menacing as a Red Wizard inquisitor.
Please, lady, Borilak said, tell us. A murmur ran through the onlookers.
I believe you all know, Huldra said, that even with the durthans gone, the Erech Forest is a dark and tainted place. That s why the Wychlaran urged the Eagle Lodge and those allied with it not to settle the western shores of the lake. But you couldn t bear to let rich land go unclaimed, and we hathrans have protected you as best we can.
Get to the point, growled Jet, monitoring the proceedings through his master s eyes and ears. Aoth suppressed a smile.
Unfortunately, Huldra continued, bands of black and white flowing across her garments, it has now become plain that, despite our vigilance, a number of settlers have fallen prey to lycanthropy. And those so cursed have joined into a pack that slaughtered every living soul in Vinvel.
The villagers gasped and babbled.
Huldra waited until they had quieted down. I promise the same thing won t happen here, she said. We hathrans are going to do everything necessary to identify and kill the werewolves. You all know that my particular patron is Sel ne. At moonrise, she ll give me the power to reveal any lycanthropes living among you, and then my companions will strike them down. Killing shapeshifters is their particular trade.
Her gaze shifted back to Borilak. Meanwhile, we ll rest in your house, she continued. We ve had a long hike through the snow.
The hathran led her companions toward a longhouse with carved jutting eagle heads and images of the birds in flight. Behind them, the villagers resumed their agitated talk, and a couple of women started sobbing.
Borilak had a good fire leaping and crackling in his field-stone hearth, and the air inside was considerably warmer than that outside. As Aoth leaned his spear against the wall and shrugged off his cloak, he said, That was perfect, lady, thank you.
I m glad you think so, Huldra replied. Distress had supplanted the hauteur in her voice. I never would have done it if not ordered by the Urlingwood itself.
Aoth knew just enough about Rashemen to understand the figure of speech. The Urlingwood was a sacred forest where only hathrans were allowed, and trespassers were put to death. Thus, ordered by the Urlingwood meant she had been commanded by one of the supreme matriarchs of her order. In her case, Yhelbruna.
I understand how you feel, Cera began, slipping her gilded buckler off her arm.
Do you? Huldra snapped. Many of the folk outside had family in Vinvel, and I just told them their kin are dead! How will they ever forgive me or trust me again?
They ll forgive you, Jhesrhi said, when you explain the lie was necessary to flush out the werewolf that was living among them. Though she was the only one of them who likely hadn t felt the winter cold even slightly, she drifted toward the fireplace, and the yellow flames leaped higher. The light reflected on her staff.
But you don t know that there is a werewolf! Vandar said. You re only guessing!
Aoth sighed. He cast about and spotted a jug on a shelf. He pulled the cork and was pleased when the smell of beer suffused the air.
Think about it, he said. High Lady Yhelbruna and the Iron Lord sent us all out to hunt the undead. So that s what Bez, Dulsaer, and Dai Shan are doing. Even though the ghosts and such have turned out to be damned elusive so far.
He took a pull from the jug the hoppy brew tasted good to him, but then, drink nearly always did and offered it to Huldra. After a moment s hesitation, she accepted it and turned away to drink, so no one would see when she pulled her mask aside.
What the others haven t considered, Aoth continued, or at least I hope they haven t, is that not all the creatures we fought were undead. Some were werewolves. And since the durthans hailed from the Erech Forest, maybe the shapeshifters came from hereabouts, too. Maybe those who remained behind can tell us something about the witches.
If any did remain, Huldra said, passing the jug to Cera. And if they truly do live in one of the settlements instead of in the wild.
It s reasonable to assume there are some left, Cera said. Lycanthropy is a kind of sickness, after all. It spreads.
And such a creature has a divided nature, Jhesrhi said. When it s a wolf, it wants what a beast wants. But when it walks on two legs, it wants to live like a human.
Well, maybe, Vandar said. But it s still a shameful thing to lie to innocent people.
Aoth shook his head. It s a miracle all you innocent Rashemi have held back the legions as long as you have, he said.
I see them, said Jet, speaking mind to mind.
Them? Aoth replied.
Look through my eyes, the familiar said.
Aoth did so. As though peering down from high above, he spotted a man, a woman, and a half-grown girl who was almost certainly their daughter, trudging through the snow.
And they haven t spotted you? Aoth asked.
Are they acting like they ve spotted me? the griffon replied. They re too busy glancing back over their shoulders at the village to check the sky.
Aoth redirected his attention to his actual surroundings. Vandar and Huldra seemed perplexed by his momentary abstraction, but Cera and Jhesrhi were merely curious. The sunlady and wizard had seen him in psychic communication with his familiar before.
That was the answer to your objections, he said.
The plan worked. We have a whole little werewolf family fleeing the village.
Have they already changed form? Huldra asked. The hint of forlorn hope in her tone reminded Aoth that the locals were her flock and her friends.
Not yet, he said, speaking as gently as he could.
But you just told the news that werewolves are roaming the countryside slaughtering people by the score, yet a mother, father, and a child are headed for the forest with sunset on its way. There really isn t any doubt.
The hathran took a breath and squared her shoulders. I suppose not, she said. What now?
You go calm the village down, Aoth replied.
Jet will keep the werewolves in sight, and my bond with him will lead the rest of us right to them.
Some people had the knack of creeping through a benighted forest, and some people didn t. Up ahead, Cera was doing her best, and her best was passable. But she suddenly tripped over a gnarled root, pitched forward, and nearly sprawled on her face before she caught herself. She growled a vulgar word under her breath.
Jhesrhi realized she d smiled. It couldn t really be the first time since Tchazzar s death, but it felt like it, and she decided that Aoth truly had done her a kindness by bringing her to Rashemen. Perhaps, after all the disappointments of Chessenta, it was exactly what she had needed.
At the head of the procession, Aoth raised his spear to signal a halt, then waved for everyone to gather close.
Jet says they re just ahead, he whispered. We ll circle around and come in from the west, so we re downwind of them. Remember we re here to spy, at least at first. He fixed his luminous blue eyes on Vandar. No one is to attack unless I do, and I don t want to hear any nonsense about the spirits taking the matter out of your hands.
Vandar glowered back. It happened as I said, he replied.
If we do fight, we want prisoners, Aoth continued, and I also don t want to hear how somebody s crazy bloodlust prevented that.
I don t take orders from you, Thayan, said Vandar. We agreed to be partners, not
Cera put her hand on the Rashemi s forearm. Please, she said. We decided on our strategy on the way out here. You didn t object to it then. Surely you d agree that now is not the time to argue.
Vandar s mouth tightened, but apparently he couldn t quite find it in himself to spit poison at a pretty, soft- spoken priestess even if she wasn t quite a hathran. Fine, he said, and then looked at Jhesrhi. You were going to cast some enchantments?
