Masquerade
12-05-2007, 01:53 AM
Review, critique, and tear apart to your heart's content please :D
---
Command: four divisions, or 240 soldiers. Commanded by anyone possessing the rank of captain or higher.
Division: a group of sixty men, under the command of a sergeant.
Demi-horse: a fanged, omnivorous, horselike creature. Occasionally venomous, with a paralyzing poison.
Mere-horse: an ordinary horse.
---
Sholzhen's Stand
Sholzhen turned in the saddle to watch the blue-liveried courier ride up. The messenger's chestnut mere-horse was staggering from exhaustion and was lathered in sweat. The man himself was filthy and unshaven; he practically fell out of the saddle to kneel before Sholzhen. She doubted he was capable of standing.
"Lord-General Sholzhen, I am Dember riZikel, second courier of the Twelfth Command. I am sent from lord-General Iemakk with a message."
"Speak," Sholzhen said imperiously. RiZikel boweed his head, staring at the hooves of Sholzhen's black-brindled demi-horse.
"Lord-General Iemak directs me to say that he musters his force. He will enter the valley within the week with a full command."
Sholzhen looked bleakly across that valley, a long, narrow, steep-walled channel. It was the most direct route between Rilembir, which she served, and her native Temha, which she loved. The Rilembans called it the Valley-Pass of Shaegar. The Temhin called it Riadh's Passage.
"Lord-General?"
Sholzhen turned to look at her shield-bearer. The slave-born Temhan bowed deeply, shaved head shining in the evening sun, and looked up at her with concerned eyes.
"Care for this man," she ordered. "See that his horse is tended to also. He will serve with Sergeant Drien and the Fourth Division for now. Benael, I will speak with you alone."
The shield-bearer bowed again as a soldier moved forward to lead riZikel away. The man was utterly spent and went without a word, leaning heavily on the soldier. A second soldier came forward to grab the chestnut mere-horse's bridle. The animal was lame, likely foundered. Sholzhen's demi-horse snapped at the man, fangs flashing. She jerked the reins roughly and the animal subsided, rolling its eyes and grumbling to itself with thwarted fury.
"A week is too long, Benael," Sholzhen said wearily once the soldiers had gone. "I know Iemak could be here tomorrow if he wished it."
"We can hold the valley, Sholzhen," Benael murmured. "The Temhin have not advanced all week."
"Not once have they attacked in force," Sholzhen reminded him. "They test us."
"They are afraid of you," Benael said. His teeth flashed, very white in his ebony face. "We can hold."
"They will not retreat. Iemak's delay may be our downfall should they advance in force," Sholzhen lamented. "Ten years I have defended the Rilemban border, Benael. Never have my people desired conquest like this before."
"They attack frequently ..."
"Never with such purpose," Sholzhen said. "I fear our critics are correct--my people are traditionally cowardly, easily turned aside from their goal."
"Say rather cautious," Benael suggested. "And famed for their circumspection. And yet," he added slyly, "they produced you, who is brave enough to defy their king and then patrol their borders, a move which is neither cautious nor circumspect."
Sholzhen glanced at her shield-bearer and grinned. The smile lit up her heart-shaped face and made her beautiful, despite freckles and unevenly-cropped blonde hair.
"And you," she replied. Benael shook his head.
"I am slave born, and were it not for my dark skin I would never have come to Temha--nor your service."
"True enough," Sholzhen agreed. "I consider you no less a man for the color of your skin, Benael."
"I thank you for that," Benael replied.
"Lord-General!"
Sholzhen spun her demi-horse towards the sentry who called. Startled from its doze, the animal danced and plunged furiously, but Sholzhen paid it no mind. She was focussed on the woman, who was pointing frantically towards the end of the boulder-strewn valley. Sholzhen saw the glint of metal in the sun.
"Benael, arm and mount! Camp alert!"
The demi-horse reared, steel-shod hooves flashing as Sholzhen projected her voice across the camp. Soldiers ran for their mere- and demi-horses, struggling with weaponry and armor as they went.
"Arm and mount! Form up!" Sholzhen's sergeants took over, giving Sholzhen time to accept her curved blade from Benael. A second demi-horse was brought for the shield-bearer, who mounted fluidly, avoiding the ill-tempered creature's snapping jaws.
"It's the Temhin," Benael said, dark eyes flicking across the formations spilling into the valley. "Why would they attack so close to sunset when they favor dawn assaults?"
"To catch us off-guard," Sholzhen snapped. "Curse Iemak and his delays!" She dug her spurs into her demi-horse's sides, and the animal plunged forward down the slope.
The dying sun stained armor and weapons prematurely red. Sholzhen's blade flashed in the crimson twilight as she rode to meet the enemy, Benael at her demi-horse's flank. Her sword dipped, then rose, now scarlet in truth.
The first ranks of Temhan soldiers fell as Rilemban archers, stationed high along the valley walls, fired. Two of Sholzhen's four divisions blocked the path solidly; the other two followed their lord-General's charge, streaming down the narrow trails to the valley floor. The defending divisions took out the few Temhin who escaped Sholzhen's attack.
Sholzhen and Benael pulled back after their initial charge. Sholzhen's eyes flicked across the Temhan ranks.
"They have no horses," she murmured. "Where are their cavalry?"
The moon was high before the Temhin withdrew. Sholzhen still held the valley, and had lost perhaps half a division. There were relatively few serious injuries.
The Temhin did not attack again that night. During the respite, Sholzhen ordered the attacking and defending divisions to exchange places, moving the fresher soldiers to the front. Her men were in good shape and had been well-rested prior to the attack, and were holding up well.
The second wave came at dawn, the sun's rays gilding the surrounding mountains with gold but leaving the valley in shadow. Still the missing cavalry did not appear, and Sholzhen's archers were running low on arrows. She eventually ordered them to save their remaining shafts and to join the defending divisions.
When the Temhin drew back at noon, Sholzhen had less than three divisions remaining.
The third attack came unexpectedly, just before moon-rise. The Rilembans might have been caught unaware in the darkness, but Sholzhen's sentries had sharp eyes. Once more they fended the assault, and no few of the Rilemban soldiers breathed a sigh of relief when the Temhin pulled back within half an hour.
Sholzhen watched the Temhin draw away with a sense of foreboding. Such a short attack was out of character; it had been long enough to further exhaust her men, yet too short to take advantage of it.
So it was with dread that she watched their activity. Within moments a line of horsemen emerged from the Temhan ranks, armor and flanks gleaming in the torch- and moonlight.
Sholzhen barely heard Benael gasp behind her as she screamed hoarsely for the archers to take their places once more. Her sergeants ordered the men to remount; they had fought the last two skirmishes on foot, to save their mere- and demi-horses. Benael's demi-horse had been sent to replace one of the fallen mounts. He sat behind Sholzhen now, further irritating her steed.
Two divisions of Rilemban soldiers lived, and perhaps half as many mounts. Her only advantages were the high ground and her archers, and they would not fire after the initial Temhin charge, for fear of hitting Rilemban soldiers in the darkness.
"Benael," she said, her ruined voice startling the dark-skinned slave. "I would have freed you if I could."
"I know this, lord-General. But freedom would inevitably part us, and that I could not bear."
"Even death shall not part us now, Benael," Sholzhen said in Temhan. She donned her helmet and drew her blade.
"What are you doing?" Benael sounded alarmed.
"We will join the charge. I will not stand by in this final slaughter."
Lord-General Iemak rode into the Valley-Pass of Shaegar at dawn, two nights after he had sent his messenger. He led his command with a confidence that was shattered when he entered the valley.
The grass was rusty with drying blood. The bodies of both Rilemban and Temhan lay side by side where they had fallen; Iemak could tell at a glance that they were all dead.
Well, not quite. As he rounded a large boulder, he found Sholzhen, propped against the rock, her beloved Benael's dark head resting in her lap in the eternal sleep of death. Her demi-horse lay dead a short ways beyond. She opened her eyes and smiled painfully at Iemak as he approached. He fumbled with the reins as he dismounted to kneel beside her.
"You're early," she coughed. Iemak stared at her in horror. Sholzhen closed her eyes for a moment. Dried blood crusted the left side of her face. Her hair was matted with it.
"The Temhin are gone," she went on. "They won't be back. When they realized they had killed me, they left."
Iemak found his voice. "We--we must get you to a healer--"
Sholzhen smiled again and shook her head. She coughed, and flecks of blood stained her lips anew. She touched the arrow that pinned her to the moss-covered rock behind her, jutting out of the right side of her chest. The arrow was black, fletched with red.
"This whole campaign was for vengeance," she said wonderingly. "All to kill the traitor lord-General." She paused. "Will you promise me something, Iemak?"
"Of course, anything."
"Bury me here, next to Benael. And don't bury him as a slave. Mark him a free man."
"Yes--but why?"
Sholzhen lifted her arm, directing his attention down to Benael's body, and Iemak finally saw the three black arrows that had slain faithful Benael.
"He took the first three for me," Sholzhen said simply. "I took the last one for him."
The Rilembans call that valley the Valley-Pass of Sholzhen now. The Temhin simply call it Sholzhen's Stand. No army ever passed through it again.
And Sholzhen and Benael lie side by side, the lord-General and her shield-bearer, who was indeed buried as a free man. Their graves are marked by a pillar of wind-carved granite, on the border that Rilembir and Temha both share.
---
Command: four divisions, or 240 soldiers. Commanded by anyone possessing the rank of captain or higher.
Division: a group of sixty men, under the command of a sergeant.
Demi-horse: a fanged, omnivorous, horselike creature. Occasionally venomous, with a paralyzing poison.
Mere-horse: an ordinary horse.
---
Sholzhen's Stand
Sholzhen turned in the saddle to watch the blue-liveried courier ride up. The messenger's chestnut mere-horse was staggering from exhaustion and was lathered in sweat. The man himself was filthy and unshaven; he practically fell out of the saddle to kneel before Sholzhen. She doubted he was capable of standing.
"Lord-General Sholzhen, I am Dember riZikel, second courier of the Twelfth Command. I am sent from lord-General Iemakk with a message."
"Speak," Sholzhen said imperiously. RiZikel boweed his head, staring at the hooves of Sholzhen's black-brindled demi-horse.
"Lord-General Iemak directs me to say that he musters his force. He will enter the valley within the week with a full command."
Sholzhen looked bleakly across that valley, a long, narrow, steep-walled channel. It was the most direct route between Rilembir, which she served, and her native Temha, which she loved. The Rilembans called it the Valley-Pass of Shaegar. The Temhin called it Riadh's Passage.
"Lord-General?"
Sholzhen turned to look at her shield-bearer. The slave-born Temhan bowed deeply, shaved head shining in the evening sun, and looked up at her with concerned eyes.
"Care for this man," she ordered. "See that his horse is tended to also. He will serve with Sergeant Drien and the Fourth Division for now. Benael, I will speak with you alone."
The shield-bearer bowed again as a soldier moved forward to lead riZikel away. The man was utterly spent and went without a word, leaning heavily on the soldier. A second soldier came forward to grab the chestnut mere-horse's bridle. The animal was lame, likely foundered. Sholzhen's demi-horse snapped at the man, fangs flashing. She jerked the reins roughly and the animal subsided, rolling its eyes and grumbling to itself with thwarted fury.
"A week is too long, Benael," Sholzhen said wearily once the soldiers had gone. "I know Iemak could be here tomorrow if he wished it."
"We can hold the valley, Sholzhen," Benael murmured. "The Temhin have not advanced all week."
"Not once have they attacked in force," Sholzhen reminded him. "They test us."
"They are afraid of you," Benael said. His teeth flashed, very white in his ebony face. "We can hold."
"They will not retreat. Iemak's delay may be our downfall should they advance in force," Sholzhen lamented. "Ten years I have defended the Rilemban border, Benael. Never have my people desired conquest like this before."
"They attack frequently ..."
"Never with such purpose," Sholzhen said. "I fear our critics are correct--my people are traditionally cowardly, easily turned aside from their goal."
"Say rather cautious," Benael suggested. "And famed for their circumspection. And yet," he added slyly, "they produced you, who is brave enough to defy their king and then patrol their borders, a move which is neither cautious nor circumspect."
Sholzhen glanced at her shield-bearer and grinned. The smile lit up her heart-shaped face and made her beautiful, despite freckles and unevenly-cropped blonde hair.
"And you," she replied. Benael shook his head.
"I am slave born, and were it not for my dark skin I would never have come to Temha--nor your service."
"True enough," Sholzhen agreed. "I consider you no less a man for the color of your skin, Benael."
"I thank you for that," Benael replied.
"Lord-General!"
Sholzhen spun her demi-horse towards the sentry who called. Startled from its doze, the animal danced and plunged furiously, but Sholzhen paid it no mind. She was focussed on the woman, who was pointing frantically towards the end of the boulder-strewn valley. Sholzhen saw the glint of metal in the sun.
"Benael, arm and mount! Camp alert!"
The demi-horse reared, steel-shod hooves flashing as Sholzhen projected her voice across the camp. Soldiers ran for their mere- and demi-horses, struggling with weaponry and armor as they went.
"Arm and mount! Form up!" Sholzhen's sergeants took over, giving Sholzhen time to accept her curved blade from Benael. A second demi-horse was brought for the shield-bearer, who mounted fluidly, avoiding the ill-tempered creature's snapping jaws.
"It's the Temhin," Benael said, dark eyes flicking across the formations spilling into the valley. "Why would they attack so close to sunset when they favor dawn assaults?"
"To catch us off-guard," Sholzhen snapped. "Curse Iemak and his delays!" She dug her spurs into her demi-horse's sides, and the animal plunged forward down the slope.
The dying sun stained armor and weapons prematurely red. Sholzhen's blade flashed in the crimson twilight as she rode to meet the enemy, Benael at her demi-horse's flank. Her sword dipped, then rose, now scarlet in truth.
The first ranks of Temhan soldiers fell as Rilemban archers, stationed high along the valley walls, fired. Two of Sholzhen's four divisions blocked the path solidly; the other two followed their lord-General's charge, streaming down the narrow trails to the valley floor. The defending divisions took out the few Temhin who escaped Sholzhen's attack.
Sholzhen and Benael pulled back after their initial charge. Sholzhen's eyes flicked across the Temhan ranks.
"They have no horses," she murmured. "Where are their cavalry?"
The moon was high before the Temhin withdrew. Sholzhen still held the valley, and had lost perhaps half a division. There were relatively few serious injuries.
The Temhin did not attack again that night. During the respite, Sholzhen ordered the attacking and defending divisions to exchange places, moving the fresher soldiers to the front. Her men were in good shape and had been well-rested prior to the attack, and were holding up well.
The second wave came at dawn, the sun's rays gilding the surrounding mountains with gold but leaving the valley in shadow. Still the missing cavalry did not appear, and Sholzhen's archers were running low on arrows. She eventually ordered them to save their remaining shafts and to join the defending divisions.
When the Temhin drew back at noon, Sholzhen had less than three divisions remaining.
The third attack came unexpectedly, just before moon-rise. The Rilembans might have been caught unaware in the darkness, but Sholzhen's sentries had sharp eyes. Once more they fended the assault, and no few of the Rilemban soldiers breathed a sigh of relief when the Temhin pulled back within half an hour.
Sholzhen watched the Temhin draw away with a sense of foreboding. Such a short attack was out of character; it had been long enough to further exhaust her men, yet too short to take advantage of it.
So it was with dread that she watched their activity. Within moments a line of horsemen emerged from the Temhan ranks, armor and flanks gleaming in the torch- and moonlight.
Sholzhen barely heard Benael gasp behind her as she screamed hoarsely for the archers to take their places once more. Her sergeants ordered the men to remount; they had fought the last two skirmishes on foot, to save their mere- and demi-horses. Benael's demi-horse had been sent to replace one of the fallen mounts. He sat behind Sholzhen now, further irritating her steed.
Two divisions of Rilemban soldiers lived, and perhaps half as many mounts. Her only advantages were the high ground and her archers, and they would not fire after the initial Temhin charge, for fear of hitting Rilemban soldiers in the darkness.
"Benael," she said, her ruined voice startling the dark-skinned slave. "I would have freed you if I could."
"I know this, lord-General. But freedom would inevitably part us, and that I could not bear."
"Even death shall not part us now, Benael," Sholzhen said in Temhan. She donned her helmet and drew her blade.
"What are you doing?" Benael sounded alarmed.
"We will join the charge. I will not stand by in this final slaughter."
Lord-General Iemak rode into the Valley-Pass of Shaegar at dawn, two nights after he had sent his messenger. He led his command with a confidence that was shattered when he entered the valley.
The grass was rusty with drying blood. The bodies of both Rilemban and Temhan lay side by side where they had fallen; Iemak could tell at a glance that they were all dead.
Well, not quite. As he rounded a large boulder, he found Sholzhen, propped against the rock, her beloved Benael's dark head resting in her lap in the eternal sleep of death. Her demi-horse lay dead a short ways beyond. She opened her eyes and smiled painfully at Iemak as he approached. He fumbled with the reins as he dismounted to kneel beside her.
"You're early," she coughed. Iemak stared at her in horror. Sholzhen closed her eyes for a moment. Dried blood crusted the left side of her face. Her hair was matted with it.
"The Temhin are gone," she went on. "They won't be back. When they realized they had killed me, they left."
Iemak found his voice. "We--we must get you to a healer--"
Sholzhen smiled again and shook her head. She coughed, and flecks of blood stained her lips anew. She touched the arrow that pinned her to the moss-covered rock behind her, jutting out of the right side of her chest. The arrow was black, fletched with red.
"This whole campaign was for vengeance," she said wonderingly. "All to kill the traitor lord-General." She paused. "Will you promise me something, Iemak?"
"Of course, anything."
"Bury me here, next to Benael. And don't bury him as a slave. Mark him a free man."
"Yes--but why?"
Sholzhen lifted her arm, directing his attention down to Benael's body, and Iemak finally saw the three black arrows that had slain faithful Benael.
"He took the first three for me," Sholzhen said simply. "I took the last one for him."
The Rilembans call that valley the Valley-Pass of Sholzhen now. The Temhin simply call it Sholzhen's Stand. No army ever passed through it again.
And Sholzhen and Benael lie side by side, the lord-General and her shield-bearer, who was indeed buried as a free man. Their graves are marked by a pillar of wind-carved granite, on the border that Rilembir and Temha both share.