The cursed towers 227

Meghan replied, looking off into the darkness, her face set like stone They spent the night working to save the few who still lived and dragging the dead into grim piles between the trees The tree-changers and other faeries helped, the horse-eel dragging litters through the undergrowth, the corri-gans carrying the wounded on their broad backs Tomas walked among the injured, bringing miraculous strength and wellness back into their damaged bodies Those he touched were able to stand and help carry others, and by the time dawn came, all who still lived were as if they had never been harmed In the morning light they made the terrible tally Of the two thousand men who had followed Lachlan through the forest, only a scant few hundred still lived Barnard the Eagle, Murdoch of the Axe and Bald Deag-lan were among the dead, and Finlay Fear-Naught was missing, bringing Lachlan's staff of officers down to a mere four They all feared Finlay had been taken prisoner, having been betrayed into some foolhardy action by his impetuosity Matthew the Lean too had disappeared, one of the wounded reporting he had seen the witch being dragged away after he had been struck down from behind "Please, Ea, let them no' be taken to the fire," Meghan prayed, rocking back and forth in despair Some time during the night her hair had turned as white as snow and it down around her body in leaf-matted knots and straggles "Please, let us reach them in time!" Their only hope was that the other divisions of the Righ's army had won through to Ardencaple and had prevented the Bright Soldiers from taking their captives back into the shelter of the town's walls Duncan Ironfist organized the remaining men into columns and made sure all were armed and provisioned Then they lost no time in marching on through the woods, Lachlan and Iseult huddled together on a litter drawn by the horse-eel, swollen to his largest size The great, white falcon perched near the Righ's head, occasionally nudging him with his curved beak It was a glorious day, all green and gold and fresh and singing Lilanthe found herself so oppressed by the beauty of the forest that she could hardly see for her tears Why should the sun shine or the birds carol when there was so much evil in the world? They had reached the forest's outskirts when Meghan suddenly screamed She flung up her hands and fell to her knees, the terrible, echoing cries going on and on "Jorge!" she shouted "Oh, no, Jorge! Matthew!" Tomas too was shrieking and writhing, beating at himself as if to stamp out invisible flames For a moment all was confusion, Johanna flinging herself on Tomas and trying to hold his hands still, Lilanthe trying desperately to comfort the old sorceress, although she herself was almost overwhelmed by the emotions that assaulted her Meghan would not be comforted On and on she screamed, tears pouring down the furrows of her wrinkled face Lilanthe dashed the tears from her own cheeks and went to the litter where Iseult still lay, her arm across her husband's back and under his wing Her eyes were open but without any sign that she saw or heard a thing "Your Highness," Lilanthe called, shaking her arm a little "Please, the Keybearer needs ye Please." She shook her a little harder and Iseult turned and looked at her with a hard, flat, angry stare "Meghan needs you," the tree-shifter said