Inhuman howls filled the surrounding forest. They were banshee wails that crested over the encampment, railing in an intolerable crescendo of low tones to a high, piercing pitch that Karigan felt crawl along her flesh. More than one soldier near her blanched and covered his ears.
There were groundmites out there all right, and a very large band of them by the sound of it.
Abruptly the wails ended and arrows rained into a knot of soldiers. Many fell. Their anguished cries mobilized the others.
Buffeted and jostled by soldiers, and without orders, Karigan took off for her little sleeping place hoping against hope that Ereal and Ty had heard the warning in time. They were protected the least on the edge of the encampment.
She touched her brooch as she went, calling on its power, her very own special Rider ability, to help her vanish, to allow her to fade into her surroundings. As she faded, a haze of gray settled into her vision. She would have a whopping headache later, but the discomfort of using her ability was worth it if it meant being invisible to the enemy and its arrows.
Behind her she heard orders shouted out as someone thought to take charge of the panicked soldiers. She even heard Lady Penburn snapping out commands, but she ran on, thinking only of Ereal and Ty.
She shouldered by a soldier who paused to puzzle over what it was that brushed by him. Arrows hissed past Karigan, striking the soldier.
She cried out, but kept running. Hold steady, she told herself, hold steady.
More groundmite cries permeated the air. These were shorter cries, like the yips and barks of a pack of coyotes. Unlike coyotes, however, these were rhythmic and held a certain intelligence behind them.
The woods shattered with movement as dozens of the hulking creatures loped into the encampment’s midst, howling and slashing with weapons, and trampling anything or anyone that came underfoot.
A couple veered toward the horses and mules, and Karigan knew the creatures would slaughter them just for the kill.
Condor! She slowed, suddenly torn between locating Ereal and Ty, and trying to rescue her horse.
In her distraction, she almost slammed broadside into a huge groundmite. It towered over her, half its bulk lost to the shadows of the night. Its limbs were covered by patchy fur. Agile catlike ears, tufted at the tips, flickered back and forth catching the screams and shouts, the clatter of steel as battle ensued, and the terrified whinnies of horses.
It wore a thick leather jerkin and carried a farmer’s scythe for a weapon. Tied to its broad belt was a brightly painted child’s spinning top, like some sort of good-luck charm or war prize. A sandy blond scalp also hung from its belt.
Karigan backed off in revulsion, but the groundmite followed her, grinning with sharp canines, its eyes flashing yellow as they caught some shred of light.
It then dawned on her that not only was her own vision clear of the haze that ordinarily obscured it when she used her ability, but the ’mite could see her very well, too.
It pointed a massive claw at her hair. “Want.” It was a guttural sound it shaped into a word.
Karigan tried to fade again, but the brooch would not obey her command. Why did her ability fail, and why now?
She had no weapon—her saber, and even her knife, were with her other gear by her bedroll. No ability, no weapon. There was only one option.
She feinted to the left and dodged to the right, and ran around the groundmite. For all their size and power, groundmites just weren’t very nimble, but this one decided to pursue anyway.
Someone appeared out of the darkness ahead, running toward Karigan. It was Ereal.
“Karigan!” Ereal cried. She carried not only her own sword, but Karigan’s, too.
It was like some vast space opened between the two Riders that was impossible to cross, that they’d never meet, that their legs just could not carry them swiftly enough no matter how hard they ran. The groundmite gasped wet breaths behind Karigan.
Two arrows whined out of the dark on an inescapable course and Karigan could only watch in horror as they smacked into Ereal in rapid succession. The force of the double impact bowled her over hard onto the ground where she lay crumpled like a discarded rag doll.
“No!” Karigan cried.
She could do nothing but continue to run toward Ereal with the groundmite pounding hard after her, for her sword lay beside the fallen Rider.
Did Ereal’s hand twitch? Did she still live? Incredibly, Karigan’s saber levitated off the ground and floated erratically through the air toward her. Ereal’s special ability was moving objects with her mind.
Renewed hope surged through Karigan, even as she perceived the groundmite catching up with her.
The saber floated swiftly toward her. She stretched her hand out to receive it. Just inches from her fingertips it faltered and plummeted to the ground. She dove after it and felt the shoosh of the scythe against the back of her neck as she barely missed losing her head.
She exclaimed in triumph as she grasped the hilt of her sword and shed its sheath. In the next breath she rolled as the scythe descended and cleaved into a tree root with a solid ka-chunk right where she had just lain.
The blade of the scythe caught on the root for a moment, but undismayed, the groundmite tugged it free and grinned showing yellowed, pointed teeth. Thinking its quarry well in hand, it swept the scythe at her once again.
Karigan, caught at a profound disadvantage—overpowered and on her knees—knew in a fleeting instant she would be unable to halt the momentum and strength behind the scythe that whistled toward her.
ATTACKING FROM THE SHADOWS
Karigan dropped flat on the ground as the scythe swept over her. She scrambled on knees and elbows beneath a dense stand of young trees with low hanging branches. The scythe crashed down after her, splintering branches and showering her with pine needles.