by Джеффри Лорд
«I suppose that is one idea. But is there such a man as you-?» Paor broke off as his mouth dropped open and his hand rose to point a finger at Blade. «You?»
«I have no kin or clan here among the Kargoi. I have only two friends. Naula is one, and she is only a young girl. You are the other, and you are a wise man whom I trust.»
Paor shut his mouth and nodded slowly. «Yes, I can see that you are such a man as you have described. I see also that you could indeed lead as High Baudz, wisely and well.
«Yet-you have no faction, now. What will you have after a year as High Baudz? During that year you will be able to reward many. Those whom a man rewards have been known to follow him.»
«That is true,» said Blade. «I can only swear to you that out of my love for the Kargoi and my regard for my own honor, I will do no such thing.» He drew his shortsword and handed it to Paor, hilt first. «Take this sword. I swear by all that any among the Kargoi believe in that with this sword you may slay me, without a fight, if after a year as High Baudz I do not step aside. I will swear it again, before all the baudzi of the Kargoi and anyone else you may think fit to witness the oath. I can offer no more than this oath.»
«For me, the oath is enough,» said Paor, smiling and handing the sword back. «I doubt if many of the wiser baudzi will think otherwise.»
For a short time it looked as if Paor had been too optimistic. Several of the baudzi and a good many warriors cried loudly that no stranger should have the supreme honor the Kargoi could give, no matter what oaths he was willing to swear or how great the need for a High Baudz. If there was need to make someone High Baudz for a year, then surely there were any number of worthy men among the Kargoi!
These people might have won or at least dangerously delayed matters, except that their secret leaked out. Their choice for High Baudz was Rehod.
Suddenly Blade found himself with all the support he needed. Many people respected Rehod's courage, but had doubts about his wisdom and judgement. A hard-fighting hero he certainly was, but was he also a leader who could be trusted to lead the Kargoi safely into their new home without making fatal mistakes or abusing his power?
So the baudzi gathered together around Adroon's grave and chose Richard Blade to be High Baudz of the Kargoi. They listened to him swear his promised oath, swore their own oaths to follow his guidance in all matters of war, then started pouring out the kaum. The party went on all night.
Blade found himself hard at work almost from the moment of his elevation to office. The scouts who'd gone across the pass at the head of the valley started returning the next morning. Blade sat with them, heard their tales, and slowly learned what lay beyond the pass.
A day's march beyond the pass lay a wide stretch of water. It was shallow, almost a swamp in many places, but obviously connected somehow with the sea. The tides fell and rose, revealing and then swallowing up areas of ground turned to ooze, dead trees, even weed-grown buildings. Even at the lowest point of the tide, there was no way to the far side except by boat.
That far side was far indeed-a good ten miles. On the far side a range of lush green hills suggested a considerable expanse of fertile, hospitable land. But smoke columns by day and fires by night suggested a land already inhabited. To make their home among the hills or even to pass through them, the Kargoi would have to be ready to fight.
No one among the Kargoi would consider for a moment retracing their steps. The valley where they lay now had already been ruled out. The slope on the far side of the pass was too rugged and heavily forested. The new homeland, or at least the next stage of the journey, lay beyond the water. A grim and exhausting few weeks lay ahead of the Kargoi.
One of the grimmest and most exhausting times would be had simply getting across the water. The Kargoi knew how to cross rivers, and perhaps this water had once been a river, but now it was a good deal more.
The problem was not quite hopeless. The great wagons of the Kargoi were so well built that they could float like boats. Or at least they could easily be made to do so, with a little bit of patching and caulking of seams opened by the jolting and jarring of many miles of overland travel.
So much for the wagons. What about the drends? They could swim across a river, with a good deal of whipping and prodding. They could not swim ten miles.
«Perhaps we should try taming some of the sea reptiles to tow our wagons across,» said Paor with a laugh. «They do not seem much more stupid than a drend, so perhaps they can learn almost as much.»
Again Blade had to wonder how much Paor suspected about the attacks of the sea reptiles. He shook his head. «I do not think we have that much time. Besides, I have a better plan for getting the drends across the water.»
It was basically a simple plan, although Blade knew too well how many things would still have to go exactly right. Cut down trees along the shore and build rafts-big ones, large enough to support a dozen drends. Launch the rafts and lead the drends on board, tethering them securely so they would not fall overboard.
Then set the wagons afloat. Tie two or three wagons to each raft. The men and women aboard the wagons go to work with poles or paddles. Slowly the wagons make their way across the miles of water. When dry land is reached on the far side, ground the rafts, unload the drends, and hitch them up to pull the wagons ashore.
Obviously it would be impossible to bring all the drends across in one trip this way. Many wagons would have to make several trips towing drend rafts. It would also be necessary to make all the crossings by day, to keep the wagons or the rafts from running aground.
Blade counted up wagons and drends and did some calculations. It would take nearly a week to get everybody across the water by this method. During the crossing an attack by any creatures under Menel control could mean a bloody shambles.
Any other method, though, would leave the Kargoi just as vulnerable and take much more time. They could not afford to give that much time to either the Menel or whoever might be waiting on the far side of the water. An alert and waiting enemy could do a great deal of damage to the slow convoys of wagons and drend rafts as they crept toward the far shore of the water.
Fortunately there was something that could be done about human enemies, unlike the Menel. If the hides of drends and sea reptiles were stretched over light wooden frameworks and made waterproof, then what? The Kargoi would have dozens of shallow-draft boats, easily handled and carrying twenty or thirty warriors apiece.
With enough of these boats, the Kargoi could send a thousand or more warriors across the water in a single night. If they landed by surprise, they could certainly sweep aside any force likely to be waiting for them. They could seize and hold a stretch of the far shore; if necessary they could build a log fort large enough to hold all of the Kargoi in an emergency.
Then the wagons and the drends could cross the water to a safe landing, the Kargoi would be united, and they could plan their next move. At this point even Blade wasn't sure what that next move might be. Too much depended on what the enemy did-the unknown human enemy across the water, and the known nonhuman one lurking out to sea.
Chapter 18
Darkness was all around the boat as it crept across water like black marble. The darkness hid all but one of the thirty-five boats that followed in the wake of Blade's.
Eight hundred warriors of the Kargoi were approaching the far shore of the water. In another few minutes they should be landing safely, if their luck held. So far it had held for more than three hours. No sign of the Menel, no sign of an alert and waiting enemy, no sign of anything alive in the darkness and the water except themselves. Surely that luck could hold for at least a few more minutes.
Blade carefully shifted in the cramped bow of the boat and looked aft. The paddles rose and fell steadily, with only a gentle pluk as they dipped and the faint plank of falling drops as they rose. He could see the boat immediately astern, and if he looked hard enough, the faintest hint of the one behind that.
When the warriors landed, they wo
uld make camp until dawn. Then four columns of a hundred men each would go out to explore the countryside, capture or kill any small bands of enemies, and report any large ones. The rest of the landing party would start chopping down trees and digging ditches to make a large fortified enclosure. One boat would return across the water, bringing word to the waiting Kargoi. As soon as the enclosure was finished, the wagons and the rafts would start their crossing. Another week would see the Kargoi united once again.
In the silence and the darkness the sudden splash of a paddle off to the left sounded like an explosion. Blade twisted again, peering in the direction of the sound. The splash came again, closer, and a third time, still closer.
Before Blade could even draw his sword a long low canoe with four men in it seemed to leap at him out of the darkness.
Blade crouched, bracing himself with one hand while he snatched up a spear with the other. One of the men in the canoe whirled, dropping his paddle and raising a long fishing trident. Both Blade and the fisherman made their throws at the same moment. Blade ducked and the trident passed over his head, without spoiling his own aim. His spear took the man in the shoulder. He fell back on the man behind him, his face twisted in pain but not crying out.
In the next moment Blade's boat rode up over the low-lying canoe, driving it down into the water. The tough wood of the canoe pressed upward against the hide of the boat. Blade heard seams parting and felt water rushing in around his feet. He drew his sword and vaulted over the bow into the half-submerged canoe. One of the fishermen lunged at him with a short knife, missed, then grappled with him and tried to bear him over the side. The man fought in total silence and with astonishing strength. At last Blade was able to bring his knee up into the man's groin. With a gasp the fisherman jerked back, giving Blade just enough room to bring his sword into play. The fisherman made no sound even when he died.
Meanwhile the other two men in the canoe were battling against two Kargoi warriors. One of them threw a net over one of his attackers while the other fell on the entangled man, stabbing at his throat with a knife. The steel bit home, and suddenly the battle wasn't silent any more. The stabbed warrior let out a bubbling scream of agony. His attacker fell on top of him with a faint thud, cut down by the second warrior. The last fisherman had no weapon but his net, yet he tried to pull it back for another throw as the Kargoi came at him. The net leaped out, the sword slashed down, and both men went over the side.
Splashes sounded behind Blade as the warriors in his boat jumped overboard. Blade was relieved to see that the water was no more than waist-deep. The men began pushing toward shore, holding their greased and blackened weapons over their heads.
On either side of the wading men other boats pushed forward, the men at the paddles no longer trying to be silent. Blade sprang overboard from the sinking canoe and splashed toward one of the passing boats. As he did, he heard the long, deep blasts of a horn sounding from the darkness ahead. A second horn answered it, then two more almost together.
Before Blade could climb into the boat, he saw lights appearing ahead. The alarm was up, and now the Kargoi were going to have to fight their way ashore. Blade scrambled into the boat and shouted, «Light up your torches and put your backs into it! Archers, hold your fire until I give the order!»
Torches flared as the boats shot ahead. Blade's boat joined the rush toward shore. They passed the wading men, splashing furiously toward a shore now less than a spear's throw away. Blade saw one man vanish as he stepped into a deep hole. Two of his comrades hauled him to the surface, spluttering and gasping for breath.
On the land several of the lights now formed a cluster. Blade could make out a number of dark-skinned figures standing in the light, holding bows and spears. A flurry of movement, and several more ran out from the trees. One held a long red staff. A closer look, and Blade realized that the staff bearer was a woman.
Then the boats were sliding up onto the mud and crunching over submerged roots. Blade dropped into knee-deep water, drew his longsword, and splashed toward dry land. As fast as the other boats grounded, their warriors followed him.
An arrow whistled past Blade and splashed into the water. Another struck him in the stomach but glanced off his reptile-hide armor. As the water grew shallower and the footing-more solid, he broke into a run.
Not all the arrows coming at the Kargoi were badly aimed or futile. Blade saw one man suddenly stagger and clutch a bloody thigh-then keep on going, stumbling, his face twisted in pain, but still on his feet. As the Kargoi started reaching the land, several of the fishermen began to form a circle around the woman. She didn't seem willing to be protected. Blade saw her whirl her long staff, jabbing at the stomach of one man, the knee of another. They fell back. Before they could recover, Blade charged them at a dead run.
As he ran he shouted «Prisoners! Prisoners!» He doubted that many of his warriors would hear or obey, but hopefully enough would to leave at least a few of the enemy alive. He particularly wanted the woman-she looked like the highest-ranking person among the enemy here tonight. She would be a valuable hostage, perhaps a valuable source of information.
Two of the fishermen stepped toward Blade as he approached the woman. One of them shot an arrow that whistled past his ear, then gripped his bow like a club and swung wildly at the oncoming Blade. Blade threw up one arm, taking the blow on his wrist brace, then chopped downward with his shortsword to hack the bow in two. The man dropped the broken halves, but instead of stepping back, he dropped on all fours and hurled himself at Blade.
Blade sprang clear of the man's lunge, but had to check his slash at the other man, who was coming at him with a spear. The spear point drove into the armor of Blade's thigh and almost into his flesh. Before the man could pull back Blade swung his longsword a second time. This time the edge cut cleanly through the spear shaft and one of the arms holding it. The man bared his teeth with a hiss of pain and drew back.
Now the woman came in, gripping her staff with obvious skill, feinting at Blade with one end, then swinging with all her strength at his head. As she swung, the archer grabbed Blade around the waist, clawing at his armor, heaving with all his strength. Blade went over backward, and the woman's staff whistled down where his head had been to thud into the ground.
The woman raised the staff again, but hesitated for a moment, obviously afraid of hitting the archer as he struggled with Blade. Two Kargoi rushed in against the woman and she had to back away, her staff flickering like lightning, thudding against the Kargoi armor, doing no damage but keeping the warriors out of striking range.
Meanwhile Blade found that he had a first-class fight on his hands. The archer who'd grappled him was barely two-thirds his size, but the man was all muscle and also a tough, skilled wrestler in a murderous rage. At last Blade let go of his swords and threw all his own speed and strength against the archer. Twice he got the man in an unbreakable hold, then let him go, to show a willingness to accept the man's surrender. The archer seemed incapable of accepting the idea of surrendering. Each time Blade let him go, he attacked more furiously than before.
At last Blade got the archer in a firm grip, twisted hard, and let go only when he heard the man's neck snap. He rose, covered with sweat and dirt, his face grim. These people might not have much in the way of weapons, but they'd showed considerable skill in using what they had, and also breathtaking courage. These people would not be easy to fight, and Blade found that he didn't particularly like the idea of fighting them in any case.
The woman was still defending herself, her back against a tree, and there were now four Kargoi warriors around her. They seemed to be letting her hold them at a distance, and Blade realized they must think he'd picked out the woman as his prize of the night's battle. So they were merely keeping her busy until the High Baudz could come up and claim his rightful booty.
Blade looked up and down the shore. A large number of Kargoi torches were now throwing light on the scene. Out of twenty or so defenders, all but half a d
ozen were either dead or had vanished into the forest. Each of these survivors was defending himself desperately against three or four Kargoi. The Kargoi were attacking so eagerly they sometimes got in each other's way, giving the fishermen a chance to strike back. Blade counted at least fifteen Kargoi down, six of them obviously dead.
The warriors around the woman had her hemmed in so that she could not flee, but as Blade approached they stepped aside. The woman cracked one warrior's wrist with a final flick of her staff, then turned for a dash into the forest.
Blade was up with her before she'd gone three steps. She whirled and the staff sang through the air toward Blade. He raised his longsword to block the staff and unhooked his shortsword from his belt, scabbard and all. Then he closed in, holding the shortsword out hilt first.
The woman didn't realize until it was too late that Blade meant to capture her, not kill her. His longsword met her staff in midair and chopped halfway through it. The two weapons were locked together, and that held her in place just long enough. Blade thrust the hilt of his shortsword into the woman's stomach, pulling the blow at the last moment to avoid doing real damage. The woman gasped and doubled up, her hands gripping the staff so tightly that the knuckles of her dark-brown hands turned pale. Blade dropped both swords, jerked the staff out of the woman's hands, caught her by the arms, and got her face down on the ground. He placed one foot in the small of her back and held her down while he drew cord from the pouch at his belt and systematically bound her wrists and ankles. Then he turned her over.
Now that he could look at her carefully, he realized that she was extremely striking. Not beautiful, not even pretty, but exciting and certainly memorable. She was tall and long-limbed, with broad shoulders for a woman and a broad, high-cheeked face. Large gray eyes stared up at him, filled with pain and confusion, but also with continued defiance.
She wore the same clothing as the other fishermen, a pair of knee-length trousers with a silky sheen to them. Hers were now rather soiled and torn from the fighting. She was bare above the waist, her small but beautifully formed breasts exposed. The cuffs of her trousers were embroidered in a geometric design of red and blue. She wore a wide bronze ring on each arm, one set with blue stones and the other with a design of fish and seaweed.