“No, love, like the orks, those dragons are allies in our defense, fearsome and treacherous allies, sometimes, but still allies.”
“Allies?” she demanded. “What the hell are you talking about, Lekos? The orks are intelligent, can reason; those damned things are mindless, just toothy eating-machines, and about as picky about their fare as a damned shark.”
“Well, for one thing,” he replied patiently, “they provide efficient burial service for corpses and quick disposal of such garbage as the swine find unappetizing. But the most important thing is that they make of that fen a deathtrap to any would-be invaders.
“Fourscore or so years back, a party of mainlanders made to dig out and deepen the water courses through those fens in order to get some of their ships through it and into the lagoon. They began at dusk, one night, while others of them kept the attention of our men near the entry-channel, away to the north. A few justly terrified warriors and seamen were found in the tops of a few trees or squatting within one of the two whaleboats left behind, and they swore that over a full thousand men had entered that benighted fen, perhaps a tenth of their numbers had won back to the sea, a few dozens had found safe places and the rest had all died horribly, done to death by the dragons.
“Until that occurrence, our folk had actively hunted the beasts for their fine leather and the flesh of their tails, but the then Lord of the Isles forbade any further incursions against them, and it has been so ever since. They are only killed when they are caught in or near to the harbor, too close to this isle or otherwise threatening one of us. As I say, they are considered to be allies in defense of the Sea Isles, my dear.”
Chapter II
It not being a military operation, the party led by sometime Captain-of-elephants Gil Djohnz left on time, with the dawning of the Monday morning. Passing through the various unit camps, they noted them all to be abustle, but this was not in any way remarkable, for drills and training marches, practice alarms and parades were commonplace occurrences in the permanent garrison of the army of the Consolidated Thoheekseeahnee.
In the years since the twenty-five-year-old Horse-clansman had been forced—at barely twenty—to accept a captaincy in that army, he had grudgingly, and then only for the sake of army discipline, given lip service to the seemingly endless lists of rules and regulations and general orders and special orders and service customs by and under which that army lived and trained, marched and fought, but in his heart of hearts he had never ceased to thank them all—well, at least the most of them—every bit as silly and senseless as he had when he had first arrived here with Sunshine, Tulip and a handful of his kinsmen.
As he rode along on Sunshine, at the head of his column of elephants, horses, humans and carts, out of the camp and its environs and out onto the road to the west, he did feel a little hurt that his old friends Thoheeks Sitheeros and Sub-strahteegos Thoheeks Tomos Gonsalos had neither of them taken the time to come the night before and bid him a last farewell, share a mug of wine, at least; he had kept half each of an eye and an ear cocked for sounds of them throughout the preceding day and night … vainly, as it turned out. True, they three had enjoyed a feast and well-lubricated revel the weekend before at the quarters Sitheeros maintained in Mehseepolis, but even so … He sighed and shook his head.
Taking a look behind, he beamed, “Slow down, Sunshine, the pace you’re setting will tire the horses too quickly. It’s a very long journey, you know; we’ll not be there tonight, or tomorrow night, or for many and many a tomorrow night, my dear, so there is no need to race or rush.”
The elephant’s return beaming bore with it a tinge of exasperation. “Sunshine cannot understand why her brother felt it necessary to bring along those delicate, easily tiring little creatures anyway. They and their rabbit-eared cousins that draw those carts, they are superfluous, really. Do you and your two-leg brothers not have three powerful and very intelligent creatures of my sort to bear you along and draw your carts?”
Gil thought fast. “Sister-mine,” he beamed, “we two-legs were of a mind that it would not be dignified for our brave, brainy sisters, whom we so love and respect, to enter back into the Land of Elephants appearing as mere beasts of draught and burden; this is why the mules and horses accompanied us, that should fighting become necessary, my sister and her sisters will not be hitched up or burdened down and thus will be immediately able to put their awesome power into full use against such foes as we might face.”
At this, Sunshine beamed a warm, all-encompassing tide of pure affection into Gil’s mind, simultaneously renewing her vows of love and endless loyalty to him. She shortened her walking stride, and as she did, so too did the other, following elephants.
While beaming in return his own love for and loyalty to his massive mount, Gil thought deep within a carefully shielded recess of his mind that he was become over the years most, adept at elephantine psychology. Before many days had passed, he was to ruefully recall this smug expression of hubris.
Thoheeks Mahvros read the just-delivered message and turned back to the councillors—nineteen of them, this day—saying, “The party of our High Lord lies camped about the Monastery of Ayeeos Antohnios of the Stones, while the brothers ferry them as fast as human flesh may endeavor across the River Lithothios. Brothers and soldiers together are rigging cables to float the wheeled transport across, the ferry vessels being apparently too small or lightweight for such task.”
Thoheeks Bahos cracked the prominent knuckles of his big hands and shook his head. “Dammit, Mahvros, we’re going to have to get around to replacing that damned bridge … and soon, man! That used to be the main trade road, but of late years, the traders have been compelled to swing way north and west and make use of that damned treacherous ford up by the ruins of Castle Lambdos, and naturally they jack up their prices for the extra effort and risks.”
Mahvros nodded. “Yes, all true, but that’s just one bridge, and there are others placed in spots of more strategic importance that must still take priority. Moreover, now that our lands are settling down—the outlaws, the brigand bands, the renegades and all similar dangerous scum eradicated—the road crews are running short of state-slaves and we may soon start having to institute regular levies of farmers and townsmen to fill out the labor groups, are we to maintain the repair schedules originally decided upon.”
To the chorus of groans and incensed mutterings that this last evoked around the council table, he raised an open hand and said, placatingly, “I know, I know, gentlemen, such would play pure hob with activities of an agricultural nature. But please consider: What good to us, to our people, is an army that cannot move quickly from a place it is not needed to a place where it is needed? We all must begin to think of the best things for the realm, not merely of petty, personal concerns. Each and every one of you is fully aware just how much tribute-grain and other foodstuffs goes to our army, not to even mention other supplies, and in order to justify such sacrifices, we must be able to make full use of the army, which means decent roads, strong bridges, well-paved fords and safe passes in the mountainous areas.”
“The damned army and nobody else is going to eat regularly do we go about taking the workers out of the fields to sweat over roads,” said Thoheeks Pennendos bluntly. “Why not use part of the army to raid the northern barbarians for slaves … ?”