largest Behrenese city in all the region, then his reputation would explode across the steppes and scores hundreds, perhaps thousands, of To-gai-ru would flock to join with him.
"I will help to clear the wall," the mystic agreed.
"As will I," Brynn added, and Ashwarawu looked at her curiously, as did his entourage of warriors, for the leader had not asked Brynn.
One of the large men standing beside Ashwarawu broke into laughter, and the others joined in, but Ashwarawu stopped them fast with an up-raised hand.
"You have proven your value as a warrior upon your horse," the leader explained to Brynn.
"I am stronger with the sword afoot," Brynn said. ?And have been trained well in the art of stealth. The Wraps will never know I am there."
Neither Ashwarawu nor his entourage seemed convinced, but what both-ered Brynn at that moment most of all was the incredulous, even disap-pointed, look that came back at her from Pagonel.
"You will ride in the line, where your fine bow will be of greatest value," the leader said, and he let his look linger long on Brynn, then walked away.
"Do not judge me," Brynn said to the mystic when they were alone again. ?Did you not just agree to become an assassin yourself?"
"The word does not flow prettily from your lips," Pagonel replied.
"The word?"
"Wraps," Pagonel explained. ?Speaking the word does not become you." He rose and bowed to her, then walked off, leaving her with her thoughts.
Wan Atenn stalked the wall of Dharyan all that day, for he and his Yatol knew well that Ashwarawu was near.
The fierce Chezhou-Lei relished the coming battle, and only hoped that he would get the chance to kill many of the hated Ru before the two twenty-squares closed upon them and utterly obliterated them.
Dare Wan Atenn hope that he might get a chance to kill Ashwarawu himself?
He had only two hundred men with which to defend the city, half of whom were mere peasants and certainly not skilled in the ways of disci-plined soldiers. He expected that Ashwarawu's band would number at least I despite what Yatol Grysh had predicted. And while Wan Atenn rhat he could easily kill any two of Ashwarawu's warriors, he did not nderestimate the ferocity of the Ru. The city had to hold firm, with little damage or loss of life, until the armies arrived.
When night fell and there remained no signs of the approaching raiders, v锟? Atenn feared that Ashwarawu had sniffed out the trap. Perhaps the had noted the approach of one of the twenty-squares, the soldiers mov- into position barely an hour's march from the city. If that was the case, e Chezhou-Lei decided then and there that he would take up the soldiers and pursue the dog, all the way to western To-gai if necessary!
He was standing by the main gatehouse, instructing a handful of sentries, when the first unusual sound reached his ears, one that the other men in the gatehouse didn't even seem to notice, but one that piqued the interest of the superbly trained warrior.
"Hold fast your positions," the Chezhou-Lei warrior instructed, and he moved off, silent as death, along the wall.
Pagonel had little difficulty in getting to the base of Dharyan's wall unde-tected. Once there, the mystic fell into his life energy, willing it upward and in doing so, lightening his body.
The mystic ran his hand along the wall, feeling the grooves between the large stone blocks. When it had been constructed, a sandy mortar had been used to fill the seals between the stones, but the continual wind off the mountains and the steppes had cleared most of that fill away.
Pagonel was at the base of the highest point in the wall, but it was only a dozen feet, and the mystic went up it as easily as if he was crawling across a floor. At the top, he paused and listened, noting the approaching footsteps of a soldier - he knew that because he could hear the rattle of a weapon against armor.
Still hanging over the side, the mystic brought his legs up as high as he could and set them firmly, then listened, measuring the approach.
The Behrenese soldier spun to his left, facing out over the wall, as the form lifted past. Obviously confused, the soldier never even realized that the springing mystic had gone right above him. He was still staring out at the darkness when Pagonel came down atop him.
Pagonel's foot snap-kicked the man in the back as he descended, blasting away both