Firemoon (19 page)

“No,” Jormundur said.

“Exactly. But you can expect demons. They have typically been the strongest and most common weapon of the Brotherhood of the Pit. I will do my best when they come, but as I said, I cannot battle an army, let alone an army AND demons. Your men will have to do their part.”

“We may not be,” he pointed at her, “Redcloaks. But we are not children in need of hand-holding. I have trained my men well and we mean to defend our homes.”

Katja had evidently poked his pride.

She stepped a bit closer to him. This seemed to be going well and she felt able to afford him seeing her face. She also needed to make it clear just how serious she was.

“I realize that. However, your force is preparing to fight men. But when a monster from the depths of the underworld takes on physical form, when nightmares and madness step into reality, people’s courage tends to falter. Especially if it happens unexpectedly. Demons are terrible foes, but they can be defeated. You will have to prepare Pine City’s defenders for what is to come, or else I am almost certain that the initial reaction will be panic and retreat from the wall, and then this struggle will be all but lost.”

Again the man was briefly silent, but reached some decision, got over some threshold, and then nodded firmly. Katja guessed he was accepting how serious the threat was and how different from what he was accustomed to.

“That is rational. One must know what one is dealing with.”

He crossed his arms.

“Therefore you will have to educate me on sorcery.”

The uncertainty and fear had vanished from his demeanour, leaving behind a leader.

“We do not have the time for thorough lectures, but I can tell you that sorcery is strongest around midnight. So I suspect they will only launch night attacks. And the next one will be tonight. I feel it in the air. You should order all your forces to the wall.”

Jormundur looked to the west.

“You feel it, you say?”

“I sense battle and evil forces in the very near future,” she said.

“What else can you tell me?” he asked and turned back to her. “How does one fight such things?”

“With steadfastness and a strong mind,” she said. “And a strong arm, of course. But fear is our enemy’s greatest weapon. As for demons, arrows, spears and clubs are ineffective against them. They normally do not share our need for organs, and must be cut apart with a sword or an axe.”

“Spears are important for repelling attacks on the wall,” Jormundur said. “But rearranging the lines to include slashing weapons shouldn’t be too difficult. Was there anything else?”

“I am afraid that talismans will be of little use,” she said. “Such things are almost always mere superstition. But in general we must simply be ready and see what they throw at us.”

“Very well,” the captain said and extended his hand. “Then we will work together to save Pine City, Anna.”

“We shall,” Katja said, shaking his hand.

“So... you have joined the militia?” he asked, and headed off to the west. Katja walked with him and pushed her hood back She then took a red scarf Linda had given her from her belt and wrapped it around the lower half of her face, before putting the hood back on.

“Yes, with a bow.”

“The problem with the archers is that they will be shot at in turn, and I would hate to lose the one person who can advice me in all this.” He looked at her. “I want you close to me.”

“I will have to be close to the fighting if I am to counteract sorcery,” she replied.

“And I need to be close to the fighting to have a clear picture of it. Don’t worry.”

Katja thought as they walked along an empty street. She was reluctant to drop her plan to be in the front line. Her responsibility in all this was to counter the Brotherhood. But the man did have a point and she would probably sense supernatural dangers in time to run up onto the walkway.

She hesitated before replying.

“I can assign a runner boy to bring messages between us, if you must move from my side,” he said to win her over.

“All right,” she said reluctantly. Perhaps she would be most useful as this man’s advisor, but her blood called for action.

Well, I will probably have it, no matter what anyone says.

They met five soldiers Jormundur had clearly left within shouting distance. He pointed at two of them before anyone could speak.

“Rouse all our forces. We are expecting a night-time attack. The rest of you follow me.”

The two men acknowledged the order and hurried off, and the others followed their captain. Katja walked by his side and so didn’t see their faces, but detected curiosity about herself.

She just did her best to be casual, and looked straight ahead as they walked out onto a busier street and Jorundur issued further orders. She saw no few glances her way, and their group grew larger as they approached the inner gate.

Lights burned there as always and Katja looked down, so the hood would hide her face even more as they passed the guards.

The outer city received them with its darkness, open spaces and imminent violence. Jormundur issued orders and men began running to the houses the army made use of, and bringing people outside. Behind them the city awoke with a start as bells were rung and the militia was summoned. Jormundur took up position on the same spot he’d used the evening before and began receiving reports.

Katja could lean up against a pillar and be inconspicuous as people flocked to the wall and formed a forest of spear tips above their heads.

I better not be mistaken
, she thought somewhat dryly.

But she was not mistaken. Those on the plain were definitely up to something, and just as before she sensed that nothing would prevent it. The next assault was set in stone. Only the outcome was uncertain.

The tempo of Jormundur’s orders began to slow as his lieutenants got a clearer picture of what he expected. The man called over one of the runner boys. The two of them walked up to Katja and she shook free of the light haze she had fallen into.

“This is Omar, and he has quick feet and a brave heart.”

Jormundur patted him companionably on the shoulder, perhaps to shore up his courage.

“Omar, this is Anna and she is aiding me. If we become separated you are to run between us with messages.”

Jormundur turned his attention to his forces and Katja looked Omar over. He was perhaps ten years old, thin and long-legged, with wild blond hair and a round face.

“Greetings,” she said. “I will probably need to go to the wall, just so you know. But it is important that you keep me in contact with the captain.”

“Yes,” Omar replied, and nodded. He carried himself pretty well, Katja thought, but he was still a child in a war zone and she didn’t need to peer closely to see that he was afraid.

Such is war, I suppose
, she thought and dearly hoped nothing would happen to him.

Omar looked her over carefully. Katja was far from being the only armed woman here, and he seemed to be searching for something. Perhaps he was trying to figure out just what was going on here.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am a wanderer who decided to provide a little assistance,” she replied. She let that suffice, and the boy seemed content to sit quietly off by himself until needed.

The archers had been lined up, close combat squads waited both on the wall and beneath it, teams stood by the catapults and fires had been lit beneath the cauldrons that would give the northerners a warm welcome. Pine City was ready for war. Jormundur had a small platform dragged over and used it to address the gathered force.

He was not the speaker the late chancellor had been, but did talk with confidence and was clearly accustomed to using his voice. He spoke about how Pine City was no longer clashing with the greed of kings but with unclean magic, foul means unworthy of real people. He spoke about everyone needing to steel their minds against the supernatural, as the ancient warriors of Jukiala. The old times were making themselves known again, but now just as then the bravery and steel of mortal men would repel forces that had no business in their world. He brought up stories of the old clashes and emphasised that mankind had always triumphed.

Eventually
, Katja thought.
Through great sacrifices. And the fight is ongoing.

She looked around. Though a lot of fires had been lit she couldn’t make out a lot of faces, and didn’t quite know what to think of the people’s resolve. She looked at Omar and the boy was clearly upset. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly, and looked him in the eyes and smiled before remembering that she had a scarf over her mouth. She settled for squeezing again.

“He is right about all of those things,” she said.

Jormundur finished his speech by emphasising his faith in his people’s courage and reminding every person that they were a link in a chain that defended the city.

The soldiers concurred with the captain by shouting “Hear! Hear!” after he stopped, and the militia joined them after the first shouts.

Katja felt that the time had almost come. The invading army had finished all of its preparations, and now nothing would delay the attack. Now the battle for Pine City would begin in earnest.

“They are coming,” she whispered behind Jormundur.

He and two lieutenants looked over their shoulders. Katja didn’t know whether he had told them anything about her, but their faces registered some confusion.

The captain looked at her in silence for a moment. She stared back and nodded slightly.

He looked away, hesitated, then gave a signal.

“Jars!”

Three of the catapults were loaded with large jars filled with tar, which were then lit and launched out onto the plain.

Katja fixed her eyes on those manning the wall and envied them the view. Having to rely on the reactions and information of others rather than seeing for herself what the flames illuminated annoyed her, but she did not have to wait long.

“Soldiers!” an officer shouted.

Jormundur gave a signal, allowing a man on the walkway to command the archers.

“All catapults! Jars!”

Jormundur was immediately obeyed and lookouts on the wall instructed the catapult crews on how tightly to wind the weapons.

The officer on the wall, whom Katja decided to call the Blue Ribbon, gave the archers an order and the first volley flew out into the night with an eerie whine. A boy came running and brought the captain a brief report from the wall before sprinting back. The catapults launched their deadly cargo, which would hopefully hit something but were primarily meant to illuminate the enemies.

The men began rewinding the catapults with quick, practised motions, another volley vanished into the darkness, and Katja stood still and did nothing.

Every single nerve and vein burned with life and called for battle, and having to deny this basic need of hers was incredibly frustrating. In a way she felt betrayed by circumstances, and for a moment considered just charging up onto the wall.

This is not about you
, Katja thought in Serdra’s voice.
You have a job to do. Show some maturity.

She contained herself.

Another boy came running and reported that it was the ghost battalion, with ladders.

“They are just shields,” one of Jormundur’s lieutenants said. “The real soldiers are behind them.”

“So I’m told,” the captain replied.

The archers up on the wall stopped shooting upwards and now aimed down. Katja heard the screams of the invaders, and they now began to retaliate with their own volleys. Arrows hit the battlements, flew over it and into the city, and a few hit. The men who had stood at the ready with stretchers reacted and ran to the wounded to get them away from the wall. Boulders began to arc over the wall, launched by small catapults meant for men rather than walls. And always in Katja’s mind sounded the warning that something demonic would make itself felt soon.

What are you up to, you sorcerous slime?

Large ladders with hooks on the end were laid up against the wall in spite of a thick hail of arrows.

Men began to drop rocks down onto the invaders, and then boiling water was poured out of the cauldrons. It went into purpose-built channels and spewed out of pipes on the outside of the wall.

The northerners continued shooting, and Katja couldn’t help but feel a certain respect. Their losses had to be considerable already.

The first ones began to come up the ladders now that the water was used up, and Katja caught glimpses of men engaged in short but ferocious battles with defenders who greeted them with spears and swords.

Katja fidgeted in her boots and waited for something she could throw herself into.

She saw Blue Ribbon send one of the boys back down. Nothing could be heard over the noise, but their body language made it clear something important was going on.

“Towers!” the boy said as he ran up to Jormundur. “Three siege towers are coming! Painted to be almost invisible in the darkness!”