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Authors: Brian Lumley

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BOOK: Spawn of the Winds
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Speaking for myself, I would prefer to hold back when the battle starts, let the Children of the Winds come to me and make them fight on my terms, but my generals tell me that to do so would be to severely demoralize the warriors of the plateau. To many of the young braves this seems their golden opportunity to distinguish themselves in bloody battle. I daren't deny them that which is their right according to the plateau's ancient codes and customs. That's why. before Ithaqua returned, I had the snow-ships out exercising and maneuvering all about the foot of the plateau, while Armandra sent fair winds to fill their sails.
Thus, when the time comes, they will go out to attack the wolf-warriors and their battle-sledges. At the same time, foot soldiers and mounted bears will protect the tunnel entrances and keeps, while the fortified positions will be manned by strong but older men who are past their prime. Then, if things go badly, survivors of the fighting will fall back with the wounded and take over the plateau's defensive positions. They will be replaced in the field of battle by reserves, while the wounded will be passed back along the tunnels to first-aid and hospital centers. The crews of the snow-ships will simply have to fend for themselves if their vessels are wrecked, getting back to the safety of the plateau as best they can.
But I need not go on. All of this is prearranged. The plan in its entirety is complicated and would be meaningless to you, Juanita, unless
you knew the plateau as I now know it; which is why I have only given you the basic outline. Now we wait.
Jimmy has just been to see me, excited about a device he's had built and positioned in the mouth of a small cave fifty feet above ground level. It's a powerful catapult on a swiveling base. He and Tracy have been practicing with pebbles and they can now accurately land a stone—a
star
-stone when the time comes—almost anywhere inside a two hundred-and-fifty-yard radius. Jimmy will aim and release the “shells,” Tracy will load for him. Now she's gone off yet again to the forbidden tunnel to replenish her stock of stones.
Meanwhile, I've managed to convince Armandra that she must stay out of the fight. She promises not to join the battle unless Ithaqua himself takes a strong hand. I can't really picture him trying to do that once he sees what we have waiting for his wolf-warriors. Of course, there was a condition to Armandra's agreement to stay out of things; I have to keep out of it too, despite the fact that I've a personal score to settle with Northan. It was the only way I could make Armandra see sense.
So here I am right now where I've positioned myself in an observation cave a third of the way up the face of the plateau, surrounded by a gang of runners who will take my commands below to the fighting men once the battle begins. It's a pretty basic system of communication, but the best I can do.
And that's our present position. Jimmy and his catapult, along with a couple of runners and assistants of his own, are below me on the face of the plateau and about one hundred yards to my right, where Tracy should soon be joining them. Whitey should be up on the roof, still desperately trying to get a peek into the future and keeping a keen eye on the now very much increased activity out across the white waste. Armandra is high above in her rooms, no doubt still nervously fretting. The warriors and their bears are resting up in temporary quarters and barracks down below, and the crews of the snow-ships are ready to man their vessels at a moment's notice, though I can't see them doing a great deal if Ithaqua decides to blow in the wrong direction. That's the trouble with this situation; nothing is certain, everything is a big
if
—everything except the one really definite fact that Ithaqua
will
send the Children of the Winds against us.
Now I'm going to stop sending, Juanita. There are a few last details
I have to see to. I'll contact you again when I can, or when there's something to report.
 
NOTE: Following this last telepathic transmission from Hank Silberhutte, which ended at 10 a.m., June 5, nothing further was heard from him until 2 p.m. the next day. Then, from across unknown gulfs of space and time, Juanita Alvarez again began to receive his thoughts. The following, final recordings, forming as they do the last part of this document, were commenced at that time.
The Assault Begins
(Recorded through the Medium of Juanita Alvarez)
 
Whitey is dead
, crushed and destroyed as if he had never been,
removed
as he gave all he had, his very life, to save Armandra from her dreadful father and the alien star-voids he eternally wanders. Armandra is hurt, perhaps crippled, I don't know yet. The physicians are with her now.
Tracy and Jimmy are safe, and I'm thankful for that, but Paul White … poor Whitey. No wonder he could see no more tomorrows, no futures; for him there was no future.
This last day has been completely hideous! Even now that it's all over, my nerves jump and my scalp prickles at the very thought of it. I can still hear the screams of dying men and beasts, the shrill whistling of Ithaqua's man-carrying kites as they soared down upon the plateau out of raging skies, the blasts of the thunderbolts that turned the plateau's roof to an incredible inferno; and I can still smell the ozone reek of alien energies, the stench of living fear, the sordid stink of death. But let me tell you Ithaqua did not have it all his own way. And for all the plateau's losses the Wind-Walker strides by no means triumphant in Borea's skies this day. He licks an awful wound, and his warriors are scattered far and wide.
But I can't get Whitey out of my mind, poor Whitey, who will have no grave for there is nothing to bury. But, by God!—we shall raise to him a memorial where he died, a tower of stone on the very roof of the plateau, to overlook this whole demon-damned world forever.
And I'm sorry, Juanita; as yet you know nothing of all this, and here I rave like a man demented. Well, perhaps you will understand when I am finished.
It started within an hour of my last contact with you …
One minute the strangely hummocked white expanse, with all its frozen loot of the Motherworld of men, seemed empty of life, except about the totem ring and its central altar, where tents and shelters had been set up to house the army that Northan had gathered and disciplined for the Wind-Walker. The next moment the whole plain turned black! Shedding the white furs which until then had kept them hidden, the massed might of the Children of the Winds was repeated.
To think that a few moments earlier I had been wondering where all of Ithaqua's warriors had gone! Having watched them gathering for days, from far and wide, I had noticed that paradoxically there never seemed to be more than a few thousand of them visible at any one time. Now at last they showed themselves. Ten ranks deep, only a shoulder's width between them, forming a straight line that stretched for at least five miles across the wastes, I calculated that they numbered close to two hundred thousand. And these were only the foot soldiers!
Behind them, three deep and stretching in a line all of two miles long, in the next moment appeared the wolf-warriors. They too threw down their robes to reveal their great numbers, a move calculated to unnerve us. And certainly Ithaqua's army was an unnerving sight. Oh, the Wind-Walker was not playing games this time, neither him nor his new warlord, Northan.
Northan! My lips drew back from my teeth involuntarily as I thought of the treacherous hound, and almost as if I had once more thrown a challenge in his face, so the sails of the plateau's once-flagship filled out as it slipped anchor near the pyramid altar. My nails bit into the metal of my binoculars as I focused them on the ship of Northan, though at that distance the figures crowding her decks were tinier than ants and I could never have said for certain which one was he.
The ship rode out to the forefront of the army, gathering speed as it took up a central position, and now the army itself began to move, forming an arrowhead behind the ship. I could see the wolf-warriors spurring their huge mounts to advance through the ranks of the foot soldiers. As the wolves came, so the men on foot jumped up to cling to their great sides and be carried forward.
Bringing up the rear came great battle-sledges hauled by teams of lesser wolves, and these picked up the remaining foot soldiers. I kept my binoculars upon these battle-sledges and after a few seconds managed to obtain a better view of them. They were mounted with stout, pointed battering-rams.
Finally, behind all the others, Ithaqua's priests rode in their own sledges. Forming a backdrop to that awesome army of men and beasts, the Wind-Walker himself stood atop his frozen altar with massive arms folded and terrible eyes hooded as in deep, dark thoughts.
I put down my binoculars. The V-shaped formation could mean only one thing: a direct assault upon the plateau, concentrated upon a narrow front. And the battering-rams told me that the attack must come at the gates of the snowship keeps, which were all positioned along an uneven half-mile of the plateau's front.
Once through those heavy gates the wolf-warriors might well manage to breach one or more of the larger tunnels that led directly into the plateau's bowels, doubly fortified as they now were. I was sure that this was what Northan intended to do, and so issued my first orders. All of the runners were fluent in English, and no sooner had the first of my messengers darted away down the steep flights of stone steps with my instructions than the next was there, eager to receive my next command. I told all of them to sit down and try to relax; orders would be issued as they were required.
That was when Charlie Tacomah entered from one of the two horizontal shafts that led back into the plateau. I appreciated his company and repeated for his benefit the orders I had given a few seconds earlier. He borrowed my binoculars, studied the advancing army and nodded.
“I think I would have done the same thing,” he said. “It's a pity we had no time to build sufficient of our swinging weapons to completely block off the larger tunnels that enter from the keeps. They form our weakest points. Yes, I too would have sent more men there.” He paused, and at length added, “And what of our elite corps?”
“The snow-ships? I want to hold them back until Northan and his army are closer, then release them all at once. As I see it, Ithaqua is filling the sails of Northan's ship with just sufficient wind to blow him to the plateau along with the rest of the army. From here we are looking at them down a very slight slope, and in that we have an advantage. If we keep the snow-ships back until the last moment, then get
Armandra to give them a push, they ought at least to be able to punch a couple of holes through that V-formation. After that—” I shook my head, frowning. “If I had my way I wouldn't let them sail at all. Not only does it mean bringing Armandra into it, albeit indirectly, and not in any real sort of confrontation with the Wind-Walker—but I'm sure that it will be certain death for many of the lads who man the snowships.”
“They would not thank you for holding them back, Hank.”
“And will I thank myself for sending them out to die?”
“That has always been the lot of generals, and of warlords.”
I nodded grimly, then took the binoculars back and put them to my eyes once more. Now Northan's army was a quarter of the way to the plateau, and already one or two stragglers could be seen stretching out to the rear. Northan's ship still rode slightly to the fore, and that must be the traitor himself in the prow, surrounded by his lieutenants. There were wolves aboard that ship too, massive white beasts that strained at their chains. An idea—a suspicion—came to me.
“Do you think it's possible,” I asked, “that Northan intends to crash one of the gates with his ship, then release those great wolves to ravage along the tunnels? There are about three dozen of the beasts aboard, but I can see damn few handlers.”
“Wolves? Without handlers?” He took back the binoculars and a moment later said, “You could well be right. They will be lean and hungry animals, those wolves.”
I turned to one of my runners. “Go tell the crews of the snowships to be ready. The keep gates are to be opened. All are then to wait for new orders.”
As the runner hurried off I turned again to Charlie. “It seems we'll have to deal with the ship of Northan first,” I said. “But just in case he should manage to break into one of the keeps with those wolves of his—” I clapped the next boy in line on the shoulder. “Go to Kota'na. I want twenty of his biggest, most powerful bears positioned in each of the keeps. The rest of them he is to use to their best advantage as soon as the fighting starts.”
Now Ithaqua's army had covered more than half the distance to the plateau and the tension was rapidly heightening. I began to pace the floor, then forced myself to sit down when I noticed the eyes of my runners upon me. Charlie opened his mouth to say something, and at that precise moment there came a swelling cry from the central snowship
keep somewhere below and to the left of my position, a cry that was echoed almost immediately from the flanking keeps.
“Sil-ber-
hut
-
te!
Sil-ber-
hut
-
te!
”
Obviously the runner had passed on my message to the men of the snow-ships, and now they signaled their whole-hearted approval. Something swelled up inside me as once more, in unison, the men of the snow-ships roared out their new battle cry. “Sil-ber-
hut-te!
Sil-ber-
hut-te!
”
The swelling thing inside me burst in a flood of resolution. I stood up and said to my Indian friend, “You keep the binoculars, Charlie. You'll need them if you're to command the battle. Those men out there are calling my name. They're not going to fight without me.”
“
No!
” came Armandra's almost hysterical, mental denial in my head.
“You shall not, for if you do—then I swear I will walk out now on the winds to fight my father. Aye, even knowing that he will snatch me up and take me away with him to alien worlds. Without you, man of the Motherworld, there would be nothing for me here on Borea. Do you hear me, Hank? You shall not give your life away!”
“But they call my name, and—”
“They draw upon your name for its strength. They invoke your passions, your power. Why should you go out to fight, Hank, when every man of the plateau will fight with your great strength and fervor? They know you are worthy of them, now let them prove that they are worthy of you. And remember, husband, we made a bargain. If you fight, then so do I.”
“They are closer, Hank.” Charlie's voice snatched me back to the task at hand. “What are you going to do?”
Still torn two ways but realizing there was nothing I could do about it, I said, “Armandra leaves me no choice. I can't let her do battle with her father, so I must stay here and command from this position of safety. You stay with me, Charlie. Two heads are better than one.”
Out on the plain, less than two miles now from the foot of the plateau, the wolf-warrior army swept toward us, its arrowhead formation slightly less pronounced. Northan had lined up his vessel on the central snow-ship keep. I slapped my next runner on his back. “Go tell the crews of the snowships to move out and position their craft along the front of the plateau.” I took up my pistol. There was one bullet left in its magazine. “When they hear a loud report from this cave, they'll
go straight out and cut through the advancing wolf-warriors. The two central ships will engage Northan's vessel and try to wreck it.”
“
Armandra
,” I continued telepathically, “
we will need a wind
…”
“You shall have one. With luck it will take my father by surprise.”
“This is it, Hank.” Charlie said breathlessly. “Only a few seconds now.”
He had the binoculars to his eyes. “You were right about those wolves on Northan's ship. They are huge, lean, ferocious animals. They look half-wild, barely trained and certainly starved.”
I spoke to yet another runner. “Every man of the plateau should now be in position. I want the swinging weapons set in motion and the keep gates closed as soon as the ships are out. More of our bears are to be stationed just within the gates.”
As he raced away down one of the steep shafts I stepped over to the lip of the cave and looked down to where the snow-ships would soon be lining up. After only a minute or so they began to appear from the keeps, dragged by teams of men and bears. There were eleven of them, and as they lined up the eyes of all crew members turned up to me.
Now Northan's army was little more than a half-mile away and gaining speed. The sails of the traitor's ship belled out in front, drawing the vessel straight for the gates of the central keep. The rumble of that army swept up to me as I turned to look at Charlie Tacomah. I nodded my head and he grimly nodded back. Then I pointed my weapon out over the white wastes and pulled the trigger for the last time. I said to the Woman of the Winds, “
Now we need that wind, Armandra
.”
“
You have it
,” she answered.
Flurries of ice particles swirled up all around the snowships and their great sails filled. They lurched forward, masts straining as the force of the wind Armandra had sent rapidly increased. And once more that massed cry came up to me as if from one vast throat: “Sil-ber-
hut-te!
Sil-ber-
hut-te!
”
BOOK: Spawn of the Winds
6.93Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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