Conflict and Courage

by Candy Rae

  The storm was almost as bad some miles north where Francis and Asya led the relief force south.

  : It getting worse : gasped Asya.

  : The Larg have not landed. Their fleet is still offshore and cannot get in :

  The wind chilled them to the bone. Francis and the rest gritted their teeth and bent their bodies as flat as they could upon their mounts’ necks. The Lind did not falter.

  * * * * *

  Duchesne and the foot soldiers did not intend to die without a fight.

  They fought the night through, forming the circle, a manoeuvre well known to the southern regiments, each man standing tight with his neighbour. When one man or woman fell, or was dragged away by one of the Larg attackers, the two on either side closed up, keeping the circle intact.

  Duchesne’s men found themselves fighting side by side with the men and women who had volunteered to march with them and found them to be little different to themselves. They certainly bled just as much.

  They grew thirsty, they grew tired but they did not give up.

  The only alternative was to die, but deliverance was coming.

  Jim and Larya’s little army made a fine sight as they ran south, the Tenth Ryzck commanded by Richard and Dahlya, the Lindars of Afanasei, Malkei, Ranetei and Velsei, Winston and the Holad and the sundry vadeln-pairs gathered up by Jim after the recall. With them ran Tara and Kolyei.

  : Front scouts smell blood : ‘sent’ Kolyei to Tara.

  : Where? :

  : Ahead :

  : Afanasei and Malkei Lindars take point. We have found Duchesne’s infantry :

  When the Lindars fell on Aoalvaldr’s two hundred, the result was pretty predictable. Aoalvaldr did not stand a chance.

  He died as he had lived, angry and fighting to his last breath.

  The relief force only stayed long enough to enable Duchesne and those who could still fight to mount up on any Lind willing to bear them and they were off, leaving a medic and ten young Lind to guard the injured survivors. Again Brian was unable to persuade Emily to remain behind.

  They galloped south the entire day, stopping twice for a brief rest. When dusk fell, they stopped for the night at the farm of Mark’s parents.

  The four Lindars and the other Lind practically denuded the family of anything remotely edible on the farm. Mark’s father kept back only the females in foal of both kura and zarova, knowing the Lind would replace the other stock when they could.

  As friends of Mark from their cadet days, Tara, Emily, Brian, Eitel and Tina were invited to take dinner with the family together with Jim Cranston and Richard Moreno.

  The five ex-cadets accepted gladly, as Tina said, it beat travel rations hands down. Richard refused, saying that he preferred to eat with his Ryzck; he still felt awkward and ashamed about his origins and knew an elder brother of Mark had died during the Battle of the Alliance.

  The family accepted his refusal in the spirit it was given and Mark’s mother excelled herself and became most popular when she sent a huge cauldron of tasty stew to the camp, enough for the entire human element in the relief force.

  The six friends spent a pleasant evening together (Jim had also sent his regrets). They did not speak about the battle to come but about their cadet days, Eitel, Tina and Mark’s time with the Ryzck and Brian, Emily and Tara’s adventures in the west. They slept in real beds that night, Mark’s little brothers and sisters being sent over to the barn to bed down in the hay for once.

  “You’ll fight with us, won’t you Tara?” asked Mark, “don’t stay with the cadets. Brian and Sofiya have to, I know, and Emily will be with the medics.”

  “Peter would never forgive us if we let you and Kolyei fight amongst strangers,” added Tina.

  Tara agreed. She was determined to play a part in the battle.

  This time she would not be underage. She would not be able to hide in the rear.

  “I’ll come with you as long as Richard and Dahlya say me and Kolyei can,” she said, surprising herself, “and as long as you think I’m able for it. I’m a mite out of practice.”

  “We were all trained by the Weaponsmaster,” put in Tina, “and you were competent by the time we graduated.”

  “Not as good as you.”

  “Well,” answered Tina in a self-deprecatory fashion, “you see, some of us have this natural talent,” and was promptly smothered under a deluge of cushions and pillows as her friends reacted.

  That was their last evening of light-hearted banter; it was also their last evening of reasonable weather.

  The storm increased in its intensity during the night. Jim’s relief force woke to heavy rain and gale-force winds.

  Tara rode side by side with her friends of the Tenth Ryzck and as she rode, began to realise what life in a Ryzck was like. The Tenth was a tight-knit and happy Ryzck and Richard and Dahlya good leaders. Reports on what was happening at the Keep came in regularly and Richard made sure everybody knew all that there was to know.

  The other Ryzck members welcomed Tara and Kolyei into their midst and she and Kolyei merged in as if they had been an integral part of the Ryzck for months.

  Kolyei was pleased. In the Lindars the Lind fought alongside their friends and relations. He did not relish a fight in the rear with the Weaponsmaster and the unknown and untried cadets.

  : A Ryzck is like a big family isn’t it? : Tara asked of him and he agreed.

  The band of gale-force winds that had hit the coast and stopped the landings moved northwards in its ferocity, a ferocity that was unparalleled since mankind had arrived on the planet.

  It slowed them, not much, but enough to worry Jim, for behind the weather front he knew it was cool and calm, perfect for a landing.

  * * * * *

  At David’s Keep, Geraldine prayed the storm would continue until the relief force led by Francis and Asya reached them.

  “Please make it last, please make it last,” she murmured, a sentiment shared by everyone.

  “The wind veers,” said a man’s voice behind her, “they will land today.”

  One of the fishermen, Geraldine realised, well, he would know.

  “Are the shards in place?”

  “Yes ma’am,” said one of her Vadryzas whose responsibility this was.

  Men, women and older children had laboured in the wind and rain to finish it. The only section of the outer perimeter not so protected was a bare metre wide directly outside the gate. It would be sprinkled with broken glass as soon as Francis and the others were inside. Then the wagons would be set in place and held down with the readied sandbags.

  There was a shout from the lookout.

  “I can see them.”

  “Who? Where?” called up Geraldine.

  “Susa Francis and the others,” shouted back the excited voice. “Must be over a hundred and fifty of them. He must have picked up more vadeln-pairs during the run from the stronghold.”

  “At last,” said a relieved Geraldine.

  * * * * *

  “I’ve never been so terrified in my life,” Cherry Howard confided to one of her year-mates, like her, newly graduated to full active status.

  “Me too,” Tamsin said with a gulp. “I’ve read about plenty of battles and the instructors have explained, but this reality scares me. What if the Larg break through the defences?”

  “We tackle that when and if it happens,” answered her friend with a wobble, “now let’s get washed.”

  Tamsin looked at her incredulously and squeaked, “washed?”

  Cherry grinned at her, “forgotten your training already? This is the time to wash, as well you know. If we are wounded, we need to keep the risk of infection to a minimum, a wash and clean undergarments will help.”

  “I forgot,” confessed Tamsin.

  “It’s only common sense and remember to wash again when you wake up.”

  An hour or so later and several shades cleaner the two settled down to eat the lukewarm stew the cooks had made ready. Neither was hungry,
they were too nervous but Cherry forced Tamsin to eat and herself set the example although every bite she took made her feel sick.

  They cleaned their plates, noticing that the rain and wind appeared to be easing off. Their Lind did not appear unduly concerned about what the next hours would bring. If they did, they were taking pains not to communicate anything of the sort to their young human partners, although they knew very well what the two girls would be facing when the Larg attacked the Keep. Their lack of nervousness came from the fact that the two of them had, as Cherry had once said, ‘been there, done it, got the t-shirt and the scars to prove it’.

  “Try to get some rest,” Baltvei advised Cherry. He put his nose between his paws and closed his eyes.

  * * * * *

  At the stronghold, the pirates continued to ransack.

  Andrew Snodgrass was sitting dozing in the sun on a convenient water barrel on the wharf when he realised that Aoalvaldr’s presence in his mind had vanished. One fleeting image was all he received, that of a bright sword flashing down. For the first time in nine years he felt himself relax. Aoalvaldr is gone; my mind is my own again.

  Wide-awake now, he scrambled to his feet and went to seek Captain Alvarez who was supervising the looting. He and his men knew the worth of some of the items that were being brought quayside in a steady trickle.

  The Captain started as he heard his name being shouted.

  “Captain Alvarez,” Andrew was running towards him at full tilt. His voice-tone was ecstatic with joy although the words that bubbled from his lips were most definitely not what Carlos Alvarez wanted to hear with the ransack only halfway to completion.

  “Aoalvaldr is dead.”

  “What?”

  “Aoalvaldr is dead.”

  “How did he die?”

  “One moment he was here,” Andrew tapped his head with a grimy finger, “the next he was gone.” Andrew began to calm down as the full realisation hit him that he was free of Aoalvaldr at long last. He burst into great racking sobs of relief.

  Alvarez thought hard. He had to assume that the evil-looking Larg commander had died fighting. Had it only been him who had died or had the rest of his warriors perished as well? He decided not to wait around to find out. The Vada might be on their way.

  Ordering the most easily carried and valuable items to be shipped aboard at once, he sounded out the recall.

  He and his would be out of here before he could say ‘cat-o’-nine-tails’.

  “Grab what you can and come with us,” he said to Andrew, picking up a box filled to the brim with valuable oddments, “offer’s still open if you care to join us.”

  Andrew wiped his tears away and did as he was bidden.

  I am free, I am free at last, he was thinking as he stumbled up the gangplank, thank the gods for the Vada.

  * * * * *

  The David’s Keep garrison watched as first one ship, then another, and another tacked into the harbour.

  “Transports,” observed Louis Randall, “ I’ve seen them in the south. Used for sea trade mostly although they have a shallower draught than you might think.”

  “Filled to the gunnels with Larg,” said Francis, “how many vessels do you count?”

  “About twenty all told and I can see six large galleys on the tip of the horizon too.”

  “They look fully loaded,” said Ross. “Must have been uncomfortable for them out there in the storm.”

  “The galleys will be carrying the regiments,” surmised Francis, “they’ll dock at the jetty then the transports will unload the Larg.”

  “They might find that a mite problematical,” observed Geraldine with an evil grin, “the fishermen hacked holes in the bottom of their boats as they left Francis chuckled.

  “Won’t delay them long,” said Louis.

  “They might find the jetty itself a bit of a problem too,” Geraldine added, “some of the pilings and jetty floor are, shall we say, a mite unstable and covered with anything sharp and greasy we could find … glass, pottery, even needles and the rotting contents of the fish barrels. It’ll affect the Larg more than the men.”

  When the Larg kohorts spilled out of the transports, complaining about the state of the jetty, Kohortangan Bvdmaldr sent out his scouts.

  The telepathic reports sent back by the scouts were encouraging. They had met up with one small group of Lind only, not enough, not nearly enough to stop the first wave of barges landing. This group had about-tailed and fled.

  He roared a challenge filled with triumph.

  He had them!

  : Lindars? :

  : No sign Lindars :

  It would take days before enough Lindars and Vada could be gathered together to stop him and by then all living creatures in southern Vadath would be dead except for the kura and zarova herds who were to be rounded up for transporting south. The man Sam Baker had been right to insist that he attack now and not wait until midsummer.

  Bvdmaldr licked his lips with anticipation.

  With only this few to oppose him he would be able to send the two kohorts to round up the herds and bring them in now. The man Baker’s regiments were doing a good job of fortifying the area where they were landing; the fence staves were going up and the outer ditch begun. The transports that had brought them in would stand offshore to take the herds; the second wave had barges of their own, towed by the second string of pirate galleys.

  His large head pivoted towards the two kohorts.

  They were eager to be off, panting in their excitement. Their orders were to sweep round the coastal lowlands gathering up the herds as they went.

  By the time they returned, the remainder of the first wave of kohorts and the second wave would have cleared the immediate area and would be ranging upriver towards the stronghold, there to meet Aoalvaldr moving south.

  The Lindars were in their own rtathlians, not expecting an attack until midsummer. The Vada were dotted along the Argyll coast waiting for an attack that would not come, then the controlled withdrawal south, the Vadath herds decimated, the Vada and their people dead; to a hero’s welcome.

  Whilst Bvdmaldr was planning how he and Aoalvaldr would destroy the peoples of the land of Vadath in a pincer movement, Jim was planning a pincer movement of his own.

  Francis and Asya would have to hold the kohorts at the Keep to give the Lindars and Vada time to reach them in enough numbers to be able to defeat them.

  Francis was pleased with the way Geraldine had prepared David’s Keep. She had strengthened the walls and laid in a stock of food and water. Unfortunately not all of the more outlying farms and settlements had been evacuated which was why the Lindars were approaching from the west. The rescue parties also needed time to get the inhabitants away.

  Francis hoped these rescue parties would be able to get to these people before the Larg did. Sending more vadeln-pairs out had left those at David’s Keep even more outnumbered but there was no help for it, Francis had, during the last eight years, thoroughly imbued the Lind duty to defend the helpless. In fact, vadeln-pairs took a solemn oath to that effect when they joined the Vada and if that meant laying down their lives for the greater good, then those at the Keep were prepared to do precisely that.

  : We must hold them until reinforcements arrive :

  : Do you think they attack us here ? : asked Asya.

  : They won’t be able to resist :

  The Larg would have to attack the Keep up the one narrow path. Fallen tree trunks had been dragged across it to make the ascent even more difficult. To the Keep’s rear lay the river gorge and this side and the other two had steep cliffs, hopefully almost impossible for the Larg to negotiate. Really, thought Francis, it is a perfect place for a defence, impregnable if only I had more than two hundred fighters.

  All the Larg really had to do was place a guard at the foot of the ravine and move on but the Larg were not emotionally suited to leaving enemies alive to their rear. They would attack and if Francis could keep the main Larg force busy trying
to take the Keep, it would give the reinforcements time to get here.

  From his vantage point, he watched as the second wave of Larg and regiments arrived.

  Geraldine stood beside him. She was counting. “Twenty-four,” she murmured, ”I can count twenty-four galleys now. We know they have over thirty.”

  “Maybe Baker didn’t manage to persuade them all to take part,” was Francis’s suggestion.

  Geraldine shook her head.

  “Where are the other galleys?”

  “They will be at the stronghold,” he answered.

  Bvdmaldr did not wait. He sent three kohorts to the Keep.

  This first wave of attackers struck but the shale impeded their climb up the hill and those who did reach the walls found that the jagged shale-shards sticking out of the ground in front of them most punishing on the paws.

  Enough of them got through to make life interesting for those inside. The most close-fought area was at the gate. The defenders held on, even the wounded returning to the walls after their hurts had been seen to.

  The Larg attacked throughout the long afternoon.

  “They’re attacking again,” came a shout from the left ravine.

  : Wings of Lai. Will they never let up? : complained Francis.

  Asya did the Lind impersonation of a shrug.

  : I not think they know how :

  Seconds later and they were fighting for their lives once more. How long had they been here? You killed one and two others crawled over the body and attacked. The Larg corpses were piled up in front of the walls and smelt of blood, excrement and death.

  Alan and Kiltya went down, despite what Francis and Asya could do to save them. The two had gone to help a newly graduated pair who were coming off badly in a tussle with some Larg who had managed to get themselves on top of the walls and, although they managed to rescue the duo, Alan was crushed underneath the falling bodies. Francis watched as Kiltya’s eyes went flat as she realised her Alan had gone. With a howl of incandescent rage and loss she jumped on top of the walls. She stood for a few seconds selecting her target then leapt to her death amongst her enemies.