by Sam Taw
Senara pointed to the ridge top behind us. “It’s not here, but further inland. We need to climb up there.”
I might have known that the route would be awkward to reach. Course grasses and gorse grew thickly between the thin loam and scree. Every step sent pebbles and loose gravel skittering down towards the cliff. I lost my footing a number of times, until my heart thumped in my chest.
Senara tightened her belt and shifted her bow across her body. “Give me your hand, Fur Benyn.” I didn’t need her to ask twice. She hovered no more than a step away from me, ever ready to act should my balance fail. Straining every muscle and sinew, we followed the men to the highest point of the crest, before creeping along in a north-westerly direction for a short distance, until we were looking down on the gorge beneath.
The breeze was stronger here, funnelling through the valley to cool the sweat from our skin. I took a moment to catch my breath, bending over and rubbing at the pain throbbing in my knees.
Tallack turned to the shield maiden and frowned. “Are you leading us on a merry dance? Where in the name of the gods is this path you speak of?”
Finally letting me go, Senara moved to the head of the line. “Not far now, Chief. It’s just over that rocky outcrop.” She scuttled off before he could stop her. The men hurried after the scout, keen to keep up or lose face. By the time I’d caught them up, the men were stock still and pale as snow at what lay ahead.
I leaned around the boulders and looked in the direction of Senara’s outstretched arm. There was a tiny ledge carved out of the leeward side of the ridge, not more than the width of my foot, leading down to the creek. It was filled with trees and jagged rocks. My stomach lurched.
CHAPTER TWENTY
It was all I could do to stop myself from trembling. The sheer drop was more boat lengths than could be measured, assuring anyone who fell a swift but painful death on the rocks and treetops below.
Tallack pursed his lips and growled. “You shouldn’t have come, Aunt Mel. You know the dangers we face.” He took a length of rope from Senara, tying us together around our waists. “But I can’t leave you behind for the miners to find either.”
Before he could change his mind and send me back through enemy territory, he helped to lower me down onto the ledge to where Senara was waiting. I closed my eyes and asked the gods to protect me. Within moments, I was clinging to the rock face more terrified than ever. The first section was the steepest, taking us on a faltering path along one side of the slope, past the scree and shallow soils to the base of the gorge.
Every step had the potential to send us tumbling, but I felt a little safer being tethered to my nephew. He seemed confident in his ability to cling to the rocks by his fingertips while edging closer to his men. Perhaps his time at sea had trained his body in the art of balance. Mine was ill equipped for such mountain goat antics. I found myself giddy with nervous panting. Each time I looked over my shoulder, the valley spun until bile erupted in my gullet.
Just as I was regretting my insistence at tagging along, the path widened until we could walk quite naturally down the remainder of the incline to where water gushed naturally from beneath the ground. Slowing my breaths, my wobbling knees stopped quaking when Tallack released the knot tying us together.
“Well, I can’t imagine this being any use for our attack. If all our men clambered over that ridge at once, Kenver’s scouts would have no trouble at all filling them all with arrows.” Tallack announced, winding the lengths of rope into a neat loop.
“True, but that means it’s not likely to be protected with lookouts or traps.” Senara replied, taking her cord back and attaching it to her belt. “We could get the men to sneak over the top under the cover of darkness in smaller groups.”
The men continued to trudge down the narrow creek between two giant rocks, shaped like massive gateposts on the trail, while Senara and my nephew discussed tactics. Picking my way through the sharp gravel and boulders behind them, I bit my lip every time my ankle turned on the uneven surface. I spent so much time watching my step that I failed to see what was ahead. It turns out, the men had done the same.
Where the ground levelled out and widened between the fast flow of the river and the hillside, our only route through was between the giant rocks. It was the ideal spot for another ambush. Tallack hissed at the men to keep alert for scouts, archers, and missiles. Those at the front drew their weapons. One man primed his bow and pulled back on the string, moving closer to the rocks. With everyone craning their necks in search of Alchemist attackers, they failed to see what lay underfoot.
A quiet crack sounded beneath the archer, his weight shifting downwards by a fraction. Before he realised what was happening, the ground under our men gave way, sending them crashing into a deep pit. As the rest of the wooden poles and leaves gave way, some managed to jump clear of the opening, flailing their arms to grab at anything to prevent them from slipping into the hole. The shrieks of the three men at the bottom of the pit were blood-curdling, but fleeting.
One lad teetered on the edge of the pit; his arms flung out to the sides, his feet dancing on the moving earth. Senara dropped her blade and grabbed out at his tunic, yanking him back to safety. He clung to her for a few moments, before thanking her for her speedy reactions.
It took a short time for us all to figure out what had occurred. In our zeal to avoid incoming arrows from above, none of us had spotted the thinly covered pit of spikes between the rocks.
The archer was impaled in several places; narrow poles protruded from his neck and torso. Blood streamed down the stakes and pooled around him. A second man took a post right through his gut, splitting him open like a hazelnut, until his entrails spilled out of the opening in his back. Their agony was over in mere moments.
The third man was less fortunate. Somehow, he’d managed to slide between most of the spikes until he was wedged. One narrow rod had sliced his side, severing a large blood vessel on its way. The life-giving fluid spurted with each beat of his weakening heart. Every attempt to wriggle free, opened his wound further, until he was almost unconscious from the blood loss. His muted whimpers were woeful. They clawed at my heart in sympathy for his plight.
The stench of kawgh and innards from their loosened bowels wafted up to hit me full in the face. To my trained eye, I knew the poor man wouldn’t last for long. Even I cannot stitch fast enough to staunch a gusher like that.
Tallack rallied his men, lowering Senara’s rope to the stricken man and yelling at him to tie it off around his middle, but despite positioning the end close to the warrior’s hand, we lost him before he could be rescued.
Another three men were denied the chance to sit next to the gods in the Summerlands. They would not even receive a fitting send off with pyre and ceremony for all their courage and bravery. Their trip to the Underworld would be marked by no grand gestures nor ritual, just a passing lament from those they knew best.
“What now, Chief?” Senara asked, when it was apparent that none of the men would speak.
We stood in a circle around Tallack, waiting for his command. Our path ahead was blocked, short of wading through fast flowing water to reach the opposite side of the creek. There was also no way of knowing whether Kenver’s men were watching our every move as we closed in on the upper edges of the mines.
“We go back. Where there is one trap, there will be more. We can’t afford to lose any more men.” He didn’t wait for them to acknowledge his order, nor did they offer to be lowered down to retrieve the dead men. They simply turned tails and hurried back the way we had come.
It was a gruelling climb back to the ridge top, but surprisingly easier to navigate. We knew the way now and the men were keen to be away from the unknown peril and stink of death. It was hard for me to keep up at times, but I managed to make it to the ridge without injury. The men hung their heads, clenched their jaws and marched back to camp in silent mourning. Senara waited with me at the top of the cliff path while I caught my breath, an
d then descended into the valley at a more leisurely pace.
Renowden was spitting with fury when he saw us walking towards the back of our hut. “Where the kyjya have you been? Kewri and I searched everywhere for you.” He rushed to meet me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them with such vigour, I thought my head might fall off. “Don’t ever go off like that again without telling us. You hear me?”
That was a surprise. I’d spent so long doing what I wanted, whenever I wanted, it hadn’t entered my head that he would worry. A part of me was annoyed that he was intent on shackling my freedom, but another part was touched that he cared. It was a fine line to tread, especially since I was of Chieftain blood, and as such enjoyed greater privileges than most women of the tribe. It irked me that Ren now believed himself to be my keeper. Kewri was the only one tasked with my protection, but he could not make any demands of me.
I chose to make light of his distress rather than build it up into an argument for later. “Don’t fuss so. Senara and Tallack were with me. I was in no danger.” I lied, shooting a glare at the shield maiden to back my claims. “We went in search of a different route to the mines but lost three more warriors.”
That diffused his anger. His frown of consternation slumped into sadness. When Senara gave him the names of the crewman in the pit, his eyes glistened with sorrow. Two were his particular friends. The thought of them spending eternity in a blood-soaked pit at the top of a gorge was the worst ending for such noble Sea Warriors. Ren wandered away in the direction of the beach. We let him go on alone to speak the words of mourning unto the Goddess of Lakes and the Sea.
Our clans were so depleted that we were in danger of the Alchemists outnumbering us. It was a pity that Tallack left the shield maidens and women archers back at the island compound on the Exe. Senara followed me into our hut. Kewri had caught and left us a couple of flatfish, suspending them by their gill slits from the roof joists. While I strapped my sore ankle with bindings, Senara scaled, gutted and prepared them for our supper.
We took them along to the fire outside the hut Kewri was staying in and roasted them over the flames. It didn’t take long before the flesh was soft and flaky and ready to eat. I was glad of the food, but it somehow felt wrong that we hadn’t given an offering to Cernonnus.
It was our duty to pay for their passage into the Underworld. We had no effigies nor priests with us to incant the words, nor could we spare any of the meagre supplies of food in camp. Despite the fact that I was ravenous and the fish delicious, it stuck in my throat with guilt.
We’d seen so much death and destruction and we were still no closer to regaining control over the mines. The longer we stayed, the greater the opportunity Kenver had to pick us off one by one.
Ren didn’t come back to the hut until the following morning. I didn’t go looking for him since I’d guessed where he’d spent the night. The Sea Warriors had customs of their own whenever they lost good men. Women were not welcome. From the stories I’d heard over the course of my long life, their rituals involved a night on the beach around a fire, singing dead men’s tales to the Goddess of the Sea.
When the moon was at its peak, they would wade out into the ocean until their faces were all but submerged. Some say that they would float offerings of figures woven from marram grass to trick the goddess into releasing the bodies of the fallen from the waves.
Others said that in the darkness, no one could see the salty tears of the men mixing with the brine of the sea. Whichever account was true, the passing of their clan’s folk was a private affair and those who were dead did not drown. Perhaps their customs were different under these circumstances, but I was unlikely to ever find out for sure. The clans were guarded about their practices, their secrets binding them together as kin.
Tallack stayed on the beach for much longer. Perhaps he had more to say to the goddess than the rest. It was, after all, his decision that got them killed. For all his recent stoic detachment, I refused to believe that he’d lost all compassion.
In accordance with Ren’s admonishment, I informed him of my need to walk the long valley adjacent to the gorge in search of food, herbs and bark.
He nodded at me and climbed into our bunk. “Don’t go alone. Take Kewri with you.” He demanded, before turning his back to me as I stood in the doorway. I could have argued, or ignored him, but I could see that he was beaten. The night of mourning had knocked the spirit right out of him.
“I’ll fill the water bladders up on the way back.” I muttered, grabbing both his and mine as I left.
It was good to get away from the odour of men in the camp. They cared not about washing, and had a habit of emptying their bladders and bowels wherever they fancied. Tallack did little about enforcing the use of middens or making them walk into the wooded areas to keep the main camp clean. The more the warriors were left without the influence of their women, the more squalid they became.
The valley where the Alchemists harvested their wood, was shallow and bright. This provided all the timber needed for processing the raw rocks into tin and for structural support for the mines. The mature trees were well spaced, giving us dappled shade as we walked next to the river.
It certainly looked more inviting than the last time I saw it back in the winter. The trails were even starting to overgrow despite the dry spell. The one thing that struck me most, was that the entire valley, which had been bustling with activity before, was now completely deserted. There were no washer women pounding grubby linen on the rocks, no children swinging on the overhanging trees and splashing into the water, no leather scrapers or smoke huts, nothing.
Kewri held open my bag as I cut some willow bark, picked a little sorrel and found a marshy area where fresh watercress grew.
“Are there any mines in this valley, Fur Benyn, or are they all in the gorge?” Kewri asked, keeping a weather eye on our surroundings as he spoke.
I straightened up, clicking my spine and neck before trimming off the soggy roots from the cress. “I believe all the working tunnels are in the gorge, but you can never tell where the old passages are. Kenver’s ancestors have mined these parts for generations. Seams play out and they block up tunnels, then go in search of new ones to dig. Only his family knows them all.”
Kewri looked down at me, those huge dark eyes of his full of fear. “There’s just him and his young son left now. He could be the only one who knows all the tunnels and how they connect.”
I pondered on the age and abilities of the Alchemist leader’s youngest child and decided that he’d be too young to pose us any problems. My mind strayed to Kenver’s family and how happy they’d been just two seasons ago. How quickly things can change in the span of a few moons. I glanced back downstream and sighed. Where were the children and womenfolk? There was no sign of them in the gorge when we were under attack. I couldn’t imagine them tolerating conditions underground for all this time.
For a while, we walked further upstream following the sweeping meander in the river. Kewri managed to hit a couple of ducks with arrows, although one he had to get wet to retrieve. At least we could return to our huts with something for supper. By late afternoon, we’d harvested all we could find and began the slow walk to the freshwater spring on our way home.
The sweat poured down my back, soaking through my tunic and cloak. I stopped for a moment, handing my healing kit and gathering bag to Kewri while I stripped off a layer or two. Grunting with effort, I knelt on the bank side and dipped my hand into the cool water. It was so soothing, I pulled out a cloth from my pocket, dunked it into the river and wiped it all about my face and neck. After a quick rinse, I offered to do the same for my giant friend.
He declined my gesture. “Thanks anyway. It’ll only make me want to jump in the river for the rest of the day. Better to sweat it out till we get back.”
I shrugged, wringing out my cloth and giving my face another going over. When I took back the strap of my kit bag, I noticed the shrubs moving in the undergrowth behind Kewri. It
was a breathless day, so I knew it could not have been from a breeze. I nudged the giant and whispered. “Over there. Might be a deer or something.”
With excitement brimming on his sweet face, he dropped the foraging bag and pulled his bow from across his chest. Nocking an arrow from his quill, he crept closer to the bushes, treading as lightly as the huge man could manage. I stayed still and quiet not wanting to spook the beast unduly.
When Kewri was level with the rear of the bushes, his expression changed. His eyes grew wide, he dropped his bow to the ground and paced vast and deliberate steps backwards. That was when Kenver and his men came into view. There was a half dozen men, all aiming their deadly bronze tipped weapons at Kewri’s chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Some held spears, others aimed their nocked arrows and all were close enough to kill Kewri in an instant. The Alchemist leader and his men must have watched us for the entire time that we were in the valley. My giant friend stepped back until his great body was directly in front of mine. This loyal and brave protector was willing to die for me. If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have cried with pride and gratitude.
“Step aside, giant. I need to speak with Fur Benyn.” Kenver roared with an authority that startled me. For such a mild and placid man, I never imagined him capable of such power. Kewri didn’t move. He planted his feet firmly on the soft mud of the river bank and folded his arms across his chest. I couldn’t have him die for sheer stubbornness.
I peered around my friend’s middle. “Kenver. I’ve always known you to be a good and reasonable man. Why would you turn on us like this?” I tried to sound calm and imploring but in truth my fear made me tremble until my voice wobbled too.
“You know full well, Meliora. How could you stand by and let them butcher my children?” His chest was heaving with the strain of holding in his anger. This was my chance to put the record straight, even if it meant angering him further. Maybe his men would talk him around after hearing the truth.
