Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [186]
The animals were crowding together, heads high, the whites of their eyes showing. He didn’t blame them. This forest was a strange and eerie place with the storm, the wolves and the metallic scent of blood and blade, though he felt a thread of kinship here. It was inexplicable, made no sense, but he felt like he’d been here before and he didn’t want harm to come to this land. Hardly a warrior’s stance, or a stableboy’s. I might as well be an enemy, having such a thought in my head.
He kept his mare under control but he wasn’t sure how many more horses he could lead without losing them all. The harm he didn’t want to inflict was everywhere, and he was in the middle of it. Lightning flashed again and the horse at the end of his string reared. She took off, dragging two others with her. He struggled to keep the grey mare from turning on her heels and running after them. He leaned forward, grabbing her mane when she reared and pawed the air.
‘Easy, Rose. Easy.’ He pressed his face into her neck, sending his thoughts as if she would hear them in her mind. We’ll be safe. I’ll protect you.
He had no idea how he would protect her, or himself, but he sent the thoughts anyway, as if they were true. Her hooves hit the ground, jolting hard, but she settled and they moved on. There was no point in trying to find the horses that bolted. He needed to mind the ones he still had control of.
There were three in tow now, near panic. The empty stirrups slapped their sides as they pranced. Wolves were all around. He caught sight of them with each flash, and so did the horses. He moved them into a trot and followed the creek upstream. Willem was not far ahead. In the next lightning flash he saw a bridge, a full battle scene raging around it. When the light faded, he realised he could still see the fighting, though the figures were dark, etched in red. How could that be? He worked his way towards the bridge, hoping to get the horses to higher ground on the other side of the creek, when a scream split his ears.
What he saw jarred his mind and the creatures in the depths of his soul launched sky-high like leaves in the wind. They hung on the sides of the well, clawing and grasping for purchase, awake, strong, frantic to escape. Under the bridge stood a witch, the beautiful woman he’d seen in the carriage. Her again? Was he dreaming? He stopped the mare and the other horses bunched around him. He opened his mouth, waiting for his frenzied thoughts to form a word, to call out to her. Before they could, lightning ripped the sky.
A young girl ran, her cloak streaming behind her, hair drenched and clinging to her skin. A glowing blue light pulsed in her fist. She clutched it to her breast and ran like all the demons of the underworld were on her heels. His head felt like a club had struck him. He knew the gait, the shape, the energy, the scream.
‘Shaea!’ he shouted above the storm. ‘Shaea! Wait!’
He drove the mare towards her at the gallop, the other horses dragging behind, anchors in the mud. ‘Shaea, wait! It’s me. It’s Xane. Where are you going?’
She froze. Her head turned towards him but their eyes never met. Lupins closed in and she took off again, up the jagged steps of the northern cliff face, slipping and falling and scrambling to her feet, climbing towards the top. Why was she going that way? There was nothing up there save unpassable rock. The Lupins would run her down. They were gaining with each breath. ‘Shaea! You’ll be trapped.’
A raven swooped past, chasing her as well. A witch? He let loose his string of horses and made it to the bottom of the cliff at a dead run. He jumped off the mare and drew his sword. ‘Shaea, I’m coming!’
The lightning flashed and one wolf dropped back, turning on him. He stood still, not breathing, waiting for the light to vanish. The animal’s eyes were black and lucid. He could