Wild Magic

Daine headed in his direction. The fox yipped again when she almost made a wrong turn. She found him next to a large, hollow log. The hawk had concealed itself inside.

‘Thank you,’ she said. The fox grinned at her and vanished into the reeds while Daine looked at her new patient. ‘Clever lad, to think of hiding there,’ she murmured. (And since when did hawks ever think of concealing themselves?) ‘Come on out – they’re gone.’ She put her hands into the log’s opening, praying she wasn’t about to get slashed.

The bird waddled forwards, easing himself onto her palms. Moving very slowly, she lifted him out and placed him on top of his hiding place.

He stared at her, beak open as he panted. One outspread wing seemed broken in two places, maybe even three. Her hair prickled at the back of her neck. Anyone less familiar with hawks might have taken this bird for one: she could not. He was too big, and hawks were not solid black. His colour was dull, like velvet—there was no gloss to his feathers at all. He wasn’t wrong as those Stormwings were wrong, but he was not right, either.

She cut reeds for splints. ‘I’m from Onua—Onua Chamtong of the K’miri Raadeh,’ she told him. ‘You recognize the name?’ She didn’t expect an answer, but she knew a kind voice was something any hurt creature responded to. ‘I have to splint that wing. It’s broken.’ She cursed herself for not having bandages of any kind, and cut strips out of a petticoat.

‘It’ll hurt,’ she warned. ‘Try not to peck me, or we’ll never get you fixed.’ Ignoring his gaze, she gently spread the wing. The hawk cried out only once. That was another strange thing, she thought; other birds had savaged her for less pain than she was giving this one. She secured the outspread limb onto its reed framework, feeling him shake under her hands. ‘You’re being a fine, brave lad,’ she crooned, securing the last cotton ties. ‘Your ma’d be fair proud of you – wherever she is. Whatever she is.’

Repairs made, she slung the crossbow on her back. ‘I’ve got to carry you,’ she explained. ‘Try to keep still.’ When she gathered him up, taking care not to bump the wing, he trembled but didn’t bite or slash. ‘You’re the oddest bird I’ve met in my life,’ she murmured as she followed the trail back to the road. ‘Heavy too.’ She was sweating by the time she found Onua. ‘His wing’s busted.’

‘Horse Lords be praised, you found him!’ The relief on the K’mir’s face was scary, as if he were a friend or something, Daine thought. Onua lifted the hawk from Daine’s arms, examining him with delicate fingers. Somehow Daine wasn’t surprised to see that he was as calm with Onua as he’d been with her.

‘If we move the packs onto one of the gentler ponies, he can ride on them,’ Onua suggested. ‘We have to get well away before we camp.’ Daine nodded and shifted the packs to a mild-mannered chestnut gelding. On the road, the bird rode quietly, panting without making any other sound.

They left the marshy valley and entered the wood, moving on after dark. Onua lit the way ahead with her magic. They had walked for hours before she took them off the road, onto a small path.

Here she lit a torch and gave it to Daine. ‘Farther up there’s an open shed for drying wood. It’s big enough to shelter us and the ponies.’ She dug out the materials she used to work her magic. ‘Get a fire going. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’ She went back to the road, a bag of powder in her hand. Tahoi started to follow: she ordered him to go with Daine.

‘I think she wants to hide our trail,’ Daine told the dog. She led the pack pony, and the others followed obediently. ‘But why? The monster – what’s her name? Zhaneh Bitterclaws – can she see in the dark? Apart from revenge, why follow us?’ She glanced at the hawk. Meeting his eyes directly still made her head spin. ‘Not for you, surely.’

The bird shuddered.

The shed was big, with three walls to keep out the wind. Moreover, it had a fire pit inside, and a well outside. With relief she freed the ponies, watered them, and fed them grain from the extra stores.

Tahoi had brought in three rabbits that afternoon. As soon as the fire was going, Daine skinned and gutted them. Two went on the spit for her and Onua; Tahoi got half of the third. Cutting strips from the remaining half, she offered it to her patient. He turned his head away.

Perhaps he hadn’t got the scent. Daine waved it in front of him. Again he turned his head aside.

She sniffed the meat: it was no different from what Tahoi crunched so happily nearby. She laid it on the pack in front of the bird, having moved his travel arrangements to the floor of the shed. The hawk picked the morsel up in his beak and threw it away.

Getting the rejected meat, she offered it to Tahoi. The dog ate it and returned to his bones. Planting her hands on her hips, Daine scowled at the bird. She’d heard of captive animals refusing to eat, but such a thing had never happened to her.

‘There’s many a hawk would be happy for a nice bit of rabbit,’ she told him, not even realizing she sounded like her ma. ‘Now, I’ll give you another piece. Don’t go throwing that away, for I won’t give you any more.’ She offered a fresh strip to the bird, who sniffed it – and turned his head. She placed it before him, and he threw it to Tahoi.

‘He won’t eat,’ she told Onua when the K’mir joined them. ‘What’s the matter with him? I never had an animal that wouldn’t eat for me.’

The woman crouched near the hawk, her grey-green eyes puzzled. ‘Let me try. Maybe it’s ’cause he doesn’t know you.’

‘I’ve fed plenty of animals that never met me first,’ Daine snapped, cutting another strip of meat for Onua. The hawk refused it as well.

Onua scratched her head. ‘Try cooked meat. I have to ward this place. There’re armed men all over the road, searching.’ She walked outside the shed.

‘For us?’ Daine asked. Onua shook her head and began the now-familiar spell. ‘Not for you, surely,’ the girl whispered to the hawk. Cutting meat off the spit, she cooled it with water and offered it to her patient. He sniffed it for a while, but refused it in the end.

‘Maybe he’s sick,’ Onua suggested as she ate. ‘I broke my collarbone once, and I was queasy for a day or two.’

‘That’s shock.’ Daine rested her chin on her knees. ‘I s’pose that might be it.’

‘He’s not just any creature.’ Onua finished her meal. ‘He may be a little strange to care for, Daine. Just do your best – please?’

The girl awoke in the night to hear a quiet murmur. Peeking with a half-closed eye, she saw that Onua sat with the hawk, talking softly to him. And Ma said I was fair foolish with animals, she thought. Rolling over, she went back to sleep.

They moved on in the morning. Searchers passed them on the road, men on horseback and men afoot, but none appeared to see the bird riding in state on ponyback. ‘I can’t throw fire or heal,’ Onua told Daine, ‘but when I hide a thing, it stays hidden.’

For three days they pushed on. The hawk’s eyes still would not focus, and his balance was poor. After some debate with herself, Daine lightly bound his claws to the pack he rested on. He didn’t seem to mind, which bothered her still more. Even the mildest sparrow would have fought the ties.

Her patient worsened. He refused any and all meat, raw or cooked. Their third day together she offered him raw egg and then cheese. He ate both, to her joy, but vomited it up later. That night she woke to hear Onua chanting a spell over him, but it didn’t seem to help. The K’mir still talked to him about human things – road conditions, the fair in Cría, the doings of the Queen’s Riders.

Once, after meeting the bird’s eyes, Daine walked into a ditch. Another time she fell over her own feet. After that, she avoided his gaze and resented it. Why couldn’t she look at this bird? And why did she not feel connected to him, as she felt with other creatures?

His wing did not heal. The fourth night she stayed up with him, coaxing water mixed with honey into his beak. It did no good. The fever she had fought to prevent set in and began to climb.

She woke Onua sometime after midnight. ‘He’s going to die. Not today – tomorrow, maybe. I hate losing one I’ve nursed!’ To her shame, she felt tears on her cheeks and wiped them away with an impatient hand. ‘He’s not right! He’s not like any bird I ever met, and I can’t fix him! Can we stop at a village or town, and find a sorcerer who might—’

Onua shook her head. ‘Out of the question.’ When Daine opened her mouth to argue, the woman said, ‘There are reasons. Important ones.’ She tugged at her lip, and came to a decision. ‘Get some rest – I’m calling for help. Horse Lords willing, somebody will be in range.’

Daine was too exhausted to protest or ask questions. It was hard even to crawl into her bedroll. The last thing she saw was Onua, kneeling before a fire that now burned scarlet, hands palm up in a summoning.

She slept until dawn, and Onua greeted her cheerfully. ‘I got lucky – help is closer than I thought. Eat something, and you might want to wash. There’s a bathing pool behind that hill. They’ll be here around noon.’

‘They who?’ Daine’s voice came from her throat as a croak.

Onua shook her head.

‘Wonderful. More secrets. My favourite,’ Daine muttered grumpily as she found towels and soap. Since the day was warm, she washed her hair and took extra time to scrub every inch of her skin. Why hurry? she thought, still feeling grouchy. They won’t get here till noon—whoever they are.

The hawk’s eyes were closed when she returned, and he was shivering. She warmed small rocks and wrapped them in cloths – towels, scarves, handkerchiefs. Carefully, talking to him the whole time, she cocooned bird and rocks in a blanket, hoping to sweat the fever out. After an hour of the extra warmth, he took some heated water and honey when she coaxed.

Onua had worn herself out with her magical efforts, and slept all morning. Daine had to content herself with frequent trips to the road, looking for the promised help. Cloud and Tahoi followed her, as worried as she was.

The sun was at its height, covered by thickening clouds, when she saw movement to the east. She raced back to camp. ‘Onua, there are people coming.’

The K’mir grabbed her bow and arrows; Daine got hers. They went to the road to wait. It wasn’t long before Onua said, ‘It’s my friends. The ones in white are in the King’s Own. They answer directly to King Jonathan.’

Daine gaped at the company that approached. Mail-clad warriors on beautiful horses rode in four rows, their white, hooded capes flapping grandly at their backs. The earth shook with the pounding of their steeds’ hooves. Before them came a standard-bearer, his flag a silver blade and crown on a royal-blue field.

Beside him was a full knight in gold-washed mail, his gold helm mirror bright. He bore a lance; on his left arm was a red shield with a device like a gold cat rearing on its hind paws. The knight’s horse was larger than those of the white-caped warriors, though not as large as the chargers normally used by those who wore full mail or plate armour. It was as gold as the cat on the knight’s shield, with a black mane and tail.

Together the company made a picture out of legends. ‘Oh, glory,’ whispered Daine.

Reaching Onua, the knight halted the warriors with a raised hand. His horse refused to stop and walked up to butt his head against Daine’s chest.

‘You beauty,’ she whispered, running her hand along his mane. ‘Oh, you pretty, pretty thing.’

Laughing, Onua went to the warhorse’s head and gently made him back up. The knight peered down at the K’mir through his open visor. ‘Are you camped here?’ Onua nodded, and he turned to his company. ‘Hakim, this is it.’

A brown man in the front rank of the white-caped riders nodded and called out instructions. The result was instant activity: men dismounted, giving their reins over to a few of their number while others removed packs from their mounts and from the spares. Within seconds they were off the road, erecting tents to share the clearing with the ponies and Tahoi.

The knight secured the shield and helm to his saddle. Dismounting, he gave the reins to one of the others, then stripped amethyst-decorated gauntlets from his hands. ‘I should’ve changed to leather,’ he complained. ‘My back has been one whole itch the last mile.’ He grinned at Daine. ‘The outfit looks nice, but it’s not very comfortable.’

Daine was very confused. Out of the saddle, the knight was two whole inches shorter than she was, and built on stocky, not muscular, lines. His cropped, coppery hair was tousled from being inside a helmet. Amethysts winked at his earlobes, stones that matched the colour of his eyes.

‘My wits have gone begging,’ Onua said. ‘Daine, this is Sir Alanna of Pirate’s Swoop and Olau – the King’s Champion. Alanna, this is Daine. Wait till you see what she can do with animals.’

Daine stared at the hand offered her, then into purple eyes. ‘The champion? The knight they call “the Lioness”?’

‘Don’t tell me,’ Alanna said. ‘You expected someone bigger.’

Daine took the offered hand. Remembering her patient, she asked, ‘Can you help? I can’t fix ’im at all.’

Onua took the champion’s elbow. ‘Alanna’s a healer and a sorceress – if she can’t come up with something, no one can.’

‘Aren’t you going to be sorry if I can’t?’ the knight asked as Onua steered her towards the ailing hawk.

Daine unwound the bird from his wraps. ‘He won’t eat anything but a little honey and water,’ she explained. ‘Not meat or fish. And he’s dizzy all the time.’

The purple eyes looked at her sharply. ‘How would you know that?’

Daine met that gaze squarely. ‘I just do. I’ve—’

‘“A knack with animals”,’ Onua chorused along with her, and grinned.

Alanna lifted the bird with a care for the splinted wing. The hawk blinked, looked at her – and buried his head against her chest. ‘He knows me. Good.’ She carried him to a tent the warriors had set up, and went inside.

‘Wait here,’ Onua told Daine. ‘Don’t let these men bully Tahoi or the ponies.’ She followed the knight inside.

Daine realized she ought to picket the strings so the smaller horses wouldn’t disturb the big ones. Tahoi stuck close to her as she worked, and Cloud was on her best behaviour. The warriors smiled at her as they set up more tents and built cook fires. A handful went to the nearby river with fishing lines in their hands. She would have liked to go too, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask these businesslike Tortallans.

‘Great merciful Goddess!’ The shout came from the tent where Alanna and Onua had taken the hawk. ‘Of all the gods-cursed, simpleminded—’

Daine gaped. The man the knight had called Hakim smiled. ‘The Lioness has a temper,’ he told the girl. ‘Sometimes it gets the better of her.’

The knight stamped out of the tent. She had discarded mail for breeches and a white shirt. At her throat a red gem burned like a coal in the fire. ‘I can’t see—’ Her purple eyes lit on Daine. ‘You, girl – come here!’

Tahoi growled, bristling. He didn’t like the knight’s tone.

Alanna stared at the dog, then smiled. ‘I’m sorry. Daine, would you come here, please? I think I need your help.’ Steering the girl into the tent, she said, ‘Onua says you found him under – unusual conditions.’ The hawk lay on a man-size cot, his eyes wide and frightened. ‘How?’

There was something here that pounded on her ears, making her nervous. ‘Honest, Your Ladyship—’

‘Alanna,’ was the firm interruption.

She thought of calling the champion, the only lady knight in living memory, by her first name, and winced. ‘I listened for him, is all. I sat down and just – listened.’

‘Would you do it for me now, please?’

Daine swallowed. ‘But he’s right there, mum. Lioness.’

‘Turn your back to him, if that helps.’ Alanna fiddled with the red gem at her throat. ‘Listen for him exactly as you listened back then.’

Listening’s fine, Daine thought nervously. You only listened before, and had no trouble. And the badger said it was all right. Well, then!

Closing her eyes, she emptied her mind, letting her breath slow until she couldn’t hear it. She concentrated on her ears. Outside, Cloud chewed on a clump of grass, thinking she ought to check on Daine, alone with strangers. The gold warhorse shifted; he wanted to run some more.

There! A strange and distant voice, one that sounded like no animal she knew. That had to be the hawk. Was he muttering to himself?

‘I hear him.’ That sleepy voice was hers. ‘He’s a prisoner. He can’t get out. But he’s just on the bed—’

‘Hush.’ Purple fires played inside her eyelids. ‘Call him, Daine—with your mind. His name is Numair Salmalín.’

‘Alanna – maybe Arram’s better.’ That was Onua, sounding distant. ‘He’s only been Numair for eight years – he’s been Arram all his life.’

‘True. Call to him as Arram, Daine.’ The fires evened into a steady purple light, warming her face like the sun.

‘Why—’

‘Call him.’ The knight’s voice was gentle, but firm.

Daine sighed. ‘Arram Salmalín? Arram – come on. You’re too far off. It’s all right, Arram – it’s safe—’

Something behind her snapped, breaking her concentration. She opened her eyes as wooden sticks hit the tent wall in front of her: the hawk’s splints. ‘Now look at this,’ she scolded, picking them up. ‘His wing won’t get any better that way.’ She turned to show them the evidence.

The hawk was gone. Onua pulled a sheet up to cover a large, naked man.

He smiled drowsily at the three of them. ‘Can I have something to eat?’

Daine’s jaw fell open. ‘Where did he come from?’

Alanna bent over the newcomer, peering into his eyes. Onua grabbed the girl’s elbow and steered her out of the tent. ‘Explanations later,’ the K’mir said. ‘There’s a lot to be done for him still.’

‘Onua, where’s my hawk? Where’d that man come from?’ Her knees shook.

Onua put a hand on Daine’s mouth. ‘Hush. No more questions. I’ll explain everything – later.’ She went back into the tent, pulling the flap tightly shut behind her.

‘Later,’ Daine muttered to herself. ‘Wonderful. Hawks disappearing, men appearing – why not? Later.’ She stamped off to look after the ponies, who at least would tell her things and not wait for any ‘laters’.

CHAPTER 3

SPIDRENS AND MEDITATION

Hedgehogs woke Daine as they wriggled into her bedroll, shaking in terror. It wasn’t the controlled fear they felt around hunters, but the wild panic that made them run before a fire. She eased out of the covers. ‘It’s all right,’ she whispered. ‘Stay here.’

She dragged on her clothes and boots. She felt it now, heaviness in the air and in her mind—not like the Stormwings or the rabid bear, but there was a flavour in it that reminded her of the winged monsters. In the camp around her, the men slept quietly – no snorers like Grandda. Onua was mumbling in her sleep. Tahoi was not with her or the ponies.

‘Stay,’ Daine told Cloud, who wanted to follow. She fitted the string to her bow and checked its draw as she looked around. A light burned in the Lioness’s tent. The other one, where the man who’d been a hawk lay, was dark.

The wood outside their camp was thick with fear. Tiny beasts dug as far into burrows as they could. The big ones were gone. An owl sitting overhead was almost mindless with terror. That was bad: owls didn’t scare.

Tahoi sat at the edge of the trees, nose to the wind. When Daine rested a hand on his shoulder, the dog flinched. ‘What is it?’

He knew only that it was bad, and it was coming.

‘Stay with the ponies. Guard them.’ Tahoi whimpered a protest. Waiting for trouble to reach him was hard; better to hunt it out. ‘Go on.’ He obeyed, reluctantly.

A sentry nearby raised a hand in greeting. Looking past him, Daine saw another. ‘Do you hear anything?’ she asked. ‘I think something bad is coming. Something wrong.’

‘I hear nothing.’ It was Hakim. He didn’t take his eyes off the woods beyond. ‘Go back to your sleep.’

There was no sleeping, not now. Checking the ponies, Daine found they were afraid too. Beyond them the horses were alert, watching the trees like sentries. The warhorse pawed the air: he knew danger was close. Wanting to fight it, he pulled his tether to see if it could be yanked from the ground.

‘Not yet,’ she said, patting his withers. ‘Watch. Wait.’ She walked towards the forest.

‘Don’t go alone.’

Daine wrenched around and lost her balance. A strong hand grabbed her elbow and raised her to her feet. It was the Lioness, wearing a shirt, breeches, and boots. The red gem at her throat glowed steadily; a naked sword lay in her right hand.

‘Easy,’ the knight cautioned. ‘What brings you out here?’ They walked to a small clearing almost thirty feet away.

Daine took a deep breath and made herself calm down. ‘There’s something close by that isn’t right. I can’t explain better’n that.’

The Lioness scanned the trees all around them. ‘I feel it too.’ She tapped the gem. ‘This warns me of trouble, sometimes.’

‘Look.’ Her ma had said she had an owl’s nightsight. That was how she saw the rabbit in the clearing, when someone else would miss it. Kneeling to lift the body, she found it was still warm.

White light – Alanna’s magic – appeared over her hands. The knight touched the body with a palm and felt its warmth, then touched the red drops at the rabbit’s nose. She sniffed her fingers. ‘Blood? Its heart burst—’

‘It was scared to death.’ Daine was sure of it. Gently she lay the dead creature atop a nearby stump. ‘There’s something else, Lioness. The big animals – there isn’t a one within a mile of this place right now. Listen.’

The knight doused her light and obeyed. ‘Nothing’s moving out—’

A bat darted between them, chittering a warning. Startled, the knight and the girl jumped back – and a rope that glowed a sickly yellow green dropped into the space where Alanna had been standing.

Noise overhead made Daine look up as she put an arrow on the string. A monstrous spider hurtled down at them. She shot it before she even knew what she fired at. A man screamed above; black fluid fell onto her hand, burning like acid. She put two more arrows into the thing and jumped aside when it hit the ground.

Alanna was shouting a warning to the camp. Daine was about to wipe her hand on a leaf when something moved on the edge of her vision. She leaped out of the way and the Lioness moved in, as smoothly as butter. Her sword flashed once – a powerful cut sliced two of the near legs off a new attacker – then twice, beheading the thing. It happened so fast Daine wasn’t quite sure it happened, till Alanna dragged her out of the way of the monster’s death throes. Knight and girl waited, breathless, for a moment or two, to see if another giant spider would appear.

‘I don’t think there are more,’ Daine said at last. ‘It felt – wrong – out here, before. That’s almost gone now.’

Many-jointed legs moved, and she knew the one she’d shot was alive. Gulping down nausea, she drew her dagger and walked around in front to kill the thing – cutting off its head was best.

She had thought they were spiders, almost as big as she was, with bodies dressed in dull black fur. That was bad enough, until she saw this one from the front. Head and neck were human – its teeth as sharp and pointed as a giant cat’s. It screamed with a man’s voice, enraged at seeing the knife.

Her mouth dropped open; a cry of fright and repulsion came out as a strangled croak. Her knife dropped from numb fingers. No wonder these had felt like Stormwings in the night. They were just as wrong, an eerie mating of animal and human that had no reason to exist.

‘Great merciful Goddess.’ Alanna came up behind her. It made Daine feel better to know the paleness of the knight’s face wasn’t due entirely to the light she had called so they could see. ‘Have you ever heard, or—’