The Rogue Tribe - Ranger's Apprentice

Chapter 7: Memories

Or'kam peered out over the wreckage of the Gathering site. Tables had been flipped over, benches were wrecked. The camp fires had spread out, burning large black marks into the trampled grass, which was cruelly trampled and uprooted by the boots of Rangers and Temujai alike. A haze of smoke wafted over the whole scene, and the pungent odor of burned grass and blood made his nose twitch. Or'kam bent down and knelt next to the body of one of his men. He was lying face down, and had a brutal stab wound in the upper part of his spine. He lost all feeling instantly, died immediately, thought Or'kam. Better off than most here. He rose and surveyed the land again, this time focusing on the bodies. There were at least fifteen Temujai lying dead in pools of their own blood, arrow and stab wounds dominating most of them. There were a few small splashed of red scattered around with no body next to them. So at least some of the Atabi are wounded, probably a few dead. One particularly distinct pool of blood lay in the center of three dead Temujai, but the blood was obviously not from any of them. That's a lot of blood, too much to survive very long. One can be confirmed dead.

"Commander! Shan!" At'lan, his second-in-command, shook him out of his thoughts.

Or'kam stood slowly, turning his head slightly to look at At'lan. "What is it?"

The corporal shifted uncomfortably, preparing to deliver some bad news, and Or'kam had to hold back a smile. "We - uh, we scoured the surrounding countryside, up to a two kilometer radius, and we didn't find any remaining Atabi... Not even bodies."

Or'kam nodded slightly as he digested the words, showing no emotion on his face. They must have taken their dead and wounded with them. We should go out and search a larger section of the countryside, raid the towns nearest. Then we will find where these cowards are hiding. He spoke suddenly, saying, "Prepare the men to leave in an hour."

At'lan jumped visibly, then tried to regain his composure, stammering, "Yes - yes sir, but where are we going?"

Or'kam turned slowly, his face still devoid of emotion. But now his eyes burned with the passion of the chase they were about to embark on, and At'lan was truly afraid. His voice was soft was he spoke, but it was all the more menacing because of it. "I'll tell you what we are going to do. We are going to find the Atabi. And when we find them, we are going to kill every single one of them."

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Will jogged down the pitch black tunnel, breathing in the pungent smell of dirt and stone. He ran his hand across the wall, feeling the cool, moist dirt against his fingers. As cold as Trevor's hands are. Will shivered in the darkness, although it wasn't particularly cold. You have to keep going. Don't stop to think. Will shook his head a little to clear the foggy haze of sadness and exhaustion that had settled across his vision, and he pushed on. They jogged for another short few seconds, and then Will noticed that he could now see Harrison's black hair in front of him. Light.

Will started slowing down, and Harrison, turned briefly. "What is it, Will?"

"You go on ahead. I'm just going to stop for a moment and double check to make certain we aren't being followed," Will whispered softly. Harrison nodded, turned, and jogged lightly off down the tunnel, the light becoming brighter with each step. Will stopped in the darkness, and reached over his shoulder, grabbing an arrow and placing it on the string. He took a few silent steps back the way they had come, but there was no one. He started to turn back towards where Harrison had gone, but a slight scratching sound stopped him. He froze in place, his eyes flicking back and forth frantically in the pitch black, trying to see something, anything. But it was impossible to focus without light, and so Will stood there, frozen, terrified, as the scratching increased in volume second by second. What if it's a Tem'uj? What if it's the whole lot of them? I can't bloody fight them if I can't see them. Will moved silently and backed himself up against the wall, his eyes blinking and straining to see who or what was coming. The sound was extraordinarily loud by now... Or maybe that was his own heartbeat. Will was having difficulty differentiating between the two unbearably loud sounds by now, it was a miracle it couldn't hear his heart by now, even over all the ruckus it was making. The sound was very close now, the thing could have practically been on top of him, or at least right next to him. But nothing moved in the darkness, and Will felt his muscles clench. Then he felt something along the wall, right next to his boot. Will's gut screamed for him to run, to shoot, to do something, but he forced his instincts back, and he managed to remain completely silent and completely frozen. The thing moved along the wall, making the scratchy clicky sound. Now that it was close, the scratching sounded more like labored breathing, and the breathes turned into feral grunts. The hell is this thing? In one smooth movement, Will turned, drew, and fired his arrow at the thing. It let out deafening, blood-curdling screech that practically blew out Will's eardrums. Even after the scream had died, it echoed slightly down the tunnel. Will stood there, a fresh arrow already notched, ready to shoot again. But the screech never came back, and all was silent again.