Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) (12 page)

but I’d live. The extra weight meant it delivered more than ten times the energy

of the original version, and there were all kinds of things I could do with that.

For starters, I could enchant it to surround the wearer with a force shield

on command so I wouldn’t have to do that myself. I carefully constructed a

substantial energy reservoir to hold the shield up against any sudden flurry of

blows, and took advantage of the hefty power supply to make the barrier

considerably stronger than the ones I’d been using as well. With that running I

might actually make it through the next fight without getting covered in blood.

But I couldn’t count on it withstanding every attack, so the next function I

build in was automatic healing. There was no way to make it especially

intelligent about how it dealt with complicated injuries, but it was surprisingly

straightforward to have it just indiscriminately dump healing energy into the

wearer. The result should look like natural healing sped up by a factor of a few

hundred, which ought to make even really serious injuries survivable.

I had a thousand other ideas, but my crafting was interrupted by dinner.

That was a communal affair for the whole group, although I was surprised

to note that Avilla seemed to be running things. She stood at the hot stone

surrounded by a clump of peasant women, who seemed happy enough to follow

her directions even if most of them were older than she was. The younger ones

passed around plates of flatbread and bowls of a surprisingly Asian-looking

vegetable stir fry, although I doubt sliced wolf flank was a common ingredient

even in China. A couple of the older women stood by the improvised stove

slicing vegetables and filling bowls, while Avilla merrily cooked and gave

directions at the same time.

There was no table, of course, but Beri led me to an empty stretch of floor

she and Tina had apparently staked out for me. Cerise brought me food with a

little grin that said she was amused at playing servant, or perhaps it was just

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the way her girlfriend was taking charge again.

“I see Avilla has things in hand here,” I commented.

“Looks like it.” She shook her head. “Don’t let her fool you. She acts all

meek and innocent, but when she decides she wants something she always

makes it happen.”

“She’s a good woman,” Sergeant Thomas put in from where he was

sitting a few feet away. “Brave, a good cook, and a real beauty. If she wasn’t

taken already some noble’d snatch her right up when we get to town.”

“When’s that like to be?” Another voice put in, and I turned to find that

old Hrodir had made his way over to join us. “If we’re still headed to Lanrest

we’ll be out of supplies before we make it, unless you mean us to eat

monsters.”

I was too busy eating to answer for a moment. Damn, but Avilla could

cook. Most of the vegetables were unfamiliar, but if I closed my eyes I could

almost imagine I was back on Earth in some fancy Asian restaurant.

But these people needed leadership, and Captain Rain was still in no

shape to give it. As crowded as the room was quite a few of the refugees could

hear our conversation, and I had no doubt they’d pass on anything interesting

they overheard. Time to get my game face back on.

“The wolves seem pretty tasty, actually,” I observed. “I’m sure I can hunt

down another one if need be, and turnabout is fair play.”

Several of the young men laughed at that, and one of them made some

comment about getting a taste for wolf heart. The bravado was encouraging,

but what surprised me was the feral grins from some of the young women.

Maybe the local villagers were made of sterner stuff than I’d thought?

Hmm. Or maybe Avilla’s magic was having more of an effect that

anticipated. That could be useful.

“As for our destination, I’m open to suggestions,” I went on. “I’m not

crazy about spending a week walking through the woods fighting off every troll

and goblin in the area, so I’m looking into some magic to help us all travel

faster.”

One of the older men shook his head. “Ain’t nothin good ever comes of

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common folk messing with dark forces,” he grumbled.

“Ah, shut it, Jed,” another one exclaimed. “The wizard knows what he’s

doing.”

Judging from the expressions that was a contentious issue. Several men

had nodded knowingly at Jed’s comment, and now others were looking angry.

“No, he has a point,” I interrupted before an argument could get going.

Startled faces turned to me, and I went on. “Magic is a dangerous tool,

especially if you can’t see the power you’re working with. It’s like a

blacksmith trying to use an invisible flame - even if you’re careful you’re going

to get burned sooner or later. Normally I’d advise you all to stay well away

from it, unless one of you had natural talent and wanted to spend a few years

training to master it.”

“But with the woods full of monsters and the weather getting worse,

magical dangers are the least of your problems right now. If we keep on the

way we have been we’re going to keep losing people, and the slower we move

the worse it will be. So unless you think you’re lucky enough to walk from here

to Lanrest on your own without getting eaten, you’re going to have to risk it.

I’ll do my best to make this as safe for you all as I can, but you’d better listen

close when my apprentices and I are giving directions or you never know what

might happen.”

Hrodir nodded. “You’ve been a godsend so far, sir wizard. We’ll trust

you to see us through.”

That seemed to settle the issue, at least for most of the group.

Unfortunately the conversation then turned to the topic of our destination and its

likely safety, or lack thereof.

No one in the group had a map, so I had to struggle to piece together a

mental picture of this land’s geography as the older villagers discussed the

various towns and castles they’d heard of. I quickly gathered that the

reputations of the local lords were a bigger factor in their minds than the

defenses of their settlements, for reasons that would never have occurred to

me.

“Baron Stein might take us all in if we make it to Lanrest,” Hrodir

explained when I brought it up. “But then again he might not. He’s not the sort

of lord who forgives taxes during a famine, if you take my meaning. Like as not

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he’ll decide we’re just more mouths to feed, unless he figures he’s got a use

for us.”

“Yeah, but no one else has any obligation to us at all,” Gronir pointed out.

Hrodir shrugged. “Fair enough. But it ain’t like they’re going to be

checking close about what village we came from, is it?”

I chuckled. “Well, I’ll say one thing. I can see a lot of lords might panic

and shut everyone out of their towns, especially if they aren’t stocked for a

siege and their priests are warning them about what’s coming. But a man who

reacts like that only a week into a crisis isn’t going to hold his people together

for long. Panic spreads, and once his vassals start looking out for themselves

instead of pulling together their defenses will fall apart quick. I’m not

interested in getting my own people caught in a mess like that, so if that’s what

we find at Lanrest I’ll be moving on with you.”

Most of the group seemed shocked at that, but Hrodir just nodded. “I

thought you might see it that way, sir.”

“I, ah, that’d put us in a bad spot, sir,” Sergeant Thomas said hesitantly.

“The company was in service to Baron Stein, y’see.”

“Hmm. Are you his vassals, or some kind of mercenary outfit?”

“Oh, that’s kinda complicated, sir. We’re technically part of the Margold

garrison, that’s a big free city down on the coast. But the city fathers don’t like

payin fer troops to sit around the barracks causing trouble, so they hire us out

to the country nobles. We get half pay from Margold, an make up the rest on

mercenary contracts. So I’d hate to abandon these folk, but breaking a contract

don’t sit right neither.”

I scratched my chin. “Fair enough. I’ll point out that I could make a good

argument the ‘5th Marigold Foot’ doesn’t exist anymore, but that’s going to be

up to your captain. I expect he’ll be well enough to make decisions by then,

even if he isn’t back on his feet yet.”

“That’s good to know, sir.”

After that it was all pointless wrangling over questions we couldn’t

resolve. The light dimmed quickly as the discussion dragged on, and the

women collected the bowls and utensils and washed up.

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None of the women joined the conversation, not even Avilla or Cerise.

Apparently women were supposed to be seen and not heard around here, at

least when the men were talking. It was quite odd to see such a large group

meekly complying with an informal rule like that, but if they minded they

certainly didn’t show it.

I did notice that some of the older women would pause to whisper in a

husband or son’s ear now and then, and these incidents were often followed a

few minutes later by a new question or a change of opinion. But they were

discreet about it, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t still

concentrating on figuring out the local customs.

At length it started getting hard to see, and the discussion broke up as the

refugees went to bed. Sergeant Thomas went off to set up a watch schedule,

and Cerise sauntered over to collect me.

“Bedtime, master,” she murmured suggestively. “Unless you’re going to

stay up all night working magic in the dark and exhaust yourself again.”

“I could come up with a way to make light if I wanted to,” I pointed out.

“But I suppose it would keep you awake.”

“Mmm hmmm. Come on, you. Avilla’s got her little minions all set up to

make sure we have some privacy. If you disappoint her again she’ll never stop

pouting.”

I frowned as we passed through the door to the private chamber I’d made.

The maids had apparently set up their bedrolls right next to the door, and were

waiting there to close it behind us.

“Wait, what’s Avilla disappointed about?” I asked Cerise as we passed

through the door.

Cerise rolled her eyes. “You can’t be that oblivious. Is this that weird age

thing again?”

“Age thing? What age thing?”

The door closed behind us with a solid thump, and the million background

noises of the refugees were abruptly cut off.

“You know, where you were all put off because one of the captain’s girls

is only fourteen? I guess that’s supposed to be to be too young where you’re

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from?”

“Well, yes,” I replied hesitantly. “But what does that have to do with

Avilla?”

“Nothing,” the girl in question put in. “I’m at least twenty, no matter how

you count it.”

I turned to face her as she sat up from the nest of blankets she’d been lying

in, and gulped.

A single candle lit the tiny room, revealing a breathtaking expanse of

flawless feminine curves. Her breasts rode high and firm despite their

impressive size, shifting slightly with her breathing. A cascade of golden silk

spilled down across them, framing their magnificence while hiding absolutely

nothing. Good god. She was even more beautiful than I’d thought.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Cerise said wryly. “I was starting to worry you

were gay.”

I realized I was staring, and tore my gaze away. “Um, what… urp.”

I was just in time to see Cerise finish unbuttoning her dress, and shrug it

off her shoulders to whisper down into a pool at her feet. She wore nothing

underneath, and while her lithe body might not catch the eye as firmly as

Avilla’s sumptuous curves it had its own undeniable appeal.

“Ah, girls? I thought you two were…”

“Lesbians?” Cerise prompted. “Nah, that would be way too limiting.

Hedonism is a big part of my craft.”

“I still say you’re just a natural sex fiend,” Avilla teased.

“Maybe.” Cerise leaned against me, and slipped one hand up under my

shirt. “So, Daniel, ever been with two witches at once before?”

“Ah, no? You know, girls, I thought you were just getting into that

‘apprentice’ act.”

“Does that mean we can’t properly thank our hero?” Avilla asked. “We’d

both be dead three times over now if not for you, Daniel. Let us finally show

you our gratitude.”

“Yeah.” Cerise took my head in her hands, and met my gaze with eyes that

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were suddenly full of emotion. “Thank you, Daniel. Thank you for saving my