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| − | [ST] Otter's column winds north towards the Emerald, leaving the shattered Shanarinaran force behind them under a small guard. Victory has been complete, and has cost the Haslanti little - fewer than ten riders are missing from the small host, and laughter and jests fly back and forth between the survivors, their breath steaming in the cold air. Above, the Glorious Wind begins to shift, turning away to the north.
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| − | [ST] The old man who commanded the Shanarinarans rides beside Otter, his hands tied before him on a spare elk. He looks with occasional sullen resentment to where the head of his ram-beast sways from Savage Bear-Daughter's saddle. "It was a good animal, he grumbles."
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| − | [Otter] Otter leans forward in her sadddle, bright-eyed. She yearned to urge it into a gallop- catching the wolves in the rear, grinding them to dust between Miruna's infantry- it would be glorious! Just like the songs. But she was wise enough to know that animals exausted from a long gallop would be little use in battle. So they trot, and Otter reaches down to pat her elk's sweaty neck. It's eyes roll back at her; it is dappled red from the carnage.
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| − | [Otter] She quirks a smile at the captured general. "You must excuse my comrade. She is a Frost Bear- they have ever been a mean people, much given to foolish bravada and trophy-gathering," Otter says, with supreme unconsciousness of hypocrisy. She wears the Shanarian's standard wrapped around her waist like a sari.
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| − | [ST] On the eastern horizon, fires burn, and Otter can make out the vague movements of massive military forces clashing. A half dozen airboats wheel in the sky over the main battle, and occasionally a plume of flame rises hundreds of feet into the sky. The opacity of the air blots out most details at this range, but she can see that this is a battle most glorious, and many times larger than the one she had fought.
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| − | [ST] Molphas waves a hand, grunting. It's all the same to him. Bear-Daughter shoots a warning glance back, but remembers the words of Miruna. He was her war-chief. She would not hurt the other. Not now, anyway.
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| − | [Otter] "Though I will concede Savage Bear-Daughter has done well considered her disadvanta- " She stops short. "How large was the other horde?"
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| − | [ST] Molphas looks at the standard again, shivering. The Lion of Nabradia, some savage wench's plaything, now. So many of his soldiers, dead in the snow.
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| − | [ST] "I do not know. Over ten thousand, at least." The old man shrugs. "I do not even know how many troops the other cities of Shanarinara contributed. I was only in charge of Nabradia's forces." He says the name as if she should recognize it.
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| − | [Otter] Otter's eyes are fixed avaraciously on the horizon, drinking in the sky of blood. Would that she were an white-fletched hawk, to speed to the fight on wings! Miruna would have all the thrill of battle now. "Well, the Haslanti do not fight so ill, after all," she shrugs. "If it were my tribe, of course, any one of my warriors could account for ten of you."
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| − | [Otter] She turns suddenly to Gunnar. "Surely, we are close enough, that we could gallop-" She has a child's eagerness.
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| − | [ST] The old man swears, speaking so viciously his iced-over mustache seems to crackle. "If only you had faced us in open combat, we would have shown you how the sons and daughters of Shanarinara fight!" He heaves a sigh. Most of the fight has gone out of him. He only hopes his troops will survive.
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| − | [ST] "No," Gunnar says, shaking his head. "You counseled my brother-daughter wisely. Heed your own advice. Our place is not in that battle. Our place is here."
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| − | [ST] "We have won glory enough here. Do not gorge upon it."
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| − | [Otter] Her place was plodding northward at a pace so respectable that her Old Auntie shaman would have approved. She sighs, but recognizes the wisdom in the rebuke. She stares for a long moment at the horizon, visibly chafing at the bit, until she says abruptly. " 'May my enemies be fools.' It is a prayer said often among the Fox. But your gods must be weak, for they did not grant it," she flings at the captured general.
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| − | [Otter] He would at least entertain her, since he could not speed her progress north.
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| − | [ST] "Even fools can be lucky," Molphas says with an angry toss of his head. "It was not our gods that brought us into this war. It was the insufferable Blue Goats. Though the Gulls are little better."
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| − | [Otter] "Blue Goats? Gulls? Do these tribes lead your people?" Shanarians very strange, to choose such totems- even the Rabbit sacrificed to luckier ancestors..
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| − | [ST] "They are our political parties." He looks at her. "Factions, I mean. They govern our society, and vie with each other for the support of the people. Can it be that you know so little about us?" He coughs. "Perhaps your League did not intend to conquer us at all. Or perhaps it did not care for what it intended to sweep away. Barbarians to the end."
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| − | [Otter] "It is not MY League," she corrects him. "I am Fox-and-Bear. Still, I do not think these Haslanti are barbarians. They have better weapons than you do. They have more sophisticated craftspeople than you do. They trade with the weakling southerners for trinkets, which they have assured me is very civilized. And their government is obviously better, since it did not stumble into a foolish war."
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| − | [ST] A few of the elk riders murmur at Otter's comment. Still, the outsider has led them well, and they are practical enough to respect results, even from those tribes who had rejected the League.
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| − | [ST] "If you are not of the League, why fight for them?" Molphas spits something shiny into the snow - a loosened tooth. "Are you a mercenary? Is your loyalty worth so little?"
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| − | [Otter] "Personal reasons," Otter says stiffly. A blush steals up her cheeks.
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| − | [ST] "Hmph." He had his own reasons as well. It was unlikely that the family name would be restored NOW.
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| − | [Otter] "And anyway, I am Once Dead," she remember suddenly.
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| − | [Otter] "Why were you the leader of that force?" she asks, looking down at him from her taller elk. "What skills do you possess?"
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| − | [ST] "Corpse men. Vultures." He looks up at her. "I am a leader of men, the same as you. Or your better. I fought in the War of the Cities, and won great glory in the storming of Wylan. They still speak the name of Molphas Ironborn with fear."
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| − | [Otter] These names meant nothing to her. "I have seen your skill at losing a battle," Otter observes unkindly. "What else can you do? Do you know scholarship? Useful crafts?"
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| − | [ST] "What am I now, your slave?" His voice drips with scorn. "I am an educated citizen of the Republic of Shanarinara, and I possess all the skills necessary to that station."
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| − | [Otter] "You are my prisoner." Otter looks thoughtful. "We do not have slaves in Fox-and-Bear, truly, but I suppose the positions are very like. I have been thinking of what to do with you."
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| − | [ST] He is not sure he would not prefer death. "And your decision?"
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| − | [Otter] "You will teach my honor-son these things. It is foolish to scorn knowledge, so long as one is not corrupted by it." She shrugs. "He is young, and would benefit from a man in his life. Even someone who is almost a weak southerner." She glances down at him again, eyes glinting. "And of course, you would assist my honor-wife in her tasks. Yes, I think that would serve."
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| − | [ST] "I have my own wife. My own children. Dishonored, now."
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| − | [Otter] "I cannot prevent that," she shrugs. "Who knows? In time, perhaps you will be returned to them. But until then, you will serve."
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| − | [ST] "How fortuitous," he lowers his eyes, grumbling. "Well. I suppose I enjoy my wife's company little enough as it is."
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| − | [Otter] Otter smiles sunnily at him.
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| − | -----
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| − | [ST] As Otter's forces arrive in the Emerald, winding their way down the path around its screening cliffs, Otter notices that the battle is already over. The Emerald is intact, and smoke still rises from the chimneys there. Patrols move about the perimeters of the Emerald. Below, strewn on the ground, are Haslanti soldiers. Some are weeping, some eating, some laughing, some merely sleeping.
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| − | [ST] Others huddle around bubbling cauldrons as shamans daub at their wounds. Others still lie in neat rows, staring up at the sky. Shamans move up and down these rows, murmuring placations, keeping the hungry ghosts in their breasts quiescent.
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| − | [Otter] "They took heavy casualties," Otter observes quietly. She grimaces away from a wolfman half-buried in the snow, his wretched teeth frozen in a snarl. "Both sides." She sounds a little oppressed. The elks pass through lines of corpses.
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| − | [Otter] She lays a hand soothingly on the neck of her mount as it snorts, tossing its head uneasily.
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| − | [ST] "These are only the wounded who have died since the battle's end," a voice says. Morta is moving down the rows of the dead, closing their eyes gently ahead of the shamans. She is covered in blood, but none of it looks to be hers. It has stiffened into a mask on her face and hair.
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| − | [ST] "Many more are still in the defile. You have returned."
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| − | [Otter] "Yes," Otter says, eyeing the woman uneasily. She had thought little of Morta before, but somehow the woman looks- intimidating, moving so comfortably among the rows of dead. The Fox-and-Bear would not have tolerated such a woman among them. "It is good that we won. Where is Miruna? Did the others survive?"
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| − | [ST] "Rabbit was here. She is unharmed. Miruna is in the officer's tent, waiting for reports of the wounded." She nods in that direction. "Oh. Selza is dead."
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| − | [ST] "Did you defeat the Shan- Shanari- the others?"
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| − | [Otter] Otter nods stiffly, not sure how to react to hearing of the woman's death. It was sad, she supposed, but she had been a grim and bitter woman. Perhaps it was for the best; she had won glory in battle (Otter trusted), and so would live prosperously in her next. She brightens. "Yes. Completely!" She nods to the old man beside her. "This was their general. I captured him. The Elk are great warriors and slaughtered masses of them. We took almost no casualties."
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| − | [ST] Behind Otter, Bear-Daughter makes a soft, pained sound, raising the back of her hand to wipe away her flowing tears. Selza had been a friend of hers. The Frost Bears were not ashamed of emotion. Molphas grunts in muted disgust.
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| − | [ST] "That's good." Morta nods. "Good. Miruna will want to hear. You should go see him."
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| − | [Otter] "Yes. I will." She looks at Bear-Daughter, then glances away from her obvious grief. The Fox-and-Bear hid their grief behind grimaces and stiff masks; she felt almost ashamed for the warrior. "Come if you like," she tells Savage Bear Daughter. She tilts her chin in the direction of Molphas and Gunnar, including them in the invitation. It would be just like the Haslanti to try to steal her prisoner; she did not intend to give them in opportunity.
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| − | [ST] Gunnar shakes his head. "The elk need resting. I must settle my forces. I trust you to bear the word. A good battle, well won." When he digs his heels into the side of his mount, Bear-Daughter rides after him. Morta looks between Molphas and Otter expectantly. "He looks old."
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| − | [ST] Molphas sighs, dismounting from the elk with difficulty.
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| − | [Otter] "Ancient. I think these Shanarians must not trust their sons in battle." Otter dismounts easily, and a young boy with Elk tattoos takes the reigns. "After you, elder." Mocking respect.
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| − | [ST] With a grunt, the man sets off for the tent that Morta indicated.
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| − | [ST] Within, charts splay across tables. Leaping Orca remains in the defile with some of the troops. Sela is convalescing in her personal tent. Word is it is taking half a dozen healers to hold her down. Only Rabbit remains in the tent with Miruna, poring over the charts and gnawing on her lip.
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| − | [Otter] Otter pokes her head into the tent. She been trying to compose her report to Miruna in her mind on the way. She was torn between dignified reserve- out of respect for Miruna's dead- and bursting out with her own glowing news.
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| − | [Miruna] He glances up, wearily. "Who's that?" he asks sharply, stiffening and watching Molphas.
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| − | [Otter] "My prisoner," Otter says, a little surprised by his tension. Perhaps she should not have brought him after all. "The Shanarian general. I smashed them." It seemed almost prideful now, to add: "I took six casualties."
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| − | [ST] Rabbit fixes Otter with a vicious, silent glare full of poison.
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| − | [Otter] Was she supposed to keep good news to herself?
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| − | [Miruna] He moves infront of the table, interposing himself between the prisoner and his maps. "He doesn't belong here," he snaps, then moderates his tone slightly. "At leasts theres some good news. We turned them back in the defile, but payed in blood to do it."
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| − | [ST] The older man takes a step back, reaching for a sword hilt that is no longer there. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. Perhaps it was better to be the captive of the girl.
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| − | [Miruna] "How thoroughly did you smash them? Do we need to hunt the remnants down to be sure they don't raid the farms?" He expected the bulk of their forces to be pulled to a more desperate battle soon, so now was the time to do it if they had to.
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| − | [Otter] Otter shrugs. "Guard this man outside," she instructs a Rabbit tribesman. "No. Few survived; I left them keep much of their supplies so that they will only run. They are beaten. They will return to Shanaria."
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| − | [Otter] As always, she does not pronounce it quite right. It was too long and serpentine a name for her tongue.
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| − | [ST] Molphas does not protest as he is lead from the tent. Rabbit looks after him. "A great victory, then," she says flatly.
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| − | [Otter] Otter looks at her. "Yes."
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| − | [Otter] She turns to Miruna. "I regret that we were not in time to reinforce you. We came as soon as we could."
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| − | [Miruna] "They made the pass faster than I expected. They must have cut through the wyldzone. The Glorious Wind arrived in time, at least."
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| − | [ST] "Too late for Selza and the others," Rabbit mutters, at the edge of audibility.
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| − | [Otter] Otter stiffens and glares at her. She almost snaps a cruel comparison at her, but quells it. Miruna did not deserve it; certainly the dead did not. " What we do now? Have we orders to reinforce the others?"
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| − | [Miruna] "An airship wasn't going to kill Onil unless it landed on her," he glares at her, darkly angry. He'd known the woman far better than she.
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| − | [ST] Rabbit looks at the floor, biting back another reply. Selza hadn't been her favorite, but she had been right. It wasn't fair that she was dead and- no matter.
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| − | [Miruna] He shakes his head. "We couldn't arrive before the siege started, and we have nothing like the troops that we'd need to break through into the town. Besides, the militia will be useless in a battle for now. No, we defend. And as long as we're waiting here, I intend to start work on the defenses. The defile could easily have been fortified with some work."
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| − | [Miruna] *the militia will be useless . . .
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| − | [Otter] Work. "Good idea," Otter agrees. It would, not after all, her work. That was why the gods had made militia.
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| − | [ST] "The Trout are mostly intact," Rabbit reports. "The ones I commanded are untouched. They should be back in fighting form soon. The Bears... I don't know. A lot of them died in that defile."
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| − | [Otter] "Is the impediment the body, or the spirit?" Soldiers who would run were useless soldiers.
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| − | [Miruna] "I know," he growls. "The Bears will have a chance to lick their wounds. The Trout can do it, and perhaps we will conscript some of the townsfolk as well. In shifts."
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| − | [ST] "The body. You didn't see them fight." Rabbit swallows. Of course, neither had she. "I guess all we can do is strengthen ourselves where we can. The Wind is away to take part in the larger battle, for now."
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| − | [Otter] "They'll like that," Otter says blithely. "If we could saw down the glass trees, they would make formidable barriers. Perhaps this would become the Shining Walls Emerald."
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| − | [Miruna] "And our eyes with them. Otter, we'll be leaning on you and the Elk to see if there are any follow up attacks."
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| − | [ST] "Hello!" A voice calls out from the tent flap. A young woman, her face grimy with dirt, sweat, and blood, staggers into the room, gasping heavily. "Is Miruna here? Or Sela? Or..." She gasps. "Leaping Orca?"
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| − | [Miruna] He doesn't turn to her, leaning over the maps instead. "Report."
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| − | [ST] "The Glorious Wind brings word to the command that your forces were victorious. That you've... captured the Callous Wolf."
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| − | [Miruna] "Yes. Do you have new orders for us?"
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| − | [Otter] Otter frowns, then smoothes her face. Let Miruna have his glory; his soldiers have certainly suffered for it. She would take her cleaner (but less notable) victory.
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| − | [ST] "News... I fear." Her eyes dart between the faces of the commanders. "The eastern flank of our forces have collapsed. The Wolf's forces have taken Calasca, Silver Fork, and Treasured Jewel Emerald. Silver Fork was burned... the other two have been captured intact. Our forces are retreating towards the remaining Emeralds."
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| − | [ST] "If not for your actions here... all might have been lost. Uh, sir."
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| − | [Miruna] He scowls, tearing through the maps in front of him to find the one of the correct scale. "Mark down everything you know about the troop dispositions." They probably couldn't leave the emerald to reinforce Green Elk, but he needed to see what was happening. "Is there a second wave coming for us?"
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| − | [Otter] Too early to say, for sure, but- "She has to come after us, if the troops gather here. Otherwise we'll march and take her in the rear."
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| − | [Otter] She had seen with her own eyes how well that could work.
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| − | [Otter] The only question was whether she would divide her forces.
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| − | [ST] "We believe she will take time to consolidate the Emeralds she has already taken. Our forces should have time to take up a fresh position. Perhaps launch a counterattack..." The messenger clears her throat. "But that is not why I was sent here. The Once Dead are to depart immediately for Icehome with the Callous Wolf. You will guard her during transport."
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| − | [Miruna] He shakes his head. "She may take Green Elk, but we don't have enough here to trouble her, unless we are reinforced." Not that he expected to be ignored.
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| − | [ST] "The Emerald will be reinforced. Our main forces will anchor here and at Green Elk. She will not defeat us a second time."
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| − | [Otter] A fourth time, Otter doesn't say.
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| − | [Miruna] He nods. "Who is coming. Will the main force be set here or at Green Elk?" He'd need to inspect the wells and clear ground if a large army was going to encamp there. And dig latrines. A job he could give Rabbit, if she kept complaining.
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| − | [ST] The messenger blushes. "I do not know. Only that they should be arriving soon. And... ah..." She coughs. "That you are expected to depart within the hour. The League will not risk Magdala recapturing this prisoner, and can think of none more suited to defend her than the Once Dead."
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| − | [Otter] "Looks like the old saw about the reward for work well done is more work- is false." She looks hard at the messenger. "They're giving command of these Emeralds to the generals who LOST?"
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| − | [Otter] "I saw we wring what we can from Onil and then kill her. She's not even useful as a hostage- I hear the Wolf has a dozen whelps."
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| − | [Miruna] He stops. "They order us to return? Run back to icehome?" He closes his eyes, gathering himself. No use yelling at the messenger. Besides, they wouldn't trust the a Raven to lead a larger army. Too much of command never forgot what some of them had been.
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| − | [ST] The messenger shoots Otter a quick, warning look, then bows her head slightly. "A mere tactical retreat. I am to assure you... b-both, that the League is grateful for your service."
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| − | [ST] "Few she trusts as much as the Three Bitches," Rabbit points out. "But I agree with Otter. For once. This is the bitch that took my eye. Give me a few minutes. I'll have her talking."
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| − | [Otter] Otter chews her lip, trying to remember her lessons on the Haslanti military. "Who leads now?" she asks the messenger. "Who gave you your orders?"
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| − | [Miruna] "We have orders. We're going to follow them. We'll have plenty of time to question her on the road. And perhaps we can learn something of use. She was favored." Although the Bitch's plans were clear enough. Stopping them wouldn't be a matter of learning more until they could manage to stop the obvious and force hber to need guile.
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| − | [ST] "Commander Jarvis leads what are left of our forces." The messenger says, uncertain. "My orders came down from him..."
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| − | [Otter] Otter steps forward, lowering her voice. "Soldiers love victory, and those who give them victory. This Jarvis- ordering us and Onil to where we will be useless- sending away the heroes- These are not the orders of a confident man. We can WIN this," she urges him in a passionate undertone."If only we stay and FIGHT."
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| − | [Otter] "If they don't want to let Once Dead lead- well, we prove them wrong. We aren't in the habit of losing. Or running."
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| − | [ST] The messenger flushes again, clearing her throat loudly. Rabbit doesn't look up from the charts.
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| − | [Miruna] "Otter," he barks, "Once Dead wouldn't command an army of that size." Especially under Jarvis. Or near him. "And we aren't going to rush off with the forces we have to prove them right, either." He glances at the messenger. "Are we to leave immediately, or wait to be relieved by Jarvis and his forces?"
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| − | [Otter] Otter grinds her teeth. The Elk would follow her, probably- but none of the rest. She couldn't win this battle for the Haslanti without him.
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| − | [ST] "Jarvis should be here within an hour. He wants you in the air before that. Sela and Leaping Orca can command in your stead."
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| − | [Miruna] He nods briefly, not happy with the situation himself. "In the air? An airship has been diverted for this?" he asks, surprised.
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| − | [ST] "Yes. The Stalwart Defender has received too much damage to continue fighting, but it can bear you north."
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| − | [Otter] Otter grabs his arm. "You see? This is folly. It's not *wouldn't*, Miruna. Right now- it's *won't.* "
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| − | [Miruna] "Leave us, unless you have more to report," he tells the messenger, glaring at Otter.
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| − | [ST] The messenger gives a tight nod, withdrawing.
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| − | [Miruna] He pulls Otter closer, hissing "you embarrass yourself." Throwing a temper tantrum in front of an outsider.
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| − | [Otter] "Me?" she says, glaring up at him. "I'm not the one's who's going to let himself be chased out like a dog that pissed on the furs."
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| − | [Miruna] He rolls his eyes. "What would you have us do? Ignore orders and run off with these soldiers? We aren't their regular commanders in the first place, to command such loyalty from them. And Jarvis will not accept us at their head if we send Onil off with otehr minders, not that one."
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| − | [Miruna] "And if she needs to be taken back to Icehome, some of us need to do it. I wouldn't trust Onil out of our hands without a full scale of the Trout to guard her," evident, by the orders he'd left for her current imprisonment.
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| − | [Otter] "If she's so dangerous, you should have killed her outright.".
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| − | [Miruna] "Think before you speak, and maybe you will be trusted to command again. Of course she is dangerous, and of course she is valuable." He sighs. "They have an airship for us. We can be back to the front, with reinforcements, in days."
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| − | [ST] "Don't mind Otter," Rabbit says. "She thinks everything is the way it is in the old songs. It would be sad if it wasn't so dangerous."
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| − | [Otter] "Fine," she spits, yanking herself away. "And if the Emeralds fall in those days, it will have been your fault." She whirls on Rabbit. "You may have spent your childhood shitting yourself, mudeater, but I have been to trained to lead in war and politics since birth. I demonstrated how well I learned those lesson today. And I tell you,, no one wins a battle they will not fight."
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| − | [Miruna] "I must mind her, because it is mine to teach her," he growls. "One: Jarvis is not a weak man. Think what you will about his loss. We know nothing of what happened. Not all battles can be won. He would have you executed. He is not a man that would stand for this. Or do you intend to take advantage of his 'weakness' by overthrowing him? A Mutiny? Nothing is owed you, no matter what you have done. Certainly an arm
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| − | [Miruna] Certainly an army isn't owed you after one successful skirmish." He is thundering by the end.
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| − | [Otter] Her cheeks are flushed. "Then if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see to the disposition of my prisoner." She storms out, flinging the tent flap violently aside.
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| − | [ST] "She's a dangerous one," Rabbit says evenly, watching her go. "As dangerous as Soldas, in her way."
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| − | [Miruna] He looks after her. "Rabbit, get things squared away here. Get Orca installed in command till Jarvis can relieve her." He stalks out. He needed to talk with Bear-Daughter. He could count on her if he had to, both to do what was needed, and not to do too much. He'd need to watch Otter. If she took it any farther, he'd need to do something about it.
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| − | [ST] "As you wish," Rabbit says. At this rate, Otter would do herself in. "I'll go find her." She marches briskly out, breaking away from him.
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| − | [ST] Bear-Daughter is rubbing down a tired looking elk with a piece of sackcloth in the field outside when Miruna finds her, attending to the task with rather more vigor than necessary. Twin streaks mar the war-paint on her face from recently shed tears. She turns to Miruna as he moves up behind her, giving a nod.
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| − | [Miruna] "We're leaving for Icehome. Spritely Otter has it in her head that she should command the army relieving us. You need to watch her, close, and stop her from sowing dissent or trying to start a mutiny. Kill her if you need to, but don't let it get that far."
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| − | [ST] Bear-Daughter stops, raising an eyebrow, her fingers flickering at him. Really-Kill?
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| − | [Miruna] He shakes his head. "If she's stupid enough to try to raise soldiers against their new commander. And the situation warrants it." He glances at her. "Not that it should." He was trusting her not to use this as an excuse. He knew that hated each other, but he did trust Bear-Daughter. "Maybe she's run off to do something dangerous, maybe she's off crying into a pillow. Go watch her." He needed to start dealing with
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| − | [Miruna] He needed to start dealing with Onil. He didn't intend to let her slip her chains now because soemthing else was causing problems.
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| − | [ST] Bear-Daughter only nods again, smiling slightly, hands flickering in symbols of assent.
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| − | [Miruna] He leaves her to it. Moving Onil was going to be tricky, so he gets to work organizing it.
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| − | [Miruna] She was in the pig pen of one of the farms closer to the center of town, chains staked down so that she was spread-eagled accross the hard ground, with two dozen guards watching her. She was an abomination - who knew what her magics could do? He hadn't taken any chances.
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| − | [ST] Onil strains at the bonds, occasionally causing them to creak alarmingly. Her left leg looks broken and awkward within her doeskin dress, but no one dares draw close. Mud and filth cover her, and her hand and nails are still bloody from where she tore out the glider pilot's eye.
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| − | [ST] She raises her head at Miruna's approach, hissing.
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| − | [ST] "I will kill you all. Mother will kill you all."
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| − | [Miruna] "Shut up or I gag you." He turns to the nearest guard. "Run get the ones who were to enxt relieve you. I want more guards here. We'll be moving her soon."
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| − | [ST] "You would not dare." Onil spits, looking up at him with the yellow, murderous eyes of an animal. "You would not DARE."
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| − | [Miruna] He rips the sleeve off the guard next to him, steps on her chin to force her head to the side, and does it himself.
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| − | [Miruna] Otter had not left him in the best of tempers, and he had many reasons to hate this . . thing slready.
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| − | [ST] The woman screams through the gag in a sound of raw rage so loud that the guards take a step back, horrified.
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| − | [ST] Soon, the other guards that Miruna called for arrive, waiting in an uneasy circle around the bound prisoner. There are nearly twenty of them.
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| − | [ST] "Least she doesn't have that big blade," one of them says. "We put that up in the meeting house. Where are we moving her?"
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| − | [Miruna] "Five men to a chain, the rest have your spears ready," he commands, ignoring the question for now.
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| − | [Miruna] "We're taking her on the airship, lad. Lets get her moving."
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| − | | |
| − | [Miruna] He had a hand on his mace himself, though nothing more. Wouldn't do for him to look more than ready.
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| − | [ST] The men hasten to obey Miruna, taking their positions on the chains. The stakes have already been half pulled free, and removing the chains is easy enough.
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| − | [ST] Moving the Callous Wolf is an event so awkward that it would be comical if it were not so difficult, so fraught with disaster.
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| − | [ST] Twice, she topples the teams on her chains, once managing to tear out the throat of a handler, leaving him gasping and dying in the snow. Three times, soldiers approach close enough to batter her senseless with their spear butts.
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| − | [ST] Gradually, gruellingly, she is drawn closer to the parade grounds.
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| − | [ST] The crew of the airboat looks over the railing, evidently horrified at the idea of allowing this thing onboard.
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| − | [Miruna] Miruna keeps careful control over the whole procedure. He wanted her to be abourd and them away before Jarvis got there and Otter had a chance to say something regrettable.
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| − | [ST] In the hold of the ship are set a number of heavy iron rings. Chains looped through them can hold heavy cargo in place even during the worst turbulence. Soon enough, Onil is chained to several of them, and another guard is writhing on the deck, clutching a shattered leg. The wolf hangs loose in her chains, her eyes seeming to look through Miruna. Her gag is wet with froth and blood.
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| − | [Miruna] He checks that she is properly secured, careful to keep himself farther than the slack in the chains would allow her.
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| − | [ST] The rings are meant to hold up against the pull of cargo weighing tons. Onil is quite secure, although she struggles against the bonds with the fury of a maddened animal. The clanking of her chains and the frenzied grunts that emerge from the gag soon fill the hold.
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| − | [ST] "She will disturb our sleep," Morta says at Miruna's elbow, having seemingly appeared from nowhere.
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| − | [Miruna] He shrugs. Airships weren't quiet places in the first place. "I don't expect to need to keep her gagged the entire journey."
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| − | [ST] "Then she'll be even louder. I don't mind." Onil strains against the chains again, screaming. "Do you think she will tell us anything?"
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| − | [Miruna] "I think she'll tell us a lot about how she plans to get her revenge on us. Probably won't have time to beat anything useful out of her in a few days." He turns to leave.
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