by D L Frizzell
The team took what explosives they still had and rushed after the fleeing jugs. They made it to the first row of downed jugs and began throwing their explosives as fast as they could set the timers. A wounded Jug lying on the bridge tried to hit Sturm with his blade. Kate ran him through with her parlo before he could complete his swing. Sturm saw what she did and tipped his hat to her.
Gurnig and Seneca let more explosives fly and caught several of the trailing jugs. With the Jugs fleeing beyond their throwing range, they all switched to their Longarms and rapid-fired into those who were left.
Daigre could not believe his eyes. As he stood at the top of the bridge, he saw fewer than twenty of the first wave still standing, and most of them were running back in retreat. He yelled at them to fight on, but they had lost their will.
"This is unacceptable!" he screamed at them. In a fury, he turned to Rannuk and yelled to him, "Get the sap containers. Bring them here now!"
Rannuk nodded and shouted to the Jugs who waited on the edge of the plateau. He made each of them grab one of the saddlebags from a nearby stockpile and run to the top of the bridge.
"Pour it out on the bridge!" Daigre yelled at them, discarding the chain of command he had established with Rannuk. When the Jugs gave him confused looks, he threw a saddlebag on the bridge and sliced it open with his sword. The liquid sap spread out quickly and flowed down the stony slope. He waved the others to follow his lead.
Not thinking of their comrades but their orders, the Jugs spilled the sap across the width of the bridge and went back for more. They showed no concern for those fleeing up the bridge towards them. Instead, they hastened their delivery of sap and quickly depleted the stockpile.
A few of the Jugs running up the bridge had the sense to jump off the southern face of the bridge onto the adjacent boulders as the sap picked up speed towards them, but the ones behind them did not see what was happening until it was too late. As soon as their feet hit the sap, they slipped and fell. When they started sliding back down the bridge, they collided with the men behind them, who joined them in their downward acceleration.
The surviving Jugs standing on the Sentinel Bridge saw they were now facing certain death by retreating, so turned back toward the Plainsmen soldiers to flee the slippery death that followed them. Many of them threw their parlo blades away and bounded headlong down the bridge towards the squad.
"This can't be good," Alex said.
When they saw Jugs leaping off the bridge onto the boulders, it dawned on everyone what was coming.
"Everyone off the bridge!" Seneca yelled. "Get to the boulders!"
The whole squad followed his command without question. In her haste, Kate stumbled over the body of a Jug next to her. She lost valuable seconds peeling the knives from her hands and was slow to stand because her left hand was stuck to the surface of the bridge. Alex saw she wouldn't make it on her own, so he stopped to help her. When he looked up and realized neither of them had time to make it to the safety of the boulders, he grabbed her right hand and pushed it onto the bridge next to the other one.
"Don't move!" he ordered her.
As the last Jugs approached, he aimed his pistol and picked off two that were immediately uphill from them. They fell down and momentarily deflected the approaching river of sap, but their bodies quickly became coated and slipped downhill as well. With mere seconds before one of the bodies hit them, Alex holstered his pistol. He put all his weight on her hands with his left forearm.
"Hold on!" he yelled.
Kate screamed as the bodies hit but remained glued to the rock as they tumbled past. Alex held onto her shoulder and kept his weight on her hands, hoping the spawn juice would hold.
Alex easily deflected the glistening corpses that slid by. That wasn’t what he was worried about, though. The real danger was the continuing deluge of sap. It only took seconds before they were completely smothered in it. Both closed their eyes tightly as the wave of slick fluid engulfed them.
They heard the screams of the remaining Jugs as they slid uncontrollably down the bridge, and then silence as they dropped onto the rocks below. The entire Sentinel Bridge was now coated with sap and washed clean of people, save for Alex and Kate in the center.
Chapter Fifty
Daigre paced back and forth, infuriated by the outcome of the battle. The Sentinel Bridge was now impassable, but none of the Plainsmen had been killed. He kicked an empty saddlebag onto the bridge and watched it slide quietly down the slope until it fell onto the boulders below.
"There are two soldiers left on the bridge," Rannuk noted.
"They will die soon enough," Daigre spat, unsatisfied that he would take only two lives in return for the two hundred he lost.
Rannuk walked away to join the rest of the Jugs on the plateau, who numbered fewer than a hundred. He talked with them, his back to Daigre. Some of the Jugs glanced at the Jovian as they conferred with one another.
"What are you talking about?" Daigre demanded. Rannuk faced Daigre again and approached him.
"I wanted to listen to them," Rannuk said. "I saw them talking and thought you would want to know what it was about.”
"I do not care what they are saying. I do not expect the approval of savages," Daigre retorted. “I expect obedience.”
“Of course.” Rannuk gave no indication of disrespect, but Daigre noted he did not end his reply with the customary acknowledgment of Daigre as his master. That suggested to him that there was unrest brewing in the ranks.
"Have the rest of the archers guard the plateau," Daigre ordered Rannuk. "They may try to climb the boulders and engage us from there."
Rannuk nodded and left to pass on his instructions. Again, he did not address Daigre as master. As he relayed the orders to the other Jugs, they took too long before accepting the order. Daigre began to wonder if it might be time to make his escape.
How could the Jugs turn against him so quickly? he wondered. It was not as if he treated them the way Benac did. Benac was cruel, insulting, and self-serving. Daigre was a man of honor, dedicated to his mission. What would cause the Jugs to withdraw their support for him? The answer came to him as a slap in the face. Benac had killed two jugs; Daigre caused hundreds of their deaths, and with just as little to show for it. The Jugs now looked at Daigre the same way they looked at Benac before abandoning him on the Celeste.
Daigre took a moment to consider the last few weeks. Was he becoming like the one he despised, one who gave so little regard to others in his single-minded pursuit of victory? Perhaps so, but wasn't their primary mission, the one that demanded all their lives if necessary, to protect The Guile? A nagging sense of guilt found its way into his thoughts. He realized he was holding his sword, still coated with sap from cutting the saddlebags open. He wiped the sword on the hem of his ragged outfit and slid it back into its sheath.
The Plainsmen had so few men but spent so much of their energy protecting one another. Wasn't that a weakness? Yet, here they were, whittling down a force thirty times their size. Something in their actions gave him pause. He couldn't accept what it appeared to be. It had to be anything but that. They would give away their true nature soon. Once they had done so, he would regain confidence in his mission, and then he would destroy them. He knelt down at the edge of the Sentinel Bridge with his walking stick on his lap to watch what they would do next.
Alex and Kate had difficulty breathing at first. Though they had ducked their heads against the flow of sap, it still got in their nostrils and their mouths. They were now completely coated from head to toe. As they recovered their breath, Alex saw the glue on Kate's gloves was holding. As grateful as he was, he didn't know how long it would last.
Seneca's initial effort to throw them a rope failed. Between the two of them, Alex and Kate only had one hand free. He wouldn’t be able to get a sling around her with her hands glued to the bridge, nor would she be able to let go in order to grab a rope. Alex was certain she would have trouble grasping anything with her
hands, as he’d been resting all his weight on them for several minutes. Alex might get one arm into a sling, but only if he left Kate behind. He wasn't going to do that.
Alex pulled a necker from his pocket and wiped his face. Kate turned to him and he cleaned her as well. With the necker now soaked, he discarded it.
The incoming sap had stopped flowing, but it made no difference. Everything around them was slippery. Alex could see the rest of the squad had made it off the rocks and assembled on the boulders across from them. He looked up to the plateau and saw a lone figure sitting there, watching them.
"It looks like our Jovian is still here, Colonel," Alex called out to Seneca.
“I'm not worried about him right now, Alex,” Seneca said. “It doesn't look like our rope trick is going to work, so we’re going to try and think of something else to get you two off the bridge.”
“Thanks,” Alex replied, doubting there was much else that could be done. He spit out more sap on the stone next to him. It had a heavy, bitter taste. He looked down at Kate, who was growing more uncomfortable. "How are you doing?" he asked her.
"My hands hurt," she said.
“Hang on, guys,” Gurnig shouted to Kate and Alex. “I’ve got another rope down at the camp." He climbed down the boulders out of sight.
Alex felt bad for continuing to put his weight on her hands. Without constant pressure, her gloves would lose their grip on the stone and they would slide to their deaths. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm trying to think of something to get you to safety.”
"Okay," she said.
Alex shifted his weight slightly to relieve the cramp he was getting in his shoulder but stopped when Kate moaned. He looked up at the figure sitting on the edge of the plateau. The Jovian was watching them, studying them, expecting them to give up. The bridge was no longer usable. The boulders leading up to the edge of the plateau were patrolled by jug archers. The plainsmen had no more options. Their gambit had given them most of the jugs, but they were still outnumbered with no way to get to the Narrow.
Alex remembered the struggle he'd been having with his feelings over the previous weeks. It struck him as odd that it would occur to him at that moment. Everything made sense; what Redland did, what Seneca did, even what the Jugs and the Jovians did. Whether friend or enemy, they all wanted the same thing. He looked down at Kate. "I want to tell you something," he said.
"Does it have anything to do with ropes?"
He smiled at her. "No," he said. "It's not important, I guess. Maybe I'll tell you later."
As he picked some crystallized sap off Kate's cheek, he remembered something Strapp told him days earlier. He rubbed the substance between his fingers and felt the grains of dirt trapped within it. As he stared at it, an idea occurred to him.
“Colonel!” Alex shouted. “Forget the rope."
“Why, Alex?" Seneca asked. “What are you thinking?”
"I’m going to need a duster with a hood. The bigger, the better,” Alex said. “We can still turn this situation around and get you up to the plateau.”
“Let’s see if we can get all of us up there,” Seneca countered.
"Don't worry, my plan includes our rescue." Alex looked at Kate, whose pained expression revealed the growing stress on her hands. “Whatever happens, you will have the advantage you need, and you can stop the Jovian before he gets through the Narrow. Colonel," Alex said firmly, "this will work."
Chapter Fifty-One
On the plateau above, Daigre saw one of the plainsmen remove his duster and throw it to the pair trapped on the bridge. Once the two covered themselves with it, the rest made their way down toward the lower end of the bridge and disappeared from sight one by one. Daigre was surprised. They did not seem, especially after the last few days, to be the type to accept defeat so easily. But what else could they do? Two deaths were certain to occur. Perhaps they had finally learned they could not win.
Daigre considered the events that had played out before him. His misgivings about the Plainsmen had not been put to rest simply because they had no options left. On the contrary, he was convinced that they were not finished yet. In a way, he hoped they would not give up, just as he himself would not give up as long as he had breath left to fight. He knew he should leave and return to The Guile with his report, but he was compelled to stay and watch. After five minutes of waiting, though, he felt doubt creeping in.
“Do you have instructions?” Rannuk asked.
Except for the two abandoned on the bridge, there was no further sign of the Plainsmen. Daigre was disappointed. “Tell the men to tear down the camp,” Daigre answered. “The Plainsmen have abandoned their comrades and are leaving.”
“Right away,” Rannuk nodded. He turned around and left.
Daigre waited while the Jugs went about their task of loading supplies onto the handlebar goats. He felt nothing but scorn for them. And for some reason, he admired the Plainsmen.
Daigre closed his eyes to empty his mind of distractions and meditate. As he reflected on the mission, he decided it wasn’t the Jugs that bothered him. They were only tools, chosen by The Guile for their fighting skills. Benac was likewise a tool, a man without conscience who seemed chosen for his cruel nature. Daigre knew he was a tool himself, bound by his vow of servitude. He didn’t question The Guile’s motives; he must have known what he was doing when he set these events in motion.
Daigre sighed. He knew he’d neglected his virtues, little by little, until he discarded them completely. It was out of anger that he ordered the Jugs to charge down the Sentinel Bridge, knowing they would be exposed to attack. It was out of anger that he sacrificed even more to the deluge of sap. He had given up his honor to accomplish The Guile’s plan. He had become worse than the Plainsmen. He loathed himself.
Rannuk returned to Daigre and confirmed they were ready to travel. Sensing that Daigre was troubled, he commented on the situation. “You have won the battle. Are you not pleased?”
“Yes, we won,” Daigre replied bitterly, “If I behaved honorably, we would have met on the field of battle and faced each other like men. Instead, I reduced myself to trickery. I was too eager, and I sacrificed what is most important."
“You have been more clever than the enemy,” Rannuk said as he gestured at the oily bridge. “The Guile would commend you for that.”
Daigre was angered by Rannuk’s choice of words. "Do you think The Guile would disapprove of an honorable fight?”
Rannuk was about to say something but stopped when something caught his attention. Daigre scowled and turned to follow Rannuk's gaze. A column of dark smoke rose from the lower edge of the Sentinel Bridge.
“What are they doing?” Daigre asked.
"It seems they have set the sap on fire," Rannuk said.
“They would kill their own with a painful death in the fire instead of a quick death on the rocks?” Daigre asked, confused. "They must know this is worse."
Rannuk nodded. “As you said, they have abandoned their own.”
“Speak your mind, Rannuk,” Daigre said.
“They are doing something I did not expect,” Rannuk answered. "They are burning the sap. It will not take long for the fire to clear the fuel off the bridge and make it passable again. They are not giving up this fight."
The leading edge of the fire quickly advanced up the bridge. Smoke billowed into the air and drifted toward them. It suddenly became clear to Daigre what the plainsmen were doing. Their nature had finally been revealed - they would subject their own helpless allies to a fiery death in order to reach their goal. They were the savages he had been warned about, and he felt relieved. "Get our soldiers off their mounts," he ordered Rannuk. "We are going to have the battle we should have had!"
On the bridge, Alex inserted his right arm into the duster’s sleeve and carefully pulled it over his back. It was several sizes too big for him and provided enough room for both him and Kate to fit inside. He maneuvered carefully to insert his left arm into the other sleeve without lo
sing his handhold. As he lifted the edge of the duster over Kate, he saw it was already heavily coated in sap.
“My fingers are coming loose,” Kate winced, unable to hide the pain.
“Try not to move,” he told her. “It will only loosen them more. We just need to hold on for another minute.”
“Are we going to die?”
Alex smiled at her eyes behind the sap-soaked goggles. “Not if I can help it,” he replied. The sky grew dark as the smoke moved up the bridge toward them. It reminded Alex of the grove fire. It wasn’t long before he could see only Kate next to him and the increasing glow of the fire within the smoke. He blinked to clear the stinging tears from his eyes as he gauged how much time they had left.
Kate squirmed. “It hurts!”
"Just a few more seconds," Alex told her. Below them, the flames came into view through the smoke. “We’ll be alright,” he smiled.
“I…” she hesitated. “I will trust you.”
He pulled the hood over his head and drew close to her. “I’m going to roll you over,” he said. “When I do, pull your hands away from the rock and wrap them around my neck.”
She clenched her teeth. “I will follow your orders. I am not afraid.”
“Good girl,” he said. “Here we go.”
When Alex rolled Kate on her side, she peeled her hands off the rock. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her close and rolled over her to land on his back. She intertwined her arms behind his head as instructed and lay on top of him. They accelerated quickly down the bridge. Alex dug his spurs into the rock until the two of them angled head first down the bridge. He released his hold on Kate, then reached down with both hands and closed the zipper behind her back. With her body held firmly against him inside the duster, he freed his arms from the sleeves and pulled the hood inside the collar in a two-fisted grip behind Kate's neck. He scissored her legs between his own. “Take a deep breath and hold it!” he shouted over the sound of the approaching fire.