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steep-sided gully carrying a thin trickle of water that eventually joined the
main river at Rohrn, still a good three to four days ride ahead. They ride
quickly, observed Sylenia. Ooo& orses, added Weryl from his seat behind the
nursemaid s saddle. Orses.
Yes, horses. I wish they didn t have so many horses, Nylan told his son.
Alerted by a shift/in Ayrlyn s posture, he turned back toward the redhead.
Little problem here. Ayrlyn coughed and tried to clear her throat.
Nylan flicked the reins to speed the mare into a quicker walk while he
waited.
We can t go east. We re not far enough in front of the Cyadoran van, and
if we angle that way& She coughed again.
They ll catch up because we ll be going slower in trying to cross rougher
ground.
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The flame-haired angel nodded. They also have a pretty big group ahead of
us.
Frig& muttered Nylan. We re surrounded, in effect, and they ve listened
to whoever was at the mines. They re scouting with forces large enough not to
be picked off.
They re not stupid, said Ayrlyn, but we knew that.
Can we go back and stand off the ones who are chasing us, and then sneak
around-
I d guess that there are nearly a score and a half behind us, and they ve
sent some off to the east along that trail we passed awhile back to cut us off
from the little river. Up front looks worse. Close to fourscore of those white
lancers. They must have one of those wizards. I can feel that off-whiteness. I
should have looked farther this morning& but it s tiring. Ayrlyn took a deep
breath. I m sorry. Sorry& sorry&
It s not your fault.
It is, but I can t do much about it now, she admitted. It s what happens
when you try to keep stupid promises.
Except& they weren t stupid. The last thing we need is Cyador taking over
all of Candar. Then where do we go?
About where we seem to be going now, suggested Ayrlyn.
Frig, frig& frig, muttered Nylan. Why is it that any time that we make
the slightest mistake, it comes back in fluxes& or anvils?
Balance, suggested Ayrlyn dryly.
Is that because we re more susceptible or sensitive?
She shrugged, glancing back to the south.
I know. Now s not exactly the time for theoretical speculations.
The white ones are closer, pointed out Sylenia.
It has to be all or nothing, Nylan said. I have this feeling that we
won t be worth much once we disrupt the balance. So we have to do something to
take them all out.
They re closing in from just about every direction.
Put the chaos in a cakelike shape-one of the fancy ones-with the holes in
the middle-we re in the hole, and-
I get the image. Ayrlyn coughed again. Sorry& it s dusty. We ll have to
hurry. We need to get closer to the lancers in front of us.
How far are they?
Another three or four kays.
Frig& we definitely need to speed it up. Nylan flicked the reins and
eased the mare into a faster gait-a slow canter? He d never been much on
riding terms. Then, he d never even seen a horse up close until finding
himself plunked down in a mountain valley in an improbable world and being
called upon to do the impossible-continually, it seemed.
Could he create a double order line and channel the forces between the
boundaries? He wouldn t know until he tried, and he couldn t try yet. Their
opponents were too spread out. He tried not to grit his teeth and concentrated
on riding, occasionally looking back over his shoulder or to the east,
checking the dust plumes in both directions.
By the time they had ridden along another long ridge, dropped through a
swale and climbed another hilltop, his legs and thighs ached, and his shoulder
and neck had stiffened again. His face burned worse than earlier in the day,
and he was sweating despite the light breeze, although the wind was hotter and
drier and irritated his face as much as cooled it.
The sun hung at midday, but slightly to the south, and. their pursuers were
riding down the ridge into the swale, not less than a kay behind them.
We aren t going to reach that next hilltop before the ones behind us catch
us, Ayrlyn shouted.
Stop here. Nylan reined up and staggered off the mare. His knees nearly
buckled when his boots hit the dusty dirt of the road, and he grasped the
saddle to keep his balance.
Sylenia had to turn her mount to avoid running Nylan down, and she glared
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at the angel.
Nylan ignored the look and handed the mare s reins to the still-mounted
Sylenia. Hold these.
A stable boy I am not.
Dead is what we ll all be if we don t figure out how to stop the
Cyadorans. You can help most by making sure the mounts don t run off, snapped
the engineer.
The nursemaid s head snapped back.
If you would, added Ayrlyn, handing her chestnut s reins to Sylenia after
dismounting. Nylan is right, even if he s a bit sharp.
Sharp? Who wouldn t be with more than fivescore Cyadorans forming up for a
charge to obliterate you ? The engineer tried to concentrate on reaching the
order-chaos boundary layer beneath the soil, noting as his perceptions
extended themselves that the power differential was less than the night
before. Did it drop off that rapidly north of the Grass Hills? Or had they
depleted it the night before?
It drops off, I d bet, Ayrlyn answered the unspoken question.
Great.
Not that much. There has to be plenty of power there.
Nylan took a long and slow deep breath, trying to relax a little, trying to
shut out the drumming of hoofbeats nearing from all directions. He didn t have
time to relax. He pushed his senses downward, reaching for the chaos/order
boundary.
Ayrlyn s thoughts touched his& can t go alone, but can follow& And he was
aware of her warmth beside him, both physically and perceptually.
His perspiring forehead was coated with rivulets of sweat, yet he forced
himself to be as gentle as possible, coaxing, nudging an inner order boundary
around the small segment of the hill where the four of them stood.
They near, angels!
Trying to ignore Sylenia s urgency, the engineer attempted to create an
outer boundary, not caring if it felt wavery, tenuous. The inner barrier was
the important one, and he and Ayrlyn eased dark order currents around them.
Wadah, pease? begged Weryl.
Hush, child. Hush.
Wadah.
Nylan forced himself to ignore Weryl as the sound of horses drummed louder.
With a convulsive mental snap, he broke the insulation between the lines of
order and chaos, holding on to the barrier around them as unseen white lines
of fire, ugly red gouts of molten force and stone bubbled upward.
Dust puffed up in patches, and the ground heaved. Nylan went down on one
knee, started to rise, then remained there as Ayrlyn knelt beside him and took
his hand.
Whhhhssstttt!! EEEEEeeeee& Not only did fire flare from the ground, as a
curtain of chaos flame rose around the four and their mounts, but a sulfurous
mist/haze burned through his nostrils, and he almost gagged, dry mouth and
all.
Whheee& eeeee& eeee& Horses screamed.
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