Josiah

Their noses told them they weren’t far from their destination. They broke their camp and rode northwest. They forded the Rekka River before noon and saw the billowing pillars of smoke.

Sedgeband: “Blasted clouds beat us”, he said mounting his wet horse.

Sedgeband was the oldest of the group. His grey beard and thin hair didn’t bring any of the other former soldier’s envy.

Josiah: “Let us not be hasty. We must ride with caution,” he said commanding the fourteen men he had under him. Even with Sedgeband having seniority, they all followed the Touched of the Tombfather.

They had few horses. All rode with at least two people. A few of the younger men rode three to a horse. Josiah noted to give those horses extra grain tonight.

The pillars of smoke were faint. But this group had been so accustomed to the sight and smell by now they could spot it miles away.

The fifteen former soldiers rode. The horses trampled turf underneath their hooves. The smell of up-kicked dirt was aromatic compared to that of ash and death.

The men came to the edge of the woods. The pillar’s source was just ahead. Ash trickled down from the sky. Not as dense as Willowood, but still not a reassuring sight.

They dismounted. The group slowly walked through what looked to be the camp of the Black Cloud. Bodies were piled together. Mothers held their children. All had broken limbs and jagged cut marks on their skin.

The only sound was the men’s heartbeats pounding in each ear. And the crows. Hundreds of crows swarmed the bodies. A sea of black.

They gravitated towards the dead horses, resting on their exposed ribcages and tearing at the dangling flesh.

Sedgeband: “By the Tombfather.” His eyes were wide in shock at the carnage.

More bodies made a trail to the forest.

The group all began to shew the birds away by waving their spears. Most flew to the nearby tree branches away from the men.

They all looked to Josiah.

Josiah: “Five dig, five pile up the bodies. The rest roll stones down from the hills. Leave the horses to the birds”. Josiah had been adopting a monotone way of speaking. Not to say he was quite chipper before.

Soldier: “Yuh can’t be serious. They deserve to burn. Or bettah, hung in the trees”. The soldier spat in the face of a dead Black Cloud member. The saliva slid down the corpse’s face, creating a streak of white against the soot-covered skin.

The group of men went quiet. They looked at the soldier, his mouth crept up in a smirk. Then up to Josiah.

Josiah walked up to the soldier.

Josiah: “Do not disrespect the dead”. He crouched down and wiped off the spit with his tunic.

Soldier: “Daft ol man, he said kicking Josiah into the dirt. “This ain’t right. They burned our lives to the ground. They deserve to be desecrated for what they did!”. He pointed back south to Willowood.

Sedgeband ran over and helped Josiah back up.

Sedgeband: “That’s enough boy. You do as your told!”. The two older men settled themselves from off the ground.

Soldier: “You can’t make us bury them brutes. They took away everything we ad!”. The other soldiers were now gathering around, spears tightly gripped in hand.

Josiah looked about the group. Most faces were sentimental, they didn’t want to bury them either. He needed to act fast.

Josiah: “Boy”. He paused and squared his shoulders. “You think I don’t want ta be pissing on all these lot! They burned our ome!”. Josiah stepped closer to the soldier. “They’re dead. They paid their toll”. He looked at the other soldiers, then at the piles of bodies. “None deserve death. But we all get the same amount of respect in the ground”. He picked up a shovel and threw it to the singled-out soldier. “Now dig”.

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The soldier picked up the shovel. He looked at its worn and dulled head. With his head down he trudged over to a clear spot of dirt.

He bent over and motioned the spade downward. The spade cut the air as he suddenly rode it upward. He aimed right for Josiah’s exposed neck. 22

Clang! Rang through the clearing.

Josiah raised his arm and blocked the shovel. His metal spade arm covering took the hit instead.

Josiah backed away and saw the soldier run at him with the shovel over his head. His eyes reminded him of himself. Confused, angry, and welling with emotions of justice.

The color in the soldier’s eyes dulled, and then shut.

Josiah looked at the man’s body. Seven spearheads stuck out from his chest and midriff. The other soldiers had run him through.

They pulled the weapons out of his body. It slumped to the floor. Josiah looked up at the men. They all stared at him in shock. Sedgeband grabbed Josiah by his bony shoulder.

What a pointless death.

Sedgeband: “We can take care of it from ere boss”.

After a bit of resting and contemplation, Josiah explored the surrounding area. He walked to a collection of crows that didn’t fly back to the forest. They amassed on the ground by a patch of burnt grass.

He walked over calmly. The birds parted. Several were pecking at what looked like a crisp log on the ground.

It looked disturbingly similar to the log Theus had found in the Willowood. It was different in that it was not knotted. It looked as if the log was split into eight parts splaying outward at the top. Like an axe split it only on one end. It was charred white and grey and flaked at every peck from the crows. In the heart of the splayed log was a faint glow of light. It trickled thin wisps of smoke and flecks of embers.

The crows were equally fascinated with it as Josiah was.

He briefly wondered about Theus, if he was learning of his parents. Of his writhing log.

Josiah grabbed the log, it was colder than he thought. He brought it to his horse and looked about the camp. There he found a chest with metal clasps leftover from the Black Clouds. It would fit nicely inside.

Looking up, he found his men diligently working as told. They dragged the horses from the camp. The horse corpses were instantly covered in crows again.

He began walking towards the woods. Then he began to piece together what happened. Next to several Black Cloud bodies, were slain bodies of black bears.

Josiah: “How odd,” he said prodding the animals.

Sedgeband: “Yes sir, we’ve counted ten bears at least. Without even venturing into the brush”. He rushed over as soon as he saw Josiah make the same revelation as they did.

Josiah: “Do bears pack as wolves do? I’ve never seen anything like this”.

Sedgeband: “I don’t think so sir. It’s odd to think these bears killed all these men. It explains most of the claw and bite marks”.

Josiah: “What other marks did you find?”. The two got up and Sedgeband brought him to the body found farthest from the group.

It was tangled like a lady’s hair braid. Limbs broken; neck snapped.

Josiah just frowned.

Sedgeband: “A few others ave similar bone breaks”. They walked back to the larger collection of bodies. “These two seemed to have slammed into each other”.

Josiah: “Ain’t no bears done this”.

Sedgeband: “Wadya want us to do with em bears?”.

Josiah: “Pile them for now. I’m gonna check the wood”.

Sedgeband nodded and called over nearby men.

Josiah made for the woods.

The bushes were either burnt to twigs or painted with blood.

This section of forest was bare. The ground was scorched. The bottoms of the trees were covered in black. Josiah could hear the caw of crows above him in the canopies.

As he walked, he let his shoulders slump. He found it so hard to be those mens’ leader. Before he was just a medic. They only would go to him when they needed help. Now the men go to him for everything. He wouldn’t be surprised if they started to ask permission to wipe their own asses.

Josiah found more soldiers and bears. The soldiers all had gnarly bites on their necks and faces. The bears had metal weapons sticking out of them. Swords pointed to the sky with the dead bear on top of the soldier wielding it.

Josiah got up suddenly from a crouch.

He heard a moan deeper in the forest.

His eyes trained on the forest floor. It was easy to see as most debris and leaves were burnt up. Several trees looked to be completely covered in char. The bears must have stopped them mid-burn. How? He wouldn’t be able to answer.

He slowly walked farther in. The groans got louder.

In a clearing of several burnt bushes, Josiah saw a black bear lying in a pile of white ash. A battle axe was laying on the ground next to the bear. Blood trickled from a wound in the bear’s shoulder, trailing to the blade of the axe.

It groaned in pain, twisting from one lying position to another.

Josiah saw it take large sniffs. It began to growl, which had a bubbly undertone to it.

Josiah slowly broke the clearing towards the bear with his hands raised.

It attempted to get up. But immediately dropped to the ground in pain. More blood pooled out of its body.

Josiah: “Shhhhhhhh. Don’t move there. I can help you”. He began to approach the bear ever so slowly.

It groaned in pain.

Josiah got close and it swatted at him with a claw. It was a pathetic attempt.

The beast was in pain. It suffered. Josiah could see its eyes encased in a small patch of tan fur. Its eyes welled with sorrow.

Josiah reached out his hand. He paused with his breath held. Seconds passed. He felt a warm tongue lick at his hand. It tickled.

Josiah: “That’s it. You’re doing fine. Just rest now”. Josiah began patting the bear’s head. “Shhhh, rest”. He patted more and more. “Don’t move, just rest”. The bear had stopped moving. Its breathing got slower and slower. “That’s it, just calm”. Then in a moment, the bear died.

Josiah kept patting the animal. It looked so calm now its suffering was over. Josiah was glad he found it. He was glad he could help.

He had a lot to learn about the abilities of his new arms. But he learned of one today. His touch could bring suffering things to peace.

He sat with the animal for another minute. Then got up. He was surprised to feel a hot breath on his neck. He turned and saw the face of a titanic brown bear. She stared directly at him, only a foot away from his face.