Dzar-Ghan (Alien Barbarians of Vandruk #3)

38. Chapter 38

It was hard to describe the emotions running through me during the following day. Mount Vladyck was located on the other side of the Rodruk Mountains, so the march wasn’t too long, but it was hard. The entire time, I thought about the gallies who had most likely walked the same path ten years ago.

They must have been so elated to watch the Temple Guardians as they entered, thinking they had come to rescue them, and instead had watched their mothers and aunts slaughtered by the very same males who had been supposed to be their rescuers.

Had they fought?

I knew my sisters and Mynarra. Knew some of the other khadahrs’ sisters as well; they would have fought with everything they had, but against the brute strength of males and weaponless, their bravery would have been useless.

I thought about Secylly and Halana, my sisters, and sa, I thought about Mynarra. Had she been holding onto our love all these years like I had? Hoping I would come and set her free? Would she hate me for having failed her?

Most of all, I worried about how she would take the news of me having taken another gallis as my khadahrshi. And recently, at that. I had announced Jenna as my khadahrshi to my warriors. There was no taking it back. Not that I wanted to take it back. I loved that gallis with all my heart.

When Jenna and I made love, it was an explosion. The word made me chuckle because it reminded me of Jenna’s explosion. Of all those rocks flying. That’s how I felt with her, as if my entire body, mind, and heart had exploded into thousands of little pieces, only to be brought back together by her.

For most of the march, guilt riddled me—guilt for having taken so long to discover the truth and guilt for what Mynarra might feel once she found out I had taken another as my mate. I hated the idea of her hopes searing high when she saw me, only to be free but disappointed.

I was also fighting with the emotions for my mother and aunt, along with so many others having been so brutally killed. I had believed her dead for so many years, had mourned her for so long, that I hadn’t expected to have any more grief left in me, but I had been wrong about that. Seeing her body brought it all back and made it almost feel as if it had only happened yesterday.

Jenna was walking a few paces behind me. I had no idea what she was thinking. Her face was closed off, and she hardly looked at me. I didn’t know if she was mad at me—even though I wouldn’t have known why—or guilt-ridden about what her species had done to us. Maybe she thought she had taken on too much by agreeing to be my khadahrshi, only to be placed in the middle of a war. Or maybe she just wanted to give me space to grieve.

I knew I should have talked to her, but I was worried that she had changed her mind, that she wanted to return to Earth, where it was probably a lot more peaceful, and I wasn’t in the frame of mind to deal with that right then. I knew it was cowardly of me, but I also knew I wouldn’t, couldn’t just let her go, and wasn’t at my most persuasive at the moment.

Just when I made up my mind to approach her, Grohn-Vhyn called out for me, wanting to go over our tactics, keeping me busy for the rest of the march.

We reached the Temple right as darkness fell. It didn’t take long to spot my warriors. Nyhr-Shun had set up a large camp straight in sight of the Temple, just as I had ordered, to make it clear that we were laying siege to it.

“It’s good to see you, Khadahr,” Nyhr-Shun greeted me, looking curiously at Jenna.

“This is your khadahrshi, Jenna. Jenna, this is my First Blade, Nyhr-Shun. He will protect you with his life.”

Jenna seemed a bit taken aback; her eyes blinked at me as if a hundred questions were running through her mind, but this wasn’t the first time I had introduced her by her title, so I wasn’t sure why suddenly she would take affront.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Khadahrshi Jenna,” Nyhr-Shun bowed to her.

“Thank you. I’m very pleased to meet you, too,” Jenna responded but lacked the usual warmth in her tone.

I was just about to pull her aside to talk to her when Nyhr-Shun’s voice reminded me of the other worries I should be having on my mind right now. “Is that High Priest Bzun-Lhan? Tied and… gagged?”

A few hours into the march, Bzun-Lhan decided to curse out my warriors and threaten them by bringing the wrath of Vorag down on us, forcing me to gag him.

“Sa.” With a few words, I filled Nyhr-Shun in on what we had discovered while the other warriors were taking in our group.

For a moment, I feared I would have to physically hold Nyhr-Shun back as he was ready to take Bzun-Lhan out, but my First Blade regained his senses. He spat toward the High Priest and shook his head, mumbling curses.

“Have they allowed you into the city?” I asked when I was sure he had his emotions under control.

“Nek, but I managed to sneak in a few days ago, pretending to belong to a group of traders.” Nyhr-Shun looked pleased with himself.

“Did you discover anything?”

“The entire backside of the Temple facing the mountain is walled off, with only one entrance, which is under constant watch by six Temple Guards. From what I could tell, nobody is going in or out of that area.”

“Any other way in?”

Nyhr-Shun pointed up the mountain. “I climbed up there but didn’t get far. You would have to climb a sheer cliffside to reach a place from where you could look down.”

The priests had picked a good location if that was indeed the place where the gallies were being held. Bzun-Lhan could fill us in on that, but for now I needed to figure out ways to breach the Temple’s defenses in case the Temple Guardians wouldn’t open the doors for us, no matter that we held the High Priest hostage.

“Let me go talk to them.”

“What if they take you hostage, Khadahr?” Nyhr-Shun warned.

“I’ll talk to the Grand Master.” I put my hand on Nyhr-Shun’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t set a foot inside.”

“Be careful,” Jenna implored. Her voice was heavy with emotion, and for a moment, it was like it had been between us before. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

“Jenna, I—”

“Khadahr,” Nyhr-Shun shouted, pointing at the Temple’s opening gates from which Thlung-Rhan emerged, surrounded by a large contingent of Temple Guardians.

With a regretful glance toward Jenna, I made my way forward. Nyhr-Shun hurried to get warriors ready to have my back.

“What is the meaning of this?” Thlung-Rhan shouted the moment I was in hearing distance. His gaze moved over my shoulder to where several of my warriors were holding Bzun-Lhan back, who was trying to make a run for his Temple.

“The High Priest has been detained for suspicion of high treason, kidnapping, and murder. I suggest you will allow me and my warriors entrance at once unless you wish to be accused of the same crimes.”

Thlung-Rhan visibly paled. As the Grand Master of the Temple, he had to know what was inside the locked area, or better yet, who. I watched his expression carefully and noticed how his mind calculated his odds of getting out of this unscathed.

“The Temple Guardians outnumber you,” he finally decided to take a stand.

He was right about that. I would have to wait until my fellow khadahrs arrived with their troops. It would be time-consuming but well worth… Just then, the voices of hundreds of males carried over to us. Thlung-Rhan’s face, which had shown determination and willingness to go to war, changed once again, enough to make me turn around in time to see a caravan of hundreds, nek, thousands of warriors coming around the bend on the mountain road. It was a sight to behold, and my heart jumped inside my chest. Even from afar, I made out the standards of khadahr Tzar-Than, Dzur-Khan, Szur-Than, and many others. Dzur-Khan had come through with his promise to alert the other khadahrs for a Gathering. Each must have heeded Dzur-Khan’s urgent message right away to have made such quick time. I thanked Vorag because I was sure he had led each one with great urgency.

Vandruk was made up of forty khadahrs. Even if only half of them made it yet, we would have about three thousand warriors between us. The thousand I had already stationed here, plus the hundred or so each khadahr would have brought as their personal guards for the Gathering.

It wasn’t the grand army I had envisioned, but it was enough. If Thlung-Rhan insisted on barring our way into the Temple, we would have to wait until the other khadahrs could call for reinforcements from their ranks. This was actually playing in my favor. If any of the khadahrs was going to have any objections to attack the Temple after what I was about to tell them, they would be hesitant to fight with only a hundred guards.

The likelihood of an all-out civil war would have been much greater had all the khadahrs arrived at the same time and had brought their full armies.

It wasn’t a victory yet since I didn’t know the stance of the other khadahrs besides Tzar-Than and Dzur-Khan on a fight between the Temple and us. They might have sided with the Temple. Besides my word, I hadn’t brought any proof with me to convince the khadahrs otherwise. I had toyed with the idea of bringing a few jewels with me from the dead in the cave to prove we had been inside but rejected it. The dead had endured enough; they didn’t need me to desecrate their bodies further. Besides, I had Grohn-Vhyn with me. He was one of the most respected elder khadahrs, and his words would weigh enough to convince the khadahrs.

But Thlung-Rhan didn’t know that.

“Last chance to end this peacefully and with your head attached to your shoulders.” I bluffed.

“I will only allow the khadahrs in for now, and only if I have your word that you won’t harm me. I didn’t have a choice in this; I only followed the orders of the High Priest.”

“Of course.” I swallowed my anger at him down, telling myself to take this win. I could have told him that there was always a choice, but I knew those words would have been wasted on a male like him. And at the end of the day, I had only promised that I wouldn’t harm him. I couldn’t speak for the other khadahrs.

I turned to one of my warriors. “Get the other khadahrs. We will clear this up once and for all tonight!”

The moment the other khadahrs were at my side and entered the forbidden area, I was sure the gallies would swarm out in search of their loved ones between the armies still arriving. Nobody would be able to hold them back, not even the Temple Guardians, who I was certain wouldn’t harm a gallis, just like I was sure that most of them probably had no knowledge of what or whom they were guarding.

While Thlung-Rhan and I waited in silence, the first khadahrs separated themselves from their armies and approached Thlung-Rhan and me.

“You have a lot to answer for, Khadahr Dzar-Ghan,” Szur-Than greeted me hostilely, causing Thlung-Rhan to perk up next to me. The slimy bastard probably saw a chance to escape this after all.

“I promise, what Thlung-Rhan will show us in a few moments will answer all your questions. I think I have earned your trust enough to bear with an imprisoned High Priest for that long,” I answered, staring him straight in the eyes.

He and I had fought a hard battle against a group of outlaws who had grown to an impossible number a few years back. I liked to think that we had become friends during that campaign.

“Show us,” Szur-Than demanded of Thlung-Rhan, who sighed in defeat.

“Did you find your proof?” Dzur-Khan greeted us.

“Did you get into the cave?” Tzar-Than wanted to know at the same time. Both males’ questions shut the other khadahrs up as they approached with various accusations and demands about Bzun-Lhan being held tied and gagged.

“I will answer all your questions, but first, after you, Grand Master.” I bowed mockingly at Thlung-Rhan and waved him on.

“Don’t forget your promise,” he begged.

I grunted a reply. That was all he would get from me.

They took us straight to the walled-off area, where four Temple Guardians straightened, looking confused and aghast at the power barreling toward them.

“Open!” was all Thlung-Rhan said.

Hesitantly, one of the Guardians turned to a box in the wall, disengaging a lock.

“What is this?” one of the khadahrs asked, but his question went ignored as the gate began to open.

Even the males who didn’t know what to expect were holding their breaths as we stared at the view of a street similar to the ones on the Temple grounds. Darkness had fallen by then; a few torches illuminated simple houses, but no life was to be seen.

Tzar-Than was the first to move forward. Determined, he strode to the first house and knocked hard on a door.

“Open up!” he barked.

The door opened with a creak as the leather holding it tied to the wall stretched. A wary gallis poked her head out. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she took in Tzar-Than’s scars, calling him out as a khadahr. Her head turned, and her eyes widened even more when she noticed all the other khadahrs.

A cry broke from her throat, a cry of joy and anguish, “Vorag heard us!”

Her call caused other doors to open, and more cries rang out. Soon, the street was filled with gallies, surging forward like a large wave.

“Hessica,” Szur-Than yelled, pushing khadahrs to the side and running toward one of the gallies, who stood rooted to the spot, staring at the massive male barreling toward her before she opened her arms to embrace her brother.

“Dzar-Ghan,” a familiar voice called.

My throat constricted, and I croaked, “Secylly.”

I embraced a sister I had believed dead for so long.

“You came,” another familiar voice said next to me. Turning, I faced Mynarra.