Nine ragged but well-armed men and women ate, slept, or walked around the camp, which had no fire. Two of them stood guard with bows. A tenth man sat on the dirt tied to a tree, his head dangling.
I figured if I sprinted to the dirt bridge, the archers could each fire at me once. They might manage two shots, if they were proficient. If we could attack by surprise, we might overrun the whole bunch. That seemed unlikely, though, since we had to cross that mud-slathered path, and the bandits could shoot arrows and laugh at us as we ran, slipped, and cursed all the way.
I jerked my head at Peck, and we retreated up the path.
When we returned to the others, Peck murmured, “We found them. Less than half an hour ahead.”
“How many?” Halla whispered.
Peck hesitated. “Nine.”
Pil growled. “What happened to three or six?”
Peck shrugged. “They’re part of the nine.”
“We can’t attack by surprise,” I said. “We have to run through the mud while two bandits shoot arrows at us. I admit it presents a challenge.” I smiled. “But hell, we have three sorcerers and one shabby tree trunk of a hexer. They’re just a few bandits sitting on their asses. Some of them looked puny. They might have the swamp-wombles and spend the day squatting with their trousers down.” I was overstating my confidence a little, but if we couldn’t kill these sad bandits, then we may as well present ourselves to Memweck bound, naked, and oiled.
“No. No. Think about thith—” Pil swallowed and slowed down. “About this. Maybe we should go back into the bog and take some other path to some other entrance. Or, exit, really.”
“That is a bad plan.” Halla growled. “Very bad.”
Pil flinched as if she’d been kicked.
I patted Pil’s shoulder. “The grumpy woman is right—think about it. How many more soldiers does Leddie have?”
Pil stared downward and shrugged. “I guess I don’t really know.”
“No, you do not,” Halla said. “I do not, either. It may be a thousand, or enough to surround the whole swamp. The sooner we leave the bog, the less likely there will be many men at every exit.”
“That was incisive, Halla!” I patted her arm. “Almost brilliant. I don’t know why you’re not the general of all the Empire’s armies yet. Now . . .” I rubbed my hands together like some charlatan cheating people of their coins. “It’s time for all sorcerers to show what they’re holding. Halla?”
She shook her head, as slowly and deliberately as a gristmill.
I examined her face, but she didn’t give away anything. It wasn’t for me to question her about sorcery, but if she had abandoned magic, that would pare down our tactical options. I sighed and raised my eyebrows at Pil.
“No, I’d need time. Krak, we’ve never stopped moving since I met you. ” She slurred a little against the holes where her teeth had been. Her speech had deteriorated as her face and lips had swollen even more these past two days. The unclean air and water of the bog might be poisoning her. For all I knew, her face would fall off.
I sighed. “Well, Krak tear our skins off to wrap his mighty loins.” I lifted myself to call on Harik.
The God of Death answered me without delay. “Murderer, do you promise to leave Memweck alone?”
“Yes, I promise, Mighty Harik, you immortal ass-flapper.”
Harik hesitated. “Are you lying to me?”
“Of course not, Mighty Harik! I’ll be a good boy. I’m headed toward the northern kingdoms even now, aren’t I? And just to be certain I’m not caught short on power during the undoubtedly perilous trip, I extend to you the privilege of making the first offer on a new bargain.”
“You shall wait until you have a greater need. If some part of your person is mutilated and dangling, you may call me again.”
“I need to bargain now so that Your Magnificence doesn’t screw me later on when I’m desperate.”
I imagined drawing my sword, but before it cleared its insubstantial scabbard, Harik shouted, “Enough! I know you’re lying, you nasty little toenail!” He flung me back into my body, driving me to my hands and knees in the mud.
I stood up, shaking the mud off my hands and looking around at everyone. “Let’s go kill the bastards with steel, the way our forefathers intended.”
Half an hour later, we neared the bandits. We had already achieved the real victory—we’d managed to sneak five people close to the camp without anybody hearing us. That feat would outshine the glory of any success we might earn in combat. Bea stayed back up the trail out of sight with orders to hurry back to the cottage if we were slaughtered. With luck, the bandits wouldn’t pursue her, rape her, and maybe murder her.
My plan was as simple as milk and based on a lie. I explained that Peck would begin the attack by shooting one of the guards, then the other guard, and then anybody else who might jump up to fire arrows at us. I would hustle down the path with Halla and the rest behind me, leaving Pil to guard the rear. Then side by side, Halla and I would assault the bandits’ camp, with Whistler just behind us.
That’s how I explained it to everybody, but in fact the bridge into the camp wasn’t as wide as I had described. Halla would have no room to fight beside me on the narrow bridge. That was good. I wanted to kill all those bandits myself, and I didn’t want her to cheat me out of a single one.
Peck stepped out from behind a tree and fired an arrow right into a guard’s heart, forty paces away. With my sword drawn, I ran past him down the path as
