I heard the Huntress directly behind me, I think her name was Elaine, snort a quick laugh at my response. Nope—they sure didn’t act nervous.

Just when I thought the spiral would never end, Victoria heaved herself through another carved doorway. I heard her hooves clatter on the roof as she moved aside so that the rest of us could emerge.

We spilled out onto a narrow passageway that wrapped around the domed roof. It was not quite a horse’s width across, which meant the Huntresses had to stand sideways and hug the wall to pass by one another. The outer wall was lined with balustrades. Between each column were large earthenware planters filled with geraniums and overflowing ivy, trailing a green waterfall of wide-leafed plants over the side of the temple.

In the murky light of predawn, Victoria surveyed the rooftop.

“This was meant to be a garden, not a place of defense.” The Huntress sounded annoyed.

“It’s a school for women, Vic, not soldiers.” I felt the need to come to the Muses’ defense. After all, this was the equivalent of Rhiannon’s university, and I sure wouldn’t want anyone making fun of the University of Illinois (go Illini!).

Vic made a disgusted noise, which was echoed by the other Huntresses.

“Spread out. Take up positions several lengths apart, all facing the west. Let me know when the armies become visible.” The Huntresses moved to obey her. I took up my own position next to her.

I peered out into the gloom and worried.

“He is a great warrior,” Vic said.

“Even great warriors bleed when they’re cut.” I sighed. “Maybe I should try and sleep so that my spirit body could go find him.”

“He would sense your presence,” she said gently. “You would distract him.”

“I hate waiting.”

Vic nodded in agreement.

14

We sat in silence. I strained to see or hear any sound of fighting, but the only noises came from the light breeze whispering through the ivy, and an occasional call of a lark that was greeting the new day with innocent exuberance.

The sky behind us began to lighten, and the gray lifted, but only a little. The clouds from the night before were obviously there to stay, and even a weird fog was drifting out of the marsh to hang suspended over the temple grounds. My body jerked with understanding.

“Carolan said Fomorians don’t like to move around in the daylight. But they’re attacking today because of the damn weather.”

Grimly, Victoria nodded.

To the north the mountains swam into and out of view. I raised the lens to my eye, turning the wheel in the middle of it until the misty side of the closest mountain came into focus. No creatures visible there. Yet.

I turned and looked over the deep forest. Overshadowed by clouds it looked sleepy and harmless. I continued turning, and got occasional glimpses through the fog of the verdant green of what must be the beginnings of Ufasach Marsh.

Before I could complete my circle, Victoria yelled, “There!”

I yanked the telescope from my eye to see Victoria pointing into the west at a dark smudge that spread across the western horizon. I lifted the glass back to my eye, surprised by the sudden trembling in my hands.

“Take it.” I handed it to Vic. “Look for me, my hands won’t be still.”

The Huntress took the glass and calmly put it to her eye, focusing the wheel as I had done before.

“It is the rear line of our archers,” she said as she looked.

I remembered the group of centaurs I had noticed who carried dangerous-looking longbows slung across their backs, along with quivers filled with long, pointed arrows.

“Are they good archers?” I asked.

“Except for Woulff’s men, they are the best in Partholon.”

“I wish Woulff was here, too.”

“As do I.” She kept watching. “The warriors must not have engaged the Fomorians yet. I can see the archers firing rounds, their bows pointed high into the sky.” She adjusted the focus again. “There, I can see the line of our warriors. They are waiting for the archers to finish.”

It started to drizzle as I looked intently into the west. I was able to make out the distant line of archers and the rain of arrows that flew at intervals up and out, then down, as though the clouds were belching death. Between the rounds of arrows, I saw something that glistened intermittently in front of the archers’ line.

“What is that shining?”

“Our centaurs have drawn their claymores,” she explained.

I felt a chill travel down my spine.

“They are advancing.” Her voice was emotionless and loud so that the Huntresses could hear what she was saying. Listening to her I felt an odd detachment, almost like we were watching a bizarre TV program. It was hard for me to believe my husband was part of that line of glinting swords.

“What’s happening now?”

She took the telescope from her eye and handed it to me. “The battle has begun.”

I wiped droplets of moisture from the lens before resting my elbows against the rail that ran around the top of the balustrades, which kept my hands from shaking. Then I raised the telescope to my eye and focused on the distant scene.

Through the dreary morning I could see the moving line of centaurs, several thick, as the archers parted and, brandishing their own claymores they dispersed to join the left and right flanks. I tried to focus on individual centaurs, but they were too far away. I couldn’t even see any Fomorians, just the straining, heaving backs of the centaurs as the line moved forward in some places and surged back in others.

“I can’t tell what the hell is going on.” I took my eye from the glass and handed it back to Vic.

“It could go on like this for hours.” She smiled gently at me. “The first battle you witness is always the most horrible.”

“Basically, all we can do is stand here and watch?” I asked.

“That is all we can do.”

And that is what we did. As the morning changed to midday, five young students brought us sandwiches of hard bread, meat and cheese, along with skins of sweet wine.

“Tell Thalia there is no change,” I said to one of the girls.

“She already knows, Lady Rhiannon,” she said as she left the roof.

“Thalia sees many things,” Vic said.

“She sure does.”

We chewed our food, taking turns looking through the telescope. As I finished my sandwich, the Huntress to the right of me, Cathleen, handed me the telescope so I could take my turn. I took several drinks of the sweet wine to clear my throat, and then I raised the glass to my eye, refocusing until the battlefield came into sharp view.

And I felt a sudden urge to puke up my lunch.

“Vic!” The Huntress moved quickly to my side. I handed her the telescope. “The line is moving.”

She raised the glass to her eye, looking intently. Her breath sucked in, and her body grew very still. “The centaurs have broken.” Her voice was a death knell. “These women are doomed.”

15

“No!” I grabbed her arm. “Fomorians cannot cross water. Being separated from the earth by flowing water causes them unbearable pain. If we can get the women across the bridge to the other side of the river, they will be safe.”

She handed me the telescope, and while I refocused it she called orders to the Huntresses.

“We must move the women across the bridge. The creatures have broken through our warriors. The only way the women will be safe is if they cross over the river. Help them get to safety. Now!”

I pressed my body against the balustrade as the Huntresses passed me to retrace their path down the treacherous stairwell, and gazed in horror through the telescope. Now I could see the winged shapes of the Fomorians as they inundated the centaur ranks. There was no longer a discernible line—instead, there was a jumble of bodies as the battle swelled toward us. I was still unable to recognize individual centaurs, but I could clearly see creatures being hacked apart by claymores, and centaurs being clawed to their knees as groups of the creatures broke off to single out and surround individual warriors. As I watched, masses of creatures were slain, only to be replaced by more and more of their fellow creatures, who used the bodies of their fallen comrades to stand upon so that they were more equal in height with the battling centaurs. Wave upon wave of claws and teeth washed over the centaurs. They had no choice but to give ground.

“Come, Rhea, we have work to do.”

“I don’t see him!”

“Rhea, he said he would find you. It does no good for you to stay here watching. But you can help us get the women to safety.”

I made myself lower the telescope and turn away from the battle scene. “Let’s get the women out of here.” I hurried from the roof with Victoria close behind me.

As we entered the banquet chamber, the fearful chatter of the girls quieted. Thalia walked silently to stand before us.

“The centaur army cannot hold the Fomorians. They will overrun the temple,” I said, surprised at how calm I sounded.

“Yes, my Goddess has already spoken thus to me. What must we do?”

“You must have all the women make their way quickly to the bridge. Fomorians cannot cross the Geal River. Once you are on the other side of the river, you will be safe.”

I looked around the room until I spotted Sila.

“Sila, get those who are ill onto pallets, the Huntresses will transport them.”

The centaur Healer nodded and cantered from the room.

“It must be now, Thalia, the army cannot have much time remaining.”

“Ladies…” Thalia’s regal voice filled the room. “Follow the Priestesses to the bridge—we must leave our temple. Take nothing with you except your lives.” Then she tilted her head to the side, and the room remained silent while she listened to an internal voice that I understood all too well. “My Goddess assures me this is not the last time we will see our beloved temple—what is lost will be regained. Now, quickly, and as we leave let us each pray fervently that the brave centaurs will join us across the river.”

The Priestesses were the first to hurry to the exit doors, each followed by an orderly group of her students. Erato took Thalia by the hand, and together they encouraged those at the rear to keep up with the others.

Thalia would have made a really good high school teacher. (But she would’ve had to take a big cut in pay.)

“You should go with them, Rhea,” Vic said.

“Where are you going?”

“To help move those who are ill.” Her fellow Huntresses were already cantering through the door Sila had used.

“I stay with you.” Before she could argue, I reminded her, “ClanFintan told me to stay with you.”

She sighed, but said, “Then come here, we can move more quickly if you are astride me.” Much like ClanFintan, Vic grabbed my upper arm and I grabbed hers, then she tossed me easily onto her sleek back. I held tightly to her shoulders as she sprinted to the exit, following her Huntresses. We skidded around corners and turned down elaborately decorated halls, following the clear echo of hooves in the otherwise silent temple. We burst through an opened door to an outside garden in time to see the back of one of the Huntresses disappearing through a door across the courtyard. She leaped across the space in several long strides.

“You are damn fast,” I yelled into her ear.

“I am Lead Huntress,” she yelled back, like that explained everything.

We caught up to the Huntresses just as I smelled a familiar odor. Vic and I wrinkled our noses.

“This must be the place,” I said as our group came to a large door.