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loomed against the speckled sky. There was no mistaking the outline of the
great catapult. All of a sudden, then, they began to slow.
One of the unharnessed knights dropped his right wing a little, skated close
to the sled.
"Careful now. A patrol comes."
Below the howl of the wind-at least 60 kph, he ibought, shivering-he could
make out Hunnar and the other knights scraping ice as they strove to brake to
a halt. He lowered the helmet over his facemask, pulled his arms tight up
against his sides, and tucked his hands under his chest, flattening himself to
the cold wood.
Up ahead he could hear Hunnar speaking in gruff tones to someone unseen,
explaining the provisioning party's strange luck in turning up a great supply
of oil for the Scourge's tent, but no food to speak of.
Then he heard one of the barbarians ask, in a strange dia-lect, "What about
those two?"
He could imagine the feet coming closer, a hand lifting off the helmet. Then a
cry of shocked surprise at the sight of his alien face ... and surely their
presence was known to the enemy after yesterday's battle on the wall. A sudden
'swift descent of the sharp blade, cries, spurting blood
...
"Oh, them?" countered Hunnar smoothly. "Well, the dwarf there is so ashamed of
his small size that he tried to down twice the reedle of any of us. Even
dipping him in fresh melt had no effect. The other one had just enough to make
him think he was a gutorrbyn. He tried to fly off the roof of some dirt
grubber's barn. He flew all right-straight down."
There was a tense pause. Then the patrol leader let loose a hoarse series of
jerking laughs.
Eventually he managed to contain himself. "Tis best you get them back to camp,
then," he finally snorted, "before your captain does find them, or he'll skin
them alive. If Death-Treader should breach the walls of the Insane Ones, we
will attack tomorrow."
"Truly," replied Hunnar, "they would be forever sorrowful should they miss the
Sack."
There was another short exchange of pleasantries, too low for Ethan to hear.
Then they were moving forward once more, though much slower this time. He
raised his head just slightly, saw that they were alone on the ice again. The
patrol bad evidently continued on its way westward, tacking into the wind.
"Everything linear?" whispered September so sharply that Ethan nearly lost his
grip on the sled.
He'd completely forgotten about his big companion. September had lain like a
dead man throughout
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20...20Dean%20-%20Icerigger%201%20
-%20Icerigger.txt (108 of 179) [1/16/03 7:07:12 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Icerigger%201%
20-%20Icerigger.txt the entire exchange.
"You wouldn't think to have any trouble talking," he re-plied, "but my
stomach's halfway up into my throat." Sep-tember chuckled. "For a minute
there, when he asked about `those two,' I saw myself spread across the ice
like bread- dough."
"You're lucky," replied September, "I was so busy organ-izing things before we
pushed off that I
forgot to go to the john. "
The meeting with the patrol must have been an omen, for they didn't encounter
another soul the rest of the way. An attack by night was apparently as
unthinkable to the nomads as it had been to the cultured coterie of knights
back in the castle.
All but one of the guards at the great siege-engine were enjoying a deep sleep
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in the several tents at its base. These were pegged into the ice and benefited
from the windbreak the catapult provided.
The one duty guard observed their approach and chivaned over, completely
unsuspecting. He was probably curious as to what a group of his fellows were
doing out on the ice so late at night with a raft full of barrels and two
unmoving bodies.
Hunnar amt him. Ire offered him the same explanation he'd given the patrol
leader, explaining their partly successful raid. Then he presented the other
with a "stolen" sweet-stick. The guard accepted it with thanks.
"Death-Treader did well today," Hunnar said conversation-ally. "Would that I
had been closer, to better see the fear on the faces of those stupid town
dwellers." The last word Hunnar uttered in the contemptuous tone the
barbarians held for anyone fool enough to live in one place instead of moving
free with the wind.
"The crew had some difficulty ranging him today," admitted the guard, "but all
will be perfected for tomorrow. We will surely breach the walls, perhaps in
several places. Some say it will not even be necessary to attack. With their
walls down, the fools may finally realize their impossible position and
surrender. That will be even better." He grinned horribly. "There will be more
prisoners to play with."
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