Prince of Fire (12 page)

Keelia smiled widely. "Yes, I'm very fine, thank you. Very fine."

"What happened?" His expression was puzzled. "You didn't move for a long time, and then you... your body jerked a little bit." He swallowed hard, judging by the workings of his throat.

"Did it?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm." Keelia lay back and closed her eyes, quickly headed toward sleep.

"Are you ill?" he asked.

"Not at all."

"Then what..."

"Good night, Joryn."

He mumbled something beneath his bream. From the tone she suspected his words were not, "Sleep well."

* * * * *

He had never seen the Anwyn Queen so blasted happy. She'd slept soundly, and awakened with a smile on her face. Not once all morning had she ordered him to do anything at all. Once he was almost certain he heard her humming a cheerful tune.

It was decidedly odd.

By late morning they'd moved into a wooded portion of the mountain, taking a well-worn path that led them upward. The shade was nice, and he liked the scent of the forest. He had begun to sense and smell that more of his people had passed this way recently, perhaps on this very pathway. That was not unusual, as they were moving deeper into Caradon Territory very quickly. Five more days, at this rate, perhaps six, without running into trouble, and they would reach the Grandmother. And then what? He would have to rely on the Grandmother to tell him what came next.

He knew that Keelia sensed the Caradon presence as well, by the way she studied the paths and the woodland darkness with such care and wrinkled her nose on occasion. She smelled the native people of this land as he did, but to her it was not a familiar or pleasant scent.

And still, her odd cheerfulness lasted until they came upon the pitiful creature by the stream, where they'd stopped to drink and bathe.

Joryn immediately and instinctively placed himself between the creature and the Queen, drawing his knife and holding it ready. He wasn't sure what good, if any, the short blade would do against the mutant who looked as if its transformation from cat to man had been halted. There were tufts of hair and patches of skin, a misshapen snout, and almost human eyes near catlike ears. The body was stooped and malformed, but the muscles seemed sturdy enough. The arms were more human than animal, but the claws at the ends of those arms were sharp.

Fire was available at a flicking of his fingers, if the blade was not enough as a weapon, and Joryn was ready to call upon that fire, he lifted the hand which did not hold the dagger, ready to use his gift, but a gentle hand on his arm stilled him.

"Wait," Keelia whispered as she came to stand beside him. "I don't think he means us any harm."

He or
it?
To Joryn, the creature seemed much more like a thing than a Caradon or a man.

"Look at the eyes," Keelia said gendy. "He is not one who has chosen evil. There is no talisman around his neck, and I do not detect anger, only ... pain. Such horrible pain."

Keelia made a move as if she intended to approach the mutant, but Joryn stopped her with a firm hand. "Do not move closer. Any creature in great pain is capable of lashing out"

She obeyed his order, and stopped her approach. But she did not return to her place of safety behind him. She directed her words to the creature. "You were bitten," she said.

The creature tried to speak, but could only make a pitiful sound that was somewhere between man and animal. Finally it nodded once.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Keelia sounded truly sympathetic. Still, Joryn half expected the Queen to command the creature to complete its transformation and move on, but apparently she saved her directives for him.

The creature by the stream lifted its claws and pointed at Keelia. This time it struggled to make near-word sounds. "Thy. Ah. Mo."

Keelia took a step toward the creature, in spite of Joryn's warnings. "Please, again?"

"Thy. Ah. Mo." Each word was half-growl, half-word.

Joryn sniffed the air. Someone was coming.

Keelia lifted a hand to her forehead. "Think your words
here.
Direct them to me, if you can."

The green-eyed mutant nodded his head quickly, closed his eyes, and then said again as he concentrated,
"Thy. Ah. Mo."

Keelia spun around quickly, her eyes widening. "There are more."

Five mutants, much like the one they had found by the stream and yet distinctively different in their fury, burst from the woods and effectively surrounded Joryn and his Red Queen. It was the first time he had been so close to the monstrosities bent on violence, and for a moment his heart stopped. They were so unnatural, so horribly wrong.

There was no time for dwelling on the horror. Joryn drew Keelia close to him and surrounded them with a circle of fire. The flames, which quickly grew high and powerful, might scare the creatures away. Many wild creatures were afraid of fire, and these things might be
no
different. He still needed the Anwyn Queen to end this horror, and even if all else failed, he had to protect her.

The creatures moved closer, not at all intimidated by the fire. One of them stuck a misshapen claw into the flame, and twisted its mouth in what had to be an attempt at a grin.

"We can fight them," Keelia said in a lowered voice.

"We?"
They would eat her alive. They would tear her apart.

"We. Truce, remember? Anwyn and Caradon fighting together." She looked up at him. "It starts here."

The first beast leapt through the wall of fire, and Joryn placed himself between the creature and Keelia. A blast of fire blinded the creature for a moment, giving Joryn time to thrust his knife into the chest where a heart should be. The mutant fell.

Another had already entered the circle of flame, and Keelia faced it bravely. Her arms were transformed, her claws ready. The sight of those claws took the creature by surprise, long enough for Keelia to swipe out and open its throat. It fell to the ground without ever touching her.

She was not only strong; she was fast, much faster than he. had imagined was possible. The hideous beasts were frightening in their deformity and their rage, but Keelia displayed no fear as she fought. The second beast she faced was prepared for her claws, so the fight was not as simple as the first. Joryn wanted to assist her, but he had his own attacker to battle. The creature was not afraid of fire, and it took several attempts to harm the tough monster.

That's what these things were, Joryn decided. Once Caradon or not, they were now monsters who needed to be destroyed if they could not be saved. He had put three down, Keelia had defeated two. As it seemed that the battle was done, her arms became a woman's soft, seemingly gentle arms once again, and she took a long, deep breath that spoke of relief. Joryn allowed the wall of fire to die.

The last thing he wanted or needed was this grudging admiration for the Anwyn Queen. But she fought well; she did not demur or wail in the face of danger, not even when mat danger arrived in the form of decidedly unpleasant monstrosities. Perhaps she was accustomed to getting her own way, perhaps she did think she was entitled to command all that she desired, but she was not entirely spoiled and useless. Admiring her bravery and her willingness
to
fight made her even
more
attractive. Had he ever wanted a woman more?

They believed that the battle was over, that they were safe at last, and then the creature by the stream, the one which was apparently harmless, rushed toward them, screaming a ghastly, ear-splitting shriek.

Joryn turned and grabbed Keelia, trying to move her out of the creature's way as the beast hurled itself into the air and intercepted a sixth attacker who leapt from the woods.

The two beasts wrestled, rolling across the ground just a few feet away as they bit and slashed. Defonned claws lashed out, grappled, and drew blood. Teeth were bared and used with vehemence until the gentle creature fell still, his throat bleeding and his heart ripped out of his chest.

The monster that had appeared last, the one which had killed the gentler creature, immediately sprang toward Joryn. The thing was female, smaller than the others but just as deadly, as was evidenced by the dead mutant on the ground. Keelia's claws appeared and Joryn readied
a
ball of fire, which might at least slow the beast's progress. At the last moment the monster shifted course and came in low, burying her teeth in Joryn's leg just above his boot.

It happened quickly. Tearing through his trousers with sharp teeth had been no problem for the thing, and she chomped down with vigor and even joy. Joryn felt the venom enter his blood. It burned as it spread, moving into his veins too fast for him to think that he might be able to stop the infection.

For a moment he froze, realizing his fate was sealed, knowing that on the rise of the next full moon he would become like them. A monster. A thing which should not exist.

It was Keelia who grabbed the creature by the ears and yanked its ugly mouth away from his body. Her strength surprised the thing, and they took advantage of that disbelief. Before it had a chance to turn on the woman who had pulled it away from its prey, Joryn sliced his dagger blade across the monster's throat.

The female monster didn't die instantly, but instead dropped to the ground and twitched a few times before falling still.

Suddenly all was quiet in the once peaceful clearing. Joryn didn't move. Keelia stared down at his bleeding, infected Leg, as motionless as he. Blood soaked his trousers and the top of his boot, making clear that he'd been well and deeply bitten.

"We can fix this, can't we?" she said, her words quick and low. "Your Grandmother,
the
Grandmother, she can fashion a spell or a potion or
something
that will stop—"

"No," he interrupted sharply. "If she could bring an end to this madness alone, she would not have sent me to fetch you."

"Kidnap," she corrected without her usual fervor. "You kidnapped me."

He hadn't thought the Anwyn Queen capable of shedding tears for a Caradon, but as she stared at his wound, tears dripped down her delicate, pale cheeks.

6

"It's not too bad," Keelia said, her voice quick and a touch too high-pitched. "Maybe you aren't infected. It's possible that the spreading of the disease only happens in some instances, not all. Maybe ..."