by C. F. Cooper
As the afternoon wore on, the people of Clowder Hollow came and went from the tavern. Every hour there was a change of guards on the rampart. Each change brought a group of men and women to the tavern for an ale and to hear how their kin of Summervale had prevailed against the previously invincible doomwalkers.
"Let us write our own victory story," said one of the guards. "I would rather die than submit at the hands of the doomwalkers. Springrise will not be ruled by Winterhaven or anyone else for that matter." The assembled drinkers growled their agreement and banged their tankards on the table in support.
"No king of winter," they chanted.
"We will never surrender," said Oscar. "What did I tell you. The doomwalkers have come this far, but no further."
Smallgrass was quiet during the afternoon of drinking and oaths of bravery. The other Smallgrass and Gary noticed as it was so unlike him.
"Smallgrass, what's troubling you?" he asked towards the end of the day as the light from outside began to fade in the windows and the tavern owner, Midnight, lit the torches that lined the walls.
Smallgrass leaned in and spoke softly. "The doomwalkers have defeated all before them. We are very pleased with ourselves because of one victory in one battle, but how did they defeat everyone else? When they started, they were outnumbered, now they rule three of the four lands. This isn't the only village of cat people. Why were the others defeated? There is something troubling me, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Octavia?" Gary asked.
"He speaks truth," she said. "My people come mainly from Autumnfall. Most our villages surrendered without a fight. Those of us that travelled to Summervale to stand with you, we fled our villages before they arrived. We have fought and fought bravely, but not by standing our ground. What did we see from the mountaintop? Snow and frost. It is as if the spirit of Winterhaven arrives before the doomwalkers. We saw it beginning in Summervale too."
"What makes you think of this now Smallgrass," asked Daisy. "You had no such doubts before."
"I know. The frost has entered me and casts a shadow of doubt that I can't shake. I fear we must leave this place soon or we will all become infected."
Gary shook his head. "But Smallgrass, look around you. These people are ready to fight to the death."
"All well and good if they are, but perhaps they lie to themselves to keep the frost at bay. When I look in their eyes, I see a coldness creeping over them."
The other Smallgrass nudged his partner with a shoulder barge. "Snap out of it man. We are badgers. Badgers are not superstitious."
Smallgrass shook his head. "Ignore me. Perhaps I am wrong. I don't understand why winter and snow precedes the doomwalkers though. How can that be?"
At that moment the door to the tavern flung open. A young man stood in the doorway his tail flicking backwards and forwards behind him. "Doomwalkers approach," he shouted.
Gary and the others leapt to their feet and ran outside. There was the faint but distinct sound of a drumbeat in the air. The sound of an approaching army. They made their way to the edge of the village and climbed the stairs to the rampart. Looking out over the stockade they could see a vast army of lizard people in the distance, marching in unison. This was a much larger and well drilled group than those they had encountered in Summervale. Gary began to get the feeling that the doomwalkers had taken Summervale for granted and not tried too hard. Was that the true cause of their great victory?
"It is to my eternal regret that my people spearhead this army of misery," said Octavia.
"They are not alone," said Smallgrass looking through his telescope. "There are many cat people with them."
An advanced group of three lizard people approached the gate of the village.
"Friend or foe?" shouted one of the guards.
Gary rolled his eyes. "Really?"
"Foe," came the reply.
"Ok, fair enough."
"What brings you to Clowder Hollow?"
"We offer you the chance of a dignified surrender. You can see the approaching army. You can feel the thunder of their footsteps shake the ground below your feet. We are many and we are strong. You have no chance of victory, but you and your people may live in peace under the rule of the Ice King."
"Never," shouted the guard. "We are cat people. We are free, and we answer to no one."
"In the morning light you will be crushed underfoot. What freedom is that?"
"The freedom of a noble death."
"Pah, that is not freedom, that is just death."
"Is this likely to go on for much longer?" asked Gary.
"It is part of our tradition," said Octavia. "Each side tries to persuade the other to surrender. Many battles and much bloodshed has been saved through these rituals."
"Yeah, but the only way that can happen is if the villagers are browbeaten into surrender. The more we let them talk the less likely it is that the villagers will put up a fight."
"He is right," said Smallgrass. Without warning he leaped over the barrier and fell to the ground in front of the lizard people. "Enough talk, let's fight."
"Oh shit," said Gary. "Come on we need to help him." Gary leapt over the barrier and landed next to Smallgrass. "Jeez, that's a big drop. Can we use the stairs the next time?"
"Sure," said Smallgrass, smiling at Gary. "Good to have you alongside me again. Let's fight."
Smallgrass ran at one of the lizard men and began his trademark slide. The lizard planted his spear in the ground directly in front of him and watched in amusement as Smallgrass crash into it, his legs either side of the spear. Smallgrass clutched his groin in agony. "Mother of my father," he groaned.
"Brave but stupid," roared the lizard man. Picking up his spear he flipped it one hundred and eighty degrees and prepared to plunge the sharp end into Smallgrass where he lay writhing on the ground.
"But with good friends," shouted Gary as he charged forward pulling his sword from its sheath.
The lizard took a step backward to create enough space to raise his spear in defence. He was not fast enough. Gary reached him, sword extended lunging at his throat. The lizard man gurgled his last breath through blood as the metal of Gary's sword cut through the exposed flesh.
The two other lizards retreated. Octavia and Daisy had by this time reached Smallgrass and, taking one arm each pulled him back towards the gate. Gary retreated with them and the gate was slammed shut once they were safely inside.
"That's how you fight doomwalkers," Smallgrass wheezed through the pain.
"That's not how you fight them," said Daisy to the watching crowd. "We need to be organised into to fighting units. Smallgrass just got a little over excited. Badgers, what can I say?"
Gary looked around at the cat people. They were not cheering or congratulating them. They were subdued, almost forlorn. He looked up at the rampart. Surely not. There was the other Smallgrass still standing on the platform. He had not joined with his partner in the fight. There was something wrong here. Smallgrass was right. The frost had already entered the hearts of many.
Although Gary had only known the badgers a few short days, there was nothing that would have stopped Smallgrass joining Smallgrass in battle. Some kind of malaise had entered him, and as Gary looked around he saw the same haunted look in the eyes of many of the villagers.
"I think Smallgrass is right," said Gary to Daisy. "I think we do need to leave here as soon as possible. There is an infection of the soul that has taken hold. They will not fight to the death."
"Nonsense," said Daisy. "Of course they will. They may need some leadership but that's what we can provide. We can't abandon them now."
Gary nodded. Perhaps Daisy was right. They couldn't slink off into the night to leave the villagers to their fate. He looked up again at Smallgrass and saw a look of vacant disinterest. The passion was gone. The fire in his eyes had been extinguished. Something was going on. The Ice King had more than swords and spears in his arsenal of weapons.
***
&n
bsp; The five travellers stood on the rampart watching the doomwalkers grow closer. As the last of the sunlight was leaving the sky, torches were lit by the approaching horde. It looked like a river of fire as they approached, following the meandering contours of the land. Before too long the torches reached the edge of the village and began to snake round the edge of the wall protecting Clowder Hollow from the outside world. They knew they were safe till morning, but a sense of gloom filled the air. The enthusiasm of the afternoon in the tavern was evaporating fast. Conversation was sporadic and brief as the guards tended to their own thoughts.
A solitary figure walked out of the crowd of doomwalkers holding a torch aloft. In the darkness the form could be seen but not the face. It was a cat person.
"Friend or foe?"
"It pains me to say it but foe," came the reply.
"Sasha, is that you?" Oscar shouted.
"It is I. Are you well Oscar?"
"All the better for knowing you are alive. We will rescue you Sasha. Have no doubt of that."
Gary could not make out the figure in any detail in the gloom, but Oscar had recognised her voice. "Are you the tavern owner's daughter?" he asked.
"That I am. And whose voice is that. No one from Clowder Hollow that I recognise."
"I am Gary of Warrensgate."
"Well Gary of Warrensgate, I have nothing to say to you. Oscar, let me pass through the gate in peace. I wish to speak to my people. No harm shall pass any villager while I remain in the village at my own choice."
"Very well, let her pass."
The gate opened and the silhouette with the torch walked forward and through the gate. As soon as she had passed through it was swung closed again.
A murmur rippled through the following crowd as she made her way through the narrow streets. Gary and the others left the rampart and made their way to the tavern.
Inside it was standing room only. Sasha made her way to the bar, embraced her father and then climbed onto the bar so everyone could hear her.
Gary looked at the figure standing there so confidently. She was a slim but shapely figure. Thigh high boots covered most of her legs and a leather bustier combined with a cotton top clothed her upper body. She had jet black hair and the palest skin he had ever seen, but her lips... they were ruby red and full. What was the expression he'd read describing various celebrities... that was it, bee stung lips. To finish the look, she had a pair of cat ears protruding from her hair and a long black tail swept to and fro as she spoke. Daisy was Gary's dream girl and he would never betray her but this woman, the look, the attitude of this badass catwoman fascinated him. Despite his feelings for Daisy he somehow felt drawn to her.
"Fellow villagers," she began. "You know me. I have lived with you all my life. Do you trust me?"
"Of course we do," said her father. "Where have you been Sasha. What did they do to you?"
"The only thing they did was open my eyes father. I have been to Autumnfall. I have seen the Ice King appear in the sky like a god. Soon he will visible over Springrise too."
A murmur travelled round the room.
"You're safe now Sasha. We will protect you," said Oscar.
"No Oscar, I will protect you," she replied. "The Ice King does not want to rule by conquest. He does not want to defeat anyone."
"Then why does he kill and burn his way across the four lands?" shouted Daisy.
"He only fights those that will not join willingly," Sasha replied. "The Ice King is a man of peace. All he desires is to unite the four lands so that we stand as one against the true enemy.
"He has had a vision. He travelled to a mountain cave above the Crystal City and there he saw the other world. He saw Uffern. He visited Uffern and walked amongst the demons, the sons of Adam. What he saw was a nightmare vision of hell. The land has been scraped of all greenery. Forests are gone, rivers run with water that cannot be drunk. Man fights against man in a never-ending battle of misery. The weapons of war have grown ever more powerful until they can destroy an entire land with one strike. The evil is never ending, and it grows closer by the day."
Gary looked around at the crowd. They were enthralled.
"The Ice King looked into the heart of the sons of Adam and he could see that they have been forever cursed by their refusal to enter the garden in the beginning. Peace shall never reign in Uffern."
"Why is that of our concern?" said Daisy.
"Because just as the lands were once connected so they will be again. Uffern and Cockaigne will be linked by gateways that allow passage between them. The sons of Adam shall enter the garden and their darkness will enter the garden with them. We have lived in peace for countless generations. They have not. We will be no match for them or their weapons if we stay as we are."
"Excuse me," said Gary, raising his arm. "Can I speak?"
"Who is this stranger?" asked Sasha.
"I'm Gary."
"Gary of Warrensgate," said Oscar. "Let him speak."
"Very well."
He made his way through the crowd and climbed onto the bar next to Sasha. Standing next to her she was even more beautiful up close. Gary shook his head and tried to concentrate.
"Some of you have met me today. I've travelled from Warrensgate but I am human. I am from Uffern."
Sasha stared at him wide-eyed.
"I'm not a rabbit or cat or lizard person. I'm pure human. I'd just like to say that Uffern as you call it gets a pretty rough press here. It's really not that bad. Sure, we have our problems, but who doesn't. Sasha, you talk about the destruction of our forests, but as I travelled here today, I saw half the trees cut down. The spread of winter is forcing people to destroy the land to survive. You say the Ice King wants to protect you from the ways of Uffern, but he's turning this land into a wasteland in the process. What's left to protect if you've destroyed your own way of life preparing for a non-existent enemy?"
"Once we have defeated the enemy we can shape our own future, but until that day, we must do whatever is necessary to survive," said Daisy. "We have heard tales of a human in Summervale that destroyed an army single handed. If that is the power of one human, imagine a whole army of them."
Gary put his hands up. "Actually, that was me, and I didn't have any special human weapons."
Sasha pointed at Gary and screamed. "Demon. Human demon. He destroys our people with his magic."
"No, you don't understand. I was a virgin. That was why I was so powerful."
"Withcraft," proclaimed Sasha. "An adult virgin. The witchraft of Adam walks amongst us."
The crowed murmured their agreement. Gary was losing the argument. "No, no, I'm not a virgin anymore. Daisy tell them."
Daisy shook her head in disbelief.
"The public speaking thing. It's not his strong point is it?" said Smallgrass.
"You could say that." Daisy pushed through the crowd and jumped up onto the bar alongside Sasha and Gary. "Gary is a good man. He is not a demon. He did not choose to come to the garden, but when he came, he helped Summervale, he was willing to risk his life to protect us. If Gary is any guide to the people of Uffern, there are many good people in that world.
"The Ice King has seen what will happen to our world," said Sasha. "He has had a vision of what must be done. Some of it is not easy and it requires sacrifice. It requires us act as one, One people, one land, one leader. It requires us to sacrifice ourselves to the greater good at the all-seeing direction of the one leader. You can believe me, someone you have known, or you can believe these outsiders tainted with the sins of Adam."
"I'd just like to say that I think you would love some parts of Uffern," said Gary. "Really, you would. Ibiza, Paris, the lakes of Italy, so much variety. There's something for everyone,” his voice fizzling out as he spoke.
"You have until morning to decide. When dawn breaks, you must join us in our fight against the true enemy or we will have no choice but to attack. If we do march in anger, no mercy will be shown. We cannot afford to have an enemy within whi
le preparing against the sons of Adam." Sasha jumped down from the bar, hugged her father tightly and made her way out of the bar.
Gary watched as Sasha squeezed through the crowd. He could see hands clapping her back. She had persuaded some of the village, of that there was no doubt. As she opened to the door to the tavern a bank of cold fog rolled in from outside. The air visibly cooled.
Daisy and Gary re-joined their friends. Smallgrass looked more distant than ever. His eyes looking downward at the fog swirling around their feet.
"The Ice King has won," said Smallgrass. "Without a sword being raised. The cold has entered too many hearts for us to prevail."
"Nonsense," said the other Smallgrass. "We'll run them through good and proper."
Gary looked around at the crowd, huddled in small groups and whispering amongst themselves. He wasn't so sure.
Chapter 12
The village was blanketed in fog. Gary and the others weaved their way through the narrow streets back towards the rampart. As they reached the gate, they saw two villagers arguing. One of them ran towards the gate and attempted to open it. Gary ran towards them and helped subdue the man as he screamed "Let them in. Let them pass."
"What's happening?" said Daisy. "Everyone is going mad."
"I've never seen anything like it," said Oscar. "I will round up some of my people to protect the gate overnight."
"Protect the gate from the inside," said Smallgrass. "And from what's outside. You can't protect both sides of a gate. Sasha is right. We must be united."
"United against the Ice King," said the other Smallgrass.
"Yes, of course," Smallgrass said.
They climbed the rampart and looked outwards towards the army of doomwalkers. They were surrounded. Campfires dotted the horizon, but a circle of fiery torches circled the village. Doomwalkers stood shoulder to shoulder holding their torches aloft acting as sentries to make sure no-one left or entered the village.
"look," said Gary pointing to the ground below the fence. "The fog starts just outside the village. There is none in the doomwalkers encampment."
