Elf Killers (29 page)

"
I wish Lilee would come soon, even without the honey muffins and hot cider,
"
he thought. 
"
It'll seem forever before she gets here. My, but she's pretty. And nice, too. I've always thought so. I'm surprised she knew I was alive.
"

At the scuff of a shoe across sandstone, he looked up to find her coming toward him from the way up. "Hi," he said, on his feet at once. "I didn't imagine you'd be here so soon. This is wonderful."

"I think you'd better have these now," she said as she held out a bundle of muffins and an elk hide bottle of cider. "They were both nice and hot when I set out, but I doubt if either one is any more."

"They don't need to be hot. Having you bring them is what's nice. We could sit inside or out here where I've been sitting..."

"Well, the view's nice out here," she said as she began spreading out a cloth over the sandstone.

"One thing I've noticed about picnics..." he said as he watched her undo the bread.

"What?" she said, handing over a piece.

"Well, it could be almost anything," he said with a cheery nod as he took his first bite, "but it always ends up tasting like the best victuals you ever ate." He closed his eyes, savoring his mouthful before glancing out across the grass to stop wide-eyed and look back. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"Oh no! Look yonder. Trolls! There are three or four times as many as before. And remember, I was up here with Great-Grandma and saw the first bunch of them." He grabbed up her hand and dashed for the end of the rock. Hand in hand they raced across the meadow. Near the houses they heard whistles and bodhrans. "Get to the mews," he said. "I'm on my way to tell everyone at Great-Grandma's... And Lilee," he said, suddenly pulling her to a stop. "I really liked that muffin."

Soon Kieran was standing in spiked black leather before Yeearree's stall, adjusting the claymore across his back, while Yeearree fluffed and sleeked his feathers, dodging from side to side in front of the gate, waiting to be released.

"I didn't hear you say how many," said Olloo, stepping up from behind as he strapped on his own claymore.

"Three or four times as many as before..."

"I guess that's what we've been expecting all along, isn't it?" he said, staring off as if his eyes were counting something. 

"Olloo!" cried Sorcha. "Where do you want Tashtey and me?"

"My word," said Olloo as he turned to her.

"Tashtey is indeed the fiercest of all the young strike falcons, dear, but you're still 'way too young to be a-fighting trolls. You're scaring me at the thought! You and Rory watch out for all the future austringas in the cellar. Make sure every one of them stays there, too. And don't you dare come out until one of us comes to get you! I'll watch out for Tashtey."

"Olloo!" cried Roseen. "When did Baase come back? Is that high-strung bird in his stall with him his mate? She's beautiful."

"What are you talking about?"

"Here. Come look."

Olloo was already on his way with Sorcha at his heels. "Thank all the stars above!" he said at the sight of Baase as he opened the gate to his stall.

Baase stopped preening the new bird at once, rising with a shake of his feathers to plant images in Olloo's mind of her taking biting lunges and striking out with her feet.

Olloo could see by her bristling feathers that she was indeed distressed and stepped back out at once.

Baase came to the gate for a scratch and flashed Olloo visions of a troll horde and of his mate trying to settle on their nest.

"I do believe he's telling me she wants to lay..." he said, suddenly looking up at the shouts and unmistakable sounds of battle already amongst the houses. "Sorcha, please get to the cellar! Baase and I will watch out for Tashtey."

"And so will Caggey and I," said Roseen, giving Sorcha's hand a squeeze and an urgent shake. "Go!"

Shawkyn spooghey and their bond mates were already bursting forth from the shed gate. Baase was fairly dancing back and forth in his stall, anxious to be out. Olloo kissed Roseen's hand and gave her a firm hug. He gave a fierce nod as he gave Kieran's hand a shake. As he turned back to Baase's stall, Baase jumped the gate and shot to the doorway, disemboweling a troll who had just stepped inside. Baase snipped the troll's windpipe with a twisting yank and danced out into the darkening evening for more excitement.

Olloo drew his claymore and stepped over the troll.

"Olloo!" cried Kieran, the moment he was outside. "Behind you!"

Olloo spun 'round with his whistling blade, taking off a troll's head in time for another brute, scarcely an arm's length away, to scream out as Baase climbed up his back to take bites of his face. Olloo ran through Baase's troll and turned to help Kieran who was suddenly busy with four trolls of his own. 

Without warning, a glancing blow from his head to his shoulder brought him to his knees to topple onto his side.

"Ooot-ooot! Ooot-ooot! Ooot-ooot!" bellowed a troll as he stepped astride of him to drum his chest with one fist before throwing back his club to give a finishing blow.

Olloo opened his eyes to find a fiery-eyed old woman tramping forth, planting arrow after arrow into his troll as she came. The troll sat down in the dirt for a moment before Baase returned in a fury to break his neck. Baase paused to study Olloo with one eye before wheeling aside and springing onto another troll-brute.

Vorona rushed to Olloo's side. Kieran was there in the next moment, helping her to get Olloo back into the mews with Baase and Yeearree guarding them. When they had gotten Olloo laid out in front of Baase's pen, Vorona sent Kieran in search of Doona.

"You don't have to stay here with me," said Olloo as he squirmed to reposition himself. "But I sure am grateful you saved my life."

"You just hush!" she said with red wrinkly eyes as she patted him on the cheek. "Nobody's going to hurt my young men if I have any say. Besides, you need someone to watch over you with a better attitude than that bird. Where'd it come from?"

"Yea. We do need to stay out of there. It's Baase's new hen and she's fresh out of the wild. Anyway, thanks for staying..."

"Would you quit thanking me? If I'm in here with you, I get to have a break from using up my arrows."

"I reckon it's the only way we can keep our Queen from risking her life in battle."

"Now look 'ee here," she said, throwing her head back with a laugh. "Don't you dare accuse me of fighting. I'm just a-keeping the trash out of my yard."

"Well," said Doona, squinting at Olloo as she stepped through the straw. "It looks like Kieran stretched things a bit."

"I'd allow he did not, dear," said Vorona, looking up with a squint of her own. "Your brother's a valiant young man. You need to be proud of him."

"But with all respect, my Queen, no one in this world is prouder of him than I. He's the only reason why we shall survive these beasts."

"Then it's time to get to healing him, dear," she said with a fierce forehead of wrinkles. "I can't do without him." She gave Doona a sound hug and a pat on the back and picked up her bow before nodding at Olloo and stepping out into the night.

"Well, I've got my orders so I'd best get you put back together," said Doona. "What happened to you, anyway?"

"Is Roseen all right?"

"She's fine. Caggey's really been tearing up trolls. Now what happened to you?"

Olloo told his tale, wincing at this and that as Doona began her healing magic. Impatient with being ignored, Baase hopped over the gate of his pen to settle down between Olloo and his hen with a smug snap of each wing. The sounds of battle were finally dying away, and by the time Doona had done everything she could for Olloo and had set out to find Oisin, the trolls were gone, leaving the Elves to care for the injured and mourn the dead.

Olloo carefully found a better position in the straw as he reached through the gate to Baase's stall. "She's a beautiful bird, Baase," he said, running his fingers through his feathers. "What's her name?"

Baase replied with a blank look.

"Oh, of course. You have no way under the sun of giving me pictures of that. Well then, I think Smorigagh fits. What do you say?"

Smorigagh bristled her feathers and leant toward him with a pop of her beak. Baase turned to her at once and began preening her, as if gradually coaxing her feathers to lie flat.

Olloo closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, thinking about Roseen.

Chapter 21

"Nyrrey-i!" barked Fnanar, pointing at the ground where the big bluestem grass was particularly tall. "Ad-pyr-fnnyr-nirr-fnyr. Nyr, nyr du-yuy nyr! Nt-nrof nyr-di-nyrr-darr snyr-fu-ynip-ry-oy-ay-i." Three trolls began at once tramping the dewy grass flat in time for Martyn, Donachan and poor little Lulach to be thrown down sprawling upon it. Lulach sat up, shuddering with sobs.

"They'll save us sweetheart," said Donachan, unable to reach out to her with his bound hands. "You'll see..."

"Ya-fn fynf!" roared a brute, bowling him onto his side with a vicious kick.

Fnanar glared at his captives with his fists planted on his hips and turned aside to wave his arms and berate his brutes in his completely unintelligible speech. "Stiff-wobble and stiff-wobble and little sow-kid!" he shouted. "Some juicy-champ! No-be more grab-up-squeakers?" He folded his arms as he looked from brute to brute.

There was no answer. They knew well his rages and tirades.

"Well, what sow jump-grabbed these grab-up-squeakers?"

Still no answer. He looked from face to face, making them look at their feet. "No-brute jump-grab? Then no-be any-brute juicy-champ these-squeakers. I will juicy-champ grab-up-squeaker, grab-up-squeaker, grab-up-squeaker."

There were hints of mutters scattered about in the grass.

"You diggy-finger your noses at Arrdsey-phnyr-phey-fne. You no jump-grab and you want juicy-champ? If this be your chest-thump head-nod, then you can humpy-doodle off and crawl-back to the Sow-clan. I juicy-champ only-with Dyrney-brutes."

"Uh..." said Gnydy-af, shifting from side to side as he looked at his feet, "if-be little-bit jump-bite, then little-bit juicy-champ?"

"You little-bit jump-bite? Maybe you no humpy-doodle-back to Sow-clan, but you no get juicy-champ! You no juicy-champ grab-up-squeaker for moon-go-round, moon-go-round. You stay-here with grab-up-squeakers, or we juicy-champ you. We easy-sneak back to grab-up-squeaker grass-holes and bloody-rip jump-bite head-smash. They no head-nod we come-back. They no-be ready with far-eye and fly-out-bites. Now Dyrney-brutes jump-bite grab-up-squeakers, grab-up-squeakers, grab-up-squeakers, grab-up-squeakers. We-go now!" 

"But Thunder-man,” said Phnyr-phaf, “how will we see in the sun all eye-burn? And the gut-rip-birds..."

"I-see you-be sow, Phnyr-phaf!" said Fnanar as he grabbed Phnyr-phaf by the cheeks and squeezed. "You want head-smash?"

Phnyr-phaf shook his bushy head.

"Then you-be here with Gnydy-af when we get-back." 

"There you are," said Oisin, standing up with the teapot at the sight of Doona stepping inside. "I guessed right. Here's a nice hot cup o' blue tea."

"Just set it down," she said, trading kisses with him. "I'll be right there. Just let me put away these things."

"What's wrong? Olloo's all right, isn't he?"

"Oh, he's just Olloo..." she said as she stepped out the door with a dish of barley for the geese. She came back in and took a seat at her cup. "He took a good blow behind the ear and his shoulder is unbelievably bruised, but I don't think anything's broken. He'll be good as new if he takes it easy for a few days."

"Olloo taking it easy for a few days?"

"I've got Kieran watching him. If Olloo lifts one finger beyond taking care of Baase and his new hen, he'll come and tell me. But Oisin, Olloo's not the problem. I can't find Onner anywhere at all. She guarded me all through the fight, right up to when I tended to Olloo, but I haven't seen her since. Surely nothing's happened to her. Nobody's found her dead. I had her penned up before the trolls came and everything. I never dreamed that she'd use this as a chance to run off." 

Oisin reached across the board and took up her hand. "Did you get a peek at Baase's new hen?"

"She's beautiful."

"Well? Onner will probably bring back a splendid mate, too, wouldn't you say?"

"But I miss her, already..." she said, suddenly looking up at the trumpeting of her geese.

"Sorry I didn't knock!" cried Kieran, throwing open the door. "The trolls are on their way back!"

"You're not serious!" said Oisin.

"Oh yes I am!" he said as he caught his breath between his words. "Alister went out to the rock. No one was even going to send him. He didn't even get up to the top before he saw them. And guess what. No one can find Martyn, Donachan or Lulach." And with that, he dashed out.