wundar woman in the grip of the reaper torrent

WUNDAR WOMAN IN THE GRIP OF THE REAPER TORRENT FREE

But Toe suspected that she would not exercise such restraint. Wait until the rains had passed, until the ground hardened once again. He invited Bivatt and her army to close with him, and to do so the Letherii and the Piste Edur would need to march across open ground-Toc sat astride his horse, watching the frenzied preparations and occasionally glancing northwestward, to those closing stormclouds-open ground, then, that would be a sea of mud. No, all that took shape here served but one purpose-the coming battle. But no-one would sleep under cover this night. The canvas and hides stretched in rows, with squares behind each row, linked by flattened wicker walls that had been used for hut-frames. Wooden walkways were constructed, each leading back to a single, centrally positioned wagon-bed that had been left intact and raised on legs of bundled spear-shafts to create a platform. Hide and canvas were stretched out, pegged down, the stakes driven flush with the ground itself.

WUNDAR WOMAN IN THE GRIP OF THE REAPER TORRENT FREE

He had then called a halt, but the activity did not cease, and Toc Anaster had watched, bemused at first and then in growing wonder and, finally, admiration, as the Awl warriors set down weapons, divested themselves of their armour, and joined with the elders and every other non-combatant in pulling free from the wagons the tents and every stretch of hide they could find.Īnd the wagons themselves were taken apart, broken down until virtually nothing remained but the huge wheels and theit axles, which were then used to transport the planks of wood. A league, then two, beneath searing sun and air growing febrile with the coming storm. Since noon Redmask had driven his people hard, out onto the seabed, racing ahead of the rain-clouds. Where warriors and soldiers would lock weapons and die where they stood, until one side stood alone, triumphant. They would fight in a quagmire, where cavalry was useless, where no horse would be quick enough to outrun a wave of deadly magic. Rain was thrashing down on that salt-crusted bed of clay and silt. Clouds were gathering on the horizon ahead. The column marched on, towards the ancient shore of a dead sea. If you are indeed the god of the Letherii, deliver no surprises on that day. No more fleeing, no more ambushes-even those Kechra will have nowhere to hide.Įrrant, heed me please.

Once we clash on Q’uson Tapi, our fates will be decided. Brohl Handar’s scout had returned with the stunning news that Redmask had led his people out onto Q’uson Tapi, and there would be no negation of magic on the flat floor of a dead sea. And, barring more appalling displays of murderous skill from the mage-killer, Letherii sorcery would achieve victory. Neither side had anything left for more than that. And now, working in league with the strangers from the sea, they prepare an ambush. How, then, could they hide? How could they have hidden for so long, all this time, invisible to us, invisible to the Awl? The thought frightened her, in a deep, childlike way-the fear born in a mind too young to cast anything away, be it dreams, nightmares, terrors or dread of all that was for ever unknowable. Witnessed by naught but carrion birds, coyotes and the antelope gracing on the valley /loors that watch its pass by day after day. Assuming we are alone in this deadly game. The Awl and the Letherii and Tiste Edur, here we duel on this plain. A shape cast by her mind, a trick of the rain and wind and dawn’s uncertain birth. The blood in her veins lost all heat and all at once the rain was as cold as those thrashing seas on the north coast years past.Ī gust of wind, momentarily making the wall of water opaque, and when it had passed, the figure was gone.Īlas, the chill would not leave her, the sense of gauging, almost unhuman regard.Ī ghost. And saw-a darker grey, man-shaped yet huge, twenty, thirty paces away. Standing before this new cairn, with dawn attempting to crawl skyward as grey sheets of rain hammered down, she had happened to glance up.

Wundar woman in the grip of the reaper torrent