Wherever I Am

Chapter 25 - Part 3

We rode out the following morning. Gabriel was upset I wasn't taking him and wouldn't take Stefan in his place.

"Stefan's job is to make sure you and Mara heal up properly," I'd responded.

So we rode, Boian to meet up with his more northwesterly Primor counterpart for any intelligence, while we rode more northeasterly into the rougher country between the Pedernales and lake-less Colorado Rivers, or whatever they were called here...White and Bacea.

Last night had been in my tent with Sorina, losing myself for a while, and my mind seemed a little clearer this morning. Now she rode with me.

"Sinense wasn't sure she should come on this."

"And?" I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I was curious how she'd spin this to the others.

"She thought she'd killed you because she couldn't shoot well enough."

"You mean besides putting an arrow in my back."

"That was a part of it," Sorina said. "I saw that bruise, but where did those bruise spots on your belly come from?"

"Her stabbing me." I chuckled at her look. "She lost it totally, stabbing the Sobeck on top of me a dozen times or more. Some of those went through his body."

"Shit."

"Tell me about it. She thought I was already dead."

"She's changed."

"How's that?"

"She's not complaining like she was. She's being helpful and even got herself bloody helping Mara and the other wounded. It's not that she knew a lot about it, but she was there."

I thought about how she set herself to bandage Mara and then watched her and Gabriel yesterday and nodded.

"She hurt or killed at least three of them yesterday."

"Better than me," Sorina said. "I'm still missing more than I'm hitting, but I hit a couple of them. I don't know. I want them dead, but when we found that last full pack, the women and children...especially the little ones...that was hard."

I nodded. "I don't know of a better way, but there has to be...something."

"But what?"

"I wish I knew."

We rode on in silence for a while. We'd left before dawn...oh-dark-thirty as the military called it, so we should be out into this new area near the Colorado River by lunchtime. Probably near that distillery in Spicewood Dad liked back home. Boian was still interested in making a still and making single malt even though it'd more likely be moonshine, and I'd rather be back in Suata planning that out with him than be out here to kill even more of the Sobecks.

Horse hooves came up from behind, and Ellie was next to me.

"How are you two lovebirds doing?"

I shrugged, giving her a bit of a smile. "As best as can be expected under the circumstances."

"Ain't that the truth," she said. "We're out here again. Will this be the last of them?"

"I don't know, but I hope so."

She glanced over at Sorina before continuing. "This isn't me, Kevin. All the men look at me like I'm some goddess of destruction. Some Kali or maybe Athena, though they see me more for my abilities with the bow than my intelligence. I'm not this, but I am. I see a Sobeck, I kill it, and I've gotten way too good at it. I've changed too much, Kevin, and I don't like it."

"We've all changed, Ellie," Sorina said. "I'll kill their warriors, but I don't want to kill the others. The women don't have spears. They ran from us and we killed them. I don't know how to stop that."

"Kill them all until it's no longer a problem," Ellie snapped back. "Isn't that the way it's done here?"

Ellie gave Sorina a stony look, then wilted. "Sorry. That's the way it's been done way too many times in our world, too. Genocide, and that's what we're doing. Kevin?"

I knew that look. I'm the calm, collected older brother who could always find some answer. I had absolutely nothing, and she saw it in my eyes.

"We're so lost."