Edith Pattou - Fire Arrow

"Faster," she urged Ciaran.

A gabha had spotted Sago and turned to hew him down with an enormous ax. The Sea Dyak sorcerer lifted his paper-thin hand, the hand holding the net, and called out in a surprisingly loud voice, "Heva! Heva! Heva!" Brie recognized the words as the cry of the huer, the Ardaran fisherman whose house overlooked the bay, letting the other fishermen know of the reddening of the sea that meant pilchards in the bay.

The goat-man with the ax paused, surprised by the loudness of Sago's voice perhaps, and Brie watched in amazement as the small, ungainly fishing net in Sago's hand began to widen and spread. There was no light coming from the sorcerer, as it had with the sumog, but his face, which was transformed by an uncanny expression of pleasure, seemed to glow white, almost moonlike. The net, which gave off a faint white glow of its own, stretched and extended over the rear guard of the gabha army. The goat-men gazed up at it in growing wonder and fear. The Dungalans, especially the fishermen among them, had begun moving back, away from the net, the moment they heard "Heva! Heva! Heva!" The fishing net kept spreading, floating impossibly several feet above gabha heads, until most of the goat-man army was under its shadow.

Then the net drifted down, settling on their heads and shoulders and arms. Where it made contact with the furred hide of the gabha, it adhered, as though imbued with some sticky, deadly sort of glue. The strings of the net did not stick to Dungalan skin or hair, and those caught under it were able to burrow their way out between the bodies of the trapped and struggling goat-men. The gabha were panicking, braying loudly.

Then Brie noticed that the creatures were clutching their necks, as though having trouble breathing. Some had fallen to the ground, their limbs stiff and wracked by small jerking movements; gagging, choking noises came from their throats. And, in that moment, Brie suddenly realized what kind of fish it was that she had seen in Sago's amhantar. It was called puffer fish, and Jacan had once told Brie that the puffer fish was the most poisonous of the fish that inhabited the waters by Ardara; he had seen a fellow fisherman die in a matter of minutes, his breath stopped and his body paralyzed, from careless handling of a puffer fish.

Brie suddenly heard a powerful braying, and she spun around to see the goat-man general Cernu, astride a swift goat-horse, bearing down on Sago. He had no weapon in his hands, but before Brie could reach them, Cernu had lowered his spiraling horns and plunged them into Sago's thin chest. The sorcerer was knocked off his mount, falling backward onto the ground, the net dislodged from his hand. Cernu jumped off his steed as well and leaned over Sago. For a horrified moment Brie thought the goat-man would lift the featherlight sorcerer up into the air, impaled on his horns.

But he did not. He turned and faced Brie, an evil grin on his grotesque face, blood dripping from his horns.

"Brie!" came a warning shout from Collun, who had circled around toward her. Before she could react, a terrible pain radiated across her back. Brie toppled off Ciaran onto the ground. A goat-man, one of the band she had been fighting earlier, loomed above her swinging his club. With an agonizing upward lunge, Brie struck with the fire arrow and the creature collapsed.

By the time she turned back, Brie saw that Cernu was locked in hand-to-hand combat with a Dungalan. No, not a Dungalan, she realized with a shock, but Collun.

The gabha general towered above the boy. From somewhere the creature had produced one of those lethal clubs, studded with sharp spikes, and he was swinging it ruthlessly at Collun, who danced just out of reach.

But even as Brie moved toward them she saw Collun take a mighty blow to his head. He collapsed, falling to the ground, and lay there, unmoving.

Letting out a shout of pure rage, Brie charged the gabha general. The fire arrow sang in her blistered hand.

Cernu lowered his horns, brandishing his club at the same time. Brie swerved to the side, then rounded back. But he kept her at bay with his horns and his club. Frustrated, she slashed wildly. She could tell Cernu felt the heat from the arrow, but when she gazed up into his bulging, savage eyes she saw no fear.

Suddenly Brie was terrified, conscious of her puny human frailty. A terrible chill fear flooded her and she cowered back. Cernu let out a bray of victory and pushed forward to deliver a deathblow. Brie watched, hypnotized, as the spiraling horns came down at her.

Then something brushed past her legs, and a snarling whirlwind of fur launched itself at the gabha's haunches. For a moment Cernu was knocked off balance, then he let out an impatient grunt and swung his club at Fara, catching her across the neck. The faol tried to rise, but, stunned, fell back again. The gabha general turned back to Brie, but in that moment she darted under the reach of his horns and thrust the fire arrow up into his bearded chin.

Blood poured down her hand and the giant figure stiffened. The club dropped from his hand. As he fell, Cernu opened his mouth to bray, but all that emerged were flames. He hit the ground with a crash, his head afire.

Brie staggered, almost falling to the ground herself. Anxiously she looked around for Fara. The faol had an ugly gash on her neck but was already on her feet and trotting toward Brie. Together they found Collun. He lay where he had fallen, eyes closed, the side of his head a sticky mass of blood.

Brie was sure he was dead. Trembling, her fingers sought his pulse; she just barely could feel a whispering thrum against her fingertips.

Then she saw Sago on the ground several feet away. He lay on his side, curled up, face peaceful. He might have been sleeping, except for the wide stain of crimson across the front of his tunic. Brie crossed to him and crouched down.

Around them the battle continued to rage. The Dungalans who had crawled out from under Sago's net were, now fighting the goat-men who remained. But Brie was unaware of anything save the Sea Dyak sorcerer. His eyes flicked open.

"Hand me my pole," came a faint whisper, light as a puff of air. "Fish are biting." A smile curled his lips. Then his eyes sought Brie's, his thin fingers wrapping around her hand. "Remember the boy Thom. Watch his thumbnails as he grows," he said clearly. Then his eyes closed and he was dead.

"Brie," said Hanna, who stood behind her. "Help me with Collun." And as she and Collun had done for Hanna the day before, Brie and Hanna lifted Collun and carried him to a safe place.

Brie bent anxiously over Collun, her fingers finding his wrist again. "Will he...?" she asked Hanna.

"It is early to say," said Hanna, but she did not look hopeful.

"Stay with him," said Brie. Wearily she once more mounted Ciaran. Because of Sago, more than half the gabha army lay dead, and the rest were in disarray without their leader. But the battle was far from over, and Brie and Ciaran went to rejoin the Dungalan army.

As she rode, Brie heard the high pure call of a battle horn. She looked around, afraid. A small army was emerging from the forest, the sun reflecting off its shields and swords, blinding Brie for a moment. Then she saw the Dungalan standard raised high above them. Brie blinked in amazement. As the army came closer she recognized the man leading it—Ralfe, Prince Durwydd's adviser. The new army merged with the battle-weary old, and soon the remaining goat-men were in full retreat. It was not long before the last of the gabha were fleeing into the foothills.

***

By early evening the battle was over and the heartbreaking task of finding and burying the dead had begun. Most had lost close friends or family, and there was little of celebration in those who remained. Of the Dungalans who had journeyed from Ardara, fourteen had survived the battle, among them Lom, Jacan, Ferg and Gwil, Maire and her brother, and the boy Dil. Along with Sago and the fisherman Henle, the boy Marc, brother to Beith, had fallen, as had four fishermen.