The Broken Ones

Chapter 9:2 -Crossing the plains

So this was Ana’s plan to conquer any monster that got in her way on the plains, to use her own power together with the other two brokens in the group. Soi realised he had never thought of Ard as a broken, probably because he had never seen any injuries. But Ard could actually have a hidden injury, like Sassa. Soi hadn’t seen Sassa’s injury either, he realised. The only way to find out if Ard was a broken or not, was to ask him.
-Are you a broken?
-A what? Ard gave him a confounded look over his shoulder.
He isn’t a broken then, thought Soi and realised he had thought the same thing Nibbles had said the first time they met. I’m becoming prejudice, Soi concluded his thoughts and tried to explain to Ard what a broken was.
-Ah, you mean like my brother?
Not exactly like what Soi had in mind, as he still thought of Haz as a monster, but close enough so he nodded.
-No, I don’t have any injuries like that. But I guess sooner or later I will break an arm or so, Ard shrugged.
They didn’t get far before the sun begun to sink. Seeing the sun set was becoming nightmare scenario for Soi. The red eyes were waiting for him each time he closed his eyes.
-What do we do now? He called up to Ana and Haz, who led the group.
Ard and Soi rode alongside Nibbles.
-We continue throughout the night and sleep when the sun goes up.
-Is it really that simple?
Ana turned around to give him a sarcastic smile.
-Oh, yes I almost forgot, watch out for the monsters, they can kill you.
Soi ignored her smirk.
-Do you think Ard and I will be left alone if we travel a few meters away from you broken ones?
He obviously deserved another sarcastic grin from Ana for this question.
-Yes, Soi, do you think the monsters will distinguish brokens from non-brokens travelling together?
She turned around and then Haz sped up the tempo and they all fell into a steady canter and distanced themselves from the mountains. It didn’t take long before Soi saw red eyes everywhere he turned his head. There were plenty more monsters following them here than in the forest and they didn’t howl their arrival, they seemed to be smarter than the ones he so far had met. Soi had to confirm with Ard if they really were there, unfortunately he nodded silently. Soi stretched back to his sword that he had hung onto his back but before he could get a hold of it the monsters attacked and Ard’s horse skipped to the side to avoid the attack. Soi lost his balance and slipped off and landed with a gruff on his back on the hard earth.
-Soi! Ard called back to him.
-Don’t worry, I’ll have my sword! Soi answered and quickly stood up and finally held the sword in front of him, ready for any attack. Most of the monsters followed the rest of the group but two stayed behind.
-I’m not who you’re after but if you attack me I’ll kill you, he said confidently, more for himself than the monsters.
They circled around him, confirming his growing suspicion that these ones were smarter than the one he had killed. It wasn’t a good thought though and Soi could see his last breath waver before him. Then he saw his father dying before him, his last words forming on his lips,
You’ll have to take over as family head after me, make sure that they are fine and safe… Take care of all your sisters and your dear mother. And Soi, take over after me as the Saviour. My bracelet, it will help you and protect you.
Then Ana’s voice broke through;
-You are supposed to protect me!
Soi was not ready to die yet, he hadn’t even begun to find his way home and he had this mission to complete.
The first monster he killed with a dagger thrown to the throat, it sunk to its knees whining before it died. The other one got more cautious. Obviously they had considered him an easy prey, he wasn’t even a broken. He was simply food. Like his mare had been. That thought light a fire inside Soi and he attacked instead of waiting for an attack. Knowing he could heal himself with the water in his little dark bottle, gave him courage to be offensive. He backed the monster back and when they passed by the dead monster Soi picked up the dagger he had thrown. He kept it over his head, ready to throw, when suddenly a high pitched squeal came from nowhere and everywhere. Soi stopped for a moment, keeping his eyes on the monster. It didn’t come from a monster, unless it was dying but then they sounded more grotesque, and it didn’t come from a human. Then what was it?
From behind him came the answer running past him and attacking Soi’s monster. It was a horse, dark as the night and with long legs and mane long enough to touch the ground. Where did it come from? It was clearly ready for a fight, it pushed the monster further and further backwards. But the monster wasn’t willing to give in for a mere horse and attacked with it teeth ready to sink into the horse’s neck. Soi threw his dagger and followed up with a deep cut in the monsters stomach. It fell dead to the earth.
The horse studied Soi for a moment, probably seeing a lot more of Soi than he could see of the horse, and then it threw its head into the air and neighed reassuringly. It trusted Soi and he took a step forward to pet its neck. The horse then surprised him and kneeled down, it was bowing to Soi. He had never seen a horse do that before, not unless it got up from sleeping on the ground. He watched the horse in awe. The black horse neighed a little and threw its head repeatedly backwards towards it back and Soi presumed it meant for him to get up on his back. Carefully he climbed up ready to be thrown off any second, Soi had learnt his lesson from his mare. The horse rose, it didn’t tried to threw him off but begun to run instead. Soi didn’t know in what direction it took him but then he heard the howl and roars and soon he could see the lights from the spells Ana and the others flung around them. The horse was seeking out the fight.
As they closed in Soi prepared himself to launch into the herd of monsters. But the black horse had other plans, it kept to the last line of monsters and run beside them. Soi could easily kill them before they scented the strange smell of horse among them. With this strategy the two had soon killed off half of the monsters before they moved on to the flanks instead. The two of them was dark as the night together and wasn’t seen in the dark as they attacked the monsters on the flanks while the monsters concentrated on the brokens and horses of the group. But when the monsters realised they were under attack from two sides instead of being the attackers they started to howl for retreat and they disappeared into the night. Soi was now sure that these monsters were by far more clever than the forest monsters. They hunted in packs had strategies and could recognise an obstacle in their plan and then retreat. They were more like humans than monsters.
-Soi! Ard called to him. –I thought you were dead.
-I told you I had a sword, Soi smiled to him in the dark.

To be continued...
By J.L.Frick