Dreams That Burn In The Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

seize her, like a sudden tidal surge pulling at
her. Her body slid across the ground back away from Uhlat toward the edge of the clearing. It was
like riding a giant wave. The hawk shrilled.
    Uhlat turned and saw her moving across the
ground. He threw a hand out toward her, palm open, and then closed it, fingers closing into a
fist.
    Natina shrieked, flattened against the ground.
Something, a hand cold as ice, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her roughly across the ground
until she bumped into Uhlat's legs.
    Uhlat laughed and turned to glare at the old
one. "Do not try to rob me of my pretty thing, old one. I have her life in my hands. She is
mine."
    "She does not belong to you," said the old
one.
    Uhlat glared his hatred at the old one. His
mouth flew open, and a high piercing chant of summoning rang in the air. The air above his head
burned with green and yellow flames. Black smoke boiled in a tall cloud above his head. Out of
this blackness, a black thing swooped, a creature of wings and night and fire red teeth. Its body
had no shape, night black, its form changing as it flew like mist upon the river.
    Only its great vicious head had shape, the blood
red eyes, mur­derous beak, and wickedly sharp teeth.
    The great black thing circled above Uhlat's head
and a foul stench, an odor from the grave, came down out of the sky from the thing, a demon
smell.
    The old man smiled calmly at Uhlat. "You are too
far from the lands that hold your black heart. Your power is dew upon the grass. I am the rains
of spring. I wash the land of all evil. Leave while you still have breath in your body,
flesh-eater." Above, the thing circled like death on the wing. "I will crush you. I will tear
your bones out of your still live flesh," cursed Uhlat. "Who are you that dares to challenge
Uhlat? I have the power of night. None can stand in my way!"
    The black thing clicked its fire red teeth, and
its eyes gleamed with evil. It flew close to the old one, but he paid no attention to it, did not
even look up at it.
    "Let the child go free," said the old one,
moving closer, taking two steps closer to Uhlat.
    The icy hand that held her hair suddenly
disappeared, and Na-tina fell back, away from the shaman's legs. She felt strength flowing
through her legs and arms. On her shoulder the white-head hawk seemed to glow with warmth and
light. "She is mine. I have taken her. What I take, I keep." Freed from Uhlat's power, Natina got
slowly to her feet, still unsteady. Holding the hawk safely against her with one protective hand,
she took a step and then another.
    She moved away from Uhlat for the safety of the
forest beyond. Out of the corner of his eye, Uhlat saw the movement and turned his head. He
gasped in pain, and the hand that had seized her by the hair, writhed at the end of his arm. A
drop of blood fell from each finger of the hand.
    Uhlat spun quickly on his heel, leaping forward
toward Natina. He seized her roughly by the shoulder. The white-head hawk struck, his fierce beak
stabbing into the shaman's arm. With a cry of pain, the shaman lost his grip on Natina. The old
one laughed. The sound of his laughter was as cold as the snows of winter.
    "Even a small hawk can hurt you, child-stealer.
You should heed this omen. Flee into the woods like brother rabbit with the foxes after
you."
    Uhlat grabbed Natina by the arm, jerking her to
his side, keep­ing well away from the angry hawk on her shoulder.
    "Use your magic on me and I kill the child,"
spat Uhlat. "I kill you, old one." Uhlat flung his medicine stick forward, spinning it in a
glowing circle. The great black thing, from the grave and the world beyond this one, came
swooping with a rush of deathwings down at the old one.
    The old one raised his arms wide, as if about to
take wing. Behind the old man, the rain came, the great spring rain of life. It fell upon the old
one, and he was like a small child in a storm. He turned up his face to the rain,