Reaching across the plain with his magic, the first sept he found appeared to him as a small cluster of light amidst a vast darkness. Sifting through those lights he could sense the type of magic wielded by each person, and so could pick out Weavers from among the others. And when he found two Weavers sharing a z'kal, he knew that he had found the a'laq and n'qlae. Reaching into the mind of the man in this first sept, he summoned that image of the plain once more and stepped into the a'laq's dreams.
He was an older man, his back slightly stooped and his face deeply lined, but his pale yellow eyes were still bright and alert. They narrowed as he looked at Grinsa across the expanse of plain grass.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What clan are you from?"
"My name is Grinsa jal Arriet, A'Laq, and though I come from the Forelands, I'm living now among the Fal'Borna in the sept of E'Menua, son of E'Sedt."
"You're with E'Menua's sept?" the man asked, sounding doubtful.
"I am, A'Laq. You've heard of the plague making its way across the plain?"
"Yes, of course."
"I've had that plague and I've survived, thanks to two men named Besh and Sirj. These men are Mettai and they have been traveling through Fal'Borna lands, risking their lives so that they might stop this plague from spreading farther. They killed the Mettai witch who first conjured the plague, and they've found a way to make all Qirsi immune to it. By entering your dream and touching your magic, I've spread their spell to you. You're now immune to the plague, and you can make every man and woman in your sept immune by using your magic on them. Touch them with healing, enter their dreams, use your power to augment theirs. Whatever you choose, it will have the same effect."
The a'laq gaped at Grinsa as if the Forelander had told him he could now hold Morna's Ocean in the palm of his hand.
"You're certain of this?" he asked breathlessly. "You truly had the plague yourself?"
Grinsa smiled. "Yes, A'Laq. This is a gift to you from E'Menua. All he asks in return is that if you encounter the plague, you contact him immediately to let him know that the spell worked and saved your people."
"Yes! Yes, of course!"
"Thank you, A'Laq. I have to leave you now. I have many more a'laqs to contact."
"I'm sure you do. Thank you, Grinsa of the Forelands. May Qirsar smile upon E'Menua and his sept."
"I'll convey your kind words to the a'laq."
He stepped out of the man's dreams and immediately began searching for the next sept farther to the north. Before long he found it, and reached down with his magic for the a'laq.
Chapter 13
Two days after their attack on the first sept, the Eandi army encountered their second Fal'Borna settlement. This one was larger than the first and it didn't appear to have been damaged by the plague. It also was situated in a part of the plain that had fewer rises and dales. The army had no hope of taking these Fal'Borna by surprise. In fact, Tirnya and her father were quite certain that the Qirsi spotted their army only a short time after their forward scouts caught sight of the sept.
"Now our planning will be tested," Jenoe muttered, eyeing the terrain around the settlement, seeming to search for any advantage the land might offer them.
To Tirnya's untrained eye, the landscape appeared to offer little.
"We should do this without the Mettai, Marshal," Gries said, looking regal on his white stallion.
Jenoe shook his head, still surveying the plain. "I'm not convinced that we can, Captain Ballidyne. These Fal'Borna are at full strength, and they know we're here. Fighting the white-hairs on such terms is what led to our loss of these lands in the first place."
"Wolves, then?" Tirnya asked.
Her father glanced at her. Then he turned to one of the scouts who had first brought word of the settlement. "Bring the eldest. Quickly."
The man bowed in his saddle, and then rode back toward the Mettai.
"We'll have to ride closer," Gries said. "That's what the eldest will say. Last time, the white-hairs went for our mounts and raised a mist. If this is a full sept, they may well have several Weavers. They could attack us with shaping and fire as well as the rest."
"What would you suggest then, Captain?" asked Marshal Crish.
"If they've seen us, there's nothing we can do," Enly said, before Gries could answer. "This has been the risk all along, hasn't it? We based our strategy on the assumption that the Fal'Borna have been weakened by the plague. The first settlement had been. But it seems that the plague spared some septs and now we have to fight our way through." He hesitated, his eyes flicking toward Tirnya. "Or we have to turn back right now."
Tirnya hoped that others-her father? Gries? Hendrid?-would rush to gainsay him, but no one said a word.
"We're not leaving," she finally said.
Enly nodded once, as if he'd expected her to say as much. "Then I'd suggest we prepare for battle. And I'd also suggest that we give free rein to the Mettai."
Gries frowned. "Free rein? You can't be serious."
"I am. I don't know about you, Captain, but I'd like to survive this war. We're facing a Fal'Borna army; a true one this time. None of us has ever done that before. This is no time to get squeamish about resorting to magic of any sort. Given the choice between a couple of Fal'Borna Weavers and those wolves we saw the other day, I'll take the wolves in a heartbeat."
"That may not be the only choice," Jenoe said in a tone seemingly intended to end their discussion. "Here comes the eldest."
They all turned. Fayonne and her son were striding purposefully in their direction, following the mounted scout. The rest of the Mettai were behind them.
"I brought all of my people, Marshal," the eldest said, stopping in front of Jenoe. "I hope you don't mind. I assumed that you'd have me send for them soon enough."
A faint smile flickered on Jenoe's face. "Thank you, Eldest. I appreciate your foresight."
She inclined her head, then looked past him toward the sept. "We've found another settlement, I see."
"Yes. There's no evidence that the plague has struck this one. We'll be facing a full Fal'Borna sept this time."
Her eyebrows went up, but otherwise she offered no response.
Jenoe glanced at Tirnya, uncertainty in his deep blue eyes. "We're wondering what kind of magic you think might work against such a force," he continued after a moment.
Fayonne turned to her son. "The sleeping spell worked well last time, as did the finding spell."
"Yes," Mander said. "Either of those."
"But don't we have to be close to the sept for you to use that kind of magic?" Gries asked.
"Yes, Captain," Fayonne said. "We'll have to be far closer to the sept for just about any of our spells to work. That's the nature of Mettai magic."
"Can you do anything to help with their horses?" Tirnya asked.
Fayonne looked puzzled. "Their horses?"
"Well, last time the Fal'Borna used language of beasts against our mounts and we had to advance on foot. I assume that these Fal'Borna will do the same. But they'll be on horses, which gives them an advantage if it comes to close fighting."
"The blood wolves," the eldest said plainly. "They can attack their horses. Their mere presence will unnerve the animals." She shrugged. "But you've made it clear that you don't want us to conjure any more of them."
Tirnya took a breath, holding the woman's gaze. "Well, I may have to accept that we have no choice in the matter."
The woman shrugged again, her bearing maddeningly calm.
"Pardon me, Eldest," Enly said. "You said a moment ago that we had to be closer for just about any of your magic to work. Are there spells you can use from this distance?"
"There may be one or two," Fayonne said. "But if you didn't like the blood wolves, you might not like these conjurings, either."
"Why not?" Jenoe asked. "What are they?"
"Early in the Blood Wars, when we first fought alongside your people, we had many sorts of creatures that served our armies. The wolves were one. There were also blood eagles, great birds of prey that could attack an enemy from the sky. They could he sent forth from farther away. Of course, the Qirsi could fight them off with shaping magic, but the eagles were said to be deft fliers. Some of them might be able to avoid the conjurings of the Fal'Borna."