The White Road - Lynn Flewelling [73]
"Bandits?" Alec said, looking back over his shoulder. He was riding so close that Seregil could have reached out and touched him, but his voice was so muffled Seregil could barely make out what he said. That eerie quiet had settled over them again, making the hair on the back of his neck prickle again.
As they pelted along, trying to keep Micum in sight, Seregil caught motion from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look there was nothing there.
It happened again to his right, just past Alec, and this time he saw one of the masked riders pacing them. This one wore a fox mask. His horse's hooves didn't make a sound, but Seregil heard his whistle, and the answering ones behind them. Micum reined his horse away from the ones they could see, and Seregil and Alec followed hard on his horse's heels.
We're going to break our damn necks, Seregil thought. And Sebrahn was still struggling!
The whistles started up again, all around them, sounding so close Seregil wondered why he couldn't see any of them.
Suddenly Alec lurched forward in the saddle, an arrow protruding from his left shoulder. Micum slowed and grabbed the fallen reins.
"Damn!" Seregil reined in beside them, intending to make a stand. Before he could dismount, however, Sebrahn opened his mouth and sang.
The burst of power that emanated from that thin little body nearly threw Seregil from the saddle. It was like being struck in the chest by lightning and being on fire, all at once. The high-pitched cry drove a spike of pain between his eyes, blinding him for a moment.
Clinging on with his thighs and one hand, he managed to stay in the saddle and follow the others as they dashed away, hoping to take advantage of whatever Sebrahn had just done. He was relieved to see Alec upright again and riding hard, even with the arrow wagging up and down in his shoulder.
They drove their horses until the beasts were exhausted and they had no choice but to stop. The snow had ceased somewhere along the way, and the wind had come up. Looking back, all Seregil saw was a triple line of hoof marks slowly being scoured away. He reined his gelding around, looking for their pursuers. He hadn't seen or heard any sign of pursuit since Sebrahn had sung, and he didn't see them now across the snowswept plain. The masked bastards were probably lying in the snow, dead, just like those slave takers who'd killed Alec in Plenimar. He hoped so, anyway, though he was curious about who they were. They'd been better organized than most bandits he'd encountered. As much as he'd have liked to inspect the bodies, they'd have to backtrack for miles. Without their own trail to follow, they'd end up casting around while it got dark.
Just then Alec slid awkwardly from the saddle and collapsed in a heap, gripping his wounded shoulder with his good hand.
Seregil dismounted and shoved Sebrahn into Micum's arms. "How bad is it?" he asked, pulling off his gloves.
"Shit! Hurts like hell!" Alec hissed between gritted teeth. "Don't think it went all the way through, though."
"Can you move your arm?" asked Micum.
Alec lifted his left arm and swore again.
Seregil knelt beside him. "Steady, now. Let me take a look."
The arrow had gone in at an angle. Seregil grasped the shaft and gave it the slightest tug. It moved a little and he felt it grate against bone, probably Alec's shoulder blade.
"Brace yourself," he said calmly. "I'll do this as quickly as I can." Grasping the shaft in both hands this time, he snapped it off close to the back of Alec's coat.
Alec didn't make a sound, just fumbled one-handed at the bone buttons on the front of his thick coat.
"Let me do it."
When he had the coat open, Seregil reached down the back of Alec's shirt until his fingers found the arrow shaft and the hot blood soaking the fleece lining and the wool of Alec's tunic. Bracketing the broken shaft with two fingers, he lifted the coat free of it, then gently pulled Alec's arm from the sleeve. Most of the blood had soaked into the thick fleece at the collar. If it had been summer, he'd have left a blood