Frostfell_ The Wizards - Mark Sehestedt [34]
" 'Died.' " Amira laughed. "You make it sound so simple. He was killed. There's a damnably big difference."
"Not in the Wastes."
"You ba-"
"What happened to the others?"
"What?"
"The others. You said there were twenty-three of you when you found Jalan's abdoctors."
Amira snorted.
"What?" asked Gyaidun, his brows wrinkled in confusion.
"Abductors."
"What?"
"You said, 'abdoctors.' The word is abductors."
Gyaidun scowled.
Damn him. Amira found the anger gone. One little word he hadn't even meant to say and the fury at him evaporated. The pain at losing Mursen, the horror of the things she'd seen that night and since, the fear she'd kept barely in check every moment since… all of it was still there. But the anger at Gyaidun and his confidence and simple way of looking at the world was gone. Damn him.
"What happened?"
"Mursen's… sacrifice"-she almost tripped over the word but forced herself to continue-"allowed me the chance I needed. I killed one of those pale-skinned barbarians, grabbed Jalan, and…"
"And what?"
"We come to why I told you all this in the first place."
"I don't understand."
"I grabbed Jalan and cast a spell. One moment we were there out under the darkening sky, death all around us, and the next we were leagues away. What happened to the rest of my comrades, I don't know. Some were still alive and fighting when I made it to Jalan. A few had fled. But at that moment all I could think about was getting Jalan away."
"Wait," said Gyaidun. "You mean to tell me that you know a spell that will take you leagues away in… in the blink of an eye?"
"More or less."
"Then why did we just spend an entire day running across the steppe, if you could have just…just 'blinked' us here or whatever it is you do?"
Amira straightened and propped her staff up beside her. It was a pose and she knew it, but she hoped it would serve to remind Gyaidun with whom he was dealing. She was no fresh-faced maiden in distress.
"Truth be told," she said, "I wasn't entirely sure I could trust you. I'm still not. And part of me… a small part, maybe, but a part hoped your belkagen was just a crazy old elf who's spent too many days under the sun. Part of me hoped that Jalan and your friend just ran across bandits and fled with my son. You yourself said the caravan trails are thick with them this time of year."
The big man reached for his waterskin and, watching her, took a long drink. She could see him working all this out in his mind. She let him and didn't rush it.
"And now?" he said.
"As I said, it was a small hope. A foolish one perhaps, but I knew that no common bandits would head due north this time of year. And we've followed them north all day."
"And I don't suppose it hurt to separate these three strangers that you weren't sure you could trust yet?"
Amira said nothing.
"Well played," said Gyaidun. "But I told you already I don't care if you trust me or not. I'm going after your son whether you like it or not. You are here because I let you come."
"Because you let me come?" She gripped her staff and balled her other hand into a fist. "What makes you think you could stop me?"
"What makes you think I'd want to?" Gyaidun smiled. "But you need me to track your son's… abductors."
"Not if your belkagen was right and they're taking him to Winterkeep."
"You think you can find Winterkeep?"
"I studied maps of the Wastes before leaving Cor-"
"Maps?" Gyaidun laughed. "Did your maps tell you how you will find water when our skins run out? Or food? Did your maps tell you which tribes might help us should we run into them and which will surely try to kill us? Or which plants will keep the sting of the gaudutu from rotting away your skin? Did your maps tell you that in midwinter these lands grow so cold that the pines up north sometimes freeze and their sap explodes? Did your precious maps tell you of the whispering of the stars?"
"I told you," said Amira. "I'll find my son. I am in your debt for your help. But I'll find him with or without you."
"As you say." Gyaidun bowed. She couldn't tell if he was mocking her