Ep.38 - The Year Of The Bear
(Start at the beginning)
Carmel pressed himself flat against the rock base of the watchtower and looked up its sheer height. Around him a score of Bears sifted quietly into position throughout the Yos outpost. With most of the Yos guard summoned away, only a few remaining sentries kept watch, their few solitary torches motes in the dark northern night. The plan, it seemed, was coming to fruition.
Crossing the border meant eliminating the threat of detection, if not indefinitely then for as long as was possible. The watchtower, situated high in the northern country, nestled at the base of the mountain, controlled a vast field of view of the lands below. Slipping by under the cover of darkness might buy Carmel and the Bears some time but in the light of day it would be possible to spot them for many leagues. They needed time to slip deep into the distant country, time to get lost should the Yos surmise their plan. That meant the tower had to fall, and any lingering Yos be put to death in the effort.
Already those patrolling the line were being dispatched. One by one the few torch lights that lined the ridge along the border were being snuffed out. Bears, grizzled and all to eager, busy at work without remorse. Though the mission was dangerous, the Bears had needed no convincing for the chance to get back at their enemy. Grim though the work may be, regrettable that they had to come away from their homes to begin with, there was a certain amount of glee from the Bears at putting steel to flesh and cutting, ever cutting at the heart of that which wished to strike at them in kind.
Carmel wasn't quite a Bear and though he shared their trouble he wished for the whole ordeal to have never been. Like a bad dream he could wake up from, having experienced something that seemed very real, something that at the time he couldn't escape, only to realise it held no true weight. He knew such a want was wishful thinking and nothing more and so kept his mind on the task at hand.
So Carmel climbed. The rocky foundation at the base of the tower provided ample foothold, and the wooden logs at the corner of the construction made for an easier climb after that. Light shone from the viewing platform above, the lip of which posed the greatest challenge for reaching the summit. On each of the towers’ corners a slew of Bears did the same so that every side could be breached in tandem. Below, Carmel heard a scuffle and in the darkness could just make out a brief but confusing mash of bodies that left one man gurgling with thick liquid in his throat. The moments drew tense.
Nerves and sweat tingled beneath the skin, beaded across the brow, arms and fingers straining through the effort, the noises of the Bears seeming to amplify with each passing moment. Carmel reached the apex and felt another man come to a pause beneath him. The Wilderman took a grappling hook from his belt and let it dangle from a long length of rope amidst his hand. He checked to his left and right, felt a few taps on his leg from the Bear beneath him, and started to swing.
There was a banging at the door, a timely distraction meant for the men inside, the movement of bodies, a response in question. The timing wasn't perfect but the job was about as good as it was going to get. The grappling hooks swung wide, latching over the rail at the top of the platform. The Bears swung free, clambering hand and heel to climb the last few feet. Shouts from up high, an explosion of activity as a Yos face appeared over the ledge above.
“Assault! Assault!” The man shouted before disappearing again. Carmel’s hand reached the rail in time to see the rope out to his right come suddenly free. Two Bear plummeted toward the earth. He never heard them land, or rather thought the sound timed well enough with the battering ram now slamming the tower door that he couldn't discern it anyway. Not that there was time to worry about the fallen, unless he were willing to count himself among them. Instead he hauled himself up, got halfway to the stomach before a guard carrying a hatchet came barreling toward him. The swing was wild, Carmel leaning out to dodge the blow. The hatchet came again on the back swing, striking at an arm. Carmel let go and grabbed the man by the shoulder, pulling, trying to send him over. He hitched himself against the rail, too close to swing his weapon and bracing himself for his own sake beside. Carmel pulled one way while the guard pressed the other until Mathius appeared and hoisted the guards legs up and over the rail. This time Carmel heard the thud. He grabbed Mathius by the arm and was hauled to safety.
“You go,” Mathius slapped Carmel on the shoulder as he leaned out to help the next man. Another Yos guard lay dead on the floor with a Bear seated wounded and bloody beside. Bear after Bear clambered over the top until a half dozen men were ready, waiting to move inside. The hatch flipped open as the pretty face of a Yos appeared, all manner of worry in his eyes. That quickly turned to surprise before coping a hammer to the head, and a blade thrust behind his collarbone. He screamed, fell back, hit the inner floor amidst the shouts of a number of his allies and lay dying.
“They’re on the roof!” The voice of a Yos could be heard below.
Kodiak pushed through the circle of Bears and jumped feet first clean through the hatch. He landed heavy, the boards groaning under the weight, his weapons poised ready to strike.
“Now they’re inside!” Kodiak yelled, mocking, gleeful, tinged with malice. He launched at the nearest Yos screaming something unintelligible and disappeared from view.
“Crazy bastard!” Carmel yelled, more instinct than thought, and jumped down behind. All the Bears were yelling now, growling, roaring, jumping down one after the other to press their advantage. Inside the walkways were narrow, the firelight sparse so that shadow clawed this way and that. The interior of the tower was rank with sweat, fear, blood, and what little Yos force was within did not seem prepared to fight. Carmel found himself running rather than fighting, stepping over the corpse of a man laid dead at Kodiak’s hands, then following the lanky Bear as he charged down the others.
They descended through the floors of the tower, moving quickly to the base where a small handful of Yos were busy barricading the door. The few fleeing guards ran in, screaming, started tearing at the blockade, yelling that they had to get out. A fight broke out between them and amidst the confusion, Kodiak, Carmel, then the Bears ran in behind to cut down everyone in sight. It was bloody work, more butchery than fighting, the Yos piled up on top of each other, barely able to draw weapons let alone swing. It was done as quickly as it started, the door cleared and the Bears outside let through to greet those within.
Carmel pushed through in search of fresh air. He wiped clean his blade and looked eastward to the silhouette where the horizon met the stars. Beyond the border was the unknown, dark and shrouded in shadow, whether night time or day. Here be the land of the Yos, and of Yob their heart, whom Carmel had every intention of striking.
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