Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4) (19 page)

“Yes, sir,” The young, dark haired, boy replied and disappeared through one of the back doors.

Returning to his list, Sumsor continued to read words, Kile never heard before, but they must have meant something. The other two boys were running back and forth, opening cabinets and cupboards, calling out numbers, while Sumsor took notes.

When Ja returned, he had a scroll in one hand and a new bottle of ink in the other. He set them down on a table in the corner of the room and produced a quill from his pocket, before returning to the organized chaos. Sitting down, Kile unrolled the scroll, opened the bottle of ink, and was about to write when realized she didn’t know who she was writing to. It wasn’t like she could actually send a letter to high Command. For starters, how would she get it there? She was planning on asking one of the birds, but since she didn’t know anyone at high Command, who would she tell the bird to deliver it to. The first person she could think of, who wouldn’t turn away a bird with a letter, was Daniel, but he was in no position to convince anyone. That left only Master Folkstaff. Folkstaff never came out and confronted her with it, but she knew he had ideas about her Edge, and what she was capable of. He was also well connected with the higher up, being one of only three Hunters working with Colonel Barshed.

Kile began to scribble out the details, which included their location and the situation they now found themselves in. She made a note of what happened to Perha Squad when they reached Coopervill, but decided to leave out a few details, such as her personal opinion of the late Sergeant Wargner, and the details of their escape. She should have collected a bit more information before writing the letter, but she could always follow up with a second one, if the overall situation changed. Blotting it dry, she rolled it up and slipped it into her courier bag.

Pulling the hood back over her head, she charged back out into the rain, making her way to the high wall. She found Captain Jax staring out at the growing number of valrik. Tullner, Sandson, and Alisa were also there.

“Alisa, what are you doing up here?” She asked when she reached the allure.

“I’m not going to be left out,” Alisa replied.

“I assumed she was with you,” Captain Jax said, looking at the young girl. “This isn’t exactly the place for a social gathering.”

“Sorry, sir, she’ll stay out of the way,” Kile assured him.

“I should hope so,” he replied.

“So what are we doing?” Alisa asked.

“You’re staying here and staying out of the way,” Kile told her. She took Vesper off her shoulder and handed him to the girl. “Vesper, you stay will Alisa, I have to make a delivery,” she told him.

Falling into her Edge, Kile reached out across the skies. There was no time for secrecy now. She could no longer hide what she could and was going to do. By the time she reached the far side of the wall, where there were fewer soldiers to watch her, she was greeted by not one, but three red shoulder hawks. Captain Jax did say they were common to the area. She was just glad they were willing to fly in this weather.

“I need your help to deliver a letter,” She said when she approached the hawks.

One of them hopped forward and she recognized him as the hawk who had carried her letter to Captain Jax. Did he live around here, she wondered, or did he just like delivering mail?

“Thank you.” She said, holding out the letter to him. “I need you to find someone. I’m afraid he’s some distance south of here. Will you do it?” She asked.

The hawk answered in a sharp, shrill voice which cut through her head. His talons crushed down on the parchment, tearing it in places as he got a firm grip on it.

“I need you to bring the letter to this vir.” She said, concentrating on an image of Master Folkstaff. Only when she was sure the hawk understood, did she try to picture his location, or at least, where she thought he should be.

“Be quick but be safe.” She told the hawk and watched him take flight, heading south. When she could no longer see him, she turned to the remaining pair, who were waiting patiently. “Do you two still want to help?” she asked them.

-Yes-

-Yes-

She was used to birds being clipped in their speech, often answering with only one or two well-chosen words, but words filled with too many images. Hawk appeared to be even more direct in their speech, almost like a soldier addressing a superior officer.

“What are your names?” she asked them.

-Chaka-

-Tokoka-

“What I need you two to do, is to fly over the Uhyre camp and find out what they are building, but don’t get too close.”

The two hawks, upon receiving their orders, spread their wings and flew from the parapet wall. She watched them disappear into the gray skies.

Kile turned around and almost ran into Alisa who was standing behind her. Vesper was perched on her shoulder.

“Were you… talking to them?” she asked.

“Yes, I was, but this isn’t the time. We have to get back to the others.” Kile replied, trying to cut off the conversation before it had a chance to start.

“But you can talk to birds?” Alisa asked. It was clear she wasn’t going to drop it so easily.

“Not only birds.” Kile replied as she extended a hand to Vesper, who leapt off of Alisa’s shoulder on to her arm.

When they returned to Captain Jax, Kile looked, once more, over the parapet wall at the sea of Uhyre below her. They didn’t appear to be very hostile at the moment, only bored of hanging around and staring at the gates of the outpost. They would wait until either the break of dawn to start their assault, or until whatever contraption they were building was complete.

“So, where do we stand on preparations?” she asked Tullner.

“The civilians have been moved into the eastern section of the kastelya.”

“What about supplies?” She asked, turning to Jax.

“Supplies and food have been taken care of, as well as the horses and the deer, although the deer were not being very cooperative,” He replied.

“So, now what?” Tullner asked.

“Now, we wait,” Jax replied.

They didn’t have to wait very long, within moments two black specks appeared on the horizon and were flying toward the high wall. Kile quickly placed Vesper in the courier’s bag as they approached. She didn’t actually think the two hawks would try anything with the yarrow, but she didn’t want to take any chances. Their arrival attracted a bit of attention as they landed on the parapet either side of her.

“Show me.” She said, closing her eyes and falling into her Edge.

Once again she took flight, vicariously, through the eyes of the hawk, high above the outpost, soaring through the darken sky. Far below her, she could see the valrik preparing for the inevitable. It was clear they had no intention of waiting for any message, or even for the break of dawn. They were readying their weapons and donning their armor. As Captain Jax feared, more were coming in from the west. They were already falling into formation. She swooped in closer, coming around the trees to the section of the forest which had been cleared, and found what she was looking for. She had never seen one up close before, only in the pages of a book, but she knew what it was. It was a mangonel, and a crudely made one at that. Crude or not, it could easily lay waste to the wall of Moran. Six of those horrid reptilian wolves were being strapped into a harness. The valrik were preparing to move it into place.

Kile broke the connection, quickly returning to her earth bound body.

“You were right, Captain,” she said, turning to face Jax. “More valrik are moving in from the west, and they haven’t been idle. They’ve been busy building a siege engine.”

“Do we know what kind?” Tullner asked.

“I’ve only read about them in books, but I would say it was a mangonel.”

“That’ll do the job.” Jax said, scratching his chin. “These walls weren’t exactly built to withstand that kind of punishment.”

“Maybe we should just let them through, Captain,” one of the soldiers replied.

Kile recognized the man as Raf, the soldier who accused her of being a wili the last time she was a visitor at the outpost.

“I will not have their kind passing through the gates of Moran, not into Callor. I’ll collapse the mainway myself, before I see that happen,” Jax replied.

“Then what can we do?” Tullner asked. “You said it yourself. These walls won’t stand up against that kind of assault.”

“It’s obvious,” Kile said, staring out over the battlefield. “We have to get it, before it gets us.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Jax asked.

How did she plan on doing that? There was, of course, the little issue of an army between them and the catapult. Any attempt at trying to break through would be suicidal, but should the valrik use the weapon on the outpost, there was little chance they would last the night. It was a no win situation. Kile said nothing and headed for the stairs.

“Where do you think you’re going, Commander?” Jax asked.

“Let’s be serious, Captain,” Kile said as she turned to look at him. “I’m not a commander. I never was, at least not of men. You know your army, you know what they are capable of, and I know mine.” She said, descending the stairs.

She was all the way down to the main bailey when the sound of the horns called the men to their posts. It was really happening, she thought. She finally caught up to the war. Up to this point, it had only been small skirmishes or second hand battles told by soldiers who survived them, now it was her turn.

What surprised her was how calm she felt at the moment. She always assumed, if she went into battle, or if the battle came to her, as it did now, she would be afraid. But, in fact, the opposite was true. It wasn’t that she was eager to fight, because she wasn’t. It was simply the way things were meant to be. If this was to be the end of her cycle, then there was nothing she could do about it, but to accept it. This was what Gorum tried to teach her, so long ago. She now understood what the old dog meant. At the time, she just couldn’t accept it. How could someone accept death as being inevitable? That side of her which existed in the vir’s world, wanted desperately to fight against it, but the other side of her, the one in the natural world, that side embraced it. It was quite confusing, and what made it more confusing was the fact, she hadn’t the slightest idea where she was going.

She stopped in the middle of the mainway while soldier’s passed her on the way to their posts.

“What happen, you get lost?”

Kile turned around to see Alisa following her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“What? I’m your responsibility, remember? Besides, why would I want to stay on the wall if it’s going to be attacked?” Alisa replied.

Kile had to admit, she had a good point.

“Fine, you can come with me. Now, where did they store the food?” she asked.

“Food? How can you be hungry at a time like this?”

“I’m not hungry. I just need to find the food storage units.”

“Well, they were just down the street from the pub, but I suppose it’s empty now. You heard the Captain. All the food was taken into the kastelya.”

“I’m not looking for food. I’m looking for where the food was stored.” Kile replied as she continued down the street. They were passing, once more, through the tunnel, under the kastelya.

Alisa led her to a large stone building, where the doors were left wide open. The only things remaining inside were several barrels along one of the walls, a couple of empty sacks and a few damaged boxes. Beyond that, everything else had been removed.

“What do you expect to find here?” Alisa asked.

Kile said nothing as she moved to the center of the room. Sitting down, she closed her eyes and fell into her Edge. She was reaching out with her senses, searching every dark corner and small hole in the warehouse, when she found them. No sooner did she call for their help, she heard Alisa scream.

“Rats.”

“Will you keep it down?” Kile said, opening her eye and looking around. Sure enough, a dozen or so large rats had answered her call and were now hovering around the outer edges of the wall.

“But there are rats in here,” Alisa complained.

“I should hope so, I call them,” Kile replied. She sat and waited for a few of the rodents to approach. Rats and mice were usually a little nervous at first, but they were always so helpful.

-Help you can we?-

A large, and rather old, brown rat whispered when he got closer.

“Yes, if you will. I need you to do me a big favor. There’s food in it for you.” She told him. She knew she didn’t have to bribe the rats, in fact, most of the animals who she asked help from, did so without the need for reward. The natural world was so much simpler than the vir’s. She explained to them what she needed, and waited for them to leave before getting to her feet.

“So, what did you tell them to do?” Alisa asked when they stepped back out onto the mainway. Kile was grateful to see the rain was finally letting up.

“I didn’t tell them to do anything.” She explained. “I simply asked them for their help and they agreed.”

“Why would they do that?” Alisa asked.

“Because, unlike most vir, animals don’t look to profit from every situation,” she told her.

“Vir?”

“Never mind. Come on, we have to get back to the high wall and see what’s happening.”

When they passed through the tunnel and exited at the west end, something large flew over the main gate, crashing into the high wall just above them.

“It would appear they got their contraption working,” Alisa said, but Kile wasn’t listening. She was too busy watching the rock, which just sailed over their heads, because that’s what she thought it was, a rock. The problem is, when a rock hits a wall, it falls to the ground. It does not cling to the wall and climb over it.

A sharp pain shot through her head, dropping her to her knees. The laugher was back again, lingering on the very edge of her senses. The darkness was closing in on her and she could feel herself slipping.

Looking around the main bailey, it had become a battleground. Reptilian wolves were being catapulted over the main wall, and were now converging on the gatehouse. The outpost guards were doing their best to keep them at bay. Should the gate go down, the battle would be lost.