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Call of the Wolf (The Kohrinju Tai Saga)

Page 65

by Nelson, J P


  The second day we rode the same, but on day three we sang children’s songs, and we sang loudly. There were a few humans, here and there, who stood out from the smaller pyramids to look and wonder. According to Hoscoe’s source, an army marched around a walled city every day for several days, and then the walls of the city crumbled and the army was able to go in and conquer. This was related to a holy war, but we had no such expectations. Our goal was to totally fluster our enemy with our strange actions, and it seemed to be working.

  Day four had us riding in the opposite direction, in a right-wise circle, still singing children’s songs. Once more humans came out, a few more than the last day, and just as curious. But we rode into camp to a welcome surprise; Chymthina flew in to land on my arm. The message she carried was several days old and apparently she had been hunting the terrain for me. There was a partially healed talon wound on her body which told me she had survived a fight of her own, and I healed her straightway.

  My message had reached Gohruvae the day before Lahrcus arrived at Brosman. Lahrcus wasted no time and put together a force to meet the marching enemy from the south. The battle had been decisive and Threstor had been killed. Lahrcus was now marching en force toward our position with enough troops to put our number over eleven hundred. There had been battles in our world with much larger armies, but our upcoming battle would mark the largest clash of warriors on this land in nearly two thousand years.

  Hoscoe looked up at the clear sky and studied the stars, looked toward the Pyramid, down to the ground and around the plain while chewing his jaw. I could tell he was deliberating many things and it was always best not to interrupt when he was like that. Whatever it was he was calculating he didn’t say, but then he got a satisfied look on his face and said, “Three to five days, they will be here in three to five days.” Gazing back at our objective he added, “Within one to two days after Lahrcus’s arrival the attack will begin on their part, and it will be time to make our move.

  Sitting down, he took a quill and wrote a message. He asked me, “Is our little lady up to returning a flight?”

  I brought Chymthina over to him and we both petted her. Wesney would have to note she was an integral part of what we had accomplished. Once her message had been put in place, I touched heads with her and using *S’Fahn Muir* let her know how proud we all were of her, and then sent her on her way.

  On day five we rode sidesaddle and made as if to play with our chest. There were getting to be some larger numbers watching us now, and some were actually laughing. The morning of day six I became *Aware* of water running into the ditch, it was starting to fill up, and there were cognobins on the top of the Pyramid’s base level. How they got there, we didn’t know, but Hoscoe wasn’t acting concerned.

  We wore ribbons in our hair the seventh day and every second rider sat backward in the saddle and acted effeminate. All of this was wearing thin on our troops; they wanted to get on with the fight. Hoscoe warned not to lose focus, we were playing a game of psychological warfare. In the minds of many of the enemy, we were truly insane, but there were those who wanted desperately to attack. While our antics were different each day, the enemy had now gotten used to seeing us come out to ride in a circle. Hoscoe called it Acclimating the frog in the pot, “Put a living frog in a pot of comfortable water and it is fine. Add heat slowly, and it will stay in there even as the water comes to a boil.

  “These have not attacked us yet because they have not figured out what we are doing, and they are curious. As I said, they are not true military leaders. It is what I have been counting on. They are being led in there by wizards, and wizards are scientists who are above all else, inquisitive. They believe they are smarter than we, and are no doubt preparing what they believe will wipe us out in one fell swoop. In short, they have written us off as a real threat and regard us now as a nuisance to casually exterminate. It is the mark of arrogance.”

  The eighth morning we rode out in our worst exposure yet. We wore only leggings and had strapped tassels to our chest, as if hanging from our nipples, but that wasn’t all. From the opposite side of the compound Lahrcus rode with his command in exactly in the same manner and in the opposite direction. The grounds around the lesser pyramids, the base level of the Greater Pyramid, and the between were full of people staring. You might think it funny to see, but to be there and ride like that … it was beyond tense and nothing was humorous about it.

  Some believed it a miracle we hadn’t been attacked yet; and who wanted to fight, let alone die, naked? Hoscoe heard, and he smiled. No one confronted him with their anger and frustration, after all, everything he had said so far had come to pass. But it was clear the troops were on their last nerve. When … Was … The … Fight?!

  A meeting between officers was held, and Lahrcus was there. There were no salutes, but forearm clasps were exchanged by all. We passed summary of all events thus far, and though he felt deep regret for our casualties, he was especially pleased with our overall progress.

  Everyone was wondering who would take command, now that the Commander of the Army was in camp, but Lahrcus dismissed the thought quickly when he asked Hoscoe, “Well General, I hope we made it here satisfactorily. What is your plan and how may I be of service?” Have you ever heard the phrase, Being blown away? Several of them men got that feeling with Lahrcus’s words, but it only made sense. Hoscoe had brought us this far, and he knew what he was doing.

  Hoscoe laid out his detailed plan, how he thought the attack would occur and how he thought it best for us to respond. He also grilled Lahrcus on two backup plans and how to invoke each from the availing cues. This was no haphazard idea based on a whim. Hoscoe had everything planned like a chess game, and he had backup plans for backup plans.

  After the meeting he asked me to his fire for coffee. He was perfectly calm, despite the loom of battle, and after pouring each of us a cup he caught me by surprise when he asked, “Do you still have any of those cigars?”

  Chapter 50

  ________________________

  I WAS SURPRISED, but shouldn’t have been. Producing my last two cigars and offering Hoscoe one, he took and savored it, then bit the end off and rolled it in his mouth. Expertly flipping the end of my little firebox, I gave him a light, and then lit my own and replaced it in a pocket inside my boot. It’s something I didn’t ever want to lose.

  We sat for a few minutes in quiet, tasting the finest of tobacco, sipping coffee black as sin, and enjoying each other’s company. Then he asked, as if talking into the night, “It has been enjoyable and fulfilling,” he glanced at me with a faraway look in his eye, “do you not think?”

  “What?” He had me curious.

  Then he said in a matter of fact voice, “Working together, you and I.”

  The idea caught me off guard, but as I thought about it, I said with a warm smile, “Yes … yes, it has been fun.” We sat like that and said no more, well until after the cigars were smoked down to the nub.

  Finally he said, “Well, I guess it is time to call it a night. When you begin, Wolf, do not stop until it is over. Remember the prize. One person can make a difference. Make a difference, Mehio, make a difference.” He paused a long time, and then said, “When the time comes, find Mount Bn’Chella.” With that he got up and went to his sleeping gear.

  Mount Bn’Chella? That was way up in the Sahrjiun Mountains. What did he mean by that? I stared at him as he walked away.

  Thinking about the evening, I retired to my own bed. I didn’t think I would fall asleep, but I did, and then I had a dream. I found myself running, flying, being thrown, and running again through an impossible tumult of wind, lightning, fire and water. I didn’t know where I was or how I got there, let alone why. All about me I saw ghostly images of skeletal faces, destroyed buildings being blown apart, objects I’ve never seen before and couldn’t identify, hands grabbing at me I couldn’t see and teeth gnashing on the back my neck.

  Suddenly I was hit by multi-colored lightning and it cou
rsed my body; I couldn’t believe I was still alive as the electric heat seemed to sear me apart. The energy pushed through me and I could feel it seeking avenues of escape. It would seek no more … it was going to force its way out of me and I was trying to hold it in, knowing it would destroy me if I let it go … but the agony was too much to bear.

  And then I saw her face all around me, the Shaman Lady, as if I were trapped in a ball of crystal and she was looking in at me … and then without moving her lips I could hear her whispered voice, “Wihlabahk is com-m-m-i-n-n-g-g-g …”

  I bolted upright from my sleeping roll and was running out of camp, running as if I were part of So’Yeth. It was so surreal, it seemed it had been part of my dream, but it wasn’t. I was in my long underwear, bare of feet and without a weapon, and only a few hundred rods from the Pyramid. Gasping, I realized I had dropped to hands and knees … and as I looked down, I couldn’t quite see my hands. I mean I wasn’t invisible, but my body had taken on the appearance of the grasses around me. ‘How the …?’

  The ground … something was wrong. Something beneath the ground was rumbling, only it was physical. This was new and I didn’t know what to make of it; I tried to follow the source of the energy. The ditch, but it was hundreds of rods away, I had never been able to extend any of my effects so far.

  Almost like I had done with Hoscoe, I tried to *Merge with the Land* and felt my mind travel toward the ditch. It was hard and I had to concentrate with all of my skill.

  The cognobins, they were pouring out of the big gate which was now underwater, and they were hanging on to the outer walls of the ditch. They weren’t climbing out, they were just hanging on. Craiken! I could see them breathing slowly, they were amphibious.

  Something grabbed my arm and my thought was, ‘Oh shit,’ and I felt myself torn from the ditch and back to where I was kneeling. The Shaman Lady had me by the arm and then laid down into the ground and fell in, taking me with her. Next thing I knew we were in a sort of a bubble with the top of the ground right above us, only we could see through it. A human walked right over the top of us and just stood there, looking out and about.

  I started to reach up and grab what looked to be a floating foot, but she stopped me and said, “We are safe, for now. They cannot hear us, but you must listen. Tomorrow they will summon Zvertio, a great elemental who shall be sent to the waters. It is you who must stop this.”

  “Zvertio? What, I mean who is …”

  “Listen to me, he who calls himself Xiahstoi will summon Zvertio through the Gate of Huk-nu’Sis in the Chamber of Utnim-Su-Zai. You must call him by his true name, Aydrian, for there is none who know this.”

  “How do you know this, any of this?” I interrupted.

  “You must listen -”

  “The kahdjit I will. You’ll give me answers or you can -” I just noticed, she had next to no nose and she didn’t blink … at all. Something under her hood moved, and then very calmly and without any form of anger she eased her hood back and two long antennae came free from just under her hairline. I also noticed she was speaking perfect Elvish, but with a slight twist.

  “I am Y’nesia of the Apndiul. Ages gone, my people are they who built these structures for those who gave us creation. No more do we live here and are free from time of Xiahstoi and her reign. My purpose is to make warn of the Wihlabahk.” She took my hand and her fingers felt hard, yet gentle. “You have emotion for those among you. He who deigns proclaim as Witch King shall invoke the Guardians of Rem’Nai Sezhukte. From the four pillars they will rise with diamonds in their eyes, and unholy flame shall consume all for as far as the human eye can see. He shall do it from the Perch of Anu-Rah.

  “As he rises up, those within shall pour forth from the Gate of Tio. Into this gate shall your path lead and I will await you. I shall lead you to the Chamber of Utnim-Su-Zai.” And then she stopped, just like that. No emotion, nothing. She looked at me as if curious, not anxious.

  Exasperated, I asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  With a matter of fact, this should be obvious, type of demeanor she answered, “Because you are Komain; third Grandson of Ml’Shain; third Grandson of Kn’Yang; successor of Lahnumae, third Chief of Sh’Nika Tribe; grand-daughter of first Itahro Chief, Shihnuthai; son of V’Lang; heir to the throne of Oshang, King of Dsh’Tharr Elves.”

  My jaw almost dropped and I sat there momentarily stunned. Where and how had she learned all of that? And why did she have to trace it to Oshang? Besides, what did my lineage have to do with anything? Regaining my composure I shook my head and said, “That means nothing to me.”

  She squeezed my hand and said, “Time we have not much of. You must give me trust?”

  All kinds of thoughts spun in my mind and I remembered what Lahrcus had said. Was she benevolent, was she actually one of the good guys, or did she have her own agenda. Looking in the direction of the pyramid I made a big gambol and played my gut feeling as I said, “Let’s do it.”

  She stopped and looked at me for a long moment, I could have sworn I saw a twinkle of humor in her eyes and give me a slight smile of irony. She said, “You must return the way you came.” And then she looked up, spoke some strange word, and we both rose up level with the rest of the ground. I looked around quickly and back, but she was gone. ‘How does she do that?!’

  Grabbing the grass I focused on that *Blending* effect again, if it didn’t work I was going to have to run for it … three hundred rods in my underwear. ‘Shael’s,’ I thought, ‘it works’ … but I had to concentrate to keep it in place. Carefully I made way back to my bed, and grabbed my pants. Cudty was crawling into his bedroll, not far from me, and was watching as I dropped the blending effect.

  His eyes were wide as he said, “Now there’s been many a time I could ‘uv found that mighty useful.”

  “I just learned how to do it …” I said as I pulled the rest of my clothes on. I knew he was wanting to talk, but I had to hurry. I said, “Get back out of that bed and come with me.”

  Quickly I made way to Hoscoe and touched him on the foot to wake him. He was awake in an instant and I wasted no time with all the details, starting with my dream. As I talked we picked up listeners, and I meant to. Hoscoe deliberated long and hard, but as he was thinking I had an epiphany of my own and said, “I think I just figured out how to get to the other side, but it will be tricky.”

  ___________________________

  The morning of the ninth day we ate well, drank our tea, and savored each drop. The enemy was waiting, so we lingered even longer. We had begun each march at daybreak, this time we waited until late morning. The night before I had briefed my team as to our plan of action; I made it a priority for everyone to keep eye on the top of the pyramid and take out the Witch King the moment he became a clear target.

  When we began our march, we kept the circle tighter and listened for Hoscoe’s command to engage. Regardless of what the enemy did, we were to await Hoscoe’s word, which in turn would be echoed by horn. So much depended on the accuracy of my own report, but our action was based upon just that.

  From around the lesser pyramids the humans came out, all were armed with rough swords and weapons. If unholy flame would consume all, then it would include the cogs and humans who fought with them, as well. Hoscoe would be right, they were just tools. I wondered if they even had an idea what might be coming. Y’nesia mentioned diamonds in the guardians’ eyes … I wondered if that was why Meidra had helped reopen the diamond mines.

  We were well into the march, and looked like a long line wrapped around the Pyramid, when suddenly I felt a surge of energy from under So’Yeth. One moment everything was dead calm, then the next it seemed something far deep, even miles below, came to sudden life. My horse felt it too, as the sensation ran through him to get to me. It was all I could do to keep my mount under control when Hoscoe must have seen what he was looking for from the Pyramid.

  He was guessing the humans would be given some kind of cue, and they wou
ld attack us, then run back to the ditch with us chasing them, for the cogs to surface and catch us off guard. Hoscoe wanted to act before they received their cue, and then press them before they could recover their footing, as he put it. But he was waiting for something from the Pyramid. What, he wasn’t sure, but he was playing his instinct and experience.

  Exactly what the enemy was planning, we will never know. Hoscoe had carefully prepared his commands with his point leaders all around the line, and from casually sitting his horse and riding in a circle, the enemy staring at us with weapons sheathed and beginning to engage in their noon meal while watching our spectacle, he roared out the Nahjiuese command for attack, “HAHT’SWEI!” On the instant, over four hundred hunting horns sounded loudly as our horses were turned with a well-trained left-facing movement, and thundered at top speed into the enemy mass.

  All around our circle, troops broke right instead of left and immediately dismounted, aimed their crossbows upward at a calculated arc, and fired their weapons toward the ditch-line where we were headed. This was a one time, do-or-die tactic, which had us racing in the direction of the crossbow bolt fire, with expectation the bolts would strike downward into the water before we got there.

  The frogs had warmed to our antics and were suddenly in a panic as the front wave raced for the ditch-line with LBC’s ready and cocked with our own payload. It was a huge gamble, but it was our one shot. The Arabian Chargers of the first wave deserve as much credit as anyone, as we all slid to a near halt and with yet another left-facing movement within scant inches of the ditch, we fired those Magical Ice Bolts straight down into the water, into the cognobins who were already trying to deal with the rain of missiles plunging down into their unexpected masses.

 

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