Part Two

"Oh, alright," said Nevsky.
Soon the soldiers halted, threw down their burdens, and began to pitch camp. Canvas flapped, resisting the restraint of strong hands trying to hold it down. Logs were stacked by others, and set to flame.
Through the roar of snow-laden wind came a sudden call, echoing: "Get your weapons, fall in line, and march to Valash! Now!"
"So we're going now!" said Nevsky. "I barely thawed out! I'm not used to cold weather, unlike you, Hideoshi."
"Where are you from? I've never heard," asked Hideoshi, as they fell into line and trudged off once more.
"I'm from the Andre Swamps, down south. In the summertime, the air just hummed with life; birds, insects. And that hoary gray-green moss draping from cypress trees that gave the swamps a melancholy air! It was so humid though, and sticky, which made one just want to lie down under a shade tree with a good breeze going. So long as a cypress root didn't stick in your back!" He chuckled.
"How was it like in the mountains where you're from, Hideoshi?"
"Well," replied Hideoshi, "it was a vast chain of craggy, gray mountains as far as human eyes can see, many perpetually capped in snow. It was remote, and for miles jagged peaks pinnacled to vast heights, while below them were rough trenches and gouges of deep-bowled valleys overcast by mountain shadows. Sharp, sudden gusts of cold air blew over the valley where I lived, where short, stubbles of grass grew in spring and summer.
My friends and I often would go mountain climbing. How grand that was! But we'd better stop talking now, unless you want the sergeants to stop us!"
"Okay. Thanks."
"And don't think I never get cold here!"
"Fine!"
For five miles they trudged in the darkness before coming to the one road that led to the city of Valash on top of the plateau. Up the road winded the column of soldiers, until the top was reached and the city stood before them.
"Set up the trebuchets and catapults, First Company!" Boomed an officer. "The rest of you will be ordered either to batter the gate, or to continue work on that mine near the back gate!"
Nevsky shivered. "We're both in third company. I wonder what they'll order us to."
"Probably to batter the gate, since our company's had the fewest losses," said Hideoshi.
Nevsky's eyes widened,and he began to tremble.
Meanwhile, the dark night was fading into a grey-blue light, enabling Hideoshi to see more clearly Nevsky's blank stare of terror.
"Not now!" Hideoshi thought. "That's the way with his kind. Let's see what I can do for him."
"Stick by me!" He called out to Nevsky above the clamour around them.
Just then a great "boom" thundered directly before them. Fire shot up from the ground, blasting skyward with great force a trebuchet and several men.
The pair dashed backwards, while more cannon shot blasted into the beseiging troops.
Hideoshi cried, "Why do we fight cannons-fairy (that is, Mazovian ) made with trebuchets and catapults? It's madness!"
"Third Company, ram the gate!" Shouted their major.
Hideoshi glanced at the dazed, petrified Nevsky.
"Stick by me. I'll be with you. I've done this before," he said.
Nevsky smiled shakily back.
"Thanks."
A large battering ram, tipped with a sharp iron point, was brought forward, along with many large, rectangular shields that curved inwards. Soldiers of the Third Company formed the shields into a tortoise over the battering ram, and marched towards the gate of Valash. But not there was not enough room for all the soldiers of the Third Company to carry the battering ram. These followed behind the ram, including Nevsky and Hideoshi.
Another cannonball shot overhead, barely missing the group.
"Nevsky!" Whispered Hideoshi.
"What?"
"I've got an idea. Since a lot of us can't actually batter the gate, let's capture a cannon!"
"What! We'll be killed!"
"No, we won't!" Hideoshi insisted.
Nevsky stared at him.
"How can you say that?" He asked.
Hideoshi, bewildered, said,
"I don't know, but I can somehow tell."
Nevsky scanned Hideoshi's features: Black, glossy hair, fair skin; and, though his eyes were green, they were narrow, characteristic of many Asian peoples. Finally, Nevsky asked
"Is there-by any chance- Fairy blood in you?"
Hideoshi glanced back at Nevsky, puzzled.
" Not that I know of, even though I am of mixed human race. But we must hurry if we're to capture a cannon!"
Nevsky shrugged, and muttered to himself as Hideoshi told the others about his plan.
" I wouldn't be surprised if he did have Fairy blood in him," he said. "But there's been only one Fairy-Human marriage in all of history, and their son had no children. Still- ouch!"
An arrow whizzed past, nicking his arm.