by C. W Tickner
Harl, Damen and Dana were shown to an expansive room lined with large baths of steaming water where hundreds of men were washing away the filth of war.
Dana shifted uneasily as naked men took the plunge into the pools. Eventually One returned with Half and took her to his room, promising a hot wash in privacy.
She went with him, seemingly content to get away from the stares Damen had been giving her. She clutched a large curved knife as she left with Half trailing behind them.
It seemed word of their exploits had travelled throughout the ranks and men were nodding at them with respect as they climbed into the baths. Damen sat alone in the coldest bath fighting some internal daemon while Harl relaxed in a warm pool, glad to get a moment away from the hunter’s dark mood.
Afterwards they dressed in silver jerkins and pants then followed the other fighter deep into the Aylen table. There were rooms coming off every torch lit corridor. Some were quarters for officers and others just bare storage halls. It seemed there was several layer to the table each with a different purpose. Eventually they reached a large hall, crammed with roaring firepits and a chorus of drunken cheers.
One returned with Dana, dressed in the same silver cloth as themselves. It clung to her and caught the eyes of many men in the hall. She glared at all of them, unwilling to back down until they looked away. The curved dagger was nestled in its sheath by her waist, although an effort had been made to clean the blood from its leather sheath.
Huge metal tables and benches lined the long hall under a canopy of silver banners. The banners draped from a low ceiling, broken by chimneys that hung like funnels over each fire pit.
At the far end was the general’s table. It spread across the width of the hall on a raised dais overlooking the room. A line of janitors came out from doors and placed heaped platters of meat, fruits and unusual vegetables on the tables.
Not one person moved to eat the food but all stared at the sumptuous feast.
Harl was seated at the end of one table, as close to the high table as was possible without actually sitting at it. One, Damen, Dana and Half were seated with them. Kane returned, joining them in his bright orange robes to the wary stares of men around them.
Silence descended on the crowd as the general stood and raised a goblet, brimming with ale. The foam slopped over his hand but he took no notice and stared off into the distance down the rows of tables at the empty seats furthest from him.
‘We have returned victorious from battle,’ the general said. ‘But many have fallen. Friends, enemies and comrades. We will not forget their suffering nor their bravery. We fight, not to prove ourselves to each other or our enemies. We fight to stay alive. To show the watchers we are strong so they reward us. And this-’ he gestured at the food being brought up to his table, ‘is that reward.’
He raised his goblet. ‘To victory and the victorious dead.’
Everyone stood and raised the mugs in front of them. ‘To victory and the victorious dead.’
Hands reached for plates and fingers snatched fruits as all of them plundered the platters in the centre of the tables.
‘You,’ the general said and those closest looked around to see him beckoning Damen to join him up at the main table. Damen didn’t hesitate and rose, clunking up a set of stairs to the higher table.
Harl was too far to hear what they were discussing but he’d bet the food in front of him that it was about battle.
One stood as the general called his name.
‘Bring down the new one’ he said.
One nodded and sent Half, running down the lines of tables to the door. A moment later and a bewildered Troy was being ushered forward by the small boy.
‘Hey,’ Troy said, as the boy prodded him forward with a stick, ‘I can walk without your help.’
Dana rose and raced between the long tables to meet him. A cheer went up as his face broke into a disbelieving smile and he wrapped his arms around her, holding each other as if everyone wasn’t watching them. After a while they broke apart and came over to the table. Troy’s smile faded. He didn’t sit but looked from Harl to Kane then Dana.
‘You know?’
Kane frowned then nodded.
‘We know,’ Harl said. ‘You should’ve damn well told us.’
‘What good would it have done?’ Troy said picking up a wedge of cheese and inspecting it before taking a bite. ‘Tess told me there was no way to cure it and that I’d be dead within a year. So I looked for alternatives.
‘How did it happen?’ Kane asked, his voice filled with bitterness.
‘We were on patrol in the sewers and found a man smuggling something out for Drake. He was altered, like Four but not as powerful. Dana took him down and we started to take him back up to the surface. When we reached the ladder I began to cough and some of the blood landed on him. He guessed right away I was ill. He offered that if I spared him, he’d be able to convince the energy company to help me. Told us he’d seen people healed from terrible sickness in the labs here.’ He forced the last of the cheese in and sat, taking a swig from Harl’s mug. ‘Of course there was a price.’
‘My work,’ Kane said. ‘Theft and betrayal.’
Troy hung his head. ‘It wasn’t like that to start with,’ he said as Dana sat beside him, staring down at the table. ‘We organised a meet and he brought a tube of liquid that helped when I felt bad. He told us he could get more but only if he traded with the energy company for it. Said he just wanted information. Small things at first, drawings of the blown reactor on Orbital then a sample of the metal from a workshop, nothing useful.
Kane sighed, ‘not useful to you perhaps.’
Troy deflated, his shoulders sagged and Harl sensed a deep regret in his friend. ‘After a time he refused to bring more liquid and I got much worse.’ He looked at Kane, ‘he asked for details on the reactor you had been building and told me I could be cured if I sent enough information and drawings.
‘And now?’ Dana asked.
‘They fixed me, I think.’
She smiled.
‘How?’ Kane asked, switching from angry to interested in a heartbeat.
Troy perked up at the change, possibly seeing redemption. ‘They have a machine,’ he said. ‘I was dropped into it and after it flashed light at me I felt better.’
‘Flashing lights?’ Kane said, rolling his eyes, ‘very helpful.’
Dana scowled. ‘It saved his life,’ she said.
‘Who can tell?’ Kane said. ‘It might be temporary.’ His attitude changed again and he looked around conspiratorially. ‘Where in the building is it?’
‘Below us, in a lab.’
‘If we can get it,’ Kane said, his eyes glazing over. ‘Then the possibilities are endless. Think of the-’
‘Nothing will happen if we don’t get out of here before we die on a gold painted sword,’ Harl said.
‘Sword?’ Troy said. He tugged at his collar, the red marks visible where it had rubbed against his skin.
‘Don’t play with it,’ Kane said as if scolding a naughty boy.
‘How do we get out then?’ Harl asked, stuffing a hunk of meat in his mouth and chewing until the juices flowed over his lips.
Dana shrugged but Kane leant forward. ‘This might be the last time we eat together,’ he said, ‘Janitors work on both sides of the table, we clean, and sort things out for the battles. We normally eat away from the armies in case of espionage offers but we can move freely where you cannot.’ He stopped to cram a sausage into his mouth.
‘Why not?’
Kane chewed and tapped his neck. ‘The collars blow if you stray into restricted zones.’
‘Which ones are restricted?’ Troy asked looking around as if they would be marked.
Kane froze the second sausage midway to his mouth. ‘Can’t say for sure. I think they leave it obscure but so far all I know is that on a lower floor in the table there is a door across to the gold zone and if you pass over the line the collar explodes. There
is a small area where it will turn yellow as a warning and if you continue on it turns red. The lights can go from yellow and orange back to green but once your in the red it’s game over.’ The second sausage forced him to stop again as he chewed.
‘Are you trying to get fat and fall through the floor?’ Troy asked.’G
‘The last time the silvers ate like this was weeks ago,’ Kane said. ‘If you lose the battles you lose the good food and weapons.’
Troy’s eyes went wide ‘Battles? What battles?’
Chapter 33
When I’m not cutting or planing wood I’m busy attempting to plant flowers for the bee hive I have constructed.
‘I’m a captain,’ Damen said once the general had retired to let the serious drinkers continue into the night.
‘A privileged position,’ Kane said.
Damen shrugged. ‘Don’t matter to me,’ he said. ‘Unless there are bigger weapons to use against the Aylen.’
‘Captain of who?’ Troy asked.
‘You,’ Damen said. He snatched Troy’s beer and downed the golden liquid in one. The foam spilled down his beard, dripping off the plait that he’d fashioned the end into.
‘Hey,’ Troy said.
‘Not of me,’ Kane said but Damen had already turned back to the gloomy mood that had taken him in the days since Yara’s death.
The first night’s sleep was non existent for Harl. The room, like all the communal rooms in the Aylen table was long and thin. It was lined on either side with bunk beds recessed into the walls. A series of wooden slats separated the bunks above and below, giving each man a small space to call his own.
Dana had left with One and Half to wherever he took her, while Kane had been escorted out with the janitors when the plates had been taken away.
‘Comfy,’ Troy said as Harl heard him turn above him for the hundredth time since the torches had been put out.
‘Shut it over there,’ a voice croaked from a dark cubby hole across the narrow stone-tiled walkway between the bunks.
‘Just saying,’ Troy muttered.
‘I said shut it or I’ll-’
A loud thunk came from the same area, where Harl knew Damen had holed up and the man ceased his protests.
They awoke to a whistle and Harl assumed it was the call to battle that One had told them about but when other the men rolled out of their holes it was obvious there was no rush to go anywhere just yet.
Breakfast comprised mostly of the leftovers from the night before but this time without either ale or any sign of Kane among the janitors that brought it out.
One joined them, bringing Dana along. A quick glance from Troy and a returned nod told him that she had been safe during the night.
‘So we all have to fight?’ Troy asked after Harl had explained the horrors of the previous day as he ate.
One nodded. ‘And if we don’t, we either die of starvation or the collars.
‘And if we do we’ll likely die from battle wounds,’ Harl said. ‘How many men are there in the table?’
‘Five to ten thousand,’ One said, layering a thick mat of butter over a slice of toast. ‘Varies depending on the whims of the watchers. Men are put in a couple of days after each battle. Most of them healed from the wounds they received from the enemy. Of course new ones come as well.
Harl ran through the numbers. All the people on the island had been similar in number and to double their man power would be a powerful boost to the cause of freeing as many humans as possible from Aylen clutches.
‘And no ones ever considered getting out?’
One chuckled, ‘Of course they’ve tried but if they’ve got a collar that kills them whenever they try it, the attempts stop pretty quick.’
‘So the collars are the problem?’
‘And the fact we all try to kill each other as soon as we share the same air.’
‘What about trying to force peace between the two?’ Troy said.
‘Never happen,’ One said picking up another slice. ‘If the watchers see us all shaking hands instead of doing our job then we’ll be blown up and another lot brought in.’
‘You don’t know until you try,’ Troy said.
‘Happened before,’ One said.
‘What happened?’ Damen asked, clearly interested in the idea of ten thousand troops against the Aylen.
‘Someone started a new faction,’ One said. ‘Weren’t here for long but he came in and started a faction that refused to fight.’
‘How?’ Harl asked.
‘Promises,’ One said, tearing the slice in half and stuffing it in his mouth. ‘No more killing of others. Called themselves the bronze army. Hundreds of men joined their cause. I mean even I was tempted but it wasn’t meant to be.’
‘What happened to them?’ Harl asked.
‘Tried to fight the watchers, take em by surprise.’
Damen leant in closer.
‘The watchers let it go on for too long. Probably hoping they’d force gold and silver to action against them but neither wanted two enemies on the battle field, even if it was only a few hundred. Hell of a general though. No special training or enhancements but he killed like a daemon. Wasn’t a thing that man couldn’t kill.’ he chuckled, ‘cept a watcher.’
‘Thought you said he didn’t kill other men?’ Troy said trying to cram a full half loaf into his mouth mid sentence.
‘He didn’t,’ One said, ‘but he killed more monsters then I could count. Probably why the watchers kept him on. Entertainment, see? That’s all we are. He was a grim bugger, wore a manky red band around his head but fought better then any general I ever saw. If anyone else could have rallied men like you said, then he was the one to have done it.’
Harl felt a memory dawn on him but could it be?
‘What happened to him? he asked.
‘They blew him up?’ Troy said.
‘Na,’ One said, ‘they forced everyone up to the surface and lined the armies on either side with his men in the middle. They made him watch each one of them blow up one by one or squashed by the watchers. It took a long time and when it was only him left alone in the centre, watched by the silver and gold armies, a hand snatched him away. Never saw him again. Rumour was he’d been enhanced to make a super soldier but no one ever found out. Not been an uprising since.’
‘Drew?’ Damen said, recalling the man Harl had been thinking of. They had found him in the tank that was used to train fighters and Harl had befriended him to join them. He sacrificed himself during the exodus and allowed them to get away to freedom. Without having met him, Harl doubted any of them would still be alive. There was no way to be certain but the image painted by One fit perfectly with what he’d seen of Drew.
One looked at the astonishment on each of their faces. ‘Don’t tell me you knew him?’
A shrill whistle blew and One jumped up, spilling a mug of water over the table. ‘Not today,’ he said. ‘We fought yesterday and another could finish us, even give gold the advantage. I reckon at this rate you’ll never get any proper training.’ He glanced up at the general’s table where he sat alone. His face turned from shock to resolute control and he stood.
‘Gear up,’ he said, ‘We fight!’
Chapter 34
I admit I’m tempted to take one of the ten ships in the docking bay and find myself a planet to call home. The only trouble is as soon as the computer detects a habitable planet it will wake the crew before I get a chance to pack my things.
They reached the armoury and were kitted up before the second whistle. They chose mostly the same weapons and armour as before, except Troy, who seemed to think that the more armour and weapons the better. Plate mail coated him from head to toe and he wobbled trying to hold the oversized sword he’d chosen.
‘You won’t last out there in that,’ Damen said, chuckling as he tested the weight of a pair of hatchets before stuffing them into a silver belt. He was decked in new armour with a plumed helmet of silver tassels. He looked almost as ridiculou
s as Troy but seemed to be happy with his new role. Troy almost toppled over and bumped into him. Damen snatched the huge sword from Troy and threw it across the room making a pair of blacksmiths scramble for cover.
Damen stomped over to the nearest pile of arms and picked up a curved shield. It was big enough that when placed on the floor it would completely hide the holder. He slid it across the floor to Troy. Troy picked it up and seemed happy to have it along with a shorter sword that Dana had found.
Damen cocked his head as Troy practised taking cover behind it. Damen picked up another and strode over to place it beside Troy’s. Together they formed a wall.
‘We all take one,’ Damen said. ‘Place them together when I say so and keep low behind them.’
The four of them chose one each and made their way up towards the main door that led out into the arena. The watcher’s faces leered down at them as they broke out into the open and they found themselves face to face with One and Half. The little boy was dressed like Damen as if in favour of the general and seemed to take as much pride in the get up as Damen.
One caught the look of surprise on Harl’s face as he realised the boy would be made to fight as well.
‘We need the numbers,’ One said. ‘Don’t worry he’ll be safe with me.’ He held a huge mace with a spiked head and no armour but a thick leather apron. He looked to Harl like some demented butcher.
‘How do they know if there is enough or if the sides are fair?’ Troy asked.
‘When we come out into the open, the doors record our numbers and display them up there.’ He pointed up to the massive board raised up above the battle field denoting the numbers in Aylen. Harl was clueless to the symbols but even he could tell there was no symbols on the far side of the field.
‘Who are we fighting?’ he asked.
‘Beasties,’ One said.’ He looked grim as if the prospect of fighting other humans was a better one.
The horrific screech and calls of a hundred monsters broke the chatter among the pockets of men. Harl had only seen maybe half the number come out of the door then yesterday. He pushed past a group of archers, busy counting arrows and got a view down the hill to the valley. A shiver shot up his spine and adrenaline coursed through him at the sight of a hundred monsters between the crescent hills.
