Illengond Read online

  This time, however, the clash of sword on ax never happened. A cacophony of growls reverberated through the woods like a nearby peal of thunder. Friend and foe alike paused and looked up in surprise. Thimeon lifted his eyes above the shoulders of the warrior who now faced him and looked into the trees. Approaching, like a beast out of ancient myth-lore, came a giant four-legged shadow tinged with orange. It looked as heavy as a horse, though not as tall, and its legs and neck rippled with pure muscle as it padded across the crusty snow. It opened its mouth again. Now Thimeon heard the distinct growl of a tiger. Though he remembered Tienna’s tale, still he trembled with fear. He was not alone. Undeani warriors turned ashen white at the sound, and began to back away from their human foes. But if what they had faced at the shores of Uustgond had been a bad dream, then what they saw now was a nightmare. For the great tiger was not alone. The woods were full of animals, every one fell and fierce, all of them growling, snarling, roaring or barking. Three large brown bears lumbered through the trees with their powerful jaws open. A dozen wolves slunk up the hill from the north, like a hunting pack closing in a wounded animal. A pair of badgers padded down the hill through the undergrowth bearing their razor-sharp teeth. And if that wasn’t enough, an instant later the raucous cries of fifteen or more large ravens filled the air as the birds winged downward from above. For just an instant, the Undeani stared at the approaching mayhem in disbelief. Then, with yelps of terror, they turned and fled.

  “What on earth—?” Jhaban started.

  Thimeon had a good guess what had happened, and who he had to thank. Still, he was speechless. His amazement increased when he saw a boy riding on the giant cat’s back.

  Theo stepped past Thimeon. “Amark!” he yelled with joy.

  The great beast growled again, and leapt forward. The boy tumbled off in a heap as the tiger bounded after the fleeing Undeani like a cat after a mouse. All around, with a terrible and wonderful cacophony of sounds, the other animals joined the chase. Great lumbering bears charged among the Undeani warriors like sows whose cubs have been threatened. Badgers, more silent but only slightly less deadly, rushed at their feet. Wolves ran in packs. Men went down like deer. While from above, the huge crows came flying right down at the faces of the retreating soldiers, pecking at their eyes and hands.

  Thimeon watched for several seconds, full of relief but also sadness at the slaughter. He then turned to see the boy rushing toward Theo, who stepped forward and greeted him with a warm hug. “Amark! How did you survive? We thought you were dead when you fell.”

  “Only half-dead,” Amark answered. “Cat find me in river. I afraid it come to eat me, but it drag me to shore and warm me. Other animals come too. Many, many animals. Very scary.” As if to accentuate his point, several screams came echoing up through the woods. Most of them were cut short.

  “I would hate to be among Golach’s people,” said Theo with a shiver.

  Thimeon took one more look into the woods. The shapes of men and beasts were already disappearing into the distance. He turned his thoughts back on his fallen companions. It was too late for Lluach, but Bandor still breathed. He called his cousin. “Theo. Come here. We’ve got to get Bandor help quickly.”

  He looked up at Jhaban, who still had the task of defending this flank. Only five now remained still able to help with the task. If Thimeon and Theo left, there would be only three. But if he didn’t act soon, Bandor would die. Noaem was also wounded, though less critically. “Noaem!”, he said, as a thought popped into his head. “Did you call the animals? Will they stay and fight for us?”

  “They came on their own,” Noaem answered. “They fight with us to the end. None will pass these woods.”

  Thimeon looked up at Jhaban. “Did you hear?”

  Jhaban’s shoulders sagged his head fell as though all his tension were escaping. “I heard.”

  “Then let us return to Dhan with the wounded. I think we will be safe from attack on this side for some time to come. You and Noab can help Noaem. Theo and I will lift Bandor.”

  Theo came alongside Thimeon. They slung Bandor’s arms over the shoulders, and scooped him up between them. He moaned in pain, but did not lift his head. Together Thimeon and Theo half carried and half dragged him across the scree. Thimeon feared Bandor would not make it, but two minutes later he and Jhaban and their small band stood in the midst of the boulders at back of the prince. They set Bandor down against a rock. He still breathed.

  At once Thimeon looked around for Tienna. She was likely the only hope left for Bandor. He saw no sign of her. The prince stood a few steps in front of him, in a gap between two boulders, his sword held loosely at his side with the blade toward the ground. Thimeon rushed to his side and followed the prince’s gaze back down the hill.

  What Thimeon saw below made no sense. A battle still raged forty yards down the hill, but it was blue soldiers against blue soldiers. Had there been a rebellion among Golach’s people? He looked at the prince, then back at the scene. He saw then that some of his companions were among the fighters. He recognized the backs of Banthros, Kachtin, Kayam, Aram, and Armas fighting side by side with some of the uniformed soldiers on the uphill side. They had the upper hand, and were pressing the fight down the slope as enemy soldiers gave way before them. Even as Thimeon watched, two soldiers on the downhill side collapsed. “What happened?” Thimeon asked.

  “Terrid,” Dhan answered. “He came only just in time.” He paused. “Or perhaps not quite in time.” As he added this, he turned and looked back up the hill behind them.

  Thimeon turned also. He saw Beth and Siyen sitting and weeping beside a prone body. Keet lay between them, his eyes shut, his body limp. Further up the slope Elynna sat on the ground weeping beside the body of her brother. Jhonna sat beside her, a hand on her shoulder, while Corandra and Hrevia stood behind them, all three of them crying.

  Thimeon fought the lump rising in his own throat. He did not yet have time to grieve the lost. Not while Bandor lived. “Where is Tienna?” he asked. “Bandor and Noaem are hurt. Lluach is dead.”

  “Who guards our flank?” Dhan demanded.

  “We are safe from that side. The animals have come to our aid.”

  “The what?” Dhan asked. Thimeon had no chance to explain. The prince suddenly began shouting urgently for Terrid to retreat back to the rocks. Looking down the hill, Thimeon saw why. Golach had fresh troops massing a hundred yards below the battle, preparing for a counter surge up the hill. “Back to me,” Dhan continued to yell. “Terrid! Armas! Back to me! Banthros and Kachtin.”

  His officers heard him. Terrid relayed the order to his men. Within seconds they turned, and charged back up the hill covering the short distance to the boulders. Around the big rocks on both sides they poured into the little sanctuary. Many stood leaning against their swords or against the rocks, panting.

  Thimeon looked frantically for Tienna. He saw no sign of her. He looked again behind him among the fallen, afraid of what he would see—afraid as much for Tienna as for Bandor. There was no sign of her there either.

  He turned again to the prince, just as Terrid rushed around a boulder straight toward them.

  “You came just in time,” Dhan said, greeting Terrid with a hearty hand to his shoulder. “You have turned the tide, at least for a time.”

  “It may turn even more,” Terrid replied with a grin. “Fifty Andan hunters have come with us. They will try a quick attack from below and lead off as many of the enemy as they can. Six more of my men remain with those on the left flank, but they could use help there.”

  “No more time to plan,” Dhan said. “Golach is returning.”

  Golach sat astride his horse, glaring grimly up the hill at his enemy. He looked first at Dhan, his former prince, his half-brother. Dhan had escaped him once. Not again. Now he would crush his rival. He glanced briefly at the other officer beside him—the traitor who had just arrived a
t the battle. He recognized Lieutenant Terrid, another of those he had imprisoned. Terrid’s sudden bolstering of the rebel army had caught Golach off-guard, briefly throwing his men into confusion. Still, Golach’s victory was certain. He had no doubts. What were a few more men to Dhan’s puny company? Golach still had the larger force by a wide margin. More importantly, the Daegmons were on his side. They would defend him in the battle. He smiled at the thought. Terrid had simply done him a service by bringing all of his opponents together in one place. Now he could crush them with a single blow. His victory would be that much sweeter. And when he had won—when he had destroyed the prince and his followers—then the Daegmons would reward him as they had promised. The crown of Gondisle would be his.

  Golach took one last look at the huge creatures poised on the hillside above, and then shouted his orders. Under his steel hand, the confusion vanished. Discipline returned to his troops. He watched in satisfaction as his lines reformed in preparation for the final attack. This time there would be no retreat. He would call on whatever reinforcements he needed to put an end to the battle. After all, the men under his command meant nothing. He would expend them all, if he had too. In the end, the Daegmons were all that mattered. He called his lieutenant. “Sound the trumpet,” he ordered. “Call the rest of the army to the attack. It’s time for the lazy pigs in camp to earn their share of the spoils.”

  The lieutenant nodded. He raised the trumpet to his lips and awaited his captain’s signal. But the signal did not come. Just as Golach drew his sword, another sound gave him pause. From down below, where the remainder of the Citadel forces waited at the edge of the woods, came a sudden frantic braying of horns. They were battle horns—the horns of Citadel trumpeters and lieutenants. They were not sounding the call to attack. These were the sounds of warning and panic. To his dismay, Golach realized he was hearing the call to retreat. He turned in disbelief and looked back down the slope, wondering what mischief was upsetting the completion of his plans. He saw first the horses. They had broken loose and were scattering to the south and west. Several came charging straight up the slope. “What is the meaning—?” He started. Then he caught sight of something else that gave him even more cause for doubt. Blue uniforms—the uniforms of his own soldiers—could be seen at the edge of the trees, running this way and that, in obvious disarray, while behind them, deeper into the woods, tents were crashing down all through his camp.

  Even as Golach sat astride his horse, wondering what it all meant, the trumpets blared a final frantic note and then stopped. For just an instant, there was silence. Then came the sound of human screams echoing up the hill. And for the first time that day, fear came into Golach’s heart. Where was Koranth and his promised support? Cursing aloud, the captain gave one last stone-cold glare up at the prince, and then turned his horse and ordered his men down the hill.

  Thimeon stared down the slope, wondering desperately where Tienna was, while awaiting the next wave of attack. But the wave did not come. Not five seconds after Dhan announced Golach’s return, chaos broke out in the enemy camp below. Echoes of horn blasts reverberated up the hill. Men bolted wildly this way and that. Either the Andan soldiers had succeeded in a surprise attack from the south, or the animals had done their work. Or maybe both.

  Another reprieve? Thimeon wondered. But not for Bandor. Not unless he could find him help.

  “Sir,” Terrid said to Dhan. “You called us back from the attack a moment again, and wisely I think, but something has happened down below. I would bet my life that this is no ruse. The enemy is routed.”

  “If you are wrong, it will be your life,” Dhan said quietly.

  “If I am wrong, my life will be forfeit soon enough anyway,” Terrid replied. “If I am right, then this may be our chance. Small though our company is, I say let us attack them now while they are in disarray. If we strike the next blow fiercely enough, it may be the only blow needed.”

  Dhan paused, unsure. He looked around at the tired and wounded companions.

  “My men are fresh,” Terrid said, reading Dhan’s thoughts. “At the least, we should rescue the brave Andani from any counter attack. They are good men, but not soldiers.”

  “Go then,” Dhan said. “Take your men, and any of those from my company who are willing and uninjured. But do not stray far, and remember that even the soldiers of Golach and El-Phern are people of Gondisle.”

  “It will be as you say, prince,” Terrid replied. “I will not seek vengeance for the death of Llatru. Not yet.” He turned and started calling orders to his men. Within seconds they were starting down the hill. With the uniformed soldiers went several from the prince’s company: Armas, Kachtin, Banthros, Kayam, Aram, Hrevia, and Cathros, all of whom had somehow escaped the first part of the battle unscathed.

  Thimeon put a hand on the prince. “But where is Tienna?”

  The prince looked surprised. “I don’t know. I saw her in battle below. Did she not return?”

  Thimeon was now desperate. He charged out from the boulders right behind the last of Terrid’s followers. Ten yards down the hill he stopped and scanned the ground around him, terrified he was going to see Tienna’s body laying somewhere. He saw no sign of her. Confused, he turned and looked back up the hill.

  Tienna stood ten yards up the hill behind him, her back against a tall boulder, glaring down at the battlefield below her. Thimeon almost wept in relief as he ran back to her side. She stepped out to meet him and he threw his arm around her. She returned the embrace with her left arm only.

  “Are you okay?” Thimeon asked as he released her from his embrace.

  “My fingers are broken,” she replied. “I can’t hold my knife in my right hand.”

  “Come quickly,” Thimeon said. He grabbed her by the hand. She cried out in pain. Thimeon realized at once what he had done. “I’m so sorry,” he said. He put his hand more gently on her other arm. “But come. There may not be much time.”

  “Where are they going?” Tienna asked.

  “The enemy camp is in turmoil. Andani hunters have attacked them from below, I think, and the animals too. Tigers and bears. Terrid is pressing the attack while he can.”

  “Then I am needed in battle,” Tienna said. She reached for her dagger with her left hand, and drew it from the sheath. She took a step down the hill after Terrid.

  “Wait,” Thimeon called, still holding her arm. “Bandor is grievously wounded.”

  Tienna took another step down the hill.

  “Tienna,” Thimeon said sternly, taking her by the shoulders and turning her face toward him. “You are needed here. There are others who can fight. Only you can heal. Lluach has already died. If you do not come soon, Bandor will follow, and Noaem, and maybe others among the Undeani. Each second that passes is precious.”

  Tienna bit her lips and lowered her head. “I am sorry,” she said. “I will come at once.”

  Thimeon led Tienna to where Bandor lay on a bare patch of ground, covered with cloaks. With sounds of battle now echoing up from below, Tienna leaned over and put her hand on his chest. Thimeon watched her brow wrinkle as she probed his body with her health-sense. “He has already lost much blood,” she said.

  Thimeon did not answer, but he laid his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and took it briefly. Then she turned and prepared herself for the ordeal she would have to face. Thimeon knew what it would mean. He had taken part in it once. She would take upon herself the wounds of another. Bandor’s eyes were open, watching her, but his breathing was shallow and his face pale. “You don’t have to,” he whispered weakly. “I have seen what it costs you. Go fight. You are a huntress. I can’t compare to you in battle.”

  Tienna shook her head brusquely, tossing a tear off her cheek. “A huntress,” she said. “Not a warrior.” She put her hands once more on his chest. As she did, Thimeon felt a strange tingling warmth near to his heart. Surprised, he reached up with his
hand and felt the talisman so recently shaped by Breanga and Gaelim, and already nearly forgotten in the battle. Now, even inside the pouch slung around his neck, he could feel it humming with energy. Little knowing what he was doing yet trusting some instinct, he removed the stone from the pouch and held it in his hand. It glowed soft blue, and a strange and potent warmth spread up his arms. He put his other hand again upon Tienna’s shoulder as if he could will strength into her. At once he could feel the power going out from him and into her. She lifted her head briefly and looked at him in surprise, and then returned to her work.

  Several minutes passed. Slowly the sounds of battle faded into the distance, but the two healers working together were barely aware as they tended first Bandor and then Noaem. When Bandor stood up, his cloak was torn at the shoulder but there was no sign of injury. Thimeon breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Tienna. To his surprise, she stood also, not pallid as in times past, but as strong and fresh as before the healing. The only sign of exertion was the sweat upon her brow. “What did you do?” she asked in amazement. “I could feel Bandor’s wounds as with other healings, but they did not enter my body. I was not weakened.”

  A sense of awe overwhelmed Thimeon. “The power,” he said. “I could feel it flowing through me into you.”

  “What does it mean?” Bandor asked.

  Thimeon looked down at the stone in his hand. “The shaping worked. They have forged a new Henetos.” He was about to say more when he became aware again of the soft sobs just a few steps farther up the hill. Elynna still sat hunched over the body of her brother Lyn, and Beth mourned beside a limp Keet, holding his hand. The other women were still around them, crying and offering comfort.

  Thimeon turned to Tienna, hoping, wishing. Tienna was already looking in the same direction. “Too late,” she said. “The healing power I have does not move on that side of death. He will need a different healer now.”