plains, wherever they turned their faces against us?”
“ No !”
“Truly, we were not avenged! For their arrows slew my father Keishul, the chosen of Golgoyat, and added fury upon fury to his anger. But were we avenged when I took up his spear and turned us to the west, and we passed with much labor over the mountains into the land of the Guza?”
“ No !”
“Truly, we were not avenged! For the wrath of Golgoyat has no end, even as the thunderstorm has no end until it has passed from one horizon to the other, and you can no more stand against it than you can catch a thunderbolt in your hand. We must hold every land guilty of the Sorrow of Khaat Ban until Golgoyat’s hunger for vengeance is sated. So tell me, warriors of the Yakhat, does Golgoyat still rage?”
“ Yes !”
“Does Khou still weep?”
“ Yes !”
“Then today we fight! Remember Khaat Ban! We run with the strength of the thundercloud! Golgoyat himself fights among us! Go!”
A gale of screams and shouts rose up from the army. Keshlik raised his spear and pointed it toward the city, then spurred his horse into a gallop. Behind him pounded the hooves of the Yakhat, beating the earth with a rumble like thunder. The trees of the forest flew past. The last mile between them and the city passed under Lashkat’s legs in what seemed no longer than a heartbeat.
The outermost lodge of the city appeared through the pines. Beneath its eaves, women were waiting. They looked up, their eyes lit up with fear, and they fled like leaves driven before a storm.
Keshlik’s heart pounded. His spear was ready. The strength of Golgoyat was in his blood, and the fury of the thundercloud was on his lips. He screamed, and his spear found its first victim.
Chapter 6
Saotse
T he voices in the lodge whispered like dying men’s breaths, and beneath them pounded the ragged heartbeat of the drums, the warning drum on the wall meeting the mourning drum in the lodge. The air shivered with plaintiveness and urgency.
Uya and Saotse huddled on a bench. Uya squeezed Saotse’s hand and stroked the back of her palm in nervous inattention. Around them floated the scraps of the rest of the enna’s conversation, underlaid by the droning of the women who continued the mourning song.
“They all ride horses, they say. Big, vicious horses, bigger than ours—”
“It must hold. There’s no way they could breach that wall—”
“The drums, the drums. I wish they’d stop—”
“At least we’re far from the fighting.”
Through the flux of human voices, the Powers stirred. The little spirits of the rivers, trees, and winds danced in the air, anxious and wordless. Above them, the greater Powers sang, growing more discordant by the minute. Saotse pled silently, hoping to touch one of those whose names she knew, hoping at least to know that they were present, but she met only a vast and angry darkness, before whom all the other Powers churned like a gale. In desperation she sought even the weeping Power, the one whose touch had stricken her so terribly when she went to the wall, but she was too distant to hear.
Uya sighed and pinched Saotse’s hand. “I hope this is over soon.”
Saotse squeezed Uya’s palm again. Something helpful, something hopeful should be said. She tried to think of it, but every word that came to mind was a lie. She was saved by Uya’s sudden twitch.
“Om! The baby kicked again. It’s been trying to tickle my kidneys all morning.”
“At least it’s well.”
“ I won’t be well until we’ve finally driven back these raiders.”
Saotse drew in her breath. A rumble murmured outside the lodge. “Do you hear that?”
“No. Oh, wait—”
The voices in the lodge petered out as the commotion grew outside. A tough, strangling silence rose, thick with fear.
The sound of rustling furs announced Nei rising to her feet. “Look out the door, Chrasu,” she rasped.
The boy’s feet pounded against the floorboards. The fear in the lodge
“ No !”
“Truly, we were not avenged! For their arrows slew my father Keishul, the chosen of Golgoyat, and added fury upon fury to his anger. But were we avenged when I took up his spear and turned us to the west, and we passed with much labor over the mountains into the land of the Guza?”
“ No !”
“Truly, we were not avenged! For the wrath of Golgoyat has no end, even as the thunderstorm has no end until it has passed from one horizon to the other, and you can no more stand against it than you can catch a thunderbolt in your hand. We must hold every land guilty of the Sorrow of Khaat Ban until Golgoyat’s hunger for vengeance is sated. So tell me, warriors of the Yakhat, does Golgoyat still rage?”
“ Yes !”
“Does Khou still weep?”
“ Yes !”
“Then today we fight! Remember Khaat Ban! We run with the strength of the thundercloud! Golgoyat himself fights among us! Go!”
A gale of screams and shouts rose up from the army. Keshlik raised his spear and pointed it toward the city, then spurred his horse into a gallop. Behind him pounded the hooves of the Yakhat, beating the earth with a rumble like thunder. The trees of the forest flew past. The last mile between them and the city passed under Lashkat’s legs in what seemed no longer than a heartbeat.
The outermost lodge of the city appeared through the pines. Beneath its eaves, women were waiting. They looked up, their eyes lit up with fear, and they fled like leaves driven before a storm.
Keshlik’s heart pounded. His spear was ready. The strength of Golgoyat was in his blood, and the fury of the thundercloud was on his lips. He screamed, and his spear found its first victim.
Chapter 6
Saotse
T he voices in the lodge whispered like dying men’s breaths, and beneath them pounded the ragged heartbeat of the drums, the warning drum on the wall meeting the mourning drum in the lodge. The air shivered with plaintiveness and urgency.
Uya and Saotse huddled on a bench. Uya squeezed Saotse’s hand and stroked the back of her palm in nervous inattention. Around them floated the scraps of the rest of the enna’s conversation, underlaid by the droning of the women who continued the mourning song.
“They all ride horses, they say. Big, vicious horses, bigger than ours—”
“It must hold. There’s no way they could breach that wall—”
“The drums, the drums. I wish they’d stop—”
“At least we’re far from the fighting.”
Through the flux of human voices, the Powers stirred. The little spirits of the rivers, trees, and winds danced in the air, anxious and wordless. Above them, the greater Powers sang, growing more discordant by the minute. Saotse pled silently, hoping to touch one of those whose names she knew, hoping at least to know that they were present, but she met only a vast and angry darkness, before whom all the other Powers churned like a gale. In desperation she sought even the weeping Power, the one whose touch had stricken her so terribly when she went to the wall, but she was too distant to hear.
Uya sighed and pinched Saotse’s hand. “I hope this is over soon.”
Saotse squeezed Uya’s palm again. Something helpful, something hopeful should be said. She tried to think of it, but every word that came to mind was a lie. She was saved by Uya’s sudden twitch.
“Om! The baby kicked again. It’s been trying to tickle my kidneys all morning.”
“At least it’s well.”
“ I won’t be well until we’ve finally driven back these raiders.”
Saotse drew in her breath. A rumble murmured outside the lodge. “Do you hear that?”
“No. Oh, wait—”
The voices in the lodge petered out as the commotion grew outside. A tough, strangling silence rose, thick with fear.
The sound of rustling furs announced Nei rising to her feet. “Look out the door, Chrasu,” she rasped.
The boy’s feet pounded against the floorboards. The fear in the lodge
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