It was a red-shouldered hawk-It was Dawnfire!' Help me' Help me,' came the faint and faltering mental cry' She doesn't know how to land- he realized, just as Treyvan shouldered him aside, leapt into the sky, rose to meet her, , and scooped her from the air with his outstretched talons. he wheeled and dropped her safely in his foreclaws, Coming to rest delicately on his hind feet only, in a thunder of wing-claps, before Darkwind realized what he was doing.
Treyvan balanced precariously as he had alighted, keeping himself from falling with his outstretched wings. The bird lay exhausted in Treyvan's claws, every last bit of energy long since spent. Darkwind took her from the gryphon, and held her in his arms like an injured, shocked fledgling. She lay panting, eyes closed, as he folded her wings over her back, and stroked her head.
Another hand joined his; a hard, but feminine hand. It was Elspeth, wearing only a thin undershift and hose, but carrying her blade unsheathed in her other hand. Her eyes were closed; a slight frown was her only expression-but the MOMENT her fingers touched Dawnfire's back, the bird began to revive.
Her head lifted, and she craned it around to stare up at him. 'Darkwind?' she Mindspoke, softly. 'Is this real, or some illusion he created to torment me? Am I truly free? And home?' you're free, kechara,' he replied, anger and grief combined to choke off his words. it was one thing to know intellectually that she might have been trapped in her bird's body; it was another to see it, Sense it. , 'I saw Vree, or he saw me I forget,' she said, closing her eyes again, and bending her head, as if she did not want to see him through the hawk's eyes. 'He brought me here. but I was so tired-' '(The sword will work better through direct contact,' Elspeth said quietly. I If you can put her down on my bed, and I can lay Need next to her-' NO sooner spoken than done., and with the blade touching her, Dawnfire gained strength quickly, asking for water and food. The latter, Darkwind fed her as he would an eyas: little morsels cut from a fresh rabbit that Vree brought back within moments of her asking for something to eat. She took each tidbit daintily, and it was plain from her condition that she had not been feeding well in Mornelithe's hands.
Outwardly he was calm- Inwardly he was in turmoil. How to tell her that her body was dead-that she was still as trapped now as she was in Falconsbane's hands? There was no hint of Kyrr in her thoughts-so the blade's guess, that Mornelithe had killed the bird's spirit with her body was probably right. That gave them a little more time than if she'd had to share Kyrr's mind-but it would only postpone the end a little
longer. joy at her recovery, anguish at her condition, rage at the one who had brought her to this-guilt because he was partly to blame. Warring emotions kept him silent as he fed her, wondering what to say and how to say it.
'Dawn-' he began, hesitantly.
'Darkwind, you're in danger,' she interrupted urgently. She twisted her head to look at the strangers. 'You're all in danger, terrible danger!' Quickly she told them of all she had heard; and most importantly, of Falconsbane's new plan, his decision to make Outland alliances.
Alliances? Oh, blessed gods- He forgot his other worries in the face of this new threat, for Falconsbane alone was bad enough. Falconsbane with allies was a prospect too awful to contemplate. Allies with mage-powers, allies with armies-either would spell disaster for the precarious hold k'sheyna maintained on power here, but this Ancar evidently had mages and armies, according to Elspeth. k'sheyna would be obliterated, and every other Vale faced with a formidable threat.
If he gets help like that, there won't be anything beyond him-The Heralds-and their Companions-questioned Dawnfire closely as he closed his eyes and tried to think of all the possibilities. Their reaction was identical to his- not too surprising, given that he thought this 'Ancar' that Dawnfire said Falconsbane was meeting was undoubtedly the same man who had been doing his best to level their land. It was not a common name; it was beyond likely that there were two of them.
And although it seemed a terribly long way to travel just for a meeting with a possible ally, Mornelithe was a powerful Adept, and a desirable acquisition, so far as Ancar's position was concerned. The King of Hardorn needed mages; he'd been actively recruiting them. He might not yet have any Adept-class; it might be well worth it to him to come this far.
And a similar search had already brought Elspeth and Skif just as far.
'He said he was meeting the man in three days,' Dawnfire was saying when he opened his eyes again to pay attention to what was going on around him. Now there were seven sets of eyes fixed on the exhausted hawk; the two Heralds, the two gryphons, the pair of Companions, and Nyara, who seemed as upset as any of them.
He thought he knew the reason why. Perhaps she sees herself in Dawnfire's entrapment. that was two days ago,' Dawnfire continued. 'I escaped that afternoon, and I've been flying in circles ever since, trying to find my way home. So today, or the day after, they will meet.'
'Ancar wouldn't have come all this way just to turn around,' Elspeth said grimly. 'He wants this alliance, wants it badly. He's got no other reason to leave his own realm, and I don't care how much Hulda taught him, he wouldn't leave the place even in her hands if there was any other way out. Gods-with Falconsbane's power and Ancar's armies-and his recklessness-we won't have a chance. We've got to stop this before it happens.'
'We have an opportunity to put paid to both our enemies,' Darkwind growled, his hands clenched into fists. 'Not only to stop this alliance, but take both our enemies at one stroke. I must talk to the Elders.' He started to get up; Skif caught his elbow and his attention. 'You'd better include Elspeth in your plans, no matter what else you do,' he whispered, 'or she's likely to march right in there on her own.' She, who holds a grudge like an eyas binds to a kill. He nodded curtly, annoyed, but knowing Skif was right. The gryphons had a grudge of their own to settle. They probably wouldn't try to stop her.
'Settle down, you lot!' Need growled suddenly, startling all of them.
