Hawkmoon (The Hawkmoon Chronicles) (25 page)

Hawkmoon was muttering. I thought he wanted me to do something so I bent to listen. He was whispering in some weird language; over and over. I took his arm and lifted him to his feet. I expected him to lash out and I was prepared for it. But he came with me like a child. Still muttering that odd language. I led him out into the sunlight. He closed his eyes from the glare as if he had passed an age in darkness. Maybe he had.  Some of the horses had come back. I was anxious that he would see what I had wrapped in leather so I brought him over to the well and sat him with his back turned. I took the bodies inside and placed them by their mother. There was a drum of whale oil in the shed. I soaked the house in it. It was blazing as I saddled two horses and  we rode out. I put a rope on the bridle of his  horse.Hawkmoon just sat there..

I put him in a room over  the tavern. All I wanted was get a party of hunters and go after them but he was up in the room muttering. If I left him and took out on my own and he recovered he would be enraged. If he didn’t recover and they came into town  while I was out there would be no one to  protect him. I told the town guard about it  and they took some men out. The next day they were back telling everyone that the trail had gone cold. More like they didn’t have the bottle  for it…

After a while  he stopped with the crazy talk and sat quiet. Weeks went by. He stayed in his room. Winter came and went. One morning I took his breakfast up to find he was gone. After daybreak the ostler   had given him a horse with two spares. I was annoyed but not surprised. A late fall of snow made him easy to track. I caught up to him two days later   on the Great North Road. He told me what he would do and how he would do it. If I hadn’t the stomach for it I could turn back now. I told him we were wasting time.

We tracked them as far as Cormalin. One of them was a dealer at a gambling  house near the docks. He ran as soon as we came in. We had others ready to follow him hoping he would take us to the rest.  When it was clear he was alone we grabbed him and took him to a shack outside the town. Hawkmoon gave him a choice; write  the names and where they could be found. Try to be tough and he would be a long time dying. The gambler told us everything he knew. Things we didn’t need to know but proved useful later. There were sixteen of them besides Jain.  Fenrir had accounted for seven. That left nine. We buried the gambler and went back to town .Most of them had been tipped off but we got two more. They confirmed a lot of what the gambler told us.. They split up soon after   and that made it harder. It was a year before we got the next and five before we had three more. After that the trail ran cold.   He has agents in every city and town, in the Land. He has spent a fortune. There are a thousand Ducats on each of them, ten for Jain. They are not to be touched”

“Did you ever find Jain?” Bekter shook his head. “He went to ground. He has to be in the wilderness….Sara, you have to know that he will never stop hunting for them.  If he lives through the war he will settle down with you but when someone comes with news he will leave.”

The wind spattered rain against the shutters. Sara lit a lamp and placed it over the fire. “When  are you leaving Elfhome?”Bekter tapped the bowl of his pipe on the grate. “When the snow  clears. They have sent scouts to look at the country to the north. It is thawing in  the south but that is not the way we are heading.

“Are you travelling with him?”

“To where the Challon  meets the Swamp.From there I make my way home” Bekter looked into the fire, eyes haunted. He told her about Shula and the baby.

“I would love to meet her”

“You will, some day when the fighting is over”

Sara crouched by him, the light from the fire playing with the curves of her face.”I want to go with you”

“Hawkmoon won’t have it. Have you asked him? “

“I know what he would say”

“Exactly. There have been times when I have opposed him but this will not be one of them.”

“I don’t want to go with him. I want to go with you. When he is finished in the North he will come  to the Royal City..”

“My dear lady it is too dangerous. I would not take you  if you  had  the consent of your brother. I would if he commanded it but he won’t. “Bekter took her hands. “It is right to want to be with him just as it is for him to know you are safe. I fret when Shula goes to see her sister and that’s  a day’s ride from the city. The journey home is  a thousand miles over the worst country. There are  rivers to be crossed, flooded plains,  passes blocked  with late snow.. Not to mention   the enemy. And there are other perils in the Wildlands. The ones that live under the Plains might ignore the likes of me; they will come if the prize is an Elven woman.”

Sara crossed to Hawkmoon’s cottage with a torch  from Bekter’s fire.  The door was unlocked. No light except the glow from the fire. She went through to the bedroom .An oil  lamp stood on a small table. She lit it and brought it closer, sitting on the edge of the bed to  watch  him sleep. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. For a brief, intoxicating moment he was utterly defenceless. He had a habit of sleeping without clothes, which she liked. Undressing she  slipped in beside him.

                                                                     
Strongbow.

The room was bare, a long table, weapons, and bookshelves… Cassia chided him that if it were not for his children he would be a monk .In the field he ate the same food as his troops, slept on the ground with nothing but a   deel coat. Some saw it as an affectation yet it  made for part of his mystique. He was of medium height, with strong human features. Even the smallest of his bodyguard towered above him.  His was one of the families that had  bred out the animal strain. . All the noble houses were the same.

His eyes fell on a small painting of his wife that stood on his desk. If Cassia visited a house of the spirit the brothers would abandon their devotions overnight..  The Sisterhood had sent her to him. Instead of a concubine  he made her his wife. He could only imagine the Order’s frustration when their  agent had let it be known  she  had no desire to  spy on her husband. 

On election as Lord Marshal his first command was to send   armies  to the  North with orders to build a ramp over the Escarpment . Made of granite and more than six hundred  feet high, no one had ever considered it  a route for invasion.. Five points were identified. Two were selected. Reivers died in rockfalls and avalanches. As Winter closed  thousands perished from the cold. A general reported he had lost half his army. He was told to lose the other half.  Forests were logged to build cabins for the troops. Towns sprang into existence. Complaints were made by senior commanders anxious at the prospect  of  armies  left too long in the field. Strongbow considered it worth the risk.

The  project assumed greater urgency when word came that the bridge at the Challon no longer existed. Reports identified two men. From the descriptions he recognized Solomon Bekter and the Deathwalker.

The Chief of Staff opened the door and coughed politely. Landis  was  dressed in a grey three quarter length  coat with   red bands of the General Staff  on each sleeve.  Seeing the Marshall at his desk he stood forward and saluted
“Our visitor is downstairs.”

“Keep him there until I send for him”

“My Lord he has requested to see you immediately. He wishes to represent the views of his superiors”

“I’m sure he does, nevertheless he will not be part of our deliberations. He will be advised of our decisions” Landis collected the remains of supper and placed them on a tray.

“The scout is in the outer office. Gash is downstairs with his troopers and the wizard.  They have been served with refreshments”

“Alcoholic?”

The secretary looked aggrieved.” My Lord.  Giving  those fellows intoxicating liquor  would render them insensible in an hour. Gash  is worried though he hides it well.”

“Is Selmar here?”
“Yes my Lord, He has been waiting in the outer office, going over his notes. He has been  l provided  with coffee and that awful concoction he smokes.”Strongbow  smiled. His secretary knew how to handle senior ranks.“Janus has arrived with his clerk”

“Put everything on the long table and bring them in.” Landis went  to fetch the  generals.

He glanced at the letter. It was cleverly written.  He picked up the  note from his wife. It  carried her scent.

Dearest..

The enclosed was delivered to the  gate this morning . It is marked for your attention. It came in a plain packet without  identification. It appears to come from the Queen of the Dasatii.  The children are well.

Trusting that you are well and not overworking.

Cassia

Assembling his papers he paused to organize his thinking. He was  the best War Maker the Reivers ever had. His achievements in building armies  were unparalleled.  Not the least of his gifts was the ability to recognise talent.  Those who served him did so by merit.  All were fiercely loyal.

. His agents had sent  reports on the new queen. The contrast between her and the other could not have been greater. Before she rose to power  the  Realm  was a rotten door that would collapse at the first kick. Everything was different now. He studied the letter again…With a single move she stood to turn a dangerous enemy into a powerful ally. The peace offer was made of self interest . She made no effort to conceal it. Who would neglect the opportunity to place a bulwark between themselves and greater enemies? 

Strongbow sat at the head of the table. His mood drew the group’s attention until  everyone was silent, waiting  for him to speak. He  looked at the group.“ I am about to speak plainly I owe it to you to say that what I am about to say is little short of treason.. If you wish you must withdraw at once and go for the Guard…” His officers waited for him to get to business. Smiling he continued…“I have a letter  from their Queen. I will read it and after we will talk. If you trust me we may find a new way for our people.” He began to read.

Lord Marshall Strongbow.

Reiver High Command.

City of Kallendar.

Reiver Confederacy.

Lord Marshall.

We take this opportunity to write to you on the occasion of the  forthcoming war.  We recognise that our Realm is not the power it was in former days. Nevertheless we are a hardy race  that  in past times has been the instrument of your undoing . We write today  in the hope of averting bloodshed and  assuring  the continued existence of both our peoples.

Our weakness has invited the coming war. We admit his. At a time when our people are suffering from the effect of years of neglect we face the prospect of an invading army which cannot, in the normal course of events, be defeated.

We say “in the normal course of events” because as your spies have made you aware, there have been improvements in our defensive and offensive capabilities. You are doubtless aware of certain innovations in Weapons and Communication.  You will have occasion to experience their effects at close hand. Our strategy is not to defeat you, this cannot be accomplished but to so deplete your armies that you risk the prospect of revolution  in your home country.

Our generals consider your staff to be the finest tacticians  the Reivers have produced. The recent demolition of the bridge at the Challon Gorge  gives us the time to  complete our preparations..

The destruction of the installation was accomplished  by two men and a sack  of chemicals This should give you pause as to how we will handle your armies.

From the day you emerge on the plains your forces will experience continuous ambush The Plains of Tarsis and  Jars are barren . They will afford little in the way of water, food or concealment ... My generals project that by the time you stand before our walls  your numbers and capability will  have been reduced by half. You will thenhave to set about taking the city. We have the means to launch explosive at your army from a distance .Soon we will have the means to reach your cities by means of aerial balloons and rain destruction upon them.

The tragedy  is that you face the wrong enemyWe are natural allies against another foe who has sworn to accomplish our destruction. A war such as the one they have fomented between our peoples will go far to accomplish that. We turn now to what we can achieve were we to become allies. You are committed to war.  We accept this. Were you to decide otherwise your head  would decorate the battlements of Kallendar.

War will come, people will die and in time you will stand before the walls of the Royal City. By the day you get here every person   not under arms will  have sailed to the Western Isles.. We will burn the city rather than let you have it.  The country will be laid waste. Crops will be destroyed, all animals slaughtered ...

Your lands are extensive but  of poor quality. Thy  would be fertile if they were properly drained. We will provide funds for development. You will receive new  strains of wheat more suited to your climate.

War has to come. You will invade and we will oppose  the  invasion. When you stand before the gates you can decide between Peace and War.  If War it will end much as we have described. If Peace we will declare   against the Wampyrh.You will receive the help we have promised and more. This is more than a matter of simple charity. The Reiver is a formidable warrior.Your immunity to the bite of a vampire is a considerable advantage. We will help to build your strength and that strength will protect our lands. Our weapons and our  troops will fight  with yours when we go North to destroy the Aeries.  We will dig them from their burrows and tread on them like the maggots they are.

In the Ancient Days your ancestors were taken by force to have their bodies merged with those of animals.  The effects of this have diminished over time as the Human part of you has reasserted itself.   The Sisterhood has worked to this end for generations. They full  recovery of your human heritage is surely a day worth waiting  for.

The Wampyrh are not your ally. Neither are we your enemy. It is our dearest wish that you survive the coming conflict so that , one day, we make walk the paths of peace together.

Mira.

Queen of the Dasatii.

No one spoke for several minutes. “This war is pointless and we cannot win it.” Strongbow raised a hand against their objections. “ The Wampyrhii are  as clever as they are treacherous. I am not privy to their ultimate objectives but I am convinced  they do not include the  establishment of the Reiver as  the greatest  military power in the West…” He looked around the table. “You should leave, take  your families and hide in the Wilderness. For me it is too late. The moment I move my family I will be arrested.” Everyone began to speak at once. He raised a hand…

“I can speak freely now. Indeed I must. The truth is that we have been manoeuvred into this war by the Wampyrhii. It is strange to contemplate the reality of an army such as the one we have raised being defeated by a force a tenth its size. But consider…”

Strongbow held up his fingers. “We have to cross sixteen hundred miles of hostile land. They will poison all the water sources. Food supplies, such as they are will be taken, the rest burnt. They will scorch the ground before us. They have the means to observe our movements and as a consequence we will have  no freedom of  manoeuvre….Selmar you taught at their War College .you knew Britan personally.. What was he like?”

The General put down the Queen’s letter. “They tended to look down on him for his lack of intellect but if you wanted a fighter he was your man. Some said he was a dullard but what he lacked in brains he made up for in leadership. ”

“How will he approach this war?”

“In the way he taught you. He has an ideal defensive weapon. It is immobile  so he will look for positions where he can force us  into concentration. He treats his men as a scarce resource, not to be wasted.  The outcome is that when he asks them for their greatest effort they will do everything necessary to achieve victory. He will be a formidable opponent.”

“You have read the letter, what are your thoughts?”

Selmar glanced at it. “It is either  the finest deception or the exact truth. I suspect she has been economical with the truth but her main assertions are accurate. I believe her proposals to help us are sincere. By helping us she relieves the pressure on Kallendar to invade the Southlands. She admits to  serving her own interests. Our people are on the edge of catastrophe. We are allied with a power that cannot be trusted. They negotiate with us because of the size of our armies and the fact that we are immune to the blood infection. They gain if we win, they gain if we lose. She  understands this. No one at this table had a command under the old regime. Landis was an engineer, I was training recruits,my Lord Strongbow was posted to an outpost on the frontier. By the time the last Marshall died the path to war  was already  laid.

  Landis was slumped in his chair .” How in the name of  Shahadu is all this to be accomplished? Cross  thousands of  miles, avoiding the traps Britan will set, arriving at the Royal City, negotiating a peace agreement, forming an alliance while keeping everything  secret from the Wampyrhii…” He continued. “Which  brings up another problem. The moment they know we have betrayed them they will strike”

Selmar  rose and stood back to the fire.” We must leave  armies  here to  guard against rebellion. They will move to install a new Marshall. We will leave five divisions, one in Kallendar and the rest close by. They will be led by our ablest commanders. It will go hard with them not to go to war. My Lord Strongbow will have to be at his most charismatic”.

Strongbow folded his arms. “I have never heard of a parallel  in the history of War such as the one we now face. Our supposed allies are deadlier enemies than those we go against.”

Selmar  rose to his feet to stand by a blackboard.“I have  been considering how  to deal with an enemy that has technical superiority. The only way is to deny them their advantage. For that mobility is the key.  The observation balloons are their eyes. They must be rendered blind. The objective will be to break the chain. Do not attack the leading balloons. They will be well guarded. Small teams will attack the sites further back. If we break their lines of communication they will lose their ability to track  our movements. When that is accomplished we will divide our forces and send them in different directions. They are too big to be kept together in any case. One army will be sent against Silverlode. The Queen has made  commitments to the dwarves. We will test the strength of those commitments. We will send an army against the Elves. Another to ravage the Andorran Marches and the  White Plains.. The goal is to reach the city with  sufficient forces to deal with what may come after.”.