The Seventh Book of Lost Swords : Wayfinder's Story by Fred Saberhagen (best books for 7th graders TXT) 📗

* * *

      The scouting reptiles informed the Ancient One that Tigris was not very many kilometers away.

      A beastmaster relayed the information. “She is in worse shape than ever, Lord! The peasant who is traveling as her companion strips off her clothing, and uses her at will.”

      Wood chuckled. For the moment he continued to be satisfied with the progress of his punishment.

      “And we have taken their Sword from them!” the reporting human gloated.

      The Ancient One’s demeanor changed. “I hope that none among you has dared to touch it?”

      Hastily the subordinate explained. No one had disobeyed orders. One of the more simple-minded flying reptiles had caught the falling Sword Wayfinder in midair, and was bringing it in, flying slowly under the unaccustomed load.

      Wood was not really surprised by the news regarding the Sword. He had been working for some time, and on several levels, to get Wayfinder away from Tigris and Valdemar, and into his own hands.

      It had been part of his plan to obtain the Sword without letting any of his associates possessed of human intelligence, or greater, get it into their own hands even for an instant.

      The task had been further complicated by the fact that Wayfinder itself had doubtless been employed to protect its possessors from him. But as matters had turned out, his plan succeeded anyway. Perhaps, he was tempted to believe, the Swords’ magic was not invariably supreme.

      Soon the Sword itself was brought in. But, almost immediately after getting Wayfinder into his hands, Wood was distracted again from thoughts of pleasant vengeance by reports from both demons and reptiles, confirming that a force of about a hundred Tasavaltan riders was on its way south, heading almost directly toward his camp.

      On hearing this, one of the Ancient One’s currently most favored human subordinates immediately suggested evoking a large force of demons, and dispatching them all against the hundred cavalry and their support people and creatures.

      The proposed tactic would undoubtedly serve well to determine whether Mark was accompanying this main Tasavaltan force or not. But if Mark was indeed there, the discovery might cost the discoverer, Wood, a whole force of demons.

      He decided prudently to begin by sending only one or two of the vile creatures. As for attacking Mark personally, he had other ideas about that.

      Having been aware for some years of the presence of Shieldbreaker in the Tasavaltan arsenal, Wood assumed that the Prince would be coming against him armed with the Sword of Force. Shieldbreaker was undoubtedly the mightiest piece of armament in the world, capable of nullifying the power of any other weapon, even another Sword, that might be deployed against it.

      With these facts in mind the Ancient One, pleased as he was to be finally holding Wayfinder, took it for granted from the start that any attempt to locate Mark directly by using the Sword of Wisdom was bound to fail.

      So Wood, on first obtaining the Sword of Wisdom, made only a perfunctory attempt to locate Mark. When that was unsuccessful, he acted rather to locate the wizard Karel, or the Sword Sightblinder, on the assumption that Mark would be found very near that person or object.

* * *

      When the Ancient One’s small squad of demonic skirmishers attempted to strike at the force from Tasavalta, they would encounter, in fat old Karel, a magician of sufficient stature to beat the attackers off—though not as quickly and effectively as Mark would have been able to repel them.

      In Karel’s archives, as he was soon explaining to an anxious pair of military officers in his tent, were listed the locations of many demons’ lives. And the old magician gave assurance that he knew how to find out more such locations very quickly, if and when the need arose.

      Besides, Karel had the power to make things unpleasant for a lot of demons whose lives he lacked the knowledge to terminate—so unpleasant that they would even prefer to incur Wood’s displeasure, rather than persist in this attack.

* * *

      Wood, observing the fate of his demon skirmishers as closely as he could while still remaining at what he considered the best distance to exercise command, felt reasonably confident that Mark was no longer accompanying his cavalry and his chief magician.

      Then where was the Prince of Tasavalta? Mark’s archenemy chewed a fingernail, heretofore well-kept, and pondered.

      Wherever the Prince might be, Wood felt sure that he would be armed not only with the Sword of Force, but also with the Sword of Stealth. Such a combination would make a formidable antagonist out of the veriest weakling; in the hands of a warrior like Mark, the effect was bound to be overwhelming, against all but the strongest and most crafty defense.

      Well, Wood considered that he was ready.

      In less than a minute, before Wood’s demons could begin their serious attack, even before most of the Tasavaltan force had been made aware of the impending threat, Karel’s magic had slain or dispersed the handful of magical skirmishers.

      But the confrontation, once begun, continued between Mark’s uncle and the Ancient One. The two commenced sparring at long range.

      Wood had long wanted to test directly the occult strength of Kristin’s overweight uncle. Now, having at last made immediate contact, the Ancient One had grudgingly to admit that, although he felt confident of being able to wear this veteran adversary down in time, the struggle was bound to be a long and draining one. Wood did not choose to spare the time and effort to fight it to a conclusion now. He was going to need all his powers to deal with Mark, armed as the Prince must now be.

      Not that Wood thought Mark was going to represent the ultimate test. The Ancient One had received certain magical indications that his own final success or failure, in his bid to dominate the world, was going to depend upon another confrontation, now still relatively remote.

      Against the Dark King, and the horde of demons that one could call up?