I twisted my face into a smile matching his. "That's only one," I said.
"The rest--" I turned, watching for a moment as the falcons tore at
the ring of men. "Come on," Narayan shouted, and we flung ourselves
into the breach. I flung down my knife, snatched a sword from someone
and swung it in great arcs which seemed somehow right and natural to
me. The men scattered before the sword like scared chickens, and I went
mad with hate, sweeping the sword in vicious semi-circles against the
lashing birds ... the sword cut empty air, and I realized startlingly
that both birds lay cut to ribbons at my feet, their blood staining the
dead leaves. Narayan's eyes swam, through a red haze, into my field of
vision. They were watching me, trouble and fright in their greyness. I
forced myself to sanity; dropped the sword atop the dead birds. I wiped
my forehead.
"That's that," I said banally.
We took toll of our losses, silently. Narayan, gasping with pain,
rubbed a spot of the yellow blood from his face. "That stuff burns!" he
grimaced. I laughed tightly; he didn't have to tell me. We'd both have
badly festered burns to deal with tomorrow. But now, there was work--
"Look!" One of the men stared and pointed upward, his face tense with
fright. Another great bird of prey hung on poised pinions above us,
sapphire eyes intent; but as we watched, it wheeled and swiftly winged
toward the Rainbow City. Not, however, before I had caught the azure
shimmer of the bells and harness. A thin, sweet tinkling came from the
flying bells, like a mocking echo of the spell-singer's voice.
_Gamine!_