"A dragon!" Kreg hauled up short, just in time to avoid running into Kaila.
"Nay," Kaila said over her shoulder. "True dragons are found only far to the east. Yon beast is not intelligent and cannot fly. Its wings allow it to run faster than the swiftest courser for all its bulk."
"I don't think it matters all that much right now," Kreg said. "What do we do now?"
"While I draw yon beast's attention," Kaila drew her sword, "dart you in from behind and smite back of the head. The scales are weaker there and mayhap you can thus slay it. If that fail, remain on the one side, while I bide on the other. The krayt is a stupid beast and we may thus keep it confused and may yet prevail."
Kreg shook his head. "Just backwards, Kaila. I'll draw his attention and you lop off the head. You're stronger and better with the sword and I'm more expendable."
"I grant you the first two, but not the third." Kaila considered for a moment, a short moment. "Aye. We will do as you say."
As Kaila dashed away to find a path that led behind the krayt, Kreg nocked an arrow. A moment later, he stepped from behind the wall that sheltered him. In a single motion, he drew and let fly.
The arrow shattered against the krayt's scale-covered hide as Kreg ducked back behind the wall. A split second later he stepped out again and loosed another arrow. This arrow bounced off into the distance.
Kreg swore. He might as well be throwing muffins at it. Nevertheless, he loosed a third arrow and a fourth right after it. Both bounced off the Krayt without apparent effect. The krayt turned and took a step in Kreg’s direction.
"Well," Kreg let fly with a fifth arrow. "At least I have its attention."
The krayt let out a bass bellow and continued lumbering in Kreg's direction.
Kaila sprang out from behind a ruined wall. She sprinted toward the krayt, ducking past its right foreleg to reach a point alongside its neck. Her sword rang as she brought it down in a mighty chop upon the base of the beast's skull. The sound was the only noticeable effect, that and the creature turning its head slowly in her direction.
"Look out!" Kreg drew his own sword. He scrambled toward the monster as the krayt reared its head up to the full height the long neck could reach.
Kreg lunged, poking the beast in the underside of the neck. His sword point caught it between two of the scales, penetrating about half an inch. Dark red blood welled from the cut. The krayt looked first left, then right, seeking the source of the minor irritation. It spotted Kaila and swooped down in an attempt to snatch her in its yard long jaws.
Kaila twisted herself to the right, barely avoiding the krayt's teeth. Kreg gained new appreciation for her speed with that move, faster than anything she had used in his training.
For an instant, the Krayt was still and Kreg used that moment to lunge forward and pierce the beast’s left eye.
The krayt bellowed. As it turned to snap at Kreg, he dove and rolled to the right, somehow avoiding descending teeth. He came alongside its neck, opposite Kaila.
The krayt started to twist in Kreg's direction. Kaila drove her sword point into the space between two of the creature's scales, drawing blood. With the tip of her sword still in the wound, she wrenched it to one side, prying off a scale. More blood spilled on the ground.
The krayt tried to turn toward Kaila, but Kreg hammered at it. He did no visible damage, but managed to draw its attention away from Kaila again.
Kaila struck again, this time managing to cut through a few of the scales. An almost detached corner of Kreg’s mind noticed that Kaila’s sword was glowing with a blue light.
The krayt bellowed again. It reared back, opening its mouth wide. It sucked in a huge lungful of air.
"No!" Kaila shouted. "Run, Kreg!" She sprinted away, heeding her own advice.
Kreg looked up. The krayt loomed over him. Flame erupted from the monster's maw, engulfing Kreg.
"I'm dead," Kreg said. He looked down at himself, stunned. Flames licked at the blackened ground around his feet but left him untouched. The flames had not hurt him, had not touched him at all except for his sword blade. His sword glowed with white heat, a heat that burned him no more than had the flames.
Kreg looked up again. The krayt seemed as confused as he was. It roared in frustration.
Shaking off the confusion he felt to deal with later, Kreg threw back his sword arm. "Chew on this!" Kreg snapped his arm forward, hurling the sword through the air. The krayt snatched the sword out of the air.
An instant later the krayt spat out the sword, no longer glowing. It reared back, spitting flame. A second later, flame spurted from the krayt's ruined eye, followed almost instantly by the other eye, then the whole beast burst into flame.
As the krayt's death throes dwindled, Kaila approached Kreg hesitantly, stopping a good ten feet from him. "Marry!" Her voice was hushed. "When the krayt did breath upon you, I thought you dead."
Kreg retrieved his sword and slid it into his sheath before answering. "So did I. I'm just glad I'm not."
"Shillond must hear of this," Kaila said. "Never before has man withstood the flames of the krayt’s breath and lived."
#
"Astounding." Shillond rubbed his chin. "Kreg, if I may, I would like to make a few tests."
“Tests? What kind of tests?”
“Some small spells, nothing harmful, I assure you.”
"I guess," Kreg said. "Just be careful. Maybe whatever saved me from the Krayt will do it again sometime. In fact, I think it already has."
They sat in Shillond's workshop. The city returned to normal quickly after the death of the krayt, at least as close to normal as the city could be while Aerioch was losing a war.
Kaila had set work parties to repairing the damage done by the krayt and had called for all those not required to work outside to take refuge within the castle's walls.
“It has?” Shillond said.
“Back when we were escaping the castle. I thought the wizard tried to cast a spell at me but nothing happened.”
“Father,” Kaila said, “remember your sleeping spell? Kreg woke early.”
Shillond nodded. “So he did. Now if I may begin my tests?”
Kreg nodded.
Shillond half filled a bowl with water then poured as small quantity of ink into it. He plucked a few hairs from Kreg’s head and dropped them into the bowl. Finally, he crossed and uncrossed his hands above the bowl while speaking in a voice too low for Kreg to hear.
Nothing happened that Kreg could see but Shillond stared into the bowl for several minutes. He then looked at Kreg and turned away, reaching for one of the shelves.
Without warning, Shillond spun to face Kreg and pointed. “Defend yourself!”
Kreg started. A beam of light sprang from Shillond’s fingertip and stopped a scant fraction of an inch from Kreg’s chest.
“Shillond!” Kaila said.
“My apologies, both of you,” Shillond said, “The light was harmless but it confirmed what I thought. I had thought to answer questions but for each one I answer, others arise."
Kaila paused in her pacing. "What say you?"
"I easily enough solved the riddle of Kreg's surviving the krayt's flame," Shillond said.
"I'm glad to hear that," Kreg said. "So how did I?"
Shillond pulled a tube, about an arm's length long and as thick around as Kreg's wrist from a shelf and removed a tightly wound scroll of parchment from inside it. "There remains a link between you and the world of your birth. As you said, magic does not work the same there as it does here."
"Not quite. I said it doesn't work at all."
"There I think you are mistaken." Shillond unrolled a portion of the scroll and made a few marks on it with a quill pen. "Your world must have magic of some sort for magic cannot reach where magic does not exist. Only magic could have brought you here."
"Okay." Kreg nodded. "I can buy that. But how does that affect us here?"
Shillond waved a hand and a crystal orb floated from the wall and
came to rest in a wrought brass stand in front of Shillond. He peered into it and answered. "As I said, a link remains between you and your home world. The magic of your world must be different indeed from the magic here. When you wish it, you can draw on that link, become more a thing of your own world, and the new-cast magics of this world fail when they touch you."
"If you say so." Kreg looked into the orb but saw nothing.
"It also explains what happened to your sword and the krayt."
Kreg did not see how and said so.
Shillond smiled. "The krayt's flame is magical and your instinctive reaction was to resist it. The power had to go somewhere, in this case your sword. You're lucky you didn't destroy the city, throwing the sword at the krayt like you did."
Kreg swallowed and nodded.
"I see not why you are in confusion, Shillond. ‘Tis simple enough."
"The link between Kreg and his world is changing." Shillond gestured again and the orb floated back to its shelf. "It is growing stronger. I suspect it will in time grow powerful enough to draw him back to his own world." He turned back to Kreg. "There is some hazard in that. An uncontrolled transfer could be dangerous."
"Danger?" Kaila half drew her sword. "If Kreg is imperiled..."
"Oh, no immediate danger," Shillond hastened to assure her. "Some months will pass, perhaps as much as a year, before he is drawn from here."
Slowly, Kaila slid her sword back into its scabbard.
"So," Kreg said. "What's the problem? That seems to answer everything rather fully."
Shillond sighed. "It would, if that were all I found, but it's not. While examining you I also found traces of other magics."
"What other magics? Did whoever brought me here?..."
"No." Shillond shook his head. "This has a different feel to it, some enemy most likely as it is a curse of sorts."
"But I don't have any enemies!"
"A curse!" Kaila drew her sword again. "Did the red mage place another mystic trap among us?"
"I think not." Shillond began to pace. "Again, this has a different feel, and the magic is far more subtle than... Well, if that mage had been capable of such subtlety, not even Kaila would have known she was under compulsion until it was too late." A moment later, a smile replaced the sober expression on Shillond's face. "Suffice to say that this spell is something different."
"Aye," Kaila said, her own expression dark.
Shillond turned back to Kreg. "This curse you are under is a form of compulsion. Not overt, such as the one that affected Kaila, but acting to prevent you from using certain knowledge of your home world."
"So that's why I've been unable to remember much history."
Shillond nodded. "You complained of headaches?"
"Seemed to have them all the time."
"Not all the time, just when you were trying to use knowledge from your own world. The spell is imperfect, of course."
"Why 'of course'?" Kreg asked.
"Knowledge is tied to who you are," Shillond said, "so some leaks through the barrier."
After a moment of silence, Kreg said, "You were right about more questions than answers." Kreg leaned against the table. "I'm more confused than ever."
"Can this curse be removed?" Kaila asked.
"I feel confident," Shillond said. "Here, in my workshop, with all my tools, materials, and grimoires. No, it will not be difficult, not as difficult, for instance, as curing you, Kaila."
"Then do so," Kaila's request was almost a demand. "Kreg must not be under such a thing."
Kreg's head reeled. He had suffered too many shocks in too short a time.
"Kreg?" Shillond interrupted Kreg's thoughts.
"What? Oh. Of course." Kreg nodded.
As Shillond cast the spells, Kreg concentrated on allowing them to affect him. This would be a bad time for the resistance to magic Shillond had mentioned to prevent them from working. From time to time, Shillond would gesture and a book or object would float from a shelf or table to either hover near Kreg or in front of Shillond before floating back to its shelf.
After some time Kreg felt a release and the fog that had clouded his thinking ever since he arrived had gone along with the headache that had plagued him.
Kreg smiled his relief. "I believe you've done it. It’s like being well without having known you were sick."
Shillond patted Kreg on the shoulder and turned to Kaila. "You may want to see to the defense of the city while I research the changeling spell. I don't believe it was mere chance that a krayt should attack now of all times. Also, I believe that with both King Marek and Prince Keven gone from the city, you are ranking noble."
"Aye, mage." Kaila nodded. "There is wisdom in your words. Come, Kreg." She swept out of the room.
#
Kaila led Kreg first to the damaged wall where the krayt had broken into the town. She set laborers to repair the breach, taking them from other repair operations. She summoned most of the reserve troops to guard the gap until the workers could complete repairs.
From the top of the wall nearby, Kreg surveyed the land outside the city. "This is a well-built city, easy to defend."
"Aye." Kaila nodded. "King Marek chose well. On three sides the river defends us and our walls must only face a small front."
"Yeah," Kreg said. "But I've been thinking..."
"Your thoughts have ever been good even when you were cursed," Kaila said. "And the curse is lifted. What think you?"
"Well." Kreg pointed. "A couple of ditches across the strip of land there would fill with water and make almost as good a defense as the river behind us."
"Of a truth!" Kaila stared at the plain before them. "'Twas something I had ne'er thought on. Aye. 'Twould strengthen Norveth much."
"There's more," Kreg said. "When you dig the ditches, you throw the dirt up on this side to make a low wall. You could then use bridges that can be drawn back so troops can retreat if need be, or could sally forth to counterattack. Archers could stand behind the wall and shoot from its protection. Several such defenses -- on my world we called it a 'layered defense' or a 'defense in depth' would make Norveth nearly impossible to take by storm, not unless you were outnumbered by some ten to one."
"You speak rightly!" Kaila said. "I must set workers upon it at once. But..."
Her voice trailed off as she peered into the distance. Kreg squinted and saw what had attracted her attention: a spot of color that soon resolved into a horse and rider. The horseman carried a banner.
"An' I not mistake," Kaila said, "that is the herald of Prince Keven. This likes me not."
"Trouble?"
"Aye," Kaila said. "Keven is fighting the war in the west. He would not send his herald hither lest he and the army follow. Thus, they must be in retreat."
Kaila sent word to have the gates opened to the herald. She led Kreg to the council chamber to meet him.
"Keven comes," the herald reported. "He retreats in good order. His rearguard continues to harass the enemy and slow their advance."
"And the enemy?" Kaila asked. "What numbers have they? What are their tactics?"
"There seem numberless, My Lady," the herald said. "They attack in waves. We charge to meet them and scatter one wave, but when we give chase the next comes upon us and we have to retreat. We take only light losses but their hosts outnumber us three to one. If we continue much longer, they will wear us down."
She turned to Kreg when the herald had gone. "There are evil tidings. Our armies can scatter the enemy but..."
Kreg grinned sardonically. "You win the skirmishes and lose the battles."
"That seems the way of it," Kaila said. "We have called to service all there are to call. Schah can replenish her warriors with spellcraft. If it is that the wars continue for long, then shall Aerioch fall."
"But they only have one tactic." A glimmer of an idea began to form in Kreg's mind. "Useful only against a cavalry charge, heavy cavalry at that."
"And yet," Kaila said, "our armies are cava
lry and how else to use them but at the charge?"
"How else indeed," Kreg mused.
#
Kaila greeted Keven in the council chamber later that evening. From her childhood spent largely at court, she knew Keven’s habits well. Keven would first see to his men and then their horses. Then Keven would bath and change into clean clothes. Only then would he meet with anyone from court. When she saw the lines that fear and concern carved into his face, she was grateful that she had allowed him his old habit.
"It liked me not," Keven told, "to spend the army in futile effort as the army of Shendar was spent."
Kaila poured a cup of wine and handed it to him. The two of them were alone in the council chamber. "You did well, Keven, as I am sure the King your father will agree."
"There were just too many." Keven seemed not to hear her. "Just too many. And we fled before them."
"Keven," Kaila said. "Lately my head is filled with strange thoughts. The Nomad shaman we met told me that I must be like the coyote, not the wolf. And Kreg, with his 'Way of Yielding.' It has taught him a strange mode of thought, where one can defeat an enemy by fleeing before him. I would not have believed had I not seen it happen. Yet these thoughts fill my mind and I do not understand them, but one thing I do understand. You did no evil turn to save the army to fight another day."
"'The Way of Yielding'?" Keven asked.
"It is a form of wrestling that Kreg learned on his world," Kaila said, "Or perhaps it is more than that, I do not know. And yet I see what he does. He counsels us to flee before enemies, and I see in his eyes it is not fear that prompts this counsel, but a greater wisdom than I have wit to understand. Kreg..." she paused, searching for the right words, "bends, in a way unlike any I have ever seen. He bends not to whim or...or...his bending is not like the whisperer, who tells each what he wishes to hear. It is..." She sighed. "I do not know."
Keven sat back in his chair, and sipped at his wine. His eyes were half-lidded, hiding any thoughts that Kaila might read in them. After a long time, he said, "Tell me more. I would hear of what you have seen of Kreg and his 'Way of Yielding'."
The Hordes of Chanakra (Knights of Aerioch) Page 14