Taker Of Skulls(15)

“Twenty leagues or so, if the maps I studied before I came are correct.”

Kormak laughed.

“What did I say was so funny?” Karnea asked. She was smiling, not a woman to take offence unless certain it was being given.

“The borders of Aquilea and Taurea are, shall we say, disputed,” Kormak said. “The hill tribes raid across those borders at will, claim the lands are theirs and the Taureans have no right to be there.”

Boreas nodded when he heard this. “My earliest posting was at Andium. Every moon or so the Wolf clans would get wild on firewater and try and burn us out. Hell, they succeeded in more than a few places. I’ve seen many a settler village burned.”

Kormak thought about the implications of the term settler village. Even after two centuries, the Taureans called their townships on the border that. They clearly grasped just as much as the Aquileans did exactly how precarious their grip on the border was.

“I heard the Aquileans have started raiding again,” said Sasha. “Have been doing that ever since this bloody civil war started.”

Boreas nodded. “The mercenaries will all be heading south. It’s the prospect of higher pay and more plunder. Hell, any plunder. You don’t see much when you hit an Aquilean village. They are bloody barbarians.” He glanced at Kormak. “No offence, Sir Kormak.”

“None taken,” said Kormak. “I am surprised you raided a Wolf clan village and lived to tell the tale.”

“You a Wolf?” Boreas asked. “I mean originally, before you swore to follow the Holy Sun.”

Kormak shook his head. “My people were Hawk clan,” he said. “They and the Wolves are traditional enemies.”

Boreas’s eyes narrowed. “Never met a Hawk. Never heard much good about them either. Supposed to be even meaner than the Wolves.”

“You won’t meet any more now. I am the last.” Boreas looked away, clearly wondering whether this was a subject to be broached at all.

“I’ve heard it said that if the Aquileans stopped fighting each other, they could probably conquer Taurea,” said Sasha.

“Might be true,” said Boreas. “They are fierce enough.”

“It will never happen,” said Kormak.

“What makes you so sure?” Karnea asked.

“Too many old hates among the clans. Too many blood feuds. Too many ritual killings. And even if some warlord arose to unite them, they would still fail. It takes more than a sword and courage to win battles.”

“They help,” said Boreas.

“Aye,” said Kormak. “But fighting cavalry on open plains is not so easy when you don’t have any yourself. And fighting a campaign is hard when your idea of strategy is to get drunk and head for the biggest town with the most loot, and your idea of tactics is line up and charge the enemy as fast as you can because you want to take more heads than your neighbour.”

“It sounds like you don’t have much respect for the fighting skills of your kinsmen,” said Sasha.

“I have no kinsmen,” said Kormak. “And I have every respect for the Aquileans. I just don’t think they know how to fight a war. Raid, yes. Kill a man with a blade, yes. Fight a war against civilised armies? No.”

“What happened to your kin?” Sasha asked. “Blood feud?”

Kormak shook his head. “An Old One killed them. Wiped out the entire village.”

“Did your folk anger him in some way?” she asked.

“No. He is one of those who just attack human villages when the mood strikes him. They kill like maddened wolverines because they like the taste of blood.”

“He left you alive though,” Sasha said. “Or did you run away?”

“I was eight years old,” Kormak said. “I tried to hit him with my father’s hammer. My father’s head lay severed where the Old One had dropped it.”

Sasha looked appalled. “I am sorry,” she said. “I never meant...”

“Why are you sorry?” Kormak asked. “You never did anything. It was Adath Decaureon, the Prince of Dragons.”

“Why did it let you live?” Boreas asked.

“He always leaves one survivor to tell the tale. Always a child. He always tells them that one day he will come back and kill them. Sometimes he does.”

“Did he tell you?” Sasha asked.

“Yes.” An appalled silence hung over the small group. Were they wondering what would happen if the Prince of Dragons caught up with him while they were there?

“There was a Guardian pursuing him,” Kormak said. “Malan. He took me back to Mount Aethelas. That’s how I came to join the Order of the Dawn.”