Chapter 13

Year 163 – Summer – Quartus Mensis – 39th day

Kalator encampment, Tree-Fall Village, Velika Forest, northern Vale

The breath of the earth grew colder by the day. The fire pit was long dead when the first ray of sunlight came back, revealing the footsteps left by the nocturnal life of the forest.

The huntress of the Silver Lining, Aberfa, was sculpting another arrow from fresh wood.

Elgan – “Aren’t you supposed to sculpt the arrow once it’s dry to give it good shape?”

Aberfa – “What would a thief know about it?”

Elgan – “I don’t intend to praise myself, but I’ve come into the workplace of many.”

Aberfa – “Then you must have noticed that bows are made from fresh wood.”

Elgan – “Isn’t that because you need to change its shape? You’re not going to change the shape of an arrow, are you?”

The huntress took a wooden branch and gave it to him.

Aberfa – “Make it if you want to prove your point.”

Elgan – “I never said I knew how to make one.”

Aberfa – “Yet you talk like you do.”

Elgan – “Don’t take it personally. I’m just curious why you’re using fresh wood.”

Aberfa – “The wood doesn’t have to be fresh or dry to be sculpted into an arrow. While arrows must be dry to be effective, nothing stops me from hardening them in a fire once they have been sculpted. Satisfied?”

At that moment, Owen emerged from his tent and examined his surroundings. The camp seemed to still be asleep. Lanaya and Nelis were sleeping back-to-back next to the remains of the fire pit. Aberfa and Elgan were finishing the last quarter of the nightshift, and were feeling the piercing chill of the cold air.

Elgan – “But then why don’t you make a bigger quiver?”

Owen – “Hey, you two, want some tea?”

Elgan – “Yeah, I think I’ll need it.”

Aberfa – “No, but I’ll steal your bed.”

Owen – “Sure.”

She walked in silence to the tent and swiftly dragged herself into the bed. Owen used the water left in the barrel and poured it into his cooking pot before restoring the fire.

Owen – “Did you make her mad or something?”

Elgan – “No, why?”

Owen – “Uh-huh . . .”

Elgan – “What do you mean, uh-huh?”

Owen – “Well, usually, she’s always willing to drink my tea.”

Elgan – “I don’t know. Maybe she’s tired and needs rest.”

Owen – “That’s the point of drinking tea.”

Elgan – “Ok, listen. I don’t know why, but she seemed mad the whole damn shift.”

Owen – “Uh-huh.”

Elgan – “You’re annoying me. I’m going to sleep.”

Owen – “But the tea is almost ready.”

Elgan – “Drink it alone!”

Owen – “There’s too much for one person!”

Elsewhere in the camp, Alphael and one of his men were awake.

The man – “Hey Alphael, do you think we’re going to survive through this?”

Alphael – “Survive? Why wouldn’t we?”

The man – “I mean, every day, it’s getting colder and colder, and even the tree seems to be dying. It’s as if this place was doomed by Nocna Mora.”

Alphael – “It’s your first time in the North, isn’t it?”

The man – “Yeah . . .”

Alphael – “Don’t worry, the god of the night has got way more important stuff to do than corrupt the North. It’s not death that you see. It’s winter. In the North, in half of the year, the lands get colder and colder until the ground is covered in snow. The trees are not dying; they are sleeping. Besides, we are under the protection of the blessed band. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get back home before the snow even comes.”

The man – “I hope you’re right.”

Alphael went to Lanaya’s camp to learn the plan for the day.

Alphael – “I go to sleep, and you’re awake. I wake up, and you’re still there. I want to know your secret!”

Owen – “It’s the tea!”

Lanaya – “Yeah, the tea . . . Anyway, we need to get moving fast. We are following the Kalator, and I don’t know how early they intend to march.”

Owen – “We’ll need more supplies. It’s going to be hard to hunt during a siege near an army of 3,000 soldiers.”

Lanaya – “Then let’s avoid making Lord Egmond wait if we want to keep him on our side.”

Nelis – “Alphael, where are the empty barrels your group carried for me?”

Alphael – “Still with the mules.”

Nelis – “Good, I’ll start now.”

Lanaya – “Bring Jurren with you.”

Nelis – “Understood.”

Inside the tent, Jurren was sleeping with his two-handed sword close to his body.

Nelis – “Hey, Jurren, wake up.”

The man opened his right eyes slightly before looking at Nelis.

Jurren – “Are we under attack?”

Nelis – “No, but I–”

Jurren – “Good.”

He closed his eyes and drowsed off.

Nelis – “Are you really going to do that?”

Jurren snored as an answer.

Nelis – “Do you want some tea to help you?”

Jurren – “Do you want some apples?”

Nelis was silent.

Jurren – “You have your answer.”

Nelis – “I’m going to the Kalator camp to make black powder. I need a bodyguard.”

Jurren – “And it has to be me?”

Nelis – “Lanaya’s order.”

Jurren – “Fuck’s sake. Alright . . . Bring me some.”

Nelis went to the fire pit and asked Owen to prepare some more tea. Lanaya and Alphael were looking at a rough sketch of the area made by Aberfa the previous day. Nelis walked to his mule and attached the three barrels that were full of sulfur and the three empty ones before picking a large bag made of wolf pelt. Large and heavy clothing was inside, which could cover his entire body and face. During the process, Leo woke up and exited his tent.

Leo – “What are you doing?”

Nelis turned around to witness him.

Nelis – “I’m going to the Kalator camp to make black powder.”

Leo – “Can I come?”

Nelis – “Why?”

Leo – “Well, I thought of it last night, and I don’t see myself becoming a fearless warrior like Radomil, Jurren, or even Petra. But I want to be useful.”

Nelis – “If you want to be useful, you should help pack the camp. We need to depart early.”

Leo – “I want to learn what you’re doing. I want to learn witchcraft. I want to learn how you make that black powder of yours.”

Nelis – “You won’t learn much; all I’ll be doing is spreading cattle shit on a large sieve to gather saltpetre.”

Leo – “What’s saltpetre?”

Nelis – “Ok, listen, I don’t have much time today, but during the siege, we’ll have many days with nothing to do. I’ll teach you a little during that time if you help pack the encampment for today.”

Leo – “Fine . . .”

Nelis took a mask of linen to cover his mouth and nose before bringing a cup of tea to his companion.

Nelis – “Get ready fast.”

Jurren – “Don’t worry.”

Nelis – “Lanaya!”

Lanaya – “Yeah?”

Nelis – “It will take a while. We’ll find you later today; don’t wait for us.”

Lanaya – “Alright, see you tonight!”

Nelis went to his mule and attached four barrels on top and took the two others on his own back by using a rope net. At that moment, Jurren arrived with his equipment, and the two of them walked toward the Kalator camp.

When they arrived, the soldiers had begun to move south, but the militia was still packing their supplies. They were made of both men and women.

Nelis – “It always feels strange to see so many women in armour.”

Jurren – “I mean, we have Lanaya, Petra, and Aberfa who are straight-on fighters.”

Nelis – “I know, but those in our rank are usually the exception. Here, it’s like half their militia consists of women. I’m almost expecting the kid and the elders to come join us for the siege.”

Jurren – “They’re thick, though. These Northern girls . . . They’ve got some chunky legs. They’re not like the Southern girls.”

Nelis – “Being fat doesn’t do everything.”

Jurren – “Oh, but it does it for me!”

Nelis – “I’m talking of fighting, not your fantasy.”

Jurren – “Fair enough, but it still adds weight to your strike. Besides, carrying all that fat around must be quite the training, and if you’re a soldier in an army, no one wants to look like a coward in front of his wife. In a way, they can also keep the moral higher if you know what I mean.”

Nelis – “I mean, the rest of the Union doesn’t do that.”

Jurren – “Well, Kalator women are thick and tall.”

Nelis – “It’s still weird.”

Jurren – “Said the guy who’s going to spread shit around.”

Nelis – “Yeah, whatever . . .”

Nelis and Jurren walked across the camp, following the smell of shit. When they arrived, Nelis placed the large sieve on the ground and used his shovel to move the excrement on top of it. He then took a mortar and pushed the shit through the little hole of the sieve. When a little white stone wasn’t going through the sieve, he used precision tongs to place the saltpetre into each of the six barrels.

Jurren – “So, it’s really just three ingredients.”

Nelis – “Not exactly. To get the saltpetre, you need to first mix potash made from wood ashes as well as water to the manure and let it fertilize for days, which they did under my request. Then, once I can gather the saltpetre, there are indeed only three ingredients. One-quarter barrel of sulfur, one-quarter of charcoal and one-half of saltpetre. Then you add water until the barrel is full, so you can mix it well. You need around 10 to 20 days until it dries out. Once it’s dry, you’ve got a beast to release.”

Jurren – “Then you’ll be able to test your invention?”

Nelis – “Yeah, but I’ll need to polish some rock to do it.”

Once their six barrels were ready, the sun was way past its zenith, so the two of them went south to join their companions.