The Vacant Throne - Ed Greenwood [18]
"No," someone who hadn't spoken before said, from well away from the fire. "No, it's knowing you well that makes me fear just that."
"And makes me expect it," Kalarth added quickly, as Bloodblade tried to peer around him and identify who'd spoken.
"The second rabbit is ready," Gurkyn announced suddenly. As heads turned to look at him, Kalarth moved.
His hand whipped down and then up again, and something flashed in the firelight for a flickering instant as it spun through the air. The man with the crossbow gave a queer cough and turned his head sharply to the west, blood spraying from his opened throat. His crossbow fired its bolt high into the night somewhere over Gloun's shoulder-and the night was suddenly full of fast-moving men, thudding feet, and drawn swords.
Bloodblade Duthjack and Kalarth charged straight at each other, unflinching, blades sweeping up as they ran. Their steel met so hard that sparks flew, and clanged aside-as Bloodblade threw a handful of sand into Kalarth's face.
The tall warrior shook his head frantically, slashing the air viciously as he sprang blindly back, trying to prevent Duthjack from striking-but by accident or design, Lultus stumbled into him, and as Kalarth whirled around to deal with this new foe, Bloodblade swept the tall warrior's feet from under him with a vicious swordcut, ran after the rolling, cursing Kalarth, and pounced, stabbing viciously and repeatedly down into the man's face.
Kalarth was dying after the first thrust, but Duthjack thrust his wet blade home four or five times more before springing free-almost decapitating Mararr, who was crouching in guardianship over Gurkyn, in the process-and racing to where the fire was between him and most of the gathered warriors.
"Are you with me, men of Blackgult?" he snarled, raising his crimson blade. "Or do you stand against me, buying the fate of Kalarth for yourselves? Hey? Speak now! The night draws on, and I'd rather spend it swording barons on Flowfoam Isle than cutting down my sword-brothers here! What say you?"
Gloun raised his sword to the stars-a little unhappily, Mararr thought-and cried, "I am for you, Bloodblade!"
"Aye!" Lultus echoed in his bearlike roar. "For Bloodblade!"
Swords and cries of support were going up all around now, laced with Gurkyn's sour, "Do you want to warn all the idiots on yonder Isle-or just the deaf ones?"
His voice carried. All at once, the shouting warriors fell silent. Bloodblade turned to regard the man by the fire with eyes still ablaze with fury, and whispered, "Are you with me, Gurkyn Oblarram?"
The cook rose slowly, kicking clods of earth back over the fire, and in the sudden, spark-swirling gloom replied, "I am. I just hope your schemes extend to ruling Aglirta-and not just conquering it."
Sendrith Duthjack regarded him without expression for a few seconds, hefting the bloody sword in his hand as if aching to use it on the little man, and then said calmly, "As things befall under the watching Three, it does. Are you ready to free the realm, Gurkyn?"
The cook took a bite of rabbit, passed his fork to the nearest warrior, and drew his sword. "Lead me to a baron who has an urgent need to be more my size," he growled.
The gathered warriors chuckled, and the man they called Bloodblade commanded, "To the river!"
"Right, your bold and bridling plot it is," Lultus growled, as they moved forward together. "Now, where's that boat?"
5
Spells and Mirrors
"Now, where's that book?" Craer joked, his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes turned upwards. "Let me see…"
The open books floated in midair high above the ruined floor, hanging motionless and silent in the eerie shafts of light, as they might well have done for centuries. Just what magic that light was, none of the Band of Four quite knew, but it had kept the books unharmed by fire, lightning, snows, rain, and the collapse of the huge, arching dome of stone that had once enclosed the shafts. Now the upper ends of the radiant columns simply faded away into empty air, and