The Girl with No Name Ch. 22

They crept around the encampment in the dark, waiting for the next drunkard. Within a few minutes a second man was lying in the brush, dead from bolts he never saw coming. Within an hour, half of the loggers had been dispatched in the woods. Those remaining at the fire were too drunk to defend themselves. Danka led Isauria into the camp itself, planning to dispatch the cook next, since he seemed to be more sober and alert than his companions. Two bolts finished off the cook, and when his assistant discovered his body and frantically looked around, he was next.

The men remaining at the fire began to realize something was not right. No one who had gotten up had come back. Two went out to investigate, as Danka and her slave slipped out ahead to intercept them in the bushes. They staggered around, the alcohol blunting their awareness to the silent danger that awaited. Two more shots...four more bolts...two less men in the camp. Another man stumbled into the darkness and was stopped by the two assailants.

The men remaining in the camp now were standing up and reaching for their muskets. Finally they realized the camp was under attack. Danka decided to act quickly against the surviving foreigners. She and her assistant fired rapidly at a young man with a large musket. He fired as he fell, the noise from his firearm adding to the confusion of the others. Danka and Isauria re-loaded and fired again. Four remaining men now realized where the bolts were coming from and incoherently shot in unison. Danka and Isauria rolled to the side just in time to be clear of the musket balls that whizzed past them. They slipped through the trees as the men came after them. They snuck around to the opposite side of the camp and shot into the back of a logger who was facing in the opposite direction. They had just enough time to reload their crossbows to take out another man charging in their direction. By now the remaining pair of loggers were in a pure state of drunken panic, calling out to companions who no longer were alive. They fled back into the camp towards the oxen, trying to reload their muskets. Danka scuttled through piles of lumber in pursuit. She stood up and aimed at one of the men. He turned and frantically aimed his musket, but it was too late. Danka released her bolt and her victim fell screaming. Isauria caught up to her and fired a finishing shot into his chest.

Only one logger remained alive, but it turned out he was the most difficult to kill. By now he had sobered up enough to stay hidden and listen for the enemy's footsteps. Danka had to order Isauria to go out into the woods and throw rocks to flush him out while she moved about the camp. The man saw her and for the next hour they chased each other around wood piles as the fire slowly died. Finally Isauria, who had remained hidden, ambushed and shot the man in the stomach, and it was Danka's turn to finish him off with a second shot.

The woman and the girl did not have time to think about anything apart from surviving the fight while it was happening. Now that the loggers had been exterminated, the enormity of what they had just done began to sink in. A young peasant woman and her adolescent servant had committed a massacre of 22 human beings. Danka felt nothing but cold triumph, but Isauria was clearly distressed. As they looked around at the bodies, Danka noted the girl's bewildered and frightened expression.

"In the forest, the wolf must kill to eat, and it's better to be a wolf than a sheep. Is that not so, Servant Isauria?"

Isauria took a deep breath. She was trembling, but she forced herself to answer:

"Yes, Mistress Danka."

"I am a wolf. A vicious she-wolf. You're a wolf too. A smaller wolf, not much more than a cub, but a wolf nonetheless. Is that not so, Servant Isauria?"

"Yes, Mistress Danka. That is so."

"Very good. With your help, I have re-taken this land for the Duchy. You did well tonight and pleased me with your performance."

"Thank you, Mistress."

When Danka looked towards the moon, an owl, that owl, was perched on a branch watching her. The Destroyer said nothing. The bird simply sat for a while, observing the campsite, before flying off.

----------

Danka and Isauria feasted on the remains of their victims' beef and pork. As much as she also wanted to indulge in their ale, she avoided it, knowing that she needed to keep her wits about her. For lighting she told Isauria to re-stoke the fire as she began looting the camp. The first priority was to examine all of the visible corpses, to make sure they were dead, retrieve any bolts that were not damaged, and look for small valuable items such as coins, daggers, rings, and medallions. At daybreak she'd have to explore the woods to look at the other corpses, the ones hidden in the bushes.

Next, she gathered all the weapons she could find and moved them to the edge of the clearing. She piled axes and saws near the weapons. She gathered up all the cooking utensils. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw a large barrel of salt and several bags of flour. The tools...the supplies...the weapons...if she could just take all those items and secure them, not only would she be rich by Danubian standards, but she'd also have everything she and Isauria would need to live in comfort throughout the winter. As the day broke and there was enough light, she ransacked the sleeping cabin while Isauria stood guard.

Isauria appeared at the entrance and silently called her mentor's attention to a noise she had heard outside. Danka looked out, noticing that the birds had gone silent. She and Isauria armed their crossbows. She could hear movement in the bushes as a woman's voice called out to her in Danubian:

"Come out and put your crossbows on the ground. There are only two of you and there are a lot more of us. We want to meet with you, but you must disarm your weapon and step away from it."

Danka exchanged glances with Isauria. When she hesitated, the voice continued: "Don't be a fool. Put down your crossbow and stand where we can properly see you. We're not planning to take it from you."

"Who are you?"

"We're Defenders of the Duchy. Now put down your crossbow. Then we'll talk."

Very reluctantly, Danka disarmed her crossbow and set it on the ground. Isauria followed suit. The woman and the girl moved forward two fathoms and stood in the open. Ten Danubians, three women and seven men, stepped into the clearing through the bushes. The women were dressed like Danka: in short leather skirts and boots. The carried crossbows and the only item each wore above her waist was a satchel for bolts. The men wore green tunics that were open on the sides. They wore nothing underneath apart from sturdy boots. Two of the men had short swords, two had muskets, and the others had crossbows. The oldest man in the group stepped forward. The woman who had called out to Danka from the trees continued:

"Please salute our commander. And we will show you the same respect you choose to show us."

Danka tapped her servant's shoulder and reluctantly saluted the stranger by tapping her right fist to her left shoulder. Isauria copied her mistress's actions and saluted as well. The older man returned the salute.

"Greetings. My name is Commander Sáupeckt. I lead military operations in this region. As you've already been told, we are Defenders of the Duchy. Now, what is your name?"

"Danka, Commander Sáupeckt. My name is Danka Síluckt."

"Excellent. So you weren't stupid enough to lie about your name. And your companion? What's her name?"

"Isauria."

The commander looked over the servant.

"You're not Danubian..."

"No, Master. I'm from a manor south of Malénkta-Gordnáckta."

"Commander. I'm not a 'Master', I am a Commander."

"Yes...Commander... Commander Sáupeckt."

"That's much better." Commander Sáupeckt directed his next comment at Danka: "We've been watching you for several days. You're a competent woods-woman, but if you were as good as you think you are, you would have noticed our presence. We'll have to work on that. You obviously know how to operate a crossbow. I congratulate you on your success here."

"Thank you, Commander."

"I may congratulate your success, but that is not to say I'm pleased with what you did. Because of this massacre, this area will be full of Blue Moon troops, seeking to find out what happened to these loggers and avenge them. There are three nearby villages to the east that we'll have to evacuate and defend. Because of the time of year, you've just placed the region's fall harvest at risk. We'll spend the fall in combat instead of strengthening our defense network, which is not what I was planning. I did want to confront these loggers, but they were not a top priority. Not now...not at this time of the year."

"Yes, Commander."

"So...the question in front of us is not what has been done, but where do we go from here. With your experience, you'll have an easy time redeeming yourself. You will do so as a nymph under my command. As of now...you are members of Oana's squad..." the commander pointed at the oldest of the three women, the one who had called out to her... "both you and the girl."

Danka said nothing...trying to think how she could stall for time and slip away. The sharp-witted commander saw the doubt in her eyes and continued:

"We've already secured your belongings and are taking them to the main winter camp. You'll find them waiting for you in your sleeping quarters. They were not as well-hidden as you thought."

Danka gave up on any thoughts of escape. Without her equipment and supplies she could not hope to survive the winter in the mountains. She and Isauria had been drafted into the militia and that was the end of it. She'd have to make the best of her situation, just as she had to make the best out of being a concubine for the Grand Duke.

"As for what's here...everything in this campsite belongs to the Duchy. I will give you first pick at choosing one dagger and one short-sword. You can keep one medallion, one ring, and a fourth of the coins. The coins are compensation for your efforts and reimbursement for selling us your donkey."

"Yes, Commander Sáupeckt."

"Good. Now, report to your squad leader."

Danka and Isauria turned to Oana. She gave Danka a sharp look, until the newcomer realized that she needed to salute. By saluting, she acknowledged that she was under Oana's command and obligated to obey her orders.

Additional Defenders arrived to help clean out the logging camp. They picked up all the tools, bedding, and cooking utensils, cleaned out the bunk house, and drove away the four oxen. Meanwhile, Oana led Danka and eleven other female archers to the road, where they would ambush and kill the wagon drivers tasked with resupplying the loggers for the day. As they set up, Oana treated Danka the same as she treated any of the other archers in her squad. She was expected to follow orders, coordinate with her peers, and perform her duty with her crossbow. The fact she had joined the unit just minutes before meant nothing. For the time being, she'd be able to keep Isauria as her assistant, but the squad leader hinted Isauria's role and her relationship with her mistress would change within a few days.

The ambush of the teamsters later that afternoon was anti-climactic. There were eight of them: when Oana ordered her nymphs to fire their crossbows, the foreigners all died instantly. The Danubian women took control of the mules, picked up the bodies, loaded them into the wagons, and continued the journey to the camp. By the time nymphs arrived, the logging compound had been completely dismantled. The Defenders already had made off with the best wood: the rest was used to create a funeral pyre to dispose of the victims from the night before, as well as the eight new corpses. The bodies were laid out in a neat row, ready to be thrown onto the fire from a wagon that was being used as a platform.

A poorly-dressed Priest from the Old Believers' sect arrived to say a prayer for the dead foreigners. As soon as he finished, several men came out with flutes and a drum. Oana's nymphs, including Danka and Isauria, stripped off their skirts and boots. The women spent the next hour dancing naked while the musicians played and the men took turns mounting the wagon to toss corpses into the fire. It was an ancient and sinister celebration of death and victory, an acknowledgement of the Destroyer and the power that "the Profane One" held over the Realm of the Living.

Danka learned the dance and repeated it as best she could. She now was a member of Oana's squad of nymphs and a Defender of the Duchy. As such, she had her duties, which she would perform as well as possible.

She glanced upward at the tree tops. After a scanning the branches for a few seconds she found what she was looking for. Sure enough, from a distance two unblinking yellow eyes were staring back at her.