War's Ending

by A J Park

  There was more blood, spreading in a widening pool from under Sinnar’s back. And he was so still. His eyes looked at Kalleck but no longer saw him. He wasn’t breathing.

  No! There had to be something else they could do. Something. Anything!

  In despair, he bent over the body of his friend.

  Kalleck wasn’t sure how long it had been when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “I’m very sorry,” the sea-king said.

  “You saw it, didn’t you?” Kalleck demanded. “You saw him save her life?”

  “Yes.”

  “If Sinnar hadn’t done it, she would be dead, and he would still be here…”

  “Sinnar will have the honor he deserves,” the king said, “and my gratitude forever.” He turned to one of his men. “Captain, this man gave his life to save Shalyrie. See that his rest is guarded.”

  Kalleck stared down into the lifeless face of his friend. He was gone. It was too late. There was nothing else Kalleck could do…

  There was no time to grieve. He heard Shalyrie moan in pain. The poison. He had the cure, and she was suffering.

  The king bent over her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Shalyrie. It’s all over now. I’m here. It will be all right.”

  She didn’t open her eyes, but she spoke in a desperate whisper. “Please, Galenor! Don’t hurt us anymore. Please stop. Please!”

  “What did he do to her?” Telthan demanded, his face reddened with rage.

  “It was a fish, shaped like a star. He put it on her skin.”

  “The poisoned sea-star?” Telthan said in disbelief. “He put it on her skin deliberately?”

  Telthan’s eyes widened as he looked back to the raw, angry welts on Kalleck’s chest and arms. “Is that what caused these?”

  Kalleck nodded.

  “There is nothing more painful…” Telthan said. “He didn’t do that to her?”

  “He did.”

  Gently, they rolled her onto her side and examined the raw skin of her back through the torn remains of her tunic. It looked worse now, with dirt embedded in it. Telthan turned to his men. “Hurry! Bring water and something to clean her wounds.” They obeyed at once. He turned back to her. “Shalyrie?”

  She opened her eyes, but she was looking past him, seeing something that wasn’t there. “No, please don’t kill them. Please don’t kill us. Galenor?” She looked up at Telthan, but she didn’t seem to see him. “Galenor, please don’t hurt me anymore.”

  “It will be over soon, Shalyrie,” King Telthan promised.

  “No, no more, please,” she moaned. “It hurts.”

  “She needs water too,” Kalleck said. “We’ve been days with no food or water.”

  The king’s men had returned with water. Kalleck moistened her cracked lips and helped her to drink. Then they bathed the damaged skin on her back and arms.

  Kalleck opened the jar and spread the liquid over the welts. She sighed, and the tension and pain left her face.

  “It’s cooler now,” she murmured. It must have helped. She looked like she was resting quietly.

  “You need this too,” the king said, pointing to the jar.

  Kalleck rubbed the stuff onto his arms and chest. The burning pain eased at once. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes. “It does help.”

  He opened his eyes again when he heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice.

  “Where is she?” the voice demanded.

  He looked up to see an Almorian woman hurrying to the king’s side. She bent over Shalyrie. “Is she alive?”

  “Yes, Lorelei,” the king said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I found out that it was Galenor who was trying to kill her,” Lorelei said. “We had to warn you. It must all have been a trick. Please be careful, Your Majesty.”

  “Thank you for coming to warn me,” the king said.

  “Of course,” she said. She looked down at Shalyrie and took her hand. “I had to try and help her if I could. Lord Brennan was still at Newport. He helped us. We gathered all the horsemen we could find and brought them with us.” She looked over her shoulder at a small group of people, several men and a woman with a child in her arms. They were no longer dressed in black and their faces were bare, but they were Yalkur.

  “Welcome home,” Kalleck greeted them in Yalkur.

  “How did you discover what was happening?” the king asked.

  Lorelei gestured to the Yalkur woman holding the child. “Karrah told me. We found Finn in the dungeon. He told us what Galenor did.”

  “Finn helped us,” Kalleck said. “I didn’t know what they had done with him because we were all unconscious when Galenor took us from the prison, but they poisoned Finn too.”

  “We looked for the cure before we left, but we couldn’t find it.”

  Kalleck held up the jar. “Galenor had it with him.”

  Lorelei took the jar. “Your Majesty, with your permission?”

  King Telthan nodded.

  “I need two men,” Lorelei ordered, pointing at two of the soldiers. “I need you to take this and go back down the hill until you meet more of the king’s men. They are bringing an injured soldier up this way. He is in terrible pain and this will help him. He was tortured because he helped Lady Shalyrie.”

  “We’ll find them,” they promised, taking the precious jar and hurrying down the hill.

  “We have to save our people from Galenor’s army now,” Kalleck said looking at the king. “Will you help us?”

  “I will,” King Telthan said. “Everything has been exactly like you said.”

  Kalleck lifted his head wearily and looked at Telthan. “Galenor planned to make it appear that we had killed Shalyrie. He thought you would be angry enough to help him slaughter my people. Please! Don’t let him destroy them!”

  Telthan turned to his men. “Bring Galenor here now!” Two of them went back the way they had come and soon returned again. “He’s gone, Your Majesty. The guards who were left watching him are all injured or dead. Galenor’s men must have attacked them.”

  This was not good news. Galenor was vicious, and there was no way to predict what he would do to any Yalkur he encountered. Kalleck had already seen what he was capable of. They had to find him and stop him.

  “Where did they go?” Telthan demanded.

  The two men pointed up the hill to the ridge. “One of the injured guards told us he thinks they went over into the valley.”

  If Galenor and the others were in the valley, they had to go now. Kalleck stood up, trying to clear his head. He could still feel the fever even though his skin was no longer burning.

  “Are you all right, Kalleck?” a man put a supporting hand on his arm.

  It sounded like Sinnar, and Kalleck’s stomach clenched. “Who…?” he turned to look. It was Sinnar, standing beside him. Kalleck rubbed his eyes desperately. If he was seeing things that weren’t there, he didn’t want to see Sinnar. He glanced to the side, not wanting to see the still form lying on the ground. It hadn’t moved. It looked undeniably real. But someone was standing beside him. He rubbed his eyes again, and his vision cleared a little. It wasn’t Sinnar next to him. It was Tarkan.

  “Sinnar’s dead… Just a few moments ago…” Kalleck said. He couldn’t find the words to say it gently. There were no words for that.

  Tarkan’s expression was stricken. His eyes followed Kalleck’s gaze. With a cry, he ran to Sinnar and sank down beside the body of his brother.

  CHAPTER 31

  Hannal, Second Guardian of the Yalkur

  Hannal charged into a group of the sea-folk, driving them back, but he couldn’t push them far. The horses gave his men a big advantage, but they needed more. The Almorians were moving steadily down the hill, and Hannal found himself retreating. There were just too many of them. The sea-folk kept trying to divide and surround his rid
ers, and though he kept attacking repeatedly, he made no headway. He gathered the riders around him for another charge, and they slammed into the sea-folk with deadly force.

  Enemies were all around him. Suddenly, something struck Hannal from behind and knocked him out of the saddle. He rolled back to his feet, his sword ready. They were closing in. He could see the bloodlust on their bare faces.

  Another horse charged into the group of sea-folk, scattering them. As soon as they were distracted, Hannal attacked, killing one immediately and driving the others back. But the sea-folk knocked the other rider from his horse. Hannal pushed two of the sea-folk to the side to reach the other Yalkur. When the other rider got to his feet, Hannal realized that he was small, only reaching Hannal’s shoulder, and that he wore no clan marker. A man usually got his first clan marker at his rebirth ceremony. No Yalkur would go out to fight without one.

  Unless he hadn’t received one yet…

  But there was no time to think about that now. The sea-folk were attacking, and Hannal stood back-to-back with the other rider. Guarding each other’s backs, they held off their foes. Hannal kept striking them down until no more came at him, and then he turned to help the other rider. He was hard-pressed by two attackers, but with Hannal’s help, they soon cut them down.

  “Who are you?” Hannal demanded of the shorter rider. He was supposed to be leading these men. How had this man come to be here with no marking?

  The other stared back at him without answering.

  “I am Second Guardian of all the Yalkur, and I command this battle. Tell me who you are,” Hannal ordered.

  “Don’t you know me, Father?”

  It was Kemman’s voice. Hannal felt as if his stomach had dropped. Kemman, his son, surrounded by enemies hungry for his blood. He had thought the children were safe with Kallia in the mountains.

  “What are you doing here?” Hannal asked, his voice strangled by shock. “I told you to go with your mother. Why would you disobey me?”

  “I just saved your life,” Kemman said.

  “You did, and I’m grateful, but you almost got killed doing it.”

  “I will fight for the Yalkur,” Kemman said stubbornly.

  There was no time to argue now, and no way to get the boy to safety. Hannal saw his horse and ran to grab the reins. The horse Kemman had been riding was nowhere near. Hannal leapt back into his saddle and offered his hand to pull the boy up behind him. “Didn’t you stop to think you might be killed out here?!”

  “I know, Father,” Kemman said with surprising calm. “You might be killed too. And if they kill all of us, they’ll kill Mother and the girls too. I thought it was better to do what I could.”

  They rode to the aid of another group of Yalkur, who were surrounded by a company of sea-folk. The battle raged around them, the clamor and horror, blood and death. Something struck the horse, and it faltered and stumbled. Hannal and Kemman were thrown. Hannal landed hard, the fall knocking the breath from his body. He got to his feet, gasping. He saw two of the sea-folk behind the boy, both aiming sword thrusts—

  With a yell, Hannal leapt toward them. He knocked aside one of the blades, so that the blow meant for Kemman’s heart only pierced his shoulder. He heard his son cry out in pain, as the boy fell to the ground. Hannal felt the second man’s blade cut into his side. He dove toward the man who attacked his son and cut him down.

  “Get up,” Hannal said to the boy. “Get up.”

  Kemman stood back up, holding the wound.

  Hannal clutched his side with one hand. He wasn’t sure how bad the wound was, but he could still stand. He hoped he could still fight too. The last soldier advanced, knowing that they were wounded. Hannal stepped in front of his son, raising his sword again to meet the attack.

  They traded blows, and Hannal struggled to concentrate. His sword swung, and his muscles still obeyed his mind. He could not let this man win. He summoned his strength, watching for an opening and, when he saw it, dealt one last blow. His enemy lay dead, his blood running onto the ground.

  Hannal looked up to see a whole company of sea-folk surrounding them. He stepped toward his son, turning in all directions. He couldn’t let them kill Kemman, but he knew there were too many for him to stop. He hoped that Kallia and the girls got to safety. He’d done everything he could to hold off the sea-folk.

  For a long moment, no one moved. Hannal stood still, breathing hard, hearing the sound of horns blowing above him on the hill. He waited for the attack to come. Some of the attackers were looking up the hill, where the sound of the horns came drifting to them. One by one, they cautiously began backing away.

  Hannal looked around.

  There was no one near him but Kemman. The sea-folk seemed to have pulled back a little. Hannal looked for his riders and saw them gathering a short distance away. He helped the boy walk to where the others had gathered.

  The Yalkur were preparing for another charge. “Hold! Wait!” Hannal yelled. They held their horses back, watching.

  It almost seemed that the sea-folk had retreated a bit more. Was it possible? Or were they just regrouping to advance again?

  The space between the horsemen and the sea-folk continued to widen. Suddenly, there were cries and shouts, and Hannal looked up to the rim of the valley. He saw a blue and white banner and, surrounding it, a new force of the sea-folk coming across the rim. Surely, there were many more beyond his sight.

  This was the end.

  The Yalkur would make a last stand, and end here. There would be no more Yalkur to ride the mountains and protect the Sacred Waters. All that generations of his people had done to protect them would be pointless.

  Kemman was beside him, and Hannal gripped his shoulder.

  Be safe, Kallia. Survive. Take some memory of our people away into the mountains and into some other land. Remind the girls that we were a great people once.

  Again, Hannal heard the call of horns, blowing some kind of signal. At first, he thought they were going to attack, and he raised his sword. But they didn’t.

  Hannal waited with his men. No one spoke. They only watched the sea-folk. The horns came again, and the sea-folk retreated more. It was definite now. They were moving back up the hill toward the blue banner. Slowly, steadily, they withdrew until the last of them was behind the banner and the line of men with it.

  They will attack with fresh troops, Hannal thought.

  CHAPTER 32

  Kalleck, Son of Gallidack, First Guardian of the Yalkur

  Kalleck stood on top of the ridge beside King Telthan. The battle was raging below them, and Kalleck’s stomach clenched. Those were his people dying down there.

  “Signal the retreat, now!” King Telthan ordered.

  Horns sounded.

  Please, let them stop.

  With agonizing slowness, the blue-uniformed soldiers separated from the Yalkur riders. The gap between them continued to widen. The Almorians moved gradually back up the hill. The king’s men formed an opening and allowed Galenor’s men to pass through them.

  “Are there more troops here?” the king’s captain demanded.

  “Yes, sir, several more companies. They’ve gone further into the valley.”

  “And what were your orders?”

  “To kill any horsemen we found.”

  The king met Kalleck’s eyes. “I need to send my men after them. We can force them to withdraw without further violence.”

  Kalleck had never allowed strangers to see the valley before, but if he didn’t, how many of his people would die? If companies of Galenor’s men were spread throughout his lands, he would need help to remove them.

  “If you agree, King Telthan, then we will work together. I have only a few who can speak your language, but we will send our people together to bring back Galenor’s men. Will you come with me?”

  There were no more of Galenor’
s soldiers down there, only a line of Yalkur, masked and with their weapons raised to defend themselves. Would the sea-king face them?

  King Telthan nodded. He gestured to two guards to attend him, then looked at the captain. “Stay here. Wait for my signal.” The captain appeared uneasy, but he nodded.

  Kalleck and the small group of Almorians walked down the hill to meet the Yalkur.

  CHAPTER 33

  Hannal, Second Guardian of the Yalku

  A small detachment of sea-folk began to advance slowly down the hill, and Hannal held his blade ready. But the sea-folk didn’t have their weapons out. That was strange. A single man left the group and came forward toward Hannal, while the rest of them waited, tense and watchful. The man walked a little stiffly. His black clothes were tattered and he wore no mask. Hannal rubbed his weary eyes. Surely this was only some hallucination.

  It was Kalleck.

  It couldn’t be.

  “We’re here to stop the fighting,” Kalleck said. “It’s over.”

  The battle was over. Kemman wasn’t going to die on the battlefield.

  Hannal held his blade in the air and shouted for joy.

  He turned to relay the news to the other riders, and they all cheered. Kalleck came forward and put his hand on Hannal’s shoulder.

  Hannal sank to his knees, his temporary energy exhausted. “We’re alive,” he said. “I thought they would kill us all.”

  “You held the valley,” Kalleck said. “You saved our people.”

  “No!” Hannal protested. “We tried to hold it, but there were too many. Some of them got past us and went up the valley. They’ll be following everyone we sent away from the city—the ones who couldn’t fight. We have to go after them!”