The Warriors of Valishna (Cartharia Book 1)

by Spencer Reaves McCoy

  Matilyn said nothing.

  "I am Commander Samuel Frien," the man said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

  "Seriously?" Matilyn said. She adopted a duelist stance, coming a step closer to him.

  "Seriously," Samuel said, "I've heard a lot about you. I've wanted to meet you for some time. Taking back Teirford, escaping with our ships. You're not only a legend in Arinford."

  Matilyn didn't know what to say to that, so instead she came at him, with her sword high.

  Samuel lifted his own two handed sword to meet hers with a sigh of regret. "I don't want to do this," he said over the ringing of steel their blades made. "I want to talk to you."

  "Why?" Matilyn demanded, pulling her blade back and prepping herself for a counter attack. Her shoulder and leg both stung from the blows they'd taken. She was acutely aware of the smell of smoke that hung heavily in the air, and the various cries ringing out from all around her. She kept her eyes on Samuel though.

  "Because I think you could do a lot for Lamonte," Samuel said.

  "I would never join Lamonte," Matilyn said.

  "You don't know that," Samuel said, "Never say never. That's something I learned at my mother's knee. You don't want to rule out any possibilities."

  Matilyn swung her sword forward again. Samuel met it lazily with his own and shoved her backwards. He was much stronger than she was, and Matilyn went sprawling. Her shield flew out of her hand.

  She managed to catch herself before falling completely, and readjusted her sword to hold with both hands. Samuel swung his sword sharply at her, suddenly, and Matilyn had to scramble to block it.

  "I'm serious," Samuel said, "You don't know Lamonte like I do. If you heard me out, I think you'd realize that I'm not a bad man. That King Sullivan is not a bad man."

  "You're a bunch of murderers," Matilyn said.

  "Now now," Samuel said, coming at her again with his blade. She barely deflected it. "Enough with the generalities. We both know how war is. You get drafted, or you sign up to fight for your Kingdom. Either way, where you're born, that dictates who you fight for. The men you're out there killing, their people, just like you. We're not monsters."

  "Anyone fighting for Lamonte is--" Matilyn started to say. Samuel cut her off quickly.

  "You think people here have a choice?" he said. "You think they woke up one day and thought, 'Today I'm going to go kill a bunch of people from Arinford'? You're smart than that. You know how war works."

  Matilyn said nothing to that.

  "Everything," Samuel said, "is dictated by your birth. Everything that you are, everything that you believe, everything that you fight for, it all comes down to where you were born."

  "That's not true," Matilyn said.

  "It is true," Samuel said, "Your entire life is dictated by your birth. It's the cycle of the proletariat; children of the wealthy stay rich, and children of the poor stay poor. I've seen it my entire life."

  "There's more to it than birth," Matilyn said. "I make my own decisions. I do that."

  "Do you even know what you're fighting against?" Samuel demanded.

  Matilyn glared at him, "Tyranny."

  Samuel laughed. The sound was out-of-place but surprisingly pleasant in the midst of the battle field. Matilyn grit her teeth against it. "Let me tell you what life is like here. You're born into a land where you don't get choices. You grow up struggling to take care of your family and you know--you know--from the time you're knee high, you know that's all there will ever be. You're going to go you're entire life without ever having the luxury of deciding something different for yourself."

  He kept his sword up as he spoke, though he didn't press an attack, "Tell me how that's fair. Tell me that's how a fair, just world works. Tell me you believe that children should starve in the streets because they were born into a poor family."

  Matilyn said nothing.

  "King Sullivan, he wants to change that," Samuel said, "He wants to bring down the class system, make everyone equal, make sure choices and opportunities are available to all, not just the lucky."

  Matilyn gestured around at the fighting, "This," she said, "This is not the way."

  Samuel sighed, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

  Then he attacked her again, and Matilyn quickly realized she was outmatched. Every strike he made, she had to struggle to block. Even then, she was being pressed backwards. She looked around for help but nobody was near enough to call out too.

  Samuel didn't hold back, continuously driving blow after blow at her, forcing her to defend. There were several times that he could have taken her out though, and he didn't. Instead, he waited till she was winded, and then used his sword to shove her backwards. This time when Matilyn stumbled, she couldn't catch herself and fell to the ground.

  Samuel kicked her blade away and planted a boot in her chest.

  "You could have done so much for us," he said. "You could have helped so many."

  He put the tip of the blade to her throat. "I didn't want it to end like this. I wanted to show you the way."

  Matilyn felt a small trick of blood forming beneath the tip of sword. Her heart was racing. She didn't know what to do.

  "No!"

  A young, familiar voice suddenly interrupted them, and Matilyn saw a soldier flying towards Samuel, sword held high.

  Samuel whipped around, driving his sword into the stomach of Matilyn's rescuer. She quickly darted to her feet, grabbing her sword as she went. Before she could reengage, Samuel took off, sprinting through the camp, calling out orders as he went to his men.

  Matilyn thought about chasing him, but her eyes moved back to the soldier who'd taken the blade for her. She knelt down beside him, and pushed back the helmet from his face.

  Rory met her eyes.

  "No," Matilyn said. "No, Rory. No. What are you doing here?"

  "I wanted to help," Rory whispered.

  "You're going to be fine," Matilyn said. She tried to focus on his wound, but she couldn't seem to make herself. She tried again. "You're going to be just fine. I promise."

  "I needed to help," Rory said in a weak voice, "My family, they're back in Valishna."

  Matilyn unclasped his armor, "I told you to stay behind," she said. There was too much blood. He was bleeding out too quickly. There was nothing she could do. Even if she could reach her Chakran, the wound was too bad.

  She tried to stop the bleeding with her hands. "Rory."

  "I'm sorry," Rory whispered.

  Sean found Matilyn kneeling over the corpse of Rory.

  "Commander," he said, "It's over. The rest of Frien's men fled. It's just us left in the camp."

  Matilyn looked up at Sean, "They left?"

  Sean nodded.

  "I can't believe it," Matilyn said, "They trapped us here. Why would they let us go? They could have killed us all. We were out numbered."

  "I don't know," Sean said. "Maybe they got scared. Maybe they didn't want to lose more men. Or risk Frien's life. I don't know. But we suffered. We suffered a lot."

  "I know that," Matilyn said. She looked at Rory and swallowed. She didn't want to leave his side, "I told him he'd be fine. I promised. But that was a lie."

  Sean put a hand out on her shoulder. Matilyn jerked away, "I lied to him, Sean. I told him he'd be fine. He shouldn't have been here. Not just here, but here. Fighting. He was too young."

  "It's alright," Sean said.

  "No," Matilyn said, "It's not alright. None of this is alright. Do you know what we're fighting for?"

  "Matilyn."

  "I'm serious," Matilyn said, "I talked to the commander here. I need to know. What are we fighting for?"

  Sean shook his head, "You know why. We're fighting to stop Richard Sullivan, the Black King. He attacked Valishna. He's responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. He is responsible for Rory, right here, right now. That's what we're fighting for."

  Matilyn frowned, 'But why? What if he's right, Sean?"

  "You're just thinking that beca
use of the dream you had," Sean said, "You don't mean that."

  "Maybe I dreamt that for a reason," Matilyn said.

  "You can't think that," Sean said, "Matilyn, listen to yourself. This isn't you."

  "Maybe it is," Matilyn said. She looked back at Rory and felt tears filling her eyes, "I don't know what to do, or think, Sean. Rory, he wasn't supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to die. That's on me. I was his commanding officer. I should have realized he snuck in and joined us. That's my fault."

  Sean knelt down beside her, "No," he said, "It's not your fault, Matilyn. This is Richard Sullivan's fault. He should never have attacked Arinford. If it wasn't for him, none of us would be here."

  "The commander," Matilyn said, "He told me that if I'd been born on this side of the sea, I'd be fighting for Lamonte. He talked about their families, how much they suffer."

  "He's going to say whatever he can to try and convince you that you're wrong," Sean said, "You can't let him get into your head, Matilyn. You have to pull yourself together."

  Matilyn blinked.

  "I know this is hard," Sean said, "It's hard on all of us. But you're our leader. Our men look for you for inspiration. You can't break down and abandon them. I'm sorry, but it's a truth. You don't have the luxury of second guessing yourself."

  "I know that," Matilyn whispered.

  "Don't you think we've all wondered?" Sean asked, "Don't you think we've all considered at one point or another that we're wrong? If you start entertaining hat possibility, it's a road you can't come back from. And it's a dangerous road, because you'll be leading a lot of men down it."

  Matilyn nodded.

  "You have to be strong," Sean said, "We lost a lot of men tonight. We need our leader."

  "Alright," Matilyn said.

  "Good," Sean said, "Good, that's right. It's alright. Get his tags. We'll have to send a letter home."

  Matilyn fumbled inside of Rory's uniform and grabbed his tags. She carefully slipped the chain off from around his head. "How can I write back about this? How can I tell his family that he's gone? He's a child."

  "No," Sean said, "He's an adult. He fought and died for our cause, you can at least give him that. You can allow him that last respect, in death."

  "Okay," Matilyn agreed. She wiped a hand across her face, "Okay then. He's an adult. That doesn't make it any better."

  Sean was suddenly furious. He didn't know if it was himself or if it was the combined moods of the men who'd survived the attack, but the feeling was almost overwhelming.

  "Stop it," he said, "Stop it right now. Of course it's not any better. He's dead, and you have to deal with that. You have to stop dwelling on so much of the bad. You led us here, you led the Lost Brigade. You brought us here, and told us we'd kill Richard Sullivan, and that's what we need to do."

  "I know that," Matilyn said.

  "You keep saying that," Sean said, "But I don't think you do. I don't think you realize how important you are to Arinford. You've done so much, but you're just constantly second-guessing and wondering if you're doing enough, or if you're doing the right thing. Grow up, Matilyn. We don't have time for this."

  Matilyn winced.

  "Do you want his death to mean nothing?" Sean demanded, "Do you want all of their deaths to mean nothing?"

  Matilyn shook her head.

  "Then you'll get up," Sean said, "And you'll go to them, and you'll tell them that they were brave and strong and righteous. And you'll send home those tags, and you'll write a report of the dead, and you'll say that these men were heroes to Arinford. If you care, that's what you'll do."

  Matilyn got to her feet. "I can do that."

  "I know," Sean said. He took another look at Rory. He felt guilty for the things that he said. He knew Matilyn couldn't help the way she felt, but it stung. After a fight like the one they'd been through, her questioning herself stung. His anger died down a little, "I know you can. You're meant for this."

  "Come on," Matilyn said, "Let's start rounding up the men."

  THIRTY-SIX

  You Cowardly Rascal

  TRAVELING WAS DIFFICULT. THE DAYS WERE LONG and grueling and there was no time for rest.

  Two and Six's injuries made the journey all that much more difficult. There were times when Six could walk on her own and times when she seemed near collapse and needed to lean one of the others for support. Instead of taking a path, they wound their way through thick trees, and the unstable terrain made it difficult for both of the women.

  While they walked, Four let Eldrin in on their full plans.

  "We've actually been making our way towards Sullivan's castle,' he explained, "Once we're there, we're going to take out the advisors first, and then the King himself. We've managed to take out dozens of his commanders already. We've been a thorn in his side but it's time to take on his actual domain."

  "How far are we?" Eldrin asked, peering forward, as though expecting to see the top of the castle through the trees.

  Four chuckled softly, "Not even close. Right now we're headed to a clearing that Five found. It's not large, nor comfortable but it'll work as a base of operations. There's a stream nearby it, and there will probably be wild life in the area."

  "Why are we stopping there?" Eldrin asked. "If our goal is to go after Sullivan, why not go directly there?"

  Four walked a bit before explaining, "We've worked really hard to get as far as we have without being noticed. There's going to be a lot of research and planning that needs to be done before we waltz in."

  "It just seems like a waste of time to go so long between moving. If we were to go directly there and find a place to safely watch them, we'd be able to stop Sullivan a lot sooner," Eldrin pointed out.

  "We can't do anything while his soldiers are safe in the castle," Four explained with a frown, "There's too many. We're good, but we're not that good. We can't take out that many men alone. We have to wait till they leave. We have sources that say that could be a few months, at the last. He's been paranoid about the storms."

  "So what do we do till then?" Eldrin asked, "Go after more commanders?"

  Four shrugged, "We're going to set up camp in this place Five found, and wait him out. This will give us time to finish teaching you and for the rest of us to hone our skills. We'll have time to make a cohesive plan as well. We have word one of their specialized units will be traveling by soon enough. We'll kill them."

  Eldrin nodded, "Good."

  "It will give Two and Six time to heal as well," Four pointed out, "Which well know you're a fan of. You can teach us all more about first aid, too."

  "I thought you were well=prepared before I got here," Eldrin asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

  Four rolled his eyes, "We lost One because he was the last one of us with extensive medical training."

  "You should have put a stick in his mouth," Eldrin said, "From what it sounds like, he was convulsing and he bit his own tongue and maybe choked on it. At the least, he would have been able to let the vile rule out of his mouth."

  "See?" Four said, "The most any of us can do is stitch up wounds. How'd you get to be a healer? Were your parents priests?"

  "No," Eldrin said, "It definitely didn't run in the family. My father was a banker. It sort of ran in the family. Tradition, you know?"

  "So you were a banker?" Four asked.

  "No," Eldrin said, and grinned, "No, I was the black sheep. Well, not literally the black sheep. I got along with all of my family, for the most part. Usually. I had no interest in working with banking though."

  "You had an interest in healing then?" Four said.

  Eldrin shook his head and smiled again, "No. No, I had an interest in a girl."

  Four folded his hands behind his back while he walked, "Ah, women." He didn't say more, but his expression as curious.

  After a moment, Eldrin sighed and went on, "I saw this girl when I was a little kid. I couldn't have been older than four. She had blue ribbons on her hair. She was always with her father a
t the market place. It tried to talk to her when I would see her in town but I don't think she ever even saw me. So I tried harder to get her attention.

  "Of course, at that age, you can imagine the type of attention I tried to give."

  Four smirked. "When I liked a girl, I'd throw rocks."

  "I didn't throw rocks," Eldrin said with a laugh, "But everything else. Well, mostly mud. I would throw giant balls of it. I ended up ruining one of her dresses. She hardly ever wore them but this was a special occasion and I completely stained it. I felt for sure she hated me.

  "She didn't though," Eldrin said after a pause, "We became friends. Best of friends, I'd like to think. Then one day--"

  Eldrin paused when the group came to a halt. Six had crumpled to the ground.

  "Six?" Eldrin hurried up to kneel down beside her.

  She was breathing heavily but barely moving. Eldrin felt her pulse and frowned.

  "She needs rest," he raised his head to look over at Three.

  "I know," Three said, "But we need to get where we're going first. We can't risk making camp out in the open like this. We can't stop."

  "So you're willing to sacrifice her life?" Eldrin asked.

  "If that's what it takes," Three said.

  Eldrin sighed, "Fine. Hand me some of your water."

  Three handed her flask over.

  Eldrin held out a hand and splashed the water into it. He used his fingers to dab at Six's face.

  "What?" her voice was slurred and her eyelids fluttered without opening.

  "Wake up," ELdrin said, "Come on, Six. You can do it. Pull yourself out of this. You've been through worse."

  Her eyelids fluttered again.

  Eldrin frowned for a moment and then glanced over at Seven and Five, "Can the two of you make a travois? I know its' difficult to travel with but she can't walk."

  "We can't drag her," Three said, "It'd leave too much of a trail for someone to follow."

  "Then we'll make a travois that we can lift her on," ELdrin said in a dismissive tone, "Get two fallen branches and clear the excess twigs and leaves off of it. Hurry!"

  Seven and Five both glanced at Three for confirmation. When she nodded, they both took off.