Mortalis

The form came closer, walking with a determined stride and swinging something-a battle-ax, perhaps-in one hand.

'That will be close enough, sir,' Pony said suddenly, and the man jerked to an abrupt halt.

A long moment of silence passed, and then the large man laughed and brought his arms about, slamming his weapon against the flat of a metal shield.

'What?' Belster groaned, rolling.

'Stay down,' Pony instructed him. She rose up to a crouch, inching toward the man and glancing all about, expecting that he had allies nearby.

'Are you the friend of the fool Kilronney? ' the man bellowed, that alone giving Pony a good idea of who this might be.

'And if I am? ' Pony replied, as she neatly kicked at one of the smoldering branches on the fire. She slipped low and grabbed it up, giving a shake so that the breeze brought a flare of life to it. By the time she had taken two steps, the end of the branch was aflame, giving her a better view of the man-and him, and any allies he might have, a fine view of her.

He didn't seem very old-mid-thirties perhaps-but his curly hair was more silver than its previous blond, as was his full beard. He wore a sleeveless jerkin, showing hardened, muscled, hairy arms, with leather bracers about his wrists. Even more notable to Pony, the man's shield was battered and torn, and his axe head was notched from previous encounters.

'Seano Bellick,' she remarked casually, moving closer to the man and tossing the burning branch to the ground at her side-anything to make it more difficult for any hidden associates the man might have to get a clear shot at her.

The big man laughed.

'Who's here? ' Belster called from behind.

'Stay back, near the wagon,' Pony instructed sharply.

'Ah, you got nothing to fear from me,' Seano Bellick said. 'I come to talk, not to fight, and I fight fair.'

Pony's expression clearly revealed her serious doubts about that. There was very little this man could say to calm her, she realized, for he had injured her dear friend, and Pony almost hoped he would wade in and take a swing with that cumbersome axe of his.

'Talk then,' she said grimly.

Seano Bellick gave a great belly laugh. 'A spirited one, eh?' he said.

'You could have spoken to me in the town,' Pony retorted. 'My whereabouts were no secret.'

Bellick shrugged. 'Well, I found you now.'

Pony didn't blink, didn't return her hand to Defender's hilt, confident that she could draw and thrust before the man could take a step.

'You got quite the reputation about here,' Seano said. 'Fighting goblins and powries and even giants, so it's said about Pony.'

'Jilseponie,' the woman corrected, and Seano bowed.

'So it's said about Jilseponie,' he remarked. 'And now you come into town and fix the torn fingernails and the blisters and the bad-food stomach. Making a name for yourself.'

Pony wanted to argue that if he really thought she had done, and was doing, all that in the hopes of making a name for herself, that he was sorely mistaken; but she quickly came to the conclusion that this thug wasn't worth the time to explain-and wouldn't begin to understand her, anyway.

Seano nodded his head. It was quite clear to Pony where this was going, though she had no intention of making it easier for the man by instigating any action.

'I doubt not that the reputation is well earned, Po-Jilseponie,' Seano said. 'And that makes it all the sweeter for me. Take out that fancy sword of yours and show me what you been showing goblins.'

'Walk away,' Pony replied. 'I've got nothing for you, Seano Bellick. Not half the reputation you seem to think you can earn this night and not enough wealth to make a fight worth your time or effort. Put up your ugly axe and walk away, south to Caer Tinella or into the deep forest where a bear can take you, if that is your pleasure.'

'Nothing I want?' Seano echoed skeptically. 'Why, taking you down'd make the name of Seano Bellick feared from Palmaris to Caer Tinella, would make Duke Kalas know what a fool was Bildeborough for cutting me out before he got killed.'

The words hardly surprised Pony.

'Nothing I want?' Seano said again, even more incredulously. 'Why, you got a magic gemstone, girlie. A prize most appreciated by all of them about, now that you've shown what it can do.'

'And know that you have no power with it,' Pony remarked.

'But others will be wanting it,' Seano snapped back, his agitation obviously increasing. 'And others'd pay for it with good gold. And, besides, if I got your stone, then others'll know I took it from you, that you didn't give it to me agreeably. 'So give it over and save me the trouble, and yourself the pain, of me taking it from you,' he finished, flashing a nearly toothless, ugly grin.

Pony paused for a long moment, sizing the fellow up. Still she kept Defender in its sheath. 'I expect that my reputation is not nearly as impressive as you make it sound,' she answered slowly and very calmly, 'at least, not to you.'

'I've a bit of a reputation of my own,' the big man replied.

'One I know well,' Pony answered. She took a deep, steadying breath, clearing out her anger and replacing it with simple pragmatism and generosity. 'Seano Bellick,' she said, again in calm and perfectly controlled tones, 'while I'd dearly love to pay you back for the pain you have caused to my friend-'

'Another tough girlie,' he interjected snidely.

Pony winced, thinking that Colleen, if she had been in top fighting form, would have had little trouble with this braggart. 'I choose to fight not at all with humans,' she went on. 'The world is full of enough enemies without us making war on each other. So, with that in mind, I offer you now, indeed I beg you, to put up your axe and walk off.'

'Give me the gemstone and away I go,' Seano said.

Pony slowly shook her head. 'Do not do this.'

'Are ye all right, girl?' Belster called. Pony couldn't afford even the slightest bit of her attention for the innkeeper, and so she ignored the remark, her focus squarely on Seano.

'Take out your sword,' the big man said.

'Walkaway.'

'Last warning.'

'Walkaway.'

Predictably, Seano Bellick roared and leaped at Pony, and her sword snapped out in the blink of Seano's eye, stabbing ahead, forcing the man to rise to his tiptoes, suck in his gut, and skid to an abrupt halt. To his credit, Seano improvised well, slashing his axe to hold Pony back, then advancing as he came across with a wicked backhand slash, and then a third straightacross slash, to hold Pony at bay while he regained his balance and took a defensive posture.

A sudden thought came to Pony to go for her soul stone, to fall into its depths and invade this thug's mind, overpowering his will and forcing him to run off. 'No,' she answered that pacific notion as Seano roared and came on again, feigning a downward chop, then falling back slightly, then stutter-stepping suddenly ahead, launching a wicked slash that missed the backing Pony. 'No,' Pony said again, more determinedly, coming to the realization that she didn't want to chase him off, that she wanted to pay him back for his treatment of Colleen, and even more than that, that she wanted to use this deserving target to unleash all of her months of pent-up frustrations. 'No, don't you run off, Seano Bellick,' she whispered. The big man eyed her skeptically and attacked again-missing again as the nimble woman skittered back, one, two, three steps, always in perfect balance.

Seano paused and stared at her, and Pony understood, for the man had never seen anyone moving in battle quite the way she did. This was bi'nelle dasada; and in it, the only movement in the retreat was in the legs, while the torso remained balanced and on center. Elbryan had often referred to this forward-and-back skittering as spiderlike, an appropriate description to Pony's thinking.

'You're a quick one,' Seano bellowed, 'but one blow of my axe will split you in two!'

Pony didn't bother to respond, didn't even blink. Seano howled all the louder and banged his axe head against