Short Story - "Saranen"

Mira sat where she liked to sit, looking out over the winter pasture below her, pale grey sheep dotted around a deeper grey landscape as the dusk rolled in, before its time under the thick cloud. She sat on her favourite perch, where the gentle slope of the pasture started to give way to the rougher slopes of the moor above, and the first of the rocky outcrops of the steeper slope gave her something firm to sit on away from the wet ground. The valley side reached out above her, protecting her from the worst of the wind as it blew the clouds in from the north-west. Although the rain was coming down even here in the shelter of the hill, under her wide-brimmed waxed hat and long coat, she barely noticed it. One of the men of the family should be out to relieve her of her watch by now, but they knew as she did that she was happy to sit out here for hours in the rain and darkness, and they were not, so they had come to an agreement over the years that when a watch was needed, Mira would do more of it, and the men would do more of the tasks that could be done from within the farm buildings. The curl of smoke rising from the house off at the left end of the pasture, and the lack of light around the shuttered windows, showed that they were warm and dry at the moment.

A watch hadn't been needed for years, but since the push up the Karela valley had been first resisted and then repulsed, the enemy had become more confident, and their raids had pushed Seria back to near the Resa valley, where Mira's farm lay. She looked over the pasture to the Resa river, running gently through it and down to the main Tara a mile or two downstream; then, up the Tara to the one source of light in the dull grey scene, the fort in the Tara valley over her right shoulder, just before the Tara disappeared behind the hillside. Unprotected stock had been taken only a mile above that fort, so all the farms in the valley watched their stock and kept an alert horn with them.

That fort, originally built as an outpost fifty years before, had been unused for twenty when Mira was growing up. She'd played there with the other children in the valley, fighting mock battles in its yard and spotting birds and animals from its tower. Reno had always loved those fighting games, and when they were older, she'd sit and watch him fight with his friends, then talk about it with him afterwards. Now, with the militia needed again, he was back in that tower and that barrack, and the game was far more important.

She sat there, alone, looking out at the fort and thinking of the future, when Reno would come back to her.

Eventually, Jano came out from the farm, nothing more than a faint lantern light in the deep darkness of night. Like every night, he came up to where she sat, took the horn as she got up and passed it to him, and he sat on the next section of rock. He said nothing, a companionable silence, and she set off towards the farmhouse down the dark path.

Reno stood where he liked to stand, looking out over the valley below him, a few square patches of open pasture dotted around a darker green landscape under the greyness of a winter sky. He stood in his favourite place, looking out between the crenellations of the tower's parapet, the stonework on the left side where he was leaning protecting him from the worst of the wind as it skimmed over the top of the tower. Although it wasn't raining this evening, he wore his hat from habit, and he wrapped his coat around him tightly for protection from the wind. Reno's shift on watch had ended, but the other men of the militia knew that he was happy to stand up here on the top of the tower for hours in the cold, and they were not, so they had come to an agreement that he would extend his shift on watch, and they would take on his equipment maintenance and other tasks inside the militia buildings.

As usual in the early winter, the view up the Tara valley showed more movement in the clouds in the sky than in anything on the ground. Watch duty gave Reno a lot of time to look down over the pasture and the woodland of the valley, and the moorland on the valley sides, as the tower was taller than the trees. He spent his time watching birds in the trees and the stock in the fields, when farmers were confident enough to use those north of the fort. This evening, only the cleared common land in front of the village wall had any sheep out, and the wildlife wasn't bothering to move where Reno could see it. Even for him, this watch was not an exciting one, as they often weren't at this time of year. As the dusk started to fall, he wondered about going below and taking on his cleaning shift, though as usual, he didn't do so.

Then there was movement down below. At the edge of the woodland, where it came close to the wall, some dark shapes were moving under the trees. Deer didn't usually come so close to the fort. Reno straightened up and got himself as good a view as he could from the height of the tower, but it didn't make much difference. He looked over to Sano, his partner on this shift, who was watching the western view.

"Hey, Sano." He called him over. "What do you think of that", pointing down at the trees. "Something's moving down there."

Sano joined him at the parapet and looked down. At that moment, the shapes made it much easier to see them by moving out, quickly and quietly, onto the common land and towards the wall. People, in dark clothing, not of the Serian style. The wall, built from hillside outcrop to the river, was actually a wooden palisade for most of its length, including the point where the raiders were running to its base, and if they'd brought rope, they could be over it fast. Sano pulled up the small field horn from his belt, looked back at Reno, who nodded, and blew an alert for the central section. The high clear notes were soon replicated by the louder, lower notes of the larger instrument downstairs. The people at the wall paid no attention; they did have rope, and one was trying to get a loop onto the top of the palisade. Reno hurried below to the officers' room to report what he'd seen.

"Saranen." Raiders. "Four or five, at least. They're going to climb the wooden wall." His squad was on standby duty, so he ran out from the watchtower to the barrack to join them and get his equipment – he was already wearing his armoured undercoat and the short sword on his belt, and collected the back-spear in its over-the-shoulder holder and off-hand shield to go with them. The rest of the squad were preparing as well, and he had to hurry to fasten the neckpiece and helmet so as not to delay them. Out into the dusk they ran, after the commands of the squad lead, to confront the saranen.

Mira sat on her favourite perch, looking out over her flock in the valley as the grey sky deepened into dusk. The slope above her kept the wind away from her, and the long coat kept her warm and comfortable. One of the men should be out to relieve her soon, but she didn't expect that for some time yet.

Then she heard it: carrying clearly on the wind from the fort, the notes of the alert horn. She didn't know the exact alert calls, but it was one which meant enemies near the settlement, not yet one of the calls that warned of enemies in the inner valley that would mean she had to get the stock in. Still, she worried – how many were there, would they rush past the fort into the inner valley, was Reno going to have to go out and fight them? She stood up and looked out towards the fort, but from this distance and in the failing light she could see nothing unusual. After maybe quarter of an hour, she heard the all clear rolling across the valley, and relaxed.

A little time later, she saw a light bobbing across the fields from the direction of the fort and the village. Someone coming out to the farm. It was almost fully dark now, and Mira could only make out the faint impression of a dark shape behind the light as it moved across the field below her towards the house. A few minutes later, she saw a light coming up from the farm towards her. That would be Jano coming to take part of the night watch.

It was Jano, but he wasn't alone. The lamplight lit up the metal edgings of the militia kit of the man with him. Jano stopped, hesitantly, a few yards from Mira. He looked across to the other man, who spoke to her, softly.

"Mira?" It was Tauren's voice. "Please come back to the house with me."

Mira looked at him, and Jano, but she couldn't see their expressions in the light. "What's wrong?" Something must be. Tauren was from the militia ... "Reno?" she asked.

"Please come back with me", Tauren said again. With a sinking feeling in her heart she handed the horn to Jano and let herself be escorted back to the house.