Redemption: A Malvers War Story

by Tora Moon

  Histrun felt a sigh of wind brush his cheek, and a moment later, the sails snapped as the breeze filled them. The barge shot down the river, throwing him off balance with the sudden, swift movement. He looked toward the stern, and saw a woman with canary-yellow hair standing on a small platform. She stared at the sails in concentration, and the breeze picked up slightly, filling the sails even fuller.

  Once the barge was underway, Daelena found Histrun and Zehala. “This be a good place for you to stay.” She nodded in approval at their choice. “You’ll only have to sleep on the hard deck for two nights. We will reach Dehanrolos Keep, the port keep for Dehanlair Province, in the afternoon three days from now.”

  “This is much faster,” Zehala said. “It would take us over a chedan by land.”

  “The Dawn Sister be a fast barge.” Daelena looked over at the rail, and shouted, “Hoy, tighten up those ropes!” She frowned, then turned back to Histrun and Zehala. “I best get back to work. Enjoy your stay with us.” She stomped toward a young man, struggling with a rope.

  After checking on their people, Histrun and Zehala wandered to the rail, staying out of the deckhands’ way, and watched the plains slide by. At one point, they caught sight of a ducorn herd bounding through the tall grass. And later, they saw a herd of wild horses come down to the riverbank to drink.

  The next afternoon, a sailor caught a huge fish. Histrun gaped in disbelief at its five-foot length.

  Daelena laughed. “This be a little one. Some of these grow to twelve, fifteen feet. We’ll have a nice feast tonight.”

  That evening, Daelena guided the barge to shore, where the sailors built a large bonfire, and roasted the fish along with tubers, carrots, and onions. Daelena broached a cask of ale, and the dinner turned into a party. When several sailors brought out small drums and pipes, Naila and Lestrun added their flutes to the impromptu ensemble. Zehala joined them, her clear, beautiful voice floating across the gathering. Histrun leaned against the cabin, enjoying listening to her sing. He knew better than to try to join in; he was tone deaf and sang off key. Soon people were dancing to the music.

  The warm summer night was bright, with Chelar, the smallest moon, and Kelar, the largest moon, both nearly full. As long as they stayed near the riverbank, they didn’t need to worry about Malvers monsters or narhili beasts; both creatures avoided running water because they couldn’t swim.

  Later, Zehala pulled Histrun away from the dancing, and under the branches of a tree whose roots dangled into the river. Her hot kisses, trailing down his neck made him forget his old age. They made love in the moonlight and under the stars, something they’d always wanted to do, but because of the dangers of predators, they never could indulge under the moonlight before. They fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms, to the sound of the lapping water of the river and the distant music.

  * * *

  Shortly after midday, the first bridge Histrun had seen on the river came into view. It arched gracefully over the placid waters, high enough the river ships’ masts could pass underneath it. A stone keep sat on either end. The keep on the river’s east side flew pennons in the Haaslair colors of brown and yellow, while the one on the opposite side flew flags in the Dehanlair colors of blue and yellow.

  “We be docking on the Haaslair side at Haasneven Keep,” Daelena said, coming up to stand at the rail, where Histrun and Zehala stood watching the river boats jockey for position at the docks. “It has been a pleasure to ferry you downriver. If we be here when you be ready to go back, I’d be happy to have you again.”

  “We’ve enjoyed our time on board,” Zehala said, turning to lean her back against the railing. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a more scrumptious fish dinner.”

  “There are a few aboard who will be unhappy for us to leave.” Histrun nodded toward two couples locked in embraces.

  Daelena’s eyes crinkled as she snorted. “Oh, those lads always be finding someone to keep their beds warm. All right, mates, look alive! We be coming to the docks. Gaehaas, get your arse up the mainmast. Dorhaas, man your pole.”

  Lorstriel sadly stepped from Dorhaas, while Lestrun kissed Gaehaas one last time. Then the men scampered off to their duties.

  “When we dock, please clear the deck quickly so we can bring up your horses.” Daelena gripped their hands in farewell, then headed to the barge’s stern, calling out orders as she went.

  Lorstriel and Lestrun trudged to the railing where they could watch their sailors. Lorstriel leaned next to Zehala. “Sweet Mother, these sailors are fit!”

  Histrun scowled at her. “I do not want to hear about your sexual exploits,” he huffed. “Go away.”

  “Ah, Histrun, you’re such a prude.” Lorstriel dragged Zehala a few feet away.

  Their giggles drifted to him on the breeze. He prayed Zehala wasn’t sharing anything about their moonlight adventure. Ignoring them, he called Naila over to him and told her to ready their people to disembark. Ten milcrons later, the barge bumped into the pier, and the deckhands lowered the plank across the water. He gingerly made his way over the plank and onto the stone pier. It didn’t take long for his people to be off the barge.

  Within a few moments, first his big stallion, Telen, then Zehala’s mare, Kylara were led from the hold and onto the dock. As soon as his horse was handed over, he put on his tack, including the barding. Mendehan was a stickler for tradition, which meant visiting clans announced themselves with their barding. An octar later, all the horses had been led off the barge and his people were ready to leave.

  Histrun’s stomach clenched as he eyed the bridge. Now that he was close to entering Dehanlair Province, he had second thoughts. He and Mendehan had never seen eye to eye, and had argued more often than not, nearly coming to blows several times. Because of the past animosity, he hadn’t thought they were the right people to teach Mendehan’s people the new fighting technique. But Mendehan had insisted that he didn’t want anyone else to teach his people the method except the two who had developed it. Histrun huffed out a breath of air. It was mostly Zehala’s and Layhalya’s work. He had just made a few suggestions on how to use the warriors more effectively, and ensured they had the resources they needed. Somehow that had warranted having his name attached to the method.

  Zehala nudged her horse closer to Histrun’s. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why did I let you talk me into this trip? This isn’t a good idea.”

  “You’re doing this for the same reason I am,” Zehala smiled. “We’re here to save lives. Our method does that, and I’ll put up with Mendehan’s condescending attitude if I can save even one life from being lost unnecessarily.”

  He looked over his shoulder at Haasneven Keep. “Maybe we should eat the midday meal here. It would be rude not to spend time with the Haasneven alphas.”

  Zehala snorted. “You’re just stalling. You can do this. Come on.” She kicked her horse into motion and stepped onto the bridge.

  Histrun sighed and followed her.

  As they rode into Dehanrolos Keep, the people on the docks and in the streets stared at them. Histrun’s uneasiness increased. Their rose and turquoise barding stood out, letting everyone know they didn’t belong to this province. Rather than just riding through, Histrun led his procession to the keep-house. They couldn’t skimp on their manners, especially here. They needed to maintain tradition and pay respects to the keep alphas. He also hoped to pick up someone who would guide them through the province to the Clan Keep.

  The keep alphas stood on the porch. The man’s arms were crossed over his chest, and he wore a belligerent frown. He had light-red hair and copper-brown eyes. The woman moved to the edge of the porch, her long braid of crimson-red hair flowing over her shoulder and a smile lighting her yellow-green eyes.

  “I see you are from Strunlair Province,” she said. “Are you the ones sent to teach us the new fighting method?” Hope filled her voice.

  Histrun inclined his head. “We are from Strunland Keep, but—”

&nb
sp; “Yes,” Zehala interrupted. “We’re here to teach you. I’m Zehala, and this is Histrun.”

  “I’m Freynara,” the woman said. “My co-alpha is Rodehan. Welcome! Salloreen sent word to expect you soon. I’m so glad you’re here. We lost five people just this morning, battling the damned Malvers monsters. I don’t want to lose any more. What do you need to show us this method of yours? I’ll make sure you get it.” She skipped down the porch stairs.

  Zehala dismounted and met Freynara. “We’ll need a team of at least eight strong Reds and an equal number of warriors—better if it’s double. Where’s your practice arena?”

  “This way.” Freynara led the way, with Zehala at her side, toward a large building beyond the stables. “Your people can leave their horses with our horse-master.”

  Histrun helplessly watched the women walk away. He hadn’t planned on stopping and training every keep along the way. But Zehala couldn’t just ride by without helping. He gave Keep Alpha Rodehan a rueful smile as he flung a leg over the saddle and slid to the ground, resigning himself to spending a couple of days with the Dehanrolos fighters. He gestured to his platoon to dismount, and handed both his and Zehala’s reins to Maheli, then frowned at her already full hands. She also held the reins of Naila’s and Lorstriel’s horses, as the two women followed the alphas. Maheli shrugged at Histrun, juggled a bit to add the additional reins, then trotted off toward the stable, leading the horses.

  He looked up at Rodehan, still standing on the porch. “We might as well follow the women if we want any peace.”

  Rodehan scowled. “The old way of fighting has worked just fine for hundreds of years. I don’t know why we need to change now.”

  “The monster’s behavior has changed, is why. Our way will help keep more people alive and safe during the fight. Our casualty rate has dropped significantly since we started using it. Now if someone dies, it’s usually because they didn’t move quick enough or they were in the way of a tentacle or spine. The monsters rarely get a chance to eat our people anymore. Do you want to continue being stubborn like your fool Clan Alpha, or are you going to learn something that will keep your people alive?”

  “My people are more important than old traditions,” Rodehan said, uncrossing his arms and stomping down the stairs to join the training session.

  Chapter 4

  By the time the two men reached the practice arena, a large group of fighters were gathered on the sands, listening to Zehala. There were quite a few more than just eight Reds, and even more people filled the stands. It looked like all the keeps’ fighting-packs were watching. Histrun made his way down to the sands, stepping over the low barrier to stand on the edge.

  “Our method uses teamwork to surround and cut off individual monsters from the nest,” Zehala said, addressing the assembled fighters. “This way, a warrior doesn’t have to worry about being attacked from behind or blindsided by another monster. It’s most effectively done at the nest site, as it keeps the monsters from escaping, and so we don’t have to go chasing them down to ensure we’ve killed them all.

  “You need enough Reds on the perimeter to form a strong fire-ring. We’ve found eight is the optimum number. We split the circle using the cardinal directions and put a pair of Reds in each quadrant. They can support each other, and if one has to help in the fight, she can while the others maintain the fire-ring. Naila and Lorstriel will now demonstrate creating a small one.”

  Zehala nodded at the two Reds, who stepped away from the low barrier wall and into the arena’s center. They stopped about ten paces opposite each other, then lowered their helbraught blades, which were glowing with fire magic, and touched the tips to the sands. A thin stream of fire crawled along the ground in either direction until it met in the middle. Histrun had just enough Red Talent that he could vaguely see the web of fire magic being woven as the flames grew into a wall twenty feet high that curved slightly in at the top. It was tall enough most janacks couldn’t reach their tentacles over it. He knew from experience the flames were hot enough to instantly kill any monsters that tried to crash through it.

  Keep Alpha Freynara frowned at the fire-ring, her hands on her hips. “It looks simple enough. I can’t imagine why no one thought of it sooner.”

  “It’s more difficult than it looks,” Zehala said, indicating with a gesture for the women to release the fire-ring. “It takes practice to coordinate and merge everyone’s magic into a seamless whole. There can’t be any holes or the monsters will find them and escape. The brechas are especially adept at finding the holes and slipping through them. It also takes skill to quickly reweave the inner net if a Red’s magic is pulled from the fire-ring.

  “And this is just the first part of our method. For it to work, the warriors must learn a new way to fight the monsters as well. There can no longer be a free-for-all, with each warrior attacking the nearest monster. Instead, they also break into quadrant teams that work closely with their Reds. Once the monsters leave the nest, the Reds use their fire magic to cut off individuals and drive them to the waiting warriors.”

  Histrun nodded to himself. The fire-ring had been a genius discovery, but it had been harder for the men to learn to coordinate their attacks and work with the Reds inside the confines of the circle.

  “To facilitate learning this new way of fighting,” Zehala continued, “we developed new practice forms. If the Reds would go to the north end of the arena and the warriors the south, we’ll get started with the training. Histrun will lead the men in the fighting forms, while I will work with the women.”

  Histrun waited for the men sorted themselves into several long lines. They were used to going through the practice forms, a set of fighting positions and techniques that flowed together, for training. He positioned Eidelstrun, his biggest fighter, in the front of the group, and spread his strongest fighters: Lestrun, Dorstrun, Alixstrun, and Chestrun on the perimeter, then sprinkled his other fighters throughout the lines of Dehanrolos men. Now, no matter which direction they turned, the men could see someone who knew the new patterns.

  The ones he now taught were based on the old and familiar sequences, but with the changes that would teach the men’s bodies to move slightly differently while in battle within the confines of the fire-ring and with each other. After they had gone through the new forms several times, he had the men break into groups of four, to integrate their movements into cohesive fighting teams. Still, he knew the forms would only make sense once they were out on the field and actually fighting the monsters.

  Four octars later, his stomach grumbling that it hadn’t been fed the midday meal, he called a halt to the training. The men couldn’t learn much more without using the forms in an actual battle. If they could somehow simulate a battle in the practice arena, it would mitigate the risk of injury. But the Reds couldn’t create the type of illusion they’d need with their fire magic. He sighed. The only ones that could create such an illusion were Yellows, and they weren’t fighters.

  As he trudged off the sands toward the door, he noticed the women were still training. He stopped to watch.

  Freynara’s helbraught glowed, and a moment later flames zipped along the ground, where they met and melded with the fire magic of her teammates. The wall formed, and the women grinned, until Zehala came up behind one of them and pushed her hard enough to make the woman stagger away. The wall flickered, but the other women scowled in concentration, steadying the wall of fire. Zehala continued to knock women out of the circle until only Freynara and one other woman remained. After several long milcrons of holding the ring by themselves, Zehala allowed them to release it.

  “Good!” she cried, clapping her hands. “Now the test will be if you can do that when brechas are shooting their spines at you and a janack’s tentacles are reaching for you. Enough for today.”

  The women filed off the sands and out of the arena. Histrun waited to walk out with Zehala. Outside they were met by Freynara and Rodehan.

  “I can see how this new method of
yours could work,” Rodehan said grudgingly. “There’s a nest due to mature in the morning. We can test it out then.”

  “Just let us know,” Histrun said, “and I’ll have a group go with you, both to show you how it’s done and to help you eliminate the monsters.”

  “That would be appreciated.”

  “I’ve had rooms prepared for your platoon,” Freynara said. “We’d be honored if you two would join us at the head table tonight at dinner.”

  “We’d like that,” Zehala said with a smile. “I’m famished. We didn’t stop to eat our midday meal before arriving here.”

  “Oh my goodness!” Freynara clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “I’m so sorry. You must think my manners are sorely lacking.”

  “It’s okay.” Zehala put a hand on the other woman’s arm. “You can make it up to us by pointing us to the bathing room.”

  “This way.” Freynara led the way to the keep-house. Inside, she showed them the stairs that led down to the bathing room, promising to have someone bring them a change of clothes.

  Histrun led his platoon down the stairs to a large room in the basement, segregated into sections. The first held benches and bins for clothing and personal items, the second stools and buckets for scrubbing down, the third with tall spouts for rinsing off, and the last was Histrun’s favorite part: the soaking tubs. Zehala helped him scrub down his back.

  A little while later, Histrun climbed the stairs to the large redwood tub, and frowned that it was already filled with several pack-mates. Lorstriel nudged Eidstrun to make room for Histrun and Zehala. Histrun gratefully eased his tired, aching body into the hot, steaming water. He was getting too old to keep up this pace. He vowed this would be the last training trip he and Zehala would take. He liked the idea of her becoming the Strunland keep alpha more and more.