Chap burst from the brush at the clearing's far right.
Two of the small newcomers leaped out of his path. One more ran up the side of a tree trunk and clung to its lower branches. None appeared worried by the dog's snarling, only startled as they watched him.
Chap worked his way toward Wynn, still rumbling with teeth exposed.
Urhkar stepped forward with both hands open and empty at his sides. He crossed the space slowly and placed himself before Wynn and Leanalham. The first savage short one steppedback, and the second lifted his spear.
Sgaile barked one word of Elvish, and Chap stopped growling.
One of the pair facing Urhkar snapped something at him, nearly shouting, and Wynn cringed back, pulling at Leanalham. The girl looked as frightened as the sage, but her eyes turned toward her uncle in confusion, as if she had no idea what was happening.
"Sgaile…" Leesil whispered harshly, "do something, damn you." Sgaile's eyes never left the scene before him. He rapidly placed a finger to his lips and that was all.
Leesil's frustration vanished in dull surprise-Sgaile was afraid.
Sgaile had too many people to protect, a mission to complete, and now Wynn had made things even worse. He could not allow violence to break out here but hesitated to speak.
Although Sgaile had authority over this mission, Urhkarasiferin was clearly the eldest among them. Such distinction was all that these people-the old race of this land-would respect as authority. Sgaile let him take the lead.
Then Chap glanced his way.
A memory of grief-enraged En’nish rose suddenly in Sgaile's mind. He did not know why this came to him now, and he pushed it aside.
One of the diminutive pair before Urhkarasiferin was called Rujh. Sgaile had seen him before as a messenger sent tothe an'Croan by the man's own people-the Aruin'nas. They had been in this land long before Sgaile's people, or so it was said.
Rujh spat an accusation at Urhkarasiferin. "You break faith with the trees!"
The elder elf shook his head with steady calm. "No. We are in guardianship of these humans and act on behalf of Most Aged Father."
His words had no impact on Rujh. "Your aged leader has no right to such a choice. We do not answer to him or your kind. Theforest's own law is above his wishes-and yours."
"We escort these humans to him for questioning," Urhkarasiferin explained. "We must know how they entered this land… before others follow in their path."
"The forest has its way to deal with such!" Rujh nearly shouted. "It has no need of your assistance. You defile it with no remorse, and it is offensive enough that we now find mixed-bloods walking here."
He gestured to Leanalham and then to Leshil. Sgaile crept slowly inward, blocking Leanalham from Rujh's sight.
"They have the blood in them," Sgaile insisted. "And the forest has not seen fit to reject them."
Rujh turned his head toward Sgaile, and frustrated reluctance filled his angry face.
"We accept those who have blood that should not be spilled, but the other two…" He pointed to Wynn and then Magiere. "If you will not kill them, then we will do it."
"Do not attempt to violate guardianship," Urhkarasiferin warned.
Rujh tilted his spear slightly toward Urhkarasiferin, but the elder elf did not move or flinch.
Sgailes stomach began to tighten. No doubt Urhkarasiferin and Osha would follow his orders if violence broke out, but it was the last thing he wanted. They could escape Rujh's numbers, but getting Leshil and his companions out would be a harder fight.
En’nish’s face flashed again in Sgaile's thoughts. He pushed the image away. Why did he keep thinking of her? Then came a memory of Rujh appearing out of the forest at Crijheaiche.
It startled Sgaile. He could not clearly remember which occasion this memory came from or why he thought of it now. But it made him study the short man.
Rujh had spotted Leshil too quickly as half-blooded. Had he known before Leshil appeared?
A flash of En’nish came again. It flickered in and out with the memory of Rujh appearing from the forest. Sgaile felt dizzy, and then he realized…
There were too many Aruin'nas here at once. Not a hunting party or even an envoy to one of the elven clans. They lived to the northwest, where the forest thickened against the range. How had Rujh known to come here?
Someone had sought out the Aruin'nas, or sent word to them.
En’nish’s blind anguish and hunger for vengeance went further than Sgaile had thought possible. Perhaps Urhkarasiferin should not have dismissed her from his tutelage but kept her close and watched.
Urhkarasiferin sharply backhanded Rujh's spear aside. "You are not a judge of the forest's natural law."
"Neither can your Most Aged Father take exceptions upon himself," Rujh answered.
"You will do nothing without the will of all blood," Urhkarasiferin warned, "that of your people and of mine."
"Have your clan elders agreed to allow humans to walk among the trees?"
A ray of hope grew inside Sgaile. "Nor have they agreed to execute them."
"Speak when spoken to!" Urhkarasiferin snapped, and Sgaile clenched his jaw.
He watched Rujh's face. Only clan leaders decided such weighty issues for Sgaile's people. Rujh knew this, for it was much the same among his kind. The small man scowled.
"There is a judgment to be made," he said, and turned away. "We will meet at Crijheaiche… where all will hear of this matter."
Sgaile quickly reached down and pulled Leanalham to her feet, her innocent face still full of fear.
"Up," he said to Wynn. "Everyone return to our path."
Magiere grabbed Wynn's arm and turned back with Leesil close behind. Urhkarasiferin took the lead as Sgaile pulled Leanalham along. Not one of the Aruin'nas remained among the trees. They had all vanished from sight.
What fuel of lies had En’nish used to kindle this fire in her hunger for vengeance?
"Do not stop and do not look back," Sgaile said to the others.
He knew where En’nish would head next. The same place he must take his own group in order to shorten the journey. Traveling alone and unburdened, she would beat him to the river and passage down to Crijheaiche. Leanalham's hand trembled in his grip.
"You are safe," he whispered, pulling her close.
An anmaglahk's duty, by life oath, was to protect his people. Sgaile had one failing in this. Leanalham's safety came before all others.
Chap trotted beside Wynn, longing for the lost talking hide and the privacy to use it.
He needed to speak with Leesil, and he did not know how else this could be done.
Chap had never met the Aruin'nas-had never even heard the word until it rose from Sgaile's memories. But now, Chap had things to tell… things he'd seen in Rujh's memories.
En’nish, for one.
The instant he realized what the female anmaglahk had done, he pulled upon Sgaile's memories, until he felt Sgaile reach a realization. But Chap could not shake off his puzzlement over the tone Rujh used when speaking of Most Aged Father.
In youth, Chap had known but a few of the Anmaglahk. Most Aged Father was no elder of a clan, for Anmaglahk were a caste apart and servants to their people, but their patriarch was still held in high esteem. His word carried the weight of a clan elder, if not its authority. His word held power among the elves. Was that now changing?
Brot'an and Eillean had believed they took great risks in defying Most Aged Father. The patriarch believed an Ancient Enemy would return, as did Chap's kin. It was the reason they had sent him to Magiere-to keep her from falling into the hands of those who searched for her.
But what of Leesil?
His own mother and grandmother had conspired to create him, to train him, in order to kill this same enemy Most Aged Father feared. The thought rankled Chap, and he growled.