by Candy Rae
“Get the fish back,” he ordered and as he walked away, added, “and don’t forget the greenfruit either.”
The two girls turned amazed faces on each other.
“How did he know about the greenfruit?” asked Jen.
“I think,” answered Hilla with a giggle, “that he was watching us from the time we left the campsite.”
That evening Hilla and Jen became the heroes of the bell as they struggled back to camp with satchels full of fruit and roots and carrying their slippery loads of allst wrapped fish.
Paul and Dolvin had managed to catch their rabbits but only two rather scrawny ones, which a rueful Paul admitted later, wouldn’t have fed more than a single mouthful to everyone. No one else had managed to bring in any meat. The girls were welcomed with cheers and applause.
As Hilla munched her way through her portion of fire cooked tranet she snuck a look at Leftenant Hallam who winked at her.
Hilla blushed and lowered her eyes. Jen, who had seen both look and reaction, smiled a smile of satisfied amusement.
* * * * *
Niaill
The First Ryzck was in the middle of their three month duty in the Eighth Ward in Argyll. After it ended they would return to Vada and the start of a leave period lasting two months.
It might be the middle of summer, reflected Niaill, but it was cold, cold enough to make his teeth rattle and to force his gloved hands into pockets in a vain attempt to keep them supple.
The first Ryzck were some miles north of their patrol area trying to flush out a group of bandits who had been terrorising the local area. It was a tough life for the local people, hard enough without bandits arriving on your doorstep and stealing everything you needed to survive.
What a way to make a living, thought Niaill idly.
: Make a living? : Taraya’s query was instant : I do not understand, we serve :
: I know that : laughed Niaill : I was merely making an observance that at this precise moment I wish I was somewhere else, anywhere else :
: Oh I see : answered Taraya, shifting from one paw to the other. Even with the light leather ‘snow boots’ the Lind wore to protect their paws in these snowy mountains, Taraya was also feeling the cold : I would like us to find these largdits and run them away so I can home go too :
Niaill laughed again. Home at the moment was their patrol base, a series of sturdy hardwood cabins with wood-burning stoves about a days travel south of where they now were.
Niaill and Taraya were waiting for the scouts to return. They had been spying out the valley ahead, an ideal place, according to the locals for any miscreants to hide out.
This bandit group had been getting more bothersome in recent months, raiding not only the farmsteads but also the mining camps.
The Thirty-seventh Ryzck, which had been patrolling this sector before the First, hadn’t been able to locate the bandit base but Niaill felt sure that his Ryzck had done it although it had taken them two months. Niaill and his Vadryzkas had spent bells pouring over maps of the area, noting the times and locations of the raids and using this had deduced the likely location of the bandit’s base. The raid sites had appeared to radiate out from one area in the mountains so, Niaill had detached one Vadryz to search. Three days ago they had reported that they had found signs of the bandits; recent tracks of men and horses.
Now Niaill and his Ryzck were here, freezing their pants off as they waited for the scouts to return with confirmatory news. Niaill moved restlessly in his saddle. He was wearing his battle-armour, leather reinforced helm, chest and back-plates, arm and leg greaves. Taraya was wearing her chest and neck protectors. When they went into battle her snow-boots would be removed so she could use her chelas.
: Scouts return :
: About time : grumbled Niaill.
Mal and Valennya, Deby and Alfei close behind were making their way up the incline towards Niaill and Taraya with due care for the slippery surface underpaw. Mal gave Niaill a grim thumbs up as he and Valennya began their report.
“They’re there all right,” he said.
“How many?”
Mal screwed up his eyes as he calculated but it was Valennya who answered. “Sanduntan.”
“There are caves in the valley,” Mal added.
Niaill nodded. He had expected something like this. This part of the mountain range was riddled with caves, few of which had been explored.
“I shouldn’t think there’ll be many in the caves,” volunteered Deby. “The entrances are very small.”
“That’s not to say they’re not bigger further in,” said Niaill. “Remember that last patrol?”
Deby did. They had chased a family of gtran, the dangerous cat-like beasts into what they had thought was a small cave. Their den might have had a small entrance but over sixteen adult gtran had emerged to do battle with the Ryzck and they had been lucky to emerge from the encounter with only two dead.
“Show me,” he commanded. Alfei telepathed the image to Niaill’s Taraya, an image that Niaill was aware of the instant she received it.
“Lookouts?” he asked and the two scout pairs shook their heads.
“Too cold,” surmised Deby, “and they won’t be expecting anyone to have tracked them here.”
“I see,” said Niaill and he did see, a panoramic vista of the valley with three cave entrances on one side and small bunches of men grouped round several campfires cooking and eating, at least he presumed they were men. The figures were so wrapped up in furs against the bitter cold that it was impossible to distinguish between man and woman but and this was important, Niaill could see no children in the image, an indication that there were none. In Niaill’s experience women kept their children close by, unless of course they were in one of the caves.
He couldn’t keep the Ryzck waiting forever, he must make his move before dark.
: Taraya : he ordered : tell the first and second Vadryz to get themselves to the other end of the valley as soon as they can. Berni and Dansya will go with them :
Berni and Dansya were the communications vadeln-pair with primary responsibility to keep Taraya in mental touch with the other Lind within the Ryzck and also further afield such as with neighbouring Ryzcks and the Supply Stations. She also relayed reports and messages throughout the telepathic network that was the mainstay of the Vada. Such was her range that she could contact the Susa at need. The Ryzck was lucky to have her.
It took the two Vadryz almost two bells to reach the other end of the valley, two bells during which Niaill, Taraya and the others ate some trail rations and tried to simultaneously rest and keep warm.
Niaill and Taraya took shelter against a rock face and kept his eye on the sky. In the mountains storms could be ferocious and often appeared with little warning.
“Weather should hold,” said Nadala with a smile, handing him a slice of hard-tac, the trail biscuit that they all carried in case of emergencies. “We’ll get them, never fear.” She and Teriyei commanded the third Vadryz.
Niaill’s reply was an evil grin. “Take care,” he told her.
Taraya heard Dansya’s mental call from the far end of the valley.
At last, thought Niaill with a feeling of relief. Waiting for a fight you knew was imminent was bad for the nerves and they had been preparing for this fight for days.
: Equipment check : he commanded and listened with Taraya as she passed the message on to the others and received their replies. This was standard procedure in the First Ryzck. It avoided confusion and the risk of orders not being ‘heard’.
Niaill bent down and removed Taraya’s snow boots, stowing them away in the leather bag attached to her harness.
: Mount : Niaill gave the order and sprang stiffly on to Taraya’s saddle on his own account.
: Watch it. : exclaimed Taraya and emitted a mock growl : No need to land on me like that, you’re no lightweight :
: Sorry : said an unrepentant Niaill, who glad to be moving again.
Taraya was trembling.
The Lind disliked violence, abhorred wanton killing, unlike their Larg cousins in the southern continent but she and the other Lind knew that the eradication of the bandit base was a necessary act. When a fight was unavoidable, their instincts kicked in and they began as Niaill called it to prepare their ‘fighting spirit’. This preparation was both mental and physical. He felt her muscles tighten as the adrenalin coursed through her veins.
: Let’s get about it :
: Indeed my Niaill before my paws freeze off if you please :
: Give the order to advance into the valley in open order :
Taraya bounded forward.
: Slow and calm does it : Niaill warned, not wanting Taraya to get too far ahead of the others.
The Ryzck began a controlled trot into the valley.
: Really stupid not to set a guard :
: Good for us : Niaill replied.
He hoped the element of surprise would make for a quick and easy victory with minimum casualties. Every commander worth his salt tried to husband his or her resources and this was especially so in the Vada with so many Ryzcks operating many miles from their base and each Ryzck only thirty-five vadeln-pairs strong. Niaill knew that Garda officers received instruction about what they called a ‘controlled casualty rate’ but few of the Ryzckas were prepared to accept this unless it was absolutely necessary.
It was different in a large battle situation but the Vada hadn’t fought a large battle since AL167 when the Larg had invaded the rtathlians of the Lind and were defeated at the Battle of Fountains Head by the then Susa of the Vada, Lynsey and her Lind Bernei.
Since then the Vada had fought small engagements. Capture, not killing was the unofficial motto although death on active service was not unusual. The pirates who raided the north-eastern coasts neither asked for nor gave quarter. The punishment for a convicted pirate was death, one of only two capital offences that carried the death sentence, the other being premeditated murder.
Taraya’s paws crunched on the icy snow.
Niaill held his breath. Would they be spotted? The longer they remained undetected the better the chance of an inexpensive fight.
Light snow began to fall.
They closed in on the camp. The Lind slowed to a walk. Niaill began to hope that they would remain hidden until he ordered the charge then he heard a shout. The men at the nearest fire stood up, gesticulating and shouting.
: Now : ‘shouted’ Niaill and the vadeln of the First Ryzck leapt into the attack with growls from the Lind and cries of “For Vadath” from their human partners.
Niaill and Taraya headed for one of the men, a thick, heavyset individual who was running towards them, sword in hand.
Niaill didn’t even think, sword held aloft he and Taraya bore down. She feinted to the left and the bandit’s sword followed but Taraya twisted in mid-air as Niaill’s sword slashed at the man’s unprotected head. He fell like a pole-axed zarova, his skull cleaved. There was blood everywhere.
“Surrender,” yelled Niaill. A few did, dropping their weapons and raising their hands above their heads but the majority did not.
The ensuing fight was bloody but short; the bandits hadn’t had time to organise a defence. The air was full of shouts of pain and anger and the occasional howl or growl from one of the Lind as some enemy sword or knife found its mark but it was over before Niaill and Taraya knew it. Niaill and Taraya came to a breathless halt and surveyed the damage.
Most of the bandits were dead and of those still standing and unhurt there were four. Others lay on the bloody snow. Niaill knew that in this cold the badly hurt would not survive even with medical aid.
The prisoners who did would be taken south and handed over to the authorities in the nearest town. There was no need to be gentle with such men. Strung over the backs of the horses, they had an uncomfortable journey ahead, with trial and retribution at the end.
Of the members of his and Taraya’s Ryzck none had died. The worst hurt was Deby who had suffered a bad sword gash on her thigh.
The Holad pair, Megan and Sachdei were tending to them as Niaill continued his assessment of the situation, smearing smaha root on her wound to deaden the pain and beginning to sew up the gash.
Other members of the Ryzck were giving battle first aid on the others. Others still were checking the bodies of the bandits.
: Butchers bill is light thank the lai :
: Indeed so: returned Taraya : it could have, should have been more costly :
: You hurt at all? :
: No :
Niaill breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t ‘felt’ Taraya receiving a wound but in the heat of battle one never knew. It was often only when the adrenalin dissipated that the hurts from the smaller wounds began to be felt.
Niaill found it terrible when Taraya was hurt, as did all humans paired with Lind. Their minds were so close-linked that what one felt so did the other. Shared pain did not, as Niaill well knew, make it any easier to bear and many human halves had found themselves virtually incapacitated when their Lind were hurt though they themselves were unharmed. If one of the two died, in the majority of cases so did the other half of the pairing, the surviving half being unable to cope with the shock of loss.
: Dansya is calling us, she is over by that small cave : announced Taraya.
: More bandits? :
: Not exactly :
What Niaill and Taraya found was a group of five cowering, white-faced boys.
“Not bandits,” the communications vadeln Berni answered Niaill’s unspoken enquiry. “I think they are prisoners.”
Niaill nodded. “Stay with them for now,” he ordered. “They can come back with us. The authorities’ll need to question them anyway. Give them something to eat, boys are always hungry and these look half-starved.”
Later, Niaill returned to the cave in front of which Berni had started a small fire. The boys were huddled round it. Berni had managed to find them some warm clothes. The biggest boy looked up at Niaill as he dismounted and crouched down beside them.
“Thanks,” he muttered. “Good of you tae come get us.”
“I won’t say that it wasn’t a problem son,” said Niaill, “but glad to be of service. Do you feel up to answering a few questions?”
“Fire away. What’d’ya want tae know?”
“Primarily how the five of you came to be here, where you are from, your names.”
“I’ve not been here long. Three ‘o us came from the same camp.”
“Rocksprings?” hazarded Niaill. The mining camp had been hit some eight days ago, the inhabitants killed and the camp stripped of everything that might be of use, food, livestock and equipment.
“Aye. Me an’ Lan an’ Hansel here was taken.” He pointed to the two in turn.
“Your name?”
“Franz.”
“What age are you Franz?”
“Fourteen sor and Lan and Handel couple ‘o’ year the younger.”
“Were any others taken with you?”
“Aye, two ‘o the girils but they’re nae here no more.”
“Not here?”
“Dead,” Franz replied in a bitter voice. “They was young and pretty you see sor, Aline ‘specially. She wos my sister.”
“Go on if you can.”
“Alinetta wos me older sis, Maria, she wos ‘bout same age.” Franz raised a tear-filled face to Niaill. “They, they used them sor, we heard them screaming. Every night they screamed ‘til ‘bout three days past the screaming stopped. Must be dead, stands to reason.”
“We have found no sign of them,” said Niaill. “The other two lads?”
“Pete and Travis sor, they wos here when we got here. Dinna say much they don’t and don’t ken where they’re frae. Are kin though.”
“Were you kept in the cave all the time?”
Franz shook his head. “Not all ‘o the time no sor, we was working, work they did’na want tae do theirselves.”
Niaill leant forward and stirred the fire with
a stick. Sparks shot out.
“I have to make sure we got them all,” Niaill continued in the same conversational manner he had been using. “How many were there?”
“Bout forty,” Franz answered. One small boy, Niaill didn’t know if it was Pete or Travis, nodded.
“I can count,” he said.
“Did you count them?”
He nodded again. “Forty two,” he said triumphantly. “I’m Travis.”
“Thank you Travis,” said Niaill, “that’s a big help. Where are you from?”
“Valley Farm.”
“Where is that?” Niaill asked but Travis only knew it was to the south. He had never been outside the farm boundaries until the bandits had come.
“Your family?” asked Niaill in a gentle voice.
Travis shrugged his thin shoulders and Pete burst into tears that showed as bright rivulets in his filthy face. All the boys looked dirty and unkempt, Travis and Pete being the worst.
Niaill decided not to pursue the matter any further. It would be best leave it to the authorities.
“Wot happens now?” asked Franz. “”Cannae go back tae the camp.”
“We’ll be leaving in a day or so,” Niaill informed them. “Until then try to relax, keep warm and eat. There’s plenty of food.”
“Where to?” asked Franz.
“Douglastown,” answered Niaill. “It is big enough to have a Garda detachment.”
“Long way tae walk,” Franz observed.
“You won’t be walking.”
“But what’ll happen when we git there?” pressed a worried Franz.
“Me and Taraya will make sure you’re well looked after,” promised Niaill.
“Don’t wanna go to no orphanage,” said Travis, lip trembling.
“A promise is a promise,” said Niaill standing up. “All of you get some sleep.”
“The men cannae git at us?” asked Hansel, looking worried.
“Definitely not,” Niaill assured him. “Those that are still alive are guarded to within an inch of their lives by the Lind. They’re too frightened of them to contemplate moving a muscle. Our Lind are very angry.”