by S. K. Ng
Thorn shot another arrow which once again landed in the red circle in the centre of the target board. Salmon shot off another arrow which landed on the outer red ring.
“How the hell do you shoot this stupid thing?” cursed Salmon again.
“It’s not that difficult. You just have to take your time and steady yourself, that’s all. Control your breathing and don’t panic,” said Thorn.
“Hah! Easy for you to say! How in Farhayven are we supposed to steady ourselves when an angry horde of Aridytes come running at us with their razor sharp battle-axes? Control my breathing? It’ll be more likely that I’ll forget to breathe. Anyways, I didn’t grow up hunting in the woods like you did. I slaved away at the farm, day and night!” retorted Salmon.
“I didn’t grow up hunting in the woods either. My uncle was against it. He said that the forest animals never hurt us, so there’s no reason for us to go and hurt them. Live and let live, and all that stuff,” pointed out Thorn.
Salmon gave Thorn a doubtful look. What game was Thorn playing with him?
“All right then, where or how did you learn to shoot so well?” asked Salmon.
“My uncle taught me. But we only shot at wooden boards. He said that we have the right, and need, to defend ourselves against thieves, robbers, raiders and so on. So he taught me how to fight and shoot arrows,” answered Thorn.
“Ah! Well, lucky you. All I knew was farming. All I know is farming. And from the looks of this, I think all I’ll ever know is farming,” said Salmon.
“Just keep trying, you’ll be able to master archery someday,” said Thorn.
Smack! Thorn stumbled forward. His head felt like a giant bell being rung. He turned around. To his horror, he saw his instructor wielding a baton and giving him a tiger’s stare.
“Just keep trying, you will be able to master archery someday, understand!? Caydian Sayvion, you are military now, not some stupid farm boy. You will speak in accordance with the official manner, do you understand me!?” yelled the instructor.
“Yes, sir,” was Thorn’s reply.
“Caydian Verance, come here!” commanded the instructor.
Salmon stepped towards the baton wielding instructor. Smack! The baton made contact with Salmon’s head.
“That was for being stupid!” the instructor added and then strode away.
Keeping silent, Thorn strung another arrow to his bow and shot at his target board. Keeping equally silent, Salmon did the same. The ringing in their heads still went on and on.
The heat from the mid afternoon sun burnt their necks and faces. The gentle breeze eased their suffering slightly, but only slightly. Their cracked lips and arid throats yearned for cool, life-giving water. But one yearning overshadowed all feelings, emotions or sensations, the yearning for sleep. It had been three months since Thorn reported to Camp Harvest. Only 70 recruits, including Caydians Thorn Sayvion and Salmon Verance, stood here at the parade ground on this day to mark their ‘graduation’ or ‘passing out’. The rest went out the dishonourable way.
The remaining recruits’ eyes were shut tight. They were semi-conscious at best. Each of them held on tightly to the spear that was in their right hand, using it to steady themselves as they stood sleeping, or was it slept standing. Their bodies swung and swayed ever so slightly as their brains jolted slightly into consciousness, just long enough for them to regain their balance and then faded back into light sleep again. Their ears registered the speeches by their commanding officers and instructors at the podium but their minds did not. Only the shouting command of salutes was strong enough to temporarily break through the fog of sleepiness. Sleep-standing or stand sleeping, it seemed, was to be one of the skills a soldier was required to graduate with. The speeches ended and when the final shout of marching orders came, the recruits were suddenly wide awake, as if they were injected with a lively dose of vitality. They marched out of the parade ground straight into the barracks. Finally they dived into the dreamless sleep that their bodies so desperately yearned for and their minds so willingly surrendered to.
The creaking wheels of two horse-drawn carts cut shallow trench-like tracks on the muddy midday ground. Servians Thorn Sayvion and Salmon Verance swayed side to side, and along with 12 of their fellow servians, took in the scenery, relaxed and tried to contain their excitement. Their first deployment was to be to the town garrison in Wheatriver. Wheatriver, Thorn explained to Salmon, was a town on the south-eastern foothills of the mountain range that formed Free Falls’ western border with the Arid Plains. It had a history of Aridyte raids and more so recently, for it seemed that the Aridytes had discovered a secret path through the mountain ranges and had managed to avoid Fallsian border patrols from Fort Westguard.
Thorn told Salmon that there were three Aridyte raids executed in the month before they joined the military. Each raid randomly targeted a remote village on the far outskirts of Wheatriver Town. Salmon listened disbelievingly, for he grew up in Eastern Falls Province where such frequent and random raids were unheard of. Based on Salmon’s experience, Serpentian raids were few and long in-between and were no where as frequent as the Aridyte ones. Thorn stressed that the Aridyte raids were not only more frequent but more severe, as unlike the Serpentian raids that were meant to acquire food, jewellery, precious commodities and slaves; Aridyte raids were focused on food, medicine and human meat, for the Aridytes were cannibals. It was common to find whole villages massacred and the victims would have huge wounds on their chest, where their hearts had been cut out to satisfy the Aridytes’ culinary taste. Salmon almost threw up at the mention of cannibalism. It made the Serpentians look like angels by comparison. Now Salmon knew why Thorn hated the Aridytes so much and why he felt it was important to stop them at all cost.
Garrison Wheatriver looked just like any other town garrison in Free Falls. It was square in shape, with walls of heavy logs on all four sides thrice the height of an average man and inside the garrison were several barracks, a small prison, a mess hall, an administration building, an armoury, a stable for horses, a small parade ground and a large supply room. Eagle-eyed archers stood watch over the parapets of Garrison Wheatriver and announced the arrival of the new servians. Thorn, Salmon and the others disembarked from their carts and stood in formation. The sun was now close to the western horizon. A grumpy looking exevian turned up and assigned the servians to their new units. Thorn and Salmon were assigned to 2nd Stream, 1st River, 2nd Pond, 4th Lake, 2nd Ocean; or otherwise designated as 2nd Stream, One, Two, Four, 2nd Ocean. This meant that they were primarily to function as cavalry archers in the cavalry river of a standard pond in a town in the southern quadrant of North-western Falls.
The number designation of a unit represented its function, or so Thorn and Salmon were taught at Camp Harvest. 1st Stream, 3rd Stream, 4th Stream and 5th Stream were cavalry streams. This meant that the soldiers assigned to these units carry halberds as their primary weapon and their function was to charge at the enemy while on horseback. 2nd Stream, to which Thorn and Salmon were assigned, was a unit of cavalry archers, basically archers on horseback. Their function was to stay to the rear and shoot volley after volley of arrows to support the charge of the other streams.
The designation of 1st River meant that they were in the first of five rivers of the pond that was assigned to Wheatriver. It also meant that they were a cavalry river, and the only river whose soldiers were all mounted on horseback. 2nd and 4th Rivers were archer rivers, whose soldiers were armed with longbows as their primary weapon. Their job was to provide support for the other rivers by raining down arrows on the enemy. 3rd and 5th Rivers were swordsmen rivers, whose soldiers were armed with spears as their primary weapon, and were tasked to follow up on foot behind the cavalry charge of 1st River to engage and destroy the enemy.
The designation of 2nd Pond identified the town that they were assigned to protect, in this case, Wheatriver. 4th Lake meant that the town that they were protecting was in the southern quadrant of a province. And 2
nd Ocean meant that they were tasked with the safety of North-western Falls.
Thorn and Salmon headed out to their designated barracks, numbered according to the rivers. There they found two empty bunks and set their belongings down. They went around introducing themselves to the rest of their river-mates. The commissioned officers, of course, were not there as they resided in separate barracks. Besides the usual questions of each others’ origins and background, Thorn and Salmon had also asked as many questions as they could about the nature of military operations in Wheatriver, especially concerning the Aridyte raids. They then learned of atrocities beyond their imagination. They were also briefed on some of the common battle tactics that the Aridytes liked to employ.
Several nights later, Thorn and Salmon were busy cleaning out the stables. Suddenly the alarm bell was rung. The loud low-pitched vibration echoed throughout the entire garrison. Thorn and Salmon rushed out to the parade ground, found their stream and stood in formation. Their convian broke the bad news to them. An Aridyte raid was in progress in the distant village of Cresthill. There were approximately 80 inhabitants living in that village and they were now being slaughtered by an Aridyte raiding party of 30 men. Their orders were simple. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Streams of 1st River were to ride out immediately to engage the Aridytes while the rest of the river would follow up later with horse-drawn carts and supplies. Having received their orders, the soldiers dispersed to carry them out. Within moments, Thorn, Salmon and their comrades were riding at full gallop in the middle of the moonlit night, hoping to save as many of their fellow Fallsians as they could while praying that there were still some left to be saved.
From a distance, Thorn and Salmon could see fire. Parts of Cresthill were set alight. There were Fallsian women and children running around in panic. And then there were the Aridytes. They were muscular men and women who wore skulls of large animals for helmets and thick fur for their clothing. They wore necklaces made of animal bones. They walked and ran with a slight hunch. This was one of the strange manners of the Aridytes, which the Fallsians had long forgotten.
The exevian of 1st River leads the gallop to Cresthill Village and is the first one to arrive. 1st Stream and 3rd Stream follow their exevian into the midst of battle. From a short distance behind, Thorn and Salmon watch in shock as the exevian gallops past an Aridyte raider and slices off the raider’s head in the process. He then leaps off his horse and slices his halberd across the back of another Aridyte as he lands near a small group of Aridytes. As the slain Aridyte turns around and collapses, Thorn and Salmon can see blood splattered on his mouth and chin and a piece of flesh stuck in between his teeth. Clearly, the Aridytes are in the middle of a feast.
The suvian in charge of 2nd Stream gives the order to charge. Thorn and Salmon drew their bows while in full gallop towards the village and let loose their arrows. Thorn’s arrow pierces an Aridyte in the neck and sends him stumbling to the ground. Salmon’s arrow embeds itself into the arm of an Aridyte who was about to attack their exevian from the back. The exevian turns around and cuts this Aridyte diagonally from collarbone to waist, sending the Aridyte to meet his maker. 2nd Stream gallops on through the centre of the village, shooting their arrows at any Aridyte they can find. At the other end, they reverse their direction and ride through the village again. Arrows after arrows are let loose in this process.
Thorn runs out of arrows. So does Salmon. They choose to dismount near their exevian and join in the fight there. Thorn draws out his sword and raises it just in time to block as a tough-looking Aridyte smashes down with his battle axe. Thorn crumbles to his knees from the force of the strike. Rolling diagonally forward, Thorn frees his sword from the Aridyte’s axe and executes a Horizontal Cut at the back of the Aridyte’s knee, sending the barbarian screaming to the ground. A final Vertical Downwards Cut to the neck severs the Aridyte’s head and gives him the death that he deserves!
Thorn gets back up on his feet just in time to stab a second Aridyte in the throat. The Aridyte’s eyes bulge, his facial expression fades and he slowly falls onto his knees. Thorn pulls his sword out cleanly and leaves the barbarian to die in relative peace, which is more than what he deserves.
A shout nearby attracts Thorn’s attention momentarily and from the corner of his eyes, he can see Salmon eliminating his opponent with a stab to the heart. Their exevian, meanwhile, manages to kill two more Aridytes. Thorn looks around cautiously. There are no more Aridytes left standing, so the three Fallsian soldiers slow-run towards the centre of the village to assist in the fighting there. Salmon rushes forward to stab an Aridyte in the back while this Aridyte is battling a soldier of 3rd Stream. A gruesome scream and bulging of the eyes are the last acts of this Aridyte as his life leaves his body.
The exevian eyes an Aridyte raider running out of one of the houses and gives chase. Thorn, Salmon and a few other soldiers follow. They chase after the sound of bushes rustling and a short time later, manage to surround the barbarian. The trapped Aridyte raises his gruesome battle-axe and bares his broken teeth like a wild animal, but fails to invoke any fear in the Fallsian soldiers. The feelings of anger, hate and disgust leave no room for fear in them. The exevian swings his halberd down to knock the Aridyte’s axe out of the way while Thorn coordinates by stepping in and stabbing the barbarian in the ribs. This causes a desperate scream of pain which is music to the Fallsians’ ears. Salmon and the others step in and take all liberty to stab, slash and cut the Aridyte as they see fit. In the end, the Aridyte’s body is left looking like a mess of blood and flesh, with hardly any recognisable human features. What goes around comes around, cruelty given equals cruelty received and as far as Thorn, Salmon and the others are concerned, vengeance is the best form of justice.
After a quarter of an hour, the village was cleared of all Aridytes. Some of the Fallsian soldiers searched for survivors while the rest of them disposed of the raiders’ bodies. There were approximately 70 Aridyte bodies in total. Apparently, the initial report that they had received earlier was wrong. The Aridyte bodies were burnt at the outskirts of the village. The rest of 1st River turned up with carts of food, medicine and healers. Unfortunately, there was only a handful of survivors. Several elderly folks and a few children were all who had survived, totalling the number of 14 and not a single person more. The Fallsian soldiers themselves suffered quite a few casualties. Five from 1st Stream and three each from 2nd Stream and 3rd Stream were killed. Nearly a dozen soldiers from the various streams were injured. The dead soldiers were loaded on to the carts. Leaving 4th Stream behind to take care of the survivors, the Fallsian soldiers left Cresthill with bitter-sweet feelings of victory and loss.
Three months after Thorn and Salmon had first arrived at Garrison Wheatriver, their river was sent on foot patrol duties into the mountain range. Because of the steep terrain and narrow mountain trails, horses had been deemed unsuitable for the task. The soldiers had no choice but to go on foot. 2nd Stream had been transported by horse-drawn carts to a temporary base camp at the foot of a mountain which had been set up earlier by 3rd and 4th Streams. This base camp was re-supplied constantly from Garrison Wheatriver by 1st and 5th Streams. From this base camp, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Streams would take turns to go on ten-day patrols of the surrounding areas.
Two days into 2nd Stream’s patrol, the tears of the heavens fell upon North-western Falls. Thorn was grateful for the relief, as his face and neck were getting sunburnt. They were following some Aridyte tracks that they had found on the mountain trail earlier on. The rain, although cooling and refreshing, was also washing the tracks away. Salmon, acting as the scout, signalled for the rest of the stream to follow. Using hand signals, their suvian gave the orders to follow. But an hour later, they discontinued their tracking as the rain had washed all the remaining tracks away. Their suvian gave them an hour to rest. They took turns to keep ‘lookout’ and rest. Some took out their ration of biscuits and shared them with their stream mates.
Thorn sat down next to Salmon and o
ffered him some biscuits. Salmon took them graciously and chomped down on the stone-hard biscuits as best he could. The rain had then reduced to a light drizzle.
“Nice view, is it not?” commented Thorn as he looked down at the green valley and distant villages below.
“Yes, it is. Reminds me of home. My village, Eastgush, lies at the north-eastern most outskirts of Timberstock. If you climb up the Eastern Falls Range and look down, the view would be almost identical to this, except we have more waterfalls. I miss home,” said Salmon.
“Yes, I am homesick as well, but unlike you, I have no home to return to. I miss my uncle and my cousins, and sometimes I wish I could just drop by and say hello, but I am sure Uncle Stem would not welcome me. Maybe after all of this is over, when the Aridyte raids have stopped, I can leave the Provincial Guards and go back to visit them. Maybe the sight of me in civilian clothes would earn me some forgiveness, or maybe not,” said Thorn.
Salmon turned to look at Thorn in disbelief.
“Your uncle sounds like a very stern man,” Salmon commented.
“Extremely, but his heart is in the right place. How about your parents, are they strict or easy going?” said Thorn.
“My parents are easy going. We live a simple, carefree life. I guess that is the problem. I am bored to death, and that was why I joined up, to look for adventure. But after our first mission, I realised that there are things that need to be done. I see that now. It is no longer about adventure. It is now about duty. I hate to imagine if it were my parents and sister who became victims to these Aridytes. And I would hate even more any Fallsian who sat by and did not lift a finger to help them,” said Salmon.