More and more of the horses screamed in panic, they bucked and kicked to dislodge their struggling riders. Hodekin pits brought more horses down with broken legs. A third phoenix egg cracked and the phoenix added its hellfire to the mix. The distant pthuping came again and again, and there were more eruptions within the ranks of the Jokapcul. Above it all, Haft heard the sharper cracking of small demon spitters wielded by Jokapcul magicians. There was another, louder crack, followed by a line of green light that arced into the sky from near the gate. At the apex of its arch, the line of light burst into a ball of brilliant fire that illuminated and slowly floated toward the ground. A crack sounded from it a second after the line burst into the ball. There was a sudden rattle of cracks from the Jokapcul magicians, but Haft couldn’t see through the mass of milling men and horses to know if they could actually see who they were shooting at.
The Jokapcul officers were trying to funnel their men through the broken gate. There! Haft spotted a magician. He grinned harshly, balanced the demon spitter on his shoulder again, and aimed. The weapon spat into the mass of cavalry crowding the gate. More men and horses were thrown away by the violence of the explosion when the demon’s spit struck. He quickly fired twice more, then bolted to the side before the demon could pop its door open and demand to be fed again. He was just in time; two squads of horsemen descended on the place from where he fired. The distant demon spitters spat again for the first time since the fireball opened above them, and two eruptions near the gate tumbled wounded horses and men.
He fed the demon again, then aimed the weapon and it spat into the Jokapcul who were looking for him where he had just been. Before the survivors could recover, he was on the move again, away from the fence. Fifty yards farther from the fence, he turned and sprinted to the other side of the road. As he ran, another Phoenix egg burst open and there were more explosions from the demon spitters wielded by the men with Spinner.
Then the Jokapcul jostling to get through the fence bumped the gateposts, and a sudden, shrill sizzling announced the emergence of the imps from their houses. The night filled with the screams of more men and horses as the imps grasped them and began feeding. An officer barked out in a voice of command and the horsemen broke, galloping back toward their camp. The Jokapcul magicians answered with their own cracks, but not with the same concentration they had when the fireball burst above the edge of the forest. A half dozen of them fell to two large demon spitter pthups, and one to Xundoe’s smaller one. Only one regained his feet and stumbled along the road after his troop. The retreating Jokapcul ran head-on into another troop heading toward the one-sided battle. The troops milled about in confusion for a moment, but Haft didn’t see the encounter—by the time they met he was already sprinting for the gate.
“We were afraid they’d found you,” Spinner said just inside the trees beyond the fence.
“Find me?” Haft grinned. “Never! Not when I’ve got one of these lovelies.” He stroked the thigh of the giggling Lalla Mkouma who preened on his shoulder.
“We beat them!” Xundoe said in hushed excitement.
“No, we didn’t beat them,” Spinner said.
Haft clapped the mage on the shoulder and added, “But we certainly hurt them. Much thanks to you.”
“We better go,” Silent said, looking toward the Jokapcul camp. “They’re coming again.”
The others looked. A thick, dark line was heading toward them along the road.
“They’re hurt, but they aren’t beaten,” Spinner said. “Let’s go.”
“Let’s give them a farewell present,” Haft said, and balanced his demon spitter on his shoulder again.
Spinner shook his head, but shouldered his demon spitter as well. So did Balta, the Bloody Axe who had the third.
“One at a time,” Spinner said. “Me first. On my command, Balta. Haft last.”
Haft and Balta told him they understood.
Spinner aimed his demon spitter along the road and waited until the dark line resolved itself into a column three horsemen wide. When the van of the Jokapcul column was less than fifty yards from the gate he squeezed the signaling lever. The demon spat and the first two ranks of Jokapcul were flung to the ground like they’d hit a wire stretched across the road.
“Balta!” Spinner barked, and the Skraglander’s weapon spat into the Jokapcul who were manically trying to avoid trampling on or tripping over their fallen companions. Five more crashed to the ground. Injured horses screamed, other horses screamed in fear.
“Haft!” Haft’s weapon spat and the eight men ran into the forest. Behind them more horses, forced off the road into the area Xundoe had prepared, screamed when their legs broke in hodekin holes. Another phoenix egg cracked open, men and horses screamed as the newborn bird unfurled its wings.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
It took a few minutes for the officers to regroup their squads when they realized no more destruction was coming their way, but the Jokapcul finally poured through the gate and spread out to search for their attackers. Some squads went north or south to search the open, moonlit fields, but most went into the forest where they thrashed about in the dark, their only illumination the few shafts of moonlight that pierced the foliage.
A squad of seven threaded its way between a thicket and a wide boled tree. When the last man reached the tree, the end of a quarterstaff arrowed out of nowhere into the space between the neckflaps of his helmet, crushing his throat. He tumbled backward and was caught by a strong arm that lowered him quietly to the ground. The strong arm’s mate then thrust downward with a mighty sword and shattered his heart—the Jokapcul died before the drumming of his heels could attract attention. The horseman next up in line was silenced by the huge sword that nearly severed his head. A crossbow bolt slammed through the metal-plated leather armor of the next man forward and blew through his spine. He thudded to the ground. The sound spun the others around, weapons raised. No one opposed them and, search as they might, they couldn’t find anyone in the deep shadows they’d just passed—though someone in the shadows found them. In moments the entire squad was dead.
Fifty yards to the south, a horseman probing into the shadows with his lance was momentarily surprised when a half-moon axe blade swung out of thin air. The blade clove into his chest, ending his surprise and his life. Five yards to his left, another lancer probing shadows didn’t even see the sword that thrust into the thin armor under his arm. The six remaining members of that squad were unwittingly saved when they galloped toward the four briefly surviving members of the squad to their north who were yelling in their panicked search for unseen killers.
Throughout the forest, Jokapcul horsemen who’d lost their officers at the approach to the fence sped toward the yelling. Several were intercepted by axe or sword wielded by invisible men.
Elsewhere, the few remaining officers kept their men under control and continued the search. They never found their quarry, but sometimes the quarry found them. The invisible hunted found the hunters, and when they did one officer died for every three soldiers whose blood nurtured the earth. Finally, the invisible men broke off their attacks and withdrew. By then the Jokapcul, their panic growing, had begun to lash out at every shadow.
Farther to the north, under cover of the confusion caused by the unseen attackers, four men sped away: Xundoe—carrying two demon spitters—and three Bloody Axes, two of whom bore a caged hodekin between them.
By the time the few remaining officers withdrew and rallied their men in the open before the forest, eleven of the fifteen officers and forty of the 190 soldiers of the second force to approach the gate were dead or dying. Many others would recover from their wounds, though not all would be whole enough to fight again.
“I did it!” Xundoe squealed. “I did something no other Zobra army magician ever did before!”
“You did it!” Haft said loudly then staggered the mage with a clap to his back.
“I had confidence in you, Xundoe,” Spinner said. He could hardly belie
ve all eight of them had made it back to the valley.
“Spinner!” Doli shrieked, and raced to throw herself into his arms. She gripped the sides of his head and smothered his face with kisses. “You’re alive!”
“Yes, I’m alive.” His voice was muffled by her mouth and hair. He grasped her wrists and tried to pull her off, but she tangled her fingers in his hair and clung more tightly.
Haft and Silent looked at each other and shook their heads.
The Golden Girl approached with more dignity than Doli had. She spared Spinner and Doli a dismissive glance and planted herself in front of Haft and Silent. Others eagerly began to gather about.
“Are you going to tell us what happened,” Alyline asked softly, “or are you just going to watch her slaver all over him?”
Haft turned his face aside, glad it was still night and she couldn’t see the red he felt spreading over his face. “Ah, yes, tell you. Well, we set out to hurt them and we did.”
Alyline cocked her head, the mocking expression on her face not quite discernable in the moonlight. “That’s it? You hurt them? There’s nothing more to tell?”
Haft sighed. He darted a glance at Spinner, still trying vainly to free himself from Doli’s close attentions. “All right. Get everybody together and we’ll tell you.” He looked directly at Spinner and Doli. “Maybe by the time everyone is gathered, she’ll release her prisoner so he can help us tell about the raid.”
Alyline nodded sharply. “Go over there.” She pointed at the place he stood earlier that afternoon when he challenged the people to defy their despair.
“Yes, mistress,” Haft said to her back as she went off to gather the people. He looked up at Silent. “What do you think, should we try to rescue him?”
The giant slowly shook his head. “There are a few very important truths a man must know if he wants to survive in this world. One of them is never stand between a woman and the man she wants, even if he doesn’t want her.”
Haft shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that man; the only thing wrong with Doli is her dislike for me. Let’s go.” He signaled Xundoe and the four Bloody Axes and led the way to the place Alyline had assigned to them.
It was still before dawn, but everyone was up and gathered in front of Haft and the other six raiders. Few looked at them—most looked through the shadows at Spinner, who was still locked in place by Doli. Someone tittered. Doli looked manically about, saw everyone looking, and looked like she desperately wanted to be somewhere else.
Spinner took advantage of her distraction to walk briskly to Haft’s side. Haft leered at him and Spinner shook his head in embarrassment.
“All right,” Haft said loudly, turning to the crowd. “We’re back from the raid—all of us, as you can see, and uninjured. The Jokapcul can’t say the same.” Wild cheering stopped him and he smiled in openmouthed pleasure.
“Are guards posted?” Spinner asked as soon as the cheering dropped off enough for him to be heard.
“You left me in command,” Fletcher answered. “You know there are.”
“Thank you, Fletcher.” Spinner looked to his side, at Xundoe, and continued, “We owe our success to our mage and the demons he controls. He used imps, phoenix eggs, and the hodekin to set traps for the Jokapcul when Haft lured them into attacking us. We have Xundoe to thank for the Lalla Mkouma that allowed Haft to make a foray to the edge of the Jokapcul camp without being seen, and allowed four of us to close on them when they searched for us in the forest.” Then he described the night’s work in greater detail. Xundoe told some of how he booby-trapped and mined the fence and the area just beyond it. Haft reported in lurid and slightly exaggerated detail what he did on the Jokapcul side of the fence. Balta, the Bloody Axe who had stayed with them, Lalla Mkouma on his shoulder, gave an account of the one-sided fight in the forest. The other Bloody Axes also contributed to the telling. Alyline, Doli, Zweepee, and Nightbird translated for those who didn’t speak the languages the stories were told in.
When they were finished a man called out, “Did you hurt them badly enough to make them go away? We still have people held by them.”
Spinner and Haft quickly looked at each other, uncertain how to reply. Silent spoke up before either of them could.
“The only way to hurt the Jokapcul that badly is to kill all of them. Or at least kill all of their officers. We did neither. But I think we did hurt them badly enough that they are now afraid of us.”
“So how do we rescue the rest of our people from them?” a woman asked.
No one had a ready answer.
It was past noon when Spinner and Haft woke. Doli was kneeling by Spinner’s side, where she’d spent the hours of his sleep. He groaned and rolled away from her, insisting his sleep had been too poor for him to want to see anybody yet, but she fussed over him and insisted on feeding him. He allowed her to fetch a meal for him. When she was gone he turned a pained expression at Haft and groaned out, “Why does she pester me? Can’t she tell I don’t want her?”
Haft grinned, his sleep had been sound and he was feeling much more refreshed. “She wants you for the same reason Alyline doesn’t. You freed her from slavery.”
Spinner groggily shook his head. “That makes no sense.”
“Sure it does. Doli looks at you and remembers you freed her from slavery. She’s grateful. Alyline looks at you and remembers that you freed her from slavery. That brings back all the bad memories.” He shrugged. “It’s obvious.”
“Then why do they dislike you?”
“Ah, that’s different! Alyline dislikes me for the same reason she dislikes you. Doli dislikes me because before I knew she was a slave, I treated her like a common tavern wench.” He turned his gaze to the wall of the valley beyond which lay the ruins of Eikby. “Not all women who work in taverns and inns are as friendly as Maid Marigold and Maid Primrose,” he added wistfully.
Spinner snorted. “You didn’t treat Maid Marigold like a common tavern wench, that’s why she liked you.”
Haft didn’t answer right away. He was lost in thought, still looking beyond the valley wall. When he did, he spoke softly. “I wonder if they’re still alive.”
Doli returned just then and insisted on feeding him with her own hands.
“What about me?” Haft asked when he noticed. “Don’t I get breakfast?”
Doli ignored him. Spinner tried to say something, but Doli shoved a spoon into his mouth.
“Well, maybe there’s some food around here someplace for one of last night’s heroes,” Haft said as he stood. “Some people!” he said with a grin and a shake of his head as he walked away. A couple of minutes later someone handed him a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread and he settled under a tree to eat it. When he was through eating he went in search of the Golden Girl.
“Did you have fun last night?” she asked with a sneer when he told her he wanted to talk about the Jokapcul in the remains of Eikby.
He answered more politely than she expected. “ ‘Fun’ isn’t a good word here. In combat you’re trying to kill people who are trying to kill you. That doesn’t qualify as ‘fun.’ But am I glad we did it? Am I satisfied? We all came back whole. They didn’t.” He nodded. “Yes, I’m glad and I’m satisfied. But it wasn’t fun.”
“So you’re not looking for an audience to gloat in front of?”
He shook his head. “I’m thinking about the people who didn’t get away in time, the ones who are captive.”
She cocked her head. “And what are you thinking?”
“A few weeks ago you were talking to a dyer and a tucker in Nightbird’s company about making a costume like your dancing clothing. You didn’t like the first outfit they came up with. Did they ever get it right?”
Her face went cold. “What does that have to do with the captive people?”
“I’m thinking of a diversion.”
“What kind of diversion?”
Haft knew he was on dangerous ground. “Whatever else we can say about th
e Jokapcul, they are men. All men react the same way when they see a beautiful, graceful woman. As long as I can look at you from a safe distance, you’re the most beautiful, most graceful woman I’ve ever seen and I love looking at you.” She opened her mouth, probably to make some scalding reply, but he hurried on. “If they can see you in your gold clothing, you can distract them enough for us to attack them and free the captives.”
“You’re not standing at a safe distance now.” Her hand lashed out at his face. He saw it coming but didn’t try to deflect or block the slap. She pulled her blow and merely caressed his cheek. “Spinner wouldn’t ask me to do that.”
“Spinner loves you.”
“And you don’t.”
“I’m not fool enough to love a woman to whom I bring bad memories.”
She flinched then gathered herself and looked at him speculatively. “You’ve changed. You wouldn’t have said that when you and Spinner saved us from The Burnt Man Inn.”
He shrugged, but not enough to disturb her hand where it still lay against his cheek—her touch surprised him, and it felt strangely good. “I was still just a pea on then. Now people depend on me the way they depend on Spinner. There are a lot of things I say now that I wouldn’t have said then.”
“But you’ll still do insane things that should get you killed.”
He grinned crookedly. “If I’m good enough, those things won’t kill me—and if they don’t kill me, they aren’t insane.”
She searched his eyes for a long moment, then said, “I will think about your proposal.” She lowered her hand and took a step back.
“Thank you.” He bowed and turned away.
“Haft.” He looked back at her voice. “I’m not saying yes, but even if I do I won’t dance. You know that.”
He looked at her blankly for a moment, then remembered. “Right. Your musician.”
She nodded. “Mudjwohl. A Djerwohl dancer and her sothar player are joined as soon as their training begins. She cannot dance without his music. Did you know that?”
Demontech: Rally Point: 2 (Demontech Book 2) Page 27