Bridge of Swords

by Duncan Lay

  Huw mentally rubbed his hands together, expecting Rhiannon to take the elf to task. He had sounded just like Hector then!

  But Rhiannon merely hung her head. ‘You are right. I am sorry, I was not thinking,’ she apologised.

  Disgusted, and disappointed, Huw pushed past and led the way down to the last house. As he got closer he saw what she meant. The village had the usual smells of mud, dung and mould, the things he expected and strong enough to mask what was coming out of the last house. Almost. Until you got closer to it, when its stink of corruption hit you like a wall.

  Huw found his steps getting slower — and then he stopped altogether when a fat, sleek crow hopped out of the doorway, saw him and strutted away. He did not want to go in there, could well imagine what he might find but took a deep breath, held it and strode forwards. One look inside was all he needed to turn and hurry away, fighting to hold his noonday meal down.

  Sendatsu grabbed his shoulder.

  ‘Are they all in there?’ he asked, choking a little at the smell.

  ‘Probably. Maybe some escaped, maybe they let a few go to spread the tale around the surrounding hills and vales,’ Huw gasped. ‘But there’s a pile of bodies in there. Men, women and children.’

  ‘Children?’ Sendatsu spat. ‘They have killed children?’

  Huw pointed to where a small hand lay outstretched in the side of the doorway. Huw staggered away, as did Rhiannon. Sendatsu stood there, frozen — and then he heard it. A soft cry for help. He raced over and ducked inside, heedless of the stink of death. Dead, staring eyes gazed back at him wherever he looked — then he saw a small hand reach up. He pushed aside the dead body of a man to reveal a young boy. He was probably Mai’s age, just old enough to begin exploring the world around him. Then someone had slammed a sword into his back. Dried blood was thick on his tunic but he was still alive — barely. Sendatsu gently turned him over, to see more blood on his chest, while a wound on the top of his head had also bled heavily, covering his eyes.

  ‘It’s all right, you’re safe now,’ Sendatsu said gently. He did not know much magic but he had learned how to take away a little pain — perfect when Mai or Cheijun tripped and grazed themselves. He reached into the magic and tried to give as much as he could to the young boy.

  His laboured breathing seemed to ease a little and Sendatsu hoped he had helped. He began to gently open the boy’s tunic, discover how deep the wound was and if he might save the boy.

  ‘Dad, is that you?’ the boy whispered.

  Sendatsu thought about telling the truth but a glance inside the tunic told him the boy did not have long to live.

  ‘Yes, it’s me,’ he said hoarsely, holding the boy’s hand. ‘I’m here. You’re safe now.’

  ‘I’m so cold. And I can’t feel my legs …’

  Sendatsu held him close. ‘Your legs are fine. You’ll be running before you know it,’ he whispered.

  ‘It hurt so much. But now I want to sleep.’

  Sendatsu had to clench his jaw to hold himself together. ‘You go to sleep now. As long as you like. No chores in the morning.’

  ‘Can you sing to me?’

  For a long, long time Sendatsu could not. But, somehow, he managed it. He had promised Mai that her goodnight song was for her only but he knew she would want to help this dying boy.

  Slowly, haltingly, he managed to sing her song, listening as the boy’s breathing slowed, eased, then slipped away.

  He finished the song and then held the boy close, unable to let him go until the tears had stopped.

  ‘Sendatsu? Are you all right?’

  Rhiannon’s voice made him look up.

  ‘No,’ he said softly.

  He laid the boy back down, filled by an anger greater than anything he had ever felt before. If there had been Forlish there, he would have shown them no mercy. He had to find some, let out this colossal fury inside him.

  He stood up. ‘We should light a pyre.’

  ‘I thought we didn’t have time …’

  ‘We will make time. The bastards who did this will pay,’ Sendatsu swore.

  ‘But won’t the smoke scare others, or maybe even warn the Forlish …’ Rhiannon asked tentatively.

  ‘I’m doing this. Either help me or not.’

  The blood on his tunic and face did not invite argument.

  There was plenty of firewood stacked around, so Huw and Sendatsu hurled logs into the house, disturbing a pair of ravens that flew off, cursing at them, while Rhiannon stacked more around the sides. They worked until they were tired and sweating.

  The thatch of the roof was damp, and fire would not take easily, but Sendatsu reached into the magic, used it to heat the straw underneath until the roof seemingly went up in flames all at once.

  Sendatsu closed his eyes, prayed with all his heart and soul that Aroaril would take this boy and his family, give them peace. He wiped his face clear and looked once more at the fire. ‘We are done here. We must find some Forlish to pay for this,’ he said flatly, turning away.

  ‘Don’t you mean, find a village to help?’ Rhiannon asked.

  ‘No.’

  Rhiannon and Huw looked at each other doubtfully, before following him back to the horses.

  On they rode, but they found no villages that day. They saw more farmsteads, some of them with people working the fields. At the first the people ran for the trees as soon as they saw the three riders but while they listened as Rhiannon sang Sendatsu’s song, it still took all of Huw’s persuasion for them to come out and talk.

  ‘Every time we see riders, we run. That’s why we are alive,’ they said.

  But they would not listen to Huw’s suggestions to find a village for safety.

  ‘Do you want to ask them questions?’ Huw offered to Sendatsu.

  ‘No. I want to find some Forlish,’ Sendatsu said harshly.

  This was what Huw had wanted but now he found it worrying, while Rhiannon did not feel able to say anything, so they rode on.

  Sendatsu slowly steamed in the gentle rain as they rode past a series of hills and across a small valley. There were Forlish around here. Let them take on someone their own size, see how long they lasted.

  ‘Smoke!’ Rhiannon cried.

  They followed her pointing finger to where the first fingers of smoke rose above the lip of a hill.

  ‘Come on!’ Huw raced his horse forwards, followed by Rhiannon and Sendatsu, who swiftly overtook him.

  He knew he should never show himself on the crest of a hill — but he was beyond caring. He boiled over the top to see a small village, barely a score of houses, nestled in the valley below — where it was under attack from a dozen Forlish raiders.

  Two houses had already been set on fire, while the Forlish rode through the rest of the village, daring the Velsh to fight back — and killing any that tried. A handful of bodies already lay sprawled on the ground, while the screaming and crying carried right up the hill. Sendatsu ignored the noise, for he had eyes only for the small girl running, screaming, away from a laughing Forlishman who was stalking her on foot.

  He grabbed his bow and leaped down from the saddle, staggering slightly in the wet grass, as Huw and Rhiannon reined to a halt behind him.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Huw cried as Sendatsu strung his bow in a heartbeat, drew and sighted on the Forlishman, who had trapped the girl beside a water trough and now raised his sword.

  It was a difficult target, aiming downhill nearly a hundred yards away, but there was an ice-cold anger bubbling inside Sendatsu and he knew he could not miss. He loosed and watched the Forlishman get thrown back by the power of the strike.

  The terrified girl looked around and Sendatsu waved for her to hide.

  ‘Are you mad?’ Huw jumped off his horse and ran to Sendatsu’s side. ‘We can’t take on that many Forlish!’

  ‘They are dead,’ Sendatsu said simply. He laid another arrow on his string, spotted a Forlishman dragging a woman out of a house and loosed in the next instant. Th
is time the Forlishman spun around and fell.

  When a third man went down screaming with an arrow through his guts, the Forlish noticed the three figures up on the hill. Only four of the Forlish were mounted — and they galloped up the hill, determined to avenge their comrades.

  ‘Better get back,’ Sendatsu advised Huw. He drew and loosed, watched with grim satisfaction as it snatched a Forlishman out of his saddle.

  A second man was sent reeling away with an arrow in the arm, then Sendatsu put down a horse with a third arrow — dropped his bow and drew his sword as the last Forlishman leaned out of the saddle to chop him down.

  Except Sendatsu was not there. He darted to his right, away from the Forlish sword, and slammed his own blade into the horse’s mouth. As it screamed and bucked, the Forlishman tried to keep his seat, only for Sendatsu to rush behind him and slash through his back with a brutal thunder-strike.

  By the time Sendatsu turned back, the remaining Forlish had found their horses and were riding away, having seen enough.

  ‘What were you doing?’ Huw demanded.

  ‘What you wanted — stopping the Forlish,’ Sendatsu snarled, with such force that Huw recoiled. ‘Now we need to go and help those people.’

  He strode down the hill, stopping only to finish off the Forlishman thrown by his horse, both of them lying, screaming, with broken legs.

  ‘I have never seen him like this,’ Rhiannon said shakily. ‘We have to get him out of here before he gets himself killed.’

  Huw had wanted to see the elf punish the Forlish invaders — but this was too much even for him. ‘I think you’re right,’ he agreed.

  ‘Do you think it has something to do with what’s in his pouch?’

  ‘No, it was seeing the dead children. But I didn’t realise he cared so much for humans,’ Huw mused. He was shaken by the elf’s intensity. He thought Sendatsu cared little for the people they met and only for the knowledge they might hold.

  ‘We’d better catch up to him,’ Rhiannon said. ‘We might need to do some fast talking to get him to agree with us, rather than go hunting Forlish.’

  Huw nodded agreement. Of all the things he had imagined happening in Rheged, this was not one of them.

  18

  The reports did not alarm me at first for they were little incidents, things that I had expected might happen. I stupidly did not think they were all the work of Naibun. Elven homes were set alight, human mobs dispersed outside elven settlements in the far north, where the rich mines yielded tin and iron. Worse, I did not see the effect they would have on the people. Already nervous of being told to leave their homes and return to Dokuzen, they spread tales of angry human mobs.

  Naibun skilfully wove these tales up, until the people were convinced the barrier was the only thing between us and destruction at human hands.

  Sendatsu only agreed to leave Rheged to protect the remaining villagers he had saved, when Huw insisted they could find new homes in Gwent. The terrified villagers were in no mood to argue — and certainly not with Sendatsu, whose burning eyes were making them even more nervous. They escorted the villagers to a plump Gwent village called Lewes, just across the border. The people there were on edge, having woken up to see smoke to the south almost every morning. They were willing to let the Rhegeders stay — Sendatsu would brook no argument — and raced to build a wall and the elven crossbows.

  ‘See, we were right to come north. We will help far more people this way.’ Rhiannon smiled.

  Sendatsu was not convinced. What he had seen in Rheged left him feeling raw. ‘We should follow the smoke,’ he suggested, something even Huw was not willing to try.

  Both Huw and Rhiannon were worried at this turn of events. How would other villages react to this new, angrier Sendatsu? He was not even looking in his pouch any more.

  Luckily the next village was Harlech.

  This was a large, prosperous village, one of the biggest in the central Vales district. Harlech dwarfed the likes of Catsfield and made even Crumlin look like a hamlet.

  It was also burying its dead when they arrived.

  Half a dozen homes on the outskirts had been hit overnight, families killed, then the huts fired. When their neighbours rushed out to help, they saw figures running off into the night, carrying both goods and women. Consequently the village was in a volatile mood when they arrived — a strange mix of anger and fear.

  ‘Who are you? What do you want?’

  The trio found themselves surrounded by a mob of worried and angry people who were not inclined to listen to a song.

  It took some quick talking from Huw, as well as a quick demonstration from Sendatsu, before the village accepted the three travellers. A delegation of farmers, led by a massive man called Gareth, sat down with them.

  ‘It is a shame you did not get here a few days ago — even yesterday,’ Gareth said bitterly. ‘We slept like lambs, not knowing wolves were stalking us.’

  ‘Did you not see the smoke on the horizon, wonder what it was?’ Rhiannon blurted out.

  Gareth was a head taller than Huw, and twice as wide. Even Sendatsu looked small against the size of his arms and chest. He also had easily the most impressive beard the three of them had seen, a true Velsh beard. He regarded her slowly.

  ‘Listen, girl. We see and hear many strange things here. But they have never affected us before. We live our lives in peace, attacking nobody. Why should we expect anyone would strike at us?’

  Rhiannon flushed at being addressed as though she was a fool but Huw touched her arm and gave her a quick warning look.

  ‘We wish we could have been here sooner. But we do not know where and when these raiders will strike. Now we are here, we can provide you with the way to protect yourselves.’

  ‘We need more help than that. They took some of our people — you can help us get them back,’ Gareth rumbled. ‘I am going to lead a party of men into the woods. I cannot abide the thought of people I know suffering while I do nothing.’

  ‘These are not mere bandits — they are veteran Forlish warriors. If you go after them, you will be lucky to return alive,’ Huw warned.

  ‘And you need to listen to me, lad. I shall not leave my people to suffer,’ Gareth vowed. ‘You say you want to help. This is your chance.’

  ‘I know how important it is to protect your people,’ Huw said with feeling. ‘But I also know when the Forlish are setting a trap. At least give us time to build some of our crossbows, let Sendatsu train some of your men. They can’t hope to take hunting spears against swordsmen …’

  ‘We go, with or without you,’ Gareth said implacably. ‘If you are really here to help us, as you say, then you join. Otherwise you are welcome to leave at any time.’

  ‘I’m ready.’ Sendatsu half rose but Huw grabbed his sleeve.

  ‘Of course we shall join you,’ Huw said firmly. ‘But Sendatsu is only one man — elf. You have to be prepared for this to end badly. The Forlish are not foolish. If they let you see them take prisoners away with them, you can be sure they had a reason.’

  Gareth levered himself to his feet, followed by the other men of Harlech.

  ‘We shall leave within the turn of an hourglass. Be ready or be gone.’

  ‘We shall be there,’ Sendatsu promised.

  ‘This is a bad idea,’ Huw said, as soon as Gareth and the other Velsh had left. ‘The Forlish will be waiting for us. They want the bravest and strongest men to come out to meet them, so they can slaughter them and have the rest of the village at their mercy.’

  ‘Then we shall have to stop that happening,’ Sendatsu said calmly.

  Huw stared at him. ‘What is it you’re not telling us? Why did Rheged affect you so deeply?’

  ‘It didn’t. I’ve been fighting the Forlish since I got here,’ Sendatsu dismissed.

  ‘No, not like this. It makes no sense. You know as well as I that the Forlish are planning a trap and Gareth is foolish to walk into it. Why do you want to join him? I thought your quest was more i
mportant?’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Sendatsu turned away. He had been able to walk away from things back in Dokuzen but life out here with the humans was different. Seeing children slaughtered before his eyes was too much to take. He saw the face of the boy who had died in his arms every time he closed his eyes. How could he embrace Mai and Cheijun when he had done nothing to stop the blood on his hands?

  ‘It’s our lives you’re risking as well — talk to us!’ Huw demanded, grabbing hold of Sendatsu.

  The elf was about to hurl the bard across the room when Rhiannon stepped in between them.

  ‘That’s enough! Both of you!’

  The two of them glared at each other past her, until she grabbed Huw and forced him to turn away. She chose Huw … she was not sure why but she instinctively felt he would respond to her, while Sendatsu would not.

  ‘Calm down! For me, if not for anything else,’ she told Huw.

  Instantly he smiled, a little sheepishly. ‘I shall.’

  ‘And an apology for Sendatsu?’

  ‘What? I just asked a question!’ Huw protested.

  She leaned close to him and he thrilled to her lips being only a few inches from his, looking deep into her eyes.

  ‘We are about to go out to find and fight the Forlish. Don’t you think it would be better to do so as friends? Trust me, I know Sendatsu has our best interests at heart. If he is hiding something, there is a very good reason.’

  At that point, Huw would have agreed with almost anything she said.

  ‘Sendatsu, I am sorry,’ he said over Rhiannon’s shoulder.

  Sendatsu still glowered, so Rhiannon turned to him.

  ‘And Sendatsu — you too.’

  ‘I’m sorry — that I thought you wanted to fight the Forlish as well as I,’ he growled.

  Rhiannon was about to demand a better apology when Huw tapped her arm.

  ‘I don’t need one. Look, I have an idea how we might be able to help out there,’ Huw offered, eager to show Rhiannon he was the bigger man. Well, he was the only one but that was not the point …

  ‘What?’ Sendatsu said shortly.