In the Shadow of Swords by Val Gunn Page B

riders .
    Hiril turned to her, whispering, “You must warn the others.” He pulled an arrow from his quiver and handed it to her. “Take this as I give chase. The kayal will flee when I attack. They will follow the úathir to the riders and choose to fight there.” Hiril brushed his hand against Marin’s fist as she clutched the arrow. “Fire it into the sky. The powder in the shaft burns red once the arrow leaves the bow. The company will see it as a warning beacon. After that, get to them as quickly as possible. We will meet there.” Hiril placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her to go .
    “But… the witch is the one I was hunting.” Turning to him, Marin looked into his eyes and felt his strength flowing into her. “I know it,” she insisted. “I can feel it was the one that took Maeros’ fingers and feet.”
    He smiled grimly .
    “I will go after the kayal-witch.”
    8
    MARIN TREMBLED with rage.
    Who was Hiril Altaïr to go after her prey? It was hers. She had tracked the kayal across the miles of Aeíx, followed it through the long, miserable day to this spot, sworn to her duty as a rider with the Four Banners. Who was he to take her prey instead? Just who was this man—he who had darted into the night to single-handedly ambush a kayal company still powerful with the dark magic they had conjured?
    She couldn’t see his arrows fly, but she heard the evil creatures shriek as one of their number fell, its head shattered by a powerful bowshot from her right. TWO more of the things toppled, and the rest swarmed toward the far side of the glade, where branches still smoldered from the úathir’s passing.
    They were following the forest demon straight to Torre Lavvann’s company .
    Marin nocked Hiril’s fire arrow, pointed it skyward, and loosed the bowstring. She rolled to the ground as a streak of brilliant red shot upward, coming up in a crouch and running around the clearing’s edge as kayal arrows tore at the brambles that had concealed her .
    Hiril had been mistaken. Some of the dark creatures had stayed behind to fight. And neither of the two coming to search for her body had fallen to friendly bowshots .
    She faced them alone .
    Marin forced away all thoughts of her company. Surely they had seen the fiery arrow. Indeed, she would be surprised if they hadn’t been alerted by the úathir’s piercing scream .
    She was already moving to her left as she fired two quick arrows into the backs of the kayal who had come searching for her. Then she threw herself flat and rolled; the red flash of her warning signal had revealed glinting eyes in the branches of the lone pine tree, and as she’d expected, answering shots came from that quarter. They thudded into tree trunks a comfortable distance away as Marin continued to circle the glade .
    She lined up her target in the dark, found the likely angle, aimed high, and released one powerful shot into the branches of the pine. Two kayal plummeted through the darkness and crashed to the ground, both pierced by the single arrow. She caught herself wondering if Hiril Altaïr had seen her skill. She also noticed there were no answering bowshots . Was it possible she had finished off the enemy in this place?
    Sounds of battle drew nearer through the trees: the shouts and shrieks of men and kayal, the clash of steel, the thud of hooves. Had her company defeated the úathir? Were the creatures fleeing back this way? Marin doubted that a single wound would prove mortal to the kayal, and she would not have the injured rising again to join their dark kind in battle .
    With blade in hand, she broke from the cover of the trees. The fallen kayal were moving as she came upon them; despite their injuries, they groped for their weapons. Without mercy, Marin plunged her sword into the first, and then silenced the second with a fierce blow to the neck. There were two more, fallen beside the brambles, and at least three morenearby that Hiril had taken with his parting shots. How