I took a deep breath, and reminded myself this wasn’t America. Fourteen was barely young enough to cause gossip in most cultures, and the idea that there’s something wrong with trading sex for protection is a modern invention. But it still didn’t feel right.
“As long as they’re doing it voluntarily,” I grumbled.
Cerise shrugged. “Doesn’t look like any of them have been beaten lately. What more can you ask for?”
I shook my head sadly. Then we reached my next patient, and it was time to focus on healing again.
None of the others were as bad off as the captain, but they were pretty bad. By the time I was reasonably confident none of them going to suddenly drop dead on us I was exhausted again, and my headache had grown to near-migraine proportions. Only three really critical cases, but a dozen others had needed bones set or bleeding stopped before they could hope to move any distance.
Finally I stepped back from setting a broken leg, and someone held a plate full of sizzling meat under my nose.
“That’s the last of them, Daniel,” Avilla was saying. “Please, rest for a minute, and eat something.”
I blinked stupidly at her for a moment, and realized that if I was having this much trouble focusing I probably wasn’t good for much. “Ok.”
I found an overturned crate to sit on, and reached for the plate. But Avilla deftly avoided my hands.
“Nope! We’re doing this right for you, so I need to hold the plate. Cerise?”
The slender witch swept her dark hair back into a ponytail with a few deft movements, and drew her daggers again. “Ready. The old Artemic-style ritual, right?”
The blonde nodded happily. “Right. I was surprised Daniel wanted to share with everyone, but I suppose they’ll need the strength. Ok, I’m ready.”
She closed her eyes, and started chanting under her breath. Cerise cut off a bit of the steak, speared it on the tip of a dagger, and held it up to my lips.
I frowned, and opened my mouth to ask what they were up to. But Cerise just shoved the meat in with a smile.
“Eat,” she ordered. “We know what we’re doing.”
Well, hell. I was hungry enough to eat a horse, and I was learning to trust them. I ate.
The slab of meat Avilla had brought me was huge, but she’d somehow managed to sear it to medium-rare perfection with nothing to work with but a campfire. It was a bit chewy and didn’t taste much like beef, but I didn’t really care. By the time I was done my headache was receding, and I was starting to feel marginally human again.
“Thanks. I needed that.”
Avilla smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. That’s the last of the heart, of course, but I expect we’ll be having wolf flank for a week.”
“At least it’s cold enough to keep the meat from spoiling,” I pointed out. “So, what was that spell you were doing?”
Cerise gave her a smug look. “Told you.”
Avilla flushed in embarrassment. “Oh, you! I’m sorry, I thought you knew. A little magic to claim the strength of a fallen foe by eating its heart. Usually it just restores vitality and gives you a little temporary extra strength, but with a felwolf I thought we might get a more lasting effect. So, you weren’t trying to make the refugees cold resistant?”
“Um, no, I had no idea you could do that kind of thing,” I admitted. “But it’s not a bad idea. They’re going to need all the help they can get to survive this trip.”
“That’s why I didn’t say anything when I figured it out,” Cerise put in.
“Normally I’d complain that you should explain things like that in advance, but I suppose I was pretty busy,” I mused. “Ugh, what a morning. How are you two doing?”
“A little bruised from the fight, but I’m mostly healed already.”
“Same here,” Avilla agreed. “I think you took most of that felwolf’s weight when it stepped on us. But we need to get you out of those filthy clothes before you catch something.”
“Don’t remind me,” I groaned. “I feel like I took a bath in wolf blood, but there’s not much point in changing if there’s no way to wash up first. I’m afraid this outfit’s going to be a total loss, too.”
“Oh, not at all,” Avilla said brightly. “Just give me a basin of warm water to work with, and I’ll have it clean and patched up in no time. I’m good at that kind of thing.”
“Well, that’s good to know. I’ll see what I can come up with when we stop.”
Thomas came by then to let me know the group was about ready to move, which cut the conversation short. I looked around to find the peasants gathering their bundles of goods, a few of the young men clutching unfamiliar spears. They seemed a bit less beaten down than they had in the wake of the morning ambush, but it was still a pretty ragged group. The remaining soldiers weren’t much better, for that matter.
I walked over to them and they fell silent, all eyes turning to me. Were they expecting a speech or something? Oh, well. I checked the sky, and noted that the dark clouds were noticeably closer.
“I’m not big on speeches, so I’ll make this short,” I told them. “I’m sure most of you have noticed there’s a storm coming, but we don’t want to still be sitting here when that frost giant’s buddies come looking for him. Does anyone know the woods around here?”
They milled about for a bit, but finally one of the young men nervously put a hand up.
“This is Lord Brent’s hunting range, milord. Ain’t no one lives there, but I’ve been in some... ah, watching fer poachers, y’see...”
“I’m sure,” I chuckled. “Well, honestly I wouldn’t care if you were one of the poachers. I’m not one of your local nobles, and we’ve got more important things to worry about. What’s your name?”
“Gronir, milord.”
“I’m not a lord, Gronir. Alright, I need you to find us a spot to camp maybe a half-mile or so into the woods from here, preferably close to water. Think you can do that?”
“Yessir,” he nodded. “But sir, cold ain’t gonna stop them giants. Won’t they see our fires?”
“I doubt they can find their way through a blizzard any more than we could a rainstorm. But just in case I’m going to make us an underground shelter to hole up in, and the snow will cover our tracks soon enough. We’ll stay there until the storm blows over and I get all the wounded healed enough to travel, and then we’ll make for town. Any questions?”
One of the older men stood, leaning on a staff. “I’m Hrodir, sir. I was headman of Shiner’s Grove before... well, before. Sir, everyone’s been talking about making for Lanrest like its safe and all, but what if it isn’t?”
Most of the others frowned at that, and it was pretty obvious they didn’t want to think about it. But it was a good point.
“I’ve never visited Lanrest myself, so I can’t speak to its defenses. Sergeant?”
Thomas shook his head. “Depends, sir. The town’s got a good moat and a fifteen foot curtain wall, and the local knights will all be gathering there. They’ll hold off goblins and even trolls easy enough, but giants? Depends on if a big enough band decides to attack the place.”
“I see. Do you have a better idea, Hroldir?”
He looked uncertain. “Not really, sir. Some of the mountain villages are set up where giants couldn’t get at them, but they’d be easy pickings for goblins or rock trolls. There’s supposed to be big cities downriver a ways, and stout castles, but that’s a long trip.”
“Hmm. Well, it never hurts to have a backup plan. Find out who else has ideas along those lines, and we’ll all talk it through while we’re waiting out the storm. But my bet is there aren’t that many giants, and they’ll be busy raiding easier targets for at least a week or two. With any luck I’ll have plenty of time to meet with whoever is in charge in Lanrest and arrange some nasty surprises for them before they show up there.”
There were grim smiles all around at that, and a couple of the young men laughed.
“Hell, yeah,” one of them said. “The w
izard can handle them giants.”
“That’s the spirit. Alright folks, let’s move.”
It was only fall, and most of the trees and bushes still had their leaves. Between that and the snow covering their branches visibility was short, which made me a bit nervous about goblin ambushes. But nothing bothered us as we made our way into the woods, picking our way through a maze of game trails.
Gronir took the lead with a bow in hand, and a couple of soldiers with spears right behind him. I placed myself next in line after them, on the theory that if we did encounter trouble it was more likely to come from ahead than behind. Cerise stayed at my side, her sharp eyes constantly searching the underbrush, but Avilla dropped back to chat with the peasant women as we traveled.
There was enough overhead cover that most of the trails had only an inch or two of snow, although there were deeper drifts here and there under the trees. The landscape was uneven, rising and falling in random folds that hinted we were near hill country. But we made decent time, and it was barely an hour before we found ourselves at the top of a ravine overlooking a small frozen river.
“Here we go, sir,” Gronir announced. “That’s the Babbleflow down there. It’s mostly too deep to ford, so there should be water under the ice. We just need to find a spot where we can get down the slope.”
The ravine was maybe ten feet deep, with steep sides but a good bit of more level ground along the banks of the river. Most likely it flooded a lot in spring, but that was hardly going to be a problem now. I nodded.
“This will work. The sharp drop is actually perfect, so don’t worry about finding a stretch that’s climbable. Sergeant, set sentries and get everyone organized for a wait, will you? I’ll let you know when the shelter is ready.”
“Yes, sir. No fires, I assume?”
I shook my head. “It won’t be that long.”
Using my earth magic to make something was actually a nice distraction from my worries. It was the work of a few minutes to cut a steep little ramp down the face of the cliff, just wide enough for people to pass single file. The ground didn’t feel entirely stable, but with a little more concentration I found that I could reach into the loose earth and fuse it together into something more like sandstone. That was solid enough to handle a lot more weight that we were going to put on it, but I was careful to leave a layer of soil covering the stone so it wouldn’t be too obvious.
Then I walked down the trail, and took a look at the cliff face. I wanted an inconspicuous shelter, so going underground seemed like the best option. I put a hand on the near-vertical surface, and closed my eyes.
Loose soil, with gravel and small stones underneath. Normally it wouldn’t be stable enough to excavate, but that worked in our favor. No one who knew the area would be expecting it.
I fused the dirt into an arch of stone, a foot thick and just big enough to act as the roof of a doorway. I added walls to support the arch, and then banished the dirt inside.
“Neat,” Cerise commented, and I realized she was watching me intently. “So that’s earth sorcery?”
I nodded, and stepped into the empty space under the arch. “Yep. It’s surprisingly easy, although I have to be careful to get the engineering right. Don’t want a cave-in.”
She winced. “Yeah, that would suck. I’ll let you work, then.”
Repeating the process a few times gave me a little entry hall leading eight feet into the cliff, which was probably deep enough. I was getting a feel for the technique by then, and the results seemed more than strong enough.
The next step was an underground hall at right angles to the entrance. This one was bigger, about eight feet wide and seven high at the top of the arched ceiling. I did it in sections, but kept going until I had a good forty feet of it. That would still be a little crowded for a group this size, but it was workable.
Ventilation might be an issue, so I cut a few windows leading outside into the wall. A foot tall and a few inches wide, they would have made good arrow slits if not for the two 90-degree bends that ensured light and sound from the inside wouldn’t leak out too much.
Of course, that let in the cold along with fresh air. So next came a platform built out from one wall of the room, with a large flat surface of conjured stone. Enchanting that to radiate heat equivalent to a fire was fairly simple, since I wasn’t trying to make the effect adjustable in any way. That gave us a heater and cooking surface, with no light or oxygen consumption.
At the opposite end from the entrance I narrowed the hall to form a doorway, with a little eight by eight room on the other side. If we were going to be sitting in place for a day I needed to see what else I could magic up to improve our odds of survival, and I’d need a little space for that.
I emerged to find that the wind had picked up, and snow was starting to fall. Avilla was standing just outside the entrance, chatting amiably with a clump of peasant girls who had blankets over their heads and piles of bundled goods at their feet. As usual Cerise was standing guard, although she seemed to be amused by the conversation.
“Alright, girls, everyone can come on in. Watch out for the hot stone on the platform, don’t want anyone burning themselves.”
“Good timing, Master Black,” Avilla commented. “We’ve just enough time to get settled before the storm gets bad. Come on, girls, let’s see what we have to work with.”
They all swept by in a cloud of smiles and giggles, and I turned a bemused look on Cerise.
“Honeydew’s taking charge,” she grinned back. “She started talking recipes and sewing on the walk over, and now these village girls all think she’s the goddess of domestic perfection.”
“Huh. Well, it’s a big improvement on huddling in a clearing waiting to die. Keep an eye on them while I get the rest of the group moving, will you?”
“Sure. Better hurry, though.”
A flurry of snow descended on us, briefly turning the world white before clearing again.
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” I turned and hurried up the path, calling for Thomas.
Chapter 5
It took some time to check on the wounded and get everyone settled in, and more to figure out a viable design for a stone door. By the time I was done with that the snow was coming down in dense flurries, and visibility was just about zero.
“Good thing you have earth magic,” Avilla observed. “I’d hate to be out in that.”
“That’s why I picked it,” I answered. I took one last look at the storm, and pushed the heavy door closed.
“You had a choice? Someday I’m going to have to get the whole story on that.” Avilla grinned, and grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
She dragged me down the hall to the private room I’d made at the end, where a couple of men were just setting down a pot full of steaming water under the supervision of Cerise and a couple of the village girls.
“Hot water?” I asked.
“We melted snow on that magic stove thing,” she explained with a smile, and shooed the men out before closing the door. “Now, strip.”
I shrugged off my bloodstained cloak, and started unbuttoning my shirt. “Bit of an audience, don’t you think?”
“We’re auditioning, milord,” one of the girls said as she took my bloodstained cloak. “Miss Avilla said you might like a maid or two. I- oh, my!”
She stared at the cloak in her hand with wide eyes. Avilla chuckled.
“It’s enchanted,” she explained. “Very cozy.”
The other girl eyed my bare chest, and licked her lips. “I bet.”
At that point I realized that the girls Avilla had picked, a redhead and a brunette, were both rather attractive. They were also just old enough not to make me feel too guilty for noticing that fact, and the way they were eying me made it clear that the feeling was mutual. Was she trying to set me up?
I directed a raised eyebrow at Avilla. “Auditions?”
“Mmm hmmm. Trust me, master. Finding the right people for your househo
ld could be tricky, but it’s important. You’ll need someone to handle all the ordinary details so you can concentrate on your magic.”
Avilla fetched a bowl of hot water and a handful of wet rags, and set to work cleaning the dried blood and gore off my chest. I noticed that it was coming off a lot easier than I would have expected, but that was probably just another aspect of her magic.
“Hard-working maids who won’t blabber about your business would be a good start,” Cerise put it. “Might want to recruit some guards, too.”
“I have an uncle in the Lanrest garrison, milord” the brunette offered. “I’m sure he could suggest some good men there.”
They had my shoes off by then, and were working on my pants. I tried very hard to concentrate on the conversation, and not the feel of Avilla’s soft hands on my skin.
“What are your names, girls?”
“I’m Beri, milord,” the brunette answered. “She’s Tina.”
The redhead nodded shyly, not meeting my eyes.
“Hmm. Avilla has a valid point, but have you two thought this through? Working for a wizard isn’t going to be easy. You’ll be constantly surrounded by all sorts of strange magic, and wizards always have secrets. After a certain point you won’t be able to back out.”
They finished pulling my pants down, and turned away. Tina busied herself arranging the soiled clothing in a pile next to the pot. Beri turned back to me, carefully keeping her eyes on my face.
“We know, sir,” she said hesitantly. “Tina heard what Cerise said to those deserters, and we figure you’ll do the same to us sooner or later. But we’ve seen you fight, and heal people, and... please forgive me if this is impertinent, milord, but you seem like a man who takes care of what’s his.”
“He is,” Avilla said firmly. “I’d be dead three times over if he didn’t keep risking his life to protect me.
Beri nodded. “Exactly. Milord, in the last week Tina and I have lost everything we had, and the rumors say this is only the beginning. I’m sure when we get to Lanrest every girl with an ounce of sense will be trying to get your attention, but please, give us a chance. We’ll work hard, and keep our mouths shut, and do whatever else you might require of us.”
Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) Page 7
