by Pedro Urvi
“It’s time to fight for freedom! Today we’ll spill the blood of the traitors to obtain it!” Liriana shouted, and joined the fray.
In the blink of an eye the attack turned into a bloodbath. The woodcutters attacked the soldiers to right and left with their axes, making up for their limited fighting experience with courage and strength. They struck out furiously, with powerful arms used to hard work and sustained effort: robust bodies, men who had spent their whole lives in the mountains felling and dragging trees to fulfill the wood quotas imposed by the Gods. They wore no armor, only the old cloth tunics and tanned leather pants they wore daily as they worked in the forests. The soldiers of the Guard on the other hand had years of experience and military training. They wore helmets, reinforced leather armor over body and limbs and the blue-and-white uniform of the Guard with its blue cloak. They were armed with spears and round wooden shields and were skilled with them. But the attack had caught them off guard. Never in their lives could they have imagined anything like this happening. The most they had faced were skirmishes against some band of outlaws larger than usual, or more bloodthirsty and daring. Never anything on this scale. There were hundreds of woodcutters, and they were attacking all at once. An organized attack, by slaves: it was something unthinkable, something which had never happened in a thousand years.
The road was soon patched with red. All along the line of carts the soldiers of the Guard fell, amid a deafening, terrifying uproar. But at the rearguard and at several points along the line of carts the Guard managed to regroup. With military efficiency, they formed a line and began to deliver death to the assailants, spearing them from behind the protection of their shields.
Rutus reached one of the head riders and with a terrifying yell struck the soldier’s shield with his huge axe. The shield broke in two and the axe penetrated wood, armor, flesh and bone. The rider stared, wide-eyed, at the steel that had killed him and toppled from his horse. Usom and Turos meanwhile were attacking other horsemen on both sides, delivering tremendous blows with their axes.
When Liriana reached Masium and Proxy Alius she found them both fighting desperately on horseback beside two other riders of the Guard. The bodies of more than twenty good honest men lay around them.
“Surrender, for the sake of your lives,” Liriana called out.
Alius’s tunic was splattered with blood and there was a cut on his forehead. He glared at her.
“If we surrender, there’ll be something worse than death waiting for us. Regent Sesmok will skin us alive.”
“Or turn us over to the Eyes,” Masium added. “And that will mean an even worse fate.”
There was a moment of tension, and the fighting around the group stopped. The woodcutters stepped back hesitantly when they saw Liriana talking to the leaders of the convoy.
Rutus came to stand grimly at Liriana’s right. “Let me kill them,” he said, laconic as always.
Turos came to stand on her left, axe in one hand and knife in the other. “Today we’re not woodcutters of the Third County, today we’re freedom fighters. Give the order, and we’ll finish them off.”
Liriana looked at both men with a pride she had never known before. She was proud to be fighting alongside them, proud of their union and strength, of their sacrifice, of that fight for freedom.
She turned to the enemy. “Surrender and we’ll spare your lives. Dying for a Regent who exploits his people for his own profit, who serves the wishes of a bunch of despotic Gods who enslave us, is a bad way to die.”
Alius shook his head dismissively. “You’re crazy if you think you’ll get anywhere by this. You’ll only gain more suffering for everybody in the County. The Regent will make you pay dearly for this affront. He won’t tolerate anyone standing up against him, least of all a few miserable woodcutters led by a slip of a girl. He’ll hang you all after making you suffer unending torture.”
Liriana turned to Masium enquiringly.
The Captain sighed. “I’m an officer of the Guard. It’s all I am and all I’ll ever be. I won’t risk my family’s life. If I betray Sesmok he’ll kill all my people in Urasis: my wife, my children … My mission is to escort the Quota to the capital and deliver it to the Enforcers, and that’s what I’ll do.”
Liriana shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. Those who serve the Regent, those who serve the Enforcers, are our enemies. And our enemies will suffer just as the people do.” She turned to Rutus, then to his cousins. Crossing her sword and dagger above her head she gave the order:
“Kill them!”
Fighting broke out again. When one of the riders killed a woodcutter, Rutus delivered a massive blow which toppled both rider and horse.
Liriana made her way to Masium, who had been thrown off his mount and was now fighting on foot with sword and dagger.
“Leave him to me,” she told the three men who were fighting him. She did it more to spare their lives, since she was sure Masium would kill them easily. They were no match for his skills. But she herself was. The Captain turned his attention to her and saluted her with his sword. She returned the salute. They sized each other up, delivering swift strokes as they circled one another. Both blocked the attacks easily. Liriana decided to assess her opponent’s dexterity, and attacked fiercely. Masium blocked and followed with a quick, balanced counterattack. He’s good. I’ll have to be very careful. Then it was Masium’s turn to attack with a feint, but Liriana saw the stroke coming and avoided it by leaping out of reach of the sword.
A muffled scream behind Masium caught her attention. Rutus had just finished off the last rider of the vanguard with an axe-stroke which clove both helmet and skull.
The woodcutters assembled around Liriana and Masium to watch the fight as though it were a fencing competition. In fact, that was exactly what it was, except that this was a fight to the death. Masium attacked masterfully, and Liriana was only just able to block him with sword and dagger. She was beginning to think he was too good for her, and she started to feel nervous. Then she saw the hopeful faces of the poor wretches who had followed her into battle. Men who had never in their lives shed blood, who had fought with all their might, without preparation, without knowing how to use a weapon to kill. I can’t fail them. I have to be an example, to give them hope. They must know we can win, that we’ll win in the end. And that’s why I must win this first battle. If he kills me they’ll lose courage, they’ll lose hope.
She aimed to distract Masium. “Are you going to let a woman beat you in combat?” she taunted him.
“Nobody’s ever defeated me in combat, neither man nor woman. I’ve been Champion of Urasis for three years in a row.”
Damn! Why couldn’t he have turned out to be a drunk or a coward? I had to choose the Champion of the Third County!
“Champion? They must hand out the title for free in this County. All I can see is a soldier who’s a bit clumsy with his sword.”
Masium looked at her for a moment, trying to guess her intention. “Well, today you’ll die in front all these people,” he said, “at the hands of this clumsy soldier.”
He lunged with surprising vigor. Liriana blocked the sword, deflected the dagger and dodged him, but received a cut in the forearm in the process. She stepped back a few paces, out of his reach.
She raised her eyes to see Turos taking a prodigious leap, letting out a howl as he did so, and throwing Alius off his horse. The Proxy got to his feet, sword in hand, stunned. He focused on Turos, who was getting back to his feet and retrieving his axe. Alius turned and found he was surrounded by woodcutters with grim faces and blood-spattered bodies. They were coming to kill him.
“You’ll all die for this!” he yelled at the top of his voice.
A dozen axes fell on his body and hacked him to pieces.
Liriana sighed. It was time to bring it to an end. She had to win, and so she would, for their sake. It would not be pretty, but it would be a victory. She had learnt many things during her time in the Guard, and one was how
to fight dirty if necessary. She stepped forward, crossed sword and dagger in front of her face and chest and went for Masium. Taken by surprise, he launched a wide sweep at her unprotected thigh. It was the logical move, and she was expecting it. She blocked it with a downward stroke of her sword. Masium’s dagger, lightning-fast, searched for her neck, and she crouched with the agility of a cat. The dagger cut her temple and very nearly finished her off. She plunged her own dagger up to the hilt in his boot, then rolled over to one side. The Captain’s sword reached her in the shoulder, but the padding of the armor held. She got up and saw the expression of pain on his face as he choked back a scream. His foot was nailed to the ground by the dagger. She raised her sword and advanced. Masium lunged to keep her at bay, but the pain when he leaned his weight on the wounded foot made him grunt out a curse. She moved round in a circle, and the officer knew he was lost. Turning his foot was pure agony. Desperately he held his own dagger by the tip, raised his arm and threw it at her, but it was a weak throw, and it did not hit her. He bent over to pull the dagger in his foot out, but Liriana leapt forward and slashed his arm.
She waved her sword at him. “No, no,” she said.
Masium breathed deeply. His eyes fell on the woodcutters who stood around him in tense silence. He realized everything was lost.
“Will you give me a fair death?”
“I will,” Liriana said, and saluted him. “You have my word.”
Masium nodded and let his sword fall.
She stood in front of him and placed her own on the officer’s shoulder.
“Good luck,” Masium said, and closed his eyes. “You’re going to need it.”
She drew the sword back, then with a powerful stroke she decapitated him. The head fell to the ground and rolled to her feet.
The men stared in astonishment. After a moment, they began to shout their leader’s name.
“Liriana! Liriana!”
The clamor spread all along the column, and soon everybody was chanting her name. The whole forest seemed to be shouting it to the heavens.
“Liriana!”
The young woman staunched the blood which was flowing from the cut on her temple. That was close, she thought. Very, very close. Then she looked at the exultant men who were shouting her name to the skies.
“Today is a great day, the day of our rebellion!”
She raised her sword to the sky and cried:
“For freedom!”
Chapter 17
“Come on, Ikai, hurry up, you move like an old lady,” Albana said, teasing him with her smile, which was as charming as it was sarcastic. She was crouching at the top of the hill watching him. She had been waiting for them for some time.
“I’m nearly there…” was all he could say. He was exhausted. His legs were barely responding and in agony, his lungs burning from the effort and the altitude.
“How… how can it be that this woman… never gets tired?” Isaz complained. He was panting as he climbed the steep slope behind Ikai.
“I don’t know,” Ikai said, “but she’s making us both a laughing-stock.” He reached the top and offered his comrade a helping hand.
“Yes, she is,” Isaz agreed. With Ikai’s aid he reached the summit.
Ikai, bent double, hands holding his sides, barely able to breathe, looked for the brunette. She had already disappeared again.
“That girl isn’t normal,” Isaz whispered. He sat down on the ground to get his breath back. “It’s been more than three weeks of forced march since we left the Shelter. We barely stop to rest at night, I’m knackered, my body is on the verge of collapse, and I’m an experienced tracker, used to mountains and long marches. You used to be a Hunter. Nobody’s better prepared than us, and still she leaves us behind as if we were just kids. She’s not normal, I’m telling you.”
“I know, my friend. She’s surprising in many ways.”
“Where did you say you met her?”
“It’s a long story, but rest assured, you can trust her.”
Isaz bowed his head. “All right, chief. If you trust her, then so do I.”
Ikai smiled. “I trust her implicitly.” He was not surprised that Isaz should find Albana’s exceptional abilities strange and suspicious. And he had only seen a few of them. Ikai on the other hand, knowing that the brunette was a Hybrid with Power whose abilities he still had to discover, trusted her more every day. She had become an incomparable ally.
Suddenly Albana came out from behind some rocks. “Rest a little, grandpas,” she said cheerfully. “You need it, you look terrible.”
Ikai’s eyes lingered on her: eyes black as night, long jet-black hair, roguish smile. She stepped past him with her graceful, provocative walk and winked at him. He felt something stir in his stomach. Since the day she had led them to the Shelter they had become allies, and gradually, through their daily dealings with one another and the harsh life in that small community with its scant comforts, they had become friends, good friends. At first, he had decided to stick close to her. He did not fully trust this wild and enigmatic young woman and wanted to keep her near him, in full view, in case she tried to betray them in some way. But now things were different… they were linked by an honest friendship, a companionship which grew and strengthened with each passing day. She was being more Albana with him: cheeky, wild, with that teasing personality. It meant she trusted him, and that pleased him greatly.
Ikai sank to the ground. “Yes, let’s rest. I need to get my strength back.” Albana passed him the water-skin, and he drank as if he had just crossed a desert.
Isaz breathed in deeply, then exhaled with a long sigh. “It smells the way I remember it. It’s been a long time since I was in the Fourth County. It’s nice to be back in your own land.”
“How far have we got left, Isaz?” Albana asked. She was looking out at the valley in the distance.
“We’ve reached the smallest of the three peaks of the Dark Mountains. It’s taken us longer than I expected, but that’s because we’ve had to keep hidden since we crossed the Boundary. There’s a more direct route, but it goes through some pretty well-trodden areas, and we’d run the risk of being seen.”
“You’ve guided us well,” Albana said, and frowned. “The last thing we need is to run into Hunters, or those bloody Enforcers.”
Isaz pointed. “The valley you see down there, covered by an everlasting fog, is where we’re going. The lake we’re looking for is a little to the northeast. You can’t see it from here. It’s well-hidden and hard to reach.”
“Then… we’re almost there,” Albana said.
“Yes… although we shouldn’t really go. That place has a curse on it. The Witch of the Lake is bad news. We’ll die… or worse…”
“We have to go,” Ikai said. “My mother’s dying. I’ll do anything to save her.”
“Don’t be a coward, Isaz,” Albana said. She drew her black daggers with amazing speed. “If this Witch tries to play around with us I’ll cut her throat.”
“You don’t understand, not being from this area. Here everybody knows the Witch of the Lake is an evil being, a creature with Dark Powers. There’ve been rumors for centuries that she sacrifices beasts and humans to drink their blood. And they’re not just rumors, believe me.”
“Witch or not, dark or not, she doesn’t scare me.” Albana shook her hair to one side. “I’ve faced murderous beasts, men, Enforcers, and worse. I’m not going to be put off by the kind of wild stories you tell children around the fire to frighten them.”
“They’re not wild stories. She takes babies during the night, sacrifices them and drinks their blood so she can live forever.”
Albana looked at him reproachfully. “That’s nonsense. I don’t understand how you can believe that. You, a grown man, an experienced tracker who knows the woods and mountains and their inhabitants.”
“I’m also a man who respects the traditions of our people, their beliefs and their myths, and I’m fearful of something that’s terrorize
d this region for generations.”
“Ikai, make him see reason.”
“However dangerous it may be, I have to go, and there’s nothing more to be said.”
Isaz lowered his gaze apologetically. “I’ll take you there, don’t worry. I may be scared, but I’m no coward.”
“That’s better!” Albana said. She smiled and put away her daggers.
They rested and ate. The air at that altitude was cold, although the sun was shining strongly. Ikai’s mind was seething with worries… I must save her. I can’t let her die, not now that we’ve found The Shelter and have somewhere to rebuild our lives in freedom. Freedom! Whatever it might take, I’m not going to let her die.
Albana’s touch on his shoulder made him look up. As if those wild black eyes could read his thoughts, she said: “Don’t worry, we’ll save her.”
Ikai was more than grateful for her words. His spirits rose. “Thank you,” he said, and managed the trace of a smile.
“I’m with you, by your side. We’ll make it, don’t you fret.”
She was so confident that he could not help feeling the same. “Yes, we will.”
They went down from the summit, towards the valley between the three peaks of the Dark Mountains. Ikai soon understood why they were called that. For some unknown reason, most of the valley and the mountainsides were lost in shadow, even with a radiant sun behind them. Hmm… doesn’t exactly look like a good omen.
Isaz led them, with Albana following and Ikai bringing up the rear. The deeper they went into the somber valley, the worse the feeling that haunted Ikai. It was as if a grim, fateful blanket had fallen on his shoulders, and no matter how hard he might shake them, he could not dislodge this feeling that something horrible was stalking them.
It was near nightfall by the time they reached the lake where they supposed they would find the Witch. They prepared their weapons and searched the entire perimeter of the lagoon, alert for any sign of the presence of the Witch, or any other monster or beast which might be lurking around. Ikai was tense, Isaz was murmuring protective prayers to Oxatsi, and even Albana appeared less determined and wild than usual. But soon they were forced to stop, for the darkness of the night came to blend with the shadows and they could not see their own hands in front of them.
