Lellin arose, and so did they all, but they stayed where they were, while Lellin walked to the stream and met the creature. Its height was greater than Lellin's; its limbs were arranged like those of a Man, but the articulation was different. When the creature looked up, the eyes were all dark in the starlight, and the features were thin and the mouth pursed, very small for the enormity of the eyes. The legs when it moved flexed like those of a bird, knees bent opposite the direction of a Man's. Vanye crossed himself at the sight, and yet more in awe than in fear, for there seemed less menace in it than difference.
"Haril,"Morgaine whispered in his ear. "Only once have I seen the like."
It came onto the bank, wary, and looked them all over with its large eyes. Whether it was male or female was impossible to tell. The body, dusky-hued, was ambiguous under its thick, fibrous robes, which were short and matched the shade of its skin, whatever the color was in daylight. Lellin spoke softly and signed to it. The harilanswered in a lisping chitter and made a gesture of its own. Then it turned and waded the stream, heron-like in its cant of body and its movements.
"There are strangers," said Lellin. "It is distressed. Something is fearfully amiss that a harilhas approached us. It wants us to follow."
"What are they?" Vanye asked. "How much can you understand of what it wants?"
"They are from long ago. They live in the deepest parts of Shathan, the wild parts where we seldom go, and generally they have nothing to do with qhalor Men. Their speech is their own; we cannot learn it and they cannot learn ours . .. nor wish to, I suppose… but they will sign-and if a harilhas come asking us to do something, then we should do it, my lady Morgaine. There is something vastly amiss to urge it to that."
The harilwaited, across the stream.
"We will go," Morgaine said. Vanye spoke no word of objection, but there was a tightness at his belly that settled in like an old friend. He gathered up their gear and started for the horses in haste and quietly. Whatever they had evaded in these last slow days was suddenly upon them, and from now on, there seemed no hope of coming peacefully to Nehmin.
They rode across the stream, moving as quietly as the horses might, and the harilwent before them, a shadow that the horses did not like. It chose ways difficult for riders, and often they must bend beneath branches or negotiate difficult slopes. At each delay the harilwaited, silent, until they had overcome the obstacle and began to close the gap.
"Madness," Vanye said under his breath, but Morgaine did not regard him. The harilstayed in sight, but now and again there was another presence: the horses detected it and threw their heads and would as gladly have fled. It flitted now on this side and now on the other, a tail-of-the-eye presence that was gone before one could turn the head, or which rustled a leaf and stopped before one could fix the place of it.
Another, Vanye reckoned… or maybe more than one. He slipped the ring which let his sword fall to his hip, and ducked low against Mai's neck as they took a new turn through dense branches and down a slope.
The trees thinned. Their guide brought them out into the midst of an almost-clearing, where something like a white-butterfly seemed suspended above a shadowy form… a little nearer and they saw it for a body, haril,and dead. The butterfly was the fletching of the arrow in its back. Their guide cluttered a string of words that seemed to reproach them.
Lellin dismounted and signed what looked like a question. The harilstood still and did not respond.
"It is no arrow of ours," said Sezar; and while Morgaine and Sezar stayed ahorse, Vanye slid down and went carefully to the dead haril,examined the arrow more closely in the starlight. The feathering it bore would not give it near the accuracy of the arrhendim'sbrown-fletched shafts at long range. This was the feather of a sea-bird, here in Shathan woods.
"Shiua," he said. "Lellin, ask them: where?"
"I cannot be-" Leilin began, and then looked about in alarm. Morgaine's hand went to her back, where she carried the lesser of her weapons, for all about them were tail, stalking shadows, heron-like in their movements. No brush rustled. They were simply there.
"Please," Lellin breathed, "do not do anything. Do not move." He faced the first haril,and repeated the question-sign, adding to it several others.
The harilimchittered reply all together. There was anger in that sound, which was that of mice or rats, but deeper. One came forward to stand by the dead, and Vanye backed a step, but only a step, lest they mistake it for flight. He stood very close to that one, and dark, enormous eyes flickered over him minutely. A spidery arm extended and it touched him; fingers ran lightly over his clothing, clinging slightly at each touch. He did not move. Starlight shone on the creature's smooth dark skin, showed the gauzy weave of its thick garments. He shuddered involuntarily as it moved behind him and touched his back, and he cast a glance at Morgaine, seeking counsel. Her face was pale and set, and in her hand was the weapon which had killed the deer. If she used it, he thought, then he would not be riding out with her: he much feared so.
Signs passed between the hariland Lellin, angry on the haril'spart, urgent on Lellin's. "They believe you part of the strangers' force," Lellin said. "They ask why we ride with you. They have seen you two here before, alone."
"Near Mirrind," Vanye said very quietly, "there was one. I know what it was now. It ran away when we chased it." The haril'shand descended on his shoulder from behind, gentle as wind, and tightened, betraying enormous strength, wanting him to turn. He did so, and faced it, heart beating wildly as he stared up into that dark, strange face.
"It is you," Sezar said from horseback. "It is you that disturb them… a tall Man, and too fair for a Shathana. They know that you are not of our blood."
"Lellin," said Morgaine, "I advise you do something before I do."
"Please, lady, do nothing. We are all alone here. Our folk have given no warning of this, and I do not think there are any of the arrhendimin the vicinity… little they could help if they were. These woods are the harilim'sjust now, and our chances of escape are not good. They are not violent… but they are very dangerous."
"Bring one of my arrows," Vanye said; and when no one moved: "Bring it!"
Lellin did so, moving very carefully. Vanye held it so that the harilcould see it and indicated the feathering, which was brown; and pointed at the arrow in the corpse, which bore white feathers. The harilspoke something to its fellows; they responded in tones that seemed at least less angry.
"Tell him," Vanye asked of Lellin, "that those Men out there in Azeroth are not our friends; that we come to fight them."
"I am not certain I can," Lellin said in despair. "There is no system to the signs; subtleties are almost impossible."
But he tried, and perhaps succeeded. The harilspoke to its fellows, and some of them gathered up the body of their dead and bore it into the woods.
Then the one behind set hand on Vanye and began to draw him away too. He resisted, planting his feet, and now he was very frightened, for the thing was strong -and they were still completely surrounded.
Lellin put himself in the haril'spath and signed a negative. The harilspat back a chittering retort, and beckoned.
"They want us all to come," Lellin said.
"Liyo–get out of here."
She did not. Vanye turned his head, trying to reckon his chances of breaking for his horse and living to reach it. Morgaine did not move, doubtless weighing other considerations.
Sezar muttered something he did not hear clearly. "Their weapons are poisoned," Morgaine said more loudly. "Vanye, their darts are poisoned. I think Lellin has been persuaded by that from the beginning. We are in somewhat of a difficulty, and I fear that there are more of them that we do not see."
Sweat trickled down his face, cool as it was in the night "This is a ridiculous situation. I apologize for it. What do you advise, liyo?"
"Vanye asks for advice," she said to Lellin.
"I think we have no choice but to go where they wish… and not to do anything violent. I do not think they will harm any of us unless they are threatened. They cannot speak to us; I think that they want to assure themselves of something or to demonstrate something. Their minds are very different; they are changeable and excitable. They rarely kill; but we do not enter their woods, either."