Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4) (17 page)

“My sentiments exactly,” She said, pulling the blanket tighter around her and shuffling across the floor to the table. She found, not only the washcloth, but a small mirror and brush, so she tamed her wild hair, the best she could. She used the warm water to wash her face and wished for a long hot bath. It was going to be some time before she was aloud those little bits of luxury.

Picking through the clothing, she was grateful to see, they didn’t go out of their way. No pink dresses or frilly blouses, this was standard issue, right down to the military underclothes. Getting dressed, took a bit of time, her arm wasn’t being very cooperative. It was still sore, although not nearly as bad as it was last night, but it still made it difficult to perform even the simplest tasks. Getting her shirt on was difficult enough, pulling on her boots was nearly impossible. She tried using the hand mirror to get an idea of what the uniformed looked like once it was on, but she couldn’t see very much. She just hoped it didn’t look as bad as what she could see.

“So, how do I look?” she asked Vesper

-We find food now?-

The yarrow replied, standing on the end of the bed. He didn’t seem to care what costume she wore, as long as he was getting fed.

“Yeah, we’re going to look for food.” She told him. She held out her hand so he could climb up onto her shoulder.

Opening the door to her room, she stepped out into the hall, only to find Tullner sleeping on a chair beside her door.

“You wouldn’t be on guard duty, would you?” she asked him.

The young man jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair as he stammered an apology. She had to laugh.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” she asked him.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, ma’am,” Tullner replied.

Kile shook her head. “I’m not a ma’am, okay. I’m just… me,” she said.

“I understand, ma’am, but you are my commanding officer.”

“As I told Captain Jax, I’m no one’s commanding officer.”

“With Sergeant Wargner gone, you’re the highest ranking officer and therefore commander of Perha Squad.”

She knew arguing with him, about rules and regulations, wasn’t going to be very productive, and arguing on an empty stomach never got anyone anywhere.

“If you say so,” She said, with a dismissive wave of her hand and walked away. Tullner kept pace, one step behind her. “So, as your commanding officer, what do I do now, Corporal?” she asked.

“Actually, ma’am, I’m a private.” Tullner replied.

She stopped and looked at him. “Since when?” she asked.

“Since right before Sergeant Wargner went off to Coopervill. If you remember, he demoted me and had me detained for insubordination.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” she replied, as continuing walking. “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”

“That would rely on you, ma’am.”

“Me, why me?”

“You are the commanding officer,” Tullner replied.

Kile shrugged. “Do you want to be detained for insubordination?” she asked.

“No, not really.”

“There, that’s settled. Now, where do we find food?”

“Right this way, ma’am”

“What about your rank, can I make you a Corporal again?” she asked.

“The commanding officer does have the right to bestow battlefield promotions.”

“That’s a yes?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, fine, you’re a Corporal, no wait a minute… make that a Sergeant.”

“But, ma’am, you can’t…”

“I can do anything, I’m the commanding officer, you told me that yourself,” she said with a grin.

“The rank is only temporary and has to be evaluated by the high command before it can become permanent,” Tullner explained.

“Tullner… Sergeant, we probably won’t be alive long enough to worry about that.” She replied, pulling the hood of her cloak up over her head and stepping out into the rain.

-About time you got your ass out of bed.-

Grim shouted as he came stomping across the baily toward her. He must have been standing at the foot of the stairs all night, as he was completely drenched. It didn’t seem to improve his disposition, but then, nothing ever did.

“And a good morning to you too,” Kile replied.

-Try afternoon, and I wouldn’t say good until you looked out over the wall.-

She looked up, toward the high wall where there appeared to be a lot of activity on the allure. Soldiers had gathered along the parapet and were observing something on the road leading to Moran.

“Somehow I think breakfast is going to have to wait,” she told Tullner.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m not really sure, but it’s probably not going to be anything good,” she replied.

The outpost of Moran was built into the side of a mountain and was divided into two levels, one inside, and above, the other. The first level was known as the mainway, named after the road which ran between the two gates. It was surrounded by a thirty foot stone wall on three sides, and the mountain to the north. The mainway ran under the second level, known as the kastelya. There were only two ways to reach the kastelya, and both of these routes could be cut off, should the mainway be taken. The kastelya was also surrounded by a thirty foot wall, which was commonly referred to as the high wall, since it overlooked the gatehouse and the main bailey sixty feet below.

Kile took the steps, which led up to the high wall, and found Captain Bartholomew Jax among the other men. He didn’t notice her at first, since he was a bit preoccupied with what he saw below. A young soldier stood beside him looking equally nervous. He couldn’t be more than fifteen years old, Kile thought as she watched the boy stare wide eyed over the parapet. He reminded her so much of Toby, the young boy who worked at the Bird and Bay back in Coopervill. Toby had a bit of a crush on her, or so she’d like to think, but it didn’t matter anymore. He was gone now, along with so many of the others. When she stepped onto the allure, she cast her gaze west, where the province of Denal stretched out before her, and saw what had captured the attention of so many soldiers. The Uhyre had come in the night.

They covered the lands before the gatehouse, and she would guess their numbers to be in the thousands, but it wasn’t the main force. During her time in the wastelands, she saw the Uhyre armies, and this was only a fraction of their number. A single grain of sand on a vast beach, or so the old saying goes. Where were the rest of them, she wondered. If this was truly going to be the force which crossed into Callor to take the Azintar Province, it was only a vanguard, but it was still impressive. She might have been two walls away, and sixty feet up, but she was still worried.

Jax handed a note to the young boy who quickly ran off with it. When he turned back to the parapet, he noticed Kile. “Well Commander. Come to see our guests?” he said.

“I thought there’d be more,” she commented.

“There’s enough.” He replied, leaning on the parapet wall. “These are probably the ones who were garrisoned in Coopervill.”

“They don’t appear to be very aggressive,” Tullner added.

“Not yet.” Jax replied. “We have about three days at best, before they decided to come in, whether we invite them or not.”

“How do you figure?” Kile asked.

“We just received a message from Vadokk. He has requested we hand over his prisoners, and open the mainway for his armies to pass into Callor.”

“And you refused… I hope,” she replied.

“Not quite. I don’t want to start a war, not just yet. I have just sent a message, informing our dear valrik, we can only open the gate and hand over the prisoners on the orders of Lord Rimes of Callor. Since we have not received any orders yet, the gates must remain closed.”

“And that will take three days?” she asked.

“No. As I said, these are the forces that were garrisoned in Coopervill. We have reason to believe, since the valrik now hold Denal, more of the Uhyre forces will be coming over the border preparing to march into Azintar. Vadokk will not try anything, until he is at his full strength.”

“Surely they could just go around us,” Tullner added.

“They could try,” Jax replied. “But, if they head south, they will have to go as far as Fennel to pass the southern point. And if they did that, it would put them on serious ground, well within the midst of the King’s Command. If they try to go north…”

“Marcin’s Pass,” Kile added.

“You know of this place,” Jax grinned.

“That’s the way I first came to Denal,” She replied.

Marcin’s Pass was a natural bridge which spanned a river some distance below it. The bridge was strong enough to support the armies to pass, but it was too narrow. The Uhyre could only walk two abreast.

“So, that’s why the outpost is here, to protect the western border of Callor, but from what?” Kile asked. It was common knowledge, the Denal province was never known for its military might.

“Moran was placed long before Denal was settled,” Jax explained. “This outpost was established during the Mudd Wars. At one time, this was all wild land, still is, if you ask me.”

“So what do we do know, sir?” Tullner asked. “Do we just… wait?”

“Nothing we can do. Not unless you wish to go down there and tell them they’re not welcome,” Jax laughed.

Tullner looked a little green as he stared down at the sea of valrik. He was a simple farm boy. Sieges and battles were not his thing. Captain Jax, on the other hand, was a seasoned veteran who had seen more than his share of conflicts.

“Don’t think too much about it, son,” Jax said, placing his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “It won’t be long before they get a message to Callor, one way or another, and then the time we have now won’t seem very long at all.”

“Then we should probably start preparing, while we still have time,” Kile said.

“What did you have in mind?” Jax asked.

“For starters, we should move as much of the food and supplies to the kastelya while we have the time, as well as all civilians. We’ll have a better chance of protecting them there. While we still have the rain, we should fill as many barrels with water as we can, and have them placed in easily accessible areas, especially around the warehouses and stables. The men should be in full gear at all times and we should double the guard on the walls at night. I wouldn’t put it past the valrik to try a bit of sabotage, if they could pull it off. But first, I’m going to find something to eat.”

“It seems you’re an old hand at this,” Jax laughed “I’ll have it seen to… Commander.” He said, giving her a mock salute, before heading down the allure and barking out orders to his men. His calm demeanor worried her. There were only two types of people, whom she could think of, who would be so calm in a situation such as this. Those who have already accepted death, and, of course, the insane. Which of these was Captain Jax, she wondered.

She headed back down the stairs with Tullner close behind. It was hard to believe that a dreadfully boring book, she read over the summer at the Academy entitled siege tactics, would actually come in handy. She could only image what Master Adams would say. That is, if she ever gets a chance to tell him.

Tullner was abnormally quiet when they descended the stairs to the main bailey. Seeing the enemy so close, affected the young soldier. As far as Kile knew, he never saw any real action, aside from a quick battle with a few gulrik and the ambush at the crags. Neither one of which he fared very well. Now he was perched on the edge of a battle which did look too promising.

“The mess hall is on the far side, near the east gatehouse.” He said, breaking his silence.

“Then I’ll treat you to a cup of tea, to settle your nerves,” she replied.

“I could do with something stronger.”

“We’ll see what they have.”

The mainway passed underneath the kastelya, through a long dark tunnel, although it wasn’t that long and it wasn’t that dark. Lamp posts, lining the road on either side, provided a light in the gloom of a damp afternoon. The rain didn’t fall on the streets here, but it did run down the sides into the storm drains creating two fast moving streams. The sides of the tunnel were marked with closed doors and bordered windows, signs of storefronts long abandoned, most likely due to the war.

When they reached the far end of the tunnel, and stepped back out into the rain, they were met by a hub of activity. Doors were open, lights were lit, and laugher was spilling out into the rain soaked streets. It was as if she had stepped into another world, one the war hadn’t touched yet. Did they know what was just beyond the western gate, she wondered.

“Perha Squad is held up here, waiting for orders,” Tullner said, heading toward a large, two-story, wooden building.

Sure enough, she could see the men of Perha Squad sitting around two of the large tables. They appeared to have recovered from their ordeal of the last few days, as they were laughing, drinking and eating. They were also not the only ones having a good time. There were soldiers of Moran, as well as quite a few civilians, enjoying themselves.

When Kile entered, Sandson jumped to his feet and stood at attention. The rest of the squad quickly followed suit. At first, she thought someone entered behind her, and she even turned around to look, but there was no one there. They were standing at attention for her, which had the effect of making her feel very uncomfortable.

“What’s going on here, Tullner?” she asked.

“They’re waiting for your command, ma’am,” he replied.

Command? What command? She didn’t know any commands.

“At ease,” she finally said, hoping it sounded more forceful than it did in her head. It was the only command she could remember from her time at the Academy, and she was grateful to see it actually worked. The men seemed a little more relaxed, although they were still standing.

“Make them sit down,” she whispered to Tullner. She was not amused to see the young soldier grin.

“Stand down,” Tullner commanded in a voice which had a bit more authority. The men returned to their seats, although, they were still waiting for her to say something.

“So, what’s the word Commander?” Sandson asked, turning toward her. “Are we prisoners, or what?”