Lightnings Daughter (38 page)

The King Stallion neighed to call his horses back. Magic was a weapon they could avoid, but the horses had no riders to defend them against stone clubs. The five Hunnuli reluctantly withdrew, leaving the magic-wielders and their mounts to their duty.

Before the three sorcerers reached the island shore, the battle was joined. The gorthling fired at Gabria and the two men with a rapid-fire assault of the Trymian Force and other destructive bolts of power. Fortunately for all three, the gorthling was using so much strength to maintain his tremendous size, his bolts of magic were not as powerful as before. The greatest danger lay in the gorthling's stone club, which he swung at the riders whenever they got too close.

The riders quickly discovered another danger. The land around the temple was uneven and rough underfoot. Rocks, boulders, tough shrubs, vines, and small saplings covered the island and made movement on horseback difficult. The gorthling made ful use of the uneven ground, forcing the Hunnuli to constantly maneuver over the stony island.

The gorthling himself did not try to move, for the little group of hostages was clinging together in a terrified huddle between his huge legs. They did not dare run, and neither the Hunnuli nor the magic-wielders could reach them as long as the beast stood over them.

It was not long before the gorthling noticed that only the sorceress was offering any real counterattack. She fired her own spells at him while the men only tried to distract him with awkward feints whenever possible. They were rank beginners, he realized gleeful y. That noted, he began to concentrate his attack on Athlone and Sayyed, forcing Gabria to expend more and more of her energy to defend her companions.

As time went on, the battle grew more desperate. Gabria silently thanked the gods for the Hunnuli herd. She knew she and the two men would not have lasted so long against the gorthling if they'd had to defend the crowds. The horses stopped several bolts of magic, and their presence kept the gorthling penned on the island.

But even with the help of the Hunnuli, the struggle was tel ing upon the three humans. Athlone's and Sayyed's inexperience was beginning to show. Their shields were weakening, and several times the gorthling nearly knocked them from their horses. Gabria's fear for them intensified.

Gabria, too, was tiring. She had faced the brunt of the gorthling's attack, and she knew her strength would not last much longer. She pressed the gorthling harder with the Trymian Force, with fireballs, smoke, and flights of arrows. She tried everything she could think of, yet her magic had no effect. The gorthling's size and greater strength helped him ward off her blows with ease. Gabria was running out of ideas.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

Sayyed's Hunnuli, Afer, was near the sacred ring when he abruptly slipped on a mossy stone and his front hoof slid down between a cluster of rocks. The stallion lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground. The snap of his foreleg was heard al over the island.

Sayyed was thrown over the stallion's head into the rocks. The Turic lay dazed while his Hunnuli tried frantically to free his broken leg and defend his rider. The other Hunnuli neighed in strident, ringing calls, and Eurus and Nara sprang forward to help the fallen horse and rider.

The gorthling moved faster, grabbing the dazed Turic with one huge hand. Sayyed was bleeding heavily from a cut on his head and was too stunned to try to escape. Nara and Eurus started toward the giant in the stone circle.

The gorthling laughed, and his eyes glowed red. "Now," he bel owed, brandishing his stone club with one hand and Sayyed's struggling form in his other, "watch one of your own die.

To the watchers' horror, Branth hoisted the young Turic over his head. Sayyed fought back weakly, his face working with fear when he saw the ground far below.

Across the river, Tam stood by the Hunnuli colt and Lord Sha Umar, watching the battle. She had not moved from the riverbank since Gabria had left, and she had ignored Sha Umar's offer for food or drink. Her hand stayed on the colt's neck and her eyes remained on the island.

When Afer fell, Tam stiffened and her mouth opened slightly. She watched in growing apprehension as the gorthling grabbed Sayyed. A tiny whimper escaped her lips. When Tam saw the creature lift Sayyed into the air, she quivered with anger and fear. A fury that she had never known before exploded at the injustice and cruelty of losing another person she loved. No, her young mind cried, not again. No! No!"

"No!"

Tam's voice rang out loud and clear across the water. At the same time, she instinctively used her wild talent to project her into furious thought into the human brain of the gorthling.

The effect was stunning. The protest burst on the gorthling's unprepared mind like an explosion, sending him staggering back. He let go of the Turic and clamped his hands to his head. His concentration broken, he dropped his stone club and began to shrink back to normal size.

The magic-wielders reacted instantly. Before Sha Umar could stop her, Tam jumped on the smal Hunnuli and galloped him toward the island. Gabria broke Sayyed's fall by transforming the stones beneath him into a thick pile of hay, and Athlone fired a bolt of the Trymian Force at the unprotected gorthling. The bolt was weak and uncontrol ed, but it was enough to knock Branth onto his back and give Sayyed a chance to escape.

"Get to the other side of the river!" Gabria cried.

The Turic did not listen. Instead of retreating, he flung himself into the group of hostages. The gorthling screeched in rage. He fired a blast at the people huddled together, but Sayyed formed a shield over them all. The Trymian Force bounced harmlessly away.

The gorthling felt his twinge of fear return and grow stronger. He immediately revived his own defensive shield. Now he had no escape route, no hostages for safety, and no place to retreat. He was trapped, and while his enemies were tiring, so was he. He could no longer maintain his gigantic size or the ful power of his Trymian Force. The thought occurred to him that he had seriously underestimated these humans. He paused for a moment, breathing heavily, and looked around the island for some means of turning this battle in his favor.

Gabria and Athlone took advantage of the brief respite to regroup. Nara clattered over the rocks closer to Eurus, and their two riders watched the gorthling warily.

“We seem to be in a stalemate,” Athlone said between deep breaths. "What do we do now?"

Gabria frowned in frustration. "I really don't know. He can't leave the island, but I still don't know how to send him back to Sorh's realm. Nothing I do works!" She glanced the temple. "Sayyed, are you all right?"

The Turic answered without his usual humor. "We are safe for the moment."

Tam and the colt trotted up the bank and hurried into temple to join Sayyed. He seemed relieved to see her, so Gabria merely shook her head and let the girl stay for the moment. Tam was already slipping out of the temple to help Afer free his leg, and several Hunnuli from the herd were coming to join her.

Tam would be well protected.

The gorthling saw the Hunnuli coming, too, and his anger rekindled. He could still slaughter these people and drive away the infuriating horses. Abruptly he ended the respite and fired a bolt at Athlone, hoping to catch the chief unprepared. To his fury, the man’s big stal ion stopped the magic on his powerful chest.

“Give up, you feeble humans. You wil never defeat me,” the gorthling taunted. "I will be here forever! As long as there are bodies to inhabit. No one has ever conquered the gorthlings of Sorh."

“You're forgetting Valorian,” Athlone retorted, "and Matrah. He shot a blue bolt at the gorthling's defense shield.

His blast exploded harmlessly, but his words set off a small spark of thought in Gabria's mind. Like a streak of lightning, the thought burst into an incandescent inspiration.

She slapped the heavy bag at her side. "That's it! Of course. Valorian knows!" she cried. The diamond splinter in her wrist flared from her excited burst of energy.

Athlone stared at her sudden transformation. "What are you talking about?"

"The mask!" she said, trying to keep her voice down. "Quick, Athlone, Tam! Get into the temple and join Sayyed."

The little girl had just released Afer's broken leg from the rocks, so she patted the injured horse and hurried to obey, leaving him with the other Hunnuli.

Athlone hesitated. "What are you planning?"

"If Branth can summon something from the realm of the dead, so can I," Gabria replied excitedly.

"Not another gorthling."

"Of course not. I'm going to try to use the power in the mask to summon Valorian. If I am successful, he can tell us how to rid ourselves of that beast."

Athlone was awestruck by the simplicity and audacity of her plan. Valorian. My gods! Athlone thought. Without another word he took Eurus into the temple.

Gabria loosed two quick bolts at the ground by the gorthling's shield. As they exploded in a cloud of dirt and gravel, she and Nara hurried through the ring of stones after Athlone and joined the group of people in the center of the temple.

Before the gorthling could retaliate, Sayyed lowered his shield and renewed it around the entire group, including Nara, Eurus, and the colt.

"By the gods," Wer-tain Guthlac said to his chief, "I'm glad to see you!" He instinctively ducked when the gorthling fired a blast at the shield.

The other hostages stared at Gabria in confusion and hope. She gave them what she hoped was a confident smile and untied the bag from her belt. The mask felt heavy in her hands. She turned to Athlone and said, "I will not be able to help you maintain the shield while I do this spel . You, Sayyed, and Tam will have to protect us all."

He grinned. "Gladly."

Her green eyes sparkled at his reply. "Two months ago I would never have thought you would say that."

"You've taught me well," the chieftain replied.

He went to stand by Sayyed and Tam, and the three joined their wills together to hold the magical shield around the beleaguered group. The gorthling shrieked in rage. He fired more arcane blasts at the shield to try to weaken it, but for now, the three magic-wielders held it firm.

Gabria slid to the ground and leaned back against Nara. The mare curved her neck around Gabria and nickered softly.
In the memory of my sires, Valorian was a tall man, dark-haired, proud, kind, and
fearless. Bend your wil toward him through the mask. Perhaps he wil hear you.

The sorceress bowed her head. She did not know a formal spel for summoning a being from the realm of the immortals, so she would have to create one of her own. Nara's suggestion sounded as plausible as any idea she might decide upon. She straightened and turned to face the flat stone altar on the eastern side of the temple.

The hostages watched her in growing amazement. The clanspeople on the riverbanks who could see her muttered among themselves, wondering what was happening.

The sorceress studied the stones stil standing around her. Legends said that Valorian dwelled with the gods, beyond the realm of the dead. What better place from which to summon him than a sacred temple? If there was any place on the Dark Horse Plains where the world of man touched the unseen realm of the gods, the Tir Samod was it.

"Amara, give me strength," Gabria prayed.

Reverently, she held the golden mask up to the sky. As the sunlight sparkled on the enigmatic face, the mask tingled in her hands.

Gabria closed her eyes. One by one, she focused on the sounds around her---the curses of the gorthling as it struggled to break through their defenses, the murmur of the hostages behind her, the click of the horses' hooves on stone, the ripple of the rivers-and one by one, she shut them out of her mind until there was only a vast silence.

Into the silence she sent her plea to Valorian. She bent her wil into the magic of the mask and called him with every fiber of her being. The world around her seemed to recede until she was floating in a limitless, lightless, ethereal realm beyond the bounds of her earthly senses. She went without fear into the darkness and continued to cal Valorian with her heart, mind, and soul.

Time passed, although Gabria did not feel it. Her mind was wrapped around the image of a tall, dark-haired warrior with a cleft chin and the look of eagles in his face. She had to find him. The safety of his people depended upon it.

Her summons went on without pause until, far ahead in the horizonless distance, she saw a light appear like sunlight through a crack. Gabria moved instinctively toward it, staring at the brilliant, shimmering golden radiance until its power filled her being and tested the measure of her spirit. A warm sense of comfort and familiarity enveloped her.

The mask shifted in her hands. The light vanished, and the sounds of the world rushed back. Around the island the Hunnuli horses neighed a trumpeting welcome. Gabria was so surprised she opened her eyes and looked at the mask.

The most vivid pair of blue eyes she had ever seen looked back at her.

The death mask twitched, stretched, and the mouth suddenly lifted into a smile. "I have come, Daughter. As you have asked." The golden face spoke in a voice both powerful and kind. Its words rang out over the island and were heard as far away as the riverbanks.

Gabria nearly dropped the mask in astonishment. She had not known what to expect when she tried to summon Valorian. She had only used the mask as a focal point for her spell. She raised the mask up again.

A question formed in her mind, but she could not bring herself to ask if this truly was the Hero-Warrior from the clans' distant past.

The mask glowed with a pure radiance, the same light Gabria realized she had seen in her mind. "I am he whom you have cal ed. I am the essence of the man once named Valorian.”

For a moment, Gabria was overcome with joy and awe and an overwhelming desire to cry and laugh at the same time. "I can't believe you have come," she said, trying to calm her' shaking hands.

"Your power is strong, my daughter. Your need must be great."