Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 54
54
There was already a sizable group gathered by the statue. Dorin could make out the distinctive shapes of Hyker, Ivio, and Wardo, but there were more huddled together in a little palaver, whispering furiously at each other. Dorin recognized their scents as Seffer, Denko, Yannek and Vekka. Apparently Wardo's little 'inner circle' was growing bigger by the hour.
"I got 'im!" Thoka said, jogging ahead to join with the throng.
"Took you long enough, you fat bastard!" Wardo said. "Come on, hurry up! We're running out of time!"
"What's going on?" Dorin asked. "Is it... is it done?"
"See for yourself."
Dorin stepped past the line of Wolves and the first thing that jumped out at him was the cage - the _empty_cage, its door wide open and creaking in the wind.
So they got out, he thought. He didn't know whether to feel good or bad about it. In only a single day, he had become both a murderer and a betrayer.
He ran his hand along the bars. They were so cold it felt like they were cutting into his palms. There was blood on the floor, and even more in the snow. Hezzi and Danado's scents still lingered, but there was something else here, too, some secondary smell. It was -
Dorin took a step back, visions of bloody knives and flayed arms spinning before his eyes.
The scent covering Danado's like a gossamer blanket...
It was Lana.
Animal...
Calm down. You can't let anyone see you like this. Keep it inside. Shove it deep down. It's just an empty cage. That's all you see. Just an empty -
They were moving all around him. He could hear their feet sinking into the snow and their breath rushing from their mouths. He could feel them coming closer, forming a half-circle at his back, cutting off all hope of escape.
He was completely surrounded.
They know.
Wardo put his arm across Dorin's shoulders, as though they were the best of friends. "Do you know what happened here, Dorin?" he asked, his breath warm and stinking. "The empty cage, the open door... How do you suppose this came to be?"
Dorin's hand crept towards the dagger at his hip, but stopped halfway.
Do I want to die?
Do I?
He didn't know anymore.
"Well?"
Dorin closed his fists and steeled himself for what was about to happen. "I think someone messed up. Very badly."
"And who do you suppose that was?"
Wardo's playing a game with you. Don't give him the satisfaction. Just confess and get it over with. Cut his fun short.
Dorin opened his mouth, but his tongue felt dry. Every breath of freezing air cut his throat like a hundred tiny blades.
"I know who it was," Wardo said, slowly dragging his claw along his necklace, making it click out a slow monotone. Even in the middle of the night, he still had to wear that thing, showing it off like a trophy.
Just do it! Get it over with! End it already!
"It was -"
"Me."
The wind sighed through the bars, and Dorin was still alive. Still alive... "Sai? What do you mean by that?"
"I'm the one who messed up. Nilia must have noticed that key you gave her was a fake right from the start. She had all day to sneak into my tent and make the switch. Any of them could have done it, even that little girl. I thought it was a good fail-safe, but it backfired on me. I bet if I gave you the real key to give to her, she never would have gotten her wind up and everything would have gone according to plan. I was too cautious... I just never thought a wanna-be warrior like her would actually be able to tell the difference..."
Is this really happening?
"But you know, Dorin," Wardo continued, "I'm not the only one at fault here. Who else do you think is responsible for this colossal mess, hmm?"
So that's it. He was just giving you a false glimmer of hope so he could have some fun ripping it away. It was all just part of his demented games, and you fell for it.
Dorin swallowed, said, "I do not know, Chieftain," and waited for the blow to fall.
Wardo broke out into a huge smile. "No? Then allow me to inform you. It waaaaass..."
Don't fight it. Just let it happen. When it's over, you won't have to feel this way anymore.
"... You!" Wardo spun around and punched Seffer right in the stomach, doubling him over. He coughed and sank down to his knees, clutching his midsection, hacking ropes of drool into the snow while Wardo stood over him, shaking with fury. "You let that Nilia bitch see you, you dumb clod!"
"N-No!" Seffer coughed, shaking his head. "I swear, she didn't!"
Dorin didn't move. Even though it was a cold night, he could feel a single bead of sweat slowly run past his temple. How did he feel right now? How could he not know? Did he feel relieved?
Or did he feel disappointed?
"Even if she knew the key was fake, she had no way of knowing about you! My plan would have worked anyway, but you couldn't keep your stupid head down!" Wardo said as loud as he could without actually shouting. "You told me she climbed up the wall from the outside! Now why would she do that if she didn't know you were in the tower!?"
"I d- don't know!"
"And you! Denko!"
Denko jumped about a foot in the air and backpedalled all at the same time, but his back quickly met resistance in the form of a solid line of Wolves. "Y- Yes, Chieftain?"
"Maybe you're the one who messed up! Are you!?"
"No, Chieftain! I swear!"
"Well, one of you must have messed up!"
Hyker stepped forward. He had a huge cut on his head for some reason, and his hair was hanging down in sticky strings. "Pardon, Chieftain, but not all the blame should go to these youngsters. I was the one who failed first. I could have stopped Nilia, but I -"
Wardo flailed his arms and went: "Pffffplrt!! You were supposed to fail, you idiot! If, by some miracle, you actually did manage to off that bitch, it would have been a pure blue-sky bonus!"
Hyker cocked his head. "Chieftain? Are you saying you knew Nilia would be there, and you didn't warn us?"
"Am I surrounded by idiots!? What do you think these two fopdoodles were for!?" Wardo kicked Seffer in the head and he fell face-first into the snow with a yip, a dark line of blood oozing from his ear. "The two best archers in the tribe? You had one job! One job! And that was to fill Nilia's back with arrows! And neither of you fired even a single shot! Pathetic!"
Ivio tentatively raised his hand like a pup seeking permission to speak.
"What, Ivio, what is it!?"
"Chieftain, Hyker and I, we had a job to do, didn't we? We were gonna stick Hezzi and Danado."
Wardo massaged his forehead, perhaps to still a pounding headache. "Yes, Ivio, if Nilia had decided to try and free Hezzi and Danado before you got there, yes, you would have stuck them, because Seffer and Denko, the two most useless Wolves in the tribe, would have shot her dead while she crossed the village centre. However, Nilia only had two logical choices, and unfortunately for you, she chose to take you out. You should count yourself lucky she didn't slit your throat."
"But we coulda taken her!" Ivio insisted. "If we knew she was coming, she'd be dead! Why didn't you tell us, Chieftain!?"
"Because if she figured out you two knew she was coming, she'd have known it was all a trap, you festering pustule! By beating you she would have thought herself in the clear!"
"So we were just a feint? Is that it?" Hyker said. "Sorrin nearly killed me!"
"Oh please, if Sorrin actually swung that rock intending to kill you, you'd be dead three times over. And as for Nilia, she might look hard, but on the inside she's as soft as a little bunny rabbit. You and Ivio did your jobs perfectly, it's these so-called 'archers' that gave everything away!"
Dorin was just as fascinated by the way Wardo was assigning blame as he was disgusted by the way everyone was simply accepting it. He couldn't exactly blame them, though. Wolves who got on Wardo's bad side had an unfortunate tendency to suffer grievous bodily harm.
"I'm sorry, Chieftain," Seffer said, slowly getting back to his feet.
"I'm sorry, too," Denko added. "But -"
"But what?"
"M- Maybe..." Denko looked around, perhaps hoping to gain some support from his peers. When all he got was a set of cold stares, he blundered on regardless. "Maybe somebody told her we'd be there?"
Dorin's heart skipped a beat, then pounded against his ribcage at double pace.
"Who would have told her? Dorin here? This Wolf would kill for me! You know how I know that? Because he already did!" Wardo gave Dorin a hard pat on the back, and Dorin had the sudden urge to just walk away. He didn't want to be praised for killing that girl. He just wanted to get some sleep. But maybe... maybe there would be dreams? What if she was there, staring at him with that knife sticking out of her chest, twitching in time with her heartbeat?
What if she called him an animal again...?
"I am willing to forgive mistakes, Seffer and Denko, but only once. Do you understand?"
They both nodded. "Yes, Chieftain."
"All right then. We've wasted enough time, so everybody gather 'round and look at this." He pointed out the mess of footprints leading from the cage. "Not counting our own, we have five different sets of tracks. Two adult females, one adult male, and two juveniles. Nilia, Mellah, Sorrin, Hezzi, and Renna. The reason Danado's tracks aren't here is probably because Sorrin is carrying him, that's why his footprints are deeper than usual."
You could say a lot of things about Wardo, but you could never call him a poor tracker. Dorin has done his fair share of hunting over the years, but even he couldn't make or heads or tails out of the random clumps of trampled snow at their feet.
"That's not all. Look..." He gestured towards a dip in the snow. "Someone fell here. See the blood at the end? It was probably Danado. With those hobbled feet of his, I bet he took one step and keeled right over. That's why Sorrin has to carry him. He can't walk in the snow."
Listen to him squeal! Go on, Dorin! Do 'em all! Do 'em all!
Stop squirming you lil' bastard! Or do you want me to do this to your sister instead?
Hey, we should make those claws into a necklace! What do you think?
Nausea rose up from deep inside Dorin's stomach, threatening to make him vomit in front of everyone. He remembered the way it felt, sticking his knife inside Danado's fingers and toes, sawing through the bone one by one. It was so much work his arm had been killing him by the end. But it had been fun.
It had been fun.
Animal...
"This is good, though," Wardo continued. "With that cripple weighing them down, you should have no trouble catching up to them."
Catching up...?
"I don't think that's wise, Chieftain!" Dorin blurted out without thinking. Suddenly everyone was looking at him.
"And why do you say that, Dorin?" Wardo asked, glaring at him the same way he had glared at Hezzi when he interrupted the inauguration.
"Because..." We've done enough! And if we keep going like this, then everyone will feel exactly as I do! We'll all hate ourselves! "Because the whole point was to get rid of those troublemakers, wasn't it? We've done that. They're gone, and they won't ever come back. They're out of your hair for good. Isn't that enough?"
"Meh, if I simply wanted them gone, I'd probably take your advice, but this is personal. They openly defied me, and for that they have to pay. Now go, all of you, and don't come back without those traitors in tow!"
The others turned towards the gates as one, but Dorin tried one last time.
"Chieftain, I do not believe eight is enough to pursue six. We need at least twelve, no, eighteen to ensure success without suffering any losses." Finding ten more Wolves and rousing them from the depths of sleep and explaining everything a second time... Maybe if he could delay everyone long enough, it could buy Nilia and the others enough time to reach the safety of the mountain. He just...
He didn't want to kill again...
Not again...
"And let everyone know we were going to assassinate three Wolves without a trial? Are you mad!? I do not have twelve, I have eight! And you eight better not fail me twice in one night!"
"But -"
"Look, Dorin, I understand you're the cautious type, and that's perfectly fine, that's what makes you a good right hand, but listen! Of the six you're after, two are grievously injured, one is a plumpy tent-wife who can only cook and clean, and another is a frail little girl who likes to put feathers in her hair! That only leaves Sorrin and Nilia as actual threats. I trust you eight together can handle those two?"
"And what are we to do when we catch up with them? They'd rather die than come back here, I can assure you of that, Chieftain."
Wardo growled and chewed on his lip, thinking it over. "I'd prefer you bring them back alive. But, if they give you too much trouble, you have my permission to kill them. Oh, but not the little girl. Not Renna. You make sure to bring her back alive at all costs, understand?"
Dorin was surprised. "You're showing her mercy?"
"Pfffha, no!" Wardo threw his head back and laughed. It was a chilling sound in the dark, even colder than the snow in which they stood. "I just want the pleasure of executing that little bitch myself, and running off with all those traitors has given me the perfect excuse to do so. I haven't forgotten about that bite she gave me. I never got the chance to pay her back for that, but I'll show her, I'll show her I can bite, too! I'll return her bite a thousand times over! I'll... I'll..." His eyes took on a hazy, faraway quality, as if he weren't standing outside in the cold, but having the most wonderful dream. "A thousand times over? A thousand... Yes... Yes!" His mouth split into a demonic smile and he began to laugh. Then, perhaps realizing that everyone was still asleep, he clapped his hands over his maw, but it did not do much to stifle the sound. His whole body shook with mirth, making the tribal necklace rattle against his chest.
Dorin knew that snakes could not laugh, but if they could, he was sure it would sound something like this, a wheezing rattle from inside the shadows.
Hunched over like that, Wardo's silhouette took on an odd shape. It was only a trick of the light, but he seemed less like a Wolf and more like...
By the Cora, she was right, he thought. I'm staring at an -
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