Fire Arrow

NINETEEN

Fire Rain

Collun was silent. Brie could not see the expression on his face. She blinked rapidly and rubbed her eyes, then stood, putting her hand in front of her. "Uffern!" she cursed. Collun guided her back to the campsite. She could feel Fara against her legs, and as they walked, the blur began to ease. Soon she was able to see clearly again.

Quickly they woke the others and told them what Brie had learned.

"The arrow shows you things that are far away?" asked Maire, her eyes wide.

"Sometimes," Brie replied.

"And you told me there was no draoicht in you," Aelwyn said with her catlike smile.

"It rests in the arrow, not in me," Brie said shortly.

"Do we return to camp?" asked Maire.

"Yes," Brie replied. But she made no move to depart.

"It is too bad you did not consult the arrow before. It would have saved us a trip," grumbled Aelwyn.

"Mmmm," responded Brie, her mind elsewhere. "Aelwyn," she said suddenly, "is there, by chance, a porth near? To Tir a Ceol?"

"Perhaps." The wyll looked sulky.

"Aelwyn!"

"Surely the arrow can tell you where it is," Aelwyn purred.

Brie waited.

"Oh, very well. Yes. And it happens to be quite close."

"Why, Brie?" asked Collun.

"I'm not sure. But I was thinking that if we could get word to Silien..."

"Yes, an Ellylon army!" Collun's eyes lit up.

Hanna spoke, her face serious. "No matter how close your friendship with Prince Silien, it would take much for Ellylon to involve themselves in a matter that does not directly concern them."

"They were prepared to help us when Medb threatened," Collun pointed out.

"There was the cailceadon at stake then. Furthermore, there is no time for an army of sufficient strength to be mustered."

"It is worth trying," stated Brie. "At the very least we could send word to King Midir. After all, Prince Durwydd is a friend to Ellylon."

Hanna snorted. "Midir no doubt has as little respect for our prince as we do. But ... as long as it does not take us far off our path," she agreed.

They made it to the porth by midday. Aelwyn led them to an ancient willow tree on the edge of a still, silvery pond.

The wyll approached the tree, her hands upraised. But there was a sudden wrinkling on the surface of the trunk, accompanied by an almost melodic whispering sound. A person with golden hair emerged from the tree.

It was Silien. Collun let out a glad cry and clasped the Ellyl in a bear hug. Fara wound between Silien's legs, while Brie, too, warmly greeted him.

"We had come in search of you," she said in amazement, "and here you are!"

"I was seeking you as well. Well met, Breo-Saight."

"There is trouble, Silien," she said, after introducing him to the others.

"So I have heard."

"Will King Midir help us?" Brie asked bluntly.

Silien shook his head. "No. My father is preoccupied with cleaning up northern Tir a Ceol. Before the Firewurme was destroyed, it wrought havoc in the far northern stretches; the waters were fouled and the land corroded. Further, there has been an infestation of nathrach. They are strange small snakelike creatures and are quite toxic. We believe they were also let loose from the Cave of Cruachan by Medb. They have been bedeviling small pockets of Tir a Ceol. When I heard the rumors of trouble in Dungal, and that you and Collun might be involved, my father gave me leave to investigate, but he said not to count on him should there be trouble. Our own people must come first."

"Did you travel here alone?" asked Hanna.

"Well, no actually ... There was a small band of Ellylon stationed at the porth in the Blue Stack Mountains. I asked for a volunteer, to accompany me north. He seemed enthusiastic at first, though I'm afraid ... I'd better fetch him." Silien disappeared back into the tree.

The others were starting to fidget when Silien finally reemerged, followed by none other than the Ellyl Monodnock.

The Ellyl prince looked annoyed, saying, "Please excuse the delay." Monodnock's cheeks were almost as bright a red as his hair and he looked terrified. But when he saw Brie and Aelwyn, he let out a glad cry.

"Fair and tender ladies," he said, drawing himself to his full height, "it is a jubilation to see you once again. And shall I say that I am quite gleaming—no, blazing—with honor and privilege to have the opportunity, snatched from me so prematurely when last we met, to serve you on your mighty quest."

"Monodnock, well met," said Brie, biting on her lower lip to keep from laughing. She caught Aelwyn's eye, which flashed back at her merrily. Hanna, Collun, and the brother and sister merely looked astonished.

"Monodnock here keeps straying off; it's almost as if he wished to be elsewhere," Silien said with an ironic tilt to his eyebrows.

"Oh, no, no, no! I was merely performing a close inspection as to the state of the tunnels," blustered the taller Ellyl, running both hands through his spiky hair. "I know King Midir has the highest standards and I—"

"Yes, quite," broke in Silien. "Now, tell me," he asked Brie, "is it true that the gabha are on the move? And that they answer the call of a sorcerer with one eye?"

"He is Balor and he has two eyes, but one is all white. He seeks to overthrow Dungal, as well as Eirren. And ultimately, I believe, even Scath itself."

"He desires to conquer the Queen of Ghosts? This Balor does not lack for ambition," Silien said dryly. "The pass you saw, Brie, describe it to me."

The Ellyl listened intently, then nodded, saying, "Yes, it sounds like Tanniad Pass. Perhaps there is something we can do about the gabha coming from the mountains. Come, we must go quickly."

Silien rode with Collun on Fiain, while Monodnock nervously climbed up behind Brie on Ciaran. Silien led them east into the foothills.

"Excuse me." Monodnock leaned forward to whisper to Brie. "Prince Silien isn't truly planning to engage a host of one hundred gabha?" His voice cracked on the final word. "I mean, I know that the prince's draoicht must be impressive and all. But one hundred goat-men?"

"There is always danger when one seeks to defeat evil," Brie replied solemnly.

"Of course," Monodnock said tremulously.

***

By midnight they had begun the ascent into the northern peaks of the mountains. They rested briefly, then pushed on.

Silien, with his keen Ellyl ears, heard the gabha long before they were visible. The sun was rising as the Ellyl led them up a ridge. They then dismounted and followed Silien to the top of an escarpment. Taking care to keep out of sight, they gazed down into the valley that was Tanniad Pass.

In the distance they could make out the beginning of the column of goat-men Brie had seen winding through the mountains.

"There is a little time yet to prepare," said Silien.

He led them back to the ruins of an ancient stone wall. Giving them all a pleasant nod, he wandered over to a cluster of three larch trees. There he lay down on a mat of pine needles and promptly fell asleep. Fara curled up beside him, in her customary position by his shoulder. Monodnock stared across at the sleeping Ellyl, clutching Brie's arm.

"Don't worry, Monodnock," Brie said. "You know how much, um, energy it takes to work draoicht." She remembered all the times she had seen Silien fall asleep after performing some miraculous feat, although she could not actually recall him napping beforehand. She sent Clun to the crest to keep watch on the goat-men, while the others settled against the stone wall.

"He might have told us what he was planning," grumbled Aelwyn, fiddling with a gemstone on one of her necklaces. Brie noticed that it was a saphir and wondered if it was from the rock Collun had given Aelwyn long ago, when She had told their fortunes.

"Silien has always kept his own council," replied Collun. "But rest assured, if there were something we could be doing, he would have told us."

"I am glad to hear it," responded Aelwyn. "You met the Ellyl on your journey to destroy the wurme, did you not?" she asked, looking up at him with wide amber eyes.

Embarrassed, Collun said, "Well, it was before that. He rescued us from a vine, cro-olachan."

"I have heard of cro-olachan," Aelwyn said with a slight shiver. The saphir at her neck caught the sun.

Brie abruptly rose and moved away. She crossed to Ciaran and Fiain, who were grazing nearby. Hanna followed her.

"Have we done the right thing, coming here?" Brie said to Hanna, running her fingers through Ciaran's mane.

"The Ellyl prince must know what he is doing," Hanna said.

"No doubt," Brie responded. "But it is a risk; perhaps we should have returned to camp instead of..."

"Do not worry, Biri. We shall have our day on the battlefield soon enough."

Brie glanced over at the others. Maire had risen and was walking toward the larches, leaving Collun and Aelwyn alone with Monodnock, who appeared to have dozed off himself.

Hanna followed Brie's gaze, then smiled. "You know, wylls rarely use their own love charms; for some reason they won't work. Wylls have to go to other wylls."

"Hanna! I wasn't even thinking...," Brie protested, very much annoyed.

"No, I know. I just thought you might be interested."

"Well, I'm not."

***

Almost an hour had passed when Clun scrambled down from his lookout post on the ridge. "The gabha are about to enter the pass," he called as he came.

Silien, who was awake now, rose and looked thoughtfully over at Hanna.

"You are a weather maker?" he asked.

Hanna nodded, her eyes blue.

"Come, Traveler," Silien said. "Together we will make weather music." He turned and began to climb the escarpment. Hanna followed without hesitation.

The others stood in a knot at the bottom, watching. They could hear the sounds of distant marching. The goat-men were approaching Tanniad Pass.

The Ellyl and the Traveler lay on their stomachs, peering into the valley. Then Brie saw Silien gesture to Hanna, and the older woman rolled over onto her back.

Great billows of gray clouds begin to pile up overhead. And it was not long before a light drizzle began to fall. Steadily it grew stronger, until Brie and the others had to seek shelter under a rocky overhang that jutted from the side of the ridge. The noise from below grew louder. The gabha must have entered the pass.

Brie saw that Silien had pulled up into a sitting position, and she briefly worried that he might be spotted. She could hear faint singing, that agonizingly beautiful Ellyl music that reached into one's insides and twisted them, causing all else to lose meaning. Then came flickerings of heat and flame that scorched Brie's ears and nose and lips; waves of heat pulsing against her skin, accompanied by glittering eruptions of orange and yellow and gold.

The music faded and Brie blinked. She looked out at the rain and saw that scattered among the raindrops were quills of flame, no more than a finger long. They flared as they fell, a blur of yellow, orange, and gold, and when they hit the ground there was a dazzling burst, then they faded.

Ignoring the fire barbs raining about her, Brie ran out from under the overhang and up the escarpment to where Silien sat, cross-legged, his face drained of all color and his lips bent in a half smile. Hanna lay beside him, her eyes closed, sneezing violently.

Then Brie looked out and over the ridge into the valley. Unlike the intermittent quills of flame on the ridge, there, just a short distance from her, were sheets upon sheets of fire rain. The rain flames fell, unrelenting, on the goat-men below. It was an overwhelming sight, barely believable, and for a moment Brie felt something like pity for the creatures below.

Screams of agony and the appalling cacophony of goat-men and horses burning alive rose up to them. And Brie watched with a horrible fascination as the fire rain consumed all that it touched. Soon after came the smell, waves and waves of it. Brie's throat closed.

Hanna began to cough uncontrollably, and Brie stooped to her. The older woman had a terrible cold, but more, she had a raging fever and was trembling. Brie helped her up, and together they half slid, half walked down the ridge. Collun passed them, scrambling up to assist Silien, who was already falling asleep, dangerously close to the edge of the ridge.

When Collun came down the slope, carrying a limp Silien in his arms, Monodnock let out a shriek, "The prince is dead! All is lost!"

"Oh, shut up, Monodnock," said Aelwyn.

"He sleeps," explained Brie tersely.

They laid Silien on Fiain's back, where he slumped onto the horse's neck, still fast asleep. They gave Monodnock Hanna's horse to ride, while the shivering older woman rode in front of Brie. She too was bent double, her face pressed into Ciaran's soft mane.

They rode quickly, arriving back at the encampment by nightfall. While Collun and Aelwyn took care of Hanna and the Ellyl prince, Brie had Lom gather the company.

The army let out a cheer when they learned of the successful mission to destroy Balor's reinforcements, but listened soberly as Brie described the forces already arrayed against them.

"We must leave at once," Brie said. "The gabha encampment lies beside a forest. We will set up our camp on the far side of that forest, out of sight of the castle. Our main hope lies in taking the goat-men by surprise. Remember, the gabha are not human," Brie told them. And grimly she described the strength and the bestiality of the goat-men.

Shortly before setting forth for Sedd Wydyr, Brie was stowing something in her pack when she suddenly felt a probing in her mind. She stood straight, terrified. It was like a hand groping about inside her head, the fingers prying. Balor. He was looking for her. He knew of her escape from the bell tower; perhaps he knew even what she had done to it. She wondered if he had also learned of Hanna arid Silien's fire of rain at Tanniad Pass. She tried to make her mind a blank, but it was impossible. She had an irrational desire to grasp the arrow, thinking it might somehow protect her. Then, abruptly, the probing sensation was gone and her body sagged with relief. Had he found her? There had been no flaring moment of recognition, but she could not be sure.

She took the fire arrow out of her quiver and gazed at it. When she concentrated she was able to see the stories on all the picture bands now, all except one, the one at the bottom.

Ought she to use the fire arrow in battle? Brie wondered. It was a powerful weapon, but she dared not risk losing it or letting it fall to thé gabha, or worse, into Balor's hands. An arrow was a good weapon, but it had its limitations. Unlike a sword, once an arrow was wielded, it was gone, difficult to retrieve. No, she would not use the fire arrow in battle. Except on Balor.

But ... Brie suddenly smiled. There was another way to use fire and arrows together, and she had the Scathian in the bog to thank for the idea.

Brie sought out Lom and told him. His eyes kindled with interest. "I have heard of such things," he said, then went off to find his best arrowmaker.

***

As the company headed north, Brie felt that the land under her was shrinking, with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other pressing against each other, compacting and merging. And Hanna told her that at Dungal's tip the land between disappeared entirely and sea waves beat against mountain cliffs. Northern Dungal was a place of rock and water, with the occasional eruption of forest; in places trees were bent almost sideways by the long reach of the sea wind. There were few signs of human habitation. The soil was thin and even where there was turf, the rocks seemed always restless, straining to break through.

The army circled east, away from the coast, and arrived at the far edge of the forest while the sun still shone, though because the days were getting longer it was well past time for the evening meal. Quickly they set up camp and Brie sent scouts ahead. When they returned they reported that it was just as Brie had seen: Beyond the forest lay the gabha encampment, which stretched to the east and north of the fortress Sedd Wydyr. The scouts said there were no sentries and no gabha scouting parties. Brie nodded, unsurprised. Though she believed Balor was now aware that she had escaped the bell tower, he clearly could not conceive of her being able to mount any kind of threat to him and his plans—not, at least, in such a short time.

Or maybe he could. The thought chilled her. Perhaps he knew of their presence here in the shadow of the forest, and cared not.

***

That night, after all had eaten, Brie spoke to the army. She laid out the battle plan that she, Collun, Lom, and Hanna had come up with. The company listened soberly. Lom went on to explain in greater detail, and, when he was done, the Dungalans dispersed to make a last check of their gear and to snatch what rest they could. Lom moved among them, checking a bowstring here, the sharpness of a blade there.

Silien still slept, while Hanna had recovered sufficiently to sit up, though she blew her nose frequently and drank great quantities of a healing borage tea Collun had brewed for her.

Monodnock sidled up to Brie as she was checking over her own weapons. "Excuse me, fair lady," he said, his voice ingratiating, "but I wonder if you have given some thought to Prince Silien? It seems to me you will need someone to stay here and watch over him as he sleeps. And much as it pains me to miss even a moment of the glorious battle, I would be willing to volunteer for the assignment; indeed, as a fellow Ellyl, I feel it is my honor-bound duty:"

"You are too generous," Brie said dryly. "But perhaps...," she began, thinking to herself it would be better if the Ellyl was kept out of the way during battle.

"That will not be necessary after all, Monodnock," came Silien's voice, "though your offer to sacrifice yourself is most admirable." When he saw Silien standing next to them, awake and alert, Monodnock staggered slightly, clutching at Brie's arm.

"But surely, Prince, you are not up to...," Monodnock stuttered. Stark terror moved across his pale face, and one hand began whipping his orange hair into a forest of spikes.

"When do we face the gabha?" said Silien to Brie, pointedly ignoring Monodnock, who let out a small whimper and quickly withdrew.

"You mustn't tease him," said Brie.

"I shall try to refrain," Silien replied with a slight bow. "As to the battle ahead, I regret having to tell you that my draoicht is inadequate; indeed, I would even say that, for the time being, the fire rain has completely depleted it. However, my sword arm, for what it's worth, is yours."

"We are indebted to you, Silien," Brie responded, "for what you have already done for us and for what you offer now." And she thought back to the Silien who in the old days would not have put himself into any kind of danger for a human. Impulsively, she leaned over and hugged him. Silien looked a little startled, but smiled his half smile.

***

As Brie worked on making more arrows for her quiver, Hanna told her that Sago now seemed alarmingly incoherent—more addled than she had ever known him to be. So, after filling her quiver, Brie went in search of the Sea Dyak sorcerer. She found him sitting cross-legged against a small willow tree. He looked as ethereal and wraithlike as ever, but, surprisingly, his eyes were alert and he seemed quite peaceful.

He gestured for her to sit beside him. "Tomorrow we hunt together again, yes?"

Sago was different, Brie thought, but he was not as Hanna had described. Rather, there was an eerie sort of saneness about him. She noticed he had with him the scrap, of fishing net he had been working on throughout the journey, but his fingers were still.

"Brie?"

The girl jumped slightly. She had been so startled by this new, placid Sago, she had forgotten he had asked her a question.

"Well, I would not call it a hunt exactly," Brie replied dryly, thinking of the army camped beside the crystal castle. "But, Sago, I think perhaps it would be best if you stayed here at camp during..."

"The fish is larger, perhaps," the sorcerer said, ignoring her words, "but not so very different. To fight the enemy, then perchance to sleep," Sago intoned, then smiled peacefully, tracing with his fingers the loops of his small net.

"But, Sago..." Brie tried again.

The sorcerer continued to speak, still smiling, a dreamy look in his eyes. "Do you know how I anticipate the after-place will be? Indeed, I am quite sure of it. A large lake, with a blanket of comforting, muffling clouds above, the very lightest of breezes. Ideal fishing weather, of course; fish will be jumping—gray, silver, speckled. Then a small boat, the image of Gor-gwynt, and a supple pole at hand..." A blissful smile played around his mouth.

The place Sago described was more real to him than the forest around them, Brie thought. His weird calmness suddenly frightened her much more than his riddling songs and flights of fancy had ever done. She felt a stab of alarm.

"By the by," the sorcerer continued, his tone suddenly confiding. "There is a boy in the village of Mira, a fishing enthusiast like myself, with unusual fingernails... thumbs to be precise. You catch my meaning, I hope." Brie stared at Sago. "His name is Thom. He lives with his mother, near the sea. You will find him, or the Traveler will." He rummaged in his amhantar. "Ah ... and this is for you." He held out his hand, then opened it with a mysterious smile, like a conjurer. In his palm lay the moon shell. "Remember what I told you about moon shells?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

Though she was still uneasy, Brie managed a smile and, nodding, replied, "That you can never have too many." She reached out and took the shell. She put it in a pocket of her tunic. "Thank you, Sago."

"Now," said the sorcerer, "I think I will have a spot of sleep. And you shall see; tomorrow this old sorcerer may still have a few fireworks up his raveled sleeve." He stood, gave Brie a wink, and then disappeared into the darkness.

***

Brie lay down, sure that she would not sleep. But she came awake with a start, the taste of stale cyffroi in her mouth. Dawn was almost an hour away, she guessed. She stood, stretching, and sniffed the air. An odd, thick-fingered fog had come up, shrouding their camp, but she could see figures moving about, preparing for the day ahead.

Collun had brewed a pan of chicory, saying if it was all the same to her he'd rather have it than cyffroi on this particular morning. As they sat together, sharing the chicory, Brie was reminded of another early morning, off the Isle of Thule. In preparation for meeting the Firewurme, Collun had layered himself with padding from head to toe to protect against the corrosive slime that came off the creature's body. He had looked lumpy and faintly absurd, but the padding had saved his life.

Collun was different now: older, leaner, and taller. And the sword lying across his knees, that was new for him. He was peering down, at some indecipherable hatch marks on the flat of the blade. Then he glanced up at her and smiled, and Brie's heart did a quick flutter kick. Nerves, she thought, blushing slightly. She stood.

"Shall we to battle?" Her voice was over loud.

"After you," Collun said politely. He also rose and somehow they managed to bump into each other.

"Sorry," they both mumbled, stepping apart.

"Brie," Collun began.

She turned to him, nervous.

"Well, uh, good luck," he said, giving her an awkward pat on the back.

"And you," she replied stiffly, her heart still making that odd flipping movement. She turned away abruptly and adjusted her bow.