The Wolf At War

by Terry Cloutier

  “I’m surprised you didn’t just trample me when you had the chance,” I said, not hiding my contempt as I watched the fleeing horse skirt around Fignam’s busy archers. “Or at least had your men kill me. You’ve always been good at letting others handle your dirty work for you, as I recall.”

  “Sometimes it’s just easier that way, Hadrack,” Pernissy said with a shrug. His face turned hard and cold. “But not this time. I’ve been dreaming about this moment ever since your treachery at the coronation. The Sons promised me that I would get my revenge on you, and here you are, just as they foretold.”

  “Since when do you care what the Sons have to say?”

  “When it suits my purpose,” Pernissy replied gruffly. He gave me a grudging look. “I thought I had you in Thidswitch, but I guess that fool Grindin was dumber than even I thought.” He sighed. “All the man had to do was die at your hands. It wasn’t all that complicated.”

  “Don’t worry. Grindin will still die,” I promised. “He’ll be joining you soon enough in the firepits Below, mark my words.”

  Pernissy snorted as he jammed his sword point into the ground, looking unimpressed. “We’ll see about that,” he said. He glanced down at my father’s axe. “But first things first,” he added as he used the toe of his boot to flick the weapon into the air before catching it with both hands. He sneered at me, pausing for just a moment before he smashed the carved shaft down hard on his uplifted knee, snapping the handle in two. “There,” Pernissy grunted as he tossed the shattered parts aside. “That feels much better.” He grinned at the look of dismay on my face, then drew his sword from the ground and wiped it clean on his trousers.

  I stared at the broken pieces of my father’s axe as two men so smeared with dirt and blood that I couldn’t tell which was a Cardian and which a Gander rolled back and forth over it as they wrestled desperately for control of a sword. I growled low in my chest, focusing back on Pernissy, feeding on the hatred that I felt for him. I started to advance, walking hunched over to help ease the pain in my side. I could feel a sharp pinch at the back of my knee as I moved as well, but I thrust it from my mind.

  “That’s right,” Pernissy said, encouraging me. “Come on, little wolf. It’s time to finish this. I have a kingdom to rule.”

  I snorted, Wolf’s Head held low as Pernissy moved nimbly toward me. We were less than four feet apart when he suddenly twirled to his right, bringing his sword around hard and fast. I had expected the move, and his blade ricocheted against my raised shield. I lunged forward with the tip of Wolf’s Head to counter, but Pernissy was faster than I had expected, and he danced away easily.

  “Looks like you’re sporting a wound or two there, little wolf,” Pernissy said, grinning. He glanced toward my left side, where blood was seeping steadily through my padded tunic and mail coat as it rolled down my leg. He crouched, drawing his shield close to his body. “You’re slower than I thought you would be. I’m actually a little disappointed. I thought this was going to be harder.”

  I said nothing as I advanced step by step across the battlefield littered with discarded weapons and corpses, my mind free of any thoughts other than the task at hand. Pernissy could talk all he wanted, but nothing he said was going to stop me from taking his head.

  “How is that little half-sister of mine doing?” Pernissy asked as we began to circle each other. I was having trouble matching his movements, with my left leg feeling odd and unresponsive, tingling all along the length as though it had fallen asleep. Pernissy turned to spit on the ground, though his eyes never left mine. “Did she ever tell you why I married her to Lord Demay?”

  I didn’t bother to respond, my anger well contained, burning in a tight ball in my chest where I stoked it for use later. “Don’t let your opponent goad you, ever,” Jebido had warned me many times down in Father’s Arse. “Pick your moment, don’t let him pick it for you.” I knew with my injuries that I would probably only get one chance at Pernissy, so I had to be ready when that moment came. Then, and only then, would I unleash the buildup of thirteen long years of seething hatred that I felt for the man in front of me who had caused so much misery to so many people.

  Pernissy smiled as he slapped his sword tip against mine, the metallic clang loud even among the screams and ringing of other weapons around us. He shrugged. “I didn’t really have a choice, you know. I had to marry her off. The little slut was rutting with every man in Corwick and it was becoming downright embarrassing.” Pernissy looked disappointed when I didn’t react, and then he shook his head in mock outrage. “She even had the nerve to try and lay with me. As if I would allow a skinny whore like that into my bed. She’s probably humped more men by now than even those stupid Pith bitches you used to rut with.”

  “Is that so?” I grunted, my voice even and calm.

  Pernissy frowned at me, and then he raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t she tell you all this when you married? You really are naïve, Hadrack.”

  “And you talk too much,” I replied.

  “Sadly, that can sometimes be true,” Pernissy agreed. Then he attacked.

  I was expecting it, but even so, the former lord caught me by surprise, dropping to one knee with his shield held high to protect his head as he swept his sword low along the ground. I tried to leap over his blade, but my bad knee had no spring to it at all, and his sword cracked sharply against the metal greave protecting my shin and ankle. I felt something crack as my leg went numb, and I staggered backward, forced to drag the suddenly useless leg along as my attacker came on, sensing victory. Pernissy’s face showed a mixture of fury and triumph as he rushed me, hammering away at my shield as I fought desperately to maintain my balance. I could do nothing but retreat from his savage attack, my weak counters with Wolf’s Head easily slapped aside as I gave ground. Then something rolled out from beneath my good foot and I cried out, waving my arms wildly as I fell, landing heavily on my back.

  Pernissy was on me in a flash like a striking rock snake, his sword at my throat as he dropped heavily onto my chest. I cried out from his weight pressing down on my wound. “You can’t believe how good this moment feels right now, Hadrack,” Pernissy hissed as he took Wolf’s Head from my numb fingers and tossed the weapon away.

  I closed my eyes in defeat, my chest heaving as I felt cold steel drawing blood at my throat. “I’m sorry,” I whispered to my father and Jeanna. “Forgive me.”

  “There will be no forgiveness for you, you little peasant bastard,” Pernissy growled. He pricked my flesh with his blade. “Now open those grey eyes of yours. I want to watch the light go out of them as you die.”

  I slowly did as he asked, staring up at Pernissy’s leering face as a shadow suddenly crossed over our bodies. Pernissy glanced up in surprise just as Guthris’ great maul slammed into his metal breastplate with a screech, snatching the former Lord of Corwick off me and sending him flying backward through the air.

  Guthris strode forward then with determination, raising the maul to strike the fallen man a second time where he lay stunned on the ground, surrounded by blood, gore, and corpses.

  “No!” I shouted, lifting a hand to stop him. “Don’t do it!” Guthris hesitated, glaring down at Pernissy, who was wheezing and spitting up blood with every shuddering breath. “The bastard is mine,” I said, groaning as I slowly sat up. Several coughs wracked my chest when I moved, feeling like daggers tearing away at my insides. Finally, once they had subsided, I braced my hands to push myself to my feet. But then I paused as my fingers contacted something hard and round on the ground beneath me. I looked down in surprise, realizing that it was the broken shaft and gore-smeared head of my father’s axe. That’s what I had tripped over. I started to laugh at the irony of it, though my laughter sounded more like the tortured shriek of a pig at slaughter to me. I grabbed the shattered axe at the base of the head, and then I slowly forced myself to stand.

  “Are you sure about this, lord?” Guthris asked, looking worried. He glanced down at Pernissy. “The basta
rd is half dead now anyway.”

  “I’m sure,” I said, wobbling. I began to move forward, dragging my bad leg behind me like my father had done so many years before. It seemed fitting, somehow. I finally reached Pernissy and stood over him, motioning Guthris away just as a roar of triumph erupted from the northern battlefield. I looked toward the cheering, expecting bad news, then I sagged with relief. Our forces had managed to push the last of the Cardians back through the breach. And even as I watched, they were massing to seal it off again. I raised my gaze to the sky and said a prayer of thanks, startled to see that the sun now hung low in the west, casting dark shadows all across the valley.

  I turned my focus back to Pernissy. The former lord’s breastplate was shattered in three places, barely clinging together from the incredible force of Guthris’ blow. I could see the man was fighting just to breathe, with pink frothing bubbles oozing out of his mouth as he struggled to speak. Pernissy saw my eyes on him and he weakly lifted a hand, motioning me closer.

  I knelt painfully beside him, putting the head of my father’s axe to his throat as I removed my helmet and threw it aside. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice cold and hard.

  “You’re—” Pernissy started to gasp out. He gagged as dark blood filled his mouth. I thought the bastard was going to drown in his own blood then, which would have brought no tears to my eyes, but somehow he managed to turn his head sideways to spit wet redness on the ground in a fine spray. Pernissy’s shattered chest quivered as he focused back on me. For some reason, I thought he was going to beg me for forgiveness. I don’t know why. I really should have known better. “You’re just a damn, stinking peasant,” Pernissy rasped, the words wet and garbled. He clutched at my mail, ignoring the blade at his throat. “You are nothing, Hadrack. Do you hear me? You have always been nothing, and you will always be nothing!”

  “No, Pernissy Raybold,” I said, gripping my father’s axe tighter. “You’re wrong about that. You have always been wrong about that.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his ear. “My father, Alwin, was the son of Coltin Corwick, you bastard.” I saw Pernissy’s eyes widen in disbelief. “That’s right,” I hissed. “I am the true Lord of Corwick, and you are on your way to spend all of eternity burning. Which is where a stinking whoreson like you belongs.”

  “No,” Pernissy said, slowly shaking his head.

  “Yes,” I replied, enjoying the horrified look on his face. Finally, I sat back, holding Pernissy Raybold’s eyes with mine as I lifted the axe. The former lord started to say something—I’ll never know what—because I had heard more than enough from the bastard over the years to last me a lifetime. I slammed my father’s axe down, cutting deep into his throat as dark warm blood cascaded all over me. Then I struck again, then again, until his head was clinging to his body by only a few strands of meat and tough, stringy sinew. I hesitated, feeling suddenly dizzy as I looked down at the remains of the man who had brought so much misery to my life.

  “Here, let me help you, lord,” Guthris said, stooping as he gently started to lift me to my feet.

  “Not yet,” I grunted, pushing him away. I glanced around, surprised to see a cordon of ten House Agents surrounding us protectively. I focused back on Guthris. “I’m not done,” I said as I lifted the axe again and turned to Pernissy. “This is for everyone in Corwick, you bastard,” I said as I chopped once, then a second and a third time, until Pernissy’s severed head finally rolled away from his body. “Guthris,” I gasped, not turning as my head swam nauseatingly. “Get me a spear and a horse.”

  The giant House Agent hesitated. “Yes, lord,” he said, his voice grave. Within moments he was back by my side, a long spear in one hand, the reins of a blood-splattered and trembling white mare in the other.

  “Help me up,” I ordered, taking the spear from the House Agent. I stood with Guthris’ help, then twirled the spear in my hands before jabbing the sharpened point savagely into the gapping, bloody rip where Pernissy’s neck had been. The steel-tipped spear sliced easily through bone and brain matter before the gore-covered tip burst out the other side. I lifted the former Lord of Corwick’s head into the air, then with the help of Guthris and another House Agent, I carefully mounted the white mare. Then I started to ride along the back of our lines while men on both sides continued to fight and die in the waning light.

  “Behold!” I roared, shaking the spear and gruesome head at the skies. “Behold the traitor, Pernissy Raybold!” I galloped at full speed along our lines from one end of the valley to the other, shouting at the top of my lungs while Ganders cheered and Cardians cried out in dismay. I could see the Wolf’s Teeth standing along the outcrops starting to raise their bows over their heads in celebration, and I looked for Baine. Finally, I saw a dark outline standing among the darker rocks, knowing with certainty that it was him. I yanked hard on the mare’s reins and she reared back, her front legs pawing the air as I saluted my friend with Pernissy’s grisly remains. Then we were on the move again.

  Finally, after several more trips racing back and forth across the valley, I saw Fitz, bloodied and limping, coming toward me from the press of bodies to the north. The young lord was smiling as I slowed in front of him and he reached for the mare’s bridle. Fitz said something to me then, though I don’t know what, for suddenly I felt weak and light-headed again. The spear I held and its burden suddenly dropped from my numb fingers as I slid sideways off the mare to the ground.

  I knew nothing more after that.

  26: The Gamble

  I awoke to find Baine sitting beside me on a stool, with a single candle burned down almost to the nub flickering beside him on the floor. My friend’s arms were crossed and his eyes were closed, with his chin pressed tightly to his chest. I could hear air whistling through his nose with every breath that he took. I blinked in confusion, my eyelids feeling heavy and unresponsive as I looked around. I was in the king’s tent, I realized, lying on the straw bed where Tyden had lain the day before. I could smell the heady reek left behind by his infection coming from the straw beneath me, and I unconsciously wrinkled my nose. Several thick furs were draped over me, yet despite them, I still felt a chill. I shivered, then shifted my upper torso, groaning as pain shot through my body. I felt around beneath the covers, my hand eventually coming into contact with thick bandages along my left side. Baine mumbled to himself in his sleep, then he lifted his head, staring bleary-eyed at me.

  “You’re awake,” Baine said, obvious relief on his face.

  I nodded, trying to form words with my dry mouth. Baine jumped to his feet and brought me a waterskin. I drank greedily. “What happened?” I croaked once I had sated my thirst.

  “You fell off your horse and hit your head,” Baine said. He grinned. “Though a bump on that thick skull of yours is the least of your problems right about now.”

  I felt sudden alarm. “The codex?”

  “Fitz has it,” Baine replied. “He thought it would be safer with him until you are on your feet.”

  I relaxed in relief. “What about the Cardians?”

  “They withdrew to their camp,” Baine explained. “After what you did with Pernissy’s head, they lost their appetite for the fight.”

  “But they will be back,” I grunted, closing my eyes for a moment as my head swam.

  “Yes,” Baine agreed.

  I cried out then, caught by surprise as I shifted my left leg and sharp pain screamed along its length. I lifted the furs to see the lower half of my leg wrapped in a bulky felt cloth tied together with hemp bowstrings. I looked up at Baine, a question on my face.

  “Your shin bone is broken,” Baine said, his face grim. “We found a carpenter in the ranks who was able to fashion some splints out of ash and carve a leg tray for you from a broken shield. We also located a man who has some experience setting bones, though it was probably a good thing you weren’t awake for any of it. Now, all we can do is hope that your leg knits properly.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, trying
not to imagine spending the rest of my life hobbling if the setting had been done poorly. I knew there was nothing I could do about it now, so I focused my thoughts elsewhere. “What time is it?” I asked.

  Baine went to the entrance and peered up at the sky. “Judging by the moon I’d say around eleven o’clock,” he said, returning to my side. His face brightened. “I have a bit of good news for you, Hadrack. A rider arrived a few hours ago from Jebido. The rest of our army is camped less than a day’s march from here.”

  “That is good news,” I agreed. Then my enthusiasm started to wane. “But it might be too late by the time they get here. I doubt Lord Boudin and those pet lords of his will wait long before they attack again.”

  “Probably not,” Baine said. He sat down on the stool once more. “But we won’t have to worry about those bastard lords, at least. They both fell trying to break through the breach.” Baine ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly looking dejected. “But even without them and Pernissy by his side anymore, Lord Boudin still has an awful lot of men. We lost almost half our number in that fight, which means those lines of ours are going to be awfully thin come morning.”

  “What about the Cardians?” I asked. “I know we hurt them badly.”

  “We did,” Baine said. “They must have lost double the amount we did. But that still leaves them with five or six times as many men as us.”

  I lay there for a moment, thinking. Even if we managed to survive until Jebido arrived with his ten thousand men, we would still be vastly outnumbered. I didn’t know if Lord Hamit had succeeded in conscripting a second army as he’d intended. But even if he had, I had no idea how close that force might be, nor the quality of it. The entire fate of the kingdom hinged on the battle coming only a few short hours away. I glanced at Baine. “Is that man Jebido sent still here?” I asked. My friend nodded. “Good,” I said. “Find him and tell him he is to ride back to Jebido right now.”