by Candy Rae
“Me and Stasya are old campaigners. We know a trick or two you young ones don’t.”
“We won’t leave you,” insisted Rilla, her stubborn streak shining through. “Duke William has already sent me away, don’t you too.”
“Duke William was right,” Duncin told her. “You’re more use here, watching.”
“Other Cadet pairs are fighting,” Rilla contested.
“Aye, and dying,” the old man informed her, “as you and Zawlei still might, if the kohorts break through. I wish,” he added, looking over at the Duchesne levies.
“You wish what?”
“I wish that there had been enough Garda available to extend their lines over the entire right wing, their shield-wall is almost impenetrable and the Argyll Militia are not so dusty either. Duke William has kept the Militia as reserves, his own levies are to meet the first charge.”
“They have shields.”
“But they’re not the same. Look at the Garda”
Duncin pointed over to his left.
“See them?”
“Yes.”
“See how they’re standing? Close together, protecting each other. Understand?”
“I think so,” Rilla replied doubtfully.
“That’s what they do. Left arm holds the shield, close tight with the shields either side. They rely on the sword to their left to protect them while they protect the soldier on their right. Now do you see?”
Rilla nodded.
“Now look at the Duchesne levies. What do you see?”
“They’re not so close to one another,” observed Rilla.
“That’s because their shields are round. Can’t form a shield-wall.”
“Can’t you do anything?”
“I tried to tell the Duke, thing is, he thinks he knows best. He’s a southerner, he’s fought the Larg before. There are always skirmishes along his borders.”
“He’s also commander of this division. We’re supposed to obey him.”
“Not if we think he is wrong,” said Duncin with a conspiratory wink. “Stasya, you tell Sadei, the Susa of Lindar Hanei, to edge forward a bit will you?” Give the same order to the Militia. It’s the Lutterell Militia, their colonel is a good man, ex-regular. He’ll know what I’m telling him without me actually telling him.”
Rilla giggled. She couldn’t help it despite the seriousness of the situation.
Zawlei had just informed her that Duncin’s messages had been passed on when he tensed and his ears cocked forward. Rilla could feel his tenseness and knew what it portended.
She could hear it now, the drumming of thousands and thousands of paws.
Her and Duncin’s vantage point was behind the ridge line so Rilla couldn’t see the kohorts running up the slope but she felt the rush of hot air they carried with them.
Zawlei began to shiver, his battle adrenalin kicking in.
There was an almighty crash as the front kohorts hit the Duchesne lines.
The levies held off the first charge and Rilla expended a great sigh of relief. Duncin, older and more experienced, did not. He knew what the Larg were about, the first charge, to disorientate then the second, heavier and more prolonged.
Duncin was right, after a short hiatus, the Larg charged the ridge again.
The Duchesne lines buckled before Rilla had time to take it in they disappeared under a swarm of large, tawny, angry Larg.
Duncin’s mouth was set in a tight line.
“Ready yourself,” he grunted and Rilla was aware, mind-linked as she was with Zawlei, that Stasya was ordering Lindar Hanei and the Militia forward in an attempt to stem the flow of Larg; in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation before so many Larg reached the ridge top that they could never be dislodged.
: We stay here : announced Zawlei : no time to retreat even if Duncin orders :
: Safer : agreed Rilla, thinking that she would much rather be here, fighting from the vantage point than down below. Some of the southerners who had managed to escape the initial thrust were heading her way and Rilla was glad. A fight with only two vadeln-pairs holding off a kohort of Larg could only end one way and Rilla had no wish to die.
Around eighty of them managed to reach Rilla and Duncin. Duncin and Stasya took charge of the defence and Rilla and Zawlei once more took control of the communications link. Zawlei was reporting to Alyei and Julia direct and she ‘heard’ the quick burst of reports and orders. Sword at the ready her eyes flicked round at the men manning the hillock.
The men were formed up in a tight circle, Duncin ordering that their shields should overlap thus forming an approximation of the Garda shield-wall. Only once did Rilla and Zawlei have to jump forward to help, her sword slicing through the neck of a Larg who managed to pull one of the men down and was squirming through the space. The Larg did manage a slash at her leg before he was felled and Rilla gasped at the hot searing pain.
Rilla saw Lindar Hanei leap into the attack, the first ryz, then the second and the third, followed by the Lutterell Militia, in wedge formation, punching their way through the Larg to take possession of the ridge top once more. They were taking casualties but not enough to stop their steady advance. Another Militia battalion was following them in. Lindar Hanei were advancing, ripping at the Larg with their chelas and using their greater agility to good effect.
The noise was terrific, the fight bloody and terrible.
All of a sudden there were less Larg fighting the Lindar and the Militia than there should have been and Rilla snuck a look to her left. That was why, a sizable number of Larg were attacking along the ridge to where the Garda were. Zawlei reported this to Alyei.
Rilla’s head turned back. Her ears had detected the sound of hooves.
The Garda Heavy Horse were charging, the great armour-clad messengers of death. They charged past the wedges of Militia and towards the melee of Lind and Larg. The former moved out of their way but the Larg did not. The Larg warriors, much to Rilla’s delight, found to their cost that these ‘knights in shining armour’, where had that description come from, were bigger and heavier than they were. The horses’ hooves were also shod and they used them to pound at the Larg whilst their riders brought their swords and maces down on them. The Larg resolve faltered and out of the forest, came more Lind, the young Lind.
The Larg did not know that these were only youngsters, they saw them as even more Lindars arriving to kill them. The Larg were not cowards but nor were they suicidally stupid.
Rilla watched heart in mouth as first one Kranj and then another turned and ran, up over the ridge top and away out of sight.
The Militia marched to the ridge, in open order now that the slow moving wedge formation was no longer required. Once they had reached the top they formed into rank. There was a steady series of thumps as in turn each company established its shield-wall.
: Duncin and Stasya will take command of the division : Zawlei informed Rilla : we are to stay with him as his communications vadeln. Charles and Wlya are coming to help :
: Duke William is dead then : assumed Rilla.
: And his son : added Zawlei : here come Charles and Wlya :
“I hear that you’ve been having quite a time of it,” said Charles as he and Wlya reached them.
“You don’t know the half of it,” said Rilla with feeling. She was sitting slumped on Zawlei’s back. The strain got to her and she began to cry.
“Take a short break,” Charles advised, patting her back. “Wlya and I will take over until you can gather yourself together.”
* * * * *
The Lindar
Sadei stopped to catch his breath.
Great Andei’s pawprints but that had been close. The Larg were retreating, leaving their dead and badly wounded behind. There were many of the former but few of the latter.
Sadei sighed before he gave his next order, instructing his Lindar to give their wounded opponents the coup de grace. He hated the necessity but it was dangerous to leave wounded Larg lying amongs
t them.
Wounded Larg did not lie inert. Even hurt and dying they could do a lot of damage, preferring to meet their end in suicidal fights than to wait for their death with resignation.
Those in the front ryz hastened to do his bidding, ripping open the jugular veins of their wounded to ensure a quick and relatively painless death.
Sadei saw some of the Militia performing the same office, severing the Larg necks with their swords, being very careful to keep out of the way of their talons.
The Holad and the Medics arrived to tend to the wounded.
Sadei ordered his Lindar to form up again.
It wasn’t over yet.
* * * * *
Tala and Danal
Tala all but grabbed the oilskin parcel that had been buckled to the rope harness Chizu wore. With fingers that trembled she untied the fastenings and drew out the contents, a letter and two boxes.
“Written instructions,” said Chizu. “Master Annert says that you must follow them exactly. One box has the crystal and the brackets in it and in the other are the leads.”
“Do you know what he’s talking about?” asked Danal in an aside to the stunned Grainne, who until Chizu had appeared, hadn’t really believed the story Danal had told her about the Lai.
Tala was reading the instructions, written in her old master’s bold handwriting.
“He says that we must attach the crystal contained in the bigger box to the green leads, there are two of them positive and negative, like a battery.”
“Do you know what she’s talking about?” repeated Danal.
Grainne smiled, shook her head and continued to gaze at Chizu in awe and admiration.
“Then we clip the single end of the yellow ‘y’ lead from the narrow end of the power-core into the ends of the two green leads. He says I’ll know which ones are which because they are male and female.”
“Tala,” said Danal, “Grainne and I don’t have a clue. Just tell us what to do and we’ll do it. Explanations can wait.”
Tala continued to read out the instructions.
“He says that the crystal is part-charged already and as soon as it is exposed to more sunlight the charging will continue. We do that bit first.”
She knelt down and began to undo the larger box. Once it was opened everyone looked inside.
The crystal began to sparkle.
“Yes,” Tala continued, “here is the crystal. Master Annert says that it comes from the Boton.”
She laid the crystal down on the cloak that Grainne hurriedly laid in front of her and opened the smaller box.
“Now the green leads, two of them, yes, here they are.” She pulled them out.
“The crystal seems to be pulsating,” exclaimed Danal.
With fingers that shook only a little, Tala located the correct ends and inserted them into the base of the crystal. She moved quickly as the crystal was becoming hot and she placed it into the bracket as quickly as she could. The springs snapped into place. “Gosh it’s hot. Get me the power-core Danal.”
He handed it over.
“Don’t burn your fingers,” he cautioned.
Tala bestowed upon him a fleeting grin as she placed the power-core down beside the pulsating crystal and pulled the yellow ‘y’ lead out of the box.
Danal peeped inside, “the only thing left in it is this.” He held up a small coil of wire.
“Hold on to that,” Tala instructed. “I may need it. Now, I attach the two together.” She fitted the two short ends of the yellow lead to the green. They clicked together with a snap. “So far so good.” She took a deep breath.
“What next?” asked Danal.
Tala referred to Master Annert’s instructions once more.
“He says that as soon as the final connection is made, this last yellow end to the power-core, then the crystal will begin to transfer the solar energy it is gathering along the leads and into the core. As it does it will keep replenishing itself and the energy will keep transferring into the power-core. Because here the power-core isn’t attached to anything else, on the ship the energy it was receiving would have travelled on to the ship’s engines, it will keep on receiving the energy until it cannot take any more and then it will blow up.”
“Does he say when that will happen?”
“He says there should be a dial on the core.”
“Yes, here it is,” said Grainne, “I’ve seen others like it on the Electra.”
“Right,” said Tala, bestowing on her a beaming smile. “When the needle in the dial reaches a certain point it will blow up.”
“There are numbers on the dial,” said Grainne.
“Is one of them a hundred?” asked Tala.
“Yes, the red one,” she answered.
“The core must be dropped on the Dglai ship when it reaches the hundred. Annert suggests that we charge up the core here, away from the ship until it reaches the ninety-five point then disconnect the crystal. He says the core will retain the energy. Then we connect it again when we are close to the spaceship.”
“Try to connect it,” urged Danal.
Tala tried to insert the last lead-end into the power-core. She fiddled with it for a moment.
“Damm, it’s too small. Doesn’t fit. Give me that wire. Master Annert would have realised this might happen. He didn’t have the actual core to test the connectors, but the wire should do the trick.”
Her fingers were uncoiling the wire. Danal, Grainne, the Lind and Chizu watched as with deft fingers she clipped a length from the coil with her snippers and began to wrap it round the connector at the end of the yellow lead. That done, she inserted the connector into the end of the power-core.
There was a sizzle and Danal jumped back. Tala pressed the connector in hard. The power-core sprung into life. It began to hum and emitted a faint pink light.
“It’s working!” shouted Danal. “You genius Tala! I could never have done it!”
“That’s why I insisted I come,” Tala smiled up at him. “We do have a problem though. The connection isn’t an exact fit. Someone will have to stay with it make sure it stays connected.”
“We can take turns,” said Danal, watching the needle on the dial flickering. “How long will this take?”
“I have no idea. We should get the needle on the dial as high as we can manage during what’s left of today. Then we disconnect as Master Annert suggests. It has to reach the hundred mark exactly before it blows.”
There was a silence as both Tala and Danal realised the import of her words.
“We never thought this far ahead,” said Tala at last. “Master Annert and the others have found the way to turn the power-core into the weapon that will blow up the Dglai ship but problem is, one of us will have to go with Chizu to make sure the connector stays in place, taking it out if the dial gets too near the hundred but making sure it is at the hundred when he reaches the ship. We can’t just set it down and leave it to blow up. The Dglai might find and disconnect it. We can’t take that chance Danal. I must go with Chizu and make sure it blows at the right time.”
An anguished Danal shook his head.
“I’ll go,” he said.
“No. It must be me. Something might go wrong. The wire might need replaced, we don’t know how long it will last. It’s hot now and will probably get hotter. I won’t have Asya’s death on my conscience as well as yours.”
Chizu was watching and listening.
“I expected this,” he said, “when Haru asked me to come, I knew the chances a problem like this would happen. Guildmaster Annert thought so too. I will take you Tala.”
“I can’t let you go,” said Danal in a broken voice to Tala, his hands outstretched in entreaty and denial.
“You must my love, don’t you see? Grainne can’t go, she’s only a child, despite what she says and she doesn’t have the technical know-how. Neither do you. Only I can do it. There’s no alternative. It has to be me.”
Danal couldn’t look at her, he stared at the sa
nd and at his dusty boots.
: Tala is right :
: Don’t you start : flashed back Danal.
“Don’t blame Asya for stating truth,” said Tala, “and who knows, Chizu and I might even survive. I have no intention of dying Danal, I assure you. We can place the power-core, it doesn’t need to be put directly on top of the space ship, close by then Chizu can fly us both away in two shakes of a baby kura’s tail.”
“I fly fast,” offered Chizu in a bright voice, but Danal felt deep within that it wouldn’t happen this way. The stakes they were playing for were too high. What were two lives sacrificed if it meant that the Dglai would be destroyed?
Tears flowed down Danal’s cheeks and he raised a swollen face to Tala. She wasn’t crying, she was looking at him. “Please be brave,” she pleaded, “help me do this.”
“I will,” he managed to choke out.
“Right,” she said, “it should stay connected for a while but someone’ll have to stay with it round the bell. When does the sun go down? Anyone know?”
“About Twelfth Bell,” Danal answered.
She did some rapid mental calculations. “I reckon the dial will be up to around three quarters by then. So we watch over it in shifts, a human with a Lind or Chizu.”
“When you’re awake then I am too,” declared Danal.
Tala bestowed on him a fleeting smile.
“Tomorrow we get up and do the remainder of the charging when the sun comes up. Then we disconnect and Chizu and I set out. I would have preferred to fly by night so that we won’t be seen but that won’t be possible.”
“Makes no difference,” said Chizu. “They will have proximity sensors. Me I prefer to fly in the daylight so that we can see the hazards ahead.”
“So tomorrow is the day,” said Tala and beckoned Grainne over to take first watch.
Once the girl was settled and understood what was to be done, Tala caught Danal’s eye and began to walk towards the awning.
