The Northern Approach (71 page)

Falling to the ground more slowly than he had expected, choking and gasping, Estin tried to slow his blood loss through pressure to the wounds. He could already see Raeln rushing at Liris, but all he could focus on as his head spun from the pain and blood loss was Feanne, so far off. He saw her turn and look right at him. The intense anger in Feanne’s eyes startled even Estin, and he wondered if she was mad at him.

Struggling to breathe, Estin tried to pull around his cloak to press against his chest wound. He had barely gotten his hand onto the edge of the cloth before the buzzing in his head grew too intense to stay awake and he felt himself slipping.

“The Man of Black and White”

Raeln readied himself to attack, trying to keep his eyes on Liris’s face as she held Estin in what she thought was a foolproof angle. He could not break her grip on his throat and chest without Estin dying, but Raeln could see one point he could strike at. With luck he could drive his sword around Estin and into Liris’s shoulder muscles. Severing those—even temporarily—would numb one of her arms, giving Estin the opportunity to slip free of the other while she had no good way of holding him still. It was risky, as he could easily slip and stab Estin in the side, but Raeln saw no other way.

To Raeln’s dismay as he was shifting into position, he saw Estin pull off his gloves. The man’s eyes told Raeln everything he needed to know. He was considering sacrificing himself to ensure the others could fight back without fear. It was stupid and noble at the same time, but it also absolutely infuriated Raeln. He gave a very slight shake of his head, praying Estin saw it and not Liris.

Liris whispered something to Estin, but Raeln’s attention was only on movements, not words. He had to be careful if he was going to strike before Estin got himself killed. Honestly, Raeln was unsure which he was more afraid of, having Estin die on his watch or Feanne’s reaction to it. Facing Liris was probably less risky in the long run.

Seeing his opportunity as Liris tilted her head to check on the other Turessians, Raeln lunged. At that same moment, he saw Estin reach back and drive his claws into the woman’s sides. Estin’s actions forced Raeln to change tactic midstride, instead twisting his sword as he rushed in and driving it hard into Liris’s upper chest near her shoulder, weakening the arm that held Estin’s throat.

Raeln brought his sword back down as fast as he could, cutting deeply into Liris’s other arm as she tightened her grip on Estin’s chest. With both arms hurt, she lost her grip on Estin, though not before doing plenty of damage that covered Estin’s clothing with blood. She screamed, stumbling backward as Estin fell.

Catching Estin with his free hand and lowering him to the ground as he spun, Raeln kicked out and took Liris off her feet when she tried to leap onto him. That gave him the second he needed to make sure Estin was still breathing and set him down before righting himself and turning to face Liris alone.

“So we pick up where we left off?” the woman asked, scratching at the thin pink line where her robe hung open, which was all that remained of the sword wound Raeln had dealt her.

“Unless you’re too tired,” Raeln countered, lowering himself into a ready stance, his sword held high.

Liris smiled and raised one hand. As she did, a pale blue sword formed from nothing, burning as though it was made of condensed flames. The weapon appeared as solid as his own, though it flickered and glowed, making Raeln wonder what would happen if he was struck with it. “We should make this fair, after all,” said Liris, easing herself into a stance of her own. “After our last encounter, I searched through my brethren for someone trained to fight the way you do. Let us see who is better trained, you or five Turessians in my head.”

Things had certainly changed from the clumsy way Liris had handled herself in melee. Now the way she held her weapon was not one he was familiar with. Having studied nearly every land’s styles that he could find information on in his youth, seeing something entirely new concerned him, especially knowing Estin might need attention quickly.

Raising the tip of the sword over her head, Liris added, “Let’s see if you are worth all the trouble. You’ve already lasted longer than most. Give me a challenge, beast.”

Raeln dearly wanted to delay, to watch the woman for clues as to how she tended to fight, the little indicators that made it easier to adapt to a new foe. With Estin bleeding badly nearby, he knew he could not stall even a few seconds. He had to end this and tend to Estin.

Cautiously, Raeln stepped in and made a test swing at Liris. His blade had barely made it halfway before she chopped down at his arm, forcing him to counter or lose his hand. He only just barely managed to get his weapon in the way of her strike, the flaming sword warming his weapon as they clashed. Sweeping his weapon across his body to defend against additional attacks, Raeln backed away quickly.

“Clumsy and slow,” chided Liris as she backed away, bringing her weapon back to the same position she had used initially. Raeln could tell she was stalling, trying to get around him to strike at Estin. “Those who taught me have fought children who showed more talent.”

Raeln ignored her, recognizing her game for what it was. She hoped to rile him, to make him slipup. He wanted to tell her if nearly killing his friends had not driven him to sloppiness, teasing about his skill with a sword never would. Instead, he shifted to a new stance, giving himself a little more leeway to defend against her speed, now that he had a better feel for how she might strike. The first stance had been a common one among swordsmen in Lantonne, but this one was from somewhere farther south, taught to him by a man his father had hired.

“That stance is meant for someone with two weapons, you imbecile,” Liris noted, smiling at him. “You only prove my point about your skill. The Irandi fight with twin short-spears. Using that with a single broken sword is pointless.”

Trying to slip in while she was talking, Raeln slashed at her, using his momentum to turn quickly. As Liris had said, the stance was meant for him to follow up with attacks from a dagger or other offhand weapon…though, like the other wildlings, he was never without weapons. He came around, Liris smiling as she ignored his free hand, right up until the moment his claws ripped a goodly portion of her face off.

Stumbling away, Liris’s weapon flickered and nearly vanished as she put a hand to her broken face. It took her only a second to begin laughing, lowering her hand as the gashes closed, and Raeln watched her ruptured eye reform completely. “Enough playing around, dog,” she snapped, raising her weapon again. Without hesitation, she rushed at Raeln.

The two of them clashed, narrowly blocking one another’s attacks and dancing across their end of the ravine, locked in a battle Raeln knew would only end when he made a mistake. After all he had been through, after all he had seen, he would die in a swordfight. If that was how it had to be, he was happy to die fighting and intended to hold the woman at bay for as long as he could. Greth would be proud to see him fighting right up to the end.

Parrying and striking, Raeln held his ground, trading blows evenly with Liris. Soon his weapon had grown painfully hot to the touch, burning through his pads and steaming in the cold air, but he had little choice but to keep fighting. He inched backward as he fought, trying to find Estin with his foot in hopes of grabbing Estin’s weapons, which still lay on the ground somewhere nearby. He slid his foot back one more time and ran into something furry—either a wolf or Estin’s tail, he could not be certain which.

Raeln tried to glance down while maintaining his defense, but Liris was too fast. The moment he lowered his eyes, Liris kicked Raeln, knocking him over backward. He crashed to the ground alongside Estin, his sword flying. In a mad scramble, Raeln tried to find Estin’s weapons, but they lay too far away for him to reach. Looking back up, he found Liris stood over him, her flaming weapon ready over her head.

“You made me work for this. I will give you that. Beg me…beg for your life, wolf,” she told him, raising her sword a little higher.

Raeln looked around for anything that might help him, whether that was one of his companions or even a rock he could defend himself with. What he saw instead was Feanne, halfway across the battlefield, walking toward him with a calm anger that radiated from her, somehow parting the battle. Nothing was willing to remain in her path, wolf or Turessian.

Her cloak had fallen forward to cover her body and she still had her hood up, but something about Feanne terrified Raeln. From within her hood, a deep throaty growl emanated, growing louder with each second. A dim green glow appeared where her eyes should have been under the hood. This was no magic he had ever heard of or wanted to encounter. Judging by the way the dire wolves scattered from her, they had much the same feeling.

Raeln looked over at Estin and saw the snow all around him was stained red with blood. If he still lived, Raeln could not be sure, but he was certain Feanne could see his wounds clearly, and the blood would have been visible from anywhere in the ravine. To anyone glancing at him, the natural assumption was that he was already dead.

“Get it over with. I’m not going to beg,” Raeln said, returning his attention to Liris.

Without a word, Liris swung the sword at Raeln. Instinctively he put up his arms to block it, knowing all too well the magical weapon would likely cut right through and kill him anyway. Pain exploded across his left arm and a loud pop went off, making the whole area smell like smoke as his arm went numb.

Opening his eyes nervously, Raeln saw Liris lying on her back nearby, trying to stand. Her weapon was gone and her whole body smoked ominously. She managed to prop herself up on one arm and then fell over.

Raeln started to stand, but dizziness nearly knocked him back down. He looked at his arm and saw a long gash across his forearm that ended at the bracelet he wore. There the cut ended and the fur around the bracelet was burned and the skin blistered. Somehow the silver bracelet was not even scratched, though a small puff of what looked like mists hung over the spot where the bracelet had been struck. At that thought he looked up to the sky and saw the mists there had closed in, circling over the ravine. There was nowhere left to run.

The wound, bracelet, and glowing mists were immediately forgotten as Raeln realized Feanne had almost reached them and whatever was happening with her had accelerated. As she approached, the cloak could no longer hide her long legs and had begun to slide off her shoulders. Her legs had always been long for her height, but now they were longer than Raeln’s and her large paws made audible thumps as they came down. She stood a foot taller than Raeln and seemed to be growing as he watched. The green light her eyes emitted before was bright now, illuminating her face and accentuating the rage that covered her features. In shock and fear, Raeln found himself unable to move, hoping he was far enough outside her path.

Feanne was enormous, standing almost ten feet tall as she straightened up, muscles all over her body twitching with readiness. Her clothing was nearly destroyed from the change, with shreds hanging here and there. Whereas Feanne had always kept her claws sharp, now they were several inches long and could have torn through an armored warrior from the look of them. Her bared fangs were no less intimidating, longer than Yoska’s knives. With different fur patterning, she would have reminded Raeln of a giant werewolf, but he had no idea what to make of a ten foot fox wildling that appeared ready to face down an army by herself.

With a roar of anger, Feanne stomped one foot, lowering her face to glare at Liris, who had sat back up and, Raeln thought, looked as confused and startled as he did. Then, to Raeln’s horror, Feanne turned that same furious stare on him, spreading her fingers wide in preparation of gutting someone. She had not decided who, yet.

Raeln struggled to understand what he was seeing and then realized he lay on one side of Estin’s prone body and Liris lay on the other. Whatever had happened to Feanne could well have been clouding her thoughts, making her unsure which of them had attacked him. As a last resort, Raeln raised his hands in surrender and lowered his eyes to the ground, hoping that would be enough to turn her eyes away from him. Greth had told him sometimes the better part of valor when dealing with wildlings was to know when to appear harmless, and this certainly seemed the right time for that.

Turning her head slowly between Raeln and Liris, Feanne raised herself up to her full height and let out a howl that made Raeln’s legs shake and every animal instinct in him scream to run. Whatever she had become, even his body’s basest reactions knew to flee from her. Something primal stirred in him, shrieking in the back of his mind and pleading with him to scurry for cover. Those instincts warned him that today he was prey.

“Feanne—” Raeln said, but suddenly Feanne swung her arm, backhanding him with all the force of a tumbling boulder. He left the ground, smashed into the wall of the ravine, and collapsed. He fought to think clearly as his head pounded and his back ached from the impact.

From where Raeln lay, he could see Feanne had dismissed him as no longer a threat, moving on to Liris. The woman appeared torn between her usual cocky lack of concern and utter horror at the enormous foxlike beast that came up on her. Liris backed away slowly on the ground while Feanne followed, her enormous paws crushing smaller stones with each step.