by Garry Spoor
When they came out the other side, the place was practically deserted. The civilians were quartered in the eastern section of the kastelya, and only a handful of soldiers was left to patrol this section. She climbed the rise up to the eastern high wall, where archers were moving into position. Quickly dismounting, she made for the stair. The soldiers stepped aside when Kile approached the hound who was standing with his front paws on the parapet, looking over the wall into the Callor province. She knew what she would see, since Kentor already showed it to her.
-They are just behind that hill now.-
The old hound said when she approached.
“Are you sure they’re valrik?” she asked.
-They may look like valrik, but they smell like vir.-
How was that even possible, she wondered? She watched and waited, along with the rest of the soldiers. It wasn’t long before two shapes could be seen moving over the hill, one slightly taller than the other. The taller one was supporting the smaller one, who seemed to be wounded. In all appearances, they looked like valrik, but then, why would they be coming to the outpost. Surely they don’t believe Moran had fallen.
They stumbled coming down the hill. The larger valrik was looking over his shoulder, while trying to help his companion to his feet. They weren’t moving very fast and the archers could easily take them at any time, they were only waiting for orders. Kile tried to catch their scent, by sniffing the wind, but she couldn’t separate it from the other odors. There were just too many vir on the walls, too many standing in the bailey below. All the smells were stifling.
“Are you sure they’re not Uhyre?” she asked Kentor.
-My eyes say they are, but my nose says otherwise,-
The dog replied.
She was hesitant, but there was only one way to be sure. Closing her eyes, she fell into her Edge, reaching out to the two creatures, who stumbled ever closer to the eastern wall. Within moments the darkness assaulted her. It was lying in wait, as if it knew she would try to make contact. She saw, for one brief moment, the shadow which lingered around the outpost, cutting it off from the outside world. The darkness was everywhere. She couldn’t be sure the Uhyre were in Callor, but the enemy was. They had the outpost completely surrounded, but she couldn’t do anything about that now. The immediate threat was the two valrik visitors. With the hounds by her side, it gave her the strength to turn her mind away from the darkness and toward the two figures.
She couldn’t determine whether they were vir or valrik; neither one showed up in the natural realm, but there was something else she was looking for.
Kile quickly opened her eyes-- now it made sense.
“Open the gates,” she shouted to the men below, before running back to the stairs. When she reached the kastelya, Grim was waiting for her. She took the mountain pony down the eastern ramp to the main baily, only to see the portcullis down and gates still closed. The guards, stationed in the gatehouse, looked confused, and didn’t appear very happy taking orders from the Wild Hunter.
“I said, open the gates,” she shouted again when she reached the men.
It was an older soldier who stepped forward, with is gray hair sticking out from under his helm.
“Are you mad?” he shouted, barring her way to the gate.
It wasn’t as if she could actually open the gate by herself. It took two men to turn the wheel which controlled the portcullis, and another three to lift the brace which barred the outer doors.
“They are being pursued. We have to help them,” she explained.
“I don’t rightly care one way or the other. These gates remain closed,” the old guard replied.
“You don’t understand. Something isn’t right.”
“The only thing that isn’t right around here is you. Please stand back.”
“I think you may be a little hard of hearing, sir. The Commander requested the gates be opened.”
Turning, Kile saw Private Emlyed of Perha Squad crossing the baily toward them, he had Privates Anurr and Ustar with him.
Emlyed, alone, was intimidating enough. He may be young and wiry, but he had the look of a man best left alone. Members of the squad said he had to choose between the military or the gallows. What sent him to the gallows in the first place, they didn’t know, nor did they want to know.
“Ustar, open the gates. Anurr, protect the Commander.” Emlyed shouted over his shoulder.
Private Ustar was of the Toreen tribes out of the Balaa region, a rather large, quite spoken man. He calmly walked up to the wheelhouse, which controlled the portcullis, and the guards stepped aside. It didn’t look as if any of the soldiers wanted to hinder the easterner. Anurr made for the stairs, which led to the top of the gatehouse.
The screeching of the metal gate, as the portcullis were raised, was amplified by the silence of the spectators. It stopped about two thirds of the way up, high enough for a horse and rider to pass under. The Toreen then approached the outer doors and pulled back the brace which barred them.
“You better get going, Commander,” Emlyed said. “We shouldn’t keep the gates open for long.”
“Thank you, Emlyed,” she said, urging Grim forward.
The mountain pony thundered past Ustar as he pushed open one of the outer doors.
Once Kile was able to put some distance between her and the overbearing smells of the outpost and she was back in the wild, her senses were alive. She now knew what she should have realized before.
It didn’t take Grim long, to cover the ground between the gates and the valrik. Kile slid off the mountain pony when he came alongside them.
“You have to help him, he’s hurt bad,” the larger valrik said as he stumbled under the weight of his companion.
“Alex!” Kile cried, grabbing the smaller one when he fell. As soon as she touched him, the illusion dissolved and she was looking into the bloodied face of Alex Bartlow. She turned to the other valrik, who was now a young man dressed in the King’s colors. “Come on, we have to get back to the outpost,” she said, ignoring the look on his face. He obviously never saw anyone with yellow eyes before.
“We’ve been avoiding the Uhyre, for the last two days, but I think they’re onto us now,” the young man explained as he helped her get Alex onto the pony. “I’ve been sent to bring word to the Commander of the outpost of Moran.”
“That can wait. We can’t stay out here,” she told him.
The young man quickly climbed onto Grim’s back and extended a hand to help her up, but before she could take it, she heard the sound of maniacal laughter. It pierced her skull and dropped her to her knees, driving all other thoughts out of her head. She tried covering her ears, but it was no use, the laughter wasn’t coming from the world around her, it was coming from somewhere deep inside her.
The darkness soon followed, descending upon her from all sides, isolating her from the natural world. She felt as if she was floating in a thick black liquid, falling asleep to the sound of the laughter. She was returning to the long slumber, deep in the silence of the pits, and she didn’t want to wake up this time.
-Keep it together,-
Grim shouted with such force and malice, it shattered the darkness.
She grabbed hold of that one life line, pulling herself out of the pit and back to reality. As she regained her sense, she could feel the presences of the reptilian wolves all around her. They had cloaked themselves within the shadows that clouded her mind, but now she could feel them.
Looking up, she saw the young man with his hand extended toward her. He had a confused look on his face, or it might have been fear. She quickly grabbed hold of him and he pulled her up onto Grim’s back. No sooner did her feet leave the ground, then the pony turned, and made for the outpost.
The reptilian wolves had no need to hide now as they emerged from the tall grass, casting off their shadows. Had they always been that close? They could have stopped the messenger at any time, but they waited. What were they waiting for? Was this all a trick to l
ure her out of the outpost, away from the safety of the pack?
Mountain ponies were not built for speed, but for endurance, and it wouldn’t take long before the wolves overtook them. It was a race to see who would reach the outpost first. As one of the wolves got dangerously close, an arrow, shot from the wall, flew past Kile and struck the wolf in the head. It didn’t kill it, but it slowed it down enough for Grim to put some distance between them.
When they got closer to the outpost, it rained arrows, cutting off their pursuers. Two of the wolves went down in the volley, the rest scattered. Grim slipped through the narrow opening of the gates as Ustar and three other guards quickly closed them.
“Get Sumsor down here now,” Kile shouted as she slid off the back of the pony. Emlyed, and the old guard, helped Alex down. They gently laid him on the ground, where Kile knelt beside him.
The wounds to his shoulder and his right arm were bad, but it was the injury to the right side of his face which frightened her. It was hard for her to see her old friend like this.
***~~~***
14
“How bad is it?” Kile asked when she entered the darkened room.
Sumsor was washing his hands in a large bowl his assistant was holding. The water was a foreboding shade of red.
“It’s not good,” he said in his deadpan voice.
He may be a good healer, but his bedside manner needed work.
“Will he be all right?” she asked.
“I’ve done what I could. Under the circumstances he’s lucky to be alive. It’s now only a matter of time,” the old man said. He dried his hands and tossed the rag to his assistant. “He’s young, he’s strong, he’d have to be to sustain a wound like that and keep going. There was extensive damage to the right side of his face, and he’ll lose the use of his eye, but he’ll regain the use of his arm, assuming he survives the night.”
“Thank you, Sumsor.”
She waited until he left the room before moving to the side of Alex’s bed.
Sitting down, she took his hand in hers, remembering the first boy, the first Hunter, who made an effort to be her friend. His unquenchable optimism, his untamed mop of hair, his ever smiling boyish face, now covered with bandages. He looked so much smaller, so much frailer than he did back then.
The sound of the door opening brought her back to reality. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked up. Captain Jax stood framed in the light from the hall.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You’re going to want to hear this,” Jax replied.
She looked down at Alex. There really wasn’t anything she could do for him at the moment, which is why she felt so helpless. If only Daniel was here. He would know what to do, at least in the way of helping Alex. He wasn’t exactly the first person she would turn to for strategic advice.
Getting up from the chair, Kile reluctantly released the smaller Hunter’s hand. Why did it have to be Alex, she wondered? It wasn’t like he had much experience, certainly not enough to go behind enemy lines to deliver a message. Although, knowing him the way she did, he was probably foolish enough to volunteer, anything to widen his repertoire of stories.
She looked back one more time before stepping out into the hallway. Tullner and Sandson were waiting for her along with Captain Jax.
“So, what is it?” she asked.
Jax didn’t reply. He led them down the hall and stopped beside one of the doors. The room was empty, save for a single table and a few chairs, of which two were occupied. Raf was sitting in one, the other was taken by the young man who arrived with Alex. He was looking a little nervous and caged in. When she entered the room, Raf quickly sat up, the loud clunk, from the front legs of his chair hitting the floor, made the young man jump.
He was older than she was, if only by a few years. The fact he was dressed in the King’s colors meant he wasn’t a Hunter, probably one of the military messengers, so she really didn’t feel bad she didn’t recognize him. He stared at her when she entered. The look on his face reminded her that her eyes still hadn’t changed back, but there was little she could do about that at the moment.
“This is Private Duntz,” Jax said, motioning for Kile to take a seat.
She sat across the table from the young man, Tullner and Sandson stood against the wall behind her. Captain Jax took the chair at the head of the table.
“Private Duntz, this is the Hunter, Kile Veller.” he said.
The young man looked at her for a moment, then at the other men in the room.
“I was told I had to deliver this message to you and you alone,” he said in a shaky voice.
“What you can say to me, you can say in front of these men,” Kile replied.
There was a momentary look of relief on the young man’s face. Was he actually afraid of being alone in the same room with her?
“You do have a message, don’t you?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, ma’am. I was sent by the Major.”
“What major?”
“Major Robert Folkstaff.”
“Master Folkstaff,” Kile exclaimed, leaning forward. “What did he say? Is he on his way here?”
“Well, yes ma’am, I mean… no ma’am.”
“Maybe you should just give us the whole message, son,” Jax said.
“Well, sir…” Duntz stammered. He was looking at Jax suspiciously. Whatever he wanted to say, he was not comfortable saying it in front of the Captain.
“Out with it,” Kile said, or at least she thought she said it. She actually shouted it, which caused Duntz to jump out of his seat and press himself up against the wall as far away from her as he could get. Raf fell out of his chair, and both Tullner and Sandson quickly move away from her. Jax was the only one who didn’t move, although, his hand did fall to the sword at his side.
Kile closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’m all right,” she told them. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if she lost it now. “Just tell us what you came to tell us,” she said, looking at Duntz, and then regretting it. The young man was fixated on her eyes.
“Private.” Tullner shouted, taking a step forward and drawing Duntz’s attention away from Kile. “I am Sergeant Robert Tullner of Perha Squad. You will deliver your message to me,” he instructed.
Duntz came to attention.
“Sir, the Callor province has betrayed the King and has declared war on the throne. Callor is now an enemy of the crown,” he said, and his eyes shifted to where Jax sat.
Now they knew why he was reluctant to say anything.
“Well, that we already knew,” Raf commented from the corner of the room.
“Is there more, Private?” Tullner asked.
“Sir, the King’s army has invaded Callor and has laid siege to the city of Norfrom. Major Folkstaff does not know when help can arrive, but says the outpost of Moran must not fall. If the valrik are allowed to enter Callor…”
“They could easily break the siege, reinforce the armies of Callor and prolong the war into the harvest season,” Jax finished for him.
“Yes, sir, that is correct.” Duntz replied.
“So, all we have to do is defeat the few thousand valrik on our front door step to win the war,” Kile said, throwing up her arms. “I thought it was going to be something really terrible. I mean, we should have that done before breakfast tomorrow.”
“It’s a little worse than that, ma’am,” Duntz replied.
“Oh please, don’t make me drag it out of you,” she warned.
“There are Uhyre heading this way.”
“How many?” Jax asked.
“I’m not quite sure, sir. We didn’t know there were any valrik on this side of the range. We ran smack into them on our way here,” he said, looking a little embarrassed. “If it wasn’t for Hunter Bartlow, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Why, what did he do?” Tullner asked.
“I’m not really sure, sir,” Duntz replied.
“He cast an illusion to disguise yo
u as valrik,” Kile said, getting to her feet. She headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Jax asked.
“Command doesn’t know the Uhyre are using Mercer’s pass. I have to talk to Alex, find out where they are and how many, and then I have to get a message to Master Folkstaff.”
“What makes you think this Alex knows anything more?” Tullner asked.
“Because he’s a Hunter, and that’s what Hunters do,” she said, closing the door behind her.
This was great, she thought. Her one chance of getting the refugees out of Moran was quickly being cut off. She needed to find out where the Uhyre were and how many actually made it into the Callor province. If the King’s army was truly in Callor, and she could get the refugees to them before the valrik reached the outpost, then the refugees would become the responsibility of the army. They could easily get them to safety in either the Fennel or the Azintar province, which would just leave Moran with the small problem of holding off a few thousand valrik with just a handful of vir and a small army of dogs.
Pushing open the door, which led into her room, she closed her eyes and fell into her Edge. She reached out to the higher peaks of the outpost until she found where the red shoulder hawks were waiting. It didn’t take much to send them on their way. They could search the eastern valley and be back before dawn.
“Vesper, you back?” She called to the empty room.
-Kile.-
The reply came as the small white yarrow leapt up onto her bed.
“I got a job for you.”
-Help Kile.-
She extended her hand and Vesper scrambled up her arm. He took his place on her shoulder.
-What do?-
He asked.
“I need you to watch over somebody.” she replied
Kile sat in the corner of Alex’s room, quietly scribbling a note to Folkstaff by the light of a single candle. She made reference to the fact Alex and Duntz managed to get through and delivered their message, although, it kind of went without saying. She wouldn’t be writing the note if they hadn’t. She went on to write about the valrik forces which crossed into Callor, although, she was still a bit vague on this part. She would have to wait for the hawks to return before she could fill in the proper numbers. She wanted to fill him in on the situation within the outpost. Mostly about the number of refugees who were in need of evacuation, and the number of soldiers who were capable of defending Moran, but putting all that into a letter would a bit careless. Information such as that would be dangerous, if the wrong people read it. Instead, a few well-chosen Hunter symbols would have to do, although, Hunter symbols didn’t actually cover this sort of thing. She could only hope Folkstaff would understand.