“To this strategy of celerity was added tactical surprise. In a century when men wore increasingly heavy mail, the Swiss came near to discarding armor altogether. Only a helmet and breastplate protected a warrior who deemed rapidity of movement a better defense than iron. As a result the hedge of bristling points often bore down upon a medieval host before it could form into line of battle. Thus if the Swiss lacked a mounted arm, their warfare did not suffer either in respect to mobility or shock effect.
“Swiss skirmishing tactics, moreover, showed a real appreciation of light infantry values. The swarm of crossbowmen in advance of the main body served both to screen the assault and clear the way....”
Nabiki broke off, looking up from the book she was reading aloud in English, and Sir Morgan put down the quill pen with which he had been furiously scribbling down what he heard. The two turned to look at the young page, Peredur, standing stiffly just inside the door to the keep’s small (and now very crowded) library.
“Sir Morgan, a messenger has arrived from the Court Wizard,” Peredur said, doing his best to keep his excitement out of his voice. “His party will be here by mid-afternoon at the latest, along with replacement supplies.”
“Excellent,” Sir Morgan replied, the salt-and-pepper-haired man carefully concealing his usual amusement and his page’s attempt at adult gravitas. “Is there any private message for me?”
Peredur shook his head. “No, sir, simply notice of his arrival.”
“Very well, inform the seneschal and Sergeant Osric of the Court Wizard’s impending arrival. Take the messenger with you, they’ll want to know if the size of the stores and his party have changed.”
Peredur stiffly bowed and stepped out of the library, closing the door behind him, and the sound of running feet was briefly heard. The Kildar chuckled, shaking his head.
“Oh, like you were never that young!” Nabiki chided with a smirk in the Anglic she had been learning over the past weeks — she had learned enough to get the gist of the page’s report.
“You’re right, I wasn’t,” Sir Morgan instantly agreed. “Where I grew up, we didn’t have that luxury.” At the teenager’s quirked eyebrow, he added, “There’s a good reason why I spent years in the ranks of the Legions, and never rose above the rank of sergeant. So, shall we continue?”
Rather than picking up where she’d left off her reading, Nabiki marked her place and set the book to the side, frowning thoughtfully. “Actually, I have a question first ... just what are you looking for?”
Face suddenly gone expressionless, the Kildar gazed at his guest for a long moment, marveling once again at the girl’s composure. As the only one of the first group that spoke good English, she had been a part of the rescue efforts from the beginning until they’d reached — surpassed, really — the number of extra mouths they’d be able to feed. She’d been there as the Keldar’s small garrison had held the cave against other Japanese that had followed the rescue parties, trying to push through, looking for food and clean water. And, after those trying to push through to sanctuary had finally starved to death, she’d been a member of the party that had travelled through the ever-growing stench of rotting flesh to the nearest small town in order to loot the libraries. While the horrors she’d seen had left shadows behind her eyes, outwardly she seemed the calm and collected girl with the wry (not to say biting) sense of humor that he’d first known.
“And what makes you think I’m searching for something?” he finally responded. “I spent years as a soldier, and as Keldar I command the garrison here.”
“True, but you — or rather we — are jumping around too much for it to be simple curiosity. You’re searching for something, abandoning each book when it becomes clear that the answers you’re looking for aren’t there. This might go faster if I knew what you’re looking for and could suggest paths of research.” And isn’t it interesting how you’ve shown no interest in gunpowder weapons?
Sir Morgan winced behind his expressionless mask. This is a sharp one, Morgan, don’t ever underestimate her again! he told himself sternly, as he wondered just how much to reveal. Finally, he simply shrugged. “You’re right, but I’m not the one to decide what and how much to tell you — what was that expression you used? Oh, yes, it’s above my pay grade. Fortunately, someone that can make that call will be here shortly. So, why don’t we finish this chapter and take a break?”
Nabiki gazed at him intently for a long moment, then returned his shrug and picked up the book she’d been reading. “Fair enough. Let’s see, where were we? Oh, yes —
“ ... Then came the moral impact of the three forests of spears surmounted by countless flags and pennons, including on occasion the great red banner with the white cross. If the enemy was not already demoralized, he had in a very short time to deal with onrushing steel points guided by men who gave no quarter....”
Myrddin looked around curiously from the head of the long snake of provisions-loaded wagons as his party wended its way up the valley of the Keldara toward the Kildar’s keep.
Everywhere he looked, there were people busily tending fields, many of them — hundreds — obviously not Keldara, or from Caithness. Though they did resemble the Japanese soldiers he vaguely remembered seeing in World War Two movies as a child. And they were tending all the fields, even the one in three that would normally have left fallow.
As he looked closer, one thing became quickly obvious — the newcomers were working hard (when they weren’t taking a quick break to watch the newcomers), but they weren’t very good at it. Right, like you just naturally fit right in when your first arrived all those decades ago, he thought to himself with a grimace.
Then, as the snake of wagons approached the keep, Sir Morgan, a priest that had to be Father Andre, several armed men came out of the front doors to greet the newcomers and Myrddin broke off his wide-ranging observations to focus on the arrival “ceremony.”
“All right, take a break!” the cute redhead dressed in loose leather pants and shirt called out, and similarly-dressed Xian Pu and Ukyo stepped back away from each other. They lowered their weapons, battle spatula and chuí now loosely held, gasping for breath. Ranma smirked as she watched the two. Looks like the ol’ ghoul got it right, when she suggested I train the girls. Then, grimacing, And her “suggestion” I go girl for these spars was probably right, too. At least, they seem more relaxed — a bit.
“Say, Shampoo, do ya think Cologne’s gonna want a head back ta Japan soon?” Ranma asked as the two slowly walked over to the edge of the clearing and sat down on some handy tree stumps next to Yuka and Sayuri.
“Shampoo no know,” the purple-haired girl replied. “Dying time over, rotting time mostly over — but need enough food to cross to China, get inland past coast settlements.” Then, glancing wistfully at the redhead, she asked, “Ranma sure not come, too? Family safe here, Godkiller be very welcome in village ...” Her voice trailed off as her former husband-by-Amazon-Law shook her head.
Sighing, Xian Pu turned to Sayuri and Yuka. “Not join us, either?” she asked. “Would need much training, but at least be in own world, maybe return to Japan one day even if Cave of Worlds changes place.”
Yuka just shook her head, and Sayuri said, “Thanks, but we don’t really have any reason to return to Japan — there’s no way our families survive, not in Tokyo, without our headstart and with no place to run to. And we have friends here.” After a moment, she asked, “Are you going to ask Miyo?”
Xian Pu immediately shook her head. “No,” she said regretfully. “Great-grandmother think about that, very impressed by Sight, but Seeing Girl going crazy, spending all time not working in church, demanding answers from gods — not healthy. She maybe not last long, like others. And if do, better here with friends.”
Ranma glanced over at Akane, standing at the edge of the clearing and practically bouncing on her heels. “Yeah, Akane, yer next,” she said, “against me while Ukyo and Shampoo rest.” Akane stepped to the center of the clearing, but instead of following her Ranma paused, frowned, and stepped to the clearing’s edge, and through the circle of trees to look down the hill at the valley of the Keldara below them. Her eyes widening, she called out, “Hey, girls, get over here!”
Within moments the other five girls joined her, staring at the long line of wagons wending their way up the valley toward the keep. “The food’s here, cool!” Ranma said, grinning.
“Yeah, Sugar, we aren’t going to starve before next spring, after all,” Ukyo agreed. “So, we going down to meet the new bigwigs — and get you some hot water?” she continued, quirking an eyebrow at the five girls’ part-time sensei.
“The rest of you go ahead,” Ranma agreed with an evil grin. “Me an’ Akane have a sparring session, first.”
Akane winced slightly at Ranma’s tone even as she eagerly turned back toward the clearing. “Right, let’s do it!” she called over her shoulder.
Ukyo and Xian Pu exchanged glances. “Nah, we’ll watch and go down with you two,” Ukyo said nonchalantly. “Maybe we’ll learn something from the Tomboy.”
“Right, what Spatula Girl said,” Xian Pu instantly agreed, Yuka and Sayuri nodding their enthusiastic agreement.
Ranma shrugged, and waved them back toward the clearing with a chuckle. “Then come on, Mom and Cologne’ll be wanting us down there pretty quick.”
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(Posted Sat, 01 May 2010 05:10)
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