The Torian Pearls

Meanwhile Blade found that he had a first-class fight on his hands. The archer who'd grappled him was barely two-thirds his size, but the man was all muscle and also a tough, skilled wrestler in a murderous rage. At last Blade let go of his swords and threw all his own speed and strength against the archer. Twice he got the man in an unbreakable hold, then let him go, to show a willingness to accept the man's surrender. The archer seemed incapable of accepting the idea of surrendering. Each time Blade let him go, he attacked more furiously than before.

At last Blade got the archer in a firm grip, twisted hard, and let go only when he heard the man's neck snap. He rose, covered with sweat and dirt, his face grim. These people might not have much in the way of weapons, but they'd showed considerable skill in using what they had, and also breathtaking courage. These people would not be easy to fight, and Blade found that he didn't particularly like the idea of fighting them in any case.

The woman was still defending herself, her back against a tree, and there were now four Kargoi warriors around her. They seemed to be letting her hold them at a distance, and Blade realized they must think he'd picked out the woman as his prize of the night's battle. So they were merely keeping her busy until the High Baudz could come up and claim his rightful booty.

Blade looked up and down the shore. A large number of Kargoi torches were now throwing light on the scene. Out of twenty or so defenders, all but half a dozen were either dead or had vanished into the forest. Each of these survivors was defending himself desperately against three or four Kargoi. The Kargoi were attacking so eagerly they sometimes got in each other's way, giving the fishermen a chance to strike back. Blade counted at least fifteen Kargoi down, six of them obviously dead.

The warriors around the woman had her hemmed in so that she could not flee, but as Blade approached they stepped aside. The woman cracked one warrior's wrist with a final flick of her staff, then turned for a dash into the forest.

Blade was up with her before she'd gone three steps. She whirled and the staff sang through the air toward Blade. He raised his longsword to block the staff and unhooked his shortsword from his belt, scabbard and all. Then he closed in, holding the shortsword out hilt first.

The woman didn't realize until it was too late that Blade meant to capture her, not kill her. His longsword met her staff in midair and chopped halfway through it. The two weapons were locked together, and that held her in place just long enough. Blade thrust the hilt of his shortsword into the woman's stomach, pulling the blow at the last moment to avoid doing real damage. The woman gasped and doubled up, her hands gripping the staff so tightly that the knuckles of her dark-brown hands turned pale. Blade dropped both swords, jerked the staff out of the woman's hands, caught her by the arms, and got her face down on the ground. He placed one foot in the small of her back and held her down while he drew cord from the pouch at his belt and systematically bound her wrists and ankles. Then he turned her over.

Now that he could look at her carefully, he realized that she was extremely striking. Not beautiful, not even pretty, but exciting and certainly memorable. She was tall and long-limbed, with broad shoulders for a woman and a broad, high-cheeked face. Large gray eyes stared up at him, filled with pain and confusion, but also with continued defiance.

She wore the same clothing as the other fishermen, a pair of knee-length trousers with a silky sheen to them. Hers were now rather soiled and torn from the fighting. She was bare above the waist, her small but beautifully formed breasts exposed. The cuffs of her trousers were embroidered in a geometric design of red and blue. She wore a wide bronze ring on each arm, one set with blue stones and the other with a design of fish and seaweed.

Blade ordered two warriors to mount guard over the woman and give her food and water if she asked. Then he strode off to rally his men and start getting things sorted out.

None of the eight hundred Kargoi warriors of the landing party got much sleep for several days, and Blade got least of all. By the end of that time, however, they'd done everything they were supposed to do and a good deal more besides.

The woman said nothing, not even to ask for food or water, but there were seven other prisoners, most of whom talked freely enough. Some talked out of fear, believing that their people were doomed if they didn't cooperate with the Kargoi. Others talked in a spirit of angry defiance, to tell the Kargoi of what a fate awaited them as soon as they moved on. Blade listened carefully to all of them.

The Kargoi had landed on what was now a peninsula, in the land of a people who called themselves the Hauri. The Hauri were neither numerous nor well armed, although their courage and skill needed no further proving. They lived by fishing and diving for shellfish and pearls, and were very much at home both on and under the water.

The Hauri lived in a loose federation of twenty-one villages. Their only «government» was a council of the headmen of each village that met once a month. The headman of the largest village was usually allowed to act as the chairman of the council, if he was judged fit.

The current chairman was young, but he had a large reputation among the Hauri as a fearless sailor and diver, who deliberately sought out the most dangerous fish in the seas. His name was Fudan, and the woman Blade had captured was his sister Loya. She had several titles, all of them long, virtually impossible to pronounce, and totally impossible to translate into anything sensible. For want of a better title, Blade called her «Princess» Loya.

So much for the Hauri. They would be no particular problem, in spite of their stubborn courage. The Kargoi could overcome them and probably wipe them out to the last man, woman, and child, any time they chose. Fortunately, such a slaughter probably wouldn't be necessary. The land where the Hauri lived seemed large enough to hold both them and the Kargoi, if necessary.

Unfortunately there was more to settling in this new land than dealing with the Hauri. To the west of the forests and hills where the Hauri lived lay broad plains, plains the Kargoi would need for grazing their drends. Those plains were also the eastern border of the kingdom of Tor. Two hundred miles farther west lay the great city of Tordas, which held more people than all of the Hauri and the Kargoi put together.

The Torians, it was said, were a people mighty in war. If the Kargoi dared march against them, they would be marching into disaster, and the Hauri would rejoice. The Hauri and the Torians had fought in the remote past, but for several centuries they had lived more or less in peace. The Hauri had neither the wish nor the ability to wage war against the Torians. The Torians' trained lancers mounted on three-toed blue horses could do little against the Hauri if they retreated into their forests and caves. The Hauri preferred to trade the pearls and shellfish their divers brought up for fine weapons and other goods they could not produce themselves.

Blade was loudly assured that the Torians would not feel so peacefully inclined toward the Kargoi. They would attack as soon as the Kargoi moved out onto the plains. They would attack, and they would very probably put an end to the Kargoi. That thought naturally made the Hauri prisoners extremely happy.

Blade was not quite sure what to do with the prisoners. He eventually decided to release them all, including Loya. He also gave them a message for Fudan and the council of headmen. If the Hauri would make no attacks on the Kargoi for three months, the Kargoi would also keep the peace for that length of time. They would also keep away from the villages of the Hauri as much as possible when they marched west toward their meeting with the Torians.