Age of Myth (36 page)

She is always there. I see the Great Bear every night in the star-filled sky. To most people, it is just a group of stars. But to those who lived during that terrible time, they will always represent Grin the Brown. Even though I never personally saw her, stories of that beast scared me to death.

—
T
HE
B
OOK OF
B
RIN

The sun had set, and Persephone clung to the light of the full moon as she plunged through the wood. She had no time to think, no time to dread. The wolf was pulling her hard, and all of them struggled to keep up. They followed a path of sorts, a division through the trees that at times felt familiar. Traveling so quickly and by moonlight, Persephone wouldn't have thought it possible, but she recognized things. Before long, she was certain they were on the same trail they had followed the day the wolf pack attacked.

You were going
exactly
the wrong way…I figured you were hunting Grin. I followed your trail, and you were heading straight for her cave.

Persephone had shivered at the idea back then, and now she was intentionally rushing in that direction.

We don't have to fight it,
she reminded herself.

If they were lucky, they wouldn't see the bear at all. The goal was to save Suri and Maeve, not slay the beast. Still, for whatever reason she felt a weight upon her. First her son, then her husband, and now it was Persephone's turn. The gods had sent the bear as a curse on her family, and she was all that remained.

Is there any chance I will survive this night?

Even with that sobering thought, she had to go. She couldn't turn her back on Suri and Maeve. And she had to keep her feet following the old oak's path. How this was going to save her people from extinction she didn't know, but she had put herself into the hands of the gods and ancient spirits. Her fate was theirs to twist.

Reglan had a child with Maeve.
The thought lingered like a bad aftertaste. It hovered, unapproachable, impossible to believe—but it was the truth.

Was it a single night of passion or a lifelong love affair?

If she thought hard enough, perhaps Persephone could recall knowing glances, awkward or halted conversations, moments that seemed insignificant at the time. But Persephone didn't want to remember. In her heart, she wanted to preserve the memory of Reglan: honest, courageous, and a leader who acted in the best interests of others. He was faithful. He defended the weak. He protected the innocent. Already that image was losing color, the impression eroding as Persephone struggled through the woods, imagining an infant abandoned in the dark and a mother's cries.

I never heard a grown woman sound like that before. You'd have thought I was killing her.

She shook her head in disbelief.
What an awful judge of people I am, first Iver the Carver and now my own husband. Men I've known my whole life yet never really knew at all. How could I have missed what Reglan and Konniger were capable of?

Minna had endless stamina, but Persephone didn't. They were moving steadily uphill, and she was soaked with sweat and desperate for a break. With all her might, she pulled on Konniger's belt to rein the wolf in. They came to a stop in a world of trees, moonlight, and fireflies.

“Water,” Persephone said to Malcolm between breaths. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, which was equally sweat-covered and provided no help.

Malcolm, who had caught up with them while they were still in the open field, had arrived with a waterskin and weapons. In addition to helping himself to a spear and Reglan's shield from the lodge, he'd fetched an extra shield and spear for Persephone—and not just any spear. Malcolm had pulled down the great Black Spear of Math, the founder of Dahl Rhen and the grandson of Gath, that had been mounted above the First Chair.

“Weren't we here before?” Malcolm asked, puffing for air and looking around at the trees.

“Thinking the same thing,” Raithe replied. He carried Persephone's spear for her since she couldn't manage it and the wolf at the same time, but he had showed her how to fix the shield to her back.

Minna sat, looking anxious, and started to whimper again.

“I have to say I'm a little disappointed we haven't caught them yet,” Persephone said. “I mean, how fast can that old woman walk? She's more than fifty years old. I had no idea she was so spry.”

“How much farther do you think until the bear's cave?” Malcolm asked. He leaned against a tree trunk and took a swallow after Persephone had returned the waterskin.

“I have no idea, but we're going to be too late, aren't we?” Persephone was peering up through the leaves at what little of the dark sky she could see. “At least there's a full moon tonight. That will help with whatever we find up there, right?”

“What if we find the bear?” Malcolm asked. “What do we do then?”

“Well,” Raithe said, “we don't want to fight it. Just need to drive it off. So don't surround the thing. Give it a clear escape route. Then jab at it and make noise. If it comes at one of us, that person should fall back and the others should advance, jabbing to drive it away. It shouldn't stay around.”

“Just point and stick, right?” Malcolm said.

“Yep.”

When Persephone remembered how The Brown had slaughtered a pack of wolves and then lingered to beat on a stone door because it smelled humans inside, she wondered about the likelihood of the bear
not sticking around.
The Brown preferred human flesh.

Dammit, Konniger, why didn't you tell them? Why did you let them go?

Minna stood up. Instead of pulling forward, she turned back and began to growl at noises. Behind them, they heard snaps and rustling; then faces emerged from the darkness.

At that moment Minna bolted. Distracted and unprepared, Persephone lost her grip on the belt. The leather strap ripped through her hands, and the wolf raced away. Darting into the shadows, Minna vanished.

“By Mari, Persephone!” Konniger exclaimed, out of breath. “You set a cruel pace.”

“Konniger?” she said, seeing him among the men coming at them.

“Surprised to see me?” the chieftain asked, trotting into the clearing surrounded by Devon, Riggles, and several of the Nadak men. Konniger's long hair, usually tied back, was left to fly free. Persephone had known him for years, but in the dark of the forest he looked like someone else. Konniger held his spear, and on his arm he wore his big wooden shield, the one with the dented copper-boss star reinforcing the center.

“I thought you said you weren't going to help.”

“He's not,” Hegner said, stepping into the moonlight. He was wrapped in his leigh mor, a spear in his left hand. The group must have run most of the way to catch up to them, and there was a sheen of sweat on his face. All of them were breathing hard. Hegner shifted away from Konniger and the others, holding his spear tightly. “He's here to kill you.”

“What?”

“Oh, Stump, this is a bad time to change sides,” Konniger said, looking at Hegner with a disgusted, pitying shake of his head.

“What's going on?” Persephone asked.

“Konniger has been telling everyone you're in league with the Fhrey,” Hegner explained between deep inhalations. “He said you ordered the burning of Nadak and Dureya to create a crisis that would justify the election of a keenig and would steal power from him and the other clan chieftains.”

“That's insane!”

“He's also claimed you arranged the death of your husband—ordered the men in the hunting party to kill Reglan and blame it on the bear.”

“That doesn't even make sense. You were there, Hegner. You fought the bear. It took your hand!”

Hegner shook his head. “No. It didn't.”

Persephone blinked. Maybe she hadn't heard right. “What?”

“Your husband fought well, Persephone.” Hegner raised his stump. “But he couldn't win against all of us.”

She stared at Hegner as overhead the breeze tossed the leaves about and patches of moonlight shifted.

In the hanging silence, Hegner continued, “Konniger was also the one who sent me, Sackett, and Adler to kill you. Been waiting for a second chance for you to have an
accident,
but you haven't left the dahl, and it's too risky killing you inside the walls. That's why he told you about Suri and Maeve. He hoped you would follow them so you, too, could be killed by the bear.”

“What's with the moonlight confession?” Raithe asked, slowly passing Persephone her spear, which she took with unsure hands.

“Adler, Sackett, Krier, Holliman…they're all dead.”

“So?”

“They're also the ones who helped kill Reglan.” Hegner spat at Konniger. “Krier wasn't killed by no bear. Did you really think I'd believe that? It's only a matter of time until I have my own run-in with The Brown.”

“So you're not as stupid as you look,” Konniger said. He took a long drink, lowered the skin, and wiped his mouth. Then he shook his head. “Well, no. I take that back. Would have been smarter to just run off. You would have lived.”

“I'll help you fight,” Hegner told Persephone. “And when we get back to the dahl, I can testify for you and explain what happened. I'll tell everyone how Konniger betrayed Reglan. That it wasn't you who ordered his death. In return, you just need to pardon me for my role in all of this.”

Help you fight.
Persephone squeezed Math's spear in both hands.
We have to fight?
There are so many of them. I'm going to die here, right here, right now—Raithe and Malcolm, too.

She considered pleading. She knew most of these men, some of them since they were children.
Maybe if I explained Konniger was lying…
but that wouldn't work. Konniger probably promised them the best lands, the best homes, and the women of their choice. That had to be why Moya was betrothed to Hegner. She was a reward.

“So that's your grand plan, is it, Stump?” Konniger laughed. “Not a very good one.” He tossed the waterskin back to Riggles then without warning lunged at Hegner with the edge of his shield.

Hegner blocked with his spear, creating a hollow thud when the haft met the board. He also created a wide opening. The chieftain of Dahl Rhen took advantage of it and thrust the stone point of his spear up under Hegner's rib cage.

Persephone watched in horror as Konniger jerked and twisted. Blood ran down the spear's shaft, soaking Hegner's leigh mor. The Stump managed to remain standing for several seconds as if his body were too confused to realize he was dead. It caught on soon enough, and he fell among the ferns. With desperate, watering eyes, he looked first at Persephone and then at Konniger. He gasped, convulsed, spit blood, and then lay still.

Konniger looked down at him. “You've always been a disappointment, Stump. But you were right about one thing. That bear was bound to kill you, too.”

Suri and Maeve sat in the rear of the cave, their backs against the wall. The sun had set hours earlier, but the full moon managed to illuminate the cavern with a patch of pale light that moved from right to left.

“I want to thank you for this, Suri.” Maeve sat on her knees, leaning forward, watching the entrance with wide eyes. “You can't know what this means to me. I've been cursed for so long. I believed the gods hated me, that I was being punished. I didn't care. I deserved it, but for them to punish my daughter, my little girl, who was innocent…”

Maeve wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “How could they do this to her? I blame myself, of course. I shouldn't have come back. I should have stayed away. Most important of all, when I found out what Konniger was planning to do, I should have grabbed a sack of food and run away to Menahan. Maybe that's what Mari wanted. Maybe it's why she cursed us, because I was a coward. I let them take my child and leave her in the forest. I'm not a coward anymore. You've given me hope for the first time in years.” She reached out, took Suri's hand, and squeezed. “Thank you so much for this. I know I can die now. I know I'll be forgiven if I can just see her face again. All I want is to know she's all right, that she's free and safe.”

Suri didn't feel this was the best time to mention that she hadn't cast out a morvyn before. Not that it should matter. Tura had trained her well. Her mentor had explained about good-luck charms, crimbal rings, and the effect of salt on the unnatural. Loud noises scared demons, as did metal. The knowledge about metal was neither here nor there since she didn't have any. But still, it was a good thing to know.

Tura had explained how sleeping near a spider's web could catch nightmares and that knots prevented people from finding common ground.
If you see people having an argument over nothing, look for a knot in their hair or clothes,
Tura had said.
Untie it and the disagreements will vanish.

The old mystic had taught Suri how mistletoe bracelets helped in healing and the importance of smoothing away an impression left in a bed after sleeping. If you didn't, a witch could use it to cast a curse on you. Tura had known everything, but Suri lacked firsthand experience. As she and Maeve waited, she wondered if she might be a little overconfident.

When they had set out, Suri had been certain it would work…practically certain…mostly certain. The longer she sat, the less certain she became. Tura had trained her, but Tura also said never enter Grin's cave. Perhaps the old mystic knew that Grin was a morvyn and that Suri wasn't strong enough to fight it.

Maeve interrupted her thoughts. “I feel like such a fool for taking so long, but I'd like to offer my condolences for the passing of Tura. So much has happened in the last few weeks that, well…I should have said something before now. Your mother was a wise woman.”