by David Adams
Dentris nodded. “That was my understanding. But it is well that you might speak for your people. I have been sent by King Gregor to discuss terms of a cease-fire between our peoples.”
“Interesting,” Kaelesh said. “And what concessions is King Gregor seeking?”
“ ‘Concessions’?”
“I assume, since such an offer is being made so soon after the passing of our leader, that King Gregor presumes he would be at an advantage in any negotiation.”
“That is not his intent in sending me. He felt rather that with new leadership in Longvale, that any personal feuds might be put aside for the good of our peoples. The war has been hard on everyone.”
“And so it has.” Kaelesh rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So your specific proposal is…?”
“An immediate cease-fire, and then commencement of negotiations around a treaty to end any further conflict.”
“And Dalusia?”
“I, of course, am not able to speak for them, nor am I privy to King Gregor’s intentions toward them. Our armies are well into Dalusian territory, as are yours. But at this time our own lands are both held only by our own forces. An ideal time to discuss peace, I would think.”
“You have King Gregor’s authority to treat on his behalf?”
“I do,” said Dentris, reaching into his vest pocket. “I have a letter here bearing his seal that—”
“Not necessary,” said Kaelesh. “I will take you at your word, especially considering you have come to us. I accept your offer.”
“Excellent.”
“As you might expect, I have many things to attend to, just as your king does. My brother, however, can speak for me, and for Longvale. I’ll see to it that the two of you are given a private chamber to continue this conversation.”
“My thanks,” Dentris said, giving one final bow. He smiled at Praad, but got no reaction, as Praad’s face remained hidden in the shadow of his cowl.
As Dentris turned to go, an inexplicable shudder went up his spine.
Chapter 2: The Tundra
The weather had gotten noticeably colder in the last five days, and the winds more severe, partly by chance and partly because the travelers had moved past the northern edge of the Grim Mountains, and the corridor between the mountains and Myzor’s Cleft at times acted as a wind funnel. The sun had made only rare appearances of late, but the frequent clouds, though dark and heavy, had refrained from dropping any more snow.
As they shivered around their small campfire that night, they did what they could to fend off the cold, but the wind howled, stealing their heat and batting at their fire so much that they couldn’t even entertain the notion of building it up. Xanar looked from one companion to the next, gauging their silent misery. He looked last at Uesra, and as he did so their eyes met. “I think it’s time,” he said.
“We need to ration it,” she replied. “There are colder nights to come.”
“True. But the hope of warmth is of great comfort when one starts to lose the feeling in one’s extremities.”
She paused, considering, then nodded. She went to her pack and withdrew a metal flask. “This is flune,” she said. “Magic or medicine, call it what you like, it will serve to warm you. But be warned. Only take a small sip, no more.” She did so herself, as a demonstration, then passed the flask to Silas, who did the same.
“Wow,” the cleric said, even before he handed the flask to Adrianna. “Potent stuff.”
After Adrianna was done, Barlow took the flask, sniffing it. “Not the smell I expected,” he commented.
“It is not an intoxicant, if that is what you are referring to,” Uesra told him. “That sort of warmth, taken to excess, will leave a person frozen to death by morning.”
“And so it would,” Barlow said, still considering the flask. He sighed, took a few drops, then quickly passed the flune to Darius.
Darius, having already seen the elven liquid’s positive effects on Silas and Adrianna, did not hesitate to take a dose.
Xanar took a quick swig, returned the flask to Uesra, then came back toward Darius. “Let’s begin the watch, my friend,” he suggested. “Flune works even better if you keep moving.” After they had moved a bit away from the others, the elf asked quietly, “Feeling better?”
“Much,” Darius answered, “although I can think of better ways to get warm on a cold night.”
Xanar chuckled. “Are you referring to Adrianna?”
“Well, no,” Darius replied, somewhat embarrassed. “Not specifically.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve been traveling together for a long while now and…well, I just don’t think of her like that. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s a lot older than me, and a sorceress to boot. Just as well. I’m sure she’d see little in me that might interest her.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
Darius held up his hands. “Your not going to get anywhere down this path with me, Xanar.” Seeing Xanar’s smile had not left his face, he decided to try to turn the tables on his friend. “What about you?”
“What about me?” Xanar replied with a laugh.
“Well, you and Uesra, of course.”
Xanar stared long and hard at Darius, his face slowly stretching in gleeful surprise. He shook his head and barked out a laugh. “You’re really off the mark there.”
“Why? Afraid she could take you in a fight?”
“Oh, I’d expect she could. She did it often enough when we were young.”
“So you’ve known her since childhood,” Darius said, thinking he was winning the verbal battle. “Sounds like there might be something there to me.”
“Only if I’d want to marry my sister, which I wouldn’t.”
Darius’ jaw dropped. He looked from Xanar to Uesra, then back again just in time to take a playfully-tossed snowball in the face. “Nice,” he said, wiping the icy flakes from his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Xanar shrugged. “Never came up.”
Darius studied the elf for a moment, then asked, “You’re not just making this up are you?”
“Hey, Uesra,” Xanar called. “Darius here thinks we’d make a nice couple.”
“I didn’t say that!” Darius protested. “He—”
“It’s all right,” Uesra said. “My brother tends to exaggeration, if it’ll get him a laugh.”
“There you are,” Xanar said, turning his gaze back toward Darius. His eyebrows shot up in delight while a broad smile creased his face at the obvious discomfort of his human friend. “Why, Darius, I didn’t think your face could get any redder in this cold. Looks like I was wrong.”
Darius waved him off and started to pace the edge of the camp, muttering, “Some friend you are.”
* * *
The snow had been falling steadily for a week. The elven clothes had proven effective at keeping them dry, and the snow itself took away some of the sting of the cold. As such, they hadn’t needed the flune since the snow began, but as the accumulation grew they covered fewer miles each day.
Barlow looked at the sky, saw the same dull, lead-grey he was becoming accustomed to. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say this storm was moving at the same snail’s pace that we are. That way it stays right on top of us.”
“I almost wish that were true,” Uesra said. “Then we could wait it out, let it pass. Unfortunately, several weeks of snow is not unheard of here in the north.”
“I suppose we should be happy the wind has been calm,” Adrianna offered. “It could be worse.”
Darius sighed loudly and shook his head. “Don’t tempt fate like that.” A few seconds later, as a stray gust swirled the snow about them, he added, “See.”
In many ways they were lucky to be where they were as the snow continued to mount. North was Myzor’s Cleft, a great chasm acknowledged as the edge of the known world. To the south the Endless Hills undulated, the scraggly trees that grew there adding shades of brown and grey to the white of the snowy landsca
pe. In between was a band of relatively flat, even ground, which supported little growth save the scrub grass that greened only slightly in spring and summer. As the snow reached near to their knees and walking became more of a chore, it was fortunate for them that the ground beneath was steady and level, and did not compound their traveling difficulties.
With the Grim Mountains now behind them, they had no good way to mark their progress, as the plain offered no landmarks, and the Endless Hills, true to their name, had a certain sameness to them that made them of little use in gauging their position. Each day became a test more of will than anything else, believing as they did that their path, as defined by Uesra, was true, and that eventually they’d reach their destination if they continued to plod ahead.
They tried to keep their minds sharp and off the weather through conversation as they could, but the crunch of the snow beneath their boots and the frequent whistling of the wind made each of them fight mainly a solitary battle to keep going, even though they traveled as a group.
Most anything unusual would have been obvious in the snow, especially after days of nothing but unbroken white. But when Darius spotted something odd off to his right, it was only he that did so, even though he was at the time last in the line of march. He angled off the path, losing what he had seen, and then found it again. He came within a foot of it and leaned forward.
The object was white, just a shade different than the snow. It looked to be some sort of stalk or plant, rising a few inches above the snow’s surface and swaying in the wind. On closer inspection he saw dozens of the small objects. As he reached out to touch the nearest, he called after Xanar, “What kind of plant is this?”
“Plant?” Xanar asked as he turned back. “What are you—? Darius, don’t!”
The words reached Darius just as he caressed the object, which was soft to the touch but stiffened as the palm of his hand put pressure on it. Before he could react to Xanar’s cry, the snow exploded and he was sent flying.
“Tundra spider!” Xanar screamed, even as he let an arrow fly.
It had been lying in wait in the snow, and sensing that the pressure on one if its sensitive hair follicles was more than just the wind, it roared upward, expecting to overwhelm its prey. Luckily for Darius, its rush to rise up had thrown him clear, and he had touched one of its rear legs, meaning it had to pivot about to get at him. Before it could do so, the arrow hit. The shaft grazed an eye, causing it to rear in surprise and pain.
“Darius, move!” Xanar pleaded.
Darius fought to do so, but struggled to throw off the disorientation of being so swiftly tossed through the air. He scrambled to find his feet, managed to locate Xanar from the direction of the elf’s voice, then struggled toward him. He saw his friends coming back toward them, weapons drawn, and finally the content of Xanar’s earlier exclamation hit home, just as a dark shadow fell across him. He turned to regard the spider.
When Xanar had dismissed the spider Darius had fought earlier as being a baby, Darius had wondered if it might have been good-natured bluster. Now that question was answered most decisively. This one was four times the size of the one they had dispatched before, at a minimum. At the moment, Darius had not time for more accurate estimates. The spider reared and brought its forelegs down, trying to pin him. Darius lunged aside, feeling those white hairs brushing the side of his face. That had been too close.
Xanar’s second arrow caught the spider between two leg joints, barely penetrating its exoskeleton. The arrow’s bite was enough of a nuisance that the spider did a quick half-pivot, but then it refocused on Darius.
Darius managed to get his sword out before the spider attacked again, but just barely. He had yet to regain his full balance, and although he was able to bat away the nearest leg, the force of it coming at him still pushed him to the ground. He started to roll, could feel the resistance the deep snow was offering, and was forced to push-up and lunge aside once more.
Xanar circled around, trying to move in front of the spider so that his arrows might be used to better effect. A bolt of electricity flew past his ear and into the spider. It reared in anger as the magically-invoked current played on its body, but the electricity soon dissipated.
“Lead it this way!” Uesra shouted, and Xanar, having fought beside his sister before, knew better than to question her or even to hesitate long enough to look her way. He took advantage of the brief window Adrianna’s spell had provided, grabbed Darius by the arm as the young man found his feet, and led him quickly back toward the others. They flew between Barlow and Silas, who waited with weapons ready, then turned to stand and fight, placing themselves just in front of Adrianna. Of Uesra, there was no sign.
The spider followed, on its nearest foes quickly. It feinted at Barlow then went for Silas, letting its legs drop to the sides of the cleric and leading with its fangs, hoping to paralyze him swiftly before battling the others.
Silas got his staff crossways between the snapping fangs, keeping them at bay.
Uesra, after calling to her brother, had moved ahead of where the others had stationed themselves and dove headfirst into the deep snow. What camouflage the move had not provided was given by her white cloak. Sensing the spider was now above her she rose up, scimitars out and flashing. She drove Ashtalon straight up and into the tundra spider’s abdomen, the sword going all the way in to the hilt. She twisted it and pulled it free, the spider’s thick blood trailing behind as she did so.
The spider’s mind registered the wound a heartbeat later, and it let out a high-pitched scream and flailed wildly. Uesra dropped down into the snow for protection, glad she had pulled her sword free, as she had feared such a reaction could tear it from her grasp. She held her swords crossed above her, maintaining a defensive posture but ready to strike again if the opportunity presented itself.
While the tundra spider thrashed in its agony it proved hard to hit, even for Adrianna and Xanar, as its sheer size and its frenetic, random movements forced everyone back. It seemed to collect itself, then sprang at each of its attackers in turn, driving them further, continuing to bellow its shrill scream as its blood turned the snow beneath it a bright crimson.
Xanar had his bow ready, looking for a clear shot at one of the spider’s eyes. His fingers twitched against the bowstring and his arm muscles bulged with the strain of holding the bow taut, but he knew if he got an opening it would be brief. He couldn’t afford to relax and then act only when he had an ideal shot. He could hear the surging of his blood in his ears in the interludes between the spider’s cries, and then he heard another noise, an answering call perhaps, or maybe a challenge. He glanced to the right and saw another tundra spider loping toward them.
“Don’t get between them,” Uesra warned, backing away herself.
Darius stood beside Xanar. “I thought you said they were territorial.”
“I did, and they are. At least, they used to be. Hope that hasn’t changed.”
The second spider made straight for the first, which, once aware of the presence of another of its kind, temporarily lost interest in its intended victims. The two came together in a violent collision, then sprawled in the snow with legs flailing and fangs biting.
Despite the spectacle, everyone was already in motion even as Uesra called out, “Run!”
Running proved difficult in the deep snow, and none could resist the temptation to look back from time-to-time to see how the battle between the two behemoths was working out. Unfortunately, the second spider, slightly larger and unwounded, made fairly quick work of the first. Worse, the victor, while winning territory, had done nothing to assuage its appetite, as it would not feast upon the fallen spider. Rather, it turned and gave pursuit to those struggling across the snowy landscape.
“Hold here,” Uesra said. “We can’t outrun it.” That was clearly true, as the huge spider moved easily through the snow. “Same trick as before,” she added as she dove headfirst and buried herself once more.
Adrianna had a wall
of force spell prepared for the first spider, and now seemed a good time to unleash it. She positioned herself so that the spider would have to cross Uesra to get at her, pulled her cloak open so the green of her clothing would show through, making her more visible, and called out to get the brute’s full attention.
Silas fought off the instinctive reaction to rush to her side, or to call for her to get down. He trusted that she knew what she was doing, that she had a spell ready and wasn’t sacrificing herself for some unfathomable reason. He forced himself to hold his ground and stayed ready to follow-up on whatever action Adrianna was going to take.
There could be no better testament to the ability of a sorceress to focus her mind on a spell than to watch Adrianna waiting placidly while the tundra spider, as she desired, made her the object of its full attention. It made for her, kicking up arcs of snow on both sides, its fangs clicking in anticipation. A second before it reached her—and just an instant before it moved over the hiding Uesra—Adrianna’s hands shot up and she released the spell.
The wall of force was an invisible bit of magic, the effect only apparent based on the reaction of the object or being toward which it is launched. In this case, the spell would have smashed directly into the charging spider, as Adrianna had waited until the last possible moment to cast it, and did so with steady hands. But bad luck struck a double blow, triggered by one of the spider’s lead legs, which had partially twisted under its body as it scrabbled over the icy snow, coming down on Uesra’s hidden form. This knocked the air out of the female elf’s lungs, and caused the spider to stumble before the spell hit. The magic gave it a glancing blow, making it spin onto its side, but its momentum also carried it far enough out of harm’s way that no one could take advantage of its temporary state of defenselessness. It found its feet quickly, being used to moving on the snow, and wheeled about to re-engage its new-found enemies.
Silas had actually been able to take a swipe at the out-of-control spider as it passed, but missed, having to duck to keep his head from being smacked by one of the legs. He spared Adrianna a quick glance, was glad to see she moved away to gain distance and time so she could prepare another spell, and had Barlow at his shoulder as they moved to meet the spider. Darius was only a few steps behind.