some extra kicker, like this magic-user fellow, pushing 'em on. They like blood and killing and torture, but how much work are they willing to do to get a chance to enjoy them?'
'Seems like a lot,' said Mika, glancing behind him to see how close they were.
'Nah! This is simple stuff, following,' said Horns-buck. 'Anyone can follow in a straight line. But will they follow us if we make it difficult for them? That's the question.'
'We can try!' said Mika.
'You understand, though, that it could work against us.'
'Why?' cried Mika.
'They are creatures of darkness,' answered Hornsbuck. 'They can see better at night and might lay traps for us. We will have to be on our guard at all times.'
'Right,' agreed Mika, relieved that Hornsbuck was still an ally.
'And Mika,' said the older man, gripping Mika's arm tightly. 'Try to remember that we might have avoided this, had you been straight with me from the first. No more secrets. We must work together if we are to survive.'
'No more secrets,' Mika assured. 'You have my word.'
They turned their horses and galloped swiftly back to the wagon where Mika called a brief halt.
Weary men slid from their saddles and poured out a small amount of water for their mounts and themselves, barely enough to wet their parched mouths.
'We must abandon the wagon,' Mika told Hary. 'There is no other way. I have told Hornsbuck everything. We have imperiled the lives of him and his men. They have the right to know what it is they die for.'
Hary's blue eyes blazed for a moment and it looked as though he might argue, but he nodded briefly and bit back the words that rose to his lips.
'I can see that it is necessary,' he said. 'I appreciate all that you are doing for us. I will go and tell Recknass.' Dismounting from his horse, he climbed into the wagon.
While Hary was making his arrangements, Mika called the nomads together.
The air was cool and fragrant with the smell of grease bushes in bloom. The sun was beginning to set, bathing the prairie in crimson like a shroud of warm blood. Night hunting birds came awake slowly, twittering and chirping quarrelsomely.
The nomads trotted up, one at a time, on horses whose necks drooped with fatigue. Wolves sat on their haunches alongside their humans, their tongues lolling, too tired to visit among themselves.
The nomads stared at Mika, waiting for him to speak, knowing that the words he spoke would affect their lives.
Mika looked into their weary eyes and felt as though he were the enemy. And, in a sense, he would have to admit that he was, since his actions, and the lack of them, had helped place them in this dangerous position. Waiting would accomplish nothing. He prayed to the Great Wolf Mother to give him the right words.
'I know you're all wondering what this is all about-who this army belongs to and why they are following us,' he began. A loud murmur assured him that this was true.
'There is a lady in yon wagon,' Mika continued. 'A lady who lies in a magical sleep from which she cannot be wakened. We have been charged with taking her to Eru-Tovar where there is said to be one who can break the spell.
'It would seem that someone would like to prevent us from reaching the city, but I am pledged to see that she reaches it in safety.'
The nomads leaned from their horses and conversed among themselves with angry murmurs and much gesturing. Mika continued, speaking more loudly to draw their attention.
'We are abandoning the wagon so that we may travel more quickly. We are making for the hills along the southern march. It should take us two days to reach them. We hope to lose the army in the hills and enter the city unharmed.'
'Abandon the woman!' called one of the eastern nomads, a dark, hawk-nosed man unfamiliar to Mika. 'Give her to those who follow and spare us a needless death.'
'I have given my word,' said Mika. 'I will not leave her.'
The man spat contemptuously on the ground, his comment on the value of Mika's word.
Mika was spared from answering the silent challenge by the appearance of Hary and Recknass as they emerged from the wagon.
Hary descended first, jumping down lightly, then held his arms out as though willing to take the princess from the giant. But Recknass ignored him, standing tall and straight atop the wagon, staring each of the nomads in the eye, challenging them to deny him and his fragile charge their right to life. None spoke.
Only when he had stared them all down, even the eastern nomad, did he step down, cradling the princess in his arms like a tiny waif.
It would have taken a very brave or a very foolish man to have challenged Recknass, for the giant appeared even larger and more frightening than he had inside the wagon.
His face was now a mass of purple, yellow, and black bruises, and his nose was still flattened against his cheek. He stared at the men with his one good eye. They drew their horses back a step and lowered their eyes, unwilling to aggravate the brute.
Mika had eyes for the princess alone, having seen more than enough of Recknass. But she was completely swaddled in the soft pink coverlet and all that could be seen of her was a few glossy curls.
Hary and the driver Cob passed almost unnoticed in the small drama, fastening bulky trunks and bits of luggage to the sides of the mules that were being unfastened from the wagon.
'What are you doing?' asked Hornsbuck.
'It is the princess's luggage,' replied Hary. 'We cannot leave it behind. She will need it when she wakens.'
'If she wakens,' growled Hornsbuck, striding up to the mules and unceremoniously stripping the luggage from their backs.
'This is no garden party, no pleasure outing. The gnolls and trolls back there will grind your precious princess between their teeth and not appreciate the difference between her sweet flesh and your stringy meat. Mount up and leave this foolishness behind.'
Hary stepped back, dropping the trunk on the ground as though it had burned his fingers. Mika smiled sympathetically, glad that it was not he who was the object of Hornsbuck's anger.
Recknass strode over to the largest of the mules and, without shifting the princess or even stepping on a stone, threw his leg over the animal's back and seated himself carefully. The mule sagged beneath the man's great weight and its legs wobbled as though they might give way.
'That will never do,' muttered Hornsbuck and ordered Marek, who rode a huge roan stallion, to give the animal to the giant. Marek frowned and looked as though he might argue, but at that moment, the wolves began to howl, their tails curled high above their backs. A quick glance behind them told them that the gnolls were gaining rapidly.
The time for talk was done. Marek handed the reins of the roan over to Recknass who mounted and settled the princess across his legs. In a rare mood of concern, Mika rode up next to the giant and handed him the fragile gold chain with the crystal bead that always hung from his neck.
'Take it,' he said, after looking around to see that no one noted the unusual gesture. 'Put it around her neck. It has been lucky for me. Perhaps it will bring her luck as well.'
The giant stared suspiciously at Mika. Then, seeing nothing other than honest goodwill, he nodded curtly and slipped the gold chain over the princess's head.
All around them, men were whipping their mounts into hasty retreat, with the exception of Marek who crawled with ill-concealed bad grace onto the back of the mule. They rode off swiftly, leaving nothing but the empty wagon and a pile of baggage behind.
There was a loud outcry when the army of monsters reached the wagon a short time later. Shrill cries pierced the air, along with furious barking yaps as though the hyenas were fighting over some delectable prize. But it didn't hold them long.
Mika and Hornsbuck positioned themselves atop a ridge a short time later and looked down on the entire horde.
