The Reckoning by Chris Howard

Author:Chris Howard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Chris Howard
Published: 2016-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Bodies burned at sundown. Mounds of them amid the creeks and rocks. Stacks of Soljahs and piles of pirates, all doused in fuel. The air ripe with the stench of smoking juice and sizzling flesh.

I wrapped a scarf around my face as the ashes blew, but it did nothing to block the terrible smell. Nor could I block out the sound. Hearts bursting and brains bubbling as the fires popped and hissed. Sick to my stomach, I tried to find a spot to look that weren’t a funeral pyre, and ended up looking at Alpha as she sat cross-legged beside Trawl, ready for the war summit to begin.

I slumped down across from them, a circle forming as those of us summoned took our places on the damp, stony ground. The western sky turned purple more than red as the sun dropped, and that was fitting, I reckoned, since the Purple Hand was coming to stamp us from existence and take back the trees I had stole.

This meeting of the minds had been thus far unimpressive. Major Lee Brown fretted at his beard and stared daggers at Trawl, while Trawl tossed stones into a puddle, no doubt busy hatching some damn pirate scheme that involved scalping and thieving and the girl I loved.

Alpha surveyed the piles of bodies that burned around us, her hands on her shotgun, the collar of her jacket tugged up against the cold. Never once did she look at me as we sat waiting for the powwow to start.

Crow towered above everyone, a ten-foot giant in ragged clothes. He’d brought three others to the circle. Strangers to me. They took their seats amid the puddles and mud. One was bundled in a hooded cloak, face buried from sight in the burgeoning darkness. The other two were women—one dressed in old world finery, the other in oil-stained coveralls. The oily one had a shaved head and glasses, hoop earrings and a runny nose she kept blowing in a rag. The fancy-looking one had long hair tied back and bleached white to make her look older, as the rich liked to do, old age being something few could afford.

“So we begin,” Crow said, striding to the middle of the circle with an empty oil drum, its rusty sides carved with decorative holes in the shape of a lion, tooth, tail, and mane. “Our scouts say GenTech will reach our borders at sunrise. Crossing the rivers will slow them some, but they approach in great force from the west and south. We must be swift in making our plans.”

“I want in.” Kade appeared out of the gloomy dusk, his red hair blackened by dirt and soot. His one hand covered in dried blood. “If this is a war summit, all the tribes that aren’t GenTech should be represented, if you hope to survive the attack.”

“Poachers,” Crow grumbled, but he pointed to an empty spot in the circle, next to Alpha and Trawl. “Come join the rest of the scum.”

Kade glowered up at Crow.

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