The Unkindness of Ravens

by Cory Huff

  Dubhaine struggled to take a breath. She could hear Aidan and Sophronia murmuring as well. He was trying to calm Sophronia as the general calmed Dubhaine. She whispered to the general, “You have heard of the Cumhnantach?” Celestina nodded. “They have had me stationed here neutralizing the humans who discover the Ogham.”

  Celestina’s eyes widened. She let go of Dubhaine. “Caile, you are half-human. What have you done?”

  “My name is Dubhaine now. It was Mindee while I worked for Cumhnantach,” she looked at Sophronia, who had stood up. She had a look of cold fury on her face. She was ready to continue the fight. “After I escaped from the rubble of the burning building,” she continued, staring at Sophronia, “I realized that this was never going to end. I…a part of me…realized that we needed a new approach. Then the Emperor showed up. Sophronia, I understand that you hate me, and I understand why. I grew up here, in Atania, many years ago. My father was a human. The Cumhnantach recruited me to cull the Ogham users so that the Winter Queen would not have reason to wipe out all of humanity. Now that the Emperor is here, it means that I have failed and the Winter Queen has decided to kill the remaining Atanians. These are my people too Sophronia. I cannot, and I will not watch them all die. I’ve been following what you’re doing with the resistance you’ve organized. I want to join you. I will do whatever you say. When it’s over, and everyone is safe, you can have your pound of flesh if that’s what you want.”

  Sophronia turned and walked away, murmuring to Aidan, “I’ll meet you back at camp. I need time.” She walked into the night.

  Sophronia tried to put her brothers out of her mind. Her insides felt twisted up in knots. She felt like she was betraying them. Celestina had explained it all to her, how vital Dubhaine was to their plans to solidify a resistance. She hated it. Hated her.

  Deep underground, in Hidden Atania, underneath what what Mindee and Celestina called the Bard’s College, the old crowd from the Pig and Whistle cheered as Sophronia stepped up on the small, raised platform that counted as the new, improvised stage. She looked at them, breathed deeply, and soaked up their adoration. It had been more than a month since she had performed for the regulars. More than a month since she met Mindee - Dubhaine - and her life had turned into a legend fit for the Filid. In addition to all of the troubles the occupying army presented, they knew how much Sophronia had suffered. Her brother had died, another brother blinded. Her friend killed in a fire. They were amazed that she showed up at all.

  This is what so many of them had said to her as she had gone around her old neighborhood, slowly spreading the word that the Pig and Whistle would gather in Hidden Atania. Underground, in a building that Celestina had called the Bard College, less than 20 brave souls willing to defy Gabalifix’s army cheered her on as she began to sing. She started with some of her old standards. Whiskey in the Jar. The Fields of the Thir. Feet stomped, and hands clapped.

  Now that she had the crowd warmed up, she tuned a lyre she had retrieved from her house, and spoke loudly, “This next tune is a little different. I’ve adapted it from an older folk tune.” She strummed the lyre and sang in a clear, alto voice. She sang of Atania as an old mother who had watched her children die in the streets behind stone walls that were supposed to protect them. She had watched them forget where they came from. But now they would remember.

  Many lives ago, said the tired old mother

  Many lives ago, this old stone mother did say

  There was war and death, crying and forgetting

  My children starved, by cliff, city and sea

  And their wailing cries, they shook Creator's heaven

  My streets within stone walls ran red with their blood, said she

  What happens now, said the tired old mother

  What happens now, this old stone mother did say

  Within tall stone walls, we are all in bondage

  In stranger's hands, took memory away from me

  But my grandchildren, as brave as were their fathers

  Our tall stone walls will topple them once again said she

  As she finished her song, the room was hushed and quiet. As she looked at the small crowd, they wept. She knew that they were thinking of the nearly two-dozen people, friends, and family, who had died already. She knew that many of them were overwhelmed by their new reality. A terrible danger had invaded their home, and none of them knew what to do about it.

  Now here was Sophronia, calling them to arms and telling them to cast off the irons of their oppressors. Years of performing had given her an instinct on how to push her audience. She knew that now was the time to inspire them to act. She set down her lyre and spoke, “This invading army is full of terrifying monsters out of fairy tales. It’s a shock to all of us. Nobody understands more than me. I lost a brother, and another brother was blinded at their hands. But they are mortal. They bleed like we do. They may be trained and experienced, but here’s something that so few of us seem to realize: we outnumber them a hundred to one. We can stem this tide and send them back across the ocean. Moreover, we have someone who can help us do that. Dubhaine, step up here.”

  Sophronia gestured into the crowd and Dubhaine, her face covered in a hooded cloak, walked forward. She turned and stood next to Sophronia and pulled her hood back. Sophronia resisted the urge to pull away from Dubhaine or to stick a knife in her ribs. As they took in her stubbled head, delicate features, and pointed ears, several of them gasped. Sophronia nodded, “This is Dubhaine. She is a Tuatha. Yes, like the Tuatha in the stories. She lived in the Hartland Forest. She knows a lot about Gabalifix and the other Sidhe creatures. She knows how to fight. If you are willing, Dubhaine and her friend Celestina will help you learn how to fight back.”

  Celestina stepped forward as well, dropping her hood and revealing her battle-scarred face and pointed ears.

  She paused to see how they reacted. They were wrapt. Many of them were leaning forward. Some looked scared. She continued, “It won’t be easy. We won’t be attacking them openly on the streets, but instead, we will attack them from behind. Strike, run, disappear. Guerrilla warfare. The only way an untrained army can fight back. If you choose to join us, some of you will die. You are all aware of how on edge the small number of attacks we’ve staged have made them. If we can step it up, even a little bit, there will be reprisals, but they will start to make mistakes. They will leave themselves open, and we can pick off stragglers and disappear into the city. We can set fire to their gallows and the houses where they sleep. If we can force them to make mistakes, we can kill even more of them. Eventually, they will have to leave us alone.”

  With this, she started walking among them. She touched the hands or arms of each person. She smiled and locked eyes with them.

  “This is our home. Our children deserve to be safe. Our neighbors’ children deserve peace. We deserve peace. We have done nothing to call this wrath down upon us,” her voice rose in volume and power as she continued, filling up the basement. “Consider this: a month ago, we were regular folk, living simple lives in a small village. Nobody ever came here or visited. Now we know things about our past that we cannot unlearn. We know that there is more to our town than we could have ever imagined. There is an invisible city. You’re standing under it. A month ago you were living a quiet life, and tonight you snuck into a magically hidden city to hear me play music. Your souls longed for freedom and were willing to brave danger to have just an evening of freedom. You can grasp this freedom. You come from a noble heritage.”

  Several people seemed confused, “I thought you said we were regular folk.”

  Sophronia nodded, “That’s what I said. It’s what we all thought. We were wrong. We are the children of those who survived. Think about this city above. There were hundreds of thousands of people who lived in this city. They all disappeared quite suddenly - but a few survived. They were our great-grandparents. We are the children of those who were smart enough and strong enough to survive.”

  She made her way
back to the center, standing next to Dubhaine again. “So who will honor the memory of our ancestors? Who will keep ahold of the freedom they have felt here tonight and never let go? Who among you is willing to take up the cause of the people of Atania and learn from this mythical being how to defend your home and your neighbors? If you’re with me, raise your hand.”

  At first, it was just five hands. Emboldened by their neighbors, more followed. They looked around at each other as if to say, “are you with us” and more hands went up. Finally, everyone but two raised their hands.

  Sophronia, tears in her eyes, whispered, “Thank you.” She stepped forward and embraced one of the first five. A Pig and Whistle regular named Lloyd. She turned to one of the two holdouts and stepped forward, taking his hand. A woman named Alex trembled as she spoke, “I didn’t know what this was going to be tonight Sophronia. I wouldn’t have come. I’m sorry. I can’t. I just can’t. I have small children and …” she pressed her lips together.

  Sophronia hugged her. “It’s OK, Alex. I understand. You have small children, and they need you not to get hurt. Everyone has to do what they have to do. I need to ask you something.” She held Alex’s gaze. “Can you keep this meeting, and our plans, a secret? Tell absolutely no one what you saw here tonight?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Good. Because our only hope is to train in secret.”

  The other holdout, an older man who walked with a limp, excused himself from the fight and also promised to keep secrets.

  Sophronia turned to the group again after the two holdouts left, and said, “Come back here tomorrow night. Bring enough food and clothing for a week. We are going to train you here on our next attack. We can’t risk you constantly going back and forth. Tell no one what you’re doing, and travel separately. If you disappear, nobody will come looking for you. We will assume the Emperor’s army found you. If you own any weapons, even a solid kitchen knife, bring it along with you.”

  Celestina caught her eye as everyone left. She didn’t say anything, but she knew what Celestina was thinking. They should have blindfolded everyone to keep this location secret. Sophronia had been so sure she knew everyone well enough to say they would all agree to help. As they all filed out, Sophronia wondered if she’d made a colossal mistake.

  In the basement, Liam watched the Atanians train with Mindee - no, Dubhaine is what she calls herself now. It made his shoulder blades itch and tense. This Tuatha woman had tried to murder them multiple times, and now they were allying with her. War makes strange bedfellows. Liam fingered the outline of the golden torc that hung around his neck, hidden beneath his tunic so that it wouldn’t draw attention. He had to figure out how to reach Badb with the information he’d read in the basement. He was sure this information was what Badb needed to prove Darian’s loyalty to Queen Mab.

  Elder Kaufman stood next to him.

  As she threw another person, he had to admit that Dubhaine knew what she was doing. In just a few days she had them all holding their weapons correctly and doing at least a semblance of fighting. She had terrific help and tutelage from Celestina, the quietly confident leader of the Tuatha. From what little he had gathered, she had been a general in the war between the humans and the Tuatha. She had specialized in guerrilla warfare tactics that kept the human armies off balance while the Tuatha fought hit and run battles. This was what she was here to teach us how to do so that we can survive. She hated the orcs and seemed to relish the idea of teaching everyone how to kill them.

  Her fighting style was brutal. She showed the Atanians how to use a dagger to stab vulnerable spots and then disengage before a counterattack was possible. The Atanians who were training directly with her were smiling as they executed her moves. Two of them were openly laughing, and he heard one of them, Lloyd, say, “We’ve got this. Those creatures won’t know what hit them.”

  Suddenly Lloyd was on his stomach; face pressed to the floor by Celestina’s elbow. Her dagger was at the base of his skull, pushing just hard enough to draw blood. “Like that?” Celestina asked in her harsh, raspy, battle-hardened general voice. “Don’t get cocky. You have a few days of training and think you’re ready for a fight?” She stood up, letting Lloyd stand.

  “Even if you catch them by surprise, these are battle-hardened warriors. Unless you kill them in the first hit, expect them to hit back hard. Expect them to call for help and for that help to show up immediately.” She looked around as the rest of the room was now watching her. “You, Lloyd. Pick three of your friends and attack me. If you can get me on the ground, I’ll apologize for putting you down. I’ll even put my dagger away. Do it now.”

  Lloyd, his pride bruised, picked the three men closest to him. He told them to spread out and surround Celestina. He nodded, and they converged on her slowly. Celestina exploded into action, coming straight for the man across from Lloyd. He was surprised by her speed and didn’t even get a hand up before she punched him in the face. She had already turned to the man on her right when he hit the ground. The next man had his guard up. Celestina faked a high punch and then came in low with her left fist into his stomach. She knocked the wind out of him, and he doubled over. She kicked him in the knee, and he went down.

  With blinding speed, her left leg went out behind her and caught the third man in the stomach, and she spun around, backhanding him, and stopped facing Lloyd. He rushed her, yelling and swinging, and Celestina casually grabbed his fist out of the air. She shifted her hips to the side, stealing his momentum, and she threw him to the ground. Although all of the men were bigger than her, she was barely even breathing hard. “You have a lot to learn,” she said.

  Liam, along with everyone else in the room, felt his jaw hanging open.

  “So get up. Train. If you stay humble and work hard, you’ll get there faster,” said Celestina.

  Liam couldn’t help himself, “Where are we getting to?”

  At that moment, the door opened. Aidan rushed in the door. He spoke to the whole room. “We have a problem. They gathered up a bunch of people and accused them of conspiring against Emperor Gabalifix. They’ve scheduled a public hanging at dusk. One of them is a church knight named Emaile. The church is claiming that under the negotiated peace, the Emperor has no right to hang her. They’ve ordered the knights to prepare for battle.”

  Liam watched as Sophronia, Dubhaine, and Celestina exchanged glances. All eyes were on them. Celestina spoke first, “I’m here as an advisor. You have to make this call.”

  Dubhaine and Sophronia both spoke at the same time, “We should go.” They both seemed taken aback that they agreed. After a moment, Sophronia spoke again. “We should go, and help save our people. We may not be at Celestina’s level, but we have more training than we did. We can do it, especially with the church knights fighting with us. It will be good for Atanians to see more Atanians fighting back.”

  Dubhaine nodded, “We will have to make a plan along the way. Get your gear, and let’s go.”

  Everyone whooped and cheered, but Liam stayed quiet. Something didn’t feel right. Celestina had just told them they weren’t ready, and now they were rushing headlong into battle?

  The church knights, mounted on chargers, come galloping out of the gates, mowing down the token force guarding the temple. The plate mail clad warriors used their swords and maces to finish off the handful of orcs and single minotaur that survived the initial assault.

  At the end of the brief fight, Lord Commander Garrick Cimarron stood up in his stirrups and shouted, “In the name of the great Creator, let us ride! We will save Emaile, and the people of Atania!” They wheeled into formation and began to trot their horses toward the town square briskly.

  Aidan sprinted out onto the street and stopped in front of the Lord Commander, who pulled to a halt. Aidan called out, “Lord Commander, I have a message for you.”

  The Commander gestured for Aidan to approach and he did so. When he was just next to the man’s horse, Aidan spoke in a low voice, “We have people coming
to help you.”

  Liam breathed heavily as he watched the action unfold. He, along with Sophronia and four other Atanians, had secreted themselves in an alley just three blocks from the town square where the scaffolding had been set up. It was early evening now. The hanging was scheduled for dusk, and the square was starting to fill up. Liam would hold back from the main fighting, but he was supposed to make an appearance at the right moment.

  Atanians were coming from all over the city to watch the first ever public hanging. Liam imagined that some of them were coming to honor those sentenced to death, but the early atmosphere was more like a festival day. People were hawking roasted nuts. He could smell cinnamon in the air and saw children running around, playing tag. It was disconcerting. These were an occupied people. It didn’t make sense for them to behave like it was a public holiday. But it was the first time they had all been allowed to gather together since the invasion. Even so, he saw a lot of grim looks.

  He could also see heavily armed guards everywhere: big green orcs stationed at regular intervals around the square. He could see others on rooftops armed with bows. He was beginning to think this was a bad idea. The Emperor himself was supposed to make an appearance and Liam imagined that his rarely seen minotaur guards would be with him. During training breaks, the other Atanians had shared stories of seeing seven-foot tall minotaurs, rippling with muscle and tattooed with Ogham symbols.

  Liam turned to Sophronia, “Are we sure this is a good idea? It seems like it will be almost impossible to rescue anyone with all of those guards.”

  Sophronia nodded, “I know what you mean. But Celestina says that if we hit hard and get out fast, we will strike a blow that will embarrass the Emperor. She says he is deeply prideful and will be forced to make rash decisions. Also, with the church knights coming, I think the odds will be better.”

  “We better hope so,” muttered Liam. He eyed an orc on a rooftop. “That’s a big bow.”