Mary Herbert - Dragon's Bluff

“Great gods!” Ulin exclaimed. “Lucy, how did you do that?”

She looked up at his face, her green eyes filled with confusion, excitement, and a glint of fear. “I’m not sure. I—”

“ You did that?” A new voice exclaimed. “Boys, it looks like we’ve found ourselves a sorceress.”

Startled, Lucy and Ulin saw a troop of warriors halted on the trail, staring at the puddled draconian and her with various expressions of awe and surprise. Akkar-bin and three of his guards were with the troop and looked equally stunned.

Ulin had seen some mixed bands in his life, but he had never seen a troop as strange as this one. He counted fifteen in all: five Khurs on horseback, two kender on ponies, a wild elf, three men of indeterminate background, and two dwarves in light armor. All were heavily armed and all wore a silver emblem on their tunics that looked something like a wolf’s head.

Their leader sat on a tall gray horse, his lean handsome face tanned by the sun and his pale grayish clothes immaculate. His hair was silver, though he appeared to be young, and his ears bore the slender points of a person with elven blood. He beamed at Lucy and dismounted, revealing an athletic grace and energy that confirmed his youth.

“Spread out,” the leader ordered his band. “Search for the rest of the brigands.” Talking excitedly among themselves, the warriors split into groups and moved off to obey their commander. He made a straight line to Lucy, bowed over her hand, and said, “My Lady Sorceress, this is indeed an honor. May I introduce myself? I am the Silver Fox, Captain of—”

“That’s impossible,” Ulin snapped. “You’re too young.” He immediately regretted his outburst.

The man turned his wide smile to Ulin and bowed to him as well. “I am too young,” he agreed affably, “to be the original Silver Fox, but I am the third man to bear that name. We’re trying to keep the reputation going, you see. The revered resistance leader, the dreaded scourge of ogres, goblins, and draconians, the vaunted master of the Thieves Guild, the roving ranger of the desert realms … The Silver Fox, feared throughout Malys’s realm.” He flourished his sword and struck a dramatic pose.

Lucy laughed and Challie rolled her eyes.

Ulin felt his annoyance toward the man fade a little. It was difficult to dislike someone who saw such humor in his situation—as long as the man kept his distance from Lucy. He moved beside her and took her hand, making it clear where his loyalties lay. Lucy cast a twinkling glance at him.

“Please excuse my manners,” Ulin said. “It has been a busy afternoon.”

“I noticed. And who are you?” asked the Silver Fox, his eyes on Lucy.

“I am Lucy, late of Solace. This is Challie of Flotsam, and my betrothed, Ulin, also of Solace. It is a pleasure to meet you, the, uh … sir … Silver Fox.”

Her emphasis on “betrothed” did not escape the man’s notice. The half-elf dipped his head once in acknowledgment and winked at her. “Call me Lysandros. That’s my own name.” He turned to the dwarf and gave her a brief nod. “Chalcedony, it’s good to see you back.”

Akkar-bin chose that moment to approach. He looked grimmer than ever. “Get back to the cook wagon, you three. We will pull out as soon as the wagons can be readied.”

The resistance leader turned slowly on the caravan master. All affability vanished behind a cold, angry mask. “You were a fool to take your caravan on this short-cut. You know this is a favorite ambush site.”

In unison Lucy, Challie, and Ulin turned accusing eyes on Akkar-bin.

The Khur drew himself up. “We hadn’t seen sign of the draconians since yesterday,” he said defensively. “I was trying to save time.”

“Lucky for you, we’ve been watching for your caravan,” Lysandros said, his pale eyes unblinking. “Lucky for you, you had this sorceress.”

Akkar-bin’s mouth worked over words he wanted to say. His face hardened, then he turned on his heel and went back to his men.

“Captain!” a pair of shrill voices shouted. “Captain, you’ve got to come see this!” The two kender dashed up to the half-elf, their topknots bouncing with excitement.

One kender, slightly taller than the other one, spoke first. “There’s four dead men over there and another pool of acid.”

“And a dead horse!” the second kender added rapidly. “Someone slashed its throat!”

“And body parts,” the first finished. “There’s blood everywhere, and the stench is awful!”

Lysandros held up a hand. “Slow down, boys. You talk so fast. I didn’t catch all that.”

Instead of a reply, the kender grabbed the Silver Fox’s belt and hauled him toward the rear of the caravan.

Ulin, Lucy, and Challie followed.

“Four dead men and another draconian?” Ulin said so only Challie and Lucy could hear. “What in the name of Paladine did you use?”

“Well,” Lucy hesitated. She was reluctant to admit she was as confused as he was. “I think one of the men they saw is the dead driver. The bandits killed the rearguard.”

“Yes, but another draconian?”

“And three brigands,” Challie put in.

Ulin blanched. “But what did you use?”

Lucy threw out her hands. “Potatoes! I was trying to create that old hot potato spell. It was the only thing I could think of. I just wanted to drive them away.”

“Potatoes?” Ulin repeated. “What happened to them?”

“I don’t know. I worked the spell as I always did, but something changed it.”

They reached their cook wagon and saw a large group crowded around the back. The stink of the dead draconian’s puddle already ripened in the hot air, and flies gathered on the slashed throat of the dead horse.

Lucy was relieved to see someone had cut the bay horse loose from his dead teammate and had tied the lathered animal to the back of the next wagon. She was not willing to view the carnage again behind the cook wagon, so while Ulin went to see, she untied the horse and walked him to relax his muscles.

Ulin came back after just a few minutes and fell into step beside her. “I don’t know how you did it, but I am so proud of you.” He chuckled. “And there I was trying to keep one Kapak away from you.”

“For which I love you beyond words.” She slipped her free arm through his.

He felt the nearness of her body so close to his, and an urge filled his mind to wrap his arms around her and hold her so that nothing could ever take her away from him. Not plagues, nor magic, nor draconians, nor even the gods. His fear for her, and his fear of more loss and grief, fed the urge until it took all his strength to keep his arms at his sides and his stride steady. “I could not bear to lose you, you know. Not now.”

“I know,” she said simply. She had met him when he was still mourning for his wife and two children dead from the plague. She had stood by him when the Academy he loved was destroyed, and she had watched him suffer through the disappearance of his father. She knew what she meant to him, and although the depth of his need for her scared her sometimes, it gave her the strength to wait for him to heal.

Together they walked the horse in companionable silence until he was cool and could be reharnessed alone to the cook wagon. That accomplished, Ulin reluctantly left her to help the Khurs bury their dead.

Meanwhile the Silver Fox and his troop helped Akkar-bin put the caravan in order. Word spread fast about Lucy’s battle, and everyone came at some point to see the bodies and the pools of dead draconians. A great deal of whispering and hushed talk went on, and more than one warrior came to stare at her in speculative interest until Lucy threatened to get her skillet and bash the next person who eyed her. Of course, the kender thought that would be fun to see and fetched the skillet for her. After that the men kept a respectful distance.