I concentrated, and the disk grew. This was a tricky bit of work, conjuring more stone and extending the enchantment to cover it, but as long as I took it slow I could do it. I made it self-powered so it wouldn’t be a drain on my amulet’s energy, and slowly expanded the disk into a rectangular shape about the size of a bus. Then I added a stone lip two feet high and a couple of inches thick around the edges, just to make sure no one would fall off. The floor of the thing was nearly four feet off the ground, so I shaped some dirt into an earth ramp leading up to one side of it.
“Neat. Ok, I can see it’s big enough to hold everyone if we’re friendly,” Cerise commented. “But how does it move?”
“Magic,” I replied. She rolled her eyes, and I grinned. Being mysterious was turning out to be fun.
Looking around, I spotted Sergeant Thomas. I’d been working for about an hour, and I suppose he was getting a little anxious.
“All ready, Sergeant,” I told him. “Get everyone organized, and bring them over here. We’re going to ride into town in style.”
I climbed up the ramp and stepped into the floating vehicle. Considering the thickness of the stone the thing had to weigh tons, and my own weight barely affected it. Cerise ran lightly up after me, and eagerly jumped in.
“Are we going to fly?” She asked eagerly.
I chuckled. “No, this is as high as it goes. Free fight is way too tricky for me to try it with this many people involved.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Does that mean you can do it by yourself? Or maybe, with one person?”
“Yeah, if I ever get a few days to work on it I’m pretty sure I can build a flight spell. Are you volunteering to try it out?”
She nodded, and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “A lot of demons can fly. I have dreams about it sometimes, and it’s awesome. If you can give me that kind of magic I’ll owe you some serious ‘thank you’ time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Why don’t you see if Avilla needs any help?”
The refugees were a bit dubious about boarding a floating rock with no visible means of support, but a few brave souls crept up the ramp and cautiously took seats. Then Avilla trooped up with the maids in tow, and a couple of the soldiers followed her in, and we hit some sort of critical mass. Ten minutes later I had a fully loaded hover-barge.
“Everyone, get settled in as best you can,” I directed. “You’re going to be here awhile. This thing is more stable than a boat, but it’s still a good idea not to move around too much. We’re going to be going pretty fast, and I don’t want anyone to fall off. Gronir, I want you up near the front where you can help with directions if we need it. Is everyone here?”
Nods, whispers and speculative looks. I glanced at Thomas, and he nodded.
“Took a head count, sir. No one’s missing.”
“Good. Let’s see what kind of time we can make.”
I pushed off with a bit of force magic, and the floating barge drifted slowly forward. I steered carefully, mindful of the substantial mass of the vehicle. It was like guiding a boat, only worse. With no water to sink a rudder into the only way to change direction was to shift the vector of the thrust I was applying, and even with my new amulet pushing this many tons of vehicle and refugees around took time. So I kept our speed down to a slow walk as I maneuvered us down the river bank.
After the first couple of bends I was starting to get a feel for it, and eased our pace up a little. Then we reached a spot where the ravine narrowed, and I had to steer us over the frozen river.
The thin ice beneath us shattered almost instantly, producing an alarming racket, and a spray of water sheeted out in all directions. The passengers murmured uneasily as the vehicle sank a few inches, and began to bob slightly. But the repulsion field worked on water as well as dirt, and the spray of displaced water was all moving away from us. Good thing, since getting wet in freezing temperatures is dangerous.
“We’re fine,” I announced loudly. “The noise is just the weight of the barge crushing the ice under us.”
The passengers settled down in a few minutes, although the noise was still a bit unnerving. I pushed our speed up a little more, wanting to make sure we wouldn’t be in one place long enough for anything to hear us and come investigate. We were up to running speed now, which was fast enough that I had to pay close attention to steer us around the tighter bends.
A thought struck me.
“Gronir, there aren’t any falls on this river, are there?”
“Waterfalls, milord? Ain’t heard of none. Don’t reckon there could be. There’s boatmen on the river, in summer at least.”
“Good.” The thought of taking this thing over a sudden drop of any size was enough to give me chills. If it flipped over anyone it landed on would be crushed, and it certainly wasn’t going to float. I resolved to keep a close eye on where we were going.
Avilla and Cerise were settled in just behind me, wrapped in their warmth cloaks and chatting amiably. An occasional glance back revealed that the rest of the group was huddled under blankets in clumps of two or three, but they seemed to be holding up alright. The sky was still overcast, and I hoped we could finish this run before it started snowing again.
Then we passed around another bend in the river, and found ourselves face to face with a band of goblins who were camped out on the bank.
A hue and cry arose, but fortunately they were as surprised as we were. A couple of goblins with bows to hand let fly in our general direction, but one hit the parapet and the other somehow managed to miss us entirely. Several wolves howled, and a troll scrambled to its feet and stared stupidly at us. I threw up a force dome to protect us from further arrows, and gave the barge an extra push.
“Ready spears!” Sergeant Thomas bellowed, and the men scrambled for their weapons. A few more arrows bounced off my shield as we began to pass the camp, and for a moment I thought that would be it.
Then the troll suddenly realized there were humans on the strange floating object, and lumbered out over the ice to intercept us. Stupid thing. I attached an invisible blade of force to the front of the barge just before we struck.
The troll actually tried to grab hold and stop us, but our momentum was far too great for even its strength. The barge floated relentlessly forward, driving the force blade right through the monster’s body and cutting it in half. It collapsed, and we passed over it with a thump.
Then the goblin camp was behind us, but the commotion of howling wolves and blowing horns we’d left in our wake had to be audible for miles. A dozen goblins scrambled to the backs of wolves and came bounding down the riverbank after us, catching up quickly.
Thomas cursed.
“Our archers don’t have room to use their bows,” he complained. “They’re liable to get pitched off this thing anyway if they stand up to try it.”
“I can keep their arrows from reaching us,” I told him. “But it’s distracting. What we really need is… ah, finally, some good luck.”
The river we’d been following flowed into a larger water course, and this one was both wider and less winding than the one we’d be trapped in.
“Hold on, everyone!” I called loudly, and gave the barge a harder push.
Our acceleration was worse than an overloaded semi lumbering up a steep hill, but it was still more than my passengers were used to. A babble of voices rose up behind me as our speed crept slowly up to match that of the wolves, and kept rising. The faint breeze became a stiff wind of biting cold, and I pulled my cloak tighter.
Cerise leaned forward, wind whipping at her cloak as she gripped the parapet with both hands, and whooped excitedly.
“This is awesome!” She exclaimed. “Look at those silly wolves run. You can’t catch us, smelly monsters! Our wizard is way too smart for you.”
She whooped again, and a half-dozen voices joined in.
I glanced back to find that while most of the refugees were huddled miserably against the harsh wind of our passage, a number of them were reactin
g more like teenagers on a joyride. I caught one of the young men bending over to moon the goblins, and even several women were jeering and waving goodbye.
Avilla noticed my surprise, and leaned over to talk in my ear. “The wolf heart, remember? Now we know who it worked on.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Is it permanent?”
She nodded. “If they want it to be. Most people will reject the wolf nature and lose the benefit in a day or two, but those that accept it will keep the power. Not that it’s going to amount to much with as many ways as it was split, but a little extra bravery and vitality can go a long way.”
“Can we go faster?” Cerise interrupted breathlessly.
I shook my head. “Not unless you want to go splat when we hit that bend in the river up there. I have to wrestle this thing around by brute force, and that takes time.”
She turned to stare at me. “Wait, what? Are you saying your force element is so strong you can just push this thing around?”
I nodded.
A heartbeat later she’d somehow managed to slip under my cloak and plaster herself against me.
“Loki’s balls, that’s hot!” She purred into my ear. “I so want to fuck you right now.”
I rolled my eyes. “So much for being worn out.”
Avilla was close enough to hear. She giggled. “Not now, kitten. Be a good girl, and let Daniel concentrate on steering.”
“Do I have to?”
Avilla giggled again. “Come here, silly thing.”
She held her cloak open, and Cerise reluctantly let me go and settled into her girlfriend’s lap. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, but it was probably for the best. I turned my attention back to our surroundings, and tried to keep an eye out for danger.
“Thomas, keep an eye on our passengers for me. We need to keep everyone sitting down, or someone’s bound to fall overboard. If they land in open water and slip under the ice we’d never find them in time.”
He nodded. “Yessir. Umar, Valdrin, the wizard says to sit down!”
It took him a few minutes to get things back under control, and by then the goblins were far behind us. I noticed Avilla handing Cerise’s warmth cloak to Beri out of the corner of my eye, but thought nothing of it. We flew through one long, lazy curve of river and down a mile or so of straightaway, and I let the barge slow a bit. No need to take chances.
An odd sound drew my attention back to Cerise, and I saw that she was hidden up to the neck by Avilla’s cloak. She was also flushed, squirming and biting her lip.
“Avilla? What are you up to?”
“I’m just making sure Cerise doesn’t distract you, master,” the hearth witch said piously. “I know how excitable she can be.”
“Right. Insatiable is more like it. Just keep in mind we could be attacked by something else at any moment.”
“Not helping,” Cerise whimpered. “Danger does it for me too.”
Somehow I resisted the urge to facepalm. Those two could be a lot of fun, but they definitely needed a keeper.
Some time later a column of smoke came into view ahead, which dampened the mood considerably. But at least it turned out to be another village rather than Lanrest. We eyed the smoking ruins as we passed, and I slowed the barge so we could take a good look at the scene.
“Doesn’t look like giants,” Thomas commented. “The buildings aren’t smashed.”
I frowned. “Good. But it doesn’t look like goblins either. They like burning things, and most of the buildings here are intact.”
He nodded. “Yessir. Looks like some cookfires got left untended after an attack, and set some of the buildings on fire. Weird thing is, if you look close it ain’t just doors that are smashed open. Some windows here and there, and I see a couple spots where it looks like something just tore through a wall. Berserkers with axes might leave that kind of mess.”
Cerise sat up, and eyed the ground suddenly. “Does anyone see tracks? Weird-looking ones?”
Gronir pointed. “There, by the river bank. Never seen nothing like that. Looks like a buncha giant chickens or something.”
It took me a moment to find the tracks. They were pretty odd alright. A couple of feet across, with three long pointed toes. Crap. I’d seen pictures of prints like that before.
“We need to get out of here,” Cerise breathed.
I nodded, and gave the barge a firm push. It was hard to judge distances without pacing it off, but the tracks looked to have something like a five or six foot stride. If the ice was thick enough to support a troll it would probably hold something that size too, and a whole pack of them would be bad news.
“What is it, sweetie?” Avilla asked quietly.
Then there was movement between two of the houses, and a long lean shape eased into view.
“Ungols,” Cerise replied.
It looked a lot like the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, but the thing was easily the size of a horse. Its hide was white and grey, perfect for blending into the snow-covered terrain.
It slunk forward slowly as we pulled away, watching us closely. But apparently it didn’t like the way the ice constantly cracked under the barge as it moved, because it didn’t approach.
I glanced about quickly, and spotted another one on a rock on the other side of the river. As silent as they were I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were more of them lurking about that I hadn’t spotted. On closer examination it was obvious that they weren’t actually velociraptors - their heads were longer and narrower, their forepaws were tipped with long blades instead of normal claws, and their hide was decorated with spines and ridges that had an oddly metallic look. But the general body plan was similar, and I’d certainly hate to be a normal human confronting them on foot.
Our speed rose gradually, but the tense silence lasted until we left the ruined village well behind. Then a babble of nervous voices erupted from the refugees.
“What do you know about Ungols?” I asked Cerise quietly.
“They’re Cthonic beasts from the Stygian Abyss, out beyond Tarterus,” she replied. “Supposedly even tougher than they look, and smart too. But they shouldn’t be here. The path to their realm has been sealed since before Olympus fell. I read something once about a few of them being stuck elsewhere, enslaved to… um… I think it was some group of wizards in Muspelheim, but I could be remembering that wrong. But the Sons of Muspel are basically fire demons, so if they were here it wouldn’t be so cold.”
Well, the implications of that were obvious.
“Are there a lot of sealed places full of monsters like that?”
“Yeah. No one knows how many, because the gods don’t like to talk about it and mortal wizards who go poking around don’t usually live long. But Tarterus is some kind of nexus for portals to worlds full of monsters.”
Avilla nodded. “That’s why the Olympians used it as a prison. They sealed the doors to the Planes of Terror and bound the Titans in front of them, so they’d only need to watch one place.”
“Hmm. Well, maybe we’ll get lucky and most of the monsters will eat each other instead of coming here.”
The girls exchanged nervous looks. “We can hope.”
The rest of the trip was deceptively peaceful. We passed mile after mile of snow-covered field and forest, the former gradually becoming more common as we neared the town. We were moving generally south-east, and the land was becoming flatter. At one point a castle was visible in the distance, still flying a banner, but that was the only sign of civilization.
At length a walled settlement came into sight before us. A sigh of relief went through the refugees as we approached, and it became clear that the place was still held by humans. There were guards on the walls, flags flying, and even a group of wagons approaching an open but heavily guarded gate not far from the river bank.
But I noted that the walls weren’t all that high, the moat was frozen, and the gates were made of wood. I could see a dozen ways for the monsters we’d been fight
ing to break in if the defenders ever relaxed their guard, and it wasn’t that big a town. Maybe a few thousand people, if it was as crowded as I expected. I was going to have my work cut out for me if we wanted to hold the place for long.
The river bank was steep enough that I wasn’t eager to try getting the barge up it, but there were docks where the town met the river. I slowed us to walking speed and carefully maneuvered towards them, looking for an empty spot. There were buildings beyond the docks, and I saw people shouting and pointing at us as we approached. A clatter of chainmail announced the arrival of troops as I carefully pulled up alongside a wooden dock, which proved to be at about the right height for us to disembark.
“People!” Someone shouted in amazement. “There’s people on it!”
“Halt!” A nearer voice ordered. “Announce yourselves, strangers.”
I climbed to my feet to find a dozen or so armored men clustered at the end of the dock, armed with a motley assortment of spears, swords and bows. The man addressing us was the best geared of the lot, with a pot helm and steel greaves to go with his chain hauberk.
“Daniel Black, traveling adept,” I called. “These are survivors from the 5th Margold Foot, along with some of your local villagers. May we disembark?”
“A wizard, eh? Come on ashore then, sir. I’m sure the Baron will want to talk to you. What kind of infernal contraption is that thing?”
He sounded pretty dubious about it, but I suppose for all he knew it was going to start eating his men or something.
“Just a bit of earth magic,” I reassured him. “It won’t do anything unless I’m controlling it. We ran into a frost giant and a pack of felwolves about twenty miles upriver, and the injured weren’t going to make it here on foot.”
“Damn. We saw a giant the other day, those things are huge. How’d you get away?”
“The wizard killed it, and the felwolves too,” Sergeant Thomas interrupted. “We wouldn’t have made it back without him.”
“Thomas!” The man called, obviously recognizing him. “Glad you made it. We’re going to need every man the way things are going. Ah, the Captain?”
Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) Page 10
