Mercedes Lackey - Oathbreaker

Kethry considered this, as Hellsbane topped the hill and picked her cautious way down the sloping trail. "Hmm-hmm. All right, can we halt at the next ridge? There's a very tiny bit of magery I can work that might help us out with that."

Jodi pursed her lips. "'Ts that wise?"

Kethry nodded, slowly. "It's a very low-level piece of earth-witchery; something even a shepherd wise-woman might well know. I don't think any of Kelcrag's mages is likely to take note of it -- assuming they can even see it, and I doubt they will. It's witchery, not sorcery, and Kelcrag's magickers are all courtly mages, greater and lesser. My school is more eclectic; we use whatever comes to hand, and that can be damned useful -- somebody looking for High Magick probably won't see Low, or think it's worth investigating. After all, what does Kelcrag need to fear from a peasant granny?"

Jodi considered that for a moment, her head held slightly to one side. "Tell me, why is it that jiles and Oreden have gotten so much better since you've been with us?"

Kethry chuckled, but it was with a hint of sadness. It had been very hard to convince the hedge-wizards that their abilities did not match their dreams. "You want the truth? Their talents are all in line with Low Magick; earth-witchery, that sort of thing. I convinced them that there's nothing wrong with that, asked them which they'd rather ride, a good, steady trail-horse or your fire-eater. They aren't stupid; they saw right away what I was getting at." She set Hellsbane at the next slope, her hooves dislodging bits of shale and sending them clattering down behind them. "So now that they aren't trying to master spells they haven't the Talent to use properly, they're doing fine. Frankly, I would rather have them with us than two of those courtly mages. Water-finding is a lot more use than calling lightning, and the fire-making spell does us more good than the ability to light up a ballroom."

"You won't catch me arguing. So what's this magic of yours going to do?"

"Show me the weak spots in the trail. If there's something ready to give, I'll know about it before it goes."

"And?"

"I should be able to invoke a greater magic at that point, and hold the pieces together long enough for us to get across."

"Won't that draw attention?"

"It would," Kethry replied slowly, "if I did what a court mage would do, and draw on powers outside myself -- which causes ripples; no, I have just enough power of my own, and that's what I'll use. There won't be any stir on the other planes...." But it's going to cost me if I do things that way. Maybe high. Well, I'll handle that when the time conies. "You said one reason we're riding tailmost-that implies there's more reasons."

"Two -- we're tailguards in truth. We could find ourselves fighting hand to hand with Kelcrag's scouts or his mages. They haven't detected us that we know of, but there's no sense in assuming less than the worst."

"So long as they don't outnumber us -- I'm not exactly as helpless in a fight as Tresti." She caught the cloud of uncertainty in Jodi's pale blue eyes, and said, surprised, "I thought everybody knew about this sword of mine."

"There's stories, but frankly, lady -- "

"Keth. I, as Tarma would tell you, am no lady."

That brought a glimmer of smile. "Keth, then. Well, none of US have ever seen that blade do anything but heal."

"Need's better at causing wounds than curing them, at least in my hands," Kethry told her. "That's her gift to me; in a fight, she makes a mage the equal of any Swordswoman born. If it comes to magic, though, she's pretty well useless for my purposes -- it's to a fighter she gives magic immunity. But -- I'll tell you what, I've got a notion. If it comes to battle by magery, I'll try and get her to you before I get involved in a duel arcane; she'll shield you from even a godling's magic. Tarma proved that, once. She may even be able to shield more than one, if you all crowd together."

There was a Hash of interest at that, and a hint of relief. "Then I think I'll worry less about you. Well_there's a reason three that we're riding tail: if we find we've ridden straight into ambush at trail's end, we're the lot that's got the best chance of getting one of us back to tell Leamount."

"Gah. Grim reasons, all of them -- can we stop here for a breath or two?"

They had just topped a ridge, with sufficient space between them and the next in line that a few moments spent halted wouldn't hamper his progress any. Jodi looked about her, grimaced, then nodded with reluctance. "A bit exposed to my mind, but -- "

"This won't take long." Kethry gathered the threads of earth-magic, the subtlest and least detectable of all the mage-energies, and whispered a command along those particular threads that traced their path across the hills. There was an almost imperceptible shift in the energy flows, then the spell settled into place and became invisible even to the one who had set it. The difference was that Kethry was now at one with the path; she felt the path through the hills, from end to end, like a whisper of sand across the surface of her mental "skin." If the path was going to collapse, the backlash would alert her.

"Let's go -- "

"That's all there is to it?" Jodi looked at her askance.

"Magery isn't all lightnings and thunders. The best magery is as subtle as a tripwire, and as hard to detect."

"Well." Jodi sent her mount picking a careful path down the hillside, and looked back at Kethry with an almost-smile. "I think I could get to appreciate magery."

Kethry grinned outright, remembering that Jodi's other specialty was subterfuge, infiltration, and assassination. "Take my word for it, the real difference between a Masterclass mage and an apprentice is not in the amount of power, it's in the usage. You've been over this trail already; what do you think-are we going to make trail's end by dark?."

Jodi narrowed her eyes, taking a moment. "No," she said finally, "I don't think so. That's when I'll take point, when it starts to get dark. And that's when we'll have to be most alert."

Kethry nodded, absently, and pulled her hood closer about her neck against a lick of wind. "If an attack comes, it's likely to be then. And the same goes for accident?"

"Aye."

It was growing dark, far faster than Kethry liked, and there was still no end to the trail in sight. But there had also been no sign that their movement was being followed --

Suddenly her nerves twanged like an ill-tuned harpstring. For one short, disorienting moment, she vibrated in backlash, for that heartbeat or two of time completely helpless to think or act. Then nearly fifteen years of training and practice took over, and without even being aware of it, she gathered mage-energy from the core of her very being and formed a net of it -- a net to catch what was even now about to fall.

Just in time; up ahead in the darkness, she heard the slide of rock, a horse's fear-ridden shriek, and the harsh cry of a man seeing his own death looming in his face. She felt the energy-net sag, strain -- then hold.

She clamped her knees around Hellsbane's barrel and dropped her reins, telling the horse mutely to "stand." The battlesteed obeyed, bracing all four hooves, far steadier than the rocks about her. Kethry firmed her concentration until it was adamantine, and closed her eyes against distraction. Since she could not see what she was doing, this would take every wisp of her attention --

Gently, this must be done as gently as tumbling a pemvyhird chick new-hatched. If she frightened the horse, and it writhed out of her energy-net -- horse and rider would plummet to their doom.

She cupped her hands before her, echoing the form of the power-net, and contemplated it.

Broken lines of power showed her where the path had collapsed, and the positioning of her "net" told her without her seeing the trail ahead just where her captives were cradled.