A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 50
"I believe that the Legend demands war." Slaten refused to turn aside even slightly, staring back into her eyes. "I have seen it destroy peace in a way that no warrior can possibly fight, and the Sage claimed that the Zeitai are doing the same thing. If there is any answer, we will need to understand first of all."
"And if there's no answer?"
"I don't know."
The flatness of his voice finally broke her anger. Tani sighed and dropped her forehead against his chest, still gripping his mantle. Only slowly did she let her fingers loosen, then she could look up at him again. "I'm sorry, Slaten. I don't mean to be angry with you, not when you've been reliable ever since Bundlin. But I don't think that you can trust Celivia when you don't even know what she really wants."
"Do you?"
"That..." Tani's mouth filled with responses, but she recognized that they came from the furious part of her heart, not her mind. It was a good question. "It's possible that you're right. But I need to see more proof before I'm willing to hear her out."
"Thank you, Tani." Slaten awkwardly put his hands on her shoulders and looked as though he immediately regretted it, so she reached up to pat one of them.
"No, I should thank you. I've been sulking instead of coming closer to solving any of our problems. I think... I think what I need is to release some frustration. Do you want to beat each other bloody?"
Before he could answer, there was a crash from the second floor of the house. In an instant both of them had their hands on their weapons and their senses extended toward the disturbance. Tani could feel nothing out of the ordinary, but still followed Slaten as he rushed into the house. Everyone there was looking upward as well, and she realized that only Melal had been upstairs.
He jumped down to the first floor wearing only pants and a tunic, his hair messy from sleep. But his eyes shone in a way she had not seen in some time.
"The Sage of Mount Tmil has sent me a dream. He and all the other Sages are under threat. The Zeitai wants to kill them and stop the Legend before it can truly begin."
No one answered for some time until eventually Slaten spoke. "Then do we hurry to find the seal?"
"No, you fool. Finding the seal is useless if we cannot return it to the Sage." Melal rolled his shoulders and smiled a perfect smile. "This will be war, and in all of history, this will be the first war that truly matters."
~ ~ ~
As the campaign against the Lowsteps was Celivia's first assignment in command, she had expected something to go horribly wrong. She had gathered as much strength as she could in the hopes that her allies could make up for her failings and reduce the number of deaths.
Instead, as she woke up in her blankets with the Lowstep numbers running through her mind, Celivia reflected that everything had been too easy. Her band had first fought one brief encounter against some lesser warriors that left Huthur injured. The Lowsteps had sent a larger group after them and that was when their elites had struck, slaughtering them to a man. Now they awaited the village's response, but Celivia estimated that the Lowsteps only had a slight advantage remaining.
In fact, the greatest surprise had taken place before they even finished preparing to leave Sotfaal. Celivia rolled from her blankets, checked that everything was in order, then went out to deal with that surprise.
Across from her tiny canvas tent that only kept the snow off sat a much larger tent. Even camouflaged instead of made from bright fabric, Jeraeli's tent looked luxurious in the mountains. She had arrived unexpectedly bearing supplies and reinforcements, and Celivia wasn't exactly in a position to disagree.
"Jeraeli?" She cautiously leaned in the entrance, searching amid the tangled sheets atop a mattress. But the only person lying in her bed appeared to be a Feras mansthein, who reclined wearing nothing but his luxurious golden fur. Celivia hadn't learned his name, as he hadn't fought and seemed to be present solely to warm Jeraeli's bed.
"She woke up." The Feras sat up slowly, all the muscles of his torso flexing. "I'm not sure where she is."
"Thank you." Celivia pulled her head back out of the tent and almost immediately discovered Jeraeli standing quietly behind her.
"I was just getting in a bit of practice." Jeraeli wore practical if expensive robes, and twirled a pair of sais around her hands to demonstrate. "If I'm going to fight along this group you've gathered, I don't want to fall behind."
"I didn't expect you to support me, to be honest. This assignment..." Celivia trailed off as she realized that she was making an impolite insinuation, but her eyes had already wandered toward the tent. Jeraeli simply laughed and flipped her sais back into her belt.
"Don't worry, Celivia. I don't deny that I enjoy playing the game and I thoroughly enjoy the benefits that come with it. But I've fought on the front lines before, and I never want to forget to help those who have helped me."
"Well, I'm glad you joined us." Celivia touched her arm lightly and smiled. "I'm going to hold you back with me as the last line. We won't have the same shock impact as the others, but I think reinforcements will be needed before the end."
"Then your desire is my command, Kaen Celivia!"
"Start by gathering any of the warriors who are off training. I'll collect the soldiers and we can finish this today."
Throughout the morning, Celivia reviewed the information and briefed her band one more time. Antaliel returned from scouting to confirm that the Lowsteps advanced in force to eliminate the Deathspawn annoyance once and for all. With luck, the reverse would occur.
The only problem was again a trivial one, Big Ragh deciding that it would be a good idea to declare his love for Reina. Celivia shot her friend a hard glance and in the end Big Ragh left only offended, not disemboweled. Otherwise, everyone fell into place. This time, it was her plan from beginning to end. If it failed, the consequences would not be a reprimand, but the deaths of her friends.
Celivia and Jeraeli awaited atop a local peak, hidden by new blinds Huthur had built for late winter. She watched anxiously as her band pretended to make camp in a gentle valley, a good location for an ambush but too pleasant a camp location to ignore. Or at least, that was how she hoped it looked. As time wore on, she began to smell the pottage they cooked, giving her a bizarre flicker of hunger despite the tension.
Then the Lowsteps howled out their attack and Celivia could only watch as everything fell together.
They began hurling their spears as they charged, but her band had at least trained well in basic tactics, dropping down into formation. The human warriors would smash directly through that, but before they could arrive, Ghalia and Vularagh emerged from their hiding places and dealt death all around them.
Two Towd Catai fighting together was a sight few of the raiders had seen before, and it utterly broke their charge. The two didn't fight together effectively, but it didn't matter when Vularagh could shatter bones with a punch and Ghalia's skin shrugged off even many of the warriors' attacks. When Ghalia encountered a stronger human, she used a strange punch of twisted sein that beat against her opponent's defenses until they collapsed.
The only warning was the whistling of more spears, then Celivia realized that the Lowsteps had set up a counter-ambush.
Celivia's heart leapt to her throat and she thought that she might witness the plan fall apart. But though it was too late to issue any more orders, she had held her assets in reserve for just such a reason. Antaliel launched himself from the heights of a nearby tree and intercepted the hail of spears in midair.
It happened in a few heartbeats, but Jeraeli still had time to let out a low whistle. Antaliel caught one of the first spears out of the air and swung it rapidly as he dove into the others. His rapid movements utterly broke the swarm of spears and he even managed to throw two of them back at the Lowstep warriors who now rushed to join the battle.
That had gone better than she had hoped... but Antaliel landed between the two groups of raiders. He thrust a spear directly at the chests of the raiders who charged him, but the humans showed their stamina by rushing into it. A few fell, but they weren't dead, and others continued charging despite the injuries, one eventually catching the spear in his chest.
Though Celivia rose to go assist him, Reina was faster. She flickered through the trees in a completely silent seinrage, cleavers in both hands flying with deadly sein. Her savage movements took limbs and sometimes heads, rendering their unnatural stamina irrelevant.
The Lowsteps couldn't stand against her assault and fell back, but most didn't flee. Pinned by the ferocity of the Catai on one side and Reina on the other, they instead spilled out to the side, which sent them toward her band. Since no more ambushes seemed forthcoming, Celivia leapt to defend them.
If the Towd shattered a charge like a hammer, she and Jeraeli pierced it like a rapier. Several Lowsteps were dead before they realized what had happened, then she was within the group.
Celivia held nothing back, pouring as much sein as she could into each lashing strike of her whip, beating her opponents back. One tried to catch her whip and lost several fingers, stumbling into his companions and screaming in pain. Several others rushed her at the same time, but Jeraeli took them from the side.
The other woman had a surprisingly direct fighting style, despite her flourishes. She sent her sais punching into her opponents' bodies as if they were knives, and if the stabs usually failed to bring the Lowsteps down, she could easily pull them back and stab again. They fell into a rhythm fighting back to back, slowly rotating so that Celivia could keep the majority at bay while Jeraeli finished off those who made it close.
It might have been difficult, but the two of them weren't alone. Celivia's band emerged from their shield formation and began thrusting into the backs of the Lowsteps attempting to swarm her and Jeraeli. The pressure lessened, a few of the Lowsteps began to flee in terror, and the battle was decided as the Catai joined them as well.
"Did we win?" Jeraeli smiled and spun her sais around her hands, looking over the fallen bodies. Ghalia grunted and began to finish off the survivors, while Antaliel approached and nodded to her.
"Perhaps a tenth of them escaped, and it seems they mean to retreat to their village. Do we pursue?"
Ignoring all of them, Celivia instead carefully swept the forested valley for someone else. She spotted Reina almost too late, standing with her gore-covered cleavers hanging limply, her eyes bloodshot.
Even as Celivia started to move, Reina leapt at the group. She hurled herself at Vularagh, who managed to duck aside. That left her in front of Ghalia, who tried to grapple, but Reina veered away from her without striking. Her eyes locked onto the band and she charged at them instead, aiming to decapitate Ghasfik and Huthur.
Celivia tackled her from the side, driving her to the ground. Reina hissed and struggled until Celivia managed to lock their gazes. Slowly Reina's fury faded, she made a very soft sound, then her eyes fell closed.
"Bersk are always a liability." Antaliel stood nearby with a distasteful expression, but Celivia didn't give him another glance as she lifted Reina.
"It isn't your decision, Catainan Antaliel. To answer your question: yes, go and hunt down the stragglers. We intend to take the fight all the way to their village, but don't enter before I catch up to you."
Ghalia chuckled and hefted her axe. "We'll leave nothing left of them."
Though they began to move away, Celivia noticed that Vularagh moved slowly. He bled from a great many wounds and scowled, likely displeased that mere humans had injured him so frequently. Those injuries might be a liability, so Celivia caught his attention and nodded toward her band. "There may be a few humans hiding, so stay here with the soldiers in case they try anything."
He grunted and accepted that, which would hopefully salve his pride. Celivia then carried Reina to the band, though she hesitated to leave her friend with them. At that moment Jeraeli appeared beside her, speaking softly. "Don't worry, I'll look after her."
When Celivia started to thank her, Fijn stepped out of the group. "We'll protect her, Kaen. She might have lost control at the end, but she kept most of the humans off us during the fight. We wouldn't blame her for being Bersk."
"Thank you, Fijn." Celivia gave him a smile, though she still handed Reina over to Jeraeli. With her band sufficiently defended, Celivia sprinted into the forest after the others.
It was easy to track them via the trail of broken trees and dead Lowsteps. The raiders might have known the mountains well, but they were over-matched and their spirit had been broken. Celivia's only concern now was that the Lowsteps might have held someone in reserve. She had Ghalia and Antaliel remaining, but they might be vulnerable alone.
In the end, her concern was unnecessary. She caught up to the others not far from the Lowstep village, and it seemed that they had waited solely due to her instructions. The village itself was a miserable little thing with a crude wall and almost no guards. Celivia didn't need to speak to the two Catai, she simply gestured for them to follow her.
They found the chieftain of the Lowsteps inside the largest hut in the village, with a chest of valuables under one arm and a woman over his other shoulder. When he saw them, he threw both down. Instead of realizing that he had made a grievous error not fighting alongside his warriors, he sneered at them.
"You Deathspawn think you own everything. What you've done is nothing. I am the Lowstep clan. After I've killed you, I'll breed a n-"
Ghalia punched him in the face. He rocked back slightly, more surprised by the swift movement than injured, and kicked her in the stomach. The blow actually made Ghalia stumble back, but as she straightened, she grinned. For the first time, the Lowsteps chieftain showed a hint of fear.
He drew a double-bladed axe swiftly enough, however, and defended himself when Antaliel thrust a spear at his side. For several heartbeats, he actually managed to hold back both Ghalia and Antaliel, his axe swinging furiously and his body bursting with sein. His movements might not be elegant, but he had earned his strength through a lifetime of combat.
Celivia's whip lashed across his chest, opening a shallow wound. The chieftain winced, which was enough time for Ghalia to embed her axe in his thigh. He grabbed the shaft and tore it out, but then Celivia's tail stabbed deep into his side.
Though he managed to recover even from that injury, the chieftain couldn't stop the inevitable. He had clearly spent most of his life fighting against weaker opponents or individual challengers. Against three disciplined opponents who could not be easily overpowered, it was only a matter of time.
Eventually Antaliel broke his leg and Ghalia threw him to the ground. She picked up his axe, examined it dismissively, then tossed it to Celivia. "You want to do the honors, Celi?"
Though she should have known, Celivia only then realized that her plan was nearly complete. She carefully looped her whip at her belt and then held the rough axe with both hands. Below her, the Lowsteps chieftain forced on his knees glared up at her.
"Deathspawn bitch! Just because you're stronger, you think... you think..."
"Those are your rules." Celivia swung the axe through his neck and watched his head fall, then it was truly over.
Except perhaps not. When she looked up, she saw a small crowd of Lowstep villagers staring at them. The young men and a few women carried spears, but none of them were warriors. After seeing their chieftain fall, they knew that they didn't have a chance. She had considered what would happen during this final step, but those thoughts felt insubstantial compared to the real thing.
"I guess this was the chieftain's woman?" Ghalia lifted the terrified woman from the floor by the cloths around her neck. "Is she your type, Celi?"
"Don't be crass." Celivia turned to the gathered villagers and made eye contact with those who didn't look away before switching to Coran. "Your clan is gone. Surrender."
Several spears immediately hit the ground, followed by more. Antaliel stood beside her, but frowned. "Why not simply kill them? What worth are they to anyone?"
"Possibly some." Celivia shot a look back at him and he bowed politely, as it was her operation. Setting him out of mind, she stepped closer to the survivors. "If we leave you here, what will happen to you?"
They exchanged glances, their faces filled with terror and confusion. Eventually one of the young men spoke, his voice cracking. "As soon as they hear the Lowsteps fell, other clans will come to take us. There's no one left to defend us. We'll be torn apart."
"Then you can stay and become slaves to other raiders, or you can work for us. There is a mansthein fortress to the east that uses human servants. If you cooperate with them, you will be protected. It would not be a bad life."
A surprising number of the women nodded, and Celivia realized that they were only exchanging one set of masters for another. She disliked the solution, but saw no other way to spare their lives. Despite being Lowsteps, they were innocents, or something like it. Perhaps this way she could truly pull up the raiding clan root and stem instead of allowing another to take its place.
As the Lowsteps began to meekly return to their homes, Antaliel stepped beside her and bowed. "This was reasonably well done with limited resources, Kaen. But Elanian says that the debt is now paid, and we will leave as soon as possible."
"Tell him that I thank him."
Antaliel nodded and stepped away, as if he intended to return at that very moment. Ghalia stepped up beside Celivia and slung an arm around her shoulders. "I won't be leaving you, Celi. This fight only got my blood up. You say there are stronger humans?"
"Yes." For the first time, Celivia allowed herself to think of what came next. "There are clans much stronger than the Lowsteps."
"Then Reina and I will stand with you for a bit longer."
Not long after, Jeraeli arrived in the village, minus Reina. She quickly hastened to Celivia, shaking her head. "Never fear, Celivia. Your friend woke up and seems in perfect health, unless you count the fact that she wants to eat her own weight in meat."
