by D. L. Kramer
Nahtan helped her off the altar, then quietly left the temple. Yenene's tears seemed to have washed away some of his own pain. Knowing Jensina had been watching the battle, and taking the souls of those who died made him believe all the more that the only ones who lost their lives were those who were supposed to.
Taking Tyran's reins, Nahtan pulled himself back up into the saddle and turned to the east.
The way to Kutci's cave was easy to remember, and he soon found himself sitting just inside the opening, watching the waves crash below him. Tears coursed down his cheeks as he mourned privately, and he ached to feel Rena's arms around him. Morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon to evening. The fog started to roll in off the water and eventually the sun sank below the horizon. He was surprised at the grief the quiet brought out; none of his memories held so much pain.
The night passed unnoticed by him and by the time the first light crept over the rocks, his tears had stopped. The pain in his chest settled at the bottom of his stomach, and he knew he wasn't finished here yet. He had made a promise to Bear, and he would keep it, regardless of his friend's feelings for him right now.
Pushing himself to his feet, he dusted off his breeches and climbed down the rocks. Tyran waited patiently for him, and Nahtan paused to scratch his nose. "Will you help me?" he asked the gold horse. Tyran snorted and shook his mane, then leaned down and nudged Nahtan's shoulder. "Good boy," Nahtan patted his neck, then pulled himself into the saddle and rode slowly back to the camp.
He didn't stop at the camp, but rode straight through. There was no sign of Bear and he wasn't surprised. He would probably be at his father's house. Nahtan rode through the camp and continued down into the city. There was no reason to hide his cloak now.
Before reaching the cathedral, he slid from his saddle and took Tyran's reins to lead him. His eyes pinned on the altar almost immediately and he walked straight toward it.
The heavy white stone looked solid from a distance, but as he drew closer he could see cracks running through it. The top was stained black with the blood of countless victims, and it's very presence angered him. He dropped Tyran's reins and stood before the altar, waiting until he felt enough control to move. Hacking away angrily at the altar would accomplish nothing.
Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled his sword from its sheath. Wedging the blade into one of the wider cracks, he reached for Tyran's mind. Tyran circled around and kicked at the altar as Nahtan pulled back on his sword. After Tyran's second kick, the rock by Nahtan's sword broke free and crashed to the ground.
He ignored the crowd gathering around the cathedral, and wedged his sword into another crack. Once again, Tyran kicked, loosening the stone so another piece could break apart. Nahtan had Tyran kick the altar a couple more times, sending dozens of stone chips flying through the air. As the Mowik realized what he was doing, several stepped forward to help. Nahtan didn't seem to notice them and continued breaking the altar into smaller pieces.
It was over half gone when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Bear standing behind him.
"You'll hurt your wrist again," Bear said, his voice quiet. He paused for a moment to compose himself from the tears filling his eyes. "Ke died for this," he nodded. "Let me finish it for him."
Nahtan met his friend's eyes and saw the anger was gone from them. "I'm sorry," he apologized again. Stepping aside, he let Bear through to the altar.
Bear stepped past him and Nahtan could see he was carrying something. Raising the heavy war hammer over his head, Bear brought it down on the altar, breaking off another huge piece. Nahtan watched as his friend and the other Mowik finished tearing down the altar. The wounds they all received would take time to heal, but Nahtan had given them the first step to doing just that.
Nine - "You remember who you were?"
Nahtan tossed a rock into the tide pool, watching the sand billow around it when it sank. Above him, Yenene sat in the mouth of Kutci's cave. Since her time in Jensina's temple, the healer had grown quiet, spending long hours either back in the temple or in the cave. She had confided to Nahtan that she heard Jensina's voice now, along with Kutci's. Nahtan had his suspicions that Jensina had chosen Yenene to replace the old priest, but didn't say anything. If that's what was meant to happen, Yenene would reach the same conclusion on her own.
He tossed a second rock into the pool, the sand reminding him of the smoke from the Mowik funerals. He had watched Tuketu's burial from a distance, still not wanting to intrude on Bear's feelings. In the following week, his friend had spent most of his time with his father, telling Liwanu everything Ke had accomplished at Bavol Hold. Movement to his left drew his attention, and Nahtan turned to see Adie picking her way over the rocks to him.
"Bear thought you might be out here," she said, sitting down beside him.
"Not that many other places to go," Nahtan shrugged. The Mowik had made all of the Mo'ani more than welcome. Nahtan spent a good part of each day helping them rebuild areas the church guards had destroyed, but other than that, he had little to do except take reports from the Mo'ani and Mowik sent to flush out the church guards in hiding. There were several guards found each day, and the process of finding them all promised to go on well into the winter months.
"You've been awfully quiet," Adie noted. "Anything you want to talk about?"
Nahtan turned to face her, meeting her blue eyes. "I think I'm just wanting to get back home," he said after a long moment. "I also feel bad about Tuketu and the others who died."
"I've yet to see a battle where at least one life wasn't lost," Adie said gently. "The bodies are usually in the dozens, at least." She paused for a moment. "I think the best way to honor those who died is to keep living, especially if they died for a cause."
Nahtan nodded, understanding what she meant. "I also miss Rena," he paused again. "And the baby."
Adie smiled. "You'll be a good father," she assured him.
"Except I don't know the first thing about it," Nahtan returned. "Did I tell you she had a girl? She named her Valry, after my mother in Edgewind."
"How do you know?" Adie asked, raising an eyebrow.
Nahtan turned to look above them. "That's Kutci's cave," he pointed to the darkened opening. "She talks to Yenene, and told her what the baby was."
Adie followed where he pointed. "I've heard Kutci's name," she admitted. "But who or what is she?"
Nahtan looked back at her. He hadn't talked much with Adie since their arrival. "She's like me," he answered carefully. "I can remember other spirits, and she's one of them."
"You remember who you were?" Adie asked, surprised.
"A little," Nahtan nodded. He looked at the sheathed sword resting on the rocks beside him. "I fought in the last wars in my world. I was one of the only ones to survive." He paused, memories still jumbled with only a few clear enough to make out details. There had been so much hatred, so much betrayal and anger. "That's when I realized our healer was right, and we'd been wrong for so many years. We had to learn to live together, instead of just killing anyone who didn't believe what we did." He turned to look back out at the Miltaiye. "But it was too late. Our gods had given up on us, so when we died, there was no place to go."
Adie watched him for several seconds. "That's why in the prophecy, it says you're neither manflesh nor godflesh, isn't it?" she asked slowly. "Because not even Zakris knew what you were or where you'd come from."
"Yes," Nahtan sighed. "The Wardsman is another one of the spirits."
"I'd wondered how Zakris could create a spirit to fill an entire woods to protect the Dwellers," Adie said. "I guess he didn't."
"I guess not," Nahtan agreed. He fell silent and Adie didn't try to continue the conversation. He understood now why she and Kile were so close; Adie was never judgmental and was sympathetic to the pain brought on by seeing your friends die. He knew without a doubt that Kile pulled through Jayehl's death because of her. For all her warrior-like ways, Nahtan realized Adie filled the same spot in
his heart as a mother, just as Kile had become like a father to him.
They sat by the Miltaiye until Bear came looking for them at sunset. They rode back to the camp, talking quietly of the things still to be done. In the following days, Nahtan started sending out more Mo'ani and Mowik to look for church guards. Within the next few weeks, even the smallest villages reported no church guards around them.
Instead of snow, the Mowik villages had almost constant rain through the winter months. The mountains higher up, however, received plenty of snow, giving Nahtan something to gauge when it would be time to leave. The trip here had taken them just over three months, but he expected the trip back to take much longer. The road was dotted with church guard waystations, and they would need to destroy each one as they came across it. If he was lucky, they would reach Herridon by next winter.
The days and weeks slowly passed by, and Nahtan found himself missing Rena more every day. Bear and Yenene developed a good friendship, and more than once Nahtan wondered what Brijade would think of it. He doubted there was anything more than friendship there, but with Bear, he couldn't be entirely certain.
After the first few months of winter, Nahtan started sending people up to check the mountain passes every few weeks. When the lower passes were clear, it would tell him the passes at the stronghold were close to being the same and they should start preparing for the trip home. Several weeks later, the rains stopped and the temperatures started rising again. The fourth scout sent to check the passes brought back the word that they would be clear enough to travel through within a couple of weeks if the warm weather held. The next scout sent brought back the news that it was time to leave.
The Mo'ani were anxious to return to the stronghold, and began making their preparations. Judging how quickly they were preparing, Nahtan guessed they would be on the road by the end of the week, and they were.
Accompanying the Mo'ani were several Mowik, among them Yenene and Liwanu. Liwanu had completely recovered from his injuries, and chose to go with his son. Yenene claimed she was going because they didn't have a healer, and Nahtan welcomed her skills. The night before they left, Yenene made one last trip to Kutci's cave. After searching the ground for some time, she found a round, semi-flat rock. With Nahtan holding it, she carefully secured a strip of leather around it, then strung it on another strip of leather and tied it around her neck. Testing it back in the village, she assured Nahtan that she could still hear and speak with Kutci while she was wearing the stone.
The army left the next morning before sunrise. Finally admitting that Tiimu was growing too old to continue traveling with him, Bear asked Kanatu to look after the little fox. Tiimu didn't seem to mind being left behind, and curled up in the crook of Kanatu's arm as Bear scratched his head one last time. Nahtan knew it was for the best. Like the stallion, Tiimu had begun complaining to him about the aches of old age. Living the rest of his life in the mild climate by the Miltaiye would be far easier on him than traveling back to the mountains around Herridon.
At each Mowik village they passed, they picked up men and women of all ages. By the time they left the last village behind, Bear guessed their army numbered close to eight hundred.
They came across the first waystation almost two weeks after leaving the Mowik villages. Being close to the garrison, it was heavily manned. Word had reached the church guards there of the garrison's fall, and they were prepared for the advancing army.
Nahtan sent scouts ahead, and they quickly returned with word that the waystation's army blocked the road. The scouts guessed they numbered no more than four hundred, but couldn't verify if more waited inside the waystation.
To take the army around the waystation could take weeks, so in the end, Nahtan decided to just go through them. Leading his army forward, he placed the cavalry at the front, then the archers, then the infantry. Adie rode beside him, as did Yenene. Bear had moved back with the archers, and Liwanu with the infantry.
When the distance between the two armies had closed to almost three hundred yards, Nahtan pulled Tyran in, letting the cavalry move out to either side of him and the others to move up behind him.
"I think I'll be taking my leave now," Yenene said, taking her reins and turning her horse. "A battlefield is no place for a healer."
"No, it's not," Nahtan agreed, nodding to her as he stood and pulled his sword from its sheath.
"Their captain should try to talk to you if they want to consider terms," Adie said, watching the church guards adjust their ranks. After several moments, it became apparent that no one wanted to try negotiating Nahtan's surrender.
"I didn't really feel like talking," Nahtan returned when Adie pointed it out to him. Wrapping Tyran's reins around his hand, his heart pounded with excitement as he tightened his grip on his sword.
Adie smiled, drawing the long dagger from her sash and shrugging her quarterstaff into a more accessible position on her back. "At least we won't be losing any time throwing threats back and forth," she said.
Nahtan returned her smile. "Pass the word down that I want the cavalry to follow my lead."
He continued to watch until the church guards started shifting their ranks again. Before they were settled, he shifted his sword, testing its weight in his one hand. His next thought sent Tyran a couple of steps forward. Sensing the readiness of the cavalry behind him, he gave Tyran his head, letting the young stallion burst forward. It only took a second for the church guards to realize what was happening and for their cavalry to rush to meet the Mo'ani's charge.
When the two cavalries clashed, the chaos of a true battle brought back long buried instincts in Nahtan, along with every lesson Mo'ani, Kile and Janec had given him. He gave no thought to his own movements, letting each of his opponents dictate how he would move to fend them off and make strikes of his own.
The battle ended when the church guards broke ranks and tried retreating to the waystation, the Mo'ani infantry close behind them. Several of the withdrawing church guards fell to arrows. When the first rounds were fired, Nahtan paused to look for the archers. He quickly caught sight of Bear, taking aim with his longbow. At some point during the battle, Bear had ordered the archers to circle ahead, placing themselves along either side of the road back to the waystation.
There were still quite a few church guards who made it back into the waystation and were able to secure the gates. Not about to let them go, Nahtan's army set up their camp, encircling the waystation and every possible way out.
It took nearly a week of holding the waystation in siege before a church guard emerged, carrying a message that they wanted to negotiate their surrender.
Nahtan waited while two of the Mowik escorted the burly church guard over to him.
"You're Nahtan?" the church guard asked, skepticism in his voice. His scraggly beard nearly reached his collarbone, and bits of dirt clung to it. There was no mistaking the sharpness in his grey eyes, though, or how he noted everyone around him. Nahtan knew immediately that he was dealing with a trained warrior. There must have also been considerable faith in his verbal skills for his comrades to let him come out alone and unarmed.
"Yes, I am," Nahtan confirmed.
"How did someone so young learn to fight like that?" the man asked.
"I've had some very good teachers," Nahtan answered. "Might I have your name, Sir?" He saw no reason to antagonize the man, for his unkempt appearance, his speech and manner confirmed an education.
"Lieutenant Mallin," the man answered. "I should warn you, we're only surrendering for our families. If it was just the men in the waystation, we'd keep you here for a year."
"You have families here?" Nahtan asked, concern in his voice. They had seen no sign of any children.
"Several," Mallin answered. He paused, considering Nahtan for a moment, then those around him. His sharp eyes stayed the longest on Adie and Yenene. "Enough that we doubt our ability to protect them."
"What terms did you want?" Nahtan asked.
"We'll surrender t
o you on the agreement that you let our families leave here unharmed."
Nahtan studied the man before him. "And where would they go?" he asked.
"They would find someplace safe," Mallin answered. "Some have other family they can return to."
Nahtan glanced over at Adie, then Bear, then finally Yenene. Mo'ani's Way told him what he should do, and Adie and Bear's silent nods confirmed it. A shrug from Yenene told him there were no warnings from Jensina or Kutci about the situation. It was up to the warrior to protect those in his care, but also to see to it their needs were met. Nahtan sensed considerable pride and honor in Mallin, and wondered if the church guard realized how close his values were to Nahtan's own.
"We'll accept your surrender," Nahtan looked back at Mallin. "But there's no place for your men as our captives. As long as you leave the Mowik's lands, you're all free to go."
Mallin's eyes widened slightly. "You would let your enemy walk off, knowing they might attack you again one day?"
"If they do," Nahtan shrugged. "Then they'll find my sword between us. But I'm not going to detain or kill men because of their thoughts or beliefs."
"Thank you," Mallin said, a note of respect in his voice. He started to turn away, then stopped and looked back at Nahtan. "You are--very different from what we were told you would be."
"I've discovered there are lots of things that aren't quite what everyone expected them to be," Nahtan assured him. As Mallin and the Mowik escorting him left, he turned to Adie. "Janec didn't say anything about the waystations having families in them," he said.
"They didn't used to," Adie shook her head slowly. "But those were always the ones closest to Herridon. They must bring their families with them when they're stationed this far out."
"Remind me to thank him for the information when we get back," Nahtan added.
"We'd better go warn everyone about what's going on," Bear suggested. "We wouldn't want them to start any fights."
"Good idea," Nahtan agreed. While most of his army waited for him to give directions, there were still several who might make their own decisions if neither Nahtan nor one of his officers were right there.