The Torian Pearls

Chapter 18

Darkness was all around the boat as it crept across water like black marble. The darkness hid all but one of the thirty-five boats that followed in the wake of Blade's.

Eight hundred warriors of the Kargoi were approaching the far shore of the water. In another few minutes they should be landing safely, if their luck held. So far it had held for more than three hours. No sign of the Menel, no sign of an alert and waiting enemy, no sign of anything alive in the darkness and the water except themselves. Surely that luck could hold for at least a few more minutes.

Blade carefully shifted in the cramped bow of the boat and looked aft. The paddles rose and fell steadily, with only a gentle pluk as they dipped and the faint plank of falling drops as they rose. He could see the boat immediately astern, and if he looked hard enough, the faintest hint of the one behind that.

When the warriors landed, they would make camp until dawn. Then four columns of a hundred men each would go out to explore the countryside, capture or kill any small bands of enemies, and report any large ones. The rest of the landing party would start chopping down trees and digging ditches to make a large fortified enclosure. One boat would return across the water, bringing word to the waiting Kargoi. As soon as the enclosure was finished, the wagons and the rafts would start their crossing. Another week would see the Kargoi united once again.

In the silence and the darkness the sudden splash of a paddle off to the left sounded like an explosion. Blade twisted again, peering in the direction of the sound. The splash came again, closer, and a third time, still closer.

Before Blade could even draw his sword a long low canoe with four men in it seemed to leap at him out of the darkness.

Blade crouched, bracing himself with one hand while he snatched up a spear with the other. One of the men in the canoe whirled, dropping his paddle and raising a long fishing trident. Both Blade and the fisherman made their throws at the same moment. Blade ducked and the trident passed over his head, without spoiling his own aim. His spear took the man in the shoulder. He fell back on the man behind him, his face twisted in pain but not crying out.

In the next moment Blade's boat rode up over the low-lying canoe, driving it down into the water. The tough wood of the canoe pressed upward against the hide of the boat. Blade heard seams parting and felt water rushing in around his feet. He drew his sword and vaulted over the bow into the half-submerged canoe. One of the fishermen lunged at him with a short knife, missed, then grappled with him and tried to bear him over the side. The man fought in total silence and with astonishing strength. At last Blade was able to bring his knee up into the man's groin. With a gasp the fisherman jerked back, giving Blade just enough room to bring his sword into play. The fisherman made no sound even when he died.

Meanwhile the other two men in the canoe were battling against two Kargoi warriors. One of them threw a net over one of his attackers while the other fell on the entangled man, stabbing at his throat with a knife. The steel bit home, and suddenly the battle wasn't silent any more. The stabbed warrior let out a bubbling scream of agony. His attacker fell on top of him with a faint thud, cut down by the second warrior. The last fisherman had no weapon but his net, yet he tried to pull it back for another throw as the Kargoi came at him. The net leaped out, the sword slashed down, and both men went over the side.

Splashes sounded behind Blade as the warriors in his boat jumped overboard. Blade was relieved to see that the water was no more than waist-deep. The men began pushing toward shore, holding their greased and blackened weapons over their heads.

On either side of the wading men other boats pushed forward, the men at the paddles no longer trying to be silent. Blade sprang overboard from the sinking canoe and splashed toward one of the passing boats. As he did, he heard the long, deep blasts of a horn sounding from the darkness ahead. A second horn answered it, then two more almost together.

Before Blade could climb into the boat, he saw lights appearing ahead. The alarm was up, and now the Kargoi were going to have to fight their way ashore. Blade scrambled into the boat and shouted, «Light up your torches and put your backs into it! Archers, hold your fire until I give the order!»

Torches flared as the boats shot ahead. Blade's boat joined the rush toward shore. They passed the wading men, splashing furiously toward a shore now less than a spear's throw away. Blade saw one man vanish as he stepped into a deep hole. Two of his comrades hauled him to the surface, spluttering and gasping for breath.

On the land several of the lights now formed a cluster. Blade could make out a number of dark-skinned figures standing in the light, holding bows and spears. A flurry of movement, and several more ran out from the trees. One held a long red staff. A closer look, and Blade realized that the staff bearer was a woman.

Then the boats were sliding up onto the mud and crunching over submerged roots. Blade dropped into knee-deep water, drew his longsword, and splashed toward dry land. As fast as the other boats grounded, their warriors followed him.

An arrow whistled past Blade and splashed into the water. Another struck him in the stomach but glanced off his reptile-hide armor. As the water grew shallower and the footing-more solid, he broke into a run.

Not all the arrows coming at the Kargoi were badly aimed or futile. Blade saw one man suddenly stagger and clutch a bloody thigh-then keep on going, stumbling, his face twisted in pain, but still on his feet. As the Kargoi started reaching the land, several of the fishermen began to form a circle around the woman. She didn't seem willing to be protected. Blade saw her whirl her long staff, jabbing at the stomach of one man, the knee of another. They fell back. Before they could recover, Blade charged them at a dead run.

As he ran he shouted «Prisoners! Prisoners!» He doubted that many of his warriors would hear or obey, but hopefully enough would to leave at least a few of the enemy alive. He particularly wanted the woman-she looked like the highest-ranking person among the enemy here tonight. She would be a valuable hostage, perhaps a valuable source of information.

Two of the fishermen stepped toward Blade as he approached the woman. One of them shot an arrow that whistled past his ear, then gripped his bow like a club and swung wildly at the oncoming Blade. Blade threw up one arm, taking the blow on his wrist brace, then chopped downward with his shortsword to hack the bow in two. The man dropped the broken halves, but instead of stepping back, he dropped on all fours and hurled himself at Blade.

Blade sprang clear of the man's lunge, but had to check his slash at the other man, who was coming at him with a spear. The spear point drove into the armor of Blade's thigh and almost into his flesh. Before the man could pull back Blade swung his longsword a second time. This time the edge cut cleanly through the spear shaft and one of the arms holding it. The man bared his teeth with a hiss of pain and drew back.

Now the woman came in, gripping her staff with obvious skill, feinting at Blade with one end, then swinging with all her strength at his head. As she swung, the archer grabbed Blade around the waist, clawing at his armor, heaving with all his strength. Blade went over backward, and the woman's staff whistled down where his head had been to thud into the ground.

The woman raised the staff again, but hesitated for a moment, obviously afraid of hitting the archer as he struggled with Blade. Two Kargoi rushed in against the woman and she had to back away, her staff flickering like lightning, thudding against the Kargoi armor, doing no damage but keeping the warriors out of striking range.

Meanwhile Blade found that he had a first-class fight on his hands. The archer who'd grappled him was barely two-thirds his size, but the man was all muscle and also a tough, skilled wrestler in a murderous rage. At last Blade let go of his swords and threw all his own speed and strength against the archer. Twice he got the man in an unbreakable hold, then let him go, to show a willingness to accept the man's surrender. The archer seemed incapable of accepting the idea of surrendering. Each time Blade let him go, he attacked more furiously than before.

At last Blade got the archer in a firm grip, twisted hard, and let go only when he heard the man's neck snap. He rose, covered with sweat and dirt, his face grim. These people might not have much in the way of weapons, but they'd showed considerable skill in using what they had, and also breathtaking courage. These people would not be easy to fight, and Blade found that he didn't particularly like the idea of fighting them in any case.

The woman was still defending herself, her back against a tree, and there were now four Kargoi warriors around her. They seemed to be letting her hold them at a distance, and Blade realized they must think he'd picked out the woman as his prize of the night's battle. So they were merely keeping her busy until the High Baudz could come up and claim his rightful booty.

Blade looked up and down the shore. A large number of Kargoi torches were now throwing light on the scene. Out of twenty or so defenders, all but half a dozen were either dead or had vanished into the forest. Each of these survivors was defending himself desperately against three or four Kargoi. The Kargoi were attacking so eagerly they sometimes got in each other's way, giving the fishermen a chance to strike back. Blade counted at least fifteen Kargoi down, six of them obviously dead.

The warriors around the woman had her hemmed in so that she could not flee, but as Blade approached they stepped aside. The woman cracked one warrior's wrist with a final flick of her staff, then turned for a dash into the forest.

Blade was up with her before she'd gone three steps. She whirled and the staff sang through the air toward Blade. He raised his longsword to block the staff and unhooked his shortsword from his belt, scabbard and all. Then he closed in, holding the shortsword out hilt first.

The woman didn't realize until it was too late that Blade meant to capture her, not kill her. His longsword met her staff in midair and chopped halfway through it. The two weapons were locked together, and that held her in place just long enough. Blade thrust the hilt of his shortsword into the woman's stomach, pulling the blow at the last moment to avoid doing real damage. The woman gasped and doubled up, her hands gripping the staff so tightly that the knuckles of her dark-brown hands turned pale. Blade dropped both swords, jerked the staff out of the woman's hands, caught her by the arms, and got her face down on the ground. He placed one foot in the small of her back and held her down while he drew cord from the pouch at his belt and systematically bound her wrists and ankles. Then he turned her over.

Now that he could look at her carefully, he realized that she was extremely striking. Not beautiful, not even pretty, but exciting and certainly memorable. She was tall and long-limbed, with broad shoulders for a woman and a broad, high-cheeked face. Large gray eyes stared up at him, filled with pain and confusion, but also with continued defiance.

She wore the same clothing as the other fishermen, a pair of knee-length trousers with a silky sheen to them. Hers were now rather soiled and torn from the fighting. She was bare above the waist, her small but beautifully formed breasts exposed. The cuffs of her trousers were embroidered in a geometric design of red and blue. She wore a wide bronze ring on each arm, one set with blue stones and the other with a design of fish and seaweed.

Blade ordered two warriors to mount guard over the woman and give her food and water if she asked. Then he strode off to rally his men and start getting things sorted out.

None of the eight hundred Kargoi warriors of the landing party got much sleep for several days, and Blade got least of all. By the end of that time, however, they'd done everything they were supposed to do and a good deal more besides.

The woman said nothing, not even to ask for food or water, but there were seven other prisoners, most of whom talked freely enough. Some talked out of fear, believing that their people were doomed if they didn't cooperate with the Kargoi. Others talked in a spirit of angry defiance, to tell the Kargoi of what a fate awaited them as soon as they moved on. Blade listened carefully to all of them.

The Kargoi had landed on what was now a peninsula, in the land of a people who called themselves the Hauri. The Hauri were neither numerous nor well armed, although their courage and skill needed no further proving. They lived by fishing and diving for shellfish and pearls, and were very much at home both on and under the water.

The Hauri lived in a loose federation of twenty-one villages. Their only «government» was a council of the headmen of each village that met once a month. The headman of the largest village was usually allowed to act as the chairman of the council, if he was judged fit.

The current chairman was young, but he had a large reputation among the Hauri as a fearless sailor and diver, who deliberately sought out the most dangerous fish in the seas. His name was Fudan, and the woman Blade had captured was his sister Loya. She had several titles, all of them long, virtually impossible to pronounce, and totally impossible to translate into anything sensible. For want of a better title, Blade called her «Princess» Loya.

So much for the Hauri. They would be no particular problem, in spite of their stubborn courage. The Kargoi could overcome them and probably wipe them out to the last man, woman, and child, any time they chose. Fortunately, such a slaughter probably wouldn't be necessary. The land where the Hauri lived seemed large enough to hold both them and the Kargoi, if necessary.

Unfortunately there was more to settling in this new land than dealing with the Hauri. To the west of the forests and hills where the Hauri lived lay broad plains, plains the Kargoi would need for grazing their drends. Those plains were also the eastern border of the kingdom of Tor. Two hundred miles farther west lay the great city of Tordas, which held more people than all of the Hauri and the Kargoi put together.

The Torians, it was said, were a people mighty in war. If the Kargoi dared march against them, they would be marching into disaster, and the Hauri would rejoice. The Hauri and the Torians had fought in the remote past, but for several centuries they had lived more or less in peace. The Hauri had neither the wish nor the ability to wage war against the Torians. The Torians' trained lancers mounted on three-toed blue horses could do little against the Hauri if they retreated into their forests and caves. The Hauri preferred to trade the pearls and shellfish their divers brought up for fine weapons and other goods they could not produce themselves.

Blade was loudly assured that the Torians would not feel so peacefully inclined toward the Kargoi. They would attack as soon as the Kargoi moved out onto the plains. They would attack, and they would very probably put an end to the Kargoi. That thought naturally made the Hauri prisoners extremely happy.

Blade was not quite sure what to do with the prisoners. He eventually decided to release them all, including Loya. He also gave them a message for Fudan and the council of headmen. If the Hauri would make no attacks on the Kargoi for three months, the Kargoi would also keep the peace for that length of time. They would also keep away from the villages of the Hauri as much as possible when they marched west toward their meeting with the Torians.

The Hauri would do well to accept this agreement, he said. They had seen that the Kargoi were strong and brave, quite able to conquer this land if they wished. They would rather march west, to find pasture for their drends and measure their strength against the riders of Tor. They were making the Hauri a free gift of peace, and the Hauri would be wise to accept that gift.

None of the Hauri showed much reaction to Blade's proposal. Silently they gathered up their clothing and weapons, and just as silently they slipped off into the forest. The last one to go was Loya. She said nothing, but her eyes met Blade's for a moment, and he thought he saw her smile faintly. Then she was gone into the forest after the others.

The fort built on the shore was no more than a ditch and a rough wall of logs dragged into place and piled up. The place to build a fort that could stand up against a strong attack was farther to the west, on the Torian frontier. The warriors Blade sent west had orders to pick a site for that fort, while avoiding encounters with the Torians as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the wagons and the rafts were starting to cross the water. At Blade's request Paor sent across two hundred riding drends and their riders before letting any of the family wagons and wagon drends make the crossing. Blade was determined to get a line of mounted scouts thrown out to the west as soon as possible. The Hauri might already have sent word to the Torians that the Kargoi were in the land. Then the Torians would come riding east, perhaps in force, and Blade wanted to make sure they did not come by surprise.

The days passed and the shore came alive with the sounds of drends bellowing, axes chopping, trees crashing down, war songs and camp songs, the clatter and banging of craftsmen at work repairing wagons and rafts-all the sounds of the Kargoi hard at work. On the fifth day Naula came over, and Blade was able to spend a few hours with her in his tent.

On the sixth day Rehod came over. He was rather less welcome than Naula, and Blade almost wished Paor had come over instead. Yet it was probably better to have the trustworthy Paor on the far side of the water and the treacherous Rehod over here where he could be watched.

In any case, the Kargoi needed to cooperate more than ever now. Beyond the land the Torians and the Hauri shared uneasily lay the sea-nothing but the sea, on all sides and in all directions for as far as anyone knew.

The Kargoi had reached the end of their journey. They would either live in this land or die in it.