Heir to the Shadows

being safely indoors while a violent storm raged outside.
    He must have gotten caught between the conflicting uses of Black power when Jaenelle put up the shield to contain the storm. Clever little witch. And all that psychic lightning had a terrifying kind of beauty. He wouldn't mind just floating here for a while, but he had the nagging feeling there was something he should do. *High Lord.*
    Damn troublesome  voice.  How was he  supposed to think when ... * Father. *
    Father. Father. Hell's fire, Lucivar! Up. He had to go up, out of the Black. Had to get his head clear enough to tell Lucivar. . . . Which way was up? Someone grabbed him and dragged him out of the abyss. He sputtered and snarled. Did him as much good as a puppy snarling when it was picked up by the scruff.
    The next thing he knew, something was pressed against his lips and blood was filling his mouth.
    "Swallow it or I'll knock your damn teeth down your throat."
    Ah, yes. Lucivar. Both of him.
    His eyes finally focused. He pushed Lucivar's wrist away from his mouth. "Enough." He tried to get to his feet, which wasn't easy with Lucivar holding him down on one side and Chaosti holding him down on the other. "Is everyone all right?"
    Karla bent over him. "We're fine. You're the one who fainted."
    "I didn't faint. I got caught . . ." He started struggling. "Let me up. If the storm's over, we have to get to Sceval."
    "Cat's there?" Lucivar asked, hauling him to his feet.
    "Yes." Remembering Jaenelle's anguished scream, Saetan shuddered. "You and I have to get there as soon as possible."
    Karla poked a sharp-nailed finger into his bare chest. "We have to get there as soon as possible."
    Before he could argue, they'd all disappeared into their rooms.
    "If we move, we can get there ahead of the rest of them," Lucivar said quietly as they entered Saetan's bedroom. He called in his own clothes and hurriedly dressed. "Are you strong enough for this?"
    Saetan pulled on a shirt. "I'm ready. Let's go."
    "Are you strong enough for this?"
    Saetan brushed past Lucivar without answering. How could a man answer that question when he didn't know what was waiting for him?
    "Mother Night," Saetan whispered. "Mother Night."
    He and Lucivar stood on a flat-topped hill that was one of Sceva’s official landing places, the gently rolling land spread out below them. Large meadows provided good grazing. Stands of trees provided shade on summer afternoons. Creeks veined the land with clean water.
    He had stood on this hill a handful of times in the past five years, looking down on the unicorns while the stallions kept careful watch over the grazing mares and the foals playing tag.
    Now he looked down on a slaughter.
    Turning to the north, Lucivar shook his head and swore softly. "This wasn't a few bastards who had come for a horn to take home as a hunting trophy, this was a war."
    Saetan blinked away tears. Of all the Blood, of all the kindred races, the unicorns had always been his favorite. They had been the stars in the Darkness, the living examples of power and strength blended with gentleness and beauty. "When the others arrive, we'll split up to look for survivors."
    The unicorns attacked at the same moment the coven and the male circle appeared on the hill.
    "Shield!" Saetan and Lucivar shouted. They threw Black and Ebon-gray shields around the whole group while the other males formed a protective circle around the coven.
    The eight unicorn stallions veered off before they hit the shields head-on, but the power they were channeling through their horns and hooves created blinding-bright sparks as they scraped across the invisible barriers.
    "Wait!" Saetan shouted, the thunder in his voice barely competing with the stallions' screams and trumpeted challenges. "We're friends! We're here to help you!"
    *You are not friends,* said an older stallion with a broken horn. *You are humans!* "We're friends," Saetan insisted.
    *YOU ARE NOT FRIENDS !* the unicorns screamed. *YOU ARE HUMANS!*
    Sceron took a step forward. "The Centauran people have never fought with our unicorn Brothers and Sisters. We do not wish to fight now."
    *You come to kill. First you call us Brothers and then you come to kill. No more. NO MORE. This time, we kill!* Karla stuck her head over Saetan's shoulder. "Damn your hooves and horns, we're Healers. Let us take care of the injured!"
    The unicorns hesitated for a moment, then shook their heads and charged the shields again,
    "I don't recognize any of