The House of Gaian ta-3

by Anne Bishop

  As she watched, unable to move, one of the creatures sank its sharp, jagged teeth into Keely's leg, ripping off a chunk of her calf and gulping it down while another slashed at the other thigh with teeth and talons. When a third scrambled up Keely's back and sank its teeth into the flesh that joined shoulder and neck, her scream raked through Breanna.

  "Keely!" She took a step forward, unable to think past the fear and yet certain she needed to do something.

  Until the fourth creature turned and stared at her—and her courage shattered.

  It had a long, deep gash down one limb, as if it had been slashed with a sharp stone. Tears still glistened on its dark, leathery face. Snot still bubbled from its nostrils. It let out one whimpering cry as it held up its arms to her—and then snarled and leaped.

  And Keely's screams of terror turned into a shriek of rage as she let go of the rose bushes and grabbed one of the creature's legs. "Not my girl. You can't have my girl! EARTH!"

  The ground around Keely moved, shifted, churned. She sank into the earth so fast there was no time for the creatures attached to her to escape.

  Breanna watched Keely disappear. Watched her mother's hand convulse around the leg it held, pulling the last creature down with her until it was buried up to its waist. It screamed, clawing at the ground as it fought to free itself. She watched, too numb to move, until an arrow whistled past her and buried itself in the creature's chest.

  Silence.

  Keely.

  She wanted to scream to break the silence, to beg Keely to come back. But she couldn't move, couldn't speak.

  "Liam, get Breanna away from here. Get her away now." She recognized Selena's voice, but it was just a sound.

  She knew Liam picked her up. She knew he got her on his horse somehow and they were galloping to her house. But she was too far away to feel him, too far away to feel anything. Even the wind.

  "Mother's mercy," Ashk said, her voice rough with pain and pity. "That bastard turned children into nighthunters." She closed her eyes and shuddered. "He turned them into nighthunters."

  "Could they still be alive down there?"

  There was something cutting about Selena's voice—and there was something odd about that cutting tone.

  "They're buried in the earth," Ashk said. "Buried alive."

  "But they might be able to survive longer than her?"

  What difference does it make? "I don't know."

  Selena raised her hands and pointed at the nighthunter that stared at them with dead eyes. "I call fire to cleanse and air to give it breath."

  The nighthunter burst into flames, burning so hot Ashk took a step back. Moments later, spears of fire shot out of the ground, and she thought—she imagined—she heard something shriek.

  The fire was gone as quickly as it had been summoned. It was only her refusal to give in to the urge to back away—and keep backing away—that made Ashk stand where she was.

  Mother's Daughters. House of Gaian. They aren't the same as the witches who live among us. And this one . . . Mother's mercy. This one.

  Selena watched the tendrils of smoke rising from the ground. "You said nighthunters feasted on spirits as well as flesh and blood. If, by some chance, they were able to live even a minute longer than she did, they could have destroyed more than her body. I couldn't save the flesh, but I could save the spirit."

  "She wouldn't have survived long in any case, but she might have been alive when you sent your fire into the earth."

  "I know," Selena said softly. "That's why I had Liam take Breanna away from here."

  No, Ashk thought, we do not know your kind at all. We do not understand the power that walks in the Mother's Hills.

  "Do you fear me, Hunter?"

  "At this moment, I am feeling cautious, Huntress," Ashk said carefully.

  "It is wise of you to feel that way when you deal with the House of Gaian. That is something our enemy has yet to learn." Selena raised her hands. "Earth."

  The ground shivered. Softened. The nighthunter, with Ashk's arrow buried in its chest, sank into the earth.

  Selena raised her hands higher. "Sister moon." She glowed as moonlight washed over her skin, pooled at her feet, then spread out until it became a shining circle bordered on one side by a crescent of rose bushes.

  The glow faded from Selena's skin. She turned and walked back to where Mistrunner waited.

  Ashk studied the glowing circle for a long moment before going to her own horse and mounting.

  "Selena?" She waited until the Huntress looked at her. "I am cautious, but I do not fear you."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I think your heart matches your power."

  A film of tears covered Selena's eyes before she blinked them away. "We'd better see if Liam needs help with Bre—"

  "Hunter!"

  Ashk dropped the reins, freeing both hands for arrow and bow. She relaxed a little when she saw the Fae male cantering toward her—until she got a good look at his face.

  "The Muse sent me to find you," he said. "The fight's started."

  "Where?"

  "At the field with those tumbled stones. We got to that low rise ahead of them, but not by much. That's where the fight is— and along the road leading to the village."

  "Warn the witches in the Old Place, then ride to the Fae camps and tell the leaders to get their huntsmen to that rise as fast as they can."

  As she and Selena rode over the bridge and galloped over the fields that provided the fastest route to the battleground, she wished there was some way to convince Liam to stay out of the fight for Breanna's sake—and knew the wish was a futile one.

  Liam slowed his horse as he rode through the arch. When one of the boys came forward to take the horse, he shook his head and turned the animal toward the kitchen door. Since Breanna was in no shape to walk, it was easier to let the horse carry them both.

  The barking caught his attention for a moment before he shook his head. Idjit was dancing under the big tree, defending the world from another squirrel.

  The kitchen door opened. He heard Fiona's voice, sharp with annoyance. "Either shut him up or lock him up. I don't need his yapping today."

  "I'll get him." Brooke came out of the house, waved at him, and trotted toward the tree. "Idjit! You stop that now, you hear? You're giving Fiona the headache."

  Suddenly Breanna went rigid in his arms. "Keely, no," she whispered.

  Liam tried to shove aside the worry that flooded through him. They didn't look anything alike, but Brooke and Keely had been about the same age mentally. That's why she was confusing the two. She was still stunned by what she'd witnessed. That was all.

  "Keely, no!"

  Breanna rammed her elbow into him, breaking his hold so that she half fell, half slid off the horse. The momentum took her forward a couple of steps before she fell to her hands and knees.

  He flung himself off the horse, giving it a slap to send it to the stables. He tried to lift Breanna, but she clung to the ground, making horrible, mindless noises while she stared at the tree. He glanced at the tree. Idjit's barking had become frenzied, and Brooke had slowed down, her attention also caught by something in the tree.

  Wind riffled the leaves, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of a dark shape hiding in the branches. Something too big to be a squirrel.

  "Mother's tits!" Fiona burst out of the kitchen, a poker in her hand. "Can't I have a minute to tend the fire without having to deal with some kind of ruckus?"

  He closed the distance between them without realizing he'd started to move, grabbed the poker out of Fiona's hand, and ran just as the nighthunter jumped out of the tree, its flaps of skin turning the jump into a gliding fall. Heading straight at Brooke.

  Heat pulsed under his skin, but he couldn't unleash the fire because Brooke was standing between him and the creature. He couldn't burn one without burning the other.

  He ran as if his world depended on it—and knew he wouldn't reach her in time.

  The nig
hthunter landed, but before it could leap on the girl, Idjit attacked, sinking his teeth in the flap of skin and bracing his legs to play a deadly game of tug.

  Shrieking, the creature turned on the dog, ripping and tearing.

  Liam reached Brooke. Grabbing the back of her dress, he flung her behind him, then braced for the attack.

  The nighthunter, crouched over the still dog, lifted its face. Blood spilled over its chin. As it gathered itself to leap at him, Liam stepped forward and swung the poker at its head with all his strength. He heard the sharp crack of bone. Felt the poker sink into something softer. Watched the poker slide out of the smashed skull as the body slumped over the dog's haunches.

  And saw the perfectly shaped human foot. The birthmark on the back of a pink-skinned calf. A birthmark a distraught mother had described to the guards who had searched for her missing child.

  He dropped the poker and backed away. He'd seen, briefly, when Ashk shot the creature that Keely had prevented from attacking Breanna. He'd seen, but his mind had refused to understand.

  His gorge rose as he remembered the feel of the poker connecting with that small head. He turned, caught a glimpse of Elinore running out of the house while Fiona tried to comfort Brooke, who was crying hysterically. Then he stumbled away from them as far as he could manage before he fell to his hands and knees and was violently sick.

  Breanna slowly got to her feet. On legs that felt as fragile as cracked glass, she walked toward the tree, wobbling as if she'd been ill for a very long time. Her legs buckled before she reached the tree, so she crawled the rest of the way on her hands and knees. She saw a foreleg twitch, heard the bubbly, labored breathing as she crawled to the dog.

  Nothing to be done for him. His belly was ripped open, and blood bubbled from the wound in his neck, soaking his fur and the ground under him.

  He whined when he saw her. Tried to lift his head.

  She bent over him, petted him, whispered to him. "Idjit. You foolish dog. You foolish, brave, idjit of a dog. Thank you for loving her. Thank you for saving her. We'll give you back to the Mother at your favorite spot under the tree, where you liked to nap. That way you'll always be with us. And Aiden will write a song about you so you'll always be remembered."

  The dog sighed out a breath—and didn't breathe again.

  "Merry meet, Idjit. . . until we meet again." She gave the dog a final caress, and whispered, "Keely."

  Then she laid down beside the dog, too broken inside to do anything else.

  Liam staggered to his feet and moved away from the smell of sickness before it brought him to his knees again. Fiona must have taken Brooke into the house, but Elinore waited for him. Edgar stood beside her, glancing uneasily at the figures under the tree.

  His heart lurched when he saw Breanna on the ground beside the dog. Before he could decide if Breanna or Elinore needed him more at that moment, a rider came through the arch, paused long enough to have one of the boys point at Liam, then trotted to the kitchen door. The rider glanced at the figures under the tree, then averted his eyes.

  "You have news?" Liam called, moving quickly to join Elinore and Edgar.

  "Yes, sir. The Hunter said to warn the ladies of the house that the fighting has started along the road to the village and the low rise where she sent some of the men this morning. I'm to ride to the camps around here and give the word they're to come and be quick."

  "Go on then, and be quick yourself," Liam said. "Ashk didn't send enough men to hold that rise if the Inquisitors start throwing companies of men at them."

  The Fae rider wheeled his horse and galloped toward the pasture gate. Before any of the boys around the stable could run to open the gate, his horse cleared it and kept running.

  Liam stripped off his coat. Pulling Edgar aside, he thrust the coat into the man's arms. "I want you to stay here."

  "Aye, that's what I was told when the rest of the men headed out with Varden's huntsmen this morning." Edgar smiled grimly. "Everyone agreed we needed one man to stay to keep the boys on their chores, and I drew the short straw."

  In more ways than you know, Liam thought grimly. Keeping his voice low, he said, "Cover the nighthunter with the coat, and make sure it's completely covered. Then get Breanna into the house."

  Edgar nodded. "I'll get a hand cart and take the creature away from the house before I bury it."

  "You'll take kindling and lamp oil with you. After you dig the hole, you put that thing in and burn it before you finish burying it."

  "Burn it!"

  Liam gripped Edgar's arm hard enough to make the other man wince. "Listen to me. That creature, no matter what it once had been, was a nighthunter, and we burn nighthunters. That's all the ladies need to know. That's all they ever need to know."

  "All right, Baron. If it's that important to you, I'll do just as you say."

  Stepping away from Edgar, he approached Elinore.

  "Where's Keely?" Elinore asked quietly.

  Liam swallowed hard. "Keely's dead."

  Elinore looked at Breanna. "You have to go. I know that. But be careful, Liam. Please be careful. Not just for my sake, but for hers."

  He kissed her cheek. "I'll be back."

  "See that you are. We'll look after Breanna."

  Since he could think of nothing more to say, he strode to the stables, mounted his horse, and rode away toward the battle.

  Chapter 48

  waning moon

  When they were in sight of the low rise, Ashk and Selena reined in.

  Ashk scanned the land in front of her, troubled by the smell of burned meat that hung in the air. There were too many men moving toward the rise for her to see much, but the skittish way they swung around objects caught her attention.

  "What's burning?" Selena asked.

  At that moment, a ball sailed over the low rise and smashed into a company of men. Blood fountained from the neck of one man as he fell. Others screamed as clothes and skin burst into flames.

  "Mother's tits! What is that?" Ashk saw one of the western Fae riding toward her and raised her hand in a commanding summons. When he reined in, she looked at the barely conscious man he carried in front of him and felt her gorge rise. She hoped he was a stranger and that was the reason she couldn't recognize his face. "Report."

  "We're outnumbered," the huntsman said. "And spread out too thin. Our longbowmen have managed to keep them from coming up the rise, but there's hundreds of them marching across that field and we—" He glanced at the burned and wounded men.

  "What is that?" Ashk said.

  "Fire," Selena replied in a queer voice. "But not natural fire. Not the Mother's fire."

  The huntsman nodded. "One of the humans said the Black Coats have catapults. They're firing clay pots that shatter when they hit the ground or a man. Some are filled with scraps of metal that are flung in all directions when the pot breaks. Some have a liquid that burns when it meets air. Some have both. We're losing a third of the men before they make it up to the rise to fight."

  "Where are you going with him?" Ashk asked.

  "Message from Lyrra and Gwenn. They're sending carriages, wagons, anything they can to bring the wounded back to the gentry houses. They should be— There!" The huntsman pointed.

  Ashk looked over her shoulder. Lyrra might have thought to send the conveyances, but Gwenn, married to a baron, would have known which ones to send. A pony cart, an open carriage, a farm wagon. They could travel over rougher land, but how would they get through the stone walls?

  As the thought took shape, she watched a section of the stone wall in the path of the conveyances break apart, watched the stones roll out of the way. And noticed the man on horseback.

  "That Son must have the gift of earth," Selena said. "He's clearing the way for the wagons."

  Another ball sailed over the rise, hit the ground, and set the grass on fire. Ashk tensed. If the field on this side of the rise began to burn . . .

  The flames diminished. The ground smoked.

&nb
sp; She breathed out a sigh of relief. They might not be able to stop men from getting burned, but as long as the House of Gaian was fighting with them, they wouldn't have to worry about being trapped between the enemy's army and a wall of fire.

  "See those trees?" Ashk pointed and waited for the huntsman's nod. "Tell the men driving those conveyances they are not to go beyond those trees."

  "The catapults are positioned midfield," the huntsman said. "I don't think they have the range to reach that far. But if they push us back enough to move them—"

  "They won't," Selena said. "Go now. We have work to do."

  When the huntsman rode away, Selena pointed to the stretch of rise right in front of them. "You have to get up there and pull our men off that piece of the rise."

  "If we open up a hole, the enemy will pour through it," Ashk protested.

  "No, they won't. Because I'll be there to meet them."

  Selena's hair fluttered, as if caught by a light breeze. Dust stirred around Mistrunner's hooves. The Huntress looked at her with cold, cold eyes, and the face was a perfect mask that held no hint of the woman Ashk was coming to know.

  Saying nothing, Ashk urged her horse into a canter and headed up the rise. She stopped a few lengths from the top and went the rest of the way on foot, pulling an arrow from her quiver and nocking her bow as she got her first look at the field and the enemy.

  The huntsman was right. There were hundreds of men marching toward the rise. Longbowmen marched at the back of each company, pausing long enough to aim and fire, then marching on again while they nocked another arrow. Men worked the catapults in midfield, sending their deadly balls over the rise. The road, barely visible from where she stood, had become a cloud of dust, stirred by the feet of men who clashed and maimed and killed.

  It would take hours for all the Clans and human companies to reach this place, Ashk thought with despair. The camps were spread out all around Willowsbrook while the enemy must have come up in one mass hidden by the trees at the other end of the field.