As the arrows clattered against the wall, they scampered back to the battering ram. It was still warm to the touch, but the flames were gone. Kefier grabbed the ropes. “Pull now! Quickly!”
The distraction allowed them to move several paces before the arrows began to fly. The shields deflected most, but a man beside Kefier fell back with a groan, an arrow sticking from his chest. Kefier looked at him in shock. As if realizing he was doomed, the man pushed away and ran to the middle of the field. More arrows flew towards him, just as he exploded.
They reached the gate. The men gathered around the ram, untying the ropes to let the log free. The ram flew, smashing into the door.
Kefier let the men work on the gate while he went to one corner of the gatehouse to take a look. An arrow zoomed past his head, missing him by a hair. It clattered on the ground next to him.
“This isn’t working!” one man called out behind him. “This door will break the ram first!”
Kefier grabbed the arrow. He also grabbed an unrecognizable strip of flesh that was hanging off the side of the ram. “Step back!” he called, pushing the soldiers out of the way. They saw the arrow and couldn’t get away from him fast enough. He placed the flesh against the door, stuck the arrow into it, and doubled back.
The explosion tore a crack into the door. It was small, but it was enough to send splinters flying everywhere. “Aim for that,” he told his panicked men. Laughing nervously, they returned to the ram. The next blow seemed to shake the door to its core.
He returned to the edge of the gatehouse, but didn’t risk peering out again. From where he stood, he saw the next attack from the Boarshind archers and realized there were less arrows than before. They were running out of archers. Their assault on the gate cost them more men than they had figured and they had not accounted for the exploding arrows. The rest of their men were foot soldiers who couldn’t hit a target if their lives depended on it. They needed him to break into the gate now.
He looked past the woods, towards the hill, and saw the shadow of the Hafod army approaching closer. He breathed a sigh of relief. There were archers among the Hafed army. On signal, the Hafed were supposed to send the archers to join the Boarshind in keeping the wall defences at bay.
Kefier flinched as the battering ram hit the door. He heard a horn on the hill. He saw a lord look down, as if surveying the carnage below, before turning his horse around. The Hafed army began to follow him.
It took a full moment for this to sink in.
“What’s happening out there?” a soldier asked behind him. “Our archers are almost gone. They’re supposed to be sending reinforcements. What the hell are they doing?”
“The Hafed lords are turning back,” Kefier said in a low voice.
“Oh, fuck,” the soldier said.
Kefier could still remember Oji’s death like it was yesterday.
With one hand pressed against his friend’s chest, he had sat there, feeling his heartbeat disappear. His mind went through an interesting series of rationales as it happened. First, he became convinced that his hand had merely slipped, that elsewhere, Oji’s heart still drummed on while he was sleeping. And then he told himself that he was just disassociating himself from his body, that he could only feel every two heartbeats, and then every three, and then none at all.
It took a long time for him to grasp that Oji was gone. Sitting there, he had observed his friend’s face, noting how peaceful it looked. The image distanced him from the reality of what he had just done.
He had killed Oji.
Before that, he had thought that death came slowly, giving plenty of warning before it grabbed you by the throat. His father’s death had been like that. Wounded from a hunting accident, Meirosh had stayed up for the better part of a day and night, swearing and fighting until he succumbed to the poisons in his body.
Death that came like the snap of one’s fingers had been new to Kefier. How could he even believe that he had been responsible when he didn’t have time to process it before it happened? The words, I killed Oji, had meant nothing then and had meant nothing for the longest time. He had loved Oji. The love had masked what he had done. Yet he had known, even back then, that the weight of his actions would haunt him for the rest of his days.
Now, in the midst of the smell of blood and fire, the disassociation was as strong as ever. Kefier had brought these men here, with promises of riches and glory, for his own purposes. He had not been as truthful to them as he could have been. He had rationalized that he had given them enough information to turn back, but that wasn’t true. If he had told them of the horrors that would come when facing Dageian mages, most of them would’ve fled.
Half of the men at the gate now lay dead before him. A handful clung to the walls, screaming and praying. He wanted to reassure them, but he couldn’t find words that didn’t make him feel sick. There were no more archers to distract the Dageians on the battlements. The Dageians’ arrows were turned on the gatehouse party. Most clattered against the walls, but it was only a matter of time. They were dying, one by one.
His body, still struggling to survive even as his mind began to falter, told him to press as close to the edge of the door as possible. The position offered reasonable protection from the arrows. He opened his mouth to give words of encouragement and realized there was no point. He was the only one left standing. The last man, having felt an arrow dig into his shoulder, had scrambled into the open before shattering into flesh and flame.
There must be a reason why a man like me continues to survive, he thought. Was it simply the gods playing jokes on them all? If there was any kindness left in them…if the gods weren’t asleep…his mother wouldn’t have died. She would’ve stopped Enosh from going off with Yn Garr and none of this would’ve happened.
The barrage of arrows halted. Kefier stood still, afraid that a single movement would betray his position, and tried to look back at the hill. He could see shadows coming up towards the woods where the rest of the Boarshind army waited. Did the Hafed change their mind? If they sent more men towards him, he could salvage this operation. With renewed hope, he pressed a bloody hand against the wall and took one step forward.
The pit of his stomach dropped. The new arrivals were not wearing Hafed colours. Far from it.
He was trapped between a granite wall and the Dageian army.
Chapter Fifteen
Kefier quickly learned that Dageian soldiers did not fight like barbarians.
In the beginning, he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. The Dageian army had begun to push the Boarshind soldiers out of the safety of the trees and down into the barren field. They were safe from arrows now, lest the Dageians risk hitting their own men, but the trade-off brought little relief. Kefier had found himself drawing his sword and rushing at the first, unwary soldier who had somehow strayed to the edge of the battle.
The man was wearing very little armour—one metal shoulder plate over a buttoned leather doublet, which had collars that went all the way up his neck in Dageian fashion. He had a sabre in one hand, but Kefier’s appearance caught him unprepared and he seemed to have forgotten how to swing it.
His other hand reached for a revolver strapped to his left belt. Kefier had seen the damage such things could cause at short range and didn’t wait for him to pull it out. He attacked the soldier with a series of strikes that tore at his doublet and caused him to fall backwards, dropping his sabre behind him. Kefier pulled back and used the opportunity to stab him in the throat.
He pushed the body away, just as another soldier came at him. This one seemed to have learned the prudence of not fiddling around with a revolver in the middle of a fight and outright attacked Kefier with his sabre. The blade went around in an arc that caught Kefier off-guard, bouncing off his arm guards.
He found his footing and slashed back. Kefier had the Jin-Sayeng longsword he had inherited from Oji and fought with both hands on the hilt. The soldier, fighting only with one hand, seemed as unused t
o Kefier’s attack pattern as Kefier was with his. Their blades met. Kefier struck with such force that it rattled the Dageian. After that, falling the man was an easy enough task.
The panic he had been feeling only minutes ago dissipated, replaced by the fervour of staying alive. He didn’t even notice that he was starting to bleed from at least two different places after killing the third soldier. He turned to the sound of a blast behind him and saw Caiso cutting down a soldier who had made the same, fatal mistake as the first one.
“Commander, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Caiso said. “We were sure you perished at the gate.”
“Almost nearly did,” Kefier said, pointing to his right ear, the tip of which was mangled from one of the explosions.
“I always did suspect you were at least part cat.”
“I’m about to run out of lives soon enough. What the hell happened there?”
They were interrupted by the arrival of two more soldiers. Kefier fought with renewed strength, killing his opponent before he even realized what he was doing. He looked back at Caiso, who seemed to have done the same thing.
“What did you think happened?” Caiso continued, panting. “The fucking cowards abandoned us.”
“Orders from His Highness?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him anywhere.”
They heard a signal horn, different from theirs. The Dageian soldiers fought to escape.
“Back into the woods!” Kefier cried, realizing what they were doing. “They’re leaving us for arrow fodder!”
The mercenaries screamed, rushing uphill. The Dageians, lightly clothed, were faster. As they retreated into the safety of the woods, a volley of arrows appeared. Kefier grabbed Caiso and sought shelter behind a bush. Two arrows struck the tree beside them.
In the distance, Boarshind soldiers fell. Kefier and Caiso got up, running deeper into the woods just as the explosions tore into the air.
“Did the bastards just leave us?” Caiso spat as they regrouped in a clearing, well out of arrow range.
“They’re still there,” a Boarshind soldier said, wiping blood off his brow. “Blocking every exit out of here. They wanted the arrows to finish us.”
“Good luck to that,” Caiso said.
Kefier caught sight of Eswenna, who still had the wide-eyed shock of someone who wasn’t sure how she had survived. “Officer, post guards around this hill. Grab whatever gear you can salvage from the archers.”
Eswenna blinked. “Yes, Commander,” she croaked.
Kefier turned. Robaz and Aden were walking up to him. “They got Dasten,” Aden said. His lip was swollen. “I can’t see Sev.”
“If I get my hands on those Hafed, I’ll…!” Robaz cried.
“You’ll what? Wring their little necks like chickens? As if they’ll let you get close,” Caiso snapped. “This was doomed from the start. Why did we think a bunch of prissy, highborn idiots would risk their lives for us?”
“They were waiting to see if our assault had a chance to succeed,” Aden ventured. “Then they drew back when they saw we’d failed.”
“We were close,” Kefier said. “If they had reinforced the archer ranks, distracted the Dageians on the wall a bit more, we would’ve broken into the gate.”
“I’m not sure if I want to find out what’s waiting for us in there,” Aden said, shivering.
“You fucking idiots,” Caiso said. “This had nothing to do with how well we fought. The lords wanted to see us dead. They never liked to see their king pandering to Yn Garr’s every wish, and that little happenstance with Lady Dahrias sealed the deal.”
“And whose fault was that?” Robaz snapped.
“I’m almost sure it’s the Commander’s fault, but we’re not here to lay blame,” Caiso said.
“Thanks a lot, Caiso,” Kefier mumbled.
Caiso smiled at him before turning back to the rest, his eyes growing cold. “I’m willing to bet my life they’re waiting back at Trayfor’s Rock, waiting for us to thin out the Dageians with our lives so they could swoop in and claim all the glory for themselves. That’s how these highborn men think.”
“How would you know how they think?” Robaz asked.
“I had a Duke’s son as a lover once. What’s it to you?” Caiso snapped. “The point is…”
“We’re fucked,” Kefier said.
“Thank you for the encouragement, Commander. Happy to hear we have a leader who puts our morale above all else,” Aden said. He gave the weak laughter of a man resigned to his fate.
“Arguing about all of this changes nothing,” Robaz mumbled. “The Dageians have us surrounded.”
“Could we cut our way through?” Kefier asked.
“Even if we’re able to do that, the Hafed will be right behind them, waiting,” Caiso said. “I’m sure they’ll enjoy having us all executed for treason even more than watching us get slaughtered by the Dageians. Oh, why didn’t I listen to my mother? I could’ve married, sired a couple of fat babies…” He slumped on the ground, one hand on his sword for support.
“Caiso babies. I don’t even know where to start with that,” Aden said, sitting beside him. “There was a girl back home for me, too. I wish I hadn’t been so picky about teeth on women. She had a good enough face. And her hips…”
“Well, that’s two brain-addled officers to add to our casualties,” Robaz said. He looked at Kefier. “What’re you thinking?”
“The Dageians won’t leave us alone for very long,” Kefier said. “When they’re rested, they’ll probably try to drive us back to the wall again.”
“We won’t let them,” Aden said. “We’ll fight to the death, for honour, for glory, for the love of big-chested women.”
“Rokarsh used to say that,” Kefier mused.
Aden grinned. “I know. If nothing else, Kefier, I can’t wait to see them all.”
“Everybody keeps wanting to drag me into the grave with them,” Caiso said. “I don’t even know those people. I don’t want to see them.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll love you,” Aden said.
“How the fuck is that supposed to comfort me?”
“Just take what you can from it, Caiso. It’s not like you have any other friends.”
“I think—” Robaz started. He looked at Caiso and Aden, as if daring them to interrupt him. When they didn’t, he cleared his throat and continued. “The Dageians weren’t counting on us fighting like caged lions. You saw how they were. I don’t know how they made their way behind us, but there must be a route through the mountains. You can’t expect them to fight like their lives depended on it.”
“They also have the Hafed army to worry about,” Kefier added. “They’re not helping us now, but the Dageians have no way of knowing how long that’s going to last.”
“Right. It’s keeping them on edge.” Robaz rubbed his white beard. “My guess is they’ll leave us alone tonight, attack in the morning. They can afford it.”
“These are probably the soldiers garrisoned at Lon Basden,” Kefier said. “If they need reinforcements, it’ll take another day or two for them to arrive. Longer, if they have to wait for them from the rest of Dageis. Lon Basden is cut off from the rest of the mainland because of the Hos Adens.”
“They named you after a mountain range?” Caiso mused.
“They named the mountains after me,” Aden laughed. “Because of my…”
Robaz gave them a look. They fell silent.
“Well, waiting for the Dageians to attack us so we can finish them off doesn’t seem like much of a plan,” Robaz said.
“It’s all we’ve got,” Kefier replied. “Split the soldiers into shifts, so we have men ready for battle at all times. The others will get as much rest as they can.”
“We won’t have food for long,” Caiso warned. “Two, three days’ worth at best.”
“Let’s hope we figure something else out before then,” Kefier said. “I’ll scout the perimeter.”
Caiso goggled at him. “Get y
our wounds stitched up first.”
“I think I’ll be all right,” Kefier said.
Robaz frowned at him. “If you’re planning to die from infection tonight, we might as well fall on our swords now.”
“Isn’t that touching, coming from him? Sit down, Kefier.” Caiso called for a medic.
“I’m only saying it because I have no desire to be involved in a power struggle with you.”
“What about me?” Aden quipped.
Caiso laughed. “You’re so smart, old man. Robaz Whitebeard—you should’ve been a scholar and spared us your presence.”
“Enough of this fool’s prattle. I’ll do the patrol.” Robaz tucked on his sword and withdrew from them, just as the medic arrived with bandages and ointment. The soldier handed Kefier some water.
“So this is what waiting for death feels like,” Aden observed, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky. “I thought it would feel different. Less laughter, more poetry.”
Caiso cleared his throat. “I watch the autumn leaves fall and think, under the smell of raindrops and earth, yes, if that should be my grave…”
“It’s fucking winter,” Kefier said.
“You, my friend, need to learn more about literary devices.”
“Literary what? If you can’t eat, fuck, or otherwise kill something with those, I don’t give a damn,” Aden said cheerfully.
Caiso scratched his head. “Uneducated louts.”
“Finish your poem, Caiso,” Kefier said.
Caiso looked away. His voice reverberated from his chest as he spoke.
If I should fall here, cloaked in my own blood,
The shards of sweat a jewelled necklace around my throat,
As long as I can remember,
Real or imagined, the sweetness of your voice,
Then I think I would not mind at all.
Chapter Sixteen
The second evening in Barun, Enosh caught sight of Rosha and Sume sitting on a low stone wall out in the gardens. Although the gardens were unkempt after decades of negligence, bushes of wild roses grew here and there. The effect of seeing the woman and the girl against that background, under moonlight, gave him pause.
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