The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth Page B

have reported a large contingent o' Red Guards . . . and something else—a winged figure—the hare calls it a ghost."
Seychella and Jorge were on their feet in alarm. "We must flee," Seychella shouted. "We canna withstand a Mesmerd!"
"They are already searching the valley," Meghan said grimly. "The beasts tell me where they are. It is too late, they will have seen the fire by now. We will have to distract them, and meet back at the tree house. Do no' let them follow ye, and seek shelter in the trees if ye must for the Red Guards will no' find ye there."
"What about the Mesmerd?" Seychella said angrily. "It has wings, it can fly?"
"Avoid the Mesmerd at all costs," Meghan said, just as Isabeau gave a cry of dismay. Through the trees she could see a line of red as soldiers ran down toward them. There were about sixty of them, and by the expression on their faces, they had seen the five witches.
"I want to give Isabeau the Sorceress Test o' Fire," Meghan said.
The stranger-witch looked at Isabeau with her very blue eyes. "Sorceress level? Is she ready?"
"In the name o' the Spinners, hurry!" Seychella shouted.
"What is it?" Isabeau cried, as the Red Guards lifted their claymores and began to run toward them. There was no doubt that they were in very real danger, for the signs of witchcraft were all about them: the circle and the pentagram scratched in the dust, the bowl of water and the pot of soil, the unbound hair and beringed fingers of the witches. If they were taken, they would be burned to death.
Meghan gripped Isabeau's arm. "The Sorceress Test o' Fire—to use flame as a weapon," she said. "Now, Isabeau!"
Instinctively Isabeau threw a great ball of flame and was shocked to her core when soldiers fell screaming, one desperately trying to beat out the flames that engulfed him. Shaking with an inner chill, she threw another and another, but the soldiers just kept coming. Jorge huddled by her side, not even trying to protect himself as arrows rained toward them from the crossbowmen. Without even thinking, Isabeau deflected the arrows and brought up a great sheet of flame between them and the soldiers. Jorge's raven dropped suddenly out of the sky, beating at the soldiers' heads with his wings. Seychella shouted into the wind, bringing the whole force of the storm whirling upon the Red Guard. As the five witches huddled in the calm eye of the storm, the soldiers fought to advance against the wind and the rain.
The unknown witch took Isabeau's hands. "It is time for me to go. Ye have done well, my daughter. Be no' afraid o' your Power. It is true it does terrible things, but ye can also use it for good. Remember that, and do no' lose your way." Isabeau tried not to sob. The use of fire as a weapon had indeed shocked her—she had never harmed another living thing, except by accident. However, she did not regret using the fire, the alternative could well be imprisonment and death. "Remember what Meghan has taught ye; she has been a better mother to ye than anyone could have been." The blue-eyed witch kissed Isabeau and then hugged Meghan.
"Go in love, Ishbel," Meghan said, a look of great sadness on her face. "Shall I see you again?"
"I do no' ken," the blue-eyed witch responded, and there was such melancholy in her voice that Isabeau felt sorrow piercing her in sympathy. "If the Spinners wish it, our threads will cross again. But now I must go."
Before Isabeau could exclaim in surprise at her identity, the stranger-witch was gone, her masses of hair billowing out behind her. She simply rose into the air and flew away, like a feather dragged by the wind. Isabeau cried out and even put out a hand as if to catch her, but it was too late, Ishbel had gone over the cliff.
"Will she be safe?"
"I hope so," Meghan responded grimly. "But let us look out for ourselves at the moment."
Isabeau spun to see the soldiers very close now, the Mesmerd hovering right behind them, its arms stretching forward as if to embrace her. Rearing up against