Silver Shadows - Elaine Cunningham [44]
The elven maiden stumbled into the forest and into the wailing arms of Tamara Oakstaff, the only female in the war party. The young fighter steadied the child, then held her out at arm's length. Tamara's expert gaze slid over the girl, measuring her hurts.
These were many and considerable: welts and gashes dealt by the whip, skin rubbed into raw, angry wounds by rusted chains, a frail body weakened by lack of food and water and rest. There were unseen hurts, too, apparent only to Tamara's fey eyes. For a moment the elf woman flinched away from the terrors the child had endured. But any thought of pity died when Tamara's gaze reached the girl's fierce eyes. The older female nodded approval. This one would not only survive, but fight!
"Give the little hawk some water," she said with a smile, "and then give her a bow and quiver!"
But the elf maid waved away both and pointed to the retreating humans. "Too late for that," she said. "They are beyond range," Foxfire agreed.
As the leader handed the girl a watersMn and indicated that she must drink, his eyes searched the windows placed high on the large wooden structure that stood at the far side of the field.
There archers lay in wait for them. As he'd expected, this was an ambush. What he hadn't bargained on was that Bunlap would use elven children and females to lure his opponents into the trap. Silently Foxfire berated himself. He should have foreseen something like this, given what he knew of the man.
Tell us of our foe. How many humans do we face?" he asked the elf maid, speaking as one warrior to another.
This show of respect brightened the child's eyes. She bit her lip, concentrating, nodding off the count as she silently tallied their foe. "More than a hundred men attacked Council Glade; of that number, perhaps half survived. We six managed to kill a few more since we were brought here, but there were far too many for us!"
"A familiar story, when dealing with humans," muttered Tamsin, Tamara's twin-born brother.
"And in the barn?" Foxfire pressed.
"Ten, maybe more," she said. "There were twelve guards in the field, and two patrols of ten each in the forest."
"You needn't worry about them," Tamsin assured her in a tone that left little doubt as to their fate.
"A score of humans. We outnumber them three to two," exulted Tamara.
"And in the forest, that would be overwhelming odds," the leader said. "But the humans have turned this battle around, forcing us into a stupid and suicidal charge while they fight from cover as forest people do!"
"It is not our way, but if you say it must be done we will follow you," one of the warriors said. The others, thirty in all, nodded and raised their hands in a silent gesture of assent, as the elves of Talltrees pledged their lives to their war leader.
Foxfire thanked them with a nod, then turned back to study the unfamiliar battleground. For a long moment the warriors at his back remained silent in the shadows, waiting with elven patience for his decision. As the darkness around them deepened, the only sounds were the night songs of birds and the quickening chirp of crickets.
Then the quiet twilight was rent by the sound of a female's scream, high and piercing and anguished. The elves tensed, their dark fingers curving around their bows and their muscles tensing as they prepared to sprint through the deadly field.
"Do not," Foxfire said softly, though his own face was twisted with distress. "They are baiting us, and their archers will pick us off long before we reach our people. Your deaths will only speed theirs!"
"What, then?" demanded Korrigash, coming up to his friend's side.
With a strange smile, the leader pulled his bone knife from his belt and cut the thong that bound his forehead and held back his fox-colored hair. From it hung a number of ornaments that helped his bright russet locks to blend in with