The House of Yeel (17 page)

The man looked at her, holding his head.

“Thank you,” he said. “I thought myself dead
for sure.”

“You would do the same for me,” Jymoor said,
not at all certain of the statement.

“I will someday,” he agreed.

Jymoor turned to rejoin the
battle, but she saw that the remnants of the Quan force were
surrounded and falling rapidly. None of the blue humanoids was
surrendering. The Ascarans pressed in and slaughtered them. Two or
three of the tall birds managed to escape from the ring, leaping
over warriors and running away at impressive speed. The things
sensed defeat; rather than turn back and fight some more, they
scampered off among the tall rocks that surrounded the
draw.

Jymoor felt glad the battle
was over. She’d tested herself and come out fine. Of course, the
battle had been heavily in their favor, and she felt sure she’d
been saved by the moon armor, not her own budding skill with fenlar
and sword. Nevertheless, she had defended herself from grave
danger.

No thanks to
Legrach.

She couldn’t wait to relate
the tale to Master Kasil. At the same time, she decided she would
quit training with Legrach.

***

I’ve been switching between
worlds so regularly now that I’ve almost forgotten what a wonder it
is. I train with Kasil during the day and patrol the camp at night
as we make our way back toward Riken. My guidance was necessary to
get us through the mountain pass I took to get here. I may call it
Gem Pass, as Yeel has extracted a dozen garnets from the rocky
cliffsides, almost on a whim.

Jymoor paused in her writing, recalling the
skirmish with the Quan. Yeel worked nearby in the kitchen of his
house, gathering foodstuffs to take for a feast with Vot.

“You seem troubled,” Yeel
said. “Are you trying to recall an event to persist? Could it be
that even your amazing memory has failed?”

“No…but I am troubled. It’s
Legrach. During the battle, he almost watched me die.”

“Did you confront him about it?”

“He only said he knew I
could handle it. But it was a close thing. He wouldn’t have been
able to save me in time.”

“There is sometimes an
attitude held among warriors that fighters must prove themselves
before it’s worth investing in them,” Yeel said. “I don’t subscribe
to this approach myself, but to Legrach, it may have been a kind of
test.”

“Or maybe he wanted me to
die, since I’d rather be out there fighting instead of bringing him
babies,” Jymoor said.

Yeel shook his head.

“That was simply about the role Vot plays. It
is all Legrach knows about women. It barely impinges upon you
personally.”

“Well in any case, I’ve
decided to train exclusively with Kasil. I hope you
understand.”

Jymoor was aware of her
confident tone and the finality of her decision. Now she was
telling the Great Yeel what she would do instead of taking his
orders.

“I do understand, and I
fully support your decision. However, Vot and I would ask that you
be available for patrol under the green sky. The Meridalae are
massing for an offensive on Ascara-home. If there’s another
opportunity to make a raid, they may want your sword.”

“Very well.”

“I’ve formulated a plan
which may work to save both worlds. You see, these battles are
largely about concentration of strength and the element of surprise
and angles of…well, my extensive studies have brought me to an
idea. If the Riken army can help Vot survive the onslaught under
the green sky, then I think I may be able to convince Vot to bring
her Ascaran army here to fight the barbarians.”

Jymoor digested the idea for a moment. She
had her doubts.

“Assuming you can get Vot
and King Aruscetar of Riken to agree, it may be difficult to get
whole armies through the portal. And the timing would have to be
right. I don’t know which side is going to be attacked first.
Finally, I don’t know how large the army is that is attacking
Ascara-home, but the barbarian horde is so vast, Vot’s army may not
suffice.”

“In each case, an army will be attacking a
fortress,” said Yeel. “Imagine the precariousness of that attacking
army, if it is attacked in turn from behind. They would be pinned
with enemies on both sides. If the attack from behind is a
surprise, then the situation would be grave for the besieger.”

“That’s a great plan. Our
next challenge is one of diplomacy. We have to get Vot and King
Aruscetar to work together. To trust each other.”

Yeel finished gathering the
food and swung the bag over his shoulder. Jymoor thought it must be
very heavy, but Yeel had otherworldly strength. She wondered
silently if Yeel had an artifact, just like the moon armor, that
fed him strength, or if it was intrinsic to a man so wise and
powerful in magic.

“The best way to convince
Vot is to first convince her helping Riken is in her own best
interest. Then, I think a secondary thrust should revolve around
telling her how the barbarians function. As nomadic peoples, they
overload any environ they enter, denude it of resources, and move
on. From what I have learned of Riken, your people live in one spot
and augment its resources to support life in place. I think this
will resonate with her own personal tastes. Vot values balance with
all things. Therefore, we will formulate a two-pronged argument,
which should convince her with both reason and emotion.”

“You’ve put much thought
into this, Yeel. I’m glad to see you’re taking Riken’s plight so
seriously. We’re forever in your debt.”

“Then I ask a favor: you
must present the second prong of our argument. Persuade Vot that
the Rikenese way is less destructive to nature than the invaders.
Convince her that the barbarians’ strength does not come from
superior balance. They’re more numerous because they’re not afraid
to destroy nature, not because they’ve achieved more harmony with
it.”

Jymoor nodded. They left the kitchen with
Jymoor in the lead, showing Yeel the way back to the portal. Soon
they emerged once again under the green sky, headed toward the
bridge to Ascara-home.

They marched into the mighty
fortress and found the dining chamber. Yeel went into the kitchen
with his food. Jymoor stayed at the table and listened to Yeel’s
long-winded preparation instructions filtering in from the other
room. Finally, Yeel emerged and waited with her at the
table.

An hour later the food was ready and Vot
appeared with her upper cadre of warriors.

“I’m glad you’ve come back,
Yeel,” Vot said. “We need you here to repel the assault of the
Meridalae.”

“Of course I’ll help if I
can, though there is the matter of the crisis in Riken as well. You
know, you can have the assistance of their substantial army if you
simply agree to aid them in turn. Trust me, taking these people as
allies, though they are very different than your own, will secure
your position here, even in the face of attack from the
Meridalae.”

“I don’t want their help. I
want your help, Yeel,” Vot said. “The two of us should be
sufficient. Things will work themselves out in Riken without your
interference.”

“He’s already promised my
kingdom his assistance!” Jymoor said. “And we’re very grateful for
it!”

“The barbarian migration?
What can you really do to stop it? I’ve organized a defense here,
and I have a dedicated army that understands what they’re up
against. Riken is a crumbling empire on the verge of collapse. The
migration will overcome them. It is as it should be.”

“The barbarians will burn
and destroy everything in their path,” Jymoor said. “They eat all
the food, hunt the game dry, even destroy the very grass underfoot
with the trampling of a thousand boots. Then they must leave to go
strip some other land of everything. Riken may be old, but at least
we’ve learned to fish what we can without destroying whole
populations. King Aruscetar rotates the hunting lands by
establishing preserves to allow the game population to remain
stable. We plant crops in our fields to sustain ourselves without
having to move from place to place and overwhelm the land. To my
point of view,
that
is how it should be. In fact, that is why we are losing to
the barbarians. Because we live in balance with the land, not
overwhelming it, we have fewer warriors than the horde that comes
to destroy us.”

Jymoor decided to shut up.
She’d calmly but firmly said everything Yeel had advised, now it
was up to Vot. The queen ate in silence for a few moments, lost in
thought.

“Perhaps I will speak with
this man Aruscetar of Riken and see if an arrangement can be made
to our mutual benefit,” she said at last. Jymoor relaxed. Of
course, Yeel’s plan had worked. She should never have doubted it
would.

Chapter 12:
Riken

“I have good news! We’ve
reached your homeland. You should make an appearance. The Crescent
Knight is so recognizable, it will alleviate any anxiety your
soldiers may feel about our band.”

Jymoor blinked. Yeel spoke
to her in the small kitchen near the fountain room. She’d just
returned from a training session with Master Kasil. The lack of
need for sleep had proven to be an amazing boost to her ability to
learn and train.

“Time has passed so quickly.
I’ve been so busy, I guess.”

“So true. You’ve been missed
by those we rescued. But they know you’ve been fighting forces of
evil. They see you now and then on patrol at night, and pass rumors
back and forth about you.”

“You told me the time passes
at different rates, and I knew we were getting close last time we
went back. I don’t know why I still find it hard to
believe.”

Jymoor finished eating. They walked through
the roveportal to take a look. They emerged under a blue sky and
found the group cleaning up camp. They were almost ready to go.

“I’m glad Yeel has brought
you,” said a man. His clothes looked like those of a soldier or
mercenary. “There are towers ahead
.
They weren’t there in my time. We’ve been
wondering whether to show ourselves.”

“In this day, Riken extends
farther west than you’re used to. We’re home!”

Several others overheard
Jymoor’s pronouncement and gave her bright smiles. A few looked
more skeptical. Perhaps they didn’t believe her, or perhaps they
felt hesitation to return so many years after they left. Many must
have lost friends and family over the years, Jymoor
realized.

Jymoor and Yeel headed the column as the sun
rose higher. They walked for a half hour up a slight grade, then
came over a hill. A town waited ahead. Twin towers flanked the road
as it slipped between two stony ridges.

“We really are here,” she whispered.

“What is this place? It is of Riken,
correct?” asked Yeel.

“This is Nolleguard,” Jymoor
said loudly for the others to hear. “This is now Riken’s
westernmost settlement. Let me go first. We don’t want to provoke a
hostile response.”

Jymoor strode forward toward
the guard towers. The others followed behind a bit, walking more
slowly, then finally stopped. Jymoor continued on for a minute or
two before she was spotted by the watch.

She raised her arm and waved, then continued
ahead. She was almost at comfortable yelling distance when one of
the guards raised his hand to his mouth to call out.

“The Crescent Knight returns!” he
bellowed.

“So much for that,” Jymoor said to herself.
She turned and signaled the others. One guard hurried out to talk
to her.

“I’ve returned with Yeel,
and many other adventurers who sought him,” she said.

“Come in! I’m happy to see
you. We’re all happy to see a hero thought dead return to
Riken.”

Soldiers accumulated at the
gate. None of them seemed alarmed, though they all stared at the
large band of refugees from the garden closing in from behind
Jymoor.

The captain of the guard pushed his way
through the men to approach Jymoor.

“Did you say Yeel?”

“That’s correct, captain.
Here he is. Yeel himself. And he’s come to help us. We’ve all
returned to help our homeland.”

The captain looked at her
strangely. She realized it was because she hadn’t removed her
helm.

Jymoor gave a mental shrug.

Let them see the truth! Or
maybe that’s just the armor talking.

She quashed the doubt and
removed the helm and met the captain’s gaze squarely.

“I think my return and the success of the
mission merit a courier dispatch, captain,” she said firmly.

The captain blinked.

“You are…?”

“What’s wrong with you,
boy?” came another voice behind Jymoor. Master Kasil walked up
beside her. “Maybe he’s never seen a woman before? Been on garrison
duty out here too long, soldier?”

“It’s simply that…well, the
Crescent Knight is a man!”

“Who told you that? She left before you were
even born, likely,” Kasil said.

“Well…well, I guess no one
told me that. But everyone calls him a ‘he’ when they tell the
tales.”

“How did you recognize the armor?” Jymoor
asked, changing the subject.

“There is a tapestry, woven
when the knight left for the Far Coast. All new frontier guards see
it at graduation. We’re told to await the return of the Crescent
Knight. Of course, I never thought I would see…her.”