Anthony was a classic gang leader, dangerous only because he used his brain. Ignoring Rhade's skill as a pilot for the moment, he saw muscle and proficiency with a gun to be used. If the man proved himself then maybe there would be a better use for him.
Rhade found that acting as an assistant for one Anthony's collection teams was an eye opening experience. He learned more about the culture in three days than he could have in a lifetime of reading about it. Life and death were such cheap commodities that no one really cared much about their own lives. The natural instinct for self-preservation seemed to have died in most people and violence was an accepted part of every day life.
More than that, violence actually seemed to be something the people enjoyed and Rhade could see the attraction of it. In the middle of one punch up after another, he could feel himself losing the tight control he had always kept himself under. He had never realised how much anger he had in him until he found himself in a situation with three taller densely muscled men, heavy worlders by their stockiness, and felt free to lash out as he saw fit. His blades itched to be set free, which only heightened the feeling of angry joy as each man was defeated.
After they were done for the day, Rhade went back to the shack and with only the foul mead to drink, took some away with him to think somewhere quiet. He needed to analyse and control the reasons for enjoying himself so damned much it left him shaking.
Louisa was the obvious cause. He hadn't had the time or solitude to mourn her properly. But then again, he'd never had the closure of his first wife's death, only the memory of her throwing herself protectively over their children as the firestorm rained down on them; no bodies were found, yet there had been no possibility of survivors. He was also angry that Terazed had been forced to come out of seclusion, her beauty destined to be spoiled by the war they had never wanted to join. His subsequent demotion. And Hunt offering hope to all that needed it even when it was hopeless, a flaw in Hunt's character that Rhade couldn't understand. Hope was all well and good when there was even the slimmest chance. But when the situation was beyond hope, to offer it was delusional and cruel. Although Rhade had to smile as he realised that he himself still held the hope the Hunt would arrive and take him back to civilisation again.
It had felt good to let go in the brawling, but it couldn't be allowed to continue; he couldn't allow himself to go down that dark path.
His introspection was suddenly interrupted as people started screaming and shouting chants and Rhade looked up. Meteors flew through the skies, not just one or two but what seemed to be hundreds, many falling towards them.
Rhade was nearly at the shack when the first of them hit the other side of settlement, shaking the ground beneath his feet. Reaching the shack he looked inside. There was no sign of Flavin, but the girl was cowering in a corner. He called to her as he picked up a couple of packs of food, mead and his force lance and she ran to him, clinging to his shirt.
Staggering along tilting pathways, Rhade took them into one of the tunnels that ran beneath the settlement. They could be buried alive down there, but at least they'd be alive to do something about it.
The tremors that told them the bombardment was still in progress seemed to go on for a lifetime and the girl eventually cried herself to sleep, tucked firmly against him.
When the tremors finally stopped and he woke her when he moved. They weren't buried alive and came out of the tunnel the same way they had gone in.
The settlement wasn't in as much disarray as the barrage of meteors had indicated. Most had probably cashed into the desert. There were areas where the shacks had been levelled which included the one they'd been staying in. They were already being looted and dead bodies were being fought over for their water content.
With the girl huddling close to his side, Rhade looked for anything he could use to give them shelter from the sun or transport to another settlement, or perhaps Anthony would have an opportunity he could exploit.
Before his thoughts had gone any further, however, a woman yelled and pointed to Florence shouting hysterically.
Hands tried to pull her away and he pulled her back, pushing her behind a cracked crate and standing in front protectively. The group of people surrounding them was growing rapidly, hysterical chatter vying with demands for him to hand her over. The one word he could make out was 'witch' over and over.
These people were looking for a scapegoat and they were more than happy to let a known witch be it. This particular witch was supposed to be living in the desert where she couldn't harm anyone. It was no surprise therefore that the meteor shower just so happened to arrive when she appeared. She had to answer for it.
Someone had sent for Anthony and the crowd parted for him. He ordered Rhade to hand her over.
"What will you do with her?" Rhade asked.
Anthony looked at the crowd, judging. "The people need assurances that what happened today will not happen again. She will have to die."
Rhade grunted as he considered the man's honest words and the crowd murmured its agreement. A part of him was screaming that he should abandon her and protect himself, but how could he evolve and become a better person if he were to allow an innocent to be lynched?
And besides, it was just at such a point of crisis that Hunt made it his business to turn up and save the day.
Rhade refused to hand the girl over and Anthony set his biggest and best bullies on him. The gloves were off and so were the wrappings that had hidden his bone blades. The crowd took a step back and the bullies halted mid stride.
Anthony stepped forward and commanded every gang member and enforcer to take Rhade down, preferably without killing him. It was inevitable that Rhade could not fight them all and he urged the girl to run, to slip back into the tunnels, something she could have done.
But she didn't. She threw herself on one of the men attacking him and bit down. All she succeeded in doing was enraging the man and getting herself thrown against a wall hard enough to stun her.
Rhade took down some of the men attacking him with the help of his force lance, but in the end the numbers were simply too great.
When Rhade came to, he found himself stripped to the waist and spread-eagled to a flogging frame. Night had fallen and small fires cast long shadows from the remains of walls and huts. He had been placed to one side of the rough circle, directly opposite the pile of crates that was the platform from which Anthony and his men held court. The centrepiece was the makings of a large bonfire to which the girl had been tied to a stake.
Anthony was in the middle of holding a mock trial. Asked to defend herself, Florence could only cry and talk about singing rocks and fools gold while her eyes searched wildly for things only she could see. Rhade tried to defend her, but was ignored.
The final nail in the girl's coffin was the appearance of the man whose skimmer they'd stolen. The man pointed at both her and Rhade and told a tale of witchcraft to make even the most hardened and ruthless men cringe. He told of the way the girl had magicked Rhade to make him into an enormous long clawed beast that had attacked and gored both he and his friend, destroying the skimmers while the witch herself promised death on all humanity.
The trial was ended as it was always intended and the fire beneath girl lit as the people cheered.
Anthony came off his podium to stand before Rhade. "You missed your trial," he informed him. "It was decided that you were under the girl's spell, so you don't need to die, but you do have to be punished. You're worth more to me alive you understand, for The Carnivale will pay me a great deal for you."
Rhade pulled against his bonds and the metal frame creaked. Anthony nodded at the men behind him and walked away.
Watching the flames dancing and licking at the girl's feet, Rhade barely felt the first cut. He tried to pull free, cursing and shouting for anyone to save her, but they all shied away, muttering that he was still under her spell.
Tossing her head, the girl finally met Rhade's eyes with both of her own and held them in a silent plea until her face screwed up in agony and she let loose the most inhuman scream.
He watched it all through to the bitter end, long past the point where she stopped screaming and long past the point where they stopped cutting him, leaving him to hang shocked and bleeding.
Cont'd/.