Heroes' Reward (20 page)

“And why is
that?” Sato asked coolly.

“You’ll be a
target, and if you die, it will be terrible for morale.”

That was a
little callous. The words suggested the worst repercussion of the death of the
Premier Pair would be the impact it would have on others, not the loss of them
personally.

Sato scowled.

After a moment,
the Commissioner said, “The longer we linger, the more time we give Gifford to
act.”

“Fine,” Sato
said shortly. “Karish, can you assume this responsibility?”

“Yes, sir.”

So Taro was
required to channel and watch out for the others at the same time.

“Deputy
Commissioner Khouri, gather one hundred to travel with the Pairs,” the
Commissioner ordered. “All of them to be supplied with flags and lanterns.
Source Karish, opening and closing the shutters of the lanterns five times means
to proceed, three to retreat. If you happen to be still working when dawn
comes, two flags means to proceed and one flag means to retreat. Assistant
Commissioner Perovic, you’ll get everyone else moving to Slick Side. Assistant
Commissioner Barhom, please show Source Karish and Shield Mallorough where the
Pairs have been stationed. Browne, Murdoch, I’ll leave the healers and casters
in your hands.”

“Sir, what about
the residents of Cracked Plains?” Deputy Commissioner Khouri asked. “They’re
refusing to leave.”

“Then they’ll
have to live with the consequences of their decision. We can’t afford to waste
any more time on them. Now, if you would all see to your duties.”

We all left the
tent swiftly.

“I’m relieved to
have you back, Source Karish, Shield Mallorough,” Barhom said as she escorted
us through rows of tents.

That was odd.
“We’ve never met,” I said.

She grinned.
“Your reputations precede you.”

As they always
did.

The Pairs were
the only ones standing still among a camp full of people who were suddenly
engaged in taking all of the tents apart and loading wagons. It was wonderful
to see them. People I’d worked with, to whom I hadn’t had to lie.

Santham was the
first to rush forward, taking Taro’s hand and shaking it vigorously. “We’d
heard you were here,” he said. “Thank Zaire.”

“We just got
here,” Taro commented.

“Word travels
fast around here,” said Devereaux, striding up behind Santham. “It’s almost
like being back at the Academy.”

As the Pairs
gathered around us, I saw there were some missing from the group I had worked
with in Shidonee’s Gap, and some I had never seen before.

“I’m afraid we
haven’t got time for a proper reunion,” Taro said bluntly. “We’ve been ordered
to create a ravine between here and Cracked Plains.” He quickly relayed the
details of the task. “Now, has anyone been in this area before?”

No one answered
in the affirmative, so that struck out the possibility of any of the other
Pairs developing an event right in the middle of Gifford’s camp. It wasn’t
something many Pairs could do, creating an event beyond their sight. “All
right, then, Mallorough and I will attack the camp directly.”

A young soldier
ran up to us, gasping. “The Emperor’s forces are moving right now!”

Someone had
discovered the sentries Mazin and Postel had killed, no doubt, or Taro’s and my
absence. It seemed odd that that would be enough to make the Emperor – or Green
– change their plans. “Are they attacking Cracked Plains?” I asked.

“It seems more
like they’re getting ready to ride straight through it.”

Damn it. The Commissioner
had been right.

All of us, all
of the Pairs, ran through the tents to the horses that had been picketed at the
edge of the camp. While most of the horses were being prepared for the retreat,
others were saddled and clearly waiting for us.

I hated riding
in the dark.

Each of us was
supplied with a lit lantern. That would let Gifford’s people know we were
coming, but they had to be carrying lanterns as well, so that cancelled any
disadvantage.

Still, I had the
suspicion no one really knew what they were doing. Now that some kind of clash
seemed certain, everyone was just sort of scrambling about.

Taro shouted,
“Get on your horses and let’s go!”

It would be
suicidal to prod our horses into a gallop, but our slow pace made me nervous.
How long was it taking Gifford’s people to get organized? How many would they
be bringing?

Were we all
going to be dead in an hour?

We didn’t go
far, not as far as the Commissioner had told us to. I didn’t know how Taro
chose where to call a halt. We didn’t see any lanterns coming from the other
direction.

“We’re going to
have to work here,” Taro called to the others. “Spread out, but stay in sight
of at least one other Pair. Gifford’s people will fight our efforts, so be
prepared for that.” After a pause, he said, “I want two Pairs at each location.
One to create the ravine, one to fight off attacks from Gifford’s Pairs, should
it become necessary.”

He’d just come
up with that idea right then, but I thought it was a good one.

The others
trotted off in quartets, some to the north, some to the south. From the
movement of the lanterns, I knew they dismounted. No doubt they, as Taro and I
did, handed the reins of their horses to the soldiers who had silently
accompanied us all.

“Can I have your
name?” Taro politely asked one of the soldiers who had lingered with us.

“Lieutenant
Skirn, sir.”

“Can you give
the signal to proceed?”

“Yes, sir.”

It took a few
moments before the signal made it through the line of Pairs. Then the ground
beneath us started rumbling.

“Ready?” Taro
asked me.

“Of course.”

Of the events
Taro could perform, he chose to create a cyclone. The effects of moving the
ground were pretty much limited to the area being shifted. A cyclone could be
vicious, throwing about people, horses, and equipment.

It was likely
that many of Gifford’s people were in Cracked Plains, but we couldn’t attack
the city itself. It was full of residents who weren’t involved in the clash.
Still, destroying everything back at the camp, injuring personnel, damaging
supplies, that would be a crippling blow as well.

Taro’s shields
went down. Mine went up. Taro plucked out some of the forces from around him,
funnelled them through him, and aimed them at the camp on the other side of
Cracked Plains.

I could almost
see it in my head: the forces, thin and gray, swirling into the air, pushing it
in circles.

And then, out of
nowhere, a wall of orange appeared in my mind. A barrier to Taro’s forces.

“Tenneson!” Taro
snarled.

“Since when was
he able to stop you in a genuine challenge?”

“He’s right there
in the camp. Maybe that makes a difference.”

And right then,
I got a flash of insight into a similar challenge in another city, when Taro,
with our relatively recent bond, was able to fend off the attacks of a senior
Source who was possibly as talented as Taro.

The ground began
to tremble and cracks appeared before us.

I heard the
horses whinnying and snorting.

Taro aimed
forces at the camp again. Tenneson’s barrier withstood the assault. Not as
thoroughly as before, but Taro’s forces were still weakened. Perhaps Gifford’s
camp was experiencing something, a stiff wind, but nothing like the destruction
we’d been planning.

The darkness in
the sky began to lighten, just a little. I could see the approach of Gifford’s
people. They had more soldiers than we did. They could attack us physically
while the Pairs challenged us mentally.

Why hadn’t we
been given more soldiers?

That was it. We
were all dead. The ravine was barely formed.

Taro swore and
abruptly shifted his focus from the camp. Instead, he aimed his forces at the
ground, just in front of one of Gifford’s horses, creating a hole small enough
to be easily overlooked, but large enough that when the horse stepped into it,
it tripped and fell with a squeal, throwing its rider.

“Not the
ravine!” Taro shouted. “Cripple the horses!”

We didn’t have a
signal for that.

The Pairs
closest to us heard, though, and the message was relayed.

Following Taro’s
example, the Pairs created small fissures in the path of Gifford’s horses. They
weren’t always effective – some horses merely jumped over – but it worked often
enough that the air was filled with the heartbreaking cries of the animals, and
those riders who were still in control of their horses pulled them up to a
halt. Once they were still, the Pairs’ efforts were useless.

“Back to the
ravine!” Taro shouted.

I could see
people among Gifford’s group dismounting, putting their lanterns on the ground.
Casters, I was sure, kneeling to spread their ingredients about so they could
grab them up easily in order to move from cast to cast, should they need to.

They were in for
an unpleasant surprise.

The ravine grew
longer, wider, deeper.

The sky grew
lighter.

Tenneson tried
to stop Taro’s efforts with the ravine, but the orange barrier had faded away,
and Taro pushed his forces through his. He now had the advantage of proximity.

Gifford’s
soldiers seemed to be waiting for their Pairs and casters to subdue us.

The casters, of
course, were accomplishing nothing.

Some of their
horses bolted.

The ravine grew
wider and longer.

And then
something truly unexpected happened.

The casters
suddenly broke and ran. Just leapt up, leaving their lanterns and their
supplies on the ground, and fled back towards Cracked Plains. Some got on
horses and recklessly galloped away. Those without mounts retreated on foot.

I imagined
they’d just realised their casts didn’t work. So at least in this instance, the
human ashes didn’t grant them extra strength.

Their Pairs
noticed, of course. They broke off their engagements. All of the Pairs around
me relaxed. On the far side of the ravine, Gifford’s Pairs abandoned their
positions and scrambled back. Mere moments later, I could see the soldiers
riding off, too, no doubt confused about why the others were leaving but
unwilling to face us on their own, greater numbers notwithstanding.

Gifford was
going to be furious.

I felt no sense
of superiority over them. We probably would have panicked, too, if we’d been
relying on our casters and only right then learned that they were powerless.

I looked at
Taro. “Now what?” Did we continue working on the ravine or go back and join the
others?

Taro ran a hand
through his hair. “We were ordered to create a ravine,” he said. “So we will.”

I wished I had
an idea of what Gifford would do next. Would he scream at everyone and order
them back to us? Would he decide, instead, to spend the time to ransack Cracked
Plains? Would
he
retreat back to some place where casting worked?

“Forget the
lanterns,” Taro ordered. They were losing effectiveness with the sunrise,
anyway. “Use the flags.”

It was almost
pretty, the way the flags were raised and lowered along the line.

Taro had gambled
correctly. No one opposed our Pairs, which meant the deepening and widening of
the ravine proceded much more quickly. Under their own initiative, perhaps reassured
by the strengthening sunlight that enabled them to see other Pairs at greater
distances, the Pairs spread out further. Before me, the ravine grew too wide to
jump over and too steep to ride into. I couldn’t see how long it was.

Perhaps Taro
could feel it, though, and perhaps that was what told him when to shout out,
“Enough!”

Skirn raised his
flag.

Instead of going
straight back in the direction taken by the rest of the Triple S forces, the
other Pairs raced to Taro and me. This was reassuring, as it allowed us to see
that the other Pairs and their escorts were fine. It also made it clear that we
needed to make better plans, decide what we were going to do once a clash was
over or if something went wrong.

With the sun
fully in the sky, we rode west at a gallop. We needed to tell the Commissioner
and the Premier Pair what had happened as soon as possible.

Gods, I was
tired.

It felt like it
didn’t really take long to get to the Triple S’s new camp. Had they gone far
enough? I had no idea. A soldier had been stationed to look out for us, waving
to draw our attention as we rode up. We gathered in a group around him, and he
looked at Taro. “The Commissioner needs a report immediately.”

Taro nodded
wearily and dismounted. I followed suit. We left our horses with the lieutenant
and the soldier escorted us to the Commissioner’s pavilion. Those we passed
watched us but didn’t ask us any questions. Perhaps they thought the
Commissioner should hear the news first.