Age of War

Chapter 27

Jonis stared at the soldiers in disbelief, but her warrior instincts kicked in a second later and she found herself reaching for her sword. Huldane was even faster. In one smooth movement he had shrugged off his pack and cloak and swung his shield down onto his arm. A moment later the short, straight-bladed Talosi stabbing sword he carried was in his hand. She wondered how he must appear to the Atlasians – a pale-skinned barbarian warrior, like something stepping straight from the most ancient legends. They outnumbered them ten-to-one, but how many would Huldane bring down before he was finally stopped? She knew the soldiers were making the same calculation.

“You don’t want to do this, Tayne,” she said slowly. She held both of her hands up, in clear view.

“It’s not about what I want, Keeper. I have my orders.”

“Your orders are to kill us? Why?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Jonis thought she knew Tayne well enough to guess that she’d wanted to though. She could still see that hesitation in the other woman’s eyes. “Who gave you that order? Who wants us dead?”

“It came from my commander. Where he got it from is none of my business.”

“If you want to do this,” Huldane growled, “get it over with. You will see then how we fight in Talos.”

Tayne shifted her grip on her sword. “Look, I’m a member of the militia. I follow my orders. What can I do?”

“Make a decision, Tayne. You’re a captain, aren’t you? You’re a commanding officer: you’re not expected to just blindly follow orders. You’re supposed to use your initiative.”

“Not this time.” She took a step forward.

Jonis moved towards the door, still holding her hands up. “What are your orders, Tayne? Why kill us now?”

The captain licked her lips nervously. “I was told to do it if we found anything…significant…”

“Right. So it’s not just a storm defending this place?” She flicked a glance at Huldane, hoping he’d pick up on her insinuation.

“Keeper, I told you, this isn’t personal…”

“I wonder what the One-eyed God would make of this,” Huldane said suddenly, “the Greatfather is the Lord of Justice. He frowns on betrayal.”

“I don’t believe in your god, Talosi,” Tayne told him.

“He believes in you, captain. And this is the Heart of Winter: his own realm.”

“You’re just stalling. If you’re going to defend yourselves, do it now.” She signalled to her company.

“Wait!” Jonis yelled. She was backed right up against one of the columns by the door now. “I don’t know if the Talosi god is real, and I don’t know what’s happening here, but I know this: that storm came and went in the blink of an eye. If it rises again as quickly as that, how much chance do you think you have on this mountain?”

“There’s plenty of shelter,” Calas said, but she looked a little doubtful.

“Ruins. And night’s drawing in. And what about those tracks we found?”

Tayne pointed past Jonis with her sword. “We’ll go in there!”

Now time to roll the dice, as the Seventh might say. Jonis spun on the ball of her foot and slammed her fist into a seemingly innocuous stone just left of the doorframe. There was a low rumble and then a high-pitched whine. After a few tense seconds, the door began to slowly swing shut again and, moments later, thudded closed with a tone of grim finality. “You can’t go this way.” She held up her hand. “Only a Keeper can open it again. You can try, if you like, but chances are you’ll be going home with a bloody stump.”