Captives

Both Torio and Melissa told the Aventine Reader, //You can't fight us. Turn back. No one will be harmed if you will surrender.//

But of course at this point it was hopeless to ask for surrender. The army tried to keep coming, but again a wall of flame shot up before them. By now they were so close that Wulfston could shout across the gap between them, 'Surrender now-or turn around and go home. We are not going to allow you to advance farther into our lands.'

'Go on, Savage!' answered the Aventine officer, 'use your tricks! You can only last so long-and then our army will take yours!'

'Keep that up, and soon you won't have an army!' Wulfston threatened, moving forward step by step. Several soldiers aimed their spears at him-but the wooden shafts of the weapons burst into flame in their hands!

Then flames were everywhere-spear handles, bows, arrow shafts, the wooden supply wagon at the rear of the troop-except for swords and knives, they were suddenly weaponless. And then men were screaming in pain and casting their swords and knives away-Melissa Read that they had become red hot!

That was enough-the young officer had the sense to order retreat before he had a rout to explain to his commander. They retreated with astonishing order-Melissa thought that under such circumstances, she would have fled at a dead run.

To the rear of the retreating troops, another unit was just dragging itself out of the mud onto the grass that provided firm footing. Half the men were trying to haul along a heavily-loaded supply wagon, its wheels mired to the hubs. They were out from under the rain here-Wulfston stopped where the scene came into view, concentrated… the sodden wagon covering peeled back, revealing food and weapons kept dry-which now burst into flame. The men leaped back by instinct. Melissa Read the soggy ground under the wagon suddenly become saturated-just in that spot, as the mud the men stood on became firmer, its accumulation of water gone elsewhere.

The flaming wagon sank, slowly but inexorably-in moments the last sparks sputtered out under the soupy mud.

'Excellent!' said Wulfston. 'Did everyone see that? We want to sink weapons and supplies, not people! Fire talents, light anything dry. Water talents, encourage currents in the mud, and then concentrate the water under weapons and supply wagons. Jara and Mik-any Reader you see, put to sleep. Anybody in a white tunic. Make sure that none of you get far from someone who can deflect weapons.'

While all this was going on, the Adepts were casually turning away a rain of spears and arrows-the Aventine army was not going to let itself be taken by a dozen savages! At least not without fighting back.

'Torio,' Wulfston continued, 'take Rolf with you and circle to the east-I'll take Melissa to the west. Keep in touch. Rolf, scatter those clouds before you do anything else-we don't want the rain anymore. It'll put out our fires. All right-form groups and spread out.'

Melissa was not sure whether Wulfston took her with him because he trusted her, or because he did not. She was safe by his side, his skills easily turning away anything the army threw at them. But how long could he keep it up?

As if he Read her question, the Adept told her, 'I can deflect arrows all day-but not if I must do really heavy work as well. Stay in touch with Torio and Rolf, Melissa. Rolf has more strength than any of my other water talents, but he's very limited compared to me. What I need is another fully empowered Adept on the other side of this field-not a single-talented boy not yet come into his full powers. I wish my sister were here-but my father taught me long ago to work with what I have, not what I wish.'

Both surprised and pleased by his openness, Melissa said, 'Neither Torio nor I have reached our full potential yet, either.'

'Nor I,' he replied, 'but I'm closer than you are-and you and Torio are what I have to work with.'

'There are Adepts with greater powers than yours?' she asked.

'You should have seen my father in his prime. You will see my sister. Now, Melissa, show me where to concentrate the waters to do the most damage to weaponry… and morale.'

They were out in the muddy plain themselves now, their horses slogging along at a slow but steady pace. Wulfston handed Melissa the wax tablet-and she saw that it was blank again, only the grid lines scoring it.

'That way,' she pointed, 'there is a catapult. They're having a terrible time with it, trying to get logs under it front to back, like a sledge.'

'Show me the distance on the grid,' said Wulfston. 'If we are here, and this line is the edge of the army we can see from here, where is the catapult?'

As she showed him, the wax took on the impressions of everything she told him. 'Are the men away from the machine?' he asked.

'Yes-they've got ropes on it and are hauling now.'

'They're not going to get far.'

Wulfston stared at the grid, concentrated-and Melissa Read the waters within the mud concentrate under the catapult. But it didn't sink-it moved forward more easily. The men found great purchase in the dryer ground.

'Lord Wulfston,' Melissa said, 'I'm afraid that was an error.'

He stopped concentrating-the waters resumed their former configuration, and the catapult was bogged down again. 'What happened?' he asked.

'The catapult is wood. So are the logs. It… floated.'

He laughed. 'My error, too. I should have thought of that. Find me something that will sink.'

So Melissa Read for weapon racks carrying heavy swords and metal shields-found one still set up while a section of the army prepared to move out, and pointed it out to Wulfston. It began to sink-and she recognized another error, much more serious than the first. 'Lord Wulfston! Stop! Soldiers are running into the quicksand to try to save their weapons!'

She Read more widely-and found the same thing happening in other places, where the water talents among Wulfston's minor Adepts were sinking weapons and wagons-not realizing the danger, people tried to save their weapons or supplies-and sank with them.

//It's quicksand!// Melissa projected to the army's Readers. //Read it! Don't let anyone run into it!// Torio was projecting the same message. The Readers tried-but in the uproar no one was paying attention! Fires burst out everywhere there was a dry bit of flammable material-for the rain had stopped entirely.

The sound of battle horns rang out across the plain. The army began to withdraw into a tight circle, forming a closed front against the enemy.

Wulfston's water talents had worked out a technique for creating quicksand in waves-waves of water sloshing back and forth through the field of mud, turning the ground firm one moment, treacherous the next. It was a good theory-no spot should have stayed liquid long enough to swallow anyone-but when the ground firmed people were caught. Sunk to the knees, they could not pull themselves out before the next wave surged through, sinking them farther. People panicked, struggled, were sucked in.

'Stop them! 'Melissa cried. 'Make them stop!'

'I can't,' Wulfston replied, not yet realizing the havoc being created on the plain. Then a wave swelled beyond the boundaries of the Aventine army, turning the ground under Adept and Reader to quicksand-as their footing dissolved out from under them, their horses screamed and struggled, miring themselves. The wave receded as Wulfston gasped, 'By the gods!' and concentrated on the thrashing horses. To Melissa's astonishment they became calm at once. The firm sand receded slightly from about their legs, and the animals climbed out. Melissa and Wulfston rode for the safety of the higher ground at the edge of the sandy plain.

'You're an Adept!' Melissa shouted at Wulfston. 'Make them stop! People will die!'

On the other side of the plain, Torio and Rolf were in the same trouble-but Rolf was not a Lord Adept. While he tried to keep the water away, their already bogged-down horses struggled in terror. //Melissa-tell Wulfston it's happening again! We're killing them!// Torio projected.

//He knows,// she told him. 'Lord Wulfston-Torio and Rolf-'

But Wulfston was concentrating on damping the waves the minor Adepts were creating. 'Time the waves for me, Melissa-I can only do this for a short time. Find the water talents. I've got to stop them!'

Trying to divide her attention and Read for the minor Adepts at the same time that she was counting the waves of water sloshing slowly through the mud, Melissa felt as if her mind were being torn apart. Perhaps a Master Reader could do such a thing-but there was no Master Reader to do it! She counted the waves aloud,