A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 29
While they ambled around the fire in work or gossip, Celivia focused on the meat. No one dared to ask her if she could cook, though she did notice a few glances when they thought her back was turned. She could cook. After years of herding idiotic bovals and never being allowed to take the most honored role of chef, Celivia had thrown herself into it when given the opportunity. When hiding among the humans she hadn't been able to show her skills, but now she enjoyed herself.
There was no such thing as a perfect cut of meat or a perfect meal, but she needed to make the right choices for this exact fire. Knowing they were mostly soldiers from Fein Karnak, she had purchased spices with bold flavors. She might prefer Seinan methods of searing the meat, or even the medley of spices she'd enjoyed in the north, but if they didn't know those styles, they might just think it was the meat. So she cooked a feast that would have been at home in any restaurant in Fein Karnak.
Fortunately, in this her plan worked perfectly. Only Krafan thanked her directly for it, but the band roared its approval and devoured the entire boval. When she took one of the choicest bones for herself, no one made the slightest objection.
Though the band around the fire was cheerful and full, Celivia found herself staring at the remnants of the meal with a quiet longing. The food had been a tactic, not a pleasure shared among true friends. If she had cooked for Reina and her other allies, she could have attempted something far more elaborate.
For that matter, it would have been interesting to cook for Tani. The human woman would probably have enjoyed trying everything, but Celivia suspected she would enjoy spicier food in the style of Kijn-Fkaz. Slaten tended to eat whatever was in front of him, but she wondered if her best effort could earn a real response from him. And if Veron had been there, she would have found a way to acquire some alcohol that matched the meal better than the cheap piss from the fortress.
Celivia stared into the fire and didn't think about them.
"Kaen?" Ghasfik spoke up gruffly, pulling her from her thoughts. "Who are we killing this time?"
Realizing that the others were staring at her now, Celivia made herself only a band leader again. "We've been assigned to eradicate a clan called the Lowsteps, to the southwest. They're a branch of the much more dangerous Coldstep clan. Apparently the generals hope a smaller group will be able to destroy them without prompting retaliation from the Coldsteps."
"How many are there?"
"Unknown, other than that they're supposed to be among the smaller clans. We don't know the location of their village, or the edges of their territory. The good news it that we've been given as much time as we need, or close to it. The bad news is that this will be difficult no matter our approach."
Though the men nodded and grumbled, she had to wonder if they really understood the difficulty of what they faced. If her entire band had been warriors, they would still have been outnumbered. As much as she had thought about the problem before her, she saw no clever path through. It would almost be easier to train for a year and try to kill them all herself.
"Tonight, relax as much as you want." Celivia finally stood up to address her band. "But tomorrow morning, we begin our campaign against the Lowsteps. Our strength won't be sufficient, but that can change. Anyone who wants to focus on sein training, meet me at dawn."
That night, she imagined how it might be possible to transform the eight into a lean fighting force. In the morning, she waited as no one showed up. She was deep into her own training when Fijn finally appeared, wrestling with his helmet.
"It might be a good idea, Kaen, but you're not going to get many takers." He finally got his helmet on properly and just stood nearby. "Our marches are hard enough, and we know that even if we train for a hundred days, we're not going to become warriors like you. What's the point?"
"We could be here longer than a hundred days," Celivia said, "and you don't need to be a full warrior to gain an edge in combat."
Fijn didn't answer, and Celivia didn't believe in what she was saying. Not because she was incorrect, but because she recognized the futility of it. They likely wanted to get pay and respect enough to give them a real life back home, above the hungry and overcrowded masses. They would take a Catai rebirth if offered, but the slow path to becoming a warrior held nothing for them.
For the next several days, as they traveled deeper into the mountains, Celivia always woke early and stayed near the camp in case anyone accepted her offer. She would be training at that time in any case, so it made no difference to her. Since she had done excellent physical training in Wahleen, now she could focus on achieving a breakthrough in sein.
At least her band wasn't useless when it came to gathering information. Ghasfik had spoken to other veterans in Sotfaal and had some idea of Lowstep territory. Fijn took the lead whenever they encountered merchants, interrogating them about their experiences to learn more. Given enough time, she thought they could gain a clear picture of the local raiding clans.
Then, without warning, they stumbled across four Lowsteps.
It was no ambush, simply an accidental encounter. Despite the sheer number of small hills and valleys scattered throughout the Sotunn range, her band and a small group of raiders happened to be traversing the same valley at the same time. She spotted them first, across the way... and then she heard their war cries and knew what was coming.
She hurled herself off the edge of the path, crashing into the forest to intercept the group of four. Judging from their musculature and how easily they ran, all four were warriors. If they were allowed to work together, soldiers would stand no chance against them. Though she wasn't certain of her own chances, depending on their training, she needed to break the charge.
Her best chance against unfamiliar opponents was always her whip, so Celivia focused all her sein on her right arm and just let one knife hang loosely in her left. The raiders saw her, though only two of them seemed to follow her movements.
When they met, she lashed out at the weaker of the two that followed her. The man raised the haft of his long axe, intending to deflect her whip. He didn't even see as it changed direction in midair, the blades stabbing down into his body as they wrapped around his neck.
Knowing how tough they could be, Celivia immediately pulled back as hard as she could, tearing open a large part of the man's chest. She had barely finished the movement when two of the others fell on her.
One tried to sever her hand holding the whip, so she simply abandoned it. The other struck at her side, and though she evaded and struck back, he caught her knife on the edge of his shield. Before she could pull back, he grabbed her arm. It was a poor move, leaving him open, but she knew it must be intentional.
The last of the raiders thrust his spear directly toward her face.
Instinctively realizing that she couldn't deflect a thrust with so much sein behind it, Celivia instead twisted past it. The other raider still gripped her arm, but she let that twist her to the side and leapt. She slammed both her feet directly into the leader with the spear in a perfectly executed kick.
He only stumbled back. She had kicked with all her weight and sein behind the blow, enough to crush the chest of a normal man. The leader of the group gave a savage grin and pulled his spear back even as she hit the ground.
Though Celivia had freed herself from the bind and managed to roll aside, she only narrowly evaded the next spear thrust. Worse, the other two were closing on her, and she couldn't take both of them on simultaneously... at least normally.
Her tail lashed out from behind her, the blade stabbing deep into the leg of the first man, leaving her with only one attacker. She desperately caught his axe on the longest blade of her duusha horn knife, but a moment later a kick impacted on her stomach.
As she flew backward, crashing against a tree, Celivia realized that they had made a mistake. If they had been smart, they would have kept her pinned so that the leader could finish her off.
After hitting another tree, she managed to land on her feet. The trees barely hurt and her armored belt had taken the worst of the kick. Two of the three approached and she quickly drew her second knife. Though her stomach ached, she thought the initial exchange had been worth it, to eliminate one of the four.
But when she tried to engage those coming toward her, the leader leapt overhead. She pulled back in surprise, amazed that he had launched himself past her with raw physical force. Even if she had tried to strike him, the second Lowstep was on her the next moment, constantly stabbing from behind his shield.
After two failed attempts to get past his defenses, Celivia realized that she was being stalled. The leader had leapt up to the path, where her band had taken defensive positions. They couldn't hold against him, but she also didn't want to approach him with just her knives.
Instead she left the raider with the shield and attacked the third, who had picked up her whip. He tried to lash it at her, but the fool had no idea how to use the weapon. Celivia stepped past it and buried a knife in his chest... only for him to rush straight into her, slamming her back against a tree.
The impact hurt, but when he tried to strike her, she buried her tail in his stomach. That bought her enough time to thrust both her knives into his neck and tear them out. He staggered back, somehow still alive but dropping his sword. She rushed past him, traded one knife for her whip, and returned to the main fight.
They had kept themselves intact solely by splitting into two groups and retreating. Ghasfik seemed to be keeping order and they hadn't panicked, which would have resulted in them being immediately chased down. It didn't look like they could last much longer, though: she saw Krafan go down with a broken arm and the leader sweep in for the kill.
She hit hard from the side, but he was prepared this time. Though Celivia lashed out with her whip, redirecting it toward his face, he anticipated it, striking the whip aside with the haft of his spear.
As she'd expected. Celivia ducked underneath the thrust of his spear and spun to kick the back of his leg. Strong as he was, he couldn't keep from going down to one knee.
Though he was prepared for her attack, she simply kicked directly into the shaft of his spear when he raised it. She didn't manage to injure him, but the force pushed him off the edge of the path to the forest below. That should earn her enough time...
Behind her, she heard a scream of pain.
Though she turned to help, the sight still made her hesitate for a moment. The other raider had shoved his fist directly into Little Ragh's stomach. It looked as though Little Ragh had tried to stab first, but his thrust had dealt only a shallow cut. Two soldiers stood within range, but they simply stared in shock at the sight of the raider forcing his way through flesh with raw sein.
Before she could arrive, the raider buried his axe into Little Ragh's chest, tearing the hole even wider. He was dead before he hit the ground, then Celivia struck from behind.
Her whip lashed around the raider's axe arm, blades cutting deep enough to disable it, and her knife and tail stabbed into his back. It felt like stabbing brick and she realized too late that the blows wouldn't bring him down. The raider grabbed her throat and slammed her to the ground.
He landed another punch to her face before Celivia buried her knife in his eye. Though he actually reached for it in disbelief, as if even that wouldn't be enough to stop him, Celivia struck the back of the knife with her palm and drove it deep into his skull. That finally made him drop.
Kicking aside the body, she drew her remaining knife and rushed for the others. Though she had feared that the leader would have already killed them, he appeared to be coming toward her fight. It was no real comfort that he was taking her as a serious threat now.
Though Celivia led with her whip, this time the raider reached out and grabbed the blades in the air. She released all the sein she'd imparted to the blades, intending to tear through his hand, yet she only managed to draw some blood. He struck back and this time she wasn't fast enough.
Celivia staggered away, only feeling the tearing pain across her side as her other foot hit the ground. Her belt had turned aside the thrust at first, but it had punctured a weak point into her side, and the raider was now stabbing repeatedly toward her face. She wanted to strike back, but even though he was fighting with only one hand on his spear, his assault was overwhelming. It was the most that she could do to avoid each of the lethal thrusts, allowing another to cut against her shoulder and draw yet more blood.
She saw the spear sweeping low but wasn't fast enough. It caught her in the leg and she crashed to the ground, unable to even catch herself.
Laughing, the raider stepped closer. He tossed aside her whip in a shower of blood and put both hands on his spear. Though Celivia struggled to order her sein again and find a way to retaliate, from the ground against his superior position, she didn't know how much of a chance she had.
Then several spears thrust into his back. None went deep and some didn't even draw blood against the raider's sein-trained body, but he let out a grunt of surprise. He turned around and saw her soldiers piling behind him. Fijn thrust again, but the raider grabbed the shaft before it could reach him.
"Think you can hit me from behind, you little shits?" The raider took a step towards them, pressing their weapons back with his body, his grin broadening. "I'll tear out your hearts and ea-"
Celivia's knife punched through the side of his head.
All her attention remained focused on making sure that the raider was dead until she felt his sein splutter out. Part of her still couldn't believe it. She had her Coran training to thank, allowing her to force so much sein into a single blow. That thought floated through her head idly and she realized that her mind was exhausted by the constant rush of the fight.
Worse, her body nearly gave out. For the first time she realized just how many injuries she had taken. None would kill her, but they made her look half-dead. She couldn't afford to collapse in front of a group of men. Couldn't let them see any weakness, anything they could exploit...
"Celivia, are you alright?" Krafan came to support her. At first she shoved his arm away, wavering on her feet and nearly collapsing.
Yet when she looked at them, she saw no scorn. There was true concern for her on their faces, mixed with gratitude on some. She saw that several had dents in their helmets from blows that could have broken their skulls, and they were aware of it.
Krafan's effort to support her back pressed one of the injuries on her side, nearly sending her to the ground in a swirl of pain. Ghasfik more sensibly provided an arm for her to reach a rock, where she sat down heavily.
"Were those..." Big Ragh's voice sounded too high-pitched and he cleared his throat loudly. "Were those their strongest?"
"No." Celivia knew she should say something else, but she was too exhausted to treat them gently. Yet the concern she saw in their eyes... she needed to use what little strength she had for something else. "Someone check on Little Ragh, see if..."
"He's dead." Splinters knelt down beside the body, glowering but for once not at her. He stalked away without even looking at them.
"We'll conduct funeral rites, but not here. Ghasfik..." She trailed off, without the strength to give any more orders. Fortunately, her second took over, turning to the others.
"There isn't likely to be another group of humans like this, but we must be within their territory. We backtrack east first thing. You, carry Little Ragh's body. You, retrieve all the weapons. The rest of you..."
Once she confirmed that he was giving sensible orders, Celivia let his words fade away. She needed to focus on recovery, especially given how heavily she had drawn her sein.
Technically, this had been a victory. The Lowstep clan had lost four warriors and she suspected that the leader had been someone of importance in their clan. Alone, she most likely would not have been able to defeat him: only the crudeness of his technique and the exact circumstance had allowed her to land the killing blow. Cast in hard numbers, the fight had been quite fortuitous.
But in reality, the four dead humans didn't make up for Little Ragh's corpse. He was the first of them to fall, possibly a fatal blow to morale. There would be no reinforcements, either, so now it was only eight of them against the rest.
Celivia felt her shortcomings even more than before. Even if they could isolate the Lowsteps one by one, she lacked the strength to kill them all. Despite her injuries, she resolved to begin training before dawn the next day.
This time, all the others joined her.
Chapter 23
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"The Council of Portant accepts the survey and declines the suggestion."
- Portantese response to the Scholars of the Blue Mask
-
When the Bloodskin clan finally traveled toward the peak of Mount Tmil, no one was truly happy about it. Melal might have been closest, but he was still frustrated that many warriors followed Chief Bufogu instead of him. The Bloodskin chieftain was clearly irritated by the fact that they were making the journey at all. And Slaten was nowhere near happy with all the tensions spread through the group.
Both Laeri and Natala journeyed along with them, uneasy in the large group of raiders and in turn making many of the men uncomfortable. But they followed the Hero this time, and that truth overrode all others in the end.
Melal himself had taken no one with him and spent most of his time stalking at the edges of the group. Despite having joined the clan, he seemed more distant than before, his eyes always on the highest peaks ahead of them. It made Slaten remember the long rainy season when a previous Hero had done nothing, then violence had erupted, shattering Bundlin. Though Melal was a different Hero, and in some ways a more complacent one, he still feared for what they might yet face.
There was one other substantial problem. One day as they walked, Slaten caught up to Melal and voiced it aloud. "Where are Tani and Veron?"
