Hunkered on her heels she appraised the ground. Ignoring the icy mud and moisture seeping between her boot laces, she sank ankle deep into the quagmire. The tracks didn’t disappear into the water; rather, a little ways north of her position, three sets of tracks now marred the mud.
She crouched next to the new tracks and skimmed her fingertips along them with a light touch, afraid the saturated soil would collapse. Embedded alongside the familiar prints of a lupwyn was a much rarer track. Human-like, the prints had three elongated forward-facing toes and a thicker, heavier digit at the rear. Each ended in a deep gouge mark where talons had sunk into the soil.
Sticking a finger in the icy water she measured the depth. A low whistle escaped when her fist touch the mud before her finger reached the bottom.
“Damn big talons.” Though she’d never seen their likeness, she knew these were made by a phoenix. They fit the sketchy descriptions she’d heard soldiers whisper about when the acolytes weren’t near.
Was this what the sentience wanted her to find?
She glanced up, scanning the stream and its bordering trees. Their branches far enough apart, a phoenix flying overhead might be able to navigate between them to land safely in the water.
A phoenix here?
This new development explained the increased lupwyn patrols she’d been evading. This was the closest the enemy had ever come to the vast city of River’s Divide. What if they were mobilizing for an organized attack?
She prowled along the stream, scanning the ground for more clues. A few steps from where the phoenix tracks first emerged from the water, something glimmered in the dappled light filtering through the canopy. Ashayna edged closer until the mystery resolved itself into a bit of silver and a bright slash of indigo. Reaching down, she plucked the silver chain from the mud.
An indigo feather the length of her hand dangled from a silver clasp. Frowning, she stroked a finger down its silken length. A surprisingly pleasant scent, reminiscent of heat, spice, and the crisp fresh air of a mountain plateau, tickled her senses.
And it wasn’t the only thing tickling her senses. An alarmingly familiar mix of heat and cold was stirring in her blood again, tightening its bands of control. Numbness spread across her palms. Her fingers tingled with a frosty ache. When she tried to drop the necklace, her hand wouldn’t obey.
Even as she backed up the slope to solid ground, the hairs on the back of her neck stood. Desire rose, so strong it robbed her of her breath. Power radiated out like tentacles. Not again, she moaned at the sudden rise of the sentience.
Like a hound on a scent, it flowed below her skin, alternately caressing, and then probing forcibly at her mental barriers. A second wave of energy crashed against her shields, buckling them. The sentience invaded her mind. Where fear and desire had been its favorite tool, it now flooded her with joy. Delight, elation…those feelings seemed too small, too insignificant to encompass what she felt beneath her skin, within her mind. Her possession was now complete—every sense was alive with the feelings, even as she watched it from afar. Almost against her will, her hands looped the medallion around her neck.
Silvery flames burst to life along her arms to pool between her hands. It didn’t hurt. Agony she could have dealt with, this…this new sense of rapture was so much worse.
A cloud appeared in the air, to hover an arm’s length from her. Faint as smoke, it thickened, swirling and rolling like fog. Churning and spinning, colors danced until it had grown in size.
Vivid greens, muted greys, sun-bleached whites. They formed a stone courtyard adorned with fountains, statues, and lush foliage. Then darker whorls of indigo mixed with lustrous browns, coalescing into an exotically handsome man. He was tall, bronze-skinned, bare-chested, and wore some kind of bright, indigo-colored cloak. The cloud of magic spun itself larger, revealing more of the man. Oh, it wasn’t a cloak. He had…wings. Not a man at all, this must be a phoenix. She glanced at the indigo feather hanging from the necklace, then lifted her gaze to what—or rather who—might be the source of the feather. While she’d spent a dumbfounded moment staring down at the feather in her hand, he’d turned, his back now to her as he looked out over a stone-tiled courtyard. His fingers tapped against his thigh in clear agitation. From behind, he looked less human.
A stiff breeze ruffled his crest feathers into disarray and plastered a long, fan-shaped tail against his calves. He whirled around, whipping his tail out of the way, and paced in her direction. She focused on his face. His strong brow, well-defined cheekbones, and firm jaw surpassed human beauty. Still, the intensity of his gaze would give a wise woman pause. She wasn’t sure if his frown was a normal fixture or just a reflection of some inner conflict.
Her gaze roamed his broad shoulders, down the naked expanse of his muscular chest to his waist where a paneled-leather kilt hung low on his hips. He truly was majestic, exuding a sense of contained power in his every move.
“Hmm, perhaps I’m not the wisest of women.”
She sighed, mentally pushing aside the faint hint of longing. There would be no place for such feelings. It was war, and those who commanded armies had already decided their species would be adversaries. “Yes, he’s attractive, but you must have other reasons for revealing him to me.”
Magic swirled faster through her blood. “Guess that’s a yes.”
Wincing at the throb in her head, she concentrated on his image.
He paced in a semi-circle, his frown deepening as he searched his surroundings. When his gaze locked onto something in her direction, tension rippled along her spine and lodged between her shoulder blades. Graceful, predatory he stalked toward her and swiped the air. Nothing happened. He continued to look perplexed, his feathered brows furrowing into a frown.
Sweat dampened her skin in a sudden cold flush; her breath grew shallow. Ashayna scooped a handful of debris and heaved it at him. It flew through the image and smacked into a tree trunk behind it. Was it just a vision?
His expression turned thoughtful. Tilting his head to one side, he closed his eyes. His lips moved, shaping unknown words. Instantly, the sentience flared in response, sending a wave of its foreign wanting through her. She clamped her will down, determined she wouldn’t be enslaved. A rush of power surged through her mind, expanding out, breaking past her control. For one horrifying moment she felt her body gathering itself to move closer to the strange window, but blessed and merciful Creator, something distracted the phoenix from his work. He looked over his shoulder to someone behind him, just out of Ashayna’s range of view. The outer edges of the magic window blurred, softening…until, one tendril at a time, the cloud destabilized and vanished.
With the disappearance of the window, the wellspring of the sentience’s chaotic magic slowed, its attacks less focused. Slowly, its chilled touch receded from her mind and followed her blood vessels back to her heart, where the sentience coiled in upon itself. She sucked in a surprised breath and flexed her fingers to restore circulation.
Was the strange window to some distant place really gone?
Ashayna hugged herself, cold down to her soul. Shivers started in her arms and fingered their way down her back. Even her knees shook. A pulse pounded in her head. The ground heaved uneasily to her eyes.
Woozy, she slammed a shoulder into a nearby tree for support. Rough bark bit into her back, grating against her leather vest as she slid to the ground. Pine scent engulfed her. Her hair snagged in the bark and tangled in the small drops of pitch leaking out of fissures.
Lowering her head, she pressed her forehead against her knees. “I’m a Stonemantle, I don’t cry, I will not disappoint my father. I can deal with this. I will deal with this.” She inhaled slowly, forcing her breath through her nose and willed her heart to calm.
Something nudged against her hip. A strangled sound, half grunt, half yell, burst from Ashayna’s throat. Swiftrunner shoved at Ashayna a second time, continuing her quest for one of the few patches of grass struggling to grow in the dense shade. A
shaky laugh escaped her. She shifted her knees and the mare snatched up a mouthful of greens.
When Ashayna’s body shivered as her sweat cooled, she reached for the new weight around her neck. Wind caught at the feather, making it dance on the end of its silver chain. From the coloring this feather belonged to the phoenix she’d just seen in her vision. It seemed the sentience was very interested in making his acquaintance.
She closed her fist above the delicate clasp and brought her other hand up to stroke the feather. Its strangely familiar scent wafted around her. Gently she tucked the feather under her vest, ignoring her first instinct to rip it from her neck. After all, she might find a use for the necklace at some point, and it seemed to pacify the sentience.
Swiftrunner jerked her head up, grass trailing forgotten from her mouth. Her ears riveted forward as one hoof dug a furrow in the mud.
“What is it, girl?”
The mare flicked an ear in Ashayna’s direction, then snapped it back towards the trail. A shadow the size of a small horse glided between the trunks of two large evergreens. Her stomach flipped when another twig snapped much closer to her position. Snuffling sounds to her left set her heart racing.
She stood and reached for the reins. Her mare nickered, dancing in the mud as Ashayna settled into the saddle. At her quiet word, Swiftrunner broke into a trot. There was a sharp bend in the trail ahead, and then a straight level run. They approached the bend. Twenty paces, ten paces, less than five and she urged the mare into a canter. She chanced a glance back. Three lupwyns—reminiscent of giant wolves—loped into the open, abandoning the shelter of the trees for the better footing of the path. Ashayna bent low to Swiftrunner’s neck and the mare broke into a ground-eating gallop.
****
Swiftrunner picked her way up the ravine’s rock-strewn eastern slope. The difficult ascent forced the mare to slow, but there was nothing Ashayna could do but grit her teeth and call encouragement to her mare while silently praying the lupwyns didn’t catch up. In a cloud of dust and a cascade of small stone fragments, her mount scrambled over the summit and onto hard-packed lane once more.
The three lupwyns had yet to cross the rain-swollen river. With luck, the river would make the wolf-beasts’ crossing as harsh as her mare’s had been. Veering off the trail and crossing the ravine had been a risk, but her mare’s surefootedness shaved a candlemark off their journey.
“Thank you, Swiftrunner.” Her mare pranced in place, ears flattened and nostrils flared, flanks heaving with each labored breath. Ashayna patted her war steed’s damp neck. “What is it, girl?”
Swiftrunner trembled. Fighting the bit, the mare trotted a few strides, then came to a stiff-legged halt. Ashayna’s instincts screamed a warning. Following the mare’s gaze, she turned her attention west.
Pasture land stretched out before her, green with young spring grass. A small flock of sheep ran towards her, bleating in terror. Well behind the panicked herd, an endless tide of lupwyns poured out of a distant tree line. Even over the expanse, she saw each member of this horde was encased in shining plate armor, wore a helm, and had pole arms strapped to their sides. They ran on all fours, surging across the field in a wave.
She turned Swiftrunner east. Fear overrode guilt, and Ashayna dug her boot heels into her mount’s sides, urging her into a gallop. “Good girl. Let’s not become some lupwyn’s next meal.”
The few sparse, windswept trees lining the road offered little cover. No way could the lupwyns miss seeing them flee. If the beasts shed their heavy armor and weapons, they could quickly out run her tired mare…
Her last hope was the old growth forest. If she could reach shelter before the lupwyns ran them down, Ashayna hoped to lose the wolf-beasts in the forest. At the very least, thick trees and dense undergrowth would slow the vast army.
Foam dotted Swiftrunner’s coat, and only Ashayna’s spurs kept the mare at a gallop. The forest wasn’t far, but as long moments crawled by, a trace of fear clamped her jaw tight. Thirty horse lengths ahead, the narrow road entered forest once again.
“That’s a girl!” Ashayna called encouragement over the wind as she chanced a glance behind. None of the lupwyns had broken formation to give chase.
Swiftrunner raced on, the forest drawing nearer, until at last, cool shadows and the familiar loamy scent surrounded them as old broad-branched trees embraced the road. While Ashayna no longer saw the vast horde, she could imagine it well enough.
A candlemark later Ashayna guided Swiftrunner around a sharp turn. Ahead, the path was unexpectedly blocked by a company of heavy cavalry and horse archers led by her father. She buried her surprise an instant later.
“Lupwyns,” she yelled, drawing nearer. “Hundreds of them.”
At Ashayna’s urging, Swiftrunner came to a stumbling halt in the mud a few horse lengths away from the leader, her head hanging low, flanks heaving.
“Light’s mercy! You shouldn’t be here.” Lines of strain showed around her father’s eyes and the down-turned corners of his mouth. He looked her up and down, his expression softening a bit. “You’re unharmed?”
“General Stonemantle.” Ashayna addressed her father, dread heavy in her middle. “I’m unharmed, but we’ll all be dead by sunset if you don’t get these men out of this forest. There’s a meadow a quarter league back, we should be able to make it before the lupwyns reach us.”
“I know which one you mean. Not the most favorable land. It’ll have to do.” Her father signaled a nearby captain. “Make for the meadow.” Her father’s words hadn’t echoed into silence before the captains were mobilizing the men.
“You need a fresh horse.” Her father issued a few quick orders and a soldier ran off to do the general’s bidding.
Ashayna dismounted, handing Swiftrunner’s reins to a groom; her heart breaking as the tired mare shuffled off, her heaving, foam-covered flanks a testament to her loyalty. Ashayna’s father glanced at her, his expression somber. Sixty men against six hundred lupwyn—he left unsaid the harshness of truth. It would be a slaughter no matter where they fought.
“Months we’ve been waiting for some hint the lupwyns were going to do something other than raid.” His toned sharpened with a bitter helplessness he didn’t try to hide. “Now, in one day’s time, every scout under my command has reported signs of them. We were coming to investigate when a patrol with prisoners happened upon us. One prisoner is the lupwyn queen.”
The lupwyn queen. Shock emptied her mind of all useful thought. “No wonder there’s an army snapping at my mare’s tail.”
“I sent the lupwyn and her two phoenix companions ahead of us with half of the light horse archers.”
Ashayna held her tongue as her father glanced behind him, back toward human-held lands. Fury ripped through her—why hadn’t he gone with the queen? Her knuckles tightened on the reins—she already knew the answer. The heavy cavalry were slower than the horse archers. He wouldn’t leave his men behind to face the enemy alone.
Fierce pride stirred in her heart.
“Messengers confirmed they made it safely to our encampment.”
“That’s something, at least.” Ashayna watched as another horse was led towards her father’s charger.
“Dusk is the fastest of the geldings. Take him. My men and I will hold the lupwyns back long enough for you to warn Captain Nurrowford.” His voice held such a note of finality Ashayna’s stomach churned.
Dappled sunlight glinted off the polished surfaces of soldiers’ helmets and hauberks. The forest looked almost warm, inviting under the glow of late afternoon light. It might as well have been midwinter by the chill in her soul. Somber gazes, downcast eyes, and thin-lipped resignation in every direction. A few men adjusted harnesses and buckles or needlessly checked their weapons. Her throat tightened. Many good comrades were going to shed blood to stall the lupwyn army.
Ashayna unbuckled packs from her new horse and discarded anything resembling useless weight. While adjusting the gelding’s tack, she listene
d to her father.
“Take my written orders, pendant, and ring to Captain Nurrowford.” He handed each to her. “He will lead in my absence. Make sure he gets the lupwyn queen and her phoenix companions to River’s Divide and onto a boat as quickly as possible. Let the lupwyns attempt to run down a boat under full sail.” He hesitated, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “There’s a chance if I’m captured alive, the lupwyns will try to trade me and the surviving men for their queen. Tell Nurrowford under no circumstance is he to agree to a hostage trade. The threat to their queen’s life might be the only thing keeping these beasts from ravaging River’s Divide.” He fisted his hand and brought it against his heart. “Duty First.”
Ashayna echoed his gesture and feared her heart would shatter. “Duty First.”
“Ash.” His voice broke.
Her vision blurred with tears at his use of her childhood name.
He cleared his throat and then barked out in a gruff voice, “Survive. Get your mother and sisters to safety.”
Ashayna ignored the lump in her throat and burning eyes. She spurred her gelding into a trot. Once she was several strides away, she indulged in one last look behind. The sun sank behind the trees, casting long shadows across the meadow and giving her father’s grey-streaked hair the gold glow of youth once again. He looked alert, almost energetic, even after a day in the saddle. Out of loyalty and duty, the men would follow his strong silhouette into death and beyond. She would have given almost anything to be one of them. Duty, and her father’s command ringing in her ears, forced her away from the coming battle.
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