Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to Tamora Pierce.

A/N: This is a short chapter, but I had to do it this way. Don't worry, more will come

It really is encouraging to see them all. I know I'm being kind of cliffy with this story and I'm doing a lot of teasing. There are reasons for all of it as those of you who followed Two Days In Carthak can probably guess. By the way, you might remember a brief mention of Lady Cassandra in that story and a few items that were unresolved. I'll cover them all, I promise.

And now…….

Chapter 7 – Hurroks!

The room immediately became a flurry of activity. Daine could feel the "wrongness" that marked immortals and she had experienced enough to know which ones were which. The immortals had yet to appear as every trained person in the room jumped to their feet and took positions. Every Tortallan mage in the room sent speaking spells to various sentries for weapons and then moved to positions on the terrace or ran out into the corridor to position themselves in other assigned areas. Riders and the Own who had participated in the banquet and dance moved to the terrace where the children had been playing and took positions on the ramparts. A rider leader, who was on duty, appeared in the doorway bearing crossbows, longbows and as many quivers as he could find. The riders hurried through taking weapons and returning to the posts that they had set. A similar occurrence brought weapons to the Own and Buri and Alanna. By the time the beasts appeared in the sky they were greeted by 20 bows, 15 swords and a dozen mages.

The hurrok screams filled the indigo night, their great wings beating the air with fury. There weren't just scores, they numbered close to 200. Fierce claws and fangs threatened as the carnivorous winged horses attacked. The king's voice rang out "Archers fire!" Bolts fired in every direction. The hurroks dived and evaded whenever possible, sweeping at the castle to attempt to grab human victims and pull down bricks.

Though the ball room and banquet hall were technically on the ground level with the rest of the castle, this side overhung a cliff with a 55 foot drop. This was an architectural feature that was recently built. Numair had told Daine that it was put up after King Jon's coronation and the destruction that accompanied it. It offered guests a nice view of the valley and safety from ground attacks. But it gave the hurroks a little advantage because they could attack from above, the sides and below the wall. Fighters had to perch precariously on the ledges to get a good look at what was beneath them.

Daine had no way of knowing if these hurroks were all there was or part of a surrounding attack. The voices in her head were screaming so loud that she could barely handle the noise. For the time being, she had asked her animal friends to stay out of the way. She could call them into action if the two-leggers needed help, but most of the animals would not be effective against these beasts. And she knew that there were Riders and The Own on other parts of the castle.

Daine had taken a position toward the center with a long bow. She and Numair stood shoulder to elbow fighting side by side. The moonless night was being lit by battle fire from all directions. Numairs Gift lit the darkness despite it's color of black with white sparkles, and itleft powerful shockwaves with each impact.

Daine loosed arrow after arrow. Despite her impressive skill with a bow, the hurroks seemed to almost be psychic when it came to evading. She stayed focused through the noise of the ongoing battle. She killed or injured six hurroks, one after another before she saw the little girl.

While the Tortallan children knew to get out of the battle, Meesha had crawled into a cannon hollow to hide. She was whimpering in terror. Daine looked around for the Islanders. Six of them were standing back of the terrace watching the show. Of those, only Elyra showed any type of movement, but seemed to be searching. Daine realized she was probably looking for her child. Daine had no idea where the nanny was and had no time to look for her. The remaining delegates were conspicuous only by their absence. Daine meant to call out to Elyra, but a Hurrok grabbed a rider who had been stationed nearly above the child. Terror chased Meesha from her hiding place and she scrambled out into the opening. It was like watching in slow motion as Daine's mind put together that the girl could fall. Before Daine could reach her, the child went over, screaming.

Dropping her bow, she threw herself over the edge after the girl, and screamed, "N U M A I R!" as she dived. If he didn't hear over the battle, it would be up to her to catch Meesha before she either crashed to the ground or was caught by a hurrok. Daine shifted smoothly into the shape of a golden eagle, pulling her silk gown free as she dived after the girl. She reached with her talons, catching Meesha's bodice and struggled to rise against her burden.

The frilly pink dress ripped and the child struggled in fright. Daine didn't know whether to go down or up. But the decision became unnecessary when a hurrok came from the other side of the wall, and scraped Daine's wing-joint with its sharp talons. She barely escaped capture and lost her hold on Meesha.

Suddenly, she saw black fire reach and pluck the little girl from the air, pulling her back to safety. Another hurrok came out of nowhere and bolts of black and purple fire charred the beast into nothing. Daine became aware that her wing was bleeding and flight was painful. The various colors of lightening shooting past her and the onslaught of arrows made flying even more treacherous. But another rope of black fire encapsulated her, drawing her back to the terrace.

The battle raged to a close. Daine was dazed. Numair perched her carefully on his right shoulder. He cradled the little girl in his left arm as she sobbed into his chest. Numair continued to send black fire steered by his mind. She could see blue lightening and black fire continue to launch at the hurroks until the last of them were gone. A triumphant cry sounded from the Tortallans all around.

Elyra finally reached Numair. With a grateful cry she enfolded the terrified child in her arms, pressing kisses all over her face and head. For a moment, mother and child clung to one another and wept. Then Elyra placed a hand on Numair's cheek and choked, "Thank you." She looked down the drop that almost claimed the life of her child. "Where is your friend? She didn't – oh Goddess."

"No, no, she's right here." He pointed to the eagle on his shoulder. "But she's injured." He dropped the robe off his left shoulder and shook his arm loose. Then he lifted Daine with his left hand so that he could jiggle the other arm out. Wrapping the eagle that was Daine tenderly with his own mage's robe, he cradled her as she turned smoothly back to herself. The pain was shocking and Daine gasped.

Alanna rushed over to see to her wound. A warmth surrounded the wound and the pain subsided. Daine heard Numair say, "Did we lose anyone?"

"Two riders and one Islander. I can't know about anyone below or on top."

An intake of breath pulled Daine's attention back to Elyra who was looking around the terrace in desperation. With a cry of horror, she raced to the crumpled body of her friend and companion. Shay had been killed in the attack.