“There is nowhere to hide from her in these hills,” said Mag. “Once they are alerted to our presence, we will not be able to conceal ourselves from her sight.”
“Well, first things first,” I said. “Jian. Go back to the captain. Inform him of where the Shades are, and tell him we are devising a plan to hold them in place for his advance.”
“Send Chausiku!” said Jian at once. “He is faster than I am by far.”
I gritted my teeth. “You will be riding a horse. Chausiku’s legs give him no advantage in that.”
Jian’s cheeks flamed, though she tried to hide it. “I mean that he is a better rider,” she said. “I have scarcely even touched a horse in my life.”
“Fine,” I said. “Chausiku?”
“Yes, ser,” he said, glaring at Jian. He set off, loping towards the horses we had brought, and soon was galloping away south.
“That leaves us where we started,” said Mag. “How do we hold them in place?”
An idea struck me. “Kaita is a problem, but she may also be the solution. We should not try to hide at all. Let her see how few of us there are—and let her see that you and I are here.”
Mag’s eyes lit. “She will attack, hoping to kill us. Clever. But what if the other Shades convince her to flee?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it. After all she has been through in search of us, I cannot believe she would resist such a tasty morsel now. We will appear alone and isolated, with only a paltry two squadrons to defend us.” I turned my gaze across our units. “Little does she know we have the two best squadrons in the army.”
Their chests puffed with pride at that. Jian wore a savage grin.
“Very well,” said Mag. “You should advance with one or two archers and bring down a sentry from afar. Make a stink about it so they raise the alarm. Then retreat to the rest of us as quickly as you can.”
“Agreed,” I said. I turned to Hallan once more. “Hallan—”
“I’ve got them, ser,” said Hallan. Then he turned an exasperated eye on Jian. “And you should take this one with you. She’s eager enough, thass sure.”
“I suppose she is,” I said. “Jian, with me. Stay quiet, and do as I say, or I will throw you to the Shades myself.”
Her face went pale. I suspect that when she asked to stay, she had not thought she would be going to antagonize the enemy with only me by her side. I will confess I took some grim satisfaction from her expression, but I only let myself enjoy it for a moment.
Together we set off into the drizzle and the mud. Instead of northeast, where the sentry was, I guided her due north to a hill west of the Shades’ camp. By creeping around the southern edge of the hill, I hoped to keep out of the sentry’s sight for as long as possible. And we would be in the hill’s shadow, weak as it was, so that hopefully he would not notice us until it was too late.
Despite her evident anxiety, Jian followed closely in my footsteps. Soon we were at the bottom of the hill where we had seen the guard last time. I could glimpse a bump I thought was their head, far above us. I turned to Jian.
“Here we are,” I whispered. “I am taking the kill, and then we are getting out of here. Do you understand?”
“S-Ser,” she stammered.
“Good,” I said. “Stay here.”
I crept up the hill pace by pace. Slowly the sentry came more fully into view. They must have been tired, for they faced only south, never turning to look left or right.
Poor fool, I thought.
I nocked, drew, sighed, and loosed.
The arrow pierced straight through their head with a soft thunk. I saw a splash of blood erupt, only barely visible as red against the lightening sky.
I turned and ran back to Jian as fast as I could.
HROOON
A horn sounded behind us. Soon it was joined by others, and then they sang in chorus, screaming the alert, warning of danger.
“That worked perfectly!” I cried as I reached Jian. “Now run for your life!”
After the ambush in the woods the day before, Kaita and Tagata had led their forces into the hills to the north. Their troops were in disarray and greatly hampered by the wounded they had to drag with them in their retreat.
But Kaita cared for only one of them.
“Tagata!” she cried, pressing through the Shades to go to her. Tagata’s wounds were healing themselves, the Lord’s magic melding flesh and skin together. But Tagata had suffered so many grievous injuries that it was a slow process, and she winced and growled through her teeth with every step.
As Kaita came running up, Tagata raised a hand to forestall her worry. “I am fine,” she said. “The Lord’s blessing will not fail me.”
“This is my fault,” said Kaita. “I should have scouted ahead.”
“You kept your eyes on the force following us, as we both agreed,” said Tagata. “Our enemies were clever, and we underestimated them. If you wish to take the blame for that, you must share it with—”
Her right leg buckled beneath her, and she fell to the ground. Kaita tried to support her, but it was like catching a falling boulder.
“Tagata!” cried Kaita. “Are you all right? Does it hurt?”
“Not the healing, no,” said Tagata through gritted teeth. She tried and failed to regain her feet. “But until the wounds have gone, I can still feel every one.”
Kaita looked desperately around. They were in the hills now and could not see very far in any direction. But though the rolling land blocked sight, it was hardly defensible. The slopes were gentle, and they could be scaled or descended with little effort. She growled in frustration.
“I am going to take a look around,” she told Tagata. Then she raised her voice to bark at the Shades surrounding them. “Halt the march! Stay here until I return.”
Gently she removed Tagata’s arm from her shoulder and stepped away. Magelight flashed in her eyes, and a moment later, she powered into the air on raven’s wings.
At once, she could see things were even worse than she had feared. They were only a few spans into the hills, but nowhere was there any position better than their current one. The only glimmer of hope came from the fact that, looking south, she could see flashes of firelight in the woods. Her enemies had made camp in the Greenfrost and were not yet giving chase.
She dove back to the ground and resumed her human form. Tagata looked up with blood on her lips.
“Are they close?” she said.
“They have set up camp in the wood,” said Kaita. “And we should do the same. There is no better place to march tonight, and we must get as much rest as we can. You need to heal, and the rest of us need to be fresh tomorrow. They will not simply let us sit here unmolested.”
“Mayhap we should march a little—” Tagata grunted at a stab of pain. She fell back to one knee, clutching the hilt of her greatsword as its tip sank into the ground.
“And that is enough of that,” said Kaita. “Everyone! Set up camp. Sentries on every hill surrounding this dell. Someone raise Tagata’s tent for her, now.”
Her voice cracked like a whip, and the Shades leaped to obey. Kaita went to Tagata and took her hand. Tagata tried to smile at her through the pain wracking her body.
“You need to rest,” said Kaita. “Promise me you will.”
“It seems I have little choice,” said Tagata. “I will be fine in the morning.”
“Should I stay with you?”
Tagata shook her head, sending her heavy auburn hair cascading over her face. “I will be fine. And you will get no rest if you are with me. The healing process is not always pleasant, and less so, the worse my wounds.”
Kaita browbeat the others until they had Tagata’s tent up, and then she helped her inside. But she found little rest for herself that night. Sleep would not come, and after two hours, she gave up. She settled for taking flight once more, swooping low over the camp of Kun’s army in the Greenfrost. The glow of our fires refracted through the emerald trunks, like a crystal that bre
aks sunlight into many colors.
She could not tell which tents were mine or Mag’s. Yet she could almost feel us below her. More than anything, she wanted to descend upon the camp in a fury, to find us and destroy us. The magestones were back at the camp, and Tagata was wounded. Kaita could eat them, and she would never be discovered …
But Mag and I were among allies, and Kaita had made promises to Rogan. She was worthy of trust, and she had to prove it. And so, many long hours later, she finally returned to her tent and passed the rest of the night in sleep almost as restless as my own.
When she woke, just before dawn, she emerged into the open air to find Tagata standing there.
The shadeborn’s eyes were closed and her shoulders back. Her face tilted slightly up, as though the scent of some treasured dish wafted to her on the breeze. Firelight played across her features, deepening the crags and scars splayed across them. All signs of her injuries were gone—the Lord’s blessing had done its work through the night. And now, as Kaita approached, Tagata’s eyes opened, and her expression turned grim.
“I received a message,” she said. “From the Lord.”
“When?” snapped Kaita, eyes wide. “In the night?”
“Yes,” said Tagata. “He had dark tidings—yet the darkness holds a glimmer of hope. But come. We should speak of this privately.”
She threw back the flap of her tent, and Kaita led the way inside. Sitting so close, she could again feel the heat radiating from Tagata. It almost made her want to cast off her cloak.
“What are these tidings?” said Kaita.
“We will face our foes in battle again soon,” said Tagata. “And we will lose.”
For a moment, Kaita could not speak, but only stared at Tagata in shock. “What do you mean, we will lose?” she said.
“They will heavily outnumber us,” said Tagata. “No strategy we could concoct will work in these hills, and we cannot outrun them. However, this will not be our end. Some of us, at least, will be able to escape.”
“Then let us escape now,” said Kaita. “They have not come to attack us yet. There is still time.”
“We will not find a way out until the time is right,” said Tagata. “The Lord did not know how we would get away, but he said we would see a sign. It shall be a fiery wyrm.”
Kaita could only stare in shock for a moment. “Is he—” She stopped herself, for she had come dangerously close to insulting the Lord. “I do not understand. I would think you were joking if I did not know better.”
“I assure you I am not,” said Tagata. She looked at the tent flap mournfully. “We will lose many of our kindred today.”
Kaita shook her head. “I do not understand this sign. Does the Lord mean we will see a Dragon? That is impossible.”
“I doubt it means that,” said Tagata. “He tells us what he sees, but it is as I told you before. Things are not always … entirely clear.”
Her frustration mounting, Kaita took several deep breaths in an attempt to find calm. But it only seemed to further stoke the fires of her anger, like bellows to a forge.
“This message … I know it is related to the sight you told me of,” she said slowly. “But this seems worse than useless. It seems to promise a hope that I cannot envision.”
“Rarely do I understand the Lord’s signs when he relays them to me,” said Tagata. “But you must keep faith. Every victory we have seen so far, every stride we have taken in our mission across Underrealm, has come because of the Lord—from his cunning, and from his sight that pierces the veil of time.”
Again Kaita shook her head. “You say you have followed his wisdom before, and it has not led you astray. Because I believe in you, I will choose to believe in this. But if our enemies should come upon us, and I see no other choice, I will devour the magestones, Tagata. Whether Mag and Albern are alone or not. I will not let them kill me—or you—without using every tool at my disposal to kill them first.”
She half expected Tagata to be angry with her. After all, she was threatening to break the promise she had made to Rogan, and through him, to the Lord. But Tagata only looked upon her with profound sadness.
“Your choices are your own, dear one,” she said quietly. She placed a hand on Kaita’s shoulder. “But I hope you will rethink this. Woe betide you if you take the stones outside of the ordained time. His love will be no protection to you, then.”
Kaita quailed for a moment at the strength of certainty in her voice. But then she shook herself, steeling her resolve. “I have said what I have said. Let us muster the troops and march from this cursed land.”
HROOON
Horns blew outside the tent. Kaita and Tagata both whipped their heads towards the sound. It came from the south, where their sentries were posted on hills overlooking the land all around.
“And let us do it as soon as we possibly can,” muttered Kaita.
The horns were still sounding as Kaita took her raven form and launched into the air. Tagata stood beneath her, head tilted upwards, watching her take flight. The sky was still mostly dark, and Kaita blinked hard, trying to make out shapes on the ground below. The campfires had made her night-blind.
There. Two figures running west across the hills. Kaita’s heart leaped. Two figures? That could be …
She dove closer and recognized me. The person beside me was not Mag, but some other soldier who was unknown to her.
Fierce bloodlust thundered in Kaita’s veins. I was practically alone. She would not even need magestones to—
Then she spotted Mag and our squadrons not far off. A quick count told her our number, and she wheeled out of her dive.
Her heart burned with conflict. Only two squadrons. That was barely anything, compared to the force that had attacked them yesterday. Mag and I, with just over two dozen friends. That was isolated, was it not? It was close enough. She could attack us with the strength of magestones, and her promise to Rogan would be—
She growled in her mind. It was close enough to the terms for Kaita, mayhap. But not for Tagata. And Tagata had the stones. Kaita did not think she could lie straight to the shadeborn’s face even if she wished to, and she did not wish to.
But mayhap there was another way. She circled back and landed in the Shade camp, resuming her human form and running to Tagata.
“They are here!” she cried. “Mag and Albern. They are just over that hill, Tagata, and they have only two squadrons with them. We could crush them with little more than a thought.”
Tagata looked around the camp. “We have wounded kindred, Kaita. They will not be able to join us in a chase.”
“Leave them here,” said Kaita. Tagata’s nostrils flared, but Kaita raised her hands. “They will be safer here, anyway. We can draw the threat away from them. They will be able to escape when we—that is, if they need to.” She swallowed hard, for she had almost announced aloud that they were expecting to lose this battle.
But she could see that she had convinced Tagata. The shadeborn turned to the camp, and her great, bellowing voice rang out.
“Kindred!” she cried. “Our enemies await the kiss of our blades over those hills. We will destroy them in the Lord’s name! To arms! Death!”
“Death!” cried the Shades.
The camp became a scramble. All who could walk fought to be the first to don their sword belts, to heft their shields and ready their armor.
“I will keep watch over our enemies,” said Kaita. “Look for me in the skies. I will guide you.”
“Be safe,” said Tagata. “And Kaita.”
Kaita froze as Tagata reached into her pocket. When her hand came out, it held the brown cloth packet. She placed it in Kaita’s much smaller hand.
“Take them,” said Tagata softly. “If you see your chance, you take it.”
“They … they will slow me down,” said Kaita, hardly daring to breathe.
“You do not require speed,” said Tagata. “They are on foot, and you fly with the winds. But you should have them with y
ou if the chance presents itself. I trust you as Rogan does. As our father does.”
Kaita could not contain herself. She threw herself up, her arms wrapping around Tagata’s neck, and kissed her deep. One massive arm wrapped around her, crushing her into Tagata’s chest. When they parted, Kaita’s eyes were shining.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No one is more deserving,” murmured Tagata. “We are doomed to lose today’s battle, but you may have your chance for revenge. Do not let it slip away.”
Kaita nodded and turned. Her eyes flashed with light again. She shrank, her clothes sinking beneath the flesh along with the brown cloth packet. It was an awkward lump in her chest, but she managed it. Feathers sprouted, a beak sprang from her jaw, and the raven form was complete. She launched into the sky again, pursuing Mag and me across the land.
Mag and I led our squadrons in a run to the west. It was tempting to draw the Shades back along their own trail, but I was wary of them seeing through our trap. So we stayed near the trail but swung slightly to the north. If Kun followed the Shades’ course, he would see their army chasing us, and then he would be able to strike.
I kept an eye on the grey sky above us, and so I was not surprised to see a raven swooping after us. Kaita would keep us in her sights, I knew, and guide the Shades to hunt us down. I grinned.
The grin faded from my face as a hail of arrows flew towards us from the south.
“Down!” I cried.
Our soldiers dropped into the mud, but not quickly enough for three of them. One of my archers and two of Mag’s swordfighters pitched over, arrows embedded deep in their bodies. A shaft struck the ground next to Oku, and he leaped aside with a yelp. One of my archers who fell was the middle torchbearer. His torch tumbled down the hill we were on, rolling awkwardly side to side as it descended. The flaming pitch burned the sparse dew off the new grass, and some of it caught as the torch kept rolling.
I looked up to where the arrows had come from. A party of Shade archers had run ahead of the rest of their force. They had stuck to the lowlands and moved faster than we had, and now they had a clear shot at us atop the hill.
The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Page 76