of boulders.
‘I come here everyyear orso,’ was the mysterious answer.
‘What business do you have in the desert?’ Sir Ferse asked.
‘The Circle has interest in all the affairs of the world. I go where I am sent,’ was his reply.
It had been weeks since they had entered the wastes and everyone had begun to think the journey would have no end. Each day they rose earlier and slept later. Before noon,they would find whatever shade they could and rest for several hours. In this way, the daytime heat became somewhat more tolerable.
They were leading their horses down a crumbling, red-stoned hill when Samuel felt magic ahead. At the same moment, Balten looked up with alarm and raised his hand for them to stop. He peered down towards the flat land, where dark clots of men were massing like ants, climbing from hidden cracks and crevices. Somewhere down there, magic was being readied.
‘What is it?’ Master Celios asked.
A spell crackled from far away and Samuel suddenly became aware of men on either side. They came chargingat the small group, leaping over the rocks and howling, holding their curved swords above their heads.
Horse was the first to react and he leapt from his horse and ran to meet the men, empty-handed. His strides were like bounds and he covered the distance in a heartbeat, slamming his fists into the first of the men and sending them flying. Others surged around him, but Horse was a blur of fists, ducking their blades and shattering their bones with lightning-fast strokes imbued by his innate magic.
More desert-men were inbound from their right and Eric saw to those with a series of curt spells, thrown from his saddle. In moments, the Paatin on either side had been dispatched, but many more were already scalingthe hilltowards them from below.
‘Leave the horses,’ Balten told them. ‘We run. Back for the top of the hill. We can hold them if we have the high ground.’
He abandoned his mount, then tucked his long,desert-style cloak into his trousers for ease, and began back up the rocky hill as fast as he could. The others did likewise and followed him, dropping from their saddles and scrambling to keep up. Horse climbed faster than everyone. He reached the crest first and stood eyeing the far side with concern. When Samuel finally arrived, panting for breath beside the Koian warrior, it was evident they had been surrounded, for a throng of pale-cloaked Paatin were already halfway up the far side of the rise, some clambering on all fours to come straight up at them, others following the zigzagging path that had been worn into the hill.
‘They are coming from all sides!’ Eric blurted outinalarm.
‘We can hold them,’ Balten said coolly. ‘Just keep the others in the middle to protect them.’ And he turned a grave eye to Samuel. ‘This is no time to hold back, Samuel. We need your strength.’
Master Celios was the first to send out his spells and,although he was not as powerful as the others, he began well by sending showers of loose stones down upon the desert-men, so that they had to cower behind rocks and shield themselves from the bombardment. Eric followed, joining the old Master and lifting great boulders. He sent them bouncing and crashing down the hill, crushing scores of Paatin beneath their weight. Balten faced the other side of the hill, where they had left their horses, and stood calmly holding a Morning Stance while he summoned his power. Samuel took the chance to slip on his ring and he shuddered as the power took hold of him, already smelling the caustic scent of magic in his nostrils. Canyon and Sir Ferse stood warily beside the god-woman, while Horse waited calmly for the attackers to draw nearer.
Balten had finished gathering his power and sent the first of his spells rolling down the hillside. Explosions rattled the slope, sending desert-men and their severedlimbsflying into the air. Their horses fled, frightened by the noise and went galloping awaydownthe steepdecline with their ears pulled back. Samuel joined Eric, tapping the Argum Stone as little as he could. He did not want to tire himself too quickly for,judging by the volume of men that surrounded them, the battle would not be over quickly. He sent waves of fire rolling down the hill that set their attackers rolling and thrashing and slapping at themselves. As they lost their footing,they went toppling down the hill, forming wailing pinwheels that tumbled and bounced and left their fellows diving out of the way. Thisinitial defence seemed successful, but a feeling tugging at his mind had Samuel worried for,on the far side of the hill, below where Balten was defending, Paatin magic was hard at work.
‘Where are they all coming from?’ he heard Eric shout from beside him.
‘They must have been following us for some time,’ Master Celios called back, ‘waiting for an opportune time to attack.’
‘We would have felt so many tracking us,’ Eric responded.
‘They can use our footsteps and subtle signs of the desert to follow us,’ Balten called back, following the conversation as he threw down more bolts of power. ‘Skilled trackers can know our every move from well beyond the horizon, once they have caught our trail.’
‘What is that?’ Canyon then cried, sounding shrill and pointing to Balten’s side of the hill.
Samuel turned his gaze and saw specks of desert-men leaping up the hillside towards them, bounding like fleas.
‘Paatin wizard-work!’ Balten called. He began aiming at the leaping figures with his spells, but the men leapt erratically, bounding over their countrymen and scaling the hill by the drove.
Samuel stood beside him and pointed his fist down the hillside. He called forth the energy of the ether and a screeching gale of magic swept out from within him. It washed down the hill and the first lines of Paatin it met grew incandescent, glowed red and then blew to dust as the spell burnt them to cinders. Leaping desert-men, caught in mid-air, shrieked and vanished as they were caught in the spell.
Balten nodded his approval, but Samuel had no time to savour the victory. A clot of fire was stuck in his chest and he laboured for breath against the pain. He felt a flood of magic building up within him, forcing its way through the passage he had opened, but he refused to be overcome. Inch by inch, he swallowed the magic down and forced closed his connection with the ring. Finally, he could breathe again and he turned away from the others and pulled the Argum Stone from his finger with desperation.
‘You will need to pace yourself, Samuel,’ Balten said. ‘The battle is only just begun.’
Looking down the hill,Samuel saw thatthe effect of his spell had vanished and the leaping desert-men he had defeated had only been replaced by hordes of more such men. Some were getting near and Samuel could see enormous,black, taloned legs jutting out frombeneaththeir pale cloaks, driving them into the air with each leap. They held no swords, but they had no need for,in place of hands,they had razor-sharp,chitinous claws. The men had saucer-likeeyes and came at them without emotion, stinking with the vile magic that had recently transformed them.
‘We need help here!’ Eric called and Samuel lurched around to find that waves of Paatin had nearly reached them from that side of the hill.
There were no bug-menhere, but with swords they were just as dangerous, shouting and trilling as they came, howling for blood. Some had scaled the rise further along and now came charging along the crest. Samuel considering putting his ring on again, but he quivered with hesitation. The thing was intensely painful to use and he needed time before subjecting himself to its punishment once again.
The first Paatin drew near and was coming straight for him, but the ring stayed inches from Samuel’s finger, held tightly in his other hand. He wanted to put it on, but somehow he could not do it,for even the memory of the pain was enough to make him recoil. As the curved sword came down upon him, he finally thought to run, too late- but the blow did not arrive. Horse had flown past him and had shoved a pointed finger into the desert-man’s throat, felling him instantly.
‘What’s wrong,Magician?’ Horse asked him in his cumbersome Old Tongue. ‘If you cannot use your magic, you must find other weapons to defend yourselfwith.’
Other Paatin came howling in and Horse danced around their blades. All the while, with each turn and opportunity, he kept one eye towards his god. The Koian warrior would protect Samuel while he could but,if even one Paatin came nearer to her, Samuel knew he would be left to fend for himself. Horse moved deftly and had three tan-cloaked men dead at his feet as more came rushing in upon him. He leapt high, vaulting from the small mound of bodies and into the pack of surprised desert-men, killing the first two while they still had their mouths open wide at the sight of him. Others continued past and made for Samuel and he wasagainleft wondering whether heshould resumewearing his ring or if he should run. This time Horse was busy, for blades surrounded him like a cage of
