Eskkar & Bracca - Rogue Warriors 1 by Sam Barone

Author:Sam Barone [Barone, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eskkar Enterprises
Published: 2013-07-12T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Eskkar glanced up at the waning sun and decided to fix dinner first. Like the rest of Kovar’s band, Eskkar never knew when he’d be eating next, and passing up an opportunity for a good meal seemed foolish. Going to the woodpile, he scooped up as much wood as he could carry, then lugged the load at least fifty paces away from the house, keeping the structure between himself and Kovar’s campsite.

After stacking the wood in two piles, one to start the fire and the other to keep it going, Eskkar dug into the earth to set up a spit. The goats, scrambling around inside the pen, kept up a raucous bleating that soon grated on Eskkar’s nerves. With an oath, he decided to care for them first, if for no other reason than he didn’t want Kovar to send someone over to investigate the frantic cries.

Eskkar went back to the well and brought up bucket after bucket, filling the hole for the goats and letting them drink until they could hold no more. No matter what happened, they’d have enough water for another few days. A pile of dried grass stood nearby. He gathered an armful and moved it just outside the pen, so the goats could reach it. At least they wouldn’t starve to death. As soon as they started stuffing clumps of grass into their hairy mouths, they stopped making that raucous noise.

Eskkar drew one last bucket, filled the cooking pot, and then set the bucket down at Iltani’s side. The girl still slept, but now her face looked more peaceful. With food and water, she would recover, and for the rest of her life smallpox would hold no threat. He doubted she would consider the loss of her entire family worth the benefit.

Building the fire tried his patience, the flint sparking again and again, but the dried grasses he’d gathered refused to catch. When they did, he built it up until the thicker sticks had fully caught.

A scrawny chicken wandered by, and Eskkar snatched it up. He wrung its neck, and started plucking the bird. The simple task gave him time to think about his own situation. Kovar couldn’t be trusted. The bandit would leave sooner or later, but first he’d ride closer to the farm, or send one of his followers to make one last search. Despite what Eskkar told Iltani, they’d find her. In her condition, she wouldn’t be worth raping. Kovar would put an arrow into her, just to be sure no one survived to tell any tales.

With a shock, Eskkar realized that same fate awaited him as well. Kovar wouldn’t want Eskkar staying behind if he were alive, not even with the pox. Both he and Iltani had to die.

Eskkar took his growing anger out on the plucked chicken. Laying the bird out on a flat rock, he used his knife to gut the bird, then thrust a stick through it and set it over the fire. The scraps and the edible organs were tossed into the stewpot.

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