Chapter 23; On Land we fight them
Characters of the chapter
Calm Ben Hassrath operative
Daenerys Targaryen, The Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, Queen of the of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men of the South, Queen of the South Kingdom of the Twin kingdoms and Protector of the Realm
Dart Ben Hassrath operative
Grey Worm Master of War on the Small Council of Queen Daenerys, High Commander of the Royal Army
Hammer Ben Hassrath operative
Iledia, Agent of the Inquisition, advisor in matters of the arcane in the court of Queen Daenerys
Jon Snow, also known as Aegon Targaryen and Jon Stark, King of the North Kingdom of the Twin Kingdoms
Lyanna Mormont, Lady of Bear Island
Ser Caleb Threestones, Knight of Westeros,Second to Lyanna Mormont
Tallis Ben Hassrath operative
Cursive/Bold text is in Qunlat
Tallis was standing on the edge of the Qunari encampment watching a column of soldiers marching into the camp in perfect order, the other members of her team around her.
"So, that is the last of our reinforcements?" She asked.
"All of those that could make it. I hear at least one scheduled transport failed to arrive." Hammer said.
"Lost to bad weather?" She asked.
"The weather has been rather miserable, it's true. But no storm have been reported at sea as of late. Enemy activity is the more likely cause." He replied.
"Hmm… our current forces will have to suffice then." She contemplated.
"I understand we are to help the army once again? Dart asked.
"Yes. There is forested land nearby. We are to go hiding there, and should the enemy seek to move troops through the area we are to alert the army to their presence and harry them to the best of our ability." She said.
"Sounds like we would be rather outnumbered. Our best bet is likely to hit them and run back to our side before the enemy can pin us down. We can hide in the trees for a start, where we will be hard to spot and harder to engage, especially if the enemy does not bring ranged weapons against us. Which also means we should be bringing ours. I have my bow, the rest of you should stock up on throwing knives and such." Calm said.
"What about Hammer?" Dart asked.
"I can climb a tree lad! I'm lot more nimble than I look. And I may not have as accurate a throwing arm as the rest of you, but I'll be able to do my part." Hammer said, sounding a little offended, while Tallis and Calm chuckled at the scene.
"Come on. Now that our reinforcements have arrived I'd wager we'll be starting the battle in a few hours' time at most. We need to go get the extra gear we need from the quartermaster and get ourselves ready." Tallis said, still grinning a little.
They set out towards the quartermasters tent.
"Tallis… there's something I'd like to ask you. Been bothering me really." Dart asked as they walked.
"Oh? What is it?" Tallis asked.
"Everyone in the Qun has nicknames. Except you. Why is that?" He asked.
She gave a short laugh. "Well, Tallis sounds a little like a name does it not? And since no one else has nicknames it's a unique name for me. Might as well take it, no?"
"We use nicknames under the Qun because the Qun doesn't give us any other. Just the roles we have in this life. My case is a little bit different. You see, I had a name before I joined the Qun. But that name links back to very painful memories, a life of misery. A cursed name. The day the Qun named me Tallis I was able to cast that old life aside and leave it in the past. It allowed me to become someone much better to be. The name Tallis is very dear to me, and I intend to keep using for as long as I live. What does it matter that there are others technically named Tallis as well? Two Bas could have the same name. To me Tallis means *me* personally and that's all the identity I have need of." She added more seriously.
"I see. So you wouldn't ever want to have a nickname?" He asked.
"I might let another call me by such, if they came up with one I like. But Tallis would still be my true name, the one I wish to be known by. Always so." She said.
…You're right. It does sound like a name." Dart said after a moment of contemplation.
The quartermaster had been informed of their participation in the coming battle, so they got the equipment they needed without trouble. Several more hours passed making battle preparations. Then they heard a horn sound, calling the Qunari army to battle formations. Their small group exchanged serious looks at that. This was it. The battle was upon them.
"In case I there is no chance to say this later: good luck to you all. Let's all make it through this." She told the rest.
While Tallis and her group were making ready for battle Jon and Daenerys were busy with their own preparations, having convened one last war council to go over the battle plan.
"With dense woodlands to our left and a stream running to our right our flanks are fairly secure. Then again the same can be said of the Qunari. As before the Qunari are likely to have their cannons placed on the hilltop which has been cleared of trees to give the weapons better sightlines. It's a good position that will allow the guns to pound most of the battlefield with impunity. Qunari troops will likely be in front of those cannons on lower ground, acting as a screen. The Qunari cannons can fire over their troops, while we will have to get past their army to take out the guns." Jon detailed.
"The cannons are likely going to be among the most difficult aspects in the coming battle." Iledia contemplated. "I assume the dragon is still unavailable to take out the cannons?"
"The dragon saddle has not yet made it back here from being repaired in King's Landing. And the smaller rapid firing Qunari cannons proved dangerous enough as it is with the saddle." Daenerys said. "I will bring Drogon into the fight once the cannons have been neutralized, to help clean up the battlefield and ensure the enemy survivors will be too few to oppose us further without reinforcements. Or if the tide of battle turns badly against us. If it comes to that I might as well take my chances."
"The Northern army is still depleted, so we will be fighting in a supporting capacity. The main fighting will be up to the forces from the South and the Inquisition contingents. Grey Worm and I will be commanding the center jointly, with me commanding the Northern troops and Grey Worm handling the rest. Since the forest is broken ground we will be concentrating our cavalry on the other flank under the command of Gendry and the local Inquisition commander. Bronn Blackwater will command our reserves." Jon continued.
"And I will be flying overhead with Drogon, monitoring the situation. I may not be able to attack the enemy at first, but I will at least make them more nervous. Perhaps I will be able to force them to keep some of their cannons trained on me instead of shooting at you." Daenerys said.
"Iledia, you will be leading the Vale clansmen through the forest. Jon and I believe they could perform very well in that kind of environment. I hope leading troops in battle is something you are able to do?" She said then.
"I can handle it. And when it comes to the Clansmen I would have to rise to the occasion in any event. There is no one else in this army that can command them at the moment. They are an ill-disciplined bunch, so it is hard for me to say how well I'll be able to control them, but I will do whatever I can with them." Iledia said.
"Good. Moving through the forest you might have a chance to get to the cannons while the attention of the Qunari is on us. If you remove the threat of those guns, then attack the Qunari from behind our chances of winning this battle go up considerably." Daenerys said.
"Which reminds me, is there any news from Lyanna Mormont?" She asked of Jon.
"Not since we sent her the orders for the coming battle. If she has sent a reply it has not reached us. Which means she chose not to respond to conceal our plans from the Oxmen or the message was intercepted."
"Hopefully the former." Daenerys commented, to which Jon nodded.
"With luck she will show up in time to participate in the battle. But we cannot rely on that happening. Since we don't know for sure we have to leave from the assumption that something has happened and she won't be coming." Jon said.
"Hope for the best and prepare for the worst? Yes. That's what we must do." Daenerys said.
"Our army will be called into battle formations in a few hours' time. Go and prepare the troops entrusted to you. If new concerns arise before the battle, bring them to us with haste and we will do what we can." She told the assembled leaders.
"Good luck to you all. Let's all make it through this." She finished.
As the others departed on their business, Jon and Daenerys remained behind to contemplate the situation further.
"I truly do wish Haggo had not taken his rider's home. Even on a narrow battlefield like this I'm sure we could have found a use for them. We could have sent them to Lady Mormont. Or have them ford the stream elsewhere, so they can perform their own flanking attack." She said bitterly.
"I take it your attempts to talk to him didn't result in anything useful?" Jon asked.
Daenerys shook her head. "He's still very sour about what has happened to his people. He needs time. Time to sulk, calm down and decide that his best chance of saving what is left lies in cooperation with us. I hope giving him that time is a luxury we can give him. In the meantime I'll follow Iledia's advice and deny him the means to leave Westeros. Haggo will be very angry at me for that, but it's for the better in the long run. "
"At least there are other forces that have come to replace what we lost in their departure. Troops from the Vale and from House Watchman are now with us." He said.
"There's that. And those reinforcements are going to be of use without a doubt. Even so they are hardly a substitute for dothraki. Too different in their training and equipment. And when it comes to House Watchman they have managed to become yet another headache for me." She replied.
"It has been estimated that the troops of House Watchman number around eight thousand. What they sent us is not even a quarter of that number. It's a token force at best, the barest minimum they could give and still say they responded to my command. And probably not even the good portion of their forces." She then explained.
"I just don't understand it. Why are they holding back? Still?" She complained. "When we were still battling the Orlesians I thought they might have a backroom deal with the Empire like some others among the upstart houses. I thought maybe they were simply too craven to declare a side openly, instead preferring to wait and see who wins. But now? There is no deal they could possibly have with the Qunari. Nothing at least that would allow them to retain their power and lands. The Qunari will dismantle their self-proclaimed lordship as soon as they have control. Surely they can see that? They should have every reason to commit everything they have to us to keep that from happening. Instead they watch, wait and do nothing! It's like they aren't even interested in helping Westeros win."
"Maybe they are not. Could be they are out for themselves and no one else." Jon suggested.
"More than likely actually. But even in that case what's the plan? If we win this war odds are we will have enough forces left to keep them from trying anything. And we will be keenly remembering their lackluster participation. If we lose then it's all over for every noble house on this continent, them included. The odds of a situation where they could come out on top by holding back look unlikely. So are they just stupid or is there some other plan they have?" She said.
She sighed. "Something just isn't right. I'll have to ask Iledia to look into this."
"But that will have to come later. First there is the task of winning this battle. Victory means the Qunari will likely not have time to launch another assault before winter comes. We succeed and we will have earned ourselves a breather. We will have time to develop the weapon Yara is bringing and make other plans and preparations. But if we fail… then this will all get a lot harder on us. Like it isn't difficult enough as it is."
"We'll win. I know it." Jon reassured her.
"I hope we will Jon. I really do. But after what happened with Yara I know this won't be an easy fight. We may have the numbers, but from what I hear the Qunari are extremely tough fighters. We have a dragon and mage allies, but they have their cannons. Near as I can see the odds are more or less even. Still, at least we can finally face them head on. Chasing them around, hearing about one set of bad news after another… it's been incredibly frustrating. Whatever happens, that will come to an end at last." She replied.
For a moment she went quiet, gathering her thoughts.
"There is still time before the battle has to start. Hold me, Love. Hold me long enough so when we start this fight I'll have your confidence in our victory." She said then.
With that the two embraced, holding each other close as they waited for a moment to arrive.
Some hours later Jon was looking over the battlefield at the Qunari army, Daenerys circling overhead with Drogon. Iledia's group had already started moving towards the enemy, vanishing into the forest. The rest of the army was holding position for now, unwilling to walk into what would be withering fire from the Qunari cannons, though both Jon and Grey Worm they needed to brave that danger soon. They simply needed Iledia to get closer, so the time spent under artillery attack would be as small as possible. Though all that called for very careful timing, lest Iledia be left isolated against the entire Qunari host. She and her troops needed concealment until they attacked, the enemy attention drawn away from them. So the Qunari needed to be given a more obvious threat to focus on. With that in mind Jon gave a command, and a section of their cavalry on their right began advancing, heading towards the enemy.
Tallis and her team meanwhile were already in hiding amongst the trees, waiting for something to happen. They had been here for some time already, with no sign of the enemy. It was quite dull really. The only thing that kept them from losing focus was the knowledge that the battle was about to begin. Their first indication of this was the report of their cannons that could suddenly be heard coming from outside the forest.
"Listen! It's started…" Calm commented from her tree.
"I wish we could see what was happening. Damn this forest for being so thick." Dart said.
"Quiet down now, both of you. If the enemy shows up here it's important we notice them before they notice us." Tallis said.
The others stopped talking and resumed their watch. For a time longer nothing happened. But then Tallis spotted movement. The enemy was very stealthy. If not for the trained senses of a Ben Hassrath she might have missed them until it was too late. They were different from other locals she had seen in Westeros. While many had weaponry and armor pieces she had gotten used to seeing among the Westerosi, many also bore equipment that was considerably more crude. But no matter. Whoever these people were they were no friends to the Qunari and were clearly up to no good.
The others had seen the same, and were preparing to attack. But there was something that needed to be accomplished before they could. Tallis took a rocket she had brought with her into her hands. She pointed it through the branches towards the open sky and lit the cord. The rocket shot out of her hands and high into the air, where it exploded with a loud bang and a shower of sparks. The heads of the enemy turned first to the air, then to the tree where the rocket had been fired from. To her. If the enemy had not known they were here already, they certainly did now. But the main part of their job had been done now. The Qunari army had been alerted to the presence of the enemy. Allied troops would come to their aid, hopefully very soon.
The enemy was still out of range of their throwing knives, so Calm was the only one of them able to attack, firing her bow, killing one of their enemies. This caused a number of other Bas to surge towards her. But this conveniently brought them to the range of the rest of them, killing several more. Tallis herself threw a pair of knives, slaying two more foes. She had just enough time to think this was a decent start sufficient for the time being when a bolt of flame flashed towards the tree where Calm was. Calm had barely enough time to jump down as a fiery blast set the tree ablaze like a torch.
"Damn. They've brought a mage with them." Tallis thought. She had heard the Westerosi had some with them now, thanks to the Inquisition. Now they definitely couldn't stay here.
"Come on, we need to go! Hurry!" She shouted, then jumped down from the tree. They took off running, the enemy on their heels and additional blasts of fire raining after them, the shockwaves making them stumble as they fled.
While this was going on Jon could see the riders he had sent forward were struggling to advance under the enemy bombardment, sustaining heavy losses. The constant rains had turned the battlefield into a mess of mud and puddles, slowing their progress further. But the cavalry formations pressed on regardless, the Inquisition troops leading the assault.
"We need to get moving forward while the cannons are still firing on the cavalry, so they won't be able to focus fire on our main force." Jon told Grey Worm.
"And Iledia?" Grey Worm asked in return.
"She'll engage the enemy as soon as she can. When she does we need to be there to support her." Jon said.
Grey Worm nodded and turned to his soldiers: "Royal Army, forward!"
"Northmen, with me! Advance!" Jon echoed the command and the main force of their army began moving.
Despite the beating they had taken the cavalry were almost upon the first units standing between them and the cannons. Encouraged by this the riders increased speed, charging towards their foe. But just before contact was made something happened. A thick cloud of smoke burst forth from the Qunari ranks, enveloping the cavalry units. Nothing could be seen aside from a series of bright flashes inside the cloud. Moments later running soldiers and horses emerged from the cloud, fleeing back towards the main royal army. There looked to be a lot fewer of them than there had been moments ago.
The Qunari cannons continued to fire at the fleeing cavalry until Daenerys unexpectedly swooped down and carved a line of fire between the retreating troops and the cannons, shielding their withdrawal. Some of the Oxmen cannons fired at Drogon in retaliation, but the dragon managed to get out of the line of fire unhurt.
At this time it could be seen that the Qunari forces had begun moving forward as well, advancing to meet the Royalist forces. Without pause the cannons switched targets, beginning to blow holes into the main force of the Twin Kingdoms. The Inquisition's mages were returning fire, damaging the Qunari infantry line and occasionally even managing to silence one of their cannons. Daenerys made several more daring swoops down, giving what cover to her allies she could. Not exactly what had been agreed on, but Jon could not argue with the lives that this saved.
As the lines were closing Jon noticed something odd. The spearmen in the Qunari formations had short tubes attached to their weapons near the tips. What were those for? He had no time to ponder this as the Qunari abruptly halted and leveled their spears, the first rank kneeling. At first he though the enemy was preparing to defend. But then something erupted from the tubes on their weapons, flying towards the Royalist in wild, erratic arcs, screeching as they came. Many were killed as the things began exploding in their midst and many others frightened backwards by the cacophony of noise and light. Their front ranks were left sundered and in disarray, vulnerable as the Qunari charged forth from the smoke, plunging their spears to their human opponents.
Lyanna rode forward, the troops entrusted to her around her. They had just crossed a stream and were now approaching what she believed was the rear of the enemy army. She expected to have the foe in her sights momentarily. That she had not encountered any yet was only good. It meant the enemy had no idea her army was here.
When she heard a familiar sound, like the rumble of thunder, she paused.
"Hear that? The battle's already started. We need to hurry. Our allies need us." She told Caleb, then drew her sword.
"Cavalry, we move quickly now! Charge forth and engage the enemy on sight! Infantry, double time it and catch up with us as soon as you can!" She commanded and urged her horse into a gallop.
Wind whistling in her ear she rapidly approached the sound of fighting, Caleb right behind her, followed by the rest of her riders. Following the sound they soon reached the foot of a hill. As they climbed some of the horses stumbled and slid down the hillside, but the rest soon reached the top, emerging amidst the startled Qunari gunners.
"Bear Island! Here we stand!" She bellowed and cut down the nearest gunner. Another tried to grab the reins of her horse only to get her sword through his face. Caleb rode past and killed another right after that.
"Take control of the guns. Don't let them fire another shot at our allies!" She commanded her troops.
Lyanna's cavalry crashed into the enemy gun batteries, killing the Qunari operators with abandon. The Oxmen responded as best they could, picking up what weapons of theirs were on hand and fighting back against the attackers. Some tried to turn their cannons around to fire at the charging cavalry, one or two even managing to take the shot. But with their main infantry elsewhere the Qunari were soon overrun, leaving Lyanna's troops in control of the battery.
With the immediate cleared they got a better look at the main army's situation. The dust and smoke were making it a little hard to see, but it looked like the Royalists were losing ground to the Qunari forces.
"We have to move in and help them. Should we destroy the cannons before we go?" Caleb said.
"Not so fast. Those weapons might still be of use to us. We don't have enough time to figure out how to load them but…" She said.
"Find the cannons that are already loaded. We are going to be turning the Qunari's own weapons against them. Once we have fired those we charge in." She commanded.
The main Royalist army meanwhile was struggling to resist their enemy. With their lines disrupted by the barrage of rockets they had a hard time stopping the machine like advance of the Qunari. Any attempt to reform their lined was met with grenades lobbed to their midst, sundering any cluster of troops they managed to form. Jon had sent word for their reserves to arrive to help stabilize the situation, but they were not here yet.
Jon swatted away a Qunari spear and managed to behead its wielder. Then he was forced to move back as several other Qunari soldiers approached him. Kieran was close by and responded by raising spikes of rock from the ground, impaling several of the Qunari and forcing the rest of the nearby Qunari back, unable to advance through the dense thicket of spikes. A grenade was tossed over the spikes, but Jon was able to pick it up and throw it back, hearing pained shouts as it exploded on the far side of the wall.
Kierans spell had brought a momentary breather, but it had stopped only a small portion of the Qunari host. The enemy continued the advance, circling around the wall of spikes, while the Royalists continued to give up more ground, unable to put up a solid defense. This looked bad…
But just then to his right a Qunari cannonball carved a bloody line through the enemy ranks. At first Jon thought it was an accident, that the Qunari had aimed too low and hit their own. But then another cannonball struck the Qunari, followed by even more. He turned his eyes to where the Qunari cannons lay, where he saw the people working on them and… horses? The Qunari had no cavalry, at least none that he had ever heard of.
"Lyanna…" Jon realized. She had made it to the battlefield after all. Now he could see Lyanna's troops remounting and charging down the hill towards the rear ranks of the Qunari, while infantry was now appearing on the hill. The Qunari were responding, sending formations against this new enemy. But by now Daenerys had realized the enemy were no longer in control of their cannons. The danger to her dragon had passed. So she swept down, flying along the length of the Qunari line, carving a path of fire through them. On the soaked ground the flames soon guttered out, but even so the damage done to their enemy was horrifying. Now it was the turn of the Oxmen to be thrown into disarray. And the Royalists reserves caught up to Jon and Grey Worm's forces. A smile appeared on Jon's lips as he realized they had just managed to turn this battle around.
"Come on! Stand strong! We can defeat them!" Grey Worm encouraged his troops.
"Together now! Attack! Bring them down!" Jon shouted.
Tallis was entirely oblivious of these circumstances, cutting down a pair of enemies in rapid succession. Around her Qunari soldiers were battling the Westerosi in small skirmishes all around the woodlands. They had received their reinforcements. Not a lot of them, but enough to hold their ground against this foe. The mage was the real problem though. Tallis could see her now, a woman in dark robes unleashing storms of fire, thinning their ranks in a dangerous way. Her team was trying to fight their way to her, but there were a lot of these enemy brutes in their way.
"Hammer! Wait for us!" Tallis shouted as the Kossith was forging ahead, carving through their opposition. They needed to fight this mage together. She seemed far too dangerous for any one of them to take on alone, especially when she was surrounded by this many others.
"Fall back! Orders are to fall back! The tide has turned! Fall back!" Tallis suddenly heard behind her.
"What the…? Falling back…?" Now? What's going on?" She thought. Then she realized that Hammer was deep inside the enemy force, still pressing towards the mage.
"Hammer, come back! We need to retreat!" She shouted. But he didn't hear her.
"Dammit!" She cursed and went after him.
"Tallis wait! It's too late! We have to go now!" Calm shouted.
"I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Tallis shouted back and pressed onwards. Most of the Qunari in the forest were retreating now. But with the enemy so close by some had to stand and fight. Tallis raced through the fighting, cutting down enemies that tried to stop her. She had to make it to Hammer…
She had almost reached him when a wall of fire exploded in front of her. She backed away, shielding her face from the heat. Hammer and a bunch of other Qunari were left trapped, caught between the flames and the enemy troops.
"Hammer! Hammer!" She screamed, pacing about frantically, trying to find a path through the flames. But there was nothing she could do. The trapped Qunari were surrounded and slaughtered. Hammer finally went down, overwhelmed by the humans.
"No!" She shouted at the sight. In her distress she failed to notice a lone enemy that had had circled around the fire and rushed her. Not until he slashed a deep wound to her flank. She stumbled, gasping with pain, then snarled and put her dagger through the throat of her enemy, killing him.
She was alone now, all the rest had fled. Hammer was dead and she had failed to save him. There was nothing more she could do. If she stayed they would kill her too. She fled deeper into the woods, holding her wounded side and weeping biter tears for her dead friend.
With the last remaining Qunari overwhelmed by the clansmen things were starting to quiet down in the forest. Iledia could not quite fathom why the Qunari had given up all of a sudden, but there was no time to ponder it. She had places to be and this delay had already put her behind schedule.
"Come. We need to move on." She told her clansmen and they resumed their advance towards their objective.
Emerging from the woods they spotted a most curious sight. The Qunari army was now sandwiched between two Royalists forces, while the dragon was strafing the Oxmen over and over, annihilating them. The Qunari cannons had fallen silent, in allied hands apparently. Clearly much had happened while her troops had been battling in the forest.
"Follow me. We must join the fray." She commanded. She and her clansmen joined the battle, trapping the enemy between three groups and the river, with Drogon still attacking from above. She did her part, adding her fiery spells to the flames already destroying the Qunari. With no line if of retreat, the demand of the Qun was that the Qunari soldiers fight to the last. And so they did, slaying many of the soldiers of the Twin Kingdoms. But eventually the last of the Qunari fell and silence descended on the battlefield.
As she walked among the dead it became clear this had been a brutal fight, many human fallen for each Qunari. But wasn't that always the case with the Oxmen? Qunari victories were swift and devastating, them carving through their enemies in one-sided massacres. Qunari defeats were gruesome slugging matches, their destruction bought only through much bloodshed and toil. Rare indeed were easy victories against their ilk. At least the battle had been won, the Qunari suffering a serious setback in their plans.
For her part Iledia felt strangely refreshed by the battle despite the heavy cost. The Qunari were enemies of Tevinter as well, an arch nemesis for her people for centuries. For once her service for the Twin Kingdoms did not leave a bad aftertaste in her mouth. For once doubts about whether she was harming her own by helping these people did not gnaw at her. For once she knew she had done right by both her people and these foreigners she had been told to assist. It felt… good. To have fought the good fight and feel no guilt for having done so afterwards.
Something cold drifted out of the sky and touched her cheek. She turned her eyes upwards and saw it had begun to snow. The first snows of this year…
Tallis was still fleeing, a small number of enemies after her. Their pace was unhurried, because they knew her strength was waning. Her pace had slowed, no longer running, instead trudging along in the forest, a large red stain on her right side. In addition the weather had turned considerably colder, snow falling from the sky, making her shiver, her lips already turning blue. Between that, blood loss and the exertions of the battle she simply felt… exhausted.
With a heavy sigh she realized she could not flee any further. She could not go on. She stopped, turned and braced herself against a nearby tree, then raised her daggers for a final stand. Her enemies gathered around her. But before they could strike her down the closest one was struck down by an arrow. She turned her head to where the arrow had come from, seeing Calm running toward them, firing her bow at a rapid rate, not once missing her mark. Dart charged in as well, finishing off those that were left, the whole affair over in seconds.
"You came…" Tallis said with relief and astonishment.
"Of course we did. We may have had to run away but we were not about to abandon you." Dart said.
"Tallis… where's Hammer?" Calm asked.
Tallis shook her head sadly. "I couldn't reach him…"
Dart and Calm turned solemn, looking at the ground. "He was a good friend, and served the Qun well in life. We will honor his memory." Calm said.
"Let's get you patched up. Then we have to go." She added.
"To camp?" Tallis asked.
"The camp burns. We saw it when we escaped. The bas must have hit it as soon as they won the battle. We will head for the coast. We will find ships there, which will bring us back to Bear Island." Calm said.
Tallis nodded and allowed the others to start the work of bandaging her wound.