Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce

Author:Tamora Pierce [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2013-09-24T05:00:00+00:00

THE PLAIN OF GNAM RUNGA

SOUTH AND WEST, ALONG THE FOOT OF

THE DRIMBAKANG LHO

Jimut roused Briar at a painfully early hour to help him put on his new half armor. Briar donned the sling with his seed balls and other odds and ends himself, not wanting his helper to get in the habit of handling his mage’s gear. Breakfast was hot bread stuffed with spiced meat and rice, something he could eat as the soldiers dismantled and packed up his tent. He drank hot tea with Rosethorn, Parahan, and Soudamini, none of whom seemed to believe in chatter before sunrise. He was drinking a second cup of tea when Rosethorn bent down and lifted the strange pack she had gotten from Dokyi two days before: the thing she had to take someplace that Briar was not allowed to go. She slung it on her chest in place of her own bundle of deadly plant magics and ran her fingers over it, her face thoughtful.

Briar scowled.

“Don’t start fussing again.” She met his eyes. “I took care of myself long before you met me.”

“Carrying something like that?” He tapped the pack with his finger.

The next thing he knew he was flat on the ground. His ears and head rang. Something cold and wet lay on his forehead. Above him the sky was the color of gray silk.

Rosethorn bent over him, her brown eyes rueful. “I had no idea it would knock you down,” she said. “I would have warned you, honestly.”

Parahan knelt beside him. “Are you all right?” he asked. “There was a flash of light and you flew through the air.” He looked at Rosethorn. “We’ll warn the troops to keep away from you and your burden.”

She nodded.

Briar took a breath and coughed. Rosethorn helped him to sit up. Jimut knelt beside him with a flask. Briar hesitated, then drank. It was cold water. “Thank you, Jimut. I believe you would have told me,” he said to Rosethorn. “And you think you are safe with that thing?”

“Safer than you,” she said. Parahan and Jimut hoisted him to his feet.

Souda waited nearby with men who held their saddled horses. Their small army was ready to march.

Briar felt better in the saddle. He didn’t complain when Jimut rode close to him and collected the reins so he could lead Briar’s mount. That seemed like a good idea, too.

It was hard to concentrate on what anyone said, or on anything but the strange pictures that rippled through his brain: lions that seemed to be carved of ice and snow, tiny metal serpents with skulls for heads, and orange fanged gods with flames for hair. Blue goddesses danced on the mountaintops with a different weapon in each of their six arms. A yak whose head was as big as he was tall snuffled in his ear. He had wanted to know what Dokyi had foisted on Rosethorn — what all the secrecy and risk was about. Now it seemed like ignorance might not be such a bad thing.

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