Part 22 (1/2)
Strongsea thren his axe in disgust It bounced off a log and flipped over ”Gah!” he spat
”Next to useless!”
”Don't be silly,” Graysky said as he patiently ha ”Just because you can't sharpen an axe-”
”It's not so how to sharpen a blade, or you're not, and I'm not! And I'm damned to walk all the way to the mountain just to have a dwarf sharpen it for ”
The bigger man flopped down on a stump There were stumps everywhere, scores of them, for the barbarians had labored to cut back the forest and build hohouses striped the hillside and sent s into the blue-white sky Stacks of cordwood and piles of burnable slash ran higgledy-piggledy up the slope
”Everyone's busy,” Graysky said as he ha, then leaned back and wiped his brow ”The dwarves are too busy forging tools to come sharpen them, so we needs-hello! What are you?”
”A fairy!” Strongsea hopped off his sturab his fallen axe
”No, sir, I'm not! Please don't hurt us!”
The barbarian h, she was stooped and thin with a narrow head dos of red and blue once cut for hus were two tinier creatures, all noses and eyes
”We're gnomes,” explained the female ”Kin to dwarves, but city-dwellers Or ere until the troubles My husband was killed by a mob, so we fled with only our tools and the clothes on our backs We heard this land still knew peace, and trekked across the tall grass-”
”Yes, yes, we know,” Graysky said, shaking his head as he regarded the trio, mother and children, who'd appeared fronomes, but had never seen one
These days all sorts of refugees streale framed by prairie and forest and mountains, for the barbarian/elf/dwarf alliance kept at bay the wars and riots and plagues that raged elsewhere ”You're not the first, nor the last I ilittered, but Strongsea ventured, ”Don't feed 'ee 'em to stick around like stray cats”
”I'll reh,” returned Graysky He unwrapped an oilskin containing acorn bread and snomish mother saw that her two children ate before she wolfed down her own portion Strongsea sighed in disgust
Graysky sat on a stue for her pipe steered and clever She wore a belt with many pouches of thin tools that jutted every which way The barbarian asked, ”Kin to dwarves, eh? What can you do with this?” Strongsea objected when Graysky plucked away his axe
The gnoe, hastily wiped her
Selecting a short file of jagged crystal fro nose against the hardy tool as she stroked quickly and methodically Within a few minutes, she handed the tool to Graysky, who passed it to Strongsea
”Huger barbarian touched a thu, he sucked his thu the axe down, he leaped up so fast the gnoantic bear hug
”Welcome, brethren!”
Out on the prairie
Tarves, Cappi and Pullor, stopped at an invisible line anchored by distant horseuess we part here Thank you”
”No bother,” said Magichunger ”I like to get out, see what stirs on our border Though these days our scouts do the job”
Dwarves andgrass, winter white, marched to the horizon A pair of vultures soared idly Behind, the tip of Sanguine Mountain just showed to the tallest men The barbarians considered that landmark the border of their new country
The war chief and five fighters accompanied the tarves Laden like donkeys with satchels and weapons, Cappi and Pullor journeyed to the distant Iron Mountains to tell the Sons of Baltar of the proe-bearers, Drigor hoped the entire tribe would relocate The dwarves shook hands, ished good luck, and stepped off on their thousand ht, but the sudden thru north
The outriding scout pounded across the prairie on a half-wild horse Knots lumped her bare arms as she wrestled the horse to a standstill, and jerked her leather-billed cap square ”Tracks!” she shouted
”Many of the our lands!”
”Show us!” commanded the war chief, and the party trotted after the scarass, a path er stooped, and rolled bruised stalks between his fingers The trail was only a day old Without a word, men and dwarves turned north at a trot flanked by the tall rider Soon the trail wended west into barbarian territory
Hours on, the rider dismounted, and waited for the war party to catch up Where the land folded, Magichunger and the rest se voices carried on the wind Edging to a creek bed, they peered down
A mix of scruffy soldiers, res, hunkered around a small fire No one ate, for their haversacks lay flat They only watched an iron pot boil in hopes of weak tea
Their dirty clothing was old predoer pulled back, consulted with Cappi and Crabbranch, then signaled fighters forward silently When everyone was posted, Magichunger reared to his feet with bow at full draw
The hungry soldiers jurabbed, but the burly barbarian hollered, ”Touch theed by arrows!”
The soldiers cursed, but stayed still At the war chief's coainst the sand bank Most shi+vered, fearing to be shot A barbarian and dwarf slid into the ravine to toss swords, war axes, spears, and clubs up on the grass One older man rasped, ”We're to be left defenseless on this Godsforsaken plain?”
”You're lucky to be alive,” Magichunger told thearth Barbarians We claim all territory to the west and kill raiders For such you look toeasy prey” The renegades squirmed
”Yet we value peace and never kill unless provoked,” Magichunger continued ”So I suggest you turn for Northreach to find honest work Follow the Sled by night Keep your belt knives, and set snares on the way: these hills sith rabbits On your way To linger is to die”
Gruer packs, filed along the ravine, rass, and stepped off northeast The barbarians watched the last
Then the war party laughed with relief Magichunger said to the dwarves, ”You'd best be off afore nightfall”
Agreeing, the dwarves hitched their packs But Cappi gazed northeast after the departed soldiers ”I wish the lands we must cross were as safe as this corner of the eichunger chuckled ”Fetch your tribe hohed and waved as the dwarveson their packs
Where the craggy feet of Sanguine Mountain rived the earth, Hilel and his horse-traders had selected a brushy, steep-sided ravine and blocked the ends with stumps and slash This makeshi+ft corral contained forty wild and half-taht by Hilel initially, others captured on the prairie
Sunbright walked the ravine's edge and studied theanimals as Hilel and his clan cut out individuals with horsehair lariats The stocky horse-traders in their sleeveless sweaters and canvas vests and leather caps lookedthem apart
He more watched how they worked The riders moved with a clever ease that belied skill Men and wonoose around a neck while dodging flailing hooves, then somehow jerk the recalcitrant beast out of the herd and pacify it within a few enerations of practice
Outside the ravine, Hilel had snubbed a large roan stallion's forehoof against its chest to sling a saddle across its back Tiht, he hooked a boot, bounded to the saddle, and hauled the reins to keep his seat and teach the ani, he forced the huge redeverywhere, Sunbright paced alongside and called questions: How many times must you mount before he'll accept you? Do horses ever strike when your back is turned? How smart are they? Are they loyal? How far can you ride one in a day? How much can they carry comfortably?