Dwyrain I

My last post was an idea... this is that idea realised. Enjoy.

Sellec stood to attention as the mounted officer passed, he waited until the hoof beats echoed from the closed streets, before he sank back against the wall his blewyn across his knees as he grated his whet stone along the blade to hone its edge.
Sellec had been a guard for eighteen months, two weeks, three days, and some four hours. He had come from a long line of warriors and as was the custom in the great city he’d followed his father into the guard. However Sellec was a poor soldier, he was good so much as he could fight well and was physically able, but he was too intelligent to just follow orders and to poor to gain a rank. It did not bother Sellec that he was constantly reprimanded for questioning and order. The guard, though well train and well equipped were largely a token force, the great walls of Dwyrain had never fallen even with the yearly skirmishes and sieges by the Llwyth tribesmen, those banished from the city and their descendants living out on the desolate western plains. They hated the city dwellers of the great city, whose walls surrounded half a continent.
Most residents of Dwyrain, lived in their white marble houses or tilled the fields in the farmers quarter or those high up who dwelt in ‘Castell’, the walled garden; the citadel those rose above all other buildings in the centre of the city. The average citizen never saw the faces of the tribesmen shot down every year by the Dolen of the men on the walls as they ran forward with their siege ladders; never saw the looks of desperation and anger as they threw away their lives against the walls.
Sellec finished with the whet stone and replaced it in the pouch on his belt, he lifted the blade to his eye line, it was sharp. There was still an hour to go of his watch, he replaced the Blewyn in the scabbard on his back and drew the Ochri from the scabbard on his thigh. Sellec carried the weapons he felt comfortable with as did most of the guards; upon enlisting each man was given a breast plate of tanned leather and a long spear though few kept the weapon. Sellec carried both Blewyn, a long curved sword that was wielded in two hands and the Ochri, a short straight sword for stabbing in close quarters. In battle he also carried a Tarian, a light shield metal round shield though he left it in the barracks for guard duty.
He sighted along the blade of the short sword, it was sharp already, he cursed and sheathed it. He stood, stretched his back and removed the stiffness from his legs. He stood at his post; shoulder against the wall his thoughts on Prisima, the young daughter of the barkeep of the ‘west wall’ tavern. He smiled at the thought of her curves and her full breasts as the sweat trickled down his body in the mid day sun.


Jarren lay in the dim purple light of the tent. It was hot out on the plain, even naked he could feel the prickle of heat on his skin. His woman Sumeris lay in front of him, the soft skin of her back pressed against him. His hands stroked her swollen belly, slipping up her body to her breasts.
Hr longed to make love to her, but the babe was dun in the next few days and she had refused him only the other evening. She rolled into him, they kissed, their lips lingered for a second before he stared into the enchanting green of her eyes and embraced her.

Two days before she had been his world, her and their child. The delegation had arrived the morning before however and torn his dreams asunder. They were planning a new attack, all the settlements attacking together under one leader, to try to breach the walls and take the east of the city. Jarren’s father pledged forty men, Jerran among them. They were to meet at the next full moon at an agreed meeting place with all the provisions and weapons they’d need. Jarren was loathe to leave the settlement; he knew there was little chance of returning.
The last attack on the city two years before had been a massacre, Jarren had watched from afar through his fathers spy glass. None of the tribesmen had reached the walls; they had all been slain by the Dolen of the men on the walls. Jarren’s uncle, the reason why his family were exiles had been killed by a bolt through the eye.

She kissed his neck, he moaned softly and lay back, she moved to his chest, He lost himself in his lust, he would think of the attack another time. They kissed again, and finally she gave in he lay her down on the rug, stared into her eyes and smiled.

Sophia:II

She followed the path that she’d cleared over the past few days. It had once been an animal trail, so she needed little effort to remove the few newly grown vines and stray branches and she made sure that there was no evidence that a human has passed there. As she neared the research facility she could hear the low rumble and hum of the generators, powered by and underground geothermal station. She knew this from the blue prints she’d seen, acquired at great risk by deep cover agents, she sent a silent prayer to those men and women in the north and continued to slip through the undergrowth. From where she crouched now, she could see the mesh fence that served as a deterrent, its watch towers, one positioned at each corner, strafed their spotlights across the killing zone of scrub grass before them.

She took one last deep breath, let her hands slip to her thighs and gripped the two .9mms.
Now she ran, she covered the fifty or so meters that had separated her from the tower in a heart beat and lay panting her back to the support leg. She hoped that the guards stationed above her had been preoccupied and were not just waiting for her to reappear.

From a pocket on her calf she produced a small pair of wire cutters and cut a hole at the bottom of the fence just big enough for her to slip through. On the other side replaced the cutters and holstered one of her pistols. She could hear the barking of a dog not far off the clink of chain and the heavy breathing of a guard, as he wheezed his way through a cigarette. She looked up at the concrete walls and saw the air vent she ran up the wall kicking out when she reached the correct height then back flipping back to her feet. The physical exertion left her feeling sick but she reached up and scrambled into the little space as she heard the dog round the corner a growl rolling in its throat.

She took another deep breath; that had been the bit she was most dreading, but it had been so easy. Why? She began the slow crawl, through the vents. Thankfully they were blissfully cool due to the humid jungle day. Sophia’s movements were slow and deliberate and she crawled, eve the slightest sound would be heard on the other side of the vent, and who knew who’d here. She reached the correct junction, which way now?

She mouthed an obscenity, she thought it was left but could not be sure, after a few moments deliberation she stuck with her instincts, crawled down the vents and past another two junctions, going straight on each time, and then she reached the grate hoping it was the right one.

The room below was dark, she could see nothing, there should be no one here at this time, the scientists had flown back the day before and the next lot weren’t due for three days. She reached in her pocket and found one of the two flares she’d been given, twisted the top and dropped it through the gate. The red light fizzled to life, and illuminated the huge laboratory.