Mickey Reichert: Flight of the Renshai

"Confessed?" The word confused Subikahn further. "But he didn't-" Subikahn tried again. "Tally didn't rape anyone; he couldn't. Why would he…?" Nothing made sense.

"Then, he mutilated two elite guardsmen and attempted to kill me. High treason, Subikahn. The sentence-"

Subikahn knew the obvious sentence, for either crime. What he could not grasp was Talamir admitting to having done such a thing, Talamir losing his sanity in the courtroom. Subikahn's mind drifted back to the fateful night that seemed so long ago. "If your love is real and strong," Tae had said, "it will survive two years of separation." Subikahn clung to that. "But you promised, Papa. You said that I could come back to Tally in two years, if our love survived."

Tae sighed. His head seemed to collapse into the pillow. "I'm sorry, Subikahn. Talamir is-"

"No!" Subikahn could not bear to hear the last word. "No!" The agony that descended upon him was so raw it pained him worse than any physical wound. "No! No! No!" He whirled without thinking, wrenched open the door, and darted from the room, nearly colliding with Matrinka. Without so much as a mumbled apology, he burst through the hallways, down the staircases, in a blind, deaf fog of anguish. He did not stop running until he found himself outside, with no memory of opening any doors or facing any guardsmen. There, he threw himself into the grass, alternately sobbing and screaming, ranting and melting, until all understanding became buried in a dark morass of impenetrable grief.

A scarlet edge of sun burst over the horizon, its color bleeding across the dawn sky and blending through the rainbow spectrum to a dense and savage blue. The blare of horns greeted the new day, their notes crisp and triumphant, a battle cry from the once silent ships.

A smile eased onto Subikahn's face, the first show of emotion Saviar had noticed since his twin's return that night. The swollen, red-rimmed eyes had said enough, and the desperate violence that characterized his svergelse. Renshai vented with sword strokes instead of blustering or shouting or tears.Tae, Saviar surmised, was not doing well; and Subikahn had the look of a man prepared to die in glorious combat, more eager than ever to find Valhalla.

Saviar would have liked to discuss the situation with his twin, but circumstances did not allow it. Subikahn had nothing to say, and Saviar found himself tied up trying to explain the generals' strategy well enough that the Renshai would not spoil it. It simply called for the infantrymen to pause long enough from engaging to allow the bowmen a few rounds at the enemy as they scrambled from their ships. But Ra-khir and Saviar both knew the futility of asking Renshai to hesitate in battle.

Saviar was not sure it mattered anyway.The Renshai had no bows, no cavalry per se, though they did keep some horses. They might foil the shots of the bowmen stationed in the armies on either side, but no arrows, bolts, or quarrels should spring from directly behind them. Saviar hoped that would work well enough. Ra-khir would have no more luck restraining Renshai than he would the wind itself. And Saviar the Volcano Tamer doubted he could do much better.

The Aeri soldier waited for the blare of horns to die to echoes before addressing Valr Magnus. The general stood at the back of his infantry, watching for Archer-Captain Sivaird to give the signal. "Sir, we found young Treysind bound hand and foot. Shall we release him?"

Magnus had to suppress a laugh. "Tied him up, did he? That's one way to keep a small brother safe."

"Sir?"

"Have someone nonessential take Treysind to whoever's guarding the children in Bearn." Magnus watched the enemy pour from their ships with astounding precision. They moved in an orderly fashion, perfectly coordinated. This did not bode well. "Have them tell the women in charge to keep both eyes on him. Otherwise, he's going to run to the thickest part of the battle, swamp his brother and others around them, and get his fool self hacked to bits."

"Yes, sir." The soldier rushed to obey.

Valr Magnus wondered why the archers had not yet fired. He trusted Captain Sivaird to know the precise moment, yet the sooner they did so, the more rounds they could get off before the infantry engaged. The various cavalries waited, bunched just behind the beachhead, to catch any pirates who scythed their way through the soldiers on foot.

Valr Magnus turned his attention back to the enemy, finally finding the reason for Sivaird's hesitation. From nearly every massed army on the shore, infantrymen charged the pirates, disobeying the commands of red-faced, screaming commanders. Damn! Magnus' own army held firm, aside from one man who stormed down the sand with the ferocity of a she-bear protecting cubs.

"General!" Captain Alsmir shouted.

Magnus did not need an explanation. He had weathered enough war to know this might happen. "I see them!" The best laid plans are more often thwarted by inexperienced allies than enemies.

"What do you want me to do?" the archer's captain called down from the ridge.

Captain Alsmir rode off to bunch his men, making sure that the remainder of his charges obeyed orders and did not break ranks to follow the one.

Valr Magnus looked from the growing battles on the beaches to Sivaird. He could order them to sacrifice the one disobedient man, to pepper Calistin with the same barrage as the enemy. He dismissed the thought the instant it arose; it was a cowards' way out, ethically and strategically wrong. "Use the Strikers." Magnus referred to the most competent archers, the specialists reserved for specific targets. "Take down the ships, if you can. Leave the shore-bound for the infantry. The reservists need to switch to handheld weapons, and the designated bowmen…" He could think of no specific use for them but hated wasting their skill. "… use your judgment. If you can get a clear shot without jeopardizing any of our men, take it."

Captain Sivaird saluted and rushed to reorganize. Flaming arrows flew toward the ships. Only three hit their targets, but all of the others crashed safely into the sea. Smoke rose from one of the ships, then burst brilliantly into flames. One down. One seemed so few.Yet, even that small triumph brought them one step nearer to victory. "Again," he said beneath his breath. And Sivaird complied. Another wave of flaming arrows flew from the ridge, accompanied by a tight barrage of quarrels over the heads of the massed infantry on the open portion of beach.

All up and down Bearn's beaches, of ringing steel, battle cries, grunts, and screams filled the air with the familiar sounds of war.

Another ship went up in flames, then another, and a few more up and down the ocean from other units. Then, the pirates swarmed the beach, and Captain Alsmir released the infantry. Valr Magnus freed his sword and raced to join his men, reminding himself not only to watch for the familiar uniforms of his unit but for the various and sundry other continental warriors, the random clothes of volunteers and conscripted soldiers, the homespun farmers. He need not have worried. To a man, the enemy sported the same leather armor, helmets, and shields; and it became easier to target them and protect every other.

Bodies fell around Valr Magnus, flesh yielding to his sword, steel slamming against his blocks and parries. Several of his own men had fallen amongst the enemy, each blood-splattered aqua-and-bronze uniform a painful reminder that not every man would return. He set his sights on allowing as few pirates past him as possible, easing the burden on the cavalry farther up the beach. They were the last resort for the women and children of Bearn, the city, the castle, and all the lands beyond.