Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) (32 page)

in I didn’t have a free hand to carry anything. Hold still.”

I pulled the blanket off the bed, and wrapped it around her. Then I

swept her up in a bridal carry.

“There. Milady witch need not walk to her wardrobe, for I shall

gallantly carry her to safety.”

Avilla blushed prettily.

“Why thank you, my noble lord. Please, let us away.”

“At once, milady.”

I gathered a burst of magic, and blew out the side of the tower.

The hole was only seven or eight feet across, but the stone and timber

around us groaned ominously. Before anything could decide to collapse I

stepped to the opening and leaped out into empty space.

Avilla shrieked and buried her face against me. But I’d reworked my

amulet’s force shield to handle falls more intelligently, and it cushioned our

impact easily before shrinking back to let my feet touch the pavement. A

moment later I was off and running.

Sure enough, several arrows landed around us as I crossed the plaza.

One even hit, smacking into my shield with far more force than the little goblin

arrows I was used to dealing with. But one arrow was nowhere near enough to

penetrate, and in moments I was out of the plaza and pelting down a dark

street.

195

“That was terrifying,” Avilla complained.

“I’ve got you, sweetie,” I reassured her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to

let anything happen to you.”

She rested her cheek against my shoulder. “I know. I’m just not good

with heights. But thank you for the rescue.”

She was silent for a moment, watching as I bounded down the street. I

was pushing myself with force magic, turning every step into a six-foot leap.

The snow was coming down harder now, and I couldn’t afford to get snowed

in somewhere.

“Where’s Cerise?” She asked quietly.

“The town priest has her,” I admitted. “I think he wants to bind her.

Hopefully the fact that I have his copy of
In Tauro de Maleficis
is slowing him

down.”

She blinked up at me in worried confusion. “You do? What are you

doing with something like that?”

“He spotted Cerise. He’s been trying to talk me into binding her, as if

I’d do something like that. I figured it would be easier to play along for a few

days than argue and make another enemy, so he lent me the book.”

I rounded a corner, and was forced to slow down a bit by the gathering

darkness. The sun was well below the horizon now, and the overcast sky

blocked out any light from the moon or stars. Soon the only illumination would

be the faint gleam of firelight leaking out around the shutters and doorways of

the buildings that were still inhabited.

Avilla chewed her lower lip, and studied me with a concerned

expression. “If you say so, Daniel. But you do know you don’t need anything

like that with me, don’t you?”

“Avilla, my people would consider that kind of binding evil even

without the rape and torture parts. I wouldn’t even consider it. I only bothered

to read the book because I was hoping to find something we could use to help

Cerise with her control problems if things go badly.”

“Oh.”

She worked an arm free of the blanket, and reached up to hug me.

196

“I’m sorry, Daniel. I shouldn’t have doubted you. Did you find

anything?

I shook my head. “Nothing concrete, but it gave me some ideas. I’ll

need to talk to her about the details of what she’s struggling with. You can’t

bind yourself to be sane, but I can think of other possibilities that might help.

Not giving in to a specific compulsion, or making rules for herself that she

can’t break in a moment of weakness. I’m not sure it’s a good idea, but it’s an

option we can fall back on if she decides she needs it.”

“That makes sense. But what if-”

I froze, and covered her mouth with my hand. She stopped talking

instantly, and turned slowly to follow my gaze.

There was a frost giant standing at the breach in the wall.

I’d just turned a corner onto the street where Oscar’s smithy was

located, and we were barely two blocks from the breech. Hopefully the gloom

and the snow would hide us, but I carefully eased back behind the corner of the

nearest building to be safe.

The giant wore chainmail and held a huge spear in one hand, just like

the one I’d fought before. As I watched a second giant stepped up to peer over

the town wall. He surveyed the rooftops of the town, and said something to his

companion.

“Can you understand them?” I asked Avilla.

She nodded hesitantly. “I speak a bit of Jotun, but it’s hard to hear from

here. Something about a meeting? Oh, my!”

A dark shape faded into view, perched atop the wall not twenty feet

from the giants. In the gloom I could only make out a silhouette, but the sleek

outline of an ungol was unmistakable.

To my surprise it hissed something at the giants that sounded

suspiciously like speech.

“It says its pack claims the town,” Avilla translated. “The giant thinks

that’s funny. He says… oh, dear. They’re only scouts.”

“I was afraid of that.”

197

The giant rumbled something else, and stepped back from the wall. The

ungol hissed a final comment, and faded back into invisibility.

“He said the ungols can feel free to hunt all they like tonight, but his

clan will sack the town at dawn. I don’t understand, Daniel. Ungols are terrible

foes. They’re demons of shadow and frost, terribly strong and almost

impossible to kill. A whole pack of them could fight an army, easily. But the

giant wasn’t afraid of it at all.”

I frowned, and carefully set her down. She squeaked in protest as her

bare feet met the snow, but I was pretty sure we’d already made too much

noise. I held her close, carefully keeping one arm around her so my shield

would continue surrounding us both, and eased Grinder out of my pocket.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I told her. Then I raised my voice

just a bit.

“Ungol. We aren’t going to be easy prey.”

Something slammed into my back with the force of a speeding car,

straining my shield and sending me crashing to my knees. But my shield held,

and I thumbed Grinder to life. The harsh glare of plasma abruptly lit the street,

revealing the ungol leaping back out of reach. Damn, that thing was fast.

It’s mouth gaped wide, baring dozens of gleaming teeth, and a cloud of

white mist poured out to engulf us. Numbing cold instantly froze the exposed

skin of my face and seeped inwards.

I pointed Grinder at the beast and activated the weapon’s ranged attack,

sending a jet of superheated plasma washing out in its direction. It leaped

away, landing well out of my weapon’s intentionally short projection range.

But the supernatural cold faded.

“Pretty claw,” it hissed.

I nodded. “I’ve got more where that came from.”

“Worldwalker. Sorcerer. Naughty Hecate, breaking Zeus’ rules.”

Avilla rose awkwardly to her knees. “Mighty one, we are not-”

“Food does not speak!” It interrupted angrily.

She cringed.

198

“What rules?” I asked.

It regarded me for a moment, utterly motionless. Then its tail lashed.

“It asks questions. Sacrifice?” It nodded in Avilla’s direction.

“No,” I said carefully.

“Rude,” the demon pronounced. “Run, prey. Hide and fight. Play with

food. We kill you last.”

It turned, and bounded off down the street. Its pebbly hide lightened to

match the snow, and in seconds it faded from view.

Avilla stood, and threw herself trembling into my arms.

“Daniel? What are we going to do?”

My face tingled painfully with healing frostbite. I licked my lips, and

gazed off into the darkness.

“We’re going to rescue Cerise,” I told her. “Then we’re going to get

our people together, and get the fuck out of this place before whatever the frost

giants think is going to beat those things shows up.”

A wall of snow descended on us as the oncoming storm struck. For a

moment the street was completely hidden, and all I could hear was the roar of

the wind. The temperature dropped noticeably in the space of a minute, and

Avilla huddled against me shivering.

But then the first blast eased, and I could make out the nearer buildings

again.

“We’re going to travel in this?” Avilla asked incredulously.

“Giants would never find the town in this,” I pointed out. “They’ll

strike after the storm clears. But we can’t let the weather pin us down. Come

on.”

I carefully took my bearings on the three buildings that were close

enough to see, gathered Avilla back into my arms, and set off for Oscar’s

smithy.

199

Chapter 14

“Split the money up between you. I don’t want anyone too loaded

down by the weight. The same goes for whatever other supplies you end up

carrying. You may need to drop it and run at some point, and if it comes to that

don’t hesitate. I can always get more gold, but if you die I can’t bring you

back.”

Beri and Tina paused in the middle of counting my ill-gotten loot to

stare at me.

“Really, milord?” Beri asked. “But there’s, um, a lot of gold here.

Enough to buy a whole village full of girls prettier than us.”

“I don’t care about that, Beri,” I told her. “You girls have stuck with

me through everything, and as far as I’m concerned you’re both worth your

weight in gold. So stay sharp, keep the men between you and danger, and don’t

hesitate to drop everything if you need to.”

Avilla straightened her borrowed dress, and smiled at them. “You

see, girls? I could have told you he isn’t planning to trade up. Besides, I

suspect he could make you as pretty as he likes. Couldn’t you, Daniel?”

Could I? I was no artist. But beauty is mostly just good health, and that

was easy. Clear skin, healthy hair, symmetrical features…

“I suppose I could,” I agreed. “But that’s not exactly a priority right

now, is it?”

“It’s very reassuring, milord,” Beri said, her eyes suddenly bright

with unshed tears. “I’ve been so worried about the future. I know I can’t hold a

candle to your apprentices, and most men wouldn’t hesitate to replace me the

moment they found someone better. But if you… you’d really…?”

I sighed. “Yes. Beri, what you look like doesn’t matter to me. What

counts is who you are, and so far you’ve impressed me there. You’re clever,

sensible, loyal, determined and brave enough to cope with situations that

would send most girls into a blind panic. Keep that up and you’re welcome to

stay with me as long as you want.”

200

She choked, and threw herself into my arms. “Thank you, milord!”

I patted her back awkwardly. Avilla and Tina both seemed pleased,

so I suppose I’d count this as a step forward.

Daria stuck her head in the room. “The men are ready in the kitchen,

milord.”

“Good. Let’s get moving, then.”

Oscar, Hroldir and Gronir listened in growing concern as I explained

the situation.

“We can’t fight giants,” Oscar said heavily. “Even counting your

people we’ve only got forty men, and barely half of us have proper weapons.”

“The 5 Margold’s got maybe half that,” Gronir said.

Hroldir frowned. “They’re better armed, and they won’t be caught

napping this time. I reckon we could fight off a giant or two if we were all

together. But I don’t know about these demon things.”

“They’re a problem,” I agreed. “If we get into a fight with them we’ll

lose a lot of good men, and I’m not sure normal weapons will even hurt them.”

“Not easily,” Avilla put in. “Their hide is tougher than plate armor,

and they’re demons. But their bodies are material, so enough solid blows might

drive one off.”

The men all started and looked at her oddly. After a moment I realized

they were surprised that she’d spoken up, and were wondering if I was going

to chastise her.

Well, I didn’t have time for an extended lecture on their society’s

screwed up view of gender roles right now. But I needed to address the issue

somehow.

“Avilla knows more than I do about monsters,” I told them. “If she can

tell us anything useful we’re going to listen.”

Hroldir looked a little uncertain at that, but Oscar and Gronir just

nodded.

“As you say, milord. So what do we do?” Oscar asked.

“I suspect the ungols will be hunting again right now. What do you

201

think, Avilla?”

She nodded. “Probably. In the old stories they’d claim a territory and

hunt down everyone in it over a period of days, or perhaps a week or two for a

major city. A pack can devour hundreds of men in a single day, and the more

they eat the stronger they get. I imagine they’ll try to get in as much feasting as