The Eighth Warden Bk. 02 Ch. 21-22

"The rest of us are coming too," Corec added. "We'll make sure that there aren't any more of those men who attacked you."

"We appreciate everything you've done for us," the headman said. "If we hadn't known about that storm..." He shook his head and sighed.

Just then, a howling could be heard faintly in the distance, but this time, it wasn't the wind.

"That doesn't sound like wolves," Corec said.

"Snow beasts," Fergus said flatly. "Must have come down during the blizzard." The other refugees had all stopped what they were doing, and now stood with concerned looks on their faces.

"It sounds like they're to the west," Gregor said. "Do you get many attacks?" he asked the plainsman.

"No, we keep our ranches well isolated, so they don't usually bother the village. They mostly head into the mountains."

The scout pursed his lips. "If we can hear them, they can't be more than fifteen miles away, and the trail we took is the only good one around here."

"They're coming this way?" Corec asked.

Gregor shrugged. "Even if they're heading up the slopes to hunt, the trail will funnel them in this direction eventually, unless they decide to turn back on their own. At least the storm covered our tracks, so they don't know we're here."

"Was that a snow beast?" Sarette asked, rushing over to the group, still buckling her coat.

"Yes," Gregor replied, "and if he's calling out, there are others."

As if in response, more howls came from the same direction, answering the first.

"They're not hunting," Fergus said, listening to the sound. "They're just telling the others where they are."

Gregor nodded. "Which means they'll be moving slow for now, but we can't go back to Jol's Brook or we'll risk running into them. We have to stay here."

Corec said, "Will we need to fight them? What are they like?"

"I've heard they're as tall as ogres," Bobo said.

"Never seen an ogre," Fergus said, "but they're big, about twice as tall as a man."

"They're strong, and their fur is thick, almost like armor," Gregor said.

"How many do you think there are?" Corec asked. "Can we stop them before they get here?"

"I heard at least five. That could be all there are, or there could be fifty. I would need to go look to tell you for sure."

"By yourself?" Sarette said. "We need to..." She paused, then said something in the stormborn language.

Gregor peered up at the nearest mountain, then spoke to her in the same language. She replied. They stared at each other, tense, but finally the scout nodded.

Sarette told Corec, "Even for a small group of snow beasts, the High Guard usually sends out at least two patrols—four full squads—all armed with crossbows. We only have one crossbow. I don't think we can stay here; we should go east instead."

"To keep ahead of them?"

"Yes, but I meant we should go to the ruins. There are stone walls there, and the people can hide in the buildings. We can't protect them here. If the snow beasts come after us, even five of them could flank us before we can stop them. If there are more..."

Corec nodded. "If there are buildings, we can set up defenses, but I thought we were still four days away."

"Closer to five," Gregor said, "but they're not tracking us yet. As long as they're exploring the mountains, we can keep ahead of them. Once they get here, though, and see our tracks... They can move twice as fast as us, so we need to be over halfway to the ruins before they figure out we're here."

"I don't know if the women and children can keep up that pace," Fergus said. "They've been through so much already."

Corec said, "If we need to, we'll send the rest of you on ahead, and we'll stay back and ambush them." He'd felt useless for the past few days, depending on Sarette and Gregor to know what they were doing, but a fight was something he could handle.

Fergus nodded. "We'll bring the axes. I'd better get everyone ready before they start panicking." A number of the villagers had gathered around during the conversation, and when he rushed off, they did too, gathering up their meager belongings and passing word along to those who hadn't heard.

"I'll go wake the others," Katrin said. She and Shavala had made it out in time to hear most of the conversation.

"Boktar first," Corec suggested. "I'll go dig the sleds out from under the snow, but I'll need his help to get everything packed again."

#

Sarette checked her map again, then surreptitiously aimed her spyglass north. Their blizzard camp had been out of view of any watchtowers, and in the day since they'd left, they'd been skirting around a massive slope. Finally, another peak came into view beyond it, and she found what she'd been looking for.

"I've got it," she murmured to Gregor. The two of them were at the head of the procession, neither hauling a sled. Fergus had detailed several of his men to help, so that the people carrying weapons could keep them close at hand. Corec and Boktar, as the most heavily armored, were serving as rear guard.

The scout immediately stopped and turned around. "Let's take a meal break and give the children a chance to rest," he announced to the group. There were sighs of relief up and down the line, and not just from the children and their parents. Everyone was tired from the pace they were setting.

Fergus approached. "Did you see any sign of them?" he asked, indicating the spyglass. Sarette had stopped several times throughout the morning to look behind them for the snow beasts, giving her an excuse to carry it.

"No, but it wasn't likely. We haven't heard them since yesterday."

"Maybe they won't come this way."

"I hope so," she said, but Gregor had warned everyone that they weren't safe just because they were too far away to hear the calls. If the snow beasts discovered the camp, they could close the distance quickly, and there was no sign of a snowstorm coming that would be heavy enough to hide their trail.

With everyone stopped, Boktar, Nedley, Ellerie, and Winna distributed hardtack and dried meat up and down the line.

Sarette snuck away from the group, beyond a line of trees, and found a spot that was getting sun through a break in the clouds. She pulled two signal mirrors from her pocket, using one to catch the sunlight and angle it toward the other, which she aimed at the watchtower.

Tower One Sixty-Two, acknowledge, she signaled. She waited a minute, then did it again, then again.

Finally, there was a response. One Sixty-Two here. Unknown party, acknowledge.

Two High Guard, sixty outsiders, including children, she sent back. Low supplies—food, blankets. Heading east by south-east to South Valley ruins. Snow beast incursion behind. Unknown numbers, unknown distance. Requesting assistance.

Bouncing nearest, the tower signaled, meaning they would check with the other nearby towers to find out what sort of assistance could be provided.

Three minutes later, there was a response. Nearest help six days from South Valley, eight days with supplies. Single patrol. Outside of signal view.

Sarette bit her lip. Was it better to get help sooner, or give the patrol two extra days to stop somewhere for supplies? Food was holding out, but it would soon run low with the number of extra mouths they were feeding. And the patrol was currently out of sight, so unless the closest signaler could bounce the message off of yet another tower, it could take another day or more to even get word to them. If there was a fight with the snow beasts, it would likely already be over in six days, one way or another.

She signaled back, Supplies needed urgent. Bounce west to locate snow beasts. Request intercession, all available.

Acknowledged. Tower officer assuming command.

There. It was out of her hands now. The tower would watch for any more signals from her, but with how often they'd be out of sight, and how often the weather would prevent signaling, the watchtowers were in a better position to make command decisions.

She returned to the group and joined Gregor. "It's done," she said in the stormborn language. "A patrol will meet us at the ruins in eight to ten days with supplies."

"No help with the snow beasts?" he asked.

"The tower didn't indicate any patrols near enough. I asked them to bounce the message to the western towers to find the snow beasts, and requested help from all available."

He nodded. The all-available request would mobilize help from scouts, hunting parties, and any nearby settlements, with the tower captain using the best information available to decide what level of response was safe and appropriate. It might not result in any help at all, but if the group of snow beasts was small enough, and there was a ranching settlement nearby, the people there might decide to take care of the matter themselves whether any of the High Guard were present or not.

"Then we've done what we can," the scout said.

###

Chapter 22

"How long until we reach the ruins?" Corec asked, his words punctuated by the eerie howls of the snow beasts calling out behind them.

"We're here," Gregor said, pointing to a stone marker at the side of a trail. He'd joined Corec and Boktar at the rear of the column so he could listen to the creatures. "We've got two hours, maybe three, before they catch up to us."

"I don't see anything," Corec said, staring at the trees ahead of them.

"The city's all around us."

"The forest grew up over it?" Boktar asked. "I hadn't thought about that, even with how old Ellerie said the place must be."

"It's been thousands of years since anyone lived here," Gregor said. "If it wasn't all stonework, there wouldn't be anything left today." He pointed to the left. "I think that hill over there is a building; it's just covered with snow."

The procession came to a halt in front of them, and everyone gathered together around Sarette and Fergus, who'd been in the lead.

"Where should we go?" Sarette asked Gregor. "I don't remember much from when I was here before."

"There are some big buildings farther in, some that even still have roofs. Fergus, you and your people come with me and we'll find a spot for you."

"What about the snow beasts?" the headman asked.

"You don't have any armor or bows," Corec said. "We'll take care of the snow beasts. Those of you with axes, could you make some long spears, and something to brace them against? It doesn't have to be fancy; anything will do." He didn't have a line of men armed with pitchforks, like he'd had against the ogres, but perhaps he could fake it.

Fergus frowned, but nodded. "We'll do what we can."

Corec turned to Gregor. "Do your people keep any weapons around?"

"No. A High Guard patrol passes by once a month, but we don't store supplies here."

Well, it had been a long shot. "We'll need a good spot to fight them. They're following our trail, right?"

"Yes; when they see tracks in the snow, they follow. It seems to be instinct."

"Then wherever you take these people should pass by where we want to lead them. This snow is too deep to fight in. Can you think of a spot where it won't be so bad? And with high ground nearby for the archers and mages?"

Gregor pursed his lips. "There's a courtyard with a hot spring running close below it. It melts the snow above. There are a lot of buildings nearby, and not too many trees."

"Then that's where everyone should go first, so the tracks lead where we want them to go."

#

Two hours later, Corec, Sarette, and Ellerie were standing on top of a tall building that had a partial view of the trail leading to the ruins. Corec had had to remove his plate armor so he could carefully crawl up the crumbling stairs, but he wanted to see the snow beasts for himself.

He kept Gregor's spyglass trained on the trail, while Sarette did the same with her own.

"There they are," she said, as the howls grew louder once again. There were more of them this time.

Corec aimed the spyglass in the same direction she was looking, and finally caught his first glimpse of the beasts. It was difficult to judge their size through the lens, but they seemed just as large as Bobo and Fergus had suggested. They walked upright, like ogres, but their entire bodies were covered with curly gray fur. They carried clubs or spears, and some wore satchels made of animal hide, which suggested a level of intelligence.

They ran with a strange hopping gait, not bothering to use the trail that had been broken. With their long legs, they simply leapt through the deep snow.

And they kept coming, one after another. Sarette handed her spyglass to Ellerie, but Corec kept watching and counting.

"They're too far away," Ellerie said. "I don't think I can reach them from here."

"There's got to be twenty of them, and they're less than a mile out," Corec said. "We'd better hurry if you're going to try."

She held the spyglass up to her eye with one hand, reaching out with the other as she whispered the words to a spell. A white beam of light shot out, but it faded before it reached the target. The snow beasts didn't even notice.

Ellerie cursed in Elven, then said, "That was a waste of a spell. I should have saved it. Sorry."

"It was still a good idea to try. I just wish there'd been time to construct catapults, but we'll have to make do. Let's go."

They made their way back down the stairs again as quickly as they dared, and Sarette helped Corec strap his armor back on before they ran to the courtyard they'd chosen as their battle ground.

"They're almost here!" Corec shouted out to everyone as he joined Boktar. "There are a lot of them!" He detached his scabbard from its harness and tossed it well out of the way after drawing the blade.

Ellerie peeled away from the group and ran to a hill where Gregor and Shavala stood waiting with their bows. The dirt mound looked out of place among the buildings surrounding the courtyard, but Gregor had suggested it was likely a structure that just hadn't been excavated yet. Katrin and Bobo were there too, having refused the suggestion of hiding with Nedley and the villagers from Jol's Brook.

Corec turned to Sarette, and to Treya, who'd been waiting with Boktar. "You should join them," he said, pointing to the others.

"How are we supposed to help from there?" Sarette asked, a faint blue light flickering over her staff-spear.

"Those things look like ogres to me, and I've seen what an ogre's club can do close up. My armor barely stopped it. Yours won't do much good. Treya, I know you don't like armor, but all it would take is one lucky hit, and who else do we have that can heal you?"

"My people fight snow beasts all the time!" Sarette protested, looking up at the heavy clouds above them and biting her lip.

"You said yourself that they use crossbows if they can. It'd be different if you had more men, but you can't form a spear wall with a single spear."

The howling was close now, and getting closer by the moment.

"He's right," Treya said to the other woman, tugging at her wrist. "If we see a way to help, we will, but we shouldn't be in the middle of it."

Sarette still looked reluctant, but she jogged to the hill with Treya.

"Just you and me then, eh?" Boktar said, unslinging his warhammer from his belt. He pulled his helmet on, lowering the face guard, and Corec did the same.

"Oh, I suspect Ellerie and the others are planning some surprises." Corec concentrated, casting his combat spells, but held off on the new one that strengthened his sword. It didn't last long, so he wanted to save it for when it would do the most good.

The dwarf chuckled. "She does have a few tricks up her sleeve. Looks like we've got company."

The snow beasts rounded a bend and headed straight for the courtyard, through what had likely once been a street. They ran two abreast, and suddenly went silent when they saw their prey before them. One reached into its satchel and pulled out a stone the size of Corec's head, hurling it at them. The aim was good, and Boktar had to dodge to the side to avoid it. The stone slammed into the ground and rolled.

Corec waited a moment more, as the beasts drew closer to the courtyard, then shouted, "Now!"

Hidden by partly tumbled walls, two men on each side of the street pulled back hard on the ropes they were gripping. A row of spears rose up diagonally from the snow, strapped together in a line and bound to some sort of wooden contraption the villagers had constructed. The base of the device was braced against a row of rocks they'd gathered, and the men nearest the street risked sticking their feet out behind it to make it sturdier as the first rank of the creatures crashed into it.

The spears were just pointed branches, prepared in a hurry, and weren't particularly hard or sharp, but the snow beasts themselves provided the necessary force, the points piercing deep into their torsos.

They squealed then, an even more haunting sound than their howls. The spear contraption disintegrated into sticks and splinters as the beasts twisted and writhed in an attempt to free themselves. The villagers fled from the commotion, but one—Fergus—was hit in the head by a flying spear handle and fell to the ground. The man nearest him dragged him back out of the way.

The next group of the creatures pushed the injured two to the side and streamed into the courtyard, one falling almost immediately to Ellerie's beam spell.

Corec cast the strengthening spell on his sword and charged forward, Boktar at his side.

#

Shavala waited as the beasts approached the courtyard. She couldn't see them from her angle, but she could hear them running. She nocked an arrow, though Gregor had warned her that her bow wasn't likely to do any good.

Sarette shifted impatiently at her side, continually looking up at the sky. "I should be down there," she fretted. "If I could only call lightning. It's so close..."

The clouds above were snow clouds, but they could still cause lightning under the right conditions. Shavala lowered her bow and reached up to the sky. The other woman was right—it was close. A rush of warm air upward would cause the necessary chaos to form a lightning strike. Wind was difficult to manipulate, but she wouldn't need to hold it for long. Once it started, it would keep going.

Before them, the snow beasts crashed through the spear trap, and Corec and Boktar rushed forward. Ellerie cast her beam spell, taking out one of the creatures. Gregor fired his crossbow, then grabbed his metal claw device to cock it again. Ellerie launched a second beam, and a third, but then stumbled and fell to one knee. Treya ran to her side.

Shavala continued pushing warm air upward until the conditions were right. "You wanted lightning?" she asked Sarette.

"I can feel it!" the other woman exclaimed. "But you're too close! I need to..." She ran back down the hill, holding her staff-spear up high. Shavala hoped she knew what she was doing.

Lightning struck, hitting the spear and flashing over Sarette's body. The searing boom of the thunder was immediate—and far too close for comfort. Katrin squeaked and stepped back in surprise. Sarette never stopped running. One of the snow beasts saw her coming and swung its club. She leapt over the creature, landing behind it and spinning around to stab it in the back. A flash of blue energy crackled and the beast fell to the ground.

"Huh," Katrin said. "I guess we found our Venni."

Shavala couldn't spare the time to reply. She loosed an arrow, then another, but Gregor had been right—her bow didn't have the power to penetrate through the snow beasts' thick fur, especially from this distance. The scout was doing better, with the creatures reacting in pain to his crossbow bolts, but so far he hadn't managed to take one down.