by S E Turner
A roar from the crowd went up as Godan stepped forward and waited for the crowd to settle before he could share what they had overheard. 'For the boys that were held captive and treated so appallingly, this news will be welcome, for only they truly know more than anyone the true depravity of the Emperor's rule.'
Once again, Jena shuddered and this time her response was matched by Hagen. A hushed crowd awaited the news.
'The Emperor is dead!'
Jena turned to Hagen and sank her head in his embrace with relief. The boys stood and cheered; the roof of the house nearly came off with the jubilation. They were dancing and swirling Rufus around with such vigour and excitement the leader had to step in.
'Calm down, boys, there is more to be heard. Please, let Godan finish.'
The clan sat down again amid waves of mumbled excitement tripping along the rows.
'But all is not well.' His voice was solemn with a feeling of apprehension. 'The General survived!'
Groans rumbled around the room.
'He has now been made Emperor in Waiting. With the Emperor's son, Cornelius, missing, General Domitrius Corbulo has been bequeathed the title. When he is sworn in, he will have control of the palace, all the estates and all the subject kingdoms.'
'May the gods help us.' Storm's chilling tone came from the side of the room.
'We are the messengers that were sent out to follow him, and we now know that the General has summoned an army of a thousand men. A ruthless army from what we have seen; it is made up of rogues and undesirables who are as depraved as their leader.' Godan's voice started to tremble as the next point was waiting to be delivered, so Sable took over.
'He will then take down all the clans and all the people in them. Men, women, children and babes in arms. He believes we are vermin that need to be exterminated.'
The women looked up fearfully to their men.
'How long have we got?' Tay's voice was thick.
The two messengers looked at each other.
Godan found his strong voice again. 'They will attack at dusk tomorrow!'
Gasps went up.
'Are you ready to fight?' shouted out Sable.
A cacophony of roars boomed back at him with vigour.
'We are!' shouted Ajeya, her voice rising above the chorus. 'We are ready!'
The clan were stamping their feet and punching the air as Ajeya led them out of the Meeting House. The two messengers followed her outside and went to speak with the rest of the clan and answer any questions while feasting on the gourmet offerings from the elder women of the tribe.
Keao approached Ajeya. 'So tomorrow it is, then. I have been looking forward to this day for so long. At last I can howl my battle cry and drive a sword into that General's heart.'
Ajeya looked at him in horror. 'Keao, please, no, you can't!'
'What do you mean I can't?'
'You have a son and you have only just been reunited. Think of Red. How worried is she going to be?'
'I am doing this for Red.' His voice was waning.
'The General is a monster with deviants in his army, I do not want you to risk your life Keao. You have done enough. You have trained everyone here; you have instilled powers that they never knew they had. You have completed your part to get revenge. Please stay at home with your wife and your son where it is safe.'
He was shaking his head in disbelief. 'So, I am supposed to stay back and watch you go off to fight alongside many of the other women and await your triumphant return knowing that I did nothing to help.'
'But you have done so much, Keao. You taught me everything. I have shared that knowledge with Dainn. You have shared it with the clan. You have done everything to help.'
He was shaking his head again. 'No. No, I am fighting with the rest of you. I have scores to settle. And you may think that I am too old and too weak to fight now and that I have lost my edge... and you may be right. But I have to do this for my son and for my wife to show how much I love them.'
She took his hands and kissed them tenderly. She had seen the passion in his eyes and heard the strength in his voice. Who was she to stop him? She sighed heavily in defeat. 'I'm sorry, forgive me. It will be an honour to fight alongside you on the battlefield.' She hugged him tightly and sniffed back the tears, but from that moment on, she would beg her totem, and his, to watch over him as he sought justice against the General of Ataxata.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Brilliant sunshine hailed the November morning that day, dappling the land in a dazzling display of moving light and shadow. The wind had dropped to a mere whisper, and in the stillness, a rich earthy scent caressed the anxious soldiers. Men were sharpening their weapons again and had smeared themselves with the indigo of ground woad mixed with animal fat. Peira said the anti-bacterial properties would protect them and give them extra healing powers. The foot soldiers had been deployed early to secure their posts with their own instructions ringing in their ears—to operate in line for maximum impact and not be outflanked by the opponents. Every soldier had sworn an oath to never make another man his shield. With these words ingrained onto their souls, the battle was now their focus.
The cavalry were waiting anxiously, their mail rattling and their war horses pawing in anticipation. This was an historical moment for the tribe as Dainn and Ajeya had prepared them for victory—to set a precedent and end the brutal regime forever.
Dainn spoke like he had never spoken before; he had the heart of a warrior and had taken his position like a true leader: valiant, strong, and determined. 'Let us go now as warriors, and those who give their lives for the safety of the clan, may your resting place be divine, and may you be richly rewarded in your next life.' He bowed his head solemnly and prayed to the gods and spirit guides for strength and fortitude. His gaze settled on his comrades. 'Until we meet again!' He saluted his people and he embraced Ajeya and Keao. 'Fill your souls with fire! Fill your lungs with determination! Fill your hearts with passion and together we will be victorious!'
As dusk stained the steppes a vivid hue of crimson, Ajeya and Dainn urged forward the first canter of the newly formed cavalry. The rumble on the ground cleared the aisle of anything in their path; ground squirrels scampered for cover as grasses leaned out of the way. Birds and insects flew in the opposite direction, and even hundred-year-old oaks drunkenly supported each other as they parted the way for the masses. Ajeya thundered across the plains with an odd mixing of elation and fear. She shot a look over to Keao. He was so strong and valiant, but did he still have his instincts about him? Could he still conceal himself and focus to have the invisibility of his totem? Mastering weapons technique on the training ground was one thing, but how would he perform in battle? He had worried about her for so much of her young life, and now it was her turn to be concerned.
She felt the flats tremble beneath her and the horses hooves rumbled ever closer to their destination. Onwards they went, an entire force of clans and their allies, all intent of ridding the stain of the Ataxatan Empire for good.
They picked up the pace. Keao waved the banner, and then the opening to the battlefield could be seen. They filed in ceremoniously and slowed when they saw the other clans.
'Thank the gods,' Dainn exclaimed, pulling up his horse. 'The Clan of the Mountain Lion are over there and look how many men they have gathered.'
The Hill Fort Tribe whooped and yelled in absolute elation.
'There's Namir waving the banner and leading his troops. Look how tall he sits.' said Dainn.
'And I can see Lyall beside him, oh how he has waited for this day,' cheered Storm.
'And look who sits alongside them both,' yelled out, Ajeya seeing another girl.
'That's Skyrah. She's the one who saved us,' said Dainn.
'Another remarkable woman, then,' Ajeya nodded her head in appreciation and admired her strength from afar.
Dainn gripped her hand with his own and kissed it tenderly.
'Look at Torré and Lace,' said Ajeya, recognis
ing them straight away. 'They are coming from the other side and just look at the masses they have with them.'
They all stared at the vision before them, their spears a hedge and their shields a wall, and then the tumultuous shouting and yelling began with the banging of shields, and the armies moved forward.
The General wouldn't have seen the joyful faces in front of him and he wouldn't have seen the sheer mass of young men and women filing in from the flanks. His army was still charging through the very centre of the pass. The clan's torches kept on coming, bearing flags and banners of power. The Ataxatan army looked beaten already. From that moment, they knew that the clan's soldiers could out do the General's, and that they could slay twice as many as their own number. That's what gave them unfathomable strength and determination as they stood their ground defiantly.
Dainn breathed in the enormous power from the generating wind and bellowed out his order to move in. Three hundred blades left their scabbards in flight and the entire force of the clans leaped to the attack, storming over the battlefield towards the General who was rushing towards them like an angered flood. The ground shook with the stampeding sound of horses' hooves, thumping rhythmically into the grass lined plain, and the earth trembled as a thousand foot soldiers ran in to support them. They didn't have time to panic—adrenalin and a much greater force took over and carried them along with a concoction of excitement and fear.
Ajeya's voice rose in power above the din of the galloping horses, shouting out her war cry. 'Fill yourselves with vengeance, for only then will vengeance be ours.'
A great roar went up from the soldiers, and they surged forward to meet the ranks of the enemy. She leaned in to Moonlight's quickening pace, tightening her grip on to her reins as she urged the filly on.
Foot soldiers with spears and daggers ran in first to cause as much chaos and slaughter as they could.
Dainn reached for his weapon whilst in a gallop, and swiftly fixed a bolt to the string of his crossbow and sent it flying through the air into the jugular of his first victim. Another bolt quickly followed into the heart of another assailant. Godan came in with the advance and sent in a squadron of archers to deploy their weapons. A rainbow of arrows hissed through the air in a perfect arch.
Ajeya kicked her horse into a gallop with Keao and Storm riding hard beside her, firing arrows in all directions as they moved in. Keao and Storm carried on circling the ground but Ajeya pulled her horse up. She dismounted and nocked an arrow, letting her mind go dark and focused like she had been taught all those years ago. Nothing else mattered now. 'Be like an animal,' she told herself. 'They slow their heartbeats to a near standstill so their body heat drops and their scent disappears. They become invisible.'
The smell of death buzzed around her. Dirt and the ravages of war landed on her face and in her hair. Arrows flew so close that she could feel the whisper of their flight. Grass ants crawled up her legs and bit her, but she didn't flinch. To them, she was nothing. To them she was invisible. To the soldiers, she was an animal in the grass.
A soldier was standing close, sniffing the air with his nose, looking for a victim, searching out something to kill. He had spotted Dainn. Ajeya stood her ground—invisible, silent, unmoving. This human couldn't be detected. She sent the swiftness of the hare into her arms. She drew back the arrow, let it loose, and it thundered through the air straight into the chest of the unsuspecting assailant. Dainn looked up and nodded to her. He was safe. She looked around for more to slay. She drew again and released the arrow, another one dropped in his path.
Out on the plain, the enemy came on, and as soon as they came within range, Ajeya launched another attack on the advancing horde. Every few minutes, the hiss of arrows was sent pulsating through the air, causing the advancing line of soldiers to topple and sink as they fell under the continual fire. But still they came.
Ajeya leapt on her horse and, drawing her sword, called out the war cry of the Hill Fort Tribe again, while further along the line, the General's soldiers were being pushed hard by a massive phalanx of spears—thrusting through the shield wall, slashing throats, piercing eyes and severing limbs.
Dainn was locked in a battle with a soldier. They leaned on one another for support as they parried each blow. Both were tiring. The captain of the guard saw his opportunity and took aim with a spear. Keao spotted the impending assault and shouted. 'Dainn, look out!' But Dainn was battle weary now—he had fought so hard for over an hour. Tay saw the minefield unfold in front of him and ran towards the second in command, but something hard hit him on the head, and he slumped to the ground, pitifully waving in a frugal attempt to stop the events. The captain's spear realigned its destination and the weapon left his grasp. It cruised through the air like a missile and hit its target. Dainn collapsed. Ajeya pulled back her bow and hit the captain full on in the chest. He dropped down on the spot, clutching the shaft that was rooted to his heart and searched with narrow eyes for where the arrow had come. A tall strong woman stood there, ready to fire again if the first had not been fatal. Storm ran in and plunged his dagger into the captain and rushed to Dainn's side—he was injured but he would survive. Enraged, Durg stormed towards the General's men, coming in to finish his comrades off. He swung his sabre into a vicious arc, taking a man's head clean from his shoulders. He then went on to decapitate half a dozen others with the force of his blade. As the perpetrators died, Ajeya saluted to her allies. But then she saw Malik grip his arm in pain as another soldier tried to hack it off. She sent an arrow swiftly into the eye of his attacker. That soldier would fight no more.
As she remained invisible and concealed, she charged through the centre of the fighting, slicing through the enemy with her sword, sending arrows to soldiers to meet their doom, cutting them down before they knew what had hit them. Longbows began to whisper all along the defences, as flights of arrows were shot into the sky and curved in flight to unseat the enemy. The demons ran in all directions like headless chickens, looking for a way through.
The struggle continued with neither side giving ground, but then the General's beleaguered army began to yield. Having lost half their men already, the situation was now hopeless. They began to fall in their droves and the General yelled out foul-mouthed obscenities as he watched the massacre of his men.
Under the grip of panic, many vomited in the soil. It was like watching day old lambs being slaughtered by a pack of wolves. Those that were left were surrounded on all sides and suffered further casualties in their masses. The General called for the cavalry to regroup, but they were now further beleaguered having fallen into an explosion of flailing limbs and weapons. One by one, the Ataxatan army fell, and if one of them was seen staggering, then a punishing blade would finish him off.
The victims of the Emperor's atrocities were now getting their revenge.
The General had watched the struggle for more than an hour, his face unyielding any emotion, his stance showing no fear. But now it was time to end this circus. He dismounted his charger and sucked a spear out of a lifeless corpse. The exhausted troops were aimlessly swatting at flies now, as the General stood menacingly poised with pure venom pouring through his veins. Arrows deployed into the air hit nothing except a wall of emotion and a static avalanche of loss. The atmosphere was putrid amidst the wrath of war, and the sounds of battle had now simmered down to a haze of dying groans from men pleading with their gods for redemption.
Ajeya was frantically looking around, still searching for concealed assailants, her bow ready, her sword at her side, a bloodied dagger in her boot. This wasn't over until the last man had left the field. Her eyes flew in every direction, her senses were alert, her body poised, ready, focused, and then she witnessed a disturbance out of the corner of her eye.
Keao had stopped for a second, just a brief moment to collect his thoughts and try to refocus. It was important to concentrate and channel his energy. He had lost some of his vitality and certainly he was not as nimble and fast. She had seen this change in
him—she knew he wasn't a man to fight on the field and kill men, to see them suffer slowly and watch their tortured souls beg for mercy. He should have stayed back. She had told him not to fight. She had told him not to go in with the younger men, but he wouldn't listen to her.
Keao's eyes were avoiding the General's direction and he did not notice him dismount his horse and get ready for the assault. The General prepared for an ambush—it was now predator and prey, he was going to take this opportunity. Keao had let his guard down. He was not invisible. He was not camouflaged. He was not taking heed of his own teaching. He had become disorientated by the sounds of war. The screams and shouts of terror, the noise and chaos of battle, the sound of death, the sight of blood—they had stripped him of all his power, and like any powerful animal, when faced with something it is not accustomed to, it loses its intuition and becomes irrational.
Keao, who had responded to nature all his life and could hide and conceal and hit a target just by focusing all his senses at once, was in a completely alien environment, and his hearing, his sight, his smell—once so finely tuned—had abandoned him. He had become the hunted instead of the hunter. Dust had obscured the sun and turned the air a putrid brown. The smell of death horrified him. Looking around him, all he could see were piles of bodies and severed body parts. The fallen lay sprawled across one another, their red stained weapons abandoned around them. The reek of blood and gashed corpses had encouraged the carrion birds to start their feasting, and they got in his line of vision as well. Sweat and dirt ran down his face and collected in wells in the rim of his eyes. Rubbing and blinking made them worse. Only a few figures were stumbling around in the battlefield now. Many of the opposition just sank where they stood, gripped by fear and apprehension as they watched the General prepare for an ambush. The ground had become a patchwork of crumpled corpses, and the ones that were left standing swung their swords aimlessly as if drunk on battle. Abandoned screaming horses were fleeing the flats. Others waited on the perimeter. All Keao could see was the blood of battle and all he could hear was the distortion of death.