CHAPTER XLVI. MEN MEET IN THE MARKET OF SILVER-STEAD.
SO sang they; but Face-of-god went with Red-wolf, who was hurt sorely,but not deadly, and led him back toward the place just under the break ofthe bent; and there he found Bow-may in the hands of the women who weretending her hurts. She smiled on him from a pale face as he drew nigh,and he looked kindly at her, but he might not abide there, for haste wasin his feet. He left Red-wolf to the tending of the women, and clomb thebent hastily, and when he deemed he was high enough, he looked about him;and somewhat more than half an hour had worn since Bow-may had sped thefirst shaft against the Dusky Men.
He looked down into the Market-stead, and deemed he could see that nighthe Mote-house the Dusky Men were gathering into some better order; butthey were no longer drifting toward the southern bents, but were standinground about the altar as men abiding somewhat; and he deemed that theyhad gotten more bowshot than before, and that most of them bare bows.Though so many had been slain in the battles of the southern bents, yetwas the Market-stead full of them, so to say, for others had come theretoin place of those that had fallen.
But now as he looked arose mighty clamour amongst them; and a little westof the Altar was a stir and a hurrying onward and around as in the eddiesof a swift stream. Face-of-god wotted not what was betiding there, buthe deemed that they were now ware of the onfall of Folk-might andHall-face and the men of Burgdale, for their faces were all turned towhere that was to be looked for.
So he turned and looked on the road to the east of him, where had beenthe battle of the Steer, but now it was all gone down toward theMarket-place, and he could but hear the clamour of it; but nought he sawthereof, because of the houses that hid it.
Then he cast his eyes on the road that entered the Market-stead from thenorth, and he saw thereon many men gathered; and he wotted not what theywere; for though there were weapons amongst them, yet were they not allweaponed, as far as he could see.
Now as he looked this way and that, and deemed that he must tarry nolonger, but must enter into the courts of the houses before him and makehis way into the Market-stead, lo! a change in the throng of DuskyWarriors nigh the Mote-house, and the ordered bands about the Altar fellto drifting toward the western way with one accord, with great noise andhurry and fierce cries of wrath. Then made Face-of-god no delay, but randown the bent at once, and at the break of it came upon Bow-may standingupright and sword in hand; and as he passed, she joined herself to him,and said: ‘What new tidings now, Gold-mane?’
‘Tidings of battle!’ he cried; ‘tidings of victory! Folk-might hathfallen on, and the Dusky Men run hastily to meet him. Hark, hark!’
For as he spoke came a great noise of horns, and Bow-may said: ‘What hornis that blowing?’
He stayed not, but shouted aloud: ‘For the Face, for the Face! Now willwe fall upon their backs!’
Therewith was he come to his company, and he cried out to them: ‘Heard yethe horn, heard ye the horn? Now follow me into the Market-place; muchis yet to do!’
Even therewith came the sound of other horns, and all men were silent amoment, and then shouted all together, for the Wood-landers knew it forthe horn of the Shepherds coming on by the eastward way.
But Face-of-god waved his sword aloft and set on at once, and theyfollowed and gat them through the courts of the houses and their passagesinto the Market-place. There they found more room than they looked tofind; for the foemen had drawn away on the left hand toward the battle ofFolk-might, and on the right hand toward the battle of the Steer; andgreat was the noise and cry that came thence.
Now stood Face-of-god under the two banners of the Wolf in theMarket-place of Silver-stead, and scarce had he time to be high-hearted,for needs must he ponder in his mind what thing were best to do. For onthe left hand he deemed the foe was the strongest and best ordered; butthere also were the kindreds the doughtiest, and it was little like thatthe felons should overcome the spear-casters of the Face and theglaive-bearers of the Sickle, and the bowmen of the Vine: there also werethe wisest leaders, as the stark elder Stone-face, and the tallHall-face, and his father of the unshaken heart, and above allFolk-might, fierce in his wrath, but his anger burning steady and clear,like the oaken butt on the hearth of the hall.
Then as his mind pictured him amongst the foe, it made therewith anotherpicture of the slender warrior Sun-beam caught in the tangle of battle,and longing for him and calling for him amidst the hard hand-play. Andthereat his face flushed, and all his body waxed hot, and he was on thevery point of leading the onset against the foe on the left. Buttherewith he bethought him of the bold men of the Steer and the Bridgeand the Bull weary with much fighting; and he remembered also that theBride was amongst them and fighting, it might be, amidst the foremost,and if she were slain how should he ever hold up his head again. Hebethought him also that the Shepherds, who had fallen on by the easternroad, valiant as they were, were scarce so well armed or so well led asthe others. Therewithal he bethought him (and again it came like apicture into his mind) of falling on the foemen by whom the southernbattle was beset, and then the twain of them meeting the Shepherds, andlastly, all those three companies joined together clearing theMarket-place, and meeting the men under Folk-might in the midst thereof.
Therefore, scant had he been pondering these things in his mind for aminute ere he cried out: ‘Blow up horns, blow up! forward banners, andfollow me, O valiant men! to the helping of the Steer, the Bridge, andthe Bull; deep have they thrust into the Dusky Throng, and belike arehard pressed. Hark how the clamour ariseth from their besetters! Onnow, on!’
Therewith hung a star of sunlight on his sword as he raised it aloft, andthe Wolf-whoop rang out terribly in the Market-place, for now had theWoodlanders also learned it, and the hearts of the foemen sank as theyheard the might and the mass thereof. Then the battle of the Woodlandersswept round and fell upon the flank of them who were besetting thekindreds, as an iron bar smiteth the soft fir-wood; and they of thekindreds heard their cry, but faintly and confusedly, so great was theturmoil of battle about them.
Now once more was Bow-may by the side of Face-of-god; and if she had notthe might of the mightiest, yet had she the deftness of the deftest. Andnow was she calm and cool, shielding herself with a copper-bossed target,and driving home the point of her sharp sword; white was her face, andher eyes glittered amidst it, and she seemed to men like to those onwhose heads the Warrior hath laid the Holy Bread.
As to Wood-wise, he had given the Banner of the red-jawed Wolf toStone-wolf, a huge and dreadful warrior some forty winters old, who hadfought in the Great Overthrow, and now hewed down the Dusky Men, wieldinga heavy short-sword left-handed. But Wood-wise himself fought with agreat sword, giving great strokes to the right hand and the left, and wasno more hasty than is the hewer in the winter wood.
Face-of-god fought wisely and coldly now, and looked more to warding hisfriends than destroying his foes, and both to Bow-may and Wood-wise hissword was a shield; for oft he took the life from the edge of theupraised axe, and stayed the point of the foeman in mid-air.
Even so wisely fought the whole band of the Woodlanders and the Wolves,who got within smiting space of the foe; for they had no will to castaway their lives when assured victory was so nigh to them. Sooth to say,the hand-play was not so hard to them as it had been betwixt the bent andthe houses; for the Dusky Men were intent on dealing with the men of thekindreds from the southern road, who stood war-wearied before them; andthey were hewing and casting at them, and baying and yelling like dogs;and though they turned about to meet the storm of the Woodlanders, yettheir hearts failed them withal, and they strove to edge away frombetwixt those two fearful scythes of war, fighting as men fleeing, not asmen in onset. But still the Woodlanders and the Wolves came on, hewingand thrusting, smiting down the foemen in heaps, till the Dusky Thronggrew thin, and the staves of the Dalesmen and their bright banners in themorning sun were clear to see, and at last their very faces, kindly andfamiliar, wo
rn and strained with the stress of battle, or laughingwildly, or pale with the fury of the fight. Then rose up to the heavensthe blended shout of the Woodlanders and the Dalesmen, and now there wasnought of foemen betwixt them save the dead and the wounded.
Then Face-of-god thrust his sword into its sheath all bloody as it was,and strode over the dead men to where Hall-ward stood under the banner ofthe Steer, and cast his arms about the old carle, and kissed him for joyof the victory. But Hall-ward thrust him aback and looked him in theface, and his cheeks were pale and his lips clenched, and his eyeshaggard and staring, and he said in a harsh voice:
‘O young man, she is dead! I saw her fall. The Bride is dead, and thouhast lost thy troth-plight maiden. O death, death to the Dusky Men!’
Then grew Face-of-god as pale as a linen sleeve, and all the new-comersgroaned and cried out. But a bystander said: ‘Nay, nay, it is nought sobad as that; she is hurt, and sorely; but she liveth yet.’
Face-of-god heard him not. He forgot Dale-warden lying in his sheath,and he saw that the last speaker had a great wood-axe broad and heavy inhis hand, so he cried: ‘Man, man, thine axe!’ and snatched it from him,and turned about to the foe again, and thrust through the ranks,suffering none to stay him till all his friends were behind and all hisfoes before him. And as he burst forth from the ranks waving his axealoft, bare-headed now, his yellow hair flying abroad, his mouth cryingout, ‘Death, death, death to the Dusky Men!’ fear of him smote theirhearts, and they howled and fled before him as they might; for they saidthat the Dalesmen had prayed their Gods into the battle. But not so fastcould they flee but he was presently amidst them, smiting down all abouthim, and they so terror-stricken that scarce might they raise a handagainst him. All that blended host followed him mad with wrath andvictory, and as they pressed on, they heard behind them the horns andwar-cries of the Shepherds falling on from the east. Nought they heededthat now, but drave on a fearful storm of war, and terrible was theslaughter of the Felons.
It was but a few minutes ere they had driven them up against that greatstack of faggots that had been dight for the burnt-offering of men, andmany of the felons had mounted up on to it, and now in their anguish offear were shooting arrows and casting spears on all about them, heedinglittle if they were friend or foe. Now were the men of the kindreds atpoint to climb this twiggen burg; but by this time the fury ofFace-of-god had run clear, and he knew where he was and what he wasdoing; so he stayed his folk, and cried out to them: ‘Forbear, climb not!let the torch help the sword!’ And therewith he looked about and saw thefire-pot which had been set down there for the kindling of the bale-fire,and the coals were yet red in it; so he snatched up a dry brand andlighted it thereat, and so did divers others, and they thrust them amongthe faggots, and the fire caught at once, and the tongues of flame beganto leap from faggot to faggot till all was in a light low; for the woodhad been laid for that very end, and smeared with grease and oil so thatthe burning to the god might be speedy.
But the fierceness of the kindreds heeded not the fire, nor overmuch themen who leapt down from the stack before it, but they left all behindthem, faring straight toward the western outgate from the Market-stead;and Face-of-god still led them on; though by now he was wholly come tohis right mind again, albeit the burden of sorrow yet lay heavy on hisheart. He had broken his axe, and had once more drawn Dale-warden fromhis sheath, and many felt his point and edge.
But now, as they chased, came a rush of men upon them again, as though anew onset were at hand. That saw Face-of-god and Hall-ward and War-well,and other wise leaders of men, and they bade their folk forbear thechase, and lock their ranks to meet the onfall of this new wave offoemen. And they did so, and stood fast as a wall; but lo! the onrushthat drave up against them was but a fleeing shrieking throng, and nolonger an array of warriors, for many had cast away their weapons, andwere rushing they knew not whither; for they were being thrust on thebitter edges of Face-of-god’s companies by the terror of the fleers fromthe onset of the men of the Face, the Sickle, and the Vine, whomHall-face and Stone-face were leading, along with Folk-might. Then onceagain the men of Face-of-god gave forth the whoop of victory, and pressedforward again, hewing their way through the throng of fleers, but turningnot to chase to the right or the left; while at their backs came on theShepherd-folk, who had swept down all that withstood them; for now indeedwas the Market-stead getting thinner of living men.
So led the War-leader his ordered ranks, till at last over the tangledcrowd of runaways he saw the banners of the Burg and the Face flashingagainst the sun, and heard the roar of the kindreds as they drave thechase towards them. Then he lifted up his sword, and stood still, andall the host behind him stayed and cast a huge shout up to the heavens,and there they abode the coming of the other Dalesmen.
But the War-leader sent a message to Hound-under-Greenbury, bidding himlead the Shepherds to the chase of the Dusky Men, who were now allfleeing toward the northern outgate of the Market. Howbeit he called tomind the throng he had seen on the northern road before they were comeinto the Market-stead, and deemed that way also death awaited the foemen,even if the men of the kindreds forbore them.
But presently the space betwixt the Woodlanders and the men of the Facewas clear of all but the dead, so that friend saw the face of friend; andit could be seen that the warriors of the Face were ruddy and smiling forjoy, because the battle had been easy to them, and but few of them hadfallen; for the Dusky Men who had left the Market-stead to fall on them,had had room for fleeing behind them, and had speedily turned their backsbefore the spear-casting of the men of the Face and the onrush of theswordsmen.
There then stood these victorious men facing one another, and thebanner-bearers on either side came through the throng, and brought thebanners together between the two hosts; and the Wolf kissed the Face, andthe Sickle and the Vine met the Steer and the Bridge and the Bull: butthe Shepherds were yet chasing the fleers.
There in the forefront stood Hall-face the tall, with the joy of battlein his eyes. And Stone-face, the wise carle in war, stood solemn andstark beside him; and there was the goodly body and the fair and kindlyvisage of the Alderman smiling on the faces of his friends. But as forFolk-might, his face was yet white and aweful with anger, and he lookedrestlessly up and down the front of the kindreds, though he spake noword.
Then Face-of-god could no longer forbear, but he thrust Dale-warden intohis sheath, and ran forward and cast his arms about his father’s neck andkissed him; and the blood of himself and of the foemen was on him, for hehad been hurt in divers places, but not sorely, because of the goodhammer-work of the Alderman.
Then he kissed his brother and Stone-face, and he took Folk-might by thehand, and was on the point of speaking some word to him, when the ranksof the Face opened, and lo! the Sun-beam in her bright war-gear, and thesword girt to her side, and she unhurt and unsullied.
Then was it to him as when he met her first in Shadowy Vale, and hethought of little else than her; but she stepped lightly up to him, andunashamed before the whole host she kissed him on the mouth, and he casthis mailed arms about her, and joy made him forget many things and whatwas next to do, though even at that moment came afresh a great clamour ofshrieks and cries from the northern outgate of the Market-stead: and theburning pile behind them cast a great wavering flame into the air,contending with the bright sun of that fair day, now come hard onnoontide. But ere he drew away his face from the Sun-beam’s, came memoryto him, and a sharp pang shot through his heart, as he heard Folk-mightsay: ‘Where then is the Shield-may of Burgstead? where is the Bride?’
And Face-of-god said under his breath: ‘She is dead, she is dead!’ Andthen he stared out straight before him and waited till someone elseshould say it aloud. But Bow-may stepped forward and said: ‘Chief of theWolf, be of good cheer; our kinswoman is hurt, but not deadly.’
The Alderman’s face changed, and he said: ‘Hast thou seen her, Bow-may?’
‘Nay,’ she said. ‘How sho
uld I leave the battle? but others have told mewho have seen her.’
Folk-might stared into the ranks of men before him, but said nothing.Said the Alderman: ‘Is she well tended?’
‘Yea, surely,’ said Bow-may, ‘since she is amongst friends, and there areno foemen behind us.’
Then came a voice from Folk-might which said: ‘Now were it best to sendgood men and deft in arms, and who know Silver-dale, from house to house,to search for foemen who may be lurking there.’
The Alderman looked kindly and sadly on him and said:
‘Kinsman Stone-face, and Hall-face my son, the brunt of the battle is nowover, and I am but a simple man amongst you; therefore, if ye will giveme leave, I will go see this poor kinswoman of ours, and comfort her.’
They bade him go: so he sheathed his sword, and went through the presswith two men of the Steer toward the southern road; for the Bride hadbeen brought into a house nigh the corner of the Market-place.
But Face-of-god looked after his father as he went, and remembrance ofpast days came upon him, and such a storm of grief swept over him, as hethought of the Bride lying pale and bleeding and brought anigh to herdeath, that he put his hands to his face and wept as a child that willnot be comforted; nor had he any shame of all those bystanders, who insooth were men good and kindly, and had no shame of his grief ormarvelled at it, for indeed their own hearts were sore for their lovelykinswoman, and many of them also wept with Face-of-god. But the Sun-beamstood by and looked on her betrothed, and she thought many things of theBride, and was sorry, albeit no tears came into her eyes; then she lookedaskance at Folk-might and trembled; but he said coldly, and in a loudvoice:
‘Needs must we search the houses for the lurking felons, or many a manwill yet be murdered. Let Wood-wicked lead a band of men at once fromhouse to house.’
Then said a man of the Wolf hight Hardgrip: ‘Wood-wicked was slainbetwixt the bent and the houses.’
Said Folk-might: ‘Let it be Wood-wise then.’
But Bow-may said: ‘Wood-wise is even now hurt in the leg by a woundedfelon, and may not go afoot.’
Then said Folk-might: ‘Is Crow the Shaft-speeder anigh?’
‘Yea, here am I,’ quoth a tall man of fifty winters, coming from out theranks where stood the Wolves.
Said Folk-might: ‘Kinsman Crow, do thou take two score and ten of doughtymen who are not too hot-headed, and search every house about theMarket-place; but if ye come on any house that makes a stout defence,send ye word thereof to the Mote-house, where we will presently be, andwe shall send you help. Slay every felon that ye fall in with; but if yefind in the houses any of the poor folk crouching and afraid, comforttheir hearts all ye may, and tell them that now is life come to them.’
So Crow fell to getting his band together, and presently departed withthem on his errand.