Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4) (21 page)

“Wonderful,” Kile replied. “Sound the alarm, wake the other, do whatever you’re supposed to do to get soldiers down to the gatehouse,” she said, running the rest of the way down the steps.

Sandson, Tullner and Lesh followed her, while the two outpost guards set off to find Captain Jax, and alert the watch, what was left of it. Focusing on the hounds, she woke as many as she thought she needed and sending them to the gatehouse ahead of her. When they reached the main bailey, they heard the unmistakable sounds of battle. Several gulrik had managed to breach the outer walls, and were now inside the compound. They had gotten as far as raising the portcullis, but were stopped by six men, who were doing their best to defend the outer door. The battle didn’t last very long, when more than fifty hounds came through the mainway. The gulrik tried to flee, but they really didn’t stand a chance. They may have been faster than the soldier of Moran, but they were no match for the hounds. The dogs tore into them without mercy.

By the time Kile and the others reached the gatehouse, there was nothing left for them to do, but see to the wounded. She sent most of dogs to patrol the wall, and look for the guards who should have been posted, the rest, she kept close, for the sake of her sanity.

Within moments a small group of men came down the mainway with Captain Jax in the lead. He quickly started barking out orders, sending archers to the walls while the rest of his men strengthened the bracing on the outer doors. Only after the portcullises were dropped was the gatehouse finally secured, but the battle was not without its cost. Sixteen men lay dead and eight more were carried off to the infirmary.

The dogs fell into formation behind Kile when she approached the Captain. She could already tell he was in a foul mood.

“Where are the men who were supposed to be on the wall?” Jax shouted at one of the guards. The young soldier looked terrified and cringed beneath the glare of his Captain. Kile had never seen Jax looked more dangerous. He always seemed calm and carefree, even in the face of trouble.

“We… we don’t know, sir,” the soldier managed to squeak out.

“There’s no sign of them, sir,” another guard said, stepping forward.

“I want the names of every man who was supposed to be on watch tonight.” Jax demanded. “And I want it within the hour.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier replied and quickly raced off.

“What happened?” Kile asked, coming up behind the Captain.

“Wish I knew,” he replied. “When I left them last night, there were over seventy men on that wall.”

“Even if you count the fallen, and the wounded, that’s still nearly forty men unaccounted for.” Tullner added.

Sandson came running up to them, with Lesh close behind. “We counted twelve of the skinny little creatures, or at least what was left of them after the dogs got through,” he reported. “We disposed of them over the walls.”

“Twelve?” Tullner said, looking around, as if he expected a dozen more to spring up out of the ground. “Could twelve of those gulrik really do away with forty men so quickly?”

“Hardly,” Jax replied. “Even if they tried, the men would have raised the alarm. No, something is seriously wrong here.”

It was Raf who brought him the roster. Jax looked it over once, and then, shaking his head, he read it again, as if he didn’t believe what he read the first time. “How is this possible?” he asked, turning to Raf.

“I don’t understand, sir,” the soldier replied. He looked a little confused.

“This squad,” Jax shouted, slapping the paper. “Who set it up?”

“Sergeant Taylor, sir.”

“Wonderful,” he said, and handed the roster back to Raf. “Find these men, if they are still in the outpost, and bring them to me.”

“What is it?” Kile asked.

“Remember when I said there are still men loyal to Lord Rimes? Well, most of their names are on that list.”

“So, they betrayed us to the Uhyre?” Tullner exclaimed.

“Not quite,” Kile replied. “If they wanted to do that, they could have easily just opened the gates.”

“Not without risking their lives,” Sandson added. “I don’t think the valrik would have bothered to ask which side they were on.”

“No, she’s right. They may not have betrayed us outright, but they did abandon their posts. The real question is, did Vadokk know beforehand?”

When the sun rose over the high wall the next morning, the news of the missing soldiers was already known throughout the outpost. Morale was low, in spite of surviving their first night under siege.

Kile walked the battlements over the gatehouse and looked down on the valrik armies. They were still waiting for the rest of their forces to arrive. They wouldn’t throw their full weight at them, not just yet. There was no reason to. Why risk a prolonged, and needless, battle when sheer numbers could crush the outpost in a matter of minutes. The attack last night was merely a test of the outpost’s defenses, just as Captain Jax predicted. Whether they passed the test or not, who could say. But, since they still held the outpost and the valrik only held the field, it was a good sign.

How many days could they hold on, she wondered? It wasn’t like their victory last night was a spectacular military success. If anything, it was nearly a total disaster. It was really only a matter of time. Who would reach them first? Would it be the valrik army, the Callor forces or the King’s Command?

The smartest plan would be to abandon the outpost altogether, and flee into Callor with the hopes of reaching either the Azintar Province, or the Fennel province, before they were caught. Unfortunately, it would mean leaving the outpost to the Uhyre, who would use the mainway to pass into Callor unchallenged, which would place them on the King’s doorstep within two days. Of course, there is always the possibility the enemy is already moving troops over Marcin’s Pass, a rather tricky maneuver, but still possible. They could already have valrik in the Callor province coming up the eastern road at this very minute.

No, the only thing she could do at this moment was to hold the outpost for as long as possible and keep the valrik out of Callor.

Two soldiers passed her on the allure. Turning away from them, she pulled the hood of her cloak down over her eyes. They passed quickly and in silence, only to start whispering when they thought they were out of earshot. Unfortunately, her eyes weren’t the only things on the fritz. She could hear every word they said, and it wasn’t very flattering. She got used to being singled out, back at the Academy, but this was different. Her eyes still weren’t back to normal and she was beginning to wonder if they ever will be. With everything that’s happened, the last thing these soldiers needed was an enigma, something which didn’t quite fit in, something which couldn’t be trusted, and every time she looked in the mirror, she couldn’t blame them.

“Lost in thought, are we?”

Kile turned to see Alisa, standing behind her, holding a large bowl draped with a pink cloth. Alisa Rebea was one of the few people who didn’t turn away when she made eye contact, in fact, Alisa seemed infatuated with Kile’s eyes, but then the girl was a curiosity unto herself. There weren’t too many people in long dresses and frills walking the battlements.

“You shouldn’t be up here,” Kile said, turning away from her.

“We are delivering food to the men on the wall. I am assuming that includes you,” Alisa replied.

Looking down the length of the wall, Kile noticed the civilians for the first time. Most of them were women carrying trays and pitchers to the men on watch. The trays were filled with the standard fare of bread, cheese, salted pork and rations of bacon, the pitchers should contain only water, since nothing stronger was allowed on watch by order of Captain Jax. He started to clamp down on, what he considered, a lax attitude to regulations, although, from what Kile had seen, nothing was really all that lax. She figured Jax took the mass exodus as a personal affront, or maybe he blamed himself for not checking the roster more carefully. There were just too many eggs and not enough baskets.

“What time is it?” She asked. The smell of the food finally reached her and reminded her how hungry she was. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate. The aroma of the bacon alone was almost intoxicating, which came as a surprise to her, since she hadn’t eaten meat since her time at the Academy. Ever since she discovered she could communicate with animals, the thought of eating them was a bit nauseating, but then, why did the bacon look so good right now.

“Well past breakfast, you should really eat something,” Alisa replied, pulling the pink cloth from the bowl. “I’m afraid there isn’t much left in the way of fresh fruits or vegetables,” she said, apologetically.

The bowl was filled with an assortment of carrots, broccoli, lettuce and even a few stray apples.

-Food.-

The simple word was rather powerful, and it filled Kile’s head with vision of fruits and vegetables. Vesper was never one to miss a meal if he could help it, and if he did, he always managed to replace it with two more.

Opening the flap of the courier bag, the yarrow climbed up her arm and made his way to the bowl. Kile managed to grab the carrot sticks and one of the apples before he climbed in.

“At least somebody appreciates the service,” Alisa laughed.

“I appreciate it,” Kile said, biting the end off one of the carrot. “It’s just I thought you were busy organizing the refugees for the evacuation.”

“They can handle themselves for a few minutes, while I come and visit,” she replied, looking around at the soldiers lining the wall.

“Why do I have the feeling you are more interested in visiting the young men than you are visiting me?”

“Well, can you blame me?” She asked with a mischievous grin she always seemed to keep hidden until she was talking about men.

“You are hopeless,” Kile said, taking another bite of the carrot and turning back to the wall.

“It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a look around, once in a while, although, with those weird eyes of yours, I don’t think it’s going to help your chances, not that you had much of a chance to start with.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, Kile, for starters, look at the way you’re dressed. You look like a man… well, actually you look like a little boy dressed in a man’s uniform. It doesn’t exactly fit now does it? I mean, if you take it in maybe around here,” Alisa said, grabbing the back of Kile’s shirt and pulling it tight “you might be able to show a little something.”

“I don’t want to show anything.” Kile said, tugging her shirt away.

“And, what about your hair?” Alisa asked.

“What about my hair?”

Alisa grabbed the back of Kile’s hood and pulled it down.

“It’s a mess,” she said, taking a step back. “It’s no wonder people are starting to call you the Wild Hunter.”

“Well, I haven’t had time to brush it and… wait, what are they calling me?”

“And those eyes… an interesting fashion statement, but, they really don’t go with that outfit at all.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying something new.”

“You still have spinster written all over you.”

“Are you really up here criticizing the way I look now?” Kile asked, pulling the hood back up over her head.

“There is no excuse for an unseemly appearance, especially if you’re trying to attract one of those men.”

“Men? What men?”

“You know, those men who follow you around all the time. That cute Sergeant Tullner, and that equally cute Private Sandson.”

“Oh, please, don’t even go there. I think I’d prefer the saladogs over that lot.”

“Seriously?”

“What… No, not like… oh, just forget about it.”

“Well, the truth is, the only reason I’m up here, was to bring you some food, since none of the civilians will come without five feet of you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, they’re all scared to death of you,” Alisa said, pushing herself away from the wall. “Well, I’d better get back to the preparations. You don’t really think it will come down to a flight into the Callor province, do you?”

“If they hit us again with their full force, then yes, we will evacuate the refugees into Callor. It’s better for them to face the Callor army than it would be to wait for the enemy horde.”

“It doesn’t look very promising either way,” Alisa replied.

“I’d like to think that, even though Callor betrayed the crown, they will still be humane to refugees.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Alisa said and started back toward the ramp. Kile watched her go. Unless help came, there was no chance they could stand against the valrik forces, the refugees would have to take their chance in Callor.

The day dragged on and still, there was nothing. There was no sign of any activity in the valrik camp and no sign of anyone coming to help them. Even the birds, Kile sent out, saw no movement in the field other than the valrik going about their daily rituals. On one hand, they should be grateful. No movement meant no attack. No attack meant another hour or so of preparation. The problem was the other hand. The waiting was becoming unbearable. It was like watching a slow fuse burn down on a rather large fire cracker.

“When was the last time you got some rest?” Jax asked, leaning on the wall beside her.

“I tried, but I didn’t have much luck.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Waiting on the edge of battle can be pretty stressful, but you still need your rest. You’re not going to be able to lead your men if you can’t focus.”

“Something’s going to happen, I just know it. I don’t know why, but I do, and for some reason I feel responsible.”

“I don’t see how. Everything you’ve accomplished so far you should be proud of. I wouldn’t call you a seasoned veteran, and you can be a bit headstrong and foolish at times, but I’d want you by my side when the fighting starts.”

Kile laughed. “You’re just saying that, but, thanks anyway.”

“No, I’m dead serious,” Jax said, and then cringed. “Maybe dead isn’t right word to use in a situation like this.”

“I don’t know, it does seem fitting.”

“Don’t tell me you’re getting pessimistic on me.”

Kile shrugged. “I’ve been running scenarios over in my mind all morning, and none of them end very well.”