Chapter 20 – Swords, Slashers, and Clubs
When the explosion echoed through the valley, the Alabasta retinue fell into formation around their only concern, the princess. Before she could protest, Pell lifted Vivi and put her on Carue's back. The duck was motionless until the exact moment Vivi found her seat, then Carue streamed through the crowd, taking advantage of every opening in front of him. Pell, Roger, and the other guards from the palace swept behind him. They ran until the throng slowed and finally stopped beyond the reach of any landslide.
"Flank the rubble and search for saboteurs. I'll scout ahead," Pell commanded. As the guards turned towards the direction of the explosion, Pell gave his last order. "Princess Vivi. Roger. Find the chief and stay with him."
Roger nodded. "Will do."
Then Pell was gone, a shadow against the sun.
"Of course we didn't agree to what we'd do," Roger added as he watched Pell fly off. He cocked his head at his old partner. "Explosions in the middle of nowhere, chaos and destruction. It's all very straightforward but…"
Vivi held out her hand and helped Roger onto Carue's back. "Let's find the real target of this raid," she said.
Carue took off and Vivi directed him to the back of the valley. That's where the nomads would keep their extra weapons and their supplies. That's where the agents would be.
She held on tightly. Carue hadn't raced this fast for months - three months exactly.
"Just like old times. Eh, Miss - " Roger clutched at the saddle when Carue skidded around a corner.
Like old times? Not quite. For one thing her slashers had been much easier to get to, she thought. She would have to use the set that doubled as her belt.
A shout by her ear. "There!"
The cloaked and hooded shapes, like a party of beekeepers, were smashing the stocks of guns, breaking arrow shafts in their hands, and muddying the sands as they poured out barrels of water. The nomads who had been guarding this area were lying on the ground, a darker mud around them.
Dull eyes regarded Carue as he raced forward. His claws raked the closest agent and knocked the man off balance. Vivi's slashers hummed through the air. Lapis lazuli and tempered metal wrapped around the man's neck; she pulled hard, throwing him into the ground.
Roger leapt into the agents and went for a pile of weapons. He tore apart a crossbow and the heavy wood stock that was left became an impromptu club. He adjusted his grip as the agents' internal orders adjusted to the situation. "Time for batting practice."
"No!" Vivi cried as a slasher tangled itself around another agent's legs, tripping him up.
"You're saying I can't hit them?"
"They're under hypnosis. They can't help it!" Carue sat on the agent while the slashers' arcs kept another two agents away.
Roger blocked a sword with the edge of the stock. "I'll bunt then."
One of the agents picked up a water barrel and threw it at Vivi. She dove, tumbled into a passable roll, and felt the air above her cut by another agent's sword. No time for sighs of relief; her move had brought her closer to the agents, who were even now crowding around her. The slashers were out again, but without distance, she couldn't use them.
The agents surrounding her were flung aside. "Go Carue!" Roger cried. The duck ran through the opening and Vivi swung herself onto his back. She had grand plans of getting Roger, finding Pell, warning the nomads -
But in the midst of a fight, Carue could and would get flustered. He ran full tilt into a tent.
She heard Roger cry, "Miss Wednesday!" and then the heavy cloth muffled everything.
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Panchi gathered followers in his wake as the rebels and nomads pushed their way through the crowd. Their group made better progress as the crowds thinned and soon they were running.
"You're sure about this?" Panchai asked Kohza.
Kohza jumped over the ropes that grounded a tent in the sand. "It's what I'd do."
"Excellent! What you would do! And how do you decide things of that nature? We're going to have to talk - " A wild ululation tore through the crowd. Panchai bellowed a phrase in his native tongue and sprinted ahead; the nomads around him screamed just as fiercely. Kohza repeated it, not knowing what it meant, but liking what it found inside him.
The swell of rushing nomads crashed against the agents. Kohza caught a glimpse of a man behind the agents, fighting them from the opposite side, before the melee began.
Then there was no thinking.
A block - that was for three months recovering in Yuba.
A foot in the stomach - that was for all the cities that were destroyed, not by drought but by sabotage.
A feint - that was for two years, working together like brothers.
A follow through - that was for the lies.
The sword entered flesh, slowed, slipped through - that was for being such a fool.
The dullness in the agent's eyes faded, leaving a clear understanding of what happened. He fell dead.
Kohza had forgotten that these men had no control over themselves, that somewhere inside they were watching their bodies act under some other volition.
Panchai was an arm's length away, his sword arcing upwards. Kohza pulled the agent away from the man's strike and threw the enemy to the ground out of harm's way.
"What are you doing?" The end of Panchai's sword flickered between Kohza and the agent. Without a word, Kohza took a handful of sand and rubbed it into the skin of the agent's neck. The dullness in the man's eyes disappeared and his weapons slipped from his hands. With his faculties restored, the agent began begging for his life.
Kohza pointed at his own neck and said, "Don't kill them; destroy the symbol."
And while Panchai shouted new orders, Kohza fought towards the knot of agents that were standing over the spot where the man had disappeared.
A shadow fell across his right; he swung his sword and a nomad ducked - the same nomad who had been eager to leave him dead at Rainbase. Maybe it was the look in Kohza's eyes, or the fact they were in the midst of pitched battle, but the grinner lost his smile and assured him, "Same side now."
Not his first choice for a fighting partner, but he'd do. Kohza motioned at to the group ahead of them. "They've got someone back there."
The grinner was off, clearing a path through the fight with jubilant ferocity. They were at and then through the agents, now on the other side and protecting the man who'd fallen, giving him room to stand up again.
"You've got a sword!" The man grabbed Kohza by the coat, pulling him behind him. "Get them out!"
Kohza realized that they weren't standing on a tarp covering supplies, but on a tent. A lump squirmed in the material of the fallen canvas.
"We're in the middle of something now so they're going to have to - " Kohza recognized the shock of red hair. This was the guard from before; the one who'd left with - "Vivi!"
There was a wet crunch when the guard smashed an agent in the face. "Yeah. And I can't cut her out with this!" He shook the bloody piece of wood before leaping at the next enemy.
Kohza stabbed his sword into the oiled canvas; leftover gore gathering at the puncture. The edge of a flat yellow beak pushed through, twisting from side to side, until the fabric tore away. Carue erupted from the opening, kicking himself free of the tent. Then a dusty white hand reached out. Kohza took it in his own and pulled her up.
"Leader! You read my mind." Her smile, a strange sight in the middle of pitched fighting, faded. "But you're covered in blood!"
There was a pained cry behind him and something dark passed through her eyes. She was still for just a moment, then the slashers flicked out. Kohza turned and an agent screamed; clutching at his neck.
The guard held up his bat, his pinkie finger stuck out like he was sipping tea. "Nice shot."
She smiled again; this one was perfect for the battlefield. The nomads hadn't left very many targets for Vivi, but she made very short work of the few there were.
They gathered and surrounded the defeated agents to take them back to Panchai's father. Panchai insisted that the princess lead the way through the camp while he and the rebels followed behind her but she wouldn't lead anything until she was sure her friends alright. Eric and Falafra were unharmed, Kohza reassured her that the blood wasn't his own, and the guard refused to let her look at the cut on his arm, insisting it was nothing.
Eric turned to the guard and held out his hand. "Good work..."
Vivi stepped in to make introductions. "This is Roger. He's in the royal guard as Pell's aide. And this is Eric, Falafra, and Leader."
The guard turned, raking his eyes over Kohza. "Thanks for the help."
The friendly tone didn't match the eyes.
Panchai stepped over to them and insisted that they go. The group started back to the main camp with Vivi and Carue in the lead.
Kohza walked silently next to Falafra, going over the fight in his mind. Somewhere in the midst of the prisoners, there were five agents holding the ends of their sleeves or scarves at their neck to staunch the blood. The slashers had marred the hypnotist's symbol and left stinging reminders of its presence.
He couldn't stop thinking about Vivi's smile - the second one.
"What's he so excited about?" Eric asked as he brushed the dirt from his medals. The chief's son was speaking in a low, quick voice with his friends.
Falafra answered. "A battle in the main camp and he led the assault."
"His first big fight?"
"Not quite. It's going to make good story for later."
Eric shook his head. "Falafra. Your people are so strange."
"Tell me about it."
Kohza spoke up. "They're whispering about something behind us."
Falafra listened for a moment. "Talking about Vivi. Surprised she turned up in the middle of the fight."
"It doesn't sound like surprise."
"Okay. Awed then." Falafra's mouth set in a line. "I'll have to explain later."
Chief Urgano and Pell were coming to meet them; the warriors of the tribe and the royal guard behind them. Panchai broke away from the group and strode ahead of Vivi to meet his father. They spoke rapidly.
Pell looked more worried than angry but Roger still turned white. "He's not happy," Roger muttered.
"Here's what you tell him." Vivi whispered into his ear.
Roger didn't look comforted. "If by 'penitent,' you meant 'scared,' then yeah, I can definitely act like that."
Vivi hushed him as Pell approached. "Why didn't you find the chief? What happened after I left?"
Roger squirmed under his gaze. "Carue was off before I could stop him. I'll be faster next time."
Vivi stared at the ground and bit her lip, faking contrition. She and Roger had lied their way out of punishments before. And she was surprised to find that she didn't feel bad, not if she were doing it for Roger.
Pell looked unconvinced, but was distracted when Chief Urgano was approached the group. He stood in front of Vivi and took her hands in his.
"Princess Vivi, you have fought an enemy, assisting my people and our purpose. That makes the bond between us more than liege and chief. This reaffirms our kinship and makes us more than family." His eyes rested on Kohza, Eric, and Roger, then swept to Pell and the guards. "It is a custom that extends to all of you."
Vivi bowed, the court manners looking out of place when she was still dressed in her dirty traveling clothes. "You do us a great honor."
The air was filled with cries welcoming the princess, the rebels and the royal guards as members of the northern tribes.