"He came back down to join us," Kemal said. "We spoke as you doubtless will, but he would not listen."
"No, so best save your breath for climbing the hill again," Ivram added. "I confess I had hopes of taking one more look at a demon. The more we know-"
"He hoped to make one senseless with the last of the Powder, so we could carry it to Fort Zheman!" one of the men shouted. "Ivram, have you gone mad?"
"I don"t think so. But-would anyone but a madman have imagined those demons, before-?"
"For the Master!"
Four robed shapes plunged down the hill toward
Bora and the rearguard. Their human speech and their robes told him that they were not demons. The swords gleaming in their hands showed them to be dangerous foes.
Bora"s hands danced. A stone leaped into the pouch of his sling. The sling whined into invisibility, then hurled the stone at the men.
Darkness and haste baffled Bora"s eye and arm. He heard the stone clatter futilely on the hillside.
Then the four swordsmen were among the rearguard, slashing furiously at men who had only one sword for all seven of them. The man who had complained of Ivram"s plans was the first to fall, face and neck gaping and b.l.o.o.d.y. As he fell, he rolled under the feet of a second swordsman.
His arms twined around the man"s legs and his teeth sank into a booted calf. The swordsman howled, a howl cut off abruptly as a club in Kemal"s hands smashed his skull.
A second swordsman died before the others realized they faced no easy prey. Tough hillmen with nothing to lose were not a contemptible foe at two to one odds.
The third swordsman"s flight took him twenty paces before three villagers caught him. All four went down in a writhing, cursing tangle that ended in a choking scream. Two of the villagers rose, supporting the third. The swordsman did not rise.
The fourth swordsman must have thought himself safe, in the last moment before a stone from Bora"s sling crushed his skull.
Bora was counting the stones in his pouch when a faint voice spoke his name.
"Bora. Take the rest of the Powder."
"Ivram!"
The priest lay on his back, blood trickling from his mouth. Bora held his gaze on the man"s pale face, away from the gaping wounds in belly and chest.
"Take it. Please. And-rebuild my shrine, when you come back. You will, I know it."
Bora gripped the priest"s hand, wishing that he could at least do something for the pain. Perhaps it had not yet struck, but with such a wound, when it did-
As if Bora"s thoughts had been written in the air, Ivram smiled. "Do not worry, Bora. We servants of Mitra have our ways."
He began to chant verses in a strange guttural tongue. Halfway through the fourth verse he bit his lip, coughed, and closed his eyes. He contrived a few words of a fifth verse, then his breathing ceased.
Bora knelt beside the priest until Kemal put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come along, Bora. We can"t stay here until the demons get hungry."
"I won"t leave him here for them!"
"Who said we would do anything of the kind?"
Bora saw now that the other unwounded men had taken off their cloaks.
Kemal was taking off his when Bora stopped him. "Wait. I heard a horse on the hill. Did you save Windmaster?"
"I freed him. The rest he did himself. I always said that horse had more wits than most men!"
Not to mention more strength and speed than any other mount in the village. "Kemal, we need someone to ride to Fort Zheman. Can it be you?"
"Let me water Windmaster, and I"ll be off."
"Mitra-" The words died in Bora"s throat. He would not praise Mitra tonight, not when the G.o.d had let his good servant Ivram die like a dog.
Conan crouched behind the chimney of the inn. Enough of the mob now carried torches to show clearly all he needed to see. Too many, perhaps. If he could see, he might also be seen, for all that he"d blacked his skin with soot from the hearth in Illyana"s chamber.
Both the mob and Achmai"s men were where they had been the last time he looked. Most likely they would not move further-until he made them move.
Time to do just that.
Conan crawled across the roof to the rear of the inn and shouted, "All right! We hold the stables. They won"t be in any danger from there!"
As he returned to the front, Conan heard with pleasure a shout from Achmai"s ranks.
"Who said that? Sergeants, count your men!"
Conan allowed the counting to be well begun, then shouted, imitating a sergeant"s voice, "Ha! I"ve two missing."
Then, imitating the captain:
"These town pigs have made away with them. Draw swords! That"s two insults to Lord Achmai!"
Angry, confused shouting ran along the line of Achmai"s men. Conan raised his voice, to imitate a youth.
"Achmai"s hired swords want to save their witch friends. Well, take that, you sheep rapers!"
A roof tile placed ready to hand flew over the heads of the mob, driven by a stout Cimmerian arm. It plummeted into the ranks of Achmai"s riders, striking a man from his saddle.
"Fools!" the captain screamed. "We"re friends. We want-"
His protests came too late. Stones followed Conan"s tile. A horse reared, tossing his rider from the saddle. Comrades of the fallen men drew their swords and spurred their mounts forward. When they reached the edge of the mob, they began laying about them.
The mob in turn writhed like a nest of serpents and growled like a den of hungry bears. One bold spirit thrust a torch at a swordsman"s horse.
It threw its rider, who vanished among dozens of hands clutching at him. Conan heard his screams, ending suddenly.
The fight between Achmai"s men and the mob had drawn enough blood now.
It would take the leaders on either side longer to stop it than it would take Conan and his people to flee Haruk.
Conan ran to the rear of the inn, uncaring of being seen. "Ride!" he shouted at the stable door. It squealed open, and Raihna led the others toward the street.
Illyana came last. As she reached the gate, curses and shouts told Conan that the street was not wholly deserted. Illyana waved, then put her head down and her spurs in.
Conan leaped from the roof of the inn to the roof of the woodshed and landed rolling. He let himself roll, straight off the woodshed on to straw bales. His horse was already free; he flew into the saddle without touching the stirrups.