Chapter Six.
Onua looked up from the mare's side she was grooming. Over the past days she had found herself focussing more on the mundane tasks she had to do, at the moment for example she was concentrating entirely on making Firebrand's side shine like burnished copper. She sighed as she saw who had entered the stables, Alanna's loud entrance did not bode well for good news. The Lioness' head snapped around as she caught sight of the horsemistress.
"Harailt couldn't find them either?" Onua asked, already guessing the answer from Alanna's stormy expression.
"No." She said shortly, gathering Darkmoon's tack. "But he did find signs of strong magic near where we know Numair was at least."
Onua put down the brush she was using and turned to face her friend.
"What kind of magic? And why didn't you find it?"
Alanna huffed, her expression wry.
"I'm not as skilled a scrier as Harailt is. And he says it's unlike any human magic he's ever seen before."
That made Onua pause, "What kind of magic is it then?"
"We don't know. I'm off to consult Myles, hopefully he may have some ideas."
Onua nodded, Alanna's adopted father had a way of knowing things, or being able to find out things, much like her husband could.
"I'll come with you as far as the wall, Firebrand here needs to go out in the far paddock." Alanna nodded as she finished saddling Darkmoon and led him out to the yard. Neither woman mounted the horses, only walked beside them as they made their way towards the palace gate, past gardens on one side and training fields on the other. Both were wrapped deeply in their own thoughts. They noticed the horses growing uneasy at the same time, and as Alanna turned to gentle her horse her gaze jumped to the sky and she cursed aloud.
"What is it?" Onua looked in the same direction as her friend and also swore under her breath. Distinctive winged shapes were making their way across the sky, straight towards the palace.
"Stormwings." She shouted, unnecessarily as their stench had already reached the workers in the fields, who were making their way quickly to safety. She snagged two of them as they ran past, handing one Firebrand's halter, while Alanna passed Darkmoon's reigns to the other. Onua hurried to the weapons shed in the nearest practice yard, grabbing a couple of recurved bows and their quivers, flinging one over her shoulder and tossing the other to Alanna.
"Is this the best we've got?" Alanna said, preferring the longbow or a crossbow to the K'miri recurved bow.
"Do you really want to be stringing a long bow now?" Onua asked, as she fitted her first arrow to the string.
"Not really." Alanna allowed, placing her fingers more carefully on the string. Both women shared a grim smile before loosing the arrows. When their first shots fell too near, Alanna let loose with another inventive curse and led the way up the stairs to the top of the curtain wall. When Onua took a break from the shooting she saw soldiers hurrying towards where they were standing, back to back. She breathed a sigh of relief as she also saw Harailt running along the wall, something glittered like crystal in his hands. The Stormwings were coming at them thick and fast, screaming abuse at the top of their lungs.
Harailt reached them, and he threw the ball of magic he had crafted on his run at the flock. It expanded, forming a net, ensnaring the Stormwings as they tried to rise above it.
Onua and Alanna lowered their bows, smiling gratefully at the mage as he struggled to regain his breath.
"Nice trick." Alanna grinned at him, although there was a worried gleam in her eyes as she took in his pale face, noting his obvious exhaustion. Glancing up at the Stormwings she saw the net flickering in places and swiftly, dropping the bow, gathered the fires of her magic, sending violet fibres up to join the fraying fibres of his Gift together. The Stormwings, seeing places of weakness, threw themselves at the net, trying to break through, only to be defeated when the red of Onua's gift joined the mixture. Realising that they could not break through the net, the Stormwings emptied their bowels over the wall, and spat at the three before pulling away and flying off.
Onua watched them go, unblinking, and only pulled her magic back when she was sure that they were not going to return.
"Mithros what a stench!" The commander of the guard exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth and nose. "Let's get some people to clear up here as soon as possible. Meanwhile, back to your positions men. They might be back."
Onua, Alanna and Harailt shared a rueful glance, hoping that they would have some respite from the attacks, whilst knowing that was unlikely. Alanna took another long look at the mage, before making a snap decision.
"You need to see Duke Baird and get some rest." She told him firmly. As he started to protest she cut over him, "You know as well as I do what happens to mages who over extend themselves. We've both seen it, and you're getting too close to your limit, or I'm no healer."
Onua smiled wearily, "We're all close to our limits, but Alanna's right, you look like you need a long bath, some hot food and then a good night's rest."
Once more he tried to complain, but then shut his mouth abruptly, nodding in defeat. Alanna grinned and walked with them to the stables where she collected Darkmoon once more.
"I'll be back before sundown." She promised as she mounted.
Onua sighed as she watched her friend ride off. She knew that Alanna would soon be needed at a battle, and although George was using some of his spies to seek out any news of Daine and Numair, they had found little, and he would need to turn his full attention back to intelligence from the front. She leant on the fence, smiling when the horses came to her side, nudging her with their noses, but she knew every hour that passed diminished the likelihood of them finding the pair, and she was slowly loosing hope of ever seeing either of them again.
Well, this is nearly half way through now, and I hope you are still enjoying it. Please do let me know what you think in a review!
HuntressDiana