Page 124 of Blood Fist
His words were like a slap to the face, and the fog in his mind cleared. Using Brune, he pulled himself to his feet and took stock.
They were in the stables. Or what was left of the stables. Half the roof had caved in, and fire licked across the exposed beams. Smoke was quickly filling the space, sucking up any light the flames might have given them.
Behind him were the remains of the hay pile they had fallen asleep in. Nestled in the middle of the hay was a giant smoking boulder. Ridan didn’t know what he was looking at. A giantflaming boulder?In the middle of the barn? How did it end up there? How had they survived?
A massive crack shuddered through the barn as a huge beam burned loose, dropping only a few feet from them. Brune grabbed Ridan, jerking him to his chest as he stumbled back against a stall.
His pain abated under the need todosomething. Shoving away from Brune, he raced to the first stall he could find, whipping the gate open to get to the horse inside. He didn’t recognize the animal, but he could see the whites of their eyes and the pink of flaring nostrils. Fear rolled off it in waves.
“Find us a way out!” Ridan screamed to Brune, grabbing a rope to sling around the horse’s neck.
By the time he got the horse to settle enough so he could lead it out of the barn, Brune had used his shield to batter through one of the walls damaged by fire but not yet consumed. Flames curled along the edges, but they could make it through.
The horse was skittish, planting its feet when Ridantried to lead it forward. Cursing, he slapped his hand over the animal’s eyes, blinding it. Without its sight, the horse became more docile, following Ridan out with jerky, hesitant steps. When they were clear of the building, he released it, praying the horse would find the rest of the herd in the paddocks set away from the flames.
Luckily, most of the horses were out in the paddocks or on their way to the Strong Leg with much of the clan. By the time Ridan got the other two horses out, the barn was almost completely engulfed.
“Ridan!” Jonen appeared at the hole Brune made, mouth covered by his elbow and eyes watering. “Are you all right?”
“What the fuck do you think?” he yelled, taking Brune’s hand as he dragged him out into clearer air.
Except the air wasn’t clearer. A haze of smoke lingered around the camp. It wasn’t just the barn that was on fire—the entire camp was burning. He caught sight of Osmond running shirtless, shouting instructions to several people with buckets. They tossed the water onto a burning tent. The flames only shot higher, crackling with laughter at their pathetic attempts to battle it.
“What—” Ridan was about to ask when he heard whistling. He only had a moment to look up before a cavernous boom shook his feet out from under him. Hitting the ground, he closed his eyes as big chunks of dirt rained down on top of him.
Spluttering, he squinted through the dirt caught in his lashes to seeanotherflaming boulder. It had crushed a tent close to the one they had been trying to put out.
“What the hell is that?” Brune shouted.
“Someone is throwing rocks at us!” Jonen responded, eyes wide as dirt dripped from his curls.
Rocks,Ridan thought hysterically.
Shoving to his feet, he double checked his weapons were still in place—thanks be to his mother for teaching him to sleep in his sword when he was not in his nest—and ran forward.
Clansmen and women in various states of dress were running past him. Some had wounds and others just looked confused. Where were his sentries? Why hadn’t they been warned of an attack?
Another boulder came streaking across the sky. It was ablaze, fire not impeded by the wind. He watched as it crashed into another few tents, setting everything in its path on fire as it rolled to a halt. Ridan lurched to a halt as he heard the crunch of breaking bones and feeble wails calling for help.
That boulder had to be the size of two horses. How could anyone throw that?
Brune was busy helping people from the crushed tents, and as much as he wanted to join him, Ridan had to find out who was attacking and stop them. When the next boulder came arcing through the sky, he could pinpoint where it was coming from.
On a ridge set back beyond the woods, he could see a small force gathered. The details were lost to distance and the dark, but he could see the flickering flames of lit boulders.
“Ridan!”
Corric galloped up astride Strawberry. He had Peppercorn’s reins in his hand. The horses were wild with fear, snorting with their eyes rolling in their skulls. It was only Corric’s skill that had either mare staying put.
Catching the reins, he vaulted onto Peppercorn’s back and set a brutal pace for the ridge. Corric was beside him, hair whipping out of his face as he leanedclose to Strawberry’s mane. He didn’t need to ask if Corric was ready to fight. He was Stone Blade.
At the base of the ridge, Ridan could finally see who was attacking them. A small force of Kaldonean soldiers was clustered around what looked like some kind of construction. Stripped wood nailed together to create a structure taller than three men with a large cup supported by a series of ropes.
He watched as the soldiers loaded up another boulder, rolling it into the lowered cup before another set pulled back on the ropes to raise it up. Ridan watched in fascination as a man dressed in finer armor than the soldiers stepped forward. He lifted his hands to the boulder and seemed to struggle for a moment. After a long moment, flames flickered between his fingers, slowly beginning to lick along the rocky surface. He stepped back shakily, hands falling to his side limply as the other soldier scrambled around to launch the flaming boulder towards the Stone Blade.
The magicians are setting the boulders aflame,Ridan deduced just as Peppercorn caught sight of the flying projectile. Shying, she slammed her feet into the ground and skidded to a halt, nearly unseating Ridan. Foaming at the mouth, she desperately tried to bolt in the other direction.
“We need to take those things out,” he called over to Corric.