Villains by Necessity (46 page)

"Hush!" chided Kaylana.

They were moved on again, across the unchanging plains, Arcie, somewhat recovered, now able to stumble along with them.

As dusk fell they looked down into a wide bowl in the plains, marked around with carved stone pillars set here and there with chips of turquoise. Nestled in the bottom of the bowl was a jumble of leather tents surrounding an open stone structure, formed of slate walls and more of the carved pillars. The tents seemed to be the typical barbarian encampment, but the stone structure was obviously permanent and even majestic in a certain rugged way. Arranged in concentric circles, the stone structure had at its center an open plaza, with a large, perfectly round pool of bright blue water. At the east side of this pool was an altar dedicated to Mula, with a stone statue „ of the goddess carved of what looked from this distance like solid turquoise. The outer rings of the structure seemed to hold various roofed and unroofed rooms, and wandering through could be seen the various forms of turquoise-garbed figures. The barbarian rider who had „ captured them gave a jerk on the rope, and the party and their captors staggered down into the settlement. Folk came to assist them, or just watched, looking up from - their chores at the pen where the Tantelopes were tethered, from cooking fires, from repairing hunting arrows and tanning leathers of prongbuck, ornyx, wheeumps, and bison. '- Kaylana saw all this only dimly. Her mind was filled with the image of the pool, of the deep turquoise colors ... Of Druids cut down by townspeople they once had helped; the heathen worship of indistinct forces, of nature and balance, the sun and the moon, life and death, came to be seen as evil under the teachings of a powerful religion that worshiped one goddess, had one creed, that

%%%promised only healing and water and sought to rid the world of night and death. The pool's image glowed in her mind, like blue crystal.

Their captors forced them, still bound, into a small, circular hut made of animal skins, near the edge of the encampment. Another barbarian, this one even taller and broader than the Tantelope riders, came to stand in the doorway and glared at them. In addition to his leathers and furs, he wore a rough tunic of heat-hardened leather armor, and carried a

"Plainsman's Sword"—sharpened chips of obsidian set at right angles into a stout wooden club. Sam noted this, as well as the numerous chinks in the armor where a well-flung dagger would do the most good.

Arcie had landed in their new situation rather heavily; the barbarian community had always been fond of being able to pick up and bodily throw smaller people, and Arcie had sailed so well he'd rebounded off the back wall.

He'd hit the ground with a thump and a curse, and rolled a short way. His snores had started almost before he came to a stop. Sam inched his way over to make sure the Barigan was all right, then looked at the others. Valerie had her back against the wall, the gag still in her mouth.

Were her eyes closed in exhaustion ... or narrowed in cunning? It was hard to tell. Kaylana sat serene and thoughtful, her staff across her lap; the barbarians had not bothered to tie her once they had reached the village.

Robin, sweat-streaked and exhausted, gave the tent the slight pong of hot horse. Blackmail had walked into the tent under his own power, calm and strong and silent as ever, and now stood in front of their guard. The guard scowled and flexed his grip on his sword. Sam saw a con frontation coming, and said, "Blackmail, please, sit down ... when he finds out he can't do any damage to you he'll just take it out on one of us, the cowardly bastard."

Blackmail turned to look at him, then nodded, and backed away. The jailer had listened to Sam's speech with blank incomprehension. Sam's deliberate insult had %%%been useful; it seemed their guard could not speak the common language of the Six Lands. It was not unusual; the Plainsmen felt such strong pride for their own culture that other influences were often seen as corrupting.

With a helpless, strangled sigh, Valerie slumped down to lie prone on the floor, her hair and cloak falling over her face as she turned her back on the guard. Nightshade sat on her arm, glaring up at the barbarian. She seemed to fall asleep, but a moment later Sam heard the faintest of sounds, like a set of sharp shark-teeth chewing their way through a simple leather gag.

Kaylana looked at the assembled company. "Apparently the fates would have us rest here," she said calmly.

"Thus we shall rest. There will be time for discussing... our circumstances when we all waken once again."

They lay down on the floor of trampled grass and earth, and fell into various slumbers. But just before the dream-shadows claimed him, Sam heard a faint snap; the soft sounds of chewing stopped.

A trio of the Plainsmen had been sent to ride to the town of Pila'mab, to notify the authorities of the capture of the suspected criminals. The Tantelopes, loosed to their full loping gait, covered the miles swiftly. Upon their arrival, they spoke with the mayor and the town guard captain about the capture, but the captives had no criminal records in that city.

A handsome man garbed in green and gold, newly arrived by ship that day, overheard the conversation. When the barbarian emissary's audience was over, Sir Fenwick approached them, smiling.

"Forgive me, but I overheard you that you have captured some criminals," he said. "And criminals they are, though the officials of this town do not know it. They are wanted across half the Lands for various evil crimes too numerous to mention."

"We thought as much," grunted one of the barbarians, the speaker for the group, who had spent much time learning the common language. "We of the Plains know such things, and these we have caught are like the black spider-viper under the cold rocks of Pit'zkah, that do creep and sting like ice."

"Er, right, yes," affirmed the young prince. "I wish to claim them, that they may be taken back and tried for their crimes in the places where they have committed them."

"Hhhrg," replied the speaker. "In your civilized, weakened laws I suppose that is what you must do, and we in our pact with your wizard Mizzamir have said we shall allow your justice to your criminals. But be warned!

These are fearsome serpents, waiting to poison and kill ... do not let them fly free lightly. We ourselves caught them only at the point of many arrows."

"I will not, o noble son of the Plains," replied Fenwick, with a courteous bow. His spirit rankled, however, at the thought that these grunting primitives had succeeded where he had failed.

He also had no intention of taking the villains back to Mizzamir. He and the choice members of his Company had brought with them many arrows as well. All he had to do was to collect the villains, take them along out of sight, and shoot them dead. It was a just punishment for their crimes, he was just taking the shortcut. He was a prince, after all, he did have some authority. The villains were too slippery to handle any other way ... He could not risk any more noble lives trying to bring them back for Mizzamir. It might have surprised him to know that, given the choice between death at the points of his arrows and enlightenment at the magic of Mizzamir, every villain in the group would have gladly chosen the arrows.

The villains woke some hours later when their captors brought them a few bowls of thin cold soup and some bread. Kaylana took these and, since she was the only one unbound, began to distribute them. At a nod from the guard she loosened their bonds enough for them to feed themselves. The guard, she noticed, had two friends with him as back-up; another male warrior and a woman in the same garb, with a wicked-looking longbow at the ready.

Blackmail, as usual, ate nothing. Valerie took her share weakly, still not turning toward the guard. Sam took a quick glance, and saw that the fine skin of her mouth and lips was raw and scraped, but the leather gag was chewed to fragments and hung limp and sodden around her neck. It was night again; Sam judged it must be about two in the morning. The cool darkness outside called to him. Valerie seemed to feel it too. He could sense the faint prickly feeling of magic as her long-nailed fingers slowly closed about her Darkportal. Almost hidden Tinder her long black hair, one large violet eye winked at him.

Sam sneaked a glance at Blackmail, who nodded ever so slightly. The assassin casually slid his hand into his boot and withdrew a slim, balanced shaft with a needle point and a flared end, the whole about six inches long, along with a wafer-thin fletching that fitted at right angles into the flare. He rubbed the needle against a small glob of resinous toxin under the flap of his boot, and then abruptly sent the dart zipping through the darkness, easy as any pub-toss.

The second male warrior gripped his biceps and gasped, and a swirl of darkness courtesy of Valerie flashed across the tent and enveloped the woman archer.

She stumbled, her longbow falling from her hands.

Before their guard could raise his club, a heavy mailed fist came down on his head. He staggered, and glared at Blackmail, who seemed almost surprised. Then the dark knight shrugged, and hit him again, and this time the guard folded over to join his unconscious friends. Sam and Blackmail quickly dragged the unconscious bodies into the tent. Kaylana and Robin watched in surprise, while Arcie took advantage of the distraction to grab another loaf of bread.

"We must move fast," hissed Valerie, as she climbed to her feet and pulled off the remains of her gag. "They'll be bound to check up on us soon." %%%"Where do you propose we go?" replied Kaylana. "If we flee into the wilderness they shall only catch us again."

"Not if we were to get rid of their longneck beasties for them," mumbled Arcie through a mouthful.

"No! We should just stay here," whinnied Robin, his ears flicking. "They haven't hurt us yet, but if we try to escape they may shoot us!"

"Robin, you have a lot to learn about survival," retorted Sam, from where he was ripping the more accessible clothes from the fallen warrior. Blackmail was doing the same for the tall guard he had felled.

A short while later, the tent flap opened slowly. A tall figure, clad in leather and a voluminous fur cloak with the hood pulled over its face, stepped out, clanking slightly. It was followed by another leather-wrapped figure, somewhat smaller, and then Kaylana, Valerie, Arcie, and Robin. The shorter figure turned to whisper to them, as Kaylana quickly donned the female barbarian's hooded cloak.

"Blackmail and I will go and let the Tantelopes out.

Kaylana, we'll need you along to help handle them ...

Valerie, can you make some explosive distractions if they seem to start to notice us? Arcie, you and Robin and Valerie all get out of town as fast as you can."

"What?" hissed Valerie. "You mean I have to pin my escape upon the actions of the short one. and horse-boy?"

"Valerie," Kaylana broke in gently over Arcie's and Robin's protests, "we need you to take care of the thief and the centaur. They may need your magic to allow them to escape."

"I dinna need no-" began Arcie indignantly, but Sam nudged him and he fell silent.

"Better yet, Arcie," he said, "can you sneak around and get our weapons? That would be useful."

"And how, by Baris and Bella, am I meant to carry all yer swords and daggers and the like?" retorted the Barigan.

"Specially yon knight's great meat cleaver? I can't so much as lift it!"

%%%"I gather, then, that you've tried?" said Valerie, with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, just find them then, and tell us where they are," snapped Sam in exasperation. "We can't stand here talking all night. Go!"

They split up, the three cloaked figures making their cautious way into the encampment, the centaur and sorceress swiftly heading out of the area as stealthily as they could, and a small, stout figure vanishing into the shadows of the surrounding tents.

Robin and Valerie made their way along the rough path they had been brought down before. A guard, all in leathers, rose up out of the darkness to challenge them; Valerie fired off a blast of negative energy, and sent the watchman tumbling silently down the far side of the hill.

The sorceress and centaur scrambled up the hills until they reached the edge of the gully. The night was dark, but the stars and campfires illuminated the encampment with a silver-gold light. The leather-hide buildings, flapping softly in the night breeze, made the camp resemble a nest of huge, sleeping beasts. Arcie could not be seen, but after a moment they did see the three hurrying figures of their companions moving toward the Tantelope pens.

"Can you do something, I don't know, with the weather or animals or something like that, to make a cover for our getaway? To hide our tracks, and that sort of thing?"

Sam asked Kaylana.

"Yes," came the soft reply. "I will need a moment, however... and it may take awhile for the effect to manifest."

They turned a corner, following a strong animal smell, and came within sight of the Tantelope pens; an area fenced in with high barriers made of leather ropes tied between tall poles. The Plains barbarians were nomadic, each taking their turn with the seasons to visit the holy Temple of Mula here in this gully. All the tents and enclosures could be folded and packed away for travel at a moment's notice. When Sam saw the few guards by the %%%animals' pen, he quickly pulled himself and his companions into hiding behind a tent used for storing the saddles and tack of the beasts.

"You'd better take your time now to do that distraction and hide our trail," he whispered to Kaylana.

"Very well," agreed Kaylana, and, gripping her staff, she closed her eyes in concentration. Her head tilted back, and her hair fell like copper fire in the flickering light of campfires, the same light that shone on her cheekbones and highlighted a face of such beauty and sorrow and wisdom, and the faint aura of ancient, natural, primal power floated in the air around her...

Blackmail tapped Sam on the shoulder, interrupting the assassin's thoughts. Sam returned self-consciously to the matter at hand.

"Right," he whispered sternly. "Now, we'll need to take out those guards ... how many did you count?"