Valley of Shields

by Duncan Lay

  ‘No, elves can do that as well,’ Ruttyn insisted. ‘They could be ready to spring out of the trees around us even now!’

  ‘That’s enough,’ Caelin said. The rest of the squad were glancing around nervously and he suspected a couple of them might run at any moment. ‘There’s no way they can just step out of a tree! It’s not possible! We shall see and hear them long before they get here —’

  ‘Sarge!’ Harald surged to his feet, pointing at the oak tree.

  ‘Harald, I am not in the mood,’ Caelin warned but Ruttyn and another man also jumped up and backed away from the tree.

  Spinning around, Caelin saw a curious sight — a piece of wooden staff protruding out of the centre of the oak trunk.

  ‘It just appeared there! And I swore I saw a face with it!’ Harald exclaimed.

  Caelin felt a ripple of fear up his back. Ruttyn had been regaling them all with tales of the elves using the plants and animals themselves to fight. He opened his mouth to order his men away when an elven warrior stepped out of the tree itself, holding on to the staff with one hand, a long, curved sword in the other.

  Someone screamed, others shouted but Caelin lifted his crossbow and shot a heavy bolt into the elf’s chest. The warrior was lifted up and tossed back by the impact, his blood bursting across the tree as the arrow’s chunky metal head tore through flesh and bone.

  The warrior fell, only to be replaced by another, then a third, drawing swords and advancing on the frightened scouts. Every moment another elven warrior appeared out of the tree.

  ‘Draw your swords! Stay together!’ Caelin roared, tossing aside his empty crossbow.

  An elven warrior leaped at him, sword whistling down for his neck and he blocked the blow, feeling the shock shudder up his arm, only for the elf to slice back rapidly at his chest. This strike he only just parried and the force spun him around. Caelin saw the flare of triumph in the elf’s eyes and braced himself for the end — only for the elf to be flung back by the impact of a crossbow bolt.

  ‘Come on, sarge — let’s get out of here!’ Ruttyn grabbed his arm, dropping his empty crossbow.

  Caelin glanced around but the rest of the squad was either screaming their last on elven swords or running. He raced after Ruttyn and Harald. They had to get back to Captain Wulf. The elves were coming and the dying had begun.

  Wulf inspected the first line of defence carefully. He expected the elves to take his men seriously, after being slaughtered the first time. That meant a scouting force coming in first. He planned to offer a token resistance before falling back but he was prepared to lose the company of men he had placed here, as well as the companies he had ready at the second and third lines. The bulk of his troops were near the breach in the barrier, which had been widened in the days since they broke through. If these men could make it all the way back, then it would be a triumph. But he had planned for them to die.

  Of course he had not told them that, instead carefully explaining they should give the elves a bloody nose before falling back. If they could do this, he would welcome them with open arms. But his fear was the elves would use magic or some other trickery. The experience of Caelin and his patrol only confirmed those fears.

  ‘As soon as you see elves, send a squad back to warn us. Hold this line. We shall come and rescue you but the king is relying on you to stop them here,’ he told the young officer in command.

  ‘I won’t let you down, sir!’

  Wulf shook the man’s hand and patted him on the back, hoping the man’s spirit would forgive him. He had a duty to these men but his duty to the king was far greater.

  Sendatsu walked away from the training field itching with frustration. The Dragon Warriors were almost ready. The constant training had left them stronger, fitter and far more skilled. They could run all day and fight all night. And they were eager for that, wanting to attack the Forlish army slowly moving through Rheged. Sendatsu was worried what they would think when asked to go to the aid of elves. As yet they were saying nothing to the dragons, or even to the village headmen, about that possibility. After the way Huw had said the elves were betrayers and killers and the Velsh did not need them to have magic again, nobody knew how the Velsh headmen would react.

  Daichi rejecting Huw’s warning, on top of going back on his word to help, had hardly helped. Asami was telling them not to worry, that Daichi would beg for help and offer the world once it was shown to be a trap and the Forlish army was striking in through the west.

  Sendatsu was not so sure. Not only was Daichi incredibly stubborn but also, thanks to them, terrified of looking weak before the people. To turn around and admit he was a fool who needed help from the gaijin … Sendatsu could not see the Elder Elf stooping to that. He would rather die.

  That was the one thing Huw and the others could not understand. The massive pride, the importance of honour and the need to preserve reputation was not something the Velsh worried about but it was everything to the elves.

  ‘Are we going to go home?’ Mai asked him one night.

  ‘Why? Do you want to?’

  ‘It would be nice, although I like it here. The animals are cuddly and the Velsh are funny. But you keep talking about Dokuzen.’

  Sendatsu half smiled. Nothing seemed to get past her.

  ‘We have a problem. Dokuzen is in trouble and Lord Daichi doesn’t want us to help.’

  ‘What about Grandfather Jaken? He is on the Council. You could ask him.’

  ‘He is not on the Council any more,’ Sendatsu said.

  ‘Then ask him to come back.’

  ‘It is not that easy.’

  ‘But he would listen to you, because he is your papa. You always listen to Cheijun and me.’

  ‘He will not listen to me. He is very angry with me,’ Sendatsu said, thinking of the way Jaken had attacked him in the garden.

  ‘But he would not be angry if you made him Elder Elf. He would forgive you then.’

  Sendatsu smiled but that was hard to get out of his thoughts. He told himself he was thinking of Jaken because it was the only way to save Dokuzen, because Jaken would do anything to gain victory, even make an alliance with gaijin. But the lure of forgiveness ran thick beneath that. He remembered how Jaken had invited him to stand against Daichi’s guards and, more importantly, how that felt. Saving Dokuzen from Ward was important but the image he kept returning to was his father embracing him, thanking him for making him Elder Elf.

  When he tried to banish that, Asami swam into view and the hope that putting Jaken back in power might give Asami a new reason to leave Dokuzen. She hated Jaken and would do almost anything not to serve him as leader of the Magic-weavers. And Sendatsu’s idea to help bring magic back to the humans would seem far more attractive.

  Or so he hoped.

  Thoughts of Jaken and Asami chased each other around his head until he could not take it any more and went to see Rhiannon.

  He found her testing a group of children and waited impatiently until she had finished.

  ‘Any luck?’ he asked.

  Rhiannon shook her head. ‘Not one. But it is early days. Asami told me only about one in one hundred elves becomes a Magic-weaver, so I thought it might be the same proportion in us. But I haven’t found any — in this village anyway.’

  ‘When did you last speak to Asami?’

  Rhiannon looked at him. ‘Is there a purpose to all this? If so, could you just tell me what it is — I have much work to do and little time left in the day.’

  ‘It is Asami,’ he admitted. ‘I miss her and wanted to talk to her.’

  ‘You could have spoken to her when she left here. But you let her ride away with Gaibun,’ she reminded him.

  ‘I know. Will you help me speak to her or mock me?’

  ‘Who says I can’t do both?’ Rhiannon asked.

  ‘Please.’ Sendatsu spread his hands.

  Rhiannon rolled her eyes. ‘I can send her a message for you. What do you want me to say?’

  ‘Did you
talk much when you were in Dokuzen? Did she say anything about me? Did you say anything about what happened between us?’

  Rhiannon grabbed his arm and pulled him into the empty meeting hall.

  ‘No, I did not. And if you want me to help you, you won’t talk about that again!’

  ‘I have said sorry for my actions and I will say it again if you want …’

  ‘What I want is for you to shut up about it! I have not told Asami. It would hurt her too much.’

  ‘But I thought you had sworn never to lie —’

  ‘I know!’ she snapped. ‘But this is not a lie, just not telling her the truth to protect her.’

  ‘Which is what Huw tried to do —’

  She held up her hand and he saw the fury in her eyes. ‘If you want my help, you will not say another word about that! This is totally different!’

  Sendatsu sighed and bit back the words he wanted to say. ‘I am sorry. All I can think about is Asami. I would do anything to be with her. Please, I need your help.’

  ‘But Gaibun is a stumbling block,’ she reminded him. ‘I saw the way he looks at her. I am sure he is not just waiting for you to come in and sweep her away.’

  ‘I know. Please, just tell her I am missing her, I love her and want nothing more than to make a life with her.’

  ‘I’ll talk to her,’ Rhiannon said soothingly. ‘She loves you, that much is obvious. But Gaibun is still there. And he loves her as well.’

  ‘I know,’ Sendatsu said gloomily. ‘But that is not the real problem. I want her to join me in helping these lands find the magic again but she wants to think about the elves first, instead of your people.’

  ‘Well, there are other issues for her to worry about. If she leaves Dokuzen, Gaibun will follow her. He will not forget her that easily. And have you forgotten how Asami has long dreamed of being acknowledged for her magic in Dokuzen? You ask a great deal in wanting her to give that up for you.’

  ‘I never said that!’

  ‘You are asking her to forget her dream to help you fulfil an oath you made, to a child neither of you met. I appreciate what you are doing and I want to return the magic to my people but look at it from Asami’s point of view. By asking her to come here, you said you don’t care about her magic — you think the work she is doing trying to save magic in the Elfarans and bring back the Magic-weavers is worth nothing.’

  ‘I would never say that!’

  ‘But you did. You put her in an impossible position. She loves you and loves magic. It’s like asking her to choose which arm she wants to lose. Then, when she did not want to lose an arm, you sulked and pouted and refused to talk to her.’

  Sendatsu was about to heatedly deny all of that, when he saw the truth in what Rhiannon said. He deflated slowly and felt like hitting himself.

  ‘You are right. I did not see it like that. How can I have been so stupid? What can I do to get her back?’

  ‘Well, in answer to the first question, stupidity comes naturally to you. As for the second, you might have to wait until Gaibun is dead to truly be together. Even if that comes at your hand.’

  ‘Never!’

  Rhiannon shrugged. ‘I’m just warning you. It will not end happily between the three of you. But you need to send her a flowery apology, tell her you lost your senses and plead forgiveness and we will see from there.’

  ‘Can you do that for me?’

  ‘Do you mean it?’ she asked sharply.

  ‘Of course! I only want to make her happy.’

  Rhiannon shook her head. ‘I never thought I would want to help you, but I will do anything for Asami.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Sendatsu said with relief. He paused. ‘And how are you?’

  Rhiannon chuckled. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, after what you went through … and Huw …’

  ‘It’s complicated. Huw and I are talking again, at least. As for my father — Asami showed me it is not something I could bury, the way I did with his body. It might be out of sight but it is not out of mind. I am getting over it, one day at a time, giving myself permission to forget it. I will not be defined by his actions, nor my own that day.’

  ‘Well, if I can help in any way …’

  ‘You cannot. But thank you for saying it. Now get back to your children, or your training, and let me finish my work.’

  Lord Retsu stretched his aching back and cursed the gaijin for invading. He was too old to be riding through the woods on a horse. Then he cursed Daichi and Moshin for making clan Tadayoshi take the lead. After Jaken’s disgrace and imprisonment, he was the clan leader and he took his duty seriously. If his clan was to be the first to find the humans, then he would lead them. He would not ride at the rear, like Moshin and the other clan leaders. He would be out with the scouts, even if it meant risking his life. He was disappointed in his son for his actions but perhaps, even in death, he could set an example to follow.

  ‘Lord, we have found the gaijin. They have felled trees and formed some sort of barricade,’ a scout reported, breaking his train of thought.

  Retsu grunted. A barricade? If the humans were as numerous as the leaves in the forest and determined to rampage through Dokuzen, why had they taken up a defensive position? Perhaps if he could make Moshin see this —

  ‘Lord, what should we do?’

  ‘Take one company and move to the left. I want a second company to hook around to the right. The rest of us will loose arrows until the jaws of our trap shut, at which point we shall all close in. And get me prisoners. I need to take them back to Moshin and find the truth of what is going on here.’

  ‘Lord!’

  Clan Tadayoshi, even with many of its senior elves slaving in the mines or on the fishing boats, still had almost a thousand warriors and they hurried to do his bidding. Once in position, he rode gently forwards, wanting to see this for himself.

  He had not even spotted the human barricade when the first crossbow bolt flew at him, missing narrowly.

  ‘Lord! Please get down! The gaijin have some skill with those things!’ someone pleaded.

  ‘Kill them for me and they won’t be able to attack me,’ Retsu replied.

  Instantly his elves began loosing arrows, concentrating on a tangle of undergrowth perhaps one hundred yards ahead. Bolts flew back out, but nothing near the number of arrows going in. Either the gaijin were not that good, or they were few in number.

  ‘Flanking companies!’ he ordered.

  Flags were raised and Retsu heard the war cries and shouts as his warriors crashed in from either side, joined by the company at the front. By the time he had ridden forwards it was all over — he did not even need to draw his sword.

  A breathless warrior, blood spattered on his body armour, raced to a halt in front of him. ‘All clear, lord.’

  Retsu walked forwards to inspect the human defences, finding a tangle of felled logs, covered in arrows, as well as piles of dead and dying humans.

  Dead elves were being laid in a neat line, the wounded helped back towards the horses.

  ‘Prisoners?’ he barked.

  ‘They fought to the last, lord, throwing themselves on our swords.’

  Retsu spat. ‘I thought I ordered some taken alive?’

  The warrior bowed. ‘Lord, the tales of what happened to Lord Konetsu and the others of the patrol the gaijin slaughtered have spread through the clan. Their blood is up and they want revenge. Then Lord Moshin ordered all must die —’

  ‘Does Moshin rule our clan? You can tell every warrior here that if my orders are disobeyed then I shall send that warrior back to Dokuzen in disgrace.’ Retsu raised his voice so all could hear.

  He glanced around but some did not meet his eyes. That was bad enough but there was barely one hundred dead humans here. Not exactly a numberless horde, more like what his son and Asami had been talking about. But could he persuade Moshin of that? He watched some of his warriors begin to hack off the human heads.

  ‘What in the name of Aroaril are yo
u doing?’ he roared.

  They straightened. ‘Lord, we are taking the gaijin heads to hurl back at them, as Lord Moshin ordered.’

  ‘Stop that. They fought and died honourably and we shall treat them that way. We are elves and shall not stoop to barbarian ways.’

  He stared at the warriors as they sheepishly cleaned off their blades and left the humans where they lay.

  ‘I shall speak to Lord Moshin myself,’ he announced to nobody in particular.

  It took him two turns of the hourglass to find Moshin, where he and the other clan leaders were enjoying food and drink, surrounded by a laughing pack of sycophants.

  ‘Lord Moshin, is it true you have ordered all gaijin encountered to be killed and their heads be taken?’ he demanded.

  ‘What of it?’ Moshin sniffed.

  ‘That should be stopped. We need prisoners for information and it brings us no honour to behave like barbarians —’

  ‘Enough!’ Moshin barked. ‘They invaded our lands and took the heads of our warriors, of Lord Konetsu himself! They must be taught a lesson. Now, if you have nothing more useful to add, we need you leading the advance —’

  ‘There is something very wrong here,’ Retsu interrupted. ‘If they have more men than the autumn leaves, why are they preparing defensive positions?’

  ‘They are gaijin. Who can say why they do anything? These are obviously warning posts. We can expect to find the main body of them charging now. Lord Retsu, take your warriors forwards and give us warning when they strike.’

  ‘But why do they need defensive positions if they are so many?’ Retsu insisted.

  ‘Enough of your foolishness. You babble about treating them with respect and do not want to punish them! Get out of my sight!’

  Retsu threw up his hands. There was no point in arguing in the face of such pigheaded stupidity. Perhaps if he had not begun by talking about taking the human heads — he snorted. The two were linked. The human attack had to be treated with respect and dealt with properly. But Moshin was not the elf to do that.

  Wulf rode back out through the burned remnants of the elven magical barrier. It was a point of honour to be the last man out of Dokuzen.