“I know enough about it.”
“Stop smiling as if you’d found a chest full of gold,” the redhead snapped. “It’s sad to see two people who love each other who can’t make it work just because of circumstances.”
Suddenly another group of Wild Ones carried out the same maneuver as before. They all took up their positions, aimed and began to release, and managed to get within fifty paces of the gate before falling dead.
“This time they got closer,” Nilsa pointed out.
“Keep releasing, they mustn’t reach the gate,” said Molak. “It’s a strategy they’ve been following for several days.”
“Aren’t they afraid of casualties?” Gerd asked.
“They’ll have even more if they try to take the walls,” said Luca. “I don’t see Astrid,” he added.
“Long story,” said Viggo.” We’ll tell you about it later.”
“Okay, but she’s all right … isn’t she?”
“Yeah, for the moment,” Ingrid said.
A sizeable group of Wild Ones now appeared at a run, under cover of large boards they had fashioned out of wood into something like huge shields, as if they were running with doors on their heads. They ran together in a close group, so that the overlapping boards covered a wide area.
The team began to release against them, but the boards protected them. As they reached the spot where the fallen trunks were lying, they picked them up and went on to the gate.
“Kill them!” Sven shouted. But the Wild Ones reached the gate and began to pound it with their rams, trying to bring it down.
“Rangers, release!” Gatik ordered.
Lasgol, Ona and Camu (who was in his invisible state) wanted to go and help them, but Eicewald shook his head. “We need you for the great spell. We can’t risk you. You’re too valuable.”
Gatik ordered the use of elemental arrows to stop the attacks of the Wild Ones on the gate, and finally they managed to slow them down.
During this whole day, Lasgol waited in vain for the Frozen Specter to appear. Using his Hawk’s Eye skill, his augmented sight was able to make out the enormous totem the Wild Ones had erected seven hundred paces away. It was very like those he had seen in the Frozen Territories, and he knew perfectly well what it was for. He watched it closely and saw that every now and then three chiefs – a Semi-Giant who acted as chief among the Wild Ones of the Ice, a chief of the Tundra Dwellers, and one of the Arcanes of the Glaciers – would gather together and begin the ominous ritual by summoning the Frozen Specter with their chanting. Luckily they had not yet succeeded. It must have been close, or else they would not have been calling it with that gloomy ceremony.
And the Frozen Specter appeared.
That bloodcurdling face, frozen for all eternity in an expression of horror, stirred terror in the defenders. Its body, half translucent and half frost and ice, hinted that it would not be possible to kill it like a human. It looked even bigger than the last time Lasgol had seen it: a cross between a Semi-Giant and an Arcane of the Glaciers which was now over twenty-four feet tall. Its power also seemed to have increased, because as it walked it now gave out more mist from its body, which froze everything around it far and wide.
The chiefs, who were now assembled in front of the great totem, were in the middle of their ritual by now. All the assembled forces joined in the chanting when they saw the Specter appear, and the effect of thousands of voices chanting the funereal summons had a demoralizing and disheartening effect on the defenders.
At an order from the chiefs, the Specter made its way toward the northern gate.
“The specter!” cried Sven.
“Call Eicewald!” Gatik ordered.
The King’s Mage, together with the other Ice Magi and Lasgol, came to the battlements above the northern gate. The Specter walked on, unconcerned. It was coming to feed, and the food it sought was souls. Because it was larger now, it was more powerful and more dangerous.
“How many paces away does the Specter have to be for the spell to work?” Sven asked Eicewald.
“Two hundred at the most, but the closer the better.”
“Then you’ll have to do it when it attacks the northern gate.”
Eicewald turned to his group. “It’s time to get ready. Put these on,” he added to Lasgol, and handed him the strange golden protective gloves.
“Will I freeze this time too?” Lasgol asked in puzzlement as he put them on.
“No, but all Objects of Power have noxious effects when used directly. With the Star of Sea and Life you’ll feel you’re drowning, because it’s magic of Water and Life.”
“Will I drown?” he asked uneasily.
“We’ve charmed the gloves so that they’ll protect you. But yes, that’ll be what you feel.”
“Could I die?”
“Yes … If you don’t want to do it … well, that’s understandable.”
“Is there no other way?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Lasgol thought about it. He looked at his friends on the battlements, who were watching him with great interest, then at the enemy hosts, and lastly at the Specter, which was approaching with great strides. He thought about Astrid.
“I’ll do it,” he said at last.
“Thank you. It does you credit.”
Eicewald took out the Star of Sea and Life. Lasgol felt it was so beautiful that he found it hard to imagine it could produce any adverse effects in him. When he grasped it with the gloves, he felt nothing.
“You know what to do. Above your head – and no matter what happens, don’t drop it.”
Lasgol nodded. “You can rely on me. I won’t fail.”
“You’re a brave young man.”
Eicewald now formed a circle with the other Magi, and Lasgol took his place in the center. He knew
