Enchanter (46 page)

"Well," Axis subsided, remembering how he had reacted with similar boredom in past years to tales of newborn babes. FarSight pushed through the tent flap to join them, his wings crowding what spare space there was. Axis greeted him, accepted FarSight's congratulations on Caelum's birth, then moved on to more pressing problems. "Enough of women and babies. What news of the Skraelings? Has the SkraeBold managed to push them to new efforts?"

"We have held them back along this line." Belial's finger traced along a map of the WildDog Plains. "Gorgrael seems to have infused new purpose into both SkraeBolds and wraiths this year. The SkraeBold is cunning. He directs the Skraeling attack here, and here, and here," Belial's finger jabbed at several spots on the map, "where our line is weakest. Two nights ago he almost succeeded in breaking through. He learns from experience. No longer does he direct mass attacks against the length of our defences, but concentrated attacks against the weakest points."

Axis looked at him sharply, his earlier excitement forgotten. The SkraeBolds had been deadly last year — one had all but killed him - but they were inconsistent and easily diverted. The three that attacked the Yuletide rites at the Earth Tree Grove had failed to push home their advantage and had eventually suffered a devastating failure of purpose and loss of Skraeling lives. The SkraeBolds at Gorkenfort had won through the town to the fort, true enough, but they had then let themselves be taunted into sending their entire force northwards after Axis and his men, leaving those inside the fort free to flee south to Jervois Landing.

"How does he deal with the Icarii?" Axis asked FarSight.

"He was the one who thought of removing spent arrows from the ground, and of sending the wraiths leaping to seize the low-flying Icarii," FarSight replied.

"He rarely shows himself. Do you think he is frightened of the Strike Force?"

Axis shook his head. "Not for himself, although you are obviously hurting his Skraelings. He is just being wary, I suspect. With his powers — Gorgrael has taught his SkraeBolds limited use of the Dark Music - he would probably come out the victor in any skirmish with members of the Strike Force, even if there were Enchanters with them. Belial, what do you make of him?"

"He is the mind behind this push south through the Wild-Dog Plains," Belial replied without hesitation. "Without him I am certain the Skraeling attack would fall apart and we could clear the plains relatively easily. However much Gorgrael has infused the Skraelings with new vigour and purpose, I believe they still rely on the SkraeBold for directions and encouragement. They are incapable of coordinating any attack themselves."

Axis' fingers slowly tapped the map as he thought. "I don't think Gorgrael really expected to break through here, he's just keeping us occupied ..."

"While he directs his main attack against Jervois Landing," Belial finished.

Axis nodded. "Yes. And he has succeeded in tying us up. If we continue the way we are then we'll spend further weeks stuck out here in this wilderness picking ofF wraiths one by one." He paused. "I suspect Gorgrael has something special to throw at Jervois Landing and would prefer that I and the Icarii Strike Force waste our time fighting back this Skraeling push through the WildDog Plains." He studied Belial, considering. "Your assessment of the situation is a good one, Belial. I think the SkraeBold is our key to a quick and decisive victory.

Destroy him and we destroy the Skraeling attack."

He looked at his three senior commanders. "Do any of you know where the SkraeBold nests at night? From where he directs his Skraelings?"

FarSight indicated a spot on the map. "This ridge overlooks much of the area we have been fighting in and is relatively isolated. He could be there. Do you want me to send farflight scouts to have a look?"

Axis shook his head. "No. I have a better idea."

The eagle soared above the WildDog Plains, his sharp black eyes scanning the country below him.

Far below him Axis sat alone on the plains, the cold wind blowing his hair about his face. He saw only what the eagle saw. He did not feel the hard dirt and pebbles beneath his buttocks, but only the sweep of air beneath the eagle's wings. West, his mind directed, and the eagle tipped his balance towards the Urqhart Hills.

Over the past weeks the eagle had spent a great deal of time watching the creature. The eagle considered the creature particularly ill-formed, worse even than carrion vultures. It was leathery and lizard-like, silver-eyed and fierce-clawed, and even though it had wings to fly and a beak to cry with, the eagle felt very little affinity with the creature. It soared, but it did not enjoy it.

But now the man needed to know where it was, and the eagle undertook to take the man to the SkraeBold.

The SkraeBold sat on a ledge high on the rocky ridge that FarSight had indicated to Axis. His leathery wings encased his body entirely from his jaw down. To a casual eye, or even to the gaze of someone who looked for him, the SkraeBold simply looked like one more grey and featureless rock on the ridge.

Only his narrowed silver eyes moved as they surveyed the WildDog Plains before him.

The SkraeBold was pleased with his efforts so far. Gorgrael had sent him down the WildDog Plains with instructions to keep Axis busy. The less support Borneheld had at Jervois Landing, the better. He had numerous thousands of Skrae-lings to work with, and he had learned early that it was better to use the wraiths in concentrated attacks than mass surges down the entire width of the WildDog Plains. If it had not been for the Icarii Strike Force, the SkraeBold thought he might actually have been able to break through to the Nordra. The Icarii were far too good at decimating any surge or probe the SkraeBold sent southwards. Their cunning arrows floated from the sky, rarely failing to strike a wraith in the eye, and the SkraeBold blinked in painful sympathy. And there had been those nasty, agile archers on horseback too.

So, despite his relative success at keeping Axis' force occupied, the SkraeBold was learning to loathe arrows. His wraiths had orders to retrieve any arrows and bring them back to the SkraeBold. Now several thousand of the vile feathered implements lay in a deep crevice at his feet.

But the arrows were not the SkraeBold's only concern. Where was Axis SunSoar? He had not seen the man for a week or more now. He had not left his camp, of that the SkraeBold was sure, because his wraith-grey horse was still tied up in the horse lines. So why had he not seen him, when Axis was usually at the forefront of any action?

He noticed the eagle as it drifted overhead, but did not think to give it a second glance. Then, unexpectedly, it swooped down and landed on a rock just out of the SkraeBold's reach.

"SkraeBold," it said, and it spoke with Axis SunSoar's voice. "I greet you well. You are proving a worthy opponent."

The SkraeBold was so shocked he could not move.

"My forces cannot move against you, my arrows are numbered, and one of your late-night Skraeling attacks has left me terribly injured." The voice faltered a little, as if he who spoke was gasping for breath.

The SkraeBold hissed as he thought quickly. Axis had been injured! No wonder he'd not seen him!

"I am tired of this impasse," the Axis-voice said. "Why do we fight back and forth, back and forth, when we could so easily settle this once and for all?"

The SkraeBold tilted his head to one side, his eyes bright as he regarded the eagle.

The eagle hopped judiciously to a rock a little further away. "I have a proposal for you," the Axis-voice continued. "We could settle this once and for all, you and I, just you and I. Why don't we meet honourably? One on one.

Fight."

The SkraeBold considered. Gorgrael had been so very angry whenever one of the SkraeBolds had countermanded his orders. SkraeFear had paid dearly for attacking StarDrifter atYuletide.

"The victor claims the field," the voice continued. "The loser...well, the loser loses all."

But, the SkraeBold thought, what if he brought Axis down for Gorgrael? He briefly imagined himself dropping Axis' torn body at Gorgrael's feet.

"One on one?" he asked suddenly. "No helpers? No assistance? No nasty feathered things?"

"You have my word," the voice said, and the SkraeBold fancied he could hear a fatal weakness creep into the man's
voice. Imagine the triumph if the SkraeBold could not only break through to the Nordra, but kill Gorgrael's nemesis at the same time! The SkraeBolds had been sadly out of favour with Gorgrael since the disaster above Gorkenfort, but this...well, this might restore Gorgrael's faith in his SkraeBolds. Convince him they were more worthy than the Gryphon.

The SkraeBold launched himself at the snow eagle.

The eagle, even wary as it was, was still only just agile enough to evade the creature's attack. It twisted and wheeled out into the open sky, the SkraeBold, ominously silent, twisting after it.

Far below, both Skraeling and human stood watching as the SkraeBold hunted the eagle through the sky. The Icarii, warned of Axis' tactics, had positioned themselves along the cliff faces of the nearby Urqhart Hills, but they watched as silently as those below.

The snow eagle led the SkraeBold high into the sky, always just out of reach, always managing to twist its way out of the SkraeBold's claws just as it appeared the creature was about to strike. Both eagle and SkraeBold disappeared into the clouds, and for a few agonising moments none below could see what was happening. But then the snow eagle plummeted out of the clouds, wings loose, tumbling over and over. The SkraeBold dropped through as well, but his descent, even though fast and furious, was controlled where the eagle's was totally wild and unrestrained.

The eagle dropped like a rock through the air, plummeting to a point on the plain where stood a man alone.

Axis.

At the last possible moment the eagle pulled out of its mad dive. It checked and pulled its wings back, its claws extended, and, still travelling far too fast, careened onto the man's waiting arm. Rocked by the force of the eagle's landing, the man stumbled and took a quick step back, but he recovered just as the SkraeBold shrieked out of the sky above them.

He did not even hesitate. He knew who the man was, and hungered for his blood. He went straight in for the attack, the claws of his hands and feet extended, razor-sharp beak open to tear at the man's flesh.

He hit nothing but hard ground.

The man had been an illusion. A trickery.

Half stunned, but knowing he was dead if he remained on the ground, the SkraeBold stumbled to his feet, one wing hanging brokenly behind him. Axis stood some five or six paces away, the eagle still on his arm. As the SkraeBold blinked in confusion and pain, Axis launched the eagle to soar free into the sky, then looked at the SkraeBold and laughed.

"Did you like my mirage, SkraeBold? It is one of my new tricks."

The SkraeBold shook his head, trying to clear his mind, then screeched with fury as he realised that one wing was broken.

"Have you hurt yourself, SkraeBold?" asked Axis, taking a step forward.

The SkraeBold stepped back, hissing softly. He had no intention now of trying to battle it out with this fully fit man. He reached inside for the small well of power Gorgrael had given all of his SkraeBolds, preparing to fade from view.

But Axis was ready for him. He reached out with the power of the Star Dance, using a Song of Muddlement that wrapped the SkraeBold's mind in shadows, reflections and dead ends. Flustered by his inability to touch his power, the SkraeBold launched himself at the cause of his confusion and misery.

But as his mind was full of confusion, so his physical reactions were similarly befuddled, and Axis nimbly sidestepped. A sword suddenly gleamed in his hand, and as the SkraeBold blundered past he struck him underneath the SkraeBold's right arm, sliding it deep into the soft flesh of his armpit. The SkraeBold screamed and wrenched himself off the blade, twisting away from Axis.

"It bleeds," Axis observed, "as red a blood as do the Skraelings."

The SkraeBold, agonised by the wound underneath his arm and by the useless flapping of his broken wing, finally started to think a little more clearly.

He pretended mortal hurt, gave a single sobbing sigh, and, hugging his arm to himself, crouched down as if he were preparing to die.

Axis was not fooled, but he let the creature think he had been. He stepped close, over-confidently, his whole body apparently relaxed and off guard.

The instant he was close enough the SkraeBold leapt to his feet and swung out with his injured arm.

But Axis was quicker and far more agile than the heavily muscled SkraeBold.

He ducked underneath the arm and sank his sword deep into the creature's belly. The SkraeBold caught him with his uninjured arm, hurt too deep this time to cry out, but Axis was prepared for that as well and, as the SkraeBold clutched him to his chest, punctured the creature's left eye with a knife.

The SkraeBold convulsed, and Axis felt his claws tear through the black wool of his tunic and into his back. He grunted and grabbed at the hilt of his sword, still buried deep in the SkraeBold's belly. As he stepped back Axis placed his booted foot to one side of the SkraeBold's belly, using it as a lever to pull his sword free, twisting it as viciously as he could as it started to slide free.

The SkraeBold collapsed on the ground, his remaining eye staring at Axis in horror. "You tricked me," he hiccupped softly, then he died.

Axis stood there, wondering at the ease of his kill, when he heard a horseman behind him. "Axis."

He turned. Belial rode up on his stallion, leading Belaguez. Both horses laid back their ears and tossed their heads at the sight and smell of the dead SkraeBold.

"Look!" cried Belial, and Axis turned back to the SkraeBold. It was slowly fading from view.

"Returning to its master," Axis said tiredly, "for him to do with as he will."

Exhaustion threatened to overcome him, and he swung into Belaguez s saddle before he slipped to the ground.

Belial gazed worriedly at him. He could see the reddened tears in the back of Axis' tunic, but Axis' exhaustion concerned him more.