Curse: The Dark God Book 2 by John D. Brown

*
    Miles away, Talen, River, and Oaks rode hard into the night. When they were confident they hadn’t been pursued, they circled back to the village of Plum and found the village and surrounding fields crawling with groups of men. There was no way to get past all those men, but Talen did find a tree just back from the edge of the woods with a good view. He climbed it and looked over the field at the village. A fire burned in the main square of the village. Strung up next to it were the stripped bodies of Rooster and Shroud. Talen looked carefully over the village and fields, but didn’t see any commotion. If they’d captured Sugar, she would have been strung up with the others, which meant they hadn’t caught her yet. He climbed back down and reported what he’d seen.
    “Black Knee and Sugar both knew our contingency plan,” River said. “They’ll make it back, or they won’t, but there’s nothing more for us to do here. Although I hate to leave Rooster’s and Shroud’s bodies behind.”
    “Vengeance is what their spirits will want,” said Oaks. “We can get their bodies later.”
    “Come on then,” River said to Talen. She held her hand out to help him up behind her on the horse.
    Talen waved her off. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that horse. And he didn’t want to ride off and leave Sugar.
    “Killing yourself won’t help her,” River said. “Come on.”
    “I’m going to run,” Talen said, telling himself it was logical to leave Sugar and Black Knee to their own skills, but knowing it was betrayal.
    “Talen,” River warned.
    “Just go. I’ll keep up.”
    And keep up he did, walking when the horses walked and running when they trotted. An hour or so later when they came to open country, River insisted he conserve his strength, so he climbed up behind her and rode, hating his coward’s heart and cursing his rotted desires.
    It was early morning and still dark when they sneaked their way across the border between Shoka and Fir-Noy lands. Two hours later, in the early pre-dawn light, Talen jogged along the road that led to the fields surrounding Rogum’s Defense, the fortress where Uncle Argoth and Lord Shim had been training up their army of dreadmen. Trees rose on both sides. A few yellow autumn leaves littered the road. They were cool and moist with dew under Talen’s bare feet. Maybe Sugar had found her way back. Maybe she was here.

5
    Visitors
    ARGOTH, FIRST CAPTAIN of the Shoka clan, sat upon his horse in the middle of the main road running through the village of Rogum and watched the naked man up ahead in the morning light. Well, he wasn’t all naked; about his neck he wore a bright blue scarf. But the rest of him was bare and revealed a strong body that had been shaved all over. It was quite the sight. And not only was the man naked, but he was muttering, holding a herring out to a number of gulls, trying to coax them closer. The gulls, however, seemed more interested in pecking the remnants of last night’s Apple Dance festivities that still lay about the village square.
    Shim, warlord of the Shoka, sat upon his own stallion next to Argoth. He said, “That’s a lovely picture. Do you think I could impress the ladies with a scarf like that?”
    “They’ll be astounded, I’m sure,” said Argoth.
    “I would place it a bit more strategically,” said Shim. “A woman wants mystery, Captain. A bit of the old hide and peek.”
    “Indeed,” said Argoth. “I shall inscribe that into the annals of wisdom.”
    “You doubt me?”
    “Never, Lord.”
    One of the black-headed gulls walked away from the rest of the noisy flock to eye the naked man and his herring. The bird walked with a bit of a limp and looked like it was missing one toe.
    Two of Shim’s body guards rode with him today. Shim turned to the new guard behind him. “Armsman, you’re a middling to handsome man. Perhaps a bit more handsome than our Captain Argoth. So we’re going to run a small test. On our next