The Warriors Path

by Brian Thomas

  Mading glared at Gaow. “Why don’t you mind your own business and take these others with you.” It wasn’t a request.

  Gaow glanced at the others in the room making sure they were still with him and shrugged. “We all have an interest in what’s going on here Mading and this man says he hasn’t got the horses any more.”

  The rest of the commanders didn’t look like they were going anywhere so Mading shrugged. “Please yourselves then but this is Sheywen’s business you’re sticking your noses into and it’s him you’ll be answering to when he gets back.”

  Mishka clenched his teeth, a frown covering his heavy brow. “We were to meet and now Sheywen is not here. Then he is late returning?”

  Mading nodded. “You have come later than he expected, he could not wait any longer but told me to look for you and to tell you he would be here soon. You no longer have the horses?”

  Mishka didn’t look happy but shrugged again at Mading’s question. “We have some, not as many as Sheywen asked for. We had many but they were taken from us.”

  Mading frowned as he regarded the sly looking nomad. “What about the rest, Sheywen will not be pleased when he learns of this. He was expecting at least a thousand.”

  Mishka shrugged, obviously a deeply ingrained habit. “If he does not want what I have then I will take them elsewhere and I will not sit here forever waiting for him to arrive.” The sly look became more pronounced. “Besides, I know where the others are if you still want them.”

  Mading was surprised, thinking them lost for good but was instantly cautious. “Where are they then?”

  Mishka indicated with a flick of his chin. “In a valley not far from here. The people on the hill behind the wooden walls have them.”

  Zun had been seen leaving with mounted men weeks ago, just after Sheywen had left. While none of them had known about Zun’s horses until he rode out, or where he had got them from, they had nevertheless been curious. Mading was sure that meeting Zun had brought Sheywen’s impatience to a head, prompting his own decision to leave when he did. Mading was worried this would put Sheywen and Zun on a direct collision course, the other commanders breaking out in oaths even as he was considering Sheywen’s reaction to the news.

  Gaow interrupted impatiently again. “Where are they, take us and we will get them back!”

  Mading knew both Leywee and Gaow were just itching to start trouble with New Town and desperate for something which might divert Sheywen’s anger on his return from the confrontation they had caused. Mading held up his hand to quell the demands from the other commanders. “Now hold on! Sheywen agreed there would be no trouble between him and Lord Zun. They took the horses from the nomads, not us, and Sheywen will not thank anyone for causing trouble he doesn’t want.”

  Some of the men looked to Mishka who shrugged again. “I have what I have. The others are over there. I can show you where they are but beyond that I have no interest. It is up to you what you do about the information I give you.” He smirked provocatively at Mading; already knowing what he had said would incite the other commanders.

  Leywee regarded Mading speculatively. “Well, whatever Sheywen said it was before Zun took his horses. Sheywen won’t like that either and he will want them back. The best time to do that is while Zun is away. He’s taught us to ride but Sheywen has already told us he has no use for men who aren’t mounted and what if Sheywen isn’t coming back, maybe we’d want them for ourselves. Either way, it seems to me the horses are up for grabs and we’ll be doing a job Sheywen will want done. There would be no better time than now, while Zun is gone.”

  Irritated at them Mading turned on Mishka who sat smirking at the contention he caused. “You know Sheywen will pay good money for them. If you know where they are why don’t you get them back yourself?”

  Mishka shrugged again and Mading had to resist the urge to shake the nomad out of his studiedly casual attitude. “It will not be easy to recover them. They have blocked off the entrances to the valley. The only way out will be past their town. I would be pleased to see them lose the horses they took from me but there are easier ways for me to get more horses, especially if Sheywen is not here to buy them. What if he does not return, do you have the silver to pay for them?” Mishka frowned as he looked at Mading and the others. “I thought not. My men will show you how to find the horses by crossing over the mountains. We will do this for our own pleasure. You must pick a mount once you are in the valley and stampede the herd out of the entrance and past the town. Once you have stampeded the herd they will destroy everything in front of them and cannot be stopped.” He smiled at Mading. “In the meantime I will wait and see if Sheywen returns.” Mishka rolled out of his chair like a lion rousing from slumber, striding out to his men and shadowed by his silent guard. They rode off in a cloud of dust kicked up by their mounts.

  Mading knew some of the commanders would be taking Mishka up on his offer and looked grim as he warned. “If you act before Sheywen returns it will be on your own heads. I will not take part and I know Sheywen would want you to wait.”

  Gaow confident in the support of the others gave Mading a satisfied smirk. “Maybe whoever gets Sheywen’s horses back for him will be his new favourite. I am already looking forward to that day Mading.”

  The group led by Gaow left and Mading knew they were probably right. The truce between the two towns was over as soon as Zun took the horses Sheywen had been waiting for. But they were fools if they thought it was going to be easy even with Zun away. Otherwise Mishka would have recovered the horses by now himself, instead of waving them as bait in front of them. Either way, Mading wanted nothing to do with a conflict against Zun and was happy to use Sheywen’s absence as an excuse to postpone it as long as he could. Whatever they thought of themselves Mading didn’t think much of this bunch’s chances if they got the lieutenant mad. If he had read that girl right she wasn’t going to be any pushover either.

  Shushan was asleep when she heard the eerie whistle enter her dreams. By the time the second whistle began she was awake to the alarm arrows and throwing back her covers already hearing other shouts of alarm throughout the town. Throwing her swords across her shoulders as she ran Shushan was aware of motion all around in the dark. A general movement in the same direction towards the valley entrance as people gathered their senses, shaking off sleep as they raced to their assigned positions. By the time she arrived at the valley entrance wagons and carts were already being manhandled into place and she added her own weight to haul one into position, while they still had time. This was something they had practised a number of times but on this occasion there was a sense of excitement and danger absent on the practise sessions.

  Shushan dragged the wagon in place pausing for a second as she became aware of a strange sensation through her feet. All around there were shouts and calls as they strained and pulled at carts in almost complete darkness, the light of the moon partially obscured by a thin layer of cloud. “Silence!” she called out and all sound and movement ceased. Everyone became aware of the constant rumble from the ground, a sensation more than a sound. “The horses are coming, hurry!” Knowledge of the stampeding herd drawing closer, felt but not heard, made everyone’s heart pound at the thought of the awesome beast coming their way, making the very earth shake as it did so.

  The last heavy wagon was dragged in position and men began piling into them, holding up the screens to make them appear more substantial or taking up long spears to hold the horses off if they weren’t turned by the brush barrier they had built. From the wild-eyed looks Shushan could just about make out from the men beside her they obviously thought the same as she did, that if the herd wasn’t turned by the barrier before they got to the wagons they would be swept aside like flotsam in a flash flood. All movement stopped as they waited for the beast to arrive.

  The night became silent other than for the heavy breathing of those around Shushan as they recovered their breath or failed to completely control their fear. The vibratio
ns could now be felt through the wagon floor and there was a distant but ominous roar, the valley walls amplifying the noise from the stampeding herd channelling it ahead to the anxious defenders. Shushan could feel the tension around her, every sense screaming that nothing could withstand the colossal mass bearing down on them in the dark and to run, before it was too late. The fear it generated was a primeval thing, made worse by the dark and not being able to see the beast coming but still knowing it was there. Suddenly the sound changed and increased sharply as the herd reached the edge of the valley and were turned by the brush barrier they had built diagonally across the entrance, forcing the herd to gradually turn back on itself, like a head of water crashing against the bank of a river as it wound round obstacles. “Hold steady!” she called out, surprised her own voice sounded calmer than her pounding heart would have believed possible.

  Quicker than she had expected Shushan was aware of a huge mass that felt more like a single elemental force than a herd made up of hundreds of horses streaming past the other side of her flimsy wicker screen. It displaced a wall of air ahead of it as it went and in no time Shushan was choking on the dust being kicked up by the passing herd. She turned her head aside to gasp in clean air, the dust obscuring what little light there was and making her eyes smart, filling her mouth and nostrils until it felt as though she were breathing dirt instead of air. Just when it seemed the noise would deafen her completely and she could stand the choking cloud no longer the herd was past. The cacophony dwindled to a dull rumble, the dust already settling. The men on either side of her were blinking in surprise, the white’s of their eyes unusually bright against their dust caked features. The realisation they had survived soon caused the whites of their eyes to be joined by bright smiles all around and men began to drop the wicker screens they had been holding as they gratefully sucked in clean breathes of fresh air.

  Shushan knew she was smiling back at the man next to her not quite believing they had turned the herd, when there was a dull thud from the man’s chest. The look of surprised relief turned to shock as he grasped at an arrow sprouting from high in his chest. Shushan was as shocked as he had been but as the man slowly dropped to his knees she sprang into action. “Enemy archers! Take cover and return fire!” As good as her word Shushan searched the dark of the wagon floor behind her until her hands rested on the familiar feel of a bow and quiver. In a moment she had the bow strung and was drawing with an arrow in place, seeking a target as other shafts passed with ominous zips overhead.

  Aware of movement in the dark ahead Shushan loosed the arrow and reached for another, hearing a satisfying thud as the first went home at close quarters. Others all along the row of wagons were firing shaft after shaft into the dark as those who had been driving the stampede ahead of them milled in confusion where the valley exit should have been. The horsemen raced their mounts back and forth down the line of carts seeking a break in their lines firing arrows as they went, scoring an occasional hit but their targets were partially screened by the sides of the wagons and kneeling so as to present a smaller target. The night was gradually giving way to the pink light of dawn, the grey forms of the horsemen becoming more distinct in the gloom. The firing from the wagons intensified as they were able to pick out individual targets and the milling horsemen became increasingly desperate as they began falling in greater numbers.

  One of the horsemen pointed his horse directly between two carts and kicked it viciously in the ribs. Nostrils flaring, the beast galloped toward a narrow gap between the overlapping cart tongues. As the rider and horse came closer they became a target for a number of archers, miraculously evading any direct hits until the horse was almost upon the carts. At the last minute the horse took an arrow underneath its jaw, the point appearing from the other side of its head. The horse lurched to the side screaming in pain as it crashed into the edge of one of the carts at full speed, turning it over and spilling its rider and the cart’s occupants across the ground.

  Seeing the enlarged gap open up a large group of the horsemen made for the space kicking their mounts to full speed as they passed through a hail of arrows to reach it. The gap quickly became congested slowing the charge and providing the archers on either side of them an almost stationary target. The horsemen fought to find a route between the carts and the lashing death throes of the fallen horses peppered with arrows. Sheer weight of numbers forced the gap wider. The remaining riders frantically drove their mounts past, forcing them to climb and jump the bodies of those already fallen in their desperate attempt to escape the hail of arrows. Shaft after shaft was relentlessly fired into the packed horsemen until those at the back gave up the attempt to squeeze through the death trap and instead broke off to race up the valley from where they had come.

  Spying them go Shushan reached for another arrow feeling the joy of seeing the enemy break under their deadly assault. Unable to find another she realised the quiver was empty, at the same time noticing the rate of fire from the wagons was tailing off. As the onslaught of arrows diminished the horsemen struggling through the gap took new heart forcing the gap wider as they pushed forward, screaming at each other to make a route through quickly.

  Throwing the empty quiver down in frustration Shushan drew both her swords and ran down the line of wagons, leaping from one to another to reach the struggling horsemen who were starting to break through the gap now. Shushan leapt to the upturned edge of the overturned cart, placing her at a higher position than the mounted men now streaming past. The men were desperate to get out, all thought of the herd gone intent only on negotiating the trap of dead and dying which blocked their exit. Any that came within range felt the edge of Shushan’s blades, spilling backwards over their mounts as they tried to squeeze through the treacherous passage.

  The last few horsemen battered their way through while defenders spilled from the wagons bearing long spears to begin closing in on either side of the gap as they sped past. Some of the horses were tripped with the long spear shafts, spilling their riders into a melee of sharp hooves and crushing weight. The fortunate few who had forced a route through lashed their mounts to escape the nightmare they left behind.

  Shushan let both her arms drop as the last rider viciously booted his horse to frog jump its way through the carnage, rider and mount defying all odds to escape unscathed and race after the others who beat their hasty retreat. The sound of its pounding hooves diminished as it disappeared into the gloom, the sudden quiet making her realise how deafening the noise had been until then.

  With the immediate danger receding Shushan was flooded with exhaustion. She flexed her fingers, sore from drawing the bow string without having used her leather tabs left behind in the haste to reach the wagons. She swallowed repeatedly, her throat parched from the dust and heat of the battle. Noticing a dribble of blood over her arm she frowned at discovering a number of minor wounds and scratches she had not even noticed until then. Looking up from her wounds she saw her men gathering in front of the upturned cart she was standing on, marvelling at the mass of fallen men and horses stretching either side of the breach in the line of assorted wagons and carts. Some of the tired men bore wounds and there were a few of their own dead amongst the wagons but, overall, they had escaped with very few casualties.

  Looking amongst themselves and to the fallen enemy the scale of their victory was obvious. Even so, Shushan was looking at the wounded and dead from New Town, her dry eyes suddenly fighting to hold back tears as reaction set in and she measured the human cost of their victory, in friends and family. She had nothing but an angry contempt for the fallen enemy, but each of her own men was someone whose loss would be felt dearly by their community.

  The men gathered in front of her were overcome with relief at surviving and astonished at the scale of their enemy’s losses. Almost as one the men turned to look up at Shushan as she was bathed in the dawn sun rising behind her. Her swords still held loosely to either side and dripping fresh blood, she was a magnificent embodiment of their
determination to defend themselves and remain free, the architect of their victory. They spontaneously began cheering, brandishing swords and spears in the air until someone started to chant, “Ice Maiden!” The chant was taken up by all of them, punching the air in unison with their weapons while they called out, euphoric at their success. Shushan blinked in surprise, half expecting them to blame her for their dead and wounded and momentarily baffled by their chant of, “Ice Maiden! Ice Maiden!” At last they stopped, silently looking up to her in expectation.

  With shock she realised they wanted her to speak to them, their expectant faces leaving her in no doubt. She frowned to mask her uncertainty, her mind blank as she scanned their eager faces, Ice Maiden? Well then, so be it, she thought. “Practise in the training fields and courage in the face of the enemy have shown us what we can do,” she called out with neutral features as she looked at the mass of faces in front of her, those at the back straining to catch every word. “The time when others can take what is ours, force us to their will and hold us in thrall is gone!” There wasn’t a sound as she spoke, scanning their faces and meeting their confident gaze. “Let them try and die on the points of our arrows and the edge of our swords. I will die, rather than return to the life I left behind.” Her voice was cold, many of the watching crowd losing the smiles at her chilling delivery.

  Slowly Shushan adopted a hard smile and reached out to the crowd. “But with warriors such as you at my side, I would rather live this new life and kill those who would take it from us. Will you continue the battle with me and fight to keep this new life or slink back to the miserable living death we left behind us?”

  For a moment the crowd was silent, staring at her, absorbing the promise of death in this new life or slavery in the old. Then the cheering began all over again, the chant, “Ice Maiden! Ice Maiden! Ice Maiden,” rang out as they punched the air again in salute of this proud and angry woman, who also made them feel proud.