Horde (Razorland #3)(60)

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“Forest yours. Not to pass. If not pass, not kill.” It seemed to require a great deal of thought for the creature to produce this scant number of words.

I clarified, “You acknowledge that we own the forest? And you want us to stop killing you, if you stay out of it?”

I suspected it was asking us to let the Freaks alone, as long as they didn’t trespass inside the woods. Since they had to go through those trees to get to Soldier’s Pond, that sounded like a step forward, a success I could take pride in when we returned to town. The Freak’s prominent brow furrowed as it apparently tried to sift the meaning from all my talking.

Then it said, “Yes.”

Yet I didn’t know whether I could trust it. “Give me one good reason not to add your body to the pile here.”

“If no return, others join big group.”

It means the horde. A shiver worked through me. “So you’re not with them?”

The Freak appeared to recognize my dread. “No. Could make alliance. Bad for you.”

This was a stunning revelation: There were different factions among the Freaks. Did that mean they all had different agendas? With each generation, their ideas and priorities changed more. Since humans didn’t all have the same goals, I could credit that the Freaks might disagree about the best course, so maybe most of them—the horde—wanted to kill us, a few reckoned they should rule us, like in Otterburn, and a small number feared us. The situation would only worsen too, if they kept getting smarter. Soon they’d know all our tricks; and if the horde won over the rest to the idea of extinguishing the human race, well. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long.

So if the Freaks who roved near Soldier’s Pond agreed to a truce, it would grant the settlement time to improve their defenses as well as some much-needed peace of mind. Yet I couldn’t assent too quickly. It would make us seem weak—and terrified of the horde, which we were, but it was better if the messenger didn’t see that.

Tegan asked, “Who does this truce apply to? I mean, which of you will honor it?”

“Mine,” the Freak answered. “All of mine.”

That didn’t give me enough information, as there were different subgroups—tribes—within the whole. I’d love to know how many, where their territory ended. We’d speculated about that when we found the Freak village near Salvation. Some monsters hunted and killed, and there were small ones, so that meant they bred like any natural creature. A portion must stay home to care for the young, but I had no other insights regarding their customs or culture.

Fade pulled me aside before I could ask anything else. “Are you sure about this? I don’t trust it.”

Morrow stepped up with one hand on his blade, making sure the monster didn’t try anything while we were distracted. I appreciated his vigilance even as John Kelley loosened his rifle from its comfortable perch on his back. Fade and I didn’t have long to talk before this encounter turned ugly—and I had no reason to doubt the Freak when it said the survivors in the area would join the horde, if it failed to return. Not the most desirable outcome. Fade had terrible memories of his time in captivity, and it hurt me to think of adding to his suffering.

“You don’t think we should accept?”

He curled one hand into a fist. “I’d rather kill it. But then, I want all of them dead. So I’m not impartial.”

I turned back to the Freak. “Has your tribe ever taken human hostages?” It was the only question I could think to ask that might give Fade some peace with this arrangement. If the answer was affirmative, then I’d turn them down, however grave the consequences might be.

“What is ‘hostage’?” it asked.

Tegan offered, “Stolen humans, kept for food?”

“Old ones do. For us, too much trouble. Humans noisy.”

“Are the old ones part of the big group you mentioned?” Morrow inquired.

“Yes.” The monster snarled, seeming agitated. “No more talk. Deal or no deal?”

I glanced at Fade. “Can you live with this?” Drawing a deep breath, he nodded. We had only this monster’s word that his tribe hadn’t kidnapped and hurt Fade, but it had to suffice. “Deal. But it will go hard for you if any of your folk break this bargain.”

We were already slaughtering them in droves and burning their bodies as a warning and posting their heads on pickets. The men had even started taking fangs to wear on leather thongs around their necks, trophies from our kills. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to do worse, but the Freak didn’t know that. It seemed to take my threat seriously as it lowered its face almost to the ground. A glance at John Kelley said he was taking it all in, eyes huge in his weathered face.

“Why aren’t you with the horde?” Tegan asked, frowning in puzzlement. “You’d have a better chance of surviving.”

“‘Horde’ is big group?” At my friend’s nod, the monster replied, “Horde wrong. Better to die than follow. Good-bye, Huntress.”

Morrow exhaled in a long rush. “That sounded like a moral judgment.”

They know of me? I was stunned into silence.

When the Freak ran off, Kelley rubbed his bristly jaw. “That was … something. Did you notice how it showed submission there at the end?”