Flood of the fire, p.1
Flood of the Fire, page 1
Copyright © 2022 by Evelyn Puerto
All rights reserved.
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Cover by Miblart
Map by Sebastian Breit of Foreign Worlds Cartography
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All characters and events in this book are fictional.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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ISBN 978-0-9909715-9-7
Created with Vellum
FLOOD OF THE FIRE
EVELYN PUERTO
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Afterword
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
Tereka wasn’t sure about many things, but she knew this. She had no idea how to start a revolution.
Nor did she have a clue how to keep her fellow fugitives in line. Some accepted her leadership willingly, others grudgingly, never missing an opportunity to challenge her.
Angry shouts filled the brisk spring air. Relio and Sebezh were at it again. All winter long, they’d maneuvered for dominance, the former prison brigade boss against his second. Usually, their fights were simply annoying. Today, their animosity could get someone killed.
Leaning against the parapet, Tereka surveyed the mountain slope tumbling away below her, the fresh green of early summer finally overtaking the gray, barren branches of birch and maple trees. An eagle soared beneath her, then dove into the canopy. If only she could gaze on the tranquil forest all afternoon. With a sigh, she turned and walked to the south side of the wide courtyard.
Naco was standing on the edge of the cliff, a rope twisted around his muscular forearm and tied around his waist, the breeze tousling his dark hair. Alikse picked up the rest of the rope and strode to a pine tree. He looped the rope around the thick trunk. With a smooth motion, he shifted the coiled rope to his massive shoulder and returned to Naco’s side.
At least those two worked well together, Tereka thought. Cheery Naco and silent Alikse were a good pair and could always be relied on. Even in the worst of times, like when the prison guards were plotting to execute them. She shuddered at how easily Alikse grabbed a guard’s head and snapped his neck. Good thing he likes me.
A few feet from Naco, thick-set Hinat sidled toward the edge of the cliff, whistling tunelessly through the gap in his front teeth. But while Naco stood with his face tipped to the sky, Hinat peered over the edge of the precipice, frowning doubtfully.
“Why are you making this harder than it is?” Sebezh shouted at Relio. He scratched his red, scruffy beard.
“Because I’m no durak.” Relio spat on the ground.
“No, just the spawn of a durak mated to a yanshyr.”
Tereka rolled her eyes and approached them. “What seems to be the problem now?”
Sebezh poked a finger at Relio’s chest. “Do you think I can’t hold him?”
Hinat’s eyes darted from Sebezh to the precipice and back. He didn’t look too confident in Sebezh’s strength.
“I’m the one going over the cliff,” Naco said. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather have a little assurance I won’t end the day in a broken heap at the bottom.”
Alikse chuckled. “Can’t say I blame you.”
Who would have thought building a pulley to help bring supplies up the mountain would have caused such a ruckus? “No one needs to die today,” Tereka said. “Why would they?”
“Great, now girly thinks she’s the expert,” Sebezh said.
Relio scowled at him, deep ridges forming in jowls covered with black and gray stubble. He motioned for Tereka to join him at the cliff’s edge. “The pulley goes here.”
“If her uncles get around to bringing it,” put in Sebezh.
Ignoring Sebezh as if he were no more than a buzzing insect, Relio continued. “Your uncles thought this was the best place. Here the cliff edge is hard rock. The problem is the rock juts out in a few spots on the way down. They suggested we chip some of it away, so anything we’re hoisting up won’t get caught.”
“If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s chip stone,” Naco said, flashing a grin at Tereka.
He was right, but just thinking about their days mining for copper in the Prime Konamei’s prison camp made Tereka’s heart pound and her skin crawl. Shaking off the sensation, she surveyed the scowling faces. “So?”
Sebezh scratched under his arm. “That one”—he spit in Relio’s direction— “wants to loop the rope around a tree.”
“It will make it easier to hold the men chipping the rock. And it’s only a loop. You’ll still be able to let out more rope if you need to.” Relio crossed his arms.
“But it uses up twenty yards,” Sebezh shot back. “What if we need that length to send them lower?
“We can worry about that then.” Relio’s glare would frighten a warboar, but Sebezh didn’t seem to be intimidated.
“And you call me a durak,” he said, twisting his mouth into a sneer. “If you’re so smart, why don’t you hold the rope?”
Tereka stepped forward. No sense reminding Sebezh about Relio’s back pain. It was hard enough to get him to accept any direction from Relio. The last thing she needed was Sebezh deciding to exploit Relio’s weakness. “I think we should let Naco and Hinat decide.” She shrugged. “They’re the ones taking the risk.”
“I’d rather use the tree,” Naco said. “Anything to help the person holding the rope.”
Hinat nodded vigorously. “That will be safer.”
He must really be scared, Tereka thought as she surveyed Hinat’s pale face. He didn’t usually oppose Sebezh.
“Well, since that’s settled, let’s get on with it,” Relio said. A gust of wind blew down the slope and he cursed. “The day’s not getting any warmer. And we don’t want to wait until the wind picks up more.”
Sebezh stalked to another pine tree and wrapped his rope around the trunk. Wearing a sullen frown, he took his place near Hinat. Tereka noted the end of each rope was tied in a loop with a big knot. Probably to help Sebezh and Alikse hold on to it if they had to let the whole length out.
Naco stepped to the edge. He fixed his eyes on Alikse. “Ready?”
The big man nodded. He took a step back and gripped the rope.
Seizing his end of the rope, Naco lowered himself to the ground. Then he slid off the cliff.
Tereka’s heart raced. Would Alikse be able to hold him? The man’s biceps bulged as he slowly let out the rope. He seemed able to control how fast Naco was descending.
Hinat crept to the rim of the cliff. He glowered at Sebezh. “Don’t drop me.” He tied the rope snugly around his waist and wrapped it around his left forearm, then slid off the edge.
Sebezh took a few steps forward, then pulled back. He let more rope out. “See? This is easy. Even girly could do this.”
Shouts from below drew Tereka’s attention. She crouched on the rim of the cliff and gingerly peered over. Sweat dampened her palms. Naco and Hinat were brave to let themselves dangle over the precipice, high over the jagged rocks at the mountain’s feet. She shivered. She was relieved no one had suggested she do the job.
Both Naco and Hinat had reached the rock that jutted out like an accusing fist. They braced their feet against the face of the cliff. Naco wiped his forehead and pulled a chisel and hammer from his belt. Hinat clung to the rope for several moments before he did the same.
The gentle tap-tap o
He glanced at her and grunted. “Good thing I’ve got skinny Naco and not that brute Hinat.”
Tereka grinned. Hinat and Alikse never had a kind word for each other. “Good thing, indeed. You’d be tempted to let him go.”
“Nah, just scare him a little.”
“Like this?” Sebezh dropped his coiled rope. Immediately, it began to unwind, pulled by Hinat’s weight. Hinat’s shriek cut through the air. Sebezh lunged for the rope and tripped, landing face-first on the ground.
By reflex, Tereka grabbed the looped end. Sebezh was groaning, his chin scraped and bloody. He’d never get up in time. She wasn’t strong enough to support Hinat’s weight. If she tried, they’d both plunge to their deaths. She thrust an arm through the loop, grasped the rope, and sprinted for the cliff’s edge. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and jumped.
2
Tereka’s breath caught as she plummeted toward the jagged rocks below. With a jerk, her descent stopped, and she clung to the rope. Her arm felt as it had been wrenched from her shoulder. Sharp pain burned where the rope dug into her flesh through the coarse fabric of her tunic’s sleeve. She took a few gasping breaths, her eyes watering from the shock.
She peeked down. Fifty feet below her, Hinat dangled, his fall arrested by her weight on the other end of the rope. Now if only the tree that’s supporting us holds. Hinat hung three hundred feet or more above the jagged rocks at the bottom. If he fell…
“What were you thinking?” Naco swayed ten feet below her, his tawny eyes wide in his coppery face. She tried to give him a smile and failed.
“That I had to save Hinat.” Her rope jerked, and she dropped a few feet. Her breath caught. “What was that?”
“Girly,” Relio shouted at her. “Don’t move. You broke the tree.”
Tereka heard only snatches of Relio’s next words. She hoped they had more to do with hoisting them all back to the top than chastising Sebezh for his recklessness.
“Heave!” Relio barked the order. Tereka’s rope didn’t move. Then she noticed Hinat had shifted a few feet up.
“Heave!”
She dropped two feet. Her heart pounded in her ears. “What was that?”
“I think as they pull Hinat up, they are letting your side of the rope go down,” Naco said calmly. “My guess is both Relio and Sebezh are pulling Hinat up together, to be faster. They don’t have anyone to hold your end of the rope.”
It took only a few more jerky downward motions for Tereka to draw level with Naco. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” He frowned. “I’d like to finish the job while I’m here. But I don’t want to hit Hinat with any falling rock.”
“Hmm.” A gust of wind spun her away from him. She closed her eyes to shut out the spiky rocks far below, jutting into the air like sharpened swords.
Tereka clenched the rope tighter with her sweaty hands, her knuckles whitening. The rope cut into the flesh under her arm like it was digging a canal. Stinging pain ran along her neck. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to endure it.
She glanced below. “Why wouldn’t they pull me up first? I’m closer.” She gasped as she dropped another few feet.
“But you’re lighter. Makes it easier for them to pull you up later when they’re tired.”
“I’m not sure I want my life in Sebezh’s hands.”
By this time, Hinat had nearly reached her level. His face was pale, his eyes half closed. The arm he’d twisted in the rope was bent at an odd angle. Tereka winced. Had he broken it in the fall?
“Hinat,” she said, trying to keep the pain from her voice.
He opened his eyes. With a frown, he shook his head. “What’re you doing, girly?”
Before she could answer, she dropped again and Hinat’s rope jerked him upwards. His knees were now level with her nose. She tilted her head up to concentrate on Naco’s tawny eyes, forcing herself to focus on his gaze. She stifled her thoughts of falling to the rocks below, hoping they’d all survive this ordeal.
A few more jerks downward, then scuffling noises at the top of the cliff told her Hinat was pulled to safety.
“Hang on, girly.” Relio’s voice sounded strained and tired. Tereka rose a few feet, then a few more, ascending much faster than Hinat had.
As she neared the top, she heard a crack and dropped about six feet. Pain shot through her arm and shoulder. She screwed her eyes shut. Surely, they wouldn’t drop her now. A few shouts, and a long pull on the rope.
Tereka stretched out her hand to grab a rock near the top of the cliff. A dark brown hand reached for hers and pulled her over the edge. Her stomach scraped along the rocks right before she looked up into Alikse’s flushed and sweaty face. “Who’s holding Naco?” she asked.
“The tree, with some help from Poales. Relio’s done for.”
She crawled away from the lip of the cliff. “Thank you.” She turned and sat on the stone pavement, panting, unable to believe she was no longer suspended hundreds of feet in the air.
Savinnia and Poales must have heard all the commotion and come running. He was assisting Sebezh and Alikse haul Naco up, while Relio lay moaning on the ground. Savinnia was helping Relio drink from a dipper, her dark hair tumbling around her face.
The tree they’d wrapped the rope around was cracked and bent, some of its roots pulled from the soil. Had the rope not caught on a branch, she and Hinat would have fallen to the rocks below. She rubbed her sore shoulder, wincing at the sting of the rope burn on her neck.
The pine tree supporting Naco’s rope creaked. Her heart skipped a beat, and she clenched her shaking hands. Would they manage to get Naco up before the tree gave way? She didn’t want to imagine life without Naco.
When Alikse pulled Naco over the edge, she let out a breath. They’d all survived. She shakily got to her feet and stumbled to Hinat.
He lay on the ground, clutching his damaged forearm.
Tereka knelt beside him. “Hinat.”
With a moan, he opened one eye. “My shoulder—”
With a few strides, Naco reached him and helped him sit up. When Hinat’s arm flopped uselessly, Naco grabbed his elbow. “I’ll fix it. Ready?” Without waiting for an answer, he jerked the arm. With a pop that made Tereka flinch, the arm snapped into place.
Hinat yelled, then groaned. “That’s better.”
“Good,” said Tereka. “Now for the bone.”
Savinnia handed her some strips of cloth, a short piece of wood, and a pot of water. Tereka gently removed Hinat’s torn sleeve from his arm. Angry red stripes scored the flesh of his forearm, which canted at an awkward angle a little below the elbow.
Naco held Hinat’s other arm down while Tereka pushed the bone back in place. She washed the wounds and bound the splint to the arm. “Better?”
“Some.” Hinat opened one eye. “Can’t you do some of your magic, girly?”
She shrugged. “I’ll try once we get you inside. But you know I can’t promise anything.”
