The Chronicles of Hvad Ch. 05

***

The snow had melted, and the spring rains were in full spate, when Kawehka brought us two rather bedraggled young men. One bore a spear, and a rather shoddy old shield, that looked like it would shatter at the very first blow. The second, who had a shock of brilliant red hair, carried an axe which appeared to have been hanging over someone's fireplace for a few generations.

- "Who might you be?" I asked them.

- "We're looking for Borna Vrej[2]."

- "First time I've heard him called that." I answered. "What makes you think he's here?"

The redhead just grinned at me. "Everyone knows he's in this forest. We've come to offer him our spears. Well - my axe, and his spear."

- "Who are you, again?"

The redhead was very patient with me. "We've come of age. Both of us want to be warriors. We could have gone to Mushtal, but ... we're just as glad that he's dead. We want to serve Borna."

- "Why? How -" I wasn't being difficult on purpose. I simply didn't understand how these two had come to be here.

- "Everyone is talking about Borna Vrej." he said. "Everyone."

Borna found the two youths vastly entertaining. He immediately added them to his training sessions. Both boys - I didn't think of them as men - were older than Shant, but he had been in combat. They gave him the respect I would have showed to a hoary veteran.

We all found it encouraging, too, that Borna's fame was spreading. Apparently, people were telling and re-telling the stories: Borna raiding Asrava's steading in the night, carrying off his daughters, and stealing his horses. Borna returning to challenge Mushtal, to defeat him in single combat.

The latest tale had Borna tricking Vazrig, and then returning to his own steading to rescue his mother. The new lads had never heard of Borna's Butt, or our successful ambush there. But they had heard that he allowed women to fight as warriors.

Lies spread quickly, they say ... but it was encouraging to see that the truth (even if it was exaggerated) could travel fast, too. Just how far these stories had spread, we found out a few weeks later, when more people were found wandering the forest. It seemed that we had hurt Vazrig more than we thought.

For one thing, by stealing his food, and destroying what we could not carry, we had made it difficult for him to feed his forty-some warriors. Bereft of strong drink, they were in no mood to go on short rations as well.

Vazrig remedied his shortages by stealing from the farmers he should have been protecting, as Hospodar. His 'requisitions' fell especially hard on a few families who had already suffered from thefts at our hands.

He claimed that these people were traitors, who had 'given' us assistance, and went ahead and stole what little they had left.

His men, stung by our successful raid on 'their' steading, were in a foul mood. They tolerated no opposition. Two farmers, apparently, had been killed, for resisting the theft of the only food they had left.

And there had been more rapes.

Previously, the only sexual assaults had taken place in the steading, and the victims were mainly women associated with or related to Borna's fighters. Vazrig's men were now showing no discrimination at all.

I'd hoped that Vazrig would hold his hand, because we held two of his men prisoner. Apparently, he didn't care. Khoren suggested that we execute both men, and toss their heads into the steading, but Borna wasn't prepared to do anything like that.

Three families arrived in the forest, desperate for food, or a safe haven. Borna would not - could not - turn these people away. But the addition of eleven more non-combatant mouths did put a strain on our resources.

And the first shoulders to bear that strain were mine. Borna was busy training our young, inexperienced warriors. He turned the problem of the food supply over to me.

Lovro and Hravar tried to help. Kawehka and Dirayr did help. But I found myself leaning more and more on two people: Kanni, and Noyemi.

They were wonderful at welcoming and assisting the newcomers - particularly the refugees. Both women were also remarkably adept at distinguishing between needs and wishes, and identifying priorities.

- "I would be lost without you two." I told them.

- "You're very welcome, Ljudevit." said Kanni. She kissed me lightly on the cheek, and then enjoyed watching me blush.

It was enough to make me seek out Borna.

- "I want to free Noyemi." I said.

- "No."

- "You haven't asked me why I want to free her." I said.

- "Alright." replied Borna. "Why do you want to free her?"

- "She saved Kanni from Abirad. She's lost her entire family, and her home. Yet she helps the families dispossessed by Vazrig. Without her and Kanni, I couldn't do it."

- "That's wonderful." said Borna, without a trace of irony. "The answer's still 'No'."

- But -"

- "Ljudevit - we've had this conversation already. Even if she didn't want it, our enemies could use her as a weapon against us."

- "The way we're using her?" I said.

Borna sighed. "Would you prefer that we killed her?"

- "You wouldn't do that." I countered.

- "Some day, I hope ... I don't know when, but some day - we'll be in a position where Noyemi won't be a danger to us. When Manahir and all of his grandsons are dead - then, Ljudevit, you could free her."

"There is, of course, one other option, besides killing her." he said.

- "What's that?" I asked.

- "You could marry her."

***

The foresters found two young women, lost in the woods. They brought them to me. Why not? Everything else came to me.

Siret was afraid that Vazrig's men would find her. Durra's parents could barely manage to feed the entire family. But both of these concerns were secondary. The two women had one main reason for seeking us out.

They had heard the story of our attack on Mushtal. It wasn't often that a Hospodar died violently - yet it had happened three times in the past few months. The tales were being told, and re-told, all over Yeseriya.

Durra and Siret were particularly fascinated by the battle at Mushtal's steading, because Berit had died there. They were fixated on the fact that she had borne weapons, and gave her life for Borna.

They wanted to be warriors.

- "You'll let us fight? Carry weapons?" asked Siret.

- "Like Berit did." said Durra, as if there was no doubt at all that I would accede to their request.

Siret was a slender redhead, who looked nothing like a warrior - except for her eyes. She had determination, at the very least.

Durra, on the other hand ... I would not have wanted to face her, with or without weapons. Where Siret looked determined, Durra was smoldering hatred, ferocity incarnate.

How could I say no? Borna was already training three adolescent males, and three females. Why not two more? Besides, it would make for a pleasant change, to shift one of my tasks to his shoulders.

***

Thinking along those lines led me to seek out Borna again. This time I brought Khoren and Lovro along with me.

- "What's this all about?" asked Khoren.

- "You'll see. Bear with me."

As usual, Borna was training his little group of budding warriors.

We drew him aside, out of earshot of the others.

- "I want you to consider a request." I said.

- "A request? Ljudevit, we've been over it -"

- "Not that. This is ... it's about the work I've been doing." I said.

Borna made a face, as if he knew what my complaint would be: tasks unfit for a warrior, etc. He had heard similar grumbling from others before - including Dirayr - though Abirad had been by far the loudest and most frequent complainer.

"It's not the work, Lord. It's ... where I am. You're here, training the young ones, and the women. Most often, I'm somewhere else, dealing with shelter, or food issues. I'm more of a steward than a Hand."

- "That work is vital." said Borna. "And no one does it better."

- "I know, Lord."

Borna looked mildly surprised. He glanced at Khoren and Lovro. "If you know that I need you doing these things ... then what's this about?"

- "I'm your Hand, Borna. I should be at your side, watching your back - at all times. But I can't do that if I'm on the opposite side of the camp. Or running through the woods with the foresters."

- "These are unusual circumstances." said Borna. "Times are changing."

- "I agree. But I worry about your safety. You should have a Hand with you. And since I have to be elsewhere much of the time ... I'm suggesting that you choose a new Hand."

Both Khoren and Lovro turned to look at me. I hadn't told them what I was going to say.

"Khoren, or Lovro, here, could be your Hand." I suggested. "That way, you would be protected."

Borna's reaction was not what I expected. His face clouded over.

- "You don't choose my Hand." he said. "I do. When I no longer want you for my Hand, I will tell you. Believe me, you will be the first to know."

- "Lord - it's just a name. You could call me something else. I don't know - your Voice ... since I would be speaking with your authority behind me. I just think that you should have a Hand with you. Beside you."

- "Now you want to create a new title? Voice?" said Borna.

Lovro tried to lighten the mood, and inject a note of humour. "While we're at it, he could be the Arsehole, since he deals with all the shit jobs."

- "The Arsehole." chuckled Khoren. "It fits."

- "Enough." said Borna, sharply - though his face did relax a little. "When you're not around, Khoren and Lovro will watch my back. But you're still my Hand. End of discussion."

***

We repeatedly debated how we could attack Vazrig. The essential problem was very simple: he had over 40 men, while we had 17 fighters - or 28, if you included six women, and three inexperienced, adolescent males.

- "The element of surprise would even things up a bit." I said.

- "But we'd need a clear line of retreat if it goes sour." said Hravar. "Which it probably will."

- "What about a night attack?" asked Priit.

- "It worked on Asrava, and then Mushtal." said Lovro. "Anybody think we'll catch Vazrig napping?"

- "We could make the forest fight for us." I suggested.

- "That'll just sting them." scoffed Khoren. "We need to hurt them."

- "Preferably without getting badly hurt ourselves." said Hravar.

- "I don't want to lose any of the women. Or the young lads." said Borna. "If at all possible." He liked to let us talk freely, and only interjected from time to time.

- "Have to fight soon, though." observed Dirayr. "We keep hidin', they'll think we're afraid."

- "So will we."

In the end, it was Hravar who helped me find the perfect spot. He did it by slipping, and falling on his face.

There was a partial clearing where we had kept some of the horses. I say partial, because although the place was devoid of big trees, there were many fallen logs, and quite a few low shrubs. These impediments tended to funnel movement along two distinct approaches.

One of these routes led almost directly across the clearing, where there was a low mound - no more than four or five feet high. We usually came onto it from the forest side. From there, we could study the whole open space.

The second path ran off to the side of the clearing, where it eventually narrowed significantly before it re-entered the forest.

Hravar was down there, off to our right, while most of us waited on the mound. He was demonstrating his belief that we could lead the enemy into a location where they would be unable to bring their numbers to bear.

- "It's a natural choke point, here. See? They couldn't get more than six or seven abreast."

- "I see that we could hold them." said Borna. "But how do we hurt them?"

Hravar shrugged. Then, a little disappointed, he came to join us on the mound. Only his feet slipped out from under him, and he fell heavily.

- "Graceful!" laughed Lovro.

Hravar mumbled something uncomplimentary about Lovro's parentage.

Meanwhile, I went down on one knee, at the edge of the little mound. It wasn't high enough to call a hill. There was a thick carpet of wet leaves littering the ground almost everywhere. But on the slopes of the mound, they concealed a treacherously slick surface.

It was greasy, shiny mud.

- "Try again." I told Hravar.

- "You try it." he grumbled.

Several of us did.

After half a dozen attempts, three had fallen - one spectacularly. Three more tried to cautiously inch their way up, only to slide back at every step.

- "Try it again." ordered Borna. "Everyone."

We did. It seemed that water ran downhill, across the mound, and then down its relatively steep little slopes. The ground beneath the leaves was incredibly slick. It was extremely difficult to find a purchase.

Dirayr tried to run straight up the slope, only to perform a heavy belly flop, and slam his face into the ground. He spat out the dark mud.

- "Don't talk with your mouth full." said Lovro.

Priit was having more success with a gradual approach, making sure that one foot was firmly planted before moving the other. Borna borrowed my spear, reversed it, and poked Priit in the shoulder with the butt. Priit immediately lost his footing, and skidded back down to the bottom.

Now everyone could see the potential of this place.

- "This would be even harder with a shield." I pointed out.

Lovro found a spot where he could climb up - carefully.

- "Try it again, will you?" asked Borna. This time, as Lovro slowly ascended the slope, Borna jabbed him with the spear butt. The big man deflected the first thrust, but the second time he brought his hands up, he lost his balance, and skidded back a few feet.

We eventually identified four spots where a man could climb to the top of the mound, if he was careful, and took his time.

Dirayr and Priit helped me carry wet leaves, and strew them all over the treacherous little slope. We tried to make it look like we had not been there.

Borna gathered all of us that evening - every single fighter, male and female - and explained the plan. There were many who didn't sleep at all that night.

***

Everything depended on being able to lead Vazrig to the site. So, of course, the next day, he and his men did not leave the steading.

***

I had Kawehka set up a small campsite near the edge of the forest.

- "Two man, or four man?" he asked.

- "Doesn't matter. Two." I said.

- "We would never camp here."

- "I know. But it doesn't matter. They won't know any better - just as we wouldn't have known, unless you had shown us. It only has to look like a campsite."

Kawehka shook his head, but did as I asked.

Then we burned the wrong type of wood, so that a thin column of smoke rose through the trees. Tsoline arrived to warn us.

- "They're coming!"

We retreated, careful to leave a few footprints. I wanted to be sure they that they would find our trail.

They did. But it was late afternoon, and Vazrig would not risk pushing deep into the woods in the dark. He would return on the morrow.

We tested the slopes of the mound a few more times, and then covered them back up.

***

Vazrig brought every man he had. That left the steading completely undefended behind him, but he was obviously more intent on killing us than he was on protecting his people.

Kawehka carefully led our enemies to the clearing. A broken branch here, a footprint there ... when necessary, he let himself be seen for an instant or two, before vanishing deeper into the trees.

When Vazrig and his men finally found the partial clearing, they also saw a party of warriors waiting for them on the far side. Twelve men, with shields and chain mail shirts or byrnies: Lovro, Khoren, Priit and Hravar, plus Aigars and all of the men who had rejoined us after the death of Mushtal.

The enemy had been seeking us for months. We had evaded them, and struck at their steading while they were gone. Borna had stolen their food, their furs, and deprived them of strong drink. The wanted us dead - and they wanted it badly.

They let out a roar, and surged across the clearing. They couldn't see, right away, that one of their two paths of advance wouldn't end up anywhere near our men. Perhaps they expected that they could climb the little mound they saw, and then come around through the trees to outflank us, or even take us in the rear.

Vazrig did not try to restrain his men. He did not strike me as a cautious commander, and he might not have had complete control over his warriors. Or, it might simply be that he was just as eager to come to grips with us as they were.

That's when Borna and I emerged from the trees, and stepped out onto the mound. Dirayr was with us, as were Shant and the two young newcomers. The female warriors joined us too, including Nanaidh, Fimi, and Durra and Siret.

This group looked nowhere near as threatening as Lovro and Khoren's dozen. In fact, it must have seemed ludicrous, or even comical, to them. Three men, three adolescents, and six women? Lightly armed, at that?

To me, it reeked of deception. They had to see that it was a trap.

But Borna was there, as bait. He was counting on Vazrig's hatred - his impatience, and his arrogance. Could he resist the temptation, with the quarry that had so often eluded him now in plain sight?

He could not.

But nor did he do quite what we had expected. Vazrig split his forces into two unequal groups. The first, of roughly fifteen men, attacked Lovro's dozen. But the larger group, of two dozen, came towards the mound.

Our enemies were very eager to come to grips. They hustled across the clearing, and attacked at once. I heard the clash of spears and shields off to my right, but I couldn't watch, because the first of the larger group were trying to run up the greasy slope.

Five of them slipped or skidded back down - two of them spectacularly. The sixth man, to our complete surprise, made it to our position. To his complete surprise, he was alone. He swung an axe, and chipped the corner of Durra's shield. Then Dirayr simply shoved the fellow, knocking him back two steps. The slope did the rest, and the man was soon back among his companions.

None of them were hurt, since they hadn't come close enough to us. But now they were beginning to realize that there was something wrong. For one thing, we weren't retreating, or fleeing from their superior numbers.

For another, each man was beginning to discover for himself how hard it was to get up our little embankment. Some tried to jump, while others tried the cautious approach. Three men approached together, where their comrade had first found success.

One slipped, and knocked the second off balance. The third watched his two companions slip away. Borna poked him the shoulder with his spear. The blow barely drew blood, but it was enough to send the man sliding back down.

- "Get at them! Find a way up!" screamed Vazrig.

Nearly twenty-five attackers was more than I had expected. They tried to locate a path through the trees at either end of the mound, which didn't worry me - we had tried the same thing, without success. But if they went wider, further away, they might work their way around our position, and come at us from the rear.

Borna saw the same danger.

- "Here I am, Vazrig! Or do you only fight women? We have some here!"

One fellow was getting close to the top, using his spear and shield to help maintain his balance. But his eyes were focused on where he placed his feet. I timed my stroke to perfection, and thrust my spear point directly into his open mouth. He screamed, and tumbled back.

Two others were working as a team. One held his shield out, while the other tried to push him up the slope with the butt end of his spear. Another fellow saw what they were up to, and reversed his spear to help out as well. Borna tried to strike the shield bearer, but his blow clanged off the shield rim.