Then Jang looked me straight in the eyes, his gaze intense, yet calm and authoritative, "If you want to stay here, you are welcome."
"I c-can stay?" I stopped dead, shocked, "But h-how can you keep someone you don't even know? I could be dangerous for all ya know!"
I didn't know why I was protesting. If I were allowed to stay here, with free meals, clean water and good protection, that would be a dream come true. Too much of a dream. I couldn't believe he'd offer it so simply.
This man, he was too kind, overly trusting. He led me right to his home. What if I had been a spy? Or, or a-a saboteur or something? It was dangerous. I was right, I knew it. I had lived it.
Jang only smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "I trust you, kid."
Then, leading him to the man he'd met before, James or something, he said, "James will show you around, kid, explain all the rules. I've still got some work to do."
Then he walked off.
James smiled at me, his eyes kind, even though he sort of dwarfed me. "Come, kid, I'll lead ya to where you'll be sleepin'." He had that characteristic lilt to his words of the southern dwellers. I looked him up and down surreptitiously, trying to figure out if he was from one of the gangs in the south deep.
He didn't have the typical southern features, no blond hair, no fair skin, but he talked like them. I decided to keep an eye on him.
He walked me to the left corner of the cavern, where tents were set up. "This here's the spot ya'll be takin', here, ya can use this," he grabbed a couple of furs and handed them to me. I nearly staggered under the sudden weight.
"Now, there's a coupla' rules here at Cavemark you oughta follow, boy-o. First, don't take what ain't given. Second, don't mess with anyone. Third, find some work. Don't gotta be huntin', any trade'll do. Long as you're useful to the group. Ya get me?"
"Y-yes, sir!" I replied, my spine stiffening. The rules were simple and fair, but I didn't know how I would be useful. I was afraid I'd be kicked out if I couldn't learn quickly. I resolved myself. No, I would learn. There was no other choice; I couldn't go back to being alone.
Just as I was psyching myself up, a large hand patted my back, "Donna be so worried, boy-o, everyone can do something. Me and Jang'll fix ya up with a trade in no time. Even ole Sally found a trade right quick when she came to Cavemark, and she's missing an arm and a leg! Let me tell ya, she still beats half of us at arm wrestling that one does!"
I looked back up at him, surprised at the continual kindness, a small smile breaking out on my face in response to his big, goofy grin. For the first time in years, I almost believed I'd found a place safe enough to sleep with both eyes closed
"That's it, lad, now—"
A roar split the cavern.
From the entrance, men surged in, brandishing halberds and stone clubs. They were massive, hollering like wild beasts, and terror rippled through the crowd as they stormed inside.
The tranquil late evening routine was shattered.
Screams tore through the crowd. Pots crashed. A child's wail pierced the chaos.
James barked, "Stay here!" Then ran off to the opposite side of the cave from the attackers.
I stood frozen as the attackers fell on the crowd. A man yanked a woman by her hair, dragging her like an animal. Another smashed a clay pot just for the noise. Clubs came down on anyone too slow to scatter.
Dust filled the air, the tang of blood following quickly in its wake.
But even as the invaders swung and smashed, Cavemark began to move. Women grabbed children, hauling them to the back. Men rushed for weapons—spears, picks, sharpened stone. The air shifted. Panic gave way to order.
I followed the current with my eyes and saw the source.
It was Jang.
He strode forward, tall and calm, his voice cutting through the uproar like a blade. I couldn't hear the words at first, only the effect. People stopped screaming, started listening, then moved with purpose. A wave of calm rolled out from him, steady and unshakable.
The attackers noticed. Their shouts wavered when they saw him, like even they felt it.
And me?
I couldn't move. My knees shook, my chest tight. But my eyes locked on Jang.
He was holding his sword now, calm and composed, his knees were bent just like they had been when he butchered that spider.
"Formation B, arrange yourselves!" he wasn't loud, but somehow his voice reached every corner of the cave.
The Cavemark men moved instantly, no hesitation. Two rings spun outward, shields and blades aligning like the segments of one enormous beast. In the shifting torchlight, they became a living trap.
Jang stepped into the open center.
"Welcome to Cavemark," he said, voice almost polite. "What can we do for you, gentlemen?"
The leader sneered and lunged, blade arcing for Jang's head.
Steel rang as Jang caught it on his own, the shock of the blow driving him back a pace. The men behind the leader surged forward, and the cavern erupted in clashing metal and shouts.
Jang spun like a whirlwind, faster and more efficient than any of the fighters around him. His hands started glowing, faint multicoloured light ringing the tips of his fingers as he swung his sword in a blurring arc.
His steps were faster now, almost unnatural.
He leapt into the air and landed light. He moved like the spider-tiger I had barely escaped; inhuman, unstoppable. His swings struck harder, raiders falling at every touch of his weapon. Using the back of his sword, he left fallen, gasping bodies behind him.
My mouth fell open as I watched him. I knew he was strong, but I didn't know that he was a Kaiser. My eyes traced the growing marks now reaching across the backs of his fingers. He hadn't needed them against the spider-tiger. Or maybe he had and I had been too far away to see.
For a heartbeat, Jang's swords ground against another raider, faces inches apart. Then the glow on Jang's hand flared, faint lines crawling higher up his wrist, pulsing like liquid fire beneath his skin.
One raider feinted low, another came from the side. Jang twisted, parrying high, his cloak slashed open by the second blade. He didn't falter, his elbow smashed into the attacker's jaw, sending him staggering. But the leader was already on him again, pressing hard, strength against precision.
Around them the Cavemark men fought as a single body, shields locking, spears stabbing through gaps. Still, it wasn't clean. A shield splintered. A man cried out as a sword cut into his thigh.
Clang!
Sparks flew as steel met steel, the ring of men tightening. Shields slammed, boots scraped stone. In the press of bodies, Jang moved like water, his blade catching, twisting, then locking with the leader's.
The man grinned, and then his skin burned with light. Crimson lines seared across his hands, curling into the snarling horns of a musk-bull. The glow throbbed like molten iron, and the air itself seemed to shudder with it.
He spoke, teeth bared. "You'll have to do better than that."