In Her Name: The Last War

by Michael R. Hicks

  She served on survey vessels that extended the Empire’s domain and probed for any threats to Her Children. Along the way, she taught swordcraft in several kazhas in the frontier settlements, astounding even the most senior warriors with her mastery of every weapon. She fought in spectacular Challenges, at times taking on five or more highly skilled opponents and never suffering defeat.

  She visited worlds that the Empress had left untouched, planets where mere survival was a challenge. She saw and battled amazing beasts that were far more deadly than the genoth of the Homeworld, and even learned to survive vegetation that could kill and maim. These worlds were reserves where the more seasoned warriors of the Empire could embark upon the very kind of spiritual quest on which Tesh-Dar found herself. She visited each of the worlds that were thus preserved, hunting and killing the most vicious creatures in the galaxy, sometimes in company with other warriors, but more often hunting on her own.

  Over the cycles that passed, the Legend of the Sword indeed became a legend on the frontier, yet this only served to heighten Tesh-Dar’s sense of loneliness. As more pendants were added to her collar in recognition of her feats of skill and courage, as she ascended the figurative steps toward the throne that defined her social standing, so did the peers became more reverent, more distant. It gave her some painful insights into how Sura-Ni’khan, who was only five steps from the throne, and the other warrior priestesses and senior mistresses among the clawless ones must feel. It was a great achievement to reach such a lofty height among the peers, yet it brought a kind of social isolation that Tesh-Dar had never suspected as a young tresh.

  She corresponded regularly with Sura-Ni’khan, as well as Pan’ne-Sharakh, and their words of hope and praise helped to gradually ease the pain Tesh-Dar felt in her heart. The shame and guilt of killing Nayan-Tiral never left her, but eventually she came to terms with it in the great emptiness of the frontier where she planned to spend the rest of her life if the Empress so allowed.

  Tesh-Dar’s travels eventually took her to Klameth-Gol, a primordial world that had been left by the Empress as a massive game preserve, where some of the most vicious forms of life in all the Empire could be found, from invisible microbes that challenged the skills of the healers to massive sea creatures half a league in length, and predators on land that made a mockery of the most dangerous creatures that had ever walked upon the Homeworld. These great predators were what Tesh-Dar had come for. Yet, as she and her fellow warriors were to discover, on this planet the largest and most fearsome beasts were merely prey themselves.

  Tesh-Dar was returning from a solo hunt in the jungle, where she had been tracking a particularly large predator for the last several days, when she heard an eruption of screams from the hunting encampment. Screams of terror. Screams of pain.

  Dashing forward along the trail she had earlier hacked through the dense undergrowth, she burst into the encampment’s clearing. With a shock, she saw the dismembered bodies of several warriors strewn about the bare, soggy ground, with seven survivors standing back-to-back in the center, swords drawn. They were terrified, which drove a spike of fear into Tesh-Dar’s heart. For these were not young tresh, inexperienced and untrained. They were seasoned warriors and hunters who had long cycles of experience on worlds much like this. She could not imagine what would frighten them so.

  “Tesh-Dar!” one of them warned. “Beware! There is—”

  Suddenly, Tesh-Dar sensed something to her left, very close. Her eyes saw nothing, yet she knew with certainty that there was something there: a disturbance in the air that caressed her skin, a strange scent, very faint, wafting toward her. She did not have Sura-Ni’khan’s special powers or second sight as a warrior priestess of the Desh-Ka, but her own senses were naturally keen, and had been refined by many years of training and experience.

  With a lightning-quick draw, her sword sang from its sheath. Using a powerful two-handed cut, she slashed the air where her senses told her something was approaching, even though her eyes still saw nothing other than the bodies of some of her companions on the blood-soaked ground.

  She cringed as her sword found its mark and a demonic shriek pierced the air. Watching in fascination, she saw a wound open in her sword’s path, as if the skin and flesh of the air itself had parted and was left exposed and bleeding.

  Bringing her sword overhead in a fluid motion, she slashed downward in a move that could cut through stone. The creature shrieked again, but that was its last act as Tesh-Dar’s sword cleaved it in two. The thing collapsed to the ground in a heap of bloody meat and bone.

  It was not alone. She whirled just in time as she sensed something behind her, and her slashing sword must have caught this beast at the neck. A cross-section of its body, roughly as big around as her thigh and spouting a torrent of blood, was suddenly revealed at her own shoulder’s height. She was knocked to the ground as the thing’s body continued forward before it collapsed, making a deep indentation in the ground.

  Two of the other warriors suddenly screamed, and Tesh-Dar watched in horror as their bodies were plucked from the defensive ring they had formed and were carried into the forest, caught in the jaws of the invisible creatures. The warriors slashed at their attackers with sword and claw, but it was for naught: a maw suddenly opened out of thin air to bite off the head of one of the warriors. The other warrior was simply carried onward into the jungle, still screaming.

  Tesh-Dar stood there for several minutes, reaching out with her senses to see if she could detect any more of the creatures in their midst. While she knew she could not be sure, she did not think there were any more. Yet, she had no doubt they would return.

  Cautiously, she joined the five remaining warriors. They were even more terrified now, and Tesh-Dar did not blame them: she was only barely able to suppress her own fear. Kreelan warriors were accustomed to being the hunters, not the hunted.

  “What are these things?” Tesh-Dar whispered as the group carefully moved toward one of the creatures she had killed. Even now, all that could be seen of it was the bloody wound left by Tesh-Dar’s sword; even in death, the creature’s body was completely invisible.

  “We do not know, Tesh-Dar,” one of them said, trying to control the tremor in her voice. “There are no records of such beasts on this world. I have hunted here before several times, from this very encampment.”

  “Let us see, then, what we face,” Tesh-Dar said as she knelt to the ground. Gathering up handfuls of dirt, she sprinkled it over the creature’s invisible body. Gradually, an outline of their menace was revealed.

  “In Her name,” one of the others whispered.

  It looked to be a type of saurian creature, with two powerful hind legs and two smaller, yet still powerful arms, that stood a head taller than herself. As Tesh-Dar continued to sprinkle dirt over the body, she saw that it had a long tail and a ridge of long, sharp spines along its back. Its head was oversize, as large as her torso, and after she found its mouth and pried it open, she and the others could see that the creature had a massive jaw filled with an impressive array of razor-sharp teeth and fangs. While it would have been an impressive opponent without its invisibility, it was still nothing compared to an adult genoth on the Homeworld, which was far larger and more powerful. In fact, the creature Tesh-Dar had been hunting the last several days was far larger and more dangerous even than a genoth.

  The genoth was adept at the art of camouflage, but it could not make itself invisible. That was what made these beasts, which were also small and agile enough to move about the jungle silently, truly dangerous. And even worse, unlike the genoth, they clearly hunted in packs.

  There were no warrior priestesses with this hunting party, and of the survivors, Tesh-Dar was now senior; the lives of the others rested in her hands. It did not take her long to decide what to do. While the warriors of the Empire sought challenges of the body and spirit, there was no honor in sacrificing themselves to mindless beasts. “We must leave,” she told them. “Now. Gather up wat
er and any weapons you need, and then we leave for the ship.” Their ship, a small craft designed for such forays, was in a clearing several leagues from the hunting camp. Tesh-Dar could have summoned it to them, but there was nowhere for it to land, and it had no means to cut through the canopy of trees above them. The path leading there was well-worn and easily followed, but the jungle pressed close along the entire distance, and there were several streams to cross. They could be easily ambushed anywhere along the route.

  “Tesh-Dar,” one of the warriors said, “it grows dark. Should we not light a fire and wait until morning?”

  Tesh-Dar eyed the monster under the thin coating of dirt. “Night or day makes no difference when we cannot see what comes to kill us,” she said grimly. “If it is only a small pack of beasts, they may be content with their kill for a time, but I have no doubt they will return.” She warily eyed the jungle surrounding them. “Gather your things. I will attend to the last rites of the fallen.”

  As the five other survivors ran to collect weapons and water, praying to the Empress that the creatures would not ambush them again here, Tesh-Dar quickly moved among the fallen warriors. Muttering a quiet prayer for each, she gathered up their collars and reverently placed them in a leatherite pouch. The Collar of Honor worn by all of Her Children from the time they came of age was made of living metal that did not part from its owner until death. She would return them to the kazhas where the warriors had served, assuming she survived to do so.

  In a few minutes, they were ready. “I will lead,” Tesh-Dar told them, “and try to give warning if I sense any of the creatures around us. Keep careful watch on the trail behind us for footprints appearing in the earth. That should give you warning of their approach.”

  “What if they attack from the flank?” one of the warriors asked. “We will not be able to see them with the jungle so close to the trail.”

  Tesh-Dar offered her a grim smile, her white canines glistening in the fading light. “Then hope they choose not to attack that way.” With one last look around, she said, “Come, let us go.”

  After that, they ran, threading their way along the path as quickly as they could. They did not need lights to see in the darkening forest, for the eyes of the Kreela are well-adapted to see in near-total darkness. Tesh-Dar had debated the merits of moving quickly versus more slowly and cautiously, but in the end had decided upon speed: not knowing how many more of the creatures might be out there, she felt that moving at a slower pace would simply give their enemy more opportunities to attack. She would slow for the stream crossings, which she felt were the most likely ambush sites, but otherwise she planned to move as quickly as their feet would carry them.

  Sword in hand, Tesh-Dar led the others at a fast pace. They were all experienced warriors in prime condition, and had no trouble keeping up. Even though she was well-accustomed to the sounds and smells of the jungle from having spent weeks here, fear clutched at her heart with every grunt and groan from the forest around her, with every rustle of vegetation.

  They were nearly halfway to the ship when the first attack came. The trailing warrior called out a warning when she saw tracks suddenly appear in the ground close behind her. Loosing a shrekka at the invisible beast, she was rewarded with a gout of blood and a pain-filled cry before the creature crashed into the vegetation beside the path where it fell to the ground.

  “On the right!” Tesh-Dar shouted as she sensed something moving in the jungle beside them. One of the other warriors slashed outward with her sword, but was not quick enough: long, serrated teeth appeared out of thin air above the foliage to clamp around her face, and with one vicious shake of its massive jaws the creature yanked her head from her body. Tesh-Dar hurled a shrekka at the beast, but only wounded it. Hissing in pain, showing a trail of blood down its side that illuminated part of its body in crimson, the creature quickly moved away into the forest with its grisly prize. One of the other warriors paused just long enough to snatch the fallen warrior’s collar from the ground before they ran onward.

  The warrior directly behind Tesh-Dar cried out as a beast snapped at her from the other side of the trail, but she was quicker than her attacker: with a cry of fear and rage, she stabbed her pike into the creature’s flesh. It roared in pain, slashing at her with one of its forelegs. The claw crashed against her chest armor, sending the warrior flying into Tesh-Dar and knocking both of them to the ground. The other warrior screamed as the beast stepped on her legs and opened its jaws wide.

  Rolling clear, Tesh-Dar hurled her sword directly into the thing’s open mouth, burying the blade in the back of its throat. It fell to the ground, writhing, and the other warriors hacked and stabbed at its invisible body until it lay still in a blood-covered heap.

  As suddenly as the attack had begun, it was over: Tesh-Dar could hear several more beasts moving quickly through the forest away from the trail.

  Panting heavily, she turned her attention to the warrior who had been pinned by the legs.

  “My left leg is broken,” she hissed. “Leave me here, I will draw them away from you for a time.”

  “Nonsense,” Tesh-Dar told her as she waved two of the others to help the wounded warrior to her feet. “I will leave none of you behind. Kuirin-Shuril,” she told the remaining warrior, “watch our trail. Let us go.”

  It was a desperate, agonizing trek over the last league and a half to the clearing where the ship lay waiting. The two warriors carrying the one with the broken leg were fighting for every breath as they trotted and stumbled to the ship, their arms and legs burning and exhausted. The nerves of Tesh-Dar and Kuirin-Shuril were worn and raw from watching the jungle around them, expecting an attack to come at any moment.

  “In Her name,” one of the warriors whispered in relief as they emerged into the clearing.

  That was when the second attack came, but in an entirely unexpected way. With an ear-shattering roar, a beast like the one Tesh-Dar had been hunting the last several days suddenly lunged into the clearing. So tall that its spined head crested the lower trees, it was in many ways a much larger cousin of the invisible creatures, except that its thick — and quite visible — hide was dappled in greens, yellows, and browns that helped it blend in with the jungle vegetation. Normally it would silently lay in wait for its prey, which made it difficult to hunt: ambushing a creature that specialized in ambushes was no small feat.

  For a moment, the warriors simply stopped and stared at this latest horror that charged across the clearing directly for them, disbelieving their incredible misfortune. That was when Tesh-Dar noticed that the creature was badly wounded, with deep slashes down its flank and thigh.

  It suddenly whipped its head to one side and snapped at thin air, but its jaws closed on something more substantial: one of the invisible creatures appeared in a cascade of blood as the leviathan crushed it in its powerful jaws.

  The jungle behind the great beast suddenly parted in over a dozen places, and the air was torn by the high-pitched shrieks of more of the invisible hunters.

  “Run!” Tesh-Dar screamed above the din, pushing the other warriors toward the ship. As Kuirin-Shuril passed her, she said, “Your sword! Give it to me!”

  “But...” Kuirin-Shuril stuttered, her eyes wild with fear.

  Tesh-Dar reached out and took the sword from her hand before shoving her toward the ship. “Take the others and go!”

  Kuirin-Shuril made to say something else, but Tesh-Dar ignored her and began to run toward the massive animal thundering across the clearing, bellowing in agony and rage. The other warriors would need a few seconds to reach the ship, but the great beast would be upon them before they could make it unless Tesh-Dar could somehow slow it — and its pursuers — down. She had no plan, no strategy, other than to become one with her weapons and let the will of the Empress guide her fate. Once the others were safely in the ship, they could bring the small vessel’s weapons to bear on the animals.

  Yet, in a cold place in her soul, Tesh-Dar hoped they did no
t. After all that she had been through in these last nineteen cycles, she realized that this would be her true atonement, not for the peers or even the Empress, but for herself. She knew that she would die here, but it would be a death worthy of a warrior, a death worthy to end her own passage in the Books of Time.

  For the first time since her sword had taken Nayan-Tiral’s life, Tesh-Dar’s Bloodsong rang out in a melody of pure joy.

  The huge beast charged straight over her, ignoring the puny two-legged creature in its path until Tesh-Dar’s swords sliced deep into the flesh of its inner thighs, cutting the muscles and tendons there. With a deafening howl, it stumbled and crashed to the ground.

  One of the invisible creatures suddenly crashed straight into her, and she was knocked from her feet and sent flying, one of the swords torn from her grip. She landed heavily in the soft soil, but before she could roll to her feet to defend herself, one of the invisible creatures clamped its teeth onto her sword arm, making her drop the other sword. Grunting in agony as the powerful jaws ground together, tearing her flesh, she gouged the talons of her free hand into its head, hoping to find its eyes.

  The creature hissed in pain and released her, its teeth disappearing into its invisible mouth. She sensed others closing in around her, and she was determined not to die on her knees. Regaining her feet, she drew her dagger and was about to stab at the air where she thought the nearest creature might be when she felt an ice-cold wind upon her back.

  Turning around in surprise, she saw Sura-Ni’Khan standing behind her.

  The great priestess, clad in shimmering black ceremonial armor, stood with her arms outstretched, but with no weapons other than the claws she had been born with. “Kneel, my child,” she ordered, “and shield your eyes!”

  Tesh-Dar, not understanding, nonetheless did as she was told. She knelt before the priestess and brought her good arm up to protect her eyes, even as she knew half a dozen animals must be rushing toward them for the kill.