So far, Teindo seemed to be the only one.
A moment after Teindo hobbled away, Blade regretted shooting the arrow that saved him, because other archers now thought it was time to go man-killing and pulled out their wooden shafts. Most of them fell short or went astray; the Uchendi bows simply weren't strong enough to reach any human targets except the shpuga-handlers.
«The shpugas are the great enemy!» Blade roared loud enough to be heard clear across the valley. «The shpugas! I'll shoot down the next man who hits anything but a shpuga.'' He lent weight to those words by jumping up and nocking a fresh arrow.
Enough of the archers heard Blade to go back to the important work. It took a while, though, and Blade stood in the open, watching until he was sure things were going right. By then Crystal was up beside him, the Idol slung across her back. Of course that meant Cheeky insisted on coming up and joining the fun, too!
In Home Dimension warfare this would have been dangerous. One burst of fire or a single shell could have wiped out the command group. But there were no guns here, and in any case the first part of the battle seemed to be almost over. Dead and dying shpugas littered the ground, surrounded by the corpses of handlers and ezintis they'd torn to pieces in their dying agonies. Archers who'd shot their quivers empty were stalking the dying.
Out in the valley, the surviving shpugas were wandering among the mounted Rutari, disturbing the ezintis. One rider sat his mount a little apart, apparently unafraid of either shpugas or Uchendi archers. Then the rider urged the mount toward the valley side and Blade recognized Ellspa.
She was nude and had her arms crossed over her breasts. She had to be controlling her mount with her knees alone, or perhaps just her mind. She certainly wore a marvelously serene expression, which suggested her mind was somewhere else.
A moment later Blade knew where Ellspa's mind was-entering his. This happened too fast for him to be aware of what was happening until she inside his mind. After that he found he could not keep from listening to her. He heard her voice as if she'd been murmuring into his ear:
(«Blade, come down to me. Come down and find what you have lost. Come down and find happiness you will not find anywhere else. I will give it to you.»)
Blade heard Cheeky protesting and felt a paw on his leg. He kicked backward and heard a yeeep of pain. Cheeky did not offer him happiness. Ellspa did. He took a step, then a second. He wanted to run, because what he saw ahead was Zoe, nude, riding a white horse along a surf-lashed beach. Her blonde hair flew out behind her in the wind like a flag.
A girl-he thought he remembered the name was Crystal Eyes or something like that-was in his path. She was in Zoe's path too, and she was raising a submachine gun to cut Zoe down. Zoe, his beloved-
Something was in front of his feet, then under them, as if the ground itself was betraying him. He was falling. He twisted frantically in midair, but he was so intent on Zoe that his reflexes were slowed. He crashed down on the hard ground. Now it seemed there was a weight on his chest and another on his legs holding him there.
Something was hammering at his head, too. It sounded like pain but also like the submachine gun. He couldn't see any more, but the jealous Crystal Eyes must be shooting at Zoe. He had to get up and save her, he had to stop Crystal Eyes-
Something heavy and solid smashed down on his head. The pain grew much louder, then everything was silent.
Chapter 27
Blade awoke with the worst headache he'd had since they stopped using the old booth with the electrodes for the transition into Dimension X. He felt as if several gorillas had been pounding on his skull with sledgehammers.
Headache or no headache, he had to know how the battle was going; or at least if he and Cheeky were in danger themselves. He opened his eyes, which was a mistake, then tried to sit up, which was an even bigger one. With some difficulty, he managed not to groan.
However, his movements attracted attention. He heard a familiar yeeeep, and something small and feathery hopped onto his lap. Then his pain-blurred vision made out Eye of Crystal standing over him. It even made out the agony of fear on her face. She had to be reassured.
«I'm alive and-ouch-I think I'll be all right in a bit.»
«Don't try too hard, Blade. The Rutari are beaten, so there is no need for you to do anything. Lie down again and I will bring you water.»
Blade drank half the waterskin Crystal gave him in a few gulps, and that took care of most of the pain in his head. By the time the waterskin was empty, he could sit up and look around without wincing.
Crystal was right. The Rutari were scattered all up and down the valley. They seemed to be more concerned with keeping clear of their own shpugas or getting away entirely than with fighting anybody. A few of the Uchendi cavalry were already on hand, discouraging the few bold spirits from trying to make any sort of a stand. Sometimes they had to rein in while archers took care of a shpuga or two, but that never took long.
Whatever happened to the warriors of the Rutari, this was the last stand for the shpugas. The hairy monsters would never decide a battle in this Dimension again.
Downhill from Blade and Crystal, the bodies of both men and shpugas seemed to be lying more thickly than elsewhere. Blade looked harder, saw blood around many of them, then looked at Crystal. She looked down at the Idol, blushing and unable to meet his eyes.
«All right, Crystal. I heard the Idol speak. What did you do?»
«I pointed it at the Wise-at Ellspa-like you taught me. She was trying to keep me from using any weapons to save you. She did not think of the Idol as a weapon, so I could use it. The Idol spoke, but it did not silence Ellspa at first. You were going to her, to the shpugas.»
(«Yes,» said Cheeky. «Master Blade, you were not the way you should be. So I made you fall. The Mistress Crystal hit you with the Idol so you did not get up.»)
Blade felt his head. Yes, there was a lump there now, about the right size to have been made by the butt of the UZI. «And then what happened?» he said dryly.
«The Idol would not speak,» said Crystal. «So I put my mind into it, and it did not fight me. I made move the things that were supposed to move, and it spoke again. When it stopped speaking this time, Ellspa was dead. The other Rutari who saw what happened to her were running away.»
No wonder, Blade realized. With the Idol itself passing a judgment on their shaman, the Rutari must have thought they were fighting against the gods themselves. And what Crystal had done with her mind… The Idol must have malfunctioned, and Crystal made the parts work again.
«You say you made the parts of the Idol move again? Just like you made that last ball move, in the Great Game of nor?»
Crystal blushed even harder and could only nod. Blade grinned.
«I've suspected it was you for some time. I suppose you know you did me a good turn there. Without Winter Owl on our side-«
(«Master, the Master Winter Owl is coming. If you do not want him to know this, do not talk about it anymore.»)
(«Thank you, Cheeky.»)
The warning was just in time. Winter Owl came leaping up the hill, covered with blood and dust but smiling and as cheerful as a boy. «I have a message from Friend of Lions,» he said. «He brings the riders up the valley to finish the work. He says Blade and the archers should not have all the day's glory.»
«We won't fight him over his share,» said Blade. He stood up and found that his head behaved itself now. Telepathic duels apparently did no permanent injury. But why had he been so weak against Ellspa's attack when he'd fought off the much stronger Guardian successfully? Was Ellspa stronger than the Guardian? Or maybe his memories of Zoe would always leave him vulnerable.