Gutter Rats: Origins Chapter 8

Rome and Quyloc accompanied Captain Lepold as he reported to the headquarters. The captains of the other two companies were already there. Major Stemper was standing behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back as the general spoke. The room was hot and stuffy and smelled bad.

“I am here at the king’s direct command. My orders are clear. I am to root out and kill this band of marauders. With all haste.” Stanley leaned toward him. “With. All. Haste.”

“I get it,” Major Stemper said mildly. “You’re in a hurry.”

“No. I’m not in a hurry. My uncle, the king, is.”

Stemper’s lip quirked at the mention of the king, a smile almost surfacing.

“I will brook no waste of time. We are going to find this louse-ridden heathen, we are going to whip him badly, and my lady and I are going home. Is that clear?”

Again, the quirk of the lip. “Yes, sir, your Lordship.”

“Good. I want the first patrols sent out tonight.”

The quirk disappeared. An alarmed look took its place. “Respectfully, sir, but that’s a terrible idea.”

Stanley frowned. “Are you questioning my orders?”

“I’m just…trying to point out something his Lordship might not be aware of. I don’t send out night patrols. My predecessor didn’t send out night patrols. His predecessor didn’t either. You know why?”

Stanley’s lips were drawn tight with disgust. “Let me guess. Laziness? Cowardice? Some mix of the two?

“No. He didn’t send out night patrols because they don’t come back.”

Stanley’s scowl wavered. “What do you mean? They desert?”

“They die.”

“Surely it can’t be that dire.”

“It is.”

Stanley recovered his haughty superiority. He waved this off. “Soldiers die. It is the way of things. My order stands. If your men are too frightened of the dark, I will send some of my own.” Stanley turned to the waiting captains. “Send three patrols out at once.”

Lepold stiffened. “What is the objective, sir?”

“Objective? Are you an idiot? Find the Crodin. Kill them if possible. Or bring word of where they are so we can march against them. Do you really have no idea of the purpose of this mission?”

Lepold was gritting his teeth so tightly Quyloc thought they might crack. “Yes, sir,” he grated. “Right away, sir.” He turned away to carry out his orders, his whole body so rigid it hurt to look at him. Rome and Quyloc fell in behind him as he left the building.

Rome glanced over at Quyloc. “We’re going on that patrol.”

Before Quyloc could say anything, Rome had moved up beside Captain Lepold. “Quyloc and I would like to volunteer for the patrol, sir.”

Lepold gave Rome a look like he’d lost his mind, but his pace never slowed. “Okay. You’re leading it.”

“I won’t let you down, sir.”

“Then don’t die. Bring the others back alive.”

“Yes, sir.”

They came to the area where Eagle Company was setting up their camp, in one corner up against the outer wall. Lepold spoke to Tairus, who called the men to line up. Lepold walked down the line of men, his expression dark.

“I’ve been ordered to send out a night patrol.” The men went very still. No one liked the idea of patrolling in strange terrain at night. That was a bad idea for all kinds of reasons.

“I won’t lie to you. It’s risky, very risky. You go out, you have a good chance of not coming back. I won’t force you. I’m asking for volunteers. To make it easier, if you go, you’re off duty all day tomorrow and tomorrow night. Rome and Quyloc have already volunteered. I need two more.”

Glane stepped forward. Telin groaned loudly and followed.

Lepold nodded. “Gear up. The general doesn’t want to waste any time.”

The four men hurried to get ready. Grimald came up while they were doing so, along with Lou. They both wore grim expressions.

“Bad luck,” Lou said. “You seem like all right lads too.”

Rome shook his head. “We’re not dying.”

“Ha, yes, it’s best you believe that.”

“Bring water,” Grimald said. “Never set foot outside those gates without plenty of water. The desert will kill you as fast as the Crodin.”

Quyloc’s water skins were already filled and tied to his belt. He saw Glane and Telin check theirs.

“Ditch the chain mail.”

Glane started to object, but Lou cut him off.

“It slows you down too much, and it won’t stop their arrows.”

“But we were told—”

“Find out the hard way then.”

Glane gulped and pulled his off. Quyloc wasn’t even wearing his. Telin and Rome removed theirs as well.

“Keep your heads down and stay quiet,” Grimald said. “Don’t try to be a hero. Stay close to the fort and hope you don’t see any Crodin.” He looked at Lou. “Anything to add?”

Lou grunted. “I’d say that that about covers it. Wait. Did you tell them about praying?” He looked at the four of them. “It don’t help out here. The only god out here is Gomen nai, the dread god of the Crodin. He hates everyone, especially his own followers.”

“I’m starting to think this was a mistake,” Glane said.

Grimald nodded. “It was. But you might yet get out alive. I mean it, don’t go far.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a patrol,” Rome objected.

“Then go far. You won’t find anything, but you will get yourself killed.”

“Great pep talk,” Telin said. “You’re good at this.”

Grimald looked at Lou. “Were we this dumb when we first got here?”

“I almost drowned in the well my first week.”

“I forgot about that. I still can’t figure out how that happened.”

Lou was explaining it to him as they walked away.

The soldiers of Eagle Company trotted out the gates just as it was starting to get dark. The other patrols were already out there. Quyloc looked up at the dark bulk of the nearby butte. How many Crodin were up there right now, watching them? He felt terribly exposed. He was a fool to volunteer for this.

“Are you as excited as I am?” Rome asked him in a low voice.

“I don’t think excited is the right word.”

Rome continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I’ve heard that duty on these outposts is really dull. Most of the time you sit around waiting. But we just got here, and we’re already going to see action. Maybe. I hope.”

“I hope not,” Glane interjected. “I hope this is the dullest patrol ever. I hope we don’t even see a mouse.”

The soldiers manning the gates began pulling them closed. “Remember the signal when you want to get back in,” one of them told the gathered patrols. “Hoot like an owl.”

“No, it’s yip like a coyote,” the other one said.

“That was last week. The major changed it yesterday.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

The soldier shrugged. “You can also try, ‘help, let me in, they’re killing me.’ That should work too.”

The other soldier laughed. The gates closed.

Glane sagged. “That wasn’t funny at all.”

They left the fort, heading toward the canyon on the left, where they’d been ordered to patrol, Rome in the lead.

They walked in silence, each of them straining to hear anything in the growing darkness. Before they could get to the canyon, they had to cross a wide, flat plain. There was nothing bigger than a small shrub on the whole plain, so seemingly no place for an enemy to hide. that didn’t make Quyloc feel any better because it meant there was no place for him to hide either.

Darkness had fallen by the time they entered the canyon. The floor of the canyon was a mix of sand and exposed bedrock. There was no wind. The white sand made it a little easier to see, but Quyloc tripped more than once and nearly fell. The others had just as much trouble. They had to move very slowly.

Rome came to a halt suddenly, holding up one fist. They hung there like that for some time, listening. Quyloc heard a whisper of sound off to his right, but he couldn’t see anything there at all. Up ahead was a darker shape that could be a nomad sneaking up on them. When it didn’t move after a time, they continued on.

The canyon walls loomed over them, dwarfing them into insignificance. They were utterly dark. Hundreds of Crodin could be sitting up there watching them, and they’d never know.

A small rock loosened suddenly and clattered down the side of the canyon before coming to rest in the bottom. The four men froze, weapons raised. Did the rock simply fall because it had been loosened over the centuries? Or was it kicked by a human foot?

When no other sounds came, they started walking again. They moved as quietly as possible, but to Quyloc they still sounded far too loud. He could hear each man’s breathing clearly, each scrape of a sole on rock. Every instinct he had screamed at him to hide. Burrow down deep and wait for the danger to pass.

Deeper into the canyon they went. Quyloc wanted to stop Rome, beg, no demand, that they turn back before it was too late. But he could not expose his cowardice.

Still further. Something flew over with a faint whisper of wings.

All at once, Quyloc felt the presence of others. A number of others. Coming their way quickly. He grabbed Rome’s arm and pulled him close to whisper in his ear.

“Crodin coming towards us. Moving fast. We have to hide.”

Rome looked around. The canyon was no more than forty paces wide at this point. Here and there were a few long-dead shrubs. Scattered rocks. Nothing that could hide four men.

“Where?” Rome hissed. “Find us a place.”

There had to be somewhere. If there was one thing Quyloc was good at, it was hiding. A life in the gutters had taught him that. He spun, scanning, thinking it was no use. They’d have to run for it.

But what was that? The faintest line of darker shadow up against a low cliff on the side of the canyon.

He led them at a run, sacrificing quiet for speed. The oncoming Crodin were too close. There was no time to spare. The enemy would be coming around the bend in moments.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” Glane moaned. “We have to run for it.”

But Quyloc knew there was. He clambered through a tangle of fallen rocks and up to the face of the cliff. He felt along the wall, and there it was. A large piece of rock had pulled away from the base of the cliff, leaving a space behind it. Quyloc dove in, the rest right behind him.

Quyloc found a spot where he could peek out. The Crodin appeared. They moved like wraiths. He counted six of them. When they had disappeared up the canyon, he turned back to the others.

“Are they gone?” Rome whispered.

“Yeah. For now.”

“How did you know they were there?” Glane asked. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“That’s what Quyloc does. He knows,” Rome said.

“What do we do now?” Telin asked.

“I say we go back to the fort,” Glane said. “We were supposed to look for Crodin. Well, we found ‘em.”

“They’re between us and the fort,” Quyloc pointed out. “How do we get past them?”

They all looked to Rome. “Once they get out onto that plain, we can circle wide around them.”

“What if they don’t go out there? What if they don’t leave the canyon?” Glane asked.

That was the question. All of them knew that without this hiding place they’d likely be dead. They wouldn’t find another.

“We stay here,” Quyloc said. “When they go back by, we head home.”

“I don’t like it,” Rome said. “We didn’t come this far to hide.”

“We didn’t come this far to die either. If they catch us out in the open, that’s what will happen.”

Rome growled softly. “You’re right. I hate that you’re right. It feels cowardly.”

His words bit deep. Quyloc couldn’t help but feel they were directed at him. Rome didn’t understand what others went through to survive.

“I don’t care,” Glane said. “Call me a coward, if you want. I ain’t going out there to be cut down. I can barely even see. How am I going to fight?”

“I agree,” Telin said. “They said this was suicide. There’s a reason there’s no night patrols. Why should we die because our general is an idiot?”

Rome lowered his head. “Okay. You’re right. We stay here.”

They settled in to wait. Waiting was something Rome and Quyloc had lots of practice at. Waiting had kept them alive many times when rushing in would have been disastrous.

Sometime around the middle of the night, Quyloc stiffened. He tapped Rome on the shoulder and pointed.

A few moments later the first Crodin appeared. He was nearly impossible to see, his clothing blended with the surroundings so well. He made no sound.

Behind him came another, then another until there were six. The soldiers watched, unmoving, barely breathing.

The Crodin were on high alert. They must have figured out that they’d missed their quarry. They had their weapons out. Heads were swiveling, watching the terrain. One of them looked right where they were hidden. The nomad came to a stop, and Quyloc was sure then he’d seen them.

A moment later he continued on, moving quickly to catch up with the others. The Crodin disappeared back down the canyon.

Rome and Quyloc waited longer, making sure they didn’t double back. Once they were sure, they collected the other two and started back to the fort.

They got back to the fort without further incident. At the gate, Glane hooted like an owl, while Telin yipped like a coyote. Someone appeared on top of the wall and looked down at them. An order rang out. The gate swung open, and a soldier stuck his head out. He was holding a lantern.

“You’re still alive. There goes my bet.” He sounded disappointed.

“We’re glad to see you too,” Glane said. “Now let us in.”

“Have either of the other patrols returned?” Rome asked.

“Nope. Ain’t likely to either. If they’re lucky, they’re dead. You don’t want to let the Crodin get their hands on you.”

“I swear I’ll never leave this place again after dark,” Glane said, shivering.

“How’d you do it?” the soldier asked.

Another soldier emerged from the shadows of the gate. “They found a hiding spot just out of sight of the fort and hunkered down there. I guarantee it.” He nodded in appreciation. “I was hoping you’d do that. You know what kind of odds I got on you?”

“You people are the worst,” Glane said. “Aren’t we supposed to be on the same side? Why would you bet on our lives?”

The soldier shrugged. “It gets boring out here. Gotta have something to do. You’ll see. If you live long enough. This ain’t a place for bravery. Bravery gets you killed. What you want to do here is keep your head down.”

Go to next chapter.