Darknesses

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “Not that we know. Just these twenty. You must use them wisely.”

  “I will do what I can. That is all any man can do.”

  “That is what the Legacy requires.” The councilor raised his hand. “We do not have all the words of the Legacy, but these are those we do have.” He cleared his throat and stated,

  “In those ages, then, will rise a leader,

  who would reclaim the glory of the past,

  and more, as he would see it, in the sun,

  to make sure the dual scepter will always last.”

  “Is there more?” asked Edyss, honest curiosity in his voice.

  “There is, but we do not know those words. They were writ in the stone, once, there.” The councilor pointed his light-torch back to the wall above the passageway through which they had entered the hall. “But long before we found this hall the words of the two stanzas below the ones I recited were chiseled away. It is said that the Legacy was a long work, with sections chiseled and spread all over Corus, so that none would know all the words until Corus was once more united.”

  Aellyan Edyss smiled. “Then we must begin.” He walked toward the man-shaped alcove. “Is this the one for the leader?”

  “It is.”

  Aellyan Edyss stepped into the alcove, and the crystal block embracing the pteridon and the skylance began to glow.

  The councilor swallowed and watched as the crystal shimmered, then dissolved into a thick blue mist.

  10

  In the chill of a Sexdi morning, in the darkness two glasses before dawn, the two squads rode quietly eastward from Emal, hoofs sometimes clicking on the frozen clay, at other times crunching and packing the new snow that would have been hoof deep, had it fallen more gently. Instead, the wind had swirled the dry white powder into knee-high drifts in places, and left the road clear in others. The gale that had buffeted Emal earlier in the week had died down to a light but bitter wind out of the northwest, with but a hint of the iron-acridness of the Aerlal Plateau.

  While he was wearing the fleece and nightsilk undervest, Alucius still wished he had on his nightsilk skull mask. Instead, he wore the heavy black wool scarf and carried two rifles, a perquisite of being the captain, since he knew that he’d have little time to reload in the darkness—if they found the raiders.

  The patrol on Tridi had found nothing, not even any signs of tracks, nor had those on Quattri and Quinti, but Alucius had decided that Twenty-first Company would keep searching until they found those who had been traveling the back roads. The patrols would also keep the company alert—and those troopers who weren’t patrolling on a given day thankful for the comparative warmth and rest.

  The two squads with Alucius were second and third squads, and Anslym and Faisyn rode beside Alucius, Faisyn on the left, Anslym on the right. The column was already almost ten vingts east of Emal, within two or three vingts of the hamlet of Tuuler. On the south side of the road, down a gradual slope, was the River Vedra, its frozen surface also covered intermittently with swirled snowdrifts.

  Through a darkness illuminated slightly more than normal by the half-disc of Selena, Alucius continued to scan the road ahead, the frozen river, and the snow-covered bottomland fields to his left—both with his eyes and his Talent-senses.

  “You think we’ll find raiders this time, sir?” asked Anslym in a low voice.

  “Sooner or later,” Alucius replied. “Even if we don’t, the men will learn what a winter campaign is all about.” He paused, then added, “Why do they need that? Most everyone’s time will be up by next winter, but that won’t hold if the Iron Valleys get attacked. The Council will extend terms and conscript more recruits, and probably a third of your senior troopers will get pushed into being squad leaders in other companies.”

  “The way things are going,” Faisyn said quietly, “that wouldn’t surprise me.”

  “Because the Council has reduced the number of companies in the militia?” asked Anslym.

  “They’ve always done that,” Alucius said. “Troopers cost coins. If the Council had funded a militia large enough to warn off the Lanachronans, much higher tariffs would have fallen on the large traders in Dekhron. Since the Council is largely formed of such traders, the Council would not have passed an increase in tariffs that took many coins from the larger merchants. If the Council tariffed the small crafters and holds, they wouldn’t have the coins to buy the goods of the large merchants. Either way, the merchants and traders who control the Council lose coins.”

  “There’s another thing,” Faisyn pointed out. “Conscripts don’t get paid much for the first year.”

  “So…the Council waits until everyone knows there’s a problem, then conscripts more troopers?” concluded Anslym.

  “And they hope that the experienced companies can hold off whoever attacks until they can train and bring in more conscripts,” Faisyn said. “That’s why the colonel could persuade the Council to keep Twenty-first Company. Our pay is less than that of any other company with as much experience.”

  “We’re about to earn it,” Alucius pointed out. In the stillness and the winter cold, his Talent reached farther, and he’d been sensing something ahead. He’d finally been able to determine that somewhere ahead were riders—more than the ten to fifteen whose tracks Twenty-first Company had seen almost a week earlier. “There’s a hint of mist or fog over the river to the east, and I think there are tracks there. I can’t be sure yet, but I think we’re going to run into those riders.” Alucius looked through the dimness first at Anslym, then at Faisyn.

  “What do you want us to do?” asked Faisyn.

  “We’re less than a vingt from Tuuler. You know the back lane on the north side of the town?” Alucius asked the older squad leader. “The one that goes to the north and right below the bluff?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You take third squad on that lane. It joins the river road about a vingt east of the hamlet. It’s likely the raiders will probably have passed you coming west by the time you get there. If there are tracks on the river road showing that, you turn west and follow them. You’ll need to be ready. If they haven’t reached you, you wait well back until they do pass, or until we come east on the river road. We’ll set up an ambush in Tuuler. If we’re successful, the stragglers should come back toward you. If you can, make sure none of them escape.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alucius turned in the saddle toward Anslym. “We’ll take second squad into Tuuler—all the way through the hamlet to the eastern side, just short of the low rises on the road there. Half the squad will set up with you on the southwest side, and the other half will be with me. There’s enough snow that the raiders should stand out against the white, even before dawn. We’ll set up an angled cross fire and charge them.” Alucius smiled, grimly, although he doubted either man could fully see his expression in the dimness.

  “Charge—” Anslym broke off his involuntary exclamation.

  “There are two possibilities,” Alucius replied. “They’re truly raiders, and they’ll ravage our people. Or they’re someone else’s troopers posing as raiders. If we can catch them by surprise, do you think it’s a good idea to let either one go?” He paused. “I’m going up to talk to the scouts.” Alucius urged Wildebeast forward.

  Behind him, Faisyn laughed, softly. “That’s what captains are for, Anslym. That’s what they get the golds for. If he’s wrong, he has to face the colonel. Even if he’s right, and I’d never wager against him, he’ll have to explain.”

  As he drew his mount up toward the two scouts acting as the vanguard, Alucius knew that Faisyn had said what he normally wouldn’t, in an effort to make things clear to the younger squad leader before they encountered the raiders.

  “Sir?” asked the younger scout as he saw Alucius ease up beside him.

  “Karstyn, I want you to move out to a good vingt on the main road. Be quiet. We’ve got reports of raiders, and there are signs that they may have crossed the river. If you see or hear a
nything, move back here, but silently. If you don’t hear anything, wait for us at the crossroads in the middle of Tuuler, and watch all the dwellings and shops.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Waris…Squad Leader Faisyn will tell you where he wants you to go. Third squad will be circling north of Tuuler. Check with him.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alucius turned Wildebeast and headed back toward the main column, swinging back in ahead of the two squad leaders. After Faisyn passed his instructions to Waris, and the scout headed out, Faisyn and Anslym and their squads rode silently behind Alucius, the only sounds those of hoofs on stone or frozen clay, and the occasional whuff of a mount.

  Another quarter glass passed before second squad reached the first holding on the western side of Tuuler. Alucius turned. “Faisyn…the lane heading north around Tuuler is just ahead. Swing off from the rear when we pass.”

  “Yes, sir.” With a raised hand, the older squad leader turned his mount back toward third squad.

  After he passed the lane, Alucius looked back several times, as if to make sure of the squad’s movements, although he Talent-sensed the departure of third squad as clearly as if he had seen it in broad daylight.

  “Anslym.” Alucius motioned for the squad leader to join him.

  “Sir.”

  “You remember the drills on single targeting? We’re going to do that here. Your men—you’ll take the right file, and I’ll take the left one—will be lined up in a partly concealed position on the southwest side of the road. Your troopers are each to take aim at a different raider, the northernmost trooper to the northernmost raider. If they’re in a double column, they’re to fire at both men in that rank, the nearer one first. We’ll be firing from more of an angle, but we’ll be doing the same thing. Pass the word, then report back. Make it clear. We won’t have time to go over this later.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Second squad was nearing the crossroads that served as a square and center of Tuuler before Anslym rejoined Alucius.

  “All set, sir.”

  “Good.”

  Karstyn appeared out of the dimness, riding toward the two at the head of the column. “Sir…all quiet, except at the shop on the left ahead. They’re up awful early.”

  Even more than a glass before dawn, Alucius could see glimmers of light through the shutters of the small shop that served Tuuler as a dry goods store, factorum, and chandlery, glimmers that indicated lamps had been lit. He could also sense that at least two people were awake in the shop. “Too early for honest work. Anyone out? Any riders?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Good…and thank you. Fall in behind us, for now.” Through his Talent, with second squad far closer to the raiders, Alucius could discern that the strangers were riding in a double column, with even files and ranks, trooper-style. That alone told him that they weren’t common raiders, if they were raiders at all.

  Past the center of Tuuler, the scattered dwellings were dark, and Alucius could smell only the faintest hint of woodsmoke or coal smoke, a good sign that those in the houses had not yet risen.

  On the eastern side of the hamlet, the road followed the river, curving slightly south, rising ever so sightly, just enough to conceal riders on either side. The oncoming raiders were less than two vingts away.

  Alucius leaned toward Anslym. “You see that orchard there on the right? Station a trooper beside each tree, as close to it as he can get while mounted. They won’t be able to see the orchard because of the rise to the south, not until they get within about a quarter of a vingt. But don’t have your troopers fire until I give the order.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Rifles ready, Anslym. Pass the word.”

  “Rifles ready…”

  “Now…right file with you, left with me.”

  “Second squad, left file, to the captain. Right file to me,” Anslym ordered.

  “Second squad, left file, follow me,” Alucius commanded.

  The nine troopers followed Alucius off the road and toward a low shed. He reined up behind the shed and went down the line, explaining.

  “We’ll wait behind the shed until the last moment. Then, at my command, we’ll ride out and do a quick wheel and fire, single-target style, first man at their first rank, second at their second…”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alucius stationed himself at the head of the single file, where he could remain mounted and appear to be peering around the corner of wooden shed. To the left of the single file, to the north and toward the Plateau, another hundred yards away, was a house, but he doubted that those inside, even if they heard and saw the troopers, would be likely to raise any alarm.

  Before long, the faint sound of hoofs slipped through the darkness, a sound Alucius alone could hear, and a confirmation of what his Talent-senses had already revealed.

  “Stand ready,” he hissed.

  Another fraction of a glass passed, and the raiders neared the orchard.

  “Column forward.” Alucius kept his voice low, waiting until all his troopers were clear of the shed. “Wheel in place. Second squad! Fire at will!” Alucius projected both his voice and a sense of command.

  The chill air cracked apart under the almost simultaneous volleys from the north and southwest of the road. The militia force fired a good three volleys before a single lighter series of cracks came from the raiders.

  As the voids of death and the agony of the wounded raiders swept over Alucius, a grim smile flicked across his lips. The glass after glass of training had clearly paid off.

  “Withdraw! Back!” The command was in the Lanachronan dialect. That scarcely surprised Alucius.

  Once he was certain that the raiders had turned, he eased Wildebeast back toward the road.

  “Second Squad! Re-form!”

  “Re-form on the captain!”

  Alucius quickly reloaded with the speed of long practice and habit. Still, quick as the squad was, the last of the surviving raiders had vanished over the crest of the river road before second squad began the pursuit. That was fine with Alucius. There was no sense in riding into the volleys from third squad.

  As second squad rode past the ambush site, Alucius made a quick and rough count of the dead—ten or eleven, and one raider dying. Once they dealt with the remaining raiders, they’d have to return and claim mounts and weapons, and deal with the bodies.

  Less than two vingts past the rise, there was a swirl of men and mounts, outlined against the snow of the bottomland fields, with the sound of metal against metal and only a few reports from rifles. Most of those still mounted were the militia troopers, but the remaining raiders fought with a quiet ferocity.

  “Sabres at the ready!” Alucius ordered. “Charge!” He had his own sabre in his left hand, although he was equally adept with it in either hand, unlike the rifle, where firing left-handed was definitely superior.

  With Alucius at the point, second squad swept into the back of the raiders. In moments, most were down, one way or another.

  As he studied the chaos of riders and riderless mounts, and the dead and dying raiders and troopers, Alucius could sense two riders turning and breaking away, driving their mounts off the road and across the fields toward the river. With some of third squad’s troopers covering the road and trying both to stop the raiders and to corral the surviving mounts of the raiders, Alucius dared not use his rifle.

  “Second squad! With me!” He urged Wildebeast forward, not looking back, but knowing at least some troopers would follow.

  Less than halfway to the river, the lagging rider looked over his shoulder, then to the river, before he abruptly slowed and turned his mount.

  Sensing fully the fatality within the raider—the resignation to death and the desire to take others with him as he reached for the rifle—Alucius lifted his own weapon, forced himself to concentrate, and fired. It took three shots before the void of the raider’s death washed over him.

  Within moments he was past the dead raider�
��s mount and nearing the snow-covered underbrush at the edge of the river.

  The single remaining rider had spurred his mount onto the ice of the river.

  Alucius reined up at the edge of the river, quickly changed rifles, and focused all his will and Talent on the fleeing raider.

  Crack!

  The single shot was enough.

  Alucius turned in the saddle to the two nearest troopers. “Skant, Noer…go and bring him back. We can use the mount if you can catch it, but we’ll need the body and his rifle.”

  “Ah…yes, sir.”

  “I’ll be back on the road, checking with the squad leaders.” Alucius guided Wildebeast back uphill, through the crusty snow toward the river road, his herder hearing taking in the comments from the two.

  “…forgot how good he is with that rifle…”

  “…not even dawn yet…”

  “…see why they tried a night raid…”

  “Didn’t do ’em much good.”

  Alucius wasn’t certain about that. Sometimes, failed raids had purposes, too. He just hoped that there was some evidence, but the fact that the raiders had all fought to the death was another indication that they weren’t ordinary brigands.

  Faisyn and Anslym were waiting on the road, overseeing the marshaling of the captured mounts.

  “Did we lose anyone?” Alucius asked.

  “Two, sir,” answered Faisyn. “Silper and Daern. Gill took a slash, but he’ll be all right.”

  “Sond took a bullet in his left arm. Shattered the bone,” Anslym reported. “Stopped the bleeding, but I’m not sure how it’ll heal.”

  “Have you got it splinted?” asked Alucius.

  “Best we could, sir.”

  “Any survivors from the raiders?” In the grayness just before dawn, Alucius looked from Anslym to Faisyn.

  “No, sir.”

  “Did any others escape?”

  “No, sir,” offered Faisyn. “Can’t find any tracks, and no one saw any except the two you chased down.”

  “We’ll need to search the bodies. Keep anything that might shed light on who they were. Then dump them at the edge of the fields to the north—where the sandwolves can get them.” Alucius looked to Anslym. “I’d like to take a look at Sond’s arm.”