All Chapters of Land of Heathens: Chapter 41
- Chapter 44
44 chapters
Chapter 41 - The Rise of Southern Creek's Militia
Low tide peeled the wetlands open.Water clung to stilts and roots in slick, rainbow-sheened pools. The air carried a sharp, oily tang that burned the back of the throat. Children stood coughing near the walkways, faces wrapped in cloth that did little to help.“Don’t step there,” an elder warned. “That patch leaks.”A woman waded into the shallows anyway, panic cracking her voice. “My son, ”She dragged the boy out seconds later. Black oil streaked his calves. Blisters rose where the slick touched skin, angry and fast.“It burns,” he cried.“Don’t touch it,” another woman shouted. “It was clean last season,” the mother said, shaking. “We drank from it.”“We filed reports,” an old fisherman muttered. “They filed us away.”A government notice flapped loose from a post, ink already bleeding from damp air.Tax due.Relocation pending.Aid under review.Upstream, a low mechanical hum rolled through the reeds, steady and approaching.Someone whispered, “They’re back.”No one argued.____
Chapter 42 - Our Government Sold us Out
The chamber doors sealed with a muted thud.Footsteps echoed across polished stone, measured and unhurried, carrying from the threshold to the long conference table. Shoes clicked once, twice, then stopped. Chairs shifted softly. Fabric whispered as bodies settled.Copper skin caught the low chamber light with a muted sheen. Silver-black hair was cut short or pulled neatly back, streaked with early gray earned in offices rather than battlefields. Their red eyes were sharp and controlled, trained not to linger, not to reveal.Tailored suits replaced tradition: dark fabric, crisp lines, state pins fixed at the lapel like quiet threats.At the head of the table sat Minister Halvek.He was lean, middle-aged, his copper complexion drawn tight over sharp cheekbones. His red eyes rested half-lidded, unreadable. Long fingers, clean and steady, folded together beneath the etched crest at the table’s center.The last echo faded.Halvek inclined his head a fraction.“Begin.”“The southern zones
Chapter 43 - Othmir's Invasion (Flashback IV)
Dawn fractured under iron fire.Cannons thundered from the misted flats, their recoil shuddering through wet earth. Mud-packed ramparts split open, stones leaping as if startled awake. Horns sounded too late. Argathe sentries loosed arrows in tight arcs, copper hands steady, red eyes sharp beneath braided helms.“Hold the line,” a captain shouted.Gunfire answered. Clean. Relentless. Shafts fell short, hissing into muck.Smoke crawled along the ground, pressed low by wind. Pale figures advanced through it, boots finding rhythm where paths should not exist. Fair faces flashed between metal plates. Blonde hair caught firelight. Blue and green eyes stayed fixed ahead.“Reload,” an Othmir officer called calmly.The second blast tore the inner wall apart.Argathe soldiers surged to meet them, steel ringing, banners snapping above crowned sigils. The monarchy’s colors still flew. The king’s crest. The elders’ seals.“Protect the gate,” came another cry.But the gate sagged under the overwhe
Chapter 44 - Daughter of Two Shores
The clinic smelled of boiled water and antiseptic.“Next,” Samaveh said, steady gloved hands already reaching.Ravina shifted aside to make room, her lighter copper skin touched with a faint rosy warmth where the lamplight found it. Long black-silver hair, wavier than most Argathes’, fell in loose curls down her back, framing a face shaped by sharper cheekbones and a narrower nose softened by full Argathe lips. Her eyes, red, but gentled to an amber hue, held a quiet, practiced focus as her slender hands moved with a healer’s precision.“Sit,” she said, voice calm but firm. “Slowly.”A lean shirtless man lowered himself, copper skin dulled by travel, red eyes ringed with exhaustion. His gaze caught on Ravina and lingered.“Hold still,” she said gently, her hands firm as his body trembled under them.“Must’ve been a difficult journey.”“You mean life-threatening,” he murmured, the words dragged out thin with exhaustion.Samaveh pressed cloth to a wound. “Hold this.”Ravina tied the