Deadman

I looked at Deux, and took a minute to consider my options. Option one, go into a dangerous raider camp with a group who I explicitly betrayed for the Khan. Option two, go into a dangerous raider camp with a group I betrayed to the Khan while Deux watches my back. I paused for a long time, staring blankly at him.

He just smiled back at me, unconcerned by the amount of time I was taking. He knew I’d already made up my mind as soon as he’d made the offer. I was dragging it out, but truthfully, there were only two people I’d trust more than him to watch my back, and one of those two was myself.

“I could use the help.”

He nodded. “Good! What’s the job?

“Infiltrate a raider camp masquerading as a group of Kaijin, remove any obvious traps or warn of threats, then signal an attack from a larger force.”

“Cool. Do they have anything for breakfast around here?”

“That’s all? Just ‘cool’?”

Deux nodded. “If you need the help, you need the help. We kill a few raiders, bing bang boom, then we get you on the road to the Cut. Not like it needs to be complicated.” He stood still for a few moments. “So, as I asked, breakfast?”

I sighed, and walked over to the exit to the tent gesturing for a guard. “Can we get some food?”

He nodded and walked off.

I turned back into the tent to see Deux lounging on my bed, his combat boots off, lighting a cigarette and inhaling deeply. “They give you pretty decent digs when you visit, huh?”

I moved back to the table and got back into the maintenance work I was doing, seamlessly resuming the count I was doing midway through. “They’re fine. Better than I expected.”

Deux blew a bit of smoke, ashing onto the ground next to the cot. “I don’t know of anyone outside of the Horde who is able to sleep in the heart of Fette like this, and he let you stay from the moment he met you?”

I paused my count. “Yeah. Since you introduced me.”

“Huh, that’s kind of weird.”

I turned to look at him. “Do you have a theory or are you just talking to talk?”

He took another deep inhale. “Talking to talk.” He let that statement hang in the air for a moment. “Why do you think he trusts you so much?”

I shrugged. “Not sure.”

“Hmmm, could it just be that you’re similar? Or maybe he’s a fan of the color black?”

“If that were the case then he’d like you just as much.” I said, gesturing to his robes, before turning back around to the table.

Before he could speak again, the food arrived, and Deux was, mercifully, too busy eating to talk. That allowed me to finally finish up my inventory, maintenance, and update some notes and maps.

By the time I was done I turned around to see that Deux had actually fallen asleep. A lit cigarette in his mouth. I walked over, and snuffed it out between my fingers, shaking my head. I heard movement outside of the tent.

“Marshall Donovan?”

I walked over to the tent flap and peeked out to see a guard too young to hide a slightly scared expression when he saw me.

“What is it?”

“Your uh, friend. We don’t know what to do with his…horses?”

I looked back at Deux. “Hey! Wake up!”

He didn’t move and I sighed, returning my attention to the guard. “Lead the way.”

The guard nodded and began led me out of the palace to a small patch of fenced off grass a short distance away. I noticed a couple of the Khan’s wives standing there keeping some sharp featured, dark haired children from going near two massive black Pott’s horses that were winnowing, and milling back and forth, throwing out the occasional hiss.

I jumped over the fence, and approached the equudentes as Nico calls them, bloodmanes, as Deux calls them, though I preferred to simply think of them as horses with sharp teeth. When I got close enough to one of them, I gently ran my hand along its side and noticed that it was slick with sweat. I patted the side of its head and it let out a gentle hiss as it calmed down a bit. I looked into its eyes, which were bloodshot and heavily lidded. I’d seen this before. They’d been fed meat drugged with redeye, and then alternated between with no breaks in order to reduce travel time. I hadn’t thought about how Deux had traveled so quickly, but it made sense. I walked over to the young guard, who was doing his best to look impressive in front of the Khan’s wives.

“I need meat. Go to whatever butchers you have here and get as much as you can. Doesn’t have to be the good cuts.”

“That’s uh, not really my job.”

I leaned down. “If those horses go hungry, it’ll become your job very quickly.”

He swallowed loudly, and walked off at a pace just short of being undignified.

I hopped back in and spent a bit longer with the horses, patting their sides and trying to calm them down. The redeye wouldn’t have hurt them, they had the same amped up resistance as deadmen, but the run they’d had on top of that meant they’d need plenty of rest and meat. It also explained why Deux himself had fallen asleep so quickly. He was doing his usual playing at being relaxed and easygoing, while working himself to death at the same time.

The guard returned driving a small cart of some kind that reeked of rotting meat. He parked it, opened the gate and backed it in. I held the horses back from hopping the fence for a few moments, and once the cart was fully in I let them go. They quickly buried their heads in the thick pile of meat, earning the moniker Deux had given them of ‘Bloodmanes’. I gave them each a final pat, then hopped back over the fence. The children that had been watching the horses looked excited and entertained at the feeding, as did one of the two wives, but the other and the young guard had the color drained from their faces.

I glanced at him as I walked out. “They’ll need at least one more trunk load, but their mood should improve a lot, even after this first one.”

He nodded.

I went to walk away, when I saw a group approaching me. They were dressed in light chainmail, tunics, and Ursan fur. They all had bows, and quivers on their backs. The one in the lead had short cut blonde hair, and big brown eyes, as well as a fresh scar above her lip. It was Shayera of the Ren Faree, clearly in charge of the rangers that were to help me clear the path for the Khan. She approached me directly, but diverted her attention when she saw the horses. She took a few steps toward them, watching them enjoy their meal, and turned her attention to me. “What do you call these? Nightmares? Death-Stallions?”

“Bloodmanes.” I offered, choosing the moniker I was certain the Rens would be the most likely to latch on to.

She looked at them admiringly for a few moments, and I felt I could see the idea forming in her head of her and the Ren’s riding into battle on them. She eventually turned back to face me, the expression of admiration falling from her face, replaced by a frown and dead eyed stare.

“The Khan requested the best of the rangers. We’re here.”

“You know the job?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Anything you want to mention before we get started?”

She shook her head, and for a moment we stood there silent, but for the sounds of the bloodmanes eating. Her expression was neutral, but I could feel rage simmering beneath it. It was a fair reaction. I’d betrayed her and her people, taken Atlan’s side, and held a gun to her head to make it happen. I didn’t offer any apologies, didn’t bother making excuses. What was done was done. I just looked her in the eye and said, “See you in the morning then.”

She hesitated. Her mouth opened for a moment as if she’d been prepared to say something, but she held back. She nodded, gestured for her men to follow, took one last glance and the bloodmanes, and walked away.

I didn’t think she’d try to kill me during the mission, too risky for everyone involved, but I did feel better knowing that Deux would be watching my back this time. That assumed, of course, that he’d be awake when it was time to leave and could avoid getting himself shot when the bullets started flying. I let out a breath and walked back into the tent and to the room I’d been given. I laid on the ground and closed my eyes, taking what sleep I could get before the shooting started.