Soldiers of Ice (27 page)

Her blade hit the beast in the inidsection. With fury driven by pain, the gnoll parried Vil’s second thrust with a vicious clang of metal and whirled to face the Harper, driving her back with a mad series of slashes. As she stumbled out of reach, the creature staggered to a stop. Woman and beast stood staring at each other, both too intent on their foe to feel fear.

It was the gnoll who ended the standoff. With a wild leap, it hurled itself toward Martine. The gnoll’s ululating cry rang through the woods as the wind shook the branches in sympathy. The long sword slashed out viciously.

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In a single, graceful move, Martine dropped flat, thrusting upward at the same time. Her sword tip caught the

charging gnoll just above its sternum and sliced downward.

Warm blood sprayed her face as the gnoll toppled past her to die, titching, on the ground.

Martine didn’t waste any time but was already moving to rejoin the main battle. Five gnolls remained, glaring at their enemies who thronged around them on all sides.

At the forefront of the gnomes, Jonka picked up an axe from the litter of a trampled tent and, with a snap of his wrist, hurled it spinning into the gnolls’ midst. Immediately behind it, he plunged into their ranks, bloody sword in hand. The closest gnoll threw its furry arms up. It could have been no More than a cub, barely trained in combat and hopelessly outmatched. Jouka’s single darting lunge was enough to plunge his blade past the futilely warding arms and into the gnoll’s gut, The creature staggered to its lmees with a look of terrified astonishment across its drawn muzzle. Savagely Jouka slashed the blade free, ripping the wound open to complete the job, his eyes already alighting on another gnoll.

Their leader’s onslaught released the other Vani warriors from their hesitation. With a communal rush, the band hurled itself upon the gnolls in a flood of savagery. Hopelessly overwhelmed, the creatures staggered and reeled

under the Vani charge, futilely trying to lash out even as they fell with a howl of agonized terror. A chorus of blades flashed, first silver, then bloodstained, as the gnomes hacked blindly at their enemies even after the beasts were long dead.

Martine turned away, sickened by the sight. Up to now, the Vani had seemed a fierce but nevertheless compassionate people. Now, crazed by bloodlust, they acted with

unbridled savagery. Echoes of Krote asking who was better, gnoll or Vani, flooded her thoughts. The words made Soldiers of lee

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the shaman seem like a remarkably accurate seen

“Look out!” Vil’s hand shoved Martine forcefully to one side. There was a loud thunk from roughly where she had stood. The shaft of a spear vibrated in the snow beside hen Her battle instincts springing to life, Martine maneuvered as quickly as she could manage in the broken drift.

“Kill them! Kill the little people!” a buzzing voice shrilled from behind them.

Wheeling about, Martine looked up in horror at the

snowy ridge. There, towering over them all, flanked by More gnolls, was Vreesar, glinting cruel and silver in the afternoon light. Jazrac, who had been waiting on the ridge, was nowhere in sight.

‘Whe trap haz worked, my slavez! Kill them.., all but the female! She must live to give me the stone!”

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paladin cursed.

“Over there.., More of them? Vii

shifted Martine’s attention to the west

side of the bowl. The Harper was distracted

as another spear arced over

their heads to tunnel into the drift

betfind them. “Damn their mangy hides!

It looks like a war party? the former

A baying rose from the woods in the direction where Vii pointed. Surging from the trees was a lanky line of fur-clad, snowshoe-shod gnolls, wreathed in a swirl of white show. Yipping and howling, the beasts charged in ragged waves, some breaking stride to let fly steel spears. As the six-foot shafts hissed through the cold air, a screech of anguish proved one had hit its mark. Suddenly the air was filled with spears that flew like lightning on the tightly packed gnomes. One scream became a chorus as a full score of the Vani fell under the iron-tipped bolts.

“Jouka, fall back now!” Vil bellowed, his hands cupped around his mouth. Already the gnomes were aware of the 210

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danger and had begun to retreat in confusion. Fear and panic became their enemies now as much as the gnolls themselves.

“This way! Stay in order and don’t panic!” Martine found herself calling to the fleeing gnomes. The trap was not completely sprung, she saw. A gap in the line of gnolls lay open to the east. Some luck held with them, for the gnolls held their position on the ridge, either in confusion or because they were content to merely drive the gnomes away. With Vreesar screeching in rage at his own warriors, it wasn’t an opportunity that was likely to last.

“You, you, and you—into the bush and keep watch in all directions so they don’t flank us,” the Harper snapped, grabbing the three nearest gnomes and pushing them

‘toward the gap. Their skis abandoned, the little men floundered through the snow. ‘q’he rest of you, fall back through there.”

Vil added his voice to her commands, and under the

direction of the two humans, the Vani tumbled madly for the woods. It was barely in time, for the elemental finally compelled the gnolls forward.

“Jouka!” Vil bellowed again. The Vani leader still stood in the center of the camp, trying to drag a wounded gnome with him. Seeing that sense was not going to overcome passion, Vil hurtled back through the camp and grabbed the

gnome by the collar and shoved him toward the others.

With a manic heave, the man threw the injured gnome over his shoulder and sprinted after Jouka.

A gray-haired gnoll lunged forward from the rest of his pack, closing on the burdened former paladin, but by then Martine had already unslung her bow. A feathered shaft shot through her fingers and pierced the beast’s shoulder.

Squealing in pain, it toppled to the ground, giving Vil the time he needed to reach safety. Several gnolls, sprinting forward, hurled their spears. One glanced off the man’s plate Soldiers

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armor, but he continued to run. Martine quickly released a volley of ill-aimed shots that, while they caused little harm, slowed the gnoll advance.

Clearing the last drift with wild leaps, Jouka and Vil rejoined the others. Without hesitation, Jouka barked out a quick series of orders.

“You know the way,” Martine shouted to the gnomish

commander. ‘q/ou lead. Vil and I will guard the rear.”

Amazingly enough, Jouka did not argue, but let himself be caught up in the arms of Ojakangas, who had managed to recover his skis. Vil declined the set offered him, and Martine did the same. Of those gnomes who had escaped, less than half still had skis. Those that did doubled up, awk~

wardly balancing another gnome on the boards with them.

Vil passed the wounded gnome off to one of them. “Where was your wizard during the fighting?” Jouka demanded angrily as they set out.

Martine said nothing as she floundered through the

waist-deep snow, trying to match the speed of the gnomes.

Over her rasping breath, the Harper strained to hear sounds of pursuit. She heard the mingled cries of the gnolls, some like wolves on the scent, others barking and quarreling as the creatures fell to looting the dead. Over it all, Martine distinctly heard the shrill voice of Vreesar. The pursuit was on, with only herself and Vil to act as the rear guard.

Martine took position behind a pair of tree trunks that formed a Ľ, a good shelter for her archery. With arrows staked in the snow around her, she waited while Vil stayed close by, his sword at the ready.

The first three gnolls that broke the crest of the ridge received two arrows each. Five of the six were hits, Martine noted, and two of her targets squealed and flopped into the snow. The third gnoll did neither, for the shafts had transfixed him to the trunk of a tree. There he hung, making gurgling noises while his arms swung feebly like a broken puppet.

“On your left!” Vii hissed in her ear.

Another shaft hissed from between her fingers, speeding toward a shadow that darted across a sunlit patch. Martine didn’t see the arrow hit, but a yowl from the woods confirmed the accuracy of her aim.

“Any More?” she demanded, relying on Vil as her spotter.

“Nothing yet,” he whispered.

The pair waited, trying not to start at every shadow.

They could hear the gnolls barking crude insults at the gnomes, though no More of the dogmen showed their faces.

“What do you suppose they’re planning to do?” the

ranger asked.

“They’re scared. They’ll shout insults for a while, and then they’ll rush us.”

Martine nodded. ‘hat’s what I was thinking.”

‘v-hat do you suggest?”

“Good time to move,” she offered.

“Right,” the man said. “Give me some of those arrows.”

Without wondering why, she grabbed a handful from her quiver and passed them to the former paladin. “Cover me.”

Vil said. The warrior struggled to his feet and set out toward a fallen log in a doubled-over run. He disappeared behind the log in a frantic, ungraceful dive.

Panic started to rise in Martine, an unreasoning fear that she had been abandoned. When the man didn’t reappear immediately, she shifted about nervously and hissed, ‘ril!”

Nothing. The shouts of the gnolls were growing fiercer.

‘Vii!” she repeated, a little louder.

Vil’s black-haired head popped up over the log. “Quiet!

Throw me the bow. I’ll cover you.”

Unnocking her arrow, the Harper threw the bow like a spear. The throw came up short, and a for a fearful instant, 214

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she thought it would end up stranded between the two of them, but the curve of the bow acted like a sleigh’s skid, and it slid across the snow till it was just within Vil’s grasp.

Suddenly the woods rang with Vreesar’s buzzing rage, echoed by a chorus of howls from the gnolls.

Martine waited for the man’s signal, and when it came, she launched herself into a blind sprint. “Quick—this way!”

Vii ordered, shoving her farther into the woods almost as soon as she hurtled over the log. Blindly obedient, she sprinted on to fling herself down beside a frozen stream.

“Ready!” she panted.

The bow came sailing across the gap. Catching it before it crashed into the brush on the far side, the ranger moved down the bank a bit till she was behind their original position.

She saw moving shapes, and without waiting to find

out just what they were, she fired off a series of quick shots. A chorus of yelps and confused shouts came from the general direction of the movement. Then the shadows scattered once More into the woods.

Working from cover to cover, the pair finally managed to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers.

There was no doubt the gnolls were still on the trail—the sound of their savage voices was evidence enough of that—but the creatures no longer could risk open movement,

thanks to the stinging warnings from Vii and Martine.

Both humans were breathing hard and soaked with

sweat, while their coats were sticky with pine resin from clinging to the cover of the tree trunks. However, neither was conscious of fatigue, being far too occupied with the chase.

It was Martine’s turn to leapfrog. She darted across a half-shaded clearing, moving from shadow to shadow in an effort to remain unseen. Her efforts almost came to naught when a tall figure moved out from the shadow of a tree trunk directly ahead of her. It was a gnoll, his attention focused just slightly off to her side. Martine froze in the shadow of a rock ledge like a rabbit caught in the open.

The creature moved slowly, its canine head hung low as its body hunched over with the unmistakable poise of a hunter. In one paw, it held a cleavefiike sword; in the other, a small shield poised half at the ready.

Outflanked! The ranger instantly reassessed the situation, and indeed a quick scan of what she could see nearby told the Harper the beast was not alone. Dim, hulking shapes crept through the snow-draped woods to either side, barely visible yet close enough to respond to an alarm.

Easing farther back into the shadow of the rock, she signaled Vil to stay down. They couldn’t risk a missed shot or a howl of pain that might alert the other gnolls. The dog-man before her would have to be taken out by hand. Martine silently drew her sword and waited for the stalker.

The woman breathed only slightly faster than the gnoll stalked, waiting for him to close the gap between them. Not only did she watch him, but she also kept a wary eye on his brothers. When at last he had moved close enough to be jumped in a single sprint, the Harper raised her sword, only to hold back from the final lunge that would close the gap.

She wasn’t concerned about losing her advantage over him, only whether she could drop him before an alarm was raised. She had to wait until the moment was right, a moment when the beast could die unnoticed by his companions.

The opportunity came when the gnoll passed on one side of a drift formed from a fence of tall, dried grass. With the drift on one side and a rock outcropping on the other, there was no better opportunity. Holding her breath, Martine waited until the gnoll had angled past her and then sprinted the last few steps between them to spring on the gnoll’s back. With a single motion, she rammed the sword into its lower back, thrusting the blade under the ribs and up 216

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toward the creature’s heart, while at the same time seizing the front of its helm. Her fingers closed on the metal, and she savagely wrenched the armor downward. Stooped for~

ward for the hunt, the stalker crashed headlong into the snow even as its snout was jammed into its chest. The pair plunged through the frozen crust, where the gnoll’s howl of alarm was muffled in the thick powder. Martine threw her weight onto the beast’s back, jamming its face into the snow while she thrust again and again with her sword. The creature kicked and squirmed, choking on mouthfuls of snow when it tried to scream, but she clung on, pressing herself close till she breathed the gnoll’s animal stench.