by Dean Murray
A heartbeat or two later, the bandit slipped while trying to dodge one of Va'del's attacks. Va'del never gave him a chance to recover.
Va'del collapsed into the bloody snow next to the corpse, and seemed to lose a few minutes. It wasn't until Cindi made it to him and gasped in surprise that the teenager started thinking again.
"What happened?"
"Bandit attacked me. Must not have seen you. Thought I was a lone scout. Got hit with a crossbow."
Cindi swore as she saw the quarrel sticking out of Va'del's side, and then looked around. "There's a snow cave over here. Can you make it? I can't chance you dying from exposure before I can get it out of you."
Va'del nodded, and staggered to his feet with Cindi's help. Crawling into the snow cave was almost more than the teenager could handle. There was barely enough room for him in the entrance, and several times he accidentally brushed the quarrel against the floor of the tunnel.
Having somehow made it into the snow cave without passing out from pain, Va'del collapsed onto a pile of blankets and lay motionless while Cindi made her slow, laborious way into the larger-than-expected enclosure.
The Guadel looked at the quarrel one more time and then shook her head. "This is going to hurt, and I don't have energy to waste on dulling your pain."
Va'del started to nod, only to pass out from the agony as Cindi reached over and began removing the projectile.
##
Va'del finally regained consciousness partway through the night. There were makeshift bandages around his stomach and arm. He was light headed as well, but he was in much better shape than he'd expected.
She must be a fairly skilled healer. I don't think Jasmin could have taken care of so many aftereffects of a wound like that. Not after two days of grueling travel, anyway.
Cindi had placed a glow sphere on a little shelf in the snow, so there was just enough light for Va'del to tell that she wasn't sleeping.
"How do you feel?"
"Better than I'd hoped. Thank you."
The Guadel waved away his thanks. "One of your parents was a lowlander, weren't they?"
Va'del nodded cautiously.
"Don't worry, boy. For all of my other faults, I try not to judge someone solely based on where their parents may have hailed from."
The pair sat in darkness for a while before Cindi continued. "How did they feel about your being sponsored by Jasmin and Betreec?"
It had been so long since Va'del had thought about his parents that he'd started to think maybe he was beginning to heal from the loss. He found, though, that the few memories of his time with them were strangely raw. Or maybe not so strangely considering all of the other people I've lost recently. Considering the fact that I may never see Jain again.
"They died a long time ago. I was a ward of the village. Nobody was really sorry to see me go. The Headman put up a token fight, but he seemed more interested in chipping away at the Guadel's authority than in really keeping me in the village."
Cindi shrugged, but when she spoke there was a curious catch in her voice. "It's always tough being an orphan. It makes you an easier target than the kids with parents."
Va'del felt surprising amounts of interest. Almost as if despite himself he wanted to learn about what made the older woman the way she was. "You were an orphan too, then?"
"That I was. My mother died in childbirth, and my father in a mine collapse. Of course being a girl, I showed the ability to work the power fairly early, so I didn't spend as long as an orphan as you probably did. I do remember it being a hard time though. I suppose that's part of why I'm so rock-headed. Everyone was so determined to prove I was worthless that I had to be confident in myself or I would have just given up and died."
Neither of the pair said anything for several minutes. Va'del was uncertain if it was appropriate for him to ask questions, and Cindi seemed lost in thought.
Finally the Guadel continued almost despite herself. "As old as I am, I should know better, but sometimes you end up at the wrong conclusion based on things that you thought were important. Based on the opinion of people you respect. I guess what I'm saying is I'm sorry. I should have given you a chance to prove yourself one way or the other instead of just setting out to make sure that you weren't allowed back in those classes once we returned to the Capital."
Va'del found himself unable to speak. The apology meant more than he'd expected it to. It was surprisingly sincere coming from a woman he hadn't thought capable of admitting to even minor mistakes.
There was a part of Va'del that wanted to forgive Cindi, but he couldn't bring himself to just forget everything she'd put him through. Her recognizing she'd made a mistake was a good start, but she was still essentially the same person she'd always been.
Cindi looked at Va'del expectantly for several seconds and then nodded at his silence. "I don't suppose as I can blame you for not being prompt to forget everything between us. Knowing myself, I don't think I could do it if I were in your place. I guess I was just hoping that you're a better person than I am."
Va'del suddenly realized that the Guadel had been stalling, that she hadn't wanted to tell him something. "What are you holding back?"
"I don't know that you had time to think things through, but the bandit you killed wasn't just sitting out here by chance. He was a sentry. We're only about a cycle or so from their base at most. Close enough that I can barely feel where they are and that there are more people there than we'd feared."
The despair that had been hammering away at Va'del's resolve for the last two days seemed to drain him dry at the news, and he found himself slumping back down into his blankets. "How many of them are there?"
"More than ten, fewer than twenty. From so far away it isn't possible to tell exactly how many."
"Then we don't have any chance? Our efforts were doomed before they even started."
Cindi nodded. "It looks that way. Not many candidates of much less than a year could have defeated a brigand one on one like that. Your family did an admirable job when they selected you based on your raw ability, but odds like that are too deep even for a full Guadel to face."
Va'del felt like the Goddess had brought them this far only to abandon them at the last second. "That isn't why they picked me. I'rone was always pleased with my progress when it came to weapons play, but On'li seemed to think it was something about my ability to link that made Jasmin and Betreec decide on me."
Cindi nodded, and began speaking as though agreeing with something other than what Va'del was saying. "You linked with On'li after arriving at the Capital?"
The teenager shook his head in confusion. "No, she went inside my mind to see what kind of person I was, just like Jasmin and Betreec did before sponsoring me. It was Jasmin who I linked with. Before they were all killed."
Cindi's mouth gaped open in surprise. "You mean you linked with Guadel Jasmin after only a few weeks? Effectively linked, to where you were faster and stronger? Do you understand how exceptional that makes you?"
Va'del shook his head once more, but the older woman hardly seemed to notice. "Most men aren't really able to link until they've spent years practicing lowering their mental barriers. Even then, the link isn't really all that effective until they're married. Nothing else gives them the ability to trust anyone enough to stop fighting the link."
Even the despair washing through him wasn't enough to make Va'del completely oblivious to the hope that had started to permeate Cindi's voice.
"We've found their base, there is a little food here, but not enough to see us back to a village. Our only chance would be to fight our way in and take from their food stores. We'll have to kill them all, or at least enough of them to make sure that we aren't followed."
Va'del shook his head. "You said so yourself. I can't possibly beat two or three of them at the same time, yet alone more than a dozen of them. We have no chance!"
Cindi's smile held more than a little regret in it. "No, Va'del. We do have a chance, but one whi
ch depends more on you than on anything else. We can link. I'm one of the more powerful Guadel currently living. On a good day, all by myself I could make Oh'scir strong and fast enough to defeat six men."
"Isn't...isn't that forbidden?"
The Guadel snorted. "Of course it is. Only married partners, or sponsors are allowed to do something like that, but it's more a matter of trust that enforces the policy than anything else. Few men can allow others into their minds uncontested. That very fight to protect their minds in turn burns up the power of whichever woman is trying to augment them."
Va'del's head seemed to be spinning, but the belief in Cindi's tone was unmistakable and he suddenly started to share in that hope.
"It all depends on you, youngster. If you can suppress your natural desire to fling me from your mind, if you can trust me with the knowledge of who you are, we may have a chance. The odds are still long, but at the very least we'll sell ourselves more dearly than we would have otherwise."
Va'del found himself unable to respond for several minutes. By the end it hadn't really bothered him to think of Jasmin being inside his mind. She'd been his friend first and foremost.
Cindi, on the other hand, was someone whom he hadn't trusted from the moment they'd met. There was no little amount of hate that had grown in his feelings towards her since then, and he found that he was incredibly scared to let her see who he really was.
What will she do if she can tell I hate her? What if she sees things that confirm her old belief that I wasn't worthy to be a candidate?
Rationally speaking, Va'del knew Cindi would see the link through despite any hate he felt towards her; to do otherwise would result in her death too. Somehow, that wasn't enough to calm his worries.
The fears chasing each other around the teenager's mind seemed to grow, multiplying until they swallowed all his strength.
Va'del was almost ready to tell Cindi no, to announce that he'd attack unaided and die rather than let her inside his mind. As he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered the look on Jain's face when he'd awoke after saving her from Vin'i and the other two guardsmen.
She trusts me. She'd do anything she possibly could to help me, in a large part because she believes that I'd do anything I could to protect and help her. Dying here in a failed attempt to save her isn't the betrayal that simply turning and walking away would be, but it's still a form of selfishness. All I have to do is let Cindi inside my mind, and we may be able to save Jain. She'd do that or more for me—how can I do less for her?
Va'del's throat seemed to have closed in. He could barely breathe. Talking was completely out of the question, so he simply nodded.
Cindi sighed, and her expression seemed to say she had a very good idea what the agreement had cost him. "We should move while it's still dark. If you can catch some still in their beds it will improve our chances."
##
The pair ate what was left of their food and water and set out. Va'del's fears still gnawed at his resolve to go through with the linking, but having agreed to it already, it became easier to force the doubts back into a corner of his mind.
The first part of the journey went by quickly, but Va'del started moving slower and slower as they got closer to where Cindi had indicated the bandits were holed up.
She can't continue to use her power to look for them. Have to watch for ambushes.
Straining his eyes in the light from the now-waning moon, Va'del finally detected a slight motion ahead of him in the darkness.
The teenager drew his weapons and waited for Cindi to catch up, praying the whole time that she could stay quiet enough not to alert the sentries.
Va'del pointed out the location of the sentries and then started off towards them. As previously agreed, Cindi didn't follow, instead settling down in the new-fallen snow and closing her eyes in concentration.
When the link started to form, Va'del nearly tripped. No, don't fight it. Let her in. It's the price you have to pay for saving Jain.
The shadowy, alien presence slowly invading Va'del's mind continually tripped his defenses, but he suppressed the reflexive desire to push her away, forcing himself to continue creeping towards the sentry as strength poured into his tired limbs.
The augmentation Cindi was providing went beyond what Jasmin had done for him, and in addition to the strength and altered time sense, Va'del found that his movements were somehow becoming more graceful, his senses more acute.
A muffled oath in the darkness was the only sign that he'd been seen, but Va'del acted on that information without hesitation. The brigand was still falling backwards, desperately trying to draw his sword, when Va'del exploded over the top of the snow drift between them and struck him down.
The noise brought a second guard up from where he'd been relaxing against a snow bank, but he had made even less progress towards getting his weapon out and in action before Va'del tore his life away with a lightning-fast slash.
A few yards away the sound of someone yelling established beyond a doubt where the mouth of the brigands' cave was, and Va'del sprinted towards it with a speed that he would have found unbelievable if he'd had time to stop and consider how fast his limbs were moving.
The entrance to the cave was closed off with hanging furs, but as Va'del swept past them, he found that the cavern inside was much larger than he would have expected.
The slim form of a man dressed in furs was kicking the brigands awake when Va'del appeared inside the cave as if by magic. The first two bandits fell to the teenager's blades before they could finish rolling out of their blankets, and then the fight began in earnest.
Va'del's two blades raced back and forth, weaving a nearly impenetrable wall before him. He seemed to have plenty of time to parry or dodge each attack aimed at him, as often as not scoring a blow on one of the bandits. Three more of his opponents fell in short order before the remaining six were able to close ranks.
His back to a wall, the teenager quickly realized that parrying each and every blow wasn't leaving him any chance to attack, so he started trading his blood for the chance to kill his opponents. A weak slash opened up the front of Va'del's leg, but earned him a decapitating stroke on the man who'd delivered it.
The remaining five men renewed their onslaught at the sight of Va'del's blood, and he had to trade two more fairly deep wounds to dispatch the next two swordsmen. Cindi's augmentation seemed to be weakening, and the teenager had a split second to wonder how long he'd been fighting before the fight once again took all of his concentration.
His wounds seemed to be taking their toll as well. Va'del found himself slowing further so that it was all he could do to avoid being struck down by the remaining three swordsmen.
One of the bandits, bare feet numb from the cold, suddenly slipped and Va'del's sword licked out and reduced his opposition to two.
A hissing sound was Va'del's only warning, and then a crossbow quarrel was streaking through the air towards him. For all that time was still moving slower than normal, his augmentation was starting to fade, and Va'del's attempt to knock the projectile out of the air with his dagger was only partially successful.
A line of agony tore into Va'del's side as the slightly-deflected quarrel struck him, and then his breathing become labored as one lung started filling with fluid.
Va'del forced the pain from his mind and used his snow spikes in a kick that was even more lethal than normal, to dispatch another of the men, in return for a long cut on his right arm from the sole survivor.
As Va'del finally cut down the last bandit with a complicated pass that Fi'lin had taught him just weeks ago, the skinny, fur-clad man reappeared from the darkness where he'd taken the shot with the crossbow.
The man's face was full of hatred as he raised his arm and let a bolt of fire fly towards his young opponent.
Va'del just managed to throw himself out of the way as he felt Cindi's presence fall away from his mind. Please, help me save Jain. Va'del hadn't realized that the plea was a prayer
until it had already formed inside his mind.
The sudden sense of another alien presence inside his mind made the teenager assume that the Goddess had answered the prayer, somehow granting Cindi enough strength to augment him for a few more seconds. Va'del reached inside to suppress mental defenses once again, only to find that they weren't triggering, that the presence, while still undoubtedly alien and different, was somehow familiar, somehow one he instinctively trusted. Jain.
As fresh strength poured into his limbs, Va'del clumsily rolled away from another ball of fire. His speed wasn't even a tenth as great as it was with Cindi, and Va'del heard himself scream in pain as the passage of super-heated air burned the right side of his body.
Seeing his opponent stumble, the furred mage smiled and raised his hand once again to strike Va'del down, only to blink in amazement as I'rone's knife came spinning through the air to embed itself in his throat.
The blow wasn't one that killed instantly, and for a second Va'del was worried he'd be consumed by flame before the other man could die, but the mage seemed unable to wield his power through the pain.
Shivering from exhaustion and coughing up blood, Va'del limped around the cavern, desperate to find Jain. He found her on the far end of the cavern floor, bound and gagged, but alive and sobbing with joy.
Va'del just managed to cut through Jain's bonds with his sword and tell her that Cindi was outside somewhere, exhausted and in danger of freezing, and then he collapsed into unconsciousness.
##
Once again Va'del found himself in darkness, a friendly blackness that drew him down further and further inside himself. After a time though, the darkness gradually turned cold and hard, pushing him back to consciousness and life.
Jain started crying when she saw he was awake. The cuts and bruises Va'del had missed seeing in his exhaustion the night before were very much evident on her face now, and the teenager realized that she and Cindi must have used all of their healing on him, leaving none to speed her recovery from whatever the bandits had done to her.
"I thought you were dead. All that snow, it was terrible. And then you were here, and I could feel Cindi working the power."
Va'del stroked Jain's hair. "It's okay. You should have known she could augment me enough to face off those bandits."