Dave Smeds - The Sorcery Within

Elenya narrowed her eyes to keep out the grit kicked up by the oeikani. She and Alemar were only a few body lengths behind the panicked animals. Her lungs were on fire, her legs throbbing, and her amulet fiercely radiant, but they had the momentum. She sidestepped a shrub that appeared abruptly out of the dust. Alemar split away, approaching the oeikani from the right side. She took the left.

She was even now with the rearmost animal, but she ignored it, as did Alemar. One by one, they caught up with the others. As the lead beast veered to the left, she leaped onto its back and seized it by the mane.

For several moments, all she could do was hold on. The run had winded her; she had no strength left to deal with a terror-stricken mount. She let it run freely, allowing it to become accustomed to her presence. When she dared, she glanced back and saw that Alemar had successfully landed on the second oeikani.

Finally she gripped the mane and tugged. All six animals veered. She pointed them back toward the caravan.

Immediately, the party of Buyul pursuing them began to close the gap. Elenya tried to circle, to buy time. The Buyul were themselves being chased by T'lil warriors.

Inevitably, the Buyul bore down. But the raiders' mounts were not as fresh as those they chased. Elenya and Alemar started to pull away. The lead Buyul flung his demonblade, forcing Alemar to duck. In a few more moments, however, the Buyul were too far behind, and were forced to break off in order to avoid their own pursuit.

Elenya and Alemar raced for the caravan, only to be blocked by two more Buyul who had left the main battle. The latter waited. Elenya knew there was no point in trying to circle them. Instead, the twins charged straight ahead. The Buyul spurred their oeikani and met them at full run, scimitars extended.

Elenya drew her rapier. As the warrior thrust out with his weapon, she jabbed him in the forearm. He dropped his weapon. She quickly glanced back. Alemar simply blocked his opponent's slash. The Buyul did not attempt to engage again. Like the rest of their tribe, they retreated southward. The twins reached the lines before other enemies could bother them, the six oeikani rescued.

Only when they were safe did Elenya feel the pain in her shoulder. She had been too slow. The Buyul's scimitar had bitten her. She clapped her hand over the cut and forgot about it. There was still a fight going on.

Lonal had watched most of the twins' adventure, though occupied with his responsibilities. The raid was nearly over. A Buyul leaned far down from his saddle and scooped up a lamb. Another had lassoed a oeikani and was pulling it in tow. The others either had their prizes or were in full flight. Lonal shouted orders, sending the warriors whose animals were the fleetest out to the pursuit, keeping the others in reserve to protect the women and goods. Then he saw Yetem riding out, the cloth against her shoulder stained a dark crimson, with a quiver on her back and a bow already strung.

"Na tet!"he yelled at her, but she was oblivious, already racing to catch up with the Buyul.

Lonal heard Tebec shout also. The westerner started after her, but stopped almost immediately and reached within his collar. Lonal saw him withdraw something attached to a gold chain, the actual object hidden in his fist. He pressed it to his forehead. Green light flickered through his fingers.

Yetem suddenly relaxed her arm, even as it had been drawing back an arrow, and reined up. She stared back at Tebec. He held his fist to his forehead for a moment more. Strangely subdued, she started back toward the tribe.

Lonal, eyes riveted to Tebec, waited until the latter had restored the chain inside his garments. He hurried to check the status of his tribe.

All told, three of his Po-no-pha were dead, several more wounded, one mortally. The Buyul had left five on the field, and as many more had hung limply from their beasts as they fled. More dead than there should have been, had he not been taken unaware by Buyul guile. His mood was black as he rode over to the twins. Tebec was bandaging the wound near his sister's collarbone.

"Do you want to start a vendetta?" he asked sternly.

"Is this a war or not?" she demanded, equally sharp. "We could have quadrupled our effectiveness with arrows!"

"So could the Buyul. This istorovet. We must conduct ourselves with honor."

"They attacked us! How honorable is that?"

"If the Buyul had let us by unmolested, they would have had to concede that the pass belonged to the T'lil."

"I don't believe it. This whole fight happened just so you could all prove your manhood."

Lonal was so angry he could barely continue to use the High Speech. "I should have realized one such as you would not understand."

She started to retort.

"No," he said. "If you are without honor, you aren't free to judge us. Until you learn the laws of battle, keep out of it. Stay with the women."

He didn't permit her to respond. Tebec prevented her from following, pressing her down firmly in order to finish tending her wound. Lonal wanted the tribe mobile. They would make a forced march into the valley, deeper into T'lil territory, where they could lick their wounds and he endure his shame in peace.

THE BOTTOM OF THE FISHING BOATpassed over, three fathoms up, barnacles plainly visible on her hull through the crystal water. Lerina giggled, creating bubbles. She and Ethmurl were safely camouflaged among the coral and kelp of the ocean floor. If Lerina guessed correctly, the men in the boat were searching for her and/or the murderer of Luo of Eruth, never dreaming they were so close to their goal.

She was breathing normally, though she occasionally succumbed to the urge to reach up to her face and feel the membrane of the airmaker. It was strange to think that she could actually breathe more easily underwater than could a fish. Fish, after all, had to keep swimming at least slightly in order to keep water – and oxygen – flowing through their gills. She watched the bubbles of her exhalation race one another upward.

Ethmurl nudged her. The boat was out of sight. They set out, keeping just above the profuse life of the bottom, she a few strokes behind to his right. So much to see. Anemones, crustaceans, coral, fish, silt rich with flickers of color. She had caught glimpses of all of these on her many dives over the years but had never been able to float next to the thing she was looking at and examine it at her leisure. Air had always been the limitation, driving her inevitably back to the surface. Now, with the magic of the artificial lung, she was free.

But old habits died hard. She realized that she was holding her breath. She quickly exhaled. It caused her to sink a few inches, until her vest absorbed more air from the surrounding water and returned her to weightlessness. The vest, too, was a joy: no more energy wasted simply trying to maintain a specific depth. Moreover, at the surface she could keep her head above water without being forced to tread.

She tickled an anemone with a pebble and watched it close. A tiny squid rewarded her with a squirt of ink and an arrow-quick dash into a crevice. She delighted to watch crabs dragging their stolen shells across the sediment. She was getting used to everything seeming larger than it actually was.

And the noise! She had never realized how pervasive it was. In the kelp, the shrimp rattled their single claws endlessly, calling to her with their aquatic voices. Though it was difficult to determine which direction sounds came from, the variety never diminished.

All too soon it was time to stop.

She didn't want to, but neither did she want to tax Ethmurl. He was much better, but he still had a great deal of recuperating to do. No sense in endangering his progress by tiring him out swimming. Whatever advantages the healing spell had provided now seemed entirely gone; he mended like a normal man. In a way, that was reassuring.