The Hordes of Chanakra (Knights of Aerioch) (6 page)

Shillond nodded. "Until I can find the name of another imp to power the spell."

"But...I do not understand."

"I'm puzzled myself, Shillond," Kreg said. "I seem to recall you arguing against this little search.  And what did Kaila mean 'you have lost that spell'?"

"Magic draws its power from demons.  The demons rebel against providing such power, particularly when it is used to good ends.  Thus, a magician can only use many spells once, or only once with a particular demon providing the energy.  In other spells, the demons retaliate more directly, striking at the spellcaster.  These spells are quite dangerous, a danger that grows ever greater with each casting."

"Then why would anyone ever cast spells."

"Well, not all spells are like that.  Many spells are quite safe, such as the spells I used to speed your healing.  Unfortunately these spells only affect humans, not animals or things, and such spells require a willing, or at least an unresisting, recipient."

Kreg could only shake his head and try to absorb what Shillond had said as the homunculus emerged from the hole with a baby coyote under each arm.  It dropped the pups then turned and dashed back into the hole.  A moment later it reemerged with two more pups, dropped them, and stood waiting.

"Is that all?" Shillond asked.

The homunculus's head bobbed once.

"Very well.  You are free.  Go."

The homunculus vanished.

Kaila knelt beside the coyote pups.  Three of them lay almost unmoving on the cracked earth.  The fourth sat up on his tail, his fat belly protruding before him and waved his forepaws at Kaila.  His lips drew back from his tiny, needlelike teeth as he hissed at her.

Kaila extended a hand to the pup and it snapped its teeth onto the end of one finger.  In response, Kaila jerked her hand free, then grasped the pup firmly, but gently around the neck and pressed its shoulder to the ground.

Shillond turned to Kreg. "We should set camp here.  Kaila's task will require some time."

"I don't understand," Kreg said. "What's she doing?"

"She is establishing dominance." He sighed. "She has done this before with wolf cubs, but this will be a more difficult task as coyotes are not normally pack animals.  Still, I have faith in her; she is good with animals."

#

The next morning Kreg felt no more than the mildest of aches in his side.  Across the camp, Kaila sat with two of the coyote pups in her lap.  In one hand she held a glove, filled with liquid, and the pups sucked at the tip of two of the glove's fingers.

Kreg did not see the other pups, but he did see two small mounds of Earth.

Shillond had already packed their gear, except for their bedrolls and the pot of porridge that hung over a small fire.  He handed Kreg a bowl of the porridge and a flask, then proceeded to clean out the pot.

"How are your new charges doing?" Kreg asked Kaila.  He started to shovel porridge into his mouth, surprised at the extent of his hunger.

"They are weak," she said. "As I think it unwise to feed them wine, nor can they eat solid food.  Since water alone will not sustain them, I have naught to give them but the sap squeezed from a cactus.  The other two would not take even that."  She looked up, moisture sparkling in her eyes. "They did not survive the night."

"Kreg," Shillond said. "Could you help me with this?" He stood alongside their packed bags, holding the reins of the packhorse.

Kreg bolted the last of his porridge and squirted the remaining contents of the flask of water down his throat before standing to help Shillond load the horse.

#

"Tonight we sleep in a bed, I warrant," Kaila said as the sun sank toward the western horizon. Two more days had passed.  The packs had gotten lighter and Kreg had gotten stronger.  A third of the coyote cubs had died, leaving one on which Kaila lavished every possible care.  The night before, under Kaila's coaxing, it had first taken a few small bites of dried meat that had been soaked in water to soften.  With it now eating even a little solid food, Kaila had expressed confidence that this one, at least, would live.

"Elam, the first outpost of Aerioch, is just a few miles ahead." She had strapped a stiff-sided leather bag to the saddle in front of her and used it as a den for the sole surviving cub.

"Aye," Shillond said. "We will also hear the news of the kingdom."

As they topped the crest of a hill, the town of Elam came into view.  In outward appearance, it much resembled Trevanta with the exception of the army encamped about it, a very large army.

"The Threefold Twins!" Kaila burst out explosively. "Elam besieged?" She drew her sword.

"This changes things," Shillond said. "Where before Elam would have been a welcome rest stop, now it becomes essential that we enter and learn the news."

"There is your news, mage." Kaila pointed with her sword. "War!"

CHAPTER FOUR

"Aye," Shillond said, sweeping the encamped army with his gaze.  "War.  But with whom?  Is this the only army or are there others?  Do they have any mages of power?  And more puzzling of all, how did they get here?  Briganzo's Desert is no good road for an army."

"Can you pass us through their lines?" Kaila dropped a hand to push the ambitious coyote pup back into its temporary home.

Shillond nodded. "I think so.  They do not seem to expect attack from this quarter.  The difficulty will be in leaving the city if they have a mage."

"What if they have a mage," Kreg asked. "Can you fight him?"

Shillond shook his head and sighed. "I wish it were so simple.  It’s easier to defend in such circumstances than to attack.  While I might break through a defense once, I’d be too exhausted to do much more after that."

Kreg thought for a moment. "Perhaps we can do something a little less direct?"

"How say you?" Kaila backed her horse in an arc, ending facing Kreg.

"Well." Kreg studied the army for a moment.  He rubbed his temples.  A fog seemed to be clouding his thinking, accompanied by a sparkle-producing headache.  He wondered for a moment if he could have a concussion.  After the beating he had taken from the sand devil, it seemed likely. "As Shillond said, they don't seem to be expecting an attack from this quarter.  Night will fall in a couple of hours.  I think we can sneak through the lines if we do it quietly."

"But what shall we do when we seek to leave?" Kaila asked. "Yon army will expect an effort at escape by those within, and be prepared.  As Shillond has said, his magics will avail us naught should those below be accompanied by a mage."

"That river," Kreg pointed.  He had to squeeze his words out past the throbbing in his head. "A small group could swim out using it for cover."

"Swim?  The Yellow River?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Kreg," Shillond said, "The Yellow is not even knee deep anywhere.  And it just gets shallower as you move out of the city.  There's barely enough water to irrigate the farms.  Once you get a half day's ride out of Elam there's barely a trickle."

He paused, rubbing at his chin for a moment before continuing. "Still, what Kaila said is not entirely true.  While any mage below could easily defend against my spells, to do so, they must know I am here and prepare their defenses.  If we can keep them from discovering that a mage is against them, then just perhaps we can escape before they can marshal their defenses."

"That will work," Kreg said. "If we sneak through, they won't know you're here."

"'Tis a peril-fraught plan," Kaila said. "But in truth better than no plan at all.  What say you, Shillond?"

After a short pause, Shillond nodded. "I agree."

Kreg untied his sword from where it hung from his saddle horn. "The horses will have to stay here."

As they made final preparations Kreg found that Shillond and Kaila seemed well versed in such matters, Shillond more so than Kaila.  Kaila’s directness was ill-suited to stealth and subtlety.

While Shillond and Kaila made their preparations, Kreg kept nervous watch at the surrounding hills.  That they had approached so close to the besieging army with no one challenging them was surprise enough.  At any moment a patrol could stumble across them.

But there were no patrols.  And that, Kreg thought between throbs of his head, was decidedly odd.  There may not be much on this side of the mountains, but still there should be patrols.  No competent army courts attack from the rear or while in camp.  But there were no patrols.

Kreg did not understand, but he was grateful for the lack.

They waited until the last of the twilight had faded before beginning their descent from the hilltop.

#

Kreg's eyes flicked from shadow to shadow nervously.  He could have wished for a darker night.  Both moons had been high in the sky as the last of the sunlit died.  At least the headache had faded.

They crept through the lines of the army, Shillond a silent shadow, Kreg more clumsily but producing no more noise than normal night sounds.  Kaila was more worrisome.  Kreg winced with each jingle of her chain mail tunic sounding in his ears like an alarm bell. The one remaining coyote pup whined from time to time from within a cloth sling hung over Kaila's neck.  Kreg gritted his teeth with each step reminding himself that only his nerves made the slight noise seem so loud.

They almost made it.

A drunk stumbled out of the shadows. "Who?"

Kreg froze for a moment in surprise.  He lunged for the drunk.

"Help!  Intru....," The drunk got out before Kreg's grip shut off his wind.  Kreg shifted his grip, pressing his arm against the sides of the throat, against the carotid arteries.  A moment later Kreg lowered the unconscious form to the ground.

"That’s it," Kreg said.  He looked toward the nearest campfire.

"Harantha?" a voice called from the darkness. "Harantha, all well?"

"Something he shouted," another voice added.

"Ey," a third said. "Guard call!  Intruders!"

"Hold them for a few seconds," Shillond whispered quickly, "while I prepare a spell." He stepped back, fading into the darkness.

Guards boiled out of the night.  Kreg leapt back and fumbled at his waist, seeking to draw his sword.

Kaila dove into the midst of the guards, her sword whirling about her, striking down three guards in less than a second.  Kreg managed to draw his own sword and leap forward.  He parried the first blow that came his way and let the force of the rebound carry his sword around to where it met flesh.  For just a fraction of a second, Kreg stared at the falling body before others swarmed around him.  Kreg backed swiftly, trying to stay off their points.

For her part, Kaila hewed off spear points, arms, heads, and anything else that came within reach with equal abandon.  Her sword glowed with a silvery light as it flicked about with a speed that a fencing master find difficult to match with a light foil.  Each time the sword bit into the body of an opponent it glowed momentarily brighter.  Each time the sword struck, a guard fell.

The guards divided about evenly into swordsmen and spearmen.  Kreg found himself facing two of the latter.  He backpedaled further before their assault.  Kaila had taught him how to face another swordsman, not men armed with a weapon with twice his reach.

Sensing Kreg's difficulties, the guards armed with spears converged on him, leaving those with swords to face Kaila.  No one had yet noticed Shillond.

Kaila thrust her sword into one of the guards who, with his dying strength, grabbed it about the cross guard and let his fall pull it out of her hands.  Others poured forward, driving Kaila back and preventing her from recovering her sword.

Kreg did not take time to think. "Kaila!" he shouted.  He threw his sword to her.

Kreg's sword flew in a high arc.  It tumbled end over end twice before slapping, hilt first, into Kaila's hand.  Kaila plunged the sword into the throat of the foremost of her opponents.

Kreg's right hand darted out and grasped one spear by the shaft.  A kick knocked another aside as Kreg sprang into the gap that kick had created and then he was among the guards.  This close, their spears became nearly useless as he grabbed one guard and shoved hard backward, reaching out with his leg to sweep the guard's supporting leg out from under him.  The falling guard tangled two others as Kreg let his own momentum carry him forward as he dropped low, almost to one knee.  His move put him in front of yet another guard.  He shot his right arm between the guard's legs and sprang upward, driving his shoulder into the man's groin as he reached up with his other hand to grab his cuirass at the collar.  He heaved himself upright, carrying the guard with him on his shoulders and then turned and dropped him onto the shafts of two more spears that were reaching out for him.

For a moment, the space around Kreg was clear and Kreg breathed a silent prayer of thanks for the respite, but then he saw why.  The guards who were facing him rather than Kaila had drawn off to organize.  A short, but solid wall of spearmen faced him while several others ran to block any attempt he might make at retreat.  The momentary advantage that surprise had given him was gone.

At that moment, Shillond shouted, "
Klynkal veth sorthensen
!"

A green mist rose from the ground.  All those whom it touched, saving only Kreg, Shillond, and Kaila, fell instantly into a deep slumber.

"Come," Shillond said. "That call has gone out.  Others will be here soon."  Kreg noticed with surprise that no more than a dozen men lay about them, either dead or asleep.  In the melee they had seemed like hundreds.

Kaila tossed Kreg his sword and retrieved her own.  The city walls seemed unspeakably far away as they ran.

#

A long bowshot from the wall, Kaila hauled up short.  They had left pursuit behind for the moment but the city ahead offered its own threat.

"Hold," she said. "Lest we be feathered by those within."

"Don't hold too long," Kreg said, his voice broken with his deep breathing. "We've got trouble on our tail."

Kaila thought for a moment. "Shillond," she said, "tear a length from the hem of your robe.  We will approach under flag of parley.  Yon guardsmen will honor it, methinks."

Shillond nodded.  Kaila tied the strip of dirty white cloth to the end of her sword and held it aloft as they trotted to the city.

"Halt!" called a voice from the top of the wall. "Who comes under flag of parley?"

"I am Kaila, Duke of Zantor, Knight of the Order of the Sword." She stood tall and thrust her sword into the ground in front of her. "I have this night, with my companions, penetrated the lines of yon army.  I demand entrance in the name of King Marek Caelverrem."

"How may we know that you speak sooth?" the voice asked.

Another voice spoke. "Kaila, if indeed it is being you, what was the name of the first man whom you unseated with a lance on horseback?" Distance and shouting served to hide the true nature of the voice, but something about it was familiar to Kaila.  Some soldier, perhaps, from one of the northern provinces to judge by his speech?

"Such would do most men little good," Kaila said, "for few know who I first unseated in secret training.  If you wish the name of the first man in open combat, then...."

"Nay, Child," the voice said. “The first.”

“That would be Faron, the weapons master, when he taught me skill at arms.  But who among you knows this is sooth?”

"Old Faron is knowing." With those words the familiarity Kaila had heard in the voice fell into place.  It had been years since she had last seen him.

"Marry!  This is a strange play of fate." Kaila retrieved her sword and returned it to its scabbard. "Can it truly be you?"

"Aye, Child," Faron said. "But hurry. Hounds are being on your trail.  Worse than hounds."

They reached the city wall to find the defenders had lowered a knotted rope over the side.  Kaila had many times climbed such ropes, in even heavier armor than she now wore, and was soon at the top.  Shillond, despite his age and weight, swarmed up just as easily.  Kreg, coming up behind them, followed more slowly.  Kaila held out her hand to assist him as he neared the battlement, but he made the final few feet on his own.  She hid a smile, pleased at his determination, although this, perhaps, was not the best time for it.

"Aye, Kaila, it is you." Faron clapped her on the shoulders.

Kaila remembered him fondly.  Long ago, before she had been born, he had been an ordinary soldier.  Yet such was his skill at arms, with any weapon he took to hand, that he had won great renown and earned a place on King Marek's council.  And yet still he was an outsider, as she was.  Perhaps, Kaila thought, that was why he had been willing to teach her when no others would.

"And your father as well." Faron bowed to Shillond. "Your Grace.  But I am not knowing the third."

"I’m Kreg." He bowed slightly.

"Kreg is a man of much courage," Kaila said. "Without doubt, the briskest without arms that ever I have seen."

Faron's eyebrows rose and he grinned, "You have seen none better?"

Kaila grinned in return. "None.  I have sworn him to my service." She hoped Kreg would forgive her that presumption, but it would make his presence easier to explain.

"Then I am glad to welcome him." He slapped Kreg on the back, and Kaila knew that he was testing Kreg as she had done before.  She trusted that Faron had not found Kreg wanting. "Fortunate you are to come into the service of the best knight in Aerioch."

"Time is wasting," Shillond said quietly. "What is the news?  We come to find you besieged, but by whom and what are their forces."

Faron frowned. "We are not knowing who our foes are.  They have presented no banner that I can identify.  Messenger from court came not, three days ago. Army came instead.  I am not knowing how they crossed the desert with such a host.  They nearly overran us at the first assault. Their numbers were the sands of the desert. They were being aided by strong magics.  Only the foresight of the King and his father before him was prevailing that day.  Much reason for our survival resides with you, Shillond."