The Burning Bridge

27

W ILL'S HEAD ACHED ABOMINABLY. A CONSTANT, RHYTHMIC thudding pounded through his skull, setting flashes off behind his tight-closed eyes. He forced his eyes open and found himself staring close range at a sheepskin vest and the back of a pair of leather-bound woolen leggings. The world was upside down and he realized he was being carried over someone's shoulder. The thudding was the sound of the man's feet as he jogged along. Will wished he would walk.

He groaned aloud and the jogging stopped.

"Erak!" the man carrying him called. "'E's awake."

And so saying, the Skandian lowered him to the ground. Will tried to take a pace, but his knees gave out and he sank to his haunches. Erak, the leader of the group, leaned down now and examined him. One thick thumb caught hold of his eyelid and he felt his eye being opened wide. The man wasn't cruel. But he was none too gentle either. Will recognized him now as the Skandian who had come so close to discovering him when he was eavesdropping by their campfire in the valley.

"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully. "Concussed, most likely. That was a good throw with that rock, Nordal," he said to one of the others. The Skandian he'd spoken to, a giant of a man with his blond hair in two tightly plaited braids that were greased so they swept upward like horns, smiled at the praise.

"Grew up hunting seals and penguins that way, I did," he said, with some satisfaction.

Erak released Will's eyelid and moved away. Now Will felt a gentler touch on his face and, opening his eyes again, found himself looking into Evanlyn's eyes. She stroked his forehead gently, trying to clean away the dried, matted blood there.

"Are you all right?" she said, and he nodded, then realized that was not a good idea.

"Fine," he managed, fighting back a wave of nausea. "They got you as well?" he added, unnecessarily, and she nodded. "Horace?" he said softly, and she put a finger to her lips.

"He got away," she whispered. "I saw him running when the bridge collapsed."

Will sighed with relief. "We did it then? We got the bridge?"

This time it was Evanlyn's turn to nod. A smile even touched her lips at the memory of the bridge crashing into the depths of the Fissure.

"It's gone," she said. "Well and truly."

Erak heard the last few words. He shook his head at them.

"And no thanks you'll get from Morgarath for that," he told them. Will felt a small chill of fear at the mention of the Lord of Rain and Night's name. Here on the plateau, it seemed somehow more ominous, more dangerous, altogether more malevolent. The Skandian glanced at the sun.

"We'll take a break," he said. "Maybe our friend here will be up to walking in an hour or so."

The Skandians opened their packs and produced food and drink. They tossed a water bottle and a small loaf of bread to Will and Evanlyn and the two ate hungrily. Evanlyn began to say something, but Will raised a hand to hush her. He was listening to the Skandians' conversation.

"So what do we do now?" asked the one called Nordal. Erak chewed a piece of dried cod, washed it down with a gulp of the fiery liquor he carried in a leather bottle and shrugged.

"For mine, we get out of here as fast as we can," he said. "We only came for the booty and there's going to be precious little of that now that the bridge is gone."

"Morgarath won't like it if we pull out," warned a short, heavily built member of the party. Erak simply shrugged.

"Horak, I'm not here to help Morgarath take over Araluen," he replied. "Neither are you. We fight for profit, and when there's no profit to be had, I say we go."

Horak looked down at the ground between his feet and scratched in the dust with his fingers. He didn't look up when he spoke again. "What about those two?" he said, and Will heard a sharp intake of breath from Evanlyn as she realized the Skandian meant her and Will.

"We take 'em with us," said Erak, and this time Horak looked up from the dust, where he was drawing senseless patterns.

"What good are they to us? Why shouldn't we just hand 'em over to the Wargals?" he asked, and the others mumbled their agreement. It was obviously a question that had been on their minds. They'd simply been waiting for someone else to bring it up.

"I'll tell you," said Erak. "I'll tell you what good they are to us. First and foremost, they're hostages, aren't they?"

"Hostages!" snorted the fourth member of the group, the one who so far hadn't spoken. Erak rounded upon him.

"That's right, Svengal," he told him. "They're hostages. Now, I've been on more raids and in more campaigns than any of you and I don't like the way this one's shaping up. Seems to me like Morgarath's been getting too clever for his own good. All this leaking false plans and building secret tunnels and planning surprise attacks with Horth and his men coming around Thorntree Forest-it's too complicated. And complicated isn't the way to go when you're facing people like the Araluens."

"Horth can still attack around the Thorntree," said Svengal stubbornly, but Erak was shaking his head.

"He can. But he won't know that the bridge is gone, will he? He'll be expecting support that will never come. I'll wager Morgarath won't hurry to tell him. He knows Horth would give it all away if he found out. Let me tell you, it'll be the toss of a coin to see which way that battle goes. That's the problem with these clever-clever plans! You take away one element and the whole thing can come crashing down."

There was a short silence while the other Skandians thought about what he had said. A few heads nodded in agreement and Erak continued.

"I'll tell you, boys, I don't like the way things are shaping and I say we should take the chance to get to Horth's ships through the fens."

"Why not go back the way we came?" asked Svengal, but his leader shook his head emphatically.

"And try to get down those cliffs again, with Morgarath after us?" he asked. "No, thank you. I don't think he'd take too kindly to deserters. We'll go along with him as far as Three Step Pass, then once we're in the open, we'll head east for the coast." He paused to let this sink in. "And we'll have these two as hostages in case the Araluens try to stop us," he added.

"They're kids!" said Nordal derisively. "What use are they as hostages?"

"Didn't you see that oakleaf amulet the boy was wearing?" Erak asked, and instinctively, Will's hand went to the oak leaf on the thong around his neck.

"That's the Ranger's symbol," Erak continued. "He's one of them. Maybe some kind of trainee. And they look after their own."

"What about the girl?" said Svengal. "She's no Ranger."

"That's right," Erak agreed. "She's just a girl. But I'm not handing any girl over to the Wargals. You've seen what they're like. They're worse than animals, that lot. No. She comes with us."

There was another moment's silence as the others considered his words. Then Horak spoke. "Fair enough," he agreed.

Erak looked around at the others, and saw that Horak had spoken for them all. The Skandians were warriors, and hard men. But they weren't totally ruthless. "Good," he said. "Now let's get on the road again." He rose and moved toward Will and Evanlyn while the other Skandians repacked the remains of the brief meal. "Can you walk?" he asked Will. "Or does Nordal have to carry you again?"

Will flushed angrily and rose quickly to his feet. Instantly he wished he hadn't. The ground heaved and his head swam. He staggered and only Evanlyn's firm hand on his arm prevented him from falling. But he was determined not to show weakness in front of his captors. He steadied himself, then glared defiantly at Erak.

"I'll walk," he managed to say, and the big Skandian studied him for a moment, an appraising look in his eye.

"Yes," he said finally. "I daresay you will."