Book One: Rise of the King

Chapter Seven

The men were tall and slender. They wore uniformly brown trousers and boots. They didn't wear shirts, which no doubt explained their dark skin. There was only man with his bow still on his shoulder. He was a bulkier version of the men around him. Around his neck he wore a leather pouch on a leather necklace. He left the others on the rise, making his way to the men on horseback. He walked with the authority of a man in-charge. His onyx eyes moved across each of the strangers with a studying severity. The riders looked back at him, each one holding his gaze without the waver of fear. They didn't seem aggressive.

The men looked at their beasts suspiciously, never having seen the like before. Although the riders didn't have the look of the enemy to them, they weren't like themselves, either. They wore strange clothing, true, but there was something more, something different about them that was more like the Others who had taken refuge among them.

The leader spoke, but the strangers didn't understand his words. When he repeated himself, the words were more insistent, but no less senseless to them. Gray looked at Charlie, who shook his head. He had no clue. The man got angry, as if he believed they were intentionally defying him. He started to reach up to grab Eli, but Gray moved so quickly the man's hand didn't even reach him. When they hit the ground, Gray was on-top of him, knocking the wind out of the other man. Gray didn't want to push his luck, though, so he stood up, breathing hard, shaking a little from fear. He stood between the man and Eli, still astride his horse, and waited.

The man picked himself up off the ground, his eyes angry as hell. He punched Gray, hard, in the face. Gray didn't move, even as the blood flowed freely from his nose. He just glared back at the man. The man said some words and the archers started down the slope. The man then pointed at Eli and then at the ground.

"Gray?" Eli asked softly through gritted teeth.

"Go ahead." His brother answered, his eyes never leaving the man. "Get down, guys."

When the strangers were down off the horses, some of the native men tried to figure out how to get the large animals to move. Gray reached behind him, took the reins of Eli's horse, Zero, and took a few steps, leading the mare. He stopped and handed the reins to the closest man. He wasn't trying to help their captives so much as keep the horses safe. He was afraid these men would hurt them if they couldn't get them to move.

Gray was made to stay where he was while his brothers and Charlie were started off on foot. The leader gave a command and three men began beating the hell out of Gray. He didn't fight back and was initially able to withstand the blows, but then it got worse and they had him on the ground. He focused on not crying out, no matter how bad the pain. He would be damned if he would let the bastard have that satisfaction.

After they were done, two of the men who had beaten him picked him up roughly and made him walk ahead of him. The leader watched, wondering what kind of man this was that didn't fight but neither did he call out his pain.

By the next morning, having walked all night, the captives and their captors arrived at a village of mud huts hidden in the woods. This place lacked the order of the deserted villages they had encountered. Instead, it appeared to have been piece-meal construction, as if they had built as they needed to. Nate, Eli and Charlie were pointed toward what resembled an animal pen. They entered it and turned to look for Gray, who had been kept separated from them. He was at the rear, walking between two men. The leader was behind him and motioned for him to join the others. He spoke with the men who had guarded Gray. They both nodded and hurried off. The leader looked at the men, specifically Gray, for a moment more before leaving them alone.

Gray collapsed to the ground the instant the leader was out of sight. He was feverish, sweating.

"Holy shit." he muttered, lying in the dirt and grass.