by J W Murison
‘Bow’s,’ he snapped and suddenly grinned, despite the fact he hated the bloodshed there was a natural sense of being in Gareth's soul when he stood in the front rank of a battle. He felt the blood begin to pump and gave the orders. Arrows arced up into the morning sky and lost in the dimness of the predawn. It was with great surprise to the natives when the arrows fell amongst them. Arrows were fired back but fell way short. More arrows claimed lives or wounded. Men began to shout, one ran forward to lose an arrow then another, they still fell short.
It looked to Gareth like they were about to charge but a strong voice roared a command and they all began to pull together. About thirty bowmen ran forward until they were within range and began to fire arrows. Before they were even able to loose their first arrow three of them had fallen dead. A few arrows splattered into the Highland position but the men were past masters at shielding themselves from flights of arrows. They dipped and raised their shields, most missed but a few arrows slammed into them, the second volley was more accurate as was the third. That was enough for the natives and they charged, picking up the bowmen as they passed.
‘Stand,’ Gareth ordered without looking round. To his right stood Graun, The Beast and Alan on his left Billy Scout and young Steven, Gareth was pleased to see no fear in the young man’s posture.
Graun nodded towards the incoming natives, ‘they have a fair turn of speed eh?’ He was grinning anticipating what was going to happen next; it never failed to impress him. Sure enough they ran blindly into the trap laid. The first man went down with a scream followed by a wave of others. Their cohesion and momentum was broken immediately. Of the initial wave only a few dozen reached the Highland line unscathed. They hit their shields like the splattering of hail, in a few moments all were dead.
Gareth growled, ‘forward at the walk watch your footing.’
They began to advance, more men breached the caltrop obstacle and ran on to their shields. High above Amber gasped as she saw Gareth cleave a man in two from head to foot. Some of the natives were already beginning to try and get away all were limping.
The Eagle King leaned forward, ‘those things they sowed are called caltrops, clever little things with inch long spikes. They are made in such a way as no matter how they are dropped they always come to rest with one spike facing upwards. The Highlanders wear reinforced boots but they still have to be careful of them, you will see by the way they will begin to shuffle forward as they reach the spikes.’
He was right and she watched fascinated as the big men slaughtered the helpless natives. Half of them were now dead but they drew themselves from the trap and lined up. Once the Highlanders were through the caltrops they broadened their steps and Gareth called them to a halt.
‘Now you are going to see a force of nature on the battlefield at work my dear. Watch carefully.’
Amber turned her attention back to the two sides, one considerable smaller than the other. The natives felt they still had the upper hand and began to scream and shout. The Highlanders began to emit a low tone that began to build, as it reached its apex he ordered the charge. The natives responded and the two sides hurtled towards each other. There was a colossal crash as the two sides met and Amber thought she heard the snapping of dry twigs; bodies of the natives were flung high into the air. The Highlanders were through them in the blink of an eye. A few men survived the initial charge and the Highlanders turned and finished them off.
She turned towards the Eagle King and he nodded, ‘your hundred natives didn't do very well did they.’
Amber was speechless, ‘how?’ Was about all she could muster.
‘You saw, you tell me.’
She shook her head, ‘I can’t.’
Gareth dispatched another unconscious man and blood sprayed high, the task was methodical. A whimper alerted him to another wounded man and he turned towards the sound. A young man was hiding beside a fallen column. He spotted Gareth coming towards him and let lose an arrow. Gareth batted it away with his shield. He noticed the young man had an arrow in his leg and a caltrop in his foot. He hesitated then swatted away the young man’s bow then dragged him into the open and shouted for Amber. The young man produced a stone knife and Gareth grabbed his wrist. He screamed with pain and dropped the knife, Gareth kicked it away.
Amber came into land beside him, ‘tell him to stop struggling.’
She did so and the young man fell quiet. Gareth bent and snapped the head off the arrow then drew it out of his leg. The young man gritted his teeth. Air exploded from his mouth when Gareth pulled out the caltrop from his foot but he never screamed.
‘Ask him if he knows why I have allowed him to live?’
She did so and the young man wasn’t stupid, he answered in his native tongue. ‘He says you have let him live so he can tell his people what happened here.’
Gareth nodded, ‘that's right, now tell him he can leave, no one will harm him now as long as he does nothing stupid.’
She conveyed his message and added a little for the young man’s benefit, telling him his message was more important than his pride. It wasn’t necessary the young man had more than enough fighting for one day and knew the importance of his message.
‘Tell him also his people may come and retrieve the bodies of their loved ones, as long as there is no sign of force they will not be harmed.’
He gave a nod of appreciation, hobbled over to his bow and unstrung it. Putting the string in a leather pouch he hobbled off using the bow. His leg had already stopped bleeding but the movement opened the wound again. Gareth doubted he would get far but presumed the young man would stop and dress it as soon as he was clear of the old city.
He turned his attention back to Amber, ‘you had better return home to your father and let him know what happened here, tell him if he wishes us to leave to prevent farther conflict we will.’
She was gawking at the carnage they had caused but heard what he said. She walked away and a few steps before transforming and Gareth couldn’t help but admire her lithe form. It occurred to him he was missing his regular sex now. He frowned, was she grey or blue.
‘Ok let’s get these caltrops picked up and bagged in case we get more visitors,’ he shouted at the now idle men.
It wasn’t long before Grey Eagle appeared with a few of his senior men; they stood aghast at the carnage wrought by the iron weapons on the bodies of the natives. The caltrops had been picked up and the men returned to the palace courtyard.
They were cleaning their equipment and clothes when they King of the Grey Eagles marched in. He was more than embarrassed when the King of the golden ones approached along with Gareth and Graun.
He took a deep breath, the men looked mildly annoyed rather than angry, ‘I am truly sorry for what transpired this morning, I'm not sure what happened yet or why they attacked, but I will endeavour to find out.’
Gareth shook his head, ‘it was unfortunate, I have told the natives they can come and collect their dead if they wish and we are preparing to leave in case they have other ideas.’
Grey Eagle took a deep breath, ‘how many men did you lose?’
Gareth shook his head, ‘none.’ He looked to Graun, ‘none wounded.’
Graun shook his head, ‘nope not a scratch.’
Grey Eagles mouth dropped open and he struggled for words, ‘that's fortunate anyway.’
‘What I'm displeased about is the behaviour of your daughter,’ Gareth grunted, ‘I asked her to fetch you and she refused. I wanted to avoid bloodshed if I could.’
‘I know, she is a little head strong that one, I have seen the battle through her eyes.’ He didn't add that she thought that more important than waking him up and he agreed. Conformation of these men’s fighting ability’s was a far more precious to him than a hundred human lives, but to have not a single casualty was almost breath taking, the local tribes were infamous for their ferocity. He had thanked her for her wisdom but he would not tell this man that. ‘She will be suitably punished for
her actions.’
It seemed to satisfy Gareth, ‘thank you for that, but she did help a little.’
‘I will take that into consideration. I hope this little incident has not made you want to leave, I would wish you to stay a little longer.’
Gareth nodded, ‘we will see what your natives have in mind for us later in the day, I will leave if forced to, I don’t want to start another bloody war.’
‘Aye,’ Graun agreed, ‘the logistics alone would be a bloody nightmare.’
Gareth nodded, ‘aye and no real reason for it either, although I would like to establish some form of trading post sometime in the future.’ Gareth said it but didn't believe it, so far he had seen nothing that inspired him to return to this place apart from the forest itself. The towering trees were a wonder to behold.
It was near midday before the first natives arrived to collect their dead. There was a lot of wailing. Grey Eagle took the sick looking chief to the side. He denied having anything to do with the attack and blamed the young men of the village for wanting the iron swords of the strange men. No one believed him, Grey Eagle told Gareth there was no way the young men would have dared try anything without him being behind it.
Grey Eagle returned to his village after the last of the natives had left. Gareth had announced he was going to leave the following morning and probably never return here again. The golden Eagle king had shown some interest in returning with some of his people but more for the history that was locked in the libraries than to restart the colony. Grey Eagle felt a strange sense of loss and also one of panic. He had no doubt that these men were serious and knew in his heart that they would one day seek out the other golden Eagle colony. If they became friends then he was sure he would become their enemy.
He called for Amber, she knelt in front of him and he stroked her head fondly as he had since she was a child. ‘I told them I would punish you for not waking me, he smile and she smiled back, ‘now what punishment would you like girl?’
‘I hear you are putting two men to each ship to help the strong one find his way and keep the peace father.’
‘That's right my child.’
‘I hear it will be a long voyage; that the conditions on board these vessels are not nice and it could well prove dangerous.’
His heart leapt into his throat, could this girl be thinking as he was, ‘so I was told.’
‘Then would it not be fitting to put me aboard with the strong one as a punishment father if it is to prove so unpleasant.’
‘It could well be daughter,’ he leaned forward and lowered his voice, ‘in the entire history of our people no one has ever mated with a human, we consider it beneath us, and they beneath us. However there is now a race of humans that are at least our equals. A race so strong they are unaffected by magic, if one of my people wanted to mate with this new race of humans and befriend them, maybe even bind them to us through marriage I would not be disappointed my daughter.’
Their eyes locked and she smiled slowly, ‘an Eagle married to the great one would be a third wife, how would one’s sense of honour take that father.’
‘You have a good point daughter, but if they befriend our enemy’s and his father-in-law becomes King of all the Eagles then they will have the ear of the great one and the constant conflict between our two nations could well lead to him taking a hand on their side. That I believe would spell doom for our people. We need to bind him to us, he is separated from his wives just now I was told they displeased him and he is punishing them.’
‘How did they displease him father.’
‘They lied to him about something and deceived him. I am hoping the longer the voyage the more vulnerable to seduction he will become.’
‘That's what I was hoping for to father.’
He sat back and regarded her as though seeing her for the first time, ‘I always knew you were special Amber from the first moment I saw you break free from your shell. I will always adore you daughter, now I shall set things in motion.’
Before nightfall he returned to the old city a place he had always considered alien, now he considered it completely hostile. Gleaming towers rose towards the sky, running water flowed down streets of paving he never knew were there. Statues long destroyed by his ancestors had reformed and lined the avenues. Strange trees were beginning to grow again. His people used the great magic to manipulate nature; the golden ones used it in an entirely different manner one he found repulsive. He stopped by a tree and formed words in his mind. He placed his hands on it and closed his eyes. He felt the magic flow through him and into the tree. The bark expanded under his hand. He opened his eyes and watched it form, then the fruit. When it had ripened he removed his hand and plucked a fruit from it.
‘We call it an orange.’ He spun to find the Eagle King behind him. ‘That was impressive. We have seeds that can produce a tree and fruit in a few days but nothing like that. Peel the orange skin from it and eat the flesh beneath.’
He did so and his eyebrows shot up, ‘this is nice, quite acidic though. When the golden ones left here my people reduced everything they stood for, even the trees back to seeds. They should have left this one though, it’s nice, I suppose their hatred was so great it blinded them to any other course of action.’
‘That's such a shame; in the journal of the first one who made it here it states he was the seventh son of the king, our history only records three sons. I don’t know where he came from. I am the firstborn son of the first born all the way back to the first king. I would not, I could not do what he did. I was shocked to find another race of Eagles, I had no idea of your existence but it has delighted me and makes me hope I find others of our kind on these adventures.’
Grey Eagle found himself smiling, it was Gareth's adventure but the golden king considered it as much his. He supposed in many ways it was the only way he could experience an adventure and Grey Eagle suddenly felt a kinship with the golden king. ‘I wish it was your ancestor that made it here, I feel there would have been no war.’
The golden king began to glow with pleasure, ‘as do I Grey Eagle and yet despite what my people have gone through they can still be conceited. I was forced to mate with other females during my captivity, my bastard offspring turned on me once we were freed, it was Graun’s brother who saved my only remaining legitimate son at the time and I believe they would even have tried to kill me.’
‘They would not have been able to.’
‘I don’t know Grey Eagle, I think they would have found a way sooner or later, as it turned out they are all dead now. Their conceit was beyond measure, yet my own sons, the legitimate ones are all well balanced and any of them could take my place. I wonder if those that came here were from his queen.’
‘Strange.’
‘True, ah here comes Gareth and Graun.’
The two Eagle kings nodded politely and Gareth replied in kind with a single nod, Graun seemed to be amused by it all as the smile hardly left his face.
Grey Eagle talked first, ‘Gareth, a pleasure to see you, I hear you will be gone by the morning. I will have the men you have asked for here at dawn. I wish to ask a favour.’
‘Ask away.’
‘I wish to send my daughter with you as punishment, she will be one of the six and I hope you place her on the worst of the ships you have available. I only ask you have someone trustworthy watch over her,’ he smiled, ‘she is my favourite.’
‘Well I doubt if she will enjoy the journey all that much, but it may be many months before we reach the coast.’
He nodded, ‘good, so long from her loved ones should teach her the lesson well I think. Let her return when you reach the coast and I will replace her with someone more competent.’
‘I will endeavour to make sure she comes to no harm, however I cannot guarantee her safety or anyone’s on this voyage, it may not be such a good idea to send her.’
‘I have already told her, I cannot retract now or she will make my life a misery, she will take her cha
nces with everyone else. I will not hold it against you if the worst happens.’
Gareth sighed, ‘ok if that is what you wish. I have to say it has been an immense pleasure meeting you Grey Eagle and I am sure we will meet again, as a matter of fact as soon as we gain the coast.’
Grey Eagle smiled, ‘the pleasure has been mine Gareth, till we meet again.’ They clasped arms and Gareth left the two kings to talk farther.
The following day an unhappy looking bunch of Grey Eagles joined them just as the sun broke through a grey cloudy sky and began to brighten the morning. Gareth greeted them before they moved to the small island. From there the golden Eagles transported the men back to the ship, within an hour the ships sped past the two jagged peaks that rose from the sea on the outgoing tide. Gareth stood at the rail out of the way as Bob guided his ship through the shallow waters beyond. High above a golden Eagle cried out and Steven stood beside Bob relaying what his wife was telling him about what lay ahead of them. At the far side of the railings stood Amber. Gareth had been tempted to do as her father had asked and put her on the worst ship but Graun had advised against it. More than a few of the crew were casting eyes at her and Gareth now deemed it a wise decision to keep her close. He went below and with the help of a few men rigged up a canvas for a screen in his own quarters and had a hammock brought in for her and hung it up.
Bob stood at the wheel and barked out orders, now and then he would run to either side of the ship to lean over the rail and observe the passing coral. As the day past the channel seemed to get narrower. At night they anchored while he prayed the wind and seas remained calm. On the third day a dark blue line appeared on the horizon and slowly they wound their way towards it. By nightfall they had reached a deep lagoon and a mile on the other side a coral reef. Bob anchored for the night and took a long boat out to the reef where he spent the rest of the day light looking for a channel through. He found one but knew he would have to wait for the high tide. At midnight the three ships lined up opposite the break in the coral and waited for the tide to rise high enough.
