CHAPTER EIGHT
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Urman Gant
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15th of Decepter, 935 PC
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Urman had just bent over to catch his breath when another streak of purple energy crashed into a nearby tree. Fuck. The bright blaze fought back the shadows of the forest long enough to see splinters of wood and bark rip through the air. The bastards gave him a chance to spot the trail too though. If only I had my dagger. I’d kill ‘em all right here. He was on the move again.
Damn Lotus caught him with his pants down. Almost literally. He’d just pulled them up after a battle with his bowels when he heard them creeping in the trees. They must have thought his conscience let him sleep at night, that all they had to do was sneak up on him and they’d have him in shackles. Not a chance in the three hells. Ran off with no shirt, no boots, and a stomach full of gas. None of that other shit matters. I got the formula. That’s all I need. It’d be mighty nice if he had his boots though. The twigs and rocks were cunts beneath his feet. And now that he thought about it, it was damn cold too.
A streak whizzed by his head as he ran. A second hit the ground not far from him. Specks of dirt and rocks stung his bare skin. He swerved left. “Mmph!” Another blast sent him reeling back where he’d come from. He stumbled over the roots of an oak tree, slipping on the dew that covered the forest floor but keeping himself upright. A glimpse of something dark near his shoulder caught his eye. Three hells! Pain struck instantly as his brain realized there was a piece of bark lodged in his arm. He keeled over and gritted his teeth, yanking the bark out and tossing it in the leaves. Thick blood trickled down his arm. Nothing new and miles better than leaking from the neck if he had to reckon. Boy, did his stomach hurt. Worse than the hole in his arm.
More streaks, everywhere but where it mattered.
Running. Lots of running. Like always. The crunchy leaves chatted him up more than a group of old folk playing cards.
His name rang through the night. A raspy voice, ugly as the man spitting it out. Laspin. Dumb fuckin’ oaf. Should have killed him a long time ago. No time for that now. He had places to be. Better places than this that was for damn sure. He ran until his feet were numb. Which wasn’t all that long since the ground was covered in a light dust of snow. Every step bit him like an angry dog.
When the blasts slowed he tucked himself behind a nice beefy oak and let a sliver of his eye peek around the biggun. Dots of hazy purple were scattered all around. Not so close that there wasn’t enough time to feel his bloody wound mindlessly but not so far away that he could have a good look at it.
Running. Loads more. Lords did he hate running. But it sure loved him.
“There!” a woman shouted. A second later, streaks were whizzing and buzzing again. Their electric sizzle scared him but he’d never show it.
He barely heard the big prick in the distance tell his soldiers that the Lotus Queen wanted him alive. Fools. He’d never let that bitch get her hands on him again.
A tree ripped apart nearby. No way to tell how close. He swerved, covering his head and cursing like a sailor.
“Come on Urman, make this easier on yourself! Laspin’s scratchy voice made him blind with hatred but killing one Lotus had no way of changing his predicament.
More running. Even faster now. He hopped over roots, ducked under branches. Then he heard it – the stream. He veered right. A hefty hump in the earth looked like a nice mound of luck. At the edge of the water he picked up a rock and hurled it as far as could downstream. A Lotus alerted her comrades immediately from within the trees as it crashed through the branches like a dying bird. Sounded like one of the lazy ones. Hurd was it? The one with the stunning green eyes. Alana Hurd and her sidekick, Kit something or other. Thank The Creator for those two idiots. He leapt from rock to rock across the shallow stream then straight up the tree-covered hillside. He slid through the damp grass at the top and pressed his back against a tree, breathing hard and sweating like a pig. He finally recognized the world around him. The Heart of the Emerald. A hint of relief was swept away by the urge to fart. Damn berries. He crawled to his knees and looked down the slope. The Lotus couldn’t be seen, but he could hear them yelling at one another from far away. He released his gas. Chuckled. Slipped out of trouble again.
“Only you could laugh at a fart right now,” a man said behind him. He recognized the voice immediately. Kathar? A slim-cut man dressed in a black cloak and tunic with gray pants and sturdy boots stood in the shadows. The branches grazed the top of his head. His thick hair and opened arms had him looking about as beautiful as a naked woman right now. He’d never tell him that though. A young boy stood beside him. Tiny thing but his mind was much older than ten years to his name. His name was Kolton and he was a spitting image of his daddy. Right down to the blue eyes that could see through Urman like he was a ghost.
“What are ya doin’ here?” Urman asked.
Kathar walked toward him, his suave face and soft eyes revealed by the moonlight. Damn those eyes. “I know you well enough to know that if you’re late, you’re in trouble.” He hugged Urman so tight his ass let another tainted whiff of berries slip right out. They both laughed this time.
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Not ten minutes after the old friends reunited, rain came down like he’d never seen, so hard he thought it’d knock him out. They’d heard the big clumsy wings of the Lotus’ Cloudcruiser flapping their way to clearer skies not long into their trek back to Kathar’s den. A flying ship sure would have been nice for Urman’s frozen feet. Oh well, at least he wasn’t running.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The rain was so loud he could barely hear himself think, let alone talk with Kathar. Did get him out of having to talk to the boy though. He didn’t hate little ones like some men but he wasn’t exactly the best at getting them to warm up to them either. Most of his run-ins with Kolton had left him feeling like a monster that hid under the boy’s bed. Only reason it hurt so bad was because it was damn close to being true.
The cloak Kathar had put him in was drenched through by the time the freezing rain had stopped beating down on them an hour later. Didn’t do him much good but he appreciated it. That was like Kathar, always thinking about others before himself. Fatherhood maybe, but he’d been good to people long before that change in his life. Urman needed people that would set a good example for him in life. Yet, Kathar was the only one he had these days and he hadn’t seen him in months. Or was it years?
“Damn Lotus. Won’t leave me to my own business,” Urman said when it was quiet enough. He wondered if he should have used one of the devil’s words in front of Kolton. Kathar grinned though so things smoothed over quickly.
“What else did you expect?” Kathar asked.
Urman smirked, knowing those damn eyes could call his bluff anytime. Especially now. Can’t do the kind of business Urman did without the wrong people taking notice. “Ay.” Kathar stopped this time, still looking handsome even with his bangs all clumped together and snot running down his lip. In a world full of enemies, this was one man Urman could trust. Couldn’t even trust the boy and he was too young to be any kind of threat but wanted men don’t survive by throwing trust around like it’s free bread at the local temple.
“Aye, what is it?”
Urman nodded his head, thinking it would be a whole lot easier to say what he wanted to without the boy watching. “Thanks.” He wanted to blame the boy but that’s about all that ever came out in these kinds of moments. Audience or not.
“For?”
“I dunno. A whole bunch o’things.”
Kathar stepped closer. “You mean like letting you wear my cloak?” He grinned.
“No, asshole. Like takin’ me in when things ain’t so good.”
“If I didn’t, I’d never see you,” Kathar said and flicked his head for Kolton to follow. “Not much farther.”
Kathar made about as much sense to Urman as one of them fancy arithmetic problems. His ma had more money than some kings yet he liked to live out here in the forest like a bear and her cub. Never heard him complain about what he didn’t have though. Lived off the land and made the best of things. Wouldn’t be hard to think Kathar had enemies he was hiding from but he didn’t have a single one by Urman’s count. Probably because Urman had swept them all up for himself. Everyone loved Kathar. Men. Women. Kids. Something in the way he talked made a man feel like he could trust him. And they could. That was the important part.
Not much farther turned out to be farther than Urman would have liked but they spent the time catching up. Never a bad thing.
“How ya been?” Urman asked. And not like he used to when he’d ask the merchants on the weekends. He really cared about Kathar’s answer. He kind of hoped his friend was struggling as much as he was even though he’d never tell him that. It gets lonely at the bottom of the barrel.
“I’m always a little nervous when I know you’re coming.” So, he’s doin’ well enough for me to mess it all up. “But all in all, life’s been good. Kolton is becoming a wise young man and the Emeralds’ been quiet and peaceful for a while now.” The way he said the last part sounded like Urman’s ma when she knew he’d fucked up but hadn’t figured out how yet.
“Until I came ‘round, right?” Urman said, spitting phlegm in the mud.
“Maybe. I never know what trouble follows you. Perhaps I would if you ever answered my letters.”
“I didn’t get no letters from ya. Or anybody else.” A bold face lie, that was.
Kathar rolled his eyes. “I’ve sent Aurora after you half a dozen times in the last year.” Aurora was Kathar’s falcon. Sharp as a whip for a nasty old bird. They used their calling stones to send her back and forth from time to time.
“And I’m tellin’ ya, she never found me.” The truth was, the damn bird had found him every time but he’d been too caught up in his plans to write back. Besides, writing wasn’t easy for him. Took a long time, and with half an empire chasing after him, he didn’t have time to sit down and think about how to draw every letter in the alphabet.
Kolton stared at him like he’d been warned to run for the hills if Uncle Urman got angry. Something told him the boy knew exactly how to write every letter in the alphabet. Could probably spell all the words too. Urman started filling up with embarrassment, which usually meant his temper would come crawling out of the cave he called a heart soon after.
“Fine,” Kathar said. “I’m sorry.”
Urman shook the frustration out of his head. Most of it anyway. “Nah. I’m sorry. I got the damn letters. But ya know I ain’t good with words. Not like that anyway. Spent an hour writing the handful of ‘em it took to tell ya I was comin’.”
“It’s fine, Urman. Really. I just wanted to know you were safe. Still alive.” The last words slugged him right in the gut. Is that how it is? Do people wake up wonderin’ if I’m alive? And there I am runnin’ around with Lotus that could have killed me in my sleep not ten miles from here. He didn’t like the fact that Kathar could have wandered right up on his bones one day and not even known it was him.
“Sorry. I know I bring a lot o’bad with me, but I needed somewhere to go.”
“Don’t be sorry. I was glad to have heard from you.”
Urman stopped. Kathar turned, studying him. “It ain’t my fault this time. I didn’t make all the trouble that’s chasin’ after me. Some of it, I admit that. But not all of it. Sampson’s boys have me bent over a barrel. Spreading lies about me all over the empire. To the Lotus and the Purists both. I ain’t got nobody I can trust. ‘Cept you.”
“I know,” Kathar said but something was bothering him. Urman most likely.
“Three hells, commoners are huntin’ me down to get some bounty Queen Nala’s got on my head. Ya really think I’d get myself caught up in that?”
Kathar’s jaw hung open slightly, enough to let steamy breath out. “All I know is we had an agreement. We stay in touch and you only come around when the pot’s not boiling. I knew something was wrong, thought the water might be luke warm, but I’d say a queen’s bounty on your head means the pot’s fucking boiling, Urman.” Kathar shook his head.
“I know. I had no business comin’ here.” He looked at the ground, feeling like a piece of shit Kathar had stepped in.
Kathar put his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t say that.” He smiled in a way that said he was willing to let bygones be bygones. “You make terrible choices and the worst kind of enemies.” He smirked. “And then you bring your mistakes to me in hopes that I will toss away the dirt that’s burying you alive. It’s who we are… What we do. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He turned to walk away then stopped and looked back at Urman. “We’ll get you out of that grave one way or another.”