Exodus of the Xandim (GOLLANCZ S.F.) (49 page)

For one shocked instant she recoiled, forgetting that she was invisible to him, then she pulled herself together and slipped through the opening. Sure enough, in the glimmer of the flying spell
she could see them. Tiolani and a number of warriors; so many that they were crowded into the barn. But unless Hellorin’s daughter had seriously underestimated the Windeye and her companions,
there were not enough to defend the entire herd of Xandim.

Corisand left the barn and rode the winds towards the city – and sure enough, there were the rest of the Phaerie forces, led by Cordain whom she recognised from former Wild Hunts,
concealed behind the northern city walls. That was all she needed to know. Quickly, she returned to her friends and her own body, and told them what she had discovered.

‘I thought it must be a trap when Boreas saw all those horses,’ Iriana said.

Taine shrugged. ‘It doesn’t make that much difference to our plans – except that now we’ll be able to turn the enemy’s trap back on them. In fact, they’ve
done us a favour. Not only have they collected all your people for you, Corisand, but they’ve also massed their forces for us. Tiolani has no idea of warfare, and Cordain is an administrator,
not a strategist.’

‘It will still pay us to be wary,’ Kaldath warned. ‘I don’t want us to commit ourselves then find that they have an unpleasant surprise up their sleeve after
all.’

‘Well, there’s not much we can do about it if there is,’ Taine argued. ‘Besides, whatever they may or may not have up their sleeves,
we
have the Fialan and your
Dwelven up ours.’

‘Then let’s do it,’ Corisand said, impatient with all this debate. ‘We all know the plan. Aelwen will apport herself, Taine and Kaldath with their mounts to the skies
above Eliorand along with the Dwelven forces, and—’

‘Aelwen, are you
really
sure you can apport three people at once, and the horses too?’ Taine was frowning. ‘You couldn’t do it when we escaped from Eliorand the
last time.’

‘I didn’t believe I could – but I had precious little time to think at all when we were ambushed by Cordain,’ Aelwen replied. ‘This time it’s only for a very
short distance though, and the horses will be buoyed by Corisand’s flying spell.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ Taine said doubtfully.

‘We all hope she’s right – just as Corisand and I hope that we can handle Tiolani and her warriors, and free the Xandim while you’re providing the distraction in
Eliorand,’ Iriana said. ‘Our entire plan is balanced on a knife-edge, but it’s the only one we’ve got. We’re an awfully small army to free one race from the clutches
of another, but we do have a number of things going in our favour, and all we can do is try.’

‘Our original plan didn’t count Tiolani and her forces in the barn. What if the two of you might need a little extra help?’ Taine asked.

‘If we do, we’ll be sure and let you know,’ Iriana said wryly. ‘Now, are you ready, Corisand?’

‘I’m ready.’ Switching back to her equine shape and drawing on the power of the Fialan that still hung round her neck, the Windeye renewed the flying spell over herself and the
mounts of her companions. As Taine gave Iriana a leg-up onto her back, she was happy to feel the Wizard’s slight weight. It wouldn’t hamper her, and now that they had come so far and
her goal was almost within her grasp, it felt reassuring to know she had a friend so close to her who shared her hopes and concerns, and would give considerable help in the battle to come. In a
quick flash of recollection it came back to her how lonely she’d been when she first became the shaman of the Xandim; how isolated and weighed down by a colossal burden of responsibility that
had been hers and hers alone.

Well, she wasn’t alone any more.

In the faint light of a new moon she looked at gratefully at her companions. Kaldath’s wise, lined old face that still held an echo of how handsome he must have been in his youth; Taine,
looking grim and businesslike as he tested his bowstring; Aelwen, by his side as always, her mouth set in a purposeful line, but her eyes shadowy and troubled; Dael, hanging back out of
harm’s way, ready to duck into a hiding place among the bushes as he had been instructed, his task to stay out of danger and to keep Melik safe in his basket while the others joined battle,
for Iriana would be sharing Corisand’s vision during the fight. Though the Windeye couldn’t see Iriana, she could feel the Wizard on her back, closest of all, linked by touch and
thought and a bond of friendship that would never break.

‘Be sure and hold on tightly once the fighting starts,’ Corisand warned her. ‘I don’t want to lose you.’

‘I will, don’t worry,’ the Wizard reassured her, gripping tighter with her knees and twining her left hand more tightly in Corisand’s long mane. ‘I’m not
hurting you, am I?’

‘Not a bit,’ the Windeye assured her, then took a deep breath. There could be no putting it off any longer. ‘All right – get your shield in place.’

The air thickened and tingled with magic as Iriana complied, surrounding them both in a shimmering globe of unyielding air. Though her Air magic differed from Corisand’s own powers, she
had been learning a trick or two from watching the Windeye at work, and the shield was the best she had ever conjured.

Corisand turned her concentration on the Fialan that hung around her neck, throbbing like a living heart, its power glowing through the leather pouch in which it was encased. She accessed her
Othersight and saw the air moving fluidly around her like strands of silver silk. Since she was in her equine form this time, she was forced to use her mind, rather than her hands, but she
manipulated the streaming, shimmering flow while reaching out at the same time to grasp the deep indigo shadows from beneath the trees. Spinning them together with the glistening streams of air,
she formed her shadow cloak, as she’d been taught to do in the Elsewhere by the Evanesar, and made it big enough to cover both herself and the Wizard on her back.

When it was in place she heard the murmurs of amazement from the others, who had not seen the phenomenon before.

‘You
are
still there, aren’t you?’ Taine asked, lightening the moment. ‘You haven’t decided to start without us?’

Corisand reached out with her thoughts to all her friends. ‘No, I haven’t, but I’m about to get going now. Everyone ready?’

They all gave her their affirmation, and she heard the battle-ready edge to Taine’s voice, the hint of unease beneath Aelwen’s, the longing that throbbed in Kaldath’s tones and
the fear, disguised beneath bravado, in Dael’s reply. Her heart went out to him. He was the most helpless, the most vulnerable of them all, yet he was ready to stand by his companions and do
whatever he could to help. In a way, he was the bravest of them all.

‘And I’m ready too – but you already know that.’ Iriana’s mental tones broke into the Windeye’s thoughts. ‘Come on, Corisand, we’re all in place,
so hurry up and give the word, and let’s get on with this. Your people have waited long enough. It’s time they were free.’

‘Then
go
!’

Before Aelwen, Taine and Kaldath had time to apport, the eager Windeye bore Iriana out of the trees and sped towards the stable complex.

For the second night in a row Tiolani, mounted on Asharal and desperate to see what was happening outside, fidgeted in the stuffy barn with warriors and their steeds crowded
all around her. Only the faint glimmer of the flying spell that covered all of them lit the darkness and the only sound was quiet breathing and the occasional snort or fidget from a horse. She was
beginning to wish that she had not persuaded Cordain that he should be the one lying in ambush with the larger force behind the city walls, and she should be the one who, with a smaller, select
band of fighters, should conceal herself close to the massed herd of Xandim.

‘Please reconsider,’ he had urged her. ‘You are the last one capable of performing the flying spell, the only one who can continue Hellorin’s heritage and line. Surely
you can see that we must keep you safe? I beg of you, Tiolani, stay in the city with the majority of our warriors. They will be better able to protect you there. I would prefer that you remained
securely in the palace, but we may need your powers if there should be an attack. Whatever happened to our warriors back in that cave strikes fear into my heart. What could possibly have inflicted
such terrible damage?’

The second squadron of warriors that they had sent to the cave had come back, deeply shaken, with tidings of the gruesome slaughter of their fellows. Though Cordain and Tiolani had done their
best to see that the news went no further, they had been unable to prevent the horrific tales spreading from mouth to mouth, growing more grisly with each telling, until a pall of unease hung over
the city.

Tiolani had no idea how her former companions could have wrought such destruction. Could the Wizard or the Windeye have gained additional powers since she had parted from them? It seemed to her
that they must have succeeded in bringing back the Fialan from the Elsewhere, and the notion chilled her. How could she defend herself and her people against such formidable arcane forces, yet who
would do it if she did not?

Phaerie magic differed from that of the Wizards. Over the centuries, the Wizardfolk had trained all their people intensively, developing and disseminating their magic throughout their race,
whereas Hellorin, jealous of his power, had preferred to hold his subjects in a state of dependence, developing and nurturing most of the Phaerie powers within his own family, and encouraging
idleness and indolence among the rest of his people. All had powers of glamourie and could perform basic attack and defence spells using nature and the elements, and some could apport, but only the
Forest Lord and his heirs could access the major destructive powers of the elements – which meant that only Tiolani, no matter how much her own warriors assisted her, had any chance of
battling the wielders of the Fialan.

So here she was, skulking in this barn while the minutes crawled by like years. Only she could defend Hellorin’s steeds (firmly, she closed her mind to any thoughts of them as the enslaved
tribe of the Xandim) from theft, therefore she had to be here, for this was where the thieves would strike. Oh, how she had underestimated them! She had considered herself to be in a powerful
position, in comparison to her opponents – a small, ill-assorted ragtag group of rebels and dreamers. She had imagined crushing them effortlessly – how could she not with an army of
Phaerie at her back? But that was before she had sent out her finest warriors to ambush her foes in the cave with absolute confidence that she would prevail. Only when her force had failed to
return had she started to doubt, and when their remains had been discovered, she had known true fear. Now, ablaze with anger at this threat to her people and their property, chilled with terror
that she might fail or even die, all she could do was wait, and see what fate would bring.

Unable to bear any more inaction, she rose up on Asharal to the apex of the sloping roof, where a lookout had been stationed at a small window that let in fresh air, to keep watch over the
horses that grazed in the paddocks outside. Peremptorily, Tiolani dismissed him. ‘I will watch for a while.’ She was Hellorin’s heir – how could he refuse?

Oh, but it was wonderful to feel the cool night air on her face, and to see the sky, the stars and the horses grazing peacefully below. How she wished that she could turn back the clock to
happier times, before the ambush that had disabled Hellorin and killed her poor brother, when everything had been ordered and happy and safe . . .

They appeared out of nowhere, materialising in midair with a sound like a thunderclap – a grey horse that Tiolani recognised at once as Corisand, with the Wizard Iriana on her back. The
time had come at last. Now she must fight, with everything, including her life, at stake.

Despite the protection of the shadow cloak and magic shield, Corisand felt horribly exposed as she positioned herself above the largest paddock full of milling, uneasy Xandim,
facing the barn in which she knew Tiolani and her ambushers lurked. The horses, her own enslaved people, fidgeted below her and lifted their heads, sensing the presence of their Windeye, feeling
her power, knowing a strange hope that they could neither define nor understand.

Corisand could sense the tension and confusion within the barn as the ambushers were alerted by the disturbance among the gathered horses. Before they had time to become too suspicious she cast
the shadow cloak aside, and felt the explosion of shock among the gathered Phaerie. A few arrows clattered off the shield, shot from the high windows of the building, followed by a lightning bolt
spell.

‘Stop!’ Corisand cried as loudly in mindspeech as she could. ‘I know you’re in there, Tiolani. I wish to speak with you, and your warriors. You know why I’ve come.
Do you really want a battle? Do you want all the bloodshed, the death? Give me the Xandim, Tiolani. Give me my people, and we’ll go.’

‘You do not give orders here,’ Tiolani snarled in reply. ‘You are nothing but an animal, a beast of burden, and you and your people are the possessions of the Phaerie.
It’s time you learned your place, Corisand.’

‘An animal?’ Corisand said, in short, dangerous tones. ‘We’ll see, shall we?’ She raised her mental voice. ‘Hearken, all you Phaerie, and I will tell you a
secret that your Forest Lord has kept from you for hundreds of years. Those magnificent horses you ride are not mere beasts, but a race of shapeshifters: people who look much like yourselves in
their other form.’

‘Don’t listen to her,’ Tiolani shrieked. ‘She’s lying!’

‘Am I?’ Corisand let herself sink to the ground. ‘Get off, quick,’ she whispered to Iriana.

‘Is this wise?’

‘I want the secret to be out. I want all the Phaerie to know.’

Iriana shrugged and dismounted, keeping a hand on Corisand’s withers, ready to spring onto her back again at a moment’s notice.

The Windeye took a deep breath – and changed. Instead of the great grey warhorse, a dark-haired young woman stood there, all clothed in shadows, with the Wizard’s hand still on her
shoulder. From within the barn, there came a tumult of voices crying out in shock and amazement.