Iceblade

by Zenka Wistram

  "We shall see, beloved. I don't wish to wait as long as Lalinth for you. Perhaps we shall see sooner than you think."

  "I will be safe soon."

  He laughed again. "Safe here with me. Never safe from me. Here where I will touch you, and kiss you, and take you, and you will live for it, the same as me." I fled his words and their explosive effect on my emotions.

  Safe in my own bed, I was trembling and covered with sweat, fearing and wanting his promises to me, the promises of his body and his kiss.

  The next morning, as we all breakfasted before the sun yet rose, I woke Banning through persistence and the promise of fresh meat. Nefen had taken the hawk out hunting and had returned with two fresh mice. He gave me a chunk of one mouse big enough to make two bites for the little snake.

  Banning drowsily ate the meat, eyeing the hawk warily. The hawk screeched at him and seemed hungry.

  "Are you going to sleep away the rest of the winter?" I asked Banning. "Are you ill?"

  "No," he sighed. "Just cold, and very tired. If I were like my siblings, I'd have been asleep for two months now. I fought to stay awake, but I think now you know everything I can teach you. Anything else, you can learn without me. And I am tired."

  "Poor little tyrant," I said softly. "How may I help you?" I stroked his tiny head.

  "You can release me in Reckonwood, after Galiena's sign. If the people ask and you agree, She will make it clear that you are Her Chosen. Then I will catch up on my sleep, and if it is meant to be, we will meet again some day." He stretched, then curled himself back around my wrist.

  "I will, my friend. And I hope it is meant to be, because I will miss you," I whispered, lifting my arm so he might hear me.

  Selas strapped me into my armor and hung my new mace from a loop on the belt used to hold up the chain legs. The others assisted each other into their armor. "I have a bad feeling about today," I murmured to the old man. He looked up into my eyes.

  "What kind of feeling?" he demanded in a low tone that matched mine. "It's going to rain, or death awaits?"

  "I fear action is going to be taken against us. Iceblade grows angry."

  He gave me an astute look. "Doesn't like being kept from his bride, eh?"

  I stared back in sick surprise.

  "Close your mouth, girl," he muttered. "These others may think he seeks to destroy you, but you and I both know that is not the end he seeks. The God is upon him as the Goddess is upon you. This is their battle. Do they fight, or do they come together?"

  "I want to fight," I managed. There was more I wanted to say, but it wouldn't come.

  "And I will help you."

  I could see the others were nearly done getting ready and soon would be listening to us. "If I would go to him," I whispered quickly. "I ask you to stop me, however you must. If I carry his child, Dagar wins. Dragon's Tooth will end, and chaos take the land."

  Selas held my gaze for long moments, then nodded. I had no doubt he'd do exactly as I asked.

  With that, we went to work, hooking the donkey up again to the sledge. The old man mentioned my bad feeling to the others and warned them to be prepared without telling them all of his thoughts.

  We made a stop at the fire blasted remains of the Temple of Galiena. Iceblade's followers had burned it to the ground. Standing upon the stone stairs with our heads bowed, we thanked the Good Queen for having delivered us this far, prayed for the spirits of those dead in Remanil, and thanked them for all our new equipment.

  We now began our journey to Reckonwood and safety from the sight of Iceblade.

  The danger came as the sun reached its apex. I sensed the nearness of crow soldiers, knew they'd laid eyes on us, many of them, coming for us. For me. I shouted out, "Defend yourselves! They're here!" Metal rang out as my companions and I drew our weapons. Flying overhead, Nefen's hawk screamed its own warning.

  A crushing wave of dizziness dropped me to my knees just as I saw the first soldiers come out of hiding. I recognized their leader as Deaward, and realized Vankyar had found me by dowsing, as her nephew had requested. Though I fought it with all my will, I fainted just as the black painted soldiers joined in battle with my friends.

  I awoke in Iceblade's huge tent, in full daylight. Panicked, I stood up and looked down at myself. With a sigh of relief I saw that I was here only in spirit, real and yet not quite so. I wore the clothes I fainted in, and my new armor, but light hit me differently, passing through me and leaving no shadow. Somehow he had caused me to faint so he could call me to him in the light of the sun, or perhaps he called me so strongly I fainted as my spirit left my body.

  He cleared his throat behind me and I turned to face him. Iceblade was dressed in black suede with a black silken shirt beneath his jerkin. Behind him, eyes closed with her hand on his shoulder, stood Vankyar.

  He was looking right at me. When he saw my surprise he smirked. "Vankyar is sharing her abilities with me today. So I can see you again, in the flesh. Well, nearly so."

  I flinched. "My friends! If you hurt them - "

  He raised his hand to silence me, his face dark with anger. "If they keep you from me, they are not your friends!" Gripping his aunt's hand to keep her from breaking their contact, he came forward, stopping inches from me. So close, my eyes closed in shamed pleasure at his nearness. "My Ada," he purred in his raspy voice, and when I looked up into his face, I saw it was the same for him. He half-smiled in elation at my response, his eyes kindled from within. "You will be here soon, face to face, skin to skin, close enough to touch and taste." I felt as hot as a kettle on the cooking hearth. Closing my eyes again, I sought to leave him and find my way back to my own body, to fight his soldiers with my companions. If they were killed, I would die beside them.

  I couldn't leave. Panicked, my eyes flew open and my hands came up as if to ward him off. He was frustrated that I fought him still, a muscle pulled tight in his jaw. "Vankyar holds you here. She claims that if you were there, you would fight, and I won't have you injured."

  "But you'll kill my friends?" I whispered in horror.

  "If they cannot defend you, they don't deserve to live," he said coldly. He raised his hand to touch my face, though his hand passed through me, we both trembled.

  "No," I hissed. "My desire would cost their lives. I couldn't bear the cost." I pulled away from him and turned to Vankyar. "Release me or pay for it," I shouted at her.

  She smiled like a child. "I am not allowed," she sang. With a howl of fury, I flew at her. When I passed through her I brought my anger to bear and shut her down. As simple as thought, fueled by panic and rage, I stopped her mind, and she fell to the ground.

  Tirk roared my name and I faded away, laughing in triumph.

  I came around flat on my face in a pool of muddy blood. Forcing myself up to my feet, I saw my companions surrounding me in a circle, hard pressed by Iceblade's soldiers. Though many lay dead on the ground, about forty more came, though only a few at a time, and I realized they were being so cautious to prevent any injury to the prize they sought for their Iceblade, and that prize was me. Closing my eyes, I began to hum, building up a vibration. I heard Wyntan bellow "Everybody down!" As I felt my companions hit the dirt, I released the power of the vibration outwards from me in all directions at the height of my chest.

  I heard short screams of fear and pain, the sounds of breaking and shattering, then disgusting wet splattering sounds. Everything fell silent. Exhausted, I dropped to my knees.

  Hands fell on me and lifted me to my feet. With relief I saw it was Daltorn and Wyntan. Before me lay a field of gore, crows army soldiers shattered just like the rock face in the pass above Narwich. About thirty feet away stood five more soldiers, frozen in fear. With a jubilant battle cry, Nefen, Selas and Samar ran to engage them, their feet squashing through the wet remains. Daltorn glanced down, handed me to Wyntan, and joined the fight. His brother held me up as I wobbled on my feet, my joints weak with tiredness.

  One of the soldiers fled, but was hunted do
wn speedily by Samar. The others seemed barely able to defend themselves after what they had just seen. It was over quickly.

  We sat around a fire about a mile from the site of the battle, cleaning our weapons and armor. Selas removed a small sharp piece of metal from Samar's cheek. It was a shard of black painted armor. When he held it up in the sunlight, the others cheered.

  "To Ada, the splatterer!" Daltorn laughed.

  "So all we have to do to prevail in battle is keep you awake?" Wyntan teased.

  "Maybe we could just prop her up." Nefen's grin nearly split his face.

  Samar gave me a quick, deep bow.

  "Let's just pray we don't make her angry," Selas said gruffly, his eyes twinkling, actually twinkling. I waited until they were done exulting over their victory.

  "I fainted because Iceblade called my spirit out of my body and used his aunt to imprison me. I had to knock her out to get back here. He intended to kill you all and capture me."

  They all stared at me in grim silence.

  "When we're done cleaning up, we're moving out," Selas barked. "No more waiting for him to send the enemy at us. Get moving, you monkeys! It's not safe for Ada anywhere but Reckonwood, and if she is lost, so are we all. Move your tail ends!" We jumped to our feet and got to following his orders.

  We weren't on the trail long before I found myself slowing and wobbling. The day had taken a hard toll on me, coming on top of days of not eating properly. I'd never before used my new abilities to attack while only in spirit form, and I'd followed it up by exploding maybe forty soldiers. Perhaps it wasn't all that odd that I was so tired.

  Samar and Nefen each looped one of my arms around their necks and held me around the waist to keep us moving. I felt bad for causing them this extra burden and wished I was stronger. When I dropped to the ground despite them, after about an hour of them nearly dragging me, Selas called us to a halt.

  I heard them discussing putting me in the sledge, but the donkey was already pulling more than it should. The young men wondered if they could take turns carrying me. Selas snorted, I heard his firm footsteps and Samar's light, gliding steps walking away towards the south. Forcing my eyes open, I saw they were headed for a small stand of hardwood trees. They came back with a bunch of slender but sturdy poles, the longest of them as long as a Selas-and-a-half. They lashed two together in an X with a shorter top, then lashed more onto the framework and covered the top side of it with bedrolls. When they finished their travois, Wyntan and Nefen loaded me onto it, and Daltorn took the handles to drag me behind him.

  "Just a short nap this time," I said, unable to hold my eyes open as I talked. "Not two days." I heard laughter.

  "Rest as you need," Selas said curtly. "But we cannot wait for you to move. We'll just have to drag you."

  "It's my honor after that battle," Daltorn added.

  "We'll all take turns," Nefen said. "You'll be no burden."

  The sounds of their voices faded, and I felt the travois begin moving as I passed out.

  My exhaustion was a blessing in one way, because I did not dream of Iceblade while it lasted. I was myself and ready to walk again by the next morning. This time I ate well, realizing if I didn't care for my body properly I would not be able to depend on it when things became dire. I could no longer selfishly indulge in self-pity, I had a responsibility to my companions and those who waited in Reckonwood, to all of Dragon's Tooth. Being Chosen wasn't a mark of loving favor, it was a call to duty.

  Looking down at my armor I thought longingly for just moments of my plain brown workdress, and a time when my heaviest responsibility was only harvesting lant before it rotted in the fields. Some people cherished a duty that tried them to the bone, but they were stronger than me. And unfortunately, also mostly dead. I shouldered my new duty not with relish, but with a terrible sense that I stood more than a good chance of failing, that perhaps my flesh was weaker than my will was strong – and maybe my will was not strong enough either.

  Nefen named his hawk Ruck, and Ruck spent most of the following days flying overhead. He frequently alerted his new companion to the presence of game, which helped greatly to supplement our travel food stores.

  It took three days for the black painted soldiers to find us again, this time just two scouts, quickly dispatched. One of the scouts wore a talisman of arcane design, I knew Iceblade's aunt or his mage would use it to find us upon the death of its wearer.

  It was too late to do anything about that. The scout was already dead. I had walled myself in my own mind so that Vankyar could not find me, and I knew from feeling the tug of her efforts that she was not trying as hard as she had that day before I knocked her out. In my nemesis, my mate, I sensed impatient fury. He wanted me that much more now that I had thwarted him, and wasn't that the way this ancient game was played? But he could no longer call me to him without my permission, I guarded myself against it much more fiercely. So it appeared, he had found another way to pinpoint us.

  I destroyed the talisman, and we left the scouts' bodies with haste.

  Chapter 7

  Delirium

  We came to a road running across our path, and Selas turned us south on it in hope of throwing off our pursuers and maybe finding some Trailfarers, a group dedicated to protecting the roads. If any Trailfarers were about, they did not show themselves. I rode on the travois again, this time so I could concentrate on covering our tracks in the snow as if we'd never been through. It didn't take a lot of energy but to make it complete, it took all my attention. Daltorn dragged me the most, with the travois strapped over his shoulders he was able to move the fastest of the companions. After two days of this, we changed direction again, heading west. I still rode the travois covering our tracks, though my legs ached for exercise. We camped every other night, for as brief a time as possible. We ate our food cold, Nefen hunted us no more game. Ruck was called down to ride on the sidewall of the sledge, to avoid any crow soldiers seeing him and realizing he was with us.

  After a week of little sleep and frequent direction changes, Selas called us to a halt and we set up a real camp, once again building the snow into a shelter. I was tired and dealing with a constant headache from fighting off Iceblade and his aunt while trying to camouflage our whereabouts as Selas bid.

  A fire was built and the brothers set to cooking. Selas flung me my bedroll and I lay down on it, awake but with my eyes closed to ease my headache. Samar pressed a cup of herbal tea into my hands, it was a concoction given to her by Goskia to ease pain. I sat up and took it gratefully, thanking her. She pointed to her own forehead, mimicking as if she were in great pain, then rubbed my head, drawing a grin from me.

  "That obvious, huh?" I said. She pointed to the bridge of her nose, then bunched her eyebrows up above it, scowling and wincing, then pointed back at me. "Ugh! Ugly, am I?"

  She punched me in the arm. Nefen smiled too, watching us out of the corner of his eye as he settled down to eat. The brothers passed around bowls of hot food.

  My bowl of food sat before me, first I wanted to savor my tea. Though it was powerful, it didn't taste bad as one might expect. I closed my eyes and sipped, thinking of how my headache would soon be relieved after carrying it around for days.

  When I opened my eyes, Iceblade stepped into the shelter. I gasped and dropped my tea, flinging myself backwards. He smirked, tilting his head, long hair falling down his back. His hands were on his hips and he carried no weapon. Samar and Wyntan made it to my side first, but they paid no heed to our enemy. They helped me back onto my bedroll and Samar picked up the teacup to refill it. Nefen reached for my hand.

  "Are you all right, Ada?" he asked.

  "He may not touch you," Iceblade snarled, the pleased expression falling from his face. Startled, I flung Nefen's hand away. He looked at me in painful surprise, color rising up his neck.

  "I'm sorry if I -" he began.

  "No, no," I said. "It's not you. I'm just - "

  "What is he saying to you?" Iceblade asked, stepping
through the fire and squatting down onto the balls of his feet before me.

  "You can't hear him?" I whispered.

  "I can hear you, beloved," he said, his smile tight. "What more do I need?"

  "Hear who?" several of my companions chorused as one, confused. I glanced around.

  "There is a spirit here," I explained in a high voice.

  Who? Samar signed. I pretended not to see her question.

  "I need to speak with it," I said. "I'm going to step outside." On trembling legs I rose and hurried out of the shelter. I was aware of Selas nodding at Nefen and Wyntan, and the two men rising to follow me.

  They kept their distance, thankfully. I ran a short distance from the shelter and waited in the dark for Iceblade to follow. He did at his leisure, making a gliding stride over the ground. Behind him firelight set the domed shelter aglow. Nefen and Wyntan each stood to one side of the shelter, weapons ready, eyes watchfully on me. I turned my back on them.

  Iceblade studied me in silence for a while. I stared back, unable to speak, pulling my braid forward over my shoulder to pick at the end nervously.

  "You no longer visit me, now that I know who you are," he rasped at last. "So I had to find a way to come to you."

  "Why?"

  He shrugged. "I missed you, and you missed me. Don't shake your head at me, you know it's true. Your denials only look foolish, and they don't deter me."

  "I don't want to miss you," I blurted, then covered my mouth with my hand. His eyes brightened, pleased.