The Sworn Knight by Robert Ryan (novels to read txt) 📕

this field, Asana knew more than she did, and Ferla knewit. But he was still deferring to her.

“We’ll know a good place when we see it,” she said. “A cavewith a narrow entrance would do. But there are none around here. At least sofar.”

“What about a steep slope?” Kubodin suggested.

Ferla did not much like the idea, but it was probably thebest they could hope for.

“A steep slope would make it hard for hounds and for soldiersto attack us. But there would be nothing to stop them from taking their timeand coming around at us from behind as well.”

She had told them last night about the were-stones, and thatthe soldiers who pursued them might be transformed. All of them. It was asickening feeling, knowing what might be done, what evil might be promulgated,in order to defeat them. Savanest was responsible for that, and if she couldshe would see that he faced a fitting punishment.

Ferla looked at her two friends. She had a plan, but she wasnot sure if they would like it.

“This is what I suggest,” she said. “They will findus. There’s nothing we can do about that. But we have time yet. Not much, but alittle.” She took a deep breath. “Instead of trying to find a place to defend,and we’re not likely to find a good one, we can do this instead. Race hard toget well ahead of them. Then find a good spot where we can circle back, quitewide so they don’t detect us, and then spring a trap on them from behind. If wecatch them unprepared and downslope from us, especially with my bow, we can doa lot of damage to them before the hand-to-hand fighting begins.”

They looked at her for a moment without answering. Asanalooked grim, but once more not surprised. Kubodin whistled through his teeththough.

“You have guts, girl,” he said.

23. The Storm Approaches

Ferla wasted no time. She set a fast pace, but it wasone they could not keep up for long.

Yet they would not need to. When she found the right place,and then circled back to come up behind the enemy, they could rest then. Whenthey struck, they would be fresh, while the enemy was tired from travel. So shehoped, anyway.

Whatever advantages she could obtain through all this weresmall, though. Would they be enough? She doubted it. But there was nothing leftto do.

They moved ahead, three figures that scrabbled over the vastsurface of Alithoras. The futility of life weighed down on her. What was it allfor? Whether in a few hours, years or decades she would be dead. In a century,barely a memory of her would remain. If that. Nor would anything she did now,even if she succeeded in her aims, make a difference. The world, havingforgotten her, would forget her deeds as well. Her existence would be blottedout just like the animals that dwelt in this land. How many generations ofaurochs, or deer, or anything else had lived here? Where were they now, and whoremembered them?

They were dust beneath her feet, she knew. And to dust shewould turn one day too.

She gritted her teeth and strode ahead. Perhaps Savanest haddone something to her. This was not the way she normally thought, and in truth,while she could not deny much of what she had considered, it was not quiteright, either.

She had no wish to live forever. Aranloth had cured her ofthat. He was a man who had endured much, and time only made it worse, notbetter. But most of all, what she did now had a chance, slim though it was, ofchanging the world for the better. Her legacy would live long after her.

For if she did not stop Druilgar, she knew what wouldhappen. Aranloth had told her much about the Morleth Stone, and like a sicknessit would infect people. Evil would spread, and the darkness that had begun withthe king, then spread to knights, the city and the realm, would spread all overthe land.

Druilgar would be at its head, and he would bring war anddeath to neighboring lands, and seek to conquer all Alithoras if he could. Thelonger this went on, the stronger he would get and the harder to defeat.

It was up to her to stop that. Or at least to be the focalpoint for all those who would oppose it. That was her role, and that was theburden of the prophesy that had foretold her.

In the end, if she achieved that, she would have fulfilledher destiny. Nothing else mattered, and if she did die, at least she would diefor a purpose worthy of such a sacrifice.

But it did gnaw at her that failure would not mean death.She understood now the opposing fate that evil had planned for her. That mustnever come to pass, and she vowed silently, in her heart, that she would forcethem to kill her rather than allow herself to be captured.

The afternoon passed, and they traveled with great haste,taking few breaks. Ever they looked behind them, studying the backtrail, butalways they looked skyward too. Danger seemed to lie in wait all around them,but Ferla pushed that aside. She would do what she could, and it would work orit would not. There was nothing else to do, and fear, if she let it, would sapher of both strength and hope.

She would not let it.

The country began to change. It grew a little steeper, whichwas the kind of terrain that could be used to advantage. Also, rocks began toappear in the earth, often mostly their tips showing above the shorter grass,but sometimes they lay loose on the surface.

It was warm for a winter’s day in the afternoon sun, whichbeat down from a clear sky, but it was also humid. In the east clouds gatheredagain, and another storm brewed.

They came at length to a steep slope. It was mostly grass,with just a few trees. But those trees grew thicker toward the top. The inclinewas the greatest one so far, and they pushed themselves to walk it. They were becomingtired now.

Kubodin led his mule up the slope, but the creature movedwith surprising nimbleness,