“We will not be late, my lord.”
The clop of hooves started across the stones above them, each one thundering. With a dozen or so knights, riding one at a time, it would be a noisy crossing. She whispered that in Colvin’s ear. He understood. Dieyre’s arrival would help them cross undetected.
“How deep is the water?” Colvin whispered to her. She shrugged. Nodding, he held her shoulders and ventured into the river first. He scowled with the shock of cold water but he was tall enough he could stand. It was up to his waist. Motioning for Ellowyn, he reached out to her. She looked confused, but Lia helped lead her into his arms. He turned, adjusting her weight and then looked back at Lia. “I will come back for you,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “No, I will follow. I am not that cold.”
He shook his head violently. “Wait for me.” Then he stepped deeper into the river. The clatter and clash of hooves overhead was like thunder. Ellowyn squeezed around his neck, burying her face against his cheek. He struggled with her weight and his footing. Lia clenched her teeth, willing his feet to find safety. The water was deeper in the middle, rising up to his chest. He hoisted Ellowyn higher, teeth set, and then the worst was over and they were in the shallows on the other side. He deposited her on the mossy rock in the shadows and then came back swiftly, crossing the river again to the midway point where Lia crouched, shivering with cold and terrified by the proximity of the soldiers above.
He beckoned for her to come to him. Stepping off the rock, she lowered herself into his arms. As he clutched her tightly to him and braved the tug of the river again, she held her bow with one hand and wrapped her other arm around his neck, her mouth near his ear. He stepped deeper into the cold depths, his entire body shuddering with the cold. His teeth rattled, despite his tight clenching. With his face so near, she could almost see the puckered scar along his eyebrow, though all was deep with shadow. He nearly stumbled but managed to hoist her higher, to keep her away from the grasp of the current.
She whispered in his ear. “I am worried about Ciana too. She is a brave girl. I know she has resisted him. Dieyre’s words…so much chaff. He does not believe half of what he says. Neither should we.”
He nodded, but said nothing. As they emerged up the other side, he looked into her eyes with cold rage. “I wanted to kill him. But it passed.”
She squeezed his neck with her free arm and whispered her thanks as he deposited her on the mossy stone bank on the other side. Reaching out to him, she grabbed his hand and helped pull him out of the icy waters. He was cold. So very cold. The thunder of hooves retreated off the bridge and into the gloom. How many soldiers were between them and Muirwood?
They still had one more river to cross.
* * *
Lia gazed into the stars with despair. Many had already passed the horizon and the eastern sky was starting to blush a faint violet – the advent of dawn. She knew there was a bridge somewhere to the east, but Muirwood lay directly to the south and the orb had led her to the easiest ford. She was also certain that the other bridge would be guarded as well. These waters were much more swollen than the previous river, churning with foam. However, stones in the midst jutted out in intervals. With relief, Lia crossed from rock to rock, followed by Ellowyn and then Colvin, each taking a turn. Some steps were treacherous and slick. Each hop, a danger. Lia wanted to summon light from the orb, but that would attract the eyes of anyone in the moors beyond who happened to look their way.
After crossing an especially slippery boulder, she turned to warn Ellowyn just as the girl lost her balance and pitched into the river. She knew Colvin would try and save her, but he was still shivering from his last crossing. Lia tossed her bow the rest of the way to the far bank and lunged into the shocking grip of the river. The current was dragging Ellowyn swiftly, but Lia caught up with her and seized the hem of her gown and yanked hard. The girl spluttered and choked and grasped at Lia, her face contorted with panic, unable to scream from swallowing so much water. Lia hooked her arm around Ellowyn’s neck and struggled to reach the shore. Each pull sapped her already fading strength. The cold made her mind foggy. Which way was the bank? Had the current turned her around? Then she saw Colvin running after them on the far side and she kicked and struggled until the river slammed them both into a boulder and she could not see for several moments. She heard Colvin’s hiss of breath and clutched Ellowyn tightly, feeling her body limp. Lia struggled against the darkness and groped her way around the water of the boulder and kicked against it.
Again the current started to tug her away and she opened her eyes and saw a shaft of wood reaching out to her. Colvin extended the ash bow to her and she grabbed at the end and he hauled on it with his strength. Climbing into the river himself, he helped drag Ellowyn to the bank and away from the river’s icy grip. Lia was soaked through and hugged herself.
“Put her down, on her stomach,” she said through chattering teeth. “Quickly! She’s swallowed too much water.”
Colvin obeyed and Lia knelt beside the girl and pushed her lower back hard. She repeated the motion, pushing and pushing, trying to force her to breathe. Ellowyn hiccupped and then started to splutter and choke. After struggling for her air, she started to sob violently, curled up in a ball and trembled.
Lia stripped away her own leather girdle, which was soaked and wrung out her shirt. Her mind was still fogging and her fingers did not feel like her own.
“Fire,” she whispered. “We are too cold. Without warmth, we will die. Help me with her cloak. Wring the water out.”
“We cannot build a fire, Lia,” he warned. “They are near. They will see it.”
“If we do not do something, it will not matter. She is freezing to death, Colvin. So am I. If we do not warm ourselves soon, we will start wandering aimlessly. It is…so cold. So cold. We need fire.”
“I will gather some wood,” he said, but she knew there was not enough time.
“We need it now,” she said, pulling out the orb. She stared at its smooth surface, cold from the plunge in the river. She had summoned light with it. She had summoned directions with it. Opening her eyes, she stared at its face, pleading with it for warmth.
The orb began to glow. Not with light but with warmth. She opened herself to the Medium, drawing in fire as she had with the Leering at the laundry. Firetaming, it was called. The orb glowed red hot in her hands, but it did not burn her. Ellowyn rose from her swoon,staring at her. It gave off some light, like staring into a bed of hot coals. Waves of heat wafted in the air. Colvin and Ellowyn both gathered around her, trying to block its light with their bodies. Each held out their numb hands and rubbed them, bathing them in the warmth. Warmth prickled through Lia’s body. The cold was driven out of her completely. Their clothes gave off steam.
“How are you…doing this?” Ellowyn whispered, her eyes searching Lia’s face. “How is it that you can use the Medium?”
“I will answer your questions later, Ellowyn. Warm yourself. Both of you.”
Colvin stared at the burning orb, at Lia’s hands, then into her eyes. He looked relieved and grateful. She could almost see his thoughts on his face. Using the Medium in a way that was not normally permitted. He looked bemused.
“Do not complain,” she told him with a half-smile.
“I am not,” he replied.
In silence, they enjoyed the heat from the orb until their shivers subsided. Lia felt warm throughout. The plunge into the river had shredded her weariness. She felt rested, ready to face what lay ahead. To face her death without flinching.
She felt their presence, drawn to the power of the Cruciger orb in some malignant hateful way. Drawn to the power of the Essaios. The smoke-shapes sniffed around them, mewling and hissing. Lia started to tremble again when she felt them. Their thoughts crammed against her mind, trying to daze her. Fear, despair, hopelessness.
The first pink of dawn appeared in the east.
“It is time,” Lia whispered, opening herself fully to the Medium’s power and its will.
Do with me as you may. I will sacrifice whatever I must to see him safe from here. Guide me.
Then as she looked down at the cooling orb, the spindles began to whirl.
Dawn awoke over the valley, bright and cloudless. If there could have been an ideal day for fog, it would have been then. But the cool morning air was devoid of any breeze, and Lia tromped through the high grass towards the mass of oaks forming the base of the grounds. Muirwood rose up in front of them, beautiful and calm. They had walked all night and still could not reach the higher ground before the sun exposed them. There was an army nestled in the valley to the west and to the east. She could see the soldiers and horses already beginning to form their lines. As they crossed the lush valley, she knew it was only a matter of time before they were seen. It would be a race to the woods, which she suspected were already thick with knights. They would have to fight to break through the line. She should have been worried. Instead she was thrilled. The orb led her towards the Sentinel oak, threading a needle between the two masses of men who had converged. She could see its massive branches towering over the others in the grove. There was an underground tunnel entrance there. If she could get Colvin and Ellowyn inside, she could return to one of the Leerings hidden in the woods and summon the defenses. So much depended on how many foes they faced.
“Horses,” Colvin warned just as the sound reached her ears. A row of mounted knights had detached from the columns and bore down on them across the field. There was no mistaking them.
“We run,” Lia said. “Remember the gully by the big oak? That is the way in. You remember the word to open the Leering?”
“Yes. Come, Ellowyn.” Colvin unsheathed his sword and grabbed the girl’s hand with his other and they started at a run.
Lia followed, bow in hand. Her heart pounded with excitement and fear. There were twenty horsemen, all wearing black. The mounts gained in speed, causing a thunder of hooves that grew louder and louder.
Colvin ran hard, the younger girl barely keeping up with him. The forest loomed ahead, drawing closer, but so were the charging knights. Lia’s breath came heavy and fast. As the knights bore down on them, she stopped, dropping to one knee and fired an arrow into the lead stallion. It shrieked with pain and went down and the other riders had to veer to miss it. She shot again, bringing down another horse, then another. Colvin and Ellowyn were almost to the trees. She sprinted hard and fast to catch up. Crossbow bolts whirred through the air at her, but most overshot. The knights were so close and she could see another group closing in from the other side.
Swords clanged and battered. Lia looked ahead and saw Colvin spinning around, cutting down a man who emerged from the woods. Ellowyn backed away from him as his sword whipped around again, slicing through another soldier. There were more behind them and Lia shot as she ran, amazed to hit even one, who crumpled and went down. Colvin and Ellowyn entered the woods and she could hear his sword clashing as it struck and parried the attacks against him. Lia sprinted harder, beating the charging knights before they reached her. The oaks would make it impossible to gallop. A soldier charged at her from behind a tree and she sent an arrow into his leg without slowing. More swordplay ahead. She could see Colvin and Ellowyn through the twist of trees. Dodging the trunks, she caught up at last, just as Colvin cut down another man. Three more faced him, snarling and yelling to their fellows for help. Lia took one down with an arrow and then slung the bow around her shoulder and drew her gladius and dagger. Colvin parried two separate thrusts against him and stabbed one through with his sword. Lia did not slow, she ran up to the last man who was swinging down at Colvin’s exposed back and blocked his swing with her gladius, stomped on his foot and slit him with her dagger. His face twisted with pain as he collapsed writhing to the ground.
“Which way?” Colvin gasped, his face streaked with sweat, his expression showing his barely tamed rage. The woods were impenetrable. The Sentinel oak was near, but what direction? Lia recognized the woods and pointed and then ran, listening to the sound of the knights dismounting and charging into the woods after them. A crossbow bolt thudded into a tree by her ear and she ducked. Glancing at her quiver, she saw that there were only five or six arrows left. The knights charged through the woods, shouting out loudly to draw others to them.
“This way! Over here! Over here!”
Lia heard the crashing of limbs and foliage, the crunch and crackle of dried leaves and snapping branches. Another crossbow bolt hissed at her, glancing off a tree and spinning wildly aside. She could not think of it. Colvin and Ellowyn dodged ahead of her, reaching the towering oak tree with its sagging branches. The ground was clear around it, without obstruction, making it easy to run past it. Lia risked a backward glance and saw several knights had reached the clearing as well. Shouts echoed throughout the grove, coming from every side.
“Which way!” Colvin shouted.
“The gully! Right there. Get the Leering open!”
Lia struck her gladius into the massive oak branch, sheathed her dagger in her belt and swung the bow off her shoulder. The men’s eyes bulged with anger and fear as she shot the first down. She stood firmly, without flinching, drew another shaft back to her ear and sent the second man down. The third rushed at her even faster, screaming with rage, raising his sword high to cut her down. She did not have enough time to draw another arrow. As he rushed her, she sidestepped his blow and jabbed the point of her bow into his throat. She could hear him gag and choke and she swung the bow around against his temple, stunning him. Grabbing her gladius, she sheathed it and started after the others as the fallen knights all twitched and groaned.