Conflict (36 page)

Gerart looked into the brown eyes of the officer whose armor bore the shield of the Eastern Army.

“What’s your name?”

“Captain Alaric, your Highness.”

“Very good. Alaric, you look like a determined and capable man. Am I wrong?”

“No, your Highness, I mean yes, your Highness,” the officer replied in confusion.

“Good. Now listen to me carefully, Alaric, I’ll only say this once and your head is at stake.”

Immediately the officer tensed.

“I’m ordering you to put half your men to work on the task of repairing the wall, putting up reinforcements, digging moats, and whatever else is needed. The Royal Counselor Urien will tell you what’s involved, you’ll only have to carry out his orders, which is something I’ve heard you career officers know how to do without saying a word.”

The officer blushed slightly, and his face reflected the unease he felt.

“The other half of your men,” Gerart went on, “will devote the day to training. Divide them into four groups and let them take turns with the training: first group, swordsmanship. Second group, archery. Third, defense with spear and pike, and the fourth, physical exercise. I want to see your men in full armor run from the Great Tower, then cross the courtyard and climb the merlons. Have them repeat it until they throw up.

“Anything not clear, Captain?”

“Nothing, your Highness,” the officer replied, and stood to attention.

“So I should hope. Every other day, change the two halves round. I want them all either working or training, and if I see anyone lazing around I’ll personally hang him in the main square.”

“Yes, your Highness!”

“What’s your name?” he said to the other officer, a man with white beard and bushy eyebrows.

“My name is Angust, your Highness.”

“Very well, Angust. Put half your men to training, following the same system you just heard me explain to Alaric. The other half will unload the supplies from the carts piling up at the King’s Gate beside the small wall. You’ll also finish getting the barracks, latrines and hospital ready. Counselor Urien will explain everything that still needs to be done.”

“At your command, your Highness,” said Angust.

Gerart looked at the rest of the officers’ faces, some of them young but most of them experienced soldiers, some even getting on in years.

“You are officers of the Army of Rogdon. I expect nothing of you but excellence and exemplary behavior. Here we shall defend the Kingdom from those barbarians of the snow. Here they’ll die. Their frozen blood will paint our walls red. And so they don’t pass, so that they die here, I need each and every one of you, officers of Rogdon. I need your honor, your valor and your courage!”

The officers looked at Gerart and stood to attention.

The Prince put his fist to his chest and bowed his head.

The officers replied with the same salute.

“For Rogdon!” cried Gerart.

“For Rogdon!” the officers replied.

Once outside the barracks, Gerart gently took Urien’s arm and whispered in his ear:

“Thank you for suggesting what to say and do in there.”

“Always at your service, your Highness.”

“Even so, thank you, Urien.”

The old Counselor smiled. Bowing his head, he saluted his Prince.

Night was falling when Lomar came into the fortress through the King’s Gate, leading a long caravan of carts filled with large earthen jars. He reached the main square before the Great Tower and dismounted. Gerart and Urien were with the quartermasters dividing the rations and supervising the supplies of drinking water. When they saw him dismount, they went across to him.

“How was the journey, Lomar?” Gerart asked, smiling openly at him.

“Trouble-free, your Highness. I’m bringing you the supplies Counselor Urien asked for so urgently.”

“What supplies is he talking about, Urien? You didn’t tell me about this.”

“They’re very special supplies, critical in a siege, something which will help us resist enemy attacks.”

“What are they? More pikes? Arrows?”

Urien smiled and said:

“It’s a very special kind of weapon, Your Highness… flammable oil.”

A dull sound, a murmur in the night, woke her up. Frightened, Aliana looked around. Everything was dark. Where was she? What had happened? Her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, gradually making out details of bodies, grimy and malnourished, lying asleep around her. A stench assailed her nostrils and she woke up fully, with her mind clear.

I’m in the Usik prison…still alive…

Her face hurt terribly, she touched her lip and knew it was split. It was the result of having provoked the rage of the Shaman. She heard the disturbing whisper again and this time managed to make out her name,
Aliana
, penetrating the prison like a breath of air through a high skylight behind her. Puzzled, she stood up, and taking the greatest care not to wake the other poor wretches who shared the prison with her, went across to the skylight. The night was clear and the light of the stars reached her, there were practically no clouds to cover the sky above the branches of those giant trees.

She looked out, searching for the whispering voice, but saw no one. She was about to move away from the skylight when the whisper came again.

“Aliana…”

“Yes, I’m here. Who are you?” she said, a little more loudly than she had intended.

“Shhhh,” came the answer.

“What do you want?” Aliana said, modulating her voice.

“You listen, no time, guard distracted,” the voice explained.

Aliana recognized it at once, it was Asti’s.

“You, escape now,” it murmured with authority.

“Escape? I can’t escape from here, and even if I could get out of this prison I couldn’t get down from these immense trees you live in.”

“I help, you escape, tonight.”

“Wait a moment, why should I trust you? You’re one of them.”

“I prisoner, be like you.”

“No, not like me, you’re not locked up in the prison like me,” Aliana said.

“I daughter of Tribe Chief. Princess. Shaman kill father, take power.”

“I’m sorry to hear that… even so, I can’t trust you.”

“Not all Usik like Shaman. Not all Usik sacrifice people. Father not sacrifice people. Shaman cruel. Shaman want fear of people.”

“I appreciate it, but it’s very risky, I’ve already made a couple of bad decisions since I came here, and they almost cost me my life. In fact if I’m not dead it’s a sheer miracle… an Ilenian miracle…” she said, thinking of the medallion.

“You not dead, you powerful magic. Shaman want your magic.”

“So that’s why he’s let me live. He seemed very upset about losing that gigantic butchering bird.”

“Bird sacred. You kill sacred bird of Shaman. Punishment…”

“Yes, I know, death…”

“Yes, death. Shaman steal magic, if not can, death.”

“Every time I see you, you have some more good news for me,” Aliana said ironically, rather upset, not at Asti but at the terrible predicament she was in.

“Shhh, guard! I come later, escape, you prepare.”

Aliana heard the heavy footsteps of the returning guard on the platform. When he reached the prison, he made sure the door was well locked.

Aliana sat down on the ground again, uncertain and fearful. Could she trust Asti? She too was constantly watched by two guards, and it did not seem she had lied. But how could she know for sure? There was no way, and she was a Usik. On the other hand, she did not have many alternatives. Her hours were numbered, that was absolutely certain. To stay in that prison meant to die. The option of escaping with Asti, though it might be very risky, at least offered some hope, as opposed to simply staying there waiting for certain death.

I have to try to escape, no matter how risky the option might be, there’s no other way. It’s all set then, I’ll take my chances, I hope this time it’s the right choice. If it’s not and I’m mistaken again, I’ll pay for it with my life.

Aliana waited and waited. Night went by slowly, and nothing happened.

Suddenly there came a hollow sound from outside, near the door. It woke her abruptly from the lethargy she had half-sunk into.

Something’s going on. It must be Asti
.

The door opened a hand-span with hardly a sound. Without thinking twice, Aliana went to it with determination. Now or never! As she went out of the door she glanced back once. One of the other scared-looking prisoners looked at her pleadingly. Aliana, unable to resist, made a sign for him to come too. But the poor boy shook his head; his fear was too deep-rooted. Aliana felt an enormous pity for him, for all of them, but she knew they were too afraid to try to escape.

She turned and left the prison quickly.

Asti was waiting for her with two leather bags of supplies beside the unconscious guard. She gave one to the Healer and they set off. They went quickly over several platforms and catwalks. Luckily her vertigo did not cause Aliana too much trouble at night. The Healer could not see much in the dark, but followed Asti, who seemed to know the wooden complex like the back of her hand. After covering a fair distance going through the wooden houses where the Usik rested peacefully, they reached an enormous round platform.

On it were three of the giant eagles domesticated by the Usik, with their regal white necks and huge bodies covered with beautiful dark plumage. Two Usik warriors were on guard beside them, leaning on spears.

Aliana hesitated; if they went on they would be discovered. But Asti advanced nonchalantly towards the two warriors.

One of them hailed her to stop, and she did so. Aliana followed her example.

The warrior walked over to the Usik girl. When he recognized her, he immediately threatened her with his spear. The other warrior did the same with Aliana.

Why has she come so near them? As if there was nothing amiss, we could have hidden, gone the other way. I don’t understand. They’re going to catch us!
Fear that she might have made yet another mistake by being too trusting overcame her, and her stomach lurched.

Asti began to talk to the two warriors in that singsong language, and they listened attentively to every word, every gesture. They were nervous, threatening to spear them.

While Asti spoke, a liana came down like a snake from the sky behind the two guards. A Usik warrior slid down it in absolute silence without being seen. Aliana stared at the scene as if hypnotized. The warrior stood on the platform, brought out two long knives and crept up silently behind the guards. In the blink of an eye, while Asti went on talking, the warrior stabbed the two guards with no more than a muffled cry from them.

Asti greeted the warrior with a nod. When he came forward with the bloody knives in his hands, Aliana recognized him.

Scar! I don’t understand a thing
!

Aliana looked at him in astonishment. This Usik was her enemy. He had treated her like a mangy dog, why was he helping her now? She was utterly confused.

As if she could read her thoughts, Asti said:

“He with me, loyal to father.”

Aliana could not believe it.

Scar made signs for them to hurry, and the three jumped on one of the giant eagles. Scar rode on the neck to guide the great bird, while Aliana and Asti held on to the harness. The huge bird took off just when a patrol doing its rounds discovered the bodies of the two guards.

Cries of alarm broke out behind them as the great eagle rose in flight.

Scar guided the giant bird with what seemed to Aliana the skill of a master. Flying on that majestic animal, above the gigantic trees of the forest, in the darkness of the night, made a tremendous impression on Aliana. Never in her young life had she experienced such a sense of elation, of total and absolute freedom. It was wonderful. They were flying over the unfathomable forest at an unimaginable height, through the night dotted with the light of the stars. They were flying towards freedom on the wings of a celestial bird.

Suddenly an arrow swished by Scar’s head.

Aliana was terrified, and the Usik warrior abruptly changed the course of the great bird’s flight. Aliana turned and saw another great eagle further back with several Usik on it brandishing short bows. They were chasing after them, coming to hunt them down! Fear and frustration took hold of her spirit. They were so close to freedom, and at the same time so far from it …

The chase turned vertiginously violent. Scar guided the bird in spirals, forcing it into swift turns to avoid being hit by the enemy arrows. But the pursuers stayed close to the tail of the great eagle. Aliana gripped the ropes with all her strength, trying by all means not to fall. The speed of their flight and the sudden twists and turns Scar was forcing the bird to take made her completely dizzy. But she held on to the harness.

The chase went on for an eternity above the apparently endless forest. Aliana clung to the hope of getting out of that nightmare by coursing the skies.

An enemy arrow hit the great bird on the back. It croaked in pain and began to lose height. The pursuers dived after them. The wounded bird flew on in search of the shelter of solid ground.

Two more arrows struck the fleeing eagle.

The bird began to descend faster and changed course, returning to the Usik village in search of the safety it instinctively knew it would find there. Scar tried to dissuade the animal, to make it change course again, but found it was impossible. The eagle was looking for the safety of what it knew: its home.

With the village in sight on the horizon, the eagle, wounded and exhausted, unable to reach the longed-for shelter, crashed against the ground in a leafy clearing covered with jungle vegetation. Scar, Aliana and Asti were thrown against the ground by the brutal impact. The violence of the blow made Aliana lose consciousness.

When she came to, in great pain, she saw five Usik dismounting from a giant eagle which had landed about twenty paces away. Asti, still unconscious, was lying a few steps away from her. There was no sign of Scar. The noble eagle which had carried them in their flight had died, which saddened her deeply. It upset her to see such a beautiful animal dead, but soon the feeling turned to terror when she saw the Usik.

The five of them reached Aliana, and fear overwhelmed her. Two of them lifted her up from the ground by her hair. She felt a pang in her right side, the result of the brutal blow against the ground. The other three Usik went over to Asti and brought her round by slapping her. Aliana did not understand what they were saying to the poor Usik girl, but the tone and the jeering laughter of those three warriors boded nothing good.

Suddenly there came a sound behind Aliana.

The two Usik holding her turned round. Scar appeared from among the undergrowth brandishing his two knives. Before the closest of the warriors could react, Scar had cut his throat neatly as he ran. He immediately launched himself against the second Usik, who defended himself fiercely. The two men rolled on the ground, but after a brief struggle Scar got to his feet. His chest was bloody. Aliana held her breath.

It was the blood of his dead opponent.

The other three Usik let Asti fall and faced Scar. Two of them used their short bows to shoot at the warrior, but he threw himself to one side with amazing agility, managing to avoid the arrows. The three Usik wielded their war axes and knives and attacked Scar. Showing heroic valor, he took them on without hesitation. Cuts and slashes spattered the vegetation with blood. Scar fought ferociously, demonstrating coolness and an impressive skill with his knives. The fight was intense. Two of the enemy Usik fell under Scar’s knives, but the third finally caught him fully in the chest with his axe.

Scar took two steps back.

“Noooooooo!” Asti cried in despair.

Scar looked at her, fell to his knees, bowed his head and fell dead to one side.

Rage consumed Aliana at the sight of the brave Usik dying in her defense. She looked for a weapon around her, something to finish off the Usik murderer. She found the war-axe of one of the dead warriors and picked it up. She did not know how to use it, but if that Usik dared to come over to her she would attack him with it, she would make him pay.

The man walked over to Asti, who was kneeling, weeping for the loss of Scar. He stood behind her and pulled her hair back, then put his knife on her neck and laughed cruelly.

Aliana understood what was going to happen, and her heart missed a beat. Impelled by the need to prevent that death at all costs, she stood up and came forward, in spite of the pain in her side, towards the savage brandishing the axe. Asti was about to die. She yelled at the Usik with all the strength of her lungs, trying to catch his attention, but the warrior ignored her, sure that she did not represent any danger.

Asti looked at Aliana, resignation in her eyes.

The warrior laughed again and prepared to cut Asti’s throat.

An arrow hit the Usik in the forehead.

The warrior fell backwards like a felled tree.

Not understanding, Aliana turned in the direction the arrow had come from. She saw a Red Usik standing there, bow in hand. She was scared. Then she looked at him more carefully and realized that something did not fit, although she could not say what it was. She took a closer look and realized what was wrong: his skin was too pale, without the characteristic green of the Usik.