This Battle Lord's Quest (24 page)

She scrambled for the oars, digging them into the
water to begin rowing with quick, nervous strokes. Mastin tried to turn around,
nearly upsetting the narrow wooden boat.

“What?”

“They’re attacking!” she yelled, motioning behind
him with her chin as she plowed the lake, hurrying to reach the shore. “The
Hassee! They’re attacking the stores!”

Mastin could only watch helplessly as twenty or
more riders on horseback enveloped the row of buildings near the village.
Screaming at the top of their lungs, the men brandishing swords began cutting
down the villagers without mercy.

Chapter
Thirty-Four

Lilacs

Fortune sensed someone was watching him as he
cleaned the squirrels he’d killed for their meal. Pausing, he straightened up
and glanced around the small clearing, but he couldn’t spot who or where the
person was. The barracks were a short distance away, if he chose to make a
break for it. Instead, he smiled. So far, none of the warriors from this tribe
showed any sort of agility in sneaking up on an enemy. Which left only one
other possibility.

“Atty, I know you’re there. Come on out.”

The woman rose from the brush and stepped inside
the area where he was working. She glanced down at the squirrels and nodded.
“Nice haul. You might want to save those skins.”

“I was thinking of giving them to Dahyan.” He went
back to gutting the animals while Atty watched. After another moment or two, he
casually asked, “Were you wanting to see me for anything?”

“You’re a Mutah?
 
Like me?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you known me long?”

“I was your father’s best friend before he
disappeared.”

“From Alta Novis? No, wait.” She paused and looked
off into the distance. Fortune noticed the faraway expression and waited for
her to refocus. When she did, there was clarity in her eyes. “Tory. Wallis.”

“Yes. Tory’s my wife. We’re all from Wallis,
including you.”

“Wallis is a Mutah compound,” she stated.

He nodded and pretended to be absorbed in his work.
Atty moved closer.

“I can trust you.”

“Yes, you can.”

“But it wasn’t always that way.”

He briefly hung his head. “You’re correct. It
wasn’t always that way, but I came around.” He looked at her again, eyeing the
splint. “How’s your arm?”

She studied it for a second. “I think I’m almost
healed. It hasn’t hurt me in a while. I’m glad I don’t have to wear the sling
anymore. Damn thing was a hassle. I’ll be glad when I can take these splints
off. My arm itches like crazy.” As if saying it made it true, she stuck a
finger between the wrapping and scratched.

“How about your head? Any pain there?”

“Not really.” She frowned slightly. “It’s
frustrating, Fortune. Your name’s Fortune, right?”

He nodded. “What’s frustrating? Your lack of
memory?”

“Yeah. That’s why I came to talk to you. About
Yulen.”

He paused and turned to give her his full
attention. “What do you want to know?”

“Do we love each other?”

“More than any two people I’ve ever known,” he
answered gently.

She seemed relieved by his admission. Crossing her
arms over her chest as best she could, she appeared to be deep in thought
again. “Then why can’t I remember loving him?”

He saw a single tear drop start to roll down one
cheek, and he fought the urge to go over and hug her, like he would have done
in days past. Silently, Fortune cursed the fact that she had only partial
memory of him. It left him uncertain about what he could and couldn’t do, and
what he could say or couldn’t say. Yulen had said they shouldn’t force her.
But, damn it, how could he know what was considered being forceful?

“Don’t worry, Atty. It’s coming back to you a
little at a time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll all return eventually.”

“But I want to know now.”

Fortune smiled to himself. When she hunted, she
could wait out a bear in hibernation. But when it came to her personal life,
she couldn’t give anything a minimum of five minutes wait time.

“Do you feel anything for the Battle Lord?”

Atty walked around the small clearing, toward the
trail that led back to the barracks. Immediately, Fortune felt a jolt go
through his body. She was upwind from him, and a tiny puff of wind carried her
scent his way.

He knew that smell, like fresh lilacs. All Mutah
men knew that wonderful, happy smell, except for the man who caused his woman
to smell that way. Only to him, she would smell differently. For him, it would
be a primitive, almost animalistic scent that would affect him in the most
carnal way. It was the call of lust. Fortune wondered if Yulen knew. For that
matter, did Atty? The implication was monumental.

“Listen.” He waited for her to look him in the eye.
“You said the memories were slowly coming back, right? But Atty, love isn’t
just a memory. It’s the way you feel. It’s the way your body reacts. It’s the
way you look at things, and the way people react to you. Atty, the memories
you’re seeing, are they of loving times?”

“Some of them, yeah.”

“Have you talked to Yulen since we’ve arrived?”

“A little while ago. Over by the falls.”

“And?”

“I...I...” Her face reddened, and she shuddered
slightly. “I saw those scars on his back, and I remembered how he got them.”
Her voice was softer, sadder. “I remembered taking him to West Crestin. I
remembered yelling at him. Fighting him. Screaming at him to live because...I
couldn’t...” She took a shaky breath, and another tear glistened on her cheek.
“I couldn’t bear to go on living if he wasn’t with me.”

“If that’s not love, Atty, what is?”

A shout in the distance suddenly got their
attention. He and Atty paused, straining to hear if there was a reason for
alarm, when a high, piercing
kiyiyiyiyiyiiiii!
rent the air.

He dropped the squirrels, and they both dashed for
the village as Fortune pulled the first two knives from their sheathes.

The enemy had returned. It was time to make good on
Yulen’s pledge.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

Attack

The air resounded with screams. As they drew closer
to the conflict, they heard the squeal of horses, the clash of metal upon
metal, and cries of the wounded or dying.

Atty reached the open grassland before Fortune, her
Ballock in her good hand. She skidded to a stop just long enough to get a good
look at the situation, then plunged into the fight between a Hassee on
horseback and a warrior trying to pull him from the saddle. The warrior had
lost his weapon, and was trying to dodge the enemy’s sword as the horse pivoted
around in circles. The moment she saw an opening, she lunged at the Hassee’s
other side and dug the dagger into the man’s calf. The Hasseen shrieked and
turn to bring his sword down on her. Atty deftly pulled out her dagger and
stepped away just as the sword came down. By diverting the enemy’s attention to
herself, the Lanta warrior managed to get both hands on the man’s wolverine
costume and jerk him off the horse. The enemy yelped. The sword flew out of his
hands. Quickly, Atty transferred the dagger to her other hand and snatched up
the sword, leaving the Lanta to finish the enemy.

Not far away, Droo attempted to keep another man at
bay with his spear. So far he was managing to fight off the man’s attempts to
hack him apart with a sword, but she could see he was quickly losing ground.
Circling around behind the enemy, she waited for an opening. The second it came,
she hurled her dagger, and the blade sliced through the man’s ear. The body
tumbled sideways, and for the first time she realized there was something
unusual about it.

This enemy wore no headdress or body paint.
Instead, the man’s head was shaved completely bald, and there were golden
earrings piercing the entire rim of his ear. The body wore more golden
ornaments. She glimpsed a chain necklace and several bracelets and cuffs before
looking up at Droo in questioning surprise.

“He’s not Hassee?”

Droo trotted over and gave her good arm a squeeze
of thanks. “He’s Orlins,” he answered as he tried to catch his breath.

“Two tribes are attacking?”

“Yeah.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

Droo shook his head. “No, and it doesn’t bode well
for us. Orlins don’t have horses. They’re a water tribe.”

“Which means they’ve combined forces,” she grimly
realized.

He caught sight of something over her shoulder, and
dashed away to face his next foe. Atty stared out at the confusion. The heart
of the battle appeared to be at the storehouses. Again. She suddenly caught
sight of Fortune running toward the mass. In the next instant, a flash of
red-gold caught her eye, and she knew Yulen was also in the thick of it.

She started toward the melee when a man stepped
into her line of sight. He wore the head of a nutria, and his upper body was
awash in dark brown paint. Instead of a sword or lance, he held a longbow, and
the arrow was pointed directly at her. Without thinking, she abruptly stopped,
and the arrow sang past her, missing her by a good inch. A figure rose up
behind the Hassee, and the tip of a sword erupted from the center of the man’s
chest. The enemy jerked and fell forward, and Atty saw Mastin pull his weapon
from the body. He grinned at her and waved. She turned to keep running when she
heard him call out to her.

“Atty, wait!”

“I can’t! Yulen needs my help!”

“Atty, Code Green!”

She immediately halted in her tracks and turned to
face him. Code Green was Yulen’s signal to rearm or to reload. She looked down
at her sword and dagger, and wondered why the Second had yelled the command.

Mastin hurried over to her, the enemy’s longbow and
quiver of arrows in one hand. He thrust them at her. “Here. The sword is not
your true weapon. If you want to help Yulen, then use the bow.”

She dropped the sword and reached for the quiver to
sling over her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Trust me,” he promised, and dashed toward the mob.

The dagger went back in its holster at her thigh. Snatching
up the bow, she pulled on the string to test its strength. Her bandaged arm
gave a twinge of pain, letting her know she couldn’t use it to pull the arrow,
but she could use it to hold the bow. With her arm tightly wrapped, the wood
splints would help stabilize it, and prevent any re-injuring if she was
careful.

Drawing an arrow from the pouch at her back, Atty
nocked it, and the brush of the feathered tip against her fingers was like a
caressing welcome from an old friend. She smiled, lifted the bow, and sighted
down the shaft. Several yards away, a Hassee on horseback galloped across the
grassland, his sword raised to attack. Keeping her breath steady, she aimed and
fired without pausing to think. The arrow hit the man in the neck, and he went
over the animal’s side. His foot remained caught in the stirrup, and his body
was dragged for several more yards until the mare finally came to a nervous
halt on its own. Nocking another arrow, Atty took off running toward the
storehouses.

She couldn’t find Yulen, but she did see Dahyan.
The woman was fighting one-on-one with an Orlins. The match appeared even, but
it wouldn’t remain that way for long. The man was a foot taller and several
pounds heavier than the female warrior, and Atty knew Dahyan was far from being
a petite woman. Drawing a bead on the enemy, Atty let fly, and the arrow
pierced the man’s eardrum, as well as two of the gold loops hanging from his
earlobes. Dahyan looked up to see where the arrow had originated, wondering if
it had been intended for her, when she spied Atty pulling another arrow.
Throwing the Mutah a smile, she took off running.

The balance appeared to be tipping in the enemy
tribe’s favor, but the battle wasn’t over. More of them poured out of the
distant forest to join their comrades, and the scene was reminiscent of another
battle from long ago when creatures tried to storm the walls of Alta Novis by
sheer numbers. As she had then, Atty took her time aiming and firing at any of
the enemy who got into her field of vision. Twice, when she downed another
archer, she hurried over to grab the quiver to re-supply herself.

Gradually, she made her way toward the storehouses,
clearing a path for herself as she gained ground. With each arrow, she became
less nervous and more in control. After six more shots, she relaxed further and
let her instincts take over. If she saw it, she aimed for it and fired, and she
always hit it.

Suddenly, to her right, she caught a glimpse of
red-gold hair gleaming in the mid-morning sun. It disappeared around the corner
of one rock building, and she chased after it. Yulen was struggling with a
heavy-set Hassee wearing the head and pelt of a creature she’d never seen
before. They had locked swords hilt to hilt, and now they struggled in silence
as brute strength tried to overcome brute strength, their boots digging in the
dirt as they tried to remain on their feet.

Atty placed two fingers in her mouth, and let go
with a piercing whistle. As she expected, the Hassee froze for a split-second
by the sound. It was enough time for her to plant a barb into the center of the
man’s face. Yulen watched the guy topple backwards like a fallen tree, then
looked over to her. He grinned and started to say something, when his eyes
widened.

“
Duck!
”

Atty threw herself onto the ground. Barely a foot
above her head, the sword cut the air in a semi-circular motion, and warm blood
sprayed across her back. She glanced behind her to see the Orlins fall to the
side, his head nearly decapitated.

Yulen hurried over to her. He was bloody, but Atty
couldn’t discern anything worse than a few scratches on him.

“Are you okay?” they both asked simultaneously.
Atty grinned. In spite of the splatter on his face and clothing, the sight of
him sent her heart racing.

Time temporarily grounded to a halt as their eyes
locked, and she could hear his breathing quicken. Yulen lifted a blood-smeared
hand and carefully tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. She closed her
eyes, savoring his touch, and the sounds of the battle seemed to fade into the distance
as she waited for his kiss, which she knew would follow...because it always
did. It was his way. The way he loved her.

A scream of agony broke the moment. Atty whirled
around in time to see Paas impale a Hassee with her lance and drag the enemy from
his horse. Turning back to Yulen, she stated what she’d seen.

“Two tribes have combined to attack us. I saw more
of them emerging from the forest.”

He glanced overhead, then pointed to the quivers
slung over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow in amusement. “
Three
,
Atty?”

“They were having a sale.”

“Good thing.” Dropping his sword, he grabbed her
around the waist, and heaved her upward. Atty let go of her bow to grasp the
edge of the storehouse roof, and pulled herself onto it. Yulen handed her the
bow and smiled. “Give ‘em hell, my love,” he called to her, and vanished around
the corner of the building.

Getting to her feet, she surveyed the fighting from
her new vantage point. Seeing where she would be the most effective, she took a
stance at northernmost end and started firing. A couple of arrows were loosened
at her, but they were easy to dodge, and zipped harmlessly by.

It may have been minutes later, or an hour later,
when she finally ran out of arrows. But by that time the battle had thinned
considerably. Two riders managed to escape, and she last spotted them
disappearing into the forest in the far distance. Looking around, she finally
located Yulen. The Battle Lord had been joined by Renken. Yulen waved for her
to join them. Getting down off the roof, she jogged over to where several
others had gathered with him, including Mastin, Paas, Droo, Fortune, and
Dahyan.

“That should be the last of them,” the warrior
leader stated as Atty slipped in beside her husband.

“Until next time,” Mastin observed.

“No.” Yulen shook his head. “I seriously don’t
think there’ll be a next time. At least, not this season.”

Dahyan gave the Battle Lord a disbelieving look.
“What makes you so certain?”

It was Fortune who answered. “We fought them in
ways they weren’t expecting. We nearly decimated their forces.”

“You mean Atty nearly decimated them,” Mastin
corrected with a grin.

Paas spoke up. “He’s right, Dahyan. They were
thinking we were ripe for plucking. They never anticipated us having allies
with greater skills with the sword and knife and bow.” On her last word, the
woman gave Atty a grateful smile.

“Droo said the Hassee have never joined forces with
another tribe,” Atty pointed out.

“It’s true,” Paas answered.

“It can only mean both tribes are hungry. They must
have determined that, by combining their armies, they could succeed in robbing
us of our winter stores.” Dahyan wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“But why kill you? Why not just go for the
storehouse and be done with it?” Fortune asked. “If they destroy your tribe, or
reduce the numbers to the point where you’re no longer able to sustain
yourselves, isn’t that defeating their purpose? If there’s not enough of you to
fill the storehouses, they’d have nothing to obtain.”

“They wouldn’t destroy us,” Paas said flatly,
almost too unemotionally. Atty looked up to see her face pale, and her eyes
take on a vengeful hate. When the woman didn’t elaborate, Dahyan continued.

“There are many incidences in our past of women and
children being kidnapped and forced into slavery to do the farming and
cultivating. No, the Hassee would never completely eradicate us. They need us
to do their work, and to grow and gather their food for them.” The warrior
woman stared at Yulen. “If you think the tribes will leave us alone for the
rest of the winter because of this one setback, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“Not if I send troops to help reinforce your
numbers,” the Battle Lord answered.

Dahyan’s eyes widened, and Paas and Droo both
gasped.

“Why would you do that?” Paas asked incredulously.

“Exactly. Why would you make such an offer?” Dahyan
repeated.

Atty saw Yulen’s eyes slide over to her, and the
man nodded in her direction. “Because of the way you’ve treated Atty. Because
of the way you accepted me and my men, and allowed us to become part of your
village, when there are more reasons why you should have tried to kill us
instead of accept us.”

Paas leaned heavily on her long spear. “We consider
ourselves excellent judges of people. We watch and listen with our hearts, as
well as with our minds. If for one second we thought you and your men, or Atty,
could have become a threat to us, we wouldn’t have hesitated that next second
to try and kill you.”

Mastin nodded. “That is the same way we believe.”

Atty glanced from Mastin to Paas, then back to the
Second. She noted the way the two stood together, their bodies barely brushing
against each other. Looking up at Mastin’s face, she noticed he was aware of
her scrutiny, and the man blushed.