Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar (40 page)

Three months ago, Keth’ would have been furious. Now he was just bothered. He had a choice to make, and everyone was presuming to push him in the same direction. That made him stubborn, but, did they all know something he didn’t? Wasn’t he the best judge of himself?

Something else nudged at him and he put it aside. The training took years. It would divert his life. At the same time, there was a vibrancy to this place. It bespoke adventure and restlessness, which he shouldn’t let sway him, except ...

The nudge came again, firmer.

He quivered and said, “I think there are others nearby.”

Lihn asked, “Possibly a patrol? Travelers?”

“A patrol maybe. They don’t feel like travelers.”

“Did you feel the previous travelers?”

He twitched at that. “Yes, actually I did, now that I think about it. Sort of a background distance noise like a camp. Something I was aware of but . . . this isn’t that.”

Not far ahead, a voice roared something almost intelligible, and both sides of the road erupted in men, dressed in threadbare uniform parts and twigs and leaves. In the Plains he’d have seen that deception. These plants, though, he was still learning.

There were a dozen or so, and all he had was a large knife, which he drew, and urged Yssanda forward in front of Lihn, though what good it would do with them all around he did not know.

The air shook as Lihn shouted something, and the air burst in a soft thunderclap. One man went down, and two others stopped charging to tumble sideways.

But those two were up again. Lihn couldn’t fight. Yssanda had hooves. He had a knife. Here at the end of their journey, a dozen brigands were going to end it, and likely their lives.

Rage welled up, and Keth’ shouted “No!” from deep inside.

He woke with someone slapping his cheek. “Son? Are you there? Son?”

He shook his head and garbled out, “I’m all right” in Shin’a’in, then Valdemaran when the man looked at him strangely.

He peered around to see the band of robbers in shackles, being herded by three men on horses. Another man dressed all in white was on a Companion and clearly talking to Yssanda.

“What happened?” he asked.

Lihn appeared above him.

“You did it,” she said, looking down with a smirking grin.

“Did what?”

“You used the mind magic you disdain so much. I knocked down three with my Storm Blast spell, and that’s all I had, my power for a day or more. You shouted and they all collapsed, clutching their heads. Then you fainted. It’s been half the morning.”

“I did it?”

“Lots of power, no control,” she said. “That’s why you need training.”

It was hard to argue.

 

Two weeks later, they were near Haven. The roads carried more people than Keth’ had ever seen, with wagons, carriages, horses, donkeys, packs, trucks, and carts. The roads had been graveled and marked but now they were paved in some strange material.

“That’s the signpost we were told to seek,” he said. Near it was a small group of people. They were set back from the road and observing the busy traffic, while being out of its way.

“Yes,” Lihn said. “And that must be Master Arak. It is.”

Another old man in a robe, only this one had aged with power in his physique, under the lines.

Next to him Keth’ saw a woman that could only be Herald Captain Kerowyn. With her was one dressed completely in white and another that looked to be of the Plains, complete to the fringed leathers that he hadn’t seen in months.

The journey was over. At least, this part of it was.

:I’m going to use my Shin’a’in craft and guile,.:
he replied with a grin.

Keth’re’son shena Tale’sedrin squared his chin and swallowed a brief spurt of homesickness. No matter what happened, it would be many months or years before he saw his Clan, his family, his plains or Nerea again. Then he smiled. He was ready to do battle—and it would go his way, because these outlanders were no match.

About the Authors

Nancy Asire
is the author of four novels:
Twilight’s Kingdoms, Tears of Time, To Fall Like Stars,
and
Wizard Spawn. Wizard Spawn
was edited by C.J. Cherryh and became part of the
Sword of Knowledge
series. She also has written short stories for the series anthologies
Heroes in Hell
and
Merovingen Nights;
a short story for Mercedes Lackey’s
Flights of Fantasy;
as well as tales for the Valdemar anthologies
Sun in Glory
and
Crossroads.
She has lived in Africa and traveled the world, but now resides in Missouri with her cats and two vintage Corvairs.

 

Brenda Cooper
has published over thirty short stories in various magazines and anthologies. Her books include
The Silver Ship and the Sea
and
Reading the Wind
. She is a technology professional, a futurist, and a writer living in the Pacific Northwest with three dogs and two other humans. She blogs and tweets and all that stuff—stop by
www.brenda-cooper.com
and visit.

 

Larry Dixon
is the husband of Mercedes Lackey, and a successful artist as well as science fiction writer. He and Mercedes live in Oklahoma.

 

In addition to her work with Mercedes Lackey,
Rosemary Edghill
has collaborated with authors such as the late Marion Zimmer Bradley and the late Grand Master Andre Norton, and worked as an SF editor for a major New York publisher, as a freelance book designer, and as a professional book reviewer. Her hobbies include sleep, research for forthcoming projects, and her Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Her website can be found at
http://www.sff.net/people/eluki
.

 

Sarah A. Hoyt
was born in Portugal, a mishap she hastened to correct as soon as she came of age. She lives in Colorado with her husband, her two sons, and a varying horde of cats. She has published a Shakespearean fantasy trilogy, Three Musketeers mystery novels, as well as any number of short stories in magazines ranging from
Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
to
Dreams of Decadence
.

 

Tanya Huff
lives and writes in rural Ontario with her partner Fiona Patton and nine cats—one more and they qualify as crazy cat ladies. In June of 2010, DAW released her 25th book
The Enchantment Emporium
in paperback and in September followed it with the fifth Torin Kerr space Marine book,
The Truth of Valor
, in hardcover.

 

Denise McCune
has been writing since she was eleven—which was (coincidentally?) right around the time she fell in love with Valdemar. She has worked in the social networking industry for nearly a decade, and not having enough to do writing novels and short stories (her first short story sale was to
Jim Baen’s Universe
), decided to launch Dreamwidth, an open source social networking, content management, and personal publishing platform. Denise lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where her hobbies include knitting, writing, and staying up too late writing code.

 

Fiona Patton
was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and grew up in the United States. In 1975 she returned to Canada and now lives in rural Ontario. Her beloved Chihuahua crossed the Rainbow Bridge in July 2009 and in March 2009 two lovely part Shelties came to live with her, her partner Tanya Huff, and way too many cats. She has seven books out from DAW, and is currently working on the third and final book in the Warriors of Estavia series. She has sold more than thirty short stories with Tekno Books and DAW. “A Bard by Any Other Name” is the third Valdemar story featuring Haven’s Dann family.

 

Kate Paulk
pretends to be a mild-mannered software quality analyst by day; she allows her true evil author nature through for the short time between finishing with the day job and falling over. She lives in semi-rural Pennsylvania with her husband, two bossy cats, and her imagination. The latter is the hardest to live with.

 

Mickey Zucker Reichert
is a pediatrician, parent to multitudes (at least it seems like that many), bird wrangler, goat roper, dog trainer, cat herder, horse rider, and fish feeder who has learned (the hard way) not to let macaws remove contact lenses. Also she is the author of twenty-two novels (including the Renshai, Nightfall, Barakhai, and Bifrost series), one illustrated novella, and fifty plus short stories. Mickey’s age is a mathematically guarded secret: the square root of 8649 minus the hypotenuse of an isosceles right triangle with a side length of 33.941126.

 

Stephanie Shaver
works in the online gaming industry, where she has donned the hat of writer, game designer, programmer, level designer, and webmaster at various points in her career. Like most people who work by day and write by whenever, her free time is notoriously elusive. She can be found online at
sdshaver.com
and other virtual hives of scum and villainy. Offline, she is either hiking with the smirking entity she calls “The Guy,” or on the couch with cats and a laptop stacked atop her, recovering from aforementioned hiking trail.

 

Kristin Schwengel
’s work has appeared in three of the previous Valdemar short story anthologies, among others. The story of Shia and Teo begins with “Waking the Baby.” She and her husband live near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a gray-and-black tabby kitten named (what else?) Gandalf. Kristin divides her time between an administrative job, a growing career as a massage therapist, and writing and other pastimes.

 

Judith Tarr
has written many novels and several Friends of Valdemar stories under her own name. As Caitlin Brennan she writes novels about horses—especially the Lipizzan horses she breeds and trains on her farm in Arizona.

 

Elizabeth A. Vaughan
writes fantasy romance. Her most recent novel is
Destiny’s Star
, part of the Star Series. At the present, she is owned by three incredibly spoiled cats and lives in the Northwest Territory, on the outskirts of the Black Swamp, along Mad Anthony’s Trail on the banks of the Maumee River.

 

Elisabeth Waters
sold her first short story in 1980 to Marion Zimmer Bradley for
The Keeper’s Price
, the first of the Darkover anthologies. She went on to sell short stories to a variety of other markets, including two previous Valdemar anthologies. Her first novel, a fantasy called
Changing Fate
, was awarded the 1989 Gryphon Award. She has now completed a sequel to it and is working on a third novel, in addition to her short story writing and anthology editing. She also worked as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera, where she appeared in
La Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Khovanschina, Das Rheingold, Werther,
and
Idomeneo
.

 

Michael Z. Williamson
and
Gail Sanders
had a one night stand at an SF convention in 1991. She hasn’t left yet. Both serve in the National Guard, Gail as a combat photographer and value-added paper pusher, Mike as an airbase engineer. In between active duty tours, they sell swords, costumes, photography, novels, and raise two children and various cats.

About the Editor

Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the bestselling
Heralds of Valdemar
series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.