Amber Magic h-1

by B. V. Larson

  “By the River,” swore Brand. “She'll not escape us so easily this time!” He and Corbin ran after the fleet-footed girl, cloaks flying and heavy boots crunching the slushy earth.

  “Hey!” shouted Jak behind them. “Where are you off to?”

  Brand and Corbin made no attempt at replying, knowing that they would need all their attention to keep Telyn in sight. She led them on a merry chase, darting between vendors' carts and under tables spread with fine foods. Corbin, rather than following her every step, chose to drop back a bit and cut the corners of her winding, twisting path. He even managed to snatch up a leg of roast fowl on the way past a table that boasted an excellent feast. Brand, lost to the chase, ran on his long legs with abandon.

  There were many cries of distress at their passing. “Hey you louts!”

  “Stop running!”

  “The Rabing boys are after that Fob girl! I wonder what she's stolen now!”

  “You've crushed my foot!”

  “Off with you then!”

  Soon, a pattern emerged from Telyn's mad course: each twist, every turn, took them closer to the wooded area at the base of the hill that backed the common. Brand, worried that she would vanish in the mirk below the trees, put on an extra burst of speed. Corbin, huffing and blowing, groaned and then followed suit.

  Telyn glanced back at them, and for a moment Brand was gratified to see her teasing face take on a cast of concern. They were clearly gaining on her. She stopped laughing and gave herself to running directly toward the woods.

  She did actually reach the trees before Brand caught up. She danced behind a tree and Brand fell against the other side, eyeing her around the trunk, and breathing hard.

  “Brand Rabing, don't you touch me,” she gasped between gulps of air.

  “Give over this folly, Telyn! I'm not about to have you taken to serve some ungrateful elfkin as a foot maid!” said Brand, reaching for her. She shrieked and ran laughing into the forest. Knowing he was about to lose her, Brand threw himself at her, and managed to catch hold of her foot. They both fell in a tangled heap, leaves flying.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The Shining Lady

  They sat up and regarded each other for a second. Brand thought she was the most lovely thing in the world, seen only in the light of the bloated Harvest Moon, with twigs and leaves in her hair and streaks of dirt on her face. He bent forward to kiss her.

  “Hullo there!” shouted Corbin, huffing into the trees and cupping his hands to call to them. He tossed aside a clean bone from the fowl he had devoured on the way. Brand and Telyn straightened suddenly, feeling foolish. Brand helped her to her feet. He kept one hand on her arm, even after she was standing.

  “Oh, there you are,” said Corbin, putting his hands on his knees to relax and breathe more freely. “Oh, I can't believe you caught her, Brand. I would sooner chase one of the Wee Folk into the High Marshes!”

  “Yes, she will see nothing of the Faerie tonight,” said Brand.

  “Oh, but how wrong you are,” breathed Telyn. The boys turned to her with questioning looks, but she was looking away, into the forest. They followed her gaze.

  There before them, deep in the forest, moved a stealthy shape. In the darkness, they would not have been able to see it, but it gave off a pale blue-white radiance. It went from tree to tree in a crouch, ignoring them and heading for the top of the hill. Brand estimated the creature to be perhaps half his height. An elfkin? A manling or a goblin? He couldn't tell. Reflexively, his hand went to the ward hung around his neck. Relief flooded through him to find that it was still there.

  “One of the Fair Folk,” whispered Telyn. Her voice was that of one seeing the divine. While they watched in stunned silence, the creature turned to look at them. Its eyes slitted and its ears laid down as would a cat's, then it opened its mouth to reveal thin delicate fangs that glistened with unearthly light. It turned from them and moved deeper into the forest.

  “A goblin,” whispered Brand, half to himself. “I had never thought such a creature would be so entrancing.” He turned to look down at Telyn, but she was no longer at his side. He looked around wildly, then noted that the disappearing goblin had a fluttering shadow following it that did not glimmer in the darkness.

  “Damn her silent feet! We must go after her, Corbin,” Brand said, beginning to run.

  “I rue the day I became your cousin,” lamented Corbin, trotting after him.

  They caught up with Telyn at the edge of the clearing in which the faerie mound stood. The goblin was nowhere in sight, but what Brand saw in the clearing quickly made him forget everything.

  A hundred of the Faerie or more thronged the clearing. Winged figures fluttered about in a circle, dancing about the ancient barrow as though walking on air. Many more earth-bound shapes cavorted and leaped in the grass. There were tall ones, almost as big as a man, and tiny ones, no larger than sparrows. All of them, even those most alien of aspect, held an unearthly beauty that took the breath from the mortals. All were sleek of limb and easy of movement, their impossibly smooth muscles rippling beneath their pale white skins. From each of them, a pale blue-white nimbus glowed. From the entire assemblage a powerful combined radiance shined, so that the clearing was lit up as if by the light of a dozen full moons. Brand knew that they reflected the moonlight, which was the source of the radiance. On nights such as this one, when the moon was round and full, the Fair Folk became the Shining Folk.

  Oh, and the music, the sweet music! It filled Brand's head with glories untold! The heady scents of honey and hot spices and wild flowers assaulted him as well, overwhelming his senses. Caught and paralyzed like a rodent beneath the stooping falcon, he could do nothing but stare.

  The Faerie floated and danced, feasting upon the Offering, which covered the mound and much of the clearing. One of them took notice of the River Folk and flittered close. Brand stared at the tiny form, a perfectly-shaped nude female with hair of gossamer and wings of fragile crystalline light. So exquisite was her beauty that he took a step forward, all but entering the clearing. She smiled at him, and came closer. She could not have been more than a foot in height, but he could little resist her beauty all the same. He felt a restraint, and looked down to see that Telyn had his arm, and was trying to keep him from walking forward.

  “Hold your ward close!” she hissed to him. He did as she told him slowly, like one moving in a dream. The tiny female Faerie halted her advance and backed away. She flittered back to join the others, giving him a final regretful shake of her tiny head.

  Now that he had his ward in his hand, Brand found that he could think somewhat more clearly. A bare sliver of concern impinged upon his mind as part of him realized how close he was to his doom. He blinked in confusion.

  A booming voice rolled across the clearing and the crass rude tones of it ripped a hole in Brand's heart. The entrancing power of the Faerie left him, and he felt a terrible wrong had been done. That a sad, sad mistake had been made. He missed the power of their spell with all his being.

  The voice belonged to Gudrin, who had now stumped into the open. She spoke to the Fair Folk as though they were worthy of no special reverence, as though they weren't exalted beyond all mortal pretenses. Brand felt she was a crude thing, insulting, an animal with the presumption to speak to its betters. It took some moments before he was able to comprehend the words.

  Reading from her book, Gudrin spoke at length in a ritualistic fashion, presenting the Offering to the assembled Faerie. The Fair Folk all but ignored her, seemingly intent on little other than devouring all they could of the feast. When the Talespinner asked who among them would accept the Offering on their part and renew the Pact, there came from the Faerie only scattered tittering laughter.

  Gudrin closed the book with a thump audible across the clearing. She took a step forward, brushing aside a Wee one that had gotten too near her heavy boots. She raised her arms on high and held her book aloft. “I demand that your lord come forth to meet me!” s
he cried. “I speak on the behalf of all the River Folk!”

  Suddenly, a figure of astounding beauty appeared before her, as if stepping through a door in the empty air. She was tall and lithe, dressed all in white, with long hair of spun gold and eyes of silver. Her unearthly beauty struck through to Brand and Corbin, so that both of them gasped and went weak at the knees. No human woman could ever possess such beauty, for she was perfect. Brand felt a rush of blood run through him. He was suddenly full of heat and passion as he had never felt before. His mind burned. Corbin took a half step forward, and then fell to his knees groaning and holding his ward to his eyes.

  “The Shining Lady!” gasped Telyn in terror. “Brand, Corbin, avert your eyes! She is one of the shades in league with the Enemy!”

  The boys tried to turn their faces, but only Corbin succeeded, keeping his ward to his face in trembling hands. Brand couldn't tear his eyes away from the most beautiful female creature that had ever lived.

  Even Gudrin was affected. She staggered forward, and then halted, swaying slightly. Still, her hands were outstretched above her. The golden clasp of her book glinted in the moonlight.

  “Look upon mine beauty,” the Lady said to Gudrin, “Accursed, Ugly creature, constructed of oil and filth, is it not thy heart's desire to share in my perfection?” The glimmering figure drifted down the mound ever so slowly.

  “Lady,” said Gudrin, her words coming with difficulty. “Lady, why are you here? Why do you torment us?”

  “Brand, something is wrong!” Telyn hissed in his ear. “Brand, we must get away from here!”

  “A kiss, only one kiss,” mumbled Brand.

  She shook him, and Brand was distantly aware of her, but his mind was focused upon the Shining Lady. He took a full step forward and now stood at the edge of the clearing. Sweat poured from him, his head had filled with sweet music and the powerful smells of lilac and mint. In desperation, Telyn tugged at him, but against his tense muscles, she could do nothing. Corbin remained on his knees, clutching his ward and shivering.

  The Shining Lady took notice of Brand then, and did turn upon him. She drifted closer, swaying a bit. Her hands wove themselves together in mock embraces, her lips moved softly. Brand knew what she wanted. It was only a kiss she wanted, just one single kiss. Her radiant skin shone through her white gown, revealing all but her feet, which were said to be the talons of a bird of prey.

  He took another halting step toward her.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Goblins

  Telyn moved between Brand and the Lady and talked insistently to him, but he didn't hear her words. He saw only the Lady. But, for a spare second, he managed to glance down into her face. Telyn was beautiful to him, an earthly beauty.

  “Telyn,” he said.

  Then, somehow the spell had broken. He stumbled backwards and turned his eyes from the Shining Lady.

  Gudrin swayed no longer. Gathering herself, she held her book before her as the River Folk held their wards. “I banish you! Offer us nothing! Your embrace will result in no beauty for me, but only ugly death. To touch you is to know death, agony and ecstasy, triumph and terrible defeat. By the Teret, the book of the Kindred, I banish you!”

  The Shining Lady paused and a sadness came over her that was hard for Brand to bear. With a final, regretful, heart-wrenching tilt of her head, she glided back and away. Her golden hair floated about her lovely face, but there was no breeze. She paused, and then looked over to Brand. She smiled then and raised her hand in a gesture of farewell. Brand might have run to her, but then she winked out, sliding away into nothingness.

  Gudrin dropped her arms. Her head lolled against her chest and her shoulders slouched forward as if she had undergone a great exertion.

  But her trials were not at an end, as another shadowy figure on horseback walked his dark steed forward. From him the elfkin and the Wee ones fled, crying out their fear in their small voices. His horse had red eyes and a long mane and tail of white which shone upon its sleek coat of black. It snorted and tossed its head, as if wanting to be away and galloping. “It is you who are banished, talespinner,” said the shadow man, his voice at once melodic and sinister.

  “The shadow man,” said Brand vaguely, coming partly to his senses. He was still captivated by the Shining Lady. Corbin regained his feet, but leaned on a tree trunk for support.

  “We must leave!” insisted Telyn, trying to rouse them. “Things are not as they should be!”

  “Ah, Voynod the Bard,” said Gudrin, nodding to the shadow man in recognition. “I have been tracking your whereabouts of late. You and your master have done much to circumvent the Pact. Oberon will no doubt chastise you for your adventurousness.”

  Voynod chuckled, a sound like the music made by water in a rocky stream. “The Pact is broken. It will not be renewed. Go back to your mountain burrow, talespinner. These muck-dwellers are not your people. You need not die for them.”

  With those words, Voynod turned his horse's head and retreated, and the forest swallowed him whole. The goblins, sprites, elfkin and Wee ones that remained continued to eat and drink, feasting as would stray dogs that have starved for many days in the wild. The sounds of their gulpings and slurpings filled the clearing. Brand saw them with a new clarity now. He saw more and more goblins it seemed, and in fact, among them were others that did not shine. They were like goblins, but larger, more man-like. These hairy, fanged creatures were bestial in their manner, and openly took the remains of the ravaged Offering from the smaller Faerie. One of the Wee ones, holding fast to an apple it had claimed, was scooped up and tossed across the clearing. It caught itself and ran with great hops into the forest, clutching the apple with its coattails fluttering behind.

  Gudrin cried aloud several times for Oberon to come forth, for any lord of the Faerie to accept her Offering and renew the Pact. None answered her save the snickers and catcalls of those that were gorging themselves upon the goods that the River Folk had worked so long and hard to gather.

  The three River Folk, having regained enough of their composure to retreat from the clearing, set out for the common. Their mood was one of deep shock and dismay. The idea that the Pact was broken was unthinkable.

  “What will happen to us all?” asked Corbin aloud. “Will we all find changelings in our cradles? Will the Shining Lady croon promises of lust and beauty outside our windows at night and drink our lives?”

  “Did we have anything to do with this?” asked Brand, voicing his greatest fear.

  “No,” said Telyn firmly. “The signs have been evident for months. The Faerie are no longer keeping the Pact with any devotion, that is clear to see. Many things have crossed the borders, and we have been stalked by such as Voynod himself across the breadth of the Haven.”

  “Could they perhaps have waylaid Myrrdin? Perhaps this is all part of a plot that has been long building,” said Brand.

  “And what were those things that ate with the Fair Folk? Were they beasts or men?” asked Corbin.

  “At least I can answer that,” said Telyn. “I believe they were Rhinogs.”

  The boys looked at her in horror. “Half-breeds?” said Corbin, aghast. “The offspring of goblins and human women? Such are strictly against the Pact.”

  Telyn could only nod. Brand numbly realized that if Rhinogs were being bred, that could only mean that war was at hand. The brutes were good for nothing else.

  Corbin pointed off at a glimmering shape half as tall as a man that stole forth to leer at them before disappearing again into the trees. “Isn't that fellow the goblin we followed up here?” The others agreed, and they all walked with greater care. The shadowy forest seemed to be hiding something.

  “Hello?” came a call from down the hill. Brand thought it was Jak's voice.

  “Hello?” Brand answered back.

  “Hello, hello, hello?” mocked strange voices from all around. The three of them halted in sudden apprehension. The dark woods seemed to close around them, hemming them in. The
trees were no longer friendly. Peering into the gloom, they picked out half-seen shapes that flittered and glowed. Somewhere to their left, the metallic edge of a weapon gleamed.

  “Brand, Corbin?” came Jak's voice again, more distantly this time, from somewhere downhill in the blackness.

  “Brand, Corbin? Corbin, Brand? Hello?” mocked strange voices. The trio halted again and wheeled, trying to locate those that stalked them. The boys wished that they had not left their woodaxes at Drake Manor. Telyn's long thin knife appeared in her hand.

  “The goblins hunt us,” hissed Telyn.

  “Hunt us.”

  “I think Jak is downhill somewhere,” Brand whispered to the others.

  “Hunt-”

  “Jak-downhill.”

  “Hunt us-”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Oberon

  Stealthy shapes moved closer, they could feel them now, a closing ring. Here a bush rustled, there a fallen leaf cracked. Instinctively, they put their backs together and circled, hands and eyes wide. Brand and Corbin groped at the ground for a rock, a branch-anything.

  Heavier footsteps crashed through the brush toward them. A single thought ran through Brand's mind, turning it to ice. Rhinog.

  He felt a rock, heaved it up in both hands, ready to smash down, ready to kill.

  “Brand?”

  “Jak!” shouted Brand, coming forward in relief. “Look out, they're all around us!”

  The goblins attacked. Small bows hummed. Glimmering shapes charged forward, leering. Jak cried out and fell, then stumbled back to his feet clutching at his leg.

  “Run for it!” roared Brand. He rushed their tormentors, heaving his rock at them. Corbin and Telyn charged with him, yelling. On the way he lifted up his limping brother and they all ran blindly into the darkness. Behind them feet pattered on dry leaves as the goblins gave chase.