The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [27]
Lei reached up to wipe the blood from her eyes, but the distraction came at a crucial moment. A second hound smashed into her, throwing her to the ground and pouncing on her chest. It knocked the staff from her hands. The wail came to a sudden end, and Lei’s strength and anger drained away. The hound moved with blinding speed, striking at her throat with bloodstained teeth. Powerful jaws closed, straining to snap her neck … and failing.
Before the battle, Daine had ordered Lei to weave a protective enchantment into her vest, and this magic dispersed the brunt of the attack. The pain was great, and Lei gasped for breath, but the hound couldn’t pierce her armor. There was a breath of wind, and the creature jerked back as it was struck by Pierce’s arrows. It dissolved, pressure vanishing as blood flowed over Lei’s chest.
Xu’sasar danced among the hounds, lashing out with knee and elbow. Lei heard the thrum of Pierce’s bow as arrows cut through the air around her. Then she saw the dark stallion charging her.
At one point in her life, Lei might have been terrified. But after all she’d been through over the last few days, a man on a horse just couldn’t frighten her. She saw the stone mask of the Huntsman, the single tear gleaming in the moonlight, the silver tip of his spear leveled at her heart, and the stallion’s hooves, tearing the ground as it thundered toward her. Her staff had been knocked from her grasp, and there was no time to reach it. She was empty-handed.
But there was a golden glyph painted on the palm of her left hand.
Raising her hand, she reached out with her thoughts to touch the power she’d bound into the glove. The symbol exploded outward in a burst of light, catching horse and rider in a brilliant spray. Thousands of golden motes filled the air, then the light condensed around the Huntsman and his mount, covering both with a layer of glittering dust. The stallion staggered to a halt, stumbling blindly and pawing at the earth. Two of Pierce’s arrows sang through the air—one was aimed at the stallion’s eye, while the second caught the rider in the throat. Both shafts shattered on impact. The hunter didn’t even seem to notice the blow.
“Fie!” the Huntsman cried, his voice thundering across the plains. He shook his head, but the magical dust could not be removed that easily. “Such trickery will not keep me from my lady!”
“Then let’s try a new trick.” Daine vaulted up behind the hunter and wrapped his arm around the man’s throat. The blinded stallion bucked and leapt, but Daine clung to the hunter with grim determination. The two struggled, and Daine pulled the rider from the saddle, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The Huntsman roared with rage. He spun, catching Daine with a wild, backhanded stroke of his shield; the man was far stronger than his slender frame suggested, and the blow sent Daine flying.
“Your weapons cannot hurt me!” The Huntsman brandished his spear, and his voice seemed to roll down from the sky itself. “I am a lord of the night! I—”
“Talk too much,” Lei said. Daine had bought her time, and she’d risen to her feet and recovered the darkwood staff. As the outraged knight howled his fury, she drove her staff into his back. Once again, wood parted metal and flesh with the ease of the sharpest spear. The harrowing cry of the darkwood staff mingled with the Huntsman’s howl of pain. The hunter fell to his knees, reaching down to grasp the wooden head protruding from his chest. Though his voice was a whisper, Lei could hear him perfectly.
“My lady,” he rasped. “It seems you deserved your fate.”
Then he was gone.
Horse, rider, hounds … the entire pack vanished. Even the traces of blood were quickly fading. Only one thing remained: