War's Ending

by A J Park

  They began walking again as the sun sank. They were getting very close now, and they could see over the city to the harbor.

  “There’s a ship coming in,” Kalleck said, pointing.

  Could it be the king’s ship? Shalyrie jumped to his side to look. “Can you see the king’s banner? A blue flag with two white stripes?” she asked eagerly.

  “Maybe,” Kalleck said, staring into the fading light. “There are more of them now. I can see three more ships following. Now five.”

  “It must be him,” Shalyrie said. She looked as hard as she could. They were still a long distance away, and the evening was darkening. “I think I can see the banner,” she said. “It looks like his ship, but I can’t be sure. If we could get down there and find a boat, we could sail around and meet them. We have to hurry.”

  But the hours passed and they seemed no nearer to the harbor as they continued to walk. Glancing Shalyrie’s way, Sinnar said, “I’m tired. Let’s rest for a while.”

  Shalyrie smiled in the dark. Of course, Sinnar wasn’t tired. He was never tired. But she was grateful. She needed a break. “Give me a moment,” she said to Kalleck. “I’ll be right back.” She went a little way off into the bushes.

  There was very little light and she could barely see where she was going. She didn’t go far, though, just enough for a little privacy.

  The night was very still. She couldn’t hear a sound from the others. Everything was quiet.

  Suddenly, she heard an Almorian voice demand, “Who is that?”

  Shalyrie heard Finn answering. “I’m Baylen, from Captain Calreth’s guard. He sent us out on a special mission. We’ve just returned. I’m sorry if our disguise startled you. We’ll all be back in uniform soon—”

  “They’re horsemen!” someone exclaimed.

  “Captain Calreth sent us out dressed like this to watch the horsemen. We were ordered to report only to him—”

  “I know every man in Calreth’s guard, and you aren’t one of them. What are you doing?”

  “Look at their eyes. They really are horsemen!”

  “Horsemen!”

  From there, all she heard was the sound of a fight. It didn’t last long. The sounds faded into the distance until everything was dark and silent again. She was alone.

  What do I do? What do I do? There must be something!

  She crept through the dark, following them. They were just outside the city now. She came to the edge of the trees just in time to see the company of men arrive at a camp that had been set up to house the soldiers. She saw row upon row of neat white tents. There was one, larger than the others, somewhat near the front. She thought she saw the group going into the bigger tent. They were too far away now though—she couldn’t be sure.

  There were guards with lanterns patrolling the perimeter. She watched them come and go. There was a pattern. Maybe an opening?

  Her heart was pounding and her limbs were shaking. What in the world would she do once she was in there? But she had to try. If not, they would kill Kalleck and the others. She had to try.

  She took a deep breath and crept nearer. Her black clothes blended in with the darkness, but they made her look like one of the horsemen. What did that matter? She was one of them now, and she had to help Kalleck.

  While the guard was at the other end of his round, she ran to the last tent at the edge of the camp and slipped inside. For a long time, she waited, listening for any sign that she’d been seen, her heart beating in her throat. She could see the light from the sentry’s lantern coming nearer. Had he seen something? She fought a powerful desire to run.

  Nearer… nearer.

  She tensed.

  But then he was past, moving away, continuing his patrol. She calmed a little. In the dim light from the sentry’s lantern, she saw two men sleeping inside the tent. She crept nearer and took one of their blue tunics, as well as a helmet and sword. She covered her black clothes with the uniform, stuffed her hood into her pack and put on the helmet, which partially obscured her face. Now, all she had to do was stand up straight and act like she knew exactly what she was doing.

  She squared her shoulders and went out of the tent toward the center of the camp. She passed a couple of soldiers, but they were deep in conversation and ignored her. She made it to the large tent at the center of the encampment. She could hear several voices. Quickly, she ducked inside the tent next to the large one. It was empty, except for piles of supplies and gear.

  She could hear voices from the next tent.

  “Make sure it’s tight…”

  “They’re not going anywhere.”

  “He’s a traitor. We found him with the horsemen.”

  “You’re helping them?” an outraged voice exclaimed. “Why would you betray us?”

  “I wouldn’t,” Finn protested.

  Shalyrie heard the sound of blows.

  “We’ve sent men to bring Governor Galenor.”

  Galenor was coming here. He was on his way. Shalyrie had to do something quickly.

  “How will he question them?”

  “Some of his people can translate. Unless the traitor learned the horsemen’s speech.”

  Shalyrie heard the sound of another blow. “Do you know their language?”

  “No.” Finn’s voice sounded strained.

  “You were with them. They weren’t trying to kill you, and you were helping them. You had to have a way to communicate with them.”

  She heard another blow and a groan.

  “We’ll find out soon enough. Hold them here until he comes. Disarm them, search them, and put all of their things over there. Leave their masks. The governor will take those himself. And make sure they’re… comfortable… while they wait. I’ll be back.”

  She could hear the sounds of struggle and more blows. How many men were in there? Too many. She needed a distraction. Desperately, she looked around the tent. Weapons, piles of uniforms, bedding. Her eye fell on a lantern—unlit, but she saw flint and steel, and some long thin slivers of wood to light it. She could still hear the sound of blows from the next tent. She tried not to think about what the soldiers were doing to her friends.

  Shalyrie piled the bedding and uniforms against the side of the tent. She dumped a liberal amount of lantern oil on top of it, lit a flame and tossed it in. When it was going well, she grabbed some of the weapons and slipped to another nearby tent, from which she could see the entrance to the commander’s tent. She waited breathlessly.

  It didn’t take very long for the alarm to be raised. “Fire!” many voices cried out. Several men ran out of the commander’s tent. Were they all gone? There was no way to know, but she couldn’t wait. Shalyrie took a deep breath and ran into it.

  There was one Almorian soldier left, but his back was to her. She had never hit anyone before in her life, but she took one of the swords in her hand and struck him on the back of his head with the hilt as hard as she could.

  He whirled around to face her, clutching his head with his hand. One of the bound men on the floor behind him swung his legs hard to knock the Almorian down, but missed. Shalyrie hit the soldier again and this time he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

  All three of them were there, still alive. Shalyrie dropped the sword and pulled out her knife to cut Kalleck’s bonds. When he was free, he took the sword to release Finn while Shalyrie worked on Sinnar.

  Each man took a sword, and all four of them ran out the door and between the other tents, away from the crowd gathered around the fire.

  A few small groups challenged them, but they were moving so fast that the Almorians weren’t ready to fight. Finn and Kalleck drove everyone out of their way, and Sinnar guarded behind. They reached the edge of the camp and fled into the dark.

  “Where do we go, Finn?” Kalleck asked. “We need someplace to hide!”

  “Follow
me,” Finn said. They ran stumbling through the dark. They could still hear the uproar in the camp behind them. They were nearly to the open beach now. There were tall patches of reeds in the sand. Finn stopped at the edge of one and started scooping sand away. “Make a hole, quickly,” he said. They dug the sand away as fast as possible. “Get in… cover yourself,” Finn instructed. He cut a section of the reed and took a long piece of the hollow stem. “Put this in your mouth, use it to breathe. Don’t speak, don’t move, and don’t do anything till I tell you.”

  They obeyed.

  Shalyrie did not enjoy the feeling of being buried in the sand, breathing through the stem. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, and couldn’t move. The sand pressed against her from every direction. There was no way of knowing what was happening out there. No way to know if the others had been found and captured.

  Time stopped. There was sand in her ears and everywhere around her. She wanted to get up and run, to fight her way out of the smothering sand. Air. She needed air!

  No. She could breathe. Slow. In and out. She started counting in her mind to calm herself. One, two, three, four…

  Somewhere in the six hundreds, she felt pressure on her legs—hard for a moment, then gone. Had someone actually walked across her?

  Six-hundred fifty-nine, six-hundred sixty, six-hundred sixty-one…

  At eight-hundred fourteen, someone stepped on her again. Then another. Had they found the others? Were they killing Kalleck even now?

  No, it would be all right. Kalleck was safe, hiding under the sand. They all were.

  Eight-hundred fifteen, eight-hundred sixteen, eight-hundred seventeen… Kalleck, Kalleck, Kalleck.

  Keep still. Keep counting. Eight-hundred eighteen, eight-hundred nineteen…

  At three thousand, she lost count and had to start again. Somewhere in the thirty-four hundreds, she felt someone touch her hand. Had they been discovered? She froze. Someone began to unbury her hand.

  “Shalyrie!” Kalleck whispered urgently. He was alive. He was all right. She sat up and spit out the reed, then tried to brush the sand from her eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Kalleck asked.

  “Yes, and you?”

  “Yes.”

  She hugged him fiercely. “You’re here. You’re alive!”

  Finn was pulling Sinnar out of the sand. “They might be back at any time,” Finn said. “It will be light in a couple of hours. We have to find a boat and get out of here. If those were the king’s ships, then he’s near.” They filled in the holes with sand and smoothed the surface over.

  Finn said, “Stay here and hide in the reeds. I’ll go look for a boat.” The Almorian quickly disappeared into the dark, and Shalyrie, Kalleck and Sinnar hid themselves among the reeds.

  Kalleck found her hand and held it. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Your hand is shaking.”

  “I’m afraid,” she confessed. “I thought they were going to kill you.”

  He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “We’re alive. It’s not over yet. You were amazing—you saved us.”

  It seemed like they waited there for hours, anxiously listening for any sound. Although, it must not have actually been that long. Shalyrie heard the soft slap of oars against the water. She could see a small fishing boat turn and head toward the reeds where they were hidden.

  “My lady?” Finn’s voice was hushed, barely audible over the soft sound of the waves.

  They slipped out of the reeds and waded to the boat. The sea was very calm, and they were soon all in the little vessel. Finn pulled steadily at the oars, heading for the far side of the harbor, where they’d seen the ships coming in.

  It was very dark, with only the stars and a few lights from the city reflected on the black ocean. Suddenly, a large object came between them and the ships they were heading toward. A lantern was uncovered, blinding them after the dim light.

  “Don’t move!” A man’s voice ordered loudly. “We have archers on you. Let me see your hands.”

  “Horsemen!” Someone hissed. “Get Captain Calreth.”

  Shalyrie felt like her heart was trying to jump out of her chest, but there was nothing they could do now. This was not one of the king’s ships. If Calreth was here, these men were loyal to Galenor. Even now, she could see several men with bows and, if they tried to escape, the sailors would shoot.

  “Climb up slowly if you don’t want to die right there. One at a time.”

  Shalyrie looked desperately at Kalleck. Wasn’t there something they could do? But what? Shalyrie said in Yalkur, “We have to do what they say, but don’t let them know you understand them.”

  Slowly, Finn stood and climbed the ladder to the deck. Kalleck and Sinnar followed him, and Shalyrie went after them. As she reached the top, someone seized her and pulled her the rest of the way up. A rag was shoved roughly into her mouth, her arms were pulled behind her and tied, and something was thrown over her head, blinding her.

  They dragged her somewhere, maybe to one of the cabins, and she was thrown roughly inside. The heavy door slammed behind her.

  CHAPTER 25

  Hannal, Second Guardian of the Yalkur

  Hannal hurried down the stairs to the council room. He could tell at once that the scouts had not brought good news. “Please, sit,” he said to them. “Tell me what’s happening.”

  “The sea-folk are moving to attack the valley,” one man reported.

  “How many?” Hannal asked.

  “Far more than we’ve seen before. They outnumber us twenty to one, at least.”

  “Do we have everyone back within the borders now?”

  “Yes, Guardian. We were the last.”

  Hannal sat alone in the council room after all the men had gone. His heart felt like it had turned to lead in his chest. What was he going to do now? He didn’t have many options. The news his scouts had brought was worse than he had feared. There were more sea-folk than he had believed. Kalleck had entrusted him with the safety of the people, and he didn’t have enough men. Even with the advantage their horses gave them, there would still be too many of their enemies. The Yalkur would be overcome.

  A messenger came in. “The High Priestess wishes to see you,” he said.

  Hannal nodded. “Will you please ask her to join me here, and then summon the rest of the Council?”

  In a short while, they were all seated around the table—the clan leaders and the High Priestess. The Council didn’t feel complete without Kalleck and Sinnar. There had been no word of them since Ren had returned, bringing news of their errand.

  Hannal looked at the others around the table. “The sea-folk are moving to attack the valley,” he said. “We feared that they would, and now our time is up. There are far more of them than even our worst fears guessed.” He looked at High Priestess Allemi, “I’m sorry, Priestess, but there has been no message from Kalleck. We must proceed assuming that his errand has failed. Even if he is still alive, free and trying to reach his goal, there’s no more time.”

  Allemi bowed her head.

  Hannal went on. “Our only choices now are to fight and try to defend our lands, or to flee.”

  “Guardian Kalleck would want us to fight,” Ammur said. “Maybe he will still succeed. Maybe we can give him more time.”

  “That’s possible,” Hannal agreed. “But if we decide to fight, we will be greatly outnumbered. I love my people. How can I command them to fight under these circumstances? I would be condemning them to death.”

  “We will fight,” Dalron, Chief of the Farmers, said. “We will not give up the Sacred Waters. They can’t make us leave this valley.”

  “They aren’t trying to make us leave. They want to destroy us. We have to get the women, children and elderly out of the valley, or they might kill everyone, even those who have no chance of defending themselves.”

 
“And what will they be able to do, out in the mountains with no shelter, and the days growing colder fast? The heavy snows will soon be here,” Allemi said.

  “I know,” Hannal said, and he could hear the pain in his own voice. “What else can I do? This is the Yalkur Council, and all of your voices matter, but I will tell you openly that I see no way to protect the future of our people, my own children. What can I do?”

  A long silence fell.

  No one had any suggestions. They all knew the danger their people were in. They all looked at Hannal and finally he spoke. He would have to do the only thing he could do.

  “Allemi, please organize those who cannot fight into groups. Assign a leader to each one and have them prepare what provisions they can—tents and food for traveling. We will send one packhorse with each group to carry as much as possible. They need all the warm clothing and bedding that they can carry with them. The snow is already far down the mountains. Prepare them for my order to leave.”

  Allemi looked back at him, her face composed, her emotions hidden. “I will report to you when this is done.”

  “Clan Chiefs, I need you to find and arm any man who can fight. We need every horse we can get. But if any man wishes to go into the mountains to protect his wife and children, send him to help Allemi. If we’re going to die, I won’t forbid a man from dying beside his loved ones.”

  “I will send all the people to drink from the Sacred Spring one last time,” Allemi said.

  The council members departed in silence. Hannal slowly got to his feet, feeling as stiff as an old man. When all the others were gone, he heard a voice.

  “Guardian Hannal?” He turned toward the sound and saw it was Kellji. “Has there been any news?”

  What could he tell her? “I’m sorry,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve had no news of them.”