Rise (6 page)

The wolf, however, paid her no mind. Its pitlike eyes fixed on Barrow’s still form. Hungry, the beast let its jaw drop open, and it drooled liquid fire that sizzled on the damp ground.

“No!” Ember tensed, ready to jump between Barrow and the wolf. Her chest constricted, knowing that Silence and Sorrow were forged to battle creatures of flesh. This molten wolf seemed unlikely to fear a blade… or any weapon Ember could imagine.

About to push off on her heels, Ember suddenly rolled to the side to avoid being trampled by Toshach’s hooves. The stallion shrieked as it bore down on the fire wolf. The wolf snarled, gnashing its blazing fangs.

Toshach reared. His ears were pinned back. When he landed, he stamped the earth, squealing at the fire wolf.

The wolf sprang, and Toshach reared again. As the stallion’s hooves struck the wolf, Toshach’s clarion call became a bellow of pain. The wolf’s jaws closed on the horse’s throat, and he collapsed, his whinny cut off before his body hit the earth.

Ember took up the felled stallion’s cry. Heedless of the wolf, Ember threw herself on top of Barrow. She laid her head on his chest. When she heard his heartbeat, she could breathe again. Ember moved into a crouch, Silence and Sorrow held low and away from her body to fend off attack, no matter how futile such a defense might be.

Toshach’s corpse made a barrier between Ember and Barrow and the fire wolf. The wolf stood still, assessing its work. As it waited, two more wolves joined it, standing at its flank.

Ember’s mind was a blur. What she faced was worse than any nightmare that had stolen her sleep as a child. Wolves made of fire.

Their black eyes were on her, yet they didn’t attack. Ember stayed very still, her muscles burning with tension.

From behind the wolves, the dark rider approached.

Ember risked looking away from the wolves. When she saw who sat astride a horse that was smoke to the wolves’ fire, she thought she would retch.

Alistair looked at the gaping hole in Toshach’s throat. The stallion’s flesh had burned away, revealing the bones of his jaw.

“I am sorry about Toshach,” Alistair said, though he seemed to be speaking to the air rather than to Ember.

When Alistair did look at Ember, his face was calm. “They won’t hurt you.”

Ember stared at him, only realizing after a moment that he was referring to the fire wolves. The wolves continued to stand their ground, giving no sign that they wished to menace Ember. Though their black eyes seemed hungry when they looked at Toshach’s body… and Barrow’s.

Forcing her cracked voice from her throat, Ember managed two words. “Alistair, please.”

He winced and then clenched his jaw. “I do what I must.”

“What you must?” Ember kept her body covering Barrow’s, growing convinced that should she leave him, the wolves would be on him in an instant. “You would destroy me?”

“I’ve already told you that the Lyulf won’t attack,” Alistair said. “Not without my command.”

He straightened, taking an imperious stance. “You understand little of what’s happening, Ember. I remain your friend. Let me help you.”

“You hunt with monsters,” Ember spat. “I understand that well enough.”

“I acted only to protect you,” Alistair said. “You know of my love for you. I would do anything for you.”

“You attacked us,” Ember argued. “Your wolves killed Toshach. And I know if I leave Barrow, they will kill him as well.”

“Barrow is a traitor. And he deluded you into following him on a path that will mean your death.”

Ember bit back her reply. Defending Barrow, making plain her love for him, would only incense Alistair.

“You must come with me, Ember,” Alistair urged quietly. “It’s the only way.”

Feigning indecision, Ember dropped her gaze.

When she didn’t speak, Alistair said, “You’ve been misled. If you return to Tearmunn, you’ll see what’s truly happening. I told you that Lady Eira wished to speak with you, but the traitors reached you before she could. And I’ve been forced to this.”

“I know you love me, Alistair,” Ember said, choosing her words carefully. “And you know me better than anyone. You’ve known me since we were children.”

“I do know you,” Alistair replied. “That’s why you must listen to me and not to those who would use you for their selfish purposes.”

Ember looked up at him. “Maybe I’ve made the wrong decision, but to leave Tearmunn was my choice.”

The smile that had begun to touch Alistair’s lips vanished.

“To know me is to know how bullheaded I am,” Ember hurried on. “I won’t lie to you, Alistair. You attacked us. Toshach stumbled, but it could just as easily have been Caber. I could have been killed, no matter your intentions.”

“You are unharmed.” Alistair spoke through gritted teeth, and Ember knew she had little time.

“I believe that you want to protect me, but I can’t return with you tonight,” Ember said. “Not like this. If I return, it must be my choice. Don’t you see?”

Ember held her breath as Alistair stared at her.

“And why would you return by your own will when you fled the keep this very night?”

“I made the choice to leave in grief and confusion over Sorcha’s death,” Ember told him. “Lukasz is my commander, and his words were convincing… but I had little time to make my choice.”

Alistair nodded, and Ember pushed on to the riskiest bit of her ploy. “Barrow isn’t dead, but he’s gravely injured. I must get him help.”

“What happens to Barrow doesn’t matter,” Alistair said.

“I know you have a quarrel with him,” Ember returned. “But he was my friend, and I will not abandon him.”

She glanced at the fire wolves. “Nor will I leave him to your hellhounds.”

Alistair was silent, and Ember knew he was uncertain of what to do. The wolves stirred, growling their discontent.

“If I give you my word that I go not to join Lukasz, but instead to my sister in France,” Ember said, “will you leave me in peace?”

“And then what?” Alistair asked bitterly.

“Then I will have the time to know my own heart,” Ember told him. “Both about the lady Eira and Conatus, and about you and me.”

Alistair peered at her. “You and me?”

“I can’t forget our history, Alistair.” Ember spoke softly. “And all you’ve done to prove your love for me. You take great risks on my behalf.”

“I would never do less,” Alistair answered. “I swear to you.”

“Then let me swear to you that I go to my sister.” Ember’s pulse was pounding. “To leave Barrow with a healer and seek the answers I must. I may yet return to Tearmunn and to you, but then it would be my choice. If you take me there by force, I will not forgive you.”

Ember wondered if she’d pushed him too far, for Alistair was quiet a long while. The wolves’ growls were louder now, and they snapped at the air with their flaming jaws.

Alistair reached into his cloak, then tossed something in the air. It sailed toward Ember, and she reached out to catch it. Opening her hand, she shivered when she recognized the pendant Alistair had given her. A gift from Lady Eira.

“That was given as a sign of Lady Eira’s faith in you,” Alistair said. “Let it be a sign not only of my faith as well, but also of my love. Think on us and on your future, Ember.”

“Thank you.” Ember’s limbs wanted to collapse in relief, but she dared not move with the wolves so close.

“I pray that you’ll make the right choice,” Alistair told her, his face grim. “If you do not return to Tearmunn within the month, you will become the hunted again. And I will no longer protect you.”

Wheeling the shadow horse around, Alistair didn’t look back at Ember. The wolves howled in protest, their cries becoming whining snarls as they followed him, tethered by some invisible leash. Alistair put his heels to the dark horse, and in a blur, the wolves and rider became a cloud of smoke and blood lightning that soared eastward up the glen and finally faded from sight.

WHETHER IT WAS A FEW
minutes or hours, Ember couldn’t be sure, but for a time she couldn’t move. She dropped onto her knees beside Barrow and stared into nothing. She had a vague sense of being cold, but the chill was negligible compared to the hollowness beneath her ribs.

Caber finally roused her from the stupor. She didn’t know what the stallion had done during the fight: whether he’d bolted and just now returned, not knowing where else to go, or if he’d been paralyzed by shock as he watched his friend Toshach die.

Wherever he’d been and whatever he’d witnessed, Caber now approached Toshach tentatively. Ember watched as the young stallion whickered to the fallen horse. Caber blew out on Toshach’s neck, whinnying softly, then giving a low squeal of sorrow. Stomping the ground twice with his front hooves, Caber snorted and jumped away from the dead horse.

“I’m so sorry.” Ember heard her own voice before she’d made the decision to speak. Caber looked at her, tossing his mane and whinnying in distress.

Shakily, Ember stood up. The stallion came to her outstretched hand. His nose was velvet soft on her palm.

“He did it to save Barrow.” Her words came out thick. “And now Barrow needs our help.”

Though it took a good deal of coaxing and pleading, Ember managed to convince Caber to lie on the ground alongside Barrow. Even with Caber’s back in close proximity, Ember struggled to drag Barrow into the saddle. She held his body in place as she urged Caber to his feet.

After she’d collected the saddlebags from Toshach’s body, Ember scrambled into the saddle behind Barrow. Easing Caber into a walk, Ember held on to Barrow with one arm. She tried to keep her mind blank. Fear that moving Barrow at all was harming him further threatened to unravel her determination. Though his heartbeat was steady and his breathing normal, Ember couldn’t know the extent of his injuries. A broken rib or crushed organ would mean his body was bleeding on the inside, invisible wounds that nonetheless meant death. But what choice did she have?

Ember had briefly weighed the option of riding ahead in hopes of bringing help to Barrow, but it seemed much more dangerous to leave him unconscious and alone than to risk moving him. Moving at a plodding pace frustrated her so that her bones ached, but a faster gait than walking would jostle Barrow too much.

Steeling herself, Ember loosened the reins, letting Caber take up a swift walk without allowing him to trot. Dawn was breaking over the hills to the east, and Ember rode toward the light, praying that the coast was as close as the promise of morning. Despite her exhaustion, fear kept Ember alert. She surveyed the landscape, always watching for the landmarks that Barrow had mentioned would mark their path to the sea. Should she miss any of them, Ember knew she’d easily lose days wandering aimlessly in the hills.

When the sun had crested the top of the glen and spilled pale gold and rose light down the slopes, Ember caught her first glimpse of the eastern coast: a dark, roiling blue. The sight filled Ember with more foreboding than hope. As Caber kept up his steady gait, the vast blue expanse rose up to meet them, stretching farther and farther into the east. Ember’s mind was full of brittle thoughts, too easily broken into sharp bits of emotion that cut her to the core. She had almost reached the sea, but then what? Their tiny band would sail to a strange land and hope for aid? The cause already seemed lost to her.

Caber snorted, his ears flicked, and a moment later, he gave a loud whinny. Ember straightened in the saddle, striving to calm the stallion, who’d begun to prance. Another whinny returned Caber’s call, drawing Ember’s gaze to the woods that lined the path.

Keeping a tight hold on the reins, Ember watched the forest edge. If bandits hoped for an ambush, she’d be hard-pressed to protect Barrow and fight them off.

When a gray mare carrying Lukasz emerged from the shadows followed by Kael and his mount, Ember gave a shout of relief. She jumped down from Caber’s back and waved the commander over to them.

“We thought the worst when you were delayed,” Kael told her. His eyes rested on Barrow’s unmoving form, and he was already climbing from his saddle.

“He’s alive,” Ember said, answering Kael’s unspoken question. “Toshach fell, and Barrow was crushed beneath him.”

Lukasz dismounted, and the two men lifted Barrow from Caber’s back, setting him carefully on the ground.