Foxfire by Barbara Campbell Read Free Book Online Page A

this time.”
    The Zherosi had never pursued them so relentlessly. Temet claimed they were afraid of the shadowy forest. From his description of their arid, treeless homeland, it might be true. Perhaps these warriors had lived in the north long enough to vanquish their fear. More likely, the hunger for revenge outweighed it.
    â€œWhat will you do?” she asked.
    â€œTake most of the band with me. Try to draw them off.”
    â€œDraw them off?”
    He pulled away to cup her cheeks. “I need you to lead the villagers to your home.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œA mile from here, the trail splits. Take the north fork. Follow it past the waterfall. Then look for the black circle.”
    â€œThe place where the lightning struck.” Temet had made her memorize all the landmarks on the journey south. Then, it had seemed like a game to pass the time.
    â€œAye. You’ll come to another stream.”
    â€œThe one with the boulder like an arrowhead in the middle.”
    He squeezed her hand in approval. “The forest will start to thin after that. You’ll reach the moors in two days. I’ll send a few men with you, but I need to keep the bulk of the force intact. What’s left of it.”
    She gripped his uninjured arm. “It wasn’t your fault.”
    â€œI’m their commander.”
    â€œAye. But getting yourself killed won’t bring back the others.”
    â€œYour father’s the hero. I’m just going to keep running. The Zherosi will tire of this chase eventually.”
    â€œThen why not stay together? If we keep moving—”
    â€œLook at them.” Temet jerked his head toward the sleeping villagers.
    He was right. They could never sustain this pace. She’d be lucky to get them all home.
    Fa would welcome them as he had the other refugees Temet had brought. He’d even welcomed Temet after the Freshening, when the Zherosi ceased their logging operations and his band dispersed until spring. Throughout the moon that followed, the two had debated, her father claiming the rebel forces were too scattered to offer any effective resistance and Temet insisting that was why Fa had to join them.
    â€œThere’s no one else—no one!—who can unite us. Only then can we drive them out.”
    â€œYou’ve been to Zheros,” her father had replied. “You’ve seen them. If they bring the might of their empire to bear in the north, we’ll be the ones driven out.”
    â€œThat’s why we have to act now. While they reckon us too weak to be a threat.”
    â€œIt’s a lost cause.”
    â€œWhy, Fa?” she had asked. “Why won’t you support this fight?”
    â€œBecause it will destroy our people.”
    â€œOur people are being destroyed now.”
    â€œNot the ones in my village.”
    And there it was. For all her impassioned words about the rape of their land and the destruction of their Tree-Brothers, her father still clung to the illusory safety of their isolated valley.
    â€œThe fight will continue,” he had insisted, “whether or not I join it.”
    â€œBut we’ll lose. There are too many timid folk who would rather sit by their fires and pay their tribute and remember the old days.”
    â€œAye. Well. Perhaps I’m one of them.”
    She had denied that fiercely. Her father might be reluctant to fight, but he was no coward. She could still remember him the day Keirith was stolen—ax in one hand, Zherosi sword in the other, an arrow sticking out of his arm and blood spattering him from his face to his bare feet. There was a warrior. There was a man who could inspire hundreds—thousands—to follow him. But only if someone could convince him to fight.
    Her heart thudded when she realized that a victory might still be salvaged from this terrible defeat. She opened her mouth to share her idea, then closed it again. Temet had given Fa his oath to tell no