Warrior: The War Chronicles I

by Sean Golden

  Lirak slowed as he came within sight of the trail, which was empty in both directions. He quickly moved to the edge of the trail, staying as low as possible. Once at the edge he stopped to listen, finally hearing faint sounds of movement from the north. Looking at the trail he saw no evidence of recent movement of a large group to the south. He smiled and began to put his plan into action. Thorn lay down beside a tree and put his head on his paws, watching him.

  Lirak first moved to the location he had been hoping to reach before the invaders. It was a bend in the trail where it turned to the east. The turn was necessary because there was a steep gully cutting across the forest at that spot, and the trail went east a short distance until an easier crossing was possible to get across the small stream. The gulley was just beyond the trail and dropped fifteen feet straight down into the creek. Where the trail turned, a large tree grew, its roots protruding from the steep side of the gully and dangling down halfway to the stream. Lirak pulled two arrows from his quiver and held them loosely in the third and fourth fingers of his bow holding hand. He took a third arrow and nocked his bow. Then he waited. His heart pounded in his chest and he found it hard to breathe. His hands shook, and he tried to force himself to calm down. “Deep breaths” he told himself, but the fear was still there.

  Up the trail the sound of movement suddenly grew, and he ducked down to the ground and peered around the tree, looking through the weeds on the ground. The six mounted men in the lead had come around the bend up the trail and were headed right at him. He stayed down, and just as he hoped, the gray robed man came behind them. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief his heart leaped into his chest as a second gray robed man came just behind him.

  Two! Lirak thought to himself. How can there be two? His mind raced. What should I do now? He asked himself. He was tempted to abandon his plan, but he had no idea how common the gray men were, and if these were anything like the other one, he knew they were very important and very dangerous. I will kill them both, he decided, and as he did calm came over him and his hands no longer shook. He remembered the nagging feeling of “wait” in his head, and swore to never ignore it again.

  Lirak carefully marked the position of the two men in gray, and then pulled his head back behind the oak tree and stood behind it. Thorn was well off the trail, still sitting beside the tree where he had left him. Lirak heard the first of the mounted men ride by. He counted them off by sound alone. Then the moment came and he turned in one fluid movement with his drawn bow and fired his arrow. Before the arrow reached the gray man, Lirak was already reaching for a second arrow.

  The arrow flew straight and true, but the trail was rough, and the gray man bounced causing the arrow to hit just above his shoulder where the collar of his robe covered his neck. Lirak watched, his mind again slowing all action down. The first arrow bounced high into the air as Lirak nocked the second arrow to his bow. The gray man raised a hand to his neck, and shouted as he turned toward Lirak in surprise. Lirak’s brain registered the bouncing arrow, realizing that the robe had protected the gray man from the arrow, but his body was fully focused on the second arrow now. Lirak let the second arrow go, just as the gray man’s eyes locked on his, and his other hand came sweeping around holding a thin stick. The arrow caught him in the right eye just as a flash of light erupted from the still moving stick. Lirak’s fingers closed on the third arrow just as a great “boom!” filled the air and he felt dirt and sticks striking him.

  He saw the gray man falling, and turned his eyes to the second gray man as he pulled back the third arrow, his eyes half blinded by the spray of dirt still falling on him. The second gray man was still turning in his direction, but hadn’t seen him yet. Lirak again took careful aim, and again the gray man saw him just as he released the arrow. Lirak let himself half fall, half jump backwards over the gully cliff. His arrow sped forward, just as true as the others had been, but too late to stop the gray man’s own attack. As he fell, the oak tree in front of him exploded, showering him with splinters and sparks, and bruising him with large chunks of wood. He thought he heard two of the strange invader arrows whistle past his head as he grabbed for the protruding roots of the ancient oak tree, managing to slow his fall enough to land on his feet in the water below. Looking up he saw the shattered and burning oak tree itself falling down on him. He dove to the west, rolling as he landed, and heard and felt the crashing of the tree as it hit the ground and water.

  Lirak was lucky, the limbs of the oak tree that reached him were the thin tops of the tree, and other than some scrapes and bruises, he was not injured. He looked up through the thin branches and leaves to the top of the gully, expecting to see the gray man pointing his terrible weapon down at him, but instead he saw two mounted men pointing their weapons in his direction. But they had not seen him hidden under the leaves of the tree. He knew that the others were probably rushing west and east to find a place to cross the creek safely. He instinctively brought his bow forward, and saw with dismay that it was broken and useless. He tossed it aside.

  Crawling carefully under the leaves, Lirak moved as close as he could to the cliff side of the stream. Then he stood up with his back against it, and made his way to the west as quickly and silently as he could. The two men at the top of the gulley were almost hidden now by the heads of their own beasts. Lirak slipped along the cliff until he reached some low bushes growing along the side of the creek. He crawled under them for as far as he could, and then followed the creek around a slight bend to the north, where he was now out of sight of the men at the top of the gully. He quickly ran across the creek and into the forest on the other side. As soon as he could he began making his way directly to the west.

  The crashing sound of the invader’s beast gave Lirak plenty of warning. One of the men had ridden to the west and found a place to cross the creek, and was now coming back to the downed tree. Lirak crawled deep into a thick brush pile at the base of a large boulder and waited. The crashing became a steady “thump, thump” as the man slowed his beast to take a more careful search as he neared the area. Lirak lay completely still in the thick brush as the man came around the corner of the boulder. He stopped close enough that Lirak could hear the beast’s heavy breathing. A sudden sound from the northeast caused the man to turn his beast and move in that direction.

  Lirak waited until he had moved out of sight beyond some trees, and then slowly pulled himself out of the brush pile, brushing off dirt, leaves and a number of bugs that had been crawling on him. He hoped none of them were poisonous. Again he began moving to the west, but soon he heard another of the beasts to the west, moving toward him. Looking around he found no place suitable for hiding. As the man and beast drew closer, he desperately moved behind the biggest tree he could find. He peered around the tree through a small branch to watch the invader. Again the man slowly walked his beast through the forest, his weapon at the ready. He swung his head back and forth, scanning the area. His beast was headed toward the tree Lirak hid behind.

  Lirak waited behind the tree, ready to try to move around it when the beast went by. Looking at his feet he saw that it would be difficult to move quietly, the ground was littered with leaves and small twigs. He started to sweat as his fear began to get the better of him. Again he heard the heavy breathing of the beast, and heard the ‘thump’ of its feet. It sounded like it was directly on the other side of the tree. He lifted one foot to begin moving, when suddenly there was a flash of something to his right, he heard a sharp “twang” as the man’s weapon went off, and then heard the ridden beast make a strange, high-pitched warbling sound.

  Lirak reacted immediately, figuring that the weapon the man carried had to be reloaded. He swung around the tree to his left, instinctively drawing his stone blade from his hip as he did so. The beast was up on its hind legs, pawing at something on the ground in front of it with its front legs. The man was holding on with both hands as Lirak came from his right and slightly behind him, running at full speed. The man had not seen him y
et, he too was looking at whatever was frightening the beast. Not knowing what else to do, Lirak simply leaped as high as he could, wrapped both arms around the man and both of them went tumbling off the left side of the beast. Lirak had his blade. The invader’s hands were empty.

  They hit hard, but Lirak was on top. He felt the breath go out of the man as they hit the ground and Lirak’s shoulder smashed into his sternum. He saw that the beast was dashing away to the east already as he rolled off of the man, and he came to rest in a crouch with the blade still in his right hand. The man on the ground was desperately trying to get his breath, but he was also pulling his blade free from his own belt. Lirak brought his blade down on the man’s hand, and the man dropped his blade as he screamed in pain. He brought the mangled hand to his chest and held it in his other hand, his fear-widened eyes locked on Lirak’s. Lirak stood over him momentarily, looking in wonder at the stone blade in his hand, expecting it to be broken by the sharp blow against the man’s strange weapon. But the blade was unharmed and the other weapon was cloven in two at the hilt.

  From the east he heard the now familiar sound of a ridden beast crashing through the forest. He looked at the man, realizing that his stone blade had severed two fingers from the mangled hand. The sound of the approaching invader was too close, and he turned to the west and ran. As he ran he heard the man he had left behind yelling something. He hoped that leaving the man alive would give him more time to escape as the newcomer checked on the wounded invader. Soon he was deep into the forest and the crashing sound behind him stopped. He ran on for as long as he could, leaping over creeks and bushes. His body ached all over, but he pushed himself as hard as he could. When he could no longer push himself on, he stopped to catch his breath. Doubled over, with his hands on his knees, he drew in great heaving breaths. He forced himself to stop to listen between breaths, but heard nothing. He turned and looked to the east.

  He saw movement in the forest to the east, but his initial alarm turned to relief when he saw Thorn loping through the forest. The big cat came up to Lirak and butted his thigh with his head. Lirak saw a short but bloody wound on the cat’s right shoulder, but Thorn didn’t seem to mind it. Now Lirak knew what had frightened the beast, and he grabbed Thorn and hugged him, careful not to disturb the bleeding cut.

  “Good boy!” he told Thorn. “You saved my life again! That’s twice now,” he said. Thorn sat down beside Lirak and the two of them listened for sounds of pursuit until their breath returned. Then, hearing none, they turned and began working their way west and north, this time careful to leave as little indication of their passing as possible.

  Lirak walked the rest of the long afternoon, certain that he had left no trail any man could follow. The sun was just skimming the ridges of the Haguille Mountains when he finally reached the hastily prepared camp where Mayrie and Patrik ran out to greet him.

  “You made it!” Mayrie cried, her eyes misted up with tears. “I was so worried about you,” she hugged him fiercely.

  “What happened?” Patrik asked. “When we heard those booms, we thought you were in some deep trouble!”

  “I was,” Lirak said. “I think I’ve just been as lucky as I’ll ever be. I don’t know how I got through that alive.”

  “What happened?” Patrik repeated.

  Chutan came out with a wooden cup filled with a cool liquid. Lirak thanked him and drank it all down in one long pull. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he handed the cup back to Chutan.

  “We’ve already had our evening meal, but we have some hot meat for you if you want it,” Chutan said.

  “I am starving,” Lirak said. Mayrie had one arm around his waist on one side, and Patrik had an arm around his shoulders on the other. He walked into the camp.

  Lirak sat in the camp chewing on a piece of smoked venison. His meal included some tasty tubers and berries, and some ground grain baked on a hot rock, making a sort of flat unleavened bread. He drank a cup of squeezed fruit juice. His whole body ached, but his mind was far away. He thought about the past few days and the number of men who were now dead because of his direct actions. He guessed that there were as many dead or dying invaders as the invaders themselves had killed in their attack on Luh-Yi. The floating huts had been full of men; he had seen tens of them leaping into the river, many with heavy clothes on or on fire. He had no doubt that many of them had drowned. Many others had doubtlessly perished in the flames within the structures, unable to get out before the flames consumed everything. And yet he felt little compassion for those dead and dying men. He didn’t feel like a killer. He was a defender, protecting his land and his people.

  “Has anyone seen Gawn or Jerok?” he asked between bites.

  “Not yet,” Chutan said from his position near the fire.

  The sun had gone down already and the stars were coming out. A cool wind blew through the trees of the new camp. Patrik and Mayrie sat beside him, waiting to hear his story as he had promised to do after he had eaten.

  “We may need to send someone out to look for them,” Lirak said.

  “I have watchers watching the trail” Chutan said.

  “What if they go to the old camp? How will they know where to find us?” Lirak worried at the problem like a sore tooth.

  “Lirak, Gawn knows of this camp, if he finds the other one empty, he will come here. There is nothing else to do tonight. You should be getting sleep, not worrying about things you can’t do anything about,” Chutan said.

  The new camp was in a thick grove of trees. There were several large enclosures made of roughly cut limbs forming a tall cone, with evergreen tree limbs woven into them to ward off the sun and some rain. They would not withstand a strong wind, but in early autumn the summer storm season was mostly over. The light rains of autumn would not make the enclosures too uncomfortable.

  Lirak, Patrik, Chutan, Niwoq and Dobit were in one of them, each with some bedding laid out to sleep on. Mayrie was again staying with Kalie in one of the women’s enclosures, but at the moment she was still sitting beside Lirak as he ate. He finally finished the meal, and threw the remains of it onto the fire, where it sizzled and filled the enclosure with a savory smell.

  “So, what happened?” Patrik asked.

  Mayrie snuggled up against him, weaving her right arm between his left arm and chest. She laid her head on his shoulder and idly traced her finger across his fingers. Thorn lay on his right side, taking deep regular breaths.

  “Well, first thing is, you’re going to have to make me a new bow,” Lirak told Patrik.

  “I figured that out already.” Patrik grinned. “And it’s about time too, that old one was getting too small for you. You need one more like Jerok’s now.” At the mention of Jerok’s name Patrik’s grin faded.

  “I’ll get to work on it tomorrow. I have some bow-wood that’s been seasoning for a while; it shouldn’t be hard to get you fixed up,” Patrik said.

  Lirak then gave them as detailed an account as possible of the ambush. Patrik and Mayrie asked few questions and Mayrie’s grip on his hand and arm tightened when he covered the more dangerous moments. He finally finished.

  “So, you think one of them is dead then?” Patrik asked.

  “I’m pretty sure one is. The other one is at least wounded, I was pretty sure the arrow was on target,” Lirak answered. Patrik nodded, knowing that if Lirak felt the shot was good, it had almost certainly been fatal.

  “Do you think you might have cut things a little close there Lirak?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t expecting two of them,” Lirak defended himself.

  “I think we may have to put a watch on you,” Patrik said.

  “Okay,” Lirak surrendered. “That was too close. I was over-confident and rash.”

  Lirak pulled his stone blade from his sheath. “And there was something else,” he said. “This blade should be broken, but it’s not.” He moved close to the fire and examined it closely. “It’s not even chipped, and I cut a demon blade in half with it.”<
br />
  “That’s impossible,” Patrik said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Lirak replied. “But that’s what happened.” He pulled a thick stick from the firewood pile nearby. “Let’s test this.” With that he raised the blade high to strike the stick.

  “No!” Mayrie cried. “That’s your blade, Lirak, you’ll break it!”

  But heedlessly Lirak brought the blade down on the stick. The three of them looked in amazement as the stick fell into two halves, sliced cleanly through the middle.

  “Wow,” Patrik said.

  “She said I would need this blade,” Lirak said quietly, as if talking to himself. “She fixed it. I broke it in the fight with the cat in the Fire River Valley, but she fixed it.”

  “Who?” Mayrie asked.

  Lirak realized he had spoken aloud. He looked at Mayrie, then at Patrik. “Kathoias,” he said. “She didn’t just fix the blade. She did something to it.” He suddenly smashed the blade against a rock, but it merely rang with a loud, clear crystalline tone, sending rock chips flying. But the blade itself was unharmed.

  “It is true, you really are god-touched,” Patrik breathed.

  The three sat in silence as Lirak turned the blade over in his hands. Finally he returned it to its sheath and shrugged. “It might come in handy,” he finally said.

  “Yeah, it might,” Patrik agreed.

  They again sat in silence for a few moments, until they heard footsteps behind them, and heard Jerok’s familiar voice. “Well, that was fun.”

  Lirak, Mayrie and Patrik leaped up and Mayrie shrieked “Jerok! Gawn!”

  “Careful, you’re going to wake up the whole village,” Jerok said, his face split by a huge grin. Gawn crushed each of them with a huge hug. Both looked healthy, if tired.