Many Ways to Die

Only One Death: Part Four of Ten

Only One Death is the first in the Tales of The Lesser Evil and this is the fourth chapter.

This is a fantasy series—not quite grimdark, but dark nevertheless—with complicated and believable characters doing their best to survive in a world simply indifferent to their existence.

To read an introduction to this novella, and the backcover blurb, click here.

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Many Ways to Die

Dhinal put away his long knife and pulled out another. It had not been used since he last sharpened it, but it paid to be careful. An extra hone would not go amiss. The oil mixed with the dusty loess had long since worn off the inside of his belt, but the thick leather would still give a fine edge without the added abrasive. The lack of the loess made him feel a sudden pang of homesickness.

He knew Kees had questions and he was sure she had guessed the real reason for hiring her. Her eyes were constantly searching, weighing. She saw the things he saw, the falseness behind some of the group, the pain behind the eyes of others. The woman was dangerous and, as his teacher had taught him, it was better to keep danger close, where it could be watched. He beckoned her over and she joined them, sharpening her own blades, and the small-headed, long-handled tomahawk she kept tucked behind the small of her back.

'What do you really think happened to Vivika?' The quiet question seemed to surprise her and she was silent for a moment, the whisk, whisk, whisk of their sharpening stones and hones the only noise from the four. All eyes were on Kees.

'I honestly do not know. It makes no sense. What do you know of her? Her history? I have heard tales of Twigs pursuing those who have harmed them or their lands, sometimes for days, but I doubt they would have followed across the sea...' she shrugged. 'I don't even know if they live over the sea. Apart from a canoe I've never been on a boat.'

'I don't know much,' Dhinal put his knife away. 'She used to train hard. Every morning. She was good with her blade, but,' he paused, 'the only time I saw her use it against anything living, she... Well, I think she had some damage, you know, in here.' He tapped the side of his head. 'She killed the bandits easily, but afterwards she cried and cried. She kept shaking. I think she was experiencing something in her past. Do you have a word for that?'

Kees nodded and replied, 'Flashback, I suppose. I've seen other warriors the same. Not everyone is made to kill.'

'No. They are not. Vivika joined me,' he gestured loosely, 'us, in Annezi Gap. At the time it was just me, Chimal, Yuli and Lopi. She did not say where she was from, or who she really was, or what she had been. I knew little about her and, she... She was difficult to read.'

Kees nodded again. It was clear she knew exactly what Dhinal meant. He was right about her. She picked up on the details, the little things that were often the most important, yet easily dismissed or overlooked.

'It doesn't matter now though, does it?' Strings asked. 'She's dead, we're not. We move on, we guard our backs,' she looked to Dhinal, 'and each other.'

He nodded before he realised he was doing so.

'There is a saying amongst my people, "There are many ways to die, but only one death." I do not want to die yet.' He stood and walked over to help with the cook-fire.

'And neither do I, Kees, neither do I,' said Strings, watching Dhinal's departing back, hands still honing her small blade.

'Something large often comes this way. Probably tracking these deer.' Galea pointed to the different tracks.

It was late afternoon, the sun warm and the air full of the song of birds and the buzz, click, and scratch of insects. Soon summer would be left behind, the further from the equinox and the higher into the mountains they travelled. The mood in the camp was the best Kees had experienced since leaving Eastsea. Bab, Estel and the twins were playing dice, laughing when someone lost and had to hand over whatever stake they had placed in the hat. Chimal was dozing by the fire, his beard stained orange with the spices he added to his food.

Dhinal and Strings had headed further up the river, intent on catching more fresh meat, whether fish, fowl or beast. They had slings and had cut and carved gaffs. A pair of the wicker panniers had been re-purposed to make a fish trap, baited with some carrion from a dead deer.

Galea and Kees were looking for sign, checking to see if there was anything local to hunt.

'It looks like a large cat,' Kees said.

'Yes. Maybe more than one, look.' The tracker pointed again to a second, slightly smaller set of prints, then a third.

'A mother and nearly fully grown cubs then?'

'That's my thought too. This was yesterday morning.'

Kees stood and looked at the tracks disappearing into the woodland. A mixed flock of dozens of small birds passed overhead, calling to one another, flashing colours and feathered life so very different to their encaged cousins in the House of Birds. Kees knew how it felt to be so free, and how it felt to be caged.

'What do you think? Do you think they'll be back? Maybe after the ponies, or the horses?' Kees asked.

'I do not know. I would say it would be unlikely with so many people here, and a fire. Most animals I've met stay as far from fire as they can.'

'I agree. Should we tell the others, or let them relax? We'll still have a double watch tonight regardless.' Kees looked back to the camp, as another round of raucous laughter drifted over and through the trees, adding, 'I think they'll probably scare anything off.'

'Yes, they would. I say don't tell them. They should be watching, as you say.' Galea turned and started walking back, before adding from over her shoulder, 'Many ways to die, Kees, only one death.'

The group had quickly adopted Dhinal’s saying, even Bab. As she stayed in her low squat, looking at the tracks, Kees realised she was not sure whether that was a good thing.

The night passed without incident. They had eaten well, Dhinal and Strings bringing back four fat salmon and three plump ducks. The bait in the fish trap had gone, but whatever had eaten it had forced the makeshift structure apart and escaped.

They packed up and set off in good spirits, for the first time travelling in the daylight. After a short distance, Kees led them across a shallow ford and they left the Great North Road behind. Before dusk, they would cross the river again, keeping it to their north.

The trail they were following had once been far grander, patches of retaining wall still poked up from the weeds here and there, occasionally water had scoured the surface back to the original slabs or packed and pounded gravel and lime beneath. At one point a pair of life-sized statues flanked the road, long lichen and mosses obscuring any detail, rewilding the stone.

'This was once the road which legend has it led to the lost Red City,' Kees called back, deliberately not looking at anyone behind her.

At first her words were met with a hushed silence from the group, apart from the tread of the horses and occasional grumble and snort from one of the ponies. Then excited whispers broke out, Bab clearly asking what she had said, Yuli laughing and whooping before being told to shut up by her sister.

Kees continued walking ahead of the group, eyes scanning the ground and surrounding woodland. She still did not look back.

The road, as it once had been, followed a deeply cut small river, which turned into a wide gorge. The place was beautiful and Strings found herself wondering why no one lived here any more. There seemed to be an abundance of game, of fish, plants, materials to build, and fuel to burn. She idly began to daydream of persuading Dhinal to stay with her, let the others go on. In her mind she saw the fuzzy memory of her children playing beneath the trees, chasing one another and climbing, swinging. Laughter filled the forest.

Then she remembered the flames.

Beside her, Dhinal watched as the smile slid from Strings' face. He almost reached out to her, but held back.

They camped on a wide promontory overlooking the gorge. Tumbled and worked stone showed there had once been a structure on the spot. The trees had not covered the site, remaining on the opposite side of the trail. Instead, nettles and fireweed sprouted everywhere, hiding thick ropes of bramble. As they cleared an area they gathered the tender nettle tops, blackberries and some of the less woody fireweed. They would all be added to their meal.

'What was this place Kees? Do you know?' Chimal asked from where he was rubbing some ointment on his nettle stings.

'I think it was a wayfaring house, an inn I suppose. Long ago. As we proved, it's a day's journey from the river crossing, so it would be ideally placed to earn some trade. Long ago though,' she repeated.

'Maybe treasure?' Bab asked, looking around the ruins.

'Maybe. But where would you start looking?' Dhinal asked.

Bab pointed to where the animals were tethered, not too far from a particularly dense patch of nettles, replying absent-mindedly in his own tongue.

'There? Looks like the ground was disturbed at some point. When I was app...' He trailed off, coughed, and changed what he had been going to say, 'Someone once told me that thick patches of nettles are where a well has been filled in, or a hole was once dug. Maybe there's treasure buried there?'

'If you want to dig Bab, you go right ahead,' Chimal replied in the same language, 'but not until we've gathered the firewood for tonight.'

Kees smiled to herself. She did not understand the words, but it appeared the group was beginning to work together, finally.

Bab found no gold or jewels. Coins and silver were also lacking. He did find a nest of large rats, four of which he killed with the shovel. These they roasted over the fire, Chimal sprinkling some spices over them and passing them around to share.

Below the rats he had uncovered several large bones. He had hastily backfilled the hole, his fear of the dead evident. Nobody else had seen the bones, so no one could dispute his claim they were human.

Kees camped her usual distance from the others, her tarp attached to one of the remaining low walls. They had been lucky with the weather since leaving Eastsea, but she knew the mountains would change that. Rain and snow were never far away, brought on penetrating and howling winds.

Dhinal and Strings had the first watch, Bab and Chimal the second, followed by Estel and Galea, with the sisters last before sunrise. Kees would wake before the first rays of sun, check on the fire and watch the dawn, as she always tried to. As it happened, she awoke a little earlier.

Screams echoed across the gorge, bouncing from cliff to cliff. The animals were terrified, rearing, stamping and snorting. Their picket line broke loose and they charged away from the road, directly toward the gorge.

Then they were gone.

Two horses remained. Their tethers had caught amongst rocks and prevented them from following their panicking fellows. Kees's own ponies had not broken their bonds and still stood where she had separately secured them. They were still snorting loudly and showing the whites of their eyes.

A strong predawn wind was gusting down from the mountains to the west, bringing cooler air and the scent of deep pine forest.

Below the group, at the base of the cliff, they could hear one of the fallen animals, still screaming.

'Galea, bring your bow, see if you can put it out of its misery. It'll be a hard shot with just the sound to go on, but...' Kees began, wiping ash and dirt from her face, then she noticed the silence from the group and turned to look.

'Galea is dead. She was directly in front of the animals when they charged,' Dhinal said, standing over the still form of the huntress who was curled up tightly, like a newborn. The others were clustered nearby, Bab muttering to himself in his own tongue.

Kees was silent for a moment and then asked, 'Yuli, Lopi, what happened?'

'I don't really know. I heard something crashing in the trees beyond the road. The animals bolted, pulling up the stake they were tethered to,' Yuli replied, shock clear across her face.

'That's all we know,' Lopi added.

The dawn was not far away, the sky less black and more a steel grey. This, and the pale moon light, lit the twins faces. Both were wide-eyed, fear once more in control.

'What was it Kees?' Estel asked, forgetting to take out quill and parchment.

'I don't know, I'll have a look. Try and salvage what you can from this mess.' She gestured to the campsite, the packs and supplies strewn everywhere, trampled by the terrified animals. She was about to set off to cross the road and check the woodland beyond when Strings caught her arm.

'Here, take these, she won't need them anymore.'

Kees nodded and took the items, stringing the undamaged bow and nocking an arrow, the quiver slung across her back.

'Thank you.'

A potential friend gone. Another way to die in the wilderness.

Many thanks for reading.

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