Winter's Rising

by Mark Tufo

“Yes it did, Tallow. I’ll forgive you this one time. Cedar and I were fighting alongside everyone and we have just as much a place here as anyone.”

  “If not more so,” Cedar threw in.

  “If not more so,” I echoed.

  “Fine, but let me do the talking.”

  “I hate to quote Durango, but…who made you boss?” I asked him. There was pain in his features or maybe it was worry. He did not answer.

  We were within ten feet when Tallow stopped, as did Cedar and I.

  “I am Haden of the Klondike clan,” the man to the right of the flag bearer stated.

  He was younger than Brody yet every bit as imposing. He was only a few inches taller than me, but he was twice my width. He looked like he could have lifted some of the stones we had trouble rolling into place right over his head.

  “I wish to parlay with the leader of the Dystancians,” he stated. His face looked like it was cut from marble–like the Greek statues of old. His pale blue eyes shone brightly, in stark contrast to his long black hair. The only imperfection, if you could even call it that, was a scar that came from below his right eye down to the corner of his mouth. If anything it enhanced his physical appearance. I felt myself reluctantly drawn to the enemy.

  “I am the leader,” Tallow stepped forward. Cedar punched him in his shoulder. “What I meant to say is that we are all the leaders.”

  “A triumvirate–how very Roman,” Haden smiled. I could see by the crinkle around his eyes that it was not a forced gesture.

  “My name is Tallow. This is Cedar and Winter.”

  Haden strode forward clasping Tallow’s hand, he shook it once. He did the same to Cedar. When he came to me he grabbed my hand but did not let go after what I figured was his custom.

  “You fight magnificently, Winter of Dystance.” His gaze was penetrating; even when Tallow spoke he did not look away.

  “Umm, thank you. What do you wish to talk about?”

  “Yes, Haden, what do you wish to talk about?” The man that was carrying the white flag asked. It was clear that whatever Haden wanted was not in accord with what he himself wanted.

  “Serrot, can you not see that I am busy?”

  Serrot himself was a good-sized man, although where Haden may have been sculpted by the hand of a gifted artist, Serrot had been lumped together by an angry child. I guess that’s not an entirely fair description, but compared to one as beautiful as Haden, he came up lacking.

  He seemed sincere enough, but I had my doubts. “You are our sworn enemy, Haden of the Klondike clan. Why would you wish to talk?”

  “Right to the point. I like that. I saw you in battle earlier and I could not help but be awed by the way you fought. I was moved to assist in any way I could.”

  “And an opportunity presented itself that let you deal with the Feral dogs on your own terms,” I replied.

  Haden laughed. “You are as smart as you are beautiful. I thought as I neared that some of that beauty would diminish but, if anything, it has magnified. I have never met such a creature as yourself.”

  “Do you have a kilt? Because that would be just about perfect,” Cedar interjected.

  “Why would I wear clothes of Scottish origin?” he asked, glancing over at her.

  “Oh, nothing. Sorry, just something I read,” Cedar smiled.

  “So what now? We have met, you have helped us, not completely for altruistic reasons, but you have helped. What happens now? Did you merely wish to meet us face to face before you strike?” I asked him.

  “If we had wished to strike, you would already be dead,” Serrot spoke.

  “We will await you,” I said defiantly. “I will purposefully look for you on the field of battle. Or will you hide behind your arrow throwers?”

  “How dare you insult me!” Serrot roared, pulling his sword free.

  “We are in a parlay, Serrot! Do you wish to betray that covenant?” Haden had one hand on the man.

  “She had the insolence to question my courage! She must pay! I will not be degraded by a Dystancian whelp!”

  “That whelp single-handedly killed over thirty attacking Ferals. As skilled as you are with a sword, I’m not sure you could have matched her.” Haden was smiling but there was something else there as well, a warning perhaps. A veiled threat, maybe.

  Serrot was fuming; his sword had still not been placed away. I kept one hand on my pommel.

  “As I was saying,” Haden turned to me. Whatever he had directed at Serrot was gone. “The Dystancians have done us a great service in defeating our mutual enemy, and it would be my honor if your clan joined in this war with myself and the Klondikes.”

  I don’t know who was more surprised or ready to disagree, Tallow or Serrot.

  “Then consider yourself honored. I would like to discuss this further,” I replied before either was given a chance to take away what had been placed before us.

  “Meddies!” Haden called over his shoulder. “Tend to their wounded as if they were our own. “Come, Winter. I would like to see this stronghold you have erected.” He linked his arm through mine so that I could not get away whether I wanted to or not.

  I smiled when behind us I heard Tallow and Serrot both say, “He cannot do this!”

  “I’m Cedar.”

  “I don’t care,” Serrot said as he stomped away.

  “He’ll come around,” Haden said conspiratorially.

  “How is it you came by Meddies?”

  “Klondikes prepare for all contingencies. Some of our soldiers train in the Meddie field from an early age. We have learned that more combatants die from minor wounds or dysentery rather than an actual killing blow.”

  “And the arrow men?”

  “Archers,” he corrected. “Ten years ago the Hillians unleashed that new deadly weapon upon us. We borrowed their new technology and have improved upon it.”

  “Is that legal?”

  “This is war; there are no laws but what we establish for ourselves.”

  “Do you know why we are at war?”

  My arm was nearly jerked loose from its socket when he stopped walking and I had kept going. “Once again, Winter, you surprise me. I have spent my whole life preparing for or fighting this war that I never once stopped to ask why.”

  “No matter the outcome, The War always is.”

  “You are right in this. Should we make it out of this season, I will make that my quest–to discover the truth.”

  He had said “we.” Did he mean all of us or just the Klondikes? I wondered.

  “How many of you are there?”

  “Are you wishing to gauge the strength of the enemy?” He was once again smiling.

  I looked down. “Yes, that was partly the reason for the question. The other was how much might this agreement help my people.”

  “Do you trust me, Winter?”

  “Should I?”

  “I think I have given you reason to do so.”

  “You saw an opportunity and you took it. That does not make us allies. Your friend does not see an advantage to us joining forces. We can offer you very little except burden. The majority of my people are under-armed and under-trained. We have lost more souls than we have left standing, and we have not even seen the first sunrise.”

  “Don’t blow this for us, Winter.” Cedar was out of breath as she caught up.

  “Would you rather I seek out the Hillians like Serrot had lobbied for?”

  “It seems that would give your clan the best chance.”

  “You’re killing me, Winter. He offers a peace between us and you are doing your best to throw it on the ground and step on it.”

  “Cedar, these might be things better discussed privately.” I was glaring at her, but she paid absolutely no attention to my admonishment.

  Meddies raced by us with their bags. Tallow was lingering behind, uncertain of what to do next. It was clear that Haden thought me the leader of the triumvirate and therefore the leader of the Dystancians. This was absurd to me considering
our plan had always been to leave The War at the soonest possible moment. Now, after two victorious battles, we were on the cusp of making an alliance with one of the strongest clans at war.

  There was shouting up by the wall. The Meddies were being threatened.

  “They’re here to help, let them pass!” I shouted. It was one of Tallow’s friends, Hendrich, I think. He looked over to me and then at the distant Tallow. He put his sword down and allowed them unencumbered entry.

  I had not realized the destruction that had been wrought while we were fighting. Dead Ferals made a ring around our walls almost as if they were adding a layer of protection. The rocks were coated in blood–theirs and ours.

  “You will need to burn the bodies or you will risk the spread of illness,” Haden said as he surveyed the area. “That is, if you plan on staying here.” He was looking directly at me. “You fought well here. Nothing I can say should take that away from you, but the Ferals only know one way of attack, and that is as a swarming mass. They have no tactic other than running up to and through whatever is in their way. Should the Hillians come upon this…stronghold, they will rain fire arrows down until not a soul survives. And should a few be able to stay hidden away, they will come with lances and shields that will far outreach your swords. I am offering you a chance, Winter. I will give you the night to discuss this among your clan, and in the morning I will seek your answer. If you choose against it you will have naught to fear from me, for I will not attack any of you. I will turn away from this place and try to forget that I ever laid eyes across it or you. The latter will be much more difficult.” He bowed and walked back to his men.

  “Someone has a crush!” Cedar was smiling.

  “No I don’t!” I told her back.

  “I was talking about him, but now that you protested so loudly….” With that she walked away.

  I was left alone to my own thoughts. Tallow was slowly making his way over; if he took any longer I would have to make the decision without his input, although I already knew which way he was leaning.

  Tallow was doing his best to not look at the faces of the dead amongst us. “We did it, Winter. We actually beat them.”

  I knew in which direction he was going. He was about to tell me that we could do this on our own. I was not as confident. “Tallow, he offered us a chance, a true chance. Before you say no, look over those rocks at your–our people. We don’t have more than sixty or seventy left that can fight. We’ve barely gone a day.”

  His head sagged. “He’ll kill us as soon as he gets the chance.”

  “Haden has promised.”

  “Serrot is his second in command. You should have heard him when you and Haden walked away. He cared little that I heard everything he had to say. In fact, I think he was hoping I would say something so he could lay my throat open right there and then. Maybe...” He choked a little bit. “Maybe you and Cedar should do as you originally planned.”

  “And leave? Is that what you want?”

  “Yes. No…but if you leave he cannot harm you.”

  “It’s not as simple as that, Tallow. We’re in it now. I thought I could walk away from these people. I cannot.”

  “You trust him?”

  “He asked the same question.”

  “Your answer?”

  “I didn’t give him one, but it doesn’t matter much. If he wants us dead he needs do little more than walk away and leave us to the Ferals.”

  “How does Cedar feel?”

  “I guess if he had a kilt she’d be all in, but she’s in favor as it stands.”

  “Then I am as well. I will tell everyone what is going on. Perhaps you should get some rest.”

  “War is a funny thing, Tallow. It makes allies out of enemies, and there is unstated civility in something that by its very definition is uncivilized.”

  He walked away, perhaps thinking on my words.

  “I DIDN’T THINK he’d cave so quickly,” Cedar said, popping up from behind a rock.

  “Were you listening the entire time?”

  “How else was I going to find out what was going on?”

  “Maybe by asking me.”

  “Well, yeah, there’s always that, even if it isn’t as much fun.”

  “I don’t know if I’m making a choice that will save us or destroy us, Cedar.”

  “You’re making the only decision you can. We’re out of options. If they hadn’t come along when they did there’s no telling if we would have made it through the night. Well, the rest of us anyway. You’d be fine.”

  I took Tallow’s advice and found a lone tree away from the carnage. Cedar came with me. She had the pretense of reading, but she was asleep before I had a chance to find a somewhat comfortable position. I awoke with the soft rays of the morning sun lightly touching my face. I stretched my arms over my head and nearly had my heart stop at the same time. Three Ferals were no more than a sword swing away. I stood up as quickly as I could, catching the side of my head on a low hanging branch. I muttered a couple of choice words as I drew my sword. The ringing of the steel awakened Cedar.

  “Holy crap!” she stated as she stood, unlike me, deftly avoiding hitting any of the tree.

  They made no move against us, and when my hammering heart finally calmed I realized that none of them were armed with weapons of any kind.

  “Winter, what’s going on?” Cedar asked, moving close to me so we could protect each other.

  “This isn’t in any of your books?”

  She didn’t answer, but I could tell she was shaking her head back and forth; at least that is what I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye.

  The closest one bowed, followed by the other two. They then moved past us and toward their dead.

  More Ferals came, unarmed and unadorned with any type of paint on their face, torso, or arms. We just stood and watched as solemn words were said over each body before it was taken away.

  “Looks like they’re not quite the savages we’ve been led to believe,” I said to Cedar.

  “If you say so.” She had yet to put her sword down, and the Ferals had retrieved nearly half of their dead.

  By now, all the Dystancians were awake. Most had watched the Ferals gather their dead for a while. When the awe and the fear had subsided, they’d moved on to other things, primarily getting their own deceased buried. I felt it was my duty to watch, as if I was honor bound for both sides. Each Feral death marked a sweeping victory; each death of a Dystancian a slashing defeat. When the Ferals had completed their task, the original three came over to me and once again bowed before leaving.

  “That’s a sign of respect,” Haden told me later that morning. He’d been watching from the woods and didn’t want to interfere with the grave tasks of the morning. “Your beauty and stature increase with every passing minute.” Haden bowed low in front of me.

  “A lot of bowing today,” I spoke aside to Cedar.

  “And it’s still early, who knows who may grovel at our feet later,” Cedar said unabashedly.

  My face reddened as Haden laughed. “Very true, Cedar.” He was all smiles. “Have you made your decision?” he asked bluntly.

  “I will not lie to you, Haden, I am uneasy about this union. I do it more so for the protection you offer the remaining Dystancians than I do for the bond you are seemingly attempting to forge with me.”

  “Where’s Sour Puss?” Cedar asked of Serrot.

  “Serrot?” Haden laughed. “Oh, I would imagine he is planning a hostile takeover due to the fact that I have lost my mind.”

  “You say that in jest, Haden, yet the peril falls on my people should you be deposed.”

  “Not to mention what would happen to me!” That infuriating smile was still plastered on his face, almost as if all of this were some sort of joke.

  I sighed heavily. The fates seemed cruel. We had won and we had lost and thus we were forced into a partnership out of need rather than desire. “We are ready as soon as I pay my last respects.” I pointed to the
numerous mounds of dirt.

  “Of course.” He walked about halfway back to the woods.

  There were sixty-seven of us left when we marched away from the rock wall. We’d lost another two during the night from grievous wounds. Neither of them were Durango. He’d needed to be dragged kicking and screaming from a burrow he’d dug under one of the larger rocks. He’d not drawn a weapon during either of the Feral assaults. Personally, I would have left him there; it was Tallow that lobbied for him.

  “He’ll die if he stays here,” Tallow had said to me.

  “And what of it? Would the world be so worse-off if that were to happen?”

  “What’s happening to you, Winter? I can’t imagine you sounding like this even a week ago.”

  “How would you know what I was thinking a week ago? You had decided you wanted nothing to do with me!”

  “Is that what this is about?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. That coward is responsible for the deaths of most of our clan and you want to save his life. Why?”

  “Because you don’t!” he shot back angrily.

  “He’s your responsibility then. See to it he doesn’t get anyone else killed.” I was so angry I was near tears. Thankfully the shaking started after I was far enough away that I was certain he would not notice. Whether I shook from the tears or the anger was not clear; I was just happy he did not see it. Brody had warned us that there would be those that would just seize up at the first bit of trouble. “The killing of another human being or facing someone trying to kill you will fundamentally change you. It will bring to the surface more of who you truly are–deep down in here. He had pointed to his heart. It will be the measure of who you are and what you will become.”

  I could feel it, like a molten lead that was traveling through my veins, slowly hardening with each swing of my sword. I burned with the desire to make those who were responsible for this pay, while I also became cold to the travesties happening around me.

  Haden had a couple hundred men with him; they enveloped us within their ranks. I wavered with each step between feeling protected and completely entrapped. It amazed me how quickly my clan adapted to this new reality. One moment they were looking around wildly at the Klondike soldiers, but within a few miles of hiking paid them almost no heed. They walked with their heads bowed like they were defeated and being led to slaughter. Maybe they sensed something I was blind to. I walked up front with Haden, who continually received reports from scouts. We were being followed by Ferals, and as of yet had not been discovered by the Hillians or the Brutons. Serrot had not come. He had elected to return to their headquarters ahead of us.