Wings of Flame

Wings of Flame Read Online Free PDF

Book: Wings of Flame Read Online Free PDF
Author: Nancy Springer
the man and turned back to Seda, still fuming. “We value people more in Deva,” he said darkly.
    Seda had to smile, a small, shadowed smile. The Devans had not always been particularly valuing of people in their warlike dealings with the Vashtins. But there were no shuntali in Deva, or so it seemed. “Here, people are cheap,” she said in her soft voice. “Only horses are precious.”
    â€œHow so, lad? Will they try to rob us of ours?”
    It was the captain. But she never answered him, for a dark, winged form swirled by and landed with a thump just at the verge of night, beyond the fire. They knew at once that their demon had returned, even before they saw the sheen of firelight on two unlikely hooves and the red reflection of firelight in equine eyes.
    â€œDevan dogs!” the thing sneered.
    As one man all the Devans sprang up and charged it, demolishing their hut. The horse-bird lurched up and away, just out of reach of their angry, grasping hands. “Dung of Suth!” another voice said blasphemously from behind them.
    They jerked around, puppets pulled by someone’s string. Another winged and horse-headed black demon sat there almost companionably by their fire. Behind it, in the ruined hut, the lad Seda groped for a rock, preparing to stun it. But before she could strike, yet other voices took up the chant.
    â€œDung of Suth! Balls of Suth! Bowels of Suth! Die! Die! Devan dogs!”
    The men clustered like frightened horses, circling, staring in every direction. The black birdlike things faced them on every side, weird in the firelight and ominous, darkling, beyond it. How many? Perhaps a dozen; no one could see clearly. Quite enough to make their hearts sink in unreasoning despair, for they had thought there was only the one.
    Beyond the dingle the laurel bushes rustled, though there was no breeze. Shadow-tails, Seda thought. But the men seemed not to think so, nor did the steeds. At the far end of the hollow near the spring she could hear the horses milling and whinnying. The animals were alarmed, but they hated to leave their masters.
    â€œTo mount,” the captain ordered, and his men were glad to obey him, for every sinew of every one of them cried out for flight, though the demons had threatened them with no bodily harm. The horse-birds, each sitting on its two hooves, moved aside before their rushing exodus, and the dingle echoed with a sort of whinnying laughter.
    Kyrem, as panicky as the rest of them, stopped only long enough to take the erstwhile stableboy by her arm and hurry her after the others. She tugged against him.
    â€œWhat is the matter?” she protested softly, and though he did not stop, he slowed his pace to argue with her.
    â€œHave you no sense?” he whispered furiously, fear turning to anger; he felt mockery in her words and mockery in the presence of the demon birds. “The night is full of danger. Anyone can feel it.”
    â€œWhere?” she asked.
    He stopped for a moment to hearken. The night was still and, this far from the fire, quite black. Omber stepped softly up to them, the sound of his hooves muffled by the forest loam. Kyrem felt a pang of despondency as sharp as that of an abandoned child.
    â€œSee now what you have done?” he said bitterly. “They’ve gone off and left us.”
    Shouts rang out harsh and fearsome across the night, and the scream of a stallion hurt or enraged. Kyrem stiffened, turning toward the uproar at the edge of the dingle.
    â€œThere,” Seda murmured.
    â€œThey’ve been attacked again!” Seething, he flung himself onto Omber and galloped off, leaving her standing where she was.
    They never knew whether the fight was with the weasel-faced man and his followers from the hostelry or with some commonplace robbers, for it was too dark to tell. Though they had little enough to be robbed of, except perhaps the horses, which no Vashtin would touch.… Kyrem hurled
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