Through my splayed fingers, I saw a tiny orange light bobbing up and down in the distance and glowing yellow eyes moving fast through the nearby sky. The monsters’ nearly translucent skin looked purple as they spread bat-like wings and swooped close to our heads. Just as a vengersax squealed and dove for Biko’s face, my brother leapt from the ground, his body transformed into something not at all human. He reached an arm into the sky, swatting at the massive claws attacking from the air with claws of his own. Where my brother once stood was a massive brown bear, its yellow fangs exposed as it snarled and pawed at the swooping creatures.
The ground beneath my feet felt soft and funny, and as I fell to the dirt, I realized that I was shocked, stunned. My knees were weak, and my feet seemed unable to follow the most basic instinct to hold up my weight. I scrambled back on my rear end, watching in horror as this bear growled, a fearsome, furious sound. He reached into the sky and plucked the leg of a vengersax with a paw just as the creature aimed for the bear’s face. The frantic fight between beaks and paws was more than I could make out in the darkness. I heard grunts and growls, shrieks and flapping.
I shook as cold chills seeped through my thin chemise. The orange light grew nearer as a familiar voice rang through the night.
“Biko!” Letti screamed, a torch aloft in her hand. “Let go of him, you monsters! Get!”
She waved the torch like a sword, swinging and stabbing into the sky. As she drew close, I could see the bear held one of the birds by a leg and was swiping at its beak, aiming for its eyes. But the frantic beats of its wings made it tough to land a blow, and the intensity of the approaching fire made the panicked birds screech a harsh, ear-splitting cry.
Biko released the leg with a ferocious growl and dropped onto all fours. A nasty gouge marked one of his paws, and he howled as he shook it, blood and flesh dropping from the wound.
Letti held the torch high in the air as she grabbed my hand. “Are you all right? Are you hurt, miss?” she shouted.
I shook my head, unable to speak. Unable to think. Unable to breathe.
Both vengersax flew off in a flurry of angry cries. Letti helped me to my feet. Then we turned to the bear. Biko had returned to his familiar human form, but his right hand was bleeding, the flesh was with damage from the vengersax’s venom.
“Come quickly. We need to get him inside.” Letti seemed completely unsurprised by any of what she’d seen, and she thrust the torch into my hand. “Lead the way.” She took Biko’s arm and helped him stumble toward the cabin.
When we reached the crofter’s cottage, I shoved open the door and waited for Biko and Letti to safely enter. I secured the torch and lit every lamp in the cabin.
“What happened?” Letti searched Biko’s face and arms for other injuries. “Where’s Idony?”
Biko panted and swore, resting his injured hand against a knee. His clothes had shredded to bits on the path outside, leaving him fully naked. I don’t know what I looked like, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t help, until Letti lowered her face to mine.
“Miss,” she said urgently. “We need to bring Biko to the healer. Can you help? He needs clothes. And you…” She motioned to my bleeding knees and torn nightdress. “Can you find something to wear?”
“I…I can…” I stammered. While I knew where to find clothes for Biko and myself, what I didn’t know was what to make of what I had just seen. And whether Biko could survive the vengersax toxin. “But will he…will he…”
“Pali…” Biko was flushed, and sweat poured down his face. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I’ll explain. But we must hurry. I don’t have much time.”
Those few words sprung me into action. I ran for Idony’s bedroom and threw on one of her dresses, then covered my head with a simple cap. Then I went to Biko’s room and grabbed what I could find. I raced back toward the fire, where Letti was wrapping Biko’s hand with rags.
“I’m going to get a horse,” she said. “I’ll ride with Biko to the healer.”
“No.” I shook my head, finally calming and finding my voice. “You stay here in case Idony comes back. She’ll be scared to death if she comes home to a dark cabin and bloody rags.” I rested a hand against Biko’s forehead. His skin was so, so hot, and his eyes were glassy. “Can you lead me to help?” I asked.
He nodded, a small trickle of spittle spilling between his lips. “Hurry,” he murmured.
“I’ll get the strongest horse from the stable.” Letti grabbed a torch. “You’ll have to ride together. I don’t think he’ll make it on his own.”
While Letti ran for a horse, I wrapped my arms around Biko’s shoulders. “I love you, Brother. We’re going to get you help.”
“P-Pali…” he stuttered, holding his injured hand carefully. “Sor-ry. It’s my…”
“Shhh,” I urged him. “We all have secrets, Biko. There is plenty of time for them come to light.”
The cabin door flew open, but it wasn’t Letti who stood waiting in the moonlight.
“Palmeria?” My mother’s face was drained of color. She was sweating and held the veil over her hair with a trembling hand. “By the gods… Are you hurt? I heard the—”
I refused to leave Biko’s side for long, but seeing my mother in the doorway, I couldn’t stop myself. “You…” I seethed. “You extinguished the torches on the entire property. You put every human and animal on this estate in mortal danger!”
Lady Lombard’s mouth fell open as she looked at Biko’s bleeding hand, the flesh bubbling and oozing a sickly shade of crimson. “I…I had no idea. I didn’t intend—”
“I don’t care what you intended. What you did was evil. Pure evil.” I strode to the door and pointed. I could see the Lombard land was again fully illuminated, all the torches relit. “Go home, Mother. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”
My mother lifted her chin but stepped aside as Letti returned on the back of Rowan.