The Crusading Wizard by Christopher Stasheff

Author:Christopher Stasheff [Stasheff, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780345392466
Google: XZeTAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0345392469
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2000-02-28T07:00:00+00:00

Barbarian’s mist of night can’t forestall rays,

His rising fogs will fall without delay.”

The fog thinned and dissolved, leaving a sheen of moisture on every blade; the Arab burnooses hung thick and heavy. But the Muslims could see their targets now; they shouted their war-cries as they sprang to their feet, felling another third of the attackers with their Damascus blades.

The archers, no longer beset by invaders, went back to shooting unhorsed barbarians at the base of the wall. Realizing that their concealment was gone, the barbarians scattered, leaving their scaling ladders behind—and as quickly as it had begun, the assault was over. Here and there, Arab soldiers finished off a last barbarian or two and threw their corpses down for their fellows to gather.

“Well done, my soldiers!” the Caliph cried. “Well have you struck blows for Islam this day!”

The soldiers cheered, but the Caliph turned to a sharif and said, “They may come back—they may always come back. Bid all our men to stay vigilant.”

The captain nodded and turned away to carry the word. Soon lieutenants were going among the soldiers, relaying the command.

The Caliph turned to another sharif. “See that the fallen are taken away for burial and the wounded tended. Call for more arrows and have all archers restock their quivers.”

The man nodded and hurried away.

“Are these uncouth sorcerers so easy for you to defeat, then?” said a voice at Matt’s side. Turning, he saw the Arab wizard, face hard with hostility.

“They are truly unlettered barbarians,” Matt said in as agreeable a tone as he could muster, “and to defeat them, one need only memorize spells from written books.”

The Arab stared, startled by the thought. Then his eyes narrowed again. “But these verses you have recited, they all pit light against darkness.”

“Ahriman’s servants work by the concealment of night and the confusion of fog,” Matt told him. “There will be others, when they seek to work by lies and clouding of the facts, by illusion and partial honesty, and we only need appeal to truth to make itself shown—but their spells are pretty basic, yes, and not hard to defeat at all, once you know how they’re founded.”

The wizard frowned. “Then what force is there in these barbarians, that we should fear them?”

“Not much,” Matt answered. “Most of their impact comes from having so very many warriors, all of whom can ride swiftly, and from sheer, brutal violence and total lack of mercy to any city that dares resist them.”

“Well, our caliph has spared the cities that, at least,” the wizard said, “since he has defended them with his army, and given them no choice to fight or not to fight themselves.”

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