The fall of Highwatch

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Menduarthis speaks the truth-for once," said Lendri. "Hweilan is Chosen of Nendawen. Harm her, and by dawn all that will be left of you and all your hunters are your bones."

Losir looked around at his men. They did not look away, but Hweilan could see the fear in their eyes.

"If we go back without you," said Losir, "Kunin Gatar will put your fate on us." "Then run," said Menduarthis. "Get as far away as you can from the queen. You'll be surprised how good it feels."

The two uldra holding him snarled at his insult and pulled the vines tighter, shoving the thorns deeper into his arms.

Menduarthis cried out, then said, "Though not so much right now, I will admit."

"I am not like you," said Losir. "Faithless. The lord of this place claims the girl? Fine. I will leave her here unharmed and hope that the queen is in a forgiving mood. But you two are returning to face her judgment."

"No!" Hweilan screamed. But Losir ignored her.

Hweilan thrashed and kicked in her bindings. One of the uldra stepped forward and brought his thorned whip across her. Her thick clothing protected her from the worst of it, but a long tendril raked down her cheek, barely missing her eye.

Every raven in the trees cried out, their caws loud as thunder, and the wolves' howls changed to low growls that shook the ground.

They quieted.

"I wouldn't do that again," said Menduarthis.

Losir nodded and spoke to the uldra in his own language. The little creature coiled his whip and stepped away.

"Let us go!" Hweilan screamed.

Losir glanced at the ravens, then looked down at Hweilan. "Calm yourself, and I will free you before we leave."

Hweilan screamed and kicked at him, but he bounced away, light as a dancer.

"As you wish," said Losir. He called out to his troop, and they began to file away, every eye turned warily up to the trees or watching the thick brush. The two uldra let Menduarthis down from the tree and fitted his bindings to drag him behind them.

"Losir!" Lendri called. "Leave the girl her weapons. The knives and bow. They are hers, and she is Nendawen's. Steal from her, and you steal from him."

Losir stopped, considered, then waved to an elf and issued an order.

The elf stepped forward and dropped both knives and the bow on the ground several paces away.

Losir looked back at her, "This Nendawen claims you? Let him untie you."

And with that, he walked away, his troop following, dragging Lendri and Menduarthis between them.

In moments, Hweilan was alone under the eyes of the hungry ravens.

She screamed.

"Hweilan!" Menduarthis called from the woods. "Stop. This doesn't help us. I got away from Kunin Gatar once. I can do it again." Hweilan heard the lie in his voice. "You take care of yourself now, little flower."

Hweilan let out a final scream, then stopped. She had no idea how long she'd been at it, but her throat was raw. Taking deep breaths, she realized how absolutely silent it was.

She looked up. The ravens were gone. The skies were clear again, and there was no sign of a wolf in the brush.

Have to think, she told herself.

She was still bound in the net, but the net's leash was not tied to anything. Scooting like a caterpillar, she worked her way over to her weapons. She worked three fingers out of the net, managed to grab the knife Lendri had given her, and set to work.

It was a painstaking process, and more than once she dropped the knife or sliced into her jacket. But bit by bit she managed to slice through the net, and before too long she had freed one arm. After that, it was easy, and she freed herself in moments.

She stood and sloughed off the remains of the net.

Looking around, the Ujaiyen and her friends gone, she realized she had absolutely no idea what to do.

She could not forsake Lendri and Menduarthis. Not after all they'd done for her. She knew if she did so, the disappointed faces of Scith and her family would haunt her dreams forever. But what could she do with only two knives and a bow she could not bend?

"Nendawen," she said.

And then a new realization hit her. She knew she was near his sacred lands. But near which way? Lendri had said north. But how far? And how could she find him?

Standing there, wrestling with indecision, hungry, tired, and very, very frightened, she felt her head begin to hurt.

No. Not just a headache. It was pounding. A steady pulse in the base of her skull. And a cold dread was building. A familiar dread.

Her eyes widened and she gasped. It was the same feeling that had dogged her whenever that Soran-thing drew close. The closer he got, the harder the pounding in her brain. Lendri had been wrong. That monster had somehow survived, and it was hunting her again.

It gave her an idea.

The sun was disappearing behind the wall of the western peak when Menduarthis saw Lendri again. The Ujaiyen had dragged them through the rocky country, and if Menduarthis had a square inch that hadn't been bruised, scraped, or raked by those damnable thorns, he swore he would never tell another lie. Never. For at least a tenday.

But as they began to climb a large offshoot of one of the peaks, a treeless expanse, the hunting party had gathered in again, and Lendri's captors came in close to Menduarthis.

The pale elf was covered with blood, dirt, and snow, but none of the fury had left his eyes. His gaze locked on Menduarthis.

"You think the girl will be all right?" Menduarthis asked.

Lendri opened his mouth to reply, but the uldra laid into them with the whips again.

"No talking!" one of them said in his own language. Menduarthis had squeezed his eyes shut against the thorned whips, but he thought he recognized Nikle's voice. Unappreciative little whelp. Since being captured, Menduarthis had begun to compile a list of names on whom he would rain his vengeance as soon as he escaped. Nikle had just moved up five spots on the list.

Menduarthis heard a chuckle and opened his eyes. Losir was walking behind him, a smug look on his smug face.

"Feeling more contrite?" said Losir.

Menduarthis ignored the barb. "May I ask you something?"

He looked askance to make sure the uldra weren't coming in with the whips again. They weren't.

"What?" said Losir.

"If you could teleport from the crystals to the mound, why can't you just teleport back to the crystals from here? Are you really enjoying bruising us that much?"

Losir frowned. "We tried. Something about these cursed lands… it interferes with our magic. We need to get well away first. We intend to try again at the top of the next height."

"Oh, good," said Menduarthis. "Then home to bed and supper."

Losir laughed. "Eager are you? Which part do you hope to taste first? A hand perhaps? Don't get your hopes up. I think the queen intends to start with other appendages first. She'll save the bony parts for later when you've developed a taste for it."

"I thought you said that was Lendri's fate."

Losir shrugged and smiled.

A ways later the hunters cried out, and the party stopped. Menduarthis wiggled and craned his neck around to see what they were pointing at.

"Oh, no," he said. "That little fool."

At the crest of the height, profiled against the sky, no more than a long bowshot away, stood Hweilan.

Losir laughed. "Looks like we get to take all three back after all."

He issued an order and several of the hunters ran forward. Lendri had killed both tigers, so Menduarthis half-hoped Hweilan might run. If her luck held, she might get away.

But no. She simply stood there, watching them come.

Menduarthis watched, sick at heart, as the two elves and four uldra escorted her down. They didn't net or bind her, or even take her weapons. Just kept their spears at her back or naked swords in hand.

Hweilan stepped among the hunters, and Menduarthis saw that she was not well. She was trembling and squinted as if the light hurt. Her jaw clenched and she did not even look at Menduarthis or Lendri as her captors brought her before Losir.

The eladrin chuckled. "I must admit, you do surprise, girl. You were free. Why come back?"

Hweilan did not meet his gaze. "Let them go. Both of them. Let me go. Do it quick and run. Fast as you can. Heed me, and I think you might have time to get away."

Losir threw his head back and laughed. "Get away? From you?"

She did look up then, and Menduarthis saw the gleeful fury in her eyes. "No."

Several of the Ujaiyen cried out and pointed.

"Now what? "said Losir.

Menduarthis looked up.

A figure was coming over the rise. Not running, but approaching in a steady unwavering gait. Pale skin. Long hair tossed by the wind. For a moment, Menduarthis thought it might be some of Lendri's kin come to rescue him. But no. They were all gone, weren't they?

And then he drew close enough for Menduarthis to make out the details. He felt his blood frost at the sight.

It was that pale warrior. The Frost Folk. The one Menduarthis had most assuredly killed back in the Feywild.

"This is your plan?" said Losir, and he looked on Hweilan with disdain. "We hunt Frost Folk for fun. Whole clans of them. This one will be no more than a distraction."

He said something to his hunters in his own language, then drew his sword and stepped forward to meet the newcomer.

The pale warrior only glanced at him. His eyes were fixed on Hweilan. Now that he saw her, he increased his pace, coming swiftly down the slope.

Losir stepped in front of him and brandished his blade. He said something that Menduarthis did not catch, then attacked.

Losir was a fine swordsman, Menduarthis knew. One of the best among the Ujaiyen. But perhaps he was in no mood to play. Or perhaps at the last moment he sensed something amiss and chose a simple attack-one quick thrust between the ribs, aimed to skewer the heart.

The pale warrior turned his gaze on Losir, locked one fist around the eladrin's sword arm, and twisted. They were at least a hundred feet away, but still Menduarthis heard the bone snap like a dry branch. Losir shrieked and went down. The pale warrior drew the sword out of his own chest, bent down, and lopped off Losir's other arm. He picked it up in his other hand and stepped over Losir, who kicked and screamed on the ground as his lifeblood poured out.

The Ujaiyen charged.

All but two. One elf who stood guard over Lendri and one uldra over Menduarthis.

Their attention was focused on the fight. The elf never saw Hweilan step up behind him and bring the hilt of her dagger down on the top of his head. He flopped to the ground like wet dough.

The other uldra cried out and flicked his arm, uncoiling his whip. He charged her, swinging the weapon in swipe after swipe. Hweilan danced out of the way-the girl was good on her feet-but each strike was coming closer.

Menduarthis squirmed and struggled, but he only succeeded in tightening his bonds and losing more skin.

Snarling, Lendri thrashed and threw off his bindings.

Little bastard chewed through the ropes, Menduarthis said to himself.

He had. His teeth had gone long and sharp, his fingers curled into claws, and his hair was thickening around his face and shoulders.

One look, and the uldra fled.

Hweilan ran to Menduarthis. Lendri was right behind her, and by the time they knelt beside him, he was fully an elf again. She handed Lendri her other knife, and the two set about cutting away the vines.

Menduarthis hissed through his teeth. "Careful! Some of those thorns are caught in more than cloth."

Lendri looked up to the battle. Menduarthis saw his eyes widen, and he gave Hweilan back the knife.

"Back the way we came," said Lendri. "Over that northern rise and down in to the next valley. Once you cross the river-frozen most likely-you should be safe. Get him free and go!"

"Where are you going?" Hweilan and Menduarthis said at the same time.

"To buy you some time," he said, and bounded off.

Menduarthis looked the way he had gone. The pale warrior brought his sword down, killing the elf who held the shaft of the spear piercing the warrior's gut. The eladrin went down and did not move. The rest of the Ujaiyen-the few survivors whose corpses were not littering the slope-were disappearing over the hill.

"Forget the thorns," said Menduarthis. "Just cut, girl. Cut!"