A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 39
"And how often have you been at war?"
"Often. Almost endlessly. Portant always seeks to expand its borders and claim our l-"
Tani rolled her eyes and cut him off. "How often in your lifetime?"
"Twice." Hamoit smiled, but his eyes regarded her seriously. "I know you do not understand our long history, but it still speaks to us today. There have been vicious wars and even terrible slaughters, in the centuries before the ranks prevented such atrocities."
"What do you mean?" She leaned closer, fixating on his statement. Perhaps their bizarre system of ranks had some purpose after all?
"It is a matter of respect. The truth is that an Ironsquire could never defeat an Ironlord, and so on through the ranks. Yes, I know you are an unusual case. But here, with well-trained errants, those laws are absolutes. An Ironsquire facing a superior enemy would lay down his arms, instead of being cut down in the flower of youth. A Steeljudge could easily slaughter an entire town, but that is no longer necessary: the town would simply surrender."
Tani smiled broadly as she understood. She could respect the spirit of such customs, if not their exact nature. Similar practices existed among the Rhen, though they rarely held up when contests became war... such thoughts eroded her smile. "And does everyone follow those laws when true war breaks out?"
"It is the way of the errant and the Maenhu. Someone who abused their strength would be punished by their own." Hamoit frowned as he stared out toward the nearing contest grounds. "But... you are right. When war arrives in its bloody glory, the laws are not always followed. Instead of punishment, there is retribution."
"I see." Wanting to take the conversation away from that negative point, Tani sought for another question. "You are a Peak Ironlord, yes? If you faced a Lesser Steeljudge, you would simply lay down your arms?"
"Ha, no! With great strategy, tenacity, or skill, it is at times possible to defeat someone above your rank. It is something to boast about, and the stories are filled with tales of Ironsquires who banded together to beat Ironlords. But if I faced a Steelmaster..." Hamoit turned to meet her gaze. "If you fought a true master, would you throw yourself at them?"
Thinking back to the Zeitai, Tani could only shake her head.
"But worry not! Eight years ago, the Portantese attempted to claim a large portion of the river and it came down to war. At that time, our customs prevailed. Instead of striking down lesser errants, the strongest seek to break the enemy lines and set fire to their supply camps. No army can advance when its supplies are destroyed, so battles can be won or lost by brave errants, with limited loss of life."
"I think I understand now. Is that how all of you can talk of such tension on the border without any actual violence? What keeps them in check?"
"Our strongest are positioned to balance one another. If a Portantese Steelmaster waits on one side of the river, and an Espalese Steelmaster sits on the other, the fighting of those beneath them is mostly irrelevant. Thus we are free to engage in such competitions, while the greater powers play subtle games of position and advantage."
"Then both sides have the same number of Steelmasters?"
"Not exactly, but sometimes Peak Steeljudges are nearly comparable. And there are the Benighted Fools, of course."
"Of course? Who are they?"
"They're as idiotic as they sound." Worise walked past them, clapping her mailed gauntlets together to get everyone's attention. "Stop talking, both of you. Prepare to disembark and show these Portantese dogs our steel. Prove yourselves without drawing any blood."
All of them nodded in agreement and prepared to leave the ship as it finally finished negotiating its position on the dock. As they walked out, however, Tani leaned closer and whispered to Hamoit. "So who are these Benighted Fools?"
"They are warriors, but not errants. Worise may hate them, but... no matter. We can discuss this later. I'm sure that you will have more questions than I can possibly answer now."
"Just one last question, then: what am I supposed to do?"
"You're a neutral party, but all warriors are part of the Maenhu." Before he moved away, Hamoit smiled over his shoulder. "Just don't kill anyone and you should be respectful enough."
Though Tani smiled in response, she couldn't feel so relaxed about this unexpected contest. As she walked into the contest grounds, she watched everything carefully. For her, this needed to be an opportunity.
All around her, she saw errants contesting with one another. Some locked arms and pushed, some tried to knock each other off a narrow beam, some even played games of skill. But all of those meant the same thing to her: warriors using their sein to its fullest extent.
As much as Tani had learned on her journey, she had not yet mastered another sense. She strongly suspected that what would be required for the stick to evaluate her more highly was a deeper awareness of her own sein. Yet everything new swirling in her mind actually made it more difficult to focus on the core she had developed in the mountains. Though she was agonizingly close, understanding of it still eluded her.
If she failed the wager, then Worise would take her weapons in payment. That couldn't happen. Beyond losing the gift from her master, it would mean going unarmed, and that thought sent a stab of panic through her stomach.
So Tani scrutinized all the warriors around her, searching for some secret that would finally unlock all of her progress. The errants might be different, yet sein flowed through them, the same as everyone else. Surely she could find some answer...
For some time she watched a crowd of errants competing in the game of beasts. Some were slow and clumsy, but others astonished her. When they thrust out their hands, they changed the beast they presented multiple times, perceiving their opponent and responding in a fraction of an instant. It was not merely a test of brute speed, but also of the ability to think quickly. More than once she saw an errant react quickly enough, but lose or tie because they chose the wrong beast.
If she threw herself into such training, Tani thought that she could learn something that would enhance her own speed. But it would not unlock any of her sein, so for now, she needed to set it aside. Instead she wandered, searching for something specific that she couldn't name.
"Come, challenge me! A sack of wood to the errant who can knock me from my post!"
Near the center of the contests, an errant stood atop a thin wooden log, balanced on one leg. As Tani watched, several armored warriors took his challenge, rushing forward and attempting to shake his balance. Yet the core of his body remained untouched as he wielded a long staff, hooking his opponents' feet and sending them tumbling to the ground before they could reach him.
As she watched, the errant bested every contender. He had clearly considered his challenge carefully, with a counter to every attempt thrown against him. Yet most of his opponents struck from the front, trusting their speed or endurance to pass his range and knock him from his place. Perhaps...
Tani took one of her throwing knives in both hands and breathed on it deeply. She continued to fill the blade with her sein until it could bear no more, then waited. When the errant was distracted by two other attackers bearing long poles, she threw her knife at the back of his helm.
The errant ducked his head aside without turning to look.
For a moment Tani only stared, too surprised to react. As she went to retrieve her knife, realizing that she was fortunate it had not accidentally hit anyone as it flew off, she tried to puzzle over what had happened. The errant wore a full helm that should have rendered his vision mostly blind spot. She had thrown too swiftly and silently for him to have heard her blade, or so she thought. How could he have evaded it?
By the time Tani found her knife, she thought she understood: the trick lay in the fact that he had dodged at all. Compared to all the heavy weapons set against him, she had expected him to try to deflect her knife and for the momentum to ruin his balance. The fact that he had dodged, even when it might have been easier to use his staff, meant that he had felt her knife.
When she returned, she saw no other challengers. Instead of throwing again, she kept her hands at her sides and began to walk forward toward him. The errant immediately turned to regard her.
"If you think that you can pretend disinterest and then tackle me, you will be sorely disappointed."
"No, I surrender any right to challenge you." Tani smiled up at him as she drew closer. "But I must know: how did you evade my throw? You must have felt the sein of it, but so precisely..."
"Fortunately for you, it is no secret art. Instead, it is the simplest of matters." The errant bent down so his face was nearer hers, though he remained balanced on one foot. "Some would have you believe that the body's only senses are sight, smell, and so forth. This is pure balderdash. Which of those senses tell you when you are hungry? How do you know if you are balanced? Ironsquires speak of four senses, but Steelmasters know the truth."
Her eyes widened as she started to understand. "Then you used one of those senses? I do not think you felt my knife with a rumbling in your stomach."
"No, it was something that is often forgotten. Tell me, if you close your eyes, do you cease to know where your legs stand or your arms move?"
"Of course not. I had thought this was simply the nature of the body, since it would be strange if it were not so... but it is true, in my mind I always know the position of my body, separate from my other senses."
"Then you understand. If you know your sein well, there is no reason this sensation cannot be extended to the space beyond your body. So when you threw your knife, I knew it as surely as I knew the position of my own feet. I would be a rather clumsy errant to trip myself up, no?"
Tani bowed deeply to the man, hoping that he understood the depth of her feeling. "Thank you. You have taught me something of great value."
The errant merely chuckled and straightened again. "Take it freely, young errant. Sometimes I fear our nations spend too much time staring at one another and too little looking beyond our contested borders. You are welcome in the Maenhu, stranger."
She bowed again, then hastened back to the ship. For the next several days, Tani blocked out all other thoughts and focused solely on her sein.
Just as she had hoped, her new awareness matched perfectly with what her master had been trying to teach her. What she had gained was not a simple sense of sight or hearing, but the positioning of her own body. She began with familiar arts, attempting to truly feel the position of her knives or the movement around her.
At last it blossomed into something new that took her breath away. Tani felt as though a third arm had been dangling from her back her entire life and suddenly she became aware of it. The movement of sein around her was not merely mint, but a sensation she felt deeply in her muscles. Not only did new sein rush through her, the movements of all her old arts felt as clumsy as a newborn calf. She would need to relearn her own self.
When they reached the border to Espal, Tani did not hesitate to grasp the branch, and she was not surprised when four of the spheres came alight. Worise stared down at them for a time, then grunted in acknowledgment.
"I lose the wager, then... Peak Ironlord. Consider everything you have received from us a gift from Espal."
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Hamoit appeared on her other side as Worise departed to put away the branch. "The border might be mostly safe in these days, but there are always dangers. You would be welcome in Throne Espal, and from there you could travel anywhere."
"Thank you, but no." Tani stared out to the east, into Portant. She had hoped that she would receive more dreams telling her where to find the others, yet she faced only the unknown. "Thank you, Hamoit, for everything. But I fear I must ask you for advice one more time."
"Fear nothing. I'm just glad to see Worise taken down a peg." He gave her another easy smile, though this one was tinged with regret. "What is it you would like to know?"
"Are there any current problems with Deathspawn in Portant?"
Hamoit tapped his gauntlet against his breastplate for a time as he thought. "They have no permanent position there, but I know of two exceptions. The Deathspawn claim that they can eradicate the raiders that plague merchants traveling from the south, so they sometimes receive permission to move through Portant or Espal."
"Freely given?"
"Provided they keep to the agreements, yes. Of course, it is all a part of the game, and their apparent generosity is only another attempt to gain advantage."
Tani frowned. "How so?"
"You recall what I taught you about Steelmasters balancing one another on the borders? Due to the Deathspawn claiming the north, Wahleen has more masters to cover a smaller border. Currently, they must still separate their attentions among the desert, the border with Portant, and the border with the Deathspawn. But if they brokered an agreement..."
"Then they could move all their Steelmasters to the border with Portant!"
He nodded grimly. "As much as I would like to see Portant lose territory to the east, it would disrupt the balance between the three powers. This tension has actually led armies to gather at the border, though they remain fixed in place by the balance of the strongest errants."
"So that is the primary problem with the Deathspawn?" It would certainly complicate her journey, especially if Melal reached the border and declared himself Hero. But to her surprise, Worise shook his head.
"No, the real problem is that rumors claim the Deathspawn have asked for entrance into Portant, without going through Wahleen. Could they be taking a side in the conflict? Is this their way of bringing Wahleen to heel without starting a war? I do not know, but whatever they are doing in the heart of Portant, it is more likely to destroy the balance than anything else."
"I think I understand." Despite the somberness of the news, Tani smiled and stretched to embrace Hamoit, despite his armor. "I understand many things now, and I only came this far, thanks to you."
"We were all young errants once, and we all had someone to help us go forward. I wish you well, Peak Ironlord Tani."
She gave him a final bow, then leapt from the ship for the last time. When she landed in the sandy soil, she stood in Portant. Before her stretched rolling hills, growing richer as they extended north. From the height of her jump, she had been able to see both fields ready to harvest and swathes of wilderness.
Somewhere in the middle of all of it, the Hero and the Deathspawn waited.
Chapter 29
-
"As rumors spread that the humans put their trust in a hero born in the Chorhan Expanse, I have taken it upon myself to study that exotic region. The humans of that region are made strong by the bladed grasses that cover the Expanse, so sharp that they slice apart the skin. Those who die to the grasses are scorned as weak and burned. Those who live long enough to die in battle are eaten by their allies, which they believe adds their strength to their own."
- Scholar Lanavin, treatise on the Chorhan Expanse
-
As they returned to the house, Natala periodically smiled at Laeri and occasionally patted her on the back. This was sufficient to sustain her side of the conversation.
"They use earth sein so interestingly here!" Laeri was saying. "Usually you would bend it toward yourself, but instead they mix it with sunlight sein and just... pour it into something else! Have you ever heard of such a thing?"
"I have not."
"It's just so fascinating. I think I would have thought it was too clumsy before, but after seeing the Bloodskin healing arts I'm trying to think more broadly, you know? And Elima showed me that I didn't really understand starlight sein at all, even though I'd studied all about it. Oh, poor Elima... but you don't know her, do you?"
Natala patted Laeri on the back.
"I still think about her sometimes. I wish I could ask her a question, but she's..." Laeri gripped her staff tighter and walked a bit faster. "That's why I'm glad to help the errants here! They don't have enough healers, so without me, some of them might have died. At the very least a nice young man would have lost his leg."
"Are you giving them your services for free?" Natala hadn't intended to ask any questions; this was an exception. Laeri blinked at her, then shook her head.
"Oh, no, they're giving me training in exchange for my help. I thought that I should, since it seems we'll be staying in Torgaadi for a while. And, um, they did give me some money." Laeri pulled a small sack from one of the folds in her robe, as if she needed to demonstrate the concept of money. "Melal and all the Bloodskins aren't really doing anything to earn money, so I'm supporting them. I'm glad to help, you know?"
"Of course, Laeri."
"Oh, um, not that I wouldn't help them if they didn't pay me. The guards here seem like such good people, I'm happy to heal them. I'd do my duty even if they were meaner, of course, but..."
"Would you heal the Bloodskin men if they needed it?"
"If they let me!" Laeri wilted, stumping a few steps forward and leaning on her staff. "I'm learning so many new things, but I'm not getting very much practice with serious combat wounds. I worry that we'll run into a dangerous situation... maybe I won't be able to heal the way I once did?"
"I'm sure you'll be better than before, Laeri."
Though Natala said the last in the same soothing tone as the rest, she actually meant it. At first she had established a negative opinion of Laeri, but the young woman was extremely skilled at her craft. According to the standards of the north, she had as strong a grasp of her sein as any of the warriors in the group. That might not keep her alive in a fight, but it would keep others alive.
Laeri's chatter carried them back to the smithy, where they'd resided for the past several days. Though Natala had not yet observed Mantyos and Olondris enough to draw final conclusions about them, she was glad to stay there. Not because of their company, but because of their books. It was only a small shelf, yet Natala drank them in whenever she could. Even if most only spoke of smithing and sein, they multiplied the total number of books she had read in her life.
