Hunter's Night

by Melinda Kucsera

  “No, I can't. You're right about that. But I'm not a mage or a wizard or a warlock or any of that ilk. I'm still me.” Robin struck her breast with her fist. But she wasn't sure who she was anymore.

  “Maybe you're a witch.”

  “No, I'm just a mother who's trying to save her baby. That's all.” Robin slammed her fist into her palm to emphasize her point.

  But the mention of her daughter undid her, and the grief came roaring back so strong, Robin swayed and would have fallen if Strella hadn't seen that coming. Strella rushed through the two rings of menhirs and caught Robin in a fierce hug. She held onto her until the emotional storm had spent itself.

  “Better now?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Robin tried to dry her eyes, but her gloves were wet with tears and snow.

  “You'll get her back. Don't give up hope.” Strella gave her shoulders one last squeeze then let go.

  “I'm trying not to.”

  “Well, try harder.”

  “We should go,” Robin said before things got any more awkward than they already were.

  A mournful howl in the distance echoed her grief. Maybe she wasn't the only mother grieving for a lost child today, but that didn't make her feel any better. No mother should ever suffer like this.

  The threads the Huntress had left behind stopped vibrating, reminding Robin that creature had come here for a reason. It was time to find out what that reason was.

  Strella gestured to their goal. “Yes, we should. That mountain isn't coming to us, so we'd better go to it if you're up to it.”

  “I am. I can maintain.”

  “Good. Help me maneuver the sled through that gap between stones.” Strella pointed to the ice-crusted menhirs towering over them.

  They ringed the meadow twice, and each ring of standing stones was separated by about ten paces of snow. Something about them crept Robin out even in the watery daylight, not their height, though they stood at least twice as tall as her, maybe even taller.

  Each stone was half as wide as she was tall, but that wasn’t what was pricking her sixth sense. There was something off about those stones. Robin steeled herself but didn’t cross that invisible line connecting each stone to its neighbor. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up again. She remembered seeing two glowing hands right before they'd pulled her through a gap in the rings, but there was no sign of them now.

  “What are you looking at? They're just a series of huge rocks someone left here.” Strella stepped between two of those stones before Robin could stop her. But nothing happened. No glowing hands appeared.

  “Robin? Why are you staring at me like that?” Strella rubbed her gloved hands together to warm them.

  “Don’t you feel it?”

  “That low-level creepy vibe?”

  Robin nodded and hugged herself as she stepped away from those stones. She didn’t want to cross them again, but she had a feeling she’d need to and soon.

  “Hell yeah, but help’s on the other side, so let’s get Cat across it.”

  Strella gave her an odd look, but Robin grabbed the rope that connected her to the sled and planted her feet. She refused to budge. She’d help from this side of those creepy stones, thank you very much. She’d had enough weirdness for one day.

  “You really are creeped out by them.”

  “You would be too if a pair of glowing hands had sprouted out of thin air and pulled you between them. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll help guide the sled from this side.” Feeling more eyes on her than Strella’s, Robin set her jaw and fought the urge to back away from those strange menhirs.

  Strella shook her head. “They’re just rocks.”

  “Yeah, but those giant rocks were lain by some magical race or other, and there’s still magic in them. I can feel it.” Robin shivered though whether that was from the cold or the creepy vibes those rocks were giving off she didn’t know or care. She pulled on the rope, and the sled glided forward a few feet then stopped.

  “Pull harder.” Strella moved behind the sled and pushed, but it was no good. The sled had struck an invisible barrier. Strella stared at her in shock. “Why can’t it pass through? You and I both crossed it without a problem.”

  “I don’t—Strella, behind you!” Robin pointed to the gray shape loping toward Strella’s back, and the green thread around Robin's wrist loosened and slid down into her hand. Robin didn’t even pause to think about what she was doing, she just swung her hand, and the green thread shot out whip-fast and knocked the creature away from Strella.

  The thread winked out as that creature rolled in the snow. Maybe it would stay down. Robin hoped so since she had no idea how she’d just knocked it away from Strella.

  “And you say you’re not a magicker?” Strella gave her a respectful nod.

  “I don’t know what I am anymore.” That should have frightened Robin, but she’d take any help she could get to save her daughter, including strange powers. She could always put them aside once she’d rescued Rosalie. There was no rule saying she had to keep using them once the danger had passed. But that was something Robin could contemplate later when she had her baby once again safe in her arms.

  A low throaty growl warned that they weren't alone. Strella spun to face the other lupine creatures emerging from the enchanted forest. From somewhere under her coat, Strella withdrew a dagger as four pairs of glowing eyes targeted them. “Got any more tricks?”

  “Just one.”

  Robin steeled herself. Then before she could think about what she was doing, she stepped between two menhirs and fought the urge to turn around and run away. Her skin crawled, and her scalp prickled as every hair on her head tried to stand at attention under her hat. But Robin set her teeth and took another step. Eight more and she could reach between the outer ring of menhirs to grab the sled.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Following a hunch. Keep watching those wolves.”

  “They’re not wolves. Wolves don’t have green eyes that frigging glow.”

  “Whatever. Just keep them away from Cat.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Pull you both across. Get ready to push.”

  Four more steps. She could do this. Robin touched the necklace, and it glowed so brightly, she had to shield her eyes just to see anything. But Robin felt safe in that green light, protected even; it enveloped her like a warm hug. I need to find whoever left this behind. Robin ran her finger over those links. Because that person could help her find her daughter. She felt it in her bones.

  “Could you hurry up please?” Strella asked, jolting Robin out of her reverie.

  Robin glanced up in time to see Strella slash at a growling wolf. It evaded Strella’s dagger then darted back in for another shot at her flank while another wolf came at her from the right side. Strella could only block one at a time.

  “No!” Robin shouted.

  Time dilated as a third wolf barreled toward Strella. Robin stepped through the outer ring of menhirs, and the green light surrounding her extended, but not in time. Strella grunted in pain, and her knee buckled as a wolf sank its teeth into her calf. Then the light shoved it back, ripping it away from Strella. A swath of black fabric got caught in its teeth, and it fluttered as the wolf rolled tail over snout in the snow.

  “Are you hurt badly?” Robin bent to examine Strella’s bleeding leg, but Strella grabbed her arm and hauled her up again.

  “Move, Robin. Let’s get across before they regroup.” Strella punctuated that command with a push that staggered Robin.

  “Okay, but can you—?”

  “Just take the front end and move. Worry about me when we have an invisible wall between us and them. Okay?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Robin grabbed the head of the sled by the branch Strella had bent into a convenient handle and dragged it through the inner ring. She didn't stop until they were a dozen paces away. The bubble of green light that had protected them sank back into her necklace,
which still glowed, but one of the links was darker than before.

  “Robin!” Strella spun her around to face the two rings of menhirs. Four wolves hurled themselves at it, and four more darted out of the enchanted forest. “Will it stop them?”

  “I don’t—” Robin said then stopped as her necklace flared up again and dyed the menhirs green with its light. They seemed to vibrate, and a slow drumming started up that shook the earth under their feet.

  Strella stared at her. Blood dripped from a ragged hole in her sleeve, and another one on her leg. Robin met her gaze and nodded.

  “Yes, it’ll stop them.” And that was all thanks to the mysterious mage who’d left part of his or her magic behind.

  “How do you know that?”

  The newly arrived wolves didn't crash into an invisible wall. They must have sensed the change in the standing stones because they skidded to a stop just a foot short of them and split into two groups of four. Eight pairs of luminous green eyes glared hungrily at them and a low growl had them backing away.

  “Wait, will it keep them out if we move away?” Strella grabbed Robin and stopped her in her tracks.

  Robin glanced at her necklace, searching for an answer. It hugged her protectively. “I think so.” She pulled free of Strella’s grasp but didn't take a single step toward the mountain she’d been trying to reach.

  Mount Eredren was so close now, but if she was wrong, they were as good as dead. Robin was good with a bow, but a bow was a distance weapon. She wasn’t sure she could pull it out, string it, nock, sight and release a single arrow before those eight wolves tore her apart.

  If Robin was wrong, she’d use her bow case like a staff and do her level best to bash their brains in and hope she took enough down that the rest left her alone. Not good odds, but it was a plan, and Robin felt better with one in hand, even if it was a crazy one.

  Evidently, Strella’s mind had been traveling the same paths as hers because she grimaced. She didn't like the odds either. So, they were stuck there babysitting a bunch of big, creepy rocks until the wolves gave up, her necklace gave out, or someone else showed up to even the odds.

  Where the hell were the Rangers? Mount Eredren had a large contingent of them because of how isolated it was and how much land they had to patrol.

  Robin spun on her heel seeking but not finding a single soul out here except her, Strella and the still unconscious Cat. Where was the Queen of All Trees when she needed her?

  Robin touched the silver leaf their Queen had left behind but didn’t pull it out. If she called that mythical entity now, then she couldn’t call her later when she might need a favor only the Queen of All Trees could bestow. Robin squared her shoulders. No, she’d handle this on her own.

  “It’ll hold,” Robin reiterated, hoping she was correct.

  “How do you know that? Don’t take this the wrong way, but this is all new to me. The closest I’ve ever gotten to magic is the enchanted forest because you can’t go anywhere in Shayari without hiking through large portions of it. Oh, don’t give me that look. I’m trying to understand. So, help me. And no, I'm not going to report you for magicking. Don’t even go there.”

  “What?” Robin sank to her knees in the snow as the world crashed down on her.

  The law. It sentenced anyone with even a spark of magic to death. The blood drained from Robin’s face and her head too judging by how lightheaded she felt. First, her daughter was kidnapped and now, her very life might be forfeit because she’d somehow used not one but three magical items, and she had several more on her person. They seemed to be attracted to her.

  “Report me? Why would you—oh, because of these.” Robin touched the three white strands glowing around her wrist and the necklace glowing where it rested against her collarbones.

  Strella squatted down so they were level with each other, but she kept her wounded leg straight. It was an awkward pose, and she must be hurting, but Strella made it work. “I already said I wouldn’t tell. So, calm down and explain how whatever you did will keep those lupine creatures out while we get help. Okay?”

  Robin nodded. She hadn’t felt this alone or lost since she’d fled, pregnant and scared, from the husband who'd turned on her and became abusive. Robin shoved that frightened girl down. She needed to be strong now. Later, she’d need to deal with everything she’d been through but not now. Rosalie needed her to go to Mount Eredren and find help to save her.

  “Robin, your secret’s safe with me.”

  “I know. I trust you.” Maybe Robin shouldn’t have trusted her. After all, she’d only known Strella for a few days, but together, they'd met the Queen of All Trees, and Robin didn't know if she'd have made it this far alone.

  “Good, then you can explain.”

  “Can I at least bandage your leg while I do that?”

  “It looks worse than it is.” Strella grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it over the wound in her leg, which she still hadn’t let Robin see.

  “That has to hurt.”

  “The cold is numbing the pain. Now, talk. How do you know they’ll keep those creatures out long enough for us to get help?” Strella gestured to the menhirs then rubbed some more snow onto her wounds.

  “This is pure speculation, but I think these strings are the remnants of other people’s magic. The Huntress left these two behind, and so far, they don’t do anything at all. The Queen of All Trees left this one behind.” Robin touched the three white-glowing threads in turn.

  “Save that one. If she left it behind, you can bet it packs a wallop.”

  Robin shrugged. Strella was assuming she could figure out how to activate it, which didn’t look likely since she’d only used the ones she had by accident, and learning wasn’t at the top of her to-do list. Finding her daughter was. So far, these strings hadn't provided a way to find Rosalie.

  “And that necklace you’re wearing, which if I might add, looks rather fetching on you.”

  Robin blushed at her comment and stammered something, but Strella just laughed.

  “Don’t worry. Cat’s more my type. You’re safe from me. But if I were you, I’d find the person whose power made such a pretty chain. He or she might be a keeper.” Strella winked and seemed to enjoy her discomfort.

  “I don’t know if that’ll be possible, but I’ll keep that in mind. But to answer your original question,” Robin winced as she got up. Her knees had started to smart from all the kneeling, and the cold was numbing her feet. “The power in this necklace is protective, and by some method I don't understand, it’s affecting those stones. They have some type of sympathetic bond.”

  “Let me get this straight. As long as you’re wearing the—let’s call it the necklace of protection—those rocks will keep those creatures out?”

  “That’s what I think.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get to that mountain.”

  Chapter 14

  Several hours earlier…

  “Away in a basket, on an uneven floor, a shadow fell over the baby lying there.”

  The baby in question, a boy named Ran, waved a tiny fist at the sad woman standing over his makeshift cradle singing to him. Once-bright curtains cordoned off this shadowy corner of a cave deep under Mount Eredren, but a layer of grime had dulled the colorful wheels decorating each one.

  “Away in a basket, no crib for his bed, the little baby Ran lay down his sweet head,” Sad Woman continued her song as she rocked the basket.

  But he didn’t fall asleep no matter how many songs she sang because he wanted the Bright One to come back. After a while, she blew out a frustrated breath and ceased rocking the basket. It was just large enough to fit a fractious nine-month-old baby, and he turned one baleful green eye in her direction. His eyes did not glow, but the Bright One’s did.

  “You’re not going to sleep, are you?” Sad Woman said. Frown lines bracketed her unsmiling mouth. She had sad eyes, even when she put him to her breast. Nothing he did ever changed that, which was why he wan
ted the Bright One. He knew how to make the Bright One smile and laugh, but the Bright One had gone away many hours ago.

  Ran waved a chubby fist at Sad Woman, and she sighed, taking that as a “no,” then rose, rubbing her back as she drew aside a worn curtain. She was worn out tonight and feeling all her thirty-seven years.

  “Fine, stay up until your father comes home. He can deal with you then.”

  Since that was what the baby had wanted all along, Ran waved and searched the shadows for the Bright One, the young man with glowing green eyes, as Sad Woman slipped from the alcove. But only more worn curtains with dull patterns met his searching gaze. Where was the Bright One with the aura that tickled?

  Not here where he belonged. The baby frowned as a tongue of white light flickered into view just a few feet away. Someone was coming. His little hopes rose. Maybe it was the Bright One. But if it was, he’d see that familiar green glow that always preceded the Bright One, and he didn't.

  Ran clapped as a shadow stepped out of that light. It wasn’t tall enough or lean enough to be the Bright One. His little hopes fell until another shadow tried to exit the same way. Maybe he was the Bright One. But that white light was starting to fade away.

  “Uh-oh,” he said as it winked out, leaving just one man behind.

  They both stared after it for a long moment, waiting for it to return. But it didn't. That light was gone for good.

  Ran waved bye-bye to it. If that light was anything like the Bright One’s light, it would like that farewell. Ran felt sure of that.

  Every day, he learned more about light, especially the green one because it surrounded the Bright One. Maybe the Bright One had sent this confused man. Maybe he had more than green light inside him. That thought lit Ran up, and he laughed and clapped his little hands and wished the Bright One would come.

  When that didn't gain his visitor's attention, Ran said, “hi,” to the man and threw in a smile and a wave.

  People liked it when he waved, but this man just looked at him in utter bewilderment instead of saying hi back. So, Ran said, “hi,” again and put a little more enthusiasm into the wave.