The Black Sword Trilogy: The Poacher (13 page)

              Looking around, he quickly found a cave in the outcropping.  Although it was completely dark, he made his way inside.  He heard a grunt from Shela and looked back at her.  “You’ll be alright now.” She seemed to be saying to him.  Then she turned and ran off into the darkness.

              Feeling his way into the dark cave, he tried to make out its size and shape.  It had a soft, dirt floor he could feel and as he felt his way; at least twenty steps inside.  It seemed wide enough for several men to stay comfortably.  The light grew as the sun began to rise and eventually he could see the full size of the cave.  It was plenty large enough for him and anyone else that might make it that far.  Hopefully, he thought he was not the only survivor.  Hopefully someone would join him. 

He sat down in the very back of the cave; which was still dark and rested his head against the stone wall.  Suddenly he was tired; more tired than he’d ever remembered feeling before.  Sleep began to come over him and, at first he tried to fight it.  When he dozed, he could hear the screams of the men dying and he could see the awful vision of the General with the axe.  Soon he could fight it no more and his heavy eyes closed on their own.

He didn’t know how long he had slept, but looking out the cave opening, he saw that it looked to be afternoon.  He was still tired, but he made himself wake and began examining the cave more closely.  On the floor around him were, what looked like Army packs.  There were weapons, including short swords, spears and maces.  There were suits of armor with dust all over them.  He looked inside one of the packs and found it filled it with the same equipment he’d been issued at Kallesh.  Then he heard the sound of someone or something coming towards the cave opening.  He drew his weapon, and then saw the silhouette of; what looked like a man standing at the opening.

“Is anyone here” The voice said quietly.  Even though it was only a whisper, he could tell it was Terri’s voice.

“Terri.” He called out, also in a whisper.  “Is that you?”

When she stepped into the cave, his eyes adjusted and saw that it was, indeed her.   She looked at him and smiled.

“By the lady,” She said.  “You made it.”

She then stepped up to him and embraced him.

“If you were a woman, I’d kiss you.”

“If you were a man, I’d punch you for even thinking about it.”

They both laughed.

             
“Have you seen anyone else?” She asked him.  He shook his head sadly.  She closed her eyes in a painful expression and nodded simply.  She looked around as if searching the cave.

“How did you find this place?” She asked, breaking the tense silence.

“I didn’t.” He answered and she looked at him as if puzzled.

“Shela did.” He added.

She looked puzzled again, and then smiled broadly.

“Did she really?” She asked, almost laughing.  Kenner simply smiled and nodded.  “I guess she likes you after all.”

             
She sat down on the dirt floor of the cave, breathing heavily.

“What is this place?” Kenner asked.

“It’s a hide,” she answered.  “When the Wall was built, the builders figured that there was a possibility of the garrison being overrun.  They found this cave and stocked it with food and supplies in case anyone survived.”

“Food?” Kenner questioned.

“Yes, in those barrels along the wall.  Every few weeks or so, we trade out the old food for new.  There should be some dried meats and maybe some fruit, if we’re lucky.”

              Kenner opened several of the barrels and found the dried meats along with some apples.  The two of them ate some, but didn’t talk.  Neither one of them could really think of anything to say.

              “How did you escape?” Kenner finally asked her.

She took a deep breath as if preparing herself for the answer.

“After the platform collapsed, I found myself surrounded by Wolfen.  I managed to kill a couple of them, but they surrounded me.  Just as they were about to descend on me, a couple of them caught fire and began to run away from me.  I guess the others just panicked and ran.  That’s when I heard the Captain order us to break cover and run.  So I ran.”

She paused for a moment and looked as if she were in pain.

“I saw what was happening to them.  All those men running in the same direction; running for their lives.  The Wolfen just ran them down and tore them apart.” 

Her voice began to break.

“I couldn’t move.  It was like I was stuck to the ground and I watched all those brave men being slaughtered.  It was terrible.”

She lowered her head and wiped tears out of her eyes.

“Eventually,” she sniffed.  “I noticed that the animals apparently hadn’t seen me and I guess the smell of the fire was so strong they couldn’t smell anything else.  I knew where the hide was and I started running, but not towards the river like all the rest.  I ran along the Wall for about a mile, then stopped and waited.  I don’t know what I was waiting for.  Maybe I was waiting for the beasts to come for me and for my turn to die.  I just sat there and waited.”

              She paused for a moment and looked as she was looking far off into a distance.  Her eyes were colder and harder than Kenner had yet seen.  Then they softened and she continued.

“Anyway…after daybreak, I saw that the creatures were massing just past the fire and I took my chance.  I knew where this place was and I just ran for it.  Every now and then, I would look behind me to see if I was being followed and saw nothing.  A little while longer and here I am.”

“You must be exhausted.” Kenner told her.

She nodded and smiled.

“I could do with a rest.”

              They were both quiet for a few moments, neither feeling sure of anything to say.  And although neither would speak of it, they both felt guilty for having survived when so many had not.

“Do you think we did it?” Kenner asked her.

“Did what?”

“Slowed them down?”

“I think so,” she said nodding her head again.  “By my reckoning, less than half of the them got to this side before the fort started burning.”

              An hour later, the sky started to darken outside.  Kenner looked outside the cave opening and saw dark clouds rolling over the sky.

“Looks like rain.” He said.

“Of course it does.” Terri said dryly.

              They both knew that rain was a bad sign.  The rain would likely douse the fire, allowing more of the creatures to pass through the gate.  Before too long, they heard thunder and a steady rain began to fall.  

              Trying to ease his own thoughts, Kenner set about searching through the rest of the provisions in the cave.  He shook the barrels listening for some clue as to their contents.  From one of them, he heard a swishing sound, like water and it was sealed tightly.  Using a mace he cracked open the top of hit and the familiar scent of ale accompanied a shower of frothy liquid.

“Look what we have here.” He said brightly.

Terri turned and her smile returned.

“I definitely think we could do with a drink.” She said.

             
For a while longer, they sat, ate and drank quietly.  Terri felt tired and sore from running for almost half the day.  Kenner was still haunted by the battle he’d just fought and still disturbed by the vision of the General with the axe.  Why had he seen that in a dream, he asked himself?  Why was that important to him of all the soldiers who fought in that battle?

              Then through the steady rain, they heard footsteps approaching.  Kenner bolted upright and drew his short sword and Terri scrambled to her feet.  Out of the rain and into the cave stepped Captain Krall.  He walked in, looked at the two of them but said nothing.  Terri greeted him and took a step towards him, but there was something in his expression that stopped her.  He looked older and tired.  His eyes seemed to have sunken farther back into his face and his mouth had a scowl of a hundred defeats.

“Are you the only ones who made it here?” He finally asked them.  His voice sounded like a low moan.

“Yes sir.” Kenner answered him.

At this, the Captain only nodded sadly.

             
He looked around in the cave, and then found one of the packs on the ground.  He searched through it and then pulled a tin cup out of it.  Without saying another word to the two of them, he filled the cup with ale and then walked back out into the rain.

              Kenner watched him for a while.  The Captain simply sat on a rock staring off towards the fort.  The fire eventually died from the hard and steady rain.  Kenner thought about calling out to him, but decided against it.  He had the feeling that the best thing to do at the time was to leave the Captain alone.

              Staring off into the distance, Captain Krall contemplated his first defeat.  In his thirty years in the Army, he’d never tasted a loss before.  Even in some of the most desperate battles he’d ever fought; somehow he and his comrades always emerged victorious.  Not this time. 

              He tried to console himself with the knowledge that it was never a battle he could have won; not with what he had to work with.  But there was no consolation with the knowledge that so many good men had died.  Watching the fire in the distance die from the rain made the loss seem even more useless.

              Questions haunted his mind.  Why didn’t I simply evacuate the garrison?  Why not simply burn the fort and then escape with all his soldiers alive?  They could have escaped across the bridge, burned it and evacuated along with the civilians, he thought to himself.  The logical part of his mind reminded him that had he done that at any time before the new moon, the enemy would have just waited the fire out then passed to the other side of the Wall with no delay to their plan.  By simply evacuating, it might have actually aided his brother’s plan.

              Reminded that his enemy was his own brother, he felt a stab of pain in his chest like a dagger thrust into his heart.  Why, he asked himself?  What had turned his brother to leading an army of foul beasts against the nation they had both once served?  His brother was a good man, he tried to remind himself.  What could turn him to evil?  Suddenly a terrible truth returned to him.  Not only did his brother lead an army of animals in a campaign that could kill thousands of innocents; somehow, his brother now had the Silver Axe; one of the legendary weapons from The Great War.  It was this thought above all others that brought him out of his melancholy.

              He stepped inside the cave, now lit by a single torch and looked at the two soldiers sitting on the dirt floor.

“You are still soldiers of Walechia,” he announced to them, “and I am still your captain.”

They both stood up and responded strongly, “yes sir!”

Chapter Seventeen

             
Captain Krall drew himself another cup full of ale and began to look through a box on the floor of the cave.  From inside the box, he pulled out a map and placed it on the floor.  Kenner and Terri kneeled down on opposite sides of the map.

“One of the most important weapons in war,” Captain Krall began, “is information.  And right now, the three of us have information that is very important in the war that has now started.”

             
“First of all,” he continued, “we know, or at least I know and you’re about to discover that Grail, a former Captain of Walechia is the Commanding General of that army.  He’s highly intelligent, highly efficient and a brilliant tactician.  It is his intention to move his army as quickly as possible behind the wall and attack Mobrey before the next new moon.  I also believe it is likely that he will have even more troops move behind his army and mass them at Mobrey for another attack across the plain, cutting off Kallesh from supplies and reinforcements.  Having accomplished that, he can choke and starve the White City into submission.  The Iron Gates have never been breached, but he wouldn’t need to.  All he’d have to do is position his troops around the city and wait for people to start starving.”

              Kenner and Terri both contemplated this looking at the map.  The Captain was right, they both thought.  They also both understood that if they could get this information to Kallesh before Grail’s army reached Mobrey, the King may be able to raise a force to counter this attack.

              “Unless, I’m wrong and I don’t believe I am,” Krall continued, “Grail’s entire plan depends on timing and the taking of Mobrey.  He has to move his army to Mobrey before the next new moon.  If he can’t do that, he can’t control the river and he can’t mass more troops.  He has to take Mobrey and it must be done before the next new moon.”