Bridge of Swords

by Duncan Lay

  ‘So this is all to do with your father’s belief that the Velsh had their own language?’ Sendatsu accused.

  Huw hesitated but Rhiannon’s glare made him open up. ‘My father said once we all had our own languages — the Velsh, the Forlish, the Balians — everyone. Maybe even the elves. That’s why the names we call ourselves are so different, why older towns and villages sound like they’re from another place. He thought the elves did something, used magic to give us all the one language …’

  ‘Why, it’s a brilliant idea! That way everyone could talk and understand each other — what a wondrous thing for the elves to do!’ Rhiannon exclaimed.

  ‘Was it? My father used to say that a country without a language of its own is a country without a heart. Said the elves might have given us new words but also took something from us. That’s why villages and towns that have been built since they went away have such ordinary names, no matter whether they are here or in Forland, Balia, or elsewhere. Like Catsfield and Browns Brook, rather than Pontypridd or Hamtun.’

  ‘The cost in magic must have been enormous,’ Sendatsu breathed. ‘What else is hidden away in plain sight, I wonder?’

  ‘Probably many things,’ Huw admitted. ‘My father told me there are ruined buildings, relics of old settlements, hidden away in the woods — woods that the elves made grow overnight, to hide what was there. One day we humans knew how to build, how to make things — the next, all the knowledge was gone.’

  ‘But how could that be? The elves would never do anything bad,’ Rhiannon insisted.

  Sendatsu dug into his saddlebag and produced an oilskin-wrapped bundle with shaking hands. It was time to share.

  ‘I found this in a burned-out Velsh church to Aroaril,’ he said solemnly. ‘It is written in a language I cannot read.’

  ‘A Velsh church to Aroaril?’ Huw gasped.

  ‘Something you cannot read?’ Rhiannon gasped.

  Sendatsu explained about his find in the woods near Pontypridd, while Huw inspected the book with great care.

  ‘I saw something similar once before — in the tombs of the elven forefathers. There were books there written in all different languages, none of which I could read,’ Sendatsu said.

  ‘I would dearly like to see that church, and see those books,’ Huw said thoughtfully. ‘If only we had time now!’

  ‘Well, you’ll be able to see the books when we go to Dokuzen. Sendatsu will take you there himself,’ Rhiannon said brightly.

  ‘Why don’t we travel to that church now? Maybe we could ask around there?’ Sendatsu tried to drag the conversation back to where he wanted to go.

  ‘We shall return there — but we have work to do here first,’ Huw said defiantly.

  ‘You seek to turn back the tide with a wall of sand. There is no way we can protect every village, nor stop every raider. Do you really think just the three of us can save Vales?’

  ‘Maybe not — but we have to try, not go running back to our safe little home, protected by our nice magic barrier!’ Huw yelled. ‘Sometimes you have to make a stand. Sometimes you have to take a risk to do what is right. You elves just hid rather than do something. I won’t do that. Perhaps I can’t save everyone but at least I shall try.’

  Sendatsu had heard similar things from his father all his life, and from Asami of late, and was not prepared to take it from this human bard who was keeping him from his children with his stupid plans. He swelled up, ready to explode.

  ‘But none of this explains a name like Pigstrood,’ Rhiannon said hastily.

  They swivelled to face her.

  ‘Obviously they love their pigs in this area,’ Rhiannon continued. ‘But what is a Glotten-ham? Is it a pig that’s eaten too much?’

  Huw and Sendatsu stared at her.

  ‘We shouldn’t fight among ourselves. There are too many other people who want to kill us,’ she said defiantly. ‘Come on, there will be answers for us aplenty in Dokuzen!’

  She eased closer to Sendatsu, who forced a smile to his face to avoid another conversation and another lie about taking her there. He thrust the book back into his bag.

  ‘Come on. We are wasting riding time,’ he said shortly.

  Sendatsu lay in bed, Rhiannon asleep beside him, and thought about Asami.

  They had arrived at Five Ashes, the last village before they were officially in Rheged, although there were no borders, just a line of hills to mark where one district ended and one began. As usual, the people had been willing to do whatever an elf wanted. But they could not give him answers. He even resorted to trying to see if any of them had magic. He had to keep that one quiet, because he did not want Huw to know. He gathered a handful of young Velsh and made a flower bloom for them, tried to see if any of them could feel the magic as he worked it.

  None had — and then Rhiannon had come looking for him, so he had to hand the flower to a young woman and hurry away.

  ‘Everything all right with the wall?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course. I just had a … feeling … I should find you,’ she said. It was foolish but she could have sworn the world had shifted somehow, the plants, animals and insects ready to speak to her. For a moment she had been sure they would do her bidding, all she had to do was ask … then it faded away. ‘Why did you give that girl a flower?’

  Sendatsu glanced back and saw the young woman smile at him, holding the magicked flower as if it was the most precious thing in the world, surrounded by a throng of excited friends.

  ‘They asked to see a little magic,’ he tried to dismiss.

  She took his hand and pulled him along, to a hut further away.

  ‘The headman of Five Ashes has given this hut to us. But Huw is away talking to him,’ she said.

  ‘It’s … lovely,’ Sendatsu said lamely as he saw the pile of skins on the floor that would be a bed.

  Next moment Rhiannon was pressed up against him.

  ‘We have not been together since Patcham. And you have said little more about our plans to go back to Dokuzen together, and marry before your God. Are — are you having second thoughts? Do you think it a mistake?’

  I never had first thoughts, Sendatsu wanted to say. I’ve made many mistakes and this one is right up there with the best.

  ‘There hasn’t been the time, nor the opportunity …’

  ‘You haven’t found another, thought others more beautiful?’

  Sendatsu would have laughed if this was not so deadly serious. ‘I have not found another, nor do I think any other human is more beautiful than you,’ he said. She was very close to him, her lips just a few inches from his, while the rest of her was pressed against him. He could feel his body respond to her. One of her hands was running down his back, the other was slipping up his side …

  ‘So we shall return to Dokuzen together?’

  Sendatsu dearly wanted to tell her the truth — but she would be devastated and both she and Huw would never help him. Besides, her hands were slipping lower …

  ‘Yes,’ he managed to say without the word choking him.

  She leaned in and kissed him, hard, pulling him close to her.

  He knew he should be strong, should not give in. But he was weak, oh, so weak.

  Now he felt guilty and dirty in spirit as well as body. He hated that he was building a false dream for her, lying to her with every breath. He was doing to her what his forefathers had done to humans all those centuries ago — used them for their own pleasure, without thinking of the consequences. But how could he get himself out of this mess?

  On top of it all, he felt like he had betrayed Asami — even though she was married to another. What was she doing? Were she and Gaibun living up to their promise to help him home? Should he just try to travel back, talk to them and find out what was happening?

  He rubbed his face with his hands. He had achieved little except create more disasters out here. Mai and Cheijun seemed so far away. Leaving Rhiannon to sleep, he dressed and went out to see what he could do to speed things
up on the wall. He had never felt so pained after an afternoon of pleasure. He decided to try one more village in Rheged. If they could not give him some hope that answers waited out here, then he would leave Huw and Rhiannon, journey back east and implore Asami to bring him home.

  The next day, they rode into Rheged.

  The change was dramatic. The wide valleys and rich farmland of Gwent ended in a line of hills. Over the other side, nothing was flat. The villages were gone — instead there was isolated, scattered farms, or perhaps two or three families close together, working a small valley and trying to eke out a living from the thin land.

  They rode most of one day without seeing anyone, which was unusual in itself. Then they came over a rise to see the first farm of the day. But it was not a pretty sight.

  Someone had taken time to build it. By Velsh standards it was a large holding. There was the usual round hall, as well as a series of beast sheds and shelters, neat, fenced fields and paddocks for the animals. It had a wonderful view down across the nearby valleys and a small stream trickling down the hill. It was the sort of place to make a life.

  Until Forlish raiders had come through and robbed everyone there of life.

  Animals lay dead in the fields, while every building was a burned-out shell.

  ‘We should go and see if anyone’s alive,’ Rhiannon said immediately, starting her horse forwards.

  ‘No!’ Huw was even faster than Sendatsu in grabbing her horse’s bridle. ‘We don’t want to see what is in there.’

  ‘Should we not at least give them a proper burial?’ Sendatsu asked.

  ‘They would be ash and bones. And we don’t have proper burials like you elves,’ Huw said bitterly. ‘There is no Aroaril for us, no dream of a paradise waiting for us. We are born, we struggle and we die. Nothing else. Remember?’

  ‘I didn’t do this! I’m the one helping, remember?’ Sendatsu flared back. Yesterday with Rhiannon had put him in a dark mood and nothing they had seen today had lightened his spirit. ‘And I didn’t even want to come down here. I was the one who said this was a bad idea. How are we going to save families like this? How can they hope to defend themselves?’

  ‘So we just leave them to be killed in their sleep, the smoke of their passing left to terrify others?’ Huw snarled.

  ‘I don’t have the answers. You are the one with all the big ideas!’

  ‘Enough! This is not helping anyone.’ Rhiannon shouldered her horse between the two of them. ‘There are people we can help here. We should find them.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Sendatsu said coldly.

  Huw held his tongue, but only with an effort.

  They rode in on silence, as it began to rain gently, a fine mist that dampened everything.

  Finally they came across a smallholding with living people — although these ran into the trees and took some persuading to come and speak with them.

  ‘We saw the smoke and thought they were coming for us next,’ the father, a short man made old before his years, told them.

  ‘There are Forlish raiders everywhere. You are not safe. You need to leave here and find shelter in a village somewhere,’ Huw told them.

  ‘But if we go to a village, where will we live, what will we farm — will they give us land?’

  Huw admitted he could not answer that. ‘But if you stay here, the Forlish will come for you.’

  ‘I’d rather take my chances,’ the man snapped. ‘Why would the Forlish bother with us? We’ve got nothing and there’s little enough around here.’

  ‘Once we have thrown out the Forlish, you can return …’ Huw began.

  ‘And when will that be? When the elves come marching out to help us? Yes, I can see that happening!’ the man snorted.

  ‘What do you know of elves?’ Sendatsu demanded, before Huw had a chance to keep arguing.

  ‘I know they are not what people think,’ the man sniffed. ‘Folks in these parts go on about how wonderful the elves are but I know the truth about them.’

  ‘Come on, he’s not going to listen to us.’ Rhiannon half turned.

  ‘Wait — what truth?’ Sendatsu pressed.

  The man looked at him. ‘The elves didn’t want humans bothering them — so they killed hundreds of us, to teach us a lesson.’

  ‘That can’t be!’ Rhiannon exclaimed.

  ‘Why would it be a lesson, if nobody else knew about it?’ Huw pointed out.

  The man shrugged. ‘Nobody believes that elves can be anything other than good. But I wouldn’t trust them. I know they killed us, lots of us. For no reason.’

  ‘Let’s get out of here. The man’s obviously mad.’ Rhiannon grabbed Sendatsu’s arm but the elf did not move.

  ‘Do you have proof? Do you know where it happened?’ he asked urgently.

  ‘Somewhere north. They invited all the humans who had befriended them, shared their knowledge, told them they were going to give them a gift — and then killed them!’

  ‘That has to be wrong. Elves would never do anything like that,’ Rhiannon insisted.

  ‘And how did you hear about it, when nobody else did?’ Huw asked reasonably.

  ‘I’m alive, and living down here, because my ancestors saw it happen and ran, rather than join them. We kept quiet because it kept us safe. And even when we did speak, folks had their heads stuffed with nonsense about the elves, about how kind and good and wise they were. But I know different.’

  ‘Well, for your information, this is an elf with us now — and he can tell you the truth, about how wonderful the elves are and how you have been believing lies all these years,’ Rhiannon said hotly.

  The man laughed shortly. ‘He can tell me the sky is green and the grass is blue for all I care. I have more important things to do. So ride on and find someone who wants your help.’

  ‘Wait — do you know anything about the worship of Aroaril?’ Sendatsu asked.

  ‘I have said all I am going to,’ the man sniffed, and turned back to his crops.

  ‘We are wasting time here. We need to go, find others — find a village,’ Huw said frustratedly.

  ‘He was mad. Saying that elves weren’t good!’ Rhiannon agreed quietly.

  Sendatsu ignored them and hurried after the man.

  ‘Listen — I believe you …’

  ‘Of course you do. You’re an elf. You know the truth of my words.’

  ‘That’s exactly it — the elves have been lied to, the way the humans were. They think it was humans who attacked them. I’m trying to find out what really happened so I can change things. Can you at least take a look at this book I found …’

  The man brushed off Sendatsu’s hand. ‘You’re an elf, so I can’t trust you. My family’s survived for so long by keeping away from your kind and I want to carry on their tradition.’

  ‘I’m not here to hurt you, but to help …’

  The man spat in disgust. ‘Go away. Leave me alone. I’ve told you all I can.’

  ‘Listen …’ Sendatsu growled, trying to keep his temper.

  But the man hurried away, back towards the trees.

  ‘Sendatsu! Come on!’ Huw called.

  He hesitated for a moment longer but he could not force answers out of the man. And perhaps he did not know much more anyway. But at least it was a valuable clue.

  ‘He was never going to leave his farm and go into a village for safety,’ Huw sighed as he rejoined the other two. ‘But I thank you for caring about a man like that.’

  Sendatsu opened his mouth to correct Huw, then shut it again. They were not ready to hear the man was right and elves were not all good.

  ‘Come on, we need to find a village and help them.’

  One more village, Sendatsu silently swore. I have to get something there or I shall leave.

  Twice more they saw homesteads, but both times they had been abandoned. One had been left untouched, while someone had tried to set fire to the other, only to be defeated by the Velsh weather. Part of the roof was gone but the rest was unharmed.
>
  They found a hamlet, a collection of some six roundhouses and assorted beast sheds and fields.

  ‘It is too small to protect itself …’ Sendatsu warned, but Huw had already spurred his horse across to them. Cursing, Sendatsu followed.

  ‘Wait!’ Rhiannon cried. ‘We need to do the song!’

  Huw ignored them both, pulling up his horse amid the buildings. ‘Hello! Anyone here?’ Huw called. ‘We are Velsh, from Gwent. We are here to help!’

  But there was no answer.

  ‘You do know this could be a trap. Forlish could be using this as a base.’ Sendatsu caught up with him.

  ‘This far from all the big villages? I don’t think so.’ Huw jumped down from his horse, wincing a little at his sore thighs. They had been riding for nearly a half-moon but he was still not used to the horse.

  Sendatsu drew his sword. ‘I’ll go first,’ he announced.

  ‘If there is anyone here, you’ll terrify them,’ Huw pointed out. ‘And what if they attack you?’

  Sendatsu was prepared to argue but Huw just ducked into the nearest house. He waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the gloom — and was nearly knocked over as Sendatsu sprang inside after him.

  ‘There’s nobody here,’ Huw told him.

  ‘But what if there had been?’ Sendatsu countered. ‘Could you fight them off? What good would it do if you get killed?’

  Huw was about to retort when Rhiannon called.

  ‘Quick! Come quick!’

  Huw and Sendatsu both ran for the door, almost collided, only for Sendatsu to use his size to be first through. Furious, Huw followed to see Rhiannon holding her hand over her nose and mouth.

  ‘There’s a terrible smell coming out of that far house.’ She pointed, choking a little.

  ‘What were you doing, wandering off to have a look?’ Sendatsu snapped. The lack of people and now this deserted village had him even more on edge. ‘If there were Forlish here, they would have killed you before we even knew about it. How can I protect you like that?’