Chapter 4

The early morning in Pyre like many towns and villages, was a quiet time with only a few people going about their business moving around, and they did little to draw attention to themselves at that hour.

Joining the people working before the sun was up were three figures no one could remember seeing at that hour, though if anyone paid attention to them and they were asked later who they had been all of them would have been hard pressed to remember who they were. The two figures regarded the others out on the street the same way as they walked, purposefully, but silent down the mostly deserted streets on their way to the riverfront. The shorter of the two figures reminding his companion of everything he had taught her and more importantly to not show others how truly gifted she was. Stepping into the courtyard before the river gate, the figures could see they were not the first to arrive, there were a number of people, men, women, and more than a few children, milling about with very few people talking.

For everyone standing around they did not have to wait long, what little conversations were occurring, quieted to whispers as the guards arrived and with no fanfare removed the wooden bar holding the gates closed. Once the gates were opened people started moving in both directions as fishermen who had spent the night on the river were bringing in baskets of fish to be sold to the vendors who, Wahleia could see, even now were waiting for the fish sellers to arrive.

Waiting for the rush of people to move out of their way once the gates were opened, Wahleia and Lobok made their way through the gate towards the boat called the River Beast. Stepping onto the pier where the ship was moored, both figures could see the men aboard were busy preparing to get underway. The voices of captain and quartermaster could be heard talking to the crew while there were occasions where voices were raised about how some of the cargo was secured to keep it from moving about while they were sailing.

As busy as the captain was, he did notice Wahleia and her grandfather walking towards them from the city gates. By the time they arrived the captain was standing on the pier waiting for them. Stopping next to the captain to exchange morning pleasantries, the captain again jokingly offered accommodations if Lobok was coming with his granddaughter. The old man declined as the captain and Wahleia knew he would. After a few more words and a goodbye the captain left them alone to say their goodbyes.

Embracing his granddaughter, the old man offered, “As I have said many times now, with you being sick of hearing me, let me say once more, remember what I have taught you not only about the plants and spirits, but in the way others will treat you for being who you are and for the people you come from. It is unfortunate you are as tall as you are as it will make concealment difficult but if you remember what I have taught you then you will do fine.”

The two figures talked for a few minutes more before they heard the captain shouting, saying everyone who was going needed to get on board as they were leaving. Giving her grandfather one last hug Wahleia turned away from him asking him not to watch her leave as she walked up the gangplank.

Honoring his granddaughter’s wishes, the old man turned to walk away knowing he would never see his granddaughter again as his time to walk with the spirits was near.

On board the Beast, Wahleia had little time to worry if she would ever see her grandfather again. The large number of men, who like her, did not know their way around, with their equipment and weapons, along with the normal goods for a ship such as this, made moving around for all of them somewhat treacherous, as crewmen shouted commands at anyone who got in their way. Thankfully for Wahleia, things settled down quickly as the quartermaster directed her to one of the few cabins on the boat, respecting her as the only woman on the boat with over thirty men.

Having spent most of her entire life outdoors, Wahleia knew she could not stay there. Returning to the main deck, Wahleia was soon beside the captain explaining how she did not like the small room and how she had grown up living outside mostly. For the captain’s part he said he understood how it was to feel trapped inside. As a compromise, she stayed below long enough to put her pack on her bunk and sort through the items she had brought with her. Once she had finished organizing what she wanted on the table, she headed out on deck to see how the rest of the passengers were doing.

Having never been on a larger river boat, Wahleia was fascinated by the work needing to be done by the crew even though the river was doing the work for them. More impressive to her was how quietly the crew worked, doing what needed to be done without the captain or anyone else shouting. Even the extra passengers said little, instead working on their equipment and weapons making sure they were sharp and ready.

In contrast to the Beast she could hear commands being shouted nearby where the Goose was following, sailing behind them. Looking forward she wondered how far their voices would travel downriver ahead of them.

By the time the boats were out of sight of Pyre the conversations had dwindled to the point that the sound from the waves and the wind were louder than the men around her. The next two days were more of the same with both boats drifting along in with the current. Asking why they were not using their sails to move faster downstream, Muk informed her that the sight of large billowing sails would give warning where without the sails their masts might be mistaken for maybe a tree branch. Looking at both sides of the river she wondered how that would be as there were rolling hills as far as the eye could see and not a single tree on the horizon.

Wahleia’s concern was answered on the third day as the northern side of the river now had trees tall enough that someone on shore might overlook their mast, she also thought they might also be large enough to hide their sail but she said nothing as this was not her voyage. The afternoon of their fourth day out, the captains changed where they had been sailing, from preferring to stay out in the main channel they moved closer to the bank with the tall trees.

By sunset both river boats had been moved close enough to shore that with the aid of a couple logs planks, Wahleia figured she could walk to shore and not get her feet wet while the boats stayed a short distance out into the channel. Holding their position in the river was accomplished by large anchors the crew had set to keep them from being pulled into shore. To make sure the boats stayed put, four men were to be left onboard to keep the boats safe in case something changed on the river. Though if the pirates found the anchored boats the men had been told to disappear into the forest.

As for the party going ashore, Wahleia counted forty heads and she thought that would be a good number except she noted many of the men had brought their sons along with them making the warriors number around thirty. By the time the sun had disappeared downriver the men were gone leaving Wahleia as well as two men and six boys to stay with the boats.

Considering the age of everyone left behind, Wahleia hoped none of the fighting came their way. The men, she observed, were way past their prime if not simply too old to work anymore. The boys were no better as they were too young to fight effectively leaving her as the only person capable of fighting off armed attackers. She planned on staying on deck all night with her spear and shield by her side.

As soon as the war party was out of sight in the forest, Wahleia started to worry as the boys who were quiet earlier while the boats were making their way downriver were now talkative not only to each other but from boat to boat. The older men were no better as they talked freely and even worse, one of them produced a pipe from which to smoke. Telling all of them it was foolish to talk and smoke while they were on watch, all of them would grow quiet for a while only to have them start their behavior again a short time later. By the time darkness was fully upon them the crew men had taken to ignoring her warnings and making matters worse they started to make comments about what the various sounds of the night could be or what I might have meant. Even after warning them their voices would carry in the darkness letting everyone around them know where they were, they continued to talk to the point Wahleia considered taking her spear and shield and simply go out into the forest to find a place to sleep.

By the time the smoker was on his third pipe of the evening, she had had enough and without a moment’s hesitation picked up her spear and shield walking off the boat saying she would be back in the morning. Disappearing into the trees she did not go far, preferring to stay close enough that if there was trouble she would only be a moment away. Finding a suitable knot of trees, she made herself comfortable smiling as the chatter from the boats ended for the most part with only the occasional whisper.

Waking up in the darkness she wondered how long she had slept as there was no hint of the morning sun anywhere on the horizon. Wondering why she woke up in the darkness, Wahleia listened carefully, letting her ears do her work for her. She could hear something or someone moving fast through the trees not caring about the sounds they were making as whatever metal they carried told everyone and everything in the forest they were there. Crashing through the brush she also realized as they ran past they were either not worried or did not care what was around, as two people hurried past where she had hidden herself only stopping once one of the sentries told them to stop and asking for the password.

Before she could even get to her feet she heard one of the boys ask loudly, “Where’s the healer?”

“Why? What happened?”

“Sev got hit in the head by an orc!”

“Is he okay?

“No, I saw blood coming out of his ear. Doort told me to run back and get the healer! Where is she?”

Stepping out of the trees behind the two runners, Wahleia answered, “Right here boy. What happened to the plan of bringing all the injured back here, to be treated on the boat?”

“Doort’s worried about his son, he told us to run back and bring you along with anything you might need.”

Stepping past them onto the Beast to collect her pack, Wahleia asked, “How many are wounded?”

“Many, the camp was larger than what Captains Muk and Doort thought. We attacked an hour or so after the sun went down and there was still fighting when Captain Doort sent us to get you.”

Everyone above deck could hear Wahleia packing things in her pack as the sounds of leather and cloth as well the sounds of bottles banging together was impossible to ignore. Shouting from below, she stated, “I will not involve myself in your fight. I have no reason to fight.”

“We know, all of them should be dead by the time we get back there. The few people remaining were hiding in their town hall and Muk had ordered the building to be set on fire. We were well away and we could see the glow from the flames reflecting off of the trees.”

Shouldering her pack once she was clear of the confines of the hallway, she told the boys she was ready while handing bags to each of them for them to carry for her. Following her two guides she was not too concerned about other creatures being out in the darkness as she thought about the men who had passed through earlier.

Following the boys she could see how they were able to move through the forest easily; as there was a beaten path leading through the underbrush a blind man could have used and never snagged his clothes. For their trek it was made easier as the light of the morning sun was just beginning to lighten the eastern sky.

Arriving on the hill overlooking the village, Wahleia understood why the fight had taken so long with so many injured as she counted at least a half dozen buildings with maybe four times the number of tents scattered haphazardly around. Surrounding the area was a wall that looked like it was built to keep the random cat or bear outside the wall. Against a determined attack like the river men, the wall would only slow an attack for a few minutes before collapsing. As there were no bodies outside of the wall, Wahleia was sure the wall had stopped nothing.

Following her guides through the now opened gate she started counting the bodies of their own men but stopped counting after she had reached ten. There were more but she started to see to the wounded. Before she could treat their injuries she was directed to another building. This one was smaller than the town hall her guides had mentioned and it was easy to tell the difference as the hall was still burning. She was sure no one was inside as the doors were open, meaning everyone had fled once the building had been set alight.

Following her guides, she was taken to another building where the wounded had been brought. Stepping inside she could see her guides had spoken the truth as to the number of people wounded or dead. The smell of death was inside with so many dead and dying men. Wahleia took over yet another building, setting up the supplies she had brought from the ship and hoping there would be enough for at least the seriously wounded. The slightly wounded would receive whatever was left while they waited for the boats to be brought to the docks. What followed for Wahleia was several hours of treating wounds and injuries on a par to the worst she had treated back home, only now instead of the wounded being warriors and those prepared for battle the majority of wounds were to the boys who had come with their fathers as they had not yet won or earned enough to purchase a shield and maybe a leather jerkin. Fighting alongside of their fathers they were no match for what they faced and that any lived she guessed was more due to luck as anything. Looking at the bodies of those lying on the ground around where she had been working there were too many who’s luck had either run out or never been there at all.

Sitting down at the table Wahleia was surveying everything she had used and what it had cost her not only in coin but also in exposure. Her grandfather had told her to guard her secret well and less than a week later she had broadcast for all to know what she could do when Doort had asked her to save his son, no matter the cost. With the medicines she had present, she had done everything she could but as she told the distraught Doort, his son had been hit in the head by an iron bound mace and his brain was probably damaged beyond repair.