Silver Shadows (34 page)

Arilyn threw up her hands in exasperation. “Fine. So we just sit here and let Bunlap’s men whittle us down, a few each battle?”

“There is something else to consider,” the elf said with obviously reluctance. “Perhaps the humans should settle with this Bunlap. They have laws, do they not?”

“Lots of them, but not the means to enforce them,” Arilyn said glumly. “No, our best chance is for me to take out Bunlap and scatter his men. At the very least, I can keep them busy and out of your hair until I think of something better to do.” She nodded decisively, then turned and began to stride away.

Foxfire stared after her, bemused by her quicksilver decision. At moments like this, the half-elf seemed utterly foreign to him, utterly human: impetuous, impatient.

He decided it did not matter.

The green elf jogged to Arilyn’s side. “Tell me what

Silver Shadows

267

you need, and I’ll see that you get it.”

She smiled thinly. “Several nice pelts would be a good start. I could also use some dried trail food—111 be traveling fast and the less time I spend hunting, the sooner HI get there.”

Tou will not go alone,” he told her. “I will go, and Ferret as well.”

Arilyn hesitated for moment, then nodded. She still didn’t like or trust the elf woman, but Ferret had proven to be an effective assassin. The wild elf female possessed deadly skills that might prove valuable, as well as no discernible scruples. Both would be useful qualities for the mission ahead.

As it turned out, there were four who set out on the three-day journey to the southern parts of Tethir. Hawkwing demanded to come along and, though Arilyn had reservations, she had to admit the young elf held up her end of the load. Hawkwing was among Arilyn’s finest students and had proven herself in battle more than once, but the Harper was not entirely certain the elf maid would perform as well once they were outside of the forest. The girl was too impetuous, utterly without fear or forethought. But as Arilyn had begun to realize, she had to accept whatever allies in this battle she could find.

The southward journey passed quickly, and shortly after highsun of the third day the four stood beneath the open sky. A stream ran southward from the forest. Arilyn set a path along this waterway, which quickly broadened and deepened as it neared the place where it would join the northern branch of the Sulduskoon. They walked along this tributary for several hours more before the Harper indicated a halt.

“See that hillock up ahead?” she asked, pointing. “It has been hollowed out to make a dwelling. See the etumplike chimney and those doors along the side?”

The green elves squinted, then nodded uncertainly. All the fey folk had in some measure the gift of perceiving

The Harpers

hidden doors, but this skill was seldom used by the forest-dwelling folk. In the forest, they could find a trail that would be invisible to the best human ranger, but out here, Arilyn’s eyes were sharper than theirs.

“This is an outpost for the fortress. The men stationed here control trade coming and going along this branch of the river. There are too many of them for us to fight, and even if we could attack in larger numbers than we have, they’d still have the advantage of position and arms. So this is what well do. First, gather some poles and lash together a raft. Fll need those pelts,” she said, nodding to the bundle Foxfire carried on his back.

The elf shouldered off the skins and watched with interest as Arilyn took two small vials from her pack. The Harper carefully sprinkled some brownish powder on one pelt, then doused it with liquid from the second bottle. That done, she pressed the two pelts together. This she repeated with each skin until they formed a small stack. She tied the bundle securely with a length of rope from her pack. By then Ferret and Hawkwing had finished their raft and come over to watch.

“I’m going to put this bundle on the raft and ride, alone, past that encampment. As a moon elf, I’m the most human-looking among us,” Arilyn said, forestalling Hawkwing’s ready protest. They’ll think me a trapper, floating goods downriver to the nearest trading post.”

She ran a hand lightly over the glossy pelt of a river otter. “I doubt they’ll let me pass by without demanding a few of these beauties as tax. More than likely, they’ll shoot me out of the water and take the whole pile.

“But no matter how bad it looks, stay out of sight,” she cautioned the elves. “Fll hit the water as soon as I can and swim away. When the mercenaries take their plunder in to examine, they’ll have a nasty surprise. Any one of those pelts, pulled away from other others, will trigger an explosion that should blow the top off that hillock.”

Silver Shadows

269

“Explosion?” queried Hawkwing.

“A sudden blast, like lightning,” Ferret explained tersely. “Like that human wizard threw at us in the forest. I didn’t know you could cast such spells!” she demanded, turning accusingly on Arilyn.

“I don’t,” Arilyn retorted. “This isn’t even magic— although it’s much the same in many ways. I just happen to have an associate who enjoys finding new ways to blow things up.”

“Like tossing a torch into rising swamp gas?” Foxfire asked.

“Exactly,” she agreed, relieved to have an explanation of alchemy the others could understand. “After the explosion, well revive a few of the survivors. We piece together uniforms, boats, passwords—anything that will help Ferret and me get closer to the fortress.”

The half-elf slipped off her chain mail, cloak, and boots and stashed them in the bushes near the stream. Not only would it be difficult to swim wearing such garments, but glittering armor and boots of elvenkind were not exactly the type of gear a poacher might wear!

Arilyn hesitated a moment before adding the rest of her disguise. She’d grown comfortable in her elven role, and she was none too eager to take on another. But she’d fought the men of Bunlap’s fortress before. It was likely that few moon elven females passed by, and any one might leave an imprint on their memories—especially one who had handed them a rather embarrassing defeat.

So she took a tiny pot of dark unguent from her pack and spread the cream over her face. She smoothed her hair down over her ears and tied it back at the nape of her neck with a bit of leather thong. Her pack yielded a rough cap, tightly rolled, which she shook out and placed low over her eyes. She loosened her shirt and let it hang over her swordbelt, then rolled up her leggings to her knees. That finished, she placed one hand on her moonblade and brought to mind a gangly, sun-browned

270

The Harpers

human lad. The trio of gasps from the elves told her the blade had done its task.

One of Arilyn’s predecessors had endowed the sword with the ability to cast minor glamours over the wielder. It was a slight effect, a small shifting of perception. Arilyn had learned to work with the moonblade’s magic to create a number of personas. Part of the transformation was done with small changes of costume, and she had learned to mimic the stance and movements of each character type she portrayed: a human lad, a courtesan, a gold-elf priestess, and perhaps a half-dozen more. But to the wild elves, her transformation from moon elf warrior to adolescent Tethyrian poacher must have been as startling—and as foreign—as anything a human wizard might accomplish!

But there was no time to soothe their surprise or explain the sword’s power. She ordered them to take cover in the bushes and to follow along out of sight. As soon as her companions were away, Arilyn tossed the furs onto the raft and waded into the stream. She knelt on the raft and began to guide it downriver with a long pole.

She was almost abreast of the hillock when the first arrow came at her. It went wide, but the visibility from the narrow strips of window carved into the barracks was such that she doubted the archer would know the difference. With a cry of feigned agony, she toppled off the raft and into the water.

Sound traveled well under the water, and as Arilyn clung to the rocks at the bottom of the river, she heard the puzzled oaths of the mercenaries who’d come out to finish off the poacher, only to find no trace of him. Arilyn watched as they caught the raft and pulled it ashore, and she blessed Black Pearl, her half-sea-elf friend, for the gift of the amulet that enabled her to stay underwater.

But it occurred to her, belatedly, that she should have explained this bit of stored magic to her companions.

Silver Shadows

271

Apparently the admonition to stay hidden and quiet regardless of how things appeared to be going had not been sufficient for the loyal Hawkwing. Arilyn’s blood chilled as a long, shrill cry filtered down to her through the water. She’d heard the elf maid’s battle yell often enough to know what it was.

Arilyn braced her bare feet against the stones and pushed up with all her might. She broke the surface of the water and swam for shore so that she could join her friends in battle. Where Hawkwing went, the others would surely follow.

The half-elf splashed ashore, drawing her sword as she came. The scene before her was not encouraging. At least thirty men poured from the barracks—far too many for the four of them to handle. Arilyn kicked into a running charge. Even so, she could do nothing but watch as the fierce elf child went down, clutching at the bright ribbon that a mercenary’s sword had opened along the length of her fighting arm.

But Hawkwing was nothing if not resilient. She rolled aside, slapping her dagger into her other hand as she went. The elven girl came up with a fire in her eyes that no amount of blood could quench—not hers, and certainly not that of her enemies.

Arilyn reached the nearest of the mercenaries and delivered a vicious backhanded slash. The man got his sword up in time to parry, but the speed and force of her blow knocked the weapon from his hand. The half-elf stepped back, then lunged in, her sword driving precisely between the man’s third and forth ribs and into his heart. She pivoted slightly, putting the soldier’s body between herself and the charging attack of a second man. She planted her foot in the dead mercenary’s middle and kicked him off her blade—and into the second man’s path.

The charging mercenary couldn’t pull up in time, and the sword he held before him in a lancelike attack thrust deep into his comrade’s body. Arilyn circled

272

The Harpers

around behind the confused human with three quick steps. With a mighty, chopping blow she severed his spine before he could withdraw his blade.

She whirled, moonblade held before her in guard position, to face the approach of a third man. This one moved with a light, measured tread and wore an expression of supreme self-confidence. He smirked as he raised his sword in a parody of the salute that would begin a gentleman’s duel.

A nobleman’s son turned soldier-of-fortune, Arilyn reasoned, one who was prepared to amuse himself at the expense of the commonborn lad before him. In short, an idiot.

Arilyn let out a brief; disgusted hiss. She parried the rogue nobleman’s first lunge, countered with a quick underhand sweep—which was also deftly parried—and followed up with a flurry of ringing exchanges. He met each of the thrusts and returned as often as he parried. The man was good, but not nearly as skilled as he seemed to think he was.

The half-elf spun, faked a stumble, and went down on one knee with her back toward him. To all appearances, it would be a fatal fumble. She could almost feel his supercilious smile as he raised his sword for the killing blow.

Arilyn listened to the whistling sweep of the descending blade; then, at precisely the right moment, she lifted her moonblade up high overhead to meet it. She leaped to her feet and turned hard to confront him, pushing their joined blades around and down as she came. The speed of the unexpected attack threw the swordsman off-balance. Arilyn, however, lashed up high and hard, severing one of the man’s ears as the moonblade flashed up over his head. Her opponent howled with pain, but only briefly, for Arilyn pivoted to the left and swept the moonblade across in a hard, level stroke. The man’s head rolled from his shoulders.

Arilyn continued the swing, pulling her right elbow

Silver Shadows

273

back until her two-fisted grip was tightly pressed against her right shoulder. She face off against the nearest man and stepped toward him, her left foot leading and sword thrusting out straight and hard toward his throat. He could not even lift a blade in time to parry.

Pulling her sword from the dead man’s throat, she spun about to see how her companions were faring.

Not well. Hawkwing was down, and Ferret was pressed on all sides. The elven war leader was doing his best to work his way through to any one of the beleaguered females, but he was badly outnumbered. Even if he’d been fighting one-on-one, Foxfire’s bone dagger was not designed for battle against tempered steel.

As if in response to her thoughts, the elf s dagger shattered under the attack of a mercenary’s sword. The elf leaped aside, agile and quick, but several men closed in, and Arilyn knew he could not long avoid them.

Her next response was pure instinct. She held her bloodstained blade high and shouted a command to the magic imprisoned within: “Come forth! All of you!”

At Arilyn’s summons, magic exploded from the moonblade—a white, swirling mist that rose into the air with a force and fury rivaling that of a waterspout at sea.

Every combatant on the field froze and stared at the brief, spectacular manifestation. Then it was gone, and in its place stood several battle-ready elven warriors, each armed with a sword identical to the moonblade that had called them forth. These advanced on the befuddled humans, and the battle began anew.

For a moment Arilyn could do nothing but gaze in awe at her ancestors, all the elves who had wielded her moonblade since the days of its forging in long-ago Myth Drannor.

There was Zoastria, tiny and wraithlike—the most insubstantial of the elfshadow warriors. The elf woman’s angular face was a mask of frustration as she slashed at the human mercenaries with her sword, a

274

The Harpers