Free The Wasteland Soldier, Book 3, Drums Of War (TWS) by Laurence Moore Page A

truly sorry, Father Devon.” Rush lowered his head as the older man glared at him.
    “The Kiven do not embrace the Holy House.” He was scowling as he spoke. “They shun the Light of the future and live in the darkness of the Before. It is a sin to speak or think otherwise.”
    “I meant no sin, Father. But it is said that not all Kiven are non-believers and that Holy Houses are appearing within their city.”
    “Not this rhetoric again. I will not suffer it. The Kiven are nothing like us. The Lord brought His light to Ennpithia and our soil was reborn and He brought forth the animals and we worked the land but … but across the Place of Bridges the …” His flow stuttered and faltered as his attention focused on the Map Maker. “The hate of man incinerated … the hate of man burned the cities and …” He paused. “We are nothing like the Kiven. Whilst they crawl back into a history of sin we strive to take steps forward into a future of ordered society.”
    The Map Maker rose from the pew, ignoring the tall and bony man. He had clarity. For the very first time.
    You will walk amongst them, my son. You will give them the answers, my son.
    His head was spinning. Sweat burst across his face.
    Your time will come. They will rise up and follow you. We will banish the dark and bring our freedom.
    Slowly, he eased his arms from beneath his tunic and mopped his brow with his sleeve.
    The men of the Holy House stared at his missing hands.
    “Who are you?” gasped Father Devon.

 
     
     
     
    SIX
     
     
    “Lever action,” explained Quinn, picking up one of three customised crossbows lying on a cluttered workbench. “Rapid fire. Twenty bolts in the magazine. Let me show you how it works.”
    She swiftly demonstrated firing and reloading, indicating the lever that required cocking before every shot.
    “You’ll have to crank the lever every time you fire. Otherwise there’s no tension. Keep it clean or it’ll jam.”
    She showed them how to remove and refill the wooden magazine box that slotted onto the shaft. Then she dragged out a box of bolts and lifted it onto the workbench with a grunt.
    “That should last you a full trip. There are spare magazines boxes in there as well. Have them loaded before you leave.”
    “What kind of trouble will we get?” asked Nuria.
    Stone stood at the doorway and glanced around the cramped workshop; tools, weapons, strips of leather, pieces of metal and timber, stacked boxes. He could imagine being quite at home in here.
    “In the villages you might encounter a few light fingered thieves whilst Benny is selling, maybe a couple of drunks as the day wears on, but nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle. I managed by myself. You two will be fine.” She paused. “The ones who’ll give you the real trouble will be the Shaylighters. Their tribes are scattered through the hills. For years the Churchmen have hunted them down, trying to eliminate them, but the Shaylighters are few in number so tracking them is difficult. Now the Churchmen leave tackling them to hired mercenaries.”
    She gave a short laugh.
    “You can’t miss the bastards. The Holy House calls them Devil Men or Devil Soldiers or something. They wear their hair long and paint themselves with the inverted cross. I don’t really care. It’s all shit to me.”
    “What’s an inverted cross?” said Nuria.
    Quinn scanned her workbench and picked up two chisels. She formed a cross with them. “This is the symbol of the Holy House. You’ll see the bloody thing everywhere.” She flipped the tools upside down. “This is the sign of the Shaylighters.”
    “What kind of numbers and weapons can we expect?” said Stone, speaking for the first time.
    Quinn said, “Wait a minute I saw that look. You’ve already come across them, haven’t you?”
    “Boyd said we couldn’t go around killing anyone,” said Stone. “He said you have laws here.”
    She snorted. “He’s right, you can’t. But there’s no law for