Aiduel's Sin, page 50
By contrast, Corin knew that the ten clans which he had assembled could muster one thousand two hundred fighting men. Three more northern clans had joined the Chosen Alliance in recent weeks, their decision to join accelerated by the shared threat from the barbaric Kurakee. Corin recognised that he was now directly responsible for all of the Chosen people; it was his job to keep them alive, and free from subjugation.
When Corin’s weary and depleted party had returned from the north, weeks earlier, Corin had immediately summoned all of the leaders of the clans. Within days, a council had been organised inside the Clan Hall of the Borl village.
Addressing all of his chiefs and senior advisers, Corin had announced, ‘The Kurakee have told us that they’ll be coming. And we have no doubt now that they are coming, and in vast numbers. And perhaps they hope to find us on our knees, ready to give up our freedom and our people. But if that’s the case, then the Kurakee are going to be disappointed. Fatally disappointed.
‘I am returned from the north, now. While I was there, I found the entrance to the Land of the Gods. I spoke to the Gods there. And they shared their secrets with me, and allowed me to return. I’m still their Chosen, but I’ve come back with even more strength and power than I had before.
‘Since my return, I’ve inspected the preparations which have been made to the lands around Karn, and I’m satisfied that we’ll be ready for the Kurakee, when they come. Let no one be in any doubt. When the Kurakee arrive, we’ll be waiting for them. And we’ll fight them, and we’ll destroy them!’
There had been unanimous support for Corin’s stance. None of the leaders were prepared to accept the life that surrender to the Kurakee was likely to bring, for either themselves or for their clans.
Corin had also told them about the events in the far north, and he had described some of the expedition’s incredible discoveries. He had used this information to give the chiefs confidence that his powers could protect their peoples. Indeed, he had outlined all of the resources and strategies which they could utilise to defeat the Kurakee.
He had not told them everything of his experiences in the north, of course, and much of it would remain concealed from them. In particular, he had withheld all of the details of his encounter and discoveries after touching the giant arch. The chiefs did not need to know about the revelations of the ghost.
Whilst on the return journey, Corin had thought extensively about those revelations. After the coming conflict was resolved, if he still lived, he might need to act upon some of the things which he had learned. However, the time for that would be later, after the Kurakee threat had been faced.
The preparations for the Kurakee horde’s arrival had accelerated in the period after Corin’s return. During the last fortnight, a migration of the peoples of the Chosen Alliance towards the lands of Karn had taken place. Thousands had travelled from the other villages of the north, transporting whatever food and livestock they were able to. Corin had no intention of letting the Kurakee descend upon and wipe out each settlement one at a time. The Chosen clans would face the Kurakee horde within the lands of the Karn, and Corin’s people would be united for that battle.
Corin’s thoughts about this were interrupted as he spotted the Kurakee vanguard appearing in the distance. Corin’s Qari scouts had warned him that a warband was approaching, again numbering approximately eighty warriors. Corin had opted to intercept them here, on this same route to the south-east of Karn, which offered no view of the village.
Corin had brought one hundred warriors with him, a group which included fighters from each of the Chosen clans. Blackpaw also stood beside him, with claws extended.
Corin watched the Kurakee coming closer, and he recognised the corpulent form of Brune leading them. The Kurakee warriors were again moving with an arrogant swagger. Corin felt his anger rising, and he allowed himself to relish the emotion. He had thought much about the Kurakee since their first visit, and of the things which they had boasted of and threatened. Sacrificing the elderly. Raping women and children. Breaking up families. Destroying and enslaving clans.
Last time, Corin had meekly accepted their threats and their insults. He had suggested that he was amenable to kneeling to them, a response which had been unpalatable but expedient. This time, his reaction would be different.
When the fat Brune was less than twenty paces away, he stopped. Corin could see that the Kurakee leader’s gaze was sweeping across the assembled Chosen warriors. Brune then made a guttural noise. In response to that sound, each of the Kurakee readied the weapons that they were holding.
‘You are in the lands of the Chosen,’ announced Corin. ‘State your business here.’
‘You know our fucking business, boy,’ replied Brune. ‘We’re here as the vanguard of the Kurakee horde, to check that our tributes are being prepared. And I expected to meet your head in a sack, not you in person on the road.’
‘It’s not Spring’s Heart yet, Brune of the Kurakee,’ said Corin. ‘And I choose to keep my head on my shoulders, at least until then. But your check of our tributes? I’m afraid that won’t be happening. We’re not letting you pass.’
Corin watched as the fat warrior rolled his neck and then spat in a gesture of contempt. The Kurakee leader then started to shout, ‘Know this! The Kurakee are com-’
Corin stopped him there, sending out tendrils to seize control of Brune’s mind, and ordering the man to stop speaking.
‘Be silent, you vile piece of shit,’ Corin said, his voice suddenly cold. ‘I’ve heard more than enough of the filth which spouts from you.’
Corin watched as the fat warrior started to gasp. The Kurakee leader was trying to get words out, and was failing. Brune then turned around to his fellow Kurakee and pointed towards his own mouth. Corin could perceive consternation amongst them that their foul mouthpiece had been silenced, and he observed a number of them taking a step forward, with weapons raised. In response, Corin could also hear weapons being readied by the Chosen warband. This was accompanied by a prolonged and menacing growl from Blackpaw.
Corin sent forth more tendrils from his mind, to start to take control of each member of the Kurakee group. Locking them in place, binding their limbs, and paralysing them. When over half of their party was controlled, he continued speaking.
‘We’ve heard much about the Kurakee, Brune, and we don’t need to know any more. We know that you are murderers. Rapists. Looters. Slavers. That you break up clans and families, and sacrifice the weak and the helpless. That you’re like an evil wind, blowing foulness and death across these lands. But no more, Brune. The time of the Kurakee is to come to an end. And that end shall begin when we destroy every last man amongst your horde, at Spring’s Heart. And so, Brune, I thank you. You and your brother Kurune have done me a great favour by bringing yourselves here, where I can kill all of you at once, rather than forcing me to have to travel to hunt you down.’
Corin could hear approving noises coming from the Chosen warriors behind him, as they watched the Kurakee group struggling in vain against Corin’s control. In particular, there was satisfaction for all of those who had witnessed and been enraged by Brune’s first arrogant approach, weeks earlier. By the time that Corin had finished these words, he had taken control of every member of the Kurakee warband.
‘I need one of you alive to take a message back to Kurune,’ he continued, ‘and that’s why I’m going to spare you, Brune. And this is my message, so listen carefully. The Chosen are ready for the Kurakee, and we’re going to kill every last one of you evil bastards. And when the battle’s over, I’m going to feed Kurune’s corpse to my felrin.’ Corin gestured towards Blackpaw. ‘Who will enjoy eating him, and then shitting him out afterwards, into our village cesspit. Tell Kurune this; if he wants the north, then fucking come and get it. We’ll be waiting for him at the village of Karn. Come fight me. Come fight the Chosen people. And find out what happens when he faces the Chosen of the Gods.’
Corin paused, preparing himself for what was about to come, before he continued.
‘Brune. I want you to step forwards now, away from your warband.’
Corin transmitted the instruction to the fat warrior, who staggered closer to the Chosen warband, his limbs jerking under Corin’s control.
‘And now,’ stated Corin, ‘for the crimes of murder, and rape, and slavery, and human sacrifice, I condemn you all. For everyone but Brune, the sentence shall be death, delivered in a few moments by my warriors here, and Blackpaw. For you, Brune, the punishment shall be more forgiving, and you’ll deliver it yourself. I’m going to make you drop your trousers, and then you’re to use your axe to cut off your own cock. And then you can walk back to your brother, and offer it to him, as a gift from me. Just make sure that you pass my message onto him, as well.’
Corin felt satisfied to observe the horror in Brune’s eyes as the obese man heard this. Corin then signalled for the assembled Chosen warriors to descend upon the remainder of the Kurakee. He allowed Brune and his clansmen to speak again in the moments of slaughter that followed.
And of the many noises of pain which then rang out across the plains of Karn, Brune’s scream was perhaps the loudest of all.
–
Two days later, Corin was standing at the top of one of Karn’s new watchtowers. He was facing southwards, peering into the distance. Alongside him was Clan Chief Munnik, who was facing in the same direction. Two newly-trained archers were also sharing the small space with them, and Corin was aware that he was being keenly observed by this latter pair.
There was no sign as yet of the Kurakee horde to the south, but nonetheless the lands around Karn were alive with activity. Hundreds of Chosen warriors were hastening around, making preparations for the battle which would arrive with the enemy on the next day. Weapons were being honed, stakes were being sharpened, and arrows were being distributed. Corin felt certain that many of the warriors would be sharing stories of past exploits, to help to overcome their collective nerves, or would be praying to the Gods for good fortune.
Corin’s Qari scouts had been tracking the northward progress of the Kurakee, ever since the humiliation and emasculation of Brune. To Corin’s relief, the Kurakee horde had ignored the village of the Anath altogether. Corin had already evacuated all of the Anath people and livestock, and had relocated their boats to Karn. However, he was still pleased that the Anath settlement had not been ransacked.
Prior to climbing this watchtower, Corin had been with the other Chosen leaders, confirming the final arrangements about where they would place their forces. Corin now pointed southwards, addressing his comments to Munnik.
‘As I said earlier, we know that their horde is travelling alongside the Great Lake, as they move northwards. I expect them to approach Karn from the direct south, first appearing over that low ridge.’
‘Exactly as we want,’ stated Munnik.
‘Yes. Exactly as we want. I feel as confident as I can be, Munnik. Everyone knows where they’re meant to be and what their role is. We just have to hope that the Kurakee are the disorganised rabble that I think they are.’
‘I think they will be,’ replied Munnik. ‘But more importantly, we are ready, Chief Corin. Ready and united to fight together as a single Chosen army. Our warriors will camp to the south of Karn tonight, and we’ll be ready for them at dawn tomorrow.’
Corin nodded. He could see from this vantage point that Karn and its surrounding territory had been transformed since Brune had first delivered the Kurakee ultimatum. Prior to his expedition to the far north, Corin had given explicit instructions to Chief Munnik and to the other Karn leaders, and these had been implemented perfectly.
Inside Karn itself, the fortifications had been completed. Four watchtowers stood at each corner of the village, within the finished palisade wall, and internal high walkways connected them. On the day of the battle, these towers and walkways would be bristling with archers.
When Corin had been exposed to the visions of the Song in the far north, he had witnessed countless epic battles. He had shared in memories of many settlements which had been assailed and defeated by the tyrant Mella and his forces. But he had also viewed rarer instances of better fortified locations, where the defenders had successfully organised themselves and had survived. From these observations, Corin had gained many new ideas, some of which he had tried to implement in the weeks since he had returned.
One of those ideas was that of women fighting for the Chosen Alliance. Corin had witnessed this in the battles of the past; women standing alongside men, trained and armoured just as the menfolk were. It was a notion which had seemed preposterous to the clans, after generations of just the males killing each other. But faced with the Kurakee threat, and with Corin’s encouragement that it had been revealed to him by the Gods, the enlistment of female fighters had been hastily and willingly adopted.
The watchtowers and palisade walls of Karn would now be held by the bravest and strongest women of the Chosen Alliance. Each of these new fighters had been provided with a bow, and a quiver full of arrows, items which had previously belonged to men. In just three weeks, over four hundred women had volunteered for this role, bolstering Corin’s forces by a third. Corin hoped to keep this archery force out of direct melee, for there was insufficient armour and weaponry to equip them all properly for such combat, and they were untrained. However, he needed them to inflict pain on the enemy under a hail of arrows, and the women had embraced their role with enthusiasm and courage.
Indeed, two such volunteers were sharing the watchtower with Corin at this moment. One was a woman in her late-twenties, and the other was a girl in her teens.
‘Do you both feel ready for the battle?’ he asked, looking towards them.
The younger girl blushed, but the older woman replied boldly, in a Renni accent, ‘Yes, Chosen. We promise that we’re ready to fight, and to kill.’
Corin nodded in approval. ‘Then we’re lucky to have you alongside us. Remember, when the moment comes to fight, don’t hesitate. Scream your bloodlust and fire on the enemy. Use all of your arrows before the battle’s over. Every single Kurakee that you hit could save a Chosen life.’ He was paraphrasing words which his father Akob had once said to him, many years ago.
Speaking to this pair reinforced to Corin just how much responsibility he now bore. Four hundred women would be here, and in immediate danger, during the coming fight. They would be dependent on the wisdom of his decisions, and they might pay the price for any mistakes which he made.
All of the remaining women, children and elderly of the Chosen clans had been evacuated to a camp many miles to the north of Karn, by the edges of the Great Forest. They were now protected by a small force comprised of other women and elderly men. If everything went wrong in the fight against the Kurakee, Corin had arranged for Qari scouts to ride to this camp and to notify everyone to flee for their lives. But he did not want to dwell too much upon that ghastly outcome.
He now turned to peer southwards again. In the fields to the south of Karn, the terrain had been transformed. Corin’s people had worked to create a wide corridor of land which ran southwards from the village for several hundred metres. The intention was to channel Kurune’s army along this north-south corridor.
This was to be achieved by way of hundreds of wooden stakes which had been planted at close intervals in the ground to the east, along the whole length of the corridor. Behind these waist-height and sharpened stakes, a ditch had also been dug, which was two metres wide and almost as deep.
At the point when Kurune’s army would first encounter these stakes and the extended trench, there would be a gap of four hundred metres between these obstacles to the east, and the woodland bordering the Great Lake to the west. Corin hoped that Kurune would advance on towards Karn, without caution. By the time that the Kurakee horde had been funnelled northwards along this corridor for a few hundred metres, the gap would have narrowed to a quarter of its initial size. And at the end of the funnel, they would be in range of Corin’s archers and would meet the Chosen front lines.
Corin wanted the obstacles to make it much more difficult for Kurune’s superior numbers to flank and to overwhelm the Chosen forces. If Kurune was sensible, he would advance cautiously, he would surround Karn from all directions, and he would not allow his forces to be channelled in the way that Corin wanted them to be. But Corin was counting on the Kurakee leader being overconfident and impatient.
Despite this, Corin was intending to retain his small body of Qari horsemen as a mobile force, to impede any attempts to flank from the east or north. The Qari riders would be kept to the east of the long ditch, to be given freedom to manoeuvre. And if Kurune chose to send any warriors into the woodland to the west of the corridor, and through the woods beside the Great Lake, there would be another force waiting for them.
Corin had devised a number of other surprises and traps for the approaching enemy horde. The first of these were scattered around the thinnest part of the corridor. At that point, Corin’s people had stacked close to forty piles of wood and hay, to act as obstacles for the Kurakee warriors as they approached. Each stack was at least as tall and wide across as the height of a man. Corin had a nasty plan for the use of these.
He knew that it was vital to seek out every possible dirty advantage in order to achieve victory. Tomorrow, they would be facing an enemy with a massive numerical superiority, and they would only win by being ruthless and fearless. And even then, it might not be enough.
‘I thank you, Munnik, for all of this,’ Corin finally said, gesturing towards the preparations. ‘You’ve given us a chance.’
‘Thank me tomorrow, Corin, after the battle,’ said the older man. ‘Thank me tomorrow.’
–
Late on the following morning, the Kurakee army appeared in sight to the south of Karn. At the moment when the line of thousands first became visible, as the enemy passed over a low and distant ridge, Corin was standing amongst his men in the front lines of the Chosen. Immediately, he could hear gasps and curses from some of those around him, as they began to fully appreciate the enormity of the enemy horde.
