by Pedro Urvi
Ikai spoke first: “Thank you all for coming. Especially you, Adamis. I know you’re not in the best of health …”
“It is important, I must be here,” said the Prince-God, who was suffering the grave consequences of his punishment for treason to the Golden.
“Let’s get straight to the point, he won’t be able to hold up for long,” Kyra said. She smiled tenderly at Adamis.
“Agreed,” Ikai replied. “Well, you all know what’s happened. The Gods are looking for us, and now, finally, they’ve come. This is very serious, they’ve sent a noble… They’re traveling all along the coast of the continent searching for us.”
“Sooner or later they’ll find us,” Albana put in.
Adamis intervened at this point. “There must be something afoot in Alantres for the Gods to have deigned to come searching for us in person. Something very serious.”
“A war of power among the Houses?” Albana asked.
“Very likely, yes. The House of Aru was weakened after the loss of their Boundary. They are allies of my father’s House, but he will not be able to support them for long without becoming weakened himself. Besides, they have to save face before the other Houses. That is why they must be searching for us.”
“But why now, more than a year after the escape?” Ikai asked.
“And why personally?” Kyra added. “Until now they’d only sent stupid Enforcers after us, and we managed to avoid them.”
Adamis bent his head and looked thoughtful. “I do not know. I shall have to find out what is going on. I cannot make contact with Notaplo, he almost lost his life helping me with the building of the monolith that hides us. I must be prudent.” He waved toward the arcane object, the source of the Power that created the protective Boundary.
“And the New-Shelter?” Idana asked anxiously.
Albana grimaced. “If the Gods have intensified the search…”
“We have to do something.” Maruk said. “We have to protect the people from those heartless bastards, after all they’ve been through…”
Ikai took a deep breath. “There’s only one choice, the one we were afraid of. We discussed it when we created this shelter.”
“Is there no other?” Idana asked, her face full of concern.
Ikai looked at Adamis, and the God shook his head.
“In that case, we’ll fight the Gods,” Ikai said.
“And defeat them,” Kyra added.
“But…” Maruk began.
“It’s them or us, there’s nothing else,” said Kyra. “You all know it.”
“I want you all to understand what this means,” Ikai said. “The sacrifice will be enormous, particularly for those around this table.”
Albana looked straight into his eyes. “We’re aware of that. It means separation, pain and death. In all probability not all of us will survive.”
Idana muffled a cry.
“If we’re to be successful we need to unite everyone,” said Ikai. “The Senoca won’t be able to manage it alone.”
“We’ll free the other Boundaries!” Kyra said, and raised her fist.
“All of us united as one people,” said Albana.
“And there is something else we will need,” said Adamis.
They all turned to him.
“We must divide the Houses. As long as the Gods are fighting among themselves we will have a chance. If they are united, we shall perish.”
Ikai nodded. “The decision must be unanimous. The task at hand is monumental and our lives are at stake. And not only our own, but those of all our people.”
There was a moment’s silence while all considered the decision they needed to make.
At last Ikai spoke. “All those prepared to fight the Gods, raise your fists.”
Kyra raised hers immediately. Adamis followed. Ikai and Albana raised theirs together. Maruk held back a moment, but in the end he raised his too.
“For Liriana, for all those fallen!” he said.
All eyes were on Idana. The apothecary had started to raise her hand, but had stopped. Nobody spoke; they let her make her decision without putting pressure on her. At last, with tears in her eyes, she raised her fist.
“It’s unanimous,” said Ikai. “So that’s agreed.”
“May Mother Oxatsi protect us!” said Idana.
And that evening the destiny of the Senoca, of mankind, was sealed.
Chapter 1
Ikai wiped the blood from his eyes with his forearm. He was in the middle of the battle on the wide fields of the highlands. When his sight cleared he found a sharp spearhead searching for his neck. Instinctively he tried to deflect it with his own sword, but knew he had become aware of the threat an instant too late. His sword would not complete its movement in time to save him.
I’m going to die a long way away from everyone, from Albana, Kyra, the Senoca, after all the sacrifices that have been made… he thought as he saw the spear on the point of reaching his jugular.
A round shield appeared before his face in a flash. The spear buried itself in the reinforced wood and never reached him. His sword completed its swing and hit the spear, which snapped. The shield moved back and he saw the Guard who was wielding the spear; the soldier let go of it and took a step back, unsheathing his sword as he did so. Another spear, hurled with tremendous strength, found its target in the Guard’s chest, piercing his metal armor, and threw him backwards.
“Thanks,” Ikai said. He turned to the man who had saved him. He was slightly taller and more strongly-built, with long, tangled brown hair. His skin was as white as milk, his jaw strong, and he was watching Ikai with intense green eyes. He was about Ikai’s age, maybe three or four years older, and like everyone else in that peculiar Boundary was dressed in animal skins. On his back he wore a cape made from the pelt of an enormous bear, whose head he wore over his own. From afar, the first time Ikai had seen him, he had taken him for a real beast. He looked truly threatening and Ikai had realized this was no ruse, that man was an incredible fighter.
The warrior smiled calmly at him as though killing Guards were his daily work. Before them, the battle was turning bloodier.
“You don’t need to thank me, it’s my duty to protect you,” he said. He winked at him as he retrieved his spear from the dead Guard’s body.
“Thanks anyway, Burdin, you saved my life.”
“You take too many risks,” he said without looking at Ikai. “Lurama’ll be angry, and I’ll pay for it. She says we’ll never win without you.” Taking a step forward, he faced up to two other Guards who were coming toward him.
“And what do you think?” Ikai asked him as he fought another enemy on his left.
“What I think doesn’t matter. I follow our leader. She’s the Oldest Matriarch and makes the decisions. Besides, I’m a Bear-Warrior, my job isn’t to think, it’s to fight and kill in defense of my people.” As he said this, he was cutting the two enemies to pieces with remarkable strength and brutality.
Ikai finished off the Guard who was attacking him and scanned the battlefield. Thousands of slaves with clothes and capes of animal-pelts were fighting on the sloping fields, shouting like rabid animals, making their way to the plains where an army of Guards and Enforcers was maneuvering to get into a closed formation so as to face them. The numbers the rebels had managed to gather had astonished him. More than fifty thousand armed women and men were coming down from the hills, their pelt capes dotting the immense slopes of green grass which led steeply down to the great valley.
“I can’t stay put while you march into battle.”
“Lurama wants you safe, and safe you have to stay. Go back to the high forests.”
“But I have to lead them.”
“The Bear Heads will do that.” He pointed with his spear at a group of huge warriors with bear pelts like his own. “They’ll lead our people into battle.”
Ikai breathed deeply and considered the situation. The brave warriors had cut to pieces the first Regiments of the Guard w
ho had tried to stop the attack. But now things would start to get complicated. In the valley below, the Guard and the Enforcers had already taken up their formation: the first in a rectangle, the second in a triangle. He knew well the damage those military formations could cause among the inexperienced rebels. It was fresh in his memory, although a long time had passed since then. He remembered the thousands of Senoca who had fallen in his own Boundary.
“All right,” he agreed reluctantly. “Are you sure they know what to do?”
“They do, don’t worry.”
“They mustn’t be over-confident. We’ve conquered and liberated the cities of the county. There’s only this battle left before we take the capital.”
Burdin slapped his chest hard. “We’re the people of the Highlands, strong and proud, and we’ll give it everything we’ve got to reach freedom. Don’t worry, stranger, we’ll spill the blood of the enemy until not a single one of them’s left standing.” And after giving Ikai this assurance, he bellowed like a bear.
Ikai nodded. He believed Burdin. Those people were much wilder, rougher and more tribal than the Senoca. They were not as advanced in many ways, but in one they excelled: they were fiercely strong, and at that particular moment this quality gave them a chance. Even so, it would be really difficult to win, they needed to take every possible care.
“This is the most complicated part of the strategy, we’re staking everything on this. The men will need to be wary. They’ve practically handed us the counties so as to crush us here today.”
“They fled like scared rabbits then, and they’ll do the same again today,” Burdin said. He spat on the corpse of a Guard.
“Don’t be so sure,” said Ikai. “Pass on the order not to engage, just to strike and get away. Strike and get away!” he repeated, underlining the point.
Burdin gazed at the enemy formations in the valley. “If you’d let us charge against them with everything we have, we’d beat them.”
“Maybe, but the cost would be too high. Believe me, my people paid in blood. They paid very dearly. I don’t want that to happen again here.”
Burdin wrinkled his nose and snorted. It was plain that he did not agree. “Lurama says to follow your orders, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Ikai gave him a nod of respect. Then he looked behind him. The grass-covered hills rose toward the great forests. A morning mist covered them, and in his bones he felt the dampness of that land where it rained so much. He could not get used to the constant showers, and the cold. But he had to admit that the beauty of that green landscape was unrivaled.
The horde of warriors was running down now, roaring to the heavens like an avalanche that would bury the enemy armies alive. Except that he knew the formations would hold, would break the avalanche.
“They’re nearly on us,” Burdin said.
“Is everything ready?”
“Just as you ordered.”
“Perfect. Then I’ll go up.”
“Will it work?” Burdin asked. He did not look as though he were wholly convinced.
Ikai looked around him. “The terrain’s right. But we need them to take the bait. Let’s hope they do…”
“And what if they don’t?”
“Then the rebellion will die here today, and we’ll die with it.”
“In that case, I’ll see to it that they take it. I’ll make sure personally. By Mother Earth, I will!”
Burdin saluted him with a parting nod and ran downhill to join the other rebels.
“Good luck,” Ikai said. He went up toward the mist-shrouded forests.
From that height the view was spectacular. He could see the whole battlefield, the plains, and on the horizon, the wall and towers of the capital. A dozen young Wolf Warriors joined him and remained with him, awaiting orders by the edge of the forest. He tried to make Burdin out, but it was impossible amid the rebel horde.
“First attack,” he told the young warriors.
The rebels charged against the enemy formations with the fury of a cyclone, howling and roaring like wild animals.
“They’re going to destroy them,” said the youngest, filled with joy at seeing his people’s daring and numbers. He could not be more than fifteen springs old, and his face was covered in freckles. His companions joined him, making comments full of optimism.
The sea of rebels broke against the stoical formations, and just as Ikai had foreseen even though it seemed impossible, they held. The lines did not break. The rebels crashed against a wall of metal and flesh and were rejected by shield and spear.
The boy saw the avalanche being driven back. “It’s impossible!” he said.
“I’m afraid it is. And now comes the worst part.”
The Guards and Enforcers began to wield death among the rebels, using their spears from the second line while the first stood up to the impact of the tough rebels. Each Guard or Enforcer who fell in the first line was replaced by another from the rear. The rebels hurled themselves against the first line, but crashed against a wall only to be run through and die.
“Come on then, Burdin…. make them back up…”
Chaos overcame the rebels. They attacked the front and the flanks of the enemy formations, trying to find a gap to allow them to make a wedge and break the lines. The howls in the roar of battle, the clash of metal on metal and the death cries rose to a crescendo. The whole valley was a tumult of dreadful din.
“Retreat, by Oxatsi, or we’re lost!”
Controlling that part-furious, part-terrified crowd in the midst of that horror and death was a very difficult task. The rebels went on attacking with neither order nor control, and for a moment it seemed to Ikai that everything was lost. But suddenly they began to retreat, moving away from the enemy and forming in front of them amid deafening shouts from Burdin and the Bear Heads. The rebels, imitating their enemy’s formations, gathered before them so that they covered the lower part of the hill.
“Are they moving back?” the boy asked Ikai. He sounded annoyed.
“No, they’re getting ready.”
The first three lines of rebels launched themselves at the enemy. The remainder waited. They struck fiercely, causing many casualties, then moved back immediately before the second enemy lines could knife them.
“Very good,” muttered Ikai.
The rebels repeated the action, striking and then immediately retreating, causing new casualties in the enemy formations.
“And now here comes the change,” said Ikai.
The young warriors were staring at him wide-eyed, hanging on his every word.
A new line of rebels formed before the Guard and the Enforcers. All of them carried spears. They advanced a few steps and threw their spears with all their might against the enemy, then immediately withdrew. Many Guards and Enforcers fell, pierced through. When they saw the rebels’ new strategy, the Enforcers began to advance. Their triangle of death started to move toward the foot of the hill. The Guards followed in formation. Instead of attacking, the rebels began to withdraw uphill, in an orderly manner.
“Very good,” Ikai said. “Keep on like that.”
The Enforcers and Guards picked up speed. Their footsteps echoed as they began to climb the slope. The rebels were retreating, but not quickly enough, and men from the rear lines were killed. The pressure increased. The Enforcers moved uphill as if they were on the plain, such was the power of their huge bodies. The Guards began to fall behind. The rebels were now fleeing in confusion, climbing the hill as fast as they could. Many slipped on the wet grass or tripped among the crowd and lost their footing, others fell and rolled down. It was a disheartening sight.
“Come on, run!” Ikai shouted. “Get yourselves to safety!”
The rebels fled for their lives toward the forests.
Ikai turned to the young Wolf Warriors. “Ready? You know what you have to do?”
The men nodded with determination.
“Right. Take your places and wait for my signal.”
The E
nforcers had managed to reach the rearguard and were wreaking havoc. Soon the Guard would join them. A thousand men had stopped to face them so as to allow the others to escape. The confrontation took place half-way up the hill.
Ikai took a horn and blew a long note. First once, then a second time. The rebels reached the top of the hill and ran to hide in the mist. When the last men had gone into it, he blew the horn for a third and last, time.
It was the signal. The young warriors cut the holding ropes. He looked through the mist and managed to make out the six places where the trunks of enormous trees had been piled up, one on top of the other, to a height of twelve feet. Freed from the ropes, the trunks started to roll downhill. As they rolled down, the gigantic trees gained momentum. Close to a thousand went rolling down the slopes amid a deafening uproar. The earth shook as though from an earthquake.
The Executors were the first to be hit. They had killed all the rebels who had opposed them and saw the threat looming toward them. The-Eye-Of-The-God at the head of the triangle tried to maneuver, but the trunks were coming at a hellish speed. The trees, five hand-spans wide, crushed them, running over the Enforcers like a giant rolling pin. The Guards ran for their lives in an attempt to reach the valley, but did not succeed. The trees caught up with them on the lower slope of the hill and pulverized them.
When the trees reached the valley and stopped at last, there was nothing left on the hill but dead bodies. A few were still alive, but Burdin and his men soon ended their misery.
Ikai snorted. It worked.
He was resting after the battle, lost in thought, sitting with his back against an old oak, looking at the barely visible moon amid the dark clouds which covered the sky. He wrapped himself in the bear cape he had been given and wished the camp fire could warm him more. The cold was beginning to be intense. He closed his eyes and thought of her. At once Albana’s wild face and enigmatic eyes appeared in his mind. They were engraved with fire in his soul, and his feelings for her seemed to become more acute with distance. He remembered the happy times spent together when they had lived through the intense events that united them. He remembered the love they felt for each other, and how it had grown with each day of the fight for freedom, for the survival of their people.