Valley of Shields

by Duncan Lay

  Asami’s head whipped around. ‘What?’

  Gaibun looked away. ‘I am sorry, that slipped out, I should not have said that, I swore not to say a word.’

  ‘Did Sendatsu sleep with a human?’ Asami hissed.

  ‘You have to look at it from his point of view. He did not know if he would ever come back, they were hurling themselves at him, he was the first elf they had ever seen — do not judge him too harshly,’ Gaibun pleaded.

  ‘No wonder he wanted to come and live out here among the humans!’ Asami spat. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I really know him at all.’

  ‘Please, say nothing to him, I promised him.’

  Asami snorted.

  ‘Look, this is not about him. I wanted this to be about my apology to you. Please, ignore what I said about Sendatsu. I just wanted to apologise to you for my behaviour, nothing else.’

  Now it was Asami’s turn to say nothing for a long time. She was searching Gaibun’s words for a hint of another plan but all she could detect was honesty.

  ‘Apology accepted,’ she said finally.

  Neither had anything else to say for the rest of the ride.

  ‘Remind me why we are out here again?’ Ruttyn asked, stretching thighs that burned like fire after a full day in the saddle.

  ‘Captain Wulf needs scouts to lead him into the forest — and we’re the only ones who have seen the barrier and survived.’ Harald sat down gingerly.

  ‘But do we have to be strapped to a galloping torture machine? Honestly, we don’t need a fire tonight, I reckon you could cook bread by slapping a lump of dough between my thighs,’ Ruttyn complained.

  ‘Remind me never to eat your cooking,’ Caelin muttered.

  ‘That’s good advice any time.’ Harald chuckled.

  Caelin sighed. ‘I have seen sacks of turnips that ride better than you two. You need to relax in the saddle.’

  ‘Great. Can you let the turnips ride for us tomorrow? We’ll just dig a latrine instead,’ Ruttyn suggested.

  ‘Funny you should mention that. It’s our turn on duty tonight.’ Caelin smiled.

  ‘But how are we going to scout a forest where all the birds and animals are the friends of the elves? Fighting elves will be bad enough, but what if they send bears and wolves after us? And, if we shoot a deer to eat, it might be a personal friend of the elven leader,’ Harald said.

  ‘If we find an animal that’s a friend of the elves, we should bring it along. Because it would spout less nonsense than the two of you,’ Caelin told them. ‘Now get some food into you. We have to stand guard and then it’s another early start tomorrow.’

  ‘Bread?’ Ruttyn offered Harald.

  ‘If you’ve cooked that between your legs, I’d rather walk into the elven barrier.’

  The next day, Asami was still thinking about Gaibun’s apology and Sendatsu being with human women. She had never seen Gaibun as anything but a friend and, she had to admit, when she really needed one, he was there. Daichi kept them waiting for nearly half the day and to keep her occupied, Gaibun wanted to know about her triumphs and struggles while leading the Magic-weavers. He never seemed to lose interest, asking questions until Daichi finally summoned them to his office.

  Once again Daichi was flanked by his two most loyal clan leaders, Konetsu and Moshin.

  ‘Hurry up. The Elder Elf’s time is valuable. And you already wasted it yesterday, with that disgraceful display in the Council Chambers,’ Konetsu said harshly.

  ‘We must agree to differ on what was disgraceful about the display yesterday,’ Asami said coolly, still burning for Rhiannon and the way she had been treated. Konetsu had been one of the two clan leaders to walk away from the table and right past Rhiannon.

  ‘What is it, Magic-weaver?’ Moshin sneered.

  Gaibun laid a hand on Asami’s arm and she relaxed a little.

  ‘I have been watching our border, as you requested, and I have important news. There is an army of Forlish soldiers approaching our southern border. These are the same ones who tested our barrier a couple of moons ago. Now they are back. They must believe they have found a way through the barrier.’

  ‘Impossible!’ Konetsu snorted. ‘Humans cannot do such a thing.’

  Asami wished she could tell him the truth. ‘They have destroyed the other human countries and now rule them. They would not come here, risking our wrath, if they did not think they could have success,’ she said coldly.

  Daichi spoke for the first time. ‘How could they break the barrier? It withstood them last time and has protected us for more than three hundred years.’

  ‘It is based around the trees and bushes, uniting them and giving them the will and desire to stop anything passing through it. But it is weaker, far weaker than it once was. I have read the studies Sumiko performed and the barrier was roughly twice as deep barely one hundred years ago. Also, it is nowhere near as powerful as it was before. The fact that we can now use the oaken gateway magic to pass through it proves that.’

  ‘But it stopped them before,’ Konetsu pointed out.

  ‘Yes but it is tied to the plants. If you were to take away the trees, the barrier would be gone. Maybe they have found a way to do that,’ Asami insisted.

  Konetsu opened his mouth but Daichi merely held up a hand and he subsided.

  ‘We shall send a strong force of Border Patrol down there. Konetsu, you shall lead them. Gaibun, you can accompany them. I do not believe they can breach the barrier but, if they do, we shall be ready.’

  ‘Your will, lord.’ Gaibun bowed his head.

  ‘Elder Elf, there is a second army, which is travelling past our western border. It may be they also intend to attack the barrier. Perhaps the one to the south is but a feint to draw us away from Dokuzen,’ Asami said boldly.

  Moshin roared with laughter. ‘One mindless gaijin attack I might believe but to think they intend to outwit us and sack Dokuzen — these are gaijin you are talking about! They cannot find their own backsides without using both hands!’

  ‘They might surprise you,’ Asami warned.

  Moshin snorted. ‘And my dog might begin talking to me.’

  ‘This second army, is it on our border?’ Daichi interrupted.

  ‘Not yet. It approaches the land of Vales, but it is close enough to turn on us.’

  ‘They are not bothered with us. This would be the army you and your human friends wanted us to go and fight for them. No doubt you still wish for the elves to fight and possibly die to save your human friends. Well, this will not happen. You will watch and report and do no more. And if I hear you have been spreading nonsense about a human army planning to sack Dokuzen, then I shall ensure you join your predecessor in the mines.’

  ‘And if this army turns east and attacks our border while we are occupied with the one to the south?’ Asami challenged.

  ‘I will wait to see if the humans can even break through the barrier before I begin to indulge in speculation. Now, leave us. I must give Lord Konetsu orders for his march south. He will send those on to your home, Captain Gaibun.’

  ‘Yes, lord.’ Gaibun bowed his head again and hustled Asami out.

  ‘Of all the stiff-necked, foolish, prideful things to say …’ she muttered furiously as they were led out of the villa.

  ‘We did not really expect him to listen to us.’ Gaibun sighed. ‘But he was right about one thing. The humans need to break through the barrier to the south before we can take this seriously. If they cannot do that, talk of second armies and tricks is pointless.’

  ‘I’ll let Huw, Rhiannon and Sendatsu know what is happening,’ Asami said. ‘I hope I am wrong about this — but I almost wish I was right, so Daichi could see his own folly and learn an important lesson about humans.’

  ‘That is a lesson that would come at too high a price,’ Gaibun warned.

  ‘How many warriors do you think Daichi will send to the southern border?’

  Gaibun shrugged. ‘Many of them are now serving as guards to Sumiko and Jak
en up north — I doubt he will find more than a hundred free to go south. I cannot see him leaving Jaken unguarded when he does not believe the Forlish can break through the barrier anyway.’

  ‘And what if they do? If they get inside, there will be thousands of them, and only a hundred of you. You won’t stand a chance!’

  Gaibun smiled a little. ‘We know the woods and they do not. Not even Konetsu would be so foolish as to try to take on ten times his own number. We will merely watch and report.’

  ‘Be safe. I would hate for anything to happen to you.’ Asami laid her hand on his arm. ‘I fear for you.’

  Gaibun turned and enfolded her in his arms suddenly. She stiffened, then he whispered in her ear, ‘I am also afraid.’

  She held him, feeling his strong arms encircle her, while her own hands pressed against the long muscles of his back, until he relaxed his grip, leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

  ‘Thoughts of you will keep me alive. I shall return to see you again,’ he said hoarsely, before hurrying off.

  Asami watched him go, thinking not of Sendatsu, Daichi or advancing gaijin, but of how his lips had felt on hers.

  ‘How goes things in Rheged? Will the Forlish find many of our people or are they moving?’ Huw asked urgently.

  Cadel gulped down water then cleared his throat and spat.

  ‘Not well,’ he admitted. ‘Perhaps half of those we spoke to are heading north and west. The rest — either they do not believe us or think they can simply run into the trees when the Forlish approach and escape that way.’

  ‘Have you explained it properly to them? Perhaps I should go down there.’

  ‘Most of them have never been out of the village they are living in. Some of them don’t believe Powys even exists.’ Cadel shrugged. ‘The ones who survived the Forlish raiders think this is more of the same.’

  ‘Huw, we knew this would happen,’ Rhiannon said gently. ‘That part of Powys is sparsely populated. And there are no big villages — the Forlish will find little to interest them.’

  ‘If Rhiannon is right, then they are not there to attack us anyway but will turn east and strike the elves,’ Cadel offered.

  ‘I have no proof yet,’ Rhiannon admitted. ‘We know the Forlish cavalry has entered the Tregarth Forest and will soon attack the barrier. But the infantry is just moving slowly into Vales. We still don’t know for sure what they are planning to do.’

  Sendatsu cleared his throat. ‘Whatever they do, we have to prepare. Huw, our best dragons have spent the last moon trying to get people out of the path of the Forlish. We can do no more there. We need to bring them together, get ready to start taking slices out of the Forlish army.’

  ‘My people —’

  ‘When the Forlish burn their first village, the smoke will do more to make people move than anything we can say now. The ones who have stayed will not listen,’ Sendatsu said firmly.

  ‘We have to think about the next stage,’ Rhiannon agreed. ‘I will tell Asami what is happening out here. She told me she is in constant contact with Gaibun, who is down on the southern border, and we will hear soon enough if the Forlish were really able to smash through the magical barrier.’

  Huw said nothing, thinking of the dead children and burned houses they had found the last time the Forlish had rampaged through Rheged. But they were right. They could not save everyone, much as he wanted to. It was strange to think but he hoped the Forlish were after the elves and knew how to breach the magical barrier.

  ‘Lord Konetsu. I have had word from Dokuzen. The Forlish are in the forest and will encounter the barrier today. With your permission, I shall lead patrols down to the barrier and watch for any activity,’ Gaibun said stiffly.

  Konetsu yawned. ‘Who is in the forest?’

  ‘The Forlish. The human army,’ Gaibun said, struggling to keep his temper under control. He did not know whether Konetsu was being rude or arrogant. Either way, he went out of his way to insult Gaibun.

  ‘Oh, you mean the gaijin? You were calling them some other name.’ Konetsu waved him away.

  ‘There are different types of humans —’

  ‘There is only one. And none of them can get through the barrier. Go back to sleep and leave me in peace.’

  Gaibun stamped out of Konetsu’s tent, wanting to draw his sword and teach the arrogant fool a lesson. Sadly, Konetsu’s viewpoint was the same as many of the other one hundred Border Patrol camped here, three miles back from the barrier. He found it baffling. These warriors had trained all their lives to protect the border and yet now, when they might actually be needed, they were convinced they were safe.

  He let out a long breath. If he had not met Huw and Rhiannon, and helped Sendatsu train the Velsh dragons for a moon, he might think the same way. The barrier had protected them for so long it was perhaps natural they had come to believe in it too much. Dokuzen needed the barrier swept away, Gaibun realised. It was holding them back, blinding them to the truth. But when it happened, he would have liked to be holding the border with more than just these few. Their skills were great but the Forlish outnumbered them twenty to one.

  Captain Wulf had marched to war against the Breconians as a fresh-faced recruit in the first Forlish army to leave its borders. Over the next twenty years he had risen through the ranks and for the last six had led his own company against the Landish. He was an old comrade of Edmund and devoted to the king, which made him the obvious choice to lead the diversion attack. He was famous for his steadiness in battle and refusal to panic.

  Despite Edmund’s repeated warnings and insistence on care, Wulf believed this should be easy enough. Get through the barrier and then use the traditional Forlish tactics to bring the other side out to battle. Burn, rape and kill until their leaders could not take it any more and sent their army out. Normally, of course, he would destroy the enemy army. But instead he would run from it, draw out the elves and leave the way clear for Edmund to seize Dokuzen. Wulf was sure his men would obey his every order instantly and had the discipline necessary to make this trap work. Besides, how often did you get to fool the elves?

  He had a pair of riders standing by with the message they were through the barrier and the next stage could begin. He just had to see it happen.

  The horses had been held back while scouts moved forwards. The tales of what happened to those caught in the elves’ magical barrier had spread through the army like wildfire and nobody wanted to be the first to discover the edge of the barrier.

  Wulf clapped Caelin on the shoulder. ‘Are you and your men ready, sergeant?’

  ‘As ready as we’ll ever be.’ Caelin nodded to Ruttyn and Harald, standing nervously behind.

  ‘Just get me close to the barrier,’ Wulf instructed.

  ‘Anyone can do that. Getting you away safely again will be the trick,’ Caelin warned.

  He, Ruttyn and Harald crept forwards through the undergrowth — there was nothing resembling a path through here.

  ‘Do you think the elves can get through the barrier?’ Harald muttered.

  ‘How?’ Caelin replied absently.

  ‘That’s my question. We all know they like making up poems about autumn leaves and singing to the trees. Maybe they sing their way through.’

  Ruttyn snorted. ‘Oh, and you’re suggesting all we need is to belt out a few verses of “The Merchant’s Daughter and the Cavalry Company” and the trees will let us through?’

  ‘Well, not the way you sing,’ Harald told him. ‘You’d have every animal in the forest running for cover. The only thing that could turn milk sour faster than your singing is the face of my wife’s mother.’

  ‘If you have quite finished, some of us are trying to stay alive. I like my arms and legs attached to the rest of me,’ Caelin hissed.

  They moved onwards, conscious of every noise they were making, as well as the men following behind, who were thinking the scouts had proved it was safe to walk there. Ahead the undergrowth melted away, turning into a thick barrier
of trees. Instinctively, Caelin slowed down.

  ‘See anything, sarge?’ Ruttyn asked.

  ‘No, but I can feel something.’ Caelin took a swig of water worriedly.

  Captain Wulf ran to them. ‘Are we close?’ he hissed.

  ‘Not far now. The first thing you notice is when everything goes quiet,’ Caelin warned.

  ‘Like that?’ Wulf gestured.

  Everyone froze and they all listened hard. Nothing stirred, not even the wind.

  ‘This is the place,’ Caelin said. ‘Go further and the trees will tear us apart.’

  Wulf signalled to the men behind. ‘Pull back — oil and fire squad to the front!’

  One of the first battles Wulf had ever fought in had been against the Breconians and their use of slingers, rather than archers, had impressed him then. While the Forlish shields had prevailed, he still vividly remembered seeing men with smashed skulls, their heads caved in by stones hurled from more than fifty paces away. When he had his own battle company he had trained a squad of men to use the Breconian slings. While they were more of a curiosity than a genuine weapon, they had come in handy over the years — and never more so than now.

  A dozen slingers now whirled their weapons and sent pottery balls flying through the air to crash into trees, spraying a dark liquid in all directions.

  ‘Forgive me, sir, but what are we doing?’ Caelin asked.

  ‘Lamp oil. The balls are full of lamp oil,’ Wulf explained. ‘We shall destroy this barrier with fire. If the trees are dead, there is no barrier.’

  The slingers worked swiftly. Each slipped a fresh pottery ball into their sling, whirled it around their head and released. Some missed trees and fell, or crashed into the wrong tree — although it was hard to tell which trees might be part of the barrier and which were merely ordinary trees. Thanks to the slings, they were able to get better accuracy and distance, working on a front of more than fifty yards wide.

  ‘What if this does not work?’ Caelin ventured.

  ‘We have another plan,’ Wulf replied.

  Warning creaks were now coming from the trees being hit, and they were swaying, their branches thrashing around as if in a high wind, although there was not a breath of air. The noise of the groaning wood seemed like the warning growl of some animal.