I took stock of what I had to fight with as Kaylan and I ran toward danger. My spear, which would likely be my best weapon in close range combat, unless there was absolutely no room to maneuver. Also, if the fish were stuck below the walkways I wouldn’t be able to use it unless I wanted to throw it once and lose it forever. My sling and stones would be the best option then, but the stones were limited. I had a pouch full and no way to easily replace them while we were in the delta. My knife was my last resort. I had the least amount of practice with it and if the fish got close enough for me to use it then things would have gone horribly wrong. Never mind the fact that I didn’t want the fishes’ yellow blood all over the blade I used to eat if I could help it.
My pack would help protect my back but I didn’t have the cap or padded coat Mishtaw had us wear when fighting the fish on the shore. Just my tunic, pants, shoes, and cloak to ward off the cold season chill, not it bothered me as much since I earned my last boon. Perhaps with all the fighting around I should’ve had the foresight to bring and wear the protective clothing, but I had been counting on stealth and the raised walkways to protect me from the worst of the trouble rather than running straight for it.
Kaylan was in a similar situation. She had the three standard weapons, no true protective gear, and the standard whisper woman outfit that consisted of a black and gray dress, wide belt, and dark blue jacket that didn’t seem like the best outfit to fight in. Perhaps if she had been in the Peacekeepers sect she would’ve had clothes more suited to fighting, but as it was she didn’t even seem to notice that we weren’t prepared for fight a horde of fish.
But, perhaps, it wasn’t that she didn’t care, only that we didn’t have a way to avoid fighting the fish. I heard the battle before I saw it and that was enough to make my blood run cold. It sounded nothing like the fight we had seen on our way to the Water Frond Snake.
That fight had minimal noise. Yelling orders, sounds of effort, the churning of water as the fish tried to break through the net and the wet slap of their bodies being dumped onto the killing field. Everything, while not peaceful, had the air of routine.
This fight we were running towards sounded like anything but. There were screams of pain and shock, multiple people yelling—trying to regain order—and the slap and thump of close quarter combat. Combat that should’ve been the more rhythmic beat of ranged fighting.
Shock of my own slowed my steps as the fighting came into view. Somehow, one of the walkways had broken free and was now hanging limply into the water below—providing a perfect passage to the tribesfolk’s defenses for all the fish trying to swarm up it. A group of ten or so stood at the top of the broken walkway and were doing their best to kill or shove off any of the fish that made it to them, but there was only room for three of them to stand shoulder to shoulder while the rest had to try to fit their attacks around the front line defenders. One saving grace for the defenders was that the fish were not good climbers. The broken path’s incline was just steep enough to keep most of the churning horde in water, but for every fish that fell there were two or three or five to replace it and try their luck at overwhelming the defenses.
Just past the defenders was another pair of tribesfolk, one whose right leg was bent at a bad angle and the other had a head wound that was bleeding freely down his face while the injured woman started to wrap his head with a bandage. My fingers itched to do it myself and set her leg, but I tore my gaze back to the fighting. That wasn’t my role any more. Stopping the fish was.
As long as the new ramp was in place it would be impossible to get the fish to stop swarming it, but it also wasn’t a simple matter to snap off the part still attached and be done with it.
The walkways had been made with the same bramble as Bramble Watch, and it was sturdy, thick. Not easy to cut or saw through without dedication and effort. That served it well as the protective shell that allowed the tribesfolk to live in the delta, but less so when it had to be broken for their benefit. Especially when there was a horde of fish trying to beat you skull in at the same time.
Kaylan and I shared a look. I said, “Contact Ana.” A pause before I added, “Get Juniper.”
Better her to send the messages than me. I wasn’t sure what extra boon she had gotten during her wind whispering trial, but I knew that she had the experience to make sure her whispers got where they needed to go and half the time I wasn’t sure if mine went further than my own lips. Something to practice, but not now.
I raced forward, whistled to let the tribesfolk know they had company, and took a note out of Ingrasia’s mentorship. As soon as I got a few steps away from the back of the group I hauled myself up onto the pathway’s railing and hurried forward before any of them had a mind to stop me.
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The regular path might have been blocked, but it was easy for me to reach where the walkway suddenly sloped downward on the unused railing. It gave me a slight appreciation for Ingrasia’s penchant to stand on the highest thing around, no matter how narrow. If I could walk or run as easily as her on such spaces, rather than the awkward shuffle step I did to not fall, I could reach all sorts of places easier.
Part of me, the blood pounding, adrenaline filled part, was ready to take my spear and rush forward to attack any fish in range, but the tribesfolk had the two that had reached them handled and I didn’t want to risk tripping them up with an unexpected attack that wasn’t needed. Besides, if I really was going to be one of the Chosen I had to be smarter than that.
My best option was to slow down the horde further until the Water Frond Snake arrived and got rid of the lot of them. Then, ideally, we could communicate to Juniper to tear off the broken walkway before she kept going after the horde. If not, then we’d have to somehow cut it off before the swarm reformed.
I almost reached for my sling, but there was no telling how long we’d have to hold out for, and wasting the shots now wouldn’t help anything but make me feel like I was doing something.
The middle woman shoved the fish off her spear so it tumbled back down the ramp—taking out another couple fish—and would have stumbled down after it if not for her buddy pulling her back from the edge. The middle woman fell back in the formation and a different woman took her place. Looking closer at all of them, they were all exhausted and barely keeping their focus. Which wasn’t surprising given the sheer toll trying to keep up with the horde was taking on the Swirling Waters Tribe, but it was telling.
If something didn’t change soon, something more than Juniper rampaging around the delta as the Water Frond Snake, then exhaustion was going to win the delta for the fish more than anything else. Mistakes that would never happen with rested fighters would pile onto other mistakes and poor fighting that was also the result of little rest.
I eyed the broken walkway. These fighters needed a break and it wouldn’t hurt to have longer an whistle to coordinate with them. I just needed something so the fish couldn’t climb up as they pleased.
The root wall that protected the base camp on the shore rose up in my mind. It had been slick with some kind of oil that made it nearly impossible to climb. I didn’t have anything that could cover the entire fallen walkway but surely—
The fish had been driven away with ice then. I couldn’t flash freeze the walkway like the High Priestess had the shore, but there was plenty of snow around on branches and the edges of the walkways that weren’t walked on as much. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would be something slick to impede the fish even further.
I faced the tribesfolk as they killed off the second fish threatening their line and Kaylan hurried up behind them. To their credit, despite their exhaustion and two unexpected whisper women flanking them, those at the front kept their attention on the fish while the rest split their focus between Kaylan and me. Some mixture of hope and distrust showed on every single face.
“I’m Gimley. I’ve been working with Tribe Master Toniva to help you hold back the horde.” As I talked I pulled my sling and a stone free from the pouch on my belt. “Kaylan has informed the Tribe Master of your predicament. We will hold the line while you rest in shifts.” I spun sling and stone and nailed the fish closest to the top right in the head. It flopped backward and took another fish down with it. “Those not resting should gather up snow and dump it down this new ramp. That should help slow down the fish until we get this taken care of.”
They stared at me, clearly torn between listening to some young whisper woman and their pride. Then one of the injured people let out a stifled cry of pain and someone in the back of the group hurried over to them. That seemed to break the indecision over the rest of them as they all moved to shuffle out of Kaylan’s way and I dropped down from the railing to cover the left side of the pathway.
I put my sling away and pulled my spear free as one of the defenders paused by my side. “It broke without warning. We…lost a few that got caught in the fall. The fish came at the same time. Not sure how they broke through the perimeter, but it was like they knew where to go.”
I frowned. “How long ago was this?”
She shrugged. “An hour, maybe less. We were coming back from our shift on the perimeter and then it was all we could do to hold the fish at bay.”
“Go rest. We don’t want the fish on the walkways any more than you do.”
She nodded tiredly and joined the rest of her group. I noticed they sent one person off in the direction of Bramble Watch, but I couldn’t fault them for that. Likely, they weren’t sure if they could trust our wind whispers and Tribe Master Toniva getting a first hand account of the situation would only add to the urgency that she needed to take the steps to lure Juniper here.
I stabbed the next fish to reach me in the eye with my spear while Kaylan finished up with another on her side. Staring down at the constantly shifting waters around the broken walkway, I was glad that most of the fish were either too preoccupied or too poor of climbers to come at us en masse, though it did beg the question why the horde wasn’t doing more to overrun our position. A question I wouldn’t be able to answer while the water looked like it was boiling from their movements.
My world narrowed to killing fish after fish while the occasional armful of snow was tossed past my shoulder. The tribesfolk had listened to my poor plan and I was pleased to see more than one fish slide back down to the water due their efforts without me having to do a thing.
This certainly wasn’t what I had planned when I set out from Bramble Watch, but we couldn’t allow the tribesfolk main defenses get overrun by fish. That would put everyone in the delta at risk. All I could hope as I stabbed and shoved another fish down the incline was that Juniper was coherent enough to help with the broken walkway.