There was a sudden pandemonium of cheers, hoots and stamping, immediately settling into, "Ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo..." as they danced in place to show their spirit.
"Ooot-ooot, ooot-ooot, ooot-ooot!" cried Fnana-fnyr, silencing them once again. "Then jump-shoo. Put on mud-streaks for jump-bite head-smash. Bring your clubs and your jab-bites back-here. We will dance-out our-plans."
On the other side of the mountain, Fnanar, covered from head to toe with black and red ochre hand prints, stood in front of his rock, glaring into the faces of each of his brutes in turn as he looked about his dancing circle. “Ooot-ooot, ooot-ooot, ooot-ooo!" he barked as he pounded his chest. "It be moon-go-round to big big rolly-eye no-see no-see grab-up-squeakers that Dyrney still-be Thunder-men to all walky-walk and all crawly-crawl..."
His brutes broke into a roar of cheers.
"It just-as be moon-go-round to big big rolly-eye Fnana-fnyr's sow-brutes that I be head-nod head-nod Thunder-man and we-be head-nod head-nod to Arrdsey-phnyr-phey-fne."
Again his brutes broke into hoots and cheers, quickly settling into, "Ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo..." as their beads and mud plastered heads began bobbing in time. Directly, they had bounced and hopped themselves into a great circle, shuffling to the right, while Gn-fnoph-ny, Fnanar's new outlaw shaman, decked out in ropes of beads stolen from Ninar-dern, stepped into the circle with his terrapin rattles, moving to the left, shick, shicka-shick, shick, shicka-shick, shick, shicka-shick...
"Ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo! Ya-fn fynf!" cried Fnanar with a furious four-thump drumming of his chest, bringing everyone to rigid silence. He looked about with a wild glint in his eye. Suddenly he bellowed out, "Juicy-champ grab-up-squeakers!"
Fnanar and his brutes stole down the mountainside in utter silence. When they had come to where the purple-ribs were singing and the first katydids of the year were calling out from the leaves above, they met Fnadi-phnig-nyd in the shadows. "Spear-head-snort-whinnie-clops herd all lie side-by-side by the big-big grass sea."
Soon they were all quietly following him. The plan was to form a great circle around the unicorns and walk them across the Strah within the circle. Quietly, quietly they did indeed form a great circle. Once it was formed, they began shuffling in time, shuff-shuff... shuff-shuff... shuff-shuff... Soon they began chanting in whispers, "Fmeemph-fmeemph... fmeemph-fmeemph... fmeemph-fmeemph..." so that what the unicorns suddenly heard coming was, shuff-shuff, "Fmeemph-fmeemph," shuff-shuff, "Fmeemph-fmeemph," shuff-shuff, "Fmeemph-fmeemph..."
The lead unicorn threw up his head in wild-eyed alarm. Suddenly he was on his feet as the rest of the herd rose to theirs.
Shuff-shuff, "Fmeemph-fmeemph..."
Without warning, the unicorns exploded into a fury of pounding hooves, bowling over trolls as they raced out of the circle in every direction and away into the Strah. One of the trolls took a ferocious swing and fell. "Spear-head-snort-whinnie-clops no help us jump-bite grab-up-squeakers," he cried as he scrambled to his feet.
"You mudful hollow-head, Fna-nari-yrr-gnoph," cried Fnadi-phnig-nyd. "They no jump-bite grab-up-squeakers..."
"You want head-smash? I already big-head-nod big-head-nod that they be bait for gut-rip-birds, but they no-be now..."
"Dyrney-brutes!" hollered Fnanar, away through the grass. "Ay-ooo, ay-ooo, ay-ooo..."
Every troll raced through the grass to begin bobbing in time as Gn-fnoph-ny shuffled in a tight circle before him, shaking his rattles. "Gn-fnoph-ny!" he cried when everyone was assembled. "Why-for cloppety-snort, cloppety-snort all the spear-head-snort-whinnie-clops?" ...shicka, shicka, shicka, shicka, shick...
"Arrdsey-phnyr-phey-fne called them away to the gut-rip-birds to go-to the Land of the Dead!" cried Gn-fnoph-ny from within his bear’s head, as he threw up his arms and strained to peer into the heavens. "He gives every one of the grab-up-squeakers to us!"
With a triumphant howl, Fnanar waved his cheering brutes on into the Strah.
Sorcha studied the straw troll on the left and let go of Tashtey's jesses. Tashtey raced toward the troll and was about to spring when Sorcha thought hard about the troll to the far right. Tashtey wheeled at once, striking down the right hand troll before dashing back to shred the one on the left. Sorcha grabbed up a strip of raw auroch and ran to fling it at Tashtey, who snapped it out of the air and gobbled it down. "Good boy!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck.
"Bravo!" cried Olloo as he began clapping. "That was perfect."
"They really seem to be coming along," said Oisin as he sauntered up.
"Oh, every single one of them," said Olloo. "The lot of them are far better than I ever expected. I just hope we're ready when the day comes."
"Well, we beat them the first time with only a handful of completely untrained birds, so..."
"Righty-o, but they didn't know we had them. When they come back, they'll be expecting..."
"Yea," said Oisin as he picked up a snow white strike falcon feather from the ground to twirl it thoughtfully between his fingers. "And your dear sister is expecting you to come to supper. She just sent me out here to tell you. She said to tell you that you've put off her suppers ever since Baase went wild and she's not taking no for an answer, this time. Of course I wouldn't put it that way, but she's your sister and she's concerned about you."
"Look," he said, heaving a sigh. "I'm fine. And surely she understands how important it is to run these birds. I was counting on some drills at dusk and right after dark, this evening. I want us ready."
"'Ready' is why you need to get regular meals and rest again, Olloo. You can drive yourself too hard, don't you know. You don't want to collapse at the crucial hour."
"No Oisin," he said, rolling his eyes, "but I'm responsible..."
"Then you have to be up to that responsibility. As a healer, I'm telling you it's time to tend to your own needs. And you need to accept Doona's invitation before she takes matters into her own hands."
"She'll kill you," said Sorcha with dancing eyes as she appeared at his side with Tashtey.
"So what are we in for?" said Olloo as he began inspecting Tashtey here and there.
"Oh, give you and the Council a good piece of her mind, for one," said Oisin. "Tie you up and set you at your place at the board, for another. She's even threatened to go out into the Strah and get you a new strike falcon egg, Olloo. How about that?"
"I'll be there. Just keep her out of the Strah. I haven't given up on Baase yet."
Oisin had gone back home long ago. Olloo listened to the sheep bell getting closer as he scattered straw in one of the stalls in the mews, but he didn't think much about it.
"Hey!" said Kieran, peering in over the gate. "I'm going to supper. Everyone else is gone. And everyone else is betting Doona's coming out here to get you."
Without a word, Olloo jabbed his fork into the bedding behind a gate, stepped out of the shed and ran.
A great grey owl wailed somewhere nearby in the bright moonlight as Vafa-gyr-fni-yy stumbled through the sticks strewn about on the carpet of spruce needles, while Ni-oow-fn balefully yanked him along by the hair at every totter and hesitation. Suddenly he was down on one knee. "Don't you play hee-hee, rump-smear," growled Ni-oow-fn, jerking him to his feet and thrusting him forth. Before long they could make out chanting and flickering orange light.
Fnana-fnyr and his brutes were dancing out plans. Fnana-fnyr looked up with a murderous face for Ni-oow-fn and Vafa-gyr-fni-yy. No one was ever to bother dancing circles. Ni-oow-fn flung Vafa-gyr-fni-yy sprawling at Fnana-fnyr's feet. The dancing stopped dead silent.
"Why-for this grin-and-bring bowel-movement?" rumbled Fnana-fnyr, looking up from his feet.
"I caught him easy-sneaking, like a wolf-dog with juicy-hot grab-up-squeaker leg," said Ni-oow-fn. "I shadow-creep butt-followed to look-see. He went-over the mountain to Fnanar and sly-put say-gobble say-gobble say-gobble into his ear. When he left Fnanar's camp I jump-grabbed him."
Fnana-fnyr sat down on Vafa-gyr-fni-yy's ches
t hard enough to snap a rib, making him cry out in pain. "Tooky-took your flapper-tongue to Fnanar, aye?"
Vafa-gyr-fni-yy winced and nodded.
"You can taky-take it back to him," snarled Fnana-fnyr. "Grab-hold his head, Ni-oow-fn. Fnoo-phny-y? Heavy-sit on his legs. Dyr-jiny? Have that new-flint you peck-peck-peck today?"
"Here-be."
"Cut-out his-tongue! He can squeeze-carry it back to Fnanar in his-hand."
Vafa-gyr-fni-yy was the first to stumble into Fnanar's camp, soaked and caked with blood from head to toe. He was thrown to the ground and promptly forgotten, as Fnana-fnyr tramped through the camp, heaving things this way and that. "Where-be Fnanar and his brutes?" he roared before the cringing sows and kids. With sudden calmness he took a seat on a rock before one of the fires. "Dyr-jiny," he said, motioning with his head.
Dyr-jiny removed his bear's head from his sweat plastered hair. "Yes, Thunder-man..."
"I need to daydream in this fire. Twisty-squeeze the nod-say, nod-says out of the sows where-be Fnanar and his rump-smear-brutes."
With a quick nod, Dyr-jiny donned his bear's head and vanished. A shivering owl called from just beyond Fnanar's rock. The anguished screams of a sow echoed from the biggest lava tube, up the slope behind Fnana-fnyr, followed by the terrified wails of sows and kids. Fnana-fnyr studied a nice piece of auroch rump by his feet near the fire. At last he grabbed it up and took a champ. "Augh!" he cried, as he sprang to his feet to frantically whisk at the maggots in his beard. He was braced against his knees, reeling from his final vomitous heave when Dyr-jiny returned.
"Strong daydream in fire, Thunder-man?" he said at the sight of him.
"It be thunder-dream," he said, wiping his mouth on his arm. "Where be Fnanar?"
"Fnanar and his-brutes hunt-grab grab-up-squeakers, that-way."
"You-be head-nod, head-nod?"
"Now-be. Sows be sly-sneak-say, sly-sneak-say. So I head-smash sow. Sows now-be nod-say, nod-say, nod-say."
"Ay-ooo, ay-ooo Dyrney-brutes," said Fnana-fnyr with a wild-eyed look as he grabbed up his club. "We jump-bite and head-smash Fnanar, and we jump-bite-head-smash Fnanar's brutes and brutes and brutes and brutes."
Chapter 20
"I finally found you, Kieran," said Lilee with a shy smile as she peered into the shed at the mews. "Don't you know that it's Shass Greiney Souree? They're telling tales at Vorona's house. Martyn and Donachan have got their whistles, and Alister's got his bodhran and he's just finished making a new one for Rory. And there are hot honey muffins and the cider we brought from Baile Gairdin last fall. And they've got three big bonfires and her bullfrogs are already a-hollering. It's wonderful. Would you like to sit beside me for the telling?”
"Oh," said Kieran as his face fell. "I'd really love to, but I'm on my way up to Carraig Faire right now to spell off Olloo. I told him I'd take the evening watch for him so he could go to Grandmother's. You know how he's been pushing himself with the mews. I've started worrying about him, don't you know."
"That's good of you," she said, looking down at her toes. "Everyone knows how he's been working as hard as any other two austringas. "Well maybe another time then?" She looked up with a smile and turned to leave.
"Lilee? I can't imagine anything I'd have enjoyed more than sitting with you."
"I know! I could fetch you a muffin or two and some cider later, if you'd like."
"You'd do that?"
"Of course."
"Well I'll certainly be a-looking forward to it then. Just watch your step on the way up."
"I'll be up later," she said.
Kieran found Olloo sitting on a sandstone ledge in front of the guard house up on Carraig Faire, staring out over the vast sea of big bluestem between Baile Tuath and the Eternal Mountains. "Still no sign of Baase?"
Olloo shook his head.
"Well I'm here..."
"Thanks," he said as he got to his feet. "I'll make sure someone spells you off an hour or two after dark."
Kieran found a good place to sit on the rocks and looked up to find Olloo gone. He looked out across the Strah and saw aurochs still grazing as well as elk already on their feet. "Well, it's the longest evening of the year," he murmured as he found the moon in the deepening blue, far overhead. Larks were already tinkling, too far aloft to see. He leant back on his elbows with a sigh. It was going to be a long evening, particularly waiting for Lilee.
Suddenly a flash of white in the grass below had him on his feet at once as a fine pair of strike falcons stepped into view. The larger one looked straight up at him for a moment before the two of them wheeled about and vanished. "That had to be Baase," he said, and with another great sigh as he sat back down. He looked at the backs of his hands as a Strah owl landed noiselessly at the far end of the great rock to keenly study the grass with its icy yellow eyes.
"I wish Lilee would come soon, even without the honey muffins and hot cider," he thought. "It'll seem forever before she gets here. My, but she's pretty. And nice, too. I've always thought so. I'm surprised she knew I was alive."
At the scuff of a shoe across sandstone, he looked up to find her coming toward him from the way up. "Hi," he said, on his feet at once. "I didn't imagine you'd be here so soon. This is wonderful."
"I think you'd better have these now," she said as she held out a bundle of muffins and an elk hide bottle of cider. "They were both nice and hot when I set out, but I doubt if either one is any more."
"They don't need to be hot. Having you bring them is what's nice. We could sit inside or out here where I've been sitting..."
"Well, the view's nice out here," she said as she began spreading out a cloth over the sandstone.
"One thing I've noticed about picnics..." he said as he watched her undo the bread.
"What?" she said, handing over a piece.
"Well, it could be almost anything," he said with a cheery nod as he took his first bite, "but it always ends up tasting like the best victuals you ever ate." He closed his eyes, savoring his mouthful before glancing out across the grass to stop wide-eyed and look back. "Oh no!"
"What?"
"Oh no! Look yonder. Trolls! There are three or four times as many as before. And remember, I was up here with Great-Grandma and saw the first bunch of them." He grabbed up her hand and dashed for the end of the rock. Hand in hand they raced across the meadow. Near the houses they heard whistles and bodhrans. "Get to the mews," he said. "I'm on my way to tell everyone at Great-Grandma's... And Lilee," he said, suddenly pulling her to a stop. "I really liked that muffin."
Soon Kieran was standing in spiked black leather before Yeearree's stall, adjusting the claymore across his back, while Yeearree fluffed and sleeked his feathers, dodging from side to side in front of the gate, waiting to be released.
"I didn't hear you say how many," said Olloo, stepping up from behind as he strapped on his own claymore.
"Three or four times as many as before..."
"I guess that's what we've been expecting all along, isn't it?" he said, staring off as if his eyes were counting something.
"Olloo!" cried Sorcha. "Where do you want Tashtey and me?"
"My word," said Olloo as he turned to her.
"Tashtey is indeed the fiercest of all the young strike falcons, dear, but you're still 'way too young to be a-fighting trolls. You're scaring me at the thought! You and Rory watch out for all the future austringas in the cellar. Make sure every one of them stays there, too. And don't you dare come out until one of us comes to get you! I'll watch out for Tashtey."
"Olloo!" cried Roseen. "When did Baase come back? Is that high-strung bird in his stall with him his mate? She's beautiful."
"What are you talking about?"
"Here. Come look."
Olloo was already on his way with Sorcha at his heels. "Thank all the stars above!" he said at the sight of Baase as he opened the gate to his stall.
Baase stopped preening the new bird at once, rising with a shake of his feathers to plant images in Olloo
's mind of her taking biting lunges and striking out with her feet.
Olloo could see by her bristling feathers that she was indeed distressed and stepped back out at once.
Baase came to the gate for a scratch and flashed Olloo visions of a troll horde and of his mate trying to settle on their nest.
"I do believe he's telling me she wants to lay..." he said, suddenly looking up at the shouts and unmistakable sounds of battle already amongst the houses. "Sorcha, please get to the cellar! Baase and I will watch out for Tashtey."
"And so will Caggey and I," said Roseen, giving Sorcha's hand a squeeze and an urgent shake. "Go!"
Shawkyn spooghey and their bond mates were already bursting forth from the shed gate. Baase was fairly dancing back and forth in his stall, anxious to be out. Olloo kissed Roseen's hand and gave her a firm hug. He gave a fierce nod as he gave Kieran's hand a shake. As he turned back to Baase's stall, Baase jumped the gate and shot to the doorway, disemboweling a troll who had just stepped inside. Baase snipped the troll's windpipe with a twisting yank and danced out into the darkening evening for more excitement.
Olloo drew his claymore and stepped over the troll.
"Olloo!" cried Kieran, the moment he was outside. "Behind you!"
Olloo spun 'round with his whistling blade, taking off a troll's head in time for another brute, scarcely an arm's length away, to scream out as Baase climbed up his back to take bites of his face. Olloo ran through Baase's troll and turned to help Kieran who was suddenly busy with four trolls of his own.
Without warning, a glancing blow from his head to his shoulder brought him to his knees to topple onto his side.
"Ooot-ooot! Ooot-ooot! Ooot-ooot!" bellowed a troll as he stepped astride of him to drum his chest with one fist before throwing back his club to give a finishing blow.
Elf Killers Page 20