Path of Honor (3 page)

“What’s that?” she whispered. The birds and insects had ceased their chatter. The only sounds were the creak of the saddles, the thud of the horses’ hooves, and the rustle of the wind. Sweat slicked Reisil’s palms and she tightened her hands on her reins. Indigo pranced and tossed his head, snorting. “Do you feel it?”

“There’s something . . . ,” came Sodur’s hushed answer as he slid his sword free. Reisil grimaced. Would that she had any ability to fight, but there’d been no one to teach her in Koduteel. Sodur was the first to admit his own paltry skills. Which left them nearly defenseless now.
Stupid, stupid arrogance . . .
Her hand fell to the hilt of her dagger. It was sharp enough, but in her hand would do little damage against—
what?

A fierce yowl sounded from the trees. Lume bounded through the grasses, tufted ears pricked, teeth bared. At the same moment, Sodur’s horse squalled, eyes rimmed white. He spun around, crushing Reisil’s leg between the two horses. Fire spiked up to her hip as Indigo staggered, his bray echoing through the trees. Reisil lurched against the pommel of her saddle. Pain bit into her stomach, the air gusting from her lungs.

“Run! By the Lady, Reisil, run!”

Sodur’s hand cracked down on Indigo’s rump. The terrified horse leaped, and Reisil clutched her reins, her left leg dangling loose from its stirrup. Indigo flattened into a thundering gallop. Reisil clutched his mane for balance, wobbling in the saddle. Sodur shouted behind and she twisted to look. Like her, he hunched flat over his gelding’s neck, the horse stretched long in panicked flight. Behind them Reisil could see nothing.

They raced up the fold in the hills, slowed by the high, thick grasses. Foam lathered on Indigo’s neck, and his ribs bellowed with effort. By the time they crested the hill, Sodur’s long-legged chestnut had pulled even. Blood ran from a long slash in the animal’s neck and freckled Sodur’s pale face.

They plunged down the swell, leaping a trickling creek at the bottom. A narrow game track opened on the other side, and Indigo slotted himself into it, racing up the slope. Sodur fell in behind.

Fury. Fear. Purpose.

The goshawk dropped from the sky, skimming past the galloping duo with another shriek. Reisil twisted around, but could see nothing except Sodur’s bloodstained face.

“Go!” he yelled, waving, his sword still clutched in his hand. Reisil faced back around, patting Indigo’s sweat-slicked shoulder. Neither horse could keep up this pace much longer. The gelding’s breath came in rasping gasps, and his gait was becoming more choppy as exhaustion shortened his stride. Sodur’s taller chestnut thumped against Indigo’s haunches, and the smaller horse bounded forward only to slow again.

But their pursuers had not given up. Reisil could feel them closing in. Her skin prickled warning, and her blood went cold with sudden certainty.

Reisil’s head whirled as she found herself looking out through Saljane’s eyes. They were close above the grass, flying behind the fleeing horses, the ground a sweeping blur. Glinting shapes fanned out behind the horses, their bodies alternately silvered and transparent like moonlit water. Saljane winged upward, circling and returning to dive at the foremost of the beasts. It reared up, eerily silent, swiping at the goshawk with ruthless talons longer than Reisil’s fingers. Its nose was blunt and full of needle-like teeth, its eyes an uncanny opaque silver.

Even as Saljane twisted away, Reisil snarled, yanking on Indigo’s reins. The gelding swerved and stumbled. Sodur’s chestnut veered away into the tall grass. Too late, Reisil realized her mistake. The
nokulas
swarmed through the grasses, surrounding each rider in a ring of gnashing teeth and knife-edged claws.

It was hard to know how many there were. Their shapes flickered and shifted like shadows on water. Reisil caught a glimpse of a head, a paw, a haunch. There a curve of shining starlight, here a distortion in the grass. They sniffed and circled, silent as hunting cats. Reisil’s stomach churned, her breath thick in her throat. Beneath her, Indigo tensed. She held him still. Any movement would invite an attack.

As the beasts circled, she began to pick out details. They were graceful, muscular things, all teeth and armor, with sharp spines spiking down their necks and backs. Long, snaking tails whipped from side to side. None looked alike, except for their coloring, if the patchwork translucence could be called coloring. They prodded in closer and seemed to gloat at Indigo’s stricken moan.

High above, Reisil felt Saljane’s fear and anger as the goshawk circled.

~No. Wait,
she said as she felt Saljane preparing to dive in for another attack.
It’s too soon to move.

Reisil glanced over at Sodur. He held his sword out to the side, still as marble. His mount pawed at the ground, sawing his head against Sodur’s taut hold.
No!
Reisil cried silently.
Stay still!

Suddenly the horse gave a braying neigh and reared. He spun to the side and bolted through the ring of
nokulas
. The beasts whirled and dashed after, flowing through the grass like floodwaters down a steep mountainside. They romped after the desperate pair, teasing them, driving them. The
nokulas
herded the frothing horse first one way, then another, then round in a circle. Reisil was left to watch or run.

Frantic, she reached for her power, praying it would answer. Nothing happened. She tried again, demanding, pleading. Still nothing. Like calling for help in an empty room. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she sat helpless.

Sodur’s gelding slowed and staggered to a halt, head dangling, his breath coming in great, echoing pants. Sodur whirled his sword about himself, driving the
nokulas
back. But as one dodged aside on the left, three more rose snapping and snarling on the right. The chestnut sagged to the ground. Sodur lunged clear, sweeping around himself with his blade until one of the
nokulas
snatched it scornfully and flung it aside.

Reisil’s nails dug gouges in her palms. Sodur backed away, falling back to lie prostrate over his collapsed horse. A
nokula
pounced up on top of him. Horror swept Reisil, and her mouth dropped open in a silent cry. Gone was the shimmering watery transparency. The creature crouching over Sodur was molten silver. It had a long, narrow head. Tusks protruded from its mouth and curved like scythes along its jaw. Spiked horns sprouted from behind a bony knob on the top of its head. There was a rough texture to its hide, with odd lumps and bumps running down the length of its body, ending in a stubby tail. Ridges rose like serrated mountain peaks down its spine.

It crouched over the fallen man, a snakelike tongue slithering out to taste its victim. Sodur lay still, eyes wide, his neck soft and pale and white. The
nokula
’s lips pulled back in a sinister smile. The beast drew back its powerful foreleg, claws shining in the afternoon sun, and tongue sliding over its muzzle as if revelling in Sodur’s moan of terror.

For a long moment it did not move. Reisil’s legs clamped tight around Indigo, and he stuttered forward a few steps then stopped, digging in stubbornly. The other
nokulas
closed in until Reisil could see nothing of the fallen horse and only glimpses of Sodur’s clothing. She dashed at the tears on her cheeks and kicked at Indigo. The gelding refused to move.

A shape flickered past her. Lume. The lynx burrowed through the grass, a low growl sounding in his throat. Reisil jumped to the ground to follow, ignoring the pain raveling up her leg. She yanked her dagger free and dropped down to scurry after, watching the scene through Saljane’s eyes.

The
nokula
on top of Sodur remained motionless as ice, muscular foreleg levered back. It would take only one swipe to tear out the terrified man’s throat. Seconds ticked past. Still the blow did not come. Reisil edged closer, hunching down as Lume fell silent. Saljane swooped lower. Not far ahead in the grass, Reisil could hear the sound of the
nokula
pack sliding through the grass, and the shuddering breaths of the chestnut gelding.

Suddenly the beast on top of Sodur moved. Reisil bit her lips to stop her scream as its foreleg dropped. But it didn’t strike. Instead it pinched Sodur’s face in its claws, bending forward, snout a bare inch from Sodur’s crooked nose. Saljane shrieked and dropped until she was barely ten feet above the tableau. Reisil clenched her fist around the dagger and squirmed forward.

Then inexplicably the
nokula
leaped from Sodur, landing silently amongst its companions, leading them away through the grass. Straight toward Reisil. She stiffened, crouching ready, but they parted around her. In moments they were gone.

Reisil stared after them, her mouth agape. She lurched to her feet, legs shaking. Sodur had slid to the ground, one arm looped tightly around Lume, who nuzzled at him furiously. Sodur turned his head and began to retch. Reisil dropped to her knees beside him, instinctively lifting her fist to catch Saljane.

“Are you all right?”

Sodur nodded, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Beneath the spatter of his horse’s blood, his face was white. There were four bleeding holes on his jaws where the
nokula
had held him.

“Horse is worse off than I am. Got to get him up or he’ll founder for certain. Hate to have to walk the rest of the way.”

Reisil paused a bare moment and then stood, allowing him his privacy. She heard him retching again as she coaxed the exhausted animal to stand. She loosened the saddle and dropped it to the ground and then led the animal in looping circles. Slowly the big chestnut’s breathing steadied, the sweat dried and the trembling stopped. He walked with his head down, his hooves dragging and catching in the grass. The slash on his neck continued to seep, but Reisil was pleased to see the wound was shallow.

By the time the horse was cool and out of danger, Sodur had regained his composure. He’d washed his face and hands in a little rill and recovered his sword.

“We’ll camp up in the trees,” he said.

“What if they come back?”

He looked off into the distance, expression remote. “They had their chance.” He sounded quite certain, and Reisil wasn’t sure how much farther they could manage anyway.

They built a roaring fire and picketed the horses close by. Reisil cleaned the chestnut’s neck and applied a salve, not bothering to use her magic for a healing. She turned, feeling Sodur watching her. She felt herself flush hotly and averted her face.

Saljane brought back a fat grouse and retreated to a low branch to preen herself. Reisil plucked the bird and set it over the coals in a pot with water and rice. Afterwards she gathered more wood, piling it in a small mountain near the fire.

When there was nothing left to do, she sat down opposite to Sodur, who hunkered back against a tree, whittling at a piece of pale birch, Lume flopped over his outstretched legs. The sun had slid down behind the mountains, and the moon rose like a sickle blade, reminding Reisil of the
nokulas
, of their eyes, the sly, cruel knowingness behind them.

The silence stretched thin, Reisil looking alternately at the fire, at the horses, at Sodur.

“I thought they were going to kill you,” she said finally, twisting a stick between her fingers. Even saying it made her skin turn cold. Sodur had mentored her since they’d left Kallas. But he was more than that. He was her friend, as well. Aside from Juhrnus, he was the only one she had left. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and she swiped at them in annoyance.

“I thought they were too.” He never looked up, scraping the wood gently with his knife.

“Why didn’t they? Why didn’t they kill us?”

“They didn’t want to, I expect,” came the unhelpful answer.

Reisil stared, unnerved by his diffidence. “But why?”

He shrugged, finally looking up. “Isn’t it enough, the Lady sent them running?”

Reisil stiffened, taken aback by the reproof in his tone. She opened her mouth and then closed it.
The Lady is gone. The
nokulas
left for some reason of their own
. “No one has ever escaped a
nokula
pack before.”

“Not that we know of. I just thank the Lady for Her aid.”

Reisil squirmed. Though his tone was even, she thought she heard a cold reproach in his words.

When the meal was ready, they ate in silence. Hungry as she was, Reisil could barely keep her food down.

“Tomorrow we should get to Veneston. They’ll have word on where the plague might have struck recently,” Sodur announced, wiping his fingers on his thighs. “Might get a cup of kohv there too.”

He sounded more like his usual self, and Reisil looked up at him, startled. He smiled at her, eyes twinkling once again. “Good food. I don’t remember being so hungry.”

She frowned. It was as if he’d donned a mask. Or put one aside. He wanted to be strong for her, she knew. But pretending the attack hadn’t happened—She wasn’t going to forget it. Still, she didn’t want to force him to relive what he chose to put aside.

They said little else to one another, tying the horses close and curling up to sleep on opposite sides of the fire, counting on Lume and Saljane to keep watch. That night Reisil dreamed of a hovering black presence, a green snake with yellow eyes and a bloodred belly, and invisible beasts that gnawed the flesh from her bones.

R
eisil woke before dawn, her left leg aching. She sat up, biting back a groan. Sodur was already awake, feeding twigs to the coals. He glanced up with a smile, but said nothing. The flames flickered, reflecting in the shadows and hollows of his craggy face and making him look sinister.

Reisil stood slowly, breathing a sigh, her breath pluming in the chilly air. Snatching up her pack, she retreated into the underbrush to have a look at the damage. Her skin was a mottled tapestry of black, purple and blue from midthigh to ankle. Luckily the shaft of her boot was a soft, slouching leather, with crisscrossing straps to hold it in place. The swelling around her ankle wouldn’t prevent her from putting it on again. With gentle fingers, Reisil rubbed a salve over her ankle to reduce the swelling. There wasn’t much she could do for the bruises.