Red Hands (editing)

Chapter 4: To This End

It was worse than I thought. It wasn't centaurs. It was onocentaurs, and with two donkey hind legs and the torso and upper body of humans, there were twice as many of them than when I'd thought they were four-legged horse centaurs. Each was equipped with full-body armor of wood, bone, and fabric, prepared for war. Most held a weapon in each hand and had belts of wooden spears tied around their equine bodies, stained dark with blood. The herd was lining up in formation, leaders with green bands around their heads walking the rows, braying and shouting commands. They were almost ready to attack.

Celeste was home to the last onocentaurs alive, and the threat of extinction made them dangerous. Zelze'd told me that once, long ago, the onocentaurs'd proudly guarded Elysia's capital, Celeste, and in return, the crown'd granted them a large portion of land to call their own. Now, after being displaced from their homes, they were the most bloodthirsty of the equine hybrids, known for their violence toward any being that was a part of the developed world. I'd a bad feeling that this attack was more than just a skirmish for land or resources. This was their herd's last stand.

I crept through the shadows of the forest, using my panmagik to silence my movements. I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the guard in time to warn them, but I had to try. Wolfe'd told me to keep out of sight until the unit joined up with me, but I couldn't risk the onocentaurs attacking before I tried to get the message out. This was my one chance. I slipped off my leather shoes and tossed them in my pack, pushing my panmagik to the soles of my feet so I could sense any movement from the herd. I moved as swiftly as I could, sticking to the shadows and keeping out of sight behind the trees and overgrown plants. Finally, I caught sight of the watchtower soaring high above the tree line, and I knew I was close. If I could only get to the wall before the herd launched their attack.

That's when I felt the vibrations beneath my toes, thundering through the earth with a ripple of power so unsettling that for a moment I felt unsteady on my feet. I wouldn't make it in time. I dashed through the forest, wracking my brain, trying to remember what Kilwin'd taught us about smoke signals. I couldn't get to the guard before the herd, but maybe I could send them a warning. When I'd neared the edge of the forest and the watchtower was clear in my sight, I stopped in my tracks and stood still, digging my toes into the ground. I summoned my panmagik, drawing my hands across my bare skin, ink following them up my legs and down my arms, turning my skin as black as night. Using the index of my right hand, I drew a sigil in my palm and closed my fingers around it, fingernails digging into my skin until they drew blood.

I held the magik in my hand, combining my blood with black power, collecting it until my whole body was infused with it, pulsing with barely-contained panmagik that sent fire raging through my veins and flushing across my body. Power rushed through my blood, and I turned my palm skyward, pushing as much force into my hand as I could. I opened my palm, releasing my magik into the air and sending black and red smoke streaming into the sky. I pushed and pushed my power through my body and into my arm like a lightning rod, pumping my magik and my warning into the smoke. I stared at the watchtower, willing some being to see it, willing them to feel the warning in the air as they breathed it into their lungs, willing them with all my strength to understand the message.

"Come on," I said. "Come on, come on... Yes!"

They'd seen it. The fire'd been lit. Grey fumes curled upward from the peak of the watchtower, smoke rising to meet mine.

The quaking of hooves interrupted my short-lived victory. The onocentaurs knew where I was now, and they'd sent a party after me. I had to get out of there. I started running again, every fiber of my being propelling me forward. Today wouldn't be my last. Suddenly I was laughing as I ran, a bubble of hope bursting inside me. Wolfe'd brought the unit just like she'd said she would. I could feel Lovelace coming closer and closer, her heart pumping as she followed after me, adrenaline coursing through her veins. I felt the ache in her hands as she crushed her handaxes in her grip, ready for a fight. My warden'd come to save me after all.