Fire Weaver (Fall of the Fey #1)

Chapter 3

The full moon hung heavy in the sky, illuminating Carmel and Gregoria's path. Usually they would have stopped at nightfall, but having only three days to get to the Miskas and back, they had travelled though the twilight and well into the night. They did not stop until it was early morning. Carmel stared at the moon from outside the Miskas and guessed it to be somewhere near three in the morning. The trip surprisingly short without her injured friend and breaks for food and sleep. She rubbed Gregoria's neck and tried to put on a brave face.

'I want you to wait here for me.' Carmel told Gregoria, who stomped her hoof and keened in protest. Even though they didn't speak the same language they had been together long enough to understand each other. 'You need to stay here, I need to get back to the town as fast as possible and if you go in there, the Dir'dre will eat you. I'll be back but no matter what. You just need to stay here.'

Gregoria whined again and lowered her head. Carmel smiled at Gregoria, trying to alleviate her worry. 'I'll be back as soon as I can.'

Carmel left then because she knew she would lose her nerve if she stayed any longer. With her shoulders set in determination, she strode into the Miskas, staying in the middle of the road, the only place her kind was safe. When she had gone far enough that she couldn't see the end of the road, she stopped and gathered her bearings. She took a deep breath before she spoke, knowing that the Dir'dre patrolled the path so that the Oath was upheld.

'Hello! Dir'dre, I have pressing news I feel you should hear.' Carmel paused and listened for any indication that they were listening but she could hear nothing, not even the cricket's song. 'The humans are being robbed of their livestock and they are blaming the Dir'dre. They are holding my friend captive, but I don't want you to help free my friend. I wanted to know if anyone has been trespassing in the Miskas.'

She saw shadows in the bushes and the yellow gleam of predator's eyes. A gravelly voice drifted from the direction of those flashing eyes. 'Do you know who is behind it?'

More gleaming eyes showed up behind the first ones and she made a slow circle noticing that there were eyes all around the path. She looked back at the one who spoke. 'My friend, the one who was taken captive, he knows.'

'Then why bother us?' The eyes began to disappear and she realised she was being dismissed.

She knew she was losing her shot so she blurted out the first thing she could think of: 'He's been cast out and the humans will kill him if I don't prove he isn't part of the Dir'dre. Don't you want the real culprits stopped?'

She heard what could only be described as two animals fighting. She saw the outlines of two people and a shot of fear ran through her when she realised the noises were coming from them. They were communicating in their own language.

'Would I be right in assuming, Fey-beast, that you intend to stop those who trespass into the Miskas?' The voice asked.

'Yes,' she said. Even if her companion's life wasn't on the line she would have helped. The Miskas was sacred to the Dir'dre and to have someone enter without permission seemed blasphemous, even to Carmel.

'I will assist you.' Said another as they stepped forward, careful not to step on the road. Carmel looked up the six foot four frame to meet the yellow-green eyes of the Dir'dre who had spoken. He had the face of a wolf and the body of a man and long grey fur covered him head to toe. 'I am Tharoe'

He bowed to her and she bent at the waist as an automatic response. 'I am Carmel.'

'After you.' He gestured his clawed hand down the way toward the human town. Carmel nodded and started jogging down the path, he jogged beside her in the forest, where he was safe. She tried to block out the fact that there were eyes watching their progress on either side of the road. Howls filled the night as they exited the Miskas, the call a lonely and forlorn sound.