The Toils (Book Two)

V. First Down

The smokestacks seen in Gossfordshire, it turned out, had their origins in Motueka.
Pa was decimated, fires raged throughout the hilltop settlement, scores of dead bodies littered the streets. Fallen weapons lay next to the hands of the soldiers who dropped them, staffs, swords, and bone carved into hooks. 
Dressed like black mummies, the Settled walked over the bodies, hauling food from houses and laying it in a pile on the main street.
Chickens were slaughtered, their carcasses tossed into the food pile.
A man, boyish in appearance, but for a short beard, stood watching the collection grow.
His face was ghastly white, his hair jet black, and his body stocky. A large scar went from his left eyebrow all the way down to his jawline on the right-hand side of his face.
"Noxa!", a middle-aged gentleman with olive skin approached.
Noxa turned on his heel, scowling.
"Any sign of the ones that fled?", Noxa asked.
"No, but we've not searched far", the olive skin gentleman answered.
"Don't worry, we've bigger fish to fry", Noxa shrugged, "take others, search the beaches, we've made it to the top, now it's time to cross", Noxa peered about. "Also", Noxa continued, "we need someone to sail the ship, so be sure to keep people alive".
Together, Noxa and the gentleman scanned the streets surrounding them. The once life filled streets were now empty. There were no children, no animals. 
All that remained now was dirt, blood, and destruction.

*

Last Night

"It's been a long time coming", Noxa addressed his following in the dark bushes to the south of Pa. Clad entirely in black fabric, bar for the faintest of white paint across their legs, five hundred-odd people sat, stood, and crouched amongst the trees, their gaunt, pale, faces staring at Noxa with fervent intensity. Of all the men, women, and children in the group, though, one stood out. Directly in front of Noxa was a girl, no older than ten. Her brown hair thick and matted, her eyes bore into Noxa.
"For generations, we've sought to break free of The South. To break free of the cold. To break free of a life that pushed us to maim, to kill, to pillage. That time is now. It is tonight. We have passed through the Old Country with very little interference, but that does not mean this is going to be smooth sailing from here on; the fight we have, is yet to pass", Noxa spoke with a certain theatric, his deep voice washed over the enthralled crowd. 
With the air of a cult leader, Noxa continued - "you must all be ready. Our grandfathers crossed the seas to The North once before, we must honor them by doing it again". 
Taking a deep breath, he went on - "as I stand before you, sixteen men have moved forward, sowing seeds that will give us passage through Motueka - something that hasn't been done in two generations. So, before we march towards what could be certain doom, I have one last message. Keep at it, we have faced worse threats with less weaponry than we have tonight. No matter what, you keep fighting. We have very little information, but what we do have is enough to force their hand into submission. No matter what, you keep fighting", finishing, he approached the child. 
A few people applauded, but the tension in the air was palpable. 
"You wait with the other children, Amber is going to hang back and keep an eye out", Noxa told the girl. The child stood. She and Noxa were fairly close in height, despite the almost 25 year age gap.
"I want to come with you -".
"No, Rhi, here", Noxa pointed to the ground.
"I need to do this, for my parents", she urged him.
"Revenge - I get it", Noxa sympathized back, "but this is dangerous, and there will be no revenge if you die".
It took a second, but Rachel nodded quietly.
They hugged briefly, cut short by Noxa being approached by two of his guards.
"We ready?", Noxa asked, turning on his heel to face them. 
"Yes", the right-hand guard replied, "we've set down some sap lines to act as a remote ignition".
"Alright, gather the fighters, let's move".


Less than ten minutes later, Noxa and four hundred soldiers waited just beyond the western gates at Pa, right where Thatcher had led the Settlers through but three days prior.
Directly in front of them, at the far end of the eastern end of the strip, two bombs went off. 
For the first time in months, the main strip had light drenching the street.
The booms rattled Noxas eardrums, the smell of smoke immediately washed over the crowd.
Splinters from the punga trunk fenceline blew in all directions.
Less than two seconds after the first two bombs went off, the second pair blew holes in the main hall - the door to the dining hall was blown off its hinges, striking the front of the infirmary and throwing Ngeru from his bed. 
The back wall from Ruataupares office collapsed, falling from the second story into the roadway below, caking Ngerus house in dust and debris.
People didn't even have time to leave their houses before the third pair of bombs detonated, blowing Renas' whare to pieces. The western gate crumbled, the individual pails falling to the ground with sprinkled thuds.
"Go!", Noxa ordered with the collapsing of the gate.
Behind him, his soldiers marched, swords to the ready.
Fires raged on all sides, the thick black sky held the light in a way unseen in months.
People took to the streets, crying and screaming for help. Homes were blown open, the contents of which were now on display.
Noxa crossed through the gate, thrusting his sword into the first old lady he countered.
She dropped to the ground in a heap, her basket of mementos cast down around her.
He marched on. 
Slashing, stabbing, killing all he came across.

Ngeru held in place, trapped beneath the rubble.
He dared not breathe as Noxa passed over him, the sounds of screaming filled his ears.
People pled for their lives around him, the smell of blood somehow stronger than the smell of smoke. His hair stood at the back of his neck - what could he do?
From beyond the rubble, a sword dropped. The sound of a body hitting the ground.
Peeking, Ngeru saw a Red Million soldier standing tall, having just bashed a Settled folks brain in.
His celebration was premature, though, as he was immediately pierced through the heart with an arrow.
Ngeru took stock of what was happening; chaos.
The archer walked up to the destroyed infirmary, picking the sword up from the dirt. 
Listening intently, Ngeru heard the man making threats to an infant whose parents were nowhere to be found. 
With finesse, Ngeru rolled out from beneath the rubble. As he rolled, he wrapped a hand around a thick chunk of rock from the wall that'd collapsed over the infirmary.
Out on the road and exposed, Ngeru knew he had to move fucking quickly to save the child.
Speedily, he stood, and in one swift motion, slammed the rock onto the crown of the archers head, killing him instantly.
Dropping the rock, Ngeru snatched the toddler from the ground and sprinted towards the eastern end of the main strip; a corner where the Settled still hadn't reached.
Fire raged at the fenceposts, leaving a gaping hole where Motuekan civilians were escaping.
Running for the fenceposts, Ngeru had to choose quickly who to pass the child off too.
The child dangled in his arms like a rugby ball; he knew the invaders weren't far from reaching them and blocking off the exit. 
Seeing a young mother with four kids under eight, Ngeru near tossed the infant into her arms.
"Take the child, lead the others to the outlying villages, I'll get more out", Ngeru instructed her in Maori. 
She took the child and disappeared from the embering hole in the gate. 
Ngeru spun, but it became immediately clear he could not go back. 
The exit would be blocked in a matter of minutes - it would take at least two to make it back to the western gate - even if he sprinted. 
His face grimaced as he was forced to abandon ship. Careful not to singe the underside of his legs, Ngeru threw himself through the hole in the fence and ran into the bushes on the other side.

In the village less than two kilometers away, from their respective beds on opposite ends of the room, Riwai and Randall stared at each other.
"You hear that?", Randall asked. 
"Pretty hard to miss", Riwai heaved himself from the bed and grabbed his staff.
"Where the fuck are you going?", Randall urged. 
"I'm going to help", Riwai made for the door.
"You've been banished, and they have back up, remember?", Randall alluded to Riwais distaste for the Four Pillars Agreement. 
"I'm going!", and with that, Riwai had vanished from the doorframe. 

Fifteen minutes up the path towards Pa, Riwai saw the first trickles of people. 
Hundreds of people ran past, forcing Riwai off the path and onto the edge of the treeline.
With some extreme squinting, he saw Ngeru.
"NGERU!", Riwai shouted out.
Just hearing him, Ngeru pulled out from the stampede and met Riwai just under the treelines.
Puffing, Ngeru placed his hands on his knees and bent over.
In Maori, they conversed - "what's happening?", Riwai asked.
"Attack... We're under... Attack!", Ngeru said breathlessly.
"By who?!".
"Don't... Recognize", Ngeru puffed.
"Go! To the village, find Atua", Riwai instructed.
"And you?!", Ngeru stood straight and brushed his knees.
"I'm going to Pa, save who I can defend where I can", Riwai clutched his staff close.
"Riwai", Ngeru grabbed Riwais elbow as Riwai made to walk away, "there's no point, Pa is lost".
"I need to do it, for her", Riwai spoke into the night air.
"Please! Riwai, it's a lost cause! She's not even there", Ngeru argued back.
Riwai wrenched his arm from Ngerus' hand and said - "it's my home".
With that, he was swallowed by the darkness, leaving Ngeru alone.

Within minutes, Riwai was stalking through the bushes beyond the burning fenceline around Pa.
Stopping amongst a fern bush, Riwai listened. Beyond the blood pressure throbbing in his ears; he heard crackling, intermingled with a low chatter.
Motuekan survivors or hostile invaders? They were coming from the east, that much he was sure of. 
He crept through the bushes, careful not to tread on anything that might give him away.
The only source of light guiding him was the flames riddling the small settlement. 
He found the source; a gang of women and children hiding in the dark. 
Figuring they were part of the invaders, Riwai scanned the crew.
Assuming the only person standing was the leader, he continued walking around the perimeter, trying to find a weak spot in the crowd; a weak link to exploit. 
He stopped - a guard hidden behind a boulder sat a few feet from him. 
She hadn't seen him, but he had seen her. The weak link. 
He slowed his pace, trying to make less noise. Her head faced away from him. 
Less than two feet away, he held his breath.
Lifting his staff over his head, Riwai swung it down as hard as he could. 
She collapsed in a heap, dropping her knife to the foliage below her.
Riwai crouched, the women in the camp had all turned their heads towards the rock. 
He collected the knife and lifted the guard from the ground. He threw her over his shoulder and walked away from the group hiding in the forest.

Out on the clearing leading up to the western gate at Pa, Riwai tossed the girl to the grass.
He gave her a shake on the shoulders, rousing her.
"Up!", he instructed with the knife pointed to her right eye.
Without hesitation, she stood.
He stood behind her and secured his arm around her throat.
The knife pointed to her eye, Riwai pushed the woman towards the gate.
He didn't get far before finding himself surrounded by dagger-wielding soldiers.
"Let me through, or she dies!", Riwai screamed to the Settled folk pressing in on him.
For a split second, he believed they were going to obey.
His belief was short-lived, as, within a second or two, both Riwai and his hostage were being hit with a flurry of stab wounds. 
After a moment, they were both dead, and the crowd was making their way back towards the gate.