People of the Longhouse(30)
“What’s your name?”
“Saga.” He fell into a coughing fit. Blood coated his hand when he lowered it.
“Are you hurt, Saga?” Koracoo reached for the cape.
“Not so bad,” Saga said. He lifted his arms and allowed Koracoo to look beneath at his chest.
Something in her soul cried out. An arrow must have gone straight through his thin body. Every time Saga inhaled the hole blew bubbles. But the wound was at the very top of his lung. There was a chance …
“Deru, there must be a place where the medicine elders have been treating the wounded. We need to find it.”
Deru gave her a disbelieving look. That was the first thing the enemy did, kill the elders, but he said, “Yes, War Chief.”
“It’s … it’s over there.” Saga pointed. “Near the Bear Clan longhouse.”
“Deru, you lead. I’ll carry Saga.”
Deru scanned the smoke as Koracoo slipped her arms beneath Saga and gently lifted him. “Saga, I’m going to carry you over to the medicine elders.”
Deru stepped out, leading the way with his war club at the ready.
As they walked, Saga stared up at her with glowing eyes. “I know stories about you. My … my mother … tells me stories at night.” His breathing grew more labored. Koracoo could feel the rattling in her arms. She walked faster.
“Good stories or bad stories?”
Saga smiled. “Good. They’re stories about our village heroes. Mother says …” He started coughing again, and blood gushed from his mouth. When it was over, he gasped for air.
“Hold on, Saga. We’re almost there. The elders will Heal you.”
“Do you … remember? Remember … that fight where fifty Flint warriors had you trapped … just you and Gonda … and you killed all of them … before you escaped? Where did that happen? I’m too … tired to remember.”
Saga looked up at her with such love and admiration that Koracoo’s heart ached. There had only been seven warriors, but Saga didn’t need to hear that now. “That was over on the shores of Skanodario Lake.”
Saga feebly reached out to touch Koracoo’s red cape. He caressed it reverently. “Sometimes … when I play with my brother … I pretend I’m you.”
“Well, I hope you also pretend you have another couple of thousand warriors. I need them. Especially tonight.”
Weakly, Saga whispered, “It’s all right. You’ll win.”
A wave of futility went through her. “Someday, when you grow up, I’m going to make you one of my deputies.”
Saga’s eyes went wide. “I’ll be a good … deputy.”
“I know you will.”
Deru was moving quickly, hugging the western palisade wall where the smoke was the thickest. After fifty paces, he stopped and said, “There’s someone ahead. I think it’s Yanesh. The Speaker for the Women.”
The Three Old Women, the clan matrons, announced their decisions through their Speaker. Yanesh was tall and thin, with graying black hair. As Koracoo approached, the woman turned. It was indeed Yanesh. She moved through a sea of wounded people. There had to be hundreds, lying in rows, their faces covered with gray ash from the fires.
Koracoo carried the boy over to where Yanesh stood among the wounded.
“Saga?” Yanesh said. “Put him here. Gently!”
Koracoo eased the boy to the hides spread out over the ground and said, “Get well, Saga. I’m counting on you.”
Saga just smiled and closed his eyes as though the walk had taken all of his strength.
“Yanesh, what happened?” Koracoo asked.
Yanesh expelled a breath. She had a catlike face, a broad nose, and long lashes. She had seen forty summers pass.
“The enemy attacked with overwhelming force, Koracoo.”
While Koracoo talked with Yanesh, Deru stood guard, his intent gaze scanning the smoke.
“But I left you with enough warriors to hold off—”
“Gonda split his forces.”
She stared at Yanesh as though the woman was mad. “That’s not possible. I ordered him to keep all of his warriors inside the palisade. He would never—”
“He disobeyed you.” Yanesh’s mouth quivered as she clamped her teeth. “The council told him not to, told him to keep fighting, but he sent half our warriors outside, and as soon as they were gone, we were overrun. We didn’t have enough warriors left to defend the village.”
Koracoo gripped CorpseEye in a hard fist. She didn’t believe it. “Where is Gonda?”
Yanesh shook her head. “No one knows. He led the group of warriors who ran outside. We haven’t seen him since. He’s probably …”