Blades of the Banished - Robert Ryan Page 0,27

enemy, Talgin could guess. He would have preferred to spring the ambush without warning.

Maybe he was right, but these guards were also men from Esgallien. They might serve the Witch-queen, but they were still his countrymen. He wanted to avert a fight if he could. And if he could not, then what he said was true. They would bunch up to hear what was said, and that would serve the Raithlin well.

Most of all though, he did not think whoever led the enemy would fail to see this as a place of ambush. The guards might be young, but whoever led them was likely a man of experience.

He trailed behind the Raithlin, and then came to a stop two thirds of the way down the gully. There a knee-high boulder jutted from the ground. He dismounted and sat on it, keeping the reins of his mount close to hand. It was not tied, but would not stray.

He watched the Raithlin as they took up positions. They left their horses in the rear, and came back to the gully. Some maneuvered their way high up the slopes, disappearing from sight even though he knew where they were. A group of men established themselves near the mouth of the gully on the right, and a group of women took up a place opposite them. None were visible.

In moments Talgin almost felt that he was here by himself, alone in the wild with a hundred guards on the way. But he was not. His brothers and sisters would not abandon him. They were ready to fight, come what may.

A breeze stirred, gusting through the gully and across his face. It cooled him down. It also confirmed that Arawdan and Arawnus were skilled Raithlin; not that he needed any special proof of that. The gully channeled air just as much as it did water during whatever wet periods occurred in this strange land. That would serve a purpose – a grim one that he hoped the guards need never discover.

He knew when the guards approached. He read the signs in the wild, and in truth it took no great skill. These men were not Raithlin. They spoke among themselves. Their horses trod over rocks, harnesses jingled, birds called alarms and took flight from trees. Some of these things the guards could not help, and yet for the most part their approach was a shambles. But their lack of skill in such matters did not mean they could not fight. Not only that, with Ebona driving them and the shadow of her menace upon them, they would fight with desperation.

He waited, humming a tune to himself and sitting casually on the boulder. That at least was what the enemy would see. They could not know that his heart raced with fear, or that he worried for Lanrik. Less still would they know that he hoped that their commander was wiser than he seemed. For only he had the power to avert the death that would otherwise run like a river of blood through the gully.

There was silence for a time. He knew that their lead riders had spied him and sent word back to the men. Their commander would come to the fore any time soon.

The minutes droned on. There was no noise but the breeze sighing lonesome among the tree branches and the chirping of crickets coming as if from a great distance. Talgin hummed louder, and then broke into a whistle, reviving the same old tune that Arawdan had used earlier.

At length, the commander emerged from the shadows of the trail. He nudged his horse forward slowly. A group of ten men was with him, and they came forward with care. Talgin kept on whistling, watching them carefully and tapping the same tune he whistled with one of his feet that dangled down the side of the boulder.

The group came closer, and behind them the remaining ninety men also came into view. As hoped, they now bunched up and milled restlessly behind their leader.

The commander came to a halt just before the mouth of the gully. His sword was not drawn, but like all the others, he held a shield up high, anticipating trouble.

The captain of the guard looked at him coolly. When he spoke, his voice was one of authority, and though Talgin read wariness in his every movement, there was no fear in his voice.

“The road here was long, Lindrath. But this is where it ends. Give up now, and I