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“I’m certain of it,” she replied.
“It must be Ba
Gaelin carefully laid Ilwyn down on the cold stone, checking to make sure that his cloak covered her for warmth. The soldiers readied themselves, throwing cloaks back over their shoulders to clear their sword arms. Boeric and two of the other men still had their crossbows. They cocked and loaded the weapons with grim looks on their faces. Gaelin debated the advantages of flight, but he didn’t want to abandon their best route home.
“What should we do, Lord Mhor?” asked Boeric. In the gloom and the cold, the stoop-shouldered sergeant resembled an old, weather-beaten fence post, gray and featureless.
“Let’s wait here and keep out of sight,” Gaelin decided.
“They may miss us. We’re in no condition for a fight.”
Erin nodded in agreement. Distantly, they could make out the rough voices of the intruders, as they shouted orders to each other and trampled the ground of the clearing, but the sound was far fainter than it should have been. After a moment, Erin’s mouth stretched flat in a dark grimace. “Ba
Suddenly, there was a flash of pure white light that illuminated the trees, blinding them all with its glare, and a rolling crack of thunder that echoed among the black rocks. Gaelin blinked spots out of his eyes and swore. “What in Haelyn’s glory was that?”
“My spell of warding,” Seriene answered. She paused in her divining to look back toward the stone circle, hidden by the dark shoulder of the hillside. “Ba
“Then we may find Ba
In fact, he’d like to know for certain that Ba
“No. I’ve exhausted my powers. I’ll be lucky to open the door again, once I find it.”
Gaelin weighed their options. As long as Tuorel had Ba
They retraced their steps back to the clearing, which still danced and glimmered with an eerie, pale radiance. Gaelin quietly drew his sword and held it bared in his hand as they cautiously climbed the last few feet to the lip of the hollow through the dead, twisted trees. His breath steamed in front of him, streaming away in the coldness.
The stone circle stood much as they had left it, the black altar waiting in the center of the ring, but around the stones a silvery light glittered dimly. It curved over the whole site in a shimmering hemisphere, looking like a great crystal dome that neatly covered the standing stones. Blue sparks rippled across its surface, arcing and spitting at odd intervals. A dozen Ghoeran guardsmen in the clearing were trying to calm their panicking horses. Four or five more men were scattered on the ground, victims of Seriene’s enchantments.
Erin tapped his shoulder and pointed. “There’s Ba
Following her gaze, Gaelin spotted the wizard. Ba
“Well? What now? They still outnumber us two to one.”
“Can you do something to frighten the horses? Scare them off?” Gaelin asked. “We have the advantage of surprise, but it would be helpful if a few of those men weren’t in the fight.”
Erin smiled. “I think I can do that.” The bard closed her eyes in concentration, and began humming softly to herself, making soft passes with her hands.
Gaelin looked back at the soldiers who waited in the shadows.
“Fire at anyone who isn’t ru
Erin’s vocalizations acquired a musical tone. She glanced at Gaelin, and then stepped forward and released her spell.
There was a sudden flood of white mist in the clearing, and with a great bound, the largest and most terrifying wolf Gaelin had ever seen leaped into the center of the Ghoeran soldiers, snarling and slashing its teeth left and right at the soldiers’ mounts. Despite himself, Gaelin recoiled at the sight of the beast. He could hear the monster growling and snapping, the throaty rasp of its bellows-like roar, the snap of twigs under its heavy paws. The air reeked of wolf scent.
The Ghoerans’ steeds went mad with panic. Rearing and plunging, several threw their riders. Others wheeled and bolted in terror, blindly galloping into the black woods and endless night, as the wolf slavered and slashed at their heels.
A handful of the Iron Guardsmen retained control of their mounts and turned on the wolf-thing in their midst, or managed to at least keep their animals from bolting or rearing, but at that moment Boeric and the other two guardsmen fired.
Two more of the Ghoerans fell from the saddle, clutching at bolts that appeared in their chests.
Ba
Nothing Ba
Gaelin rushed the wizard, breaking cover and racing for- ward with a wild yell, Bull a step behind him. Ba
Gaelin’s volition crumbled beneath the insidious assault.
Gaelin, stop. Lay down your sword. Stop. Hold where you are, and drop your weapon! Obey me!
Beside him, Bull skidded to a stop in a blank daze, his mattock falling heavily to the ground from nerveless fingers. The big fighter’s momentum carried him two more steps on failing legs, and then he stumbled and fell, groveling in terror.
Gaelin went to one knee, struggling to find his courage again.
Ba
“I didn’t expect to find you still waiting for me here, Gaelin,” Ba
Gaelin screwed his eyes shut and looked away, willing himself not to answer. Ba