their body and long, plumy tails. They were immediately mobbed and torn to shreds by their fellows. The Yellow Fiuri soldiers flung their throwing spears or loosed arrows at the swarming Silverfish. Purple again splashed Char’s shield, which wavered but did not collapse.
“Hang on, Char,” Shioni encouraged the pale, sweating scholar.
“Faster!” roared Ashkuriel. “That Cave-Crawler let them in!”
Shioni plucked the driver’s bow out of its holster, and pilfered a handful of his arrows. She took aim. Fire! “Got one!” she crowed. “And another!”
She could do this! Without pause for thought, Shioni reloaded and fired directly upward into a knot of Silverfish shadowing them up there. The mass of predators imploded as they ripped into each other, careless of which was the wounded one. Shioni shuddered. By the first pupa, as Viri loved to say, she would not fancy being a Fiuri caught by a pack of these.
“Left, left,” groaned Chardal.
Shioni’s and Viri’s arrows pierced a Silverfish simultaneously.
“That one was mine!” Viridelle howled.
Ignoring her friend, Shioni fired again. “And behind,” she said, aiming carefully past Char and the rearmost Yellow Fiuri. Her arrow brushed his antennae on the way past, smacking right between a Silverfish’s gnashing teeth. Three more shots and she ran out of arrows, but Viri and Tellira had established a rhythm now, wounding or killing Silverfish in the thick of the pack so that the bloodlust overcame them. Soon, they left the squabbling, feeding Silverfish far behind.
“Fine shooting, little Hunter,” said Tellira, saluting Shioni with a wave of his bow.
“Little Hunter?” snorted Viri, clearly as green as her skin with envy. “I can tell you a thing or three about Shionelle! Why, that hopeless pollen-brain–”
The older Hunter’s low growl cut off her complaint as effectively as if he had slapped her in the face with a Glue-Slap plant, Shioni thought. Viri fell immediately to her work, calling out instructions to the Vermilion Dragonfly drivers.
Quietly, Char said, “The sixth Hunter proverb, Shionelle, goes like this: ‘A good Hunter praises a skill. A great Hunter knows when to give praise.’”
“I see.” Shioni asked, “Do you see many Silverfish?”
“No, they’re rare,” said Chardal. “Creatures like Silverfish are one reason our cave wards continue to be so vital. Every Fiuri respects the wards, because without them, we’d all be dead.”
“So the wards kill the bad creatures?”
Shioni felt the boy-Fiuri nodding behind her. “Yes, even those creatures as large as Cave-Crawlers.”
“Can a Fiuri pass through wards unharmed?”
“Of course!” Char began, and then he coughed uncomfortably.
“What?” The White Fiuri turned in her seat to regard Char, who squirmed in his seat like a Fiuri child caught stealing nectar. “Char?”
Pulling his antennae in embarrassment, Char muttered, “Wards are keyed to recognise Fiuri magic, Shionelle.”
“What … oh. Oh! I couldn’t–”
“I wouldn’t recommend trying.” He smiled weakly. “At least, not until we find your magic again. By the first pupa, you’re a mystery, Shionelle! Now, to answer the rest of your question, during the old Colour Wars there were wards developed to distinguish between the different Fiuri Colours, right down to the specific Clans. It is believed that the Azure Fiuri guard access to their highest knowledge and magic in this way.”
Shioni puzzled over this, tugging her sharp little chin as she had seen Viridelle do. “Do wards know which creatures are good and which are bad? Or do they kill everything?”
“Everything not Fiuri,” said Char, turning a fine shade of rose at her expression. “They can’t tell good from evil, Shionelle! And the complexity, to program them to recognise different creatures, would simply be impossible to manage.”
“Yet, wards can recognise the Fiuri Clans.”
For the first time, Shioni saw
“Hang on, Char,” Shioni encouraged the pale, sweating scholar.
“Faster!” roared Ashkuriel. “That Cave-Crawler let them in!”
Shioni plucked the driver’s bow out of its holster, and pilfered a handful of his arrows. She took aim. Fire! “Got one!” she crowed. “And another!”
She could do this! Without pause for thought, Shioni reloaded and fired directly upward into a knot of Silverfish shadowing them up there. The mass of predators imploded as they ripped into each other, careless of which was the wounded one. Shioni shuddered. By the first pupa, as Viri loved to say, she would not fancy being a Fiuri caught by a pack of these.
“Left, left,” groaned Chardal.
Shioni’s and Viri’s arrows pierced a Silverfish simultaneously.
“That one was mine!” Viridelle howled.
Ignoring her friend, Shioni fired again. “And behind,” she said, aiming carefully past Char and the rearmost Yellow Fiuri. Her arrow brushed his antennae on the way past, smacking right between a Silverfish’s gnashing teeth. Three more shots and she ran out of arrows, but Viri and Tellira had established a rhythm now, wounding or killing Silverfish in the thick of the pack so that the bloodlust overcame them. Soon, they left the squabbling, feeding Silverfish far behind.
“Fine shooting, little Hunter,” said Tellira, saluting Shioni with a wave of his bow.
“Little Hunter?” snorted Viri, clearly as green as her skin with envy. “I can tell you a thing or three about Shionelle! Why, that hopeless pollen-brain–”
The older Hunter’s low growl cut off her complaint as effectively as if he had slapped her in the face with a Glue-Slap plant, Shioni thought. Viri fell immediately to her work, calling out instructions to the Vermilion Dragonfly drivers.
Quietly, Char said, “The sixth Hunter proverb, Shionelle, goes like this: ‘A good Hunter praises a skill. A great Hunter knows when to give praise.’”
“I see.” Shioni asked, “Do you see many Silverfish?”
“No, they’re rare,” said Chardal. “Creatures like Silverfish are one reason our cave wards continue to be so vital. Every Fiuri respects the wards, because without them, we’d all be dead.”
“So the wards kill the bad creatures?”
Shioni felt the boy-Fiuri nodding behind her. “Yes, even those creatures as large as Cave-Crawlers.”
“Can a Fiuri pass through wards unharmed?”
“Of course!” Char began, and then he coughed uncomfortably.
“What?” The White Fiuri turned in her seat to regard Char, who squirmed in his seat like a Fiuri child caught stealing nectar. “Char?”
Pulling his antennae in embarrassment, Char muttered, “Wards are keyed to recognise Fiuri magic, Shionelle.”
“What … oh. Oh! I couldn’t–”
“I wouldn’t recommend trying.” He smiled weakly. “At least, not until we find your magic again. By the first pupa, you’re a mystery, Shionelle! Now, to answer the rest of your question, during the old Colour Wars there were wards developed to distinguish between the different Fiuri Colours, right down to the specific Clans. It is believed that the Azure Fiuri guard access to their highest knowledge and magic in this way.”
Shioni puzzled over this, tugging her sharp little chin as she had seen Viridelle do. “Do wards know which creatures are good and which are bad? Or do they kill everything?”
“Everything not Fiuri,” said Char, turning a fine shade of rose at her expression. “They can’t tell good from evil, Shionelle! And the complexity, to program them to recognise different creatures, would simply be impossible to manage.”
“Yet, wards can recognise the Fiuri Clans.”
For the first time, Shioni saw
Similar Books
