Mortalis

by R. A. Salvatore

Chapter 14 Trappings of Reputation

  Tony rode her wonderful Greystone along beside the wagon, chatting with Belster as he rolled and bounced along. The back of the rig was full of supplies-food and drinks, some extra clothing, and the kegs and other implements they'd need to rebuild Belster's tavern in Dundalis, which they had just agreed would be named Fellowship Way.

  The pair were in a fine mood this sunny day, approaching Caer Tinella after a leisurely two-week journey from Palmaris, one marked by long visits with one grateful farming family after another or quiet nights beside a fire under the starry sky.

  For Pony, the weight on her shoulders had lessened as soon as she had left the turmoil of Palmaris behind her. Now she didn't have to worry about politics and secret alliances, didn't have to consider the implications of her every move. Up here, she was not Jilseponie, hero of the demon war, slayer of evil Markwart. Up here, she was Pony, just Pony, the same little girl who had grown strong and happy in Dundalis with Elbryan before the coming of the goblins; the same warrior who had stood beside the ranger to protect the folk and the lands from the demon hordes.

  Here, she was not moving her horse carefully through the throngs of people crowding the markets, but rather was riding him freely, feeling his muscles beneath her as he thundered along. Often, she would take him out across a field beside the road, for no better reason than to let him gallop, to feel the freedom and the wind. She had brought a saddle with her, but more often than not, she rode Greystone bareback.

  She went off on yet another such jaunt, heading across a long, narrow field. She spotted a downed tree lying in a tangle of brush, its trunk sus pended more than half a man's height from the ground.

  "Ho, what are ye thinking?" Belster called, seeing her smile spreading wide, even from twenty feet away.

  Pony didn't answer other than to urge Greystone into a canter and put him in line.

  She heard Bolster's complaints that she was a "crazy child," but they seemed to come from far away as the wind roared past her ears. And then she heard nothing as she took the horse in, so intense became her focus, picking her spot.

  Up Greystone went, rounding his muscled neck and shoulders, and Pony rose to a half seat, her hands resting on his neck, her legs clamped tight about Greystone's flanks, her body in perfect balance. As soon as they landed, she turned her horse back toward the road, where she spotted Belster, the portly innkeeper shaking his head and giving one great resigned sigh after another.

  "Ye're to get yerself killed, girl," he said as she trotted past.

  Pony just laughed and asked Greystone for a canter, aiming at the fallen tree again.

  And then a third time and a fourth, while Belster simply kept the wagon rolling.

  Pony caught up to him a few minutes later where the road wound around a small hillock.

  "Caer Tinella," the innkeeper announced, pointing north to where a feather of smoke drifted into the air.

  Pony slowed Greystone to a walk, cooling him down. Soon after, she dismounted, tying Greystone to the back of the wagon and taking a seat beside Belster.

  "Done yer fun, then? " the innkeeper asked.

  "Just beginning," Pony replied, "especially if my guess about that town is right. "

  "Ah, the woman Kilronney," Belster replied, referring to a dear friend of Pony's, a soldier from the Palmaris garrison who had helped her when she had been separated from Elbryan.

  Pony had seen the woman only once since the last battle. Imprisoned in Chasewind Manor, under the kinder hand of King Danube, Colleen Kilronney had been well on her way to recovering from the wounds she had received during her battles beside Pony. But still, when Pony had at last found her after the deaths of Elbryan and Markwart, Colleen was scarred, physically and within her heart. She had resigned her position with the Palmaris garrison, despite a plea from her cousin Shamus-another friend of Pony's-and from Duke Kalas himself.

  In that brief meeting, all that Pony had gleaned from Colleen was that she was tired and heading north to Caer Tinella.

  It didn't take Pony and Belster long to find Colleen; the first villagers they encountered directed them to a small cottage on the northeastern side of town. Pony left Belster behind, riding Greystone quickly to the place, then jumping down and running to the door.

  Her eagerness and excitement diminished considerably when Colleen Kilronney answered, for she seemed now a mere shell of her former self. Once she had been square-shouldered and strong, but now her shoulders sagged. Once her eyes had flashed with eagerness for battle, but now they seemed almost glazed. Even Colleen's red hair seemed duller, as if the whole woman had faded.

  Pony held her hand out, and Colleen, a wide smile growing on her face, reached for it, with her left hand, holding her right arm noticeably tight to her side.

  "What have you done?" Pony asked, hugging her friend, but taking care not to pain her obviously injured right arm.

  "Bad place for catching a sword," Colleen replied, still managing to smile. She led Pony into her modest cottage, offering her a seat at a small round table, then sitting beside her friend. "Ye're looking well," she said. "Are ye gettin' past the pain? "

  Pony sighed. "Will I ever?" she asked. Colleen put a hand on Pony's shoulder-again, her left hand-and rubbed her.

  "Let me see that wound," Pony said, reaching into her pouch and bringing forth the soul stone.

  "Oh, but they're lettin' ye keep one now? " Colleen asked. "Or did ye just take the thing? "

  Pony helped her to slip her tunic off, and she winced in sympathetic pain when she saw Colleen's wound, scabbed now but a vicious slash across the top of her biceps.

  "Two weeks old," Colleen explained. "Thought I was to lose the arm. "

  Pony put a finger over the woman's lips, then dropped her hand down onto the cut, rubbing the tender flesh. At the same time, she peered into the soul stone, deeper and deeper into the swirling gray of the hematite, letting herself fall into its magic. She made a connection to Colleen's wound, sent her consciousness into the woman's torn muscles.

  And then Pony took the injury back to herself, absorbed it with her being. She felt a moment of excruciating pain, but held to her purpose, enveloping, absorbing the wound, and then using her own strength and the soul stone to heal the tears and make the scars into healthy flesh once more.

  Then Pony withdrew her spirit, but not before lingering a bit to try to get a sense of the woman's general health. She wasn't thrilled with what she sensed there, for it seemed to her as if Colleen's physical being was somehow depleted, worn out.

  A moment later, Pony opened her eyes to see Colleen already flexing her arm, working it in small circles, apparently without pain.

  "I was thinkin' o' comin' to ye for just that medicine," the woman remarked, flashing her smile, "but I expected that ye'd be too busy for helpin' the likes o' meself. "

  "Never that!" Pony assured her. She wrapped the woman in a hug again, and this time, Colleen returned it with both arms. "You have not been feeling well," Pony remarked when they sat back again.

  "I took more of a beatin' than I knew," Colleen confirmed. "I'm just needin' the rest, is all. "

  "And the new wound?" Pony asked. "It does not seem that you are finding much rest. "

  "A bigmouthed son of a drunken powrie," Colleen replied, "a man named Seano Bellick. Used to be with the Palmaris garrison, same as meself, and we never did like each other much. He's living in Caer Tinella now, and nothing but trouble, I tell ye. We had a bit of a disagreement in CaUicky's pub. "

  "A bit of a disagreement?" Pony echoed. "He nearly cut your arm off!"

  "Got me good," Colleen admitted.

  "Where can I find him? " Pony asked.

  "Just provin' himself the better," Colleen said, waving the notion away. "And so he was, but if I'd'a catched him in me better days-"

  "It will heal," Pony promised.

  "Mendin' already, and hardly hurtin' sinc
e ye went at it with yer gemstone," Colleen agreed. "Might that ye should wait a bit in town, so that ye can put Seano's heart back in his chest after I'm done cuttin' it out. "

  They had a good laugh, but for Pony, it was bittersweet. The Colleen she had first met in Dundalis would indeed have paid back Seano Bellick-or any man for that matter-but Pony recognized that Colleen would not prove to be much of a match for any seasoned warrior now. That notion stung Pony, for Colleen had taken that initial, and lingering, beating during their flight from Palmaris, from Markwart and De'Unnero, only for the sake of Pony.

  "Will ye be stayin' long? " Colleen asked. "Or are ye runnin' right out for Dundalis?"

  " I wish you would join me. "

  "I've got me own home here," Colleen said with a shake of her head. "We been through this before. Ye got yer own place and I've got mine. Oh, I'll come and see ye, don't ye doubt-might even set me sights on Dundalis for a home. But not now. "

  Pony didn't press the point. "I'll need an introduction to the mayor, or whoever it is that leads Caer Tinella. "

  "That'd be Janine o' the Lake," Colleen replied, "a fine woman. But what're ye thinkin' to do that ye're needin' to bother her? "

  Belster O'Comely poked his head in the door then, and gave a great shout at the sight of Colleen, then stalked across the room and gave her a hug. "So did ye convince her to go north with us? " he asked Pony.

  "I already told her that I'd not be runnin' across the wilds with a drunk like Belster O'Comely beside me," Colleen replied, and both she and Bolster laughed heartily. Their comfort and familiarity gave Pony pause. Colleen and Belster didn't know each other all that well, yet they seemed to be chatting like old friends. Might there be some real feelings there, buried beneath a jovial facade?

  "But ye will come up and see us? " Belster asked.

  "By the pigs, I will!" Colleen replied.

  "Good enough then," said Belster. "I'll put a bottle o' me best boggle aside for that fine day. "

  "Go get it now, and we'll make this one a fine day," Colleen suggested, but before Belster could reply, he found Pony shaking her head.

  "I need to speak withJanine," she said.

  "So ye said, but ye didn't tell me why. "

  "We will set up a healing tent," Pony explained, "to tend to all those in need. "

  "For whatever ails them?" Colleen asked skeptically. "Boils and corns, a cut here and a sore belly there? "

  Pony nodded, and Colleen's expression was one of incredulity.

  "Them monks're allowing it? " she asked.

  "The monks have no power to stop it," Pony said.

  Within the hour, Belster and Pony had set up a tent in the small square at the center of Caer Tinella, and word had been sent out through the town and to the neighboring town of Landsdown. Folk came filtering in, slowly at first, only those who already knew Pony and her exploits. But as it became recognized that she was performing miraculous healing, the line at the tent grew and grew.

  So many folk of the two towns came-mostly with minor injuries or ailments, but one with a serious tear near the knee and another quite sick from eating rotten food-that Pony agreed to spend the night at Colleen's and continue the healing for a second day.

  Pony and Belster caused quite a stir in the region and caught the attention of all, including a trio of rough-looking fellows, former soldiers, and another, quieter watcher, unseen among the boughs.

  That quiet watcher paid heed to the other three and heard much of their suspicious remarks, particularly when one said, "She should be south, far south ofPalmaris, where they're finding the rosy plague. "

  Late the second afternoon, Pony and Belster loaded up their wagon and set out again for the north. The weather was clear and warm, the breeze gentle; the pair took an easy pace, enjoying the sights and smells of the summertime forest. And indeed, it seemed obvious to Belster that his companion was in a much better mood now than when they had set out from Palmaris.

  "Findin' a bit o' heart, are ye?" he asked her as the late-afternoon shadows stretched across the path before them. Pony glanced over at him, not really understanding.

  "With the gemstones, I mean," Belster explained. "Ye did yer work with more of a smile than I seen on ye for months, girl. "

  Pony shrugged, admitting nothing to Belster. To herself, though, she did consider the innkeeper's words, and carefully. She felt good about the work she had been doing since leaving Palmaris, felt as if she was making a bit of difference in the world-though not on the scale that Brother Braumin or King Danube had envisioned. Not changing the world itself, for that, she had come to believe, was beyond anyone's control. But what she was doing now was changing a little corner of the world, the lives of a few, and with beneficial results. So yes, Pony's mood had lightened considerably.

  They declined the offer of some farmers to sleep in their barn as twilight descended, and instead went a bit farther down the road, out of sight of any houses. When Pony spotted a small clearing beside the trail, she pulled the wagon up for the night and untied the horses, setting them out to graze, while Belster prepared a fine meal from the food the grateful people of Caer Tinella had given them.

  Soon the pair were relaxing and eating, staring up at the stars and listening to the night songs of the forest.

  "This was our time," Pony remarked, drawing Bolster's attention from the last tidbits of stew. "Nightbird's time," Pony explained. "We would sit for hours, watching the sunset and the last glows of daylight, watching the stars growing brighter and more numerous. "

  "It'll get easier," Belster promised.

  Pony looked up at the stars and blinked back her tears. She could only hope so.

  She fell asleep soon after, but as on every night since Elbryan's fall, she had a fitful, not restful, sleep. When she opened her eyes to find that it was still dark, she was neither surprised nor alarmed. She lay there for a moment, wondering what, if anything, had awakened her.

  Greystone nickered-not a quiet, restful sound but one with a slight element of alarm.

  Pony lifted herself up on her elbows and glanced over at the tethered horses. To the untrained eye, everything would have seemed fine, but Pony's warrior instincts told her that something was amiss. Perhaps it was the way Greystone now stood, muscles tensed as if preparing to bolt at the slightest provocation. Or maybe it was the nighttime sounds, or lack thereof, about her, the forest creatures watchful.

  Pony stood up quiedy, staying low in a crouch and strapping her sword, Defender, to her waist. She reached for her soul stone, thinking to fly out to scout the area, but before she could even begin, she noted a movement down the road a bit, a humanoid shape, a large man perhaps, moving deliberately toward their camp. Many possibilities crossed Pony's mind; many things screamed out at her to keep her on her guard. Why was anyone out at this late hour? And why would anyone be alone on the road north of Caer Tinella at any time of day? Or was this man alone? Greystone was behind Pony, at a good distance, while the approaching man was in front of her; and yet the horse had apparently sensed his presence.

  She kept all those disturbing thoughts in proper perspective, buried them beneath the confidence of years of battle experience, and she slowly rolled onto her side, not wanting to present a clear target to any archers who might be nearby. She tucked one leg under her so that she could get up in a hurry, and put her hand on her sword hilt.

  The form came closer, walking with a determined stride and swinging something-a battle-ax, perhaps-in one hand.

  "That will be close enough, sir," Pony said suddenly, and the man jerked to an abrupt halt.

  A long moment of silence passed, and then the large man laughed and brought his arms about, slamming his weapon against the flat of a metal shield.

  "What?" Belster groaned, rolling.

  "Stay down," Pony instructed him. She rose up to a crouch, inching toward the man and glancing all about, expecting that he had allies nearby.
/>
  "Are you the friend of the fool Kilronney? " the man bellowed, that alone giving Pony a good idea of who this might be.

  "And if I am? " Pony replied, as she neatly kicked at one of the smoldering branches on the fire. She slipped low and grabbed it up, giving a shake so that the breeze brought a flare of life to it. By the time she had taken two steps, the end of the branch was aflame, giving her a better view of the man-and him, and any allies he might have, a fine view of her.

  He didn't seem very old-mid-thirties perhaps-but his curly hair was more silver than its previous blond, as was his full beard. He wore a sleeveless jerkin, showing hardened, muscled, hairy arms, with leather bracers about his wrists. Even more notable to Pony, the man's shield was battered and torn, and his axe head was notched from previous encounters.

  "Seano Bellick," she remarked casually, moving closer to the man and tossing the burning branch to the ground at her side-anything to make it more difficult for any hidden associates the man might have to get a clear shot at her.

  The big man laughed.

  "Who's here? " Belster called from behind.

  "Stay back, near the wagon," Pony instructed sharply.

  "Ah, you got nothing to fear from me," Seano Bellick said. "I come to talk, not to fight, and I fight fair. "

  Pony's expression clearly revealed her serious doubts about that. There was very little this man could say to calm her, she realized, for he had injured her dear friend, and Pony almost hoped he would wade in and take a swing with that cumbersome axe of his.

  "Talk then," she said grimly.

  Seano Bellick gave a great belly laugh. "A spirited one, eh?" he said.

  "You could have spoken to me in the town," Pony retorted. "My whereabouts were no secret. "

  Bellick shrugged. "Well, I found you now. "

  Pony didn't blink, didn't return her hand to Defender's hilt, confident that she could draw and thrust before the man could take a step.

  "You got quite the reputation about here," Seano said. "Fighting goblins and powries and even giants, so it's said about Pony. "

  "Jilseponie," the woman corrected, and Seano bowed.

  "So it's said about Jilseponie," he remarked. "And now you come into town and fix the torn fingernails and the blisters and the bad-food stomach. Making a name for yourself. "

  Pony wanted to argue that if he really thought she had done, and was doing, all that in the hopes of making a name for herself, that he was sorely mistaken; but she quickly came to the conclusion that this thug wasn't worth the time to explain-and wouldn't begin to understand her, anyway.

  Seano nodded his head. It was quite clear to Pony where this was going, though she had no intention of making it easier for the man by instigating any action.

  "I doubt not that the reputation is well earned, Po-Jilseponie," Seano said. "And that makes it all the sweeter for me. Take out that fancy sword of yours and show me what you been showing goblins. "

  "Walk away," Pony replied. "I've got nothing for you, Seano Bellick. Not half the reputation you seem to think you can earn this night and not enough wealth to make a fight worth your time or effort. Put up your ugly axe and walk away, south to Caer Tinella or into the deep forest where a bear can take you, if that is your pleasure. "

  "Nothing I want?" Seano echoed skeptically. "Why, taking you down'd make the name of Seano Bellick feared from Palmaris to Caer Tinella, would make Duke Kalas know what a fool was Bildeborough for cutting me out before he got killed. "

  The words hardly surprised Pony.

  "Nothing I want?" Seano said again, even more incredulously. "Why, you got a magic gemstone, girlie. A prize most appreciated by all of them about, now that you've shown what it can do. "

  "And know that you have no power with it," Pony remarked.

  "But others will be wanting it," Seano snapped back, his agitation obviously increasing. "And others'd pay for it with good gold. And, besides, if I got your stone, then others'll know I took it from you, that you didn't give it to me agreeably. "So give it over and save me the trouble, and yourself the pain, of me taking it from you," he finished, flashing a nearly toothless, ugly grin.

  Pony paused for a long moment, sizing the fellow up. Still she kept Defender in its sheath. "I expect that my reputation is not nearly as impressive as you make it sound," she answered slowly and very calmly, "at least, not to you. "

  "I've a bit of a reputation of my own," the big man replied.

  "One I know well," Pony answered. She took a deep, steadying breath, clearing out her anger and replacing it with simple pragmatism and generosity. "Seano Bellick," she said, again in calm and perfectly controlled tones, "while I'd dearly love to pay you back for the pain you have caused to my friend-"

  "Another tough girlie," he interjected snidely.

  Pony winced, thinking that Colleen, if she had been in top fighting form, would have had little trouble with this braggart. "I choose to fight not at all with humans," she went on. "The world is full of enough enemies without us making war on each other. So, with that in mind, I offer you now, indeed I beg you, to put up your axe and walk off. "

  "Give me the gemstone and away I go," Seano said.

  Pony slowly shook her head. "Do not do this. "

  "Are ye all right, girl?" Belster called. Pony couldn't afford even the slightest bit of her attention for the innkeeper, and so she ignored the remark, her focus squarely on Seano.

  "Take out your sword," the big man said.

  "Walkaway. "

  "Last warning. "

  "Walkaway. "

  Predictably, Seano Bellick roared and leaped at Pony, and her sword snapped out in the blink of Seano's eye, stabbing ahead, forcing the man to rise to his tiptoes, suck in his gut, and skid to an abrupt halt. To his credit, Seano improvised well, slashing his axe to hold Pony back, then advancing as he came across with a wicked backhand slash, and then a third straightacross slash, to hold Pony at bay while he regained his balance and took a defensive posture.

  A sudden thought came to Pony to go for her soul stone, to fall into its depths and invade this thug's mind, overpowering his will and forcing him to run off. "No," she answered that pacific notion as Seano roared and came on again, feigning a downward chop, then falling back slightly, then stutter-stepping suddenly ahead, launching a wicked slash that missed the backing Pony. "No," Pony said again, more determinedly, coming to the realization that she didn't want to chase him off, that she wanted to pay him back for his treatment of Colleen, and even more than that, that she wanted to use this deserving target to unleash all of her months of pent-up frustrations. "No, don't you run off, Seano Bellick," she whispered. The big man eyed her skeptically and attacked again-missing again as the nimble woman skittered back, one, two, three steps, always in perfect balance.

  Seano paused and stared at her, and Pony understood, for the man had never seen anyone moving in battle quite the way she did. This was bi'nelle dasada; and in it, the only movement in the retreat was in the legs, while the torso remained balanced and on center. Elbryan had often referred to this forward-and-back skittering as spiderlike, an appropriate description to Pony's thinking.

  "You're a quick one," Seano bellowed, "but one blow of my axe will split you in two!"

  Pony didn't bother to respond, didn't even blink. Seano howled all the louder and banged his axe head against his metal shield. Even as that clang sounded, the big man exploded into a charge, holding his shield up.

  Pony's responding thrust slipped her sword tip around to the inside of the shield, but it seemed to Seano that he had gained an advantage. On he came, shoving his shield forward to put Defender out of the way, then swiping his axe across viciously.

  Pony ducked it, then ducked the ensuing backhand. By the time Seano came with the third vicious slash, she had slipped out to the side, out of his reach.

  Now she suddenly had the advantage, and she stabbed ahead with Defender, forci
ng Seano to alter the angle of his next backhand to fend off the rushing blade. He did this beautifully-even Pony nodded her appreciation for the cunning parry-though he nearly lost his awkward weapon in the process. Then he rolled his shield arm forward, putting the defensive barrier between himself and Pony once more.

  She hit that shield with three sharp raps, Defender's fine silverel blade creasing it twice and cutting a small line in the metal on the third slash.

  Seano flashed his toothless smile, but there was a wince there, Pony recognized, for the battering had likely stung his shield arm.

  "You should have one of these," the man taunted, lifting his shield.

  Pony hit the metal again, hard, and then jumped back as Seano's heavy axe swiped harmlessly across.

  "Just slows you down," she replied confidently. To illustrate her point, she launched her first real attack, sliding forward with three quick steps and coming in with a hard thrust that got inside the blocking shield. She had him beaten with the move, but couldn't go too deep with the cut, for Seano's axe was quickly swinging her way again. Pony did manage to stick the man in the belly, enough to draw blood through the newest hole in his ragged tunic.

  "I'll make you pay for that!" he promised, and he came on in a rage.

  Pony kept back from the first swing and backhand, ducked the second as she slipped in past his hip, reversing her grip and scoring another minor hit. She rushed by, then dropped to roll ahead of the next backhanded axe swing.

  She came up in time to pick off Seano's next cut with a neatly angled diagonal parry, so that his axe slid out and down.

  And then she had him, or would have, had not a noise to the side and Bolster's cry distracted her. She told herself repeatedly that she shouldn't be surprised to see that Seano had brought a couple of friends-both holding bows.

  "You are the better fighter," Seano admitted, "for what good that'll do you. "

  "Did you not claim that you fight fair? " Pony protested.

  "And so I did," said Seano. "But now I'm not fighting. No, girlie, now I'm thieving, so just be handing over that gemstone, and me and me friends will be on our merry way. "

  Pony eyed him and made no movement to retrieve the gemstone or to put up her sword.

  "My archer friend can get your companion where he's sitting," Seano remarked.

  "Belster," Pony called.

  "I see them," the innkeeper replied. "A pair with bows. "

  "Are you clear to their aim? "

  "Got a wagon right beside me," Bolster explained.

  Seano gave a chuckle. "Are you to make it more difficult, then?" he asked. "More's the pity. To think that my friend will have to take you down. "

  Pony reached into her pouch and pulled forth the hematite, and Seano put a greedy hand out for it.

  She didn't immediately turn it over, but stood there, staring at the gemstone, sending her thoughts into it, accepting its magic and blending that energy with her own.

  And then she came out of her body, with enough magical strength to focus her thoughts into something tangible, to project an image of herself, elongated, twisted, and demonic. That horrifying image appeared before the two archers, issuing a hellish shriek, the specter's mouth opening wide.

  The two archers fell back, crying out, and tripped over their own feet trying to run back into the forest.

  "What?" she heard Seano Bellick cry, and she rushed back into her body, coming on guard immediately, and not a moment too soon; for the big man, apparently sensing some kind of betrayal, leaped forward, his mighty axe leading, a straightforward, downward chop aimed for Pony's forehead.

  Purely on instinct, and faster than Seano could have believed possible, the woman's warrior reflexes took over. She lunged suddenly, her sword tip meeting the descent of the axe, chipping into the wooden handle just below the head, before Seano could gain any momentum.

  In the same fluid movement, Pony disengaged, retracting her blade but an inch, then slipping it under Seano's axe and rotating her arm across and down, taking Seano's weapon along for the ride.

  The man should have let go, surrendering the weapon, but he hadn't even really registered the parry yet, let alone the counter, and soon his arm had rotated in and down.

  Pony slipped her blade free and brought Defender up over the axe handle and quickly across. And then she fell back, sputtering, as blood splashed across her face.

  It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and Seano Bellick's weaponand the hand still holding it-fell to the ground.

  The big man howled, throwing his shield aside and falling to his knees, clutching his wrist, trying to stop the spurting blood.

  After the instant of shock, Pony knew that she could not pay him any heed. She turned and started to sprint toward the spot where the archers had been, but she hadn't gone two strides before the pair reappeared, bows drawn and ready.

  Pony slowed, staring hard at the men, noting the trembling of their fingers, studying every aspect of them, body and weapon, in an attempt to find a way. She didn't think it likely that either would hit her, so unnerved they seemed, and yet. . .

  "Are you still intent on this fight? " she asked sternly, walking slowly but deliberately toward the pair. She was balancing here, measuring a guess against practicality. One line of reasoning told her to stay back, that the darkness and the distance would make their shots all the more difficult. A second line of thought told Pony to intimidate these already unnerved men to the maximum, make them see their doom, shake them so badly that they could hardly loose an arrow, let alone hit anything.

  Then she caught a glimmer from their metal arrowheads.

  "Ye give us the stone and we're on our way," the smaller of the pair demanded, his cap, a triangular huntsman's affair, pulled low, accentuating his dark eyes. He was the more dangerous of the two, Pony noted, the steadiest of hand and, likely, the better shot.

  "I will give you nothing," Pony replied, "but will take from you more than your hands, I promise!" She ended with a hiss and a flourish with her arms, and the larger man cried out and ran away, but the smaller growled and let fly his arrow.

  As soon as he did, the man screeched and grabbed at his face, a great convulsion racking his frame. And then he dropped to the ground.

  Pony didn't see it, focusing instead on the arrow's flight, aimed straight for her heart and too fast for her possibly to deflect. She did instinctively bring her sword across, and with hardly a conscious effort, sent her fears into Defender, a sword so named because of the line of small magnetites, lodestones, set into its guard.

  In response those magnetites sent forth their waves of attracting energies, grabbing at the metal arrowhead, altering its course enough so that the guard intercepted it and held the missile fast.

  Stunned, Pony looked down at the sword, at the arrow held there, the arrow that, she knew, would have skewered her.

  Then she looked back to the archer, lying very still. Had his own friend shot him? "Belster?" she called.

  "Are ye all right, girl?" he asked from over by the wagon. Pony knew then that he had played no part in this. Confused, Pony went to the archer, lying facedown, and she grew even more perplexed, for the man showed no wound on his back.

  Crouching beside him, her eyes scanning the forest for signs of trouble, her ears trying to tune away from Seano Bellick's continuing wails, the woman rolled the archer over.

  He was dead, still clutching his face, his hand over his left eye. Pony pulled that hand away and found her answer in the form of a tiny arrow shaft, protruding from the torn socket.

  "Juraviel? " the woman whispered hopefully, turning, her eyes going up to the boughs.