It was still an unfair fight; the two remaining ones with the machetes, plus the leader and the rifleman recovering quickly from Dorion's shock were more than enough in muscle and bulk to take the others on, but by this time Halagar had the leader in a viselike hold, one arm twisted back and his head pulled back with the knife at this throat.
"Everybody freeze or I'll cut his damned throat here and now!" Halagar bellowed, and it caused enough of a pause for the others, except the two writhing on the ground from wounds, to see what the situation was with their leader. It was too much for two of them; they dropped their weapons and fled into the cane. That made the score one leader with a knife at his throat, one rifleman with an empty gun, and two badly wounded on the road. The rifleman muttered a curse in his own language, threw down his rifle, and made for the cane himself. They let him go.
"Your friends aren't very loyal or supportive," Halagar taunted the leader, who struggled but not only couldn't free himself, he didn't seem to believe it was possible for a mere Akhbreed to hold somebody as big and strong as he in any kind of grip at all.
"They will fry in the nether hells for this!" the leader grumbled. "I will chase them for eternity!"
"Never mind the regrets. Who put you up to this? And what's so special about that woman?"
"Courier from the Masalur border," the Qatarung responded, giving up his struggle. "They bring us news and link the cells together. They gave us the descriptions of those three and at first said to let them pass if they came by. About a week ago we had that changed. They didn't care about the magician or the little one, but the tall, skinny one was to be taken at all cost and whoever brought her to any active border post would be rewarded beyond their dreams. That's what it said."
"Why?"
"How the hells should I know? First they said find a thin, pretty girl and a fat one. Then they said never mind the thin, pretty girl, just kill the fat one if you see her and bring something of her for a reward to prove you did it. Then they say they want the tall, skinny one, but alive. We just try and keep the orders straight and follow them. Fellow saw you all and recognized you a couple days back. He contacted us last night and we came after you, that's all."
"Are there more of you ahead?"
"I dunno. Maybe. Probably. Most of our side's gone to Masalur, together with some of the tribal chiefs, to see the demonstration."
"What demonstration?"
"I don't know! They don't tell people like me stuff like that! Just that anyone who wants proof of rebel victory should be at the border of Masalur hub by the evening of the Feast of Glicco. That's eleven days from now. It was supposed to be last week, but they had to postpone it for some reason so they say then for sure. Most have already left, 'cause you need big-shot magicians to get into Masatur and most of them on our side'll be going to the hub border as well."
"Thank you, my friend. You have been most helpful, in your own crude way," responded Halagar, and very cleanly and neatly slit the Qatarung's throat and left him gurgling and writhing in the road, choking to death on his own blood, next to the other two, one of whom had stopped all movement.
Halagar ignored them. "Damn! The gods know how far the horses have bolted, but at least they bolted our way. Dorion, pick up the guns. Boday, search those pouches on their loincloths for ammunition. We may need these." He looked up at the sun. "We will also need all the light we can get."
Boday came up with about twenty rifle bullets and six hand-loaded shotgun shells. It wasn't much, but it was better than being almost totally defenseless.
Halagar held one rifle in his left hand and took Charley's hand with his right and began walking down the road.
For Charley, the attack and the brutal defense had been a mixture of sounds and long-term fear, but she'd simply fallen back and hoped that it would all miss her and it had. She still wasn't very sure of Halagar, but at least today he'd earned his pay.
"Surely they must have mistaken us," Boday insisted as they walked. "It is insane. Why would they want Boday? Perhaps, within tall, short, fat, thin, man, woman, we all look alike to them."
"Uh-uh," Dorion responded. "They knew who we were. Magician, pretty little one, tall skinny one and even that reference to the fat one. And their news was recent, too, because they knew the hunt for Charley had been called off, and were apparently ahead of the gang back at the borders or they'd have taken us. That means the word is going back from Masalur's border where the bigwigs are. No, they weren't very good at being a rebel band, but they knew a jackpot when they saw it and went after it, and apparently you're it. The question now is why? As near as I can figure, you just came along for the ride through all this. Something you know? No, that can't be it. You've been with us since the Kudaan, so anything you know we should know, too."
"Boday came along because her darling Susama needed her and needed to be protected," the artist pointed out. "And to find new inspiration."
"Beats hell out of me," Halagar agreed. "I can't figure it, and I sure didn't figure it. It means we're going to have to find some kind of disguise for you at the next and last border crossings, though, and stay out of real visibility."
But as they walked it kept going through Dorion's brain, again and again. Why Boday? Why particularly Boday? The only thing she'd done that in any way linked her to this was that she'd made that rattier bizarre marriage to the missing Sam, and….
He snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's it! It must be it!"
He turned to Boday. "I knew you were married to this Sam, Susama, or whoever, but I figured it was kind of a love match. I never really connected…. That marriage spell you got that's a real civil Tubikosan marriage spell? To her? They actually let you do that?"
Boday nodded. "Indeed yes. It is considered immoral, true, but it is not illegal. In fact, it is actually mandatory if one is going to do it, since they wish their—ha!—deviants known and registered and classified instead of hidden, so we can be kept in our own place and not sully the temples or be mistaken for polite society."
"It just never hit me before," the magician told her. "Look, so this Sam, or Susama, is still missing, and she's another incarnation of this Storm Princess without whom Klittichom can't control the Changewind, right?"
They were all three all ears now. "Right." Halagar responded.
"So now they're gonna do their big demonstration, which might be screwed up if another Storm Princess pops up and maybe they're gonna do me whole rebellion not long after that. Maybe she's no threat. Sorry, Boday, but maybe she's a slave or under a tight spell or something like that and is safely out of the way. She's not dead now that I look I can see the thin marriage spell thread still running from you off and away in back of us. But they don't know and they're nervous. It's like a random, loaded gun pointed at them, the only thing that can queer their deal. Nobody, not the greatest sorcerer in all Akahlar, can find her on his own. Nobody thought of this before, just like we didn't, but somebody now has. The only way is to have you and then follow that magic thread all me way to her. A good enough Second Rank sorcerer could do it. Hell, Boday that makes you the second most wanted fugitive in all Akahlar."
That sobered them all up fast, and made all but Halagar feel rather stupid that it had been there all the time and had occurred to none of them- To Halagar, this whole business of the marriage thread with another woman was news. It was also unsettling to him, evoking the same emotional sensation as, say, vomit. The fact that, to him, this whole thing suddenly turned on a legalized perversion somehow changed things, although he wasn't quite sure how yet. There were certainly humorous elements to it, but, somehow, after seeing all that he had seen, it didn't seem very funny. He had begun to attempt to think this all through almost from the start, in a mental battle of honor versus pragmatism, and he still wasn't quite certain he'd resolved it. He had never feared death in battle, but it was beginning to feel more and more like death in the service of a lost cause and lost ideal. He had never had any causes beyond his own self-interests not
any ideals beyond his sense of personal honor.
He had never yet betrayed a commission undertaken, but he had failed a few times because the commission had proved impossible. Even if these others hadn't yet made the connection, he knew full well what was going to happen in only eleven days. It was obvious. As obvious as that marriage spell should have been to the likes of Dorion, who could not only be told of it but actually see it. If they actually found the horses today and they were all right, and if they made good time with no more major problems and delays, they might make the border of the Masalur hub in about eleven days. The odds of that were very slim indeed. The odds of bluffing their way through that horde of soldiers, of who knew how many races as well as major tribal leaders on the fence and probably bigwigs from Klittichom's headquarters as well, were nearly nil. He began to wonder if there was perhaps a single logical course to take.
Boday, however, had a less troubled reaction. Boday, the key to history! The entire future of the Akhbreed and all Akahlar revolved around Boday and her fate! How simply marvelous!
It had taken the whole of the day to eventually find the horses, thankfully not stripped of supplies, although they lost a few things in the scramble. The stuck horse seemed no worse for wear, the wound superficial and healing well, and Halagar was much relieved at that.
Charley, too, was relieved to find a very happy Shadowcat, out of his perch now where he'd ridden on the runaway horse, but absolutely overjoyed to see her. The only thing he commented to her, in spite of all her prodding, was "About time!" but the purring seemed to be genuine and indicated a bit more softness inside than he wanted to admit.
There were some nervous moments and'narrow escapes on the remaining three and a half days to the null and the border with Masalur, but by being quick and cautious they managed to have no further cause to fight.
The most surprising thing about the Tishbaal-Masalur border was that there were practically no colonial troops there at all. Oh, there were signs that at one time not long before there had been massive movements of men and supplies through the region, with a long camp, but they were gone now inevitably into Masalur, So confident were the rebels at this point that they had only a few roving patrols going up and down the border on the Tishbaal side, and those were easily avoided. The Masalur side, however, looked like trouble.
They stood in the mists of the null and surveyed the scene with binoculars. Finally Dorion sighed and put them down. "No doubt about it," he told them. "There's some kind of shield prior to the boundary. It's not strong like the ones the Chief Sorcerers do for the hubs, but it's stronger than I can handle. From what I can see of it, it's not specific to any particular race or kind, just a real barrier to everything. Any second ranker could knock it over in a moment, but mere don't seem to be any second rank sorcerers around at least not on our side."
"So you mean we're stopped?" Halagar asked him, actually feeling a little relief at the news. "We can't get in?"
"Not exactly. There's a single point where the two halves join that looks designed as a passage, but that's the only place. It means everybody and everything has to go through just that one point. There'll be no sneaking in to this one, and the only way you can maintain something like that is with a top magician actually present to control it. If we go in at all, we go in there and that means right up to a very good magician at the least, into the colonial world he wants us to go into, and that's that. We have to assume they have the wanted posters on us there, too. I don't see how we can do it."
Halagar thought a moment. "Well, they're looking for two female slaves of a certain description travelling with a magician. They don't know about me and they don't really want Shari. With my stone, the two of us are as likely to get through here as we were at the other places. If we tried it, say, several hours apart, and if you somehow could manage to not look like a magician, then they might not even connect us. It's either that or you two wait here and we'll try and make time and reach Boolean somehow and then come back for you."
"No. We should still travel the last road together," Boday responded. "There are too many chances for one as valuable as Boday to be lost skulking about in these regions for days or weeks. Boday is both artist and alchemist, and she has her small kit taken from Covanti. With a few hours, she might be able to make sufficient changes not to be recognized during that brief crossing. In fact, perhaps she should go first, since it is the greater risk."
"No," Halagar replied firmly. "If you go in first and are still recognized, and we don't know what sort of powers we're dealing with there, then there is no way we can help you or hope to get close. If we get through—and you can probably get close enough to watch it all through binoculars, Dorion—then we can take up a position over there and cover you just in case you have problems. And if we don't get through, for some reason, you'll know that there was no way for you to get through in time to avoid capture, which is all that's left."
"Sounds reasonable," Dorion agreed. "All right let's try it."
They found a position where Dorion was still reasonably out of view from the entry station but could observe fairly clearly not only the station but perhaps a quarter of a mile into whatever colony was coming up as well. It wasn't until they were set and Halagar and Charley were on their way and pretty much beyond recall that Dorion was suddenly struck by the idea that they might not be admitted into the same colony! Well, he knew Masalur very well, and the barrier was a good distance inside the null. If need be, he'd just see which one Halagar went into, go where he was directed, then slip down and back out inside the barrier and call that one back.
It was likely, though, to be the same one. This bunch liked crowds.
Halagar approached the entry station slowly but confidently. He held Charley tightly and whispered, "I know Dorion or that cat creature or both have probably put checks on my authority, but listen to my orders. You will say not a word, and do nothing, no matter what happens, and if that won't remain a valid command then I will take my knife and slit your tongue and break your legs. And if that cat creature so much as moves from his comfortable pouch I will destroy him. Now, out your hands behind your back."
She obeyed, wondering what the hell he was talking about, and was surprised to feel leather straps tying them securely behind her. Jeez! She was blind, stark naked, and a slave. What the hell did he think she could do?
Shadowcat remained still, not because he feared the big man, but because of the big man's will and position and what he might do to Charley if anything was pulled. Besides, it was better to find out what the hell the bastard was planning first.
The soldiers guarding the gate were Hedum; he'd seen them before in his travels, and they no less impressed him now than they had when he'd first seen them as a young soldier of fortune. Over seven feet tall, with long, spindly-looking arms and legs, a glistening coal-black skin. totally hairless, and all the more intimidating for it. Still, they looked basically human, until you got to the head, which looked like a coal-black sunflower, only the petals were not petals but thick, tubular tentacle-like shapes that were in constant motion. Some terminated in eyes, some in hearing or other sensory organs, and two were mouths. Of all tile races of Masalur they were the strangest and also the meanest and most incomprehensible to Akhbreed. Just the sight of them with automatic rifles and a criss-crossed set of ammunition belts across their chest was intimidating.
The Hedum also quite literally talked through their nostrils; the effect was eerie, unsettling, and about the most inhuman around. Two flanked the theoretical opening in the shield, and the one on his left stepped forward.
"Who are you and why do you come here?" it asked, in that mixture of honking and wheezing that was the way they could manage the Akhbreed speech.
"I am Halagar, a mercenary. I answered a call for men with past military experience and was told that if I got to the Masalur hub border in the next week or so I would find a great deal of work."
"An Akhbreed slave girl. Not mine, although respon
ding to my commands at the moment."
Eyestalks leveled themselves on her. "She does not look as though she is responding well to your commands," it noted. "Still, wait here. I will summon the magician of the gateway."
The Hedum turned, faced the barrier, and placed both enormous hands on it, one on either side of the theoretical opening. There was a chilling, ringing sound and an almost immediate response from inside a tent in back of the gate. Presently a middle-aged man in black robes appeared— an adept! High power indeed. Klittichom couldn't have too many adepts on his side or he'd not have waited this long nor been this cautious. Adepts were essentially Second Rank themselves, although not as powerful as full sorcerers yet. Basically they had the power, but not yet all the skills and experience. Still, they were formidable.
The adept stood there, looked at both of them, frowned, then said, "Dismount and walk through. We'll bring your horse through after you."
Halagar slid down, then picked Charley off and virtually carried her through. He was not blind to the fact that several more Hedum within the barrier shield were pointing guns right at him.
The adept went up to Charley, seemed to examine her top to bottom, then put his finger on the tiny slave ring in her nose and stepped back. "She's bound to Boolean," he noted. "Not by Boolean, but definitely to him."
Halagar nodded. "I know. I know of no one capable of removing the spell."
"I could, but it would be a lot of trouble and time. However, the fact that she is not bound by him makes for an easier remedy. Has she ever been in his presence?"
"As far as I know, no."
"Then it's easy. Now tell me why I should bother."
Halagar hesitated only a moment. "My name is Halagar, a mercenary most late of Covantian service. I was hired by a two-bit magician named Dorion who's working for Boolean to bring her and another woman to him. The other woman is Boday, wife of Susama. Interested?"
Changewinds 03 - War Of The Maelstrom - Chalker, Jack L Page 20