“She did indeed have Lira's blood, but both of them are gone away to watch over us from above.”
“As Beaks!” shouted Donnel. “And if Myrtlebell was a Beak with Mother's blood, then Father Theran is a Beak with Myrtlebell's blood. And he has a right to protection with the darts. Beak or not, Fa, you'll be right pleased to know that he has refused to take them out of respect to you.”
Talorg opened his mouth and shut it. “Math dante!” he said with a sharp nod. “Well done, Donnel. You've gone and shown me how to obey the law and share our weapon with our friend and father of our beloved Myrtlebell. And you will be a magnificent ru, some day.” His look of pride grew stern. “Noo you and Tramae stole away from Caisteal-Beak without so much as a word to anyone, leaving me to simply fear the worst. For that, you'll have your punishment. Though...” he said with a glance at each of them, “your punishment will be delayed until we're done with the witches.”
“My dear Brude Talorg,” said Theran, “I am certainly in your debt, though I've little to offer in return beyond my hospitality and my enduring friendship.”
“Hospitality and friendship are splendid gifts, King Theran,” said Talorg.
Captain Girom was standing behind Talorg. When Tramae looked his way, he opened his eyes wide and squeezed them shut as he heaved a sigh.
Tramae nodded.
“Thank you!” he mouthed at her in silence.
***
In the morning King Talorg and a dozen of his men returned to Marr, leaving Captains Girom, Erp and Drest, Tramae and Donnel and fifty blue soldiers to prepare for the witches.
Chapter 164
At last the plans were laid. Beyond any argument at all, it would be a very dangerous mission, and with a mere force of five hundred Niarg soldiers against Goll's twenty-five hundred Gwaelian mercenaries, it would almost certainly be doomed in advance had there not been several strokes of luck. The first of these was that the five hundred Niarg soldiers in Mount Bedd were all cavalry, since Bernard had planned to ambush the Gwaels and reckoned that the mounted soldiers might come in handy in a tight spot, aiding the Gollian refugees. And for this rescue mission, having cavalry would be the only possible way to protect the fleeing prisoners from retaliation by Goll.
The rest of the luck had to do with what waited at Castlegoll. Since General Cunedda was convinced that Niarg was unlikely to pose any further threat, he chose to detain his eight hundred captives in a lightly guarded compound at the north-west edge of town to keep them well away from the homes of the well to do, just outside the castle wall where Captain Bernard was being held. Another lucky matter was that due to limited cargo space aboard ship, Gwael chose to send only 110 unicorns for their most accomplished cavalry men, assuming that the rest of the horsemen who were going could eventually be mounted with animals from Goll. Meanwhile, Castlegoll was proud to be the home of the Great Coxwell Ysgubor, the largest barn on the Northern Continent, 360 feet long, with enough stalls for 120 large unicorns. Here, on the south-east edge of town is where every single one of the mercenary unicorns was kept quartered, except for the six with General Coel in Niarg.
Sergeant Philpott would lead the cavalry with Razzmorten and Minuet, covering a five day march in three days to arrive at Goll before dawn. Minuet would rescue Bernard by traveling spell while Philpott led a raid on the detention compound. Time and again throughout the meeting, Herio implored that he be along, until at last Minuet relented, allowing him to lead a troop of archers with four kegs of gonne powder and a barrel of lamp oil to bring down the Great Coxwell. Hubba Hubba insisted that he be allowed to go with Herio, but it was decided that it would be better for Pebbles and him to remain behind in case the need to carry an urgent message arose. They would wait until Meri and the diatrymas had Ocker well away from Mount Bedd before leaving.
The next morning, Meri and his company said their farewells and left for Gerddi Teg before daylight. By the time the sun was well above the trees and growing hot, the last of Philpott's cavalry rode out of the crunching cinders, over the lip of the crater and down the mountainside. Celeste, Nacea and Alvita sat at the board, studying their scrying balls, as Blodwen and Rodon strained their buckets of milk into a cheese crock and returned to the big crater to hoe in the garden. Hubba Hubba fanned his tail wide and marched all 'round the edge of the board, pushing his beak along the table top like a plough until he reached Celeste's elbow.
“And just what art thou doynge, my poppinjay crowe?” she said, fixing her gaze upon him.
“My table,” he said, “now that Ocker's gone.”
“And so hit ybe, Hubba Hubba,” she said as a sad look came over her.
Hubba Hubba quickly stepped 'round to speak with her from the front. “I'm sorry Celeste,” he said, looking up at her. “You miss Meri already, don't you?”
Celeste gave a sniffle and nodded.
“I was away from Pebbles for days and days, not long ago,” he said. “It was simply awful. I wanted to be with her every single moment. Now if you ones have one of those lonely spells and need someone to talk to, I'm your bird. I'll keep ye company as long as you want. I mean it.”
“Thou soote brid,” she said, giving him a scratch. “That the nycest thyng eny oon un-to me hath seyde in a verray long tyme ybe.”
****
Philpott's cavalry rode hard through the countryside, pausing only to sleep a few hours each night. They spent the third day hurrying through a broad and open grassland in the hot wind, listening to the calls of quail and the endless pounding of hooves. They crossed the Loxmere River late in the afternoon and by evening had reached a lush grazing area of the Gollmore known as Henheath. They made a hurried camp on a prominence gently rising up from it, called Henheath Crown, beyond the sight of Castlegoll. As it turned dark, soldiers spread out blankets and Herio built a fire for the coals he would need in a few hours.
Talking had long ceased under the great vault of stars, but Herio could not begin to make himself lie down. Instead, he fed the fire a stick at a time. A lark twittered and flew high into the air.
Razzmorten came over quietly and squatted. “Better get to putting coals in your horns, Herio,” he said with a nod as Minuet sat down nearby and began scrying. “And get your six men ready with your oil and kegs of powder.”
In short order, Herio and his soldiers were standing in a huddle with their bows, their kegs and their shovels, holding hands with Razzmorten and Minuet. Razzmorten mumbled the last of his spell and gave a nod. Suddenly the air was pungent with the smell of hay and unicorn manure as they let go of each others' hands only a few rods away from the towering Great Coxwell Barn.
“I'm going,” said Minuet. “Fates' speed.” And she vanished at once to reappear at the foot of Captain Bernard's bed.
Bernard gave a snort as he rolled over and opened his eyes. “Aah!” he cried, sitting up at once.
“Hush!” whispered Minuet, lunging toward him with her finger to her lips. “You're not dreaming, Captain. What do you want to take with you?”
“Uh...” he said, turning from side to side with bleary wide eyes. “Well... you mean my boots?”
“Take my hand,” she said, grabbing up his boots with her other hand.
The dear captain did as she bid only to give an apoplectic wail at finding himself stumbling about stark naked in the kitchen at Mount Bedd, holding her hand.
Back at the barn, Herio and his soldiers worked frantically to bury the kegs of gonne powder along the stone foundation of one of the walls, leaving the bung-holes of the kegs open at the top, sprinkled with powder and oil soaked tinder. As quickly as they could manage, they sped away in the darkness to where Razzmorten waited with their bows and the coals.
“Don't do anything just yet,” said Razzmorten. “I'll be right back.” He vanished at once from their midst to reappear in the barn's hay mow. “My!” he said as he beheld the enormous cathedral of hay in the light of his staff. He was back at once. “I've set the hay alight. Try not to light the kegs u
ntil you see flames. If anyone comes running, do it immediately. Once you light the gonne powder, stay together and head straight south across the fields. I'll find you there. I'm going to get the prisoners on their feet before Philpott gets there.” And with that, he was gone.
They waited on their knees with their bows. Somewhere across the fields, a sleepy field sparrow sang a piece of song. A few houses away from the barn, someone lit a candle. “Look!” whispered one of the men at the first licks of flame through the thatch. “The roof!”
With trembling hands, Herio dumped his coals into a pile on the ground as his men began lighting their oil soaked arrows and shooting them at the heaps of tinder above the kegs.
“None of them are lighting!” cried one of the soldiers.
“Not so loud, Johan!” shushed Herio. “Fates forbid, don't try to go see! And don't stop shooting!”
“Hey!” hollered a stranger, running around the corner of the barn in time for Johan to put him down with a flaming arrow.
Presently there was a fire over one of the kegs.
“Keep shooting!” shouted Herio in time for flames to leap up from the other three.
With a great thump that could be felt through the ground, one of the kegs heaved a crushing hail of bounding stones throughout the barn, smashing stalls and gates and felling unicorns. And just as Herio and his men were shaking their heads from the painful tickling in their ears, thump! thump! thump! went the other three, heaving the foundation and the wall into the roof to bring the flaming mow down onto the screaming unicorns below.
“Herio!” cried Johan, doubling over with an arrow in his chest as a score of Gollians came running through the light of the flames.
“Run!” cried Herio as three more of his men fell. Herio sprang over a fence he had no idea he was capable of jumping, only to stumble and fall in the wet pigweed on the far side. Here came his two remaining men, leaping over and following. Furiously they ran, batting the dew soaked horseweeds out of their faces as arrows ripped through the leaves all about them.
“Damn!” yelped one of his men, running into a clothes line.
Herio fell over a huge crock of slop, soaking him from his boot to his armpit as he stumbled upright and ran. Far out amongst the rows of shocks in a late field of wheat they ran, until the three of them stood heaving for breath, utterly unable to form words, as they pointed back in the direction where no one seemed to be pursuing any longer. With nods all around, they started walking.
***
Meri stood in front of a wax nut pine waiting for the first slice of red sun to give shadows to the world from the far away Barrier Mountains. He serenely hummed at something as he put pinches of corn pollen into the air.
Neron came to the top of the stairs from Gerddi Teg, rising through the moss in the Fairy ring and stood at a respectful distance, quietly watching.
Meri went on humming, letting go of wee pinches of pollen. Scrub jays called here and there from hidden places in the pines as the fiery ball of sun balanced in silence for an infinitesimal instant atop the faraway ridge of mountains before rising into the sky. “Goode morwnynge Neron,” he said, tying the strings on his pouch of pollen before turning about.
“Morning,” said Neron. “What were you doing?”
“Thankynge the pynes for yeving me joye. Hit a goode morwnynge ybe. Wher didist thou ga?”
“Do you hear that?” said Urr-Urr.
“I'm listening,” said Ocker as he gave a last nibble of her cheek feathers before letting go. He dove into the air from their new nest in the crown of the great silver maidenhair Mother Tree at the edge of the Fairy ring, and with a swoop and a couple of flaps, quietly landed in Meri's wax nut pine.
“I've just been to Niarg for a look,” said Neron. “It looks just like Oilean Gairdin. All rubble. They finally went and did it. I wonder what became of Queen Minuet and Razzmorten?”
“Bedd Chwiorydd Tair,” said Meri as he cut off a big piece of twist and began stuffing his cheek.
“What about Mount Bed?”
“Ther beth a messe of hem ther with Celeste. Ther arne Minuet, Razzmorten, Herio and Blodwen...”
“Never heard of her,” said Neron with a puzzled look and a shake of his head.
“And they han gate fyve hunderd Niarg unycorn mountyd and a multitude of refuges fro Castel Goll haven ben ycomen doun...”
“What?”
“O. Weo gat hem good. Castel Goll beth al in robyl. Didist thou eny signe of the wicches to seen?”
“Neither one.”
“Well what do you expect?” said Ocker, swooping down from the pine to hover in front of Neron's face. “Here I am, skilled and not one deal to my credit since we put up the new nest...”
“You weren't here,” said Neron.
“Right,” said Ocker, suddenly dropping to the ground to strut about with his neck bristled up like a pinecone before stopping short. “Look swyver. You probably didn't recognize either one. And look at you, all grey and tuckered out. I could be there and back with news in the time hit takes Meri to work up his first spit. And Demonica and I were even doing business until I couldn't find her stinking quiente...”
Neron and Meri shared a look.
“If it would make you feel better, my enterprising fowl,” said Neron, “I was fixing for to do business with you.”
“Yea?” said Ocker, leaping into the air with a few flaps to hover before him. “Well maybe if you can sit down like you've manners enough to be addressing a high ranking raven, maybe I'll hear your proposal.”
Neron and Meri sat cross-legged in the pine needles at once.
“So?” said Ocker, landing with a bounce to look at first one then the other one of them.
“Well bird,” said Neron. “I can think of work enough to keep you busy for a long time to come. If I may ask, what sort of arrangement do you and Meri have?”
“What!” awked Ocker. “That's our deal, schyt hole, not yours.”
“Sure. But how does he trust you? Didn't he make a deal with you so that you'd not sell his secrets to just any old customer? Doesn't he pay you not to tell his secrets to say, Demonica?”
“The smallies were making things dangerous down home, so Meri gave Urr-Urr a choice nest site with a full view of the entire countryside...”
“For what?”
“For being on the lookout. And for keeping our mouths shut.”
“So if you spill the beans?”
“We lose our nest site in the Mother Tree...”
“And the stoon egge,” said Meri, taking his first brown spit.
“Then we're square, now that we've seen you to Mount Bedd?” said Ocker, letting go of a flight feather and giving himself a shake.
Meri nodded.
“So what do you want?” said Neron.
“For what?” said Ocker, as if he'd forgotten.
“For keeping my secrets safe. And that means keeping all secrets safe for all my Elves. And if you do that, I'll have all kinds of business for you. So what do you want?”
“Can I talk this over with Urr-Urr? She's the boss.”
“How about telling me at sunrise tomorrow?”
“You got hit,” said Ocker. And with a lunge, he flew back to the top of the great silver maidenhair.
Chapter 165
The breeze rattled the cottonwood leaves overhead as it chased through the tall big bluestem grass beyond the butt and died away. Rose drew her bowstring to her cheek, hesitated and planted her eighth arrow in the target. A warbling vireo went back to its meandering medley from the crown of the cottonwood. Rose nocked her next arrow and found the target with her eyes.
“My word!” said Fuzz as he walked up behind her. “That's a whole bouquet of arrows in the bull's eye. That looks like forty yard.”
Rose nodded and lowered her bow. “Father always had us practice,” she said.
“I remember seeing that light longbow of yours back home, but we were in such a rush that I never once saw you use it,” he s
aid with a nod at the target. “You're just plain good, particularly with this breeze. Have you missed any at all?”
“I've not yet been to the target.”
Fuzz whistled. “Well what do you think of Olloo's spare bow? I'm all done feeding the birds, by the way.”
Rose raised her bow and quickly put another arrow in the bull's eye. “I like it,” she said, letting the breeze blow a strand of hair out of her face as she turned to look at him. “But it's not at all like the one Soraya had. This thing's longer and shoots almost like a proper longbow.”
“Well that makes sense, out here in the open in the Strah,” he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “I knew Inney had got it for you, but I never asked you why. Are you wanting to be ready for Spitemorta or Demonica sometime after we get home?”
“I was thinking trolls.”
“The raid...”
“Damned right!” she said with a fiery look. “Those were the sweetest three little kids I think I ever saw. That little towhead Aalin trotted up with her ringlets just a- bouncing and gave me a fistful of asters the very afternoon before the trolls came. I still see her face.” she thrust out her chin and picked up another arrow. “You know, that makes four men, three young ladies, one of them about to be wed, and six little scoots like Aalin since we got here. They're going to get wiped out at this rate.”
“Probably not. They've been out here doing this for the last thousand years.”
Rose turned to face the target to find an old ewe and her pair of lambs in the way. “Yea?” she said. “Well what about our wee baban on the way, aye? One of those trolls gets too close to our little girl to be, and I'll want to puncture the curse.”
“So that's what this is about,” said Fuzz. “Have you forgotten that trolls don't eat humans?”
“You think they'll look at her ears after they grab her up? And can you imagine any trolls raiding Balley Cheerey who'd check each little girl for pointed ears before stealing her away? They'd just grab her up, right? And if they saw their mistake, do you reckon they'd dutifully fetch her back here? They'd either eat her for dessert or kick her out in the woods with the wolves.”
Heart of the Staff - Complete Series Page 174