Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies Read Free Book Online

swung round, pawed the earth with his hind hoofs and kicked out at Brechin’s head. The blow caught Brechin full on the right antler and with a great crack snapped the horn clean in two. Gratified, Drail walked back to Sgorr’s side.
    ‘A fine blow, my lord,’ said Sgorr fawningly. ‘That one would please many a young hind.’
    ‘Herne’s teeth!’ said Drail. ‘Eloin. I had quite forgotten. Go, Sgorr.’
    ‘And if the calf has come?’
    ‘By Herne,’ snorted Drail, rounding on Sgorr. ’Must I tell you everything? You haven’t done so much fighting this night that those teeth can’t deal with a new-born fawn.’
    Sgorr bowed his head and backed away. Turning on his haunches he called four Draila to his side and led them away down the hill.
    When Bandach saw Brechin fall on the hillock he made straight for where the hinds were gathered by the stream, running as fast as his legs could carry him. But as he neared the meadow he saw that the whole place was swarming with Draila. He smelt the fear on the air as the hinds blinked and looked about them nervously. A stampede had indeed only just been avoided when the cry had gone up from the Outriders and now the Draila were moving among them, trying to calm them. The lying words of the Draila had begun to reassure the hinds, for they wanted to believe what the Draila were telling them about a minor rebellion in the herd that had soon been put down.
    Those hinds who asked difficult questions were being separated from the rest. Bandach could see twenty hinds being rounded up quietly and led away to the Home Oak with their fawns in tow. Every now and then a hind, followed closely by her calf, would try and break from the group but the Draila would pounce on them and herd them back, not flinching to use their antlers to do it.
    As Bandach watched the group passing now, from the safety of a yew tree, he saw a hind slip away and make towards him. Bandach recognized Fourleaf, the lead hind. He backed away slightly and tried to press into the trees behind him but as he did so he stepped on some dry wood and the snap alerted her to his presence. Fourleaf stopped in her tracks, her senses on full alert, her eyes blinking nervously and her sleek muzzle sniffing the air.
    ‘Who’s there?’ she called under his breath.
    ‘Fourleaf. It’s me. Bandach. In here, quickly.’
    The doe pushed forward into the trees and for a moment stood there shaking as she looked into Bandach’s eyes.
    ‘Bandach, did you hear it? The terrible noise. And now the Draila—’
    ‘I know,’ said Bandach. ’They’ve taken the herd.’
    ‘It can’t be true, Bandach. Have they killed the Outriders?’ Bandach looked back at her. His eyes told the full horror of what had happened.
    ‘Fourleaf, we can’t stay here, it isn’t safe. Besides, I have a duty to perform. Brechin asked me to warn Eloin. You know she is near her time. It was his last wish.’
    Fourleaf had hardly been listening but this news brought her back to her senses.
    ‘Brechin is dead?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Then we must hurry, Bandach. There’s no time to lose.’ But with that the two deer heard a noise along the edge of the wood. The Draila guarding the hinds had noticed that Fourleaf was missing and now five of them were coming back to find her. They had already nosed her on the breeze and were moving quickly along the thicket.
    ‘What are we to do?’ said Fourleaf desperately. ‘I’ve led them to you.’
    Bandach stamped back and forth in the leaves as he tried to think.
    ‘There is no way back through the thicket,’ he said. ‘We must try our luck in the open. If we run hard enough we can make the far trees and the slope. There’s a trail there I know well. It leads back through the glen to the stream.’
    Bandach knew it was desperate: there are few hinds that can outpace a stag. But it was their only chance. Then, suddenly, Fourleaf did something extraordinary. She stepped backwards out of the thicket into full