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up the canyon behind the former second pilot.
Llyselle held the reins of the brown mare for Nylan.  We thought you d need
this, ser.
Nylan, still breathing heavily, shook his head. His slowness in saddling
his mounts was unfortunately all too well known.
 Follow your squad leaders! ordered Ryba.
Nylan swung himself up into the saddle, the scabbard on his right side
banging against the side of his leg as he thrust it across the saddle.
 Squad one! Fierral raised her blade.
Across the grim-faced riders, Nylan caught Ayrlyn s eyes and pantomimed the
question,  Which squad?
Ayrlyn shrugged.
 Let s go, called Fierral, and almost a dozen riders followed her. The
remainder followed Ryba.
After a moment of hesitation, Nylan rode after Ryba s group, where he and
Ayrlyn brought up the rear.
 Do you know the plan? he asked quietly.
 Not exactly. Gerlich is coming down the second canyon, and they ll try to
use the ledges to pick them off, some anyway, before they can get out of the
canyon. Saryn s supposed to get the ones headed for the stable, and then
rejoin the main group.
 Not terribly well organized, mused Nylan.
 How can it be? Ryba can t station people everywhere eight-days on end.
What if Gerlich never showed up? She s probably got plans for a dozen
different cases.
 Still, it seems risky going put after him.
 It is, and Gerlich probably would have trouble cracking the tower. But we
couldn t survive another winter without livestock and mounts, and he knows
it.
Nylan nodded. So, to protect the outbuildings and what they contained, the
guards had to take the fight to Gerlich, before he knew it. He also realized
why ancient castles held everything-a realization that, as seemed all too
frequent, came too late.
 Pickets here! called Fierral. The newest guards- Denize, Liethya,
Miergin, and Quilyn-served as pickets, holding mounts ready, as the more
experienced guards, or at least those more trained, swarmed up the ropes
already fastened in place on the slope.
Nylan nodded as he dismounted and handed the mare s reins to Quilyn. Maybe
things weren t so disorganized. He and Ayrlyn were the last on top of the
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ridgelike overlook.
 Down, whispered Ryba.
Nylan went to his knees. So did Ayrlyn.
Ryba had lined up the guards in two rows, sitting or kneeling, behind the
low scrub on a flat ledge that overlooked the widening opening of the second
canyon. Fierral was crouched at the uphill end, Ryba at the lower end.
Nylan studied the placement-hardly ideal, since the canyon walls were too
steep for anything but a mountain goat farther uphill and since Gerlich s
troops only would be in a field of arrow fire for a short time.- Still, if
attrition were the idea, it might work, because it would take time for
Gerlich s armsmen to circle the hills, assuming they knew from where the
arrows came.
 Listen! hissed Ryba.  You fire four arrows-just four- as accurately as
you can. You know which row to aim for. Then you bat-ass down to your mounts
and form up, just like we practiced. Now& quiet. We wait.
Nylan had no bow. That was no great loss, since his accuracy with the
weapon was less than most of the guards, especially at a distance, and the
number of bows-the good composite ones-was limited. Besides, with everything
else, he had scarcely practiced with the bow since winter.
He looked at Ayrlyn, also without a bow, and motioned to the ropes behind
them.  We leave after they start to fire, he mouthed.
She raised her eyebrows.
Nylan repeated his words, and she nodded.
The sun, early as it was, warmed Nylan s back, but the end of the canyon
remained in shadow.
Nylan nodded again as he realized Ryba had planned better than he had
thought. Gerlich s troops would come around the final turn in the canyon with
their eyes facing right into the rising sun. Nylan bet the big hunter hadn t
even considered that fact, but he hadn t the slightest doubts that Ryba had.
When it came to using force, she tried to consider everything.
The sun climbed a bit higher, and the air remained still. Not even a bird
chirped, and Nylan worried about that. Would Gerlich sense the unnatural
quiet?
The faintest of clinks echoed across the rocks.
Ryba raised her hand, and nearly a score of guards nocked arrows, but Ryba
kept her hand just above shoulder level.
A single rider turned the corner into the low-angled sunlight, his hand up
to shield his eyes. Two more followed, their mounts walking easily. Ryba s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]