risking death along the way.

  The warriors pitched their tents. Tau shared with Rura, Ebhi and one other from the Sun tribe, a veteran whose snores were so heavy they sounded like they ripped the back of his throat. Tau stared at the space ahead of him. Since the attack, he’d woken several times a night, sweating and panicked. Other times, Ebhi or Rura had to wake him to stop him yelling. He wanted to drown it out. The people he was trying to save screamed and cried every hour of the day. He found the remains of children daily and those who’d hung themselves rather than carry on in this torture. The camps reeked of death and sickness. They were hungry, had no energy and Solianga’s beams were unforgiving.

  Keeping a front was hard. There were rare moments that kept the act going. A woman who thought her mother was dead for weeks was reunited. A young boy who watched his father die was taken in by one of the kinder Chiefs. Tau kept those at the front of his mind. Sometimes, it worked. The rest of the time, his anger swelled at his more disturbing memories. The pregnant woman he murdered, Rura cradling his dead sister and watching Unika descend into illness.

  Aqua women made their attacks known. Their throat calls were like the howls of forest wolves, swarming in vicious packs to attack what they wished. Slender figures from the shadier part of town, and what Tau suspected was the home of the eastern Silent-step, destroyed most of the catapults that had been dragged hundreds of miles from Aqua. Some people eavesdropped on others’ conversations, eyebrows scarred. He’d say the test phrase Vakaar taught him. When they heard it, they disappeared. It wasn’t his intention to scare them off. If he had the money, he’d hire as many as it took to kill the Aqua war captains.

  The situation dire and people succumbing to madness, the Chiefs requested help from the Inferno-and-Shadow tribe. It was shameful for them to admit, but it was their last chance. They kept war elephants, well fed and ready for combat, behind their walls and up until now, they’d declined every plea.

  Tau rubbed his eyes in the early hours of the morning to the sound of a distant horn. He’d woken up four times, once to Rura’s muttering and the rest to the wailing of the injured in the surrounding tents. Grabbing meatballs that were no bigger than the palm of his hand, he ate slowly and peeked outside. Warriors were lining up, fatigued, depressed and worn down. When a civilian tried to come out and see the commotion, they were ushered back inside.

  Rura swayed to join him, bottle in hand. Since the death of his mother and sister, he’d become volatile. Bursts of anger came, and fists flew at his friends. Luckily, the drink slowed him. He’d hit them but was always restrained before he did any real harm. By the end of the night, he’d be sobbing by the fire, quivering and rocking back and forth.

  “What’s going on?” Tau asked, the sun's beams burning through his leather. His back was already covered in sweat from the walk outside.

  “Chieftess of Inferno-and-Shadow, the one with the elephants, is arriving.” Rura swigged his bottle and offered it to Tau. When Tau signalled no, he shrugged. “That’ll save us. Some stuck up bitch riding an animal.”

  Tau narrowed his eyes. The men around him started to gather in respectful rows, signalled by their leaders. He followed suit, anticipating the arrival. The blare of music and familiar beat of coordinated marching cut the air. A war leader stepped between them, poking his head outside his tent. The veteran emerged and stood in line while Rura reluctantly stumbled and tried to appear sober. The leader whispered in his ear, no doubt angry words about his behaviour.

  The melody changed and the beat increased. Beside the rubble of the furthest building was the first thing that Tau had witnessed which filled him with joy. Columns of soldiers in leather armour of different colours, with deadly weapons and serious faces, led the parade. The outer ranks held flags bearing symbols of candles, fire and flames melting or twisting something out of shape on bold orange and black banners.

  Behind them came the tread of something bigger. Tau’s mouth dropped. The creatures, enormous and magnificent, were painted in colours that matched the flags, symbols of every god and goddess, from Aguanzi to Solianga. With tough, grey skin and trunks touching the ground, Tau had never seen the likes of such animals before. They moved slowly behind the soldiers. Another surprise came when one released a sound to make its presence known. Leather covered their faces, and on their backs were boxes decorated with veils, beads and gold that held people inside.

  Men either side of the elephants carried ladders over their shoulders. When they came to a stop, they helped those at the top climb down. Seven were men with thick beards and glittering onyx armour adorned with the decorations of a Chief. The only woman wore a patterned orange and brown dress. Each had feathers tied into their hair, two only wearing one while
most had a handful attached to straps. Crystals were stuck to their faces and the painted symbols or lines of war in red and black. The woman, however, didn’t have any of that. Instead, she was handed a pike, one impaling a skull, that she used as a walking stick.

  The group of leaders crossed the dry ground to meet their counterparts. Tau was focused on her. She was about his mother’s age and matched her to a tee, but darker. It was one of the few females he’d seen clearly here and the first Chieftess. She was graceful in the way she held herself and inspected the warriors.

  The leaders of the White tribe were uncomfortable. They spoke in their own tongues until voices were raised. When they realised they were attracting attention, they turned to the waiting warriors.

  “Aqua women wait over this hill. They seek to kill you all. There is no real leader amongst them. Only groups of fiends. There is one thing we can do. We have to wipe out what they have brought to our home and used to defile our loved ones,” a thin, older man declared. “They are prepared to storm what they thought was left of you. With the help of our brethren in the Shadows, we will beat them. Today will be the last day a mother loses her son, and if she does, know that your soul will live on forever as a hero. You’ve seen what they do. You’ve witnessed how they fight. When Solianga burns the hour away, I want you all ready. We’re clearing them out!” He raised his sword.

  The warriors lifted their weapons and cheered. Men ran into their tents while the new arrivals continued to their positions. Leaders inspected soldiers’ gear and replaced anything that was battered. Civilians were ordered to remain inside. Some ran to messengers, scribbling letters to families. Others stuffed their faces or vomited.

  Tau wandered around, unprepared. He had his sword, he had his armour. Physically, he was ready. This was out of the blue. It was going to be a war. A massacre. He found his pouch of tar-leaves, ignoring the tremble in his hand. Away from the crowds, he stared at the sky. His heart raced unnaturally. There were no clouds in this place, nothing to show a stormy day ahead. Back home, they believed Luaani cried when she wanted the flames of conflict to end. That was what his father told him had happened after Jasari’s battle. She wept away the ashes and soothed the burning scars of his men. Here, there was nothing like that. It hadn’t rained. He’d seen lightning and heard the clash of thunder in the sky, but it remained barren.

  Rura approached, pale and unsteady. He joined Tau in smoking, and crouched on the ground. “This could be the end of us, Tau.”

  That was the last thing he wanted to hear. “It could. Or we could win, get rid of the last of them and go home.”

  “I don’t want to go back to the Sun tribe.”

  “What is there for you here, Rura?” Tau asked, intrigued.

  “The chance to kill more of them when they return.”

  Tau rolled his eyes and inhaled hard. “It won’t bring them back. You’ll kill as a lonely man rather than return with me and Ebhi to where you can have a chance to move on from this shit.”

  “If we all get out alive,” Rura snarled.

  “I’ll meet you there,” Tau finished and walked away. It wasn’t the time to get into an argument. Not when these could be his last words. He checked his equipment for a final time and passed between camps. The elephants were ambling, dust swirling with every step in the distance. They were such giant creatures, the impact they’d make could change this entire war. But as big as they were, they could crush either side unknowingly.

  The leaders gathered together and called the groups assigned to different districts. One by one they followed, anxieties showing. Ebhi was silent and focused, Rura drunk and rocking. Tau paced more. His feet didn’t want to stop moving. Finally, the Sun tribe gathering was called. They got into formation and followed suit, feet stamping the ground in tune, nerves tested. They had witnessed death more than enough in this part of the world. They knew what they had to face and the numbers they had on their side. It didn’t stop their hearts racing and images from their nightmares recurring. Some of them were going to die, no matter what.

  When they got to the clearing, the dust was swept up by an invisible wind. Every blast of it raked the skin. A thousand men waited in line. The elephants were at the top. The total of twelve Chiefs and the one Chieftess stood ahead of them.

  Far across the field, royal blue tents were dotted on the ridge. Clusters of ebony-skinned women emerged in bone armour. Their steps were as determined as the day they’d arrived. Numbers didn’t scare you when your belief took over. They didn’t want to win for peace. They wanted to destroy.

  The soldiers stayed still. The enemy was advancing, their captains leading. There were more of them than their scouts had said. Some had fresh faces and armour, new arrivals in the night from the falls of Aqua.

  The Chieftess spun around and went to speak. A Chief raised his hand, and she challenged him with a glare. “Today, you fight these women carrying the spirit of the fallen! Their souls seethe with the unsettled rage of the Inferno man! They will possess you! I want you to unleash all the torture and destruction you can!” she screamed.

  The enemy leaders had fallen behind. They weren’t coming to talk. Their speed increased. They had drawn weapons. Close enough to see them clearly now. Clouds of faded yellow dust followed the charge.

  That scream. That howling war cry sent a shudder down Tau’s spine. There were different kinds of women. Some old, some incredibly young, some pregnant and slower at the back. Some weren’t as dark as the rest, and he heard whispers that these were the children of Sun tribesmen sired in a war fifteen years before. The thump of his beating heart silenced the whispers. They were getting close. The Chiefs were standing, ready.

  One let forth a sharp whistle. The three elephants in the field sang a tremendous song before stamping their feet and charging towards the packs of women. Some froze, while a couple ran back. Most stuck to their orders. The beautiful creatures raced onwards until there came the first crush of bones beneath massive feet and the ear-splitting screams that followed.

  “Charge!” one of the Chiefs called.

  It was disorganised. It was chaos. Shoulder to shoulder they had to move in time with those who were dazed, tired, reckless or drunk. The elephants crashed through the columns of women, leaving strips of crimson across the desert, but despite their losses the enemy came on, driven by madness.

  The armies met with a crunch in a whirl of dust and sun sparking off steel. In the chaos, it was sometimes hard to judge who was an enemy and who was an ally. The Aquas took full advantage of the confusion to even the odds as much as possible.

  Tau hacked and spun, tiredness not an option. Blood sprayed into his helm and landed on his lips. A woman in front ran at him, daggers in either hand. He thrust his sword into her stomach and yanked it out, spilling her entrails. Another, jumped on him from the side and tried to sink her teeth into his shoulder. He yelled and grabbed her dreadlocks. Ebhi smoothly slit her throat. Drenched in blood, he threw her away and moved on. The adrenaline and anger went together perfectly. Years of training had been the rehearsal for this blood-filled dance. His enemies fell, small victories for the weeks they’d endured of these women murdering anyone in their path. Tau didn’t care if they were pregnant, elderly or the best healer in the world. Every savage face he saw was cut down as soon as they appeared before him. It was ending.

  A howl of pain broke his streak. Rura was on the ground, behind a mass of dead. There was no one attacking him. He was clutching his knees and covering his ears. An Aqua warrior spotted her free kill. Tau ran across the carpet of corpses and limbs, dived towards her and impaled her through the back. She shrieked. Another was following behind. He turned around and shouted, “Rura, go back!”

  Rura didn’t move. Tau stayed and defended him.

  Another clarion call from the armoured creatures on the other side of the field warned of their return. Tau’s eyes widened. “Rura! MOVE!” he yelled. Rura didn’t respond. The elephants were pounding across the sand
, closing all the time. Tau grabbed him. “GET UP!”

  Another woman went for Tau. He cut her down just in time. His muscles were weak, and his head was spinning. Rura was still resisting.

  “RURA!” Tau pleaded. This was it. The floor shook. Tau threw everything he had into a final haul. He dived down, grabbed Rura, threw him onto a pile of dead and leapt out of the way. A giant, grey leather foot missed his face by inches. He panted, his nerves shot, until he heard the cackle of a woman nearby, and scrambled to his feet and drove his blade into her throat.

  It was mass slaughter. He was walking on the faces of the dead and dying while he hunted for remaining enemies to kill. Most of the survivors of the last charge of the elephants were dead or fled in terror, and the rest were greatly outnumbered.

  “H…help!” A cold clasp on his ankle made him fall on all fours.

  He landed, hands before him, fingers sinking into the open belly of one of his brethren. He gagged and coughed, trying to kick away the girl holding his leg. The man he was inside was the veteran they’d shared their tent with. He turned away. Between the sprawled, dirty limbs and frozen faces, one remained in colour. A young girl, no older than fifteen. She pleaded, eyes shot with fright, under the weight of the dead. She was shivering. Tau shook his head. “I can’t.”

  “They made… us.” she whispered. Her round, oak brown eyes begged him. “I’m... scared.”

  Tau stared at her. He wanted to help. She wasn’t like those who were well into their adult years. They had the choice. Crawling to her, he shifted the corpses. Her skin had a tint of white to it. She was half his brethren’s. A pretty face dotted with a sprinkle of freckles. He hesitated, pushing aside a couple more bodies.