The hung-faced man took a step forward, a wooden mallet in his hands. Ramon shooed him back in line.
“You shouldn’t provoke us. We deal swiftly with our enemies.”
Caim chewed on his tongue. These men were obviously serious, but for all their dedication, they were an undisciplined lot. Yet they carried themselves like men spoiling for a fight.
“What are you waiting for?” Kit asked.
Caim didn’t know what was happening to her-Kit’s voice was softer now, barely audible over the crackle of the fires-but he had his hands full.
“Who is this Eviskine?” he asked.
“He’s the fucking Duke of Liovard,” the dark-haired hunter growled.
Ramon scowled, and a scar down the cleft of his chin darkened. “Enough games. Keegan says you bested a dozen of the duke’s best men, but I say he ran before the first drop of blood was spilled. I say you never killed any soldiers.”
Caim met the big man’s gaze. He’d faced down his share of bravos before. His first few months in Othir had been consumed with a constant stream of challengers who wanted to test the newcomer. It wasn’t until he put a fair number in the ground that the rest learned to avoid him. In his peripheral vision, he spotted a shadow entering the clearing. Alone, it undulated across the snow. He hadn’t called it, not exactly, but it had come to him just the same, as if sensing his dilemma. Caim flexed his hands inside his gloves. He hadn’t come this far to fight a bunch of woodsmen, but he also didn’t want to end up in a shallow grave in the forest.
“You’re right,” Caim said. “I didn’t kill any of the soldiers at the roadhouse.”
He yanked his hands apart. The rope held for an awful moment. Then his fingers slipped through. At the same time, the shadow leapt up to land across Ramon’s eyes. The big man shouted, reaching up. Caim spun around behind Ramon and kicked the back of his knees. The axe fell from the big man’s fingers as he tumbled forward. While the others watched, Caim grabbed their leader in a chokehold. Ramon clawed at his face, but his fingers found nothing to grip. Caim looked around the circle. The woodsmen might have overwhelmed him if they all rushed in together, but they held back.
Caim released Ramon and stepped away. At his silent command, the shadow disappeared. Ramon snatched up his axe and lurched to his feet. He raised the weapon over his shoulder. Caim didn’t move.
“Don’t!”
A slender figure pushed into the circle. It was Hagan’s daughter, with Caim’s bundles slung over her shoulder.
“Li!” Keegan shouted. “What are you doing here?”
“He’s done nothing to deserve this, Keegan,” she said. “He saved your life, and this is how you treat him?”
“Be quiet!” Keegan hissed. “He bewitched Ramon. We all saw it.”
Liana snorted. “I saw Ramon fall for a child’s trick. Some dirt in his eyes. Nothing magic about that.”
“Well?” Caim asked Ramon. “Are you going to strike me down?”
Anger smoldered in his eyes, but he lowered the axe. “I will not kill a man until he’s proven to be our enemy.”
Caim shivered as an eerie noise buzzed in the back of his head. All of a sudden, a heavy weight dragged at the center of his chest, sucking the air from his lungs.
Kit, her faded eyes wide with foreboding, shimmered before him. “Caim!”
“I feel it,” he whispered as loud as he dared. Something was happening. Was it tied to Kit’s fading? He had no idea, but it seemed a good bet. He said to Ramon, “You have to leave. Now.”
“If you mean to threaten us-”
“I’m not threatening you.” Caim took a deep breath. He’d felt this way before, back in Othir when he first met-“Something is coming. If you stay-”
A distant howl broke the stillness. Heads turned as the baying was joined by another, and then a third, all coming from the east.
“The Hunt!” someone said, but Caim wasn’t sure he heard right.
“Ermin!” Ramon said. “Go take a look.”
The woodsman didn’t move at first, but a harsh glare from Ramon sent him running off toward the trees.
“What is it?” Caim asked.
A hoarse cry cut off Ramon’s reply. Branches snapped as something staggered out of the forest. It was the woodsman, Ermin. He stared at them, his face rigid in the firelight. Then he fell over, the haft of a spear buried in his back. Yowls cut through the night as a line of huge shapes erupted from the trees like a pack of wolves running on two legs. But these wolves carried great wooden shields and steel weapons.
Several of the woodsmen backed away at the sight of the wolf-men racing toward them. Ramon lifted his axe and stood his ground. Caim launched himself at the girl. Keegan pulled his sister away, but Caim slapped the youth’s sword aside and reached under Liana’s cloak to slip his suete knives from her belt. A huge shape reared against the firelight. In trying to protect her, Keegan had pulled his sister into the path of a marauder. A wolf’s head, with fierce eyes and sharp fangs, perched on the barbarian’s head. Ivory trinkets clacked from a cord around his neck-human teeth.
The barbarian swung a war axe with a gray crescent blade. Gritting his teeth as all of his injuries cried out, Caim yanked Liana out of the weapon’s path. Quicker than a cat, the barbarian reversed his momentum and nearly took off Caim’s head with the backswing. Caim pushed Keegan and his sister back, putting himself between them and the bestial warrior. The barbarian brought his axe down in a swift overhand chop. Caim felt the wind of the blade’s passage on his face as he leaned out of the way. He sliced open the wolf-man’s arm from wrist to elbow, but the barbarian acted like he didn’t feel a thing, swinging his shield as he spun around. Caim jumped back.
The clash of weapons echoed through the clearing. The barbarians had the look of reavers from the north, relentless warriors who raided and pillaged at will, leaving little behind but corpses and burnt-out shells. Ramon stood toe-to-toe with a wolf-man, both of them screaming as they swung their axes with abandon. Liana and Keegan had drifted away from the melee.
Caim grunted as he blocked another attack. Though his leg protested and his forearm burned, he threw himself into a roll that carried him behind his foe. Pushing aside his pains, he slashed with both knives as he came to his feet. His left-hand suete got caught up in the wolf-man’s shaggy cloak, but the other blade pierced his lower back. Dripping spittle from his beard, the barbarian whirled with a ferocious chop. Caim ducked under the swing. His left-hand suete ripped open the barbarian’s middle, spilling blood and entrails down the man’s breeches. Yet even as the Northman fell to his knees, he grabbed Caim by the arms and tried to pull him to the ground. A crack to the side of the head with a knife pommel put him down.
Breathing hard, Caim looked around. Several bodies lay on the ground, but many of the woodsmen had escaped. Bestial screams echoed from the trees. There was no sign of Ramon, although his corpse could have been among those scattered around.
Caim found his satchel on the ground as he limped over to Keegan and Liana. The youth held out his sword like a talisman. The girl clutched two long bundles to her chest, his sword and bow, still in their wrappings.
Caim took back his possessions. The buzzing in his head persisted. “You two all right? I see you managed to stick around this time.”
The muscles in Keegan’s cheek twitched. “I’m no coward.”
“That’s too bad. I was starting to think you were the smart one in this bunch. Come on.”
Caim didn’t wait, but took off. Keegan and Liana stuck to his heels. He didn’t know what he was going to do with them. Get them back to their father, he supposed. The problem lay in eluding pursuit with the youths in tow.
The trees on the other side of the bonfires loomed like a company of silent sentries. Caim glimpsed a flash of metal among the underbrush a split-second before something hurtled out of the darkness. He dragged Keegan and Liana to the ground as the missile zipped over their heads. Five men in steel helms and leather coats emerged from the trees. One was clad in mail. Caim recognized them as he climbed to his feet. The soldiers from the roadhouse and the duke’s son. What are they doing out here?
Caim looked over his shoulder as the soldiers advanced with drawn weapons. Keegan was helping Liana up and almost stabbed her by accident. Clenching his jaws, Caim reached out to the shadows. They swarmed out of
