David Wise - Tales of Ravenloft

The veterans'eyes widened. Hans, though, spat an obscenity. "Ridiculous!" he repeated. "Who has seen this Ice Queen? You? And if she is such a menace, how has anyone lived to tell the tale after encountering her?"

Lisl shrugged. "I said you die only if she touches you. Some who saw her managed to flee before she got too close. Later, they returned and found their unfortunate companions frozen."

His laugh echoed through the clearing. "And you superstitious Barovians can think of no other way a man might freeze to death? If a fool gawks at a snow mirage until his blood congeals, that does not prove spirits exist. "The mercenaries, encouraged by his explanation, nodded and chuckled.

Lisl insisted, "Jezra is real, and the gods help those who invade her ancestral lands, as we are doing."

Hans lashed out, slapping her hard. She fell back on the stone bench, her cheek reddening from the blow. Wilm struggled to rise and defend the gypsy, but could not; his brother crushed that noble impulse with a scornful glance and a touch on his sword.

"You seem to have an affection for her," he said, his tone mocking. "Very well then, keep her quiet. Share her naive beliefs in Vistana legends, if it solaces, so long as you are not noisy about it. As for me, I believe only in money. Not gold, precious though it is, for it is too soft for my nature. No, I will have a fortune fit for a king — cold, hard silver, enough to last me a lifetime!"

On the mountain slope, the beautiful young woman halted. She had been listening to a melancholy song issuing from the woods and wondered why it had ceased so abruptly. The ancient tune and the singer's sweet alto voice had been pleasing.

She wondered, too, why the journeyers stopped where they did. Jezra had assumed they would continue straight on to the miners'huts. Instead, they made camp on the border between forest and barrens.

No matter. Indeed, this was better. She would rendezvous sooner than she had expected.

Ever since she had begun her descent at twilight, she had adjusted her course to intersect with theirs. Now she would meet these people face to face. Her heart pounded with excitement. How she could speak to them, perhaps share her own songs with the woman she had heard earlier. . and she could touch them. .

The strange hunger in her breast worsened with every passing moment. She must hurry! Her pale eyes gleaming, Jezra headed toward the camp at the edge of the barrens.

A lopsided discussion was underway there, the veterans questioning, their captain sweeping aside every doubt expressed.

"But the count, the boyar's thief-takers. ."

"No thief-takers will pursue us. Admittedly, Sebestyen's original plan would have drawn them like flies to carrion. He was going to recruit a gang of fellow half-breeds to slit the miners'throats. How stupid and clumsy! And entirely unnecessary!" Hans grinned and said," Once the moon is set, we will simply walk over to the huts. At my command, the bespelled workmen will emerge from their hovels and load the silver on mules for us. We lead the pack train back here, then on down the mountain. ."

"Leaving a trail of footprints and hoofprints a child could follow," Wilm commented acidly.

Hans noted that his brother still held Lisl's hand. This deepening affection between them might explain the pair's annoying tendency toward defiance. He would smash Wilm's feeble little rebellion in due time. As for Lisl. .

"You forget my sword's power," he said, gesturing grandly. "The mountain flank above the mines is heavy with snow, a weight that needs only a touch of magic to bring it down on them. The avalanche will cover everything, including tracks. To the boyar, it will seem an unfortunate accident. By next spring's thaw, when he discovers the truth, we will be far away — and very rich!" Hans sat back, his expression smug.

The mercenaries nodded approvingly. "Ai! Twil be a treat to see 'em squashed under all that snow!" one crowed, his mates slapping their knees and grinning.

Lisl shivered, and Wilm put an arm around her. "Come closer to the fire," he said.

"It is not. . not that kind of cold. It is. ."

"We still have a while before the moon sets," Hans interrupted them. "Amuse us, gypsy. Tell our fortunes, for fortunes we soon will have!"

Lisl shivered again and shook her head. Wilm pleaded that his brother let her be, but Hans demanded she obey. "I know you play those Vistana tricks, woman. I saw you reading fortunes for the tavern patrons. Read ours."

Reluctantly, she knelt by the fire pit and pulled a set of runes from her pocket, casting the engraved stones on the ground.

"Well?" the eldest mercenary exclaimed. "What do they say? "

"That you will finally have relief from the aches in your bones, an end to the old wounds that often pain you."

He looked surprised, then smiled. "A good fortune, that! No more pain while we and the Cap'n lounge about the foreign palace he will buy with that silver!"

"What about me?" another asked.

Lisl threw the runes again, her manner solemn. "I see you. . elsewhere. "

The man guffawed. "Elsewhere than Barovia, you mean. Far away! I will drink to that, once we are across the border with the loot."

The gypsy seemed about to add to the prophecy, but did not. Instead she cast the runes for the remaining mercenary. "A long journey for you as well."

"Not comin'back to Barovia ever, am I?" he worried.

"No. Not ever."

Wilm knelt beside her and whispered," What do you foresee for us?"

She cast the runes carelessly and said," Freedom."

"You have not read my fortune," Hans cut in. He chuckled at her surprise. "I need not believe this mumbojumbo to be amused. Throw the stones."

This time, Lisl peered closely at the runes'position, then stared at Captain Eckert. "I see silver. Cold, hard silver. You will have more of it than you can carry."

"Ha! It takes no arcane skill to predict that! Of course I shall have the silver," he said loudly, as if daring anyone to argue. "After all I have done to win it, I deserve that silver."

Lisl thought of her cousin. Wilm remembered scores of helpless victims cut down by his brother, as though those people were less than insects. The gypsy said tonelessly," Yes, you deserve it."

Suddenly, a moan of agony stunned the group. Hans whirled around and watched in astonishment as a beautiful stranger rushed into the clearing.

She was a tiny, lovely woman dressed in an elegant habit, her cloak lined with the most expensive fur. Hair the color of silver flowed about her shoulder? and exquisite face. Her eyes were an incredible blue, and they seemed to pierce the captain's soul.

Hans had never beheld such a woman. Fascination warred with suspicion. "Who. . who are you? Where did you come from? "

"Where? I come from the mountain. My mountain."

"Yours?" He sounded inane, even to himself. His shock was now heavily tinged with apprehension, and he unsheathed his sword.

"I am Jezra, and all the Wagner lands are mine. " Briefly, she glanced at the others, then returned her attention to Captain Eckert.

"You are one of the count's spies, sent to stop me from taking the silver!" he shouted, raising the sword and ordering his men to attack. As alarmed by the unforeseen threat as he, the mercenaries hastened to cut down this intruder.

Compelled to obey his brother's commands, Wilm, too, started forward. But Lisl clutched at his arm desperately, holding him back. "Stay away from her!" she screamed. "She is death!"

If Hans heard the warning, he gave no sign. "By edge of steel or by my magic, you perish!" the captain exulted. "Become the ghost you claim to be!" His sorcerous blade slashed completely through the stranger's pretty neck.

To no effect.

The mercenaries struck her breast and belly and head. None of their blades drew blood.