"Of course she is, and that is why she will make a good sacrifice." He brushed strands of hair, wet with tears, from my face and smiled. "I see you wish to save her and I have an idea. Give me your amulet and I'll-"
His head snapped round.
My voice was loud and tremulous. "I'll never give you-"
Devlin clamped a hand over my mouth and commanded with his eyes that I shut up. He cocked his head, listening. His eyes narrowed and he dropped into a low crouch, taking me with him. The gods be dammed, what now?
Letting me go he pointed ahead and to the left then held up six fingers. Then pointed at me and held up one finger. I stared at him blankly and he scowled, repeated the motions. I nodded, slowly. He was telling me up ahead there was one fairy, a female since he pointed at me and not himself. And six others. Uh, other what? I was not used to his sign language and it was taking me a while. He meant six humans. This close to the Wall the only humans that would wander outside were Oh gods. My mouth went dry, but I nodded again, firmer this time and followed as he slinked forward.
There was no time to argue, or get fussy about our allegiances. We were both in trouble if the Clerics saw us. I broke into a cold sweat, remembering what I had seen the last time I had crawled through the undergrowth in these woods.
Devlin stopped, caught my shoulder and pointed again.
As he did Clerics pushed through a thicket of branches and stomped into view. They moved in a tight and square formation. All six had their hoods pulled up and covering their faces to the nose. Hand clasped about their waists, their funneled sleeves concealed their hands, and the white-eye sigils on their breast pockets seemed to shimmer against the crimson colour of the blazers.
The air left my lungs as I caught sight of the demon stumbling behind the marching column, a fairy with a black sack over her head, and iron chains about her neck, hands and ankles. Slashes of blood stood out on her green skin, and her body - glistening with sweat - was a navy colour along the knees and torso, probably deep muscle bruises.
Devlin hissed, a low and primal sound. He glanced at me and I saw murder in his eye. I knew then these Clerics were dead, and no words I said would convince him to show mercy. Devlin was a fairy purist. He would never let any of our kind be treated this way.
I pointed at myself then at the fairy, a simple communication. He scanned the trees and nodded; satisfied I could get the job done without getting in his way. He slinked off to the side and disappeared from my sight behind a tree. I waited alone, tense, and terrified of the quickening of my heart from a rising excitement. The column was directly opposite me now. I sunk lower, scared even in the dark and they would see me.
There was a sharp crack, and the sound of a snapping branch to the west. They all spun, guns and knives appearing in their hands as they did. The column halted and was still. Another noise, this time a tree shaking to the north and the column spun again, another snap back to the west then another to the south. Devlin was distracting them, but never did he draw their gaze my way. There was a flash of white and a scream that choked off mid flow. The column was now five. The Clerics swelled out into a defensive formation, not knowing nothing could save them now.
Sensing my queue, I crawled around to the back where the fairy was standing. Her knees were bent and she was alert, knowing her time to escape had come.
The clerics were shouting now, fighting. Though the fairy-lord would be able to handle himself, I spared a look for Devlin to check he was doing okay. The vision of necks snapping, a knife in the eye and sight of a Cleric going limp as the bones of his body shattered when it connected with a tree trunk, was not something I wanted to see or get a look at in more detail.
I reached the fairy-girl, and put my hands on the shackles at her ankles. The immediate burn was unexpected and I yelped. Iron. At my yell, she shrieked and kicked, hitting me in the side and toppling herself over. She thrashed around and I scrambled over to clamp my hands on her arms.
"Stop fighting me, I'm not going to hurt you."
She became still under my hands.
"Rae?" Her voice was a whimper and I remembered the light chime of it instantly. I dragged the hood off her head and released a fiery cascade of hair. Her scarlet eyes were wide and wet. "It's you," she sobbed and started to cry. "I'm saved, you saved me."
