Chapter 30
Thirty
Rymar
Ayla headed right to the medical pavilion to help. Zasen joined her after giving the militia orders. I carried water until I could find some Dragons standing around with nothing to do, then I'd made them handle it. Once our people were assisting, I went to find the person I really needed: Eriska.
I asked around until someone directed me to a tiny house. I knocked at the door, waiting until someone inside yelled, then let myself in.
"Close that," Eriska snapped.
I did, then paused to look around. Reaper homes were nothing like ours.
They were somewhat mobile, being made on a deck of sorts so they could be dragged around if necessary.
They weren't meant to be transported, though.
Instead, they boarded these things up when they moved to the next field, leaving seeds and supplies safe inside them.
But they were dark. Windows were for ventilation, and as the weather cooled, the shutters were secured. In here, a small lantern lit the desk where Eriska was working - and little else. It was still enough to see her staring at me with a lifted brow.
"Rymar?" she asked incredulously.
"There was no way Jerlis would make the walk here," I said, moving closer. "But your riders made it to Lorsa. We brought medicine, two doctors, plenty of medics, and bodies. I have twenty militia members ready to lift anything you need - or whatever will help."
She leaned back and sighed, sounding more relieved than I'd expected. "Thank you. You and Lorsa. Just..." And she waved a hand toward a chair by the wall. "Pull that over."
So I did. "I also brought something else that might help. Might not, but it's a resource we didn't have before."
"And that is?"
"Her name is Ayla, her sign is the Phoenix, and she was born inside the Mole compound."
Eriska's entire body stilled. "Is that the girl Lansin told me about?"
"Mhm," I agreed. "You should also know she's my partner."
"Yes, he mentioned she'd end up with one of you. So you're the lucky pick, hm?"
"All of us," I said. "Me, Zasen, and Kanik." And I flicked my tail over my lap since this stupid chair wasn't made for it to hang over the arm comfortably, nor beside me. "We know a bit about their culture, but right now, that's going to be a problem."
"Okay? Why?" she asked.
This was the part I didn't want to tell her. "Because I know what happened to your missing people."
Her eyes narrowed, judging me. "How did you know people went missing?"
"Ayla guessed first," I explained, "and Yrena confirmed some were taken. Women."
"We're missing men too," she pointed out.
"They're dead." I murmured. "I'm sorry, but they are.
The Moles will not keep men as prisoners, but they will take their bodies.
According to Ayla, you are called wild men and wild women.
You're heathens, minions of the Devil, and whatever crap they can throw together to fit their religious indoctrination. "
"But why take the bodies of our men?!" she demanded.
And this was the hard part. "Because they're starving. For months now, they haven't been able to take Dragon bodies, so it seems they've become desperate enough to decide you're not human either."
"What the fuck?" she gasped.
"Look," I said, "the entire place is a complicated mess of religion and male dominance.
Women are basically property, they have almost no medicine, and lives are not considered precious.
Women are bred until they die giving birth.
The two women we have now were both so malnourished when they arrived that it was terrifying.
The men? They are sent out here to weed out the weak, I think.
The entire system is designed to benefit a handful of older men called 'the elders,' and information is kept from anyone who doesn't absolutely need to know. "
"Okay?"
"And," I told her, "their bloodlines have been crossed enough times things are getting a little close. Marriages are made - not allowed, but made - based on who someone is related to. What they need?" I paused, hating that I had to tell her this, but I did. "Eriska, they need women to make babies."
"No..." she breathed.
"Yeah, so I don't know how you want to handle this, but Ayla will help.
" And I laughed once. "Shit, good luck trying to keep her from helping.
She got us an informant on the inside, and her goal is to destroy them.
I think it's working, but I'm also sorry it is, because I'm pretty sure that's why they attacked you. "
"Generation after generation," she snarled, "we have kept to the agreement.
As long as we provide them the grains, beans, and other essential nutrition they need, we would be safe.
We have. When they took more, we offered more.
Now they do this?" And she slapped her hand down on the papers before her.
"This, Rymar, is my list of the known dead.
" Then she stabbed her finger on the paper beside it. "This is the missing."
"And the living?" I asked.
That bled off some of her rage, but not nearly enough. "Families are sending all non-essential people on to the winter camp. It's a little early, but none of us want our children here if they come back."
"Why aren't all of you going?" I asked.
"Because they took our family members!"
I lifted a hand and leaned back, not sure if she was mad enough to lash out. "Okay. So what do you need from us?"
And she flopped back with a groan. "I don't fucking know!"
"Okay," I said again. "Well, let me throw a few options at you. First, you can explain to your people that the missing aren't likely to be found. They should be mourned, and all of you should move to the winter camp."
"No."
"The second option," I said. "Non-combatants and children go to the winter camp, along with a small force of the lightly injured who can protect them.
Just enough to make sure that if the Moles jump them on the way, they'll be able to break free.
The rest of your guardians and dog handlers stay here.
We keep a coordinated defense going until the wounded are safe to move to Lorsa or your winter camp.
The grieving families are given that time to decide what to do. "
"And then?" she asked.
"And then they can come to Lorsa with us and fight, or they can stay here on their own, or they can go to the winter camp, because we can't stay here forever, Eriska.
We just can't. Lorsa's defenses are slim right now.
I brought everyone I could, but in a couple of weeks, the Moles will attack again, and I can't take the risk they will attack Lorsa while we're here. "
"No, that makes sense," she assured me. "Are there any other options?"
"Send everyone you can to the winter camp. The ones with missing families can come to Lorsa with us, and we'll give them the chance to fight Moles all they want. Unfortunately, if we leave them here, that's all but sealing their fate."
"What we need to do is storm the place!" Eriska growled.
"No," I told her. "We can't. It's dark in there. They have lights no brighter than moonlight. When it's dark to them, it's completely dark to us. Pitch black. Inside that compound, the Moles have the advantage."
"So what are we supposed to do?" she begged. "If we can't stop them, do we give up these fields? Generations of our families cleared and cared for this land. Finding another place that can grow this much in a season? I don't know if that's even possible - and if it is, we'll be starting all over!"
"I know," I assured her. "And we are trying to stop them, but it's not easy.
We need a code for the door. Ayla has an informant on the inside.
A few, actually. She sends letters to the girl through one of the hunters.
He seeks us out in the chaos of combat, Ayla gives him a letter to take back, and they're making plans. "
"Are you sure she's not the reason why we were attacked?"
"Positive," I said. "I've read the letters.
She's shown me the replies. The problem is the men in charge down there restrict who gets the code for the doors.
We can't just torture any Mole we find for it.
They do not have it. So we have to have a trusted person get promoted high enough to get it. But once we have that?"
"I want my people to help once you do. When you can get in, the Reapers will be there, Rymar."
"Gladly," I told her. "But that's not going to be soon. What I need you to decide is what we're doing now."
She flapped a hand at me. "We're already moving the non-combatants and children. Most of the horses too. I'd like to store the seeds somewhere they can't be burned or raided, because without those, we won't have a crop next year."
"Makes sense. And yes, we'll help with that if you need it."
She nodded, showing she'd heard me. "The rest? Rymar, I can't make these people leave."
"Then let's worry about the wounded for now," I assured her. "My militia can stand guard so your Reapers can get some sleep. I'm going to bet everyone here has been going non-stop since the attack, right?"
"We have," she admitted.
"And you too," I told her. "Put someone else in charge for a few hours. I will help him or her. If anything bad happens, we'll wake you, but you need sleep too. You can't help anyone if you can't keep your thoughts straight."
"That obvious?" she asked.
I hummed softly. "The dark circles under your eyes were my first hint. The wildly swinging emotions? The second. That you didn't say no? That all but proves it. So tell me what you need from us, and I'll get that started while you assign leadership to someone overnight."
"Thank you," she breathed. "I'm glad you're the one who came, not Jerlis."
"Make me a good deal on sweet potatoes next year," I told her. "We'll call it even."
"Done," she said. "And find Irrik for me? You know him, and he's good enough I can trust him to do this."
"I need to talk to him anyway." And I stood. "But real sleep, Eriska. Not drunk."
"They smashed my stash," she told me, "so that's not even an option."
"Then I'll send Irrik back." And before she could change her mind, I left the little cabin.
But I'd seen that list. It wasn't a short one. The Reapers weren't a large community to begin with, and to have that many names on her paper? They must've lost a quarter of their population. Enough to be crippling, at least.
While I tried to imagine what that would do to their community in the coming future, I kept my eyes peeled for Jeera's boyfriend.
He was around here somewhere. Yrena said he was fine.
Nyco said he'd jumped right in to help, which was part of the problem.
He couldn't simply leave his people. He was too important to them for that, and now?
I spotted him by the well. "Irrik!" I yelled.
"Yeah?" He turned, but when he saw me, a smile took over. "Rymar!"
"Hey..." We headed toward each other, and when he was close enough, I offered my hand. "First off, I'd like to give you my congratulations."
"For?" he asked.
"You haven't gotten a letter from Jeera and Brielle yet?"
"I did, but it said I needed to visit because they had an amazing surprise."
And I groaned. "Well, fuck. Now I'm not sure if I should tell you."
"Tell me," he said, making my decision for me.
"You have the chance to be the proud father of a beautiful, blonde-haired and probably blue-eyed little boy. His name is Cerlik, and your partners adore him."
His response came back filled with so much hope and excitement. "They got a baby?" And the biggest smile claimed his face. "Really? I didn't think they were that high on the list!"
"Meri's boy," I explained. "She wanted to place him, and she thinks Jeera and Brielle will make sure he is raised as a Dragon, not a Mole."
"Oh, wow," he said. "Is she okay? That girl did not look good when we found her. Nothing but skin, bones, and baby."
"And now she looks a bit more like a person," I promised. "But, to go with that good news, I'll give you the bad. I'm making Eriska sleep. She needs it. She also named you as the man in charge until she wakes."
"I'm good with that," he assured me. "I got a bit of sleep last night. So what are we doing? I'm going to assume that as often as Lorsa has been attacked, you have some clue how to handle this mess?"
"We," I told him, "are going to try to get everyone who we can to head to the winter camp. My militia is going to take over guard duty, and your people will sleep. Eat, too. So tell me, besides the wounded and the protection, what else does this place need to keep going one more night?"
"Not much," he promised. "Come. I'll show you everything."
"And we should get a meal for Eriska while you're at it, then tell her we've got this."
"Then that's what we'll do first," he said. But a little chuckle slipped out. "I'm going to be a dad?"
"Sounds to me like you already are," I said. "Congratulations. At least I got to give a little good news today. Actually makes this better."