“You’re not from the Isle of Zuhl, are you?” the old man said. “No, I thought not. You are clearly a seasoned warrior and you carry a weapon of rank, yet you treat this woman as an equal. That is not our way, so I can only surmise that you have come from another isle. That makes you an enemy of Lord Zuhl.”
He fell silent and nodded to himself, smiling slightly. “There was a great explosion early this morning. Such a thing would make an excellent distraction, don’t you think?”
“Stop speculating about us,” Anatoly said. “You’re an old soldier and you’re trying to gather information.”
“I’m an old man who was once a soldier. Quite honestly, my only interest here is that you don’t harm my son’s wife or my grandchildren. As for my speculation, well, let’s just say I’m curious. I served Lord Zuhl for many years, my son serves him now. That service has provided this home for our family and guaranteed that we eat well while others go without, but I have no love for Lord Zuhl. He has kept the people of this island embroiled in war and petty disputes for centuries. I’ve often wondered at his motives … until now.”
“Go on,” Anatoly said.
“Now that the Reishi scourge has returned, Lord Zuhl is prepared to defend us against it. All of those centuries of border wars between countless tribes have bred a people uniquely suited to making war. We are battle-hardened and prepared for the enemy we face. While I don’t believe that Lord Zuhl is the god he claims to be, he is wise and prescient. I for one am glad that he’s gone to such great lengths to preserve us against the Reishi threat.”
Anatoly and Magda shared a look.
“As I suspected, you’re infiltrators sent by the Reishi,” the old man said. “You will fail. Lord Zuhl will find you and you will suffer greatly for your murderous ambitions.”
Anatoly snorted and shook his head. “The truth is, you wouldn’t believe the truth if I told you.”
“Why not tell me?” the old man said. “We both know you’re going to murder my family before this day is done. What do you have to lose by humoring an old man with your version of the truth?”
“I don’t like where this is going,” Magda said.
Kayla brought a tray of cups filled with steaming hot tea, timidly offering it to Anatoly first, the cups shaking from the trembling in her hands.
“I’ll pass,” he said.
“As will I,” Magda said.
“Suit yourself,” the old man said. “I want you boys to both drink your cups, all of it.”
“Stop!” Anatoly said.
Kayla froze in midstride.
“Can you detect poison?” he asked Magda.
She looked at him sharply when the realization of what he was suggesting sank in, then nodded curtly, muttering the words of a spell. The tea began to glow a soft, menacing reddish color.
Anatoly swatted the tray out of the woman’s hand, scattering cups of poisoned tea across the floor.
“You would kill your whole family?” he demanded.
“Better by my hand than by yours,” the old man said, drawing a knife from the folds of his tunic and casting it at Anatoly with remarkable accuracy. It struck his breastplate just left of center and clattered to the floor.
Anatoly spun his war axe into his hands and stepped forward, shoving Kayla to the floor with the haft of it.
“Remain seated, old man,” Anatoly said. Then turning to Magda, he said, “It’s time to go.”
Magda nodded, casting another spell. A pulse of soft white light shone from her outstretched hands, bathing the four in its power. A moment later they all slumped into a deep sleep.
“They’ll be out for several hours and then they’ll wake feeling refreshed and well,” she said.
“That’s quite a spell,” Anatoly said.
“I actually devised it to help people through sickness,” she said with a sad smile.
They banked the fire and left the family to their magically induced sleep.
“Do you think they’ll believe any differently about us when they wake, alive and well?” Anatoly asked.
“I suspect they’ll believe what they want to believe,” Magda said.
“You’re probably right.”
Chapter 19
By midafternoon they were gaining altitude as they reached the base of the glacier that blanketed the mountain range to the north of Zuhl’s capital city. The soldiers searching for them had fanned out throughout the city but it was such a large place that Anatoly and Magda had little difficulty evading them. Since there wasn’t a wall surrounding the city itself, it had been relatively easy to escape, especially after darkness fell.
From their vantage point in the foothills overlooking the city, they could see the true size of Zuhl’s army.
“I knew he had a lot of men, but I had no idea just how many,” Anatoly said. “We have to come up with a way to eliminate those ships.”
“Hopefully, the Elite Guard will have some luck on that front,” Magda said. “And perhaps Alexander was successful against Zuhl himself. I don’t know the contents of the book we gave him but I have my suspicions. If I’m right, Zuhl may well be dead already. If that’s the case, it’s only a matter of time before all those men down there start fighting amongst themselves.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Anatoly said.
“In the meantime, we should probably proceed as planned,” Magda said, pointing to the base of the mountain range below them. “It looks like they’ve assembled a hunting party.”
“It was only a matter of time,” Anatoly said, “especially if that really was their commanding general.”
“Given his weapons and armor, I would say it’s highly likely,” Magda said.
“Shame we didn’t have more time with him,” Anatoly said.
“Before this is over you may get your wish,” Magda said. “It looks like his adjunct is leading the hunting party.”
“How can you see him from here?” Anatoly said.
“Magic.”
Anatoly grunted, turning toward the mountain slope leading up to the snowcapped peaks above.
Less than an hour later a shadow passed overhead. Anatoly spun his war axe into his hands as Magda began casting a spell. Flying overhead was one of the half-man, half-dragon creatures that had helped abduct Abigail from Fellenden. It roared but didn’t attack, instead taking up a wide orbit high overhead, marking their position for the hunting party.
Anatoly slung his axe and withdrew Abigail’s bow from its carrying case on his back. “I’ve never been very good with a bow, but I might be able to take that thing down with this.”
“Perhaps we can lure the others into an ambush,” Magda said.
“What did you have in mind?”
She pointed to a rocky outcropping overlooking the trail they were following. “From there I can eliminate most, if not all of the pursuing soldiers, provided I have a few minutes of uninterrupted time to cast my spell.”
“You’re sure?” Anatoly asked. “If your spell doesn’t work, we’ll be trapped.”
“I’m sure, except for that one,” she said, pointing to the creature flying overhead. “My spell will have no effect on it, so you may want to keep that bow handy.”
“All right then, we’d better get into position.”
They climbed to the top of the outcropping and cleared the area of debris so they could find firm footing, and then they waited, Magda watching the trail below, and Anatoly watching the creature floating above them, Abigail’s bow in hand, an arrow nocked and ready.
An hour passed before they heard the sounds of men drifting through the crisp air. A few minutes later, the first of the hunting party rounded the corner, coming into view. Magda began her spell. The creature above called out again, alerting the hunters to their presence.
Twenty men fanned out in the narrow confines of the mountain pass. Magda continued to focus on her spell.
The nearest man raised his bow and sent an arrow at them but it fell short. They began to approach the base of the outcropping, looking for a way to climb to the top, while the leader, armed with his dragon-scale shield and finely crafted long sword, stood back, watching his men approach their quarry.