The Gathandrian Trilogy 02 - Hallsfoots Battle

of the horizon has changed. Where once the southern hills reared their mystery at the Lammas outer boundaries where none dared go, now their height is shattered as if a great rock from the sky has blasted them out of existence. That, too, is surely the mind-executioner’s doing. It occurs to him that each of the battles fought, and the damage caused on the journey they took in pursuit of the scribe and the Gathandrians, has had an echo here in the Lammas Lands also. Is that true for all the lands then? If so, there must be some kind of link, however fragile, between them all. The thought of that makes Ralph shiver and he turns aside, reaching into his cloak for the packet he has hidden there.
    At the same time he is trying not to think of it, forcing his mind to build its walls of defence as Simon taught him. As distant from him as the mind-executioner is, Ralph is still wary lest his enemy pick up the tenor of his thoughts. If he reads them, Ralph has to hope that the executioner only understands the broad stroke of his mind. As he brings the bundle out into the morning light, Nightcloud snorts and tosses his head at him, but he pulls back on the reins and whispers until the horse is soothed again. It is impossible for him to know what Ralph is doing, but Nightcloud must have picked up on his trepidation.
    He opens what he is holding and the green rocks catch the light. He dares not look at them too closely for fear of what he might find there—the seven Tregannon emeralds. A secret kept hidden through the generations for fear of mockery and death, and something bequeathed to him from his father, and from his father before him. And so on, until the annals of the past disappear entirely when none can discover them. Their strength is untested and Ralph is not sure precisely how their power is fathomed. But he believes in their wisdom, the one faith he has kept from boyhood, and he intends to rely on their help now.
    Which is why, for the first time in many year-cycles, he finds himself kneeling on the rough ground, out of sight of all prying eyes, and whispering words of need and desperation into their green clarity.
    “Please, our family legends say you are the key that unlocks our salvation and I have nowhere else to turn. I do not know how to use you, but I am asking for your help to save my people and this land. Please, give me a sign that I can know you have heard me. And show me what to do.”
    Ralph waits. For one heartbeat, and another, and then another. Nothing happens, though he had not known what to hope for. Still, he had expected rather more than clear sky and a silence broken only by Nightcloud’s munching and the distant shriek of a field-crow. A little more time drifts by before he struggles to his feet, already cursing himself for his childishness and feeling the unsteadiness of his leg again. Does he truly think a mere legend can save them? This is real life and he cannot escape it.
    And already time has flown faster than Ralph wished for. In the east, dark clouds threaten the sky’s deep peace and his heart thuds a warning. Soon the men in the fields will begin to prepare themselves for rain, perhaps a winter storm. They will be wrong. Because his mind is humming with a sound that he knows will soon reach an almost unbearable intensity. There is little time. He must ride back while he still can. He must prepare himself.
    For before long his enemy will come on the wings of the rain, from the ravaged mountains themselves. It is the mind-executioner.

Chapter Two: Decisions
    Duncan Gelahn
    The mountain cave seems darker now, if such a thing were possible. The mountain people have flowed together in their prison so their stone sides form what could have been a barrier to his arts, if they had been stronger than he. The smell of dust has become greater, almost overwhelming, and their tall elongated stature is more jagged. Haunting. As Gelahn continues to touch the mountain leader’s frame, a spark of stone travels up the mind-executioner’s arm—a foolish gesture and one he quickly turns back on his would-be assailant. With a shift of his thoughts, the stone falls to the ground, tearing itself apart from the rock-flesh of its owner. Duncan can feel the scream in his mind, but it does not hurt him, even without the mind-cane.
    The fact that the mountain has tried to harm him, however, gives him the beginnings of an idea. Releasing the mountain man who staggers back before all but disappearing into