It shot toward her, moaning, and her heart leaped into her throat.
Gar was pouring the first ladle of stew into Alea's bowl when the terror hit; he nearly dropped both back into the kettle.
Alea's head snapped back as though she had been slapped. "Who was that?"
"I don't know, but I would hate to be the one they're threatening," Gar said grimly. "Whoever sent that mental bolt finds a great deal of pleasure in others' fright-and the woman whom it hit is absolutely terrified. If you'll excuse me, I have to see a sadist about a beating."
"I won't excuse you at all." Alea rose, catching up her staff. "First one to him gets to keep him." As an afterthought, she added, "Put that fire out, will you?"
Gar stared down at the flames; they diminished and died. The sticks smoked, but even the smoke thinned and vanished. Then Gar looked up to find that Alea had disappeared into the night.
The ghost's lament turned into words: "Erring woman, go back to your master!"
"No!" Mira wailed. "He will exploit me, he will abuse me, he will hurt me!"
"Shame!" the ghost intoned, towering over her. "Shame! Shame!"
"It is shame he would heap upon me!" Mira felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "I have seen the women he has used-empty husks, all the spirit drained from them." Then she broke off, staring in horror as she realized what had happened to those women-and why the ghosts were willing to help chase escaped women back to Roketh. "You want my spirit when he is done with me! He will drain me of life and energy and give them to you!"
"Go back!" the ghost moaned, reaching out to point with a gossamer finger. "Hear the cries of those who chase! Go back before they tear you, rend you!"
Then Mira heard it in the distance-the wild baying of monstrous hounds.
Alea's thoughts had been as easy to trace as tracks in snow, of course, not to mention the fact that she was running down a road; where else could she go? But Gar reasoned that the chase might be a long one, so he steadied into an easy lope that covered maximum distance with minimum energy. Even so, his longer legs began to catch up with Alea's. A glimmer in the road ahead alerted him-their quarry, perhaps? But the glimmer seemed to grow until he saw what it was and slammed to a halt, almost colliding with Alea, who stood even more still, stiff with the supernatural fear of her childhood. "Those ... those can't be real ghosts, can they?"
Seven glowing shapes towered over one young woman who stared up at them, poised to flee but frozen by fear.
"Real ghosts? Ridiculous!" But Gar had to force the scoffing tone. "Whatever they are, though, they're putting out an awful lot of psionic energy. We've got to put a damper on it."
"Yes! They're scaring the life out of that poor girl!" Alea jolted out of her trance. "The life? You don't suppose-?"
"One of those ghosts doesn't have a face," Gar said grimly. "Maybe he's looking for one. Let's go."
"Wait." Alea raised a hand against his chest. "Listen-with your ears!"
They were both silent a minute. Then Gar said, "Hoofbeats."
"Change of plan," Alea said, "not that we had one. Let's go in low."
Panic seized Mira; she spun and ran from the ghost-and from the dogs far behind.
The ghost's moan rose, quavering to a shriek, and more specters burst from the ground, broke from the trees, condensed from the very air in answer. As one, they swooped toward her from every side, converging, herding. She screamed and whirled about, thinking to dare the first ghost alone instead of the six who swooped toward her, but the phantom had disappeared. Hope leaped as she plunged toward the clear space and the trees beyond.
The earth exploded into fire before her. She shrank back shrieking, whirling to run again, but the ghosts parted to let three horsemen ride through, one from each side, racing to be first upon her, hands reaching down to catch. With a soldier at either hand and the flames at her back, Mira shrank to her knees, whimpering, crying out against the injustice of so many against one woman.
A screech of anger ripped the night. Mira thought it was her own until a woman leaped in front of her, a woman unbelievably tall stepping in to swing her staff at the first of the riders. It caught him across the side of the head; he cried out as he fell. His two mates shouted and turned their horses, charging down at her, but as the one on the right plunged toward the woman, a huge dark shadow rose from the grass and swung an arm to catch the rider by the waist. The man gave a shout of anger, a shout quickly choked by the pressure on his belly; the horse galloped onward, jerking the stirrups off the man's feet. For a moment he kicked and flailed in the air; then the giant dropped him and he fell and lay, choking and trying to gasp, the wind knocked out of him.
Mira stared, unbelieving-partly at the size of the two strangers, partly at their skill, but mostly at the fact that they spun and kicked and struck in the midst of half a dozen keening ghosts without paying them the slightest attention.
The third rider bellowed a curse and swung a long club, but the woman's staff was longer and she jabbed it forward like a spear even as she sidestepped just enough for the horse to rush past her. The butt of the staff caught the man in the stomach; he shot off the rump of his horse, striking with his club as he did. It struck the woman's forearm, knocking down her staff, but the damage was done; "Have at you!" she spat as he scrambled to his feet, and swung the staff high one-handed, whirling it like a windmill.
The rider saw the power of that whirling weapon and stepped back, raising his club to guard.
The woman swung; he blocked, but the staff struck with ferocious momentum, knocking the club aside, then swinging high to strike again. The guard cried out in fear and leaped aside-but the giant came up behind him, catching his collar and yanking him off his feet. He struggled, kicking, and the giant spoke in a deep, mellow voice. "Not too hard, now. No need to murder."
"Do I need to strike at all?" The woman stepped up to glare at the guard, adroitly ducking his roundhouse punch. "Do I, cat's meat?"
"A murrain upon you!" the man snarled, and kicked.
The woman danced aside. "I take it that means 'yes.'" The staff swung and the man's eyes rolled up. The giant dropped him and heaved the burden he'd been dragging. Two more guards fell on top.
"Foully done!" the shapeless ghost intoned. "Fear, man, fear!"
"Fear?" The giant gazed off into space, seeming to examine something, then shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Fear, fool!" another ghost cried, one who bore the semblance of a hard-faced old woman in an antique gown. She thrust her fingers into the giant's head. "Shrivel in fright! Kneel in abject ten ... aiiieeee!" She yanked her hands back; they glowed cherry-red. "He is a ghost-leader!"
"Unlike yourself, who is an ape-leader," the woman snapped. "What is an ape?" one of the male ghosts demanded.
The female ghost turned and dived into the head of one of the horses. It was remarkable to see how her form diminished into a wedge, then narrowed even further as it sank in.
The horse's head snapped up, its eyes widening in terror then narrowing in rage. Its whinny was more a scream, high and wild, as it pivoted and thundered down on the giant.
4
The giant leaped aside, but not far enough; the horse's shoulder clipped him and he fell, tumbling head over heels.
"Gar!" the woman cried, and ran toward him, but three ghosts shot to bar her way, moaning in doleful harmony.
The possessed horse wheeled, rearing, iron-clad hooves poised to strike the giant as he strove to regain his feet.
The wonian shied away from the ghosts in fright for a moment; then her lips thinned, and she charged right through the nearest.
She came out shivering but swinging her staff like a scythe, smacking into the back of the horse's hind leg. It folded; with a scream, the horse fell back. Even with one leg weakened, it turned to face this new antagonist, forelegs raised to strike, lips pulled back to show teeth that seemed to glow in the night.
The woman struck one foreleg. The horse screamed again and she
pushed the butt into its mouth. It bit down in fury, but its eyes locked with hers. Her voice vibrated with a strange energy as she chanted,
I am young and vital,
and therefrom stems my might.
But you are aged and faded,
Your strength long since benighted,
Being only power stolen
From those you have affrighted.
Yield to me, hag I've fighted!
Get you hence from this poor beast!
Get you gone, and leave in peace!
The horse glared at her, eyes locked with hers, malevolence burning, but the giant came up, standing behind the woman and glaring as she did. The other ghosts swooped and shrieked and gibbered at them, but the two ignored them, locking eyes with the horse until it peeled back its teeth, opened its mouth wide in a shriek-and the hag's ghost shot forth from its mouth, taking the shriek with her, swelling to tower over them, howling in pain and fury even as the rage faded from the horse's eyes.
"Only what you deserve!" Alea spat at the old woman's shade. "Be still, or we'll do worse."
The ghost's scream cut off. "She's as bad as the mad folk in the cities!" she cried, staring at Alea in fright.
"Worse?" a man's ghost blustered. "What could you do worse?" But his tone was hollow with hidden dread.
"You don't want to know." The tall woman turned back to the horse, which blinked, confused, looked about itself in surprise, then struggled to rise and sank back on the injured leg with a doleful neigh.
The giant stepped up behind it to lay a hand on its head. It whipped its nose about to bite, but froze and calmed strangely. After a minute or two, it relaxed, folded its legs, and watched the proceedings with mild interest.
The tall woman turned to find Mira beset. Three ghosts towered over her, their moans growing louder and louder in a dissonance that grated on Mira's nerves; she clapped her hands over her ears. The tall woman winced but said, "Do I have to teach you to sing? Begone, fools, for even I can cause you pain!"
One of the ghosts-the one in the form of a guardsman in ancient livery with a long ragged scar that showed how he had died-clapped his hands to his head and shrieked. The other two stared at him in shock, then disappeared so suddenly they might never have been.
"Begone," the woman commanded the ghost guard, and narrowed her eyes. His shriek soared higher; abruptly, he winked out.
"This cannot be!" the ghost of an old man quavered. His translucent robes shook with his trembling. "Mortals can only lead, persuade-they cannot command, for they cannot coerce!"
" `Coerce' might be too strong a word," the giant admitted. ' "We can, however, cause you pain."
The ghost doubled over screaming as though stabbed in the belly.
"Begone!" the woman commanded.
The old man winked out. The last two ghosts drifted backward warily.
"What's a ghost without fetters?" the woman asked.
"An unchained malady," the giant answered, and glowing links appeared in midair with manacles at either end.
With a wail, the last two ghosts disappeared.
Mira knelt, trembling and wide-eyed. She flinched away as the woman came to her-but the stranger knelt, saying, "Don't fear, my dear, they won't harm you anymore, and neither shall we. We simply can't stand to see one against ten, no, especially not when three of them are armed and mounted, and the one is a woman alone." She caught Mira's hands in her own. "There now, the danger's past, and neither my Gar nor myself will offer you the slightest threat. You're safe with us."
"But-but. . ." Mira forced herself not to pull away but was so frightened of the power these two had shown, of their size and strength, that she was afraid to let herself believe, afraid to trust.
"Are we so intimidating, then?" the woman asked with a sad smile. "We shouldn't be, not to a poor lass alone in the night with bullies and ghosts out to chase her. Come, my name is Alea, and my companion is Gar. We both know what it is to flee and be chased, as you do, and would never dream of hurting one who has suffered as we have."
Mira wavered, wanting so badly to trust but not daring tobut Alea let go of Mira's hands and opened her arms. Yearning overcame fear, and Mira let herself fall into the other woman's embrace, sobbing as though her heart would break.
Alea simply held her and let her weep, now and again making soothing noises. Finally the storm passed and Mira leaned back and away a little, dashing the tears from her eyes. Over Alea's shoulder she could see the giant tying the unconscious riders over the horses' backs and shooing them away. Then he turned to frown at the wall of fire. Slowly the flames died, and the night was still.
Mira began to tremble again. "You are a magician." She turned to Alea, wide-eyed. "Both of you!"
"If this is what passes for a magician in this land, I suppose we are." The woman spoke angrily. "How foul is the man who would use such power to terrify a poor helpless girl! Tell us his name, damsel, so we will know him for a villain if we should be so unlucky as to meet him!"
"He-he is the lord of our village and fifty more like it, with all their acres." She clasped Alea's hands between her own. "But, oh, good people, I beg you not to go near him! Roketh is a magician of fearful power-a ghost leader and fire-hurler both! He can persuade any ghost to do his bidding, even a wild almost ghost who has no form yet hungers for a human spirit to devour so it can steal its shape! None can threaten him and live! He has slain six other magicians in combat and swallowed their lands and people!"
"Then perhaps he should disgorge them," Gar said heavily, coming to sit cross-legged near them.
"You must not attempt it! He would slay you!" Mira looked wide-eyed from the woman to the man and back, tense with fright at the thought. "None can stand against Rokeeh!"
"He may not be quite so invincible as he seems," Alea told her, "but we would certainly be fools if we rushed in to confront him without learning a great deal more about him. Don't worry, lass, we won't attack him out of hand. If nothing else, we must stay a while to travel with you and make sure you come to no harm."
"But Roketh will send soldiers after you! He will send ghosts, he will send apprentice magicians to hurl fire!"
"Why then, we must make sure they can't find us," Gar said easily.
Mira stared from one to the other as though they were crazed. "I hid my trail from the dogs, but the hunting-ghosts found me. How can you hide your mind from the specters?"
"So they follow your thoughts, do they?" Alea asked. "Don't worry, then, lass-we can shield our thoughts quite well, and yours, too." She glanced up at Gar. "Isn't that true?"
"Very," Gar confirmed. "More to the point, now that we know what they are, we should be able to tell when they're coming."
Mira thought of evading the ghosts and the despair of utter weariness overwhelmed her; she crumpled to the ground.
"What use is it to hide or flee? If Roketh does not find me again, some other magician will, and will claim me for his own for the same use Roketh intended, for there is no patch of ground in all this land that isn't the demesne of one magician or another!"
"Well, then, we must keep moving," Alea said with great practicality. "On the road or off it, we must keep marching until we find a place the magicians can't reach."
"There is no such place!"
"Then we'll have to make one," Gar said matter-of-factly. Mira stared from one to the other. "You must be powerful magicians indeed, to speak so lightly of building what cannot be made!"
"We don't really think of it as magic," Gar protested.
Alea gave him a withering glance. "Speak for yourself, long thinker." She turned back to Mira. "Magic or not, he'll make it work. You'll be safe so long as you travel with us, lass. Come now, we've proved ourselves friendly and told you our nameswhat is your own?"
Mira looked from one to the other yet again. Somehow both she and the man seemed to be smaller, human rather than gigantic, though still very tall. She felt the tension begin to go out of her. "Mica. My name is Mira."
"I-I tried to escape," Mira admitted, lowering her gaze. "Escape?" Alea's voice hardened. "By what right did he hold you in bondage?"
"Why, by his right as my lord." Mira looked up at Alea wideeyed. "It was wrong of me to flee, for a serf must work for her lord, no matter who he is."
"Stuff and nonsense!" Alea snapped. "You belong to no one but yourself, lass, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!"
"True," Gar said, "but it must have taken a powerful threat to make you leave your home and family."
"It did, sir." Mira lowered her gaze again. "Roketh sent ... he sent his soldiers to bring me to his castle, and I have seen what happened to other girls who answered that summons-so I fled."
"As indeed you should!" Alea cried indignantly. "He had no business summoning you only for his own depraved pleasure, and you had every right to refuse-even if the only way to do that was to flee!"
She said it with so much heat that Mira wondered if she had a similar story to tell, but that heat warmed Mira's heart and made her think that perhaps she had done the right thing after all.
A Wizard In The Way Page 4