“I feel like we’re missing an opportunity there,” Khollo muttered.
Hern shrugged. “If Lord Kurkan thought they could be useful, he would have ordered them to hole up here. Frankly, I think it’s our own lack of supplies that is worrying him.”
“The next supply train hasn’t come in?” Each month, a supply train from Ardia was sent with provisions for the fortress, paid for by the king.
“Not yet,” Sermas informed him bleakly. “We’ll be eating like the East Bank before too much longer.”
“Have we heard anything from the East Bank?” Khollo asked curiously. “About vertaga, I mean?”
“Not yet.”
Khollo tried to shake off a feeling of growing uneasiness. It could mean nothing, he told himself. Maybe they just haven’t seen any vertaga yet in the eastern part of the Basin.
“Any other news?”
“Vertaga activity has ceased altogether for the time being,” Hern reported. “Seems that they’re regrouping after their defeat here.”
Alarm bells were ringing in Khollo’s head. “Sermas, go to Ondus and have him send a message to the East Bank demanding an immediate reply. Tell him to warn them about vertaga in the area and to fortify their position as best they can.”
Sermas exchanged a glance with Hern. “Um . . . okay.” He stood and walked towards the door, looking back at Khollo uncertainly.
“Run!” Khollo shouted. He saw Sermas flash around the corner and down the stairs in response to his request.
“Khollo?” Hern asked uncertainly.
Khollo shook his head and leaned back, closing his eyes. The shout had prompted a spike of pain in his ribs. It was fading, but slowly. “I need to think for a moment Hern. Would you get me something hot to drink? Something strong?”
“There’s probably coffee around here somewhere,” Hern replied. “It’s early yet.” He darted out of the room as well.
Khollo sighed and began reviewing what he knew about the vertaga and their activities. They began burning villages in the west a few weeks ago, moving slowly northward, culminating in an assault on the West Bank. Earlier, they raided trade routes in the Fells and are now laying siege to Ishkabur. They have somehow acquired massive, intelligent steeds that appear to be a cross between a bear and a wolf. Capable of moving very quickly from place to place.
Khollo wished he had his map of the Renlor Basin with all of his notes and the reports that had been flowing in over the last several weeks. He was contemplating fetching them from the council room when the door flew open and Ondus rushed in, bandages on his arms and chest and legs.
“Khollo! You’re awake! What’s all this about sending a message to the East Bank?” Sermas hovered in the background anxiously, while Ondus looked Khollo over with a searching gaze.
“I’m not going mad, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Khollo growled. “We haven’t heard from the East Bank in over a week, right?”
“Yes, but – ”
“And in times of war garrisons are to keep in near-constant communication with each other?”
“Yes – ”
“And the supply train hasn’t come in yet?”
“Khollo, the supply train is only five days late,” Ondus replied. “With the weather we’ve been having, that should be no surprise.”
“But the supply train also stops at the East Bank before it comes here, right?” Khollo pressed.
Ondus nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Then you see my concern?”
“All too well,” Ondus muttered. “I’m off. Wish me luck.”
“Off? Where to?” Sermas asked. Hern returned at that moment, hovering in the doorway with a steaming cup. He looked utterly bewildered, as though events were moving too fast for him.
“To the East Bank, of course,” Ondus replied. “I’ll take six men with me. I’m afraid that’s all we can spare. Hern, ditch that and saddle Fanne for me.”
Hern deposited the cup quickly on the table beside Khollo’s bed and sprinted off.
“You’re going?” Khollo asked. “Ondus, think, this could be dangerous! The fortress may be in enemy hands already.”
“I’m not stupid, Khollo,” Ondus growled. “I am well aware of the risks, but I don’t intend to ride in with a fanfare of trumpets to announce my arrival.”
“Be careful, Ondus,” Khollo pleaded. “We’ve already lost so many.”
“If I was being careful, I wouldn’t be going,” Ondus said with a trace of his old humor. The blue eyes danced for a moment. “You’ve made us proud, lad. Janis and I both. Word has spread about how you fought, and the fact that you killed one of those monstrous steeds. You’re a hero to them, Khollo.”
Khollo shifted uncomfortably. I don’t feel like much of a hero. “Well . . . fine, then,” Khollo managed finally. “I’ll try to live up to it.”
Ondus smiled. “Until we meet again, Khollo Kurkan.”
Khollo started at the use of the surname. He had not realized it was his as well now. Somehow, he had never made the connection that his father and Janis would have had the same last name, and that this name was his as well now. I have a legacy, he thought, pleased.
By the time Khollo recovered his wits Ondus was gone, the only indication of his passage the clump of his steps in the stairwell beyond the door.
“Khollo?” Sermas asked hesitantly. “Is there anything else you need?”
Khollo shook his head slowly. A great feeling of melancholy had settled over him at Ondus’ departure. Farewells were getting ever more difficult, as the world grew more and more dangerous. “No, Sermas. I think I had better get some rest now,” Khollo replied finally. “I need to get back to full strength.”
“Just . . . don’t rush things, all right?” Sermas said, licking his lips. “You don’t want to injure yourself permanently on accident.”
“Don’t worry, Sermas. I have every intention of taking things slowly,” Khollo replied.
Sermas relaxed visibly and left
