War's Ending

by A J Park

  The Almorians were assembling into a group now. And the villagers who were left were also gathering themselves. The horseman called instructions to them in his own language. They began to move away, disappearing into the rocks and woods. More and more of them gathered and hurried away. Many were children and old people who moved slowly. Some were obviously hurt. It took a long time for them all to go.

  None of the Almorian soldiers tried to stop them. They all stood, staring at Shalyrie.

  “Please let me go,” she repeated. “I know you can understand me.”

  “I understand you,” he said. “And if I let you go, those men will kill my people. You are the only thing stopping them.”

  “I’ll tell them to stop.”

  “It’s too late for that now,” the horseman said. “They are waiting, watching. They will attack if I release you now. If you stay still, they will let the people leave unharmed.”

  All those lives depended on her? She could still feel the sword blade against her skin.

  “I can save them?” she whispered. Her mind flashed back to the terrified girl. She hadn’t even been armed and a man with a sword had been ready to destroy her.

  “Do what you must,” she said. “If I can save their lives, I will.”

  Shalyrie heard a commotion among the Almorian soldiers, and Galenor appeared. “Shalyrie!” he cried. “You’re alive! How badly are you hurt?” His left arm was in a sling, but his right held a sword. He stared at the horseman with his sword at her throat, and his face grew furious.

  “If you harm her, Horseman, I will hunt you down. I won’t stop until the very last one of you is dead. Let her go! You have no right…” He raised his sword and took a few steps forward.

  The horseman pulled her head back and pushed the blade hard against her throat. Shalyrie screamed in panic. “Please, Galenor, stop! Don’t make him kill me!”

  Please don’t mean it. Just save the people and don’t really kill me.

  Shalyrie saw Galenor stop, staring at her. Their eyes met. Go back, Galenor. Don’t let them hurt anyone else. She wanted to shout the words, but she couldn’t find the breath to speak. And the sword blade was still against her throat. With agonizing slowness, Galenor lowered his sword.

  “This isn’t over!” he shouted.

  The Almorians backed up. They gathered all their men and slowly withdrew down the hill.

  The horseman lowered the sword a little, so it was no longer touching her skin. Shalyrie took a breath and wondered how long she had been holding the last one. Her fingers were clutching his arm desperately. One at a time, she loosened them.

  “They’re going away,” the horseman said as if to reassure her. He issued orders to the others and Shalyrie saw them searching the buildings for anyone still alive. They found a few remaining villagers and some wounded riders. These, they helped onto horses. By the time the Almorians were out of sight, they had gathered all their people.

  Shalyrie pulled the horseman’s sword arm away from her neck. He said nothing, but he didn’t object and he sheathed his sword. He shifted her so she was more comfortable on the horse, and then they were moving.

  Slowly, the adrenaline faded. He wasn’t going to kill her. At least, not now. It took a long time before she stopped shaking. How many people had died today? Why had the Almorians been killing the villagers? They couldn’t have been a threat—they were obviously not fighters. And Galenor’s men had far outnumbered them, even with the group of riders that had joined them. Why would they do it? She felt tears on her face.

  As they rode, she felt something damp against her back. When she reached back to touch it, her fingers came away bloody. She stared at her fingers in horror. She’d seen too much blood today. Was she hurt? Was she dying without even knowing it? Gradually, she realized it must be the horseman’s blood.

  They rode on.

  The horses soon overtook the villagers, and they hurried on together. They all seemed to know where they were going. The afternoon was fading fast. Just at twilight, they came to a little hidden ravine between the hills. They followed it until it opened into a flat space surrounded by high rocky walls. There were a few shallow caves or overhanging rocks that offered a little shelter. The people spread out and began to set up a makeshift camp. The horseman dismounted and lifted her down, setting her against the rock wall.

  Shalyrie’s shoulder hurt so badly that, for a while, she couldn’t think of anything else but being still. She felt completely drained, yet soon the images of the day began flashing through her mind. Blood, death, suffering. How could they do it? She lay crumpled against the rocks, with no will or strength to move.

  The horseman who had carried her came back, sat down a short distance away, and put his head in his hands. Another man came and put a hand on his shoulder. When he spoke, she realized he was the angry man, Her mind urged her to get up and run away, but her body wouldn’t move.

  The two horsemen sat talking quietly together. Though their voices were low, they both sounded angry. Neither of them was paying any attention to her. The man who had ridden with her unbuckled his armor, and removed it and the black shirt underneath. Even in the fading light, Shalyrie could see the dark stain of blood on his side. He bent over so the other man could see the wound.

  For a few moments, all she could see was the angry man’s back. Then, he was wrapping a bandage and tying it. They spoke again and the angry man left.

  Shalyrie was relieved to see him go. Not that she would have been able to stop him if he had decided to kill her, but he frightened her, and she didn’t want him near. He was dangerous.

  The horseman she had ridden with replaced his shirt and his armor. He turned and saw that she was watching him, and he came over and sat down facing her. She wished she could see his face. He was surely still angry.

  With her teeth gritted against the pain, she pushed herself into a sitting position, leaning back against the rock. Moving had used the last of her strength, and it took a few moments to catch her breath. She looked back at him. What could they say to each other? For her, this day had been filled with more pain, horror and shock than she had ever experienced before.

  “Why did they attack that village?” he asked. She remembered the calm of his voice from her first night in the cave, but now she could hear the undercurrent of anger. She couldn’t blame him for being angry after what had happened today.

  She looked back into his dark eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you could speak my language?”

  “I didn’t know if I could trust you. Now, why did they attack that village? I need to know!”

  “I don’t know why,” she said. “They shouldn’t have done it.”

  “You saw how it was, didn’t you?” he demanded. “Those people were barely armed. They aren’t soldiers. They were no threat to anyone. They were nowhere near the river or the bridge. Why? Do they claim this side of the river now too?” he demanded angrily.

  “I… I don’t know. I haven’t been here very long. I came from the island.”

  “Who are you? Your leader said he would hunt us down if we took you. They attacked the day after we took you from the bridge. Did they attack hoping to find you? Tell me who you are!” he demanded.

  She turned her eyes from his and shrank away. Maybe they would kill her now, after all.

  She heard him take a long, deep breath. And when he spoke again, his voice was calm, as if he wanted to reassure her. He pointed to himself and said, “I am Kalleck, son of Gallidack, of the Hunter Clan of the Yalkur. Will you please tell me who you are?”

  Slowly, she turned back to look at him. “I am Shalyrie Almorin, niece of the King of Almoria.”

  “The sea-folk call their city Newport. What is Almoria?”

  “I came from there. It’s an island in the ocean.”

  “Did all your people come from there?”

  Sh
e nodded.

  “And you have a leader who rules all your people?”

  “Yes. He’s the king.”

  “So the man who said he would hunt me down… He is not your king?”

  “No. He rules Newport, but not all of Almoria.”

  “So he serves your king? And now we have you, a member of his family. And he has more power and a greater army than there is at Newport?” He leaned closer to her, his voice intense.

  She gave a tiny nod, not sure how he was going to react.

  “He will come after you?”

  She nodded again.

  He shook his head in despair and anger. “Your king will send every last man after you. He’ll kill us all.”

  “No! He doesn’t want to kill anyone.”

  “If not, why would he send men here to invade our lands?”

  “Invade your lands?”

  “What do you think his bridge is for?!”

  The bridge. Galenor’s greatest project. It all swirled around in her head. It was difficult to concentrate through the pain and exhaustion.

  She felt tears on her face. “No. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “You saw what they did today!”

  She could still see it replaying in her mind if she closed her eyes. So much suffering. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” Her voice trailed off into silence. “I didn’t know they would do it! I didn’t want them to do it. We have to make them stop.”

  She couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open. The pain was getting worse, and his masked face blurred. She could no longer stay upright, even against the rocks, and she slumped to the side. It was so cold here. She was shivering. The cool rock sucked the heat from her body. She couldn’t open her eyes, but she felt a blanket being wrapped around her. Sometime later, she felt Kalleck lift her head and offer her water. She drank.

  “Can you eat?” his voice asked her.

  She shook her head. “Where’s my brother?”

  “He’s safe. He’s here. Now try to eat something. You need to keep your strength up.”

  “I can’t,” she murmured, trying to draw breath. “It’s getting worse. I can’t breathe.”

  “Try,” he repeated.

  She opened her mouth and felt a bite of bread. Slowly, she chewed and swallowed, and then accepted another piece. She didn’t even remember finishing it.

  CHAPTER 3

  Kalleck, Son of Gallidack, First Guardian of the Yalkur

  Kalleck looked over the camp in the gathering darkness. The remaining villagers were huddled together in little groups, still in shock and clinging to each other. It wasn’t safe to build fires. If the sea-folk soldiers were out searching, it might attract their attention, and this wasn’t a good time for another fight. But without fires, it would be a long, cold night.

  Kalleck wished there was more he could do for the people. In a single day, their lives had been uprooted. Their homes were gone. Nearly all of them had left family members back there, in the village that had become a battlefield.

  Somewhere, a small child was crying. Kalleck went toward the sound. A woman was trying to comfort a boy.

  “I’m sorry, First Guardian,” she said, still trying to hush him. “I know we need to be quiet. He’s cold and hungry.”

  Kalleck sat down beside them, removed his mask, and looked at the little boy. The boy stopped crying and stared back.

  “Do you know who I am?” Kalleck asked.

  The boy nodded.

  “Would you like to see my house, the Hall of Guardians in the Hidden City?”

  He nodded again.

  “We’ll go there tomorrow, when the sun comes up and, when we get there, we’ll have plenty of good things to eat. But for now, you can have this.” Kalleck still had a little bread and dried fruit in his pocket, and he took out what he had and gave it to the boy. He gave the woman the last blanket.

  “Thank you, First Guardian,” she said, wrapping it around the child. “You saved us from the sea-folk today.”

  “I… I should have done more,” he said.

  “We know you did all you could,” she said, bowing her head.

  “Try to rest,” Kalleck said. “We’ll move on at first light.”

  He got up and left then, replacing his mask. It made him sick to hear them thank him.

  Thank you that only some of us were killed. Thank you that any of us survived.

  He was First Guardian. He had been since the day he’d stood before the people and taken the oath. It fell to him to lead the people, to take care of them, to protect them. He should have known that the sea-folk were coming. Even though he’d been watching the bridge closely, he felt like he should have done more. There should have been a way for him to lead his people to safety before this happened.

  He was responsible for his people. It was a heavy weight.

  The camp was quiet now. Everyone had made themselves as comfortable as possible, but no one was truly comfortable. They were taking care of each other as well as they could, but the night was getting colder fast.

  Kalleck saw the tall form of Sinnar coming toward him. “First Guardian,” Sinnar said. “The watches are assigned in three shifts. Some of the guard is set farther away, so they’ll know if anything out there is moving.”

  “Thanks, Sinnar,” Kalleck said.

  “Everyone is settled and, if anything happens during the night, they’ll report to me. You should get some rest. How is the cut?”

  Kalleck put a hand to his side, bandaged under his armor. “Better since you wrapped it. I’ll have Kern look at it when we get back.”

  Sinnar nodded and went back toward the edge of the camp to check in with the guards.

  Kalleck returned to where he had left the girl. The faint moonlight glowed on her pale skin. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was rapid and shallow. She wasn’t resting quietly, and she was obviously in pain. He could see her shivering. He touched her forehead. It was burning hot with fever.

  It must be from the wound, of course. She needed a good healer, not just the rudimentary care they could give her in the hills. She shouldn’t be out in the cold like this. If she died out here…

  His mind went back to the sea-folk leader’s words. If you take her, I will hunt you down. And then he had found out that she was a member of their king’s family—a man more powerful than the leader at the sea-folk’s city, a man with an even greater military force, with more potential to harm Kalleck’s people. And if the girl was dead, Kalleck couldn’t return her to them. He couldn’t let her die. There were too many other lives depending on her. He had to do everything he could to help her. Everything.

  Turning his back to her, he took out a flask of water from the Sacred Spring. He poured some into a cup, careful not to spill even a drop. The water would help her. And she wouldn’t know what she was drinking. She wouldn’t know the secret.

  He lifted her. “Drink,” he said. She wasn’t really awake, but he coaxed her to drink it, sip by slow sip. He brought clean bandages from his saddlebag. Even in the faint light, he could see that the old ones were soaked. The wound was still draining, and it seemed to be swelling. Not good. Where was Healer Kern when Kalleck needed him?

  Kalleck took the rest of the water from his flask and bathed the wound with it. The virtue of the water would be enough to keep her alive until he could get her to the city. He wrapped her wound again with clean cloth and covered her with the blanket.

  The night was getting colder. She needed more warmth. Kalleck found the two prisoners at the edge of the camp, well-guarded by Sinnar’s men. They were tied together, back to back, and Sinnar had gagged them so they couldn’t give away the people’s location to the other sea-folk, if they were searching.

  Which one?

  They walked around with their faces uncovered, so he should be able to tell. One of them was
watching him intensely, the other was slumped with his head down, not even looking. Kalleck met the eyes of the man who was staring at him. That was him. Kalleck had spoken to him last night, but he hadn’t revealed that he could speak and understand them. He had spoken Yalkur to him, and the man had calmed down, seeming to understand even though he didn’t know the words. Kalleck had been telling him that his sister was all right.

  Except she wasn’t now.

  He knelt beside the prisoners and took out his knife. He spoke in a low voice in their language. “I need you to come with me, quietly. If you make a noise, try to escape, or try to harm any of my people, I will kill you.”

  The girl’s brother nodded.

  Kalleck removed the gag. “Please! Where is my sister?” the man whispered urgently. Kalleck could hear the desperate worry in his voice.

  “Come with me,” Kalleck ordered, releasing him. He looked at the guards. “Keep the other here,” he said in Yalkur.

  They went quietly back through the camp. “Is she all right?” the girl’s brother asked urgently.

  “I have done all I can for her here,” Kalleck said, “but she’s not doing well. I will take her to a healer in my city as soon as the dawn comes.”

  “Please! Can’t you let me take her back to Newport so we can care for her there?”

  “Your city is far away now. Could you get her there in time? Would you carry her all that way? If any of my men try to help you, they would kill us.”

  Kalleck could see him considering it. Even if the other prisoner were freed to help, it would still be a long way. If they wanted her to survive, there was really no other choice but to take her back to the city. Kalleck led him back to where she lay, and he knelt beside her.

  “Ree? Ree, can you hear me?”

  She turned her head at the sound of his voice, “Olthorin?”

  “Yes, it’s me. How are you?”

  “It’s worse,” she gasped. “I can’t breathe and I’m so cold, except for my head. Why is it so cold?”