The Black Sword Trilogy: The Poacher

by VanMeter, Jeffery

  He was dreaming again of the soldier wielding the silver axe and the battle around him, when a soft whisper of a voice sounded like it was speaking to him. He woke slowly and saw the familiar shadow seeming to sit between two of his fellow soldiers. It seemed more clear this time with more form and he thought he could just make out two eyes watching him when the light of the sunrise to the east made the shadow disappear.

  He pulled himself up to a sitting position and saw Captain Krall riding next to his cart. He looked tired and worn; and even older than he appeared before. The Captain must have seen Kenner out of the corner of his eyes as he spoke to Kenner.

  “You need to be resting young man.” He said firmly, but also somewhat gently.

  “I’m sure I’ll get more rest on the boat.” Kenner answered.

  Captain Krall then turned to fully face him.

  “What makes you think we’re getting on a boat?” He asked.

  “We’re going to Mobrey, aren’t we?”

  Captain Krall smiled slightly and nodded.

  “Yes we are.”

  “Then that means we’re getting on a boat.”

  Captain Krall nodded again.

  “Let me give you a piece of advice that will make your life as a soldier a little easier.” Captain Krall said with seemingly more gravel in his voice. “Try not to think too much about your future.”

  Chapter Eight

  The Brown Eyed Maiden sailed for two days up the Serpent River. For the most of the journey, Kenner and his fellow recruits were kept below in the cargo hold; but they were allowed above for one hour each day. During this time, the Sergeant; whom they now knew was named Bobbra, would drill the soldiers in marching and facing movements. One of the drills was for the soldiers to stand shoulder to shoulder and march in step. Because the ship was small, they could only go a few steps forwards or backwards. Kenner was provided with a target to practice his archery at the stern of the ship. He had never shot a long bow before and several of his arrows flew into the river before he learned to adjust his aim accordingly.

  Several of the men did get sick during the voyage. Kenner’s father had taught him that, when on a boat or ship, to lie down as flat as possible and close his eyes to prevent sea sickness. For the most part, it worked, but he still felt slightly nauseated most of the time he was below deck.

  They were fed a kind of meat gravy that was poured over bread. It looked disgusting. It was slightly green in color with small lumps of meat. However, Kenner and the other soldiers found it to be quite tasty. One of the sailors told Kenner that the secret to the gravy was in its appearance.

  “If it looks appetizing,” he said, “It’s probably no good. The more putrid it looks, the better it is.”

  They were also given an apple to eat each day.

  “Keeps away scurvy,” One of the sailors told them.

  Also, like the sailors, Kenner and the others were given a ration of ale each day. Kenner wasn’t much of a drinker; having only been drunk once in his life. But the strong ale did make the evenings on the ship more pleasant.

  After two days and nights, the ship reached the city of Calderon at dawn of what would have been the third day. Like Mobrey, it was a city on the river, but much smaller. It didn’t have as much of a bustling port as Mobrey and The Brown Eyed Maiden was the only ship along the river’s bank. Because the city was on the opposite side of the river than Mobrey had been, the ship had to turn around in order to offload its cargo and personnel. When Kenner stood on the deck, he noticed the river was much narrower than at Mobrey as well; perhaps only half a mile. A single wooden bridge spanned the river to a rocky and mostly barren field that stretched for miles.

  With Sergeant Bobbra screaming and yelling at them, the company was marched off of the ship, through the city streets and then, eventually across the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, two teams of horses hitched to covered wagon were waiting for them. Captain Krall had followed them on his horse that had come with him on the ship.

  They rode on the wagons for most of the morning and because the wagons were covered, they could only see behind them. Again, Kenner noticed that the men looked scared. Rightly so, he thought to himself. Their journey, he reasoned was nearly at an end and everything they had heard from Captain Krall and Sergeant Bobbra told them that where they were going was a place to be feared. Kenner closed his eyes to try and take a short nap, but he couldn’t sleep. He also felt fear at not knowing exactly what he was about to discover. Perhaps the Captain and Sergeant were having a game with these men; frightening them for fun. He quickly dismissed that notion as Captain Krall didn’t seem to have that kind of sense of humor. Perhaps where they were going wasn’t as dangerous as they had been led to believe, he thought. This reminded him of something his father had taught him about fighting. “Never assume your opponent is less than what he appears.” He could practically hear his father telling him. “Always assume they are as dangerous as possible.”

  After a while, Kenner could hear voices outside the wagons of people shouting and could see several men in armor behind the wagon. Then he heard Sergeant Bobbra again.

  “Alright you maggots! Get off of those wagons!”

  Kenner now found himself in a smaller version of the barracks they’d left behind at Kallesh. And he found himself not surprised that the fort he was now in looked exactly like the fort in his dream. He saw a long, wooden building with many open doors stretching out to one side with men coming in and out. At one end of that building, he could see several spears leaning against it. On the opposite end of the dirt and straw covered courtyard were stables, but he could only see a few horses peeking out. Next to this, was a two-story building that looked like a house and in the very back of the stockade, Kenner could see the blacksmith sharpening a spear. At the front of the barracks was a tall, wooden wall with wooden gates. There was a staircase along the wall leading up to a platform that stretched along the wall.

  “Now you maggots! Get yourself a spear then get back in line!”

  The soldiers ran to the stack of spears, each selecting one than running back to the line. Sergeant Bobbra had only started yelling, “Welcome to your new home…” when a voice from the wall called out, “Incoming!”

  “Get down!” Bobbra shouted.

  Kenner heard a loud whistling noise and looked up to see a shower of arrows descending upon the courtyard. Instinctly he ducked. He heard the thud of dozens of arrows hitting the ground near him and then the body of the person next to him fell on him. He pushed the young man off of him and saw an arrow sticking through the man’s throat. He picked him up and began dragging him, but the Sergeant shouted at him.

  “Leave him!” The Sergeant yelled.

  “He’s wounded!” Kenner yelled back.

  “He’s dead!” The Sergeant answered. “Even if there was a doctor here, there’s nothing he could do for him now!”

  When the last of the arrows fell, there was a clamor of activity with soldiers rushing around the courtyard.

  “You! Archer!” Kenner heard from the wall. “Get your ass up here and start killing things!”

  Kenner ran up the steps leading to the platform. Behind the wall were several other archers ducking in and out of special slots cut into the wall for them.

  “Over here!” Screamed a soldier, pointing to a slot.

  Kenner ran to the spot and looked out into the open field ahead of the Wall and gasped. Spread out on the field were thousands of creatures the likes of which he’d never seen before. They walked like people, but looked like they were covered in hair and the faces of animals. They had weapons and armor, even bows and arrows. As he stood there, still shocked and awed by what he saw before him, he felt someone grab his pack and pull him out of the slot. A single arrow passed him; barely missing his head.

  Snapped out of his temporary trance, he looked at who had pulled him aside. There he saw a short, stocky and bright eyed soldier with short blonde hair.

  “That was close.
” He said eagerly. Kenner tried to thank him, but he was still speechless from what he’d just seen and the realization that he’d narrowly escaped death.

  “Standing and staring at our friends out there isn’t a particularly good idea.” He said grinning. He then held out his hand.

  “I’m Terri,” He said, still smiling.

  “I’m Kenner.”

  The soldier then slapped him hard on the shoulder and still grinning announced, “Welcome to hell!”

  Chapter Nine

  Captain Krall entered what would be his quarters followed by Sergeant Bobbra and another sergeant named Holly.

  “How often do they shoot those arrows over?” He asked.

  “They send a volley over about every five minutes from sunrise to sunset.” Sergeant Holly answered. He was tired and haggard; looking like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “They stop shooting at sunset?” Krall asked.

  “Ever since we put out the torches at night. I guess they can’t hit what they can’t see.”

  “And what about your archers? Can they shoot in the dark?” Krall asked angrily.

  “We try to conserve arrows as much as we can, sir.” The soldier answered him.

  Captain Krall nodded. This Sergeant was right.

  “How many men do you have?” Krall asked.

  “Including the men you brought, we have fifty six.” The soldier answered. “That includes seven cavalry.”

  Krall was aghast. This couldn’t be true.

  “You’re supposed to have one hundred men, including twenty cavalry.” Sergeant Bobbra growled.

  “I’m sorry, but we don’t. Not since our last Captain.”

  Back on the wall, Kenner was still lying on the platform after Terri had pulled him away from an incoming arrow.

  “First of all, you need to get rid of this stupid thing,” He said ripping off his helmet. “It’ll only screw up your aim. The same thing with this blasted armor of yours,” He said beginning to remove his breastplate.

  “Are you going to buy me a drink before removing any more of my clothing?” Kenner asked.

  Terri looked at him and grinned even wider.

  “Oh I like this one.” He laughed.

  “Incoming!” A soldier yelled.

  Kenner started to duck, but then noticed that Terri did nothing as another hail of arrows flew over them. “Those aren’t the ones you need to worry about.” He said, throwing Kenner’s breastplate down to the courtyard. “The ones in the back,” He said pointing out to the encampment beyond the gate, “Just shoot up in the air. The one’s in front,” He pushed Kenner’s head into the open space and pointed at several creatures on their knees and aiming. Then he pulled Kenner back again as one of the beasts shot at him. “They’re aiming for us.”

  He then left Kenner and went back to his own position.

  “If I were you,” He called over to Kenner. “I’d start shooting.”

  Kenner took his position and several times tried peeking through the opening only to see arrows coming at him.

  “We’re waiting!” Terri called.

  He then found one creature sitting and doing what looked like cleaning himself.

  “Come on now!” Terri called again. “They’re not going to kill themselves!”

  Kenner took aim and loosed his arrow. It hit the creature squarely in the chest and it fell.

  “Not bad!” Terri called.

  “Thank you!” Kenner called back.

  “Oi!” He heard Terri again. “See that one with the white stripe across his face?”

  Kenner looked and found the one Terri was talking about.

  “Yeah, I see it!”

  “Watch this!”

  As Kenner watched, he saw an arrow pierce one of the creature’s eyes.

  “Your turn!” Terri yelled.

  Kenner scanned the mass of creatures for one that looked unique.

  “See that one with the missing ear?” He called.

  “Got it!”

  Kenner aimed, this time more carefully, shot and the arrow hit the creature in the forehead.

  “Now you’re getting the hang of it!” Terri called out happily. “Now watch this. See that brown one with no hair on its chest?”

  “I see it!”

  As Kenner watched, an arrow plunged into the creature’s crotch.

  “Now you’re just showing off!” He called over to Terri. And then they both laughed.

  For the next few hours, they took turns picking out targets and shooting them. Kenner found the game lifting his spirits so much, he temporarily forgot where he was, how he had gotten there and the apparent danger of his situation. When one of the archers on platform cried out in pain, he was quickly reminded of that danger. Both he and Terri raced over to the wounded archer with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

  “It’s not bad.” The archer said, trying to sound brave. However, Kenner could see that the arrow was deep in the shoulder. He’d seen wounds like that before and knew that the archer would have to lose that arm. Two soldiers climbed up to the platform and carried the archer away.

  “It’s not so much fun anymore is it?” Terri asked.

  “No it’s not.”

  She then slapped him on the shoulder again. “Come on. Let’s get back to work.”

  Sergeant Holly placed a map on a table in front of Captain Krall.

  “Here we are,” He said pointing to the Wall on the map. “Seventeen miles southeast of us is the river and Calderon. Now, I believe the reason they’re attacking us here is clear. Post number one has a thousand troops and can quickly get more if needed. Post number three is at the very end of the wall where the river eventually becomes Crystal Lake. It doesn’t have a gate like we do, so the creatures would have to use boats or swim around. Either way, poses a problem.”

  “The most important factor,” Captain Krall interrupted, “is that we have a gate. In other words, we have a means of passing from one side of the wall to the other. This gate was specifically built so that prospectors, merchants and settlers could pass through in case they were attacked by bandits or nomads. Of course at the time, I’m sure it never occurred to anyone that an army of…how many do you think there are out there?” Krall asked Holly.

  “I’d say at least three thousand.” Holly answered.

  “Three thousand? No one’s seen that many of these foul beasts since the Dark Times.”

  “It’s worse than that, I’m afraid.” Sergeant Holly said uneasily.

  “Oh, do tell.” Krall said, looking up from the map.

  “There are men out there as well.”

  Captain Krall looked over at Bobbra, who simply shook his head.

  “Of course there are.” Krall sighed.

  As the sun began to set, it started to become more difficult to shoot at targets as the sun was partially in Kenner’s eyes. Terri didn’t appear to be so affected as he continued to hit target after target.

  “What the hell are those things anyway?” Kenner eventually asked.

  “Wolfen!” Terri answered.

  Kenner felt surprised.

  “I thought Wolfen were just stories parents told children to get them to eat their vegetables!”

  “I thought the same thing until a few weeks ago!” Terri replied.

  After the sun set behind the forest in the distance, it became dark quickly. Kenner took advantage of the sun no longer being in his eyes to shoot at more targets. But then as it was almost too dark to see, Kenner was horrified to see all of the Wolfen stand at once and gather in one large formation.

  “My Lady, they’re going to attack!” He called out.

  “Keep your undies on!” Terri replied.

  The Wolfen formed into nearly perfect squares, stood perfectly erect and then began to howl all at once. It was a deafening roar that filled the air, making everything around Kenner and the fort seem to shake and rumble. It seemed more than just a sound, Kenner thought. It had a physical quality that seemed to wrap around and hold
everything in a tight grip. Along with the howling, Kenner began to hear a continuous tone and his ears began to hurt as if some object were being pushed into them. Then just as suddenly as the creatures had begun howling, they stopped, leaving the ringing in Kenner’s ears. He looked out of through his opening in the wall and was surprised to see that the Wolfen did not appear to be attacking. Instead they seemed to be pulling back to positions just out of arrow range and settling into defensive positions.

  “Do they do that every night?” Kenner asked in shock.

  “Yup! Every evening at pretty much the same time.” Terri told him.

  “What does it mean?”

  Kenner then felt Terri’s hand pat him on the shoulder.

  “It means we’re done for the day. It’s the night shift’s turn now.”

  Kenner slowly and carefully stood up. But when he saw that none of the creatures seemed to be even looking in the direction of the fort; much less shooting, he left his position and followed Terri.

  “What now?” He asked Terri.

  “Dinner.” He brightly replied.

  Chapter Ten

  Even in the quickly waning light, Captain Krall could still see the distant city from the window of his quarters. From this vantage point, it looked like a tiny collection of shapes behind the river; which looked not unlike the line on the map that represented it.

  “Can I, at least assume you evacuated the city?” He asked.

  “I’m afraid not, sir.” Sergeant Holly answered.

  Captain Krall turned and glared at Holly angrily.

  “And why not?” He asked, barely containing his voice below a scream.

  “Our last Captain didn’t think it necessary and the last two attempts I’ve made have met with no success at all.”