A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 51
"She would." Celivia smiled, despite everything. "Now do you head back to Castle Wahles?"
"Yes, but only briefly. And so will you, Celi." Jeraeli stepped closer and took her shoulders gently. "You succeeded, and I'm sure the Zeitai will smile upon your success. Eliminating one of the human clans will help clear the path through the mountains, after all. I'm sure your next assignment will be participating in the war against the Sage."
Celivia nodded, smiled, and wondered if that was what she wanted.
- End of Part 3 -
Interlude
All Huko wanted was to finish his watch, shovel something vaguely like food into his face, and get some sleep before the errants started dueling again. He was watching well enough, and he had his eye on a pot of beans Vaasci was cooking, so it seemed like it might work out. Then Captain Oritzo showed up and Huko knew his plans were shot.
"Men, drop whatever you're doing." Captain Oritzo yelled to get the whole company in range. He was good at that. "We've got an assignment, and if we don't get it done before night falls, none of us will be getting any sleep."
"This the reason you were gone for so long?" Chuumo threw out the question carelessly, currently sitting by the fire barefoot and rubbing between his disgusting toes. Captain Oritzo glowered, but it didn't have any impact anymore.
"I'm not going to lie to you, this will be rough." Captain Oritzo looked over the group, briefly catching Huko's eyes and holding his gaze. "Our leaders fucked up the balance of stronger errants. The long and short of it is, there will be Ironlords coming, maybe even Steeljudges. If we push hard and burn their supply camp now, we might make it, but by tomorrow there will be more errants out there."
His announcement got an immediate reaction from everyone. Juavie let out a groan, Vaasci began putting out his fire, and everyone grabbed for their gear. Huko stayed quiet, waiting for someone else to object. They'd watched this border for so long, the idea that they would actually run into Wahleen sounded like madness.
Captain Oritzo raised his voice to shout over the objections. "I don't like it either, but this is your only chance! They don't tell me much, but Wahleen hit us first, invading from one of their bases. We need to hit back before they can launch their full assault. Some of you might die breaking the enemy lines, but if enemy Steeljudges get here and we don't have any of our own to stop them, you'll all die. Masted before you can blink."
Huko frowned at that. That was how officers thought, but not many soldiers would die. If Steeljudges showed up, he and the other normal soldiers would simply surrender. No master errant would lower themselves to killing someone so far beneath them. The battle would be lost, sure, but that meant they would get sent home.
But apparently they were rushing the Wahleenese lines, so Huko checked over his gear. Best he could hope was that the plan actually worked and they burned out the enemy before any strong errants arrived.
He looked over his squad as he fiddled with his armor. Juavie and Vaasci were good men. Chuumo was repulsive but pretty good with his knives. Yimuun had been with him since training. But the only real talent in their group was Betio, who was a Peak Ironsquire and planned to make Ironlord before the end of the fighting. Betio would survive the charge, but Huko wasn't sure about himself.
Everyone was getting ready to march, and he saw along the trench that other companies were getting ready too. His looking was interrupted when Yimuun came up beside him and grunted. "You reckon we're gonna get masted?"
"Better not." Huko looked out over the big stretch of empty land, through the dust to the enemy camp. "Can't believe we're doing a big rush just because our Steeljudges are all wanking themselves off somewhere."
"Oh, I bet the generals sent them off on some damn assignment. Probably forgot this front even existed, without any real errants. That's the only way this decision makes any sense."
"Maybe." Huko would have said more, but then they started marching. He'd hated their filthy trench, but it seemed awful safe compared to the wasteland.
Now that he could see, he saw that the wasteland wasn't so empty. There were already soldiers fighting. That made him damn nervous, but he couldn't figure it out. From on the ground he couldn't see strategies or master errants, it was just a bunch of dust and other soldiers pissing themselves.
Since Juavie had the best eyes, Huko moved up alongside him. "Can you see a way through this?"
"Looks bad, but I can't make head or tails of it."
"Well, this marching ain't gonna last long. We need a route to run, or we-" He cut off when Juavie made a strange sound, then looked over.
His friend's head was a bloody mess.
Huko didn't even see what had done it, he just saw the body start to fall. There was no enemy in sight, so it had to be someone from a distance. Just like that, the most reliable man in the squad was masted. He should have thought about that, but there was no time.
"Get down!" Huko yelled the warning and tackled Vaasci to the ground. No one else died, but it was pure luck. Nearby, he saw an arrow blow a hole straight through a man from another squad, sending the group scattering.
With his face in the dirt, Huko had no idea what was happening. But from his position he could see the rest of the line. An errant in heavy armor dropped down in front of another company, wielding an enormous mace. He swung it and the blow went straight through several soldiers, sending a cascade of gore over the nearest ranks.
A Steeljudge. They were dead.
Huko realized in a single horrible moment that the Captain had lied. They weren't trying to preempt the Wahleenese errants - they were getting tossed into the jaws of the beast. The generals must have decided that it was better to sacrifice their lowest soldiers on a fool hope rather than surrender the position.
But it was too late to go back. Huko grabbed Vaasci by the shoulders and pushed him up, yelling to the others. "We have to run for it!" As he spoke, some terrible technique sent boulders slamming across the battlefield, masting several soldiers and drowning out his words. Huko had no idea if anyone even heard, but they began to run.
It was a mad stumble, assaulted on all sides by screams and clashing steel. One of the enemy Steeljudges was yelling something, but by the time Huko figured out he was telling them to turn back and save themselves, it was too late. Once he risked looking over his shoulder, but that Steeljudge was blocking the way, slaughtering anyone who dared step out of the trenches. There was no going back.
Something slammed into him from the side and he skidded into the dirt. For a second Huko thought he'd been masted, only slowly realizing that he was alive. What the hell had happened? The battle around him made no sense, a mad rush of bodies. All he could do was find his squad, some down and others separated into groups. They were still making their way forward.
Then out of nowhere Chuumo's head went flying from his shoulders. Only after that did Huko manage to see the man who'd done it, a Wahleenese errant in lean armor. It was just a flickering glimpse, then the man blurred away, sweeping a knife through two soldiers from another squad. He moved like a shadow, effortlessly cutting apart anyone who stood in his way.
When the man came after the squad, Betio turned around to face him. Huko struggled to his feet, intending to help or at least get away, but it didn't matter. By the time he got up, it was already over.
The enemy stabbed Betio twice in the chest before he even got his sword up. Betio, the strongest man in the squad, who could hold a burning pot without flinching. That didn't seem to make any difference. Again the man was visible for just a moment as he paused, then he cut through Betio's throat as if in an afterthought and he blurred away again.
Huko just ran, realizing that he'd pissed himself. If someone that fast so much as looked at him, he was dead. All he could do was run for it.
Somehow he stumbled and ate dirt, rocks digging into his face. That might have been all that saved him, because a heartbeat later he saw another armored Wahleenese errant, lumbering faster than Huko had ever run in his life. He plowed straight into another squad, their spears ringing off his armor uselessly.
Without warning there was someone in Huko's face. He stabbed out and nearly impaled Vaasci. By chance his spear glanced off the other man's armor and he avoided goring his friend. Vaasci was wielding a pathetically small knife and looked terrified. Huko figured he probably looked just as bad.
"Keep moving!" Huko grabbed his friend and pushed them onward. "We just have to make it the rest of the way there! We can-"
Then he saw a dark blur as the same man from before sprinted across the battlefield. He was curving at the front of the charging line, killing the soldiers who got closest. Huko realized that they were definitely dead and the words died in his throat.
The man blurred toward them and Huko closed his eyes, sure it was over. Yet instead of death, he heard a terrible scraping of metal. When he looked up, he saw a suit of armor standing in the way. The Wahleenese man had retreated, eyeing the new opponent.
Huko wanted to thank him, but the slim suit of armor just waved at them. "Get to the camp or this is all useless!"
It was a woman's voice, and he realized that the armor belonged to Ironlord Tissebel. They said she was on the verge of reaching Steeljudge and Huko felt a surge of hope. If some of their own strongest had arrived, then he had a chance.
The fight in front of him was a blurring mess that he could barely understand. Tissebel seemed to be slower than her opponent, but her armor held up against the knives that had easily punched through everyone else. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to move so fast...
"Move!" Vaasci grabbed him and urged him on. Huko managed to tear himself away as the fight grew more violent and rushed on.
Were they close to the camp? Had they gone off course? He had almost no idea what was going on, the lines having been torn apart by the bloodshed. There were people dying left and right, yet somehow-
Something flew by, barely brushing his shoulder yet slamming him into the ground. All the wind was knocked from his lungs and a storm followed, caking him with dust. When he managed to look up, he saw that Tissebel was skidding to a halt, down on one knee. She levered herself back up, but it must have been her passing that knocked him down.
When Huko looked for Vaasci, he saw the other man lying on the ground. His hips were wrenched at a terrible angle, several bones emerging from the bottom of his torso. The sight of him torn apart made Huko collapse and vomit, which might have saved him again.
Around them, Tissebel and her opponent began to fight again. Their fight moved too quickly for him to understand anything about it, but he occasionally saw bursts of blood as their battle brushed against nearby soldiers. Masted in an instant.
"Huko... can't feel my legs..." Vaasci reached for him and Huko gripped his shoulder.
"We're almost there. We'll burn the camp."
"Dammit, wait!" Vaasci scrabbled at his wrist, but his fingers were terribly weak. "Don't fucking leave me here! Damn you, Huko! Don't leave me to die in this fucking place!"
Turning away, Huko forced himself onward. Staying would just get him killed too. He didn't even care about burning the enemy camp, he just wanted to get away from the carnage.
Where the hell was the rest of his squad? He'd seen most of them die, but there were others. Yimuun was nowhere to be seen at all. As he stumbled on, Huko realized that he'd lost his spear somehow and he didn't even know when. Didn't matter. He still had a seincoal at his belt and that would be enough. If he even found the camp.
His attempt at strategy was interrupted when he tripped and fell directly into a trench. It was a miracle that he didn't crack his neck in the fall. Huko pulled himself to his feet by a wooden box. The damn thing looked so familiar it could have come from their side, not that it mattered. He saw a doused fire with several seats around it, but no Wahleenese soldiers. Gotten lucky then.
No, not lucky. Looking down the trench, he saw that other Portantese soldiers huddled there. Apparently they'd won through too. Only then did he realize that the trench meant that they must be near the supplies. He stumbled toward them, hoping that they understood what was going on. Yet the soldiers weren't planning, just waiting in fear.
Somehow he'd gotten way off course. A supply depot was in sight, but there were enemy errants in the way. Probably fucking Steeljudges, given how his day had gone. He looked for the tunnel to the supplies, but found it stacked with corpses from some previous battle. The only way in was over the last stretch of ground.
"Onward, men!" Some idiot leapt up from the trench, yelling at the top of his lungs. "For the Hero! For the Legend!"
What the hell did any of that mean? It didn't seem to matter, because all the others started moving as soon as they saw him. There was no plan, everyone was just running forward because they had no other choice. It looked like the soldiers were in three groups, aiming to try three different approaches. Because there were three different enemies in the way, spread out across the space.
One was another armored behemoth, carrying a blade covered in gore. Then there was a tall man wearing only robes, a long spear currently through the body of another soldier. Third was a small woman sitting on a rock.
The others were running. He had to go then or he'd never be able to get up.
For some reason Huko found himself staggering toward the woman. He didn't really think she was weaker - his sister had always been tougher than him and he'd just been saved by Ironlord Tissebel. But in that moment she wasn't surrounded by the bodies of her enemies or covered in gore and he was willing to take the chance.
Another one of the soldiers, some man he didn't even recognize, tripped and hit him from the side, knocking him sprawling. That was the only reason Huko survived.
The small woman picked up a sharp rock from a pile beside her and threw it. He couldn't follow the movement, but it didn't matter because she repeated it. A second rock flew out, blowing straight through the skull of a charging soldier. She threw again and again, emptying the pile into the bodies charging at her.
Half a company of soldiers charged at her at full speed. All of them were torn apart by rocks.
Huko realized that he was screaming only after he realized that he was crawling. He had a vague sense that another errant showed up and threatened the woman with the rocks, only for her ally with the spear to intercept. It didn't matter. The other soldiers didn't matter. There was no point thinking. All he could do was crawl until someone crushed him like a bug.
Yet somehow he found himself running into the side of the supply depot. Huko stared at it in shock for a long time, not understanding. How the hell had he survived? He looked up and expected to see Steeljudges all around him, yet there was no one.
Some instinct from his old life on the other side of the hellscape made him reach for the seincoal at his belt. He was almost surprised to find it and fumbled at the pocket for a long time. When he got it out he almost didn't realize, his fingers numb despite the heat of it.
Stumbling to a pile of supplies, Huko tried to strike the coal. He produced a few sparks but nothing caught. He mindlessly bashed at a wooden keg and this time saw a bit of flame. It burned his hand and he didn't realize. He just staggered away, striking the coal into a pile of hay. That caught faster and he stared at the flames as they began to spread.
He'd done it. By the time the Steeljudges realized that fires had been set, even they wouldn't be able to put them out. Huko realized that he would be the hero of this battle. The heavens themselves had guided him there to win the fight. He was part of something now, paving the way for-
He never felt the steel that took him in the side of the head.
Part 4
The First War
Chapter 37
-
"Precise beard braiding patterns may vary according to style and taste. There were once specific braids for different professions, but these are less rigidly kept in this modern age. Gentlemen who prefer other gentlemen do still wear the reverse braid at times, but the overtness of this signal has led to a recent decline in popularity. The errant's knot is commonly worn as a concession to the realities of combat, though a longer braid is a sign of confidence."
- Espalese Gentleman's Guide
-
As sein arced from Tani's fingers, she could feel her bonds and commitments take form. She had forged those strings of sein from so many memories: her commitment to the Nelee, her love of her master, her bonds with her friends. It was as if she reached out into the world and demanded that it respect everything she valued.
It was all very honorable, except that the purpose of those embodied commitments was to kill people.
That doubt weakened her sein, occasionally making the strings shiver when she pulled her knives back into her hands. Tani believed that in the midst of true combat, with something meaningful on the line, the instability would disappear. It plagued her when she sparred with Slaten, however, making the technique appear weaker than it truly was.
She and Slaten sparred nearly every day of their journey south along the river, more collecting new experiences than testing their raw ability. Both of them needed practice fighting on the surface of a moving ship, though the sailors said that the river was nothing like the open ocean. Slaten took a chance to test himself against a warrior with endless projectiles, while Tani used him to test how other warriors would react to her knives.
As usual, she hurled three knives in succession, trying not to let her bonds to them slow her arm. Slaten ducked aside from two and deflected the third. He surprised her by swinging through the space between her and her knives, even hacking into the deck.
Though Tani felt his blade pass through the strings, it couldn't sever her intangible connections. She pulled two of her knives back directly... and jerked the third, not merely pulling the knife to her, but instead sending it flying toward Slaten's back.
He managed to turn at the last moment and took the blade to his shoulder. Even merely practicing, it might have opened a minor wound, but his Bloodskin body absorbed the blow. Slaten smiled grimly at her trick, while Tani found herself dissatisfied with it. Jerking the blade backward made it spin, which was an unreliable way to strike an opponent. On top of that, Slaten had been able to react to the technique even though he had never seen it before. She needed more to use it in combat.
"Yes, but only briefly. And so will you, Celi." Jeraeli stepped closer and took her shoulders gently. "You succeeded, and I'm sure the Zeitai will smile upon your success. Eliminating one of the human clans will help clear the path through the mountains, after all. I'm sure your next assignment will be participating in the war against the Sage."
Celivia nodded, smiled, and wondered if that was what she wanted.
- End of Part 3 -
Interlude
All Huko wanted was to finish his watch, shovel something vaguely like food into his face, and get some sleep before the errants started dueling again. He was watching well enough, and he had his eye on a pot of beans Vaasci was cooking, so it seemed like it might work out. Then Captain Oritzo showed up and Huko knew his plans were shot.
"Men, drop whatever you're doing." Captain Oritzo yelled to get the whole company in range. He was good at that. "We've got an assignment, and if we don't get it done before night falls, none of us will be getting any sleep."
"This the reason you were gone for so long?" Chuumo threw out the question carelessly, currently sitting by the fire barefoot and rubbing between his disgusting toes. Captain Oritzo glowered, but it didn't have any impact anymore.
"I'm not going to lie to you, this will be rough." Captain Oritzo looked over the group, briefly catching Huko's eyes and holding his gaze. "Our leaders fucked up the balance of stronger errants. The long and short of it is, there will be Ironlords coming, maybe even Steeljudges. If we push hard and burn their supply camp now, we might make it, but by tomorrow there will be more errants out there."
His announcement got an immediate reaction from everyone. Juavie let out a groan, Vaasci began putting out his fire, and everyone grabbed for their gear. Huko stayed quiet, waiting for someone else to object. They'd watched this border for so long, the idea that they would actually run into Wahleen sounded like madness.
Captain Oritzo raised his voice to shout over the objections. "I don't like it either, but this is your only chance! They don't tell me much, but Wahleen hit us first, invading from one of their bases. We need to hit back before they can launch their full assault. Some of you might die breaking the enemy lines, but if enemy Steeljudges get here and we don't have any of our own to stop them, you'll all die. Masted before you can blink."
Huko frowned at that. That was how officers thought, but not many soldiers would die. If Steeljudges showed up, he and the other normal soldiers would simply surrender. No master errant would lower themselves to killing someone so far beneath them. The battle would be lost, sure, but that meant they would get sent home.
But apparently they were rushing the Wahleenese lines, so Huko checked over his gear. Best he could hope was that the plan actually worked and they burned out the enemy before any strong errants arrived.
He looked over his squad as he fiddled with his armor. Juavie and Vaasci were good men. Chuumo was repulsive but pretty good with his knives. Yimuun had been with him since training. But the only real talent in their group was Betio, who was a Peak Ironsquire and planned to make Ironlord before the end of the fighting. Betio would survive the charge, but Huko wasn't sure about himself.
Everyone was getting ready to march, and he saw along the trench that other companies were getting ready too. His looking was interrupted when Yimuun came up beside him and grunted. "You reckon we're gonna get masted?"
"Better not." Huko looked out over the big stretch of empty land, through the dust to the enemy camp. "Can't believe we're doing a big rush just because our Steeljudges are all wanking themselves off somewhere."
"Oh, I bet the generals sent them off on some damn assignment. Probably forgot this front even existed, without any real errants. That's the only way this decision makes any sense."
"Maybe." Huko would have said more, but then they started marching. He'd hated their filthy trench, but it seemed awful safe compared to the wasteland.
Now that he could see, he saw that the wasteland wasn't so empty. There were already soldiers fighting. That made him damn nervous, but he couldn't figure it out. From on the ground he couldn't see strategies or master errants, it was just a bunch of dust and other soldiers pissing themselves.
Since Juavie had the best eyes, Huko moved up alongside him. "Can you see a way through this?"
"Looks bad, but I can't make head or tails of it."
"Well, this marching ain't gonna last long. We need a route to run, or we-" He cut off when Juavie made a strange sound, then looked over.
His friend's head was a bloody mess.
Huko didn't even see what had done it, he just saw the body start to fall. There was no enemy in sight, so it had to be someone from a distance. Just like that, the most reliable man in the squad was masted. He should have thought about that, but there was no time.
"Get down!" Huko yelled the warning and tackled Vaasci to the ground. No one else died, but it was pure luck. Nearby, he saw an arrow blow a hole straight through a man from another squad, sending the group scattering.
With his face in the dirt, Huko had no idea what was happening. But from his position he could see the rest of the line. An errant in heavy armor dropped down in front of another company, wielding an enormous mace. He swung it and the blow went straight through several soldiers, sending a cascade of gore over the nearest ranks.
A Steeljudge. They were dead.
Huko realized in a single horrible moment that the Captain had lied. They weren't trying to preempt the Wahleenese errants - they were getting tossed into the jaws of the beast. The generals must have decided that it was better to sacrifice their lowest soldiers on a fool hope rather than surrender the position.
But it was too late to go back. Huko grabbed Vaasci by the shoulders and pushed him up, yelling to the others. "We have to run for it!" As he spoke, some terrible technique sent boulders slamming across the battlefield, masting several soldiers and drowning out his words. Huko had no idea if anyone even heard, but they began to run.
It was a mad stumble, assaulted on all sides by screams and clashing steel. One of the enemy Steeljudges was yelling something, but by the time Huko figured out he was telling them to turn back and save themselves, it was too late. Once he risked looking over his shoulder, but that Steeljudge was blocking the way, slaughtering anyone who dared step out of the trenches. There was no going back.
Something slammed into him from the side and he skidded into the dirt. For a second Huko thought he'd been masted, only slowly realizing that he was alive. What the hell had happened? The battle around him made no sense, a mad rush of bodies. All he could do was find his squad, some down and others separated into groups. They were still making their way forward.
Then out of nowhere Chuumo's head went flying from his shoulders. Only after that did Huko manage to see the man who'd done it, a Wahleenese errant in lean armor. It was just a flickering glimpse, then the man blurred away, sweeping a knife through two soldiers from another squad. He moved like a shadow, effortlessly cutting apart anyone who stood in his way.
When the man came after the squad, Betio turned around to face him. Huko struggled to his feet, intending to help or at least get away, but it didn't matter. By the time he got up, it was already over.
The enemy stabbed Betio twice in the chest before he even got his sword up. Betio, the strongest man in the squad, who could hold a burning pot without flinching. That didn't seem to make any difference. Again the man was visible for just a moment as he paused, then he cut through Betio's throat as if in an afterthought and he blurred away again.
Huko just ran, realizing that he'd pissed himself. If someone that fast so much as looked at him, he was dead. All he could do was run for it.
Somehow he stumbled and ate dirt, rocks digging into his face. That might have been all that saved him, because a heartbeat later he saw another armored Wahleenese errant, lumbering faster than Huko had ever run in his life. He plowed straight into another squad, their spears ringing off his armor uselessly.
Without warning there was someone in Huko's face. He stabbed out and nearly impaled Vaasci. By chance his spear glanced off the other man's armor and he avoided goring his friend. Vaasci was wielding a pathetically small knife and looked terrified. Huko figured he probably looked just as bad.
"Keep moving!" Huko grabbed his friend and pushed them onward. "We just have to make it the rest of the way there! We can-"
Then he saw a dark blur as the same man from before sprinted across the battlefield. He was curving at the front of the charging line, killing the soldiers who got closest. Huko realized that they were definitely dead and the words died in his throat.
The man blurred toward them and Huko closed his eyes, sure it was over. Yet instead of death, he heard a terrible scraping of metal. When he looked up, he saw a suit of armor standing in the way. The Wahleenese man had retreated, eyeing the new opponent.
Huko wanted to thank him, but the slim suit of armor just waved at them. "Get to the camp or this is all useless!"
It was a woman's voice, and he realized that the armor belonged to Ironlord Tissebel. They said she was on the verge of reaching Steeljudge and Huko felt a surge of hope. If some of their own strongest had arrived, then he had a chance.
The fight in front of him was a blurring mess that he could barely understand. Tissebel seemed to be slower than her opponent, but her armor held up against the knives that had easily punched through everyone else. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to move so fast...
"Move!" Vaasci grabbed him and urged him on. Huko managed to tear himself away as the fight grew more violent and rushed on.
Were they close to the camp? Had they gone off course? He had almost no idea what was going on, the lines having been torn apart by the bloodshed. There were people dying left and right, yet somehow-
Something flew by, barely brushing his shoulder yet slamming him into the ground. All the wind was knocked from his lungs and a storm followed, caking him with dust. When he managed to look up, he saw that Tissebel was skidding to a halt, down on one knee. She levered herself back up, but it must have been her passing that knocked him down.
When Huko looked for Vaasci, he saw the other man lying on the ground. His hips were wrenched at a terrible angle, several bones emerging from the bottom of his torso. The sight of him torn apart made Huko collapse and vomit, which might have saved him again.
Around them, Tissebel and her opponent began to fight again. Their fight moved too quickly for him to understand anything about it, but he occasionally saw bursts of blood as their battle brushed against nearby soldiers. Masted in an instant.
"Huko... can't feel my legs..." Vaasci reached for him and Huko gripped his shoulder.
"We're almost there. We'll burn the camp."
"Dammit, wait!" Vaasci scrabbled at his wrist, but his fingers were terribly weak. "Don't fucking leave me here! Damn you, Huko! Don't leave me to die in this fucking place!"
Turning away, Huko forced himself onward. Staying would just get him killed too. He didn't even care about burning the enemy camp, he just wanted to get away from the carnage.
Where the hell was the rest of his squad? He'd seen most of them die, but there were others. Yimuun was nowhere to be seen at all. As he stumbled on, Huko realized that he'd lost his spear somehow and he didn't even know when. Didn't matter. He still had a seincoal at his belt and that would be enough. If he even found the camp.
His attempt at strategy was interrupted when he tripped and fell directly into a trench. It was a miracle that he didn't crack his neck in the fall. Huko pulled himself to his feet by a wooden box. The damn thing looked so familiar it could have come from their side, not that it mattered. He saw a doused fire with several seats around it, but no Wahleenese soldiers. Gotten lucky then.
No, not lucky. Looking down the trench, he saw that other Portantese soldiers huddled there. Apparently they'd won through too. Only then did he realize that the trench meant that they must be near the supplies. He stumbled toward them, hoping that they understood what was going on. Yet the soldiers weren't planning, just waiting in fear.
Somehow he'd gotten way off course. A supply depot was in sight, but there were enemy errants in the way. Probably fucking Steeljudges, given how his day had gone. He looked for the tunnel to the supplies, but found it stacked with corpses from some previous battle. The only way in was over the last stretch of ground.
"Onward, men!" Some idiot leapt up from the trench, yelling at the top of his lungs. "For the Hero! For the Legend!"
What the hell did any of that mean? It didn't seem to matter, because all the others started moving as soon as they saw him. There was no plan, everyone was just running forward because they had no other choice. It looked like the soldiers were in three groups, aiming to try three different approaches. Because there were three different enemies in the way, spread out across the space.
One was another armored behemoth, carrying a blade covered in gore. Then there was a tall man wearing only robes, a long spear currently through the body of another soldier. Third was a small woman sitting on a rock.
The others were running. He had to go then or he'd never be able to get up.
For some reason Huko found himself staggering toward the woman. He didn't really think she was weaker - his sister had always been tougher than him and he'd just been saved by Ironlord Tissebel. But in that moment she wasn't surrounded by the bodies of her enemies or covered in gore and he was willing to take the chance.
Another one of the soldiers, some man he didn't even recognize, tripped and hit him from the side, knocking him sprawling. That was the only reason Huko survived.
The small woman picked up a sharp rock from a pile beside her and threw it. He couldn't follow the movement, but it didn't matter because she repeated it. A second rock flew out, blowing straight through the skull of a charging soldier. She threw again and again, emptying the pile into the bodies charging at her.
Half a company of soldiers charged at her at full speed. All of them were torn apart by rocks.
Huko realized that he was screaming only after he realized that he was crawling. He had a vague sense that another errant showed up and threatened the woman with the rocks, only for her ally with the spear to intercept. It didn't matter. The other soldiers didn't matter. There was no point thinking. All he could do was crawl until someone crushed him like a bug.
Yet somehow he found himself running into the side of the supply depot. Huko stared at it in shock for a long time, not understanding. How the hell had he survived? He looked up and expected to see Steeljudges all around him, yet there was no one.
Some instinct from his old life on the other side of the hellscape made him reach for the seincoal at his belt. He was almost surprised to find it and fumbled at the pocket for a long time. When he got it out he almost didn't realize, his fingers numb despite the heat of it.
Stumbling to a pile of supplies, Huko tried to strike the coal. He produced a few sparks but nothing caught. He mindlessly bashed at a wooden keg and this time saw a bit of flame. It burned his hand and he didn't realize. He just staggered away, striking the coal into a pile of hay. That caught faster and he stared at the flames as they began to spread.
He'd done it. By the time the Steeljudges realized that fires had been set, even they wouldn't be able to put them out. Huko realized that he would be the hero of this battle. The heavens themselves had guided him there to win the fight. He was part of something now, paving the way for-
He never felt the steel that took him in the side of the head.
Part 4
The First War
Chapter 37
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"Precise beard braiding patterns may vary according to style and taste. There were once specific braids for different professions, but these are less rigidly kept in this modern age. Gentlemen who prefer other gentlemen do still wear the reverse braid at times, but the overtness of this signal has led to a recent decline in popularity. The errant's knot is commonly worn as a concession to the realities of combat, though a longer braid is a sign of confidence."
- Espalese Gentleman's Guide
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As sein arced from Tani's fingers, she could feel her bonds and commitments take form. She had forged those strings of sein from so many memories: her commitment to the Nelee, her love of her master, her bonds with her friends. It was as if she reached out into the world and demanded that it respect everything she valued.
It was all very honorable, except that the purpose of those embodied commitments was to kill people.
That doubt weakened her sein, occasionally making the strings shiver when she pulled her knives back into her hands. Tani believed that in the midst of true combat, with something meaningful on the line, the instability would disappear. It plagued her when she sparred with Slaten, however, making the technique appear weaker than it truly was.
She and Slaten sparred nearly every day of their journey south along the river, more collecting new experiences than testing their raw ability. Both of them needed practice fighting on the surface of a moving ship, though the sailors said that the river was nothing like the open ocean. Slaten took a chance to test himself against a warrior with endless projectiles, while Tani used him to test how other warriors would react to her knives.
As usual, she hurled three knives in succession, trying not to let her bonds to them slow her arm. Slaten ducked aside from two and deflected the third. He surprised her by swinging through the space between her and her knives, even hacking into the deck.
Though Tani felt his blade pass through the strings, it couldn't sever her intangible connections. She pulled two of her knives back directly... and jerked the third, not merely pulling the knife to her, but instead sending it flying toward Slaten's back.
He managed to turn at the last moment and took the blade to his shoulder. Even merely practicing, it might have opened a minor wound, but his Bloodskin body absorbed the blow. Slaten smiled grimly at her trick, while Tani found herself dissatisfied with it. Jerking the blade backward made it spin, which was an unreliable way to strike an opponent. On top of that, Slaten had been able to react to the technique even though he had never seen it before. She needed more to use it in combat.
