The Third Kingdom

Mostly cedars grew along the sides of the brook, with a luscious carpet of moss covering the banks in places. The brook created a bit of an opening through the forest, so they were able to make better time. The moss growing in thick beds made for soft walking, but what Richard liked most about it was that it made their progress almost silent, while the running water of the brook also helped cover any sound they might make. Silence was safety because even if there were half people about, if they couldn’t hear Richard and Samantha passing nearby then they wouldn’t come after them.

Rounding a turn where the brook went around a rock outcropping, they came suddenly on a man kneeling beside the brook, scooping up water in his hands for a drink. He hadn’t heard them walking upstream on the mossy banks. He looked up from his cupped hands, water leaking through his fingers, surprised to see Richard and Samantha as they came around the rock. He was dressed better than the half people that Samantha had killed, and had a huskier build, like the men who had attacked Richard at the wagon.

Richard wasn’t as surprised as the man, because this possibility had always been in the back of his mind. Richard knew that with the new trail so well used by the half people, it was possible that some of them might wander off that trail, so he had been on the lookout. Still, it was an unpleasant jolt to suddenly come upon someone after having the woods all to themselves for so long.

The man, at first frozen in surprise, quickly recovered from his shock. His eyes immediately filled with the kind of savage hunger any predator had at seeing prey unexpectedly appear within reach.

The man sprang up in a full charge. He bared his teeth with a growl as he lunged at Richard. As he raced in, the man reached out to tackle his prey.

Richard had been ready and, rather than meeting the threat directly, dodged to the side at the last possible instant. Richard threw an arm around the man’s neck as he fell past and put a choke hold on him to keep him from crying out for help.

The man struggled, reaching back to claw at Richard, trying to get to his face, to gouge out his eyes. The man’s teeth were bared, but he couldn’t get a bite of flesh. Richard lifted the brawny man while putting pressure on the sides of his neck to cut off the blood supply.

The man’s struggles slackened as he quickly grew weak.

“Who are you?” Richard asked.

The man only growled, even as he did his best to keep his eyes open.

“How far to the north wall?” Richard asked.

Drool ran from the corners of the man’s mouth as he gasped for breath, as he fought to remain conscious and at the same time fight back.

“How far,” Richard asked again through gritted teeth.

“A day away, maybe.”

“And the Shun-tuk? How far to their land once beyond the north wall?”

When the man didn’t answer, Richard increased the pressure. The man’s eyes bulged. His tongue bulged from his mouth as his face turned red.

“How far is the kingdom of the Shun-tuk?” Richard asked again in a dangerously calm voice.

“Don’t know … never been that far. I’m not that stupid.”

“How far?”

“Days. A few days more. But they will catch you, eat your flesh, and drink your blood. They will have your soul.”

“You can’t gain someone’s soul by drinking their blood or by eating them. There is no way to get someone else’s soul. It’s not possible.”

The man struggled even harder, trying with renewed fury to reach back and get hold of something. He couldn’t. Richard wasn’t taking any chances and twisted harder to make his point.

“Lie!” the man gasped, red-faced from lack of air. “You want to keep it for yourself. All of you with souls are greedy. You soil the world with your nature. We will have your souls. We deserve them. We will have all of your souls!”

Samantha stepped up before the man’s face, regarding him calmly. “How do you figure you deserve our souls? What gives you the right?”

Richard had him tightly by the neck, but the man’s glare turned up to Samantha. He gave her an evil, lustful grin.

“We will eat your warm flesh and drink your warm blood and have your souls. We will rule the world of life.”

Richard twisted until the man cried out. “Are you with anyone else?”

“No!”

“Good,” Richard said under his breath as he snapped the man’s neck.

As Richard let the dead weight slip to the ground, he gestured to Samantha. “Let’s get going. Better that we are away from here in case others of his kind find him.”

CHAPTER

47

Richard was exhausted after a day of difficult travel over rough terrain. The farther north they went, the more uneven the ground became, and the darker and gloomier. At times the clouds were so low that the tops of the trees vanished in the gray overcast.