Dreams and Shadows - By C. Robert Cargill Page 0,43

Wild Hunt.

Mallaidh and Ewan emerged hand in hand from the wood, scraped and shaken, but no worse for the wear. Knocks looked up, seething. Mallaidh abruptly let go of Ewan and ran to Knocks. She put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but he struck it off, shaking his head.

He looked over at Ewan. “You. You did this! This is your fault!”

Ewan had no idea what he was talking about. While Knocks possessed a memory seven years long and perfect in every detail, Ewan had no idea who that horsewoman was, what she meant, or why she had killed Knocks’s mom. But Knocks knew all too well, and he hated Ewan for it.

“Nuh-uh!” denied Ewan. “It’s not my fault.”

“I hate you!” screamed Knocks, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Mallaidh tried once more to comfort him. “Knocks, Ewan had nothing to do with this.”

“Yes, he did!” he shouted. “Yes he did! Yes he did! Yes he did!” He looked directly at Ewan. “I hate you!” he screamed again. Then his passion cooled and his eyes grew cold. “I will see you dead.” He straightened, stiff as a board, storming off into the forest. For a moment his choked sobs were the only reminder of his presence, but soon even they vanished.

DITHERS AWOKE TO a ghostly quiet, a searing pain in his chest. He shook the cobwebs from his head, wondering just how it was that he came to find himself draped over a creaking limb in the middle of the night. Then at once it all came screaming back to him. THE WILD HUNT!

He scanned the ground frantically for any signs of his young ward. If he returned to court without Ewan, they would have his hide. One job, he had but one job to do: protect that little boy from harm. But now he’d lost him, given him up to a pack of unruly hellspawn that had no doubt carried him back to the very pits of Hell.

He sniffed the air. The brimstone was gone. Gone too were the clouds that had obscured the moon, the entire valley awash in bright blue hues. While the scattered remnants of fallen trees and smoldering hoofprints remained, there were few other signs that the hunt had even taken place. The arrow that had pierced his chest had vanished, its flaming tip having cauterized the wound into a painful burn. The valley was empty, quiet, abandoned even by the dead.

Dithers dropped down from the tree. He looked up, held his breath, and waited. They’re gonna kill me.

The bushes burst apart, Ewan springing from them in a full run. Dithers threw his arms open wide, his crooked mouth splayed ear to ear with a glowing, thunderstruck grin. “Don’t you ever run off like that again,” he chided, swinging Ewan around.

“But I had to. You dropped me.”

Dithers paused for a moment, still holding the boy a foot off the ground, trying to recall what had happened. “I did, didn’t I?” he asked, the memories fading back into place. “I’m sorry. I’ll never do that again. Where did you run off to?”

Mallaidh emerged from the woods behind them. “To get her.” Ewan pointed.

Dithers smiled coyly now. “I see. You had to save the pretty girl, didn’t you?”

Ewan looked away, embarrassed. “Nooooo.”

“Yes he did,” said Mallaidh. “He saved me quite well.” Ewan shrugged, words failing him.

Dithers’s grin slowly drooped. “And the others?” he asked. “Did anyone else make it?”

“Nixie Knocks did,” Ewan replied. “I didn’t see anyone else.”

Dithers set Ewan down and let out a shrill whistle. “ANYONE OUT THERE?” he called into the night. “ANYONE?”

For a moment there was no reply, until . . .

“Well, shit.” Emerging from the dark seeped the misty form of Bill the Shadow. “That was a nightmare.” He gazed over at Dithers, looking him up and down, then tipped his hat. “You look a little banged up, old buddy. How you holding up?”

“I’ll be fine,” muttered Dithers. “Hurts like a thousand needles stabbing me all at once, but I’ll live. You see what happened to anyone else?”

Bill nodded sadly, reaching up, removing his hat, holding it politely over his chest. “Dragana and Nils.”

Dithers swallowed hard, shaking his head, his eyes glazing over with the hint of tears. “They were good friends.”

“As good as one can find in the Limestone Kingdom,” agreed Bill.

“Well,” said Dithers, “I guess we should collect Nixie Knocks and head back to the court.”

“Bah!” cursed Bill. “Let that creepy little shit run back to his precious mama in