Legends of the Riftwar (37 page)

Instinct caused Bovai to turn, coming around even as he staggered. He dodged the blow aimed low for his mid-section, wrapping his arms around Tinuva as the two fell. Snow rose up like a gust of steam as they hit the ground and rolled.

Again and again the two slashed at each other with their daggers in their right hands, left hands fumbling to grab the blade-hand of the other. They rolled, kicking and cursing, the strength of each a match for the other. Both were covered in blood-soaked slush as they struggled and the watchers from their clan drew in closer, some now shouting for the kill and more than one crying for Tinuva.

Bovai kneed Tinuva, hitting the stump of the arrow driven into the eledhel's leg. Tinuva gasped from the wave of agony but his fury drove him on. He feigned collapse, and when Bovai rolled to gain a superior position, Tinuva suddenly pressed up, using Bovai's own momentum to roll him over yet again, and this time he drove his good knee into Bovai's stomach so that his brother gasped. At the same instant he drove his left fist into Bovai's face, tearing the cut so that Bovai screamed in agony and let go of Tinuva's right hand.

Tinuva raised his dagger.

Yet again time seemed to stand still, almost to run in reverse of
the banks of the eternal river. He could see his brother as he was, as both of them had once been, hunting together, sunlight drifting through the trees, standing together in the high mountains, the wind sweeping the world.

Bovai looked up at him. ‘Brother,' he whispered.

Tinuva held the blade poised, ready to drive it into Bovai's heart and in that instant he knew…and he remembered as well all that he had become.

Sunlight filtered down again for a brief instant, lighting the clearing, snow sparkling like diamonds.

He smiled.

The blow came as no surprise: if there was any surprise it was that there was no pain. Just a strange inner warmth as Bovai's dagger, driven to the hilt, pierced his stomach, slamming up under the ribs and into his lungs.

‘You've lost,' Tinuva whispered as the breath was driven out of him.

Bovai looked into Tinuva's eyes and in that instant he felt a madness, a horror, beyond any he had known before. He reached up, pushing Tinuva back. His brother, like a great statue, seemed to hang above him, then ever so slowly pitched over.

He kicked the body away, thrashing in a near panic. Then, trembling, he stood up.

All eyes were upon him.

‘It's finished,' he whispered.

He turned slowly, looking from one to the other and he could sense their contempt. He looked back at Tinuva.

So you have robbed me even of this, brother, haven't you?.

‘Damn you!' Bovai screamed.

The group surrounding him was silent and at that instant Bovai knew his brother had been right: he had lost something in this moment, the pain and anger that had driven him for centuries. For a moment, he felt as if life had lost its purpose. Softly he said, ‘But I won…'

‘No!'

It was a distant scream of anguish, of a long, pent-up rage. Bovai turned, looking in disbelief at the swarm of men closing
in, white-and-grey capes fluttering in the wind as they ran, some wearing lacquered armour that caught the beams of sunlight and stood out like brilliant lanterns on a cold dark night.

The charge swarmed down the slope like an avalanche. Arrows snapped past. One of his cousins spun around, clutching his throat; another collapsed with a scream.

All stood transfixed, confused, startled, so sudden was the onset of the charge.

And then Bovai saw him. He had never truly laid eyes upon him before, but he knew his blood, the blood of his grandsire. It was Hartraft, storming forward, leading the charge, a short warrior wearing a lacquered breastplate by his side. Hartraft came in at the run, bow cast aside, both hands held high on his heavy sword.

Bovai spared a final glance at his brother even as he began to raise his dagger.

The sword arced in. There was a brilliant flash of light…and then silence.

‘No!'

Dennis turned even as he completed the blow, spinning around on his heel, watching as Bovai's head tumbled away, striking the snow, body collapsing. Screaming, he struck again at the body, the blow nearly cutting Bovai in half at the waist. Sobbing, he drew the blade back, ready to strike again, then saw that Asayaga had raced past, had killed one moredhel and was closing on another. Behind him another moredhel was closing in, spear lowered…and his mind suddenly conjured the image of Jurgen trying to save Richard in similar circumstances, for Asayaga was struggling to save one of the Kingdom privates who was down on the ground, desperately trying to block a moredhel closing in with raised sword.

Dennis sprinted forward.

‘Asayaga!'

The Tsurani did not hear him.

He was too far off to close in time. Still holding his blade with both hands he lofted it behind his head and threw. The sword tumbled end over end, slamming into the moredhel even as he braced himself to run his spear through Asayaga's back.

The sword struck so hard that the moredhel leapt backwards as
if yanked from behind, his only sound the breath knocked from his lungs. Asayaga, killing his own opponent a second later, turned and saw Dennis standing weaponless, the moredhel between them, kicking and thrashing, Dennis's sword stuck in his side.

Men charged past, eyes wide with lust and battle-fury. The moredhel, caught so completely by surprise, had given way in panic and were running to where the goblins and human cavalry waited over the distant rise. Few made it, many falling with arrows in their backs, or were cut down as they fled. The humans and goblins on the far side of the hill came swarming up, drawn by the loud outcry at the end of the battle between Tinuva and Bovai. After hours of bored waiting many had built fires; a few were even asleep, fewer still on the crest of the hill were in armour or even had weapons.

Within seconds they, too, were breaking in panic as a squad of Kingdom and Tsurani troops, led by Tasemu, hit their flank. The watchers on the hill broke, running back down to the camp, screaming in terror that they were being attacked by hundreds.

The moredhel's advantage and the edge gained by having calvary vanished in an instant. Horsemen died before they could saddle their mounts, and in the first onslaught, so many moredhel, men, and goblins were killed that within minutes Dennis's and Asayaga's command held the edge. One more minute, and the goblins broke in panic.

More than one goblin turned on the moredhel commanders who tried to rally them, and soon men, goblins and moredhel were slaying each other in a mad frenzy as all tried to escape.

The ground was littered with the dead and dying. Tasemu marched forward, a squad of Kingdom soldiers forming a ring of archers around him. A ragged line of Tsurani crested the hill, slaying everyone in their path as they advanced, and more Kingdom soldiers fell in around their disciplined line, loosing bolt after bolt into the milling, terrified mob.

Behind Dennis, who stood in a daze, Gregory held his friend and wept.

Asayaga joined Dennis, and the two of them slowly approached the fallen elf.

Tinuva looked up at them and smiled. ‘Foolish, you should have gone over the bridge,' he whispered.

‘We would not leave you here,' Asayaga said.

‘Bovai?'

‘I killed him,' Dennis replied, voice trembling.

Tinuva sighed. ‘Bury him beside me: we were brothers once.'

Dennis nodded.

Tinuva sighed. His eyes flickered and then he looked back at Dennis and Asayaga. ‘Fate has made you enemies, now let honour turn that fate.'

As he started to slip away he began to chant softly. Dennis recognized the words as eledhel, but did not know their meaning.

Gregory, sobbing, spoke the words with him and at last Tinuva's voice fell silent, his spirit slipping away to the distant shore of the Blessed Isle.

Dennis reached down and gently touched Tinuva's forehead. ‘Go in peace my friend,' he whispered.

Asayaga did the same, touching Tinuva's blood and anointing his forehead with it.

The two looked at each other in the grim silence, then together went to finish the fight.

The evening was quiet.

Cresting the ridgeline, Dennis stopped and shaded his eyes from the glare of the sun. Gregory was riding up the slope, trailed by the half-dozen scouts who had been walking point.

‘It's clear ahead,' Gregory said. ‘Another mile we'll cross the river and be into the dwarves' territory. I dare say they already know we are approaching.'

Dennis nodded. Turning, he looked back at the column. Kingdom and Tsurani troops advanced at an easy pace–more than one had a woman from Wolfgar's fort at his side, and children were chattering, dodging back and forth. In the middle of the column was a line of a dozen horses many of them taken from the enemy dragging palanquins which bore the wounded who had been carried out from the battle. No one had been left behind this time.

Asayaga, who had been walking by Alyssa's side, broke away and came forward. As he did so, all eyes followed him and the group slowed, coming to a stop without orders. In the clearing at the top of the ridge the men gradually started to break apart from each other, Kingdom troops to one side, Tsurani to the other.

Asayaga reached the crest and nodded to Gregory.

‘I take it the dwarf realm is just ahead.'

Gregory nodded.

‘Then you are home safe. I doubt if they would welcome us.'

‘No, Asayaga, they wouldn't.'

‘Then Hartraft, our truce is at an end. We have reached the lines where our war resumes.'

Dennis nodded, his hand drifting to the hilt of his sword. Asayaga's did the same.

Tsurani and Kingdom soldiers slowly moved to take up positions behind their respective commanders. The women and children felt something coming and retreated into a small knot in front of the horses.

The two leaders stared at each other. Dennis could sense the expectant hush, and knew that everyone was waiting for what had to come. He thought of his duty, for here were thirty-one surviving Tsurani–enemies who, if he let them go today, he would undoubtedly face again come spring; enemies who might slay other Kingdom soldiers, for they had learned their skills well in the last month and would be the nucleus of a formidable unit.

‘What are you thinking, Hartraft?'

‘I am thinking that if I let you go now, you could do considerable damage to my side come next spring.'

‘Just as much damage as you will do to us, no doubt.'

Dennis looked past Asayaga. Roxanne and Alyssa were standing nearby, watching, both silent. Behind them he could see so much more–his burning keep, Gwenynth dying, Jurgen in his cold grave, and others as well, young Richard and Osami, the look in Asayaga's eyes as he cradled his nephew and then knelt by Tinuva's side. Tinuva, buried in the woods thirty miles to the north, resting beside his brother…He wondered if somehow the two would find peace together in their afterworld.

Dennis smiled. His hand fell away from the hilt of his sword and he extended it to Asayaga. ‘Honoured enemy,' he whispered.

Asayaga, not sure if this was the start of the challenge, or something else, grasped Dennis's hand. ‘Honoured enemy,' Asayaga replied, repeating the words in his own tongue.

For a moment no one moved on either side, then Kingdom and Tsurani soldiers approached each other and repeated the gesture. Men who had bled side by side embraced and the phrase ‘honoured enemy' was spoken many times.

Dennis looked over at Gregory and nodded.

Dismounting, Gregory raised his bandaged hand and pointed to the south-east. ‘Asayaga. A quarter of a mile ahead there's a trail that turns to the east. Stay on it and you'll loop around the flank of the dwarf kingdoms. I will convince them that you will honour a truce. As long as you stay on the trail they shouldn't bother you. Three days' march will eventually bring you west, to where their realm borders territory you might be familiar with, ground fought over by Kingdom troops and your own.

‘Once there–' he shook his head, ‘–well, you're on your own, but given everything you've learned, you should get through. Most of the Kingdom forces will be wintering in LaMut, Yabon and Ylith, so you'll only have to avoid occasional patrols and stay away from stockades. You should reach your own lines a few days later.'

Asayaga nodded, saying nothing. The whole time Gregory was speaking he had continued to look at Dennis as if not quite believing what was taking place.

‘Asayaga,' Dennis said, drawing closer. ‘I must insist that what you see as you cross through the Kingdom lines you will not reveal. You won't fight unless attacked, you'll cross through as quickly as possible and take no advantage from this truce.'

‘Is that an order, Hartraft?'

Dennis hesitated, then shook his head. With a slight smile, he said, ‘A suggestion, from an honourable enemy. I only ask the same as if you were an envoy travelling through enemy lines.'

Asayaga laughed softly. ‘Agreed.'

‘There is a problem though, Asayaga.'

‘And that is?'

‘What do we tell our superiors?'

Asayaga nodded and looked back at his men. After a moment, he said, ‘We were cut off, we fought, we survived. Nothing more. If word leaked out on either side, all would soon know, and by the gods that would wreak havoc, wouldn't it? My master could never be made to understand.'

Dennis laughed and nodded in agreement.

The sight of the two laughing and the way Gregory pointed out the trail was indication enough of what had been decided and the mood of the men around them instantly relaxed. The two groups milled
together, chattering, men searching out comrades on the other side, shaking hands, exchanging small trinkets and gifts.

Smiling, Alyssa and Roxanne approached Dennis and Asayaga,

‘I'd have killed both of you if you had started to fight,' Roxanne announced. ‘I'm sick to death of fighting.'

Dennis looked over at her, wanting to speak, but was unable to do so. She drew closer. She indicated to Asayaga with a nod that he should speak to her sister.

As Asayaga walked a short distance away with Alyssa, Roxanne asked, ‘Do you have anything to say to me, Hartraft?'

Dennis turned away and she followed him, the circle of men around them parting to let them through. When they were a little distance from the others, he said, ‘Thank you for saving my life back at the bridge.'

‘We saved each other in more ways than one.'

He looked at her and nodded.

‘You're going to tell me you aren't ready yet, aren't you?' She sighed.

He nodded woodenly and she looked away.

‘Gwenynth still haunts me. The anger, the rage–that burned away out there–' He pointed back to the northern woods. ‘Watching Tinuva die, knowing what he was sacrificing…' He stopped for a moment, head lowered. ‘I saw it. He had his brother at his mercy, and yet he stopped, unable to strike the final blow. His love spared the one who killed him, and yet he would not have wanted it any different. At that moment it all burned away in me. From that, and from the way Asayaga held his nephew and then rose up to try and save Tinuva–I learned from all that.'

‘Is that why you did not pursue Corwin?'

Dennis did not reply for a moment. As the battle-fury ended only then had he remembered that Corwin was with the band they had destroyed. But his body was not found, and he seemed to have been one of the few who escaped. Some of the men cried out to press the pursuit; even Asayaga wanted to, but he had refused. The children and women back at the bridge had been left with only four men to guard them, the men who had managed to cross the river. He had
turned away from that hunt without a backward glance, which had startled many.

‘He is his own poison. I'll cross paths with him some day.'

‘Will you seek that path?'

Dennis smiled. ‘Not everything changes in a moment. I will seek it, but I won't live for it.'

She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. Then after a moment, she drew herself close to him and kissed him, deeply.

His arms slipped around her, and he returned her kiss, then gently disentangled himself and pushed her away. ‘It's true that I am not ready,' he whispered. ‘I may never be ready to love again. And you should not have to wait. I'll get you and your people to safety in Yabon City, and I will visit you when I can.'

She stifled a sob and forced a smile, though tears shone in her eyes. ‘I knew that is what you would say, Hartraft.'

‘Dennis, can't you ever call me that?'

‘Of course, Dennis.' She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. Then she drew back, her hand brushing his for a moment before letting go. Then she walked quickly towards the horses where the other women and the children waited.

As Dennis watched her retreating back, the striking poise of her strong, tall body erect with pride and self-assurance, he felt another crack in the hard stone that was within him. For a long moment, he felt deeply alone, and then as he saw her mount a horse and signal to her sister, a faint smile grew on his lips.

Asayaga stood on the crest of the road a hundred paces away from the others. He stiffened as Alyssa laid her hand upon his arm. ‘It must be goodbye,' he said.

‘Why?' she asked. ‘I have no home, no family but Roxanne, and I could go with you.'

Asayaga shook his head. ‘It is impossible. To my people you are a barbarian, fit only to be a slave.' He fell quiet for a moment, then added, ‘To suggest we wed would bring dishonour to my house in their eyes and my lord would order me to take my own life, if he did not hang me in shame first. They would wonder why I did not keep you as a concubine.'

‘Then I will be your concubine, Asayaga.'

He looked long at her as if weighing the offer, then said, ‘It cannot be. I have come to know your people, Alyssa, but you know nothing of mine. We can be a hard people, and love is often put aside for honour and duty. Even though we shared a bed each night, during the day you would be kept apart, and…' he swallowed hard ‘…our children would be slaves.'

She looked at him, her eyes rimmed with tears. ‘You've never told me you love me,' she whispered. ‘But I see by the way you look at me.'

Softly he said, ‘I have not told you because I cannot.' Then he looked into her eyes and his own grew moist. ‘But you read my heart and you know how I feel.' Stepping back, he said, ‘Let us end this now, for to linger only heightens the pain.'

He turned and shouted a command, and his men broke away from the Kingdom soldiers. Final handshakes were exchanged, many of the Tsurani formally saluting Dennis as he passed them. Tasemu approached, saluted, then extended his hand. ‘Goodbye, friend,' he said in the common tongue.

‘Goodbye.'

‘I hope I not see you again in this war,' the Tsurani Strike Leader said haltingly, and then he stepped back, saluted once more and started to bark out commands.

He reminded Dennis of Jurgen in the way he moved about, showering abuse on some, and then a second later giving an affectionate cuff on the shoulder to another as they formed ranks.

‘Just like Jurgen,' Gregory said, coming up to join Dennis.

‘Yes, that's what I was thinking.'

‘Jurgen would approve, you know.'

‘Yes, he would.'

‘So would your father,' Gregory added.

Asayaga walked across with a purposeful stride, once more as if on a Tsurani parade ground and Tasemu snarled the command for the men to come to attention. There was a quick inspection, Asayaga nodding with approval, and then another flurry of commands.

Six men stepped out from the column, bows in their hands, and sprinted out over the hill.

‘Forward scouts,' Gregory said. ‘My, how they do learn quickly.'

‘I hope Tasemu is right,' Dennis said.

‘About what?'

‘About our not meeting again.'

Gregory said nothing.

The column started off, the horses carrying the Tsurani wounded falling in at the middle. Many of the women and children from Wolfgar's stockade openly wept at the parting.

Asayaga looked over at Dennis and nodded. Dennis left Gregory's side and fell in with the Tsurani.

‘Remember, avoid contact going through the Kingdom lines: you promised that.'

‘Is that an order or a request, Hartraft?'

‘You know.'

Asayaga smiled and nodded. ‘A request then from me, Dennis.'

‘What?'

‘The war between our nations might last for years yet. We serve on the same front. If a day should come when we see each other again, in the woods, or across that open field…' His voice trailed off.

‘That we back away,' Dennis suggested.

‘Yes,' Asayaga said after a hesitation. ‘Yes, my honoured friend.'

Dennis nodded and extended his hand.

Asayaga grasped it firmly, then let go. Alyssa came to Dennis's side and Roxanne joined her sister, who put her arm around Dennis's waist, and he put his arm around her shoulder. He was surprised at himself for doing it, but whatever comfort he gave her was returned. He glanced back and saw Roxanne watching Asayaga and her sister with a slight smile on her lips, though tears ran openly down her cheeks as the Tsurani marched off.

Silhouetted by the evening sun, the column moved over the crest of the hill and disappeared. The world seemed strangely empty. Dennis waited, giving them time to go down the road and then turn into the woods. Then, finally, he nodded.

‘Standard march,' he announced, ‘Sergeant Jurgen…'

He fell silent, looking at his men who were gathered around. He glanced at Gregory. ‘He's gone, isn't he?'

Sadly, Gregory said, ‘Yes, Dennis, Jurgen is gone.'

Acting Corporal Jenkins stood at the head of the column, waiting for an order to lead the men out.

Dennis looked at him, and at the men, women and children waiting behind, all of whom depended upon him to get them to safety.

Finally, Jenkins said, ‘Sir, shall I lead the trail-breakers?'