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What is it? ? Brynn asked Juraviel, for the elf was up again fro the s&039;s camp
Juraviel stared out into the dark forest for a " he tried to explain
"I feel it, too," said Brynn ?A scent in the air like death"
Belli&039; her words He could sense so about the forest, a bit of a hush, perhaps Perceptive Brynn had put a proper label to it, though she wasn&039;t exactly right
"Not death," he corrected ?Decay There is the sround"
"There are ain ?No, this is different," he explained, but he couldn&039;t quite find the words It was as if there was a wetness in the air, heightening the scent of decay, though the week had been dry and there were no streams or swaht it be?
"It is getting stronger," Brynn remarked a few moments later, and she rose and moved near to Juraviel, who still stood on the periht, staring out into the dark woods
It was indeed getting stronger, Belli&039;mar Juraviel understood, and since there was no wind, that had tocloser Soon Juraviel had to twitch his nose, so full was it of the scent, and only then did he recognize it for what is was
Peat," he explained, and even as the word got out of his mouth, he choked it off and turned suddenly, his attention caught by a flicker of move-ment out in the forest
Peat?" Brynn echoed curiously, scratching her head, and Juraviel real-ized that she didn&039;t even know the word No ti - or perhaps several so out in the dark
The elf bent lower and crept out a bit farther fro the forest Another ht his attention to the side, then another back the other way He actually caught a silhouette of this last oblin, he realized with a bit of re-lief It had appeared ht and walked stiffly, barely bending torso or legs
"Go back by the fire," he instructed Brynn The elf&039;s first instinct was to tell her to put out the fire, but he realized it was far too late for that, that the light of the flames had already shohoever or whatever was out there the location of the camp ?Stoke it up, and keep your bow ready by your side"
"What do you see?"
"Go," the elf repeated, and as Brynn started away, Juraviel slipped into the cover of the brush Likely these were humans, frontier huntsmen and trappers Or perhaps they were outlaws, chased out of civilized l ther way, Brynn and Juraviel would be better off if the elf was out of/sight
Sitting back by the fire, Brynn Dharielle seemed the picture of calmyanoV indeed, there was little nervousness about the confident young woer, elven-trained, and whatever Juraviel had seen out there in the darkness, she was confident that she and he could handle it Her hand closed about the smooth, burnished darkfern wood of her elven-crafted bow, its rich and dark hue crossed by thin lines of the silverel round
Yes, Brynn believed, she and Juraviel could handle anything they ht of the enca that either Brynn or Juraviel could have ever expected!
It looked like a man, a Bearman of Honce-the-Bear, but it was covered in ae of ht and stiff, the intruder was , too, was filthy, soaked with the mud, and was torn in several places, and his eyes
Yes, those eyes! When Brynn looked into them - or rather, at theht reflected there, but not in any sparkling gleam No, the eyes of this one showed no life, no inner spark at all
They were dead eyes
"What do you want?" Brynnher bow across in front of her, an arrow ready in her other hand ?Who are you?"
The man, the zo toward her, and now Brynn was backing to keep pace, to keep the distance between theh, out in the forest, she didn t have far to retreat
"Stay back!" she warned, fitting the arrow and lifting the bow before her
Xhe intruder continued its cal back and taking deadly aim
"It is inhuman," came Juraviel&039;s quiet assurance from above ?Shoot it!"
And as the creature ca fly, her arrow sht between the eyes
The creature flinched andoff to the side But that was just a ht and momentum of the missile, a horri-fied Brynn realized, for the creature, seehted its course and calmly came on
Brynn had another arrow up and away in the blink of an eye, this tih the creature&039;s heart Right through it went, and out the other side, drilling a hole through which careenish, milky substance
The intruder passed the fire then, and Brynn scra yet another arrow
"What is it?" she cried out, but no voice came back in response
"Who are you?" she demanded, but the creature just continued to pur-sue her, walking slowly and deliberately
She let fly again, and again after that, scoring hits that would have dropped any living ain, to no apparent effect
Brynn turned toward Diredusk, thinking to flee
She gasped in horror and froze at the sight, for the pony was surrounded byintruders, these undead creatures of her nightmares
But they couldn&039;t have her horse! Never that! With a snarl and a flick of her wrist, Brynn unstrung her bow, the solid wood straightening into a deadly club Seeing Diredusk in trouble, whinnying and sto one of the creatures to launch it back into the brush, washed away Brynn&039;s fears for herself
Staff spinning and twirling, she charged in, co zombie She fell to one knee as the staff cay into that perfectly aiainst the side of the zorotesque dent The creature rocked to the side, skipping on one foot several tin that it was feeling any pain, and caain, the squishy head flattening a bit er retracted the weapon, repositioned her hands, and stabbed its end straight out, s absolutely no defense at all, square in the face The head snapped back
The zoain, Brynn hit it in the face, then lower in the exposed throat Then she brought the staff back in and turned it over in her hands, spinning and spinning Around it went, behind her back, co back around the other way and co a square and brutal hit
The zombie&039;s head lolled as if without any support As Brynn leaped aside, the creature continued forward, ar and outstretched, as if it couldn&039;t see her She took up her staff in both hands as it passed and, just because she wanted to, took azo the head into a bobbing motion
The zombie started to turn toward her, but just toppled over to the ground
Brynn didn&039;t even watch the descent, leaping into the pair of creatures grabbing at Diredusk&039;s flank She landed between them, both hands set firht, and then again, scoring ticked hits on the zo out with both hind legs, splat-tering the chest of another zoh the trees The pony landed and bucked again, throwing its head, spinning and leaping
Brynn ith that movement, made her way past the pony&039;s shoulders and head, to the tether, which she quickly undid
"Go! Go!" she cried to Diredusk, and the pony, bucking and leaping, dragging two zoht
Tears streaked Brynn&039;s face, and she was glad, at least, that Diredusk had a chance to get away For herself, though, there see at her froed the nearest group, staff stabbing and swinginghit Twisting and dodging, Brynn soh that line and see free
But more zombies moved before her, and one of those behind, toppled by her burst of speed, grabbed on to her ankle with a grip inhu
Brynn wailed and stu, at least, not to fall over She spun back on the grabbing zombie and punished it with a series of s
Others closed all about her
The zoly back in the realed, but still it held on stubbornly, its fingers locked about Brynn&039;s slender ankle She kicked and twisted, sto the wrist with her free foot
But then she had to alter her attacks, as the other zohs before the zombies ever entered the enca as the elf hed arrow after arrow into the circling mob of intruders Unlike i Turaviel had understood the nature of this perversion, the undead of the intruders, right away, and so he did not hesitate at all, just set his Bull, but normally effective, bow to its work
He had half emptied his quiver before he even realized that the arroere having absolutely no effect
With a groan of frustration, Juraviel leaped and fluttered down to a lower branch, just above the heads of the zombies Intent on Brynn and on Dire-dusk the horrid creatures seemed not to notice him, and so the elf waited and quietly moved from limb to limb until he came to one creature rela-tively isolated from its undead coash in the zombie&039;s head
The zombie stopped and looked around stupidly
Juraviel slashed it again, and then a third ti no pain, the zombie reached stiff ar one hand, then the other, taking off a cou-ple of fingers Greenish pus flowed from the stumps, and Juraviel could s steps and, apparently real-izing that it could not reach hian pulling itself into the tree