Tall glared. “You weren’t going to come back for me?”
“I was not,” Avea said plainly. “We’ve some small time before the others engage. They, like us, will assess first. We must follow when they strike, without delay.”
“All the shouting’s not because of them?”
“No, it isn’t. A brawl, perhaps. The wizard’s men fight each other as much as any other. It is the one constant to count on.”
Tall took account of himself, picked up his staff. “What will we do now? Did you hear them talk about the wizard’s prize?”
“I did. Their prize is Ray.”
“Ray, is here?”
“Yes, he is. From the look of it, Lady Hravic met the squad transporting Ray here. I was about to move into position when a second squad arrived. No one seemed happy about this. I saw why immediately—Prefect Jravac. That is her by the fire, there, discussing something with the one-armed man. He is the Prefect.”
“Braddick?” Tall asked, staring into the distance, his voice touched with awe as he’d missed this before.
Avea walked a tight circle, pulling Tall with her. “You know this one?”
“He commands the wizard’s army.”
“Indeed he does,” Avea said. “He is the worst of them. I don’t understand why he’s here. It’s troubling.”
Tall told Avea everything he knew of Braddick. What Deanna said about Braddick. How Braddick went to Stone Desert in search of something the day before Tall himself left Adalayia. How Tall saw Braddick in his dreams.
Tall held back one thing. He didn’t want to tell her about the dream of himself being killed by Braddick, but he did. “In my dreams,” he said quietly, “Braddick kills me.”
Tall realized he was shaking. What he left unsaid was that he hoped the death dream was not this night’s portent, for that would mean these were his last moments, and everything he’d gone through to get here was for nothing.
“None of us can change our fate,” Avea said. “But forewarned is forearmed.”
Tall wrapped his arms around himself. Avea’s hand on his shoulder was reassuring. It gave him the courage to look within himself for the resolve he needed. “If I die,” he said, “Will you make sure Ray returns to my village? He must, you know this, or there can be no hope for my people.”
Avea took a step back, removed her hand. “Enough talk of death and dying,” she said. “We’ve much else to think about.”
Tall took a step forward. A break in the canopy allowed more starlight to filter through. It was enough to see Avea’s face fully. “Promise,” he repeated.
Her expression solemn, Avea said, “I promise, Tall, if you’ll make me a promise.”
“Anything.”
Avea looked fixedly at Tall. “As hasty as Ray to rush in, but I’ll take what I can get. The promise is this… Promise me that you’ll free them no matter the cost.”
“Free them?”
“The tree singers. Kerry, Ekatarin, the rest. Promise me, no matter the cost?”
Tall swallowed hard. “Me? How? I have no—”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” Tall said. “No matter the cost.”
“Good.” Avea returned her hand to Tall’s shoulder. “Then we have much to talk about, and precious little time left.”
Avea spoke quickly, telling Tall what he must do. She finished, saying, “Remember, the eye turns one way while the hands reach otherwise. This night, no matter what, you and I are one of the hands. When the assault begins, we move quickly for the tent on the right. It’s where they’re holding Ray. Deanna is there as well. Are you with me so far?”
Tall nodded.
“I’ll be at your side as we go, but you’re not to stop for anything. Your objective takes priority, even over my life. Grandin has told your brood to harry our enemies but only as a feint. We did not foresee the soldiers, but if the beasts do as told they should survive. I beg your forgiveness if it turns out otherwise. Lastly, this is for you. Blue water. Drink it, if you have the need.”
Tall waited quietly for Avea’s next move, his heart pounding suddenly in his ears. He realized he was grinding his teeth in frustration. The trap meant for Lady Hravic may instead be a trap for them.
Avea gripped his shoulder. Tall crawled after her, staff in hand. Soon he was at the edge of the undergrowth, staring across the deep bowl to Lady Hravic’s camp. Avea said, “Speak not a word from this point forward. When the time comes, reach out and find Ray’s light. Let it guide you. Remember, I’m expendable. You are not. I count on you to liberate Ray.”
Avea and Tall emerged from the trees. They crept out into the flat expanse. When Avea decided it was safe, they ran toward the watch fire. She was bent over at a half crawl and using quick, small steps. Tall stayed at her side.
Just before Avea was highlighted by the fire’s light, she stopped and dropped to the ground. Then she crawled forward with strange sudden bursts of movement in between moments of stillness. At one point, she rolled over onto her back before springing back into motion.
Movement on the far side of the camp caught Tall’s attention. He saw a figure emerge from the shadows, followed by two others. All three were separated from most of the camp by the tents. As if on cue, Avea launched into an all out sprint. Tall followed, his staff ready in his hand. The camp came alive with shouting and men rushing out of their tents.
The rush of wind that signaled Rhyliath’s arrival came from on high. Rhyliath struck the campfire directly. His great claws, plowing into the timbers, cast out an inferno, and out of the ash and fire emerged Alkin, his sword flashing in his hand.
More shouts of alarm and panic followed, as did the fighting. Alkin was a marvel, as was Rhyliath, who rent and tore his way through the camp. Grandin and his men appeared in the midst of the fighting.
Terrified screams told Tall where his brood stalked those who tried to flee. Tall stayed close to Avea. He moved as she moved. The camp was alive with fire and blood.
The huge figure of one-armed Braddick blocked his way. Tall tried to dodge the fist and sword pommel that sought to bash in the side of his head but couldn’t. The blow struck. The side of his face exploded with pain. For a moment, everything seemed frozen in time, then he went down.
He felt the impact with the ground, though it was distant to the sudden disorientation and ringing in his left ear. Braddick’s boot. It was coming down at his face. Terrified, Tall rolled on his side, brought his staff around. The staff connected with Braddick’s shin, a resounding thwack. Even before he pushed off the ground, even before he could block the next blow, Avea was there, her sword moving like it was alive in her hand.
“Go,” Avea hissed, and Tall listened, leaving her to face Braddick’s fury. But once he was on his feet, he realized escape from the madness around him wouldn’t be so simple. He was dizzy and men were fighting in every direction he looked. Rhyliath was a terror, his wings buffeting, his claws flashing, his jaws ripping and crushing. In the middle of it was Alkin, moving as if he and Rhyliath performed a kind of dance that only they understood. Grandin and his were fighting, holding back several times their number, and there unexpectedly amongst them were Tall’s beasts—all save Lady and Lucky, who waited to aid his escape.
Escape. The word echoed in his mind. He knew he had to get out of there. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his right eye, brought his staff up in time to deflect a blow. He ducked another blow, spun around, brought his staff down to slap across the other’s exposed back.
Panic began to set in. He couldn’t stay in the fight. Flight was essential, but he was supposed to do something. It was the reason he was here. Avea’s words played in his thoughts. “Reach out and find Ray’s light,” she was telling him.
Blocking out the rest of the world, he reached out. He hoped his fear would drive the sight as it had before and he was right. The world before him transformed. He saw, but not enough.
Remembering the blue water in his pocket,
he drank it as he ran. The effect was immediate, his world torn from him as the other world filled him. He saw now and it was as he’d never seen before. A delicate weave of threads and colors. Ray was where Avea said he was. Deanna was out there too.
A tent was before him. It was not the tent Avea had pointed out earlier, but he was inside pulling Deanna behind him before he realized this. Then he was in another tent, the one where Ray was being held, striking out at the lone guard with his staff and shouting at Deanna to free Ray’s bindings.
He struck the guard again and again. He didn’t think, he just acted. The guard went down. He rammed the side of the head with the end of his staff.
No moment wasted, he cut his way through the back of the tent using the guard’s sword. The look he gave Ray said all there was to say. He pushed through the opening, staff ready, waved Deanna and Ray through.
A dead sprint from the camp, up into the hills. Tall didn’t look back, but he heard enough to know what was happening.
“It is time, come,” Tall reached out and told his brood. The connections were as strong as ever. But there was absence as well. Playful Big Tooth and mischievous Snub Nose were no more.
The loss cut through him more than the harsh discord of clashing steel shouts, and pain-filled screams.
Chapter 18: The Meeting Place
The plan, the plan, Tall told himself as he tried to focus on their escape. Deanna and Ray broached no questions. He was dizzy, somewhat wobbly on his feet, but he managed to run. He touched a hand to the left side of his face. It came away bloody. When he topped the first hill, he reached out to Lady and Lucky. “To me, to me,” he told them. Within moments, they were galloping into view.
A voice coming out of the darkness froze Tall where he stood. “Death to seers,” it said.
Suddenly, a figure was barreling out of the shadows, his muscular arms out. Tall only had time to turn and duck before the figure was on him, but he wasn’t the intended target. Ray was.
Ray wasted not a moment. He pulled Tall’s staff away, used it to meet the other’s onrush. Tall watched the blows unfold in rapid succession. One to the either side. One to the throat. It was efficient, deadly, and over even before Tall fully realized what he saw.
Tall pushed Deanna and Ray onto Lady’s back. He mounted Lucky. “Away, away,” he told Lady and Lucky. “North and then west. Hazard and the others will follow soon, I’ve told them where we will go. Big Feet and Horn Eyes do not want to leave the bearded ones to fend for themselves, but I’ve told them they must.”
Tall saw in two worlds as he rode. The strands of the other world guided him away from dangers. It took great effort to look to the path ahead. He wanted so to reach back, to see what was happening, to know who lived and who died.
His head throbbed. The meeting place was what he tried to concentrate on. Easy enough to find, for it was the place Grandin nursed him to health.
“Lady, Lucky, you are well?” he asked, knowing it was a question he should have asked before setting off. But the urgency of the moment had overwhelmed him. He was overwhelmed still by all that had happened. He was no great warrior, and yet when the moment of need came, he acted. He struck without hesitation, and only now thought about the consequences. The guard he felled was dead. His final blow crushed bone; he felt it and knew, just as he knew the man who tried to attack Ray was dead.
It made him angry, this thought of death at his hand. It left him feeling empty inside. He thought of Big Tooth and Snub Nose. They’d play and make mischief no more. They were gone. Others likely were as well. Grandin maybe, Avea, or Alkin. Surely not Rhyliath, but wivres could be killed like any other being.
The rough path pulled Tall back. He worked to sooth Lucky and Lady, realizing only then he’d been feeding them his dark thoughts.
He glanced right, looked to Deanna and Ray. Deanna’s arms were wrapped around Lady’s neck. Ray’s arms were wrapped around Deanna. Both held on for dear life. They were terrified, he realized.
Recalling how unsettling his first ride had been, he guided Lady and Lucky to a slower pace. Less jostling brought more clarity, but did little for the ringing in his left ear or the throbbing of his head. “We’re well away from the soldiers now,” he told Lady and Lucky. To Ray and Deanna, he said, “You don’t know how good it is to see you.”
Ray called back, “I could say the same to you. Wherever did you come from? Was it Avea and Grandin leading the attack?”
Tall didn’t get to answer. Deanna cut in. “What’s happening? One moment calm, the next everything’s upside down.”
Rocky terrain took Tall’s attention. He concentrated on the path, while reaching out into two worlds. The other world was alive with intersecting threads of crimson, but it was white fire and ice blue that he paid special attention to.
Tall guided Lucky closer and closer to Lady. Soon the two horses were running abreast, no more than an arm length apart. Ray leaned around and took a long look at Deanna. “Is it or isn’t it?” he asked. “You never really answered one way or the other?”
Deanna said, “It is. I tried to tell you before, but I couldn’t speak freely.”
Tall realized something had passed between the two earlier. “Do you know each other?” He asked.
“She—”
“He is the seer—the reason the Prefect was sent into the desert to hunt rebels. Lady Hravic gave up the hunt for you to join Equite Andros. The Equite was holding him captive. The Prefect joined us not long before the attack began.”
Ray turned to Tall. “You know each other?”
“Don’t you?” Tall asked.
“I—”
“He doesn’t remember all that’s happened to him,” Deanna said.
“Though he remembers me, I know he does.”
“I do but there’s something…” Ray said. “Something I’m trying to remember, but I can’t.” To Tall he said, “Do you trust her? The wizard plays—”
“No trick of the wizard,” Deanna said sharply. “I assure you.”
Ray pulled away from Deanna so abruptly he fell off Lady. Fortunately, Lady was already slowing her gait, as they had reached Grandin’s camp. Lying on his back, looking up from the ground, Ray accused Deanna of something with his eyes, but did not say aloud what it was.
Tall dismounted, helped Deanna do the same. When Ray got back on his feet, Tall wrapped his arms around both of them. “So good to see you,” he said. There were tears in his eyes as he turned to Ray. “I never thought I’d see you again. It has been such a long journey. There’s so much I have to tell you.”
“And I, you,” Ray said. “I can hardly believe it. You are the last person I expected to see in the Outland.”
Ray was to Tall’s right, Deanna to his left. Deanna stepped back. She was shaking. Her cheeks were wet. “Lady Hravic made me do it,” she said, her voice scarcely a whisper. “I didn’t want to, but I didn’t have—”
“I know—I know,” Tall said. “You could have turned me in before, but you did not. You are a true friend.”
Ray pointed, wagged his finger at Deanna, his expression suddenly stern. “No, you misunderstand. She’s apologizing for what she did to me. Aren’t you? I’m starting to remember now.”
Deanna started to say something, then her eyes went wide. She waved away Ray’s finger. “Tall, you’re bleeding. You’re hurt.”
Ray suddenly seemed to see this as well. He helped Tall sit, knelt beside him as Deanna did the same. Tall didn’t like how they were fussing over him, turning his head to check his wound. Deanna’s touch brought a groan of pain. He couldn’t hold it in.
“How ever did you run or ride with this?” Deanna said. She was holding something in her hand, pressing it into his head.
Tall winced, cried out. He wanted to pull away, but thought Ray was holding him so he couldn’t. Except that wasn’t quite right. Ray wasn’t holding him, the ground was. He was lying on his back, looking up at the night sky. He started to speak; Deanna stopped him. �
�You’re back with us,” she said. “Be still. A few more applications and you’ll be past the worst of it.”
Tall didn’t know what she meant. The quiet around him was odd.
Deanna held a water bag to his lips. “Drink,” she said. “You need food, but we’ve none. This will have to do for now.”
Tall had to sit up to drink some water. Ray helped him. “How long was I out?” He asked.
“Not long,” Ray said, eyeing Deanna warily.
“You have to trust me,” Deanna said heatedly. “I didn’t want to. The truth will become clearer soon.”
“Why?” Ray asked. “Why did you do it? We trusted you.”
A cold breeze was blowing. Tall shivered, realized he was freezing.
“Not now. We have to get him warm,” Deanna said, curling herself around Tall. “Get the fire going. Set the tent. The supports are there. I saw them.”
Ray didn’t back down. “You’re a traitor. If Tall didn’t need you, I’d show you how traitors are dealt with.”
Tall gritted his teeth and shivered. “Whatever happened, let it go. No one can be held to account for what they are coerced into.”
“Except… She wasn’t coerced. I see it now. When she betrayed us, she had a choice.”
“You are wrong!” Deanna shouted. “Remember when Lady Hravic had me turn this on you? I know you do.” Deanna held out her hand. In it, was a pulsating orb, the match for the one that had been in Tall’s pocket, but was now in his hand. The two orbs blinked in opposition. First one, and then the other. “Thrall spheres, they are rightly called. They have many uses. They harm as well as they heal. You’d be dead if not for me. I took your memories to save you. You have to believe me.”
The question in Ray’s expression said he was trying to understand. Tall’s eyes closed. Not that he wanted them to, he just couldn’t keep them open any longer.
“The fire!” Deanna shouted. “If you must have your revenge, do it when Tall is out of danger.”
Into the Stone Land Page 15