by Sam Barone
“It would take too long to start fires and burn the wood anyway,” Gatus agreed. “And if you took enough men to do the task, they’d hear you coming, just as we heard them.”
No one said anything. Trella stood and went to the cabinet. She withdrew a map of Orak and its surroundings, a copy of the one Corio had shown them months ago. She unrolled it across the table and smoothed the surface with care. “Can you show me where the wood is stored?” she asked, as the men instinctively moved closer. Sisuthros sat on the table’s edge and leaned over Gatus’s shoulder.
Gatus picked up the wooden pointing stick rolled up inside the papyrus.
“Here. If the boy is right, this must be where the wood is being collected.
These hills are high enough to keep us from seeing what’s behind them.
They could’ve been moving anything there for days without our noticing.”
Esk kar stared at the map. The site was too far from Orak’s walls, a mile at least and well to the south. Even if a raiding party got there, none would ever return alive, even at night.
“And where do they keep the horses?” Trella continued. “I couldn’t follow what Simcar said about the river.”
Gatus moved the pointer. “Here. We can even see one herd from the walls.”
Esk kar took the pointer from Gatus’s hand. “If I were in charge, with that many horses, there would be at least three herds, each a few hundred paces apart, with rope corrals to keep them separate and hold them in against the river.”
“That makes sense,” Gatus said. “The curve of the river and the rise of the ground would make that the easiest way to control big herds like that.”
He looked at Esk kar. “How many in each herd? Three or four hundred?”
Esk kar closed his eyes and tried to visualize the land. He’d seen it often enough, even ridden along it once or twice during the last preparations for the siege. Opening his eyes and pointing to the land closest to Orak, “I’d put the largest herd here, probably close to four hundred horses. Then about three hundred each in the other two places.” He looked up at Trella and saw that she continued to stare at the map.
“It would be good to set fire to the wood they’ve prepared, isn’t that right?” Trella asked, her eyes directly on Esk kar. “If we could destroy it, then they might not be able to attack.”
“Yes, that would set them back considerably, maybe even stop the fire attack or at least weaken it. They’ve stripped the land bare for lumber and there can’t be much more left out there, even if they could find and bring it here.”
“But you can’t raid the wood store, because it’s too far.” She pointed to the place where they guessed the main herd was kept. “But you could raid the horses, could you not? I mean, in the place closest to us. What would you do there?”
Esk kar didn’t answer because he caught the glimmer of her idea and began to think it through. Shifting in his chair, he began to think aloud.
“We could move a small party out at night, either slip them by the sentries or kill them silently. Then we could stampede the horses and drive as many of them as we could into the river. The current is swift there and many would drown, while others would be swept downstream. The whole camp would be in an uproar, and every warrior would rush to the river to see to his horses. Then…” he moved the pointer back to the location of the wood, “during the confusion, we could slip another party through the lines to this place and we could burn the wagons.”
Sisuthros let out a sound that could have been a laugh if his wound weren’t so painful, and Gatus swore softly before answering. “Attacking their horses would draw every man to the river, I’d bet my life on it. We could slip in, burn the carts, and race back to the walls. But it would take time to fire the wagons.”
“What about the men who attack the horses?” Trella asked. “Could they get back to Orak?”
“No, they’d be trapped there,” Gatus answered soberly. “Once the horses began to stampede, the riders who guard the approaches to Orak would cut them off.” Silence followed his words. “Still, it would be worth it, even if we lost the men. As Esk kar says, if we burn the wood, then we can weaken the attack, even if we can’t prevent it.” His eyes turned to Eskkar, as did Trella’s and Sisuthros’s.
Their captain remained lost in thought, his eyes focused on the map.
Nobody wanted to interrupt him. He tapped on the location of the horses with his finger, forgetting Corio’s admonishment about touching the papyrus. “Perhaps there’s a way to get the men back after all.” He looked up and found them all staring at him.
“The carts and wood must be destroyed,” Esk kar said softly, “even if we have to chance losing men. But I think it can be managed.” He turned to Gatus. “Get the other leaders here, even Bantor. We have much to plan if we’re to attack tonight.”
“Tonight! By the gods, we’ve hardly finished one battle and you’re planning another?”
“Tonight. It must be tonight. If we let another day go by, they may launch their own attack.” He smiled at Trella and took her hand. “As always, you give us good ideas, wife. And I think we’ll add Simcar to our household from now on. Just in case the gods are slow in their duty to send us a son.”
26
Esk kar awoke to the smell and feel of Trella’s hair on his cheek and the brush of her lips against his. For a moment he just lay there, soothed by her touch as he awoke. Then he glanced at the window. The full darkness of evening covered the sky. He sat up in the bed, words of anger coming to his lips.
“Be easy, husband, there’s plenty of time. Gatus told me to make sure you got some rest before you go.” Trella lowered her voice. “If you still insist you must go.”
They’d argued about that most of the morning. Gatus and Trella re-monstrated against Esk kar’s going. No one wanted him dead out there in the countryside, putting the village into panic.
Esk kar insisted, determined to lead the raid. In truth, he didn’t trust anyone else. Sisuthros and Bantor were wounded, and Gatus couldn’t move fast enough at his age. That left only Jalen, and his blood flowed too hot for such a mission. Esk kar spoke the language, which might be critical.
In the end everyone had finally given way.
That decided, he and his commanders spent the rest of the day planning the details. They selected men to raid the horses, choosing eight men for the task, all experienced liverymen who knew how to handle horses and, more important, how to stampede them. Jalen would lead them, a simple raid well suited to his abilities. Esk kar reviewed the preparations, then turned the details over to Jalen.
Finding volunteers for the fire carts took less time. When the soldiers learned Esk kar would lead that party, dozens offered to go, despite the risk. For this he needed only levelheaded men who could follow orders and strong enough to carry what they’d need. He and Gatus selected six men, talking with them individually and making sure each had the right temperament and would follow orders.
Esk kar finally took some rest just before sundown, at Trella’s and Gatus’s insistence. By then even Esk kar felt tired enough that he agreed to rest for an hour.
Instead Trella let him sleep more than three hours. By the time he’d dressed and eaten, only two hours remained before midnight, the time set for both parties to depart. Actually there would be three parties. The third consisted of a small team of archers, all good hunters and trackers, men who could move quietly through the darkness. They’d slip out first and eliminate any enemy sentries in their path.
Before Esk kar left the house Trella pressed herself against him with such force that he nearly lost his balance. Her words breathed against his cheek. “Don’t take any foolish chances. Come back to me, Esk kar.”
At the river gate Esk kar assembled his men, wondering what the next few hours would bring. The guards had removed most of the braces that secured the gate and now they eased open the heavy frame, its hinges moistened earlier with oil and water to muffle any sound.
Twenty — six men slipped out in single file and moved as silently as possible across the ditch. As soon as the last man passed the gate, the sentries closed it behind them.
Across the ditch, the two raiding parties stopped and knelt in the darkness, while they waited for the archers to remove the enemy sentries. Led by a hunter named Myandro, they disappeared into darkness, their bows wrapped in cloth to lessen any noise. All had hunted wild game in the hills and knew how to move with care.
Nearly an hour passed before Myandro returned, slipping up to Eskkar’s side so quietly that he jumped in surprise.
“Captain, the sentries are dead,” Myandro whispered. “There were only three as far as the first line of hills. You’ll have a few hours before any come to relieve them. But go quickly. I’ll send Jalen out as soon as you are gone.”
Esk kar grasped the man’s shoulder. “Good work, Myandro.” Jalen and his men had a much shorter distance to travel and would move faster, since they carried no heavy loads. Esk kar turned to Grond, his second in command for this mission and kept his voice low. “The way is clear. Come.”
Esk kar waited while Grond passed the word down the line, making sure every man understood the order. Then Esk kar stood up slowly, letting any stiffness in his muscles stretch their way loose. He carefully picked up the two clay pots, bound in thick cloth for protection and linked by a rope that he slung around his neck, allowing him to carry a pot under each arm.
His sword already hung down his back, leaving nothing that might bang against a pot and make a sound, or worse, break the container.
The burden was heavy and he heard the muffled breathing of the men as they shouldered their loads. Only Grond seemed unaffected by the weight.
Myandro took the lead. In single file Esk kar and his men followed, traversing the north side of the village, stepping with care to make sure they didn’t trip over some obstacle, fall into the ditch, or splash into a pool of swamp water. That caution slowed them down, and it took some time before they passed the point where the wall turned to face the east.
Grateful to be away from the ditch and the flooded lands, they traveled now in the open, exposed to any close scrutiny. Gradually they turned south and began the long walk across the face of the main wall, moving farther away from Orak with each step. At first Myandro stayed with them, leading them at a steady pace. Then he vanished into the darkness ahead, to make sure the way remained clear.
At last they reached the first of the low hills, nearly opposite the main gate but more than a mile away.
Myandro reappeared at Esk kar’s side, placing his hand on his captain’s chest to stop the column. Esk kar sank to his knees, grateful for the chance to remove the millstone from his neck, even for a moment. Between the weight of the pots and the coarse rope, the flesh already felt raw.
His men welcomed the respite. The need for complete silence and the effort to ensure that no misstep caused a stumble had stretched every muscle, and Esk kar felt the strain in his body. They waited as Myandro and two of his men slipped ahead through the darkness.
Looking up at the stars Esk kar guessed that not quite two hours had passed since they left Orak. It would’ve been shorter to leave by the main gate, but that meant more sentries to get past, as the Alur Meriki watched the main gate more closely.
Myandro reappeared, ghostlike, putting his face directly to Esk kar’s ear. “The barbarian troop is just over this hill and about a hundred paces away. Most are sleeping and they only posted a few guards. A sentry is there, supposedly watching the village, though he spends more time looking at the campfires. They suspect nothing. But they’re between us and the wagons, so we must wait here.”
Esk kar repeated the message to Grond, who would whisper it to each man. Esk kar turned back to Myandro. “Jalen should have attacked by now.
It grows late.”
Myandro checked the progress of the moon before answering. “We’d have heard something if he were seen or captured. I’ll go back on watch.
More can be seen and heard from the hilltop. Keep close against the side of the hill, and make sure nobody makes a sound.”
Again he vanished, leaving Esk kar envious of his ability to move so quietly. But the idea of the sentry made him nervous, and Esk kar moved down the line of men, whispering to each and making sure every man hugged the hillside as much as possible.
More time passed as the moon seemed to race across the sky. When the moment came they felt it in the ground before they heard the noise, the rumble of hundreds of pounding hooves. The horses over the hilltop heard it as well, and a few began to whinny nervously, the first sounds they’d made.
Esk kar pictured the raid in his mind. Jalen would have gotten his men into position and built a tiny fire. Each man would light the thick, oil — soaked bundle of rags already fastened to the ends of the ropes. Whirling the ropes overhead would create a big flaming circle that would frighten any horse, let alone a herd suddenly awakened to see eight circles of fire rushing toward them. The horses would bolt from the sight, and with luck, directly into the river if Jalen positioned his men properly.
Other noises came to Esk kar, horses screaming, the distant alarms of men, and above everything the thunder of hooves in the night. Behind the hill, men shouted and cursed, warriors suddenly jerked awake, fumbling for their swords, scrambling for their horses, damning the darkness and whatever unknown disaster had struck the herd. Each warrior probably had a mount or two in that band, and all would be keen to learn what had happened.
Myandro loomed up out of the darkness above them. “Down! And don’t look up!”
Esk kar and his men froze into the earth, hardly breathing, all of them pressing against the hill. He heard horses climbing the other side. At first Esk kar thought they’d been discovered, but realized that someone, likely the leader and a few others, had ascended the hill to see whether Orak showed any activity.
When the horses stopped moving, Esk kar glimpsed three or four horsemen, not forty paces above their heads and as many to their left, looking over the empty plain to the village walls. If any of them looked down toward the base of the hill…
But the riders searched toward the village, where nothing moved. At the base of the hill deep shadows covered the motionless men. Esk kar heard the horses snort and one of them neighed. The animals had probably picked up the scent of men beneath them. The warriors, however, ignored those small signs, certain the animals were spooked by the stampede.
At last the Alur Meriki leader shouted an order and the horses turned about and started back down the hillside. As they did so, the whole band burst into a gallop, riding off toward the north.
Esk kar remained rooted in place, waiting while Myandro climbed up the hill, looking for any guards left behind. If any remained, they’d have to be killed. Time again dragged by before Myandro called to them from above.
Instantly Esk kar and his men grabbed their pots and began climbing up the face of the hill, cursing silently the clumsy weights around their necks that unbalanced them and made them slip and stumble. At the crest they found Myandro and one of his men. Hugging the ground so no silhou-ette would show against the faint moonlight, Esk kar could see the main encampment about half a mile away. Only a few scattered fi res glowed in the darkness, but more were lit each moment as the camp roused itself to learn what had stampeded their horses.
“There, Captain,” Myandro gestured with his bow to the east. “See that small fire there? That’s where the carts are.” He pointed to a tiny fire about six hundred paces from where they stood. “Shall we go with you?”
Esk kar hesitated a moment, but realized a few more men wouldn’t help. “No, stay with the plan. Remain here and cover our retreat if you can. If not, save yourself.”
The man nodded, not bothering to tell Esk kar that Gatus had ordered him specifically not to return without the captain of the guard. “Then hurry, before they return and block the way. And there may be guards.”
Of course there wo
uld be guards, wide — awake ones at that, based on the sounds coming from the north. Moving as quietly as possible, Esk kar’s men descended the back side of the hill, still moving south, so they could approach the outpost from the rear, hoping to find the guards focused on the confusion in the north. They hadn’t far to travel now and they moved at a faster pace, helped by their brief rest.
When he reached his position, Esk kar gave the order to halt. He dropped to one knee to let his burden slip carefully to the ground, then pulled the rope over his head. Another movement freed the sword strapped to his back and he buckled it around his waist. He carried no other weapon.
Esk kar chose two men to come with him. One carried a short bow and six arrows, the standard weapon of the barbarians, an item now in plentiful supply, taken from dead warriors. The other man carried two knives.
The three men walked openly toward the campfire. The first cart loomed in his path and Esk kar stumbled over the tongue hidden in the darkness at his feet. Up ahead, just past the small fire, he spotted two men facing north, away from him. Esk kar turned to the man with the bow. “Stay here in case there are more guards,” he whispered. “We’ll take care of those two. Come, Tellar,” he ordered the other man, “and give me one of those knives.”
Tellar could handle a knife better than most, one of the reasons for bringing him. He handed Esk kar one of his daggers and Esk kar held it concealed against his arm.
He walked straight toward the guards, making no effort to keep quiet.
Nevertheless they closed within thirty paces and hadn’t been noticed, so Esk kar pretended to slip and swore loudly. The guards turned at the sound, hands on their swords as they saw two men weaving toward them.