Guardian of Heaven and Earth
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New Yogo
Part 1 - War
Chapter 7 - Retreat or Advance
The next morning, the scouts that had ridden ahead to investigate the border came to the impromptu camp. Though the news that Shirogai had burned weighed heavily on everyone, the scouts were almost smiling when they shouted, “There are no guards at the Samal Pass! It’s completely clear! We can all pass through! We saw the last ones retreating toward their fortress in the hills last night.”
The survivors of Shirogai cheered. Balsa looked to Gashu, who nodded.
“Right,” Gashu said. “Let’s get everyone packed up and moving. We should go through the pass now, while we know it’s unguarded.”
The camp was suddenly abuzz with activity. Everyone was eager to be on the move. Balsa went to see Martha and caught sight of Asra helping to take down the Samada Store’s tents. She was nodding and smiling at another girl, who was folding canvas. Balsa was gladdened by the sight. She hadn’t thought Asra would ever recover so much of herself after all the terrible things that had happened to her. She hadn’t even been able to eat or drink on her own for months.
Asra had suffered greatly and was scarred by her experiences, but she had learned to smile again. Someday, her voice might return as well. Balsa understood that she was fine here, and safe.
Asra felt eyes on her and glanced over at Balsa. There was uncertainty in her large, dark eyes.
Balsa approached Asra and rested her hand gently on Asra’s head. “I’m sorry that I can’t go with you,” she said. “Really, I am.”
Asra frowned, then pressed her head into Balsa’s chest, pulling her into a hug.
“If I live through the war, I’ll come to Rota to visit you. I promise,” Balsa said. “Stay safe until then.”
Balsa felt Asra nod against her chest. They stood there, hugging, for a long time.
It was a very sunny day. If there had been no war, many people would likely have been passing through the Samal Pass on a day like today. As it was, only the survivors from Shirogai traveled the narrow road to the pass.
Balsa sat atop her horse, watching the long procession of merchants, civilians and guards pass through the gate checkpoint that marked the pass. Obal was among the last people through. When she made no move to follow, Obal said, “Balsa, come with us. There might be trouble ahead, and I’d feel better with you among us.”
Balsa chuckled, then shook her head. “Take care of everyone,” she said. “They’re counting on you.”
Obal sighed, but he nodded, then rode away. He and Balsa made no promises to see one another again. Bodyguards never made such promises; their work was too dangerous and there were no guarantees. Balsa prayed that Obal, the other guards, and the people of Shirogai would find someplace safe. Rota was embroiled in civil war at the moment. It was safer than New Yogo, but only in a relative sense.
Chagum might be in Jitan already. He’d crossed the mountains in Kanbal, traveling light and accompanied by Kanbalese cavalry forces. She couldn’t believe that Chagum was riding at the head of an army now. He hated killing; he also hated giving people orders. He would return to his homeland with a foreign army at his back to fight back against the Talsh.
Balsa watched the people of Shirogai pass into Rota for a bit longer. Then she put her hand on her horse’s neck and turned it. She had to get to the Tarano Plains. She rode past Shirogai, back to the fortress she’d seen before. There was smoke rising from behind the walls of the fortress. Perhaps the Talsh had already attacked it.
Toun had told her that if Tanda was alive, he would either be in one of the fortresses near Shirogai or lying injured on the Tarano Plains. If the fortress had been attacked, she didn’t expect there would be survivors. She turned her horse onto the road and galloped in the direction of the Tarano Plains.
The people of Shirogai went through the Samal Pass and got on the Yamushil Highway that led into northern Rota. A bit farther down the road, the highway split into two. The guards guided the people onto the Rakul Road, which led to Jitan, where Prince Ihan’s castle was. The Rakul Province of Rota was mainly agricultural, with wide fields of grass and deep forests, but there were several large trading cities like Toluan that lay along their route.
Balsa had told Gashu and Obal everything she knew about the situation in Rota before her departure, so Gashu and Aoun, the leader of Shirogai, decided to head for Jitan first. Not everyone wanted to go to Jitan, and Aoun and the guards didn’t force them to stay with the group, so a few people peeled off and settled at each new town and city that they passed through. People who had no place to go in Rota accompanied the guards to Jitan. The guards didn’t have much of a plan beyond getting to Jitan and keeping everyone safe.
The poor Rotan herders were always stunned at the number of refugees when the people of Shirogai passed them by. They often offered help and shelter, though they couldn’t spare much. Shirogai’s people slept in their huts or outside their homes in tents.
At a fork in the road, some of the guards rode ahead of the rest of the people to scout the way. One of them stopped dead in his tracks when he saw something shining right in the middle of the road. When he identified the shining metal as tack on a soldier’s horse, he signaled the other scouts and rode hastily back to camp.
The scout sought out Gashu immediately.
“What’s wrong?” Gashu asked. “Did something happen?”
“Riders are coming,” the scout said. “I saw them just ahead. There are a lot of them, though I didn’t get an exact count.”
“Riders? Are they bandits, then? Or part of an army?”
“I don’t think they were bandits,” the scout said. “Their armor was finely made and all in the same style. My guess would be that they’re army men, though they definitely weren’t Yogoese.”
Gashu called the other guards together and said, “We need more information about what’s ahead. We’re all going to investigate, but keep off the road and in the tall grass so that you won’t be seen. If they start heading toward the fields where the people of Shirogai are, rush back and mount up. I want us to be between them and any army that comes along. Understood?”
The guards nodded, then rushed off to begin scouting the area.
The army did start heading for the the fields, so Gashu and the other guards mounted up and prepared to meet them. The people of Shirogai either remained in their tents or crouched down far behind the guards.
The rider leading the cavalrymen seemed surprised at seeing so many people in his path. Gashu rode ahead of the guards protecting Shirogai’s people and hailed the rider in Yogoese.
“Are you Yogoese?” the rider asked.
“Yes,” Gashu said. “We’ve only just fled from New Yogo. Our city, Shirogai, was burned by New Yogo’s soldiers to prevent it from falling into Talsh hands.”
The Rotan riders exchanges glances of alarm. Three of them rode back further into the ranks while their leader ordered the other men to march along the road, leaving Shirogai’s people alone. The army didn’t march quickly, but steadily; they had come a long way and would march farther still.
After a little while, the three riders that the leader had sent away returned, along with big, burly men carrying spears. Gashu had assumed that this army was Rotan, but he was wrong: it was Kanbalese. The strangest thing was that the man riding behind the spear-wielders wasn’t Kanbalese, but Yogoese.
The man wore polished armor like the rest of the army, but he didn’t look as comfortable in his seat, perhaps because he was so much younger than the others. He couldn’t be any older than twenty years old.
Gashu stood up straight as the young man approached him. There was a sword hanging from his hip.
“I heard you fled from New Yogo,” the young man said. “Are you the leader of all these people?” He spoke in the high register of nobles.
Gashu blinked, then nodded his head, though he didn’t want to speak for Shirogai without Aoun being present. Aoun rushed forward at Gashu’s signal.
“I lead the guards,” Gashu said. “Aoun leads the people of the city.”
The young man nodded. “Tell me what happened to Shirogai.”
Aoun told the young man everything that had happened over the past few days. The young man listened quietly, occasionally asking a question for clarification. When he heard that it was the Yogoese soldiers who had burned Shirogai and not the Talsh, his eyes flashed with sudden sadness and rage.
After Aoun finished telling the young man what had happened, the young man pulled up on his reins a bit and looked out at all the people of Shirogai, who were still camped in the grassy field. He nodded to himself, then dismounted.
The spearmen who acted as the young man’s escorts prepared to dismount as well, but he stopped them with a hand gesture. “Tell everyone that we’re taking a break,” the young man said in Rotan. “Just a short one; no more than thirty minutes. Ask Lieutenant Karon and General Kahm to come here. I want them to walk through the camp with me. Oraku, I want to write a message. Bring my writing tools.”
The riders scrambled to obey the young man’s orders. The young man faced Aoun again and removed his helmet. “I’ll give you a letter from me to Prince Ihan,” he said. “He’s promised to take care of all the war refugees from New Yogo, at least until the war is over. You can deliver it to him in his castle at Jitan. I pray that you won’t run into any more trouble on your journey.”
One of the young man’s guards brought a folding chair and desk and set them up in front of Aoun. The young man sat down and started composing a message in Rotan on parchment. When the young man signed the message and he saw the name, Aoun froze to the ground.
The young man stared calmly back at him. Aoun looked pointedly at he ground.
“You can look at me,” the young man said. “I have no power to strike you dead with just a look. That idea was always foolish superstition, nothing more.”
Aoun shook all over and didn’t look up. “You...you’re...alive?”
“I’m alive,” Crown Prince Chagum said. “I jumped into the sea, and made it here.”
Crown Prince Chagum stood up, then sealed the message neatly with hot wax, which he pushed the hilt of his sword into to leave a seal impression. He passed it to Aoun, then removed one of his own heavy saddlebags from his horse, which he gave to Gashu.
“I hope these supplies will be useful to the people of Shirogai,” Crown Prince Chagum said. “I only wish that I had more to give. Their homes are gone, and they’re going to have to make a living in a new land, at least for a while.” He sighed. “The army you see is the combined forces of the King of Rota and the King of Kanbal. We’re marching to New Yogo to save the country from the Talsh invasion. I sincerely believe that you’ll all be able to go home one day. Until then, do your best to survive.”
Crown Prince Chagum mounted up and took his place among the other men of the army. “We’re getting closer to Samal Pass,” he said. “Tell everyone to get ready to move again. We should be in New Yogo by nightfall.”
Lieutenant Karon nodded.
Some of Shirogai’s people cheered as the army passed. The cheer spread, growing louder in intensity. Chagum listened to their cheers, but he was not encouraged. He urged his horse onward with a darkness in his eyes and in his heart.
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