Alberich had no illusions about the purity of the One God’s priesthood. There were as many corrupt and venal priests as there were upright, and more fanatic than there were forgiving. He had seen plenty of the venal kind in the tavern; had hidden from one or two that had come seeking pleasures strictly forbidden by the One God’s edicts. He had known they were coming, looking for him, and had managed to make himself scarce long before they arrived. Just as, somehow, he had known when the Voice was coming to look for young male children for the Academy, and had made certain he was noticed and questioned—
And that he had known which customers it was safe to cadge for a penny in return for running errands—
Or that he had known that drunk was going to try to set the stable afire.
Somehow. That was Alberich’s secret. He knew things were going to happen. That was a witch-power, and forbidden by the Voices of the One God. If anyone knew he had it—
But he had also known, as surely as he had known all the rest, that he had to conceal the fact that he had this power, even before he knew the law against it.
He’d succeeded fairly well over the years, though it was getting harder and harder all the time. The power struggled inside him, wanting to break free, once or twice overwhelming him with visions so intense that for a moment he was blind and deaf to everything else. It was getting harder to concoct reasons for knowing things he had no business knowing, like the hiding places of the bandits they were chasing, the bolt-holes and escape routes. But it was harder still to ignore them, especially when subsequent visions showed him innocent people suffering because he didn’t act on what he knew.
He brushed Silver’s neck vigorously, the dust tickling his nose and making him want to sneeze—
—and between one brush-stroke and the next, he lost his sense of balance, went light-headed, and the dazzle that heralded a vision-to-come sparkled between his eyes and Silver’s neck.
Not here! he thought desperately, clinging to Silver’s mane and trying to pretend there was nothing wrong. Not now, not with Herdahl watching—
But the witch-power would not obey him, not this time.
A flash of blue light, blinding him. The bandits he’d thought were south had slipped behind him, into the north, joining with two more packs of the curs, becoming a group large enough to take on his troops and give them an even fight. But first, they wanted a secure base. They were going to make Alberich meet them on ground of their choosing. Fortified ground.
That this ground was already occupied was only a minor inconvenience . . . one that would soon be dealt with.
He fought free of the vision for a moment, clinging to Silver’s shoulder like a drowning man, both hands full of the beast’s silky mane, while the horse curved his head back and looked at him curiously. The big brown eyes flickered blue, briefly, like a half-hidden flash of lightning, reflecting—
—another burst of sapphire. The bandits’ target was a fortified village, a small one, built on the top of a hill, above the farmfields. Ordinarily, these people would have no difficulty in holding off a score of bandits. But there were three times that number ranged against them, and a recent edict from the High Temple decreed that no one but the Temple Guard and the Army could possess anything but the simplest of weapons. Not three weeks ago, a detachment of priests and a Voice had come through here, divesting them of everything but knives, farm implements, and such simple bows and arrows as were suitable for waterfowl and small game. And while they were at it, a third of the able-bodied men had been conscripted for the regular Army.
These people didn’t have a chance.
The bandits drew closer, under the cover of a brush-filled ravine.
Alberich found himself on Silver’s back, without knowing how he’d gotten there, without remembering that he’d flung saddle and bridle back on the beast—
No, not bridle; Silver still wore the hackamore he’d had on the picket-line. Alberich’s bugle was in his hand; presumably he’d blown the muster, for his men were running towards him, buckling on swords and slinging quivers over their shoulders.
Blinding flash of cerulean—
The bandits attacked the village walls, overpowering the poor man who was trying to bar the gate against them, and swarming inside.
It hadn’t happened yet, he knew that with the surety with which he knew his own name. It wasn’t even going to happen in the next few moments. But it was going to happen soon—
They poured inside, cutting down anyone who resisted them, then throwing off what little restraint they had shown and launching into an orgy of looting and raping. Alberich gagged as one of them grabbed a pregnant woman and with a single slash of his sword, murdered the child that ran to try and protect her, followed through to her—
The vision released him, and he found himself surrounded by dust and thunder, still on Silver’s back—
—but leaning over the stallion’s neck as now he led his troops up the road to the village of Sunsdale at full gallop. Hooves pounded the packed earth of the road, making it impossible to hear or speak; the vibration thrummed into his bones as he shifted his weight with the stallion’s turns. Silver ran easily, with no sign of distress, though all around him and behind him the other horses streamed saliva from the corners of their mouths, and their flanks ran with sweat and foam, as they strained to keep up.
The lack of a bit didn’t seem to make any difference to the stallion; he answered to neck rein and knee so readily he might have been anticipating Alberich’s thoughts.
Alberich dismissed the uneasy feelings that prompted. Better not to think that he might have a second witch-power along with the first. He’d never shown any ability to control beasts by thought before. There was no reason to think he could now. The stallion was just superbly trained, that was all. And he had more important things to worry about.
They topped the crest of a hill; Sunsdale lay atop the next one, just as he had seen in his vision, and the brush-filled ravine beyond it.
There was no sign of trouble.
This time it’s been a wild hare, he thought, disgusted at himself for allowing blind panic to overcome him. And for what? A daytime nightmare? Next time I’ll probably see trolls under my bed, he thought, just about to pull Silver up and bring the rest of his men to a halt—
When a flash of sunlight on metal betrayed the bandits’ location.
He grabbed for the bugle dangling from his left wrist instead, and pulled his blade with the right; sounded the charge, and led the entire troop down the hill, an unstoppable torrent of hooves and steel, hitting the brigands’ hidden line like an avalanche.
Sword in hand, Alberich limped wearily to another body sprawled amid the rocks and trampled weeds of the ravine, and thrust it through to make death certain. His sword felt heavy and unwieldy, his stomach churned, and there was a sour taste in his mouth. He didn’t think he was going to lose control of himself, but he was glad he was almost at the end of the battle-line. He hated this part of the fighting—which wasn’t fighting at all; it was nothing more than butchery.
But it was necessary. This scum was just as likely to be feigning death as to actually be dead. Other officers hadn’t been that thorough—and hadn’t lived long enough to regret it.
Silver was being fed and watered along with the rest of the mounts by the youngsters of Sunsdale; the finest fodder and clearest spring water, and a round dozen young boys to brush and curry them clean. And the men were being fed and made much of by the older villagers. Gratitude had made them forgetful of the loss of their weapons and many of their men. Suddenly the army that had conscripted their relatives was no longer their adversary. Or else, since the troops had arrived out of nowhere like Vengeance of the Sunlord Himself, they assumed the One God had a hand in it, and it would be prudent to resign themselves to the sacrifice. And meanwhile, the instrument of their rescue probably ought to be well-treated . . . .
Except for the Captain, who was doing a dirty job he refused to assign to anyon
e else.
Alberich made certain of two more corpses and looked dully around for more.
There weren’t any, and he saw to his surprise that the sun was hardly more than a finger-breadth from the horizon. Shadows already filled the ravine, the evening breeze had picked up, and it was getting chilly. Last year’s weeds tossed in the freshening wind as he gazed around at the long shadows cast by the scrubby trees. More time had passed than he thought—and if he didn’t hurry, he was going to be late for SunDescending.
He scrambled over the slippery rocks of the ravine, cursing under his breath as his boots (meant for riding) skidded on the smooth, rounded boulders. The last thing he needed now was to be late for a Holy Service, especially this one. The priest here was bound to ask him for a Thanks Prayer for the victory. If he was late, it would look as if he was arrogantly attributing the victory to his own abilities, and not the Hand of the Sunlord. And with an accusation like that hanging over his head, he’d be in danger not only of being deprived of his current rank, but of being demoted into the ranks, with no chance of promotion, a step up from stablehand, but not a big one.
He fought his way over the edge, and half-ran, half-limped to the village gates, reaching them just as the sun touched the horizon. He put a little more speed into his weary, aching legs, and got to the edge of the crowd in the village square a scant breath before the priest began the First Chant.
He bowed his head with the others, and not until he raised his head at the end of it did he realize that the robes the priest wore were not black, but red. This was no mere village priest—this was a Voice!
He suppressed his start of surprise, and the shiver of fear that followed it. He didn’t know what this village meant, or what had happened to require posting a Voice here, but there was little wonder now why they had submitted so tamely to the taking of their men and the confiscation of their weapons. No one sane would contradict a Voice.
The Voice held up his hand, and got instant silence; a silence so profound that the sounds of the horses on the picket-line came clearly over the walls. Horses stamped and whickered a little, and in the distance, a few lonely birds called, and the breeze rustled through the new leaves of the trees in the ravine. Alberich longed suddenly to be able to mount Silver and ride away from here, far away from the machinations of Voices and the omnipresent smell of death and blood. He yearned for somewhere clean, somewhere that he wouldn’t have to guard his back from those he should be able to trust . . . .
“Today this village was saved from certain destruction,” the Voice said, his words ringing out, but without passion, without any inflection whatsoever. “And for that, we offer thanksgiving to Vkandis Sunlord, Most High, One God, to whom all things are known. The instrument of that salvation was Captain Alberich, who mustered his men in time to catch our attackers in the very act. It seems a miracle—”
During the speech, some of the men had been moving closer to Alberich, grouping themselves around him to bask in the admiration of the villagers.
Or so he thought. Until the Voice’s tone hardened, and his next words proved their real intent.
“It seems a miracle—but it was not!” he thundered. “You were saved by the power of the One God, whose wrath destroyed the bandits, but Alberich betrayed the Sunlord by using the unholy powers of witchcraft! Seize him!”
The men grabbed him as he turned to run, throwing him to the ground and pinning him with superior numbers. He fought them anyway, struggling furiously, until someone brought the hilt of a knife down on the back of his head.
He didn’t black out altogether, but he couldn’t move or see; his eyes wouldn’t focus, and a gray film obscured everything. He felt himself being dragged off by the arms—heaved into darkness—felt himself hitting a hard surface—heard the slamming of a door.
Then heard only confused murmurs as he lay in shadows, trying to regain his senses and his strength. Gradually his sight cleared, and he made out walls on all sides of him, close enough to touch. He raised his aching head cautiously, and made out the dim outline of an ill-fitting door. The floor, clearly, was dirt. And smelled unmistakably of birds.
They must have thrown him into some kind of shed, something that had once held chickens or pigeons. He was under no illusions that this meant his prison would be easy to escape; out here, the chicken sheds were frequently built better than the houses, for chickens were more valuable than children.
Still, once darkness descended, it might be possible to get away. If he could overpower whatever guards the Voice had placed around him. If he could find a way out of the shed . . .
If he could get past the Voice himself. There were stories that the Voices had other powers than plucking the thoughts from a man’s head—stories that they commanded the services of demons tamed by the Sunlord—
While he lay there gathering his wits, another smell invaded the shed, overpowering even the stench of old bird droppings. A sharp, thick smell . . . it took a moment for him to recognize it.
But when he did, he clawed his way up the wall he’d been thrown against, to stand wide-eyed in the darkness, nails digging into the wood behind him, heart pounding with stark terror.
Oil. They had poured oil around the foundations, splashed it up against the sides of the shed. And now he heard them out there, bringing piles of dry brush and wood to stack against the walls. The punishment for witchery was burning, and they were taking no chances; they were going to burn him now.
The noises outside stopped; the murmur of voices faded as his captors moved away—
Then the Voice called out, once—a set of three sharp, angry words—
And every crack and crevice in the building was outlined in yellow and red, as the entire shed was engulfed in flames from outside.
Alberich cried out, and staggered away from the wall he’d been leaning against. The shed was bigger than he’d thought—but not big enough to protect him. The oil they’d spread so profligately made the flames burn hotter, and the wood of the shed was old, weathered, probably dry. Within moments, the very air scorched him; he hid his mouth in a fold of his shirt, but his lungs burned with every breath. His eyes streamed tears of pain as he turned, staggering, searching for an escape that didn’t exist.
One of the walls burned through, showing the flames leaping from the wood and brush piled beyond it. He couldn’t hear anything but the roar of the flames. At any moment now, the roof would cave in, burying him in burning debris—
:Look out!:
How he heard the warning—or how he knew to stagger back as far as he could without being incinerated on the spot—he did not know. But a heartbeat after that warning shout in his mind, a huge, silver-white shadow lofted through the hole in the burning wall, and landed beside him. It was still wearing his saddle and hackamore—
And it turned huge, impossibly blue eyes on him as he stood there gaping at it. It? No. Him.
:On!: the stallion snapped at him. :The roof’s about to go!:
Whatever fear he had of the beast, he was more afraid of a death by burning. With hands that screamed with pain, he grabbed the saddle-bow and threw himself onto it. He hadn’t even found the stirrups when the stallion turned on his hind feet.
There was a crack of collapsing wood, as fire engulfed them. Burning thatch fell before and behind them, sparks showering as the air was sucked into the blaze, hotter . . .
But, amazingly, no fire licked at his flesh once he had mounted . . . .
Alberich sobbed with relief as the cool air surged into his lungs—the stallion’s hooves hit the ground beyond the flames, and he gasped with pain as he was flung forward against the saddle-bow.
Then the real pain began, the torture of half-scorched skin, and the broken bones of his capture, jarred into agony by the stallion’s head-long gallop into the night. The beast thundered towards the villagers, and they screamed and parted before it; soldiers and Voice alike were caught unawares, and not one of them raised a weapon in time to stop the flight.
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br /> :Stay on,: the stallion said grimly, into his mind, as the darkness was shattered by the red lightning of his own pain. :Stay on, stay with me; we have a long way to go before we’re safe. Stay with me . . . .:
Safe where? he wanted to ask—but there was no way to ask around the pain. All he could do was to hang on, and hope he could do what the horse wanted.
An eternity later—as dawn rose as red as the flames that had nearly killed him—the stallion had slowed to a walk. Dawn was on their right, which meant that the stallion was heading north, across the border, into the witch-kingdom of Valdemar. Which only made sense, since what he’d thought was a horse had turned out to be one of the blue-eyed witch-beasts . . . .
None of it mattered. Now that the stallion had slowed to a walk, his pain had dulled, but he was exhausted and out of any energy to think or even feel. What could the witches do to him, after all? Kill him? At the moment, that would be a kindness . . . .
The stallion stopped, and he looked up, trying to see through the film that had come over his vision. At first he thought he was seeing double; two white witch-beasts and two white-clad riders blocked the road. But then he realized that there were two of them, hastily dismounting, reaching for him.
He let himself slide down into their hands, hearing nothing he could understand, only a babble of strange syllables.
Then, in his mind—
:Can you hear me?:
:I—what?: he replied, without thinking.
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