Keeper of the Wolves (27 page)

Joven stood at the base of the stairs and I
stopped beside him. He lifted his hands. The men and women in the
corridor fell silent. “Thank you for your haste,” the Lord of
Vielkeep said. “Our brothers and sisters of Rala are under siege
from the Viel, and we are the only allies close enough to protect
them. We will ride swiftly, so travel light.”

I followed the Lord outside to where General
Rasmus directed horses and supplies. Joven was no longer young and
vain; instead, I saw before me a man who was prepared to defend his
valley with his last breath. His soldiers looked to him for
guidance, and I felt a surge of pride at the strength I saw in his
eyes. He was a leader worthy to be followed.

“
Get Ash and Streg.” Rasmus
said to a waiting soldier. The General turned to me. “Streg’s fast,
but he’s never been a skittish animal.” He eyed me calculatingly.
“I’m guessing you don’t have much experience with
horses.”

“
Not riding them,” I replied
with a straight face.

He looked at me a moment, then a smile
lightened his expression. “If you’ve taken down a horse, we just
might have us a battle,” he said with a chuckle.

A soldier led over two horses. Rasmus took
the reins of a midnight-black steed with well-worn armor that had
been polished until it glowed. He mounted the horse in one smooth
motion and managed to look quite comfortable on its back. He then
gestured for the soldier to turn the other animal over to me. I
accepted the oiled leather reins and eyed the horse warily.

It regarded me with the same look. The
animal was red with scarred, knobby knees. It wasn’t a beautiful
horse, and it didn’t pretend to be. Streg snorted and tugged back
on the reins as if testing me. I held them firmly, unsure what I
was supposed to do. Rasmus had ridden off to organize his troops,
leaving me with an animal who no doubt felt as uncomfortable as I
did about being on the other end of the reins.

“
He might bite you,” a voice
called.

One of the older soldiers I recognized from
the battle with the Viel walked up. He led a docile gray horse who
looked unperturbed about the sounds of metal on metal and the
rallying cries around us.

“
I’ll bite him back,” I
said. Streg put his ears back and mouthed his bit.

The soldier looped one rein around the
horse’s neck and gestured for me to do the same with the other. He
grabbed where they crossed. “Hold them close, like this. It’ll give
you more control.”

“
And if I want to jump off?”
I asked only partially joking.

He smiled, his jovial expression a
counterbalance to the tension in the air. “Jump far. Streg might be
steadfast, but he throws a wide kick.”

I put my foot in the stirrup, aware that I
was the only rider who didn’t wear shoes or thick-soled leather
boots. The leather felt rough against the sole of my bare foot as I
swung onto the horse’s back in a motion much less fluid than
Rasmus’ had been. The saddle felt hard and unforgiving. I shifted,
trying to find a comfortable place on the solid leather.

“
Your seat will be numb
after the first league,” the soldier said.

I glanced over to see that he had already
mounted. He sat straight-backed with his weight resting on the
balls of his feet in the stirrups. I did the same and found that it
lessened some of the pressure in my legs. Laugh lines showed around
the soldiers eyes. I wondered that I didn’t feel the same thrill of
battle that usually filled me on a hunt with the pack. It was a
similar situation, with much larger prey. Thought of the Viel
filled me with trepidation instead of expectancy. “Why are you so
happy?” I asked in an effort to ignore my instincts.

He shrugged. “Some of us have been soldiers
for too long. It’s hard to train daily for so many years and seldom
get the chance to defend those we love. Sometimes I ache to fulfill
what’s become my destiny.” A bemused frown crossed his face. “It’s
like I’ve been waiting for the call all my life. I felt it briefly
at the wall when the Viel attacked, like I was doing exactly what I
was meant to.” He glanced at me, his aged eyes the light blue color
of the fading winter sky. “The way you fought, I know you
understand what it feels like to defend the place you call
home.”

I nodded but couldn’t speak. His words rang
too true. My wolf side gave a surge and I fought back a shudder.
Streg stomped a hoof and flicked an ear back at me. I gripped the
reins tightly in case he decided I wasn’t human enough to be on his
back.

“
Ride out,” Joven called
from the front of the troop.

The great iron portcullis was lifted and the
army rode through behind their Lord. I smelled a whiff of meadow
gold and vanilla, but when I looked back, I couldn’t see any sign
of Koya. My heart gave a throb of regret, but I couldn’t stay
behind. I had promised to protect Joven, and I would do so to the
fullest of my ability.

I urged Streg forward and was happy when he
responded by picking up his pace. He chomped at his bit when I
tried to rein him in, and he didn’t slow until we reached Joven and
Rasmus at the front of the group. Soldiers stared at me when I
passed. Looks of distrust swept across several faces. Word swept
through the mounted troops and they looked at me as they spoke, but
their eyes dropped when I met their gazes.

Other soldiers called to me with
familiarity. I recognized many from the battle with the Viel, and
was glad to see that I had made friends among them; but the
wariness and suspicion I used to see on faces in the Cruel One’s
tent surfaced for some, darkening expressions and coloring the air
with the pungent smell of agitation. There were many who didn’t
trust me, and I couldn’t blame them. They rode into battle against
creatures of nightmare, and had another at their side.

By the time I reached Joven I wanted to turn
back, but the relief that washed the uncertainty from his gaze when
he saw me confirmed my commitment to ride with him. “We’ve got half
a night’s hard ride ahead of us. We’ll have to push the
horses.”

Streg had no problem keeping up with the
pace. Whenever Joven slowed the troops, he tossed his head and
flattened his ears. I longed to run free across the ground in the
mile-eating lope of the wolf, but when I thought about it, my body
refused to cooperate. For some reason, I was stuck in human
form.

The thought bothered me. I didn’t know how
to fight with a sword besides my paltry efforts at the wall. I was
better with tooth and claw than I was at hand-to-hand combat. I
closed my eyes and trusted Streg’s sure hooves to keep us in pace
with Joven and Rasmus. I willed the wolf to come forward so that I
could shed the unsure limbs of a human and fight the way I knew
how.

But the wolf evaded me beneath the light of
the moon. I could feel the wildness at the edges of my mind, the
instincts that questioned why I rode toward a battle to defend
people I barely knew. I felt the call of the wind, the teasing
tendrils of evergreen and evening grass beckoning for me to join
them in their carefree sway. I tried to answer the call, to change
so that I could better judge the best path before me, but the
change eluded me.

Streg jumped over an obstacle; I opened my
eyes and grabbed the reins and his mane in time to keep from
falling off. I glanced over to see Joven watching me. “You okay?”
he called over the thunder of hoof beats. I nodded and he turned
his attention back to the path before us. Rasmus met my eyes over
the young Lord’s back.

In the General’s pale gray gaze I saw
acceptance of the coming battle. He was ready for the unknown that
would soon meet us. There was no fear or concern in his expression,
only expectation and willingness to meet it. He didn’t shy from the
inevitable future; he would have made an excellent wolf. I vowed to
tell him so when the battle was over; I kept myself from
questioning if any of us would survive to joke about such
things.

Chapter 16

The road narrowed below Vielkeep and our
vision was limited to the trees that hedged each side. My eyes
roamed the forest constantly, expecting an attack where we would be
easily ambushed. The horses were skittish and shied at the shadows
cast by the setting moon. I smelled a tendril of meadow gold and my
heart leaped then fell when I remembered that Koya was at Vielkeep
Castle, far away from the fray we rode to meet.

“
Steady,” Joven said quietly
to his mount, a dark red, thickly-muscled horse that looked better
suited for battle against a dragon than our flight down the
road.

Streg gave an uneasy whinny. His shoulders
and neck were lathered with sweat, but he gave no sign of slowing.
When Joven finally eased up the horses to allow those who had
fallen behind to catch up, Streg threw his head, grazing my
forehead with the hard knot of bone that made up his skull. I sat
back in surprise and nearly unseated myself. “Steady,” I repeated
Joven’s word and set a hand on Streg’s shoulder. He calmed and gave
only a stomp of disapproval at the slower pace.

The view opened to reveal a wide valley.
Joven held up a hand and the horses stopped. I let out a breath of
relief and heard several others around me, then my eyes focused on
the scene below. Carnage spread across the valley. White shadows
ghosted among wrecked carriages and fallen horses. A heavy scent of
blood and terror filled my nose along with the vile, sour stench of
the Viel. What remained of the carriages and supply wagons had been
grouped in a rough circle at the far end. Forms fought bravely
against Viel who tried to reach the women and children within the
circle. I thought of Lord Brayton and the Lord and Lady of Sunhold
who had been scared of me. They were somewhere in the fray.

“
The Gods be with us,” Joven
said in horror at the scene.

“
We’re their only hope,”
Rasmus replied.

Joven nodded and steeled himself. “Right.”
He lifted a hand. “For Rala!” he shouted in a loud voice.

The cry was taken up by the soldiers behind
us. I turned to shout with them, and found myself looking into a
pair of very familiar sky blue eyes. My heart skipped a beat.
Koya’s golden hair was hidden beneath a cowl, the same gray spun
cloth she had worn that night in the Cruel One’s tent when she
changed my fate forever. “Koya,” I whispered. Her eyes were filled
with trepidation at the scene below; when she met my gaze, they
widened.

“
Forward,” Joven
called.

The horses surged. I tried to hold Streg
back so I could reach Koya’s side, but he took the bit in his teeth
and refused to obey my commands. Soldiers flooded behind me,
pushing me forward. I had no choice but to ride or jump off and be
trampled. I looked back wildly, but Koya was hidden amid the wash
of soldiers who thundered into the valley.

My heart pounded in my ears. The fact that
Koya was in danger pulsed through my mind with every beat. Time
slowed and I saw the scene from a distance.

Viel rose from feasting on the fallen bodies
and turned at the sound of our battle cry. Bare, jagged teeth were
coated with sticky blood and I imagined screams coming from their
soundless, gaping maws. Joven’s horse reared before it reached the
first Viel. The creature’s claws slashed the horse across the
chest. The animal screamed. Streg rose on his back hooves in fear.
I was distracted by Joven’s danger and wasn’t quick enough to catch
my horse’s mane. I fell on the ground and rolled to avoid Streg’s
hooves as he galloped back across the valley.

All around me, horses dumped their riders
and ran. Their eyes rolled in terror and cries of fear sounded from
every side. Riders fought their horses, and those who struggled to
remain seated let go when their horses fell onto their sides in an
effort to clear their backs and escape the Viel. One of the
nightmare creatures grabbed a horse in its tattered claws and
brought it down. Other Viel swarmed the poor animal until it was
hidden from view. The horses that survived ran as though death
pursued them, leaving us stranded in the valley with Viel on each
side.

I searched every face for Koya. Viel
attacked the soldiers at the edges of our group. Joven and Rasmus
called for them to hold and fight, but the terror of the Viel was
too real. All around me, men screamed and called for help. I
couldn’t hear Koya’s voice among them, but a faint scent of meadow
gold and vanilla teased my senses. I spun in every direction; I
held my sword, but it was a useless weight in my hands. The need to
protect Koya pressed against me like a crushing boulder.

Two Viel attacked Joven. I drove my sword
into one, and when it turned, the weapon was ripped from my hands.
The creature grabbed me by the front of my leather armor and lifted
me so that I stared into the holes where its eyes should have been.
Foul stinkweed breath washed over me. The creature’s claws tore
through the thick leather. I struggled against its grip; when I
couldn’t break it, I changed tactics and drove my fist into its
face.

My hand sunk into the tattered white skin
around its eye. The Viel snapped its head around and grabbed my
wrist in its teeth. It ground down like a wolf working to break the
thigh bone of an elk. Blood streamed down my arm. Its teeth cracked
my bones and a yell tore from my lips. Something hit the side of
the Viel like a ram. It stepped back and the claws sinking into my
chest opened. I fell and dangled from my wrist in its mouth. The
bones gave an audible snap.

In my pain, I forgot I was in human form and
dove for the Viel’s neck. My teeth closed around its throat. The
creature staggered back. It dropped my wrist and it tried to pull
me free. I gripped harder, tearing deep into its flesh with my dull
teeth. White fluid filled my mouth, choking me, but I refused to
let go. The Viel struggled, its movements frantic.