Robert Adams - The Savage Mountains

“It was while we were riding back—rather, most of us were walking to spare the horses—that the earthquake struck. Since the quake seemed to be coining from the north and since the plateau was obviously unsafe, what with the broken ground and all, we were mostly happy to follow Duke Bili down and off it But the face we came down started to break up before the tail of the column was clear, my lord, and there weren’t much room at the bottom, so we took off in two directions; me with the force I brought in, Duke Bili with maybe two hundred.

“When it was over, when the ground stopped shaking and rumbling and when those hot rocks stopped falling, I led my group back and found the end of the plateau had broken up and slid down into a little vale. What of the rest of the plateau we could see looked to be all afire, and that cliff where the Maidens and Ahrmehnee had made their stand had disappeared completely. It was more burning forest southeast and southwest, and given the poor condition of my force, I felt it unwise to take them into that inferno, put them in more danger. I knew that Duke Bili, too, had maps and I assumed he would find his own way north.”

He shook his head sadly. “Now I wonder if I erred, my lord. Perhaps… ?”

“Not a bit of it, Komees Han,” snapped the High Lady Aldora. “You made a command decision, did what you thought best for the troops under you. Considering the circumstances and the conditions you’ve outlined, I doubt me Td have done differently. Don’t berate yourself further. I’d say you had no choice.”

Hari’s relief had flooded his lined face. That Aldora, who was not only Bili’s lover but a recognized authority on cavalry tactics, could thus absolve him of blame lifted a weighty load from his loyal old conscience. He continued then.

“It took us near two days, my lord, to backtrack to where we had gone onto the plateau. But the gap had fallen in. Sir Geros climbed atop the tumbled rocks and returned to say that he had seen precious little, since all the land in both directions seemed covered with a thick blanket of smoke, even the tops of the hills and ridges. So, with our supply train gone, too, I decided our best course was to hotfoot it north while still we could travel.”

Draining off the last of his welcome cup, Hari stood and said, “Now, my lord, I’d like to tell of another matter. When the main barbarian force all but annihilated Captain Raikuh’s squadron, the captain was seriously wounded but still managed to stay on his horse for some little distance though pursued closely by a number of the savages. Finally, the pain and loss of blood so weakened him that he fell and the horse ran on without him. That horse came into my camp later that night; it was the first sign we had that ill had befallen Raikuh’s command.

“Raikuh says he was lying there, too weak even to feel for his dirk, hearing the approaching yells of the barbarians, when, suddenly, an Ahrmehnee woman stepped out of the forest onto the trail ahead of him. He says he tried to tell her to get back into hiding, but she just stood there serenely, ignoring him.

“Then the knot of shaggy riders swept around the turn, and Raikuh knew he’d fought his last battle. But then they stopped so suddenly that the leading ponies reared and several of the rear rank rode into them. All the while, the woman had just been standing in the trail, a few paces ahead of him, and he’d expected the shaggies to just cut her down and go for him.

“But they cast several darts, well over her head, then jerked their ponies’ heads about and rode out of there as if a regiment of dragoons had been on their tails; some of them were actually screaming. When their hoofbeats faded, the woman shouted something and another woman came out of the forest and the two of them came over to where Raikuh lay.

“At first they tried carrying him, but the weight was too much. So they put him down and, with what little help he could give them, got most of his armor off. Then they half carried and half dragged him into the forest and over a hill and into a little cave—really, just a deep rock overhang.”

Komees Hari spun a good tale. Aldora, the nahkhahrah, Senior Strahteegos Hahfos Djohnz, everyone within hearing, sat rapt. And Milo remembered the long centuries on the Sea of Grass, when Daiviz bards had been renowned as the best and most creative storytellers.

The inheritor of that ancient art continued. “Now, Raikuh’s been soldiering most of his life, and he’s near my own age, so he knows what death wounds look like and he knew he had at least two of them, knew that he’d not last the night. So when the older woman—the one what had faced down the barbarians—gave him something to drink, he figured it would be near his last drink.

“My lord, Raikuh swears his Sword Oath on what Fm going to tell you now, and he’s not a man to lie on his Sword. When he woke up, the Sun was shining and he not only wasnt dead, he wasn’t even in very much pain! Somehow, my lord, that older woman—he’s pretty sure it was her, since the other’s but a girl and seems the elder’s helper—had got two iron dartpoints out of Raikuh’s vitals, while he slept, and had sewn up the flesh with sheepgut as neatly, I trow, as could any Zahrtohguhn physician.”

The High Lord nodded. “The Confederation owes those women a debt of gratitude. Captain Raikuh is a valuable officer and has served us well. I take it, Komees Hari, that those are the ones who rode in with your group. How did you come across them?”

“According to that damned map, my lord, we were too far west to hit the village where Duke Bili’d said we were to meet you if we headed straight north, so we backtracked down the trail we’d advanced up. We’d come up at a pretty fair rate of march, with point and flanks scouted by the cats. Well, all the cats went with Bili, so we marched slower and more careful coming back, and Sir Geros came across Raikuh’s armor and recognized it, since the two of them had been good friends for near on a year.

“When he reported his find to me, I knew the savages hadn’t gotten him, for they never leave hardly a scrap of anything except dead bodies on a field they win. So I fanned out parties to both flanks and we started looking for his corpse. A squad of Maidens stumbled onto the cave and explained the situation to the two women. And, my lord, that was that.”

“What has the nahkhahrah to say on this matter?” the High Lord inquired politely.

“There are a few wise women among the Ahrmehnee, Lord Milo,” Kohg had replied. “Never very many in any one generation. Since they conduct mostly women’s rites, few men know much concerning them. Few of these wise women ever marry, so they choose a girl from among whatever tribe they serve” and train her to their craft. Though the wise women instruct midwives and tribal healers, they seldom perform such work themselves. Nonetheless, I have heard of some quite remarkable cures certain of them have wrought, over the years. It is said that they have the power to literally thrust their hands through flesh, without breaking the skin or drawing any blood, and remove tumors or foreign objects from the body. Understand me, Lord Milo, I’ve never seen it done, but I know that it has been done.”

Milo and Aldora exchanged a glance, then he addressed Komees Hari. “I’d like to meet this wise woman, Hari. Have her sent for.”

The old nobleman smiled. “I thought my lord might She awaits his pleasure in the next chamber.”

Milo guessed the age of the woman Hari ushered in at something under forty. He thought, too, that she must have been a raving beauty at twenty; even now, she was a handsome, high-breasted creature. Nor did she appear abashed in this august gathering. She strode gracefully at Hari’s side, seemingly oblivious of her rumpled, travel-stained garments, the ghost of a smile rugging at her full, dark-red lips. Her black eyes locked briefly with the nahkhahrah’s and Milo saw the old man start as if stabbed, but neither spoke and Milo felt it impolitic to pry.