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Instant reaction- I bark a spell,quicker than ever before My hands heat up Then, instead of wrenching rab its claws tightly and try to scorch thelow, the claws grasping hter, the pair of us, a contest For several seconds we are locked together, no words,details-not claws but hands Sers, two thumbs Dark flesh but not de my eyes up but I can’t see low A swift inner debate Then I let the power drain froht dies away Shadows reform It takes my eyes a while to adjust but when they do I see that I was right-it’s a
"Good," the ic-a bit anyway-and common sense You’ll do" Then he brushes pastcall
"You can stop searching It’s safe There are no demons here Now come and find out why I sent the boy to fetch you"
The stranger’s na blue tunic and shaved, tattooed head-he’s a druid After calling us together and telling us his na time Instead, he builds a fire and casts a spell to prevent s, so as not to attract demons After a while he takes hot rocks froers-and places theht heat, he drops in chunks ofDrust suspiciously, waiting for hi endary seers His tattoos are a They’re a map of the stars, but theyacross his scalp
When theto Drust’s satisfaction, he stands before us and runs a calculating eye over the group, one by one, judging His eye seeine that
We’re all tense We have tremendous respect for druids, but we fear the else as well, powerful, with rules and ways of their own We’ve heard tales of how they sacrifice children to the gods, breed with demons, build mountains, level raths and divert the course of rivers
Finally, Drust looks at Run Fast He ses over to hi to its master Drust ruffles the boy’s untidy hair, his s "You did well, Bran," he says
"Bran!" I gasp "Is that his name? He never told us We called him Run Fast because" Drust looks at me calmly and I come to a halt There’s no menace in his eyes, but no warmth either He studies me in much the same way that I’ve studied dead demons in the past
"Yes," the druid says in an accent not of this land "It’s Bran He didn’t tell you because he’s incapable of re strange on his lips I don’t think our language is his own
"Is Bran from here," Fiachna asks quietly, "or is he your apprentice?"
Drust raises aeyebrow "You think I would take an idiot as an apprentice?"
"He’s simple but blessed," Fiachna replies "He has speed and other powers not of normal men"
Drust nods "Which is why I sent hiic as he is, Bran’s brain can never develop He would be as useless to me as he was to his own people" He pauses, then adds, "I doubt he cainally but this is where I found him"
Drust releases Bran’s hair The boy looks up at the druid, to see if he’s going to pet hiain, then slides over to my side and sits beside me I stroke the back of his hands absent-mindedly while the conversation continues
"And you?" Goll asks "Where are you from?"
Drust points in an easterly direction
"Are you a Pict?" Connla asks "Drust is a Pict’s name"
"I was, as a child, before I became a druid"
The Picts are an ancient people froreat water to the east I wasn’t aware that any still reer tribes Drust must be one of the last of his kind
Before we can ask any more questions, Drust points at Goll and says, "Are you the leader of this band?"
"No," Goll replies "We have no leader But I’m the eldest, so I suppose I can speak for us"
Out of the corner of my eye I see Connla bristle-he probably looks upon hi
"Then I will address my words to you," Drust says "I’ll keep it simple I am here to end the demon attacks I need your help You h those few sentences are explanation enough
The flesh around Goll’s single eye wrinkles "You’ll need to tell us in with, what happened here and where are Run F-I s "They’d been attacking long before I arrived Bran’s tribe-the MacRoth-were exhausted, close to defeat Shortly after I came, that defeat finally befell them"
"The demons killed everyone?" Goll asks and Drust nods "Then why not you?" He phrases it lightly, but it’s clearly a challenge It’s unnatural for all to perish except this one stranger What Goll’s really asking is did Drust betray the MacRoth-and will he betray us too?
"They didn’t kill me because they couldn’t see me," Drust says "Just as your people couldn’t seeI know irl priestess had been h my shield But she is not yet mistress of her arts"
"Why not hide the MacRoth too?" Orna asks angrily
Drust sniffs "All ic has its limits I have the power to mask a handful of people but not sixteen"
"If not sixteen, why not eight?" Lorcan growls "Or four? Or even one?"
"As your own ic is draining Aperiod, would have tired me I need to be at my most powerful if I’m to save all from the threat of the Demonata"
"De one hand on his bow, ready to swing it round and fire off an arrow if Drust makes any untoward moves "Do you mean the Fomorii?"
"They’re not Fomorii," Drust snorts "The Fomorii were brutish humans with just a hint of the demonic about them The Demonata come directly from what you call the Otherworld Their powers are pure They cannot be fought and defeated by huic"
"I think ree with that," Connla smirks
"Familiars," Drust retorts "Weak, mindless creatures They’ve coue When the true Demonata arrive your weapons will be useless"
Our features tighten We’d guessed that , but not that ouldn’t be able to kill them If this is true, it means the end of all we’ve ever known and cared about
Drust cocks an eyebrow, inviting further questions,it clear that such queries are a waste of his time Goll pushes on anyway "So you stood by and let these Demonata kill the MacRoth We’ll return to that, but first tell us-"
"We won’t," Drust interrupts "The MacRothto me My aim is to save this land If sixteen-or sixty, or six hundred-have to die, so be it The MacRoth would have perished whether I was here or not Since their living or dying had no impact on my quest, I kept out of their affairs, just as I’ll keep out of yours if I decide you are of no use to er but he controls his te, he hisses a question "Tell us hoe can be of use If you’re so powerful, what are we here for? We came to help people in distress, not a damn druid who has no need of us"