Sorcerers of the Frozen Isles se-5 Read online

  But as Torio was about to congratulate Astra on ridding them of that nuisance with so little use of power, he realized that while he had been concentrating on what she was doing he had neglected to notice something else-there were people coming toward them through the woods.

  “Melissa-Read!” he exclaimed, for she, too, had been fascinated with Astra’s trick, which presumably she could duplicate.

  In every direction that they Read, they found people. People? There were flesh-and-blood human bodies moving toward them, breathing, hearts beating-but there seemed to be no minds within them to Read!

  All Adepts braced to use their powers? So many? Then it was hopeless, for there must be fifty of them moving purposefully toward them through the dense underbrush, ignoring scratches and bruises, stumbling and picking themselves up-They moved like no Adepts Torio had ever known. They were more like puppets-like the two people they had seen in Dirdra’s memory.

  But these were not the beautiful young people of that scene in Maldek’s castle. These were repulsive creatures, dressed in rags, skin peeling off, missing fingers or toes, eyelids gone to reveal staring eyes-It seemed an army of the dead!

  “Orbu!” gasped Dirdra as the first of them came into sight through the brush.

  “They’re mindless-but they are alive!” said Melissa. And as one of them raised a spear as if to heave it at her, she neatly stopped the creature’” heart. It dropped, truly dead.

  As if that were the signal, the rest increased their pace, converging on the five travelers, giving off the stench of rotting flesh.

  Torio and Zanos drew their swords, lopping off heads as the mindless beings made no attempt to defend themselves, but pressed forward with knives and spears, attempting to reach their prey, trampling the bodies of the fallen as they came.

  And behind them another wave of orbu followed, equally mindless although physically in somewhat better condition, as if Maldek had first sent the most defective ones, the most expendable.

  Wave after wave of them surged through the woods, enveloping the five companions in their sheer numbers. Torio could not count how many he killed before one reached him with a knife and gashed his thigh. Too late, he cut the thing’s arm off as another pulled him off his horse and stabbed him in his left biceps.

  Wherever he sliced at one, another came from a different direction, slashing at him without aim other than to draw blood. Around him, the others fought equally hard, Dirdra kicking them away, stabbing them with a spear she had picked up from one of them, until finally she, too, disappeared under a mass of bodies.

  The latecomers were sturdier-heads and limbs were harder to cut off, and Torio’s strength was giving out. This was not the fighting he was trained in-there was no art here. Zanos grabbed one of the creatures and used it to knock down half a dozen others-but they felt no pain, and were up again at once, charging at him. He looked at one and stopped its heart, but three others caught him from behind, and he went down under their weight.

  Torio Read a knife slip between Zanos’ ribs and slice through the vessels in his lung-a death blow if he were not healed almost at once! “Astra!” he shouted-but Zanos’ wife was waging her own private war against the loathsome creatures, swinging a short sword in either hand as he had seen her practicing with Zanos aboard ship.

  Torio drove his sword through the heart of another orbu, grabbed the spear it dropped, turned, and lunged at two of them, skewering both on the same spear with their own momentum. The things seemed even more agitated, more determined.

  And daring to focus beyond his immediate vicinity, he realized-“Maldek’s run out of them! These are the last!”

  His cry gave heart to the other fighters. Slipping on blood and flesh, Torio dispatched the last three in the group attacking him, Read Dirdra fling her way out from under the bodies piled on her, Melissa, the only one still on her horse, stop the hearts of two more, and Astra slash the throats of her three final attackers.

  Only Zanos did not move. He was unconscious, under a heap of dead orbu.

  Frantically, the other four dug Zanos out. Together, Astra and Melissa stopped his bleeding and closed the wound, but they were exhausted. None of the Adepts could perform further until they had rested-but not here, amid the gore of battle.

  Limping, Torio helped Dirdra round up the horses. It took the strength of Torio and all three women to heave Zanos across his saddle. Astra and Melissa were fighting sleep, and the use of Adept powers had reduced their Reading ability to that of children. Torio was their only lookout, and he could feel the stinging of his wounds now, Read the infection from the filthy implements with which he had been cut.

  Blinking, Melissa swayed as she faced him. “Torio… I have to heal you-no choice.” She touched his shoulder, and the heat of Adept healing cleansed the wound. Then his thigh-a deep wound, and painful.

  He winced as the heat increased the pain, but knew she dared not put him to sleep. He would have to stand it somehow, until they got to where it was safe for him to let go consciousness.

  And where was that? Melissa leaned on him. “Can’t sleep,” she murmured, although he could feel how hard she had to fight it.

  “Get on your horse,” he said. “I’ll lead you.”

  Astra was half asleep, leaning against Zanos as she sent her husband from unconsciousness into the healing sleep. Dirdra guided her to her horse and helped her into the saddle, then mounted her own horse, holding Astra’s reins.

  Torio led both Zanos and Melissa. It was slow going, but already hungry predators were converging on the scene of battle. At least if they were busy gorging themselves there, they would not be available to attack the helpless travelers.

  The path was as rough as ever, and as the sun slanted westward the horses stumbled. When Torio Read a rocky outcropping ahead that formed almost a shallow cave, he decided it was time to stop. He could Read no trace of Maldek, but of course if the Master Sorcerer were simply watching them out of body, not trying to Read their thoughts, he could not be Read unless he wanted to be-or unless he slipped up and projected his presence unintentionally.

  Besides, Maldek had said he wanted them to come to him. And he had not used his Adept powers to strike them down now that they were virtually helpless. Sharp waves of pain went through Torio’s thigh with every step of his horse, and the healing heat only increased it. Still, he knew that if he lay down, he would fall asleep despite the pain. It would leave them without a lookout, for Astra was in no better shape than Melissa. But they had to stop somewhere.

  Dared he assume that Maldek would find no pleasure in slaughtering them in their sleep?

  “I’ll stand watch, Torio,” said Dirdra when they came to a halt at the obvious campsite.

  “You’re not a Reader.”

  “And how much of a Reader are you when you’re injured and exhausted? Just help me get the others settled, and then you sleep. I’ll build a fire to keep the animals away. I doubt there’ll be any people stirring in this wood by night. And,” she echoed his thought, “if Maldek meant to take us while we cannot fight back, he would surely have done so by now.”

  Torio was simply too tired to protest. He sagged into his bedroll and was asleep without another thought.

  Torio woke to some sound that had stopped by the time he dragged himself fully conscious. The moment he Read where he was, he remembered-and without moving assessed his situation.

  It was just before dawn-but in these northern climes the sun rose early in the summer. Summer? There was frost on the ground-even on the blankets covering the travelers!

  No one else was awake. Zanos was in healing sleep, Melissa and Astra equally deep in the dreamless sleep of recovery from the use of Adept powers. Dirdra sat with her back against the stone outcropping, spear at her side, but she was in that same deep sleep bordering on coma. NonReader, nonAdept, she had not entered that state by herself.

  The sound that had wakened Torio came again-a growl. A very deep, threatening growl.

  H
e Read its source sniffing around the outskirts of their camp, attracted by the stench of blood and gore from the battle they had waged against the orbu. Torio felt half sick from the putrid stink of his own splattered clothing.

  The animal attracted by the stench was a wolf. No-a dog. A dog bigger than a wolf, easily outweighing Torio, but lean, built like a racing hound and covered in shaggy gray hair. It was all muscle, sinew, and teeth-and it was hungry.

  The beast sniffed again, smelling the death smell of the splattered gore and the life smell of the five travelers. Its stomach rumbled, and it moved toward Dirdra, prepared to kill and eat.

  “No!” ordered Torio, sitting up. “Get back!”

  The animal turned, hackles rising, and bared its teeth at him with a threatening growl.

  How he longed for Wulfston’s gift of controlling animals!

  But if it was a form of Reading, then—

  He Read the animal-the stench increasing in his nostrils with the dog’s sensitive nose, but becoming attractive, increasing the hunger, the hunting instinct.

  But there was another instinct in the animal. It was dog, not wolf-it had once been accustomed to obeying man, until its master had died and it had gone wild to survive.

  Hunger drove it now-and hatred of men who had driven it off with pitchforks and clubs when it had gone after sheep or chickens. It sought vengeance for the many blows it had received, food stolen right out of its mouth.

  The dog growled again, slavering, lips pulled back completely, the hair on its back standing straight up as it faced Torio, stiff-legged, assessing him as prey. Helpless prey in the dark-to his astonishment, Torio Read that the animal sensed he was blind.

  Where was his sword? In its scabbard, under the blankets-he’d been so exhausted he’d fallen asleep wearing it. He’d never get it out and untangled from his bedroll before the animal tore his throat out.

  He Read the dog catch a whiff of his startlement and crouch to spring.

  “No!” he projected instinctively, as if to a child who had just begun to Read. “No-you don’t want to hurt me. You want someone to care for you-to feed you.”

  The animal stopped in confusion, growling again but not attacking.

  There was food in the packs somewhere-supplies they had bought in town. Torio projected an image: the dog sitting before him, Torio stroking him and giving-giving him; the animal was male-a piece of cheese. He projected intense pleasure, security, love.

  The dog sat down, sniffing the air in confusion.

  Again Torio projected the image. The dog whined.

  Holding his breath, Torio pulled his legs up and slid out of his bedroll, moving very slowly as he found his supplies where Dirdra had placed his saddlebags under his head as a pillow. He pulled out his food packet and unwrapped a chunk of cheese, broke off a piece, and held it out toward the dog.

  Again projecting the image of petting and feeding the dog, Torio offered the tidbit, saying, “Here, boy.

  Come on. No one’s going to hurt you.”

  He held his breath as the animal sniffed his outstretched hand-and then took the cheese. The dog sat back, waiting, and Torio broke off another piece and fed it again. There was nowhere near enough to satisfy the animal’s appetite-but his need for human companionship was almost as strong. When the cheese was gone, he accepted bread until the desperate ache in his gut was appeased.

  And then he butted his huge head against Torio’s hand, as if demanding the petting he had promised!

  He stroked the dog’s head uncertainly-there had been no dogs at the Academy, just a cat that spent most of its time lounging before the fire in the kitchen. Wulfston had dogs, but Torio had never paid much attention to them.

  But he quickly Read where the beast felt the most pleasure, scratching behind his ears, the sides of his face.

  After a time, the beast got up and turned in a circle-then flopped down next to Torio, pressed his great body against Torio’s, and fell asleep.

  Dawn was breaking, but although they had fallen asleep before sunset, Zanos, Astra, and Melissa were still deeply asleep. Now that his charge of adrenaline from being awakened by the dog was gone, Torio was sleepy again. The warmth of the animal was comforting.

  He thought of waking Dirdra, but suspected that the dog was a much better guardian than she could be.

  And something told him that a rapport had formed-from this point on, the great gray dog was his.

  Sometime later, though, Torio woke alone. The sun was high in the sky. His companions were asleep-unharmed. For a moment Torio wondered if the incident with the animal had been a dream—

  but no, there was the empty napkin that had wrapped his cheese, and half his bread was gone as well.

  Furthermore, his blankets now sported a coating of wiry gray hairs.

  He Read out beyond their camp, and found no sign of people. The dog was almost a mile away, following some kind of trail.

  Torio turned his attention to his companions. Melissa woke when he Read her, and got up, stretching and yawning. She curled her lip. “Auf! I stink! We all do-and there’s no place to wash.”

  “Sorry-this was the best camp I could find last night,” said Torio.

  “I’m not complaining,” she replied. “I certainly was no help. You and Dirdra did very well, considering.”

  At the mention of her name, Dirdra woke, all apologies for having fallen asleep without waking Torio first. “We could have been murdered in our beds!”

  “Eaten alive, rather,” Torio told her.

  “What?”

  “You’ll see-I think.”

  He was right. Melissa examined Torio’s wounds, which, although only partly healed, had stopped hurting.

  Astra wakened and decided to wake Zanos to feed him, touching him on the forehead between the eyes-the only safe way to wake an Adept. By the time the gladiator had shaken off his drowsiness, the dog returned.

  He brought back a rabbit, laid it at Torio’s feet, and sat grinning at him proudly, tongue lolling out one side of his giant mouth.

  The other four travelers stared as Torio patted the animal on the head. “I hate to tell you this, boy, but Readers are vegetarians.”

  “Adepts aren’t!” said Zanos. “Where’d you get that creature, Torio?”

  “He came in the middle of the night, and decided to adopt me,” Torio replied, taking the rabbit and handing it to the gladiator. “I think we’d better share this with him, though.” And as they built a fire to cook the rabbit and make tea, he told what had happened.

  “It was Maldek again,” said Dirdra. “I was too upset to sleep-but he must have made me. And then sent this beast to murder us.”

  “Don’t blame the dog,” said Torio. “He’s just a poor stray that’s been trying to survive since his master died. Look how he responded to a little bread and cheese.”

  “Fine animal,” agreed Zanos. “They choose people, you know. People Ahink they choose the dogs, but it’s not so. The dog trainer at the arena used to tell me that only when the dog chose the man would they make a good team in the ring. You know how-? No, of course you never went to the games. But sometimes you’d swear man and dog were Reading one another.”

  Torio grinned. “This one’s a Reader, all right-that’s how I got through to him this morning.”

  “Really?” asked Melissa. “Here, boy!” she projected, as Torio had done.

  But the huge dog didn’t stir, just sat staring at Torio. Out of curiosity, he projected, “Go ahead,” and the image of Melissa petting the animal. At once the dog got up and walked over to Melissa, and let her scratch his shaggy head.

  But he would take his orders only from Torio. Even when Zanos offered him the rabbit’s entrails, he looked to Torio for permission before accepting food from anyone else. “He’s chosen you, all right,” said Zanos. “Now you’ll have to name him.”

  “He probably has a name,” said Torio. “What’s your name, boy? What did your master call you?”

  The dog underst
ood only that Torio was asking something of him-he didn’t understand what. So he dropped to the ground, looking up at Torio from under his eyebrows. When that was not the answer, he sat up and offered a hoof-sized paw. Torio took it, and patted him on the head. “You’re trying to please me-I understand. But I want to know what to call you.”

  The dog tilted his head to one side, listening intently, frustrated that he could not make out what his new master wanted.

  So Torio tried projecting to the dog the image of a man calling to him-the dog too far away to see his master, but hearing-what? What did he hear that caused him to stop what he was doing and run to the man?

  And all the Readers heard it plain as could be in the dog’s mind: “Gray!”

  Torio laughed. “Gray! Good boy, Gray!” The dog grinned in delight, and almost knocked Torio over as his tail wagged the whole rest of his body. “Your master wasn’t very original, but he loved you, didn’t he?”

  Again Gray didn’t understand, but this time he knew it didn’t matter-he had found his person, and he was happy.

  It was late morning by the time the travelers set out once more, wending their way through dense forest until nearly sunset. Gray loped alongside Torio’s horse most of the way, sometimes running off to trail interesting scents, sometimes leaping ahead, but it was clear he would stay with his new master.

  Although the Readers remained alert, there were no new trials. When they came to a small creek at midafternoon, despite the chill air they stripped off their gory outer garments and washed them as clean as they could-until one of their group dared waste Adept powers on such a trivial task, some of the stains would remain permanent. But at least the smell was washed away.

  As long as they had stopped, they ate while their clothes dried, and Zanos, whose wound was still bothering him, napped.

  “Dirdra,” asked Melissa, “exactly what are orbu?”