The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy by Melissa Eskue Ousley Page A

emerged from their homes, we were able to identify the missing. Those who were taken were either guarding the village or doing their last chores of the evening. Had this happened during the day, more of us would have been lost,” Yola explained.
    Jon hefted a stone into the cart. “Have they found any of them yet?”
    “No. They vanished, as did the creatures that took them,” Yola said.
    “And everyone else is okay? I mean, no one else was wounded?” Abby asked.
    “We are all relatively unscathed, yes.” Again, Yola smiled wearily. “I fear, though, that I shall never see my brother again.”
    “Oh! I’m so sorry,” Abby said. In her surprise, she had almost dropped the stone she was holding, but Jon helped her ease it into the cart. “Thanks,” Abby said to Jon, then turned back to the woman. “Your brother was one of the taken? Oh, Yola, I am so very, very sorry.”
    “He should not have been among them. He volunteered for the night watch when someone took ill,” Yola said. She cast her eyes downward. “I should not have said that.”
    “Why?” Abby asked, putting her hand gently on Yola’s shoulder.
    Yola looked up into Abby’s eyes, fighting back tears. “He would not want me to think that way. Daudi is very brave. If he is still alive, he will do his best to return to us. And if he met his end, he would be honored to do it in someone else’s place. To speak otherwise is to dishonor him.”
    “I see. I pray he is still alive,” Abby said. “Yola, will you come with me to speak to the Solas Beir? I know he will do all he can to find out what happened to your brother and the others.”
    “Do you really think he can help me find my brother?” Yola asked.
    “I hope so.” Taking Yola’s hand, Abby led her to David, who was still deep in conversation with the village leaders.
     
     
     
    Out of the corner of his eye, David saw Abby and a woman walking toward him. He gestured for them to join the discussion. “Abby,” he said, “it sounds like, besides the six who are missing, no one was injured in the attack or when the buildings collapsed.”
    Abby nodded. “Yes—we were just talking about the same thing. David, this is Yola. Her brother is one of the missing.”
    David took Yola’s hands in his. “Yola, I am so sorry about your brother. I promise I will find out who did this.”
    “Was it the Kruorumbrae?” Abby asked.
    “I’m starting to have my doubts, based on what we’ve heard about the attack. Yola, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but I don’t want to keep information from you, and I hope what I share will not bring you more sorrow,” David said.
    “I understand,” Yola nodded. “Please—I am grateful for anything you can tell me. If my brother is alive, I will do whatever I can to help bring him home.”
    “All right,” David said. “What we know so far is that this attack was different than past Kruorumbrae raids. While the Blood Shadows do prefer to attack at night, they do not usually destroy buildings. They also would not just take the people who were outside; they would have entered people’s homes and taken everyone they could find. They have raided several villages north of Caislucis, and the Kruorumbrae were not deterred by closed doors.
    “ It’s strange there is no sign of the people who were taken. Our guards have been searching the areas surrounding the village for evidence of the missing, and there is nothing there. The Kruorumbrae are, if anything, consistent. If they had come to feed, they would not have taken people and left the bodies of your livestock. Forgive me, but they would consider that a waste of food.
    “ The other thing is that goat we found in the tree—that is the strangest part to me. There is simply no precedent for it. Yola, what I’m saying is that, while I don’t want to give you false hope…” David paused, suddenly unsure if he should finish his sentence. The woman took a deep breath and urged him to continue,