by Tora Moon
Without another word, the keep alphas turned and went into the Keep House calling for their platoon alphas. Summarily dismissed, Rizelya turned to go to the stables to join her squad-pack. She didn’t have to go far. They were standing at the foot of the steps where the Keep Alphas hadn’t been able to see them. Rizelya wasn’t surprised to see Keandran was missing. Her new girls were a bit shocked at the news they had overheard.
Gehan bounced with excitement. “We get to go to Strunlair Keep with you! I’ve never been outside of Strunven Keep’s environs, not even to Strunvede Keep.”
Raeleen’s eyes were alight with pleasure. “One of my pack-mates is at Strunlair Keep, training with the stonemason there. It will be good to see her again.”
“I’m like Gehan,” Grazeen murmured, a tremor in her voice. “I haven’t ever left Strunven Keep before. But unlike Gehan, I’m more scared than excited.”
“There isn’t anything to be afraid of,” Maellyn assured her friend, putting an arm around her shoulders. “I’ve traveled with my mother to a number of keeps throughout all of Strunlair Province. We’re all part of the same clan. Think of them as distant cousins.”
“I’ll be going with you,” Maendy announced, her stance proclaiming her determination. “I must speak with the head helstramiester about our new needs. She makes her forge at Strunlair Keep.”
“Pack lightly and don’t forget your new leathers and helbraught,” Rizelya told them in dismissal.
“We need to restock some of our supplies,” Leistral said. “I’ll go make arrangements with the quartermaster.” Eidstrun trailed after her.
Dehali looked thoughtfully in the direction of the parting girls. “I’ll go supervise their packing. There’s an art to packing what you need.” She rushed to catch up to the girls.
Aistrun and Rizelya looked at each other and shrugged. “Hey, it’s just you and me, Little Red.” Aistrun raised and lowered his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner. “Wanna join me in a good time?”
“Only if it includes food. I’m starving. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t eat any breakfast.”
“Works for me.”
They separated after eating. Rizelya spent the rest of the afternoon getting her clothes cleaned and repacked. When she undressed, she discovered to her relief her injured leg was free of any signs of poison. A long soak in the bathing room relaxed her. After jerking awake a few times as she slid under the water, Rizelya climbed out, dressed, and went to her room to nap.
A commotion in the hall woke her up. She opened the door and hurriedly stepped back out of the way as Grazeen’s bag bumped the wall. She was loaded down with a saddle bag, bedroll, and her helbraught. A red cloak slung over her shoulder slipped down, and as she tried shrugging it back in place, her bag banged on the wall again. Saffren and Gehan were farther up the hall, while the other two were behind Grazeen, all of them carrying similar loads.
“Oops, sorry,” Grazeen apologized. “I guess it takes practice to juggle all this. Since we’re now fighters, they’re moving us here.” She struggled past Rizelya.
“Just for the night,” Maellyn clarified.
“Do you think they’ll move us permanently?” Raeleen sounded worried.
“I don’t know,” Rizelya answered truthfully. “I guess it depends on the Clan Alphas.” She leaned against the doorframe. She hadn’t thought what would happen to the girls once they became fighters. They all had other work besides fighting. Maellyn and Raeleen were both accomplished in their fields of metal and stone work. She wasn’t sure what the others did. All Rizelya had done since joining a fighting-pack at fourteen was fight monsters or hunt.
“For now,” she said, “you are part of my squad-pack.”
Raeleen nodded and hitched her bag more securely. She walked slowly into the room, seemingly deep in thought.
Rizelya watched them until they were all inside their new room, then went back into her room. She had never considered how much of a change the women from the other Talents would be asked to make when they became fighters. The teacher in Strunheim Territory hadn’t had much say whether she fought or not as she had been the only strong Yellow in the area.
Rizelya jammed the rising guilt back down where it belonged. The war with the Malvers monsters had escalated. She firmly believed if they were to survive, they needed all the capable fighters they could get.
Chapter 14
It was late in the morning when Saehala gave the order to ride out of Strunven Keep. They had been delayed in leaving earlier when a rider from the small keep to the north rode in with news of a nest too large for the small garrison to handle. Getting the fighter’s mounts ready to ride had taken precedence over Rizelya’s group leaving.
The delay had given Rizelya a chance to find her new squad members proper mounts. The ones they had ridden yesterday were fine for pleasure riding. But for the type of traveling her squad-pack did, they needed long-distance runners and horses with steady nerves. All of the plains-bred horses were taken by the fighting-packs. It took a while but with Eidstrun’s help, Rizelya found several mixed-breed horses for her new girls.
Two full platoons were riding with them. Rizelya was surprised to see a number of yellow- and gold-haired women riding with them. With so many horses kicking up a lot of dust, she was glad Saehala had insisted her squad-pack ride near the front.
The area around Strunven Keep was typical of all the keeps Rizelya had visited. Crop fields and pastureland were cordoned off with crushed sheadash stone and walls. This late in the morning, farmers were hard at work in the fields and the herders had their flocks in their pastures.
At dinner last night, Laynar had mentioned the precautions Strunheim Keep had taken. Saehala had decided they were practical changes she should implement immediately. There were now young Reds accompanied by a young warrior standing guard in the pastures they passed. Some of the smaller fields shared a guard. The shepherd’s crooks had also been replaced with helbraughts. Rizelya guessed they would be learning how to use them with their Talent so they could better protect themselves and their herds if a monster happened to attack. The way the monster nests were forming, it was a very real possibility.
It didn’t take long to ride through the cultivated land surrounding the keep. The fields gave way to a large, flat grassy plain widely scattered with patches of trees. It would take them several days to cross it. This late in the spring the grass was still verdant green and was knee high to the horses. A fairly wide road had been cut through the grass and covered with crushed, compacted stone. In the distance Rizelya could see a large herd of billocks grazing on the lush grass.
The valley reminded her of the great plains in the center of Lairheim. It was said to take over a chedan riding a fast horse to travel from one end to the other. The plains held the Haaslair Province, which was even larger than Strunlair. She hadn’t visited it yet. If she was ever assigned to guard duty at Shandir’s Crater, she would have to ride through it.
Rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks dashed across the road. Birds wheeled overhead. A herd of long-legged ducorns, their twisty horns almost as long as they were, bounded across the plain to their right. Rizelya paused to watch them, laughing at the way they bounced up and down as they ran which made it harder for predators, such as wolves and cougars, to catch them.
It was midafternoon when they paused beneath one of the small groves of trees. A spring bubbled up in the middle of it and the water dribbled down a cairn of rocks forming a small pool. A squirrel sat in the tree above the spring, scolding them. From the paw prints around it, this was a popular watering hole.
They took turns watering their horses which took a while since they had to let the pool refill before another set of horses could drink their fill. Rizelya and her squad-pack ate a lunch of cold sandwiches and boiled eggs while they waited their turn. She tossed crumbs of bread to the waiting sparrows. A blue jay swooped out of the trees to snag a large piece before a sparrow could get it.
The area w
as full of life—just the thing to attract monsters. There had to be one, if not more, nests in this idyllic setting. Rizelya wandered over to where Saehala and Saehalstrun rested. “Where are the monster nests in this area? Do we need to check them as we ride through?”
“This road avoids the nests,” Saehala answered, her half-eaten apple in one hand. “We shouldn’t have any monster problems here.”
“There are two minor keeps guarding this valley,” Saehalstrun added. “We won’t need to fight.”
“Good to know.” Rizelya wasn’t sure they were correct—the monsters had been changing their habits way too much to be complacent because they hadn’t attacked this area before—but didn’t want to argue. Instead, she returned to her group telling them to be more alert as they rode. She had a strange feeling. She didn’t hear any humming, but it only meant the control janack wasn’t active yet.
Saehala picked up the pace after their rest. Several herds of billocks and ducorns scattered as they rode past. Quite a while later they were deep in the valley. Off in the distance, ruins formed a mountain of rubble. Not far from it, the smudge of sedge grasses and thick bushes indicated a swamp. Rizelya wasn’t sure if she imagined the menace she felt radiating from it or not. She still didn’t hear any humming, but she watched Keandran while they passed the ruins and their accompanying swamp. Every few milcrons his back twitched and his head snapped toward the swamp. It seemed he had to make a real effort to face forward again. She urged Kymaya to ride next to Tejen on the side of the ruins. If Keandran did bolt to the swamp, she’d be able to block him.
Her own shoulders twitched as they rode past; she kept expecting a horde of monsters to burst out of a nest and attack them. It had been many years since an entire nest of monsters had managed to escape a nest to rove the countryside. Rizelya shuddered as she remembered the nest in Strunheim Territory that had somehow produced just one janack and a pair of brechas out of its normal cycle. Nothing was normal about the monsters anymore.
She didn’t relax until they had left the ruins far behind them.
***
On the third day after leaving Strunven Keep, the plains gradually gave way to scrub oak then larger trees. Soon they rode through a forest. Birds flitted in the branches overhead, squirrels and chipmunks scurried on the forest floor, and Rizelya caught a glimpse of a red fox as it poked its nose out of its den. The wildlife didn’t seem frightened of their passage.
At each of the crossroads, which veered to the minor keeps, a small contingent of fighters turned off the main road. Rizelya noticed each one of these groups had a Yellow Talent with them. It became clear the second time this happened that the extra platoon of fighters traveling with them were additional support for the outlying keeps along their way. It wasn’t long until another group sheered off from the main group to follow a well-worn path through the forest.
“Must be another keep that way,” Laynar commented to Rizelya.
“It was a smart of Saehala to bring additional support for the small keeps. But where did she get all the Yellows? We only trained eight, right?” Her squad-pack rode in a tight group in the narrower confines of the forest road. Rizelya smiled at the new members trailing behind and their attempts to bring Keandran into the group.
“We trained eight,” Dehali answered. “All the ones we trained, except Gehan, who was with us, were pressed into training others once Saehala saw how effective the cold-air shield is against the control janack. She’s sending a Yellow to each major keep, who will then train other Yellows. Those will be sent to the minor keeps in each of the districts. The ones riding with us are going to the minor keeps beholden to Strunven Keep itself.”
Rizelya gaped at Dehali. “How do you know all this? Saehala didn’t say anything to me.”
“Or to me.” Laynar sounded just as confused as Rizelya.
“Ah, but people like me and tell me things,” Dehali smirked. “The girls who were trained were so excited, they sought out Gehan to tell her, and I was helping her pack, so they told me too.”
“Hey, that’s a damned fine idea Saehala had,” Aistrun interjected with a frown of irritation. “It irks me we didn’t think of it. We should make sure it gets passed around to the other alphas at the clan-meeting.”
“I’m sure Saehala will mention it,” Laynar said.
“That explains why there were so many Yellows riding with us,” Rizelya said. “But are they ready?”
“No one is ever ready until they’re actually in a fight,” Dehali said. “I’ve been giving them additional training in the evening with Leistral and Eidstrun’s help.”
Pride filled Rizelya’s heart. “So that’s where you’ve been disappearing after the evening meal. I wondered where you were going.”
“You aren’t mad?” Leistral asked, worried.
Rizelya and Aistrun both shook their heads. Aistrun snorted, “Of course not. We’re proud of you taking the initiative. The more training those women have, the better off they’ll be in a fight.” He paused, then looked at Rizelya. “You know, Rizelya, we’ve been remiss. We should be training our new squad-members every night too. We need to learn to work together better with these new methods.”
“If we’re going to bring them fully into our pack, we need more warriors,” Eidstrun mentioned. “Aistrun and I can’t support and protect all you women by ourselves.” He glanced back at Keandran and grimaced. “I don’t trust him to help us. If that first fight was any indication, it would be wise to have a warrior teamed up with each woman.”
“Why?” Rizelya asked, curious. Currently, a typical fighting force consisted of twenty or so men and eight women with Red Talent. The men fought the monsters while the women kept them in the nest and prevented their escape. The Reds would only fight the monsters if one escaped the warriors and headed to the perimeter of their fire circle.
“The way our new girls fight,” Eidstrun said with a grin, “is to take the battle to the monsters. It’s smart if we have enough fighters, because between your magic and our venom, the monsters don’t stand a chance. Fighting as a team makes a lot of sense.”
“We’ve never had enough Reds to fight as teams,” Rizelya replied thoughtfully. “But with more women joining us, it would be possible.”
“I’d bet we’d have fewer injuries,” Leistral added. “The men tend to fight individually and no one watches their back. I’ve seen Reds injured or killed when they tried to help a warrior because they didn’t know how to fight together.”
“You’re right. I’ve seen the same,” Rizelya said. She looked around at the group. “So while we’re riding, I want all of you to think about how you would fight together as a team, either in pairs or in groups. Talk to our new members, see what ideas they have. They don’t know how it’s always been done and so aren’t constricted by traditional methods.”
“Hey, Eidstrun and I will also scout out the men in this group to see if any are willing to break tradition,” Aistrun said with a mischievous grin. “There has to be a few with open minds here too.”
“We’ll exchange ideas and practice tonight after the evening meal,” Rizelya said.
Aistrun and Eidstrun nodded in understanding and then peeled away from their group. Dehali and Leistral drifted back to join the new pack members. Soon Rizelya and Laynar rode in a pocket of quiet.
Rizelya looked at Laynar out of the corner of her eye. As there was no polite way to ask, she just dove in. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but didn’t want to be rude, but where is your alpha partner?”
“Laenstrun was severely injured in the fight those monsters you caught for us escaped from. If he’s recovered enough, Grandmother will bring him with her to the clan-meeting.”
“Laenstrun? Let me guess, he’s related. A sibling, uncle?”
“Twin brother,” Laynar said with a smile. “Grandmother really is trying to set up a dynasty for her offspring. Atypical, I know, for our pack way of living, but then Grandmother isn’t a typical Posair woman.”
&nb
sp; Rizelya had to agree. Layhalya was a feisty, determined, old woman.
“So how do you think we can fight these monsters better? Eidstrun’s idea of teams is great, but what else can we do?” Rizelya asked. Both of them had been fighting monsters for a long time.
Others soon heard about the discussion and warriors and Reds would ride with them for a while, adding their ideas. Many of the discussions were lively and spirited. Some fought against changing the way things had always been done. Those, Rizelya was happy to note, were the minority. Most of the fighters welcomed the open discussion of new methods to fight their ancient enemy.
By the time they reached the safe house in the evening, the discussion of different, and perhaps better, ways of killing the monsters had involved everyone in the group. After the horses were stabled, several groups gathered in the courtyard to try some of the ideas. Rizelya, Dehali, and several others were called on to create monster illusions to test the ideas. Some worked, some failed spectacularly. Cheers and groans were shared with those who succeeded or failed. Rizelya had never seen such bonding, even in their typically close-knit society as they lived in. Here, there were no alphas, no subordinates. Everyone was equal to try their idea.
Dinner was put on hold, with only a few people, including Keandran, breaking away to eat. Rizelya thought it was a good thing when Keandran went into the safe house. The first few ideas had failed and those were the ones Keandran had seen. If he was lured into the swamps, then whatever entity was behind the monsters couldn’t learn about the new ideas. Keandran was also one of those who believed the old ways were the only ways to do things. She wondered again why he was part of her squad-pack.
It was very late when Saehala finally called a halt to the testing. Only when Rizelya stopped to eat did she realize how tired and hungry she was. She wolfed down her food, made almost inedible by the long wait, and fell into bed.