The Stricken Field Read Online Free PDF

be utter folly and the only alternative was to overrule the troll, who must have some reason for stopping there.
    He was a massive bulk in his all-enveloping sackcloth, panting hard like a dog, long tongue hanging out over huge teeth, but for a moment his image showed in the ambience, a solid mass of muscle, grinning ferociously.
    "Turn off here, sir. "
    "I thought the trail went a lot farther," Rap said aloud. "It does. We don't. There's a shortcut. "
    A troll shortcut through the Mosweeps was a concept to chill the blood, but it would be better than falling into the hands of the Covin. Furthermore, sorcery was not the only danger. There would certainly be mundane pursuit by morning. Dogs would lose the scent in the water, and hopefully the legionaries would follow the horses' tracks, at least for a while. Abandoning the road made good sense, therefore.
    "I'll send the ponies on, " Thrugg added. All three horses stood at least sixteen hands high, but they did look like ponies beside him. He lifted Norp easily to the ground. Rap did not think he could have done that, child though she was.
    But if the three barefoot trolls could stand in the stream, then he could. He slid out of the saddle. Icy water surged over his knees and filled his boots with a rush of agony. He shuddered.
    "Now will you take this Evil-begotten sorcery off me?" Andor shouted, making no effort to dismount. He had been demanding that release even before the fugitives left Casfrel. He wanted to disappear out of this hardship and danger. For the first time in more than a century he could not call one of his sequential companions to take his place, for he could not invoke the ancient spell while cloaked in Ainopple's shielding.
    "I can't risk it," Rap said.
    "If you're leaving the horses, you don't need me! Darad'll do better on foot than I will."
    Andor did not add that Darad also had a lot more courage. To be exact, Rap thought, Darad was just too stupid and too much a jotunn to be afraid of anything.
    "I know that, but if I free you I'll rattle the ambience. I'm not even sure I can."
    "Thrugg then?"
    "He's better, but it's still a risk." "He freed you!"
    "But that was hours ago. The Covin must have arrived by now. They must be looking for us."
    It was very strange that Zinixo's minions had not arrived already. Perhaps they were secretly watching and laughing and biding their time, but there had been no sign of sorcery back at Casfrel since the fugitives departed. Ainopple must be still asleep, unaware that her prisoners had escaped and unaware of the other danger, which threatened her just as much as it did them.
    Thrugg waded over to Andor's horse and grinned up at him. As a threat that grin would make a notable nightmare, yet it was completely misleading. Despite his monstrous jaws and bovine muscle, the big man was as gentle as a rabbit.
    "You ... want us ... to leave you, sir?" If a horse could speak, it might produce something like that slurred trollish mumble.
    Andor flinched. "No." He slid from the saddle and stumbled on the pebbles. Thrugg's huge paw shot out and steadied him.
    Rap had eased his horse's girths and tied the reins back out of harm's way. Shivering as his legs froze, he splashed over to Norp's mount and did the same for it.
    The ambience flickered. He swung around instinctively to stare back down the valley, but of course mundane senses could detect nothing.
    Thrugg chortled like a feeding lion.
    "What's happening?" Andor demanded shrilly.
    "There's a fight going on," Rap said. He could not make out the details. "Thrugg?"
    "The mistress was awake. She's giving them something to think about! Oo! See that? "
    "Some." Rap turned to Andor. "The Covin's trying to subdue Ainopple. She's playing for keeps."
    Andor wailed. "But she'll lose?"
    "Certain to, in the end. But it's a standoff at the moment. Like men with ropes trying to capture a man with a sword . . ." He shifted as the din increased. "She's a real fireball, though, no matter what