A man impaled thus would die swiftly, but he would also cry out, scream, or writhe in agony. Her victim did none of that, nor did he bleed. Instead the sleeper turned his head and opened his eyes, gazing steadily at her. Horrified, Raika whipped back the blanket.
Under the blanket was a small pit, carefully hollowed out. Her ‘victim’ sat in this hole with a sword across his knees. The rest of the body she’d recognized under the blanket was a dummy, stuffed with rags and tied to a thick plank. Her sword tip was buried in the piece of lumber.
The bounty hunter brought his sword up, presenting the point under Raika’s chin. Though his hair was cropped close like a human’s, he had distinctly elven features.
“Yield,” he said calmly.
Raika let out a snarl and threw herself backward to escape his poised blade. She reeled away, off balance, and tripped. Falling hard, she felt rope beneath her fingers. A net!
The bounty hunter was out of his hole and had pulled hard on a cord lying just beneath the dirt. Somewhere a bent tree limb unbowed, and Raika snapped off the ground, completely enfolded in a heavy net.
“Let me down! Let me down!” she stormed.
“Can’t. You’re the catch of the day,” said the elf. Judging by his coloring, he was Kagonesti, but his clothing and sword were human-style, the kind worn far to the south.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me down!” Raika raged.
“I don’t think so.” He shoved his sword in its sheath. “You have friends about. How many came with you? Where are they now?”
She called him most of the filthy names she knew. Ignoring her, he slipped away into the darkness.
Raika was a good six feet off the ground, bent double so tightly she could not get a hand through the tight mesh. She struggled until something bright whizzed by the campfire, striking an oak tree with a loud thump. Raika saw it was one of Amergin’s polished bronze stars. Hope surging, she groped for the Quen knife tucked in her sash.
There was a crashing in the underbrush. A heartbeat later Amergin burst into the clearing. His sling had been sliced in two. He wore no sword.
Close behind him came the bounty hunter. He stepped into the circle of firelight and barked a short sentence in Elvish. Amergin did not reply.
“My sword! In the plank!” Raika cried. Amergin spotted the bedroll decoy. He ran to it, planted one foot on the board, and wrenched the blade free. To Raika’s surprise, the bounty hunter made no effort to stop him.
“Ko’aq ketay,” he said in Elvish. “Do your best.”
The Kagonesti crept toward each other, each one sidling to his right. As a result, they circled the clearing, the campfire and Raika between them. She struggled to free her knife, but blood was beginning to thunder in her head. If she was hung up like this much longer, her wits would founder.
The bounty hunter vaulted over the campfire and alit within arm’s reach of Amergin. They traded a few quick cuts, nothing fancy. Raika was relieved to see that Amergin knew something about using a sword. He thrust at the bounty hunter, who threw himself backward to avoid Amergin’s point. In so doing, he collided with Raika, setting her swinging. Blades flashed perilously close to her helpless backside.
“You’ve got a whole clearing! Fight somewhere else!” she cried. Suddenly, Raika realized that the collision had loosened the knife from her belt. It fell below her left hip. Straining hard, she worked her right hand across to grasp it.
The bounty hunter made a whirling overhand attack, moving his sword so quickly all Amergin could do was hold his weapon over his head to ward off the blows. He countered only once, a short thrust aimed at the bounty hunter’s face. The crop-haired elf slapped the blade away with his hand.
“You’re done,” he said in Common. “Give up.”
“You’re not taking me back to Robann,” Amergin said. You know what the Brotherhood will do to me?”
The hunter nodded curtly. “Too bad. My fee would be double if I delivered you alive.”
Amergin drew away, keeping his back to the dark woods. “How much are they paying you?” he asked. “Whatever it is, I’ll pay you more.”
“I can’t do that. A contract is a contract. I’ve never failed to bring in my quarry.”
A fast flurry of slashes and thrusts drove Amergin to the foot of one of the oaks. The hunter caught up his foe’s blade and with a flick of his wrist sent Amergin’s sword flying into the night.
“Malo takhi,” said the hunter. The benediction meant, “Enter darkness.”
He extended his arm for the final lunge but never completed it. With a resounding thud, Raika broke a plank over the bounty hunter’s head, and he collapsed.
Moments later, Howland, Hume, and Carver raced in, ready for a fight. They’d heard the clatter of swordplay and come running.
Raika tossed the broken board aside and rolled the unconscious elf over with her toe. She took the knife from her teeth and put it to his throat.
“Wait!” said Howland. He picked up a brand from the fire and held it up to light the bounty hunter’s face. “By my Oath! Do you know who this is?”
“A tricky little wretch about to meet his ancestors!” Raika snarled.
“It’s Robien! Robien the Tireless!”
Hume said, “Really? The very one?”
“I’m sure of it!” said Howland. “Twenty years ago we tracked down the murderer Valneer together. Chased him to the Icewall, we did. He’s a fine fellow!”
Carver hunted through the bounty hunter’s bag and found a weighty purse. “Here’s the blood money!” he said as he slipped the sack into his shirt.
Amergin stood over Raika and his enemy. “So, the one and only Robien. I should not be surprised. Solito was the chief’s son.”
Still with her knife at his throat, Raika said, “Who’s this Robien, anyway?”
“The most famous tracker and bounty hunter in six nations,” said Howland. “They say he’s never failed in a mission and brought a hundred malefactors to justice.”
“He’s certainly failed tonight!” Raika declared with a laugh. She drew back her hand. Amergin caught it.
“No,” he said.
“Why? He would have killed you!”
“He is an honorable brother of the forest. He does not deserve to have his throat cut like a wayward bandit.”
Raika rocked back on her haunches. “What a bunch of noble fools you all are! What are we going to do when we fight Rakell and his gang? Spare them because they’re honorable brigands?”
“If we let him go, he’ll simply come after Amergin again,” Hume said.
Howland tossed the burning branch back in the fire. Putting his sword away, he pondered. Finally he turned to Amergin.
“It’s your life. What do you say?”
The Kagonesti’s long face was a mask. “Let’s bring him along.”
“Bring him?” Raika, Hume, and Carver said in unison.
The Saifhumi woman said, “That’s crazy!”
“He’s wields a fine sword. Why not invite him to join us against the raiders?”
“He’s been paid to find or kill you! Why would a hunter of his reputation go back on his word?”
Howland went to Carver and held out his hand. “The bounty. Give it to me.”
“I’m the one who found it,” said the kender, sulking. Reluctantly he gave the purse to the Knight.
“Amergin is right. We might use him,” said Howland. “Leave the how and why to me. Until then, tie him up. Khorr can easily carry him awhile.”
They obliterated all traces of Robien’s camp and carried off every scrap from the site. The farmers were more than a little worried by this new way of gaining a recruit, but by now they trusted Sir Howland’s judgment. Every sword was crucial. So was every passing moment.
The journey resumed before dawn.
CHAPTER SIX
There it is-Nowhere.”
Malek stood with Howland uth Ungen on the highest prominence for miles around, a round-topped hill the farmers called Caper Mountain. Mountain it was not. It rose only forty feet or so above the surrounding plain, but that made it mountain enough for these parts.