crisis demanded the leadership of a true fighting man, a warlord who knew how to be brutal when the occasion demanded it. Chonjara knew he was that man.
The Melski, lacking practice in the arts of warfare, and suffering also from the lack of any true warlords, failed in the final phase of their attack: the pursuit of the defeated enemy. As all commanders know, this is one of the most demanding phases of warfare. The troops are tired; they have risked their lives; some of their friends are dead or wounded; they have routed the enemy, so surely no more can be demanded from them. In this respect, the Melski were no different from human beings.
The pursuit was disorganized. The most eager hunters were cut down by Chonjara's men in the ambush. Discovering the dead bodies, those who came after them held back, uncertain as to how many soldiers opposed them. There was a considerable delay before Hor-hor-hurulg-murg arrived on the scene with another fifty Melski, and led the way forward.
Reaching the site where Chonjara's men had lain in ambush, he stopped, and sniffed the air. His sense of smell was not good enough for him to track humans through the forest like a dog, but he was certain there was someone close at hand. Two people, in fact. Both women.
Hor-hor-hurulg-murg looked up into the trees.
'Come down, Bear-Fond-Of-Climbing.’
Accepting her new name, Yen Olass climbed down out of the trees, with Resbit following behind her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The men were gone. All of them.
A series of forced marches had taken Chonjara's troops south to rejoin the siege at Lorford. The stragglers and deserters left in his wake had quit the forest, some urged on by Melski patrols following closely behind. A few, trying to establish themselves in Penvash, had been hunted down and killed. Last to leave were Draven and Jalamex, who came downstream from the Valley of Forgotten Dreams, tired, haggard and footsore. Reaching Lake Armansis, they camped for a week by the lakeside, recuperating. Then they set off for the Razorwind Pass, their progress monitored by discreet and subtle Melski scouts.
Of all the invaders, only Yen Olass and Resbit remained. The Melski turned them loose at Lake Armansis, on a beach near the site of the pirate fort. They were free to stay or go, as they pleased. Hor-hor-hurulg-murg assured them of at least two days warning if intruders came their way.
'The campsite is that way,' he said, pointing into the forest. 'Close. I can smell it. What's there is yours, if you want it.’
'Aren't you coming?' said Yen Olass.
'No,' said Hor-hor-hurulg-murg. 'There was fighting. There are dead bodies.’
'I understand,' said Yen Olass, who knew by now the horror the Melski had of dead, rotting meat.
'Goodbye then, Bear-Fond-Of-Climbing.’
'Where are you going?' said Yen Olass.
'South,' said Hor-hor-hurulg-murg. 'If we have to fight again, we will. Otherwise, we wait. Maybe we sign a treaty
– for what that's worth. But whatever happens, we'll be going north in the winter. If you're still here, you can winter with me and mine, if you wish.’
'Thank you,' said Yen Olass.
'Till then.’
'Yes,' said Yen Olass, 'till then.’
Yen Olass and Hor-hor-hurulg-murg bowed to each other, then the Melski set off down the beach. They did not look back.
Yen Olass and Resbit were left alone. Silently, they turned to each other, and hugged each other close and tight. They were all alone now. They had to take care of each other.
'Be brave,' said Yen Olass. 'It may be ugly.' 'I'll be brave,' said Resbit.
And they broke their embrace and slipped into the forest, following a well-defined track. Spring was easing toward summer, and the day was warm; a flutterby lofted through the sun-dappled treeshade, and somewhere a bird sang with a warbling luladula-teru.
'Stop,' said Yen Olass.
She grabbed Resbit.
'What?’
'Look.’
'What? I don't see anything. What is it? A ghost?' 'The ground.’
There was something wrong with the ground. Yen Olass hauled a big stick out of the undergrowth and poked the ground. It gave way. Earth pattered into a pit. Jabbing at the earth, Yen Olass broke open the rest of the crust covering a circular hole. At the bottom of the pit were seven sharpened stakes.
'A bear trap,' said Resbit.
'No,' said Yen Olass. 'A Resbit trap. If Chonjara camped here, then I'm sure he was busy before he left. So watch yourself.’
Moving cautiously now, scanning ground, trail and trees, the two women advanced. In this uninhabited place,
there was something delicious about the faint sense of risk and menace. Yen Olass found herself hot and sweating. She felt strong and dangerous. The outlines of things sharpened, and the air tasted good.
Up ahead was a clearing. A big clearing. Stark sunlight showed the burnt-out remains of a stockade, a few dozen lean-to shelters, six or seven large pits, a big heap of kindling, a logpile and the beginnings of a wall of earth. Orfus pirates had stayed here after attacking and destroying two Galish convoys. Later, Collosnon soldiers had camped here after defeating the pirates.
'Where are all the bodies?' said Resbit.
'There,' said Yen Olass, pointing.
On the far side of the clearing, five corpses hung from a makeshift gallows, victims of military discipline.
'Is that all?' said Resbit.
She had braced herself for the most extravagant of ghoulish sights: heaps of skulls, dismembered bodies, stacks of fleshrot oozing worms and maggots, arms and legs spiked at random onto stakes and tree branches. The five men so quietly dangling could not compete with her imaginings. Resbit was a little disappointed.
'That's all,' said Yen Olass, leading the way out into the clearing.
The ground was dry and dusty. A rat skulked away as they investigated the lean-to buildings. Put up in a hurry as temporary shelters, they were just about ready to collapse. Yen Olass pushed at a support pole, making a whole building fold up with a clatter of falling timber, sending up a cloud of dust.
'Yen Olass!’
'What?’
'We could have slept in that.’
'I'm not sleeping here. Lice and bedbugs. And scabies. Anvway, there's plenty more buildings. You got a fright, that's all.’
'All right, I got a fright.’
T won't do it again,' said Yen Olass.
And they hugged each other again.
Then, hand in hand, they explored the rest of the campsite. Nothing much remained. There was certainly no food. So what would they eat? Fish, birds, watercress, snails, worms, frogs and ants. They would manage. They could probably hunt down the occasional deer, too. But what about later, when Resbit got large and heavy? Could Yen Olass hunt for both of them? And what if she got large and heavy herself? (She was beginning to suspect that
