Merrie Dawn

by Chris

  "Can you give us a moment, please? Lady Kirsty's distraught and we all need rest, the horses included."

  He scowled, clearly unhappy. "Of course, Highness."

  Caroline reached for Kirsty's shoulder as the younger girl wiped tears from her cheeks. She didn't even look up. If they weren't in so much danger, Caroline had no doubt she'd be crying herself.

  A rock cracked against another.

  "What was that?" Kirsty asked, looking around.

  "I heard it too," the soldier whispered. He drew his sword with a quick hiss.

  Caroline tried to look confident for Kirsty's sake, but her horse put its ears back and shifted sideways. "Let's get moving," she said as evenly as she could. The click and rush of a released bolt preceded a thud. The soldier's horse screamed and stumbled to the ground.

  Caroline cried out as another bolt slammed through the saddle by her thigh. "Kirsty, go!" she yelled, and threw herself clear of her falling horse.

  Chapter 5

  Caroline slammed into the ground, her breath knocked from her. The world went black for a long moment. Distantly, she heard someone cry out in pain. She tried to stand but only staggered and collapsed again. Her face pressed against wet forest litter.

  "Kirsty," she whispered as she struggled to get her arms under herself and breathe again. She was still winded and her injured shoulder ached.

  Someone caught her arms below her shoulders and helped her up. Strong hands. Her one remaining soldier. Still a little unsteady, she turned, seeking Kirsty. Wide-set emerald eyes above high cheekbones regarded her, while soft-looking ears turned back and forth. An izzat!

  He smiled.

  She screamed.

  He clapped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet! There are more faspane around."

  She thrashed until she broke his hold. "Don't touch me!" She spun and ran, only to collide with Kirsty. Caroline hit the ground atop her friend, the younger girl crying out as Caroline's weight crushed her. She rolled off her friend but stayed protectively close.

  "Princess, he saved us," Kirsty gasped. "He saved us! You passed out."

  The izzat, his long blond hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, leant casually on his staff. Caroline did her best not to look scared. The clearing was silent. The trees loomed. He wore the leathers of a hunter or woodsman, but his only weapon was his walking staff.

  "He's an izzat!" Caroline hissed loud enough to regret. The izzat's ears turned, the inhuman movement defining their differences as much as the emerald of his eyes. This one barely looked older than she did, though he was a few inches taller. Otherwise, he could pass for human on a dark night.

  She struggled to her feet while keeping an eye on the foul creature. Its skin paler than in the stories she'd heard, considering they lived beyond the northern deserts.

  "My Lady, he helped," Kirsty said as she got to her feet. "He… killed the others. Made them…" She shuddered and turned away. "You really did pass out. I thought you were dead."

  Caroline's head began throbbing. She risked a brief look around. There were two bodies at the edge of the clearing, daggers in their chests. Nearby lay two of their three horses and the soldier, all dead. A dagger protruded from the guard's neck, blood visible around it. She still couldn't remember his name.

  Caroline's hands shook as she turned to the izzat. "Please leave. We don't need your help." She glanced at the bodies again. "Anymore." His ears stood up and she backed half a step, pulling Kirsty with her.

  "His ears move," Kirsty whispered, clearly intrigued.

  "At least you're capable of acknowledging my help," the izzat said without any accent. "That's a start. My name's Allyn." He pointed with his walking stick. "Between here and your soldiers are about two dozen faspane." At her look of confusion he added, "Your people ignorantly call them izzen. They're not. They're the mortal descendants of my fallen brethren."

  Mortal descendants? "All izzen were cursed by the Higher Realm at the dawn of creation."

  He gave her a sardonic smile. "To the west are the men who attacked you. You're cut off from help." Caroline backed another step, keeping Kirsty behind her and forcing her friend to back away with her. The more distance between them, the better.

  His left ear moved, angling toward the trees, though his unsettling emerald eyes never left her face. Moonlight pierced the branches, but it wasn't enough to drive the shadows from an izzat.

  "The izzen are fallen creatures," she recited. "Punished by the Higher Realm's hand for sacrilege. Izzen have no chance of rebirth." Her whole body was shaking, and not from her cold wet clothes.

  He sighed. "The Higher Realm punished only those who sought dominance over divine power, and they're long dead. Their descendants, the faspane, are no more or less evil than your kind." He looked around as if he could see well in the gloom. "My student is confusing your trail, but you'll need to come with me. I'll see you to a Fandelyon outpost." He held out his free hand.

  Caroline felt her scalp prickle and the hair on her arms and neck stand up. She could have sworn she saw a greenish light surrounding him from the corner of her eye. "I'll risk the forest," she said. "My soldiers will come for me."

  He frowned, though it seemed more in curiosity than irritation. For a moment, she thought he was about to argue, but he inclined his head. "As you wish."

  She hesitated, surprised. "You're letting us go?"

  "Hide then. Wait until dawn before looking for your soldiers, remain quiet, and keep to shelter as much as possible."

  "I thought…" What? He wanted her dead?

  "I'm not going to force you to come with me. That would hardly inspire trust."

  Caroline took Kirsty's icy-cold hand for comfort. She wouldn't trust him until he was out of sight, and probably not even then.

  Allyn touched his forelock. "If you need my help, speak my name thrice. I'll hear if I'm not too far."

  Caroline felt another chill and fought down fear. Again, she thought she saw something from the corner of her vision, but there was nothing there when she tried to focus on it. "Goodbye."

  He gave her a long look, but inclined his head. "As you choose." He strode into the gloomy trees.

  "My soldiers are coming for us," Caroline said, shivering as she realised how cold she was getting. She waited a long moment before checking on the fallen soldier.

  "What if those faspane people kill them? Allyn said they were following and there's more of them. There's also the men who attacked us at the road. We don't even know who they were. Shouldn't we call Allyn back? He said he can get us to safety." Her breath frosted in the air as she wrapped her arms about herself.

  Caroline closed her eyes, wondering if Kirsty were right. "I… don't know, Kirsty. The scriptures say izzen are evil."

  "But he saved us."

  "To what end though?" She met her friend's eyes. "Do you believe he has no agenda?"

  Kirsty looked away.

  Caroline placed her hand over the fallen soldier's face, closing his eyes. She felt guilty for not remembering his name. "I'm sorry," she whispered. His face felt cold already. "But thank you. I'm sure you've earned some respite in the Higher Realm and a better life in your rebirth."

  She drew the man's dagger and began digging at the dirt, despite the pain it caused in her shoulder. Kirsty knelt beside her after pulling a stirrup from the dead horse, and for the next hour they carved out a shallow grave amid the leaves and tree roots.

  By the time they rolled the poor man into the hollow and covered him up, Caroline couldn't help the tears on her face. They weren't just for the soldier, but for all those who'd died at the road and since, and particularly for Rhonda. Who else had died today to keep her alive? How many more soldiers had since fallen? Were Kirsty's brothers still alive?

  She knelt beside Kirsty when they were done, her hands and dress filthy, and put an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Kirsty. This is my fault. If those soldiers hadn't been after me,
Rhonda and everyone else would still be alive."

  "It's not your fault. Please, don't ever say it is."

  And yet it was. If she'd accepted her calling and stayed at the abbey, or never got pregnant, or… There were too many possibilities. She could imagine her next-oldest sister, Stephanie, scolding her for thinking like that. She'd probably have said much the same as Kirsty, if harsher. "I hope your brothers are safe," Caroline said.

  "They're impulsive, but not stupid," Kirsty said. "Captain Bastion will look after them."

  Caroline's stomach growled. "I wonder what my sisters are eating tonight? Roasted lamb spiced with herbs shipped from across the Temern Straight would be nice."

  "Food at the abbey was plain."

  Caroline smiled. "Plain?"

  Kirsty couldn't help a timid smile of her own. "Yes. Plain."

  They remained where they were, an arm around each other for comfort and warmth. The cold was beginning to make Caroline's back and shoulders ache when Kirsty finally shuddered, grieving with a torrent of silent tears. Caroline held her tight, unable to bury her own grief or the tears that came with it, only it wasn't just for their situation or the people who'd died, but also the baby she'd lost.

  It was a long time before the clouds broke. Unfiltered moonlight flooded the trees. Kirsty's tears stopped, but neither girl moved. Caroline wanted to talk, but couldn't find the words to begin. Her breath created plumes of mist. The temperature dropped as moonlight took hold of the night. Shivering uncontrollably, she stiffened when leaves rustled.

  "What was that?" Kirsty whispered, eyes puffy from crying.

  Caroline watched the moon shadows, expecting Allyn.

  "I heard a noise."

  Another rustle sent dread over Caroline. Something scraped against bark. It might have been the breeze blowing a branch, if there had been a breeze. "Do you see anything?" Caroline whispered. Kirsty shook her head.

  Caroline nodded in the opposite direction. She stood stiffly and drew Kirsty to her feet. Getting home suddenly seemed an impossible task.

  "Run."

  Chapter 6

  Hands trembling, Elias held his breath as he slowly drew an arrow to his cheek and released it, the gloom hiding him as much as the forest. The faspane across the gulley grunted and fell to his knees, clutching the arrow buried deep in his stomach. Elias held still, expecting an alarm, but the warrior only stared at the fletching as if trying to make sense of it.

  Cautiously moving from cover, he drew and nocked another arrow.

  The wounded warrior still appeared surprised as blood soaked into his leathers. When he saw Elias, bow drawn, his expression turned to utter dread. "Please."

  Elias relaxed the bow's tension and pointed the arrow at the ground. "May your journey be swift, and in your rebirth may your soul find immortality," he said in Faspaneth.

  The warrior closed his eyes, clearly relieved. Grimacing, he drew an ornate, thin-bladed dagger from his belt. He raised the weapon to his chest, carefully positioning the tip between his ribs. When he looked up again, Elias saw grim determination. He gave Elias a nod, uttered a brief prayer, and with a single thrust drove the thin blade into his heart. He gasped, staying upright for a moment before toppling to his side, his final breath fogging in the air.

  Elias looked away. He'd killed humans earlier and even put a few arrows into some faspane, but he'd never actually been this close when they died. He felt… dirty. He spun at the sound of a footstep and drew the bow's string to his cheek, but relaxed the tension almost as fast.

  Allyn moved like a shade from the shadows, gazing at the dead faspane with a hint of unease. "We're only a mile from where I left the girls. I'd hoped most of them," he indicated the faspane with his staff, "were following the soldiers and they'd be safe."

  Elias crouched beside the body. Allyn stopped beside him. "Most are. They're spread thin from what I can tell, chasing a dozen trails." Elias swallowed queasiness and ripped the bloodied arrow from the faspane's body. He held it up, checking for damage in the gloom as he tried to appear nonchalant. He told himself it was just like ripping an arrow from an animal. Only it wasn't.

  Allyn glanced at the arrow with similar distaste. "Killing isn't something I've ever gotten used to," he said softly. "The older I get, the harder it is."

  Elias wiped the arrow on the faspane's shirt, pausing at the sight of the sun-lines around the faspane's jade eyes. His cheekbones weren't as high as Allyn's and the face was a little more rounded, but still close enough to be related. "Strange how they still look so much like us. It's the similarities more that the differences I find disturbing."

  "It must be terrible having both a mortal body and soul, knowing your rebirth depends on taking your own life."

  Elias remembered the faspane's dread as he'd faced him. "He thought I might kill him outright. Can't say I wasn't tempted."

  "Why?" The tone was neutral, but the word burdened. "He's just a warrior. Can't fault him for that."

  "A warrior whose ancestors slayed a unicorn and tried to use its power to challenge the Gods."

  Allyn shifted his feet, staring into the trees. "For them, this is what Noramgaell's about. Their mortal souls. They're easily manipulated on the promise of regaining what they lost."

  "You believe they're that simple? They have oracles just as we do. They know we're after the Sword of the Sun. They still want power. Dominance."

  "Perhaps some do."

  Elias pulled an oil-soaked rag from his pack, thinking about his vision. "Regardless, some of the Gods must be using them," he said. He began rubbing his bow down.

  "Probably. The faspane knew to be here just as we were. They were trying to get the princess to remove her jewellery. Something she's wearing must be masking her aura. Did you notice anything? They'd have singled her out and killed her when they had the chance, otherwise," Allyn said.

  The skin over Elias's wingbuds tightened at the thought of the human girl. "No. I was keeping an eye on the faspane. Hopefully she'll be safe enough where she is." Cursed with empathy for the girl, he wanted to see her to safety.

  "We were drawn to her and the faspane would have been, too. Marak du Tren wants war sooner than Marnier du Shae and he's pushing her to act. If the faspane unite under Phoenix they'll be unstoppable, so he's pressing while he has the advantage."

  Dobbin's cabin suddenly seemed a long way off. "Do you think we've crossed into Noramgaell already?"

  Allyn gave him a worried look. "Not until Princess Caroline assumes the mantle of Marnier du Shae's Champion or, if she passes the choice on, until someone else accepts. We still have options and so do the faspane."

  "They'll run themselves into graves before giving up on her now. Us too, most likely."

  "At least we're approaching Noramgaell," Allyn said. "Finally."

  "Finally? You want this?"

  "I've been waiting for it since the unicorn was slain."

  "That was two hundred thousand years ago!"

  Allyn gave him a sad look. "It's the source of our curse and burden. Worse, I'm the last who remembers, the last never to be tested."

  "I haven't been tested yet." He'd been preparing to face his test when ordered to accompany Allyn.

  "Perhaps Noramgaell will be your test. You could ask the Queen, King and Council to rule on it."

  "If I survive Noramgaell." He met Allyn's eyes. "If we survive."

  "I've lived long enough. I'm more concerned about Princess Caroline."

  "She has to choose her own path. Even the Gods can't force her into their causes."

  "I know, but she's alone and vulnerable. The faspane won't give her the option to walk away knowing she's Marnier du Shae's choice."

  "How do we know for sure? She has power, but that confirms little."

  "There's no way to know, but when I began to lay a follow spell on her, I felt her power concentrating as if to repulse me. She's not completely latent and I dared take the spell no furth
er."

  "How could she repulse anything without training?"

  Allyn leaned on his ghostwood staff. "I wish I knew. She'll have to face it within the next few years and she won't be safe until she's mastered her magic, if then. If the faspane get her…" He lost his distant look. "I thought we'd done our duty in helping her get away, but I suspect we have further obligations here."

  Elias had the same feeling. "We're here for the Sword of the Sun," he said, regardless. "Perhaps if we keep an eye on her overnight her soldiers will find her in the morning."

  Allyn dropped his gaze, clearly avoiding eye contact. "Perhaps you should go to Dobbin's cabin. I'll be there in the morning."

  Elias sighed. "What aren't you telling me, Allyn?"

  Allyn shrugged. "It's fate. We're in the midst of divine influence and I'd bet my soul we still need to help her."

  "Don't speak like that!" Elias said. "Ever."

  "I made a mistake in leaving her. I have to go back and convince her to come with us. I think we were put in her path to do more than save her. We need to teach her. Guide her."

  "Even if you had the time to train her, the humans in these parts would kill her for her abilities. And us. She'll never lead her people into Noramgaell. They won't accept her."

  Allyn shrugged. "I have to do this. It feels right."

  "What? That's… Marnier du Shae must have other plans for the princess. She can't be the Champion you think she is."

  "She won't use the call spell I keyed to her voice," Allyn said, doggedly pursuing his ill-conceived notion. "I have to go after her. Help her."

  Elias sighed, resigned to his teacher's stubbornness. The only other option was to send a message to the Queen and Council in the hope they would order Allyn to continue their original mission, but that would take too long. He'd be better off helping his teacher and contacting them later, if necessary. "Fine, but considering she's already turned you down, why don't you let me go?"

  Allyn gave him a measuring stare. "You want to help her, or kill her?"