Kallista

by David Bell

  We had just reached a roughly paved causeway through the marshy ground when disaster almost struck. A goat burst out of a clump of reeds, stopped dead and stared at us. It opened its mouth but before it could cry a sword blade sliced its throat. Kanesh wiped the grey metal on the goat’s pelt and said he would send this goat-lover, pointing at one of the archers, back to collect our dinner in the morning. It was a weak joke but it released the tension and we moved on again. The damp ground in the bottom of the valley cooled our feet, so the final climb, obliquely up the side of the valley to make it easier, was not as bad as I had feared.

  I was first on the top of the ridge with the Captain of Archers close behind. The next man to arrive was told to get down in the grass and pass the word back to the others to do the same as they came up: figures standing on a skyline, even in that dim light, could be spotted by a keen-eyed sentry.

  I crawled through the spikey grass to join Kanesh and the Captain of Archers who were lying on the edge of the ridge top peering into the distance. The moon was still bright and high in the sky and the great mass of the Mountain reared black against the faint pearly flush that lights the distant horizon just before dawn. To one side lay the dark ocean we had crossed to get here and to the other the Lagoon with its black sour-smelling island, Korus, invisible at this hour, or was there a dimly glowing light on it? Below us, sprawled between the ocean and the Lagoon was the town, the outlines of its houses and narrow winding streets began to emerge from the shadows. The harbour seemed to be empty: no, there were two dark shapes next to the jetty. They had to be the pirate ships.

  Kanesh said we must get into position now and be ready to go in at first light. The Captain of Archers got to his feet. It must have been a signal because the waiting men came crawling across to join us. The Captain of Archers put a finger to his lips, pointed down the slope and gestured with his hand flat as if pushing something down to the ground. Everyone made his way down the slope, crouching low and as quietly as they could.

  On the flat ground at the bottom of the ridge were some of the town’s gardens, vineyards and olive trees with a few shacks for tools or chickens and rabbits scattered among them. The sky was brightening quickly now and Kanesh held up a hand to halt the advance and sort the men into their three sections: his in the centre, mine to the left and and the Captain of Archers to the right. This done, we began to steal our way through the vines and barley stubble, hoping not to knock over a beehive. The outlying houses were now close by, yet there was still no sign of a sentry or a guard dog. Kanesh took the lead and was moving more quickly towards the nearest house when a man carrying a spear suddenly stepped out and challeneged him and shouted into the house. We had run straight into the guard. Kanesh slowed down, held his arms up in an apologetic gesture and replied that he had got drunk in the fields, slept it off in a ditch and was dying for a drink and where was Kallix’s house. The guard hesitated a moment then shouted for the password. I heard something hiss past my ear and the feathers of an arrow blossomed in the man’s throat. He was thrown backwards and hit the ground with a clatter as his helmet rolled away. Another man hurtled from the house and ran for the alleyway nearby, but a second arrow between the shoulders sent him sprawling. An archer brushed past me and cut the throats of the two fallen men while the Captain of Archers leapt through the doorway of the house, sword drawn. He was out again in a moment reporting no one else there.

  We stood silent, straining to hear any sound from others who might have been roused by the noise. We could hear nothing. Where were all the dogs? Had they been killed when they attacked the invaders? Had the enemy eaten all the geese? The Captain of Archers came up to Kanesh carrying the dead sentry’s helmet, a conical leather cap covered with layers of split boar’s tusks fixed on by leather thongs threaded through holes drilled at the ends of the tusks. At the top was a bronze disc with two loops to hold plumes. The Captain of Archers added quietly that there were a couple of waisted shields in the guardhouse, but no bows. He looked hard at Kanesh who eyed him back, nodding his head slowly. They were both obviously thinking the same thing: these men were not pirates. They were soldiers. The Captain of Archers said we’d better get on with it quick before anybody else woke up. He called his men, most of whom were archers, to order and headed off through the gardens in the direction of Dyer’s House. Kanesh had the biggest and strongest men under his command, all equipped with the heavy bronze sword and the long shield of the infantry and leather caps with straps down over the ears and fastened with a thong under the chin. Kerma, of course, scorned all that. The axe would do for him. My men had been chosen for speed and agility and carried no shield; four of them were archers.

  Kanesh rapped out last minute orders to his section: two men to a house; get in fast, yelling at the top of your voice; kill any man who has a weapon; work on down the street; leave anyone who runs for it; the archers will get him. He turned to me. I saw his lips move but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He pointed towards the houses but I couldn’t move. I was deaf and frozen with fright. He brought me back to my senses with a stinging slap across the face. He pulled my head forward until his face touched mine and his eyes glared into mine, grew huge, enveloping me. I heard him speak from a great distance.

  “You’ve been in a few fights but this is your first real battle; it’s like your first time with a woman: you want to, but you’re shit-scared you can’t do it right; but you can: your dick will harden up the same way and you will do it right. Now get going. If we’re still alive tonight you can tell me about it.”

  He turned round abruptly and headed for the Lady’s House, followed by his troops. My breath came out in a great gasp and I set off at a run towards the Gatekeeper’s Lodge. I heard my men crashing through the vines behind me.

  Getting across Telchina Street in front of Gatekeeper’s Lodge took time because of the piled-up debris of mudbricks and roof timbers thrown down by the earth shaking still lying there but when we turned into the backstreet which wound downhill towards the harbour the going was easier. The few doorways in this street opened into small courtyards and, following Kanesh’s instructions, we rushed them all, kicking in the doors of the groundfloor storerooms leading off and racing upstairs to the living quarters. We found no one inside. The damage from the earth-shaking was everywhere to see and my mind flashed with the scenes and sounds of what it must have been like: toppling walls, fire and dust and the screams of children lost in the dark. But there were signs also of a second disaster which had struck the town: clothing ripped to rags and strewn around, broken toys and sacred household images slashed with sword cuts, strongboxes broken open, rifled and thrown aside, and everywhere the litter of broken pottery and smashed furniture, all the wreckage of a sacked town.

  An archer tugged at my arm and put his finger to his lips. Across the rooftops from the direction of the main street came the sounds of metal clashing on metal and the shouts of men on the attack. Kanesh’s force had engaged the enemy at last. We ignored the houses in Little Labyrinth and ran across the square, through the alley at the other end and plunged into the dark, narrow passageway that led into Telchina Street where it made a turn before continuing downhill. The Captain of Archers and his section had already climbed to the roofs of houses opposite and were crouched there waiting. He waved to me, held up four fingers and pointed up the main street. It was the signal for me to send my archers across the rooftops to the Square in support of Kanesh’s attack. The rest of us stayed back, archers on the roof and swordsmen out of sight in the passageway and house next to it, all ready to ambush any of the enemy escaping from the Square or reinforcements coming up from the harbour.

  We waited while the sounds of a desperate fight continued to echo from the Square. I was trembling with a mixture of excitement and dread, just as Kanesh had said I would. And still we waited. Much later in the day an archer told me what had happened. To begin with, everything went according to plan for Kanesh and several of the enemy were caught half asleep a
nd finished off in the first houses entered. But the noise alerted others and a large number who had been billeted in nearby houses, obviously trained men, had quickly grabbed their weapons, rushed outside and formed ranks which confronted Kanesh as he came round a corner into the Square past the house Merida called Anchor House. What followed was a grim and bloody brawl as Kanesh’s bigger men used their shields to shove the enemy backwards while others thrust upwards between the shields or slashed from above. Bodies sprawled in the street and the walls were splashed with blood. Gradually the enemy was pushed back towards the narrow exit from the Square between Anchor House and the ornate gateway in front of Little Labyrinth, but that gave them a good place to make a stand. For a brief time the fighting stopped and the two sides stood apart, panting and sweating as they swore and snarled at each other like packs of animals. It began to look as if our men might not break through. Then two things happened which altered everything. My archers arrived and began to shoot into the backs of the enemy packed into the narrow part of the street below. Seeing the confusion and turned heads that this caused, Kanesh and Kerma crashed through our front rank like horses at the charge and hurled themselves at the enemy. Kanesh brought his great sword slashing down through the helmet of the leading man as far as his teeth, while Kerma crushed the skull of the one next to him with his axe. Our men gave a great roar and rushed the narrow gap, trampled over the fallen bodies and burst through into the street where it broadened out beyond. The enemy began to back away and some of the lighter wounded turned to run.

  We let these men pass so as not to reveal our position. In their state they were not going to take any further part in the fighting and could be dealt with later. Tougher men were making a last stand, back to back, fending off the attacks of Kanesh’s tiring band, but the arrows were felling them one after the other. One of my men pointed across the street and I looked up to see the Captain of Archers shouting in my direction. I couldn’t hear his words because of the din of the street fighting but then he jabbed his finger in the direction of the harbour and raised his hand with the fist clenched as if he were holding a sword. Soon afterwards I heard the unmistakeable sound of marching feet. Reinforcements were on their way.

  We were ready for them. They came on, marching easily in loose column formation led by a commander wearing a jerkin of thick leather and a boar’s tusk helmet. Every man carried a long oxhide shield and heavy bronze sword. The column had to string out so much to negotiate the corner opposite my passageway and the narrow part of the street beyond that, as its leading troops were deploying to join the battle, the end of the column had still not passed Dyer’s House more than fifty paces to the rear.

  I saw the archers on the roofs opposite stand up and bend their bows. Their first flight struck the rear of the column, felling men in writhing heaps. Their second brought down most of the leading troops but left the commander standing. The centre of the column now seemed to be trapped but these were disciplined men and they struggled forward to join their commander and the survivors of the vanguard, who had flattened themselves against the house walls where the roof overhang blocked the archers’ aim. The commander shouted orders and they regrouped, raised their shields overlapping above their heads to form a protective cover and began to move like a massive turtle up the street towards Kanesh’s men. The commander must have decided they had a better chance of escape through a mob of tired and battered swordsmen than they had against archers they could not reach and who had them in their sights.

  It was no good. Our archers used the short bow made from acacia wood with goat horn glued on one side and strips of antelope leg tendon on the other. It had terrific power and at this range could send a bronze-tipped arrow through any shield. After two volleys the turtle collapsed and the survivors ran back to the shelter of the walls. They stood with their swords held at the ready as Kanesh’s men cautiously advanced towards them. A voice in my head said NOW and I screamed at my men to charge. Before the enemy could turn we fell on them like a pack of mad dogs, stabbing at them again and again and battering them to the ground. I don’t know how long this went on. I was in a frenzy of rage and, yes, fear, and was still stamping on heads and bodies when I was roughly hauled away by strong hands and thrown back against a wall. It was Kanesh. He held me there as I fought to get free and go back to the killing. He was right; this rage was a lust. My dick was sticking up like the sword in my hand. Kanesh wrested the sword from me and threw it down. Enough, he said, enough, and held me while my strength drained away. I sat down, my back against the wall, my pounding head in my bloody hands and my chest heaving with sobs.

  I wasn’t allowed to stay there for long. I heard a voice telling me to get on my feet and looked up to find the Captain of Archers standing over me. He ordered me to get my men together and follow him down to the harbour. There were stragglers to be rounded up and we had to stop anyone from getting away on the ships. I asked about the Davina and why the crew hadn’t come up to help us. I was told tersely that she would be there when she was needed. I staggered to my feet and looked round for my men. Bodies with arrows sticking up from their backs or chests were strewn all along the street. They lay so thickly in that narrow space that it looked like a field of stubble after the reapers had finished their work.

  We left some men behind with orders to do what they could for our wounded and make sure none of the enemy prisoners escaped. We would be back for them later, but now our concern was the harbour. We reached the row of warehouses that fronted onto the jetty just in time to see a ship cast off and pull away. Archers dashed to the edge of the jetty but by the time they could draw their bows she was out of range. Then we saw that farther out there was another ship, under way and full of men like the first. Her oarsmen were working smoothly and we could see others on board wearing leather coats and helmets. One or two waved swords and jeering shouts sounded across the water. I ran frantically along the jetty searching for any ship we might use to pursue them, but every craft I could see, even the smallest canoe and rowing boat, was holed and useless. I have watched many ships leave harbour in many lands but never with such a feeling of frustration, of something unfinished, as I felt then. The plan, like all war plans, had not worked as we desperately needed it to work. Not enough. We had got so close to complete victory and lost so much on the way and now they were escaping. They would carry the news back to their land and they would return in greater force, because they must have their revenge. I hurled my sword far out into the waves and in my head I appealed to the Mistress, Lady of the Seas, Posedeia, to take the offering of my sword and raise a storm and drag those ships and their crews down to the black depths where she reigned.

  Kanesh would scorn such thoughts. How many times had I heard him say take the blame or the credit yourself for everything you do and don’t invent gods, or goddesses, as excuses. I had grown to dare believe he was right, and yet, there were times… I was being stupid. I had just thrown away a perfectly good sword. Still, there were plenty of others to choose from in that stubblefield up there in the town.

  An archer gave an excited shout and pointed, jabbing his finger insistently. The two escaping ships were nearing the harbour entrance with their masts raised and sails half-rigged. They were moving more slowly, perhaps because the commanders thought they were no longer under threat from us. More shouting and pointing and then, out there, I saw the high prow of the Davina glide into view just beyond the harbour wall. I turned to the Captain of Archers. Kanesh was by his side. They were looking out to sea, and then they looked at each other. The wry expression on their faces was clear enough to understand: better late than never.

  The enemy ships acted very quickly. By now the Davina was entering the harbour and they had picked up speed and steered towards her, sheering away one to each side. I realised with a start that they were manoeuvering to get alongside and board her. If they took her we would be left landlocked and helpless. They drew closer and I saw their nearside oarsmen prepare to ship oars. Then th
e Davina did a curious thing. Port side oarsmen unshipped their oars and raised them vertical while starboard side kept theirs in the water fending off the enemy ship. The Davina slowed and began to turn to starboard. The port side enemy ship closed an oar’s length and boarders stood up ready to jump. All three ships were now close enough for us to see everything that happened. Suddenly the Davina’s port side oars came down and locked on their pins and the ship leapt forward as all oars gave a tremendous stroke. As she drew away from the enemy ships I saw Namun leap from the stern cabin carrying a smoking object that he hurled into the bow of the enemy ship. There was a flash of flame and a cloud of black smoke rose from the deck. A few seconds later flames leapt from amidships where Namun had hurled another missile. I knew instantly what they were: the pots that Kanesh had filled with his powders and liquids when we were anchored off Tholos. They must have smashed to pieces when they hit the ship’s deck and spread the already burning liquid across timbers, ropes, men, anything in the way. The fire ran with terrifying speed through the ship and soon even the mast was alight and the sail blew away in blackened, smoking shreds. Those that could reach the side jumped into the sea, some of them with the blazing liquid sticking to them. The seawater didn’t seem to put out the fire.

  Our eyes had been fixed on the stricken ship but now they were drawn back to the Davina. She was under full rowing power and making an extremely tight and dangerous turn to starboard which, if it worked and she did not skid into the far harbour wall, would bring her bow round to the sea and set her on course to chase the other enemy ship which, having seen the fate of its companion, was making for the open sea as fast as its crew could force it. The Davina made her astonishing turn, missing the wall by no more than the length of an oar, and cleared the harbour just as the enemy ship was turning past the headland outside. Potyr set off in hot pursuit. The Captain of Archers said to no one in particular that they’d better bring that ship back; we needed her, and the stores she was carrying.