Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar

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'Captain! 'Ware—they've got a Mage at the center of their formation!' It was Carris' voice, booming across the panicked cries and painful screams of the newly dying. In spite of her fear, she gazed down to see him, sword readied, shield tossed aside and forgotten. The blade caught the fire of the camplight, and it glowed a deep orange.

You see? Another part of her taunted. You wouldn't have made a decent Herald after all. She hid in the trees, and Carris, broken arm and cracked ribs forgotten, stood in the center of the coming fray, his sword glowing dimly as it reflected the light of the fires.

No. She took a deep breath. Watched.

The guards met the bandits, but the bandits attacked like frenzied berserkers, and it was the caravan guards that took casualties. Kelsey could not make out individual faces or fighting styles—and she was thankful for it. What she could see was that somehow, the blows that the caravan guards landed seemed to cause no harm.

It was almost as if the enemies were being protected by an invisible shield. Magic. Magic.

Another horseman rode in, and stopped three yards from the mage. 'Sir,' he said. 'We've got a group of

them hiding by the riverside. Possible one or two have managed to cross it.'

The Mage cursed. 'Get the archers out, then,' he snarled. 'We can't afford to have anyone escape.'

'Can't you—'

'Not if you want to be safe from steel and arrow tips,' he replied grimly. 'Go.' He gripped the crystal around his neck more tightly.

Get down, Kelsey. She shivered as she saw the Mage close his eyes. Now's your chance. Get down. But her legs wouldn't unlock. Her hands shook. She watched the ground below as if the unfolding drama was on a stage that she couldn't quite reach.

Carris came out of the wings. She saw him, close to the ground, and nearly cried out a warning as the mounted soldier departed. But she bit her lip on the noise. He used the shadows, Carris did, and he moved as if he had no injuries. An inch at a time, he made his way to the Mage who sat on horseback, concentrating.

The horse shied back, and the Mage's eyes snapped open. Carris leaped up from the ground, swinging his sword. It whistled in a perfect arc; the Mage didn't have time to avoid it. The sword hit him across the chest arid shimmered slightly. That was all.

The man laughed out loud. 'You fool!' He cried. 'Did you think to harm me with that?' Carris swung again, and again the Mage did nothing to avoid the strike. 'Why, I think I know you—you're the little Herald that escaped us. It's probably best for you—you wouldn't have enjoyed the fate that you consigned your friend to suffer alone.'

Carris' next swing was wild, and it was his last; three foot soldiers came up, slowly, at his back. But the Mage lifted a hand, waving them off. 'No, this one is mine, gentlemen. Unfinished business.' He smiled. 'Don't you have merchants to kill?'

The soldiers nodded and stepped back almost uncertainly. If Kelsey had to guess, the Mage had probably killed one or two of them to keep them in line; they weren't comfortable with him; that much was clear.

'You can't think that you'll get away with this,' Carris said. It was, in all, a pretty predictable thing to say— and not at all what Kelsey would have chosen as her last words.

Something snapped into place for Kelsey as she thought that. / can't let him die with that for an exit line, she told herself, and very slowly, watching her back as much as possible, Kelsey began to shinny down the tree.

'I know we will,' the Mage replied, all confidence. 'Are you sure you don't want to continue your futile line of attack? It amuses me immensely.'

Carris lowered his sword.

'You could try the bow—you can wield it, can't you? It would also amuse me, and perhaps if I'm amused, you'll die quickly. I was embarrassed by your escape,' he added, his voice a shade darker. 'And have much to make up for to the Baron.'

Carris said nothing.

'Come, come. Why don't you join me? We can watch the death of all of your compatriots before we start in on yours. You see, you have a larger number of guards— but they aren't, like my men, immune to the effects of sword and arrow. It's a lovely magic I've developed, and it's served me exceptionally well. Come,' he added, and his voice was a command.

Like a puppet, Carris was jerked forward.

'Watch.'

It was almost impossible not to obey his commands. Kelsey looked up—and what she saw made her freeze for a moment in helpless rage. David was fighting a retreat of sorts—but he was backing up into another cluster of the enemy. He seemed to understand that the swords that the caravan guards wielded were only good for defense, for he parried, but made no attempt to strike and extend himself to people who didn't have to worry about parrying anymore.

A guard went down at David's side.

Kelsey bit her lip.

And then, because she was her grandmother's daughter—and more than that besides—she swallowed, took a deep breath, and crawled as quickly as possible to where the Mage sat enjoying the carnage.

She wanted to say something clever or witty or glib— but words deserted her. Only the ability to act remained, and she wasn't certain for how much longer. She lifted the bat, and, closing her eyes, swung it with all the force she could muster.

She had never heard a sound so lovely as the snapping of the Mage's neck. She would remember it more clearly than almost any other detail of the attack. Almost.

He toppled from his horse as the horse reared. She watched him crumple and fall, watched his body hit the ground. Then she lifted the bat and began to strike him again and again and again. Carris shouted something-she couldn't make out the words—as she began to try to shatter the crystal that hung at the Mage's neck.

Then she felt a hand on her arm, and swung the bat round.

'Kelsey, it's me!' Carris' face was about two inches away from hers. There was a bit of blood on it—but she thought it wasn't his. Couldn't be certain. 'You did it,' he said. He tried to pry the bat out of her hands, but her fingers locked tighter around it than a merchant's around his money chest. He let go of her hands and smiled. The grin was wolfish.

'We've got them, Kelsey. Thanks to you, they don't know that they can die yet—but they're about to find out the Mage is gone.' His teeth flashed. 'And they've been walking onto our swords because there's no risk to them.'

'Remind me,' she said faintly, 'not to make you mad.'

He looked down at the corpse at her feet. Laughed, loudly and perhaps a little wildly. 'You're telling me that?'

An hour later it was all over. People lay dead in pockets of blood across the width of the encampment. The merchants buried and mourned their own, but they left the bandits for carrion. The mounted men had fared the best, once they realized that they were vulnerable, and three at least had fled the arrows and bolts that the guards used against them. The rest joined their unmounted counterparts.

David, injured, was still alive. Kelsey was glad of it. She watched his wounds being bound by the doctor— the merchant Tuavo always traveled with a good physician as part of his caravan—and swung her bat up onto its familiar shoulder-perch. 'Hey,' she said.

'I know, I know. So we never make fun of strange barmaids who carry bats around the kitchen. Okay?'

She smiled. 'That's not what I'm here for. It's about my position as a caravan guard.'

'As a what?'

'Look, I'm a bit of a hero for the next hour, and I'll be damned if I don't use it to get out of peeling potatoes and onions for the next two months. You're going to vouch for me—is that clear?'

He laughed. 'As a bell.'

'Hello,' Kelsey said, as she caught Carris' shadow looming over her shoulder. 'Aren't you late for your shift?'

'The captain excused me. I've been,' he added, lifting his arm, 'injured in action.' He grinned and Kelsey laughed. She'd done a lot of that lately.