Nights of Villjamur (5 page)

One of the enemy could be seen crouching at the forest's edge, peering out across the fjord. Like a hunter, Brynd stalked wide so as to keep outside of his target's range of vision, drew the dagger from inside his boot. The crackle of the burning ships was enough to enable some stealth in his approach, and when Brynd was just twenty yards from his target, he flung the blade through the air.

It lodged in the archer's face and he fell silently to the ground. A second tribesman ran to his side. Brynd was on him, immediately scraping his sabre across the man's throat.

This tribe wasn't from Jokull, or any other of the Empire's islands. The clothing wasn't local for a start, and there was no adornment save the bone charm hung around the remains of the man's neck. Brynd withdrew his dagger from the first victim, cleaned it off, placed it back in his boot.

Gheels crouched in the half-light, awaiting their moment. He decided to go back and wait near Fyir, killing only those who approached him. Revenge could wait until later.

*

Night-time, and in these moments Brynd's mind became ultra-rational. Things became lists, strategies, probabilities. He knelt next to Fyir, a man in a resting state, now calm and peaceful. Whilst he'd been away, blood beetles had begun feasting on Fyir's damaged leg, shredding the cloth Brynd had used to staunch the bleeding, and reducing his truncated leg by at least a hand span. In the process, the fist-sized insects had secreted a resin that stopped the bleeding and induced healing, so maybe they weren't completely a bad thing. Brynd had to scrape the creatures off with a sabre, then split them down the centre of their shells to kill them.

The skies cleared, and the world became unbearably cold. He couldn't yet light a fire because it would inevitably draw attention. Three horses were hidden deeper within the forest so they wouldn't be stolen. What strategy now? If only he'd brought Nelum along, a man who could generate plots in his head with simplicity, but Nelum was back in Villjamur, because Brynd hadn't thought he'd need him.

There had been several more explosions, sparks that shattered the darkness as barrels of firegrain were touched by the spreading flames, but Brynd was confident that the night ahead would be calm. Thirteen of the Night Guard were dead. That left five more unaccounted for, so he assumed them dead too.

Shadows had moved in front of flames for a while, a few hours back.

A featureless ship had rowed away.

Eerie stillness now lingered.

He could barely remember a time when the Night Guard were made to look so easy to defeat. The Empire's forces usually dominated battles, clearing rebel islands with brutal efficiency. All those years of early confidence since he'd begun his service for the current Emperor in the Regiment of Foot, then transferred to the Dragoons, and finally to the Night Guard. For his loyalty and renowned fighting skills, he had climbed to the rank of commander. Was he really so loyal? Or, because of the colour of his skin, did he feel he always had something to prove?

He needed to show he was
normal
, steadfastly loyal to the Empire. That made his life easier. Being one of only a few albinos known in the Jamur Empire, he was used to being considered as a permanent outsider. True, people found him curious more than anything else. Their gaze usually settled on his red-tinted eyes, hesitating there a moment because of either fear or amazement, he'd never know - because people liked to stare, didn't they? As a result of his abnormality, he had worked on improving his fitness and knowledge with remarkable dedication.

He stared out from the cover of the trees at the fires that still burned where the firegrain had spread amongst the debris. Most of the grain would be underwater, soaked and useless. Some of it had caught on the wreckage floating along the fjord, and small fires lit its passage to the sea as if there was a festival for the water god, Sul. He wondered vaguely if priests from the Aes would come down to the shore to look for shells as a result of these fires to supply their divinations.

And what would they tell me tonight? That my luck's out? No shit.

He picked up an arrow he'd rescued from a dead soldier, held it close to see if he could work out its origins. Most likely it came from the island of Varltung, though there were no runes inscribed to indicate a maker. Varltung had a long history of resistance to the Emperor's forces. Being naturally fortified by its high cliffs, it was difficult for a sea landing. But, because of the Freeze, the Council was reluctant to acquire new territories.

How could a foreign force even arrive on Jokull, the Jamur Empire's main island, without anyone noticing? His mission here had been ordered from the highest levels in the Empire, with only the Council, its governing body, being privy to that information.

A man lurched out of the darkness.

'Ha! Some bloody Night Guardsman
you
are,' the figure said. 'Could've slit your throat in a heartbeat.'

'I noticed you over an hour ago, captain, a hundred paces up the shore. With the noise you made, I'm surprised you're not on the rocks right now wearing several arrows.' He looked up. 'How long did it take you to realize I'm not the enemy?'

Captain Apium Hol ignored the jibe, instead paced around Fyir's sleeping body. He was stocky, pale skinned with red hair. On his breast, Apium wore the distinctive silver brooch of the Night Guard, a seven-pointed star representing all of the Empire's occupied nations, and it was only then that Brynd noticed that he'd lost his own.

'Looks like old Fyir here bit off more than he could chew,' Apium remarked.

'Not even funny, captain. You should've seen him when he was still awake. Never seen a man in such agony.'

'Beetles?' Apium enquired.

'Yes, some of it. He'd already lost up to his knee from the blast. I stopped the bleeding, left him here for a bit, and . . . well.'

'At least it wasn't gheels. So, how many of us are left, sir?' Apium sat down on the ground beside Brynd with a groan.

'You're looking at us.'

'By the balls of the dragon gods of Varltung.' The captain shook his head.

'I wouldn't mention that nation's name right now.'

'You suspect it's them?'

'Ah, who knows.'

'So, what happened to you, commander?'

'Think I was thrown right from the ship into the forest,' Brynd explained. 'But the trees must've broken my fall. How about you?'

'I was on the shore when your ship . . . went up. Saw the archers heading into the forest, so I followed them. Got one of them, saw two others dead as I came back. I looked around for a catapult - because something must've propelled that fire - but there was nothing to see. Just an empty clearing. There were at least four of us on the shore - like, Gyn, Boldar, Awul - but they weren't there when I got back.'

Silence.

To see your comrades die was something to be expected in the army. It was tough, of course. You formed a close bond. Men became an extended family. You saw more of the world together than most lovers ever would. There would be mourning, that was certain, as there always was. Brynd couldn't let it get to him right now, though, so he placed the issue into a region of his mind that he would later revisit.

'Any idea who did this?' Apium asked. 'Not the clansmen, I mean, but who actually planned it?'

After a pause Brynd muttered, 'It's a set-up. Someone in Villjamur wanted this to happen.'

'But why?'

'So we're not properly prepared for the Freeze, I guess. Otherwise, no idea, really.'

'Leaves us well screwed,' Apium continued. 'Do you think we should've brought a cultist along with us?'

'It's all well and good saying that now, but everyone wanted to keep this low-key. That was the whole point, wasn't it? Cultists would've only drawn more attention. And they would've
known
too, which defeats the objective. Although why all this secrecy just for a bit of fuel? I realize Johynn wants us relying on them less. You know, he even told me before we came away that he suspected the cultists would bugger off to do their own thing during the ice age. It's not exactly classified information that he wants to be able to manage things without them, get used to them not being around. He might be a little weird at times, but there's
some
wisdom there, I'll say that much.'

'Hmm.' Apium wore an expression of uncertainty. 'Still, would've helped though.'

'I'm going to be asking some awkward questions when we get back home.'

'So you think we're going to be in trouble?' Apium suggested.

'It's not by any means an emergency. There's enough wood in the forests across the Empire to keep the home fires burning, for sure. This was more Johynn's doing. He was convinced the firegrain was needed - and you know what his mind's been like of late.'

Apium stifled a laugh, then he pointed through the trees.

Two moons could be seen between the tall hills rising either side of the fjord, one moon significantly larger than the other, and both an ethereal white, hanging low in the sky. Astrid, the smaller, appeared sometimes to be unnatural, as if it was made of some pale ore, out of place even - something Brynd felt an affinity for.

The men stared for several moments. There was a sense of stillness. Stars gradually defined the hillside.

'Looking nice tonight, aren't they?' Apium said. 'Strange to think they'll do it.'

'What?'

'The ice age. Strange to think just the moons are causing it.'

'When you think about it logically--'

'You see, that's your problem. I just said it's weird that it comes to that. You never just think plainly about stuff.'

'It's not a plain world, captain.'

'You need to get laid more often,' Apium grumbled, lying back flat on the ground, his arms behind his head.

Brynd stood up suddenly. He could perceive movement nearby.

'What's wrong with you?' Apium said. 'Touched a nerve, have I?'

Brynd gestured for him to silence.

The red-haired man pushed himself upright to follow Brynd's gaze. 'Can't see anything.'

Brynd stepped to the right, his eyes wide, alert. Within seconds he knew Apium had lost him, could see the man's gormless face lit up by the moon, even at a distance. How Apium had managed to stay alive in the Night Guard was beyond Brynd. Perhaps he worshipped some outlawed god who knew something no one else did. The injections this elite group received on their induction should have worn off over the years due to Apium's excessive drinking.

Brynd took several slow steps over to where he had seen the foliage move. He reached carefully for his sabre. Behind a sapling, he saw him. A man, naked, covered in mud. Brynd frowned, then reached for a stone from the ground. He threw it, the stone connected, but the man didn't move, didn't even flinch. Brynd repeated the action. Still no movement. He whistled back to Apium.

After a few seconds, his companion shambled through the forest to his side. 'What's up?'

'There's a man over there.' Brynd indicated the figure. 'He's naked.'

'Naked?'

'I said naked.'

'You're right,' Apium said. 'What's he doing way out here with nothing on? Bit of outdoors action, eh?'

'How the hell should I know?' Brynd said. Little harm could come from investigating this, surely? There was no sign of anyone else around, and he was sure they were alone. 'Let's get closer.' Brynd led the way towards the naked man, who had remained still for some time. If he was aware of their approach, he didn't show it.

'The Sele of Jamur to you, sir,' Brynd said, thinking the traditional Jamur greeting would prompt some response. Nothing. He looked the man up and down. 'You, er . . . you must be cold.'

Apium snorted a laugh.

The man still didn't move, just stared vacantly ahead. They stepped cautiously to within an armspan of him, noticing his face lacked blood as if totally drained of it. His eyes were slightly slanted, and they gazed directly past Brynd. There were strange wounds around his neck, then Brynd noticed that his head was shaven unevenly, so that tufts of black hair blossomed on it in patches.

'Looks dead, doesn't he?' Apium remarked.

Brynd reached out, prodded the man in the chest. Still no reaction. The commander took a bold step forward and reached out to feel his wrist. 'Well, I'll swear by Bohr, he is.'

'What?' Apium gasped. 'Dead?'

'Yes. There's no sign of pulse.' He let go of his wrist, and the man's arm slumped back to his side.

'This is cultist work, Brynd,' Apium warned, reaching for Brynd's shoulder with fear in his eyes. 'Nothing natural here. I don't like it. I've no idea what they've done to him, but we should send this fellow on his way and stay with Fyir. In fact, I think we ought to move off a little.'

Although stunned, Brynd didn't know what to make of it. A hardened soldier, he was used to seeing the worst of life, but this individual out here spoke of technologies he was unaware of. What options did he have? If they killed this man, there might be more in waiting. Should he provoke it? In their depleted state, Brynd considered it best to leave things be and report it back in Villjamur. 'I think you're right. This can wait. I'll maybe put it in a report.'