Kurush: The First City - Chapter 45

There was not a single source of light, making it hard for Anka to estimate how many hours she’d spent there. She hadn’t had a wink of sleep, for all she knew the Sun had already risen. She was locked in a cramped, empty pantry, her wrists tied tightly to a ceiling plank and her ankles tied together. The most she could move was to wiggle slightly. Her arms had long passed through exhaustion and pain, and now it felt oddly like they weren’t there, as though they no longer belonged to her.

She raised her head when she heard the door’s bolt clank. In came a golden-scaled lisha. As soon as Anka saw the dark arrowheads running down his face, her blood began to boil.

“Long time no see!” said Staroz, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been better”, Anka scowled

“You know, last night, the lightning woke me up, so I decided to go for a stroll. And what do I find? An amphora in an empty alley with its handles missing. It took me back to that night when a vicious little hurum gouged out the eyes of my good friend, who was just trying to have a nice dinner”

“Maybe he should have realised that hurums will do anything to survive”

Staroz scoffed, “You were lucky, but I’ve had my fair share of nice dinners and I don’t have any scars to show for it. I should have realised earlier that hurums are just walking, talking meals. Your sister made me realise that. Oh don’t worry, long after you’re gone, I’ll still remember her. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her taste,” he stepped closer and breathed in Anka’s scent, “I wouldn’t mind a reminder though”

“Aren’t you here to bring Gilkush his breakfast? He’s wanted me much longer than you”

Staroz looked puzzled, then chortled, “You don’t have to worry about Gilkush! The way I heard it, one morning he suddenly found a knife in his back. No, Kyroz calls the shots now. He says we can divvy up the hurums as soon as we’ve dealt with you pesky lot, you righteous order deniers. Maybe he’ll give you to me, wouldn’t that be nice? Me and my girl Lydda, we’re thinking of starting a family, we could use some help around the home. Although, to be honest, I don’t think you’d make a good slave. I don’t think you’d last long”

“Do you actually believe Kyroz when he says the Sun talks to him?”

“Kyroz understood how hard life was for us in Kurush, how we needed a big change”

“That’s not what I asked”

Staroz shrugged, “He said Kurush would collapse because of the hurums in charge, and it did. Enough mind games, Kyroz wants to have a chat with you now”

He untied the rope around her ankles, and released her from the ceiling, keeping the many coils binding her forearms together. With one hand clasping her hair, he pushed her out of the pantry with his palm. Anka saw the surviving hurums cowering in the gloom of the basement. Dila, her arms wrapped around Polur, watched her with heavy eyes.

Staroz took her up to the main chamber, where a hundred restless lishas stopped bantering to stare at Anka’s march through their ranks. The bright Sun seared her eyes when he pushed her out onto the balcony. Once they had adjusted, she saw Kisha and Ragur with arrogant smirks and eyes aflame with hunger. Kyroz, in his black toga and the cross and diamond painted on his forehead, stood before the outstretched ocean under the rising Sun. Staroz pushed her down onto her knees.

“Anka, is it?” said Kyroz, “It’s a pleasure to meet you”

“Actually we’ve met before. Last time I saw you, you made a meal out of Myra”

“Ah yes, of course, how could I forget? That certainly was a night to remember. Gilkush was livid that he had to leave you behind, I’m sure he took the regret of never eating you to his grave. Now, to business. After your friends’ pointless attack last night, they’ve gone into hiding. We’ll find them of course, but Parua is a big place, and it would save us a lot of time if you could just tell us where they would be camped”

“Like I’d ever tell you that”

“Kisha and Ragur have known you since you were little, right?” said Kyroz, “They’ve told me all about you, about how scrappy, ambitious and down-to-earth you are. You see the world as it is, and you find the path that gives you the best chance of surviving. Well, the facts are that you’re tied up, in a fortress guarded by hundreds of lishas, and behind you there are three lishas in particular who would very much like to have you in their stomach”

“Dibs!” said Ragur

Kisha grabbed his collar, “You wouldn’t dare. She’s mine”

Ragur wilted, “Okay, okay…”

“You’d have to take her from me first”, said Staroz

Kisha’s glower shifted to Staroz, “Do you really want to fight me?”

“I’ve beaten stuck-up Oshuan soldiers before”

“Silence!” said Kyroz, “Anka, I’m offering you protection from these three. Tell me where they are, and I’ll allow you to become my personal slave. I can guarantee your safety”

Anka looked at the ground pensively, “For how long?”

Kyroz smiled, “Let’s say three years”

“And then what?”

“I’d have to make a decision. Maybe I could sell you to one of these three, or maybe we could conclude our relationship with a private dinner, just the two of us. If you’re an obedient slave, perhaps I’ll let you choose”

“Make it five years and we have a deal”

Kyroz chuckled, “So be it”

“Do you know the standing stones? We agreed that if the attack failed, the New Sapphire Temple would regroup there. It has clear views of the surrounding area, it will be hard to sneak up on them”

“Thank you Anka, I appreciate your cooperation. Staroz, tell the troops and the Ujuans we’re moving out. Leave a contingent to guard Niarush. Anka, you’re going with Kisha. Kisha, if it turns out she’s lying, you have my blessing to do what you will with her”

Kisha took the rope around Anka’s arms and tied the loose end tightly onto the straps of her bronze chest-plate. She stared down at Anka with piercing eyes, Anka stared back without blinking.

A horn echoed around Niarush, and the eager horde of lishas rumbled out of the town. There was a jarring mixture of Oshuan soldiers with polished bronze armour, Ekuan thugs with ragged tunics and dusk raiders who were all but naked, but all of them had the cross and diamond painted on their foreheads. Kisha and Anka were at the head of the column, behind Kyroz. Anka had to walk quickly to avoid being dragged along the ground by Kisha’s pace, as well as having to avoid the swinging tails of all the lishas surrounding her. Kisha’s tail in particular made her nervous, as she had four bronze spikes strapped to the tip. Once they had reached the bottom of Niarush’s headland, they climbed the winding cliff-path onto Parua’s barren plateau and marched across the sweltering scrubland.

“Your mother’s dead, by the way,” said Anka, “in case there’s any part of you that cares. She was stabbed in the Ekuan quarter, the night Kurush collapsed”

“I’m not surprised my idiot brother couldn’t protect her”, said Kisha

“I don’t remember you helping him at all. When your family needed you most, you were busy staging a mutiny against Tiuk”

“The world’s an unforgiving place, it’s not my problem if they’re not strong enough to survive it. By the way, Tiuk was no saint. She was the one who ate your father”

“I know, and Gilkush ate my mother. Why did he share a secret like that with you?”

“He didn’t. I saw it happen”

Anka nearly tripped over, “What?! You fucking gargantuan mountain of shit, you’ve known for all these years?”

Kisha looked down at her, her eyes alight with glee, “I’d never seen lishas have so much fun before! It made me realise the idea that lishas and hurums are somehow equal is just laughable. You can barely defend yourselves, you don’t even have claws. So why should we treat you as anything more than food? If you can’t realise yourself what your place in the world is, we’ll just have to make you understand”

“Have you ever wondered why no-one likes you? If all you want to do is stamp your will on others, then obviously you’re going to be alone forever”

Kisha looked as though she was about to spit fire, “I don’t need any fucking friends! What I need is for people to get out of my way, and if delusional do-gooders refuse to do that, then I’ll tear them limb from limb. Now shut your mouth”

Anka looked ahead over the plateau of sun-bleached rock. To get to the standing stones, they’d have to descend into a steep valley and cross the Alaza river – the perfect place for an ambush, assuming that scouts were tracking the column of lishas from Niarush and the main force could move into position quickly enough. Anka knew that she might get caught in the crossfire, or Kisha might devour her before charging into battle, but she had made her peace with that risk, if it gave her friends a chance to defeat these bastards and build a home for themselves in Parua.

Then her heart stopped and her blood froze. Scouts hadn’t been tracking the column. Up ahead, by the edge of the cliff, was the New Sapphire Temple’s camp. They must have thought the elevation would give them a good line of sight. But now they were cornered.    

 

***

 

Oresh saw Anka, bound to Kisha, her face drained of colour, for a second before the horde of lishas scurried in front. They formed a wall of swords, spears and muscle, trapping their enemies against the steep precipice behind, panting like ravenous predators impatient to lunge at their prey. The supercilious soldiers, the loutish thugs, the barbaric raiders – they each had their own enraging flavour of brutality.

“Good lishas of Parua and Kurush!” Kyroz called out from the rear of his army, “We have no quarrel with you. Surrender and you will live. But first you may want to eat your hurum companions. If you don’t, we’ll gladly take them!”

The horde cackled. Oresh could feel the fear rippling through what remained of the New Sapphire Temple’s lishas and hurums. After the failed night attack, many Paruans had gone home to their villages, leaving only a hundred of them left. He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of the dusty ground beneath his feet, on the invigorating heat the Sun was pouring onto his scales. Everything was as clear as the summer sky. He needed Anka, she was in peril, she had to live.

“What happens here today will be written and remembered,” Oresh told his comrades, “the eyes of our innumerable descendants are upon us. Whatever follows Kurush will be built here. If we win, Parua will become a place of peace, justice and prosperity for all. If they win, it will become a place of hatred, misery and tyranny. Whether we win or lose, whether you live or die, don’t you want the ages to remember that you fought for a better world?”

He walked forward, tightening the strap of his helmet, wooden shield in one hand, shining sword in the other. He broke into a canter, his eyes fixed on the wall of lishas ahead of him, breathing sharper and sharper, running faster and faster until it felt like he was flying over the rocky ground. He couldn’t hear his enemies’ taunts, he couldn’t hear his comrades’ battle cries, he had no idea if any of them were charging with him. He saw that he was speeding towards Lydda, the lisha who had stopped him from saving Askura that night. He launched himself at her. He saw her eyes were wide with fear. His sword sliced her chest open.

Oresh propelled forward into the mass of lishas, refusing to lose any momentum, slashing left and right in a maniacal rampage. He didn’t know if any of his swings were landing, he dimly felt blades cutting through his scales, but he didn’t care, his soul was consumed by one singular purpose. Behind him there was a thunderous clash as a hundred bodies collided into the army. The sweeping tremor shattered the solid wall and Oresh drilled through to the far side.

He saw Anka, but an instant later Kisha’s spear plunged into his shoulder, halting his momentum. She uprooted it from his flesh and raised it above his head, but as she brought it down, Anka pulled on the rope binding her to Kisha and the spear hit only air. Anka was leaning with all her weight, her heels digging into the dirt, as she tried to heave Kisha away from Oresh. Kisha swung her tail, forcing Anka to lose her balance as she jumped to avoid the bronze spikes. Oresh sprang forward, but her tail slammed into his legs, the spikes ripping through his calves. He span in the air before crumpling onto the ground. Despite Anka yanking at the rope, Kisha walked to stand over her brother.

“You always were pathetic”, she spat as she raised her spear once more

An arrow whistled and ringed against Kisha’s helmet. Iddyr was running towards them, bow in hand, from the flank. Kisha turned to face him, but didn’t expect Oresh to leap to his feet. He thrust his sword at her spear-arm, she dodged but the blade scraped a swathe of scales off. Iddyr took his helmet off and put it on Anka’s head, unsheathed a dagger and started sawing the tight coils of rope binding her arms together. Kisha could see the rescue attempt, but again and again Oresh threw himself at her, swinging his sword in a frenzy. Each time Kisha’s spear pierced him and each time he raised himself to pounce again, preventing her from stopping Iddyr, making her roar in frustration. She swung her tail at the two hurums, they leapt over the spikes and kept feverishly cutting through the rope. One coil was severed, then another and another.

Kisha’s spear sliced Oresh’s wrist, his sword slipped out of his hand. Her free hand, clenched into a fist, battered his jaw, knocking it out of place. Oresh, his eyes bleary, stumbled and collapsed. Kisha spun round and without hesitation drove her spear into Iddyr’s skull. His life departed instantly and his blood-soaked body toppled over.

Kisha turned back and stamped on Oresh’s hand as he reached for his sword, his fingers cracking. With one foot on his chest, pinning him to the ground with her colossal weight, she raised her spear. Anka picked up Iddyr’s dagger, freed herself from the final coil, pounced onto Kisha’s tail and sank the blade into her back. She shrieked, dropping her spear to clasp at Anka wildly, snatching her from her back, her claws tearing into Anka’s flesh. Kisha’s eyes were bloodshot with rage, she opened her jaws, Anka knew she was about to rip her head off. Then she froze. Streams of blood began to trickle from her mouth. Oresh’s sword had cleanly cut sideways through her throat. He drew it out with a sickening squelch and Kisha tumbled over like a boulder as a torrent gushed from the wound.

Oresh fell onto his hands and knees, the pain of his myriad injuries catching up to him. His eyes felt heavy, but they shot open when he heard Kyroz howl.

“The world must revere me,” he hissed, “the world will revere me!”

He pulled a dagger from the folds of his toga and stormed towards Oresh. Anka pried herself from Kisha’s stiffening grip and with Iddyr’s dagger in hand jumped onto Oresh’s back to hurl herself onto Kyroz. He barely had a moment to see that a hurum was attacking him with burning hate before she drove her blade into his eye. Oresh tackled his legs and he fell onto his back. Kyroz desperately tried to pull the hurum gouging his face off of him, swiping his claws frantically at her. But once she slit his throat, he lost his strength. His arms fell to the ground and he began to quietly gargle blood.

Anka clambered off of the corpse and sat next to Oresh. Both of them were panting so hard they couldn’t speak. He rolled over so that his head rested on her lap, despite her tunic being drenched in other people’s blood. She wrapped her arms around his snout. Their pounding hearts began to slow down. She watched as the dregs of Kyroz’s army scurried away into the wasteland. Apparently they were prepared to kill for their cause, but not to die for it. Lysta, riding Ozoz the hapa, was circling the gigantic chief of the dusk raiders, lancing him with her spear again and again until with one final blow to his chest he was felled.

Like the calm after a storm, an uneasy quiet descended onto the battlefield. A metallic stench hung over the sea of bodies. Bukur stood amongst their fallen friends and foes, looking over the field of victory, his armour and glaive splattered with blood, silently satisfied that he had lived up to his duty. Hyza rushed over with a bundle of thick leaves and started hurriedly tying them tightly over Oresh’s wounds to stem the flow of blood.

“Is it over?” Oresh asked

In the distance, Anka saw Staroz looking over his shoulder as he hobbled away. There was an arrow sticking out of his thigh.

“Not quite,” said Anka, “can I leave you for a moment?”

“If I die now, after everything, I’ll be very annoyed with myself”

“You’ll live,” said Hyza, “but you’ll look like a menacing warrior for the rest of your days”

Anka left Oresh in Hyza’s care and walked without haste after Staroz, Iddyr’s dagger still in hand and his helmet on her head. She found him slumped in the shade of an olive tree, cringing in pain. He didn’t seem surprised when he saw Anka.

“I won’t try and stop you,” he said, “I know I don’t have any right to ask anything from you, but could you make it quick?”

Anka stood and stared at the pitiful lisha, her fingers gripping the dagger. But the fury bubbling inside her drained away. She sighed.

“Kyroz is dead. Do you accept that he was lying to you? That hurums are in fact people too?”

“Yes, yes…”

“Do you promise not to eat anyone else? Do you promise not to cause any trouble for anyone ever again?”

Staroz looked up at her, “What?”

“Do you?”

Anka looked steadily into his eyes, searching for any hint of malice or trickery, but all she found was honest confusion.

“Yes…”  

With the dagger she cut the hem of her tunic to make a strip of cloth, then knelt beside him to loop it around his leg.

“But… why?” said Staroz

“Don’t you think enough people have died already? Right, are you ready?”

“Wait, wai- Aargh!”

She plucked the arrow out of his flesh and tied a knot as tightly as she could before much blood could spurt out. After a while, he was able to get back on his feet and with Anka supporting him, they walked back to the other survivors.

Next chapter

Constructive criticism welcome

© Paul Bramhall