Page 14 of Bound to the Orc Hunter

“That… that waswaytoo huge to have fit in there.” Grace crouches and tries to pick up the mound of moss, the green tuft unmoving because it’s reattached to the ground. She turns wide blue eyes to me. “That’s impossible.”

I grin. “That’s magic.”

“What I want to know is what kind of magic it will take to get your asses moving.” Aurora’s tone is sarcastically sweet.

Angry caws fill the sky, and another flock of sluagh appears overhead.

“Too late.” Aurora stomps. “I told you so.”

“I thought you said the other sluagh flew north?” I unsling my bow.

“It did.” She rolls her eyes at me. “A good half hour ago. Funny thing, birds. They can fly all over the place.”

The soul stealer swoops overhead, diving straight for us.

I thrust Grace behind me, then nock and arrow and let fly. My magic thrums through me, connecting to the wooden shaft. The metal tip punches straight into the breast of one of the descending birds, killing it instantly. The bird and arrow tumble from the sky, but by the time they reach the ground, the bird has disappeared, the soul stealer’s victim freed to finally find peace.

I loose another two arrows without pause. Then the flock is too close. I drop my bow to free my sword. The moon steel blade whirls through the air, slicing through bodies as quickly as I can.

Aurora gives and angry whinny, her horn lashing out.

Yet nothing we do hurts the sluagh at the heart of the flock, not really. You have to dispatch every single one of its victims to do that.

But it does veer to the far side of the clearing. The birds spiral down in a miniature tornado, the black bodies flying ever closer together until their wings touch. Yet instead of knocking each other out of the air, they merge. In a blur, they form a fae, body hidden by a swirling black cloak, the face never settling to smoothness, dark feathers rippling to the surface of the skin. Red eyes glare at us.

“God, your special-effects people are good,” Grace mutters.

I shake my head. “The only thing special about soul stealers is how evil they are.” They’re the worst of the Wild Fae, and no one understands why the Moon Goddess brought them to Alarria.

The sluagh’s voice is a chorus of multitudes, every one of its victims lending a different note. “What did you do to my companion?”

“We have trapped it where it will never harm another,” I say, possibly lying. No one’s certain if a trapped bird will survive indefinitely or die and free the rest of the flock.

“It cannot be.”

“Perhaps you should talk to your brethren who dared to attack my village only a month ago.” I pause for a moment. “Oh, wait. You can’t. They’re all dead.”

“You’re one ofthoseorcs,” it spits, voice full of hatred. Raising a red clawed hand toward my moon bound, it hisses, “But you’re all alone, not a dragon in sight. Give me the one full of power, and I will forget your insolence and let you go.”

I snarl, baring my tusks. “You will not touch her.”

“And yet I already have. Her soul is sweet.” Its mouth stretches wide, exposing numerous red, triangular teeth. It lunges forward. “I will have all of it.”

Rage pours through me, a flood of protectiveness heating my blood. How dare this vile thing touch my bride? Hurt her?

I leap forward to meet it, bounding across the distance in only two strides. My sword sings through the air in a flash of silver, slicing the sluagh in two.

Its laugh morphs into the mocking caws of numerous birds as its body breaks apart into the flock. They dart toward my moon bound, red beaks ready to strike.

I whirl, my moon steel blade a flash of silver lightning, striking more birds from the sky.

“Grace, get a bag.” Aurora charges forward and turns her side to my bride, presenting the correct saddlebag. My friend’s horn spears first one sluagh bird, then another. “We can capture this soul stealer, too.”

Without hesitation, Grace pulls a leather bag free and holds it out with its mouth open wide. Pride fills me. My moon bound is steady and practical.

The flock immediately breaks away and flies up into the sky with one last chorus of shrieking cries.

“Now it’sreallygoing to get more of them,” Aurora says.

---