A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne Page 0,152

Defender of the weak, they swear in their oath. That and the thought that Gulla is here should be enough to draw them. She had ordered Morn to stay in the sky as much as her stamina allowed, told her to make herself visible to the Order.

Only one Kadoshim for them to see, but where they see one, they should assume there are more. Especially when combined with the tale Drem and the others will be telling.

Closer to her, gathered just behind the ridge, her warband stood waiting.

To Fritha they looked impressive. Five hundred mounted warriors, her Red Right Hand decked in leather and fur and bristling with sharp steel. They were flanked on the left by Gunil upon his bear, and Wrath on the right. He had grown again during their journey south, eating his way through all that crossed his path. Wrath had learned to use his wings, descending upon elk and deer from above. The draig was almost as big as a horse, now. Not as tall, but wider and longer with its thick tail. Fritha suspected that he might be strong enough to carry her into the air.

Morn the half-breed flew in lazy circles above the warband. Fritha’s Ferals were nowhere to be seen, but Fritha was not concerned about that. She had commanded them to disperse across the land. They were close, she knew, could feel their presence, a tingle in her blood. They would come when she summoned them, of that she had no doubt.

It had been practical to send them out, an attempt to hide them from the prying eyes of talking crows, and also alleviating the requirement of feeding them. The Ferals could forage for their own meals. Food was what slowed the march of a warband, and reducing that need had contributed much to the speed with which Fritha and her small warband had covered the ground in the ten-night or so that she had been travelling since leaving the mine at Starstone Lake.

She looked at her Red Right Hand again, flanked with a mongrel guard of monsters.

She thought they were a fearsome sight. But she knew the warband coming to destroy her would be vastly larger. Morn had sighted the dust cloud of the Order of the Bright Star, flown close enough to spy great numbers of giant bears amongst their number. Two thousand swords coming against them, at least, Morn had told her. Fritha had expected nothing less. The lure of Gulla, High Captain of the Kadoshim, was too great to resist.

“We have at least a day, perhaps two, to prepare for them. Morn says they’re a day’s march away from us, at least.”

“But how will we hide from them here? How will we ambush them?” Arn asked, risking a baleful glare from his daughter and another rattle of her white-scaled tail.

“We won’t,” Fritha said. “There is no hope of that, anyway. With their murder of meddling crows in the sky, my guess is that we have already been seen. I hope we have been seen. That is the plan.” Although since Wrath had mastered his wings and had taken to spending more time in the air, it seemed to Fritha that the skies were clearer.

There is a new predator in the skies.

Nevertheless, Fritha had little doubt that her warband had been spotted, even if the crows were too scared to fly closer and spy out the details.

“We may as well let them come to us. At least that way we do not risk them walking around us.”

“We must attack with surprise, it is our only hope,” Arn said.

Fritha looked at Arn, a stern glance. She loved and respected him, but she was becoming vexed by his lack of faith in her.

“We cannot defeat the Order of the Bright Star the way you are used to fighting, Arn,” Fritha said firmly. “Scattered ambushes, hit and run, it will not work. Their scouts are too good. And besides, it would take too long. We need a decisive win. I must reach Drassil before Midsummer’s Day.”

“But we are too few, and are not White-Wings, masters of the shield wall.”

Fritha shouted orders and clicked her horse on.

The warband rippled into motion behind her, following her down the ridge, though every other warrior remained.

“What are we doing?” Arn asked.

I wish you would just trust me, Fritha thought, reining in her annoyance.

“We shall march forward a few leagues to draw the eyes of the Order. They will not think to scout behind us.” She