‘Let me join you.’ The words sprang unbidden from his lips.
Danel cocked her head, put her hands on her hips. ‘And why would I be wanting another hungry mouth to feed?’
‘Because I can be a help to you, not a burden. My human grandfather, my mother’s father, was a forester. He taught me how to set snares, how to track and to hunt with a bow, how to butcher my kill and prepare the hides. Thanks to him, I also know how to catch fish and find dry firewood, and how to build a shelter in the open.’
Though less than an hour before, Kelon had been convinced that he would never smile again, he somehow found a smile for Danel. ‘So you see how useful I could be, if you’ll have me?’
The feral girl’s tired eyes brightened. ‘Everyone in our band was an escapee from the city. When we fled out here, none of us knew a damn thing about surviving in the wilds. All these years, we’ve been scraping by as best we could.’
Kelon remembered from several years ago the mass escape of slaves that had so angered Hellorin. Though a search had been made for them, using the Hunt, they had scattered far and wide into the depths of the forest. A goodly number had fallen prey to the Phaerie hunters - Hellorin had decreed that none of the troublemakers were to be brought back alive, no matter how great the inconvenience and expense to their former owners in Eliorand - but apparently, some had managed to keep both their freedom and their lives.
‘I think that what you’ve done is admirable,’ he told Danel. ‘Truly, I would be honoured to be part of your group, and glad to help you in any way I can. Eliorand holds nothing for me any more. Even if you won’t accept me, I won’t be going back. I’m finished with the Phaerie for good.’
‘Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place? Join us and welcome, Kelon.’ She offered him her rough, nicked, dirty little hand, and he clasped it in his own.
‘Follow me. I’ll take you back to the others. We’re following the instructions of someone who wasn’t there, and heading for a place that doesn’t exist.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll explain on the way - though in all honesty, I don’t expect you’ll believe me.’ With that, Danel slipped away through the trees, a shadow among shadows, forcing Kelon to hurry after her in order to keep her in sight. From over her shoulder, her voice came floating back to him. ‘I wish you’d hung on to the horses, though.’
Back in the clearing, Aelwen, swearing bitterly, began to hurry after Kelon, but was restrained by a hand on her arm. She swung round. ‘Taine, I can’t just let—’ But to her surprise, she looked into Athina’s face.
‘Take comfort, Aelwen.’ The Cailleach’s silver eyes turned as huge, sharp and gold as those of a bird of prey, gazed far into the distance, as though her vision could pierce the intervening trees - and not only the trees, but the veils that hid the future. ‘Kelon must walk his own path now, but do not fear. He will be as safe as any of you in these troubled times, and he will not be alone, or friendless, for I brought him hither to encounter some new companions, and to these he will go now.’
She took Aelwen’s hands. ‘Do not fret for him. It is better so. It would not be good for either of you to remain together now. You both need to be heart-whole: you to walk the ways of the future alongside the one you lost long years ago, and Kelon to live for himself and forge his own fate, instead of ever walking in your shadow. All will be well, child. All will be well.’
‘How can you possibly claim to know these things?’ the Horsemistress demanded.
Athina reached into thin air and brought out another red globe, tossing it carelessly to hover beside the others that had led Aelwen and Kelon to her. ‘I know them. And I brought you here, as I was explaining to the others before you arrived, because this group, all of you, will greatly influence the fate and survival of the world that we know.’
‘But—’
‘Enough. I want you all to come with me to my tower now. It is safe there, and we can deal with all the explanations, and plan our next move in comfort and safety.’
‘But—’ said Iriana.
‘Yes, I can use my power to move your injured friend without risk. Hopefully, I will be able to help him.’
‘But—’ said Corisand.
‘Yes, of course there will be food and shelter for the horses.’
‘But—’ said Taine.
‘Yes, you can trust me. Yes, it’s not that far. Yes, it is concealed from the Phaerie Hunt.’ By this time, the Cailleach’s voice was beginning to hold an edge of irritation.
Iriana swallowed hard. ‘Athina?’
‘Now what? Oh, I see.’ Her voice dropped from irritation to gentleness. ‘Yes, my dear, of course we can tend to your fallen friends before we go.’
For Iriana this was a necessary task, but one fraught with deepest sorrow. Save for Avithan, the newly united companions clustered around Esmon’s body. The Warrior had been moved from the trampled, blood-soaked mud of the clearing to a gently sloping bank, soft and green with cushioning moss and overhung with fern, that reached down to the edge of the pool. Iriana had cleansed his body as best she could, and the others had helped her array him in the spare clothing from his pack, which hid the wound in his chest. But his clothes could not conceal the gaping gash in his throat, and Aelwen, seeing Iriana’s distress, went to her pack and took out the one treasure she had allowed herself to bring from Eliorand: a scarf of moonmoth silk, coloured by Phaerie magic in the shimmering hues of the rainbow. It had been a gift from Taine many years ago, before they were parted, and had absorbed many of her tears during the lonely years of their separation. When he saw what she carried, their eyes met in a lingering, secret look, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Aelwen gave the scarf to Iriana.
‘But I can’t take this,’ the Wizard protested. ‘It’s a treasure of yours, I can see that.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Aelwen told her gently. ‘During all the time that Taine and I were parted, this was always a token of hope to me, that one day he would come back and our life together would be renewed. Now that he has returned,’ - she glanced at Taine, her heart in her eyes - ‘I have no need of such keepsakes. Let it stand instead for Esmon, as a symbol that one day he too will return, to another, happier life.’
‘Thank you, Aelwen.’ Iriana arranged the scarf around Esmon’s neck, hiding all evidence of the dreadful wound. Then, with a glimmer of tears in her eyes, she turned and took the limp body of Seyka, and laid it on Esmon’s breast. At least the owl would not be alone. Melik, still a little weak and nervy, but determined to fulfil his usual task as Iriana’s eyes, touched his nose once to the owl’s wing as if making his own farewell. Iriana stroked the cloud-soft feathers one last time and clasped Esmon’s cold hand in parting.
‘Stand back,’ she told the others softly. Lifting her staff to help her concentrate her power, she reached inside and found the hottest fire she could conjure. With a soft word she loosed the fierce energy. The bodies of the fallen vanished in a single flash of incandescent flame, and when the dazzle faded from the eyes of the watchers there was only a drift of soft ash, already blowing across the surface of the pool like a grey, translucent veil. Thus passed Esmon, consummate Wizard and dauntless Warrior; leader, mentor and friend. Thus passed Seyka, windchild, spirit of dusk and dawn; with courage and heart too great for one so small. Long would her winged ghost whisper on the winds of Iriana’s memory.