DemonWars Saga Volume 1 (79 page)

"You say it is your destiny," Pony remarked, "and so, since fete has put me beside you, is it mine."

Avelyn was shaking his head, but Pony pressed on.

"Do not even think to try to stop me," she insisted. "Where am I to be safe, in any case? Here, when the powries lay traps meant for us? In the southland, perhaps, running ahead of the advancing hordes?"

"Or even in the elven home?" Juraviel added grimly, unexpectedly lending support to Pony's argument.

"'Where indeed?" asked the woman. "I would rather confront the monster face-to-face, to stand by Avelyn's side as he meets his destiny, as all the world holds its breath."

Avelyn looked at Elbryan as if he expected the ranger to protest. How could Elbryan, so obviously in love with Pony, allow her to go?

But Avelyn didn't fully understand the nature of that love.

"And I will stand by Pony's side," the ranger said firmly. "And by Avelyn's."

The monk's expression was one of sheer incredulity.

"Was not Terranen Dinoniel an elf-trained ranger?" Elbryan asked, looking about and finally settling his gaze on Juraviel and Tuntun.

"He was half-elf, as well," Tuntun put in, as if that fact put the legendary hero somewhat above Elbryan's station.

"Then I will have to go along to make up the other half," Juraviel said somberly. He met Tuntun's wide-eyed stare without surprise. "With Lady Dasslerond's blessings, of course," he said. "Ho, ho, what!" Avelyn burst out suddenly, surprised and obviously pleased by the unexpected support. But the boisterous moment could not last, not with so grim a prospect as a journey to the Barbacan before them. The monk looked in turn at each of them and nodded, then walked off to be alone with his conscience and his courage.

When Elbryan and Pony left the elves, they were surprised to find an eavesdropping friend, standing only a dozen or so paces into the forest, unseen and unheard despite his great bulk.

"Ah, but I knew it'd come to this," Bradwarden said. "Humans" — the centaur spat derisively — "always thinking o' ways to be remembered." He shook his head. "Get yer saddlebags for me, then, yell need one to carry supplies, and better if that one knows how to get away from trouble."

"You intend to accompany us?" Elbryan asked.

"A long road," the centaur replied. "Ye'll be needing me pipes to soothe yer nerves, don't ye doubt!"

It took Elbryan and the other leaders of the rebel force several days to get everything organized with the twenty-five warriors and eight score refugees they would leave behind. The remaining band would cease its hit-and-hide warfare and concentrate on getting all the folk to safer points in the south, trying to parallel the advancing army without engaging it.

For those few heading north to the Barbacan, it was a difficult parting, but especially so for Elbryan, who had come to feel as a ... father to these people, as their trusted protector. If they were found and destroyed, the ranger knew he would never forgive himself.

But the other argument was more compelling; if the dactyl could not be defeated, then there would be no safe havens, then all the world as the humans knew it would be destroyed. Pony reminded the ranger often that he had trained those warriors who would escort the refugees, that they went with not only his blessing but also his woodland skills. And, like a father who has watched his children grow beyond his protection, Elbryan had to let them go.

His course, a darker road by far, lay the other way.

They set out at an easy pace, with Elbryan riding Symphony — but only for a short distance — that he might hasten out to run a perimeter guard, and with Pony and Avelyn walking beside Bradwarden, who had pipes in hand, but wouldn't start playing until they had put the monstrous enclaves of Dundalis, Weedy Meadow, and End-o'-the-World far behind them.

Just out of sight of the encampment, the small group came upon a party of elves — there might have been five — or there might have been twenty, so fleeting were their glimpses of the ever-elusive sprites — dancing amid the budding branches of several trees.

"What says Lady Dasslerond?" Elbryan inquired of Belli'mar Juraviel.

"Fare well, says she," replied the elf. "Fare well to Elbryan the Nightbird, to Jilseponie, to good Brother Avelyn, to mighty Bradwarden, and," he finished with a flurry, beating his tiny wings furiously to set himself gently down on the ground, "to Belli'mar Juraviel, who will represent Caer'alfar on this most important quest!" The elf dipped a low bow.

Elbryan looked up at Tuntun, who was sitting on the branch and smiling —
a grin that did not seem so sincere to the perceptive ranger. "See to him, Nightbird," the elven female said threateningly. "I will hold you personally responsible for my brother's safety."

"Ho, and a mighty responsibility that is, when facing the likes of a demon dactyl!" howled Bradwarden.

"If I had my say, Belli'mar Juraviel would remain with his own," Elbryan replied. "Of course, if I had my way, then Pony — Jilseponie — would remain with the folk of the three sacked villages, as would Avelyn, and Bradwarden's pipes would greet the dawn each day in this forest, his home."

"Ho, ho, what!" bellowed Avelyn. "Brave Nightbird would fight the beast alone!"

"Aye, and cut a killing swath through the army ye seen 'tween the arms o'
the dactyl's mountain!" added Bradwarden.

Elbryan could only laugh at their jibes. He kicked Symphony into a short gallop, rushing down the path.

"Fare well to you, Nightbird!" he heard Tuntun call, and then he was alone, riding the perimeter, glad for this newest addition to the party, despite his comments to the contrary.

He sensed a movement not far away and asked Symphony to walk slowly. He relaxed when Paulson and Chipmunk came onto the path, some distance ahead and apparently oblivious of him.

"If we missed them, I'll beat ye silly," the large man huffed at Chipmunk, who wisely shifted to the side, out of arm's reach. Elbryan did not miss the fact that they were dressed for the road, though the others would not be going to join with the refugees until the next morning. The ranger moved his mount into the cover of a pair of pines and let the two approach, hoping to discern their intent, thinking that they might have had enough of it all and were striking out on their own.