The Lord of the Plains

by Sarah Chapman

Chapter 80

  When the ehlkrid arrived in their world from wherever they’d been there was no sign. The sky did not darken, the earth did not shake. Each day was as lazily pleasant as the last, with bright, clear skies and the warm sun shining down from above. But in the caves, the air crackled with tension. Everyone was inside now. Food was stored, caves blocked off, guards set, and cave mould encouraged to grow in more of the tunnels with the help of the valkar. Riley stayed with her own tribe. Even after reaching the caves, she’d made quick trips to the surrounding tribes to warn them, until she’d seen the valkar city drifting above the mountains. Then, she’d returned to the caves and stayed; she had to focus on her own people now.

  Riley stood in the mouth of a tunnel, her hands on her hips. Her gaze travelled across the land below, across the rolling plains and the dark line that marked the start of the forest.

  A dark shape swooped down from above. It glided down the slope, then rose and circled back.

  Karesh landed in front of Riley, a wide grin on his pale face.

  ‘You’re getting very good, Karesh.’ she replied, smiling in return.

  ‘Yes. But I need more control if I’m to do this in a fight.’

  ‘Well, you can hold your own without flying until then.’ She said before returning her attention to the land stretching out before her. Then she turned and entered the caves. Some hours later, Aerlid found her doing her rounds.

  ‘You should get some rest.’ he said. ‘When they come it will likely be at night. They’ll need time to get used to daylight.’

  Riley nodded. She knew this, the tribe knew this. Aerlid had been over it before. The place the ehlkrid lived was dark all the time. There was no need for it to be so, Aerlid said. The Ehlkrid King had created that place, he could have made it a paradise if he wished. Instead he had made it dark and barren.

  Riley followed Aerlid’s advice and made her way to her own personal little cave. A large pile of furs and animal skins on the floor constituted her bed. Her few belongings were carefully organized around the room. As on the plains, she had little furniture. It was difficult, but she rested. There were guards on duty at all times. If something happened, she would be warned.

  Riley slept fitfully. When she awoke she did not know the time, it was always dark down in the caves after all. She prepared herself and quickly made her way to the surface.

  When she reached the outside she sighed. The sun was setting, only a tiny half circle of liquid gold visible above the horizon. Streamers of fading light highlighted the waving grasses of the plains. The sky above was a dark blue. A few stars were starting to appear.

  Riley found a piece of rock that was not too uncomfortable and sat down. She watched as the sun completely disappeared. Stars popped into the night sky above. The air cooled.

  And she waited, as she had every night for the last two weeks.

  The ehlkrid were in the world now, Aerlid had told her. They just weren’t here yet.

  When the moon was high above Aerlid came out and joined her.

  They waited silently, together.

  Riley’s eyes dropped from the dark horizon to the even darker plains. Even with the moon, she could make out nothing. Looking at the plains in the dark was an odd experience. The grass moved with the wind, so sometimes you could see waves of darker patches of darkness moving against the backdrop of night. Or perhaps it was an illusion, her eyes playing tricks on her.

  Riley frowned. The movement of the grasses was more obvious tonight. The wind was mild.

  Riley stared, her heart beating faster. She stood.

  Aerlid glanced at her in surprise and also stood, his gaze focussed on the plains. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  It was slow. They stood watching the plains for a long time. And then the darker wave reached the base of the mountains. And it kept coming, climbing up the slopes.

  Aerlid quickly ducked inside the tunnel entrance. Riley knew he was sounding the alert.

  Riley drew her sword.

  The soft whisper of metal sounded loud in the night.

  The wave of darkness paused, as if it had noticed.

  Aerlid was beside her again. He whispered a soft song under his breath.

  The moon flared with light, revealing a reptilian shape. The soft white light was not enough to blind Riley, but it startled the creature. It hissed, recoiled.

  Riley leapt at the dark, flat, lizard shaped thing.

  It recovered quickly and moved out of her way, faster than any gemeng she had ever seen.

  It lunged, Riley barely dodged. She was surprised and elated at the same time.

  Something else shot from the grasses. It was somewhere above her, she heard the sounds of fighting. She noted it somewhere in the back of her mind, but could not respond. The creature in front of her demanded all her attention.

  She wove and dodged, striking out at it. It moved around her with far more speed and grace than any gemeng. It was a terrible, violent grace that bespoke great strength. Yet it could not touch her. Her sword connected with its neck. A diamond shaped head went flying. The body fell limp to the ground and slid down the slope.

  Her heart beating fast, hyper aware of everything around her, Riley turned and looked. She took in the shadowy shapes of more people fighting. Easily she could tell which were gemeng and which ehlkrid.

  She moved quickly. She snuck up on ehlkrid engaged in other battles, ending them in one unseen stab.

  And then another engaged her, she could not catch it unawares.

  And she fought.

  When daybreak came Riley was surprised. The sky had been lightening for hours, though she had only been vaguely aware of it. The ehlkrid creatures suddenly broke off the fighting. They scattered, some trying to get into the caves. Riley and the other warriors quickly dealt with them. The rest disappeared somewhere unseen.

  Her heart racing, Riley finally took a good look at the battlefield. She was not tired, she was too excited. She had not been challenged like that in so long. She realized there were many gemengs on the slopes around her. The ones standing were all wounded, and she was not yet ready to count the dead that littered the slopes. Riley’s body ached terribly in some places, though she knew now that that pain signified nothing more than scrapes and bruises.

  The twisted creatures scattered across the mountain slopes made the gemengs look beautiful. They bore not even a passing resemblance to humans. There were large, lizard like creatures. Giant birds, things that looked more like cats, big blobs with too many legs and mouths with far, far too many teeth.

  Quickly Riley shook off thoughts of the battle. The wounded needed to be treated. The bodies of the ehlkrid needed to be burnt. She needed a report from the battle, how many had been killed? How well had their tactics worked? The caves needed to be checked to make sure no ehlkrid had gotten in and on and on and on.