Horses of Dawn: Part IX

All around them was the stench of death.

"Where are we, Uncle?" Ian rode next to Ashe, slightly behind Evaynan as the hunting party moved quietly down a path that seemed almost familiar to him. The trees here were leafless, the bark a strange milky gray, and a number of dead animals had been found lying on the path. What was most disturbing about the latter was that there was no sign of a violent death, yet the animals had all died in obvious agony. Poison, Ian thought.

Ashe seemed as uneasy as his nephew. "We're near the Pool of the Goddess. It's just around the next bend in the road. I like this not, Ian; something is not right." He pointed. "Look at the stream! That water is black !"

Ian looked at the water and nodded. Like the Forest, the Pool left part of itself behind on every plane the Green Silences ever had visited, a Shadow Pool, so to speak. He'd seen the one left behind on his home plane, about a day's ride from Camelot, and had meant to bring Skye there sometime to see its clear waters. Now he wondered if it looked like this there as well.

Evaynan drew rein with a curse. Another dead animal lay in the dirt at his horse's feet, but this one was different. It was larger, and it took a few seconds to realize that this was some sort of badger. Ian frowned and then slid down to examine the prints in the dirt. "Something else passed this way; a lot of somethings." He spread his hand to measure the size of one set of prints." These have got to be the biggest damn wolves I've ever seen. And they headed away, back down the path." He remounted quickly. "They're behind us. They are between us and the herd, Grandsire"

The Lord of the Green Silences frowned. "We'll go on to the Pool first. Then we'll find these wolves." He led them on, and for the first time in memory their horses had to be coaxed to carry them further. When they finally had the Pool in sight, it became clear why the horses had become skitterish. Dead animals lay all around it, some victims of poisoned waters, others of those that had survived the water and turned into the twisted beasts. The Pool itself was rancid, full not of clear water but of some thick viscous liquid. Evaynan's reins shook as his hands quivered in grief and rage. "A Mother's tears formed the Pool and its Fountain; only a mother's tears will redeem it."

"It smells of blood," said Ashe "Someone has defiled the Tears of Mezumiiru". The other elves looked shocked, even the normally sarcastic Yarrow. "Come. We best deal with the results of this before we can repair the damage."

With that, the hunters turned and began following the trail of the beasts.

Then Ian realized where this pack was heading, and the frantic ride began.

**********

No matter what, he was not going to look behind him at what lay there on the ground.

The creatures, whatever they were, had pulled back a bit after the first attack, and the herd guards had quickly made sure any left behind were truly dead. The king stallion and the swiftest of the herd had joined the battle, and they formed the outer perimeter of a hastily fashioned ring of defense, their legs and sides spattered with blood. One of them had gone down fighting, and from somewhere out of Shane's sight they could hear the wolf-things fighting over the carcass.

"The horses can't keep them all away, you know." Trust Duir to see the worst, thought Shane. His cousin had taken a bite in the arm and a claw mark on the face. He looked at Shane's bitten hand and frowned "That doesn't look good. They might be poisonous, I suppose."

"No more than your words. How many of us are down?"

"Two of the herd boys. And Brennus."

Ian nodded. He would not look behind him. He would not! Instead he looked around at remaining guards. Four had bows. Six, including himself, had swords; he vaguely recalled he had taken it from one of the dead boys. Ten and the horses, and some of the beasts would, as Duir had said, manage to slip under and around the hooves to reach the elves.

Four bows. Six swords.

What would his father do? Or Uncle Corwin? Or Blackhawke?

He gestured with the sword. "Form a circle. Bowmen in the middle, swords on the outside. Shoot only at what you can hit easiest, and the rest of us will hold them off."

Duir bristled. "Who said we would listen to your orders?" As it happened, Duir was another with a sword.

"I'm Ian Blackthorn's son. I've grown up listening to soldiers talk about battles. You have a better plan? Anyone of you?" He looked at their faces. No one spoke. "Alright then, let's do it before they come at us again."

They formed the circle. Brennus lay at its center, barely breathing. Shane could not look there again. He couldn't. Duir stood to his left.

"Here they come!"

Grey shapes streaked past hooves by inches as Shane held his sword as Ashe had shown him. `Where are you, Da?' he thought.

And then he stopped thinking.