Chapter 54 - Did they eat them?

“And this is what they do?” I asked Kril in icy horror. It had been two weeks since we sent the Koprigyn emissary packing and they had finally made their move.

“Koprigyn are savage bastards,” he muttered. Our gathering party, that the bastards had attacked, had been composed of a handful of men escorting women and kids who weren’t yet eligible for marriage or going on Koryolis. The kids had been preteens.

Their bodies had been laid out like they were the markings on a clock face, with the burnt wagon at the centre. All of them had had their left leg’s removed, the flesh stripped and then the bones laid back out in about the right places for the limb to be. The macabre set piece was meant to send a message. They weren’t going to like my reply.

“Anything from your dreams?” I asked flatly.

“Aresk doesn’t like to give too much away when it comes to wars, boy. Makes it more interesting for him, I guess. I’ve seen their wagons moving north but that’s it.”

“The warriors will run ahead of the main camp, won’t they?” He nodded at me. “Then we hunt them down and prepare a reception for the rest of them. Looks like Klip will get the extra workers he’s been begging for.” I was ice-cold inside.

“They’ll be too much bother. No one takes them as slaves, they’ve got no honour. We should just kill the men and let the boys and women run back south,” Kril growled.

“How many?” I asked the critical question.

“They’re a large tribe, Mond. Maybe... five or six thousand? Less than half are warriors but they’re Sykareskyn like us. Even the women and boys are tough compared to the shit-sitters.”

“They’re nothing like us!” I snarled as my mind ran the numbers. I had four hundred cavalry and sixty chariots. “How many of them will be mounted?” I asked in a calmer voice.

“Fewer than you’d expect, I reckon.” He spat to one side. “We usually fight on foot. Without saddles and stirrups fighting on horseback isn’t easy. Maybe four or five hundred will be riding?”

“With a bit of luck they’ll send the riders out ahead so that we can pick them off piecemeal and even the odds in terms of cavalry. They’ll try to raid and harass? Attack the herds?”

“Probably. If they can kill the herds we’ll starve or have to raid from other tribes.”

“When we get back to town we push most of the herds north through the pass. Keep a couple of dozen back to act as bait. We’ll keep our forces close to Mondit. As soon as they get close Glimpse will spot them, and we can move on them united to overpower them. We overwhelm the smaller forces then move out to fight the main group as far away from home as we can."

“It’s harsher through the pass. Some of the aurox will die from exposure,” Kril said with a shrug. “It’s not a bad idea. We’ll lose one in ten rather than maybe losing them all but it will have a cost, Mond.”

“We’ll be inheriting a bunch more cattle before I’m done with Koprigyn. What do you do with the bodies of the dead?” I asked.

“Some tribes leave them to scavengers in sacred places, some bury them, some burn them. We burn ours, like Gedrik,” he said softly.

I cast enough fireballs to immolate the entire area, reducing the remains of the wagon and my dead workers to ashes. With a thought I sent Glimpse circling around us with instructions to find the band that did this, then to head south and find the main force. The crow would find these bastards, and when he did I’d take revenge for the poor buggers I’d just burned.

“Let’s go,” I growled. We got back on the chariot and Kril whipped the horses into a canter towards Mondit.

As Kril started to slow down I leapt off the chariot and ran to the palisade.

“Warrior, what’s your name?” I asked as I offered a forearm clasp to the nearest guard.

“Jokutrak, lord,” he gripped my arm and gave me a gap toothed grin.

“Please ask all the patriarchs, the Fangs and my wife to join me in my tent before noon.” He nodded and rushed off to carry out my instructions.

I strode through the camp and while warriors called my name and women nodded their heads as I passed, I ignored them. The expression on my face must have been terrible, as no one dared to approach me for any kind of more personal greeting. I flicked the tent flap aside and strode over to my chair, plonking myself down and resting my elbows on my knees, chin cupped in both hands.

“Ray?” asked Fay as she entered. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to step up production of healing charms. I want every rider to have at least a single use of a healing spell in the next few days,” I said firmly, giving her an apologetic look. “The Koprigyn have started raiding. We need to pull back the gathering parties from the south and send them north.”

“Can Glimpse see them?” she asked as she nodded in agreement to my plan.

“He’s looking for whoever hit the group to the east then heading south.”

“Did they eat them?” she asked.

“Bits of them, from the look of it. I burned the bodies,” I growled. It was going to be a day for growling. The flap swung aside and the rest of the leadership of my little tribe came in.

“We’re organising for war.” I began and then explained my plans. The herds would move north, the warriors would stay close and the gathering parties would be suspended or only go north to look for wood to keep Klip supplied.

“The band that did this?” asked Atas in a furious voice. “I want to ride them down myself!” The nobles had all been trained in the new weapons and tactics I’d introduced.

“Send me, Mond!” barked Trikilo, who’d come along with his brother.

“I’ll deal with them myself. Keep the main forces gathered close around the camp and the mine. We have to protect the metal. How many enchanted arrows and javelins have we got in reserve?” I demanded.

“Perhaps two hundred arrows and javelins,” said Khan. “Without expanding the number of sorcerers we can only produce so many.” He was preaching to the choir but I only had so many Souls. I had plenty in reserve currently and could probably spare a few but it would cost four hundred and forty souls to give a new soulbound servant the two hundred and twenty they’d need to be able to enchant equipment. They would only have the most basic forms of the spells, and without spending Souls to boost them further they wouldn't be terribly effective.

“I’ve got perhaps a thousand firewall stones,” offered Kril with obvious reluctance. He’d been a busy bee it seemed. I took it as a mark of how seriously he was taking the situation that he'd mentioned them at all.

I sat in silence and the room gradually became quiet as all eyes focused on me. For three hundred Souls I could raise someone to level ten, giving them access to Imbue, for a cost of one hundred and ten Souls. That would leave them forty Souls left over to get a few basic upgrades to the Fire tree. Or the Life tree. They’d be limited by their mana and I knew the warriors would all want to dump their stat points into body and reflexes but that was fine. Frontline troops with superhuman strength and stamina would probably be for the best.

“Get me your five best horse archers-” Glimpse had sent me an image from the top of a tree. Twenty five raiders, Koprigyn judging from the haircuts, were camped five miles south of the site of the attack. “-make it your best six horse archers. I've got a little something I need to do first but this evening I’ll give them all enough magic that they can imbue spells into arrows.” I rose to my feet.

“Why not my lancers?” complained Jandak.

“I want to give us ranged attacks. I suspect after this war I’ll have enough Souls that every squadron will have a group of warriors boosted with Souls. But for now it’s best to kill your enemy before he’s in arms reach!”

“I hope there’ll be an allowance made for the women? A cadre of healers would be very useful,” said Fay. Trikilo snorted but immediately looked contrite as Fay glared at him.

“There’s a lot of killing to do first but I think it’s a good idea,” I reassured Fay. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to deal with the bastards who ate our gatherers. I’ll be back in a few hours. No Kril-” my Dreamer had stood up as well. “-I’ll run. I’m faster than the chariot anyway.” I grinned savagely at them and got toothy smiles in reply. Fay laid a hand on my arm and smiled gently at me. I kissed her quickly then strode out of the tent, then the camp without a backward glance.

Glimpse took to his wings and guided me in. I ran flat out for two hours, faster than any horse the tribes had, then skidded to a halt when I was a mile away from the raiders. The run had invigorated me but I wanted to catch my breath before I attacked. Once my breathing returned to normal I approached cautiously, slipping from cover to cover until I could hear them talking quietly over the next rise.

I crouched and snuck up to the lip of the hill at the same time as I sent Glimpse to attack one of their ponies. The crow dived down and snatched one of the horse's eyeballs before flapping to a stop on the tree that the pony train was tied to. He swallowed the organ greedily and cawed loudly. The scream of the horse had snatched all the warriors' attention away from where I was and I jumped forward.

"For Aresk!" I called and their heads spun back my way.

Five fireballs appeared around me and flew forwards like falling stars. Glimpse launched himself upwards as soon as I moved and the spheres of white hot fire enveloped all the warriors and their ponies.

Normalis Humanos slain x26

Two hundred and sixty Souls gathered.

Normalis Equus slain x40

Two hundred Souls gathered.

All that was left was ash and smoke. I looked at Glimpse and sent him a command to circle around us. There had to be more than one advanced party nearby. I sat and watched the flames die down for almost an hour. Smoke still rose into the sky, marking this position to everyone for miles around, but the divots of molten earth had cooled from glowing hot. It looked like a series of meteors had smashed into the ground in a precise pattern, leaving nothing behind.

I raised my head as I got a tug on the link from Glimpse. Another party was five miles to my east. I rose and headed in their direction at a flat sprint.

I didn’t bother with a distraction or magic this time. Kril would bitch at me if I spent all my mana on jobs that could be done just as easily by a bit of physical labour. I didn’t slow down as I approached either, just charging in with my dagger in my fist. I bellowed my war cry, dedicating the kills to my god. The first one didn’t know what was happening as his head left his shoulders. Five seconds later six more corpses littered the ground and crimson gushes painted the thin snow.

The rest had scrambled to their feet and brandished their weapons but it was like fighting children to me now. Their spears slipped past me or I sliced through the wooden shafts before carving the wielders up like a butcher at work. My blood was up and I flowed around them faster than they could follow. The last three broke away and tried to run but I covered the ground in three long strides and sliced them vertically up their spines. As they thrashed and gurgled I turned my eyes on their ponies.

Normalis Humanos slain x29

Two hundred and ninety Souls gathered.

Normalis Equus slain x53

Two hundred and sixty five Souls gathered.

Glimpse had located another camp by the time I had caught my breath, and I set off once more with blood in my eye. These cannibals were not going to live to regret attacking my people.

Normalis Humanos slain x21

Two hundred and ten Souls gathered.

Normalis Equus slain x36

One hundred and eighty Souls gathered.

Normalis Humanos slain x18

One hundred and eighty Souls gathered.

Normalis Equus slain x32

One hundred and sixty Souls gathered.

The sun had set as I finally saw Mondit again. I trudged forwards as a swarm of horse archers charged out at me.

“It’s me! Mond!” I yelled as they got closer. They didn’t slow down, falling into an orbit around me with arrows nocked and bows drawn until one slowed and rode forward.

“Mond! Are you hurt?” Mune demanded as he slid off his pony and ran forward. He slapped his hands over my chest and shoulder but I shoved him away.

“I’m fine. The Koprigyn raiders in the area are all dead though,” I chuckled in an evil enough way that Kril would no doubt have approved if he were here. “I need the ten best archers to meet me at the centre of the camp. I’ve got a few more Souls to share than I did earlier.”

I found my “throne” set out in front of the central fire and Fay was already sitting in hers. I smiled at my wife and she flashed her teeth in a vicious grin at the sight of me. I was painted head to foot in blood. I’d wiped the worst of it from my face but I was confident I had long streaks and smears across my skin. I gingerly lifted the cushion from my chair with my fingertips and tossed it towards my tent before sitting down and facing the gathered people.

My commanders were all present as well as a sizable crowd of warriors in their armour. Ten archers were called out by name, at least one from each of the families that made up my tribe. They stepped out and formed a line across the fire from me.

“You’ve been nominated for your skill and bravery to receive power, like that which I gave to my Fangs. If you do not wish to be tied to me in a way that you can never escape, speak up now. There will be no hard feelings or punishments.” None of them moved so I went around the fire and issued them a hundred and fifty Souls each, three thousand spent in a matter of moments. “Kril, explain what they need to do. Fire affinity first. Advance to level ten and put the rest into intensity and area of the firewall spell. They can pick their own second affinity but I’d recommend Life.” I smiled at them and I must have looked terrible as they blinked through the writing they could each see floating in front of them. They let out a bloodthirsty roar. “You’re now part of my family. The Fangs, Kril and Fayala will guide you in how to use your new powers. None will stand against us!” I said in a sibilant hiss, the rage at what I’d seen this morning boiling over into my voice. They nodded quickly and turned to my captains with questioning looks.

I staggered over to the water barrel outside my tent and began stripping off to wash myself down. Killing to gain Souls had seemed limiting at first but now with a war against thousands of enemies, none of whom could hope to match me physically I was beginning to see the bright side.