Down a Lost Road (21 page)

When I hit the threshold I halted, so
suddenly that I had to grab one of the tree-posts for support. Just
in front of me a man stood breathless, gripping a small shiv in one
bloodied fist and a half-spear in the other. His feet were bare, as
if he hadn’t had time to put on shoes. Blood oozed from the sole of
his left foot, pooling around his heel. He didn’t seem to notice
it. He bowed over, trying to catch his breath, while Enhyla stood
anxiously before him. Tyhlaur poured him a drink from an
earthenware pitcher, and the man took it with a nod of thanks.

“
Khymranna,” Enhyla
said.

“
They overwhelmed us, Lord!
They have pushed even into the
Branhau
, up toward Urith’s
camp. His men retreat even as we speak. They cannot hold them at
all! And my lord Talotyl is slain.” The man leaned over again,
shaking his head. I could barely hear him say, “They are headed
this way, Lord.”

I didn’t wait to hear anything else. I spun
around and raced back to Yatol. He saw my face and got slowly to
his feet.

“
Merelin, what is
it?”

“
Khymranna,” I gasped. “The
Ungulion have breached the
Branhau
. His lord was killed, and
Urith’s camp is threatened. He said they’re coming this way.” I
searched for some shred of consolation in his face, but found none.
“We have to go now.”

Yatol nodded, and we flew back to Enhyla’s
hut. We found Enhyla throwing provisions in leather sacks, Tyhlaur
arming himself. As we came in, he tossed a long spear and bow to
Yatol. Damian and Kurtis stood rooted by the far wall, alarmed by
the sudden frenzy of activity. I ran over to them.

“
The Ungulion are coming!
We have to go, now!”

And I left them to grab my little pouch. As
I came out from the back room, Yatol met me holding his thin,
curved blade.

“
Here, Merelin. I want you
to take this. I pray you never have to use it, but if you do, it
will give you some defense.”

I swallowed and took it, holding the smooth
white hilt and running my fingers over the milky blade, shining
like mother-of-pearl. Beautiful and sinister. I wanted to thank him
but couldn’t find my voice. It didn’t matter. He had already left
me. He went to Khymranna, regarding him silently for a moment.

“
They overwhelmed you?” he
murmured at last.

At first I thought he meant Urith’s camp,
but then realized he addressed the word to Khymranna alone.
Khymranna didn’t so much as glance up, but nodded his dark head
slightly.

“
Come with us! We can help
you.”

Khymranna straightened, gazing at our little
group gathered by the doorway. I noticed that his eyes had that
same indescribable light that shone in Yatol’s, the light I had
never seen in the eyes of any other person. He shook his head
fiercely.

“
I am spent, Yatol. Go. It
is my hour.” He bowed his head, and his muscles tightened. “I will
stay for the defense. It is my gift to you. Go while you have
time.”

I couldn’t understand the sudden grief that
flashed over Yatol’s face.

“
Khymranna…”

Khymranna glanced up at him and nodded, a
slow, meaningful nod. Yatol winced, but they clasped each other’s
shoulders, and as Yatol withdrew he stooped in a bow. My heart
ached seeing that strange farewell. But I could only cast one
puzzled glance back at Khymranna before I followed the others out
into the forest.

We fled back toward the
Perstaun
,
while behind us a chorus of shrieks and wails echoed from every
part of the forest. I would have stopped and turned to see, but
Yatol came beside me and took my arm.

In my ear I heard his voice, thin and
strained: “Don’t look back.”

We ran on. Suddenly, I don’t know why, I
drew up and glanced to the side, just in time to see Yatol and
Tyhlaur fading into the undergrowth. They hardly made a sound, and
then they were gone. I lurched to a stop. I wanted to call after
them, or even to run after them, but Enhyla clasped my shoulders
and propelled me forward.

“
Do not fear for them,
child! It is their task. Come! We must run a while longer
yet.”

I cast one last unhappy glance back and
quickened my pace. It seemed we ran forever. My lungs burned and my
hands started shaking. Just as my vision began to cloud over,
Enhyla slowed to a walk. I stumbled after him, taking gulps of air
that felt like emptiness in my lungs. We walked a little way, then
Enhyla waved us toward a clump of trees.

“
We will rest here and wait
for them,” he said.

We all collapsed on the ground, gasping and
coughing. I don’t think we’d run very far or fast. But the fear and
uncertainty that hounded us made it seem like we’d run a marathon
in five minutes. It took a lot longer for my nerves to calm than
the racing of my heart. Damian moved to sit beside me. His blonde
hair hung damp with sweat, but his face seemed rather paler than
normal. He wasn’t really winded, but he took deep, deliberate
breaths through clenched teeth. For a few moments he just sat there
next to me, staring at the forest as though he didn’t really see
it. Finally he cocked his head to look at me, and put his arm
around my shoulders.

“
You okay, Mer?”

I nodded. I realized I was shaking. “I’ll be
okay, in a minute.”

Kurtis moved the mat of silky brown hair off
his forehead, blowing on his face as he tried to regain his
composure. When he had collected himself enough to speak, he asked,
“Where did Yatol and Tyhlaur go?”

“
I don’t know.”

I scanned the forest around us. Dead calm,
as though there wasn’t a single living being in it. Even the light
seemed muted, almost pitch black back the way we had come.

“
Where did they go,
Enhyla?”

“
They went to gather
information.”

I swallowed hard. “They’re
spying
on
the Ungulion? Is it dangerous? Will they be all right?”

“
Of course it is
dangerous,” he said with the ghost of a smile. “But they have done
it for many years. Do not fear for them.”

“
Is it safe for us, waiting
here for them?”

“
They will stay in front of
the force, so even if they keep pace with the Ungulion, they will
reach us sooner than the enemy. The Ungulion are marching now. They
will likely send out dispatches, to gather all the living so they
can be driven toward Alcalon. Those divisions will go with speed.
But the main force has taken the slow, steady pace of a deploying
march.”

“
And the Ungulion? Yatol
and Tyhlaur have weapons, and Yatol gave me a blade, but the
Ungulion seem dead. At least, I can’t imagine that they’re actually
alive. These weapons wouldn’t hurt them, would they?”

“
We don’t know what their
nature is, exactly. Some life burns in them, but neither are they
living
. Certainly not. What weapons we have can delay them,
but they do not actually wound them.” He gazed at me keenly. “That
is one of the dangers of being a runner. Not only do you go out and
gather information, but when there is an attack, you remain and
stave off the enemy until the others have had time to
withdraw.”

I sighed unhappily. “But I wish he was
here.”

Chapter 15 – Rescue

Moments later Yatol and Tyhlaur returned,
drenched in sweat and empty-handed. Enhyla handed them skins of
water, and they stood a while in silence slaking their thirst. They
seemed stern, somehow, stern and strong and almost absent. None of
us dared approach them.

Tyhlaur came eventually to sit with us, but
Yatol kept gazing back the way we had come, toward Enhyla’s hut. If
I hadn’t known him, I would have been afraid of him at that moment.
I’d never seen him like that, fierce, with some terrifying light
gleaming in his eyes. It was as though the strange fire in his eyes
had completely swallowed the dark depths of his irises. I could see
his throat tighten, his hands clench at his sides. After a moment
he turned away, away from the darkening forest and away from me. He
put his hand to his forehead, then dropped to his knees and bowed
his head.

“
Enhyla? Who was Khymranna?
Yatol seems just devastated. Were they close friends?”

Enhyla sighed. “Friends, in a way. But they
were bonded, because they shared a common duty.”

“
But I didn’t think Yatol
was a scout. Khymranna was a runner, wasn’t he?”

“
Yatol is a scout when
needed – as you just saw. But no, he is not a true runner like
Tyhlaur and Khymranna.”

I stared at Yatol, suddenly uneasy. “Then
what duty did they share?”

I turned back to Enhyla when he didn’t
answer. Enhyla was watching Yatol too, and presently he said, “He
is stronger than you know.”

That terrified me. I had no idea what he
meant, but it sounded so ominous. More than the shrieks and
darkness we’d left behind, those words made everything feel like a
nightmare. I don’t know why it struck me that way. It was all a
nightmare.

Tyhlaur went to take up a sentry post near
the trees, and a moment later Damian left me too. He got to his
feet and went to Yatol, crouching down beside him and gazing out
over the forest.

“
What did you
learn?”

Yatol shot him a quick glance, the sorrow
vanishing from his face – or maybe he just hid it immediately. He
gestured back the way we had come.

“
They march this way. We
saw them send out a small group. They were to comb the area before
them, but…we hindered them.”

Damian grinned. “I noticed your weapons are
gone. Is it hard, fighting them?”

“
If you mean, is it
frightening,” he said, and shrugged, “then no. Not very much so.
But it is hard, because you see they never are wounded. No matter
your own strength or skill, it never stops them fully.”

“
Have you fought them many
times?”

“
Aye, I suppose,” Yatol
said with a small smile.

Damian sighed. “In a way I envy you.”

“
Do you?”

“
Yeah. But I couldn’t say
why.”

He left Yatol then, and came back to Kurtis
and me. Kurtis must have been listening in on their conversation
too.

“
I agree with you,” he
said. “I envy the people of this world, especially those who can
fight its battles. It’s what you love about the old stories and the
myths.” He shook his head. “Well, to have the strength to fight
them – that I envy. But the duty to do so? That’s
harder.”

I was about to ask him to explain when
Tyhlaur suddenly spun around and raced back to us.

“
Those fiends!” he shouted
as he ran. “They’re nearly here. Go! Go! There’s no more
time!”

I turned back to the forest. It seemed to
seethe, all its beautiful light quenched into utter blackness. The
Ungulion made no sound as they approached, or no more sound than a
whisper of a breeze might make. But somehow it felt deafening.
Instinctive alarm woke in me, and I reached into the little pouch
on my belt. Pyelthan burned like ice. Darkness seeped toward us.
The blood pounded in my head with the panicked race of my
heart.

“
I thought you said they
were coming slowly now?” I cried.

“
Not the dispatch,” Tyhlaur
said, grim. “They fly.”

My fingers brushed Pyelthan again, and I ran
to Yatol. “Yatol, what are we going to do?” I dropped a step away
from him, seeing his face. “We can’t outrun them, can we?”

“
No, Merelin.”

The air throbbed. They were so close, I
could almost feel them. I glanced back at the others. They seemed
frozen. It’s like they all gave up thinking we could escape. All
except Damian. He knelt on the ground, head bowed and hands
clenched in fists.

Something was wrong. I wanted to move. Yatol
beside me wanted to move. Neither of us could. Side by side, we
stared at Damian, at the figure standing before him. We couldn’t
hear their words. Suddenly Damian turned toward me, and our eyes
met for the briefest moment. My heart caved in as he looked away
with a nod.

I screamed and stretched out my arms, as if
I could grab him and drag him with us. My hands caught swirling
air, hugged cold eerie emptiness. And then the world tore away from
my feet. Grey-gold mists swallowed me, only to dissipate just as I
found my palms and knees dropping to the warm dusty earth.

“
Damian!
”

I couldn’t see anything but dirt. Everything
careened wildly around me, and I couldn’t focus. Could hardly
breathe. Stabbing pain shafted through my head. I forced myself up,
but my legs wobbled and buckled and I collapsed into Yatol. I
hadn’t even seen him standing close behind me. He called my name,
letting me sink back to my knees with his arms wrapped tight around
my shoulders, but I just kept staring around until the haze
receded. There were Kurtis and Enhyla, both unconscious. Tyhlaur a
little farther away on hands and knees, coughing. Yatol. His hand
in my hair, holding my head close to his shoulder, not looking at
me. Throat tight, eyes squeezed shut.