Chapter 42: The Lull Before, the Heavier Blood II

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: The Lull Before, the Heavier Blood II

Dawn light struck the northwestern stone clear and cold.

Korr stood on the primary post with the axe already in his hand.

The cut on his upper arm from the previous day pulled when he shifted grip.

Bor stood two paces to his right, spear butt resting on the rock, eyes fixed on the higher folds.

The rest of the first band held their positions in silence. No one spoke.

The signal fires were ready.

The water skins were checked.

The dead from the day before had been pulled back as far as the fighting allowed.

On the higher folds the Hollow Kin fires still burned.

More of them than the night before. Closer.

~~~~

A young first-band fighter named Tesh, posted on the left approach, clicked his tongue once. Korr looked.

Dark shapes were moving down the nearest draw painted bodies, low to the stone, leaf-shaped blades catching the early light.

Larger group than any of the three tests the day before. Twenty at least.

Maybe more behind them.

Bor spat.

"They bring the weight today."

Korr gave the hand signal. Hold.

Make them spend. No one left the stone unless the fallback signal came.

The Hollow Kin came fast.

They hit the left and center approaches together, no thrown stones first this time, just bodies and blades.

The sound of flint on hide and bone on stone cracked across the line.

Tesh met the first painted fighter with a short spear thrust that took the man in the gut.

A second Hollow Kin closed over the falling body and cut Tesh deep across the thigh.

Tesh went down hard but kept his blade up until another first-band man stepped over him and drove an axe into the attacker’s neck.

On the center post the pressure was heavier.

Korr took a painted fighter with a downward stroke that split the shoulder.

Blood sprayed hot across his forearm.

Another came in low; Bor’s spear took that one through the side before the man could reach Korr.

A third scored a line across Korr’s ribs shallow but burning.

Korr turned with the impact and opened the man’s throat on the return swing.

The body dropped. Another took its place.

The first band held by inches.

On the far right post a first-band fighter named Hral went down under two blades and did not rise.

The post nearly broke before two men from the secondary position reached it and drove the Hollow Kin back with thrown spears and raw force.

The survivors of that group pulled back into the draw, dragging one of their wounded.

They left three dead on the stone.

The left approach was still locked.

Tesh was still down, blood pumping steadily from the thigh wound.

A first-band man named Vek knelt long enough to jam a strip of hide into the cut and haul Tesh back from the primary edge.

The Hollow Kin pushed harder into the gap. Bor left the center post without being told, spear working in short, brutal thrusts.

~~~~

Two more painted fighters went down.

The rest finally fell back when a third first-band pair reinforced from the rear.

Silence returned in pieces.

Heavy breathing.

The drip of blood on stone. Someone cursing under his breath while he tried to bind a hand.

Korr counted. Four first-band dead that he could see.

Six or seven wounded serious enough to need binding.

The Hollow Kin had left at least nine bodies on the approaches and dragged several more back into the draws.

They had not broken the line.

They had come closer than the day before.

Bor wiped his spear on a dead man’s hide. "They learn. Next time they bring more."

Korr nodded once.

He sent the signal down to the valley: heavier contact, line holding, higher cost.

Then he walked the posts while the living bound the wounded and pulled the dead farther back.

The cut on his ribs had already stopped bleeding freely.

The older cut on his arm had opened again.

He ignored both.

In the valley the signal reached the arena ledge while the light was still climbing.

Vara stood with her arms crossed, bone necklace resting between her breasts, silver-streaked hair bound tight for the day. Gron stood slightly behind her, cracked face turned toward the northwestern ridges.

Elka was already present with Sura and Drak.

The bone beads in Elka’s long braids clicked once when she shifted her weight.

~~~~

Vara read the signal and spoke without raising her voice. "Heavier contact.

Line holds. More dead on both sides.

Every fighter who can still climb goes now. Valley counts drop to the minimum that still covers the eastern and southern approaches.

The northwestern stone takes everything else."

Gron’s voice was dry.

"They are spending blood to thin the posts. If the first band loses two more men of that quality the line will start to bend."

Elka’s dark eyes stayed on the ridges.

"My circle can put more numbers on the valley watches.

That frees first-band strength for the climb."

Vara looked at her for a long moment.

"Do it. Command stays first-band.

Any man who leaves a count without order answers for it when the larger blood is finished."

Elka inclined her head.

Sura’s expression did not change.

Drak simply turned and began giving quiet orders to the second-band men within earshot.

~~~~

On the northwestern line the morning stretched into early afternoon without a second full assault.

The Hollow Kin held the draws they had reached, binding their own wounded, watching the posts.

Small groups tested the edges twice quick probes that cost them two more dead and the first band one more wounded but they did not commit the full weight again.

The main camp was still closing the distance.

Fires were visible in greater numbers on the higher folds.

Korr used the time.

He moved the strongest remaining men to the approaches that had taken the most pressure.

He pulled the worst of the wounded back to a secondary ledge where they could still throw if the line was forced.

He checked every water skin and every edge.

Bor stayed with him, saying little, eyes always on the draws.

A young fighter named Renn, barely old enough for the first band, stood too straight on the left post. His hands were steady but his eyes were not.

Korr stopped beside him.

"Breathe. Watch the stone, not the bodies. When they come again you hold until someone tells you to move."

Renn nodded once.

His throat worked.

He did not speak.

Bor waited until they were out of earshot. "That one will either break or harden today. No middle."

"He hardens," Korr said.

The second major push came in the late afternoon.

The Hollow Kin came with greater numbers and better coordination left, center, and a new pressure on the far right at the same time.

The sound of the fighting rolled across the stone in a continuous crash of blades and bodies. The left post bent.

Two first-band men went down in the first rush and did not get up.

The center held by the same stubborn refusal as before, but the cost climbed.

Korr took a glancing blow to the side of the head that filled his vision with white for a breath.

He stayed on his feet and put the axe into the next painted chest that came at him.

Bor fought with the cold economy of a man who had stopped counting the number of times he had done this.

His spear broke on a Hollow Kin shield of layered hide. He dropped it, took a fallen axe from the stone, and kept killing.

The far right nearly opened.

A first-band fighter named Sol fell with a blade under the ribs.

The two men beside him were forced back three strides before reinforcement from the secondary position slammed into the gap and drove the Hollow Kin off the edge again.

When the attackers finally pulled back, the primary approaches were slick with blood and littered with bodies from both sides. The first band still held the stone.

The line was thinner than it had been at dawn.

~~~~

Several posts were down to half the men they had started the day with.

Korr sent the signal: second heavy contact, line holding, cost high.

Then he walked the posts again while the living dragged the dead clear and bound what could still be bound.

The cut on his ribs had reopened.

The side of his head throbbed.

He ignored both.

In the valley the second signal arrived as the light began to soften.

Vara ordered every remaining climber onto the trails without exception.

The valley itself would be held by the absolute minimum.

Gron said nothing.

Elka’s circle filled the gaps on the valley and eastern watches without comment.

Sura’s face remained unreadable.

Drak simply kept the second-band numbers moving where they were told.

On the northwestern line the light failed slowly.

The Hollow Kin did not come a third time before dark.

Their fires multiplied on the higher folds dozens of them now, close enough that the smell of their smoke reached the primary posts.

The main camp had closed most of the remaining distance.

The next light would bring the full weight or the decision to force the night.

Korr stood on the primary post as the dark settled.

Bor stood beside him.

The living first-band men held their positions in silence.

The wounded who could still grip a weapon stayed on the secondary ledges.

The dead were stacked as far back as the fighting had allowed.