by Pedro Urvi
“You wouldn’t be the first or the last to be eaten up by those feelings and led on to make great mistakes,” Egil told her.
“Luckily you have us to help you,” Nilsa said with a wink.
“Thanks for the advice,” Valeria said, looking at Egil, “and for the offer of help.” This time she looked at Nilsa.
“Food’s ready,” Gerd announced. “I think we’d better enjoy our food instead of talking about these prickly matters.”
“Not talking about them is no solution,” Valeria said. “All it does is hide them.” Nilsa, Gerd and Egil looked at her pleadingly. “But don’t worry, I’ve said enough for today,” she added with a smile.
When they sat down to eat, Valeria’s bad mood vanished and she went back to being the forceful, likeable girl she usually was. But they were all aware that this subject of injustice against women was very important to her. She carried it within her like embers waiting for firewood so that they could burst into flame.
At sundown they set out. The border in the Thousand Lakes was waiting for them.
Chapter 42
“This isn’t going to be at all easy,” Gerd whispered to Egil. Both friends were lying on their bellies watching the small fishing village of Ferston, in the Thousand Lakes.
Egil nodded emphatically. “We have to cross here. It’s the fastest and safest way to do it.”
“You know I’m always in favor of your plans, but this one …”
“All my plans carry a risk. Some more so than others. This one turns out to be a little more aggressive than normal, but going through this village is the shortest and most direct way.”
“Couldn’t we try to cross the border the same way we did when we came?”
“I’m afraid not, big guy. Once you use one stratagem with an enemy, you can’t use it again, because they’ll have learned their lesson.”
“I don’t think those soldiers of Erenal who cover the Thousand Lakes border will have learnt anything from the trick we played on them.”
“I can assure you, the officers will have learnt, and we wouldn’t surprise them again. More than that, if we repeat and fail, they’ll know it was us who did it the first time, and we’d be in double jeopardy.”
“Yeah … I suppose that’s true.”
“Right, it’s decided. We follow my new plan.”
Gerd breathed out heavily. “Okay then …” But he was shaking his head.
They went back to where Nilsa and Valeria were waiting, hidden in a nearby forest with the horses.
“So how are things?” Nilsa asked them.
“Well … there’s a detachment of soldiers in the village.”
“Oh no … that’s a disaster!”
“Not exactly,” Egil said. “It would have been better if there hadn’t been any soldiers, I’m not going to deny the evidence, but this gives us an advantage.”
“Egil, how can a regiment of Erenal soldiers in the village give us an advantage?” Nilsa said, as if he were losing his ability to think clearly.
“This is going to be really interesting,” Valeria said. She craned her neck to hear Egil’s explanation better.
“Every situation presents obstacles and opportunities. Let’s focus on the second. The first is more than evident” – he sighed – “too many soldiers blocking our way into Zangria. On the other hand, they also represent an opportunity, though at the moment you may not be able to see it …” He was silent, gazing at them for a moment.
“And … are you going to tell us, or d’you want us to die of curiosity?” Valeria asked.
Nilsa folded her arms. “Exactly.”
Egil smiled. “The opportunity lies in the means by which those soldiers reached the village.”
“Well … in barges … crossing the great lake from the east,” said Gerd.
“And there’s our opportunity.”
“Well, I don’t see it.” said Nilsa.
Valeria frowned. “Neither do I.”
Gerd shook his head. “Nor me.”
Egil did not despair. Like a good schoolteacher who loves his pupils, even if they do not understand when he explains a lesson, he explained again, this time more clearly.
“The soldiers have come in big war barges. They’re moored in the little harbor.”
Nilsa looked thoughtful. “I think I know what you’re about to suggest …”
Valeria beat her to it. “The barges!”
Egil smiled. “Exactly. That’s our opportunity. We can use them to cross the lake, escape to the north and be in Zangrian territory.”
Gerd tilted his head to one side. “I don’t somehow think they’ll let us take one of their barges.”
“We’ll borrow it. One of the big ones, so we can take the horses too.”
“Well,” Gerd pointed out, “that won’t exactly be discreet, because those big barges can be seen a league away.”
“And they’re slow,” Valeria added. “They use them to transport troops and supplies.”
“I have a plan …” Egil said with a smile.
“Let’s hear it, then,” said Nilsa.
It was well into the night by the time Nilsa, Valeria and Gerd approached the harbor, crawling over the ground. Six barges were moored there: four war ones and two transport ones. They needed to steal one of the transport barges so that they could carry the horses. The watchmen looked in their direction now and then, but for the time being they were well hidden. Unfortunately, they would need to get closer so that they could get into position, and that would reveal them. They needed to be particularly careful.
Gerd got into the water, very slowly, to avoid being detected by the soldiers on duty on the jetty. Valeria crawled forward through the tall grass, then hid on the east of it. Nilsa ran forward at a crouch the moment the soldiers changed their positions and took up her position on the west. They hid, then took out five arrows each and placed them carefully on the ground. These were the last Valeria had been able to make, because she had run out of ingredients and would not be able to prepare another batch until they were back in the Camp. They were hoping these would be enough for what they were about to do.
Gerd approached the large transport barge, which was the furthest away. He swam for a stretch, then made his way on underwater for another stretch to avoid being spotted. But the soldiers did not seem to be paying very much attention. This village could not be a significant site of conflict, and presumably the soldiers must be simply passing through, or else on maneuvers. The game the kingdoms played on the borders and disputed territories was one of provocation and retreat. To Gerd it seemed to be a way of testing their opponents’ strength and undermining their morale. Otherwise, he could not understand how they were able to spend their lives getting involved in constant skirmishes which neither led anywhere nor achieved anything.
He reached the barge and held on to it as best he could. He had no problem being in the water, which was warm compared with what he was used to in the northern waters, and he was a strong swimmer, thanks to his hard training with the Rangers. The harbor seemed to be quiet. Most of the soldiers were resting inside the village, protected by the surrounding houses and the lights of the torches burning along the main street and around the square. The village was not a very large one, so that what with the two shades of green of the Erenal soldiers’ clothing and armor, it looked as though a swarm of huge insects had taken it over.
He watched the soldiers on duty at the jetty in front of a barge. The vessel was more a large wooden rectangle than a real ship. It looked to him as though they had simply taken an enormous box and put it in the water. It was anchored to the bottom of the lake, and he now saw his chance to board it. He waited for the two soldiers to start talking, then began to pull himself up the rope. Because of his weight the barge tilted to one side, and he was forced to stop for fear the guards would notice, but they were looking in the direction of the village and did not notice. He snorted, pulled himself up and let himself fall inside the barge.
Very carefully, he cut the anchor rope. Neither rope nor anchor were very robust, since in a lake there was no need for that. Once it was cut, he crawled to the ramp and looked to see if he could make out the two soldiers. He could not, so he began to crawl up the ramp as far as the point where he could see both soldiers’ heads. He looked all along the harbor and counted. There were two soldiers in front of him: six in the middle who were patrolling the length of the harbor every now and then, two others to the west, and two more at the end. It would be a miracle if they were not spotted.
“The plan had better work …” he said to himself. Egil’s plans always worked, but they were very risky, and one day the risk would be too much for them.
He waited, alert. Valeria would make the first move, followed by Nilsa.
He did not have to wait long. Valeria raised her bow and aimed, with one knee on the ground. As soon as she saw her, Nilsa did the same. Valeria glanced at where Nilsa was hiding among the tall grass, saw that she was ready and aimed at the war barge. An arrow flew in a well-judged arc, followed by another from Nilsa. The first of them hit the first barge, Nilsa’s the second. The impact produced two small bursts of flame. They released again at once at the same target, and two more bursts of flame followed.
Valeria had modified the Fire Arrows so that they would make no noise on impact, even though they carried a double charge. As a rule, all elemental arrows produced a small explosion when they hit their target, because of the reaction of the chemical elements in them.
The soldiers on guard near the barges had not yet spotted the fire. Valeria and Nilsa released again on the same two barges, then at the two war barges, which were rather further away. At that moment the soldiers realized that something was wrong, and one of them began to shout. Valeria and Nilsa released the rest of their Fire Arrows at the other two war barges, while the soldiers yelled and ran to put out the fires.
Gerd saw the two men near his own position looking toward the end of the pier, their attention caught by the shouting. He ran up the ramp and leapt on to the two guards, catching them by surprise, then got to his feet and knocked them unconscious. The remaining guards were running toward the burning barges, and the shouts of alarm could be heard everywhere. Gerd slashed the mooring ropes of the transport barge and pushed it with all his might toward the middle of the lake. Then he jumped back into the barge and ran to the rudder, which was a huge oar at the stern, and began to steer it away from the pier.
The docks were filling up with soldiers from the village, drawn by the cries of their comrades. By now the four war barges were in flames. The soldiers were trying to put the fires out with water, but they had no buckets. By the time they had fetched them, the damage had spread. While the soldiers struggled to save the boats, Valeria and Nilsa ran to the meeting-point with the speed and grace of a couple of gazelles.
In the midst of the confusion Gerd was escaping in the barge, steering it to the meeting-point, which was very near the dock but in the opposite direction. Behind him he could hear cries of rage and the orders the officers were barking to their men. He reached the sandbar where they had agreed to meet, and in the darkness he saw Egil arriving with the four horses.
“Wait a moment so I can set up the ramp,” he said.
Egil nodded and looked in the direction of the distant jetty. The soldiers had already managed to put out the fires, and now they were looking for the culprits. Gerd set up the ramp on Egil’s side.
“Now get the horses on board, but slowly, one by one.”
Egil brought up the first horse, which made its way into the barge without much ado. He went to fetch the second, while Gerd secured the barge. By the time Egil was bringing the fourth horse, Valeria and Nilsa were arriving at a run.
“Everything all right?” Gerd asked them the moment they were on board.
“I think so,” said Nilsa, and Valeria nodded.
“You?” Nilsa asked him.
He smiled. “Fine, not a scratch.”
“Wonderful.”
“Quick,” Gerd said urgently, “haul up the ramp and let’s get out of here.”
Valeria and Nilsa pulled up the wooden ramp and set it in place over the fixed one, then pushed the barge into the lake and jumped inside. Valeria made it, but Nilsa miscalculated, hit the gunwale and was about to fall in the water. Luckily Egil, who was watching her, grabbed her arm and pulled her on board.
“You almost pulled my arm out of its socket, but thanks,” Nilsa said. She was rubbing her shin where she had bumped it. It was in agony.
“I need you to help me row,” Gerd said.
“Right.”
The four of them began to row with the great oars at the stern of the barge, while the horses snorted restlessly.
Egil pointed. “Make for the center of the lake.”
“The center? Wouldn’t it be better to head north straight away?”
“No. Look!”
He pointed to the harbor. The soldiers had boarded the other transport barge and were rowing northwards.
“D’you think they’ve seen us?” Nilsa asked.
“No, not yet,” Egil said. “It’s very dark in this area. We can see them because of the harbor lights, but once they get further into the lake we’ll lose sight of them.”
“Better,” said Valeria.
“Not entirely better,” said Egil. “It’s better if we know where they are and they don’t know where we are, but I’m afraid that isn’t going to happen.”
“Well, the plan worked really well,” Nilsa said happily.
“That’s right,” Valeria said. “Those four war barges they could have used to hunt us down have been pretty badly damaged, and they can’t use them.”
“Thanks to your fantastic, modified Fire Arrows,” Egil said to her.
“It was nothing. It’s just a pity I haven’t got any Elemental arrows left now.”
“We’ll have to make do without them,” said Egil.
They rowed under cover of the night, deeper into the great lake. The fishing village gradually faded into the distance, until they could no longer see it at all. They rowed in complete silence, because they were aware that the other barge with its load of Erenal soldiers might be there beside them, and they would not see it.
When they had more or less reached the middle of the lake, Egil told Gerd to set a northern course. They rowed as one, in silence, with ears and eyes peeled. The tension grew as they neared the northern shore of the lake. They could see no land, only tranquil water and the intense darkness that surrounded them. The sky was cloudy, so that the moon and the stars could do nothing to help them either make out their pursuers or see land ahead. On the other hand, it allowed them to stay hidden. They were playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, and in it they were the mouse hiding from the cat which was trying to stalk them in the night.
Suddenly they heard a noise from the east, and Egil signaled to them to stop rowing. They sat very still, trying to make out where the sound was coming from. Gerd and Nilsa exchanged worried glances. A moment later the sound reached them more clearly. They were men’s voices: several of them.
“Erenal soldiers?” Valeria whispered to Nilsa almost inaudibly.
Egil went on listening for a moment longer, then he shook his head. “They’re speaking in Zangrian,” he whispered.
“It can’t be!” Nilsa muttered under her breath.
Gerd covered her mouth with his hand. “Shhhh!” he whispered in her ear.
Suddenly there came a scream. Then a second. Vo
ices thundered across the lake. They waited, tense and alert.
A light appeared in the west, then another in the east. They looked to both sides and saw two boats. One was pursuing them from the east and the other, a new war barge, from the west. There were more shouts, and lights were lit. They were caught in the middle.
“Quick! Row to the north!” Egil urged them.
They rowed as fast as they could. The two enemy vessels were approaching one another. There was going to be a confrontation. The shouts had turned into threats and orders. Arrows flew from one ship to the other, to be answered by more arrows.
“Keep rowing!” Egil muttered urgently. “They haven’t seen us yet!”
Both barges met in the middle of the lake in the night, and the battle began. The Zangrian soldiers were trying to board the Erenal ship, whose soldiers were fending off the attack.
Suddenly the group saw land ahead. “We’re there!” Gerd called.
“Thank goodness!” Nilsa cried. She was looking back at the distant fighting between the barges from the two rival kingdoms.
The moment they reached land they set up the ramp to let the horses off the barge. Then they got out themselves.
Valeria gasped with relief. “We made it!”
“Look at the fighting,” Gerd said with a wave of his hand. “It looks unreal.”
“Yes, it’s a very picturesque sight,” Egil agreed.
“I don’t know why,” Nilsa said, “but I get the feeling this often happens round here.”
“And you’re absolutely right,” said Egil.
For a moment they watched the fighting in the distance, where the soldiers of Zangria and Erenal were fighting in the middle of a lake in two war barges. The shouts of the assault could be heard from afar.
“The fact is,” Gerd commented, “the rivalry between these two kingdoms keeps them well entertained.”
“Shall we make a move?” Valeria said. She had no desire to stay there one moment longer.
“Where to, Egil?” Nilsa asked.
“North and a little to the west. We’ll cross the area of the Thousand Lakes that’s under Zangrian control, which is where we are now” – he pointed to the north – “and then we’ll get to the Norghanian border.”
