The next few months were busy ones for Horyse. It was true that attacks from the Dead had become less frequent – summer in northern Ancelstierre meant long evenings and early dawns, with few hours of darkness in between in which the Dead could launch an attack. However, in the Old Kingdom it was a different story, as winter deepened and nights became longer. Several times Horyse and Tindall had to lead forces out in platoon or even company strength, to clear the Dead from the ruins of Kallnesh village lest they mass for an attack on the Wall.
Colonel Fazackerly spent his first weeks in command getting the garrison back into good order. Major Collins had been a good acting CO, but Regimental commanders throughout the army had taken shameless advantage of the situation, meaning that the garrison had been inundated with more than the usual number of dead-beats. Gradually, Fazackerly and his officers were able to identify those who were able or willing to improve, and find ways to get rid of the genuinely useless.
An intense regime of training and patrols was instituted, with long route marches and exercises in the rough country to the South of the Wall. Inspections and practice alerts became frequent. Training in hand-to-hand combat intensified, although the ranges were not neglected and all soldiers were expected to maintain a good standard of marksmanship. Rifles, revolvers and Lewins which had grown rusty with long neglect were now required to be clean and in working order, and the armourers worked around the clock to remedy defects.
"A weapon that is in good order is usually good for at least one shot, even in a north wind," said Fazackerly, when one of the company commanders questioned this. "Even if every rifle, revolver and Lewin in the garrison only gets off a single shot, if that shot is well aimed, it will do some damage."
At first, the men were inclined to grumble at the new regime. But gradually, morale began to improve. Supported by other officers like Horyse and Tindall, Fazackerly began to re-instill pride into the Perimeter garrison. It helped that the Colonel worked as hard as any of them, if not harder. On route marches and exercises he was always to the fore.
Horyse spent much of his time leading patrols in the Old Kingdom, ensuring that the regular troops of the garrison became as familiar with the countryside in their patrol zone as were the Charter mages of the Scouts. He also spent a great deal of time with the garrison's Charter mages, teaching them what he could and learning their strengths and weaknesses. Curran and Tindall were the strongest apart from himself, and quick to learn new spells, although some of what Horyse had been taught was beyond even their strength.
After spending time with each Charter mage, Horyse selected a squad of 8 men to train more intensively. He did not necessarily choose the strongest Charter mages, preferring either those with particular skills, or those who were relatively new to the Scouts and were the most receptive to what he had to teach. Anshye was an obvious choice; he was only a moderate Charter mage in his own right, but had a gestalt effect when working with other Charter mages, bolstering their power so that it was more than just their combined strength. Rowland excelled at spells of stealth and concealment, at tracking, and at weather working. Private Rhys became a skilled healer, and Private Devlin was a deadly accurate shot with Charter spelled arrows. The others had their own particular abilities. All were highly proficient in essential fighting spells, and all excelled in more conventional infantry skills such as marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and fieldcraft.
Horyse also spent time in teaching more specialised magic. He worked with Staff Sergeant Moril, the garrison's chief armourer, teaching what he had learned from Culver; Moril was able to master spells to place simple Charter marks for endurance into blades and arrowheads. To Major Grinstead and Captain Carstairs he taught what he knew of healing spells. To his surprise he found that Carstairs was nowhere near as stern as she liked to appear, and was much younger than he had thought, close to his own age in fact. They became friends, and on more than one occasion when leave coincided, they went out for tea or to see a moving picture in the cinema in Bain.
As mid-summer drew near, a sense of dread began to oppress Horyse, and he was all too aware that it would soon be mid-winter's day in the Old Kingdom. The Kingdom was now blanketed in snow, and patrols relied on skis and snowshoes to move around. He reported his feelings to Major Tindall and Colonel Fazackerly, not least because his unease seemed to be in some way connected to the Charter.
"Anything amiss reported by Old Kingdom patrols?" Fazackerly asked.
"Nothing, sir, except that more of the Barhedrin garrison have been recalled to Belisare. They've barely enough soldiers left to man the post and patrol the immediate area. We see Gore Crows circling over Barhedrin almost constantly now, except in full sun. And full sun doesn't happen often in winter in the Old Kingdom. On my last patrol Jessil told me that Karim would like to track down the Necromancer controlling the Gore Crows, but she doesn't have enough soldiers. And Abhorsen is dealing with some sort of trouble in the north."
It happened a few days later, on what was mid-winter's night in the Old Kingdom. It was full dark, and Horyse had just settled down in his dugout to get some sleep when the alarm klaxon sounded. Its howl was soon cut off and replaced by bells, rung by hand and a sure sign that Ancelstierran technology was failing. Being duty officer in the front line, he was the first to reach the forward observation post.
"What is it, Clisser?" he asked the young Lance-corporal in charge.
"Not sure, sir. Look there."
Horyse followed the man's pointing finger. To the northwest, in the direction of Barhedrin, the sky had an orange glow, as though lit by flames. Black smoke, or maybe storm clouds, boiled above it; and the sky was frequently lit by forks of lightning. Then the first rumbles of thunder reached them; loud enough that even at this distance, the floorboards of the observation tower vibrated and the men clapped hands to their ears.
Horyse scrambled down and made his way towards the headquarters dugout where the other officers had just arrived. He was about to go in when a shout from one of the sentries made him turn and climb the firestep. What appeared to be a black, roiling cloud was speeding towards him from the northwest, even though it was a windless night. He trained his field glasses on it and saw a bird of prey, a sparrow hawk maybe, pursued by a large flock of Gore Crows. Old Kingdom message hawk, he realised.
"Pass the word for Private Rowland, on the double!" he bellowed. Rowland excelled in any element of Charter magic that had to do with nature, and would be the best man to handle a frightened and possibly wounded message hawk.
By some miracle, a few of the men's rifles were working. Without being ordered, they handed the working weapons to those known to be the best shots, and within moments, several Gore Crows were torn apart by bullets. Even more miraculously, the artillerymen had got one of the Boland 2-inch anti-aircraft guns working. A totally pointless weapon on the Perimeter, Horyse had always thought, but the crew managed to get off four shots before it failed. Only four shots, but they wreaked havoc on the Gore Crows as the flock exploded in a mass of blood and feathers.
Horyse became aware of Rowland, gently quieting the distressed message hawk that had landed on his gauntleted left hand.
"Message is for you, sir," he said. Horyse waved towards the dugout entrance.
"In there please, Private. The CO will need to hear this."
Inside the dugout, Fazackerly and Tindall were examining maps. Horyse pointed at the message hawk on Rowland's outstretched fist. The Colonel nodded.
"Let's hear it."
Horyse gently touched the bird in between the eyes, and it began to speak. The voice was distorted but was unmistakeably that of Captain Karim.
"Under attack by a Mordicant, controlled by a Necromancer, or one of the Greater Dead. We need help, please come yourself with all the Charter mages you can spare. The Clay have Seen…"
The message finished there. Either the limit of the hawk's memory had been reached, or something had happened to Karim to cut her off.
"Alright, Private Rowland, well done," said Fazackerly. "Take the bird back to the rear and do what you can. Runner!"
A young infantryman appeared.
"Sir!"
"Find Major Collins, RSM Butler and Colour Sarn't Curran and ask them to report here immediately. Then pass the word. All Company commanders and CSMs to report in one hour for orders."
The runner repeated the message back word for word before doubling away. Horyse found a mug thrust into his hands and smiled. Tea, the Ancelstierran remedy for everything. Then with a jolt, he thought of Karim and her liking for Ancelstierran tea. What was happening over there? He wondered if he would ever see her again, or his other friends. Kearn, Jessil, Merreth, Linnead, Culver, may the Charter protect you, he thought to himself. Then, the curtain opened to admit Major Collins, RSM Butler, and Curran. Fazackerly waved them all to find a seat, then began.
"Gentlemen, you can see for yourselves that something is happening in the Old Kingdom, and whatever it is, it's on the exact bearing of Barhedrin. And we've had a message." He repeated, word for word, what the hawk had said, then turned to Tindall.
"What do we know of Mordicants? I find that two years on the Frontier has somewhat dulled my memory."
"They are the most powerful of the Lesser Dead," Tindall answered. "As I understand it, bog-clay mixed with human blood, moulded into a man-like shape and infused with a Dead spirit. They can freely cross between Life and Death, and can control lesser creatures such as Hands and Gore Crows. Anything to add, Sam?" It was a mark of Tindall's distraction that he used Horyse's first name in front of Other Ranks. Horyse considered for a moment.
"A Mordicant alone, or under the control of a living Necromancer, is a powerful creature. Under the direct control of one of the Greater Dead, and infused with their power, it would be formidable. They cannot normally cross running water, but the Southwater is low, and choked with snow and ice. A Mordicant infused with the power of the Greater Dead might be able to cross."
Fazackerly nodded. "I also remember that running water can be bridged using boxes of Grave Dirt, and doing that at this time of year would not be difficult. As for the guiding force, could it be Hedge, or the Greater Dead being he was in league with?"
"Chlorr of the Mask?" said Horyse. "I doubt it. Karim said that Abhorsen destroyed the body she was inhabiting, and banished her far into Death. Abhorsen told Karim that it would take years, decades even, for her to return to Life. As for Hedge, assuming that he became a Necromancer during the period he was missing, I doubt he could have learned enough yet to create and control a Mordicant. Hands and Gore Crows would be about his limit, maybe Shadow Hands if he had assistance. But," he added, grimly, "there are many Greater Dead other than Chlorr. In fact, Jessil told me that Abhorsen had gone north because of rumour of a Greater Dead being. She mentioned a name. Kerrigan, Kerrilaw, something like that."
Fazackerly nodded. "The question is, do we send a force across the Wall to investigate and assist, or strengthen our defences for an attack. On the one hand, this attack could be aimed at destroying Barhedrin and making the Crossing Point vulnerable. On the other hand, the most recent patrol to come in reported Kallnesh clear, and no dead in the patrol zone, not even Gore Crows."
Tindall drummed his fingers. "I wish Karim had been able to tell us what the Clayr have Seen," he said.
"She asked me to come myself, then mentioned the Clayr," said Horyse. "To me, it seems most likely that the Clayr Saw me coming."
Fazackerly frowned. "You could be right, Mr Horyse. But it could be a trap, designed to lure away our strongest Charter mages. Like the fog last winter." He turned to his second-in-command. "Major Collins, how are we placed to repel an attack?"
"Pretty good, sir. Garrison is up to strength for a change, and all defences in good repair."
"Very good. All leave is now stopped until we know what is happening. Frontline and reserve trenches to be double-manned, one company at a time rotating back to HQ for rest. You and the RSM organise that. Major Tindall, I'll leave you to see to the disposition of the Scouts. Mr Horyse,"
"Sir?"
"I want you to take your squad into the Old Kingdom at first light. Make for Last Bridge with all speed, and then, depending on what you find, decide whether to press on to Barhedrin. Yes, RSM?" He looked at Curran, who had raised a hand.
"Two suggestions, sir. Send them as a mounted patrol. They'll move faster, and stand more chance of outrunning pursuit."
"It's a good idea," said the Colonel, looking at Horyse, who nodded his agreement. He looked back at Curran. "You said two suggestions?"
"Yes sir. I respectfully request permission to join the patrol."
Fazackerly laughed, while shaking his head. "Negative, Sar' Major. I suspect Mr Tindall and the entire strength of the Scouts would join the patrol if they could. But I need you here."