"You're awful quiet, Kynyr." Ramsey nudged his horse up alongside Kynyr. "We're nearly home and you haven't said three words the entire time."
"Lot on my mind." Kynyr scanned the road ahead, refusing to look at his friends.
"Thinking about Silkie?" Finn rode up on the other side.
"Nah, he's thinking about Cullen." Ramsey shouted, riding in the rear.
"I'm thinking I want to get home." Kynyr cracked the reins across the backs of the horses. They threw their shoulders into it and picked up the pace.
"Aw, com'on, Kynyr," Finn whined. "Tell us more."
Kynyr scooped the two crossbows from under the wagon seat and put one next to his leg and the other on his lap. His eyes narrowed and lines of tension appeared around his mouth and across his forehead. "Todd says the best place for an ambush is close to home."
"It's been too quiet." Finn slid his bow out and strung it. "They could be out there."
"That's my thought." Kynyr scanned the tree line for figures in the shadows. "Folks let their guards down when they get close to home."
"Todd Sinclair" Ramsey's brow furrowed with sudden insight. "Same one rode with Tarrant Redhand?"
"Yeah, he is."
Eideard knotted his reins, let them drop, and controlled his mount with his legs as he strung his bow. "Should've told us. We could have been learning from him all this time."
Finn shifted to his hybrid form and the others followed suit. "What do you think, Kynyr?"
"Why the hell you think I got the crossbows out?" Kynyr shook himself free of his brooding. "Ramsey, take the point. Be careful."
Ramsey swung to the side and urged his horse into a canter. He had scarcely gotten past the lumbering buckboard when he nocked an arrow to the string with a shout. "I see them! Whip those horses up!"
Kynyr slapped the long reins across the hind quarters of the horses and the wagon lurched as the startled horses broke into a run. Retreat was not an option. He knew he would never get the wagon turned. His only choice was to try and drive over them, break through to the bridge around the bend.
Ramsey leaned low over his horse, firing rapidly.
Kynyr spotted a mon standing among the trees with a long bow. He brought the crossbow up, laid it across his forearm, and fired. The archer went down with a scream. He tossed the bow at his feet, grabbed the other bow, and fired at another. A hailstorm of arrows fell around them. Several struck Kynyr in the chest, and failed to pierce his armor. The wicked shafts hit his horses, sending the wounded beasts into panicked flight. The wagon careened out of control into the dip in the road near the turn.
Sharp pain in his calf and thigh made Kynyr glance down. Three arrows protruded from his thigh and two from his calf. Three of the shafts were black with crimson and brown feathers; the others were red shafted with blue and red feathers. He clutched his leg. Archers had one principal reason for coding their arrows: poison.
"Shit."
Eideard and Finn raced ahead of him, firing back at their attackers. Ramsey rode hard beside the rattling wagon. Kynyr tried to reload the crossbow, but the out of control wagon seemed to hit every rough spot in the road, jarring him.
"Tala, Night Hunter, Mistress of Wolves be with me" Kynyr murmured the beginnings of a prayer.
Eideard tumbled from the saddle and the wagon rattled past his still form. Kynyr cried out in rage at seeing his friend fall. Then the acrid scent of dark power swept over Kynyr and he glanced to the right. While he had no magic gifts, he could see the patterns of arcane energy and he saw the bolt of death strike his horses. They stumbled and fell. The wagon tongue struck the ground and the next instant Kynyr was tumbling through the air as the wagon heaved over.
Kynyr struck hard, skidding into a roll. The arrows twisted in his wounds as the shafts broke off close to the skin, leaving just the heads embedded in his flesh. The pain nearly made him black out. He tried to drag himself up, but his wounded leg would not support him. Pain seared through him as if his veins were on fire. His chest felt tight, as if a fist pressed down on his heart and lungs. He recognized what was happening. "Devil's Silver."
He saw Ramsey fall with arrows in his chest and back. "No!"
Kynyr drew the amulet from beneath his shirt, grasping the azure crystal tightly. They could not save him; but they could avenge him. "Cahira! Cahira, help me! Ambush!"
Finn had nearly broken free, when he saw that Kynyr had been hit and turned back.
"No, Finn! Keep going! Keep going!"
"Kynyr!" Finn sprang from the saddle, and ran toward him. "I can't leave you behind."
Barely three yards from Kynyr, Finn stiffened and stared down at his mid section as three arrows punched through his ribs and a fourth hit him in the belly. He swayed a moment before collapsing where he lay unmoving.
"Finn." Kynyr choked on the name. He crawled forward. His fingers brushed Finn's face. "I loved you brother."
Then darkness claimed him.
* * * *
Two riderless horses bolted past Dorjan as he put an arrow into the belly of Finn MacIver. Dorjan nocked another arrow to the string, watched the lycan stumble to his knees, and released it, sending the last one into his chest. Finn crumpled, collapsing onto his back to lie unmoving. A thin sneer crossed his face as he lowered his bow. Putting so many arrows into them had been a bit of overkill the first poisoned arrow to hit them had ensured their deaths but stopping them from reaching the bridge before dying, stopping them from giving warning, that had required shooting them until they fell down and no longer moved.
"That's all of them."
He raised his arm, signing his myn to move out onto the road. Dorjan wanted a closer look at his handiwork before signaling withdrawal. He unstrung his bow and slid it back into the case hanging at his side.
Nelek trotted up to Dorjan and walked at his shoulder. "If any are alive, shall we finish them?"
"No need. The poison's done for them." Dorjan strode past Eideard lying in the middle of the road face up, and paused near the overturned wagon, surveying the bodies, and counting the number of black shafts in each of them. "They look like porcupines. They're all dead, Nelek."
Ramsey curled on his side against the base of a tree, four black arrows in his back and two in his chest, his face a frozen rictus of suffering, eyes clenched. Blood soaked Kynyr's leg there were no other marks on him; yet the poison had brought him down and he lay motionless, his fingers resting against Finn's cheek.
Dorjan walked over and stood staring down at Kynyr. "So much for Kynyr Maguire."
"That one's the bastard prince?" Nelek kicked Kynyr onto his back.
"Yeah."
"Shouldn't we cut them open and take the parts?"
Dorjan considered for a moment. "Heironim said nothing about it one way or another."
"Twenty gold for their grapes. Ten for the heart and liver. That's too much to let go to waste."
"I agree. Start with Kynyr."
Nelek knelt and sliced Kynyr's tunic and shirt down the front. The kendaryl armor glistened in the sunlight. Nelek's eyes widened and he whistled low. "Look at that. No wonder we couldn't hit him."
Dorjan peered over Nelek's shoulder and grinned. "The armor's mine."
"Bastard." Nelek tugged at the lacings, heard Kynyr groan, and glanced at Dorjan. "He's still alive."
"He won't be once you open him up." Dorjan laughed. "We ought to charge extra. Royal grapes."
* * * *
"You remember Baroucha? She" Cahira broke off, her eyes wide. "Todd! Todd, Kynyr's hurt! They've been ambushed."
Pandeena stood up as Cahira did and grabbed her wrist. "How do you know?"
Cahira pulled a chain from beneath her dress and let it dangle through her fingers. A blue crystal hung from the chain; nearly half of it was darkened. When it went completely black, it would mean that Kynyr was dead. Within a few seconds it had turned three-quarters black. "He's dying."
"We'll never get there in time." Pandeena felt as if her heart was be
ing torn out of her.
"Yes, we will." Cahira extended her hand to Pandeena. "Take my hand. We'll Jump."
"You don't know where they are."
"The crystal does. I'll follow it."
Pandeena grasped Cahira's left hand as Todd grasped her right. Cahira's power swept over them and they vanished.
* * * *
Odhran sat on the bench beneath the aspen trees, talking with the guard. His duties as bridge-watcher had been reduced since the arrival of Caimbeul the other day. He would no longer be making the decisions about whether to allow strangers to cross the bridge or not. Instead, Odhran would send for the lawgiver to judge whether or not to allow them on clan lands.
He actually felt more than a little relieved by that. Odhran had never liked making those decisions, constantly worrying about making a mistake in those troubled times.
"So what do you make of this Caimbeul?" asked Sergeant Lon Anglesey.
"I'm impressed with him, Lon." Odhran could not bring himself to call Lon 'sergeant.' This latest idea of Claw's to call his officers by human ranks felt awkward on Odhran's lips and he avoided it as much as he could.
The sound of iron shod hooves clattering across the bridge brought their heads up. Two riderless horses, with lycan saddles on their backs, bolted across the bridge, lathered and sweating, eyes wild. Instinct and habit had brought them home.
Odhran rose to his feet and started forward, his heart hammering in his chest, the loud beats pounding in his ears with the relentlessness of a smith shaping metal.
Lon grabbed him, pulling him back. "Stop. Don't frighten them. That's Eideard and Ramsey's horses."
The guardsmon reached in his pocket, bringing out an apple he had intended to eat as a snack. Lon held the apple out, murmuring softly to the animals as he advanced toward them. "Come on, you little ladies."
The two mares hesitated on the lycan side of the bridge, trotted hesitantly onto the path, regarding Lon with doubt and suspicion.
"Come on, Vicky. Come on, girl." Lon eyed the other horse, Ramsey's mare, Walker. If he could get Vicky, then Walker would follow.
Vicky short for Victory hesitated two yards from Lon, her ears pricked and her eyes calmed. She whickered as he continued to approach her slowly. Lon smiled when she took the apple from his hand and ate it. He took hold of the dangling reins, patting her. His eyes widened, seeing what he had feared to find. "Odhran, get Belgair. There's blood on the saddle." Lon brushed his finger through the blood. "And it's fresh. This just happened."
Lon grabbed the reins as Walker came to stand beside Vicky, and shouted at his myn. "Blow the alarm!"
The horn call rang out.
Odhran ran for the manor, shouting to everyone he passed. "Kynyr's been ambushed. Eideard's horse came back without him. Blood on the saddle." Villagers, those who were armed, ran for the bridge. In the front yard, Odhran spotted Searlait and her bodyguard, Robert Morcar herding the children from the garden and into the safety of the manor. The little prince, Darmyk rode his maned hunting cat up to the door with his two step-cousins, Ros and Lyrri, close behind him. One of the servants, Kissie, held the door for them, fear written across her gentle features.
Searlait turned to face him, her aristocratic face tight. "What's happening? That horn call"
Odhran slowed to a walk and halted before her. Morcar moved closer to hear his message as soon as the last of the children were indoors. The blocky guardsmon was referred to as a "black lycan" because of his stiff raven hair that he kept shaved close to his head and the light olive cast to his skin. They were a minority among the fair skinned wolves.
"Out with it mon," growled Morcar, his square jaw set in a hard angle.
"Eideard and Ramsey's horses came back without them. There's blood on the saddles. Either they were ambushed, or the clan is under attack. The guards are on the bridge and sending myn to investigate. But they need reinforcements. We don't know what's happening."
Morcar nodded. "I'll tell Claw as soon as we're all inside."
"I'll tell him now." Searlait gathered her skirts and ran for the manor.
Odhran turned and saw guardsmyn rushing out of the barracks door.
Georgie Rogan and the other hostlers led saddled horses into the yard and went back for more. The guardsmyn mounted up swiftly, without waiting for orders. Then Belgair came barreling out of the barracks, grabbed his horse, and headed out. The rest followed their captain.
A swift reaction had been trained into them and grounded by experience. They all knew their roles and went to it. The village volunteer militia began arriving. It looked like a war to Odhran, even though he had yet to see the enemy.
* * * *
The door to the Difficult Horse slammed open and a lycan in homespun trousers and robe stumbled in, clutching a stitch in his side and breathing hard. "Kynyr's party has been ambushed!"
All save two sprang to their feet and poured from the tavern: Malthus and Preece Malloy. A tiny smile brushed the corners of Malthus' lips and he lowered his head to conceal it. "The thorn has been plucked from my side."
Preece's jaded gaze rested on Malthus' face. "You arranged it."
"Did I?" Malthus lifted his head.
"There's more to you than meets the eye." Preece gazed over the edge of his tankard before downing the last of the contents.
"Is there?"
"I've only one complaint, Malthus." Preece banged the tankard on the table. "I wanted in on that kill."
"You're good, Preece but Kynyr was better."
"Not from the back."
"We ought to join the others before they start to wonder." Malthus left the tavern with Preece walking beside him.
Preece leaned close to Malthus as the door closed behind them and whispered into Malthus' ear. "I knew Kynyr was coming home in a bag when I passed him on the road yesterday. I'm not stupid."
"That's why I sent you."
CHAPTER NINE
VENGEANCE
Cahira Jumped them to a stand of trees near the dip in the road. From where they stood, Pandeena saw five myn; and beyond them the overturned wagon and Eideard's still form on the road. She drew her sword, turned to say something to Todd and saw that he was not there. Todd's gifts seemed undiminished by his years.
Pandeena closed her eyes to reduce distractions, and reached into the forest with her Wilderkin senses. She touched the minds of every predator close enough to make a difference, summoning the bears, the lions, and the wolves. Then she reached farther along the psychic scale and called the antlered stags, and everything that had size as well as tearing fangs, sharp claws, or long horns. Within moments, the forest seethed with deadly life and the fullness of her rage. Then the screaming began as beasts set to their work.
She approached in silence, and brought her blade down across the neck of one mon. Bone gave with a loud snap. She spun about to kill another just in time to see Todd clamp a big red-furred hand over a mon's mouth, shove a blade into his kidneys, and drop him.
She sheathed her sword and robbed a body of its quiver and bow. Pandeena pulled an arrow from the quiver, noted the black shaft, and extended her senses along it.
"Devil's Silver and a taste of something else. Let's see how they like it."
* * * *
Kynyr's armor lay atop the slashed remains of his tunic, beside his sword belt and weapons. Nelek slashed his pants open and jerked them down. He cupped Kynyr's testes. "He's got big ones. They'll bring a good price."
"Don't start with those." Dorjan's gaze kept drifting to Kynyr's armor. Kendaryl in any form was a rare prize. He drifted closer to the armor, glanced back to assess Kynyr's size as compared to his own, speculating on whether the armor would fit him without a lot of alterations.
"Why not?" Nelek released Kynyr and glared at Dorjan. "Don't tell me it has to be done in some kind of bloody order. It's just meat."
"I can see you've never done this before." Dorjan, with obvious reluctance, moved to stand beside Nelek where he could observe be
tter. Contempt touched the edges of Dorjan's mouth. Nelek had always struck him as not particularly apt at arcane matters, failing either to study or pay enough attention to the lore and rites.
"I'm no meat man."
"Precisely. The organs are to be used for arcane matters. Therefore, Nelek, they must be taken in a specific order to avoid arcane and vibrational contamination."
"Don't lecture me. Just tell me how you want it done."
"Don't cut anything off until I've looked at the entrails. Start the first cut just below the sternum and end at the groin. Then a cross cut at the hips. Split him open carefully so you don't damage anything. You do want to get a good price for his parts, don't you, Nelek?"
"Yeah."
"Then do as I say."
Kynyr twitched as Nelek made the first cut across his belly. Nelek glanced at Dorjan again. "He's alive, I tell you."
"So?" Dorjan's eyes lit with interest. "Open your awareness, Nelek. He's dying. Savor it. Savor the fact that he feels the blade, but can't do anything about it."
Nelek stroked the cut with his finger and then sucked Kynyr's blood off it. "Nice."
"Yes." Dorjan sauntered over to the armor and knelt, examining it. The maker's mark brought a smile to his face. A true master had crafted it. "He's close to my size. It won't take much alteration to make the armor fit me."
A choking sound made Dorjan turn. Nelek had his hand inside Kynyr, just starting to peel back the first layer of skin. The black shaft of a poisoned arrow protruded from Nelek's back. Eyes wide in shock, Nelek shuddered as two more arrows erupted from his chest. Nelek tried to rise to his feet, turning toward the archer. Another arrow hit him and he jerked around, sagged to his knees, and pitched forward onto the ground beside Kynyr.
Dorjan sprang to his feet, seeing bears and lions emerge from the forest. Screams sounded on all sides of him as the animals tore his myn apart.
"Wilderkin! There's a bloody Wilderkin out there."
A tall, blonde bitch stepped into the open, fitting another shaft to the string.
Dorjan threw up his shields in time to block the arrow that the bitch released, the arcane energy crushing it.
"Sa'necari!" Pandeena snarled, dropped her bow, and drew her sword, charging across the stretch of open ground.
Janrae Frank - [Lycan Blood 02] - Fireborn Law Page 14