Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 28
28
"Get back, you vultures!" Mother screamed, not that it did her much good. Their curiosity was greater than their fear.
They crowded around him as he lay in the snow, too weak and hurt to get up. He felt worse than naked. He felt like a prize pelt on display.
"By the Cora, look at his face! He'll have those scars for the rest of his life!"
"That's what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Stupid kid."
"Ha! Scarface! Scarface! Scarface!"
If it wasn't for Renna, he didn't know how he'd make it through this. She never left his side, and she never let go of his hand. She was always there, whispering in his ear, telling him to ignore them, telling him that they could never understand.
It helped, but he could still hear their voices, and he could still feel their cold stares, even worse than the snow on his back.
"All right, I think the bleeding has finally stopped," Mother said. "Someone help me move him! We have to get him someplace warm."
"Not yet, oh venerable Shekka-kai," Wardo said. "I'd like to have a word with your brave little drisa here."
"It's snowing!"
"All the more reason for you to be quiet and let me speak. You can have him when I'm done."
He could hear Mother growl somewhere above and behind him, but he knew it was an empty gesture. Even though she was the witchdoctor of the tribe, she still had to bow to the orders of the Chieftain.
Wardo got down on his haunches with his hands dangling between his knees. "Well hello there, Hezzi. How are you feeling?"
"You're a coward," Hezzi replied.
Wardo's eyes went wide in mock surprise. "Wow, rude! Here I am, enquiring about your health, and you call me a coward?"
"That's because you are!"
"No, Hezzi. I'm not a coward, I'm an opportunist. That's why I wish I could thank your brother, but since he's not around anymore, I'll just have to settle for thanking you."
"Ander?" Hezzi said, genuinely confused. "What does he have to do with this?"
"Why, everything! You see, my dear boy, if it wasn't for Ander, then none of this would have happened. The only ones who could have stopped me were Banno and Garten. But, as luck would have it, your brother ended up killing them both! Ha! With those two muscleheads dead and gone, he created a marvellous opportunity for me. Instead of facing some braindead oaf for your father's title, all I had to contend with was you."
"You didn't face me at all!" Hezzi thundered. "You hid behind your puppet the entire time!"
"And who's the one who lost that so-called 'puppet'? You are in no position to insult anyone right now, boy." He scratched his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know... lying down there with blood all over your face, you remind me of something... Say, did I ever tell you how I got these scars?"
"That's enough, Wardo!" Mother said. "He can't stay here, he's hurt!"
"I will finish my talk with him, Shekka, and then you can take him wherever you want. Oh, one more thing. If you fail to address me as 'Chieftain' one more time, I will make sure you suffer for it."
Hezzi could almost feel the heat of their glares clashing somewhere above his head.
"You are making a grave mistake, Chieftain," Mother said. "Everything I have given you I can just as easily take away." It's been a while since he's heard her so genuinely angry, and it frightened him to the core. He couldn't see her face, but he could feel her bony fingers on his back, trembling with an almost uncontrollable fury, and he knew that Wardo was pushing his luck. He was just too drunk with power to realize it.
"You're welcome to try, Shekka. But I believe you have more to lose than I do."
What were they talking about? Hezzi felt like he was missing something, but it was kind of hard to focus on subtleties when half your blood was coagulating outside your body.
Wardo's eyeballs swivelled down again. "Now, Hezzi, let me tell you all about how I got these sc-"
"A bear clawed you open," Hezzi said, cutting him short. "Everyone knows it., and everyone wishes it had done a better job."
Gone was the smug smile, gone was the gleeful twinkle in his eye. "Look at you," Wardo said, his face slowly melting into a hideous scowl. "Just like that wretched little cub in my trap. Stuck and bleeding, howling for its mother. Absolutely pathetic. Well, I tried to help it, didn't I? Can't cook a scrawny little thing like that. I untied the snare. I was quick. I wanted to set it free. I wanted to send it on its way. It was mewling for mommy so badly, but did it show any thanks? No! Did its mommy understand I was only trying to help? No! She charged me down and ripped my chest! You think what Dorin did to your face was bad? His claws are nothing compared to those of a bear! The skin hung from my body just as this necklace now hangs from my neck! So you know what I did then? I took her stupid, screaming little cub and I twisted its scrawny neck. They say a bear can't show emotion like a Wolf can, but I beg to differ. I could see her heart break when I threw her dead son back in her face, the son I was trying to set free! She forgot all about me then, the stupid animal. She nudged her baby with her nose, making that ugly snuffling noise. Maybe she was crying. Maybe she was trying to give it a farewell kiss. Maybe she was trying to bring the damn thing back from the dead, I don't know and I don't care. I took my knife and I plunged it through her thick skull. I was trying to help, but she made me kill her by not understanding. Do you understand, Hezzi? Do you see why your struggles amount to no more than a bear cub's pitiful mewling!?" Wardo reached out and flicked Hezzi on the forehead, right where the gashes were the deepest, again and again, making blood splatter all over his filthy fingers in fine droplets.
Hezzi wanted nothing more than to rise up and punch the coward in the face. He wanted to scream that he was not a cub anymore. He was a Wolf, and a damn proud one. He wanted to tell Wardo that his idea of 'helping' amounted to no more than killing, even in his own glorified story.
If only he had paid more attention to what was going on around him, maybe he would have heard Danado call his sister's name over and over. Maybe he would have caught a glimpse of her moving through the crowd with murder in her eyes and a dagger in her hands. Maybe he could have done something.
But he didn't. He only noticed when her shadow sailed above his head, and by then it was far too late.
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