"Baris! By order of the queen, you are under arrest! Open this door immediately!"
The pounding was becoming more insistent now. The door seemed about to give way any second. Sweat beading on his forehead, Baris grabbed Riga by the arm and led him into the bedroom; there, he took a quick look out the window: there was no one! He jumped outside, followed by his son.
"Come!" he shouted.
They began to run like demons through the streets of the kingdom.
"What a bunch of fools!" exclaimed Baris. "They didn't even think to surround the house!"
As they sprinted into the night, Baris noticed that the moon was full. It spread its pale, deathly light across the misty sky. This presented both an advantage and a shortcoming: they could see perfectly well but were also perfectly visible. As a result, they could easily be spotted by the royal guard, especially as they were running through nearly deserted streets, which made them even more suspicious.
The center of Genib consisted of houses made of terracotta covered with thick, cone-shaped thatched roofs. Clustered in compact blocks separated only by narrow alleys, most of them dated back to the birth of the kingdom. A place of ultimate promiscuity, the houses were inhabited by everyone, humans as well as barbarians.
At the four corners of the neighborhood, hills had been erected on which belvederes stood. From there, every day, at sunset, a man was charged with calling the inhabitants home, signaling the night and the daily curfew that Andora liked to enforce for the tranquility of her inhabitants. It was not completely forbidden to go out at night, but it was strongly discouraged especially for women and children to walk the streets because of the violent nature of some of its citizens, not to mention that it was impossible to patrol the entire territory with lookouts. In addition, the queen had issued a decree banning nocturnal disturbances and gatherings.
So few ventured into the unlit streets and preferred to stay at home or congregate in the local drinking establishments. This served the interests of the two fugitives who did not encounter the slightest obstacle on their route.
It took them only about ten minutes to reach the Rassan pass. But to their great surprise, a cohort of guards was posted all along.
"Damn!" exclaimed Baris. "That's where they were waiting for us! Ah! That mangy dog Taku is there too. In the kingdom, there's no man more devoted to the queen than him. What to do? A hundred meters separate us from the pass. Even if we ran at full speed, we would be intercepted..."
Indeed, the soldiers were not alone as they were commanded by the queen's right-hand man himself: Taku. In the kingdom, he was both the ears and eyes, the mouth, and the will of the sovereign. That was why the people of Genib willingly named him the Hound of Andora. Nothing could escape him in Genib, nothing could be said or done without his knowledge. He was quick to report the slightest piece of information to his mistress. Andora was the only person he trusted, and he showed her unwavering loyalty. For this, he did not hesitate to punish those who failed in their duty to her. Many of his soldiers hated him. However, they granted him respect forced by the fear he inspired. And for good reason, not only was he the queen's general, but he was - like most of the greats of his time - a formidable expert in martial arts.
"Hey! You there!"
Baris turned around with a startled look. A patrol of two guards had spotted them! He quickly glanced at Taku and his guards on duty, but they hadn't heard anything... for now. Naturally, he headed towards the two soldiers, trying to hide his face by lowering his head. He signaled Riga to follow him. But what to do? He seemed to be heading straight into the lion's den. Until he started moving, he had acted purely on instinct and preferred to carry the danger towards these two isolated men rather than towards Taku and his personal guard who would have made short work of them. From that point of view, he had done well. But what next? He was wondering. Every step they took brought them closer to the end. So Baris was trying to find a way out that would allow them to get rid of them without being noticed.
"Lower your head Riga and walk in the shadow," he told his son. "They must not see your face."
The armored guards seemed on edge; it seemed like the outcome of their search depended on their lives. The cherry blossom on the right side of their chest reflected the gentle glimmer of the moon. This glow had become fearsome in Baris's eyes because it constantly reminded him of the queen. Moreover, he could not help thinking about her and slowed down.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" a guard asked gruffly.
Baris and Riga were getting closer to them, but their faces were not visible.
"Hey! Have you lost your tongue or what? Answer! And we can't see you well, show yourselves in the moonlight."
The guards reached for the hilt of their katanas. Things are getting messy, thought Baris, who didn't know what to do anymore. If their presence was reported, they knew they were lost, permanently lost. He had to find a solution in a fraction of a second.
Upon arriving a few meters from the soldiers poised to attack, he slowly emerged from the darkness. On the bellicose face of the soldiers, the same expression of surprise was drawn:
"But it's Baris..." one of them murmured. "We found them," he said, gradually raising his voice.
In a final moment of powerlessness, Baris could find nothing better to do than to collapse on his knees before them. He took on a pitiful voice and begged them:
"Please, spare us! Don't kill us, we've done nothing wrong!"
And he began to cry as well. Riga was mortified: he had never imagined witnessing such a degrading scene. The guards were even less expecting such a reaction because they believed Baris to be dignified, brave, and pugnacious. Mute with astonishment, as was Riga, they found themselves in a rather embarrassing situation and gave each other looks of incomprehension. Their hands moved away from the hilt of their katanas...
"Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!" lamented Baris shamefully, turning his head to the rhythm of his words.
He even went as far as to prostrate himself face to the ground before them. Riga was dumbstruck, it was too much for him, now he was ashamed to have a father like this! He wanted to grab one of the guards' katanas and stab him in the heart so he would forever stop his pathetic and humiliating complaints. One of the guards regained his composure and ordered Baris to stand up. But he prostrated himself again.
"Mercy..."
"Dad!" Riga scolded.
The guards had completely relaxed their attention and when he stood up for the second time, like a flash he drew the katana of the nearest soldier with an upward swing and then in a continuous movement, he swung the weapon on the other man who could not make the slightest defensive gesture. With a slight cry of agony, they collapsed on their legs and died.
Baris got up quickly while coldly considering his victims.
"There is only one God in the universe. You didn't actually believe that I was going to kneel before you, mere humans..."
Then to Riga:
"Forgive me, I lacked inspiration so I couldn't think of anything better to do than this shabby strategy."
With a movement of expert dexterity, he twirled the katana to drain it.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Riga murmured, impressed. "And since when?..."
The blacksmith gripped the handle in his hand. From this blade will spring life for all, he thought. For everyone. He smiled in a superior manner. For a brief moment, he looked at this instrument of death that so magically reflected the silvery glow of the moon in the pupil of his eyes. He now felt fearless and invulnerable, like in the good old days. He felt no fear, no sorrow, no weariness. The blade, as if inhabited by a cunning spirit of war, had the effect of awakening his combat genius and increasing his strength tenfold.
He looks like a thundering war demon, thought Riga admiringly.
They dragged the corpses behind a barrel and went to the next crossroad. Now confident, Baris was much less cautious. To such an extent that another patrol of guards surprised them again:
"Don't move!"
The soldiers drew their weapons but facing Baris, galvanized by the sight of blood and the possession of a katana, they were cut down in a blink of an eye. Their death was this time much less discreet than before and their cries attracted their comrades.
Indeed, several squads alerted by these suspicious noises converged on the location of the fugitives. Baris couldn't face them alone and decided to retreat. He still sowed death in his path while the pursuers were on their heels. Riga, although scared by the situation, nonetheless felt a certain excitement; he had never experienced such a surge of adrenaline in his life made of boredom and routine! He ran after his father like a will-o'-the-wisp, trying to suppress a wild laugh. The situation had taken a completely unexpected turn to his delight.
"Dad!" he shouted while running. "There are more and more of them. We won't be able to escape from them this way..."
"I know!" his father confirmed, panting.
They entered a dark and narrow alley that widened with each meter and where the moonlight could hardly reach. There, with a shoulder push, Baris forced the door that seemed the least solid to him; carried by his momentum, he fell to the ground but propped himself up on one hand in the blink of an eye. Indeed, the lock had given way very easily. He grabbed his son by the arm and pulled him inside. He pushed the door back and leaned against it, then slid to the ground. Finally, he allowed himself a few precious seconds of recovery.
Riga was panting, placing his hands on his knees. His father tried to control his breathing to listen carefully to the noises coming from the street: less than a minute later, he heard the resonance of staggered footsteps, metallic tinkling, and the grumbling of dozens of men.
"They're here," he whispered.
"Dad... we're not alone in this house."