Yeah, yeah, I know I said I'd have it done by Monday. Forgive me? Please?
This is a little shorter than most, but no matter, it needs to be. I do believe this is the third-to-last chapter. How strange to be so near the end when they feel so near the beginning.
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A great roaring drifted through the forest, causing animals to disappear and birds to take sudden flight.
Cadvan took hold of my hand gently. "As is always, the Dark puts an end to our cheer," he said levelly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I think, unless I am much mistaken, it is an aylach, and not very far away," he replied.
"And what's an aylach when it's at home?"
"It is like a wolf, but not as big: about the size of a large cat. It is almost always brown and its teeth are longer and sharper. They have a poison in them that causes drowsiness, to help them kill their prey. They often attempt to eat animals much larger than themselves. I have heard of horrible fights between wolves and aylachs, and it is said that the aylachs usually win."
"Great."
"I think, perhaps, we should hurry back to our horses and hope to be gone before it reaches us, for it will not stray far from the forest."
I followed him swiftly through the trees. "And this is a creature of the Dark? Did the Dark make it then?"
"No, but they posses of a meagre intelligence, usually directed to the next meal, and if a person would approach them and ask them to kill a particular creature or person, they would not object. They have a voracious appetite."
"But why would somebody send them after us?" I asked.
"Because you are of Pellinor, and to be of Pellinor is reason enough to be killed."
I shivered, unsettled by the knowledge that there may be a dangerous creature out there hunkering after my blood.
"Keep your sword loose," Cadvan advised me.
As we reached the clearing again Darsor lifted his head and snorted at us. Cadvan rubbed his nose and touched Swift's neck so that she would pay attention. "Speed is required," he said in the Speech. "Are you both ready?"
Swift blew gently through her nose. "Was that an aylach?" she asked Cadvan.
"Aye, I think so."
She took a few steps towards me - I tried not to move away and she stood proudly in front of me. "I will carry you quickly," she promised, nudging me in the chest and making me stumble.
"Come, let us go," Cadvan urged, and we both mounted. The horses could do no more than trot in the leafy undergrowth, beset as it was with hidden roots and dangers. Swift placed her foot half an inch from a snake, causing it to hiss loudly.
The trees were beginning to thin out, and Swift and Darsor sped up into a cautious canter. Another growl ripped through the forest.
Swift's head began to nod, jerking me out of the saddle. "What's wrong?" I asked her.
"My foot," she replied. "It hurts."
"Cadvan! Swift's hurt!"
He brought Darsor to a halt and Swift followed his lead. She was holding one foot off the ground and when I dismounted I saw a small amount of blood. Cadvan pulled one of his shirts out of the saddlebags. Using a stout stick, he prised a large stone out of the centre of her foot. The blood flow increased and Cadvan quickly made a bandage out of his spare shirt.
"Is that better?" he asked.
"It hurts," she said quietly, looking miserably down at her foot, pawing it in the air experimentally.
"Come on, we have to keep moving," I said, taking hold of Swift's reins and leading her onwards.
"I will carry you, my little filly," Swift said, nudging me in the small of my back. "We will be faster."
"But you're hurt," I protested.
"I said I would carry you, and that is what I shall do. Come, little one, we haven't much time."
Annoyed as I was to be called 'little', I was touched by her selflessness, and a tear was born in my eye as I reluctantly did as she had said. Cadvan looked as uneasy as I was with the arrangement, but we had little choice.
As we moved on, the growling changed into a long howl.
"It has caught the scent it wants," Cadvan said. "It is warning any others away from its prey."
Swift was still struggling along on three legs, her head nodding in pain.
"Cadvan, it's getting closer," I called to him.
"Just keep going," he replied. "We'll make it. Just a little further."
Swift stumbled over a tree root, pitching me forwards in the saddle and almost throwing me onto the ground. "I am sorry," she said to me. I dismounted - she clearly needed all of her concentration to keep upright, and me sitting on top of her ruining her balance wasn't going to help any. "You go on," she told me. "It is you the aylach is hunting. He will not want me."
"We cannot be sure of that," Cadvan said quietly. "It may be hungry."
"But you should still go," she said. "Take care of the little one," she added.
I was about to complain that I did not need any looking after, when Cadvan said, "Oh, I think she will be looking after me."
"We can't just leave you," I protested.
"You must. Go!"
"Come on, Kayla. It is true, the aylach is very unlikely to go after her. She will be fine."
I linked my arms around Swift's neck and gave her a hug. "You're very brave," I told her, and then Cadvan told me to mount Darsor with him. I kept my eyes on Swift as we trotted away, standing between the trees with one foot off the ground but her head still high and her ears pricked.
"Will she be alright?" I asked Cadvan anxiously.
"That wound was bad. If it heals well, she should be fine, but we don't know what else is out there."
I kept listening for the tell-tale sounds of snarling, of Swift neighing, but I heard nothing. I hoped that meant she was alright.
"I think it's getting closer," I told Cadvan quietly. The rustling was much, much nearer, perhaps only 100 feet away, and there was growling becoming louder.
Without warning the aylach exploded out of the undergrowth and fixed its jaws around Darsor's leg, who kicked and bucked furiously. The movement dislodged me from the saddle and I fell hard onto my shoulder. Cadvan called my name and I saw him dismount before sharp teeth closed on my arm. I screamed and irrationally tried to beat it off with my other hand.
The aylach dodged as Cadvan brought his sword down on it, embedding the point in the ground. I tried to move out of the way, but already my brain felt slow and muzzy. Before Cadvan could dislodge his sword, the aylach came at me again and buried its teeth in my shoulder. I vaguely knew that I was in pain, that I might die, but I was too tired and sleepy…What did it matter if I died? It was just like going to sleep…
My eyes focused on Darsor, who was lying on his side, his legs twitching. One forefoot pawed the air. The aylach was out of sight so Cadvan quickly bandaged my wounds.
"Kayla, stay with me now."
My eyes drifted closed and then open again, and I saw my own blood mingling with more. Cadvan must have killed the aylach. The forest wavered.
"Kayla, don't go. Talk to me. Kayla, say something. Kayla?"
My eyes were wide as I looked at him.
"My name's not Kayla," I said.
Everything went black.
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Cliffie =D
