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slings and bows and arrows.
Keep us flying, Rue! he shouted over his shoulder.
What are they doing? Trefen Morys asked him.
He shook his head. I don t know. Keep your eyes open.
He went back to the pilot box and climbed up beside Rue and Bellizen, telling them what he had seen.
They ve ringed the ruins. I think they re looking for something. Maybe the same thing we re looking
for.
He decided to use the wishsong again, to seek anew the traces of Pen s passing he had sensed that
morning. He found them immediately, strong and clear and just ahead in the ruins. The magic was diffuse
and fading, days old and no longer clearly defined. But its use had been powerful and reflected both
determination and clear intent. Pen had experienced an epiphany or confrontation of major proportions.
If he had survived that, Bek thought, then there was some reason to believe he could survive the
Forbidding.
Ahead, five degrees east southeast, he told Rue, pointing for emphasis.
Swift Surealtered course slightly and flew on, Rue holding the airship s speed down so that they could
scan the ruins below for other signs of life. They were flying along the southern perimeter, and there were
Urdas scattered all along it. They seemed reluctant to go farther in. Bek remembered that the Urdas were
superstitious about places they considered sacred, the ruins might well be one such place. But the Urdas
were clearly there for a reason. If they could not enter, then they were waiting for something that had.
Smoke, Rue said suddenly, pointing off to the right.
From just beyond the main body of the ruins, separated by a series of deep, wooded, rifts, a column of
black smoke rose from a crumbling blockhouse and tower. The Urdas were all about it, three and four
deep within the cover of trees and rocks, showering the fortifications with darts and arrows and spears.
I d. say we ve found something, Rue offered, giving Bek a quick glance.
But it was not something that tracked to the traces of Pen s passing that Bek had detected. It was
something entirely apart. He hesitated, wondering how advisable it was to become distracted by
something that might have nothing at all to do with what they were looking for.
All right, he said finally, let s have a look.
Fourteen
It was like flying into a hornet s nest.
Swift Suredescended in a long, slow spiral, drawing the attention of the band of Urdas below. Bek had
hoped that their appearance alone would prove startling enough to these superstitious people to make
them withdraw. But instead of bolting back into the trees and seeking cover, the Urdas immediately
turned their weapons on the airship. Trefen Morys barely had time to shout a warning from the bow
when a hail of spears and darts struck the underside of the vessel and a wash of arrows arced over the
railing in a deadly sweep.
Everyone ducked behind the protective railings as Bek tookSwift Sure back up again, out of reach of
the attack. As he did so, Trefen Morys came running back.
There are Rock Trolls down there in that tower! he shouted up to Pen. They were waving to us for
help!
Bek turned to Rue. Load both the port and starboard rail slings. Maybe we can drive the Urdas far
enough back into the trees to gain space to get a ladder down.
The starboard rail sling was still in place from their flight out of Paranor, and with help from Trefen
Morys it took Rue only minutes to set up the port weapon and arm them both. Placing the young Druid
on the former and herself on the latter, she sent Bellizen amidships to stand ready to lower the rope
ladder, then signaled for Bek to takeSwift Sure down again.
It was trickier going in the second time. The Urdas were waiting, neither awed nor frightened of the
airship. Even from high up, Bek could tell that they were aggressively hostile. Whatever had incensed
them had stirred their anger to such intensity that they were beyond caring what happened to them so
long as they stopped any rescue attempt. They were clustered at every quarter of the tower walls, and as
soon asSwift Sure came within range, they attacked. Bek kept his hold on the airship steady to give Rue
and Trefen Morys a chance to chase them off, but even after both rail slings were emptied twice into the
attackers, they held their ground, refusing to fall back. Gnarled, hairy forms swarmed through the
wooded ravines, keeping the tower and its occupants besieged.
Bek took the airship out of range once more, trying to think what else they might try.
Rue returned from the railing and climbed into the pilot box. Our weapons aren t going to work, Bek. If
we want to get those Rock Trolls out of that tower, we have to take a different approach.
She leaned close so that only he could hear. Could you use the wishsong to help?
He stared at her in surprise. She hated his magic, hated the legacy that went with it so much so that he
had barely used it since coming back from Parkasia. The search for their son had marked his first serious
attempt in several years. In truth, he wasn t even sure he knew after so long how to employ it in the way
that would be necessary.
I understand, she said, reading the look on his face. But we don t have any choice.
She was saying that if they wanted to help Pen, this was what it was going to take. The wind shifted and
blew across his face, unexpectedly chill and biting as it came down off the mountains. He held her gaze a
moment longer, then nodded. Take the helm.
He went down on deck to where the young Druids stood waiting and motioned them over to the rope
ladder so that both could help with the rescue effort. Then he moved forward to the bow and looked
down.
Urdas swarmed through the trees below, too many to count. Rue was right. Even a dozen rail slings
wouldn t be enough to chase them off. A more effective weapon was needed, and there was nothing
more effective than the wishsong when it was used in the right way. Grianne had taught him so years ago
when she had tried to kill him. He thought it ironic that he would use that lesson now to try to save her.
Take us back down! he shouted to Rue, a sudden gust of wind nearly obscuring his words. It was
heavy enough that it shook the airship from bow to stern. Slowly!
He glanced north to where huge storm clouds were beginning to build on the horizon, sifting down
through the peaks toward the Inkrim. A change in the weather was coming, and it did not favor their
efforts. If they failed to get a ladder down soon, given the nature of storms in that region, it might not be
possible to try again for days.
He looked down again at the Urdas, trying to think how to force them to move back from the walls of
the tower. He could do some things safely with the wishsong, but he did not want to risk trying too much
after so many years of no practice. The magic was powerful and at times unpredictable. Using it the
wrong way could prove disastrous. If it failed to respond as intended, it might send them all crashing
down with the airship.
The wind gusted across his face again, and suddenly he remembered that the Druids favored using the
elements as allies in their wielding of magic. Perhaps he could do the same here.
He brought up the wishsong in a soft hum, calling it to life, feeling it come awake and then flood through
him with a slow, rising heat. He kept his gaze fixed on the scene below as he began to give the magic a
shape and a form, a sense and a purpose. He found the wind currents that preceded the coming storm
and stirred in the magic. The currents gained force and consistency, and as they gusted about him they
began to take on a new intensity. What had begun as a series of uneven bursts now became a steady
blow. Changes of pitch evened and slowly built into a howl that suggested the cresting of a tidal wave.
The Urdas began looking around in confusion and then in fear. A storm of that kind wasn t something
they understood. They were unfamiliar with winds of such magnitude. They crouched lower, and then
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