Fire Arrow (28 page)

Brie waited.

"Oh, very well. Yes. And it happens to be quite close."

"Why, Brie?" asked Collun.

"I'm not sure. But I was thinking that if we could get word to Silien..."

"Yes, an Ellylon army!" Collun's eyes lit up.

Hanna spoke, her face serious. "No matter how close your friendship with Prince Silien, it would take much for Ellylon to involve themselves in a matter that does not directly concern them."

"They were prepared to help us when Medb threatened," Collun pointed out.

"There was the cailceadon at stake then. Furthermore, there is no time for an army of sufficient strength to be mustered."

"It is worth trying," stated Brie. "At the very least we could send word to King Midir. After all, Prince Durwydd is a friend to Ellylon."

Hanna snorted. "Midir no doubt has as little respect for our prince as we do. But ... as long as it does not take us far off our path," she agreed.

They made it to the porth by midday. Aelwyn led them to an ancient willow tree on the edge of a still, silvery pond.

The wyll approached the tree, her hands upraised. But there was a sudden wrinkling on the surface of the trunk, accompanied by an almost melodic whispering sound. A person with golden hair emerged from the tree.

It was Silien. Collun let out a glad cry and clasped the Ellyl in a bear hug. Fara wound between Silien's legs, while Brie, too, warmly greeted him.

"We had come in search of you," she said in amazement, "and here you are!"

"I was seeking you as well. Well met, Breo-Saight."

"There is trouble, Silien," she said, after introducing him to the others.

"So I have heard."

"Will King Midir help us?" Brie asked bluntly.

Silien shook his head. "No. My father is preoccupied with cleaning up northern Tir a Ceol. Before the Firewurme was destroyed, it wrought havoc in the far northern stretches; the waters were fouled and the land corroded. Further, there has been an infestation of nathrach. They are strange small snakelike creatures and are quite toxic. We believe they were also let loose from the Cave of Cruachan by Medb. They have been bedeviling small pockets of Tir a Ceol. When I heard the rumors of trouble in Dungal, and that you and Collun might be involved, my father gave me leave to investigate, but he said not to count on him should there be trouble. Our own people must come first."

"Did you travel here alone?" asked Hanna.

"Well, no actually ... There was a small band of Ellylon stationed at the porth in the Blue Stack Mountains. I asked for a volunteer, to accompany me north. He seemed enthusiastic at first, though I'm afraid ... I'd better fetch him." Silien disappeared back into the tree.

The others were starting to fidget when Silien finally reemerged, followed by none other than the Ellyl Monodnock.

The Ellyl prince looked annoyed, saying, "Please excuse the delay." Monodnock's cheeks were almost as bright a red as his hair and he looked terrified. But when he saw Brie and Aelwyn, he let out a glad cry.

"Fair and tender ladies," he said, drawing himself to his full height, "it is a jubilation to see you once again. And shall I say that I am quite gleaming—no,
blazing
—with honor and privilege to have the opportunity, snatched from me so prematurely when last we met, to serve you on your mighty quest."

"Monodnock, well met," said Brie, biting on her lower lip to keep from laughing. She caught Aelwyn's eye, which flashed back at her merrily. Hanna, Collun, and the brother and sister merely looked astonished.

"Monodnock here keeps straying off; it's almost as if he wished to be elsewhere," Silien said with an ironic tilt to his eyebrows.

"Oh, no, no, no! I was merely performing a close inspection as to the state of the tunnels," blustered the taller Ellyl, running both hands through his spiky hair. "I know King Midir has the highest standards and I—"

"Yes, quite," broke in Silien. "Now, tell me," he asked Brie, "is it true that the gabha are on the move? And that they answer the call of a sorcerer with one eye?"

"He is Balor and he has two eyes, but one is all white. He seeks to overthrow Dungal, as well as Eirren. And ultimately, I believe, even Scath itself."

"He desires to conquer the Queen of Ghosts? This Balor does not lack for ambition," Silien said dryly. "The pass you saw, Brie, describe it to me."

The Ellyl listened intently, then nodded, saying, "Yes, it sounds like Tanniad Pass. Perhaps there is something we can do about the gabha coming from the mountains. Come, we must go quickly."

Silien rode with Collun on Fiain, while Monodnock nervously climbed up behind Brie on Ciaran. Silien led them east into the foothills.

"Excuse me." Monodnock leaned forward to whisper to Brie. "Prince Silien isn't truly planning to engage a host of one hundred gabha?" His voice cracked on the final word. "I mean, I know that the prince's draoicht must be impressive and all. But
one hundred
goat-men?"

"There is always danger when one seeks to defeat evil," Brie replied solemnly.

"Of course," Monodnock said tremulously.

***

By midnight they had begun the ascent into the northern peaks of the mountains. They rested briefly, then pushed on.

Silien, with his keen Ellyl ears, heard the gabha long before they were visible. The sun was rising as the Ellyl led them up a ridge. They then dismounted and followed Silien to the top of an escarpment. Taking care to keep out of sight, they gazed down into the valley that was Tanniad Pass.

In the distance they could make out the beginning of the column of goat-men Brie had seen winding through the mountains.

"There is a little time yet to prepare," said Silien.

He led them back to the ruins of an ancient stone wall. Giving them all a pleasant nod, he wandered over to a cluster of three larch trees. There he lay down on a mat of pine needles and promptly fell asleep. Fara curled up beside him, in her customary position by his shoulder. Monodnock stared across at the sleeping Ellyl, clutching Brie's arm.

"Don't worry, Monodnock," Brie said. "You know how much, um, energy it takes to work draoicht." She remembered all the times she had seen Silien fall asleep after performing some miraculous feat, although she could not actually recall him napping beforehand. She sent Clun to the crest to keep watch on the goat-men, while the others settled against the stone wall.

"He might have told us what he was planning," grumbled Aelwyn, fiddling with a gemstone on one of her necklaces. Brie noticed that it was a saphir and wondered if it was from the rock Collun had given Aelwyn long ago, when She had told their fortunes.

"Silien has always kept his own council," replied Collun. "But rest assured, if there were something we could be doing, he would have told us."

"I am glad to hear it," responded Aelwyn. "You met the Ellyl on your journey to destroy the wurme, did you not?" she asked, looking up at him with wide amber eyes.

Embarrassed, Collun said, "Well, it was before that. He rescued us from a vine, cro-olachan."

"I have heard of cro-olachan," Aelwyn said with a slight shiver. The saphir at her neck caught the sun.

Brie abruptly rose and moved away. She crossed to Ciaran and Fiain, who were grazing nearby. Hanna followed her.

"Have we done the right thing, coming here?" Brie said to Hanna, running her fingers through Ciaran's mane.

"The Ellyl prince must know what he is doing," Hanna said.

"No doubt," Brie responded. "But it is a risk; perhaps we should have returned to camp instead of..."

"Do not worry, Biri. We shall have our day on the battlefield soon enough."

Brie glanced over at the others. Maire had risen and was walking toward the larches, leaving Collun and Aelwyn alone with Monodnock, who appeared to have dozed off himself.

Hanna followed Brie's gaze, then smiled. "You know, wylls rarely use their own love charms; for some reason they won't work. Wylls have to go to other wylls."

"Hanna! I wasn't even thinking...," Brie protested, very much annoyed.

"No, I know. I just thought you might be interested."

"Well, I'm not."

***

Almost an hour had passed when Clun scrambled down from his lookout post on the ridge. "The gabha are about to enter the pass," he called as he came.

Silien, who was awake now, rose and looked thoughtfully over at Hanna.

"You are a weather maker?" he asked.

Hanna nodded, her eyes blue.

"Come, Traveler," Silien said. "Together we will make weather music." He turned and began to climb the escarpment. Hanna followed without hesitation.

The others stood in a knot at the bottom, watching. They could hear the sounds of distant marching. The goat-men were approaching Tanniad Pass.

The Ellyl and the Traveler lay on their stomachs, peering into the valley. Then Brie saw Silien gesture to Hanna, and the older woman rolled over onto her back.

Great billows of gray clouds begin to pile up overhead. And it was not long before a light drizzle began to fall. Steadily it grew stronger, until Brie and the others had to seek shelter under a rocky overhang that jutted from the side of the ridge. The noise from below grew louder. The gabha must have entered the pass.

Brie saw that Silien had pulled up into a sitting position, and she briefly worried that he might be spotted. She could hear faint singing, that agonizingly beautiful Ellyl music that reached into one's insides and twisted them, causing all else to lose meaning. Then came flickerings of heat and flame that scorched Brie's ears and nose and lips; waves of heat pulsing against her skin, accompanied by glittering eruptions of orange and yellow and gold.

The music faded and Brie blinked. She looked out at the rain and saw that scattered among the raindrops were quills of flame, no more than a finger long. They flared as they fell, a blur of yellow, orange, and gold, and when they hit the ground there was a dazzling burst, then they faded.

Ignoring the fire barbs raining about her, Brie ran out from under the overhang and up the escarpment to where Silien sat, cross-legged, his face drained of all color and his lips bent in a half smile. Hanna lay beside him, her eyes closed, sneezing violently.

Then Brie looked out and over the ridge into the valley. Unlike the intermittent quills of flame on the ridge, there, just a short distance from her, were sheets upon sheets of fire rain. The rain flames fell, unrelenting, on the goat-men below. It was an overwhelming sight, barely believable, and for a moment Brie felt something like pity for the creatures below.

Screams of agony and the appalling cacophony of goat-men and horses burning alive rose up to them. And Brie watched with a horrible fascination as the fire rain consumed all that it touched. Soon after came the smell, waves and waves of it. Brie's throat closed.

Hanna began to cough uncontrollably, and Brie stooped to her. The older woman had a terrible cold, but more, she had a raging fever and was trembling. Brie helped her up, and together they half slid, half walked down the ridge. Collun passed them, scrambling up to assist Silien, who was already falling asleep, dangerously close to the edge of the ridge.

When Collun came down the slope, carrying a limp Silien in his arms, Monodnock let out a shriek, "The prince is dead! All is lost!"

"Oh, shut up, Monodnock," said Aelwyn.

"He sleeps," explained Brie tersely.

They laid Silien on Fiain's back, where he slumped onto the horse's neck, still fast asleep. They gave Monodnock Hanna's horse to ride, while the shivering older woman rode in front of Brie. She too was bent double, her face pressed into Ciaran's soft mane.

They rode quickly, arriving back at the encampment by nightfall. While Collun and Aelwyn took care of Hanna and the Ellyl prince, Brie had Lom gather the company.

The army let out a cheer when they learned of the successful mission to destroy Balor's reinforcements, but listened soberly as Brie described the forces already arrayed against them.

"We must leave at once," Brie said. "The gabha encampment lies beside a forest. We will set up our camp on the far side of that forest, out of sight of the castle. Our main hope lies in taking the goat-men by surprise. Remember, the gabha are not human," Brie told them. And grimly she described the strength and the bestiality of the goat-men.

Shortly before setting forth for Sedd Wydyr, Brie was stowing something in her pack when she suddenly felt a probing in her mind. She stood straight, terrified. It was like a hand groping about inside her head, the fingers prying.
Balor.
He was looking for her. He knew of her escape from the bell tower; perhaps he knew even what she had done to it. She wondered if he had also learned of Hanna arid Silien's fire of rain at Tanniad Pass. She tried to make her mind a blank, but it was impossible. She had an irrational desire to grasp the arrow, thinking it might somehow protect her. Then, abruptly, the probing sensation was gone and her body sagged with relief. Had he found her? There had been no flaring moment of recognition, but she could not be sure.

She took the fire arrow out of her quiver and gazed at it. When she concentrated she was able to see the stories on all the picture bands now, all except one, the one at the bottom.

Ought she to use the fire arrow in battle? Brie wondered. It was a powerful weapon, but she dared not risk losing it or letting it fall to thé gabha, or worse, into Balor's hands. An arrow was a good weapon, but it had its limitations. Unlike a sword, once an arrow was wielded, it was gone, difficult to retrieve. No, she would not use the fire arrow in battle. Except on Balor.

But ... Brie suddenly smiled. There was another way to use fire and arrows together, and she had the Scathian in the bog to thank for the idea.

Brie sought out Lom and told him. His eyes kindled with interest. "I have heard of such things," he said, then went off to find his best arrowmaker.

***

As the company headed north, Brie felt that the land under her was shrinking, with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other pressing against each other, compacting and merging. And Hanna told her that at Dungal's tip the land between disappeared entirely and sea waves beat against mountain cliffs. Northern Dungal was a place of rock and water, with the occasional eruption of forest; in places trees were bent almost sideways by the long reach of the sea wind. There were few signs of human habitation. The soil was thin and even where there was turf, the rocks seemed always restless, straining to break through.