by Brian Thomas
At the sound of the flap being pulled back and Mordaki’s entry the man made to sit up and reached for his sword but was hampered by Mordaki’s mother who scrabbled to push the sword out of the man’s reach. Mordaki quickly straddled the man atop a blanket that helped pin him down, using two hands to drive his already bloody knife into the man’s throat. His mother clamped the man’s mouth shut, smothering his head with her own torso as she leant down to keep him quiet and prevent any sound from escaping past his lips.
The man’s back arched his blood spraying across all of them but it was his sister who risked raising the alarm as she was woken by the commotion. Hushed by Mordaki and their mother she burst into silent tears on recognising Mordaki, leaning across the dead man to share a hug with him and his mother in relief.
Mordaki whispered to them urgently. “I will bring horses to you. Lead them away from the camp and wait for me but if the alarm is raised ride down the valley and follow anyone you see ahead.”
Tanya, his sister, was full of questions but his mother merely nodded and pushed him towards the entrance. He had got this far and they must rely on him to get them the rest of the way.
Lifting the yurt flap and checking before he exited Mordaki stood in the grey of morning and began untying the dead warrior’s horse staked outside. It snorted at the stranger untying it but Mordaki stroked its muzzle muttering nonsense and it calmed, before contentedly allowing itself to be led by his mother. Striding to the next yurt he stroked the three animals staked there, untying and casually walking them back to his mother and sister. Fumbling the reins in to their hands he gently pushed them in the right direction, until they walked off into the night each holding the reins of their two horses.
There was a hint of red on the horizon now and Mordaki wondered what else he could do to draw the pursuit when he became aware of someone watching him. With a prickling sensation running down his back he turned to see Bandu, his older cousin, tied to a post watching him like a hawk. Bandu was covered in his own blood but his eyes were sharp as he watched Mordaki.
Taking a quick look around Mordaki strolled over to the bound man and stood with his back to him, using his body to shield his actions as he quickly cut through Bandu’s bonds. As they parted Bandu slipped to the ground, his hands and feet swollen and black from the leather bindings which had cut deep into his flesh. Biting back the agony as blood began to flow freely in them again Bandu rubbed his hands and ankles vigorously to aid the process. After a few moments Mordaki helped him up, whispering that Bandu should retrieve the sword from the dead man in the yurt and follow his mother and sister.
When Bandu stepped out of the yurt he looked to have recovered some strength and held the sword ready to kill any of the Green Snake clan he could find. Mordaki was ready for him, restraining his cousin’s sword arm at the wrist. Leaning close he whispered in his ear. “I have a plan! Can you find a bow?”
Bandu looked ready to strike Mordaki in his haste to get at his tormentors but eventually the tension left him and nodding he re-entered the yurt to return with a bow and quiver. Mordaki nodded and dragged his cousin in the direction of his mother and sister. The sun was coming up behind them and as they headed out of the camp the dark shapes of his mother and the horses were clearly visible. The horses snorted and became restless at Bandu covered in his own blood approaching but were soon quietened by the women.
They all mounted and the others looked to Mordaki for what he wanted next. Leaning across to Bandu he whispered. “Wait awhile but be ready. When I say, shoot a man with the bow.”
Bandu frowned impatiently. “They will follow. Better to go now, gain a head start and take vengeance in full later.”
Mordaki replied impatiently. “There isn’t time to explain, do as I say. I have a plan!” As he spoke the sun’s rim appeared and the sky noticeably lightened, showing two or three people emerging from their yurts. Mordaki pointed impatiently at the nearest man, who had his back to them.
Frowning at Mordaki Bandu eventually shrugged, flexing his swollen fingers before drawing an arrow from the quiver, quickly sighting and releasing in a fluid movement despite his injuries. The man had began stretching, his arms wide apart as he took the arrow in the centre of his back. He stood motionless for a few heartbeats before falling forward. He made no sound as he fell and the impact of the arrow attracted no attention from the others who were now starting to move about.
Bandu looked questioningly at Mordaki, raising an eyebrow in query. Mordaki nodded in satisfaction, indicating men emerging from another yurt, this one nearer to them. Thinning his lips in impatience Bandu drew another arrow and let fly, taking his target in the side of his chest. It was a mortal wound but this time the target fell against another man who cried out in alarm.
Mordaki yelled out his defiance and waved his bloody sword before kicking his mount into a run, the others quickly following him.
They left the camp in uproar as men threw themselves from yurts and bed rolls. They snatched up weapons as they leapt to their horses, many calling out to discover if they were under attack and where the threat came from.
As Bandu’s horse leapt clear he couldn’t resist a smile as he looked across at Mordaki and shouted. “What now then little cousin, they will soon be upon us?”
Mordaki shared Bandu’s exhilaration at being free, with the wind blowing past them as they sped along in the dim light. Laughing back at Bandu he shouted, “I hope so my big cousin. Do not push the horses too hard just yet. I have a surprise for them around the corner!”
They were all relieved to be free of their captors but still concerned, as they knew their chances of escape were slim at best with the pursuit so close behind. There was already a body of horsemen closing the gap between them and they could feel the vibrations in the ground from the pounding hooves of their pursuers, their harsh cries carrying above everything else as they closed on their quarry.
Suddenly Mordaki was at the entrance to the valley he had been seeking and turned sharply to the side so as not to miss it. The others, taken off guard, struggled with their own mounts as they followed close behind. Glancing behind him as the valley walls swallowed them up Mordaki just caught a glimpse of the following horsemen beating up a dust cloud hanging heavily in the air behind them. To the men pursuing them it must have appeared their quarry had tried to lose them but leaving it too late they had been seen. The valley did indeed seem an unlikely choice, the ground strewn with boulders and rocks slowing their progress as they went as fast as they could down the narrowing floor, twisting from right to left as the walls grew steeper and closed in.
They went around the last bend and Mordaki and drew up hard on the reins. The way was blocked by a jumble of fallen trees and rocks. For a desperate moment he thought he had entered the wrong gully, leading them all into a dead end and certain death. The others crowded up behind him. Then he saw the Ice Maiden beckoning to him from under one of the fallen trees.
He dropped to the ground signalling to Bandu who was looking around desperately for an escape route his horse could manage. “Here, quickly!” shouted Mordaki, pushing his horse aside and dragging his mother and sister down, pushing them into the small space where the Ice Maiden had now disappeared.
Bandu not having seen the beckoning woman reluctantly dropped his own reins and abandoned his horse to follow, wondering what trap Mordaki had led them into. As Mordaki disappeared into the dark hole after the others their pursuers burst into view. Bandu hesitated, tempted to fire his remaining arrows when the lead horsemen spotted him. Before he could act on his thought strong hands pulled him through the small hole and his bow was snatched away, the hole closed behind him.
Looking about in surprise Bandu saw they were surrounded by strange men holding them at bay with long pikes and there was Mordaki, indicating he should stay calm, gabbling in a strange language to the men. Hope of escape now gone Bandu succumbed to the weakness caused by his wounds. He sat heavily on the ground and leaned against the bar
rier he had just been dragged through, the points of the spears following him cautiously down to the ground.
Zun watched the band of men follow Mordaki and the others in and gave a hard smile. These men were so close on the trail of the boy they could taste their revenge and had little thought for anything else other than catching their prey. Mordaki had stirred up a hornets nest and must have brought over a hundred and fifty men after him, all fired up and not thinking clearly as a result of the hot chase.
Slowing as the narrowing valley forced the riders into a tighter group they had tantalising glimpses of their quarry and drove their horses as fast as they could over the broken terrain. On reaching the barrier at the end of the gully the horsemen were tightly bunched, the leaders unable to turn while those at the back closed up and tried to see what was happening ahead of them. Zun gave the signal and a tree on either side of the entrance being held precariously in place by his men were released to crash in a cloud of dust and debris, blocking the valley just behind the last horsemen to enter the gully. They were trapped.
Horses all along the gully reared and neighed in fear whilst Zun’s archers rose from their concealment to start firing into the tightly packed mass below. Two hundred men rained arrows down on the trapped horsemen, firing in rapid succession and barely having to pause to find their next target amongst the densely packed men who were thrown in to complete disarray. The quickest amongst the trapped nomads slipped from their mounts with their own bows in hand, rather than sit as almost stationary targets jammed against their neighbours’ mounts.
Following Zun’s commands the enemy with bows were targeted as posing the greatest threat to their own forces and were quickly despatched, many being pierced by a number of arrows within seconds of dismounting. The range was short and the nomads were exposed on the valley floor, their own panicking horses as much a danger to the survivors as the initial salvos had been.
Precariously balanced boulders and pre-cut trees were released to trigger landslides, forcing dismounted riders away from the sides of the gully and into the onslaught of arrows. Dust choked the men on the ground, obscuring their vision and making it difficult to pick out their own targets. Throughout, the beleaguered nomads suffered a deluge of arrow fire that mercilessly ripped in to them from all sides.
When Zun’s archers could no longer find targets the firing slowed and he ordered the swordsmen and pike-men in. He clenched his jaw in determination as he watched his men sweep down the narrow length of the gully floor; overwhelming the nomads lucky enough to have survived the barrage of arrows and landslides.
The remaining survivors having no avenue to escape leapt to meet their attackers at last coming into reach but they were remorselessly swept aside; he had ordered no prisoners. They could not deal with prisoners and he did not want this enemy at his back. He needed an example so all the nomads would learn that those who attacked him and his people would pay a dear price for their action, while his fledgling army desperately needed experience and the confidence it would bring. He had promised himself not to join the battle unless he was needed to turn it in their favour, his men would gain far more from achieving their own victory knowing they had achieved it without him. The din of battle quickly calmed, the remaining nomads deftly despatched, falling easy prey to the pike-men. As the last of them was finished Zun went down to meet his men on the gully floor. He commended many of the men he had seen fighting well by name, handing out congratulations and praise liberally.
The battle won Zun ordered the uninjured horses moved to the entrance, the wounded animals to be slaughtered at the opposite end. The fallen enemy were stripped of anything of value, especially the bows and armour where they had any. When the dead were added to the pile of slaughtered horses one hundred and eighty three men were counted and they had captured a hundred sound horses. He had lost three of his own men, to arrows fired from the gully floor as they had exposed themselves to get a target of their own, and he had four wounded swordsmen.
Everywhere his men looked at him with broad smiles and incredulity at the scope of their victory. Zun smiled back, they had all performed well against a dangerous enemy which had been caught off-guard and paid the price. Coming to the end of the gully he lost his smile as he found Shushan wiping her blades clean before sheathing them. He had hoped by getting her to see Mordaki and his people through the gap and then guarding them he had kept her from danger. Seeing his frown she stared back at him defiantly, a frown of her own to match his. It was all he could do not to laugh out loud in pleasure at her spirit and the relief of her seeing her survive unscathed.
Forgetting Shushan for the moment Zun picked his way through the carnage back to Mordaki. “You did well boy.” As Zun came closer he could see the blood covering most of Mordaki’s front but seeing no new wounds nodded seriously. “You are a warrior now, bloodied by your enemies.” Zun looked from Mordaki to the two women and the wounded man, who regarded him back defiantly.
A scout ran up breathless, gasping out his report. “There are about fifty men left in the camp Lord, Bulusi is in position on the flanks and awaits your instructions.”
Zun nodded to the man, turning to Mordaki who now the action was over was wondering what fate remained for him and the others at the hands of these strange and dangerous people. Zun decided to question Mordaki quickly, before the boy had time to think. “How do you come to speak our tongue?”
Mordaki hesitated a moment before answering. “My father took a woman from a settlement as his slave just after I was born. She helped my mother look after me and when I was young often spoke to me in her own tongue. When my father heard me speaking to her in her own language he encouraged it, so we could trade with some of your settlements.”
“Do you trade often with the Hansee?”
Mordaki shrugged. “Not all of the clans want to trade. Some would rather just take what they want and drive the dirt diggers away from our lands. I have never seen a Hansee settlement.”
“And what of your people, your clan, the Running Dog Clan. Would they rather trade or take?”
Mordaki looked Zun in the eye. “They will take from their enemies and trade with each other. It is the same with all of the clans.”
“If we were to let your people go free what would they do?”
Mordaki looked surprised at the question but straightened his shoulders. “What is left of us would carry on as we were. If there are insufficient men to support the band we would seek another band from our clan and join them.”
Zun pursed his lips and made his decision. “If we go to your camp and see off this other clan, the Green Snake Clan, will you help us drive their horses back to our settlement?”
Mordaki showed his surprise and asked cautiously, “What then?”
“We will take what we can from the Green Snake Clan but leave you with what was yours before they came. You have helped us and we seek no enemies that would be allies instead. You will be free to leave with your people and possessions. If you return, come in friendship and we will both prosper. Come in war and I will not rest until you are all dead and the Running Dog Clan is but a distant memory.”
Mordaki smiled, turning to translate to the others who had been listening intently but mystified. The wounded man perked up, looking to Zun as if to test what he had heard from Mordaki with his own eyes. Zun and Bandu regarded each other, both recognising a man made hard by war and responsibility. Bandu struggled to his feet and held out his hand. It was a strange custom for the Hansee who generally avoided direct contact with each other. Nevertheless, Zun stretched out his own hand and they each took a firm grip of the other’s wrist, keenly matching glances as they did so. Zun found the gesture strangely intimate and knew, with this man at least, he had made some sort of bond with one of the nomads.
Releasing his grip Zun ordered the valley wall cascaded over the dead and four horses to be released for Mordaki’s group. When this was done they formed up and began to run from the valley, retracing the tracks le
ft a short time earlier by the now dead Green Snake Clan warriors.
Bulusi watched the camp carefully to see if they had been detected or for the first signs of Zun. It was the behaviour of one of the guards which alerted him, the man stretching up to see something in the distance where the majority of their band had charged off at sunrise.
This was enough for Bulusi who stood from his crouch in the tall grass to draw his bow and release in a single movement. As he dropped back down Bulusi saw his target take the arrow in his chest without seeing it coming, falling from his horse and dead before he landed. As the man fell Bulusi saw his two sons and another of his men also rise from their concealment to draw and let fly, their targets again falling to the ground. There were now no guards on this side of the herd.
Turning to the ridge where they had spent the night Bulusi half rose and waved his bow from side to side until he saw a similar signal repeated from the hill. The man who had answered his signal turned and signalled to the archers who had been sent to watch the herd on the far side. They had been waiting at the bottom of the ridge and ran out to the area between the herd and the village. Spreading themselves thinly they were quickly hidden from Bulusi’s view in a line between the nomad camp and the horse herds.
The camp was watching what they believed were their own men returning but once realising it was strangers ran to mount their horses tethered in the camp. Leaving everything else behind they made for the horse herd but were brought up short by Bulusi’s men suddenly rising from the grass to send sudden death amongst them. As the first men fell from their saddles and the next volley of arrows followed the remaining men sharply pulled their mounts round to head into open grassland, splitting the herd and settling for the small group of horses that ran with them.