Wendigo Wars (21 page)

“There were three quotes in particular which made me start to think about our enemy and how we can gain the advantage over them. Tzu said that in war you should pretend inferiority and encourage your enemy’s arrogance, that you should lie in wait for your enemy and be patient then attack at the right time and that you should be skilful in your attack so that your enemy does not know what to defend.”

Mathilde stopped to breathe, her words having rushed out all in one breath. She noticed that everyone had begun to look more interested and there were more than just a few people nodding now. Jean Louis was grinning hard and had leant back in his chair with his arms folded, taking in the scene. Even Dash had begun to look hopeful again and Mathilde caught his eye and smiled. He returned the smile and Mathilde’s spirits lifted even more to see a glimpse of hope on his face again.

“From what we know of Zhu he is definitely arrogant,” said Seb.

“Yes, that is true,” said Dash, nodding emphatically in one of his rare moments of agreement with Seb.

“Exactly,” said Mathilde. “That and distraction will be two of our main strengths. Our third strength will be the element of indecision. We give him a difficult choice; keep the captives from escaping or attack our army.”

Finally everyone at the table was smiling, nodding or even laughing. Mathilde felt buoyed. She hadn’t even shared her plan and yet they seemed to be on side already.

“So here is what we do,” Mathilde began. “I have looked at many maps of the caves. There is one main entrance in, the entrance that Dash has seen, wide enough for us to walk eight at a time and narrowing at the end where it opens into the main chamber. That is not the only entrance though. There are hundreds of small entrances among the mountains. Some are high and wide enough for people to walk two at a time, some are only big enough for a person to crawl through. There is one entrance through which people can only pass one at a time but it exits only metres away from where Dash says the captives are being held. So our plan is based on exploiting Zhu’s arrogance, distracting him, making him choose how to use his forces and making the best use of the environment we will be fighting in. All tried and tested methods from Sun Tzu’s day onwards.”

Though she was not a great believer in omens Mathilde liked that the name ‘Sun Tzu’ sounded so similar to Zhu. It gave her the extra small bit of confidence that she was meant to have found that book and that it should lead them to victory.

“We will attack on two fronts. While most of us go through the main entrance a small party of five will go through the entrance which leads to the captives. We will attack in the day time when the wendigo’s energy is at its lowest. We will go through the tunnels and come out at the chamber part of the cavern where Zhu, and his second in command Gein, should be. I will talk to Zhu,” Mathilde said, feeling sick with nerves even at the thought of it. Obviously a few others shared her concerns as a few people raised eyebrows at this.

“What will you say?” asked Jean Louis looking curious, but annoyingly not concerned.

“I will discuss his ideas and act as if we have come to negotiate. I will play to his ego and hope to distract him enough to give the other group time to free the captives. Once they have been freed two of the second group will take the weak, young and elderly back out of the second entrance and the other three will make their presence known. Then we will see who the wendigo choose to attack. If they attack the captives and the Protectors with them then we charge from the tunnel. If they attack us then the captives do the same. If they divide to attack both groups... well that gives us our best possible chance. We each hold back in the tunnel and entrance to the captive’s area and so control how many of the wendigo can get to us at any one time.”

“And then?” asked Tobias.

“Then we pray,” said Mathilde, taking a final breath and leaning back in her seat, ready for any questions. Tobias nodded and smiled at her answer. Mathilde was surprised she had even said it. Maybe she did believe in God after all. “We leave tomorrow,” she said.

Chatter broke out again and people started to leave in small groups. Jean Louis gave Mathilde’s arm a proud squeeze as he passed and Fleur gave her a sparkling smile and a wink. Dash was the last to leave and he waited until everyone had gone then gave Mathilde a big hug and a passionate kiss.

“I knew you would think of something to save my Suzanna.”

“Dash...” Mathilde hesitated, wondering whether to say what she was thinking or just enjoy the moment. Her honesty won through. “Dash, Suzanna might not still be alive. You have to be prepared for that.”

A dark look crossed Dash’s face and a shutter seemed to go down behind his eyes, blocking off the glimpse of soul Mathilde had been able to see seconds earlier. He let go of Mathilde and stood back a step.

“She is alive Mathilde. I feel it. I don’t need you trying to make me question my own mind. Tomorrow we will find her and she will be safe and well.”

Dash’s voice sounded cold and harsh. Mathilde wondered if she could really be in love with someone who could shut off so suddenly and whose moods switched constantly.

“I’m sure she will,” said Mathilde, not wanting to get into that argument right now. She cursed herself for ruining the moment and gave as close to a bright smile as she could muster. Dash smiled back.

“Come on, let’s make the most of the rest of the day and spend some time together,” Dash said, putting his arm around Mathilde.

“I can’t,” she said, smiling apologetically at him. “I have everyone’s lives in my hands tomorrow. I need to make sure that everyone knows their part in the plan.”

An irritated look crossed Dash’s face. Mathilde rushed to smooth things over. If she was going to die the next day she didn’t want to do it with an argument hanging in the air.

“For Suzanna... I should be at my best if we hope to save Suzanna.”

Dash’s smile returned. “Yes, for Suzanna. Thank you Mathilde. I will see you this evening at dinner.”

Mathilde smiled and nodded then walked away. Again she wondered how stable Dash was and if he was really interested in her just for the chance of saving his sister. The whole exchange made Mathilde feel a griping, sickness in her stomach and she hurried off to speak to each of the people coming with her the next day in the hope of blocking Dash from her mind for a while.

Chapter Twenty Seven

The group of thirty one men and women stood and stared at the mountain and the black hole that seemed to invite them in. Five of their group had left them almost an hour ago and by now would be arriving at the second entrance. It was now just ten minutes until the agreed time for action; time for the group of thirty one to begin their journey down the tunnel. Mathilde turned to the group and nodded then began to walk. The rest of the group followed her quietly in groups of five and four.

The journey had been shorter than Mathilde had expected. Just a few hours walk from the monastery to the caves and the sun was only just working its way up. Now that they had arrived Mathilde had begun to feel the beginning of nerves tugging at her stomach and throat. She swallowed hard and took a big gulp of air to chase them away, hoping that no-one behind her could see how nervous she was. Turning to look back at the group she caught Dash’s eye and he grinned hard, looking more alive than ever. She smiled back with what she hoped was an air of calm and counted her blessings that Seb was leading the group at the second entrance. He would have seen past her mask of confidence in seconds.

Mathilde took the first step into the cave entrance, torch held high. They had decided to do most of the journey with one torch then extinguish it and guide their way by touch when Dash told them that they were nearing the exit into the chamber. The first steps into the cave took Mathilde onto a steep decline. The group walked in silence for ten minutes and Mathilde’s ankles and back began to ache at the strain of walking at such an angle. As they walked Mathilde saw shadowy sinister paintings on the walls similar to the ones that she had seen second hand in Dash’s memories of the main chamber. All in blacks and grays and mottled with green from the lichen on the walls, there was a menagerie of animals and, at one point, the Grim Reaper – an almost exact copy of the one which Mathilde already knew they would see when they reached the end of the tunnel and saw Zhu’s “throne”.

“Now,” hissed Dash in Mathilde’s ear.

Mathilde gestured to the group to put their left hand on the tunnel wall and waited a few seconds for the message to get to the back of the group then stubbed the torch out on the ground. When she began to walk again she did so more slowly than before but, as no-one bumped into her, she assumed that everyone else had naturally chosen to do the same. Her steps were small and short and they walked in darkness until Mathilde felt a cold draft on her face. She almost panicked, fearing the ice breath of a wendigo was on her, until she smelt the air and realised that the fragrance was not one of blood and rotten meat but a mossy, wet scent. A few steps more and a dim light appeared shining on a wall in front of her. The end of the tunnel was just around the next corner.

Mathilde walked around the corner then reached back and tapped Dash’s hand, hoping that he would remember their plans and pass the tap backwards to alert everyone that they had reached their destination. The plan soon proved to have worked as Mathilde felt her back warm at the presence of five bodies. Moving forwards she walked around the final corner then stopped.

Standing in the mouth of the tunnel Mathilde now stared down into a huge chamber, one hundred feet below them, down a steep slope. It was exactly as she had seen in Dash’s memories. The whole area was a grubby mixture of greens, yellows and grays. Animals decorated the walls with the natural formations of lichen and sediment creating scarily realistic textures on their bodies. At the far end was a second entrance, which Mathilde guessed must be the one which led to the cells of the captives. Next to that entrance was a large, stone throne, behind which was a huge painted representation of the Grim Reaper. Around the room were countless wendigo, all looking agitated and most either moving jerkily around the room or tearing at meat which Mathilde knew must be human. On the throne sat Zhu.

Zhu was exactly as Mathilde had seen through Dash. First and foremost he was definitely more human than wendigo, though there was enough of him which appeared to be wendigo to assert his half breed status. A half cowering man stood behind Zhu. Like Zhu he was a half breed but he looked more like a trapped, nervous animal than a wendigo or a man. Gein, Mathilde assumed. Looking back to Zhu Mathilde could see that, even when sat down, his upper torso and the length of his legs meant that he must be a lot taller than a normal man. He was bony with gray, leathery skin. He snarled at a wendigo who had dragged some meat too close to him and Mathilde saw that he had several rows of thin, sharp wendigo teeth. The people standing directly behind Mathilde pushed forwards slightly to look into the chamber and one person gasped. It was so quiet that Mathilde only just heard it but Zhu’s head whipped up and he stared at them with deep set, ice blue, red rimmed eyes. He stood up slowly and a grin spread across his face.

“Friends, we have company,” he said in a loud, clear voice and a hundred pairs of wendigo eyes shot towards the Protectors. The wendigo snarled and started towards them in terrifying, jittery, running and leaping movements.

“Stop,” Zhu commanded and, to Mathilde’s surprise, the wendigo froze. They looked at Zhu and back at Mathilde, seeming unsure of whether to follow their instincts or Zhu’s command, then one-by-one they made their way back down into the chamber. Zhu looked up and addressed Mathilde.

“A woman...no, a girl and the little prince too. How amusing. I can see you have at least five with you but I sense there are more – I can hear them breathing,” he said. Mathilde hoped that he was referring to the army behind her and not to the group led by Seb which would just be reaching the end of the tunnel leading to the captives. She just had to keep Zhu’s attention for ten minutes to give the more vulnerable captives time to escape.

“So, little woman, what brings you to my home?” Zhu stood up and struck a dramatic pose as he gestured around the chamber as if showing off a palace.

Mathilde cringed at the way he spoke to her but tried to hide her annoyance as she replied. “I have come to negotiate. Prince Dashiel has told me of your offer to his father and I have come with him as an ambassador for the Romanian people.”

“Oh, thrilling,” said Zhu. “So what are your terms? What do you want in exchange for your dregs of society? Keep in mind when you speak that I would like to begin a civilised existence for my wendigo friends but I do not need you. If we want we have the might to keep taking your people. Do not test my patience with any unreasonable demands.”

Mathilde nodded in acknowledgement. In reality she had no more intention of making a deal than she did of offering herself up on a plate as a snack but she didn’t want to sound too eager and arouse suspicion. She had been prepared for this and hoped that she would sound as compelling in negotiations as possible so as to be able to create the necessary distraction.

“We will give you our elderly who offer to come as a sacrifice for the better good and we will give you our criminals but we will not provide you with unwilling volunteers just so that you have breeding stock.” Mathilde held her breath, hoping that she had sounded demanding enough to seem to be genuine.

“Ah a good stance to open with,” said Zhu, smiling, “but of course it is not the deal I am looking for.”

“We will not give you innocent victims for you to breed and slaughter like beasts.”

“Beasts – what an interesting choice of words. Are we not all beasts of some kind? You may think yourself so human, so civilised, but here you are offering me your people as food. Who is really the beast?”

Mathilde forced herself to look ashamed and unsure for a moment before speaking again. “I offer you only the willing and the criminal. They will come of their own accord.”