Eighteenth Stroke – Chilling Approach

"So that's Argen Hill then?" Racquel was the first of them to speak, breaking the long moment of strangely melancholy silence.

"Yes," Jessica answered succinctly, with a touch of grimace that summed up all their feelings.

It certainly is the right place, Sylvia thought with a brisk shake of her head, looking at the town from the still large difference of a hilltop across the river. Knowing what we know it would be hard to mistake.

Crows circled above the heart of the town, sitting high and walled above the riverbank, looking out over forests that stretched off upstream and farmland down in the opposite direction. Battered buildings and scorch marks remained below the crows, the blasted remnant of what was once a prosperous trading site. Even silver eyes could make out no real detail at that distance, but Sylvia felt she could almost smell the charnel house atmosphere. The yoma were up there, she knew that. It was clear they had destroyed the town.

The riverside was more serene, yet far more bilious. There, amongst what had once been the docks and machinery of shipping, lay a neat circle of tents, firepits, and other laid out material. It was the camp of the Black Wings, the mercenaries who had decided to side with flesh-eating monsters for gold and a chance to kill silver-eyed witches. Sylvia still did not understand how they could do that, not deep in her where human heart warred with yoki, and she was glad she did not.

"It seems so obvious," Racquel whispered. "Why hasn't the organization received a request?"

Sylvia had puzzled over that herself, but she had determined the answer, so she spoke. "It's because of the humans. It looks like yoma to us, but to other people, it just looks like the mercenaries invested the town, and chose to be messy about it."

"Yes," Tyrin nodded sadly. "That was a smart move too, since it means that other nearby towns and lords will mobilize their own men, expecting a threat, so they can spare no funds to deal with yoma now. This whole region might be on the verge of war."

"In war, the awakened one will slip away," Jessica finished, completing for them all what immediately became clear must be their foe's true plan. Disappear in the chaos of war and then repeat the cycle somewhere else, with human and yoma tandems spread across the continent, destroying the organizations way of doing things forever. Sylvia could see from that outcrop that Luny had indeed been correct; this must all be buried as if it had never been.

"However, they also made a mistake," Tyrin remarked with a sly expression.

"Mistake?" Sylvia asked the soldier.

"They should have all camped together," she explained. "Mercenaries and yoma, but I imagine they couldn't stand it. Now they're separated, so they're vulnerable."

The three Claymores turned to look at it again, trying to see what the human soldier saw. Sylvia, after a long moment, recognized the truth of Tyrin's words. The town proper was positioned well above the riverside, doubtless to protect from flood and disease, with the docks a not insignificant distance away. "They cannot fight together immediately," she spoke, whispering not for fear of being overheard, but because she was not sure she dared believe it. "If we can sneak across and fall upon the Black Wings, there will be no yoma to aid them."

"It won't be for long though," Racquel shook her head. "Yoma can run downhill almost as fast as we can."

"A count of two hundred at most," Jessica assessed. "One hundred fifty at the least. Not much time."

Tyrin looked across the river, massaging her left arm, healed now from the attack four days before, but still a bit weakened. "That isn't very long, and it won't be easy to get to the camp without being observed, the Black Wings will post guards, even if they have sided with yoma, they aren't complete fools. Still, I think that's the best chance."

"This is going to take some planning," Sylvia recognized. "We should get off this ridge, I doubt we can be seen from here, but it seems unwise to take any chances at this stage."

Jessica nodded and the four swiftly moved back.

They had set up camp some ways back on the path into the mountains. It was a more beaten trail here, as there had been a few small hamlets along the way the past few days of descent, but nothing like a true road. Still, they would risk no fires now. So the four hunters settled together around a pile of their things, staying close together for no reason any could name.

"So we attack the soldiers first, and then wait for the yoma once they've run, is that it?" Racquel asked, beginning the discussion after a long moment of silence.

"Generally," Tyrin nodded, and Sylvia noted the human woman was more at ease speaking among the other warriors than she had once been, unafraid to voice her opinion. "But to do that we need to find a way to sneak across without being seen. Assuming we can, we'd want to attack right before dawn."

"Why?" Jessica overlaid several questions into that one word.

"That is when the guards will be at their least alert. Also, since the town is on the west side of the river we'd have the sun at our backs, which is an advantage, however small."

Sylvia nodded; this made sense enough to her. Silver eyes were little hindered by glare, but Tyrin's might well be, so that was something to avoid. She began considering how they might get across the river without being observed. No quick solutions came. The river was wide enough here, and there was a deep channel for shipping. A ferry had run when the town functioned, but they had seen it tied to the docks at the Black Wings camp. Do we need to search out a ford upstream? Or build a ship? Or find one from a farmer to the south? Seeing no immediate solution she asked the others. "Do any of you have a good idea as to how we might sneak across? If we built a raft I doubt any among us have the skill to handle a night crossing unseen."

The other fell silent, considering this for a moment. Jessica's silver eyes burned with focus, a sign the others had learned to recognize meant she was thinking hard, for the rest of her face revealed nothing, but no one spoke, having few ideas.

"Can't we just swim?" Racquel said suddenly, but cautious, as if unwilling to trust the obvious.

"You can't swim in armor," Tyrin shook her head.

"You cannot," Jessica remarked, her voice filled with an unusual curiosity. "We…" she looked at Sylvia.

It took a moment for the Claymore to realize why the single-digit was staring at her. She doesn't know, Sylvia discovered with her surprise. She thinks I might have experience. Unusual as the assumption might be, for why would a half-human half-yoma ever swim in their full armor, Sylvia did in fact know the answer. "It is possible," she nodded and knowing the others wanted more continued with the full explanation. "I pursued a yoma onto a ferry once, and he jumped into the river. I forgot to take my armor off in the focus of pursuit. We can swim, with difficulty, though the capes must be discarded for they drag far too much. Yet," she cautioned recalling that day, with claws and spray and a dangerous sinking as she tried to wield her sword while immersed to her neck. "We cannot fight while swimming, the resistance is too great, everything moves too slow, yoma, with their claws, have great advantages."

"That shouldn't matter," Racquel spoke hopefully. "If all we have to do is sneak across. They won't expect anyone to try to swim the river; it'd be too wide for humans."

"Quite," Tyrin interjected. "I can't swim that, certainly not in armor, maybe not at all. I need the armor too, if we're going into a big fight. Even in a panic the Black Wings are going to put up some kind of fight."

"We'll carry you," Jessica decided, and Sylvia heard the force behind the words. The single digit liked this plan. "Between two of us it should not be difficult."

"Only if you can swim fast," Tyrin shook her head, her dislike of this idea, and perhaps a hint of fear, written on her face. "I could freeze from being in water too long and, well…" she paused. "Look I trust you all and everything, but this is a bit much, okay. If this went bad, and you let go, I'd sink to the bottom like a stone. That's a death sentence." Sylvia could clearly see the fear now, not a fear of the river exactly, but something deeper, a fear of helplessness that struck to the core of this otherwise strong woman. She does not want to leave her fate entirely in others' hands, the Claymore knew. Somehow what should have been a dark realization brought Sylvia a surge of confidence and an emotion that might be said, deep in the dark suspicious base of her mind, to be happiness. She would raise this objection to anyone. That we are half-human half-yoma no longer matters. For a moment the Claymore sat motionless, taking in the realization, the expression of trust laid bare. Only after a few long breaths did she turn her attention back to the matter at hand.

"Is there another way across then?" Sylvia wondered. "The bank has been cut around the town, so it is open; I doubt we could approach that way."

"Could we sneak across to the north or south and attack the yoma first instead?" Racquel asked. "The humans would surely not respond as fast."

Sylvia shook her head, knowing already why that wouldn't work. "I believe the awakened one must be with the yoma, to keep control of them. If we attack them first she will surely occupy us for some time, and then the humans will come up in formation and make full use of their crossbows. Our advantage lies in attacking the humans first. Tyrin can do nothing against an awakened one," she turned her eyes to the soldier as she said this, trying to convey that she was in no way slighting the soldier by this assessment. In truth Sylvia knew that taking on the awakened one would rely largely on the strength of Whirling Jessica. Racquel's talents, and her own, would likely be of little aid. "Even if we won that battle, should we receive wounds the Black Wings could kill us in vengeance." It was seemed slim possibility, but Sylvia knew that if one of them lost a leg and could not run, a very real possibility in the fight to come, then they could well become targets for execution.

"Yes," Jessica confirmed quietly.

"Then do we simply wait for reinforcements?" Racquel wondered.

"No," Jessica's voice was firm, the single digit, whatever her reasons, had committed to finishing this. Sylvia approached the idea with some trepidation, but it did indeed seem best to attack now. Waiting would be dangerous in itself, and if war came then they might lose everything.

"That's great for you to say," Tyrin spoke bitterly. "But you're asking for too much here. I'm not being dragged through a river based on one dunking you had years ago Sylvia, I can't do it."

"Test it then," Jessica's words were immediate.

"A test? What exactly do you mean?" Sylvia queried.

"Test the carry, tonight, upstream, in shallows, you three," Jessica's hands moved to encompass them. "I'll stand watch."

"I suppose we can try it," Tyrin admitted grudgingly. "In the shallows and outside of the current. But," and she held her palm to the single digit's face without any fear. "I make the final decision, understand."

"Fine."

So they walked a short distance upstream, around the first real bend where the town disappeared. There was an appropriate place there, a shallow area protected from the rest of the river by a small sandbar.

"This is a strange thing to be doing," Sylvia commented to no one in particular before shedding her cape and stepping into the water. It was cold, the river being fed by many streams coming down from the mountains they had just exited, but not so cold as it might have been. It was easy enough for a half-human half-yoma to ignore, but she wondered how Tyrin would manage.

Racquel came in beside her, and they walked out to about chest height, still wearing their armor. Sylvia tried to recall how it had felt to swim in the armor as opposed to without it. The weight at the shoulders did not matter much, it was the restrictions on the arms and legs that made it harder.

"How do you think we should do this?" the young Claymore asked.

"I'm not certain," Sylvia considered. "Tyrin, can you think of a method that might be effective?"

"I'm not much for swimming you know," the soldier shook her head.

"We still need to be able to go quickly," Sylvia noted, laying out the pieces. "In order to avoid the effects of the cold. We should distribute the weight as well, and Tyrin must stay above water. It will not be like simply carrying a person," she recognized. "The armor means she will not have buoyancy of her own." She recalled a sailor explaining something of how that worked once, though the details were gone from her memory.

"Could we carry her with linked arms?" Racquel wondered.

"I don't think so," the older warrior shook her head slowly. "It would be too much strain. Perhaps we simply need to stay as close as possible. Tyrin could hang by an arm wrapped around out sword-hilts. Those should be the highest points."

"Let's just try it," Tyrin's voice was filled with irritation. "In case you hadn't noticed this water's cold."

"Right," Racquel sank down fully, immersing herself and beginning to float in place.

Sylvia did likewise, and adjusted to the balance of it. As she had expected the weight of metal on her arms and legs made movement slow, but she could manage. The strength on her motions was enough to help maintain her head above water. Then Tyrin settled down upon them, with Sylvia on the left and Racquel on the right. The weight of the human woman seemed immense, and briefly Sylvia founded as the two warriors were pulled together by armored arms. Then she drew upon her strength and found her balance again. Racquel was very close now, their armor almost rubbing together and scraping up against Tyrin's.

"Let's try moving," she grunted, exerting the power of a half-human half-yoma's muscles. It was not easy, but there was enough space between them to manage a decent swimming motion, and even Tyrin did her best to kick along and propel them, so they managed to move, but it seemed terribly slow.

Suddenly Sylvia felt the water rush past her face faster, and everything seemed easier, as if they were receiving additional propulsion. Startled she lost her focus and shifted, dumping Tyrin fully into the water.

The human woman gasped and thrashed to the surface, struggling to get her feet under her in the muddy riverbed.

Feeling suddenly afraid Sylvia reached out and grasped the woman by the shoulders and held her up.

Only then, having turned about, did she notice the soaking wet visage of Jessica in the water with them.

"Better if I push," was all the single-digit said.

"Enough," Tyrin's face was red, perhaps from anger, perhaps from cold. "Fine, fine, FINE! I'll do it, but let's go and dry off already!"

That turned out to be easier said than done, as they had no spare cloth or other substance to use as a towel. In the end they had to make a very small fire under the trees and behind a hill in order to dry off, taking care to have it be smokeless. Grimly Tyrin cooked dinner for herself, eating heartily. When Sylvia asked about her large appetite she replied that it was never wise to go into battle hungry. I wonder if that's true? It's never something I've had to worry about after all.

"We'll try to cross shortly before dawn," Jessica set out the final instructions. "Everyone swims together. We get to the shore and attack the Black Wings. Tyrin, you will find their commander, he should be struck down first."

"Right," the soldier clearly understood.

"We will sow chaos, but we mustn't pursue," Jessica's voice brooked no arguments. "Within a count of one hundred and fifty we need to be in the open between the town and docks, slightly upstream."

"What if the humans haven't broken that quickly?" Racquel questioned.

"Then run, as fast as you can. Meet back at the mountain camp of two days ago." Jessica explained, and Sylvia nodded. She understood very well that if they could not break up the humans they'd have no chance against and awakened one and yoma together, not while dodging crossbow bolts. "Once the humans are done Tyrin will stay back, Sylvia, Racquel, deal with yoma. I'll handle the awakened one until you can support me."

It was perhaps more than Jessica had ever said all at once to them, and when she stopped speaking she showed no intention to elaborate. There was really no need for questions anyway. The single digit had given them their orders and now the hunt was on.

In the soft gray darkness before the dawn four women slipped into the water upstream of the docks, having taken their best guesses on current and speed so they would drift in and not past their target.

Looking directly at the distant docks Sylvia waited only long enough to feel Tyrin's armored weight settle over her before she began to swim with all the force she could muster, knowing Racquel to her right was doing the same. Jessica's strong push shortly came from behind.

Little waves, cast about by a slight wind, lapped around and occasionally over them as they made the steady crossing. The cold of the water had no effect on the half-human half-yoma warrior, but she was fit with worry for the armored human on her back. Tyrin said nothing, but at some point during the crossing her teeth began to chatter in the cold.

Please, please, be alright, Sylvia would not forgive herself if Tyrin could not go on after this cold dunking, never mind the consequences for the coming battle. She started to feel the other woman's shivering as tiny shifts in her sheathed claymore, and guilt swept over her. We should not have forced this upon her. It is too much of a sacrifice to ask, and Tyrin owes us nothing, we are the ones who owe her everything. Redoubling her efforts Sylvia pushed on faster and faster, drawing every closer to the shore, the current carrying her to her goal. This will work, and we will win, I won't allow anything else to happen. An awakened being is our mistake. I won't have Tyrin be sacrificed to our failures.

The sled orange edge of light signifying the coming of dawn broke over the mountains just as they reached the edge of the docks. Jessica pushed a shallowly gasping Tyrin onto the wooden planks with care, and then the three Claymores followed.

"Quiet," Jessica whispered in the still dim surroundings. A light fog had emerged from the river to cloak them, but it would be foolish to rely upon it.

Two men stood guard near the impounded ferry only a stone's throw downstream from them. Jessica motioned to Racquel.

The young warrior dashed down, far faster than the Black Wings could react. Her arms shot out, grabbing faces, covering mouth and nose, and lifting high. They squirmed and twitched for long moments, as the others looked on, but then at last eyes rolled back in sockets and the two men were still. Slowly Racquel lowered them back down.

"Those are the only guards who can see us here," Sylvia noted, speaking as low as she could.

Infinitely more composed than she had been only moments ago, Tyrin nodded curtly, and drew her blade. "Time to attack."

"Yes," Jessica confirmed. "This alliance ends here."

Moving back together, the group advanced on the still unaware mercenaries, weapons ready.

Chapter Notes: I use 'counts' to reference time in this chapter for two reasons: the first being that the world of Claymore doesn't seem to have a canonically established system of measures, and the second because it seems more logical that a medieval society would render something like speeds in such a method, especially for very short timeframes.

Obviously this is a rather substantial cliffhanger, but things are moving to the big finish now.