The peninsula narrowed as the raucous group headed north, and in the litter, Hyran had time to ponder. How far had the humans gotten? Were their forces on the mainland yet? Would the Exians be allowed through the front lines?
They began to see more and more troops— on the horizon, on the road, moving across fields, breaking camp. Finally, they were stopped at a checkpoint.
Valph’s friend— was Flann his name?— greeted the 4 soldiers in Human, and their faces registered what Hyran figured was surprise. All the Vle looked expectantly at the soldiers; no one provided a translation. A Human of higher rank joined the two, and then dismissed the lesser. The conversation seemed respectful enough, in a tone that reminded Hyran of his conversations with his mentor. But the jarring sounds of the Human language shattered that pleasant memory quickly.
Then the tone changed, as did the Human’s stance. He directed questions, the Vle delivered answers, as if in a quiz. After ten such exchanges, the Human fell silent. And, finally, he said in passable elvish: “Vrry will, yo c’n gau.”
That one sentence energized the troupe. Hyran’s carriers handed him to two others and they went on by.... with one of the humans tagging along. A few broke out into song, and others hummed totally different tunes.
But Hyran felt he had to know just what all was said. “So, what was that all about?” he asked Flann when he was near enough.
“Well, at first we were just bantering— I was trying to convince him to let us through, considering who we were, and our mission, and our wounded—” the Vle indicated Hyran— “and how peaceful we were and that we would take vows of honor not to tell the military there anything the Humans did... And he countered with some very good reasons why he shouldn’t— couldn’t— let us go. But finally, he quizzed me on Exian theology. I passed his test.”
“Why are we so lucky that we should keep running into Exian captains?”
“This Human was a lieutenant.”
“Whatever.”
“I don’t know. It’s a mystery.”
“Well, I for one see the Great Master’s hand at work here.”
Flann didn’t reply. Inwardly, Hyran smiled as the young Vle chewed that one over in his mind. As peaceful and wonderful this Exian thing may be, it fell short in answering some of life’s mysteries. Without a Creator or Great Master, who was there to credit for the hand dealt by fate?
Hyran looked over at the Human, whose face was hard, eyes pointed straight down the road. “Is he Exian?”
“There’s no way of knowing. Soldiers are not allowed to show their religion, except maybe in diplomatic situations. Have you noticed that neither the captain nor the lieutenant crossed themselves even when I did?”
With a little surprise, Hyran realized that Flann was right.
“In either case, it doesn’t matter. The soldier has his orders. He’ll convey the lieutenant’s guarantee of free passage off the peninsula as long as we don’t meet an soldier of higher rank.”
“Is ‘Lieutenant’ a high rank?” Hyran’s mouth almost refused to wrap itself around the odd word.
“I don’t think so— He didn’t have very much decoration on his uniform. Anyway, the Lieutenant we met assured me that the guarantee will at least get us through to a Human of higher rank.”
“Hmm.” Hyran didn’t feel very reassured, but it was another step in the right direction.
For two days they walked, staying in quiet, inactive towns. The Humans, the group found, provided the townspeople with a lot; and the people themselves didn’t seem to feel much like working, other than what absolutely had to be done.
Hyran had never seen a more depressing peace. In fact, he’d never dreamed that peace could be depressing.
Finally, they were stopped by a roving patrol on horseback on the road. Their soldier companion spoke with them in a conversational tone, and one of the patrol members pointed along a slightly different path. Then, he rode at a gallop in the same direction.
Their companion spoke to Flann, who translated: “The road ahead is closed. Ahead lies a battlefield, where intense fighting continues. The only possible way through would be with a phalanx of protection, and the Lieutenant Colonel is not likely to grant such a dubious maneuver. Nonetheless, we are invited to meet him personally at his tent headquarters.”
“And then what?” asked a Vle.
Flynn had a look that said ‘don’t ask me’; Valph seemed to be about to say something, but remained silent.
[TRUST...]
“The Great Master will provide,” said Hyran. He knew the others would not accept such a pronouncement as true, but he himself felt it was true, and that was what mattered.
Valph eyed him. “I hope you’re right, Hyran. By Love, I hope you’re right.”
The Lieutenant Colonel showed no emotion on his face, only a steel composure. His voice, however, spoke otherwise, sounding short and clipped. Through Flann, he said, “Your little bunch has provided me with a little dilemma. I’ve got ten thousand men to command here and now you Vle come marching up like a bunch of neophyte troubadours asking to just walk through a battle field and expect to come through unscathed. Lemme tell you people something: The enemy archers can’t see what’s in your hearts, they just see figures walking on a field. So they shoot. Not only that, there’s something spooky going on up there. For the last few days everyone in sight of the battle has been feeling drained, like they haven’t slept for days. I can’t allow anyone to go through that, and I won’t. You’ll just have to wait it out like everyone else.”
That was odd. The soldiers felt drained? “Sir, you said your soldiers felt drained only in sight of the battle?”
The lieutenant turned his steel gaze on Hyran after he heard the translation. “Yes.”
“And the feeling goes away when the person walks behind a hill, or a tree?”
“Somewhat. I find my men have to sleep a day in order to return to normal. Why, do you know something?”
Hyran almost said yes, before he decided he didn’t, after all, want to betray his country. “No, sir, just something I’ve heard about before. But please, you have got to help us get through! I know we can change King Lajot’s mind if we could just get to him.”
“Sorry, mister, you’ll have to come up with something yourself.”
There had to be a way! The Great Master would provide, he’d said so... “What if we took a ship and went around?”
“We’ve tried that, of course. They just shoot at us with stolen cannons. It’s impossible to make a landing anywhere that would make a difference.”
“Well, maybe we can get through on a merchant ship.”
“And where are you going to find a merchant who is willing to put his ship at risk like that?”
Hyran shrugged. He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. He had a plan, and it was time to put the plan in motion. First step: Getting out of the darn gurney. “Which coast would you say is safer, Sir?”
“The west. The island Vle are eating up big chunks of coast to the east- or at least were, until this draining feeling came along. I hear they’ve got it too, and they have no hills to go behind over there.”
“The west it is then. Shall we, my friends?”
The assent was silent, as if to say, is there anything better?
