Midnight Falcon

Slowly her image grew larger, as if Bane was approaching her. 'Vorna!' he called.

She spun and gazed up, directly into his eyes. He heard her voice echo inside his head, though her lips did not move. 'Bane? Where are you?'

'I am in the woods near my farmhouse.'

'How are you doing this?'

'I do not know, Vorna. The Morrigu's crow is here. But that is not important now. Listen to me: there is a large force of Sea Wolves heading towards Three Streams from the east. I think they are at least three days away, but they may arrive sooner. How many soldiers are there with you?'

'Twenty. They are led by Fi

'Twenty will not be enough – the raiders are ten times that number. You must convince people to leave the settlement, and strike west towards my farm and the Narian Forest. Load all the food you can onto wagons, and burn the rest. Leave nothing for the raiders. I will come to you as soon as I can. Can you do this? Can you convince them?'

'Not all of them,' said the voice of Vorna in his mind. 'There are more than eleven hundred refugees here, many of them older people, or women with young children. Without proofs of invasion many of them will choose to stay in the shelter of the community, rather than risk walking out into the snow and the cold. But I will do what I can.'

The vision faded. The mist ring disappeared. The crow cawed and flapped its wings, rising higher and higher above the trees until Bane could see it no more.

The young warrior ran back to the house, waking Gryffe and sending him into the forest with orders to find Wik and bring him and all the other outlaws to the farm.

'Why would they come?' asked the bleary-eyed Gryffe.

'Tell Wik there is gold to be had for every man. He'll come. But tell them to come ready to fight.'

The first person Vorna approached was young Fi

'What do you want of me, lady?' he asked, his voice coldly polite.

'Walk with me,' she commanded, then moved away from the crowd towards the first bridge. He strode alongside her.

'I have little time for idle chatter,' he said. There is much to be done.'

'I think you will find you have less time than you think,' she said, walking out onto the humpbacked wooden bridge and pausing by the rail to stare down into the rushing water below. Chunks of white ice floated beneath the bridge, thumping against the foundations. Only a few days ago the stream had been frozen solid, village children playing upon it.

Vorna swung towards the tall soldier, her dark eyes holding to his gaze. 'You stood beside the grave of your friend and recalled a time when both of you were hunting. Ruathain's horse stumbled, hurling him into a thorn bush between two jagged boulders. He rose laughing and scratched, and you pointed out to him that had he struck the boulders he would now be dead. He told you he pla

He stepped back a pace, his face blushing. 'I did not know you were a mystic,' he said. 'It is most discourteous to enter a man's mind in that way.'

'Indeed it is,' she said, 'and I apologize for it. But it was necessary, Fi

'Tell me what you have to say,' said Fi

'There are Sea Wolves to the east of us. They are heading for Three Streams.'

'What? That is not possible!'

'It is true, Fi

The young man swung towards the east, sca

'I am sure.'

'Why here? There are settlements closer to the sea.'

'I do not know. What I do know is that they are coming. We must organise a withdrawal, head west for the Narian Forest. The raiders will be carrying their own supplies. They will not have the food to follow us far.'

Fi

'More will die if they stay here,' she said. 'We should head for Bane's farm. He has outbuildings and several barns, and within the forest there are sheltered clearings.'

'And outlaws,' said Fi

'That too,' she agreed.

Fi

'I do not like the choices,' he said, softly. 'To leave will mean deaths from the cold and the destruction of Three Streams. To stay will bring great slaughter to those I am pledged to protect.'

Vorna saw the torment in his eyes. 'I know this is hard for you, Fi

He smiled at the compliment, but his face was pale and strained. Time, I think, to call the village elders together.'

Within the hour the thirty elected elders were seated in the great Roundhouse built by Braefar. They listened in stu

Fi

'You believe?' put in the black-bearded forester Adlin. 'No disrespect to you, Fi

'Yes there are,' agreed Fi

'You say that,' put in Neruman the Ta

Others of the elders began to shout questions. Lady Meria stepped into the centre of the circle, raising her hands for silence. 'I would like to know', she said, 'how this word reached you, Captain Fi

Vorna could see the young man was taken aback by the question. He had not mentioned Vorna's vision, and she was grateful for his effort to maintain her secret. But now Vorna rose from her seat. 'I told him,' she said. Heads turned towards her.