Read The Sword and the Stallion - 06 for Free Online Page B

Amergin's words. "You do not think we shall be successful?"
    "The attack on Caer Llud will cost us dear," said Amergin quietly. "I meditated on our plan last night. I believe I had a vision."
    "Of defeat?"
    "It was not a vision of victory. You know Caer Llud, Corum, as do I. You know how utterly cold it is now that the Fhoi Myore inhabit it. Cold of that order affects men often in ways they do not fully comprehend.’'
    ' 'That is true. ‘ ‘ Corum nodded.
    ‘ 'That is all that I thought," said Amergin. ' 'A simple thought. I cannot be more specific."
    "You do not need to be, High King. But I fear there is no better means of making war against our enemies. If there were ..."
    ' 'We should all know it." Amergin shrugged and patted the neck of Corum's horse. ' 'But if you have the opportunity to reason with Goffanon again, beg him at very least to tell us the nature of these allies."
    ' 'I promise you that I shall, Archdruid, but I do not anticipate any success."
    "No," said Amergin, his hand falling away from the horse. "Neither do I."
    They rode out from Caer Mahlod, leaving behind them a thoughtful Archdruid, and soon they were galloping through the oak woods and up into the high moorlands where curlews rose and sank above their heads and the smell of the bracken and the heather was sweet in their nostrils and it seemed that no power in the universe could change the simple beauties of the landscape. The sun was warm in a soft blue sky. It was a kindly day. And soon their spirits had risen higher than ever before and they dismounted from their horses and wandered through the knee-high bracken and then sank down into it so that all they could see was the sky and the cool, restful green of the ferns on all sides. And they held each other and they made gentle love then lay close together in silence, breathing the good air and listening to the quiet sounds of the moorlands.
    They were allowed an hour of this peace before Corum detected a faint pulsing from the ground beneath him and put his ear to the source, knowing what it must mean.
    "Horses," he said, "coming nearer."
    "Fhoi Myore riders?" She sat up, reaching for her sling and her pouch which she carried everywhere.
    "Perhaps. Gaynor, or the People of the Pines, or both. Yet we have outriders everywhere at present to warn us of an attack from the east and we know that all the Fhoi Myore gather in the east at present.'' Cautiously he began to raise his head. The horsemen were corning from the northwest, more or less from the direction of the coast. His view was blocked by the rise of a hill, but now, very faintly, he thought he could hear the jingle of harness. Looking behind him, Corum could see that their horses would be clearly visible to anyone approaching over that hill. He drew his sword and began to creep towards the horses. Medhbh followed him.
    Hastily, they clambered into their saddles, riding toward the hill, but at an angle to the approaching horsemen, so that, with luck, they would not immediately be seen if they crested the hill.
    An outcrop of white limestone offered them some cover and they drew rein behind this, waiting until the riders came in sight.
    Almost immediately the first three appeared. The ponies they rode were small and shaggy and dwarfed by the size of the broad-shouldered men on their backs. These men all had the same blazing pale red hair and sharp blue eyes. The hair of their beards was plaited into a dozen narrow braids and the hair of their heads hung in four or five very thick braids into which were bound strands of beads, glinting in the sunlight. They had long oval shields strapped to their left arms and these shields appeared to be of hide and wicker reinforced with rims and bands of brass hammered into bold, flowing designs. The shields appeared to have sheaths attached to their inner surfaces and into these were stuck two iron-headed spears shod with brass. On their hips the men sported short, wide-bladed swords in leather,