The Autumn Republic

Of course they weren’t going north. That would be preposterous. There was nothing to the north but Adro for hundreds of miles. They could try the high passes for Deliv, but the Deliv were on the warpath after Alvation. No Kez would make it through their lands alive.

“Norrine,” Taniel said.

The powder mage drew her horse over to Taniel and saluted. “Sir?”

“You’re the best rider of this bunch and you’ve got sharp eyes. Go with Gavril. The two of you move north and try to sniff out a Kez trap. Vlora and I will go south and slaughter the grenadiers. It’ll be up to you two to tell us if the Kez have come in behind us. Flerrier, Doll, and the Riflejacks will take the road and be ready to guard our rear.”

“Yes sir.”

Gavril gave a slow nod. “It’s risky, splitting like this. But it’s the best way to keep them from getting the drop on us.”

“Get to it, then.” Taniel looked around the gathered soldiers and mages. “We have Kez to kill.”

Taniel dismounted and handed his reins to one of the Riflejacks, then collected his pistols, rifle, and sword. Vlora followed him, and together they crept through the forest, flanking the road on the east side by a few hundred yards. It would allow them to avoid any trickery on the part of the Kez and to sneak up on the grenadiers from the side-they wouldn’t expect mages in hot pursuit to slow down long enough for this.

Not that it was slowing them too much. He and Vlora could move through the trees more quietly than most, and they both burned powder trances, which made them move and think faster. Taniel could hear every crack of twigs and creak of trees in the forest for two hundred paces. It was a cacophony of information, but part of his training as a mage had been to filter that information into what were the animal noises of the forest and what was the movement of men.

Taniel found himself relieved that their mission required silence and the clear focus of moving quietly in the woods. He couldn’t afford to let Vlora distract him now. He was able to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, where they haunted him like a half-seen shadow.

He knew they would be back.

He let Vlora take point. Less than half an hour later she raised a fist, signaling a halt, and crouched down into the underbrush. Taniel crept to her side.

“We’re about a half mile out,” she said.

“Very close.”

“That’s about the farthest I dare try the detonation, and I have a clear sense of them all. They’re flanking the road from high vantage points.” She touched her temple and was silent for a moment, her eyes looking unfocused. “I’d guess as many as sixty of them.”

“Sounds right,” Taniel said. “Any Privileged?”

“No. I don’t sense your savage girl, either. You’d better check for her.”

Taniel took a sniff of powder, trying to ignore the way Vlora had said “your savage girl” and the accusation in her tone. He opened his third eye, steadying himself with one hand on the rough bark of a tree, and studied the Kez trap.

He focused on the area where he could sense the black powder and squinted into the trees, looking for the familiar dim glow of pastel color in the Else that indicated Ka-poel’s presence. The strength of her glow was somewhere between a Knacked and a Privileged, but several shades darker in color, which made her more difficult to see.

Several minutes passed before he let his third eye drop. He put his forehead against the back of his hand for a moment, fighting down his nausea. When he’d recovered, he said, “No sign of her. Does it seem odd to you that they have no Knacked?”

“Now that you mention it…” Vlora’s eyes were fixed on the Kez position. “Maybe they had one or two and they were killed in the attack on our camp.”

Taniel brushed off the niggling doubt he felt in the back of his head. “Probably right. Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Vlora moved several feet forward to crouch behind a fallen tree. Putting her back to the hollow trunk, she set her rifle across her knees and closed her eyes. Taniel saw a smile touch her lips and then felt her reaching out with her senses.

He felt the series of explosions rippling through his mage senses. A moment later and he heard angry bangs going off like a fusillade on a battlefield.

“Go,” Vlora said.

Taniel hopped the fallen tree and was sprinting through the forest, rifle held at the ready, eyes sharp for the green-and-tan uniforms of the Kez grenadiers. He heard Vlora fall in behind and to his right. Dry leaves crunched under his feet and branches whipped his arms and face. This wasn’t about stealth now but about catching any survivors before they could recover.

They would be confused and disoriented from the explosions-more than likely wounded-and thinking that a whole brigade of Adran troops were about to fall on them. Taniel had to reach their position quickly and take them captive or kill them before they realized they were only facing two powder mages.

He reached the top of a hill and paused to get his bearings. “Where?” he gasped.