Free Darknesses by L. E. Modesitt Page A

river.
    The
single remaining rider had spurred his mount onto the ice of the river.
    Alucius
reined up at the edge of the river, quickly changed rifles, and focused all his
will and Talent on the fleeing raider.
    Crack!
    The
single shot was enough.
    Alucius
turned in the saddle to the two nearest troopers. “Skant, Noer…go and bring him
back. We can use the mount if you can catch it, but we’ll need the body and his
rifle.”
    “Ah…yes,
sir.”
    “I’ll
be back on the road, checking with the squad leaders.” Alucius guided Wildebeast
back uphill, through the crusty snow toward the river road, his herder hearing
taking in the comments from the two.
    “…forgot
how good he is with that rifle…”
    “…not
even dawn yet…”
    “…see
why they tried a night raid…”
    “Didn’t
do ’em much good.”
    Alucius
wasn’t certain about that. Sometimes, failed raids had purposes, too. He just
hoped that there was some evidence, but the fact that the raiders had all
fought to the death was another indication that they weren’t ordinary brigands.
    Faisyn
and Anslym were waiting on the road, overseeing the marshaling of the captured
mounts.
    “Did
we lose anyone?” Alucius asked.
    “Two,
sir,” answered Faisyn. “Silper and Daern. Gill took a slash, but he’ll be all
right.”
    “Sond
took a bullet in his left arm. Shattered the bone,” Anslym reported. “Stopped
the bleeding, but I’m not sure how it’ll heal.”
    “Have
you got it splinted?” asked Alucius.
    “Best
we could, sir.”
    “Any
survivors from the raiders?” In the grayness just before dawn, Alucius looked
from Anslym to Faisyn.
    “No,
sir.”
    “Did
any others escape?”
    “No,
sir,” offered Faisyn. “Can’t find any tracks, and no one saw any except the two
you chased down.”
    “We’ll
need to search the bodies. Keep anything that might shed light on who they
were. Then dump them at the edge of the fields to the north—where the
sandwolves can get them.” Alucius looked to Anslym. “I’d like to take a look at
Sond’s arm.”
    “He’s
on the north side of the road, there.”
    Alucius
and Anslym rode toward the wounded trooper.
    Even
before he reined up, Alucius could sense the shattered bone.
    “How
are you doing, Sond?”
    “Have
to say…hurts, sir.”
    Alucius
eased Wildebeast closer to the trooper’s mount. There wasn’t any infection yet,
and the sections of what remained of the bones were lined up. Alucius fingered
the splint, then let a trace of his Talent flow. He looked at the trooper,
struggling to hang on to consciousness. “Looks like it’ll take a while to heal,
but, with luck, you’ll keep the arm.”
    “Felt
the bone go, sir.”
    “You’ll
make it, Sond.” Alucius projected confidence, then turned. He couldn’t afford
to spend too much Talent that way, but it was unlikely that he’d have to use
his Talent extensively for several days, and he owed what he could give to his
troopers.
    “Anslym…detail
someone to ride with him, watch him, and keep him alert.”
    “Yes,
sir.”
    Alucius
reined up slightly to the north of where the squads had trapped the raiders.
From what he could see, they had not worn uniforms, but with the near-identical
gray woolen riding coats and black winter caps, they might as well have,
although Alucius knew of no troopers in Corus who wore black and gray. He
doubted that there were any.
    The
rifles the raiders had used were neither the heavy five-shot weapons used by
the militia nor the lighter ten-shot weapons used by the Matrites. Nor were
they Lanachronan, but something else.
    All
the circumstances indicated trouble ahead, and while he guessed the cause of
the trouble lay with the Lord-Protector, it was only a guess. He could hope
that what his troopers were gathering would provide evidence, but he had doubts
that the evidence would point southward. The Lanachronans were far too devious
for that.
    He
took a deep breath, feeling the chill, despite the lightening of