“Not today,” Sheillene said. “My mother lives with my sister in a cottage far to the north. We’re not really part of the town, but this is the closest town to our home. That’s probably why I’m not as happy as I could be for visiting home, I won’t actually have time to visit my home. Still, it will be nice to see a few friends in town and play for familiar faces, even if we are only staying long enough for a meal.”
“We’re staying the night,” David said, catching up to them. “The drivers say there aren’t enough horses here to trade for.”
“The inn is nice enough,” Sheillene said. “No running water, but clean. Faren, the proprietor is fair and offers food for both human and Abvi tastes. Don’t drink the local wine he offers though, it’s usually the vintages that weren’t good enough to transport and sell. Speaking of Faren…” Sheillene gestured to an Abvian man coming out the inn’s doors.
“Sheillene?” The man asked. “What are you doing in a Relarchian Prince’s Carriage? Did you finally find a wealthy patron to keep you?”
“Hush, Faren,” Sheillene said. “You know I live for the travel. The prince isn’t even with us; he just lent us the carriage. Our driver tells us you’re short on horses, but do you think you could spare one for a night?”
“I could,” Faren said, “But you won’t be needing it. Your mother and sister are heading to Melnith, as most people are. It seems there have been sightings of Vulak raiding parties, and not just a few. There’s so many that the King has called for Veterans to rejoin the army until the Vulak are gone from our lands. Mostly they’ve been to the southeast and northwest. Your family farm should be safe, but why risk it. Behind the city walls is the safest place to be.
“But you’re still here and still peddling bad wine on travelers,” Sheillene said.
“Business is good when people are moving,” Faren said. “I’ll head to either Melnith or Fork if the Vulak are within ten leagues. I’m keeping my fastest horses at the ready.”
“I’d thought the Abvi were not bothered by the Vulak. I thought they were only a human problem, aren’t they afraid of the Abvi,” Pantros said.
“The Vulak are a perpetual threat to everyone,” Sheillene said. “No nation has completely cleansed their lands of the vile race. They hide in the lands too remote and too inhospitable by Human or Abvi standards. There are millions of them north of the mountains, in the plains and tundra. They breed twice as fast as humans and they celebrate war.”
“But you’re encounters with Vulak are all in Relarch,” Pantros said. “Usually southern Relarch.”
“Personally, yes. That’s where I spend most of my winters and winter is when the Vulak need to raid for food. But there are constant battles along the northern borders of all the civilized kingdoms from Enlith to Valencia. Given the choice, a Vulak would rather raid the Abvi lands than the Human lands. Abvi ears are trophies and humans, in all honesty, are better at war than the Abvi who generally value their own lives too much to takes risks in battle. Abvi will give ground until they have a clear advantage. Humans will hold difficult ground out of sheer stubbornness, and somehow, that seems to work for them.”
Pantros rested his hand on the bell of his sword. It was a reminder of why the Abvi were less willing to engage in combat without a strong advantage.
Sheillene then lowered her voice a little, as if she were telling a secret. “I’m probably the only Abvi that will admit that when it comes to war, humans are better at it. Vulak know this. Even the Abvi know this. So when humans started becoming a significant population in Teminev, the Abvi were willing to cede the territories with the longest flatland boundary to the Vulak lands. Relarch’s northern borders are mostly flat plains dotted with forts.” The nation of Melnith has a northern border of the Starshone River and the Whitecap mountains. We still get Vulak raids from the north, but not as often as Relarch.”
Vulak raids were not something Pantros had ever had to worry about in Ignea. The city was isolated between the sea, the Backflow River, the volcano and the Valencian Peaks, which contained wild beasts far more threatening than Vulak. Those beasts never approached the cities, though.
“Could the Vulak be after the gem too?” Pantros asked the huntress.
“It would have to be something like that if they’re as active as Faren says.” Sheillene said. “There’s a small Hunter’s Guild lodge here, they have ways to communicate quickly throughout the lands. I’ll see what they know. I’ll catch up to you inside.” She headed down the street and Tara went into the Inn. Pantros followed his sister.
The only people at the Inn were the people travelling with Pantros and Faren. Everyone else had gone, headed to one of the walled cities.
“The Hunters are aware of hundreds of incursions by the Vulak, starting about four days ago,” Sheillene said. “So far none are more than fifty leagues into the country, but the numbers are large. The reports are either exaggerating or this is not seasonal raids, but a gathering army, and a large one at that. We need to head that way immediately. Faren is coming with us, so we get his horses for the next leg. After that, we may have to resort to drastic means such as pushing the horses beyond prudence and possibly stealing replacements from abandoned farms and inns.”
“Will we make it?” Pantros asked. “Melnith is still two hundred leagues from here.” He’d been trying to map out the journey in his head. The distance he’d stated was mostly a guess.
“A little more than that,” Sheillene said. “The towns between here and there are already evacuated. The Vulak forces are moving inward, but they are on foot and as slow as the slowest member of the group. We have an advantage in speed, though only a slight one. We should make it ahead of the Vulak with a couple days to spare.”
David raised a finger then said, “I’ve had tours at the northern forts. I know Vulak strategies. There will likely be small forces made up of younger, more eager Vulak ahead of the others. We’ll probably have to fight a few of those. I’d say that Vulak do not fight with any honor, but it would be more accurate to say that the Vulak sense of honor is alien to us. They don’t attack unarmed people, but they expect the unarmed people to become slaves for a season, two if the first season is spring. Slaves are treated with respect, even by our standards, but they lose all their property. Armed folks will be killed and if they don’t die immediately they face torture before death, and then they might be eaten, and that likelihood increases with their apparent prowess in battle.”
“So those of us who can’t fight would do better not to try?” Thomas asked.
“If Vulak attack us, and you aren’t a very competent fighter, sit down, wherever you are, and wait for the fight to end,” David said. “As long as we win, you’ll be fine.”
“The rest of us should wear armor,” Sheillene said. “I grabbed a few leather jerkins and some bracers from the Hunter’s hall. They’re in the carriage. I couldn’t find anything large enough for Marc.”
Faren pointed to the inn wall, or something on the other side of the wall. “I have a tanned ox hide in the barn. We wouldn’t have time to make proper armor, but we could cut a hole in it for his head and then belt it and trim off whatever is in the way of his movement. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it’s better than the canvas shirt he’s wearing.”
David said, “I have two sets of armor in the carriage: Battle armor and tournament armor. There’s little coverage on the back in the tournament armor, so I’d be willing to wear that if someone wanted to use the battle armor. It looks like it would fit Pan, Thomas or Faren. It might fit Tara, but it wouldn’t be an ideal fit.”
“I don’t think I could move in plate armor,” Pantros said. He’d always thought the best way to not be hurt was to not get hit. He figured if he could dodge Bryan’s sword, even when it was usually not actually a sword, he’d do fine against any Vulak. “I’ll probably try one of the jerkins if they’re anything like Sheillene’s armor.”
“Not as pretty,” Sheillene said. “Functional, but not pretty.”
“I’m probably going the sit-on-my-ass route,” Thomas said.
“I’ll take a jerkin,” Tara said. “I may not be the best with a sword, but I don’t want to be alive knowing I did nothing to keep my brother from being killed.”
“Real armor sounds good to me,” Faren said. “I’m a fair shot with a bow and can handle a spear and shield as well as any. I served in the Abvi Army for ninety years back when I was Sheillene’s age. I kept my weapons up, but my armor would need to be re-strapped and reconditioned. I don’t think we have the time for that.”
“We really should be leaving now,” Sheillene said. “Grab the ox hide and some shears and we’ll be on our way.”
Faren got up from his chair. “Sure thing,” he said then headed towards the front door. He stopped and turned around, “There are four sacks on the counter in the kitchen. That’s all my dried meat, my current bread
