Ian Esslemont - Assail

The afternoon lengthened. The light beneath the clouds darkened to a silvery pewter where shadow and light seemed to melt together. Movement drew her eye: a lone figure descended the rocky slope. A thick bear cloak draped his shoulders and a patch covered one eye. He walked thumping his long dark-wood spear to the stones as he came and Shimmer felt an atavistic shiver upon seeing him.

‘Success, it would seem,’ K’azz remarked.

The Sayer, Orman, went to his brothers and sisters among the Icebloods and clasped arms. Next came Silverfox and the Bonecaster, Pran Chole, followed by Kilava. These went to the Imass and the other Bonecasters, Ut’el and Tolb Bell’al. Their sharing was in silence.

First to come to them was Silverfox. She walked alone to stand before K’azz. Her face it seemed could not help but carry sadness and hurt when she looked upon him and the rest of them. ‘I’m sorry,’ she began again, but K’azz raised a hand to silence her.

‘There is nothing for you to apologize for. What happened above? Are the others coming? Kyle?’

She drew a weary breath — one touched by a measure of disbelief. ‘We struck an accord. I have formally sworn off all hostilities towards the Jaghut. For reasons of their own, the Forkrul decided not to intervene.’

‘Well done.’

‘Do not thank me. Your friend, the Whiteblade, was instrumental.’

‘And where is he?’

‘He waits above with the bard for their companion, the Andii, who has entered into an exchange with the Forkrul …’ The shake of her head told what she thought of that decision, and of his chances.

‘I see. Well, I congratulate you all the same, Silverfox. I have heard the tale of your coming into your birthright in south Genabackis. The Pannion wars. I believe that all those who had a hand in your raising would feel vindicated and immensely proud right now.’

Shimmer saw that these words struck the woman deeply. She blinked back tears, nodding. ‘Thank you, K’azz. You are generous even when …’ she could not continue, and had to break off to master herself. ‘Even when the curse of the Imass has fallen upon you and yours.’

He held out his open hands. ‘We came to this of our own accord. It probably would not have emerged, otherwise.’

She tilted her head, agreeing, and pushed back her greying curls behind an ear. ‘You understand that I am not the Summoner for you?’

His answering smile was gentle. ‘Yes. We understand. We must await ours.’

She tilted her head again and offered Shimmer a shy smile of farewell that was so incongruous on the face of an elder that she had to answer with her own. ‘Good luck,’ Shimmer offered.

After she left, Kilava joined them. She regarded K’azz with a critical eye — perhaps her normal expression. ‘So, K’azz of the Red Clan. Full circle.’

He nodded his grave agreement. ‘Indeed.’

‘This was never our intent. The opposite, in fact.’

‘I know. What of you, then?’

She frowned her uncertainty. ‘I believe I will walk for a time with the Summoner — at least until we cannot bear each other’s company. We shall see.’

K’azz offered his hand, which she took. She took Blues’ and Cal-Brinn’s hands as well, but when Shimmer offered hers, the woman pulled her close and hugged her with alarming strength. ‘I’m glad to see you are back with us,’ she whispered, and released her. Shimmer stood rather shocked, unable to frame a reply. ‘Farewell, Red Clan,’ she said. ‘We will see one another again.’

The T’lan Imass set off across the ice-field. To her eyes they appeared so lonely, so frail, yet she knew this was not the truth at all. She felt that she was watching something timeless, yet something that would never be seen again.

The Iceblood Orman came to them next. He was flanked by his twin guards, both quiet and watchful. He leaned upon his tall spear and regarded them with his one good eye. He still loomed taller than they.

He nodded to Cal-Brinn. ‘My thanks, Crimson Guard, for your defence of the Losts. I am grateful. What now for you? Will you await your friends above?’

K’azz shook his head. ‘They will know where to find us, if they wish. We are for our homeland, Stratem. Best of fortunes to you, Orman of the Sayer. I hope you can carve out a homeland as well.’

The lad’s eye glittered with a new confidence. ‘Oh, I believe we shall.’

‘Farewell, then.’ And K’azz bowed his head, as did Shimmer, Blues and Cal-Brinn. They headed off, following in the tracks of the T’lan Imass.

Cal-Brinn, however, turned back as if struck by a thought. ‘Orman,’ he called.

The lad looked up, ‘Yes?’

‘The Losts. Stalker and Badlands. They may still be alive. It’s just that … they’re lost again.’

Orman ruefully shook his head. ‘I see. Thank you,’ and he waved a farewell.

They returned to tramping through the snow. ‘Let us collect our scattered people,’ K’azz said as they pushed onward through the drifts. He offered Blues a joking smile. ‘Shall we split up to do so?’

Blues waved his arms in alarm. ‘Gods no! No more goddamned splitting up!’

Shimmer’s quiet smile was so fierce it almost hurt her lips. It was good to have K’azz back with them.

*

Orman watched the mercenaries, the Crimson Guard, wading their way through the snow down the ice-field. Beyond them, far down the serpentine slope, the Imass, the Army of Dust and Bone, had already disappeared. How odd it seemed to him now that he should pity them, his former enemy, labouring as they did beneath an endless curse. Yet endless no longer. Their Summoner had come. Perhaps, then, they would find deliverance.

They might no longer be enemies — at least for the time being — but he hoped never to see them again.

He turned back to his people. What he now saw as his extended family. Keth and Kasson followed, walking just behind at each shoulder. He planted Svalthbrul and examined these three: all survivors like himself. All knowing the true perils and secrets of these heights.

He nodded to them. ‘It seems these upper slopes are ours once more. I doubt we shall ever see the Army of Dust and Bone again. If their queen has her way they shall remain of the dust and the earth. So, my offer stands. Shall we rebuild a Greathall and hold it together?’ He looked to Baran and Erta of the Heels.

The brother and sister exchanged bruised and exhausted glances. Baran pulled on his tangled beard. ‘The question is where? These valleys are all scraped clean of trees and soil.’

‘If I may,’ the Myrni girl, Siguna, began timidly, ‘there are woods on the slopes farther to the west.’

‘What of the heights?’ Baran asked.

‘We must guard them still,’ Orman answered. He understood now what Jaochim and all the other elders had been doing all this time. Guarding the Holdings, yes, but more important barring the way to these heights and the secrets they contained. The hidden places that mustn’t be opened. He would honour that heavy purpose and guard these secrets. Perhaps, in time, he would come to be feared or cursed by the lowland newcomers as a hoarder of mysteries. But better that than the end of the world come again — perhaps in truth.

‘And the Matriarch?’ Erta asked.

‘She will remain. She will call us if she needs us.’ He studied the Myrni girl, turning his head slightly to see her better. ‘You will guide us west, then, Siguna?’

She bowed. ‘Yes, Orman.’

One last thought struck him and he turned to Baran. ‘Oh — I have heard that the Losts were last seen alive to the east. Will you hunt them out?’

Baran bowed also, smiling behind his beard. ‘With pleasure.’

Orman leaned more of his weight upon the thick haft of Svalthbrul. He nodded to Siguna. ‘Find us a favourable high vale that we may call our home.’