Some more of the book
Sunday, October 12th, 2008 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robinturnerI passed the spyglass to Branow. ``Seen anything like that before?'' I asked. He jerked his head up in an emphatic negative. I sighed. ``So we're faced with a Lanbou raiding party who kill sheep instead of running off with them, and a bunch of ghosts who seem to be giving them orders. Wonderful.''
``Ghosts?'' asked Istalei.
``Well, not exactly. But not exactly human either.'' I passed him the spyglass. He took a look, dropped it, picked it up, and puked before he could put it to his eye. Fortunately he didn't actually puke on the glass. Talking to Branow, I'd put my military head on, and forgotten that people without plenty of combat experience tend to react like that to carnage, which is probably as it should be. I extended the spyglass to Kaltay. He was a tall, willowy lad, almost like a neuter, but probably tougher than the brawny Istalei when it came down to it. He took the glass and looked for a while before turning to me with a face almost as white as the monsters down below. A little muscle worked in the side of his face.
Now everyone was worked up, I had to make a quick decision. My military head was telling me I should reconoitre and find out as much as I could about the strangers, particularly their armour and weapons. My chief head was telling me we should leg it back home, warn people and do what we could to keep them safe. Splitting a party containing two excitable males was unwise. My chief head spoke: ``OK, we've seen enough. Time to get back before our visitors get restless.''
Kaltay looked at me disbelievingly, as though he'd expected me to make a stirring speech about revenge before leading a charge down the hill. I knew from long experience that you can't reason with men when they're emotional, so I just said: ``Go ahead with Istalei at a steady pace. Branow and I have something to do here, but we'll catch you up in a few minutes.''
Actually, Branow and I had nothing to do except talk with our companions out of earshot. In low voices we discussed the situation, our chances should the marauders turn up in our village, and possible tactics. In fact, it didn't look too bad. The Lanbous were no real threat: they're murderous out in the open, but they could never fight their way into a mine. The strange creatures with them could be very dangerous indeed, but it looked like there were only half a dozen of them. It all came down to what sorcerous weapons they had brought with them. If they had nothing more powerful than blasting wands, we could, with our knowledge of the mine and time to prepare our defences, defeat them and lose only maybe twenty to thirty people. Anything more powerful, like a wall-smasher, couldn't be used inside the mine, so they'd probably just fire it at the entrance to seal us in, leaving us to make a leisurely exit elsewhere. The real threat would be head weapons---they could stun us or create a panic, then send the Lanbous in to pick us off. It was time to go.
We caught up with Kaltay and Istalei easily, and together made good speed. The thought of having your loved ones massacred in the morning lends a certain strength to the body. Nightfall slowed us down, though, and eventually I insisted we stop to sleep. Kaltay protested that he couldn't sleep after what he'd seen (and seemed to disapprove of my being able to) but Istalei forestalled any argument by fainting. I checked he was breathing regularly, then rolled him onto his side just in case he puked again. I addressed the others, using my best reassuring voice: ``I'll take watch for a while, then wake Branow. Lanbous won't ride at night, and those others aren't mounted, so even if they didn't hang around in Redriver, and even if they're headed straight for us, we'll get home in plenty of time.'' Unless, of course, the others were mounted, in which case we'd have precious little time, but there wasn't much to be done about it. Branow could probably go two nights in a row without sleep and not be much the worse for it, but I wasn't sure about the other two (especially the deceptively named Istalei) and as for me, we neuters need our sleep if we're going to think properly, and thinking was what would win or lose the battle we might have to face.
Branow woke us as the deep darkness of the forest was turning into a slightly more shallow darkness. Neither of the other two men seemed much the better for their sleep, but I felt surprisingly good. Though what we'd witnessed was horrible, I was oddly glad to have a clear goal, even if that goal was just trying to have as few people die as possible. Many sages say there are times when your will becomes aligned with one of the Three, so they work their will through your own, just like when one of your heads takes over. I don't know if that's true, but sometimes it feels like it: you feel light but powerful, strong but relaxed; everything seems bright and clear, even in a dark forest.
Anyway, we were out of danger of attack, so Branow and I went ahead at a hundred-hundred, leaving the other two to stumble along at their own pace. As we came out of the forest, I was startled by a whistle. I looked up to see Gileki, an insufferably cheerful young man who had climbed the last tree in the forest and was now grinning down from it. ``Thought I'd take a watch here,'' he said. ``How was your trip?''
``Quite pleasant,'' I replied, ``if you leave out the fact that we've had two hours sleep in as many days, and we just saw an entire village butchered, and oh well, forget it. But don't forget that if you want to observe the enemy stealthily, loud whistles to your friends aren't a good way to communicate. There are a few dozen Lanbous looking for us in this forest, and thanks to you, they know where to look now.''
Gileki's jaw dropped. ``OK, there aren't,'' I said. ``But there might have been. The tree idea wasn't bad, but you need to pick a tree well away from the forest and nearer the village, so when you see them, you can run back with the news without having a glave take your head off. You'll also need a spyglass, so take this one.'' Gileki gawped again and clambered down the tree, not sure if I was still taking the piss. I handed him the glass, which was probably the most expensive thing he'd touched in his life, and carried on to the village, feeling even better than I had when I woke up. Either one of the Three was in me, or all of them were in me, or I was in that wonderful, carefree state that soldiers are often in right before they get killed. Whatever, I had my cocky head on---you know, the one that makes you do things that are either very clever or incredibly stupid.
``Ghosts?'' asked Istalei.
``Well, not exactly. But not exactly human either.'' I passed him the spyglass. He took a look, dropped it, picked it up, and puked before he could put it to his eye. Fortunately he didn't actually puke on the glass. Talking to Branow, I'd put my military head on, and forgotten that people without plenty of combat experience tend to react like that to carnage, which is probably as it should be. I extended the spyglass to Kaltay. He was a tall, willowy lad, almost like a neuter, but probably tougher than the brawny Istalei when it came down to it. He took the glass and looked for a while before turning to me with a face almost as white as the monsters down below. A little muscle worked in the side of his face.
Now everyone was worked up, I had to make a quick decision. My military head was telling me I should reconoitre and find out as much as I could about the strangers, particularly their armour and weapons. My chief head was telling me we should leg it back home, warn people and do what we could to keep them safe. Splitting a party containing two excitable males was unwise. My chief head spoke: ``OK, we've seen enough. Time to get back before our visitors get restless.''
Kaltay looked at me disbelievingly, as though he'd expected me to make a stirring speech about revenge before leading a charge down the hill. I knew from long experience that you can't reason with men when they're emotional, so I just said: ``Go ahead with Istalei at a steady pace. Branow and I have something to do here, but we'll catch you up in a few minutes.''
Actually, Branow and I had nothing to do except talk with our companions out of earshot. In low voices we discussed the situation, our chances should the marauders turn up in our village, and possible tactics. In fact, it didn't look too bad. The Lanbous were no real threat: they're murderous out in the open, but they could never fight their way into a mine. The strange creatures with them could be very dangerous indeed, but it looked like there were only half a dozen of them. It all came down to what sorcerous weapons they had brought with them. If they had nothing more powerful than blasting wands, we could, with our knowledge of the mine and time to prepare our defences, defeat them and lose only maybe twenty to thirty people. Anything more powerful, like a wall-smasher, couldn't be used inside the mine, so they'd probably just fire it at the entrance to seal us in, leaving us to make a leisurely exit elsewhere. The real threat would be head weapons---they could stun us or create a panic, then send the Lanbous in to pick us off. It was time to go.
We caught up with Kaltay and Istalei easily, and together made good speed. The thought of having your loved ones massacred in the morning lends a certain strength to the body. Nightfall slowed us down, though, and eventually I insisted we stop to sleep. Kaltay protested that he couldn't sleep after what he'd seen (and seemed to disapprove of my being able to) but Istalei forestalled any argument by fainting. I checked he was breathing regularly, then rolled him onto his side just in case he puked again. I addressed the others, using my best reassuring voice: ``I'll take watch for a while, then wake Branow. Lanbous won't ride at night, and those others aren't mounted, so even if they didn't hang around in Redriver, and even if they're headed straight for us, we'll get home in plenty of time.'' Unless, of course, the others were mounted, in which case we'd have precious little time, but there wasn't much to be done about it. Branow could probably go two nights in a row without sleep and not be much the worse for it, but I wasn't sure about the other two (especially the deceptively named Istalei) and as for me, we neuters need our sleep if we're going to think properly, and thinking was what would win or lose the battle we might have to face.
Branow woke us as the deep darkness of the forest was turning into a slightly more shallow darkness. Neither of the other two men seemed much the better for their sleep, but I felt surprisingly good. Though what we'd witnessed was horrible, I was oddly glad to have a clear goal, even if that goal was just trying to have as few people die as possible. Many sages say there are times when your will becomes aligned with one of the Three, so they work their will through your own, just like when one of your heads takes over. I don't know if that's true, but sometimes it feels like it: you feel light but powerful, strong but relaxed; everything seems bright and clear, even in a dark forest.
Anyway, we were out of danger of attack, so Branow and I went ahead at a hundred-hundred, leaving the other two to stumble along at their own pace. As we came out of the forest, I was startled by a whistle. I looked up to see Gileki, an insufferably cheerful young man who had climbed the last tree in the forest and was now grinning down from it. ``Thought I'd take a watch here,'' he said. ``How was your trip?''
``Quite pleasant,'' I replied, ``if you leave out the fact that we've had two hours sleep in as many days, and we just saw an entire village butchered, and oh well, forget it. But don't forget that if you want to observe the enemy stealthily, loud whistles to your friends aren't a good way to communicate. There are a few dozen Lanbous looking for us in this forest, and thanks to you, they know where to look now.''
Gileki's jaw dropped. ``OK, there aren't,'' I said. ``But there might have been. The tree idea wasn't bad, but you need to pick a tree well away from the forest and nearer the village, so when you see them, you can run back with the news without having a glave take your head off. You'll also need a spyglass, so take this one.'' Gileki gawped again and clambered down the tree, not sure if I was still taking the piss. I handed him the glass, which was probably the most expensive thing he'd touched in his life, and carried on to the village, feeling even better than I had when I woke up. Either one of the Three was in me, or all of them were in me, or I was in that wonderful, carefree state that soldiers are often in right before they get killed. Whatever, I had my cocky head on---you know, the one that makes you do things that are either very clever or incredibly stupid.
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Date: 2008-10-11 11:40 pm (UTC)There are some intriguing hints about the way this culture psychologizes in the way Our Hero talks about "heads": ,
Not sure I understand those hints, but that's okay to me. even interesting.
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Date: 2008-10-12 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-12 06:48 pm (UTC)The thing about having different heads happened by accident - I used "had my military head on" just as an idiom, then thought "Why not extend it and make multiple 'heads' part of the culture?"
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Date: 2008-10-13 02:00 am (UTC)