Ch 3 – Missing
Clove yawned and stretched as Amara slid open the bolts of the caravan. The purple streaks of the sunset were still visible as the little girl threw open the door and climbed inside.
"Good evening, Clove!" she called out cheerfully. "You're sleeping more and more."
Clove nodded in response, still fighting the tendrils of sleep's embrace. Taking another full body stretch the blonde began what had become her 'morning' routine. As Amara bustled around the small space getting all the items her sister would need to make tea Clove slipped out of her sleeping clothes and into her everyday clothes. After buckling her hip holster into place she set about taming her long blonde locks. For ease she slept in a braid but it would always become half undone and frizzy with nighttime turnings. A soft knocking signaled Nuri's arrival.
"I'm good Nuri," Clove called as she smoothed her hair back into a slick ponytail. The willowy teen slid open the bolt and entered with a bowl of steaming meat for the dhampire. The blonde paused in her hair-styling. "D isn't with you?"
Nuri shook her head as she took a seat in front of her. D's routine had become to sit with Clove while she ate dinner and have tea with her before their watches began. Although odd, she figured the tall dhampire was caught up helping someone and would join her when he was done.
Clove sat down and enjoyed her meal in the company of the sisters. No D. She then took her nightly cup of tea. No D. She chatted with the Nuri and played Jacob's ladder with Amara while waiting for night-watch to be called. Still, no D. Baqi bellowed for the watch to begin and Clove exited the small caravan. In the distance large towering piles of twisted metal debris, remnants of a long ago Noble war. The setting sun stretched out their shadows across the desert sands.
As she surveyed the gathered men before her there was still no D. Perplexed, her eye caught Dmitri and the blonde moved toward the man's side. On seeing her approach with no tall swordsmen shadowing her Dmitri returned an equally perplexed look.
"Have you seen D?" she asked as she got closer.
Dmitri ran a hand through his wavy hair before shaking his head. "No, usually I see him around before he heads to you and the sister's caravan. I just figured I missed him again."
Clove placed a hand on her hip. "Again?"
"Ya, in the morning I saw him walk to the fourth but didn't hear him enter it." He shrugged, "I must have been too tried to notice."
Frowning, Clove began moving toward where the fourth caravan was parked. "Maybe you weren't." Dmitri caught up with a small jog and walked with her to the far side of the circle. As it was a men only caravan, Dmitri did the knocking and inquiring within. No one had seen him. Like Dmitri the wagon-mates assumed they had missed his coming and going. A quick check found his saddle and other gear still its usual corner. The young man's sighting of him in the early morning was the last trace of the swordsman.
Deep in thought Clove turned and walked away. She quickly climbed the next caravan's ladder to its roof and began to pace. At first Clove had been worried and scared. Had he too been suffering from the onset of heat syndrome but she had been too wrapped up in her own condition to notice? Now as she walked back and forth with her hands on her lithe waist her worry was eroding away into anger.
'I can't believe this. Leaving without a trace. If he had caught a whiff of that man again he could have at least alerted me! I bet he probably thinks he's keeping me safe by leaving me in the dark...' Her thoughts got distracted by Dmitri as he joined her on the roof.
"I'm assume you don't know where he went?" he asked as he approached the blonde.
"No. But I'm sure he'll be back and when I see him again I'm going to slap that fool." Dmitri chuckled at the diminutive blonde's deceleration and opened his mouth to speak again but before he could a cry ran out across the caravan circle.
Clove turned toward the outcry to see an older watchmen pointing toward the eastern night sky. Coming toward them were multiple flying black masses. As they got closer the buzzing of wings got louder and louder. The Nightwasps had run out of their easier targets and had now decided to prey on the humans.
"To the east men, to the east!" Baqi cried out. "Wasps incoming, watch out for the stingers! Be smart with your attacks!"
Dmitri checked his rifle, took a knee, and drew a beat on the incoming insects. The other watchmen followed suit and took aim.
Clove drew her thermal pistol and aimed out to the eastern sky. "How many do you see through the scope?"
The young man paused to check before replying. "At least... 15. They're so darkly patterned I can't be sure."
The crack of Baqi pistol started the volley and the men let loose with their rifles. The dark glossy casings of the insets blended them into the starry sky and made aiming extremely problematic. The first volley only fell one of the beasts. The second volley fell two more with a third sailing out of the sky and into the thermal barrier. Then they were upon them.
With her right arm resting on her folded left forearm Clove took aim and shot an advancing wasp dead center in the head. With a sickening crack the bullet burst through the hard exoskeleton in a burst of yellow fluid. The blonde sidestepped to the left and the heavy body crashed into the roof, slid across to the other side, and fell with a heavy thud onto the ground below. Bedlam was unfolding before her eyes.
The winged attackers aerial assault was to their full advantage forcing those who favored sword and close combat to attempt to shoot them down with poorly aimed firearms. The insects were quick to hone in on the weak. Swooping down they picked up those who had suffered broken bones during the sand wolf attack. They clutched them in their sharp forearms and shot back up into the sky. The screams of such victims could be heard over the sound of the firearms as the sky filled the flashes of muzzle fire.
With a thunderous crack Dmitri sent a shell into the thorax of a would-be snatcher sending the captive man falling to the sands below along with burst of yellow fluid. The insert clawed at the side of the caravan attempting to climb back to the roof and escape into the sky. Baqi lowered his large caliber pistol at the creatures head and blew it away. A geyser of fluid and viscera showered down on the injured man below.
Clove jumped between the caravans taking head shots where she could and pulling the other watchmen out of the way of grabbing pincers and diving stingers. She was not always successful. As she was reloading her pistol a burst of crimson splattered against her right side as a watchmen next to her was impaled by a barbarous stinger and hauled into the night sky. Then, as suddenly as they came they were gone.
Large insect corpses littered the caravan circle. There were no human corpses. Everyone they had lost had been pilfered for food. Splatterings of yellow and red painted the vehicles and sands. Clove re-holstered her pistol and braced her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
'Such a short exertion brought me to a folding point? Not good...' She closed her eyes and placed her laced together hands on top of her head in an attempt to increase her lung expansion capacity. The cries of the wounded drifted up to her from the bloody sands below. Two, there were only two wounded but their numbers looked much lessened. The men looked dazed from the sudden onset and sudden departure of the creatures.
Taking a deep breath Clove steadied herself then descended to the ground. Baqi was shouting out instructions, jarring the men out of their shocked state. Dmitri began moving among the carnage slowly organizing the men. Quickly they set about piling up the bodies of the insects, inspecting the wagons for damage, and seeing to the wounded. Dmitri announced that four men had been taken by the insects.
"Naw," Nox yelled. "There are five missin'. That D guy is gone too. Fucker wasn't so tough eh?"
"No," Clove said approaching the large man. "D has been missing since before the fight."
"So he bailed, eh?" Nox said with a self-satisfied grin, "left us all to take on the beasts on our own, huh? Left us die?"
"So?" Baqi bellowed, "What if he did leave? We should have been prepared for this. It's not like we left town planning on having his manpower." He got right in the man's face and growled out, "Now's not the fucking time to be pointing fingers. Now's the time to clean up, mourn, and get back too it."
Turning to leave the tall man Baqi added, "Besides, if anyone is going to chew out that tall solemn bastard it'll be me!" Clove followed suit and began hauling the carcasses to the end of the encirclement with the other men. The repairing of the damage done by the monsters was more extensive and time consuming. Several wagons had large holes in them from the insect's stingers and their blood seemed to be mildly corrosive. This lead to the arduous task of having to clean off every surface it had touched.
Soon the short summer night was ending and the men began to wrap up their repairs. They said nothing to Clove as she passed them on the way to her wagon. Feeling worn-out Clove climbed into the caravan to escape all possibility of sun exposure. She barely felt the food or drink touch her lips as she devoured what Amara brought her then slipped into a deep sleep.
The sounds of the bolt and squeaky door hinges did not even arouse her from her slumber. Only the physical shake of small hands.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I was just too exhausted…" As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she could see from the partial open door that it was already dusk.
"Did you already try to wake me?" She asked the girl. She instantly felt awake after observing Amara's demeanor. The little girl looked confused and alert. "What's wrong Amara?"
Crawling over her crumbled bedding Amara got closer to the blonde and in a hushed tone said, "Papa and the other men are acting funny. Nuri said to wake you."
"Funny how?" Clove asked after quickly rising to shut the door. "Tell me what you know and I'll get dressed."
Amara wasn't able to expand on what she meant and simply repeated they were acting funny and having 'head fogs'. Within a handful of minutes the blonde and the little girl exited the caravan.
Although the sun had already set the cooking fires were still lit. Many night-watch were still milling around picking at plates of food. As Clove walked through the site she helped the confused cooker women put out their fires and advised them to return to their wagons.
When asked why the fires were still going an old women simply replied, "They keep saying they was hunger. If they say they hunger we feed them."
With Amara clutching at her shirt Clove caught sight of Dmitri and advanced on the young man. As she got closer she could see the confusion clear on his face.
"Dmitri, why are these men not on the tops already? Why did you allow them loiter around eating?"
The tall man scratched his head. "Um, it made sense you're hungry, you eat, right? You need to build strength, right?"
"But why are they not in position?" Clove pressed. "The day-watch are at risk of exposure to harm."
The young man opened his mouth to speak, looked confused, and then close it without making a sound. Clove frowned at him. "Get them into position," she said with force and authority. After getting a numb nod from Dmitri clove let Amara led her to where Nuri and Baqi where.
The slim girl stood at her father right side with shoulders drawn up in apprehension as he sat on a wheel well absentmindedly flicking the barrel of his pistol open and closed. He had a faraway expression in his eyes and occasionally smiled or chuckled.
As the blonde approached Nuri ran up to her, apprehension clearly written on her face. External forces that would rally against them was something known to the sisters. This unknown malaise that affected their father and the other men was not an evil they were acquainted with and it obviously shook them.
As she opened her mouth to speak Clove was cut off by a voice to her right. The sisters and Clove looked upward to see an elderly women motioning for their attention from atop the top of a caravan. Although well past her prime her plethora of firearms indicated she had once been part of the night-watch and in light of its current condition had taken up the old mantel once more.
"Hey, Blondie!" she said through a gummy mouth. "Look there!" She pointed and the threesome followed her boney finger to look out against eastern sky. Though darkened the giant plumes of sand could be clearly discerned; a sand storm was roaring their way.
"Do the desert creatures take advantage during a storm to attack or do they hide?" Clove asked up to the old granny.
"Nopes, they hide in their hidey-holes." She replied.
"Well!" Clove said throwing up her hands. "That might be for the best given the situation." Given that both Baqi and Dmitri were incapacitated the role of leader fell down to Nuri.
The dhampire turned to the frightened girl. As she had grown older Clove had gotten into the habit of mentoring and this was an excellent opportunity to prod the girl into taking up the heavy mantel of her father. "Nuri, what would you have us do?"
Nuri started and then her eyes opened wide as her elevated position became realized.
"Nuri," Clove said again more forcefully. "You should get the men back inside and start any special preparations for a storm right?"
The old grannie, catching on to Clove, added, "Nuri we should put tie lines between the wagons right?"
Nuri wrung her hands together and gave a sharp nod. "Yes, yes. We need to get everyone secured into the wagons then put out ties and then put on the canvases. We also need to make sure each caravan has enough water and food just in case…."
Seeing that she still needed more guidance Clove offered up herself, Grannie, and Amara to relay her orders. "What do you want each of us to do?"
Grannie, having descended back down, hobbled over to the trio. "I can go spread the word to batten down the hatches!"
Nuri nodded, "Okay…um, Amara go get old Mari and start doing the tow ropes between the caravans. C-clove, I need you to wrangle all the men back into their caravans. I'm going to run around and check on supplies." With each declaration Nuri voice became clear and shoulders straightened.
Quickly, the women took off to fulfill their assignments. Clove by far had the hardest task and in the end resorted to yelling at the men until they moved or in some cases hauling them to their feet and forcing them back inside. By the time she and Nuri had hauled her father back into his caravan the wind was howling fiercely and particles of sand had begun to pelt them as the wall of desert advanced. After doing one last sweep of the circle and making sure all her people were secure Nuri and Clove hurried back into their caravan.
The storm hit with a roar and the whole caravan shook as sand raged around them. Amara had crawled up into her sister's lap and yawned. It was not long before the little girl had fallen asleep and was eased into her bedding by her sister.
"You should sleep too Nuri," Clove said as she settled her back against the back side of the wagon.
"I know," the young woman replied quietly. "I just need to settle my mind. Can I talk until I fall asleep?"
Clove nodded and waited for her to get settled in next to her sister. She began by putting voice to her concerns. "So suddenly Clove! Everyone was okay at dawn, although saddened by the attack. Then they wake up and are so crazy. Do you think it could be whatever we're hauling?"
Clove shrugged. If it was whatever they were couriering she can't imagine it would have run off D without a word. "I don't know but I suspect not. I suspect it is connected to D's disappearance."
"You think it's something from the desert?"
"That seems more probable. Many things live in here and you've never gone do deep into the expanse before." Still seeing the apprehension etched on the young woman's face Clove added, "I don't know what's causing this but we cannot fight it in this storm. When it clears we will get to the bottom of this, understand?"
Clove confidence lifted some of her anxiety and Nuri gave a small smiled. "Thank you for your guidance today by the way. There has never been a time when I thought I'd ever find myself in such a position. Even if my father were… dead, or injured I always counted on Dmitri taking up leadership." She sighed and curled up around her sister's small sleeping form. "I don't know if I'll ever be good enough or confident enough to truly take over."
"You will be," Clove replied softly. "I've been around. I can tell that when it comes to your people you'll do what you need too."
A mumble reply of 'thanks' drifted up from Nuri as she fell asleep. As the sands washed against the walls and gentle swayed the caravan Clove felt herself getting drowsy as well. Figuring she might as well take advantage of any extra rest she can get she allowed the sounds of the desert sands to lull her to sleep.
A/N- I decided to cut this chapter in half due to length. Originally when I drafted it I thought it would be fine but it got away from me. The issue with the men and being confused and then trying to build Nuri character a little was not in my original drafting at all so that ate up a lot of room! The good news is that the second chapter then is almost finished ( like it's already at or past this chapter's length lol) and will be posted next week. Thanks for reading.
