Collun glanced over to see Gwynedd, lying on his side, deal a death blow to the remaining morg, but the prince then crumpled and lay still.
At the same time, Urlacan had drawn an evil-looking blade and was bearing down once again on Collun. The boy rolled away from the oncoming horse's hooves. He got unsteadily to his feet, looking around for Fiain, who came up beside him. He tried to mount the Ellyl horse but stumbled and fell to his knees.
Brie and Talisen were riding to Collun's aid, and Crann, too, was striding toward them.
Urlacan's yellow eyes darted from one to the other of them. An arrow flew past his head and was followed by another, which struck him in the shoulder. He let out a grating, hissing sound of thwarted rage and abruptly swung his horse. The morg bore down on Crann, and before the wizard could react, Urlacan swooped, snatching the oak staff out of Crann's hands.
The morg rode a short distance, then turned his horse so he was facing them. Collun watched in disbelief as, with a great shout of pain and exertion, Urlacan snapped the piece of wood into two pieces. He threw them to the ground. Black blood was flowing freely from the arrow wound in his shoulder.
Then, twisting his body toward the Forest Ceryddwyn, he cried out, "Arracht!" He repeated the word in an even louder, more strident voice.
A split second later a large figure emerged from the forest. It lumbered toward them on four feet with a speed that was surprising given its girth. It looked like a bear, with shaggy black fur covering its body. But as it drew closer, Collun saw it had the face of a man. It was a hideous face, misshapen and swollen, as though it had been thrown together haphazardly. It was headed toward Crann, picking up speed as it came.
The wizard stood facing the creature Arracht. He made no move to retrieve his broken staff. Collun began to run toward him.
As it drew close, Arracht raised itself on its hind legs. Then it lunged at Crann. The sheer force of the creature's forward motion propelled the wizard backward several paces, but he stayed on his feet.
Arracht drove Crann still farther back, until they were standing near the edge of the sea cliff. Crann wrapped his long arms around the creature's neck, and the two stood so close together they almost merged into one.
Then with a booming sound, the ground under Collun's feet heaved, knocking him flat. When he rolled over and looked for the wizard again, Collun saw him, still locked in an embrace with Arracht, standing on the very edge of the precipice.
Then, in the flicker of a moment, they were gone.
TWENTY
Burial Cairn
Collun screamed. He ran to the edge and looked over, his whole body shaking in horror. He could see nothing of either wizard or creature. The sheer cliff on which Collun now stood plunged almost straight down to a jagged outcrop of rock far below. The powerful waves that crashed against the rock, sending up spumes of white spray, looked almost miniature from the height at which Collun stood. His eyes desperately sought for a way to climb down, but it was obvious that the sheer walls were unscalable. He cried out in anguish and spun toward Urlacan, his dagger in his hand.
He could see the morg clearly in the moonlight, sagging on his horse's back. In a ragged voice Collun cried out, "Urlacan!"
The morg turned, and the triumph Collun saw in Urlacan's yellow eyes filled him with a feverish hatred. He began to run toward the morg, dagger upraised. The blue chalcedony glowed.
Urlacan painfully spurred his horse into motion and, pulling sharply on the reins, guided him back toward the forest. Collun let out a cry. He looked wildly around for Fiain, but even as the Ellyl horse came to Collun's side, the morg reached the forest's edge and was quickly lost to sight.
Collun stood still for a moment, ignoring the blood that trickled down his face. In a daze he turned his steps toward the sea cliff. When he got to the edge, he sank to his knees and looked sightlessly down at the crashing surf.
"Collun?" It was Brie. He turned and met her eyes. His own grief was mirrored there.
"He is gone," Collun said, his voice raw.
"Yes," answered Brie.
"How is Gwynedd?"
"Poorly. Gerran, the horse, is dead."
Collun stiffly rose to his feet. He crossed to the fallen prince. A long gash marked the right side of Gwynedd's body. It was as though someone had taken the sharpest of points and riven the flesh from the prince's ribs to his upper leg, where the wound was deepest. There was also a cut in the right side of his face. The handsome features were gray and distorted with pain.
Nearby lay the still figure of the dead horse.
Collun leaned over Gwynedd and gently inspected the wound. It was deep. Collun did not know whether the young prince would survive.
After quickly tending to his own cut forehead, Collun kindled a fire and prepared poultices of comfrey leaves crushed to a pulp and mixed with hot water. When they were ready, Collun laid them along the worst parts of the prince's wound. They quickly soaked through with blood, and he set to work making a new batch.
Gwynedd became delirious. His skin was flaming hot to the touch. He let out low animal sounds, and the only word they could make out was the name of his dead horse. At one point they had to hold him down, his body writhing and twisting as he shouted Gerran's name over and over. The bleeding got heavier.
Collun quickly prepared a mild sedative from valerian leaves and forced it between Gwynedd's cracked lips. After that the prince was quiet, though his fever still burned.
The moon was now high above them. The bluff was cool, with a sharp wind blowing off the ocean. Collun prepared a pan of hot chicory to take off the chill. As he watched the liquid come to a boil over the red-hot embers, his mind kept going back to the two figures struggling at the edge of the precipice.
They had built their fire as far as they could from the bodies of the fallen morgs and tried not to think of the shrouded figures. The morgs' horses had long since bolted.
They sat huddled in front of their campfire, drinking the chicory and listening to Gwynedd's labored breathing. They took turns sleeping and watching the prince.
The next afternoon, while Brie kept watch, Collun and Talisen set about clearing away the dead morgs. They dug a wide, shallow grave and then dragged the creatures into it, careful not to touch their skin. Talisen wanted to make a funeral pyre, but Collun overrode him, and they covered the bodies with earth instead.
Then the two boys dug a grave for Gerran. Collun was glad of all the mind-numbing exertion. They lowered the large animal into the hole they had dug and covered him over with earth and grass. They piled a few rocks up into a cairn.
Then, where Crann had fallen, Collun buried the two halves of his broken staff and laid three white stones over it. He scratched Crann's name onto the top rock. Night had fallen by the time he finished. Collun and Talisen stood for a moment by Crann's cairn, the raw wind penetrating their cloaks. Then Talisen silently stepped away, returning to the warmth of the fire. He lifted his harp into his lap and began to pick out an elegy.
Collun's eyes blurred. He blinked rapidly several times. Looking out into the night, he listened to the sound of the sea under the harp song, and he thought of the old wizard. His long fingers. His tired, seamed face. His clear eyes. Collun could not believe that Crann was gone. He dropped to one knee. Tears slid down his cheeks. He knelt there, unmoving, until long after Talisen's song was done.
Finally Collun straightened and walked back to the fire. Brie was roasting a small badger, while Talisen sipped a cup of chicory. Gwynedd slept.
"I have decided," said Collun. Brie and Talisen looked up, their attention caught by the tone in Collun's voice. "I will journey on alone to find Nessa," Collun went on. "The two of you must take the prince to Temair, where he can get the care he needs. Gwynedd can ride Gealach." Though his voice was edged with grief, there was a forcefulness to it that Brie and Talisen had not heard before. Talisen began to open his mouth to object, but reading the expression in Collun's face, slowly closed it again.