right.
“Between those two hills,” Neko whispered. A faint glow lit up the hollow between the indicated hills.
“What’s that light?” Nianki wondered aloud.
“Fire,” said Kenase. “The Good People command flame.”
She didn’t like that. Fire was not something a sensible hunter fooled with. It did not care whose hide it burned, and its illumination would make their task that much harder.
“Follow me. No sound.” Nianki moved forward at a slow, crouching walk.
The trail wound between two round-topped hills into a steep ravine. Atop the ridge to the right was a row of tree trunks, just like the boys had described. They were so close together not even a rabbit could have passed between them. Somewhere inside this line of tree trunks a bonfire blazed. By its glow Nianki saw an elf on horseback, riding slowly around the outside of the camp.
With gestures, she conveyed she wanted to circle the camp and view it from all sides. Kenase took her hand and led her off to his left, away from the horse and rider. She was a bit surprised at his touch.
The terrain along the foot of the ridge was all briars and knifegrass. Nianki took the lead, pushing aside the thorny growth with her spear. Every few paces they stopped to study the camp. So far they’d spotted no easy way in.
“There’s a gap on the other side,” Neko whispered, “but it’s closely guarded.”
They climbed the steep slope toward the dark end of the camp. Nianki used her spear as a handhold — she drove it into the ground, used it to haul herself up, yanked it out, repeated the process. She held out a hand to Kenase, who in turn pulled Neko along. The ridge had steep sides, but it wasn’t that high, and before long all three were lying on their bellies, staring at the blank wall of logs.
“A rider circles the camp,” Kenase said. “Elves on the inside keep people away from the trunks.”
“And you escaped from here?” Nianki said. “How did you manage? Did they pursue you?”
“It was dark. I guess they couldn’t see us.”
She looked to Neko for confirmation, but he was too busy gazing at the wall. She nudged him, and they continued their circuit.
The firelight grew stronger, and it quickly became apparent the elves had a large fire going in front of the opening to the camp. Four of them, armed with spears, stood between the fire and the gap in the logs. Nianki tried to see beyond them into the camp, but the glare of the fire was too bright.
“What now?” Kenase hissed.
“Back,” she muttered. “Back to the dark. We’ll get in the way you got out — climb over the trees.”
“But the rider — ”
“We’ll wait till he passes. Come on!”
The enclosure was roughly oval shaped, with the bonfire at the center of one of the long sides. Nianki got as far from the firelight as she could. She crept out of the bushes and listened. The clop-clop of the approaching horse’s hooves caused her to flatten herself into a chink in the trunks. The horse walked by, its bored rider’s head bobbing with every step his mount made. When he was well past, she waved for Kenase and Neko to join her.
“This is not good!” Neko said with surprising fervor.
“Have you got a better idea?” Nianki replied. He looked at his toes. “All right, lift me up!”
They boys braced themselves against the logs and Nianki climbed their backs. The tree trunks were about twice her height, so with one foot on each boy’s shoulder, she was able to see over them.
The dark end of the camp was dotted with sleeping people lying in family groups of five and six. She guessed there were thirty or forty people. At the other end of the enclosure the elves made their camp. They had hides stretched over frames of tree branches to keep the rain and sun off. She counted eight to ten sleeping elves. A pair of horses was tethered to the wall.
Nianki swung first one leg then the other over the tops of the tree trunks. The ground was a good three paces distant, but she slid off her perch and landed lightly on her fingers and toes. She crept up to the nearest sleeper — a woman — and clamped a hand over her mouth. The woman opened wide dark eyes and gave a cry muffled by Nianki’s hand.
“Quiet!” Nianki said. “I’m here to help you!”
The woman nodded her head, showing her understanding, and Nianki removed her hand. She sat up, and Nianki saw she wore a hard collar, identical to the one that encircled Nianki’s throat. A cord ran through the collar’s ring to the collar of the next sleeper, and the next, eventually ending at a large stake pounded in the ground in the center of the camp.
In her travels since leaving the coast, Nianki had availed herself of a piece of sharp obsidian as a cutting tool. It was brittle stone, but easy to knap to a keen edge. She flicked the obsidian blade over the cord, cutting it cleanly.
“Wake the rest, carefully,” she whispered. “Pull the cord through and you’ll be loose. I’ll help the others.” The woman nodded vigorously, turning to wake her companion.
Nianki crept to the next group of sleepers. Before she could awaken anyone else, a cry went up from the elves at the fire. At first Nianki thought they were just carrying on among themselves, but then she saw the sleeping elves were rising and taking up their weapons.
Without bothering to wake the boy she’d approached, she cut the cord on his collar. Two elves mounted their horses and the rest ran to the opening in the wall. To her consternation, Nianki saw they had Kenase and Neko.
“Listen, human!” shouted one of the elves on horseback. “You can’t get out. We have your friends! Stand up and let yourself be seen!”
Sleeping plainsfolk stirred all around her. Some got to their feet, rubbing their eyes. Nianki joined in, mixing with them while gradually working her way toward the way out.
“Can you see her?” called a man’s voice in the plainsmen’s language.
“Not yet,” replied the mounted elf. “ Cha! They all look alike to me!”
“This one has a scarred face and long brown hair.”
Who was speaking? Most of the captives were on their feet now, making it hard for Nianki to see ahead. She bumped into a burly hunter with fierce black brows and curly beard. She pressed the obsidian knife into his hand.
“Free as many as you can,” she said. “If we all move as one, they can’t stop us.”
“Aye,” he said, black eyes shining. “Stampede. Good plan!”
She worked her way to the front of the crowd and found herself looking up at a familiar face. The mounted elf was Tamanithas, the elf she’d knocked down and left unconscious.
His eyes widened in shocked recognition as his gaze fell upon her. “You!” he spat in passable human- speech.
“I thought you would’ve gone home by now,” she said calmly. “Learned to talk like a real person, have you?”
“I knew your barbarous tongue when last we met,” he sneered. “I just hate to soil my mouth by speaking it!” He ordered the elves on foot to take her.
A concerted shout went up from the humans at Nianki’s back. As fast as they could, they whipped the confining cord from the rings around their necks. The man with the curly black beard rushed to Nianki’s side and returned the obsidian knife to her.
The sight of their prisoners freeing themselves paralyzed the elves for a moment. They were only twelve against forty. The elves closed ranks and presented a hedge of spears to the angry mob. Tamanithas paraded his horse up and down behind the line of guards.
“Get back to your places!” he shouted. “Get back and you will not be harmed!”
“It’s you who should flee,” Nianki shouted back. “This is not your land! Return to your forest, and we won’t kill you!”
Tamanithas drew his long-bladed weapon and started to ride over his own spear carriers, but he was restrained by two comrades on horseback. They argued loudly in their own language while the unruly mob of plainsfolk drew closer and closer, forcing the elves into the narrow end of the oval camp. Hands found stones in the dirt, and lengths of wood cut by the elves to feed their fires made handy clubs.
A shower of stones fell on the mounted elves. The pair restraining Tamanithas went down, and one of the
