Set in Stone (62 page)

Carbrey hesitated for a second, and Connor did not dare breathe.

Would he take it? Would he accept the deal and end the war and spare so many lives?

Carbrey took the pouch.

Connor grinned and his heart soared.

"I am not bound by terms you set."

His hopes shattered at his feet. "That's not right!"

"You are not authorized to bind me or this army. How could you ever assume otherwise?" Carbrey hefted the pouch and smiled. "But I thank you for this prize."

"It's not a prize. It's an exchange."

"There will be no exchange."

Connor stared, astonished. How could Carbrey do this?

Shona, who looked equally surprised said, "General, I think you should reconsider. Connor acted in good faith."

"Enough. The situation has changed. At dawn we rid the kingdom of Wolfram's threat."

"That's not right," Connor repeated through clenched teeth.

"It's in the best interest of the nation, boy, so that makes it right. We have the Builder, and now we have the mysterious powder. In a few hours we'll have Wolfram and Kilian, and the greatest victory in a century."

"I wouldn't count on it," Connor retorted. "Wolfram said he has more weapons you haven't seen yet."

"I will deal with Wolfram."

"Like you did today? Or yesterday?"

Carbrey's calm cracked for the first time and he took an angry step forward. "Don't dare question me, boy. Wolfram isn't the only one with surprises."

"What do you mean?" Shona asked.

Carbrey nodded toward the giant newcomer. "Our reinforcements have arrived. We will launch the Stone Rain at dawn and overwhelm them in a single stroke."

"You stripped the Merkland garrison?"

"The battle is here." Carbrey turned back to the table and surveyed the map. "All things are aligned for my victory."

"Except they'll kill my family and everyone in Alasdair," Connor said. He advanced, driven forward by anger and fear for his family. Things weren't supposed to turn out this way.

"That is a risk we must take."

"That's easy for you to say," Connor cried. "It's not your family that's going to die."

Carbrey hefted the pouch of weakening powder. "I'm in your debt for procuring this secret. You'll be well rewarded for your service, but you will follow my commands in the future. Is that clear?"

"You don't care that everyone in Alasdair will die, do you?"

"War demands hard choices, lad. That's something you'll have to learn as Guardian. Don't put your future at risk."

There it was, laid out so clear that even in his anger he could not miss the threat. Toe the line, obey without question, and his Patronage was secure.

Fail to do so, and . . .

Connor looked to Shona for help, but although she looked frustrated, she only shook her head slightly. He ground his teeth and when Carbrey turned back to the table, he strode angrily from the tent. The cool night air outside the tent helped ease his fury. The camp lay silent as soldiers with fewer worries tried to catch as much sleep as they could before the upcoming battle.

Connor envied them. All they had to do was fight. None of their families lived in the path of battle. None of their parents were held prisoner, doomed to be the first victims of Wolfram's wrath when he learned of Connor's failure.

Realization struck like a bolt of lightning. Connor stood quivering as the truth rattled him to the core. Carbrey had betrayed his trust, but that didn't mean he'd failed.

With stone-hard resolve, Connor went to find some powder.

Chapter 71

Connor crouched at the edge of the forest and stared across the clearing at the base of the steep slope where the prisoner cave cut into the mountain. Torches ringed the area and bathed it in warm, flickering light.

Half a dozen soldiers stood at the base of the small ravine, barely ten feet from the cliff, and two more stood on the ledge up by the mouth of the cave. Connor clenched a long length of heavy rope he'd acquired in camp, and weighed a pair of small leather pouches. One held basalt and the other granite.

He could only use one.

Part of him yearned for the familiar, cursed itch of granite. He'd hated it all his life, but in this desperate moment, its familiar irritation would be welcome.

Besides, those were trained soldiers out there. But at least one of them was a Boulder, so maybe granite wouldn't help.

Slate would prove useful against a bunch of soldiers, but his best defense against Gregor was in not alerting him that anything was amiss. Shifting earth around would draw the Sentry's attention faster than anything.

So he tucked the granite away and dumped the basalt powder into his palm. He closed his hand around it and focused. Rippling energy flowed up his arm as he absorbed the stone, and it became difficult to remain still.

Time to move.

Without giving himself more time to think about how crazy this entire plan was, Connor tapped basalt and leaped from hiding.

He shot across the clearing, and breathed deep from the rush of cool night air that bore the distinctive scent of Alasdair Mountain. It helped, a little.

Before the soldiers standing guard could more than shout a warning, Connor raced past them on the right, and threw out the looped end of the rope.

The loop fell around the nearest soldier and Connor poured on the speed and leaned hard over. Dirt and grass sprayed out behind him as he made a tight turn.

He didn't turn hard enough.

For a split second, as the steep slope loomed in front of him with the promise of painful impact, Connor panicked. Then he leaned farther over.

And ran up and across the face of the slope.

The world shifted abruptly sideways, and he almost stumbled, but with a renewed burst of speed, he outran the fall. He leaned farther over, until his shoulder almost scraped the earth, and descended to level ground again.

Still leaning far over, Connor completed a tight circuit of the soldiers, who were reaching for weapons even as they tried in vain to turn and keep him in sight. He played out the rope behind him and, as the soldiers bunched into a group in their attempt to watch him racing past, he drew the rope tighter.

Too late, one soldier shouted a warning.

Connor completed the circuit and, knowing what to do, increased his tap rate. The first circuit took three seconds.

The second took two.

So did the third, and the fourth.

Soldiers cursed as the rope tightened and bound them. The two Boulders in the group tried to break the bonds, but when they strained against the ropes, their companions cried out in pain from the increased pressure.

Connor completed six circuits of the soldiers before running out of rope. He skidded to a stop and tied off the end.

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't hurt any of you."

"I'm going to break your head, boy," one of the Boulders growled.

Time to go. Connor headed for the steep ravine that climbed to the narrow ledge and the prisoner cave. Just before he reached it, the ground surged upward to block his path.

Connor collided with the wall of earth and bounced back a step. Chill dread sickened him as he slowly turned.

"You may not pass." The deep voice drew his gaze up the side of the steep slope to a shadowed area he hadn't noticed.

Atop a column of earth pressed right against the steep slope stood Gregor.

Chapter 72

The huge Sentry, his hands encased in pillars of earth said, "Re-think this madness, Connor."

"Let me pass," Connor shouted. "I have to free them or everyone I love is going to die."

"I applaud your motives, but I cannot allow it."

Why did everything have to be so difficult?

Gregor terrified Connor, but since he'd started down this road, the rightness of it drove back fear. It had to be done.

He retreated a couple of steps and tore away a section of grass to reveal the soft earth beneath. He pulled a small wafer of slate from the satchel Hamish had given him, a satchel full of stones pilfered from the pile Verena had shown him in one of the sheds.

Connor dropped the wafer of slate, kicked off one boot, and stepped onto the rock. He focused, and the deep strength of the earth flowed up through his feet, fusing him to the earth. He extended his hands, and the earth rose to encase them.

"You have talent, lad, but do not do this. It is a hopeless gesture."

Connor's senses expanded through the earth. The ground under him rumbled, and a column of earth lifted him into the sky to face Gregor.

"I can't let them die. You will let me pass."

Unlike the last time he practiced with Gregor, this time he found the Sentry's location almost instantly. Gregor was not even trying to hide.

Connor took it for a good sign and gripped the earth under Gregor's column with fingers of thought. The ground shifted below the Sentry, and for a second Connor exulted. He was going to do it.

Gregor said, "You reap the fruits of unheeded warnings."

The Sentry's tower dropped straight down two feet, as if it were driving into the earth. The ground rippled out from its base like the waters of a pond, and Gregor drove Connor's earth sense back in a rush.

Connor fought to hold on, but his efforts crumpled like a child trying to stop a charging torc with his bare hands.

The ground beneath Connor erupted in a spray of earth, and his tower shattered. Connor cried out as he tumbled and lost contact with the wafer of slate. His enhanced senses abruptly ceased, as if those ethereal new limbs had been amputated.

Fingers of earth shot up to catch him. They encircled him and dragged him down to the ground where they sealed him to the neck in an unbreakable prison.

Connor struggled in vain, but could not move, could barely breath. Earth coated his face. He smelled it, tasted it, breathed it. For a moment, it felt like he was drowning in it.

Did Gregor plan to kill him, to bury him in the earth where no one would ever find him? The thought chilled him to the bone. He shouted, "I thought you watched over everyone! I thought you tried to help!"

Gregor's earthen tower settled smoothly to the ground and the thick-limbed Sentry approached. His dark-tanned face looked sad. "I salute your spirit, but I am afraid you have not improved the situation."

Fingers of earth tore through the ropes still binding the guards. Gregor made a little motion with one hand, and Connor lifted up into an earthen column that began sliding along the ground toward camp.

Connor struggled mightily, but to no avail. He could not so much as move a finger and reach for his granite. With this cursed strength, he might be able to fight.

Who was he kidding? He couldn't fight Gregor. The man stood against Anton in battle. He'd mastered the powers of earth while Connor had barely touched them.

The truth beat him like a hammer. He'd failed.