The Burning Sword (7 page)

Faith ’s words seemed to have answered everyone’s queries and comments. The silence hung around the group, who were now lit by the soft flush of dawn. Faith saw the faces of her army, their expressions hopeful yet mixed with an anxious desire to know the verdict.

Faith ’s mother stepped closer to her daughter, and put her arm around her shoulders. “I will join,” she said gently. Encouraged by her bravery, others moved towards Faith ’s army, their silent support making her heart squeeze with an emotion she couldn’t quite name.

Eventually, the only woman left was Margaret. Faith didn’t feel even a slight sense of disappointment: she had always known that Margaret was unlikely to agree with anything Faith supported; it was clear that the older woman deeply resented Faith ’s success with her hunting, and was not planning on giving her another chance to prove herself.

Then- to Faith ’s great surprise- Margaret gave a huff of a sigh and strode over to the group to take her place with the rest of the army. Something in Faith ’s expression must have betrayed her surprise, for Margaret shrugged, and said, “If you can make an army to the same degree of success that you made a band of hunters, then I have no doubt you will be successful.”

Faith was glad that Marian was there to grab her arm, or she was sure she would have crumpled to the floor, her knees caving in with the shock. Still, as they all made their way back to their huts to grab a few precious hours of seriously delayed sleep, her heart was still pounding fast. After all, if Margaret could praise her and her efforts, surely anything was possible. Suddenly, fighting off the squatters didn’t seem such a weighty task on her shoulders.

Faith was pleasantly surprised to find that having the women in her army swelled not only their numbers, but their confidence and their morale also, something she had never thought would happen.

She divided the women up into thirds and added them to the three already existing parts of her army, appointing (again, thanks to Eli’s infuriatingly sensible advice, which she kicked herself for not thinking of first) sub-generals to support her generals. Her own mother, Margaret and Martha’s mother were selected, and despite Faith ’s initial internal groan at the decision to have Margaret take on a position, she could hardly blame those who had voted: not only was Margaret a natural leader, but she was quite the fighter as well- she had just the right balance between grace and power.

The added numbers, as well as the relief and liberation at not having to sneak around to practice, meant that the army worked with even more zeal and fervor than before. Faith was glad to see that they all seemed to be enjoying themselves, yet still applying themselves well. She caught her mother practicing sword moves with a wooden spoon whilst cooking one evening, and had to hide a smile. Those who were struggling had been eagerly practicing, desperate not to fall behind, and it seemed her mother was no exception. Not being naturally gifted at swordplay, her mother had earned her role as a sub-general for her wisdom and diplomacy, rather than her skill at fighting. However, it seemed that she was not going to let herself rely upon her way with words entirely, hence her practical use of cooking utensils.

Time flew past alarmingly fast. Soon Faith found that her generals and sub-generals were suggesting that they went down to meet the squatters and challenge them. Suddenly, everything seemed more real. Before, the idea of putting their hard work to the test had seemed far away, far, far away, in the unforeseeable future. Now that it seemed far more imminent, it was hard for Faith to calm her nerves.

But, when she took a deep breath, and thought about it, she realized something. No longer was she the fragile, easily upset (and angered) young girl who had run to the rocks to rebel, who had blindly suggested that she joined the army, despite having never killed anything, having never touched a weapon, or even thought about death before. Now she was trained- no, she was training. She wielded a sword that burnt bright with sparks as she touched it; she had the entire camp of women on her side, under her control, obedient to every word she said. She had a newfound confidence, and she could now look people in the eye as if she was worthy to do so, rather than shying away from anyone but her family and Martha. Her heart swelled with this new Faith , and the confidence that this brought her, and she felt able, able to lead her army to meet the squatters.

And so they planned. Faith spent many long evenings poring over a map with Eli, who had drawn the mountain from his memory, and her other generals, who were all as enthusiastic as she was to get going, and finally meet their fate. They had no idea of what they would find at the base of the mountain, and nor did Faith particularly want to imagine it.

“Surely, if they were all… well, you know… the squatters would have been up to claim our land already, wouldn’t they?” Martha asked, one evening when the stars were peering down at them, and Faith was lost in staring at the contrast between their tiny spots of light against the vast expanse of sky, going over their plans in her head.

Eli nodded, elbowing Faith sharply in the ribs to ensure that she was paying attention. “Yes, I think they would,” he said thoughtfully. “They wouldn’t hang about- they’d be straight up here to get whatever they want.” He nudged Faith again, wanting to know what she thought.

“Mm,” she replied, non-committal.

Eli frowned. “What’s bothering you? You’ve had your head in the clouds all evening.”

Faith moved her gaze from the mesmerizing stars- she had always loved the fact that the more you looked, the more you saw- and looked at the shine of the moonlight glinting from Sibyl, Martha and Eli’s eyes, candlelight bringing out certain facial features sharply. In that lighting, Eli looked villainous, his dark hair and eyes prominent in his face- he didn’t look human at all.

She exhaled, long and hard. “Eli, this is going to sound awful, but…” She paused, frantically racking her brain for the right word. “But… why on earth are you getting ready to fight your own people? How do we know that you’re not going to suddenly change sides?”

Eli let out a long sigh himself. “I thought you’d ask me this at some point. I’d hoped I’d proved myself, but…” He let the end of his sentence hover in the night air. Faith felt painfully mean.

“Oh come on, don’t deny that you’d be the same if you were me,” she broke in. “If everything hinged on a few seemingly minor events- if you were about to lead a group of your people to what could be a sticky end, wouldn’t you question everything and anything?”

With a half sob, Martha flung herself at Faith , hugging her hard, her arms around her neck. “No, no, no, Faith !” Surprised, Faith patted her friend’s back, the comfort of a hug making her feel a little less doubting of the squatter beside them.

Martha pulled back, her cheeks flushed red. “Faith , don’t say things like that. You’re not leading us to a sticky end, of course you aren’t! And even if you are, at least we’ll be bravely… bravely going to meet it, rather than waiting up here like penned chickens!”

Sibyl reached over to pat Faith ’s arm. “We all know what we signed up for, Faith . We’ll all follow you, whether the end be sticky or not. And as for Eli…”

The three girls looked at him. The two dark patches that served for his eyes in the guttering light of the candle seemed to grow darker, more sinister. Faith couldn’t help a shudder that suddenly rippled down her spine. But then he looked up, and he was a teenage boy again, and Faith no longer felt afraid.

“Look, the squatters won’t be fighting like you’re expecting. They… they…” Eli’s voice quavered, like a child on the verge of tears. “They’re not, well, they’re not like you or I.”

“What do you mean?” Faith breathed, Eli’s cryptic words puzzling her.

Eli looked at her, and she thought she saw something in his eyes she’d never seen before. It wasn’t guilt, it wasn’t pity: it was more like fear. Then he shrugged.

“I’m tired, and I’m talking nonsense,” he said, decisively, and got up. “See you in the morning,” he added, with an unconvincing yawn, and made his way to the hut he slept in.

“What on earth was that all about?” Martha asked, and all Faith could do was shake her head, completely puzzled. One day, she would find out what that look in Eli’s eyes was about, she decided. Preferably in daylight, however, when she could see his expression properly. For now, though, she would just have to trust him, and hope that he wasn’t on the squatter’s side after all.

***

After weeks of planning, it was the big day. Faith stood before the troops, who were all pale faced, yet excited at what they were about to do, Eli, Martha and Sibyl at her side. Everyone held weapons, some of them more impressive than others. It had certainly been a test of the group’s creativity, as they had been forced to create makeshift weapons out of the limited resources.

Faith held onto the burning sword at her side, the sparks flowing out of it giving her courage a boost. Though she had organized this whole event, she still could not help the doubts in her mind from thriving there, making her tremble at the idea of what she was about to do. She was essentially holding the lives of all of these people in her hands, and she fiercely wanted to protect every one of them.

Eli looked at her expectantly. “What?” she asked, a little irritably. Eli seemed to have developed a habit of just expecting her to know what he meant by a mere look.

“Are you not going to make a speech or something?” he asked. “They need encouragement.”

Faith chewed her bottom lip anxiously. Make a speech? She couldn’t imagine how awkward that would be, but she felt as if she should, and raised her sword into the air for silence.

“Okay,” she said, as the noise subsided. “You all know the plan, what to do. This is it. We’re going to go down there, and we’re going to show those squatters exactly what we can do.” A half-hearted cheer rose from the crowd.

“You’re all capable of fighting well; those hours of practice will not go to waste,” Faith continued. “But remember that it’s not all about your combat skills. Hunters, remember how we caught that first boar? Strength wasn’t everything: we needed our common sense about us, and a good deal of wit and logic. This applies now.” A louder cheer rose, particularly from Faith ’s hunters, who seemed to recognize the wisdom of Faith ’s words.

“The journey might be tough, and what we find there might be even harder. But we’re villagers, and we won’t let those squatters get the best of us. Make our brothers, fathers, or your husbands proud of you!” Faith lowered her sword, and watched as everyone cheered. Her heartbeat was still drumming painfully in her ears, and she looked questioningly at Eli, wondering if she’d done enough. He gave her a short nod, which she accepted as praise.

It wasn’t long before they set off. The young children had been hustled into a hut, with the older women to look after them. Faith doubted that the squatters would bother ransacking their village, but she had thought it best to leave them with at least a few trained women, just in case.

They walked, a great group of them, voices chattering to one another merrily- a little too merrily, Faith thought, as if they were trying to disguise their fear.

As Faith moved them to start walking down the mountain, she was startled to see that the sword was shooting sparks out to the left, and none out of the right. As she wasn’t properly touching it, she put her hand to the hilt at her belt, cautiously. The sparks grew stronger as they continued to walk. Faith turned left. The sparks stopped.

Everyone followed her lead, though she heard Eli ask what she was doing.

“Following directions,” she called back, leading the group towards the path she’d often trodden- towards the rock face.

The sword continued to point her towards the rock face. Many a time, Faith doubted herself, wondering if she should turn back, but the sword’s
behavior convinced her otherwise. When they reached the rock face, she jumped down to a ledge, and was directed along. The others didn’t follow her, stopping at the edge to peer at her in confusion.

Eventually, Martha shrugged, and hopped down to follow her friend. “I’ve never mistrusted Faith ,” she said, in response to Eli’s scornful look. Martha’s support encouraged others on, as her army followed her along the precarious rock ledge.

The sword shot out a few sparks to the right, and Faith looked at the rock face, to see a small, partially hidden hole, big enough for a person to crawl into. She did so, and found it widening out, to create a cavern, with four tunnels leading out of it. In the bottom of the cavern was a small, completely still pool. The light dappled through the hole made it glitter and sparkle with different colors.

Martha followed through the hole. “Wow,” she whispered, turning back to encourage the rest of her group that it was safe to follow her.

It took a while, but soon Faith felt that there were enough of the army in the cavern to allow her to move on, without leaving anyone behind. The sword directed her to a specific tunnel, and she marched down it, a thrill of excitement racing through her body.

Everybody followed, their footsteps echoing round, voices rebounding off of the sides of the tunnel. It was dark, and they went on for quite some time, the tunnel gently sloping down as they went. The feeling of excitement grew in Faith ’s stomach.

After half an hour, the group reached another cavern, with another three tunnels leading out of it. Faith followed the one directed, and headed straight down it. After five minutes of walking, the tunnel took a sharp turn to the left, and Faith found herself gazing at a glimpse of grass through the ivy hangings over the entrance. Bending down, as it was very low, she cautiously peered through it.

It was the bottom of the mountain. They’d done it. Faith took a good look. She could see no one around, but it was definitely unfamiliarly flat and the grass and plants looked fresher and lusher than the weaker mountain ones she’d grown used to. Shouting for everyone to back up into the cavern, she retraced her footsteps.

Everyone was soon assembled in the cavern, and waiting for the last of those finishing the first tunnel to file through. Faith stood in the middle, and let everyone sit down for a rest as they waited.