The piper raised his hand. Raihna and the Cimmerian stopped and waited while their guide vanished into the darkness ahead. Enough time seemed to pa.s.s for Prince Urras to grow to manhood before the piper returned.
"I can see nothing," he whispered, "but I sense the thoughts of one who watches. He either cannot shield his mind or does not care to," Marr added at Conan"s frown.
"Man or beast?" Raihna asked.
The piper shrugged. "I would wager that it has some of each in it. One thing is certain: it has sensed our thoughts and is tracking us by them."
"I am in ecstasy," Raihna said. She tested the draw of her sword and dagger. "Do we wait for him-it- to come, or do we go to meet it?"
Conan studied the ground. "Unless our friend can fly, here"s as good as any. Better than some-no stumps or potholes that I can see."
The piper seemed about to speak when part of the darkness ahead began to move. At first it was only a small part, and without shape. It grew rapidly, however, and took on a familiar and terrible form almost as swiftly-that of a gigantic bear, brown with a ruff of silvery fur almost as thick as a lion"s mane. The moonlight showed that its muzzle was grizzled as if with age, yet its coat was thick and showed no wounds or bald spots. The muzzle was shorter and the skull broader than Conan had ever seen in a bear.
Conan and Raihna unslung their bows. The piper fell back, to stand behind them. He drew his pipes but did not put them to his lips.
As Conan and Raihna nocked their arrows, the bear plunged off the trail. When it found no shadows large enough to hide itself altogether, it became a moving, difficult target. Conan tried to judge its path by the sound of its footfalls, but he heard too little. It seemed that the bear had the cunning to walk lightfooted on uncertain ground.
Had Conan and Raihna carried more arrows, they would have shot anyway, trusting to wound the beast. Decius had been able to find barely two dozen shafts apiece for them, however. Some of those had already been spent in bringing down meat for the pot.
Conan had faced enraged bears and seen what they could do. He had also seen how many arrows they could take without mortal hurt. He would shoot if the bear offered a vital spot, but not otherwise.
Now only the faintest of sc.r.a.pings and the swiftest of moving shadows told Conan of the bear"s progress. It seemed that it was moving around toward their rear, perhaps cutting across the trail toward the oak tree.
For a long moment the silence was complete. Then the crackle of splintering wood rent the night. Conan tried to pierce the darkness, but the moonlight refused its aid. He could only make out the oak tree shaking, as if a strong wind were blowing.
Then the moon came out, Raihna gasped, and even Conan gritted his teeth. The bear had torn a branch from the oak tree, as long as two men and as thick as Conan"s arm. Now the beast rose on its hind feet, holding the branch in its forepaws.
In its hands. The moonlight showed unmistakable thumbs, for all that they bore claws as long as Raihna"s dagger.
Creature of magic or creature of twisted nature, the bear was still offering Conan that long-sought vital target. An arrow leaped to his string, then flew straight at the beast. It pierced deep through the s.h.a.ggy brown coat and into the left shoulder.
The bear"s roars filled the night as if there had been no such thing as silence since the world began. It shifted its grip on the branch to pluck the arrow from its flesh. Conan put two more arrows into the beast; then it lowered its head, shuffled its feet about like a runner seeking the best start, and lunged forward.
The bear"s three human opponents scattered like chaff in a whirlwind.
They had no choice. Even Conan could no more match the bear"s strength than he could that of an avalanche. Against such an opponent, he had to keep his distance and wear the beast down, giving as many wounds as possible and taking none. Many slight wounds could sap the strength of any creature. There could be no such thing as a slight wound for any human, not from this monster.
Raihna was bolder. She lunged in under the bear"s guard and slashed at its hind legs. The broken branch hummed and the end crashed down.
Raihna leaped back and to one side, avoiding a stroke that would have shattered her skull.
She did not avoid a patch of rough ground that threw her off balance.
The bear stepped forward, raised the branch high, and struck again.
Raihna went down, but in going down, she landed on her rump, legs raised.
Those long legs were made for more than wrapping around a man during bedsport. They held fine, hard muscle, and all that muscle now drove Raihna"s boots into the pit of the bear"s stomach. The beast outweighed her ten to one, but even its stout hide could not altogether cushion such a blow.
The bear grunted and the branch wavered. Raihna rolled away, cutting at the bear"s left ankle as she did so. Her eye was true. Her blade caught the hamstring. The leg gave under the bear"s weight, and the beast toppled onto all fours. The branch came down with it, catching Raihna across one ankle. She did not cry out, but Conan saw her wince.
He also saw that opportunity was knocking. For a moment, the bear was torn between the weapons of a thinking creature and those of a beast.
Instinct overwhelmed thought. It lunged for Raihna with its jaws.
As it did, the branch lifted, freeing Raihna. She rolled and slashed again. This time her sword caught the bear across the muzzle. The creature roared to make the hills shake and turned toward Raihna as she leaped to her feet.
As she did, Conan leaped onto the bear"s back. His free arm curled around the s.h.a.ggy throat, squeezing like a great snake of the Vendhyan jungles gripping a particularly succulent pig. His sword slashed down.
Fur and flesh gaped, and the bear"s right fore-paw dangled limply.
The roars the bear had uttered before seemed like silence compared to the thunder now.
It needed more than noise to disquiet the Cimmerian when he was grappling with a foe. When the bear tried to shake off the impudent nuisance clinging to its neck, it was too late. Conan had his dagger drawn, and he thrust it deep into the bear"s throat. Blood flowed. He thrust again; more blood flowed, and Raihna took the opportunity Conan had given her. She ran in, thrusting hard, and her sword found the bear"s heart.
The slayers barely had time to leap clear before the creature toppled.
The ma.s.sive paws scrabbled at the rocky ground a few times as blood pooled under the throat and chest. Then it lay still.
Before he stood up, Conan counted and flexed his limbs to be sure that all of them were still attached and fit for use. He had grazes, bruises, and sore spots all over from this briefest of grapples with the bear.
Raihna looked in much the same case, with the addition that her trousers were largely gone, and also one sleeve of her shirt. One cheek was going to be a single giant bruise by morning, and she favored one ankle.
Conan caught her by both hands, then embraced her and lifted her off her feet. "Thank the G.o.ds that it was a short fight," she said when her breath returned. "A long battle against that creature and we"d none of us been fit to fight again, or even to travel."
"Save Marr," Conan said, looking about for their companion. He was nowhere in sight, but Conan thought he heard a distant trill of pipes.
Had the piper fled after leading them into a trap? That was Conan"s first thought, and an ugly one, too. Raihna seemed to read that thought on the Cimmerian"s face.
"Is it worth searching for him?" she asked. She sheathed her sword with a vigorous thrust. Conan judged that it would be drawn as swiftly if she met the piper again.
"Not at night," Conan said. "We"d do better to find a place to sleep.
Without a guide, we"ll have to cover the last of the journey by day, or risk going astray."
"At least we can have bear meat for breakfast," Raihna said.
"That would not be wise," came a familiar voice, seemingly from the air above them. Conan whirled, sword flying clear.
"By Erlik"s bra.s.s tool-!"
Marr slipped down from the oak tree and almost sauntered toward them.
He might have taken a Cimmerian fist in the teeth but for Raihna. She gripped Conan"s arm and pointed. Conan followed her gesture, and stared.
A youth-no, a woman hardly more than a girl- was following the piper.
She wore her hair in Pougoi braids, and her face was either filthy beyond belief or smeared with dirt to make her harder to see in the dark. Even in the darkness, Conan noted her easy grace of movement and the fine figure under the tunic.
"Forgive me," Marr said. "Captain Conan, Mistress Raihna, meet Wylla.
She is of the Pougoi, and a friend to us."
"Then she can share the bear meat, after you explain where you were during the fight," Raihna snapped. "We are waiting." She crossed her arms over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and glared.
"To eat the flesh of that bear is not proper," the piper said. "The bear has a man"s cunning. Therefore it would be as eating human flesh-"
Raihna gagged, and Conan nodded. "I see you agree with me, Captain,"
Marr said. "Good. As for where I was-I had to play my pipes. Otherwise, the bear"s thoughts might have reached the Star Brothers. That could have been like sending a letter warning them of our coming. By the time I knew I had blocked the sending of the bear"s thoughts, I sensed Wylla"s approach. I had to go on playing so as to guide her safely to us and to shield her from the bear"s knowledge."