Darkwalker on Moonshae - Douglas Niles [134]
A minute later, the Riders were still hacking, though little besides blood now lay on the ground beneath them.
As the black horses carried their Riders around the sister knights, Laric smiled grimly to see the momentum of the enemy’s charge broken. The white horses swerved in confusion as the knights tried to restore some order to their line. Thelgaar’s legion of northmen, Laric could now see, attacked the rear of the column, driving to shut it off from the north gate and the dubious shelter of the town.
The Bloodriders swept across the front of the charge, forcing the knights to turn. In minutes, the path to the castle had been securely closed again.
“We have them!” exulted Laric. The enemy was trapped!
And then a wayward breeze wafted a familiar scent past Laric’s decaying nostrils, and the fire surged in his eyes.
She lived! With a sweet rush of pleasure, he sensed that the knight he had nearly slain was now within the formation. Like her companions, she was caught in the trap.
Finally, she would be his.
*****
Robyn walked slowly from the cool gray gloom of her bedroom through the hallways of Caer Corwell. She had awakened, feeling a vague, unidentified concern. As she stepped from her bed, her legs nearly failed her, but soon she could walk.
She felt herself grow stronger with each step, and then realizing that she carried her mother’s staff, she leaned on it for support. Dimly, she wondered what had happened to the world outside her room while she had read the book.
Some great purpose prodded at her, but she could not fathom its nature. The book… it had given her many clues, but little direct knowledge.
The goddess smiled upon Robyn, and held her arms open for the young woman. Falling into the embrace, Robyn continued to walk blindly through the hallway as the goddess spoke to her.
Unknowingly, Robyn opened a door and began to climb the steep and winding stairway leading to the high tower. All the while, the goddess comforted and instructed her. She dried Robyn’s tears, and hugged her when she wept for her mother, and supported her body when it might have slipped upon the stairs.
But mostly, she convinced Robyn that, within her mortal flesh, lay the power of the immortal earth. The druid within her needed confidence and wisdom for her task. For Robyn already possessed the strength.
*****
The clouds pressed, black and menacing, over the battlefield. Gusty winds whipped through the air, lashing waves onto the shore of the firth. The wind churned the clouds as if trying to match the violence on the ground below.
Avalon leaped and kicked through the melee, carrying his rider from one foe to another. Many Bloodriders felt the keen bite of the prince’s blade. But still they swarmed, more thickly than ever, and he knew there would be no breaking through to the castle.
Avalon whirled and the prince saw that retreat back to the north gate was blocked by charging northmen. Gavin, at the front of his company, swung his massive hammer through a deadly pattern. The smith had cleared a wide area around himself, but beyond that circle the Ffolk fell under the attacks of the savage raiders.
Nearby, Tristan saw a knight dragged from the saddle by the press of northmen on foot. The sister vanished into a slashing maelstrom of swords, axes, maces, and spears.
Suddenly a crimson robe flashed past the prince, borne by a streak of black. One of the Bloodriders was dashing among the knights, ignoring most and seemingly seeking one victim in particular. Suddenly Tristan realized that the target must be the one knight who was not looking at the crazed menace. Aileen.
Avalon sensed Tristan’s command, leaping toward the charging Rider. The macabre figure turned and raised his sword. With a shock, Tristan recognized the Bloodrider who had momentarily captured Aileen earlier at Freeman’s Down.
His enemy seemed to share the memory, for a ghastly grin split his horrible face, and he reined in to meet the