If anyone is reading this, I hope you are enjoying it. Please do review if you're so inclined.
12. Xio
Jack left Jilken the following day. While the ECV spun and spun, and Ari fell asleep and Unt-Ork got motion sickness, he focused on a curious map in front of him. It was the Gunzai Empire not quite from space – the Royal Palace in the middle, anchored at five points by its five major bases, radiating out unevenly from the center. Each base was connected to the next by a curving road, but no roads led to the palace. The result was a sort of massive oval with a dot in the middle. Jack had seen this map before, in the barracks. One soldier said it looked like a boob and the others laughed.
But Jack reflected, with much less amusement, that it resembled a giant frightened eye.
Such was the shape of Errol's eyes the night before, when Unt-Ork took a quick "look" at her. The breadbaker had been caught completely off-guard but she got the nod. This was a relief; Jack had no idea what he would have done had Errol turned out to be untrustworthy. He warned her only to recruit fighters who were devoted to the cause, and she vowed to do it. Ari and Unt-Ork looked at each other for a moment, and Unt-Ork dug into her pockets. She pulled out a simple necklace – a length of leather with a glowing glass bauble pendant – and gave it to Errol to wear.
"You're officially leader. Whatever you do, don't let this break … at least not for awhile."
If Errol was confused by that last comment, she didn't let on. "I won't," she said. After one last bow she ran back into the kitchen, leaving Jack, Ari and Unt-Ork to make their way to the gates escorted by others.
With Errol preparing to act at Jilken, Jack traveled to Spum where he met Joinu, a bricklayer of Sankra's village. After Unt-Ork approved her, she swore to act at once and promised him 500 women when he returned. He went to Filos, meeting Joinu's friend Kleigo. Kleigo had heard nothing of her fellow villagers, and when Jack told her that Joinu was alive she burst into tears of joy, barely registering that Unt-Ork had tested and passed her. Wiping her cheeks, she too promised Jack a small army and ran off to start finding people. All of them received Unt-Ork's strange necklaces.
Jack's final stop was the base at Gorovi. News of the impending revolt had traveled even faster than he had, and he arrived to find a contingent of servants and artisans already waiting for him under the direction of Ebbi, the overthrown Ashi of Sankra's village. Time and hard luck had stripped her of most of her chubbiness and bad attitude, and in their place was a hunger for freedom, mirrored in the eyes of all those around her. Unt-Ork took in the whole roomful of women and nodded firmly, presenting Ebbi with the last necklace.
Jack finally returned to Tarrenko about a week after he had left, dismissed Ari and Unt-Ork (with the express purpose of ferreting out support), and went to Yazzi Digger's office to make his report.
"Enter," she growled at his knock.
He made his way into the office warily, remembering their last disastrous meeting, and kept his distance. However, even from afar, he could tell something was wrong with Yazzi. Her clothes were stained, her fur was gritty, and she was scribbling furiously on some parchment. Jack stood there silently. He waited for what seemed like an eternity before she noticed him.
Bleary yellow eyes met his black ones. "You have returned," she noted. "And you're alone. Where is your guard?"
Jack got a sudden mental image of the bodies beneath the bridge and willed his face to stay still. "I dismissed them. It was pleasant to visit the bases."
"I see. And…?"
"All appears in order," Jack said carefully. "But I promised a follow-up visit within a few days to each major post, so I'm afraid I must leave again soon."
"That's standard protocol," Yazzi replied.
She suddenly put her pen down with exquisite, unexpected grace, and looked at him with such intensity that Jack began to feel a bit nervous.
"We march tomorrow for the White Mountains. But you won't be coming with us, so you're the perfect man for the job. Give me a name."
Jack blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I don't have time for your idiocy, Renakalli. Give me the name of someone in Troop 50. Anybody. Just do it."
"Uh …" Jack fumbled, thinking quickly. Who did he remember from Troop 50? Wait a minute, there were those two knuckleheaded drunkards he met first thing … what was the name of the big one? … "Xio!" he blurted out. "Ipshen Xio."
Yazzi leaned back and eyed him before sending him a sickly smile of bright teeth. "I always knew there was something special about you. He's the perfect height, and his father was a blacksmith – everyone knows that. It's brilliant. I couldn't have done it better myself. You're dismissed, Renakalli. Tomorrow morning at dawn you will report with the rest of Troop 50 to the courtyard."
Jack had to stop himself from bowing automatically. He took his leave as fast as he could. That glint in Yazzi's eyes … it was enough to tell a much stupider man that he had just done something terribly wrong.
The next morning proved his suspicions right. The deafening clanking of armor and shouting in the barracks woke him just before dawn. Jack raced outside, still pulling his armor on, and waited with the rest of Troop 50; the men were stamping their feet in the snow, their breath steaming in the air.
"What is happening?" Jack hissed to the man on his right.
"Don't know," the man whispered back. "I heard shouting, though. There's a rumor going around that the killer's been caught."
Jack, still half-asleep, almost asked, "Killer?" but stopped just in time. Of course. His swift execution of those three soldiers last week had been the talk of the base. The men were terrified. He heard from Ari that this pleased the women just a little bit, but still … this did not bode well.
A few minutes later the weary faces of the soldiers were bathed in pale light, and Yazzi Digger stepped out from the barracks, bundled against the early morning chill. She carried an axe and following her, yelling for help and struggling with all his might against the two indecently large soldiers dragging him forward, was Xio.
Jack's insides flipped upside-down.
"Troop 50!" Yazzi Digger boomed. "After a week of investigating, I have caught the man who killed three of your fellow soldiers at the Wall! It is him! Ipshen Xio!"
She pointed at Xio, who was now being forced to his knees by his guard, quite close to a wide, flat tree-stump. He was proclaiming his innocence loudly and frantically.
"He has confessed!" Yazzi continued viciously.
And the rest of the men, much to Jack's alarm, were motionless, red-eyed and slack-jawed, watching as one as Yazzi studied her axe and Xio was dragged towards the stump. One of his guards held his body still, while the other held his head down on the wood.
"And he will pay for his crime."
Xio was struggling madly. That was when Jack saw it – the man's eyes were clear. Somehow, the brainwashing had been lifted from him. He would spend his final moments on earth horribly lucid.
And Jack, for all his knowledge of the world, of right and wrong, was paralyzed. He couldn't step forward and fight for Xio. The rest of the troop would attack him, and then he would be forced to kill everybody, thus defeating his plans and blowing his cover. But he couldn't just let Xio die, either.
His dark eyes darted around. The men were still. The guards were holding firm. Xio was screaming for his mother. Yazzi was standing above him, a crazed look in her eyes, the huge axe raised up. Sweat raced down Jack's neck.
"STOP!" he thundered suddenly.
The guards looked up. Xio stared at him and kept protesting feebly, his brain not quite caught up with his babbling mouth. Yazzi was so surprised at his outburst that she flung the axe behind her, where it stuck in the fence. She recovered quickly.
"What is the meaning of this, Renakalli?" she barked.
Jack pulled himself up tall. "If you will recall General, I named him. I demand the honor of killing him myself. Besides," he continued on bravely, "Execution is a foul act – work beneath a warrior of your stature."
Several days seemed to pass as Yazzi regarded Jack across the yard, until finally she put one hand on her furry hip and nodded.
"Very well, Renakalli. Execute him yourself. I will watch."
That was the last thing Jack wanted to hear. Thinking very fast, he gave Yazzi the briefest smile. "I'm afraid that if I execute this man, I must adhere to the way of my people, which dictates that executions take place in private."
Yazzi raised an eyebrow, and for a terrible moment Jack thought all was lost, but she finally huffed in resignation. "Whatever. Kill him out in the forest, and bring back proof. I will be inside; I have to brief the troops. We march at noon. Troop 50! Inside! Now!"
The other men obeyed her, marching back into the main fortress. It was only Jack, Xio, and the two guards holding him down left in the yard, and Xio was starting to babble again.
"No, please, please no, I'll do whatever you want. Please, spare my life! I'm not a soldier! I'm not a soldier! I didn't kill anybody!"
Jack paid him no mind. He looked around the yard, taking in an abandoned wheelbarrow nearby. With a sharp look and a snap of his fingers, he got the attention of the guards.
"Tie him up and put him in the wheelbarrow. I will finish the job in the forest."
Several moments of struggling and caterwauling later, Xio was trussed up like a turkey and thrown into the wheelbarrow. Jack nodded at the guards.
"Dismissed."
The guards saluted and ran back into the warmth of the lodge. Jack waited until they had started on their way before starting the wheelbarrow towards the woods, Xio yelling the whole way.
Finally, they crunched through the bushes and into a secluded clearing. It was a sea of white against the charcoal black trunks of curious trees, which bore round red fruit – in the dead of winter. Jack noted this with mild interest. Honestly, nothing really surprised him anymore.
He unsheathed his sword, his eyes hooded and calm. Xio saw the non-Gunzai blade glinting in the pinkish dawn light. Ordinarily, he would have asked about the strange weapon, but he was beyond reason right now. He sucked in a huge breath and let out a scream so deafening and terrified that it sounded like he had been stabbed in the chest.
Perfect.
Jack clapped a hand over Xio's mouth and stared keenly into the other man's frightened eyes.
"I am not going to kill you," he said softly. "But I will let go only if you promise not to make a sound."
Xio blinked, and then nodded under Jack's hand. Jack lifted his hand, cut the bonds, and helped the dazed soldier out of the wheelbarrow.
"I owe you an apology," said Jack to a stunned Xio. "I named you only because Yazzi asked me for a name at random. She has no idea who killed those men at the Wall."
Xio regarded him, calming down. He seemed to realize that he was safe. "Whatever you owe me, you just paid in full. In fact, I owe you, I think. Thank you."
Jack nodded and sheathed his sword. Xio again watched the blade very carefully, a thoughtful look coming onto his face now that he was more coherent.
"I am to bring back proof of your death," said Jack.
Xio smiled. "Leave that to me. Here." He stripped off his armor and handed Jack his raggedy undershirt. "Run this through once with your sword."
Jack did so as Xio shook the nearest tree. A big red fruit plopped down into the snow, and he brought it over to Jack.
"Pierce it," Xio said, "Right there."
Jack poked the fruit sharply while Xio spread his undershirt out in the snow. The soldier grabbed the fruit and poured its thick red juice liberally onto the spot where Jack had ripped the shirt with his sword.
Jack scratched his head. "Yazzi will be fooled by this?"
"They don't call it Blood Fruit for no reason, soldier," Xio said, and winked, pouring more juice into the wheelbarrow. "We're just lucky these trees were still bearing. Normally all the fruit drops before February."
Jack accepted the undershirt and smiled. "Well, I suppose you are dead, now."
"Better dead than brainwashed," said Xio as he stood up. He cast a piercing glance in Jack's direction. "Speaking of which, aren't you? Brainwashed, I mean."
"Um … I am secretly fighting it," Jack said finally, which was true, although he wasn't talking about the mind-control.
"Right. Well, thanks," said Xio, holding out his hand for a shake.
Jack bowed, from force of habit. Even as he recognized his mistake he realized (much to his alarm) that Xio did not look remotely surprised at this. It appeared that the tall soldier, for all his former oafishness, had added one and one and gotten seventeen.
Xio narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're him, aren't you?"
It wasn't a question.
Jack pulled himself up tall. He had to end this conversation right now. "Who I am is none of your concern. Leave this place and tell no one what happened here."
Xio obeyed the command. He snapped his mouth shut against the comment he was bursting to make and stood there for a moment, clenching his fists. But finally he smiled, and graced Jack with a low, respectful bow.
"Thank you, friend. You helped me. I want to help you in return. Do me the honor of not stopping me."
And before Jack could answer, he hared off through the trees.
Jack watched him go. He slung the stained undershirt into the wheelbarrow and dragged it back to the fortress alone. He would tell Yazzi that he had mutilated Xio's body and left it for the wolves … in the tradition of his people.
TBC