but until the panic of the moment passed, gasping gulps of air were all she could manage. -
Almost as quickly as it began, the battle was over. 8y the time the two humans were able to join the gnomes, the Vani's skirmishes were ended. A quick assessment revealed three wounded, two minor and one serious one. He was a youth named Yannis, who had been hit in the gut by two arrows. That was bad enough, but worse still by Martine's estimation was the fact that at least one gnoll had gotten away. Already the baying of the hunters was closing through the wood.
'We're not going to make it,' a little bearded warrior grunted. 'Not with Yannis wounded. You and the others make for the mustikka.' He pointed toward a thicket of blueberry bushes off to the left.
'And you?'
'I will delay them.' 'No, not you. Me.' Jazrac stepped forward.
'You, human?' Ojakangas said. He spat into the snow. 'You ran from battle.'
'I'm not running this time, and I have a better chance than you. My spells can take out more gnolls than your sword can.'
'Ojakangas,' Martine said impulsively, 'take Yannis and the others to the cabin. 'I'll stay here. The wizard goes with you.'
'No, Martine-'
'I'm going to get you back alive, Jazrac,' Martine promised as she wiped her blade clean. 'We still need you to get help. Ojakangas, Jazrac… get going.'
Jazrac didn't move: 'No. You go. I'm staying here.' Martine was about to protest, then hesitated. It was Jazrac's choice and the noblest thing he had done so far. For all his faults, the man was still her superior, and she couldn't deny him this chance to regain his own selfesteem.
The Vani had already completed a makeshift drag for the wounded Yannis.
'Get going,' she ordered.
'Good luck, wizard,' Ojakangas called back as he started off.
'Remember, I need you alive, Jazrac,' the junior Harper said simply. 'Mat was the plan.'
'Plans change. A Harper has to be flexible. Now go.' The gnomes had barely entered the edge of the thicket when the baying started up, close at hand. At the rear of the group, Martine lingered at the edge of the clearing, knowing she should stay with Jazrac. She saw the wizard turn, and for an instant, the ranger thought he was going to change his mind, but instead Jazrac turned toward the sounds of baying in the woods beyond and raised his arms. Twisted words flew from his lips, and a small flaming
sphere formed between his fingers, then rocketed between the trees. Jazrac didn't wait to see it hit but ducked low. Deep in the woods, the sphere burst into a fiery globe. The woods rattled with the crackling hiss of fire, and the air was permeated with the scent of burnt pine needles:
The searing flames roiled outward, catching several gnolls in its fiery wash. Fur and cloth, heated to the flash point, erupted in fire, and the screaming creatures flailed helplessly about like macabre torches. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the fire faded, leaving only a round melted scorch in the earth.
Even as the wizard was preparing to cast another spell, Martine caught a glimpse of silvery white movement through the trees off to the left Madly she abandoned the gnomes and charged across the snow, trying to angle between Jazrac and the icy white form she knew was Vreesar.
'Jazrac! Look out!'
Martine barely had time to see the elemental raise its hands before a blue-white sparkle flashed from its fingers straight for her. The Harper dodged to the right without thinking, and the air cracked loudly as a beam of bitter frost crackled across the gap between them. Intense cold coursed like galvanizing fire along her limbs and lanced at her joints till her body curled and spasmed. A violent shock wave and a deafening thunderclap followed immediately, the air shattered by the precipitous drop in temperature. The Harper crashed into the snow, her body paralyzed, her ears screaming from the reverberations of the blast.
Wheeling away from the icy streak the bolt had carved across the snowfield, the elemental turned on Jazrac. The wizard snarled something unintelligible to Martine's ringing ears, and another series of fiery sparks flew from his hand straight toward the fiend. The buzz of the creature's laughter filled the forest as the dazzling sparks faded before they reached their target.
'Your magic iz uselez against me, human,' the elemental buzzed evilly.
It was as if the words were a signal, for out of the woods advanced a line of gnolls. Their clothes were ragged furs. Some wore conical caps with dangling earflaps; a fortunate few had helms: Jaws agape and panting steamy air, they closed in for the kill.
Martine heaved to her feet and drew her sword. She still felt weak and unsettled from the icy bolt she'd barely avoided. She knew she couldn't afford to be struck by another one of those, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Jazrac needed her help. She stumbled toward him unsteadily.
Two gnolls closed on her, hoping to trap the Harper between them. Her attackers quickly discovered they had miscalculated. Even with her nerves still twitching, Martine easily evaded their unschooled blows, although she couldn't prevent them from flanking her on two sides. Even then she managed to hold them off, alternating lightning-quick thrusts from one side to the other. A swift lunge sliced the arm of one, sending him reeling back. That break in tempo gave her a chance to cast a look back toward Jazrac. The stalking line of gnolls had begun to charge, leaping through snowy drifts with yipping cries. Vreesar held back, apparently preferring to let the gnolls do its fighting. The dogmen knew their prey and sought to close the distance so their swords would have the advantage over the mage's spells.
'Jazrac, look out!' Martine screeched.
The wizard looked up and then jabbed a finger of warning off toward her left. Concerned about Jazrac, she'd ignored her own predicament. The unwounded gnoll was crashing through the knee-deep snow, axe swung back to the side like a bare-knuckle fighter about to throw a two
fisted roundhouse. The Harper dropped to one knee as the axehead whistled over her head, ruffling her hair. With a quick flip, she turned her sword and rammed it backhand into the gnoll's gut. The blade drove in with virtually no resistance till it hit bone.
The gnoll shrieked and continued its charge, blind momentum carrying it forward. Martine leaned backward to avoid the blundering beast, fiercely clinging to the sword hilt as the creature tumbled forward. She wrenched the blade sideways and twisted until the dog-man had spun almost completely around. Rolling back into the snow, she then planted one foot up against the gnoll's midsection, just below her blade, and kicked outward. The gutted gnoll tumbled backward, axe flailing, and her blade slid free, hot blood steaming in the frigid winter air. Her attacker writhed in the snow, yowling mindlessly.
Martine's other attacker, clutching its bloodied arm, broke and fled as she rose to her feet, chosing not to face her again.
Somehow Jazrac seemed to be holding his own, but the gnolls were pressing him hard on three sides. Suddenly the wizard put his hands to his mouth and uttered a tremendous roar, inconceivably loud. All along a spreading line, ice in the trees shattered and fell through the branches. Two of the dog-men, injured by the magical blast, clutched at their bloodied ears and flopped helplessly to the ground, while another staggered back, dazed.
Neither Martine nor the wizard waited to assess the results. As she plowed forward to dispatch the gnoll Jazrac had staggered, the wizard abruptly took flight just in time to avoid Vreesar's slashing claws.
To Martine's relief, the wizard shot upward. With Jazrac out of danger, she could concentrate on her own battles. She was alone now, facing Vreesar and half a dozen of the enemy. One was dying, one had fled, and two were crippled, at least for the time being. That left the one staggering from the effects of the magical sound blast and another somewhere off to her left. The fiend was the greatest threat, but he seemed more obsessed with Jazrac than her.
Hovering in midair, the wizard's hands flew as he worked another spell. This time flaming darts appeared in his hands, and he hurled these at the elemental. Unlike his earlier effort, these did not fade but struck the fiend solidly. The icy creature shrilled in pain as the fire burned into it, and the unfinished magic it had been forming crackled uselessly in the air.
Martine was like the cold reaper collecting its due. A quick slash at the hamstrings of the staggering foe removed him from the fight. Moving past one of those the wizard had bloodied, Martine delivered a swift kick to its jaw, rocking its head with a satisfying snap, even as she faced off against the remaining uninjured foe. 'Jazrac!'
