Shadows and Light

open, and he saw horses trotting toward him. He wondered if he should close the gate to keep the animals from getting into the young fields, then dismissed the thought. Better they trample a bit of the field than to have any of them panicking and trying to jump a wall to escape.
    He rode past the horses. The land rolled softly, so it wasn’t until his horse took the next low rise that he saw Breanna and Keely. Now that they were in sight, he slowed his horse to a canter.
    They’d managed to get a rope attached to Oakdancer’s halter. Keely was leading the stallion, who kept tugging on the lead rope, making Keely run a few steps to keep her balance.
    Oakdancer wasn’t trying to run away, but he seemed determined to keep Keely moving in the direction of the manor house. Liam couldn’t make out the words, but he was close enough now to catch the scolding yet cajoling tone of Keely’s voice. She sounded like Brooke, and like his little sister would have done, she concentrated on the horse, not really believing there were dangerous, deadly creatures now hiding somewhere on the land she’d known all her life. She probably thought of them as being deliciously scary, like something out of a story. It might frighten, but it couldn’t harm.
    Mentally, Keely was as much of a child as Brooke. But Breanna was not a child, and as he slowed his horse to a trot, he saw the way she walked a few steps behind Keely and Oakdancer, scanning the sky, looking back over her shoulder at the nearest trees.
    And he saw her freeze suddenly as she looked at those trees.
    Framed by the rich greens of summer was one tree with several large, dead branches that looked like old bones. Had those branches been dead when the men had brought the horses into this pasture?
    The wind shifted, now coming from the direction of those trees.
    Liam had a moment to wonder if that had been Breanna’s doing before the horses went mad.
    Oakdancer reared, pulling Keely off her feet. Liam’s horse suddenly swerved to the left, almost throwing him as it made a tight circle to run back toward the manor house. Liam reined in hard, startling the animal just long enough to give himself a chance to dismount and make a quick knot in the reins to shorten them enough to keep the horse from stepping on them. Then he let the horse go.

    As he turned back toward Breanna, he saw a black cloud of small, winged bodies pour out of the trees, flying fast toward the two women.
    Breanna whirled around, raced to reach Keely. When she shouted, “Stand!” Oakdancer’s front hooves hit the ground. The stallion was trembling but stood firm.
    Keely got to her feet, her lips pushed out in a pout. She started to argue, but Breanna cut the argument short by grabbing Keely’s shoulders and turning her so that she could clearly see what was heading toward them. Then Breanna spun the mental child who was her mother, grabbed one leg, and gave Keely enough of a boost to mount Oakdancer’s bare back.
    Breanna glanced back at the trees and slapped Oakdancer’s flank, shouting, “Go!”
    Liam’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran toward Breanna. Oakdancer cantered right toward him, ears pricked, dark eyes focused on the man he trusted.
    “Go!” Liam said, pointing in the direction of Breanna’s house.
    “No!” Keely cried, looking back as if she finally understood what was going to happen. “No! Breanna!”
    “Go!” Liam shouted.
    The stallion stretched into a smooth gallop and quickly disappeared with Keely.
    Liam turned back to look at Breanna. For one long moment, the world held its breath, and he saw her standing there, as strong as the land, the nighthunters filling the sky behind her.
    He and Breanna couldn’t run fast enough to escape, and they had no weapons. They were going to die in that pasture, and they both knew it.
    “You could have mounted the stallion,” Breanna said. “Why didn’t you go when you had the chance?”
    “You’re my sister. I won’t let you stand alone.”
    Pleasure. Sorrow. Determination. He saw all those things in her face. Then she said, “The villagers need a strong baron who will stand for them against the Inquisitors and the barons they control. My family needs a strong baron to stand for them. None of them will have that if you die here. Run, Liam. Run now.
    ”
    She turned and moved toward the approaching swarm of nighthunters.
    He froze for a moment, unwilling to believe she would stand as bait and sacrifice.
    “Breanna,