The Hunt: A Custodes Noctis Book Read online

  “Voice?” Galen asked, letting Rob steady him.

  “Yeah, he keeps saying 'it is good, it is right, it is joy' while I'm trying to whack something. Fucker wants to take over or some shit.”

  “Don't let him,” Rob said softly, the king flitting through his eyes and shifting across his face.

  “No,” Flash agreed. “Galen? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” Galen said, taking a deep breath. “How many did we lose?”

  “Not as many as we will,” Guy said grimly.

  “We're going to lose everyone,” Blake said, joining them. “The Fae lost five already, and I know that's not many compared to your numbers, but for us it's devastating. The feorhbealu have gained power since I last faced them.” He ran a hand over his face and leaned wearily against his blade. “Some of them have left.”

  “The Fae?” Galen asked.

  “Yes, they're willing to take the chance that the feorhbealu will spare them when this is over. It's better than facing certain death.”

  “Oh, no, you don't!” Rhiannon's voice rang out over the clearing. There was a pause then a muffled gunshot. “That's better,” she snarled in triumph.

  “What's going on?” Rob asked, looking at Galen.

  “I suspect the Fae weren't the only ones trying to leave,” Galen said with a chuckle. “Rhiannon was probably discouraging them.” He saw her walking out of the dark ring of trees towards them, a feral smile on her face. “You're not supposed to shoot the good guys,” Galen called to her.

  “I'll shoot anyone who tries to leave the field.” She tucked her gun in the shoulder holster she wore, and looked him over with an appraising eye. “Mike's helping as many as he can. Anyone here need a medic?”

  “We're okay for now. What do we do?” Galen said, glancing over the group gathered there.

  “Heroic last charge would be my guess,” Blake said smugly.

  “That's not helping,” Flash snapped.

  “You have a better idea, idiot?”

  “Giving up isn't an idea,” Flash said.

  Galen sighed, it wasn't a great idea, but it was more than likely the truth. The feorhbealu were going to slaughter them on the next attack. He could hear the soft moans of the wounded and the bell-like jingle of the horses bridles as the animals waited for their next move. In the distance, he could hear the ocean and the howl of a siren, the sounds comforting and solid.

  “Galen!” Rob shouted and grabbed his arm.

  “What the...” Galen never got a chance to finish, a clawed hand closed over his shoulder and he was being dragged away. Shots rang out and he saw Rob, Guy and Flash swing onto their horses as the others raced on foot towards him. Rhiannon stopped when she reached the edge of the fields, but the others kept coming. Galen struggled to free himself from the creature's grasp. Rob and Guy trapped the creature between them and Galen closed his eyes, focusing the healing into his shoulder, letting it seep outwards towards the creature. It howled in pain and Galen heard the movement of Rob's sword. The thing dropped him, he hit the ground and rolled away from it as its shriek echoed around him. Hoof beats were coming up behind him, a gentle nudge let Galen know his horse was there. He grabbed hold of the pommel and swung himself onto it in a flying mount. Rob and Guy were beside him an instant later and they galloped back towards where the others waited.

  When he stopped his horse, Galen swung down a little unsteady. He leaned against the animal and it rested its large head on his shoulder, snuffling in his hair. Rob dismounted and came over, running his eyes over Galen, an anxious frown on his face. “What was that about?” Rob said.

  “I don't know.”

  “It was after you, Galen.”

  “No, I was just the closest to the field.”

  “No, it was after you,” Blake said as he joined them, breathing heavily from his run across the field.

  “No,” Galen insisted, shaking his head. “Why would it be after me and not the king?”

  “I don't know,” Guy said, frowning.

  Rob was looking at him with the unfocused eyes of the Sight. “What's that?”

  “What's what?” Galen looked down.

  “That,” Rob said, reaching out to grab the chain Galen was wearing, he lifted the small charm up. “It's the amulet.”

  “Yeah.” Galen shrugged. “I grabbed it before we left home.”

  “The amulet one they tried to find in the shop, then the thing tried to take from your room?” Rob went on.

  “I told you, Rob, it's just something we made as kids, it...” Galen didn't know how to explain, he'd picked it up more as a token than anything. He'd been sure he was going to be lost to the Hunt, and he was hoping to carry some small memory of his brother with him.

  “By every god,” Guy breathed. “Is that...? Stephen?”

  Blake was staring at him, his eyes fixed on the small disk. “I think it might be. Where did you get it?”

  “We made it,” Galen repeated.

  “You made it?” Blake looked over at Guy and they both shook their heads.

  “What?” Galen growled, growing tired of their stares.

  “And he thinks he doesn't have power?” Blake asked Rob, his eyebrows up.

  “No,” Rob said, his voice barely a whisper. “Nothing like that.”

  “Rob? What're you talking about?” Galen said carefully.

  “How did you stop that thing that grabbed you a minute ago?” Blake was still staring at him.

  “I didn't, Rob and Guy did.”

  “No.” Guy shook his head. “It was already weakened when we got to it.”

  “Someone talk straight or I'm going to start whacking,” Flash said.

  “The amulet,” Blake said, gesturing towards Galen's necklace.

  “Yeah?” Flash stepped closer, his shoulders tense. “What about it.”

  “You wouldn't understand,” the Fae said dismissively.

  “What's your problem?” Flash took another step towards Blake.

  “Flash!” Galen grabbed his friend and pulled him back. “Stand over there, you can brawl later.” He focused on Blake. “You can talk now.”

  “Back when Robert and I first rode with the Hunt,” Guy said quietly with a glance at Blake. “There were stories of a charm that could aid in the struggle against the dark, that might just be enough to end the threat of the things that had worked with the feorhbealu forever. We—Robert and I—planned to look for it when we returned from our last ride with the Hunt. That was when we discovered the feorhbealu were not actually gone and one of our own was in league with them. We ended up losing ourselves, becoming prisoners of the Hunt.”

  “Why didn't someone just make the stupid thing if it was so important?” Rob asked.

  “Not just anyone can, the one we sought was ancient, supposedly created by the First Emrys himself.”

  “No, I never made something like that,” Emrys said quietly. “I didn't know of these creatures or the threat they posed when I died.”

  “There's never been one made as far as I know,” Blake said. “The legends are true, if one existed it would turn the tide of battle, but no one has ever managed to make one before.”

  “And even if we had been able to make it, we would still need someone to channel the power, and not just anyone can do that, either,” Guy said.

  “It's just something we made when we were children,” Galen said, not expecting anyone to actually hear him.

  “I told you before, Galen, this is not what we made. You've added so much to it. Like my knife and your garden and the store,” Rob insisted.

  “No.”

  “They were after this, they had to be!” Rob said earnestly. “It's glowing so much brighter now, and it's warm.”

  “No.”

  Rob sighed, his frustration washing over Galen. “I have to show you don't I?” Without waiting for Galen to answer, Rob put a hand on his arm and Galen felt a jolt as his brother allowed him to see with the Sight.

  Galen gasped as he looked over the
group, the soft metallic blue of the Keepers, a violent maelstrom where Blake stood, and Flash with mists churning through his presence. A light shimmered at the edge of his vision, he looked down to where Rob held the small charm. Bright sapphire light flowed around his brother's hand, Galen had caught a glimpse of Rob's unique “signature” once before, but what pulled his attention away from everything was the glowing disk in his brother's grasp. Light flowed around it, a silver-gold river swirling through it, the bright light moving outwards, touching the mists in Rob and Flash and pushing them away. Galen lifted his eyes, following the small rays from the amulet as they rose upwards, chasing the dark gathered over the fields away, brushing against the edges of the great wound in the Veil and gently tugging the slash back together. Galen stood motionless for several heartbeats, then looked down into his brother's eyes. Rob let his hand fall away and the connection altered to let Galen see the world as it usually was again.

  “Seeing the world like that—I'm not sure how you keep from falling over, Brat,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I do sometimes,” Rob answered with a smile.

  “We can use it,” Blake said, oblivious of their conversation.

  “To do what? Toss at them and what? They get so distracted trying to pick it up we can slice their heads off?” Flash said.

  “You are an idiot,” Blake said. “It's already aided you. The fight in the motel parking lot would have gone differently without the charm.”

  “Maybe,” Flash agreed with a scowl. “But it's a charm, even if it's powerful, it's just that. We need a fucking bomb or something.”

  “Don't you see?” Blake smiled, a cold, calculating light in his eyes. “That's exactly what it is.”

  There was a burst of excitement, the emotion slamming into Galen as everyone started speaking at once, demanding answers from Blake. When he didn't answer they turned to Guy, hoping he would be able to elaborate. Galen listened, but just barely, the words not really registering as he leaned against his mount, letting the animal's soft breath wash over him, calming him as the others' voices increased in volume. He pulled the charm off his neck and held it in his hand, the metal warm against his skin.

  There was power there, he could feel it buzzing in his hand. It felt a little like the Emrys Swords, a song buried deep in the charm, the melody slowly becoming clear as he held it. Disbelief still had the upper hand, it couldn't be what he'd done, it had to be his brother, they'd created it together.

  “No, I had nothing to do with it, really,” Rob said, leaning against the horse beside Galen, the animal made a soft sound of greeting as Rob's mount slipped closer.

  “We made it together,” Galen said.

  “Yeah, but this was added later, what did you do to it?”

  “Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?”

  “No.” Rob nudged him with his shoulder. “This took time to build.” Something hummed through the bond. “You didn't plan anything, did you?”

  “No, I told you, it was just something we made together. I kept it because of that, Rob, because of what happened.” Galen knew his brother would hear the truth in that statement.

  “It's good you did,” Rob said quietly.

  “Rob,” Galen began, then sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, what do we need to do?”

  “I don't know.”

  “You know the Sagas.”

  “This isn't in the Sagas.”

  “It's not?” Galen was surprised, he'd been starting to think everything was covered in the Sagas.

  “No, it's not.”

  “But, Brat?” He heard the 'but' in Rob's answer.

  “Like Stephen said, there's a legend about it. About the one who will bring it to the field of battle and use it to 'sweep the dark from the land with the glow of life.'”

  “Assuming that's what this is, how do we do that?”

  “The legend said if someone could use it, they'd know how.”

  “How wonderfully vague of them,” Galen said sarcastically. Rob blinked at him with surprise. “Sorry.”

  “May I join you, my king?” Guy asked deferentially.

  “Of course, Guy,” Rob said, waving him over.

  “What he says is true, Galen. The legends say that the one who can use it will just know.”

  “Pull the sword from the fucking stone and poof, you're king?” Galen couldn't help the bitterness. Rob clapped a hand on his shoulder and shook him, the warmth trickling into him.

  “I thought I might be lucky enough to be the one, you know,” Guy continued. “I know now I couldn't have used it, but you can.” Guy held up a hand when Galen opened his mouth to protest. “I'm a bit of a cynic, I know the first part of the spell. I didn't trust the legends that I would somehow sense it. I went looking and found at least part of the answer. I thought if the legend was true, once I got going I would know.”

  “That's how it worked when you called the army of former Keepers, Galen,” Rob said.

  “No, I used the spell you gave me.”

  “For about three lines, then you started singing and off you went in an ancient tongue that I barely recognized,” Rob corrected with a soft laugh. “You can do this.” Rob gave his shoulder a squeeze.

  “So, assuming I can, what is the this we are doing?”

  “That was nearly as convoluted as something Flash would say.”

  “I heard that!” Flash said, then wandered over to where they stood. Blake, Parry, Rhiannon and the others followed. “What's the plan?” Flash looked from Rob to Galen.

  “We're going to try using the amulet,” Rob said.

  “The amulet we don't know how to use and we have no idea what it does,” Galen said.

  “We know what it does,” Rob said, calm flowing through the bond, relaxing the throb in Galen's head.

  “We do?” Galen asked tiredly.

  “Yes, it gives us the upper hand,” Blake said.

  “So, just like that?” Galen met his brother's eyes, for a moment surprised when he saw his brother's slate-blue eyes staring out of the partially fleshed rider's face.

  “Just like that.” Rob smiled.

  Galen held his brother's glance for a long moment. “Okay, what do we need to do?” Galen finally said.

  Ten minutes later, Galen stood on the field, just over the line into the land where the feorhbealu were waiting, their army ranging up and down the field across from him. The horrific sound of their voices carried through the air, the ground shifting under his feet as he watched them.

  He looked down at the small charm in his hand, letting the ritual as Blake and Guy had outlined play in his head. He'd never intended it to be anything more than what it was, a memento of his brother. Over the years they'd been apart, he'd channeled every protective spell, word, binding or anything else he could find into it, hoping that somehow the protective magic would transfer to Rob. It was magic, after all, so why not? It had never occurred to him that each spell, each small etching, would move it towards what he now held in his hand.