6. Song in the Night #2
"It was OK. Earth science is sort of boring. Rocks don't do anything, just lay there. We all have to do the math homework again because Joey and Sam told a couple other people wrong stuff." He moped at the salad on his plate. "Why do we eat the rabbits' food?"
His lady gave him a look. Jude pretended innocence, more or less. She said, "Because humans are not carnivores, despite what it may say on the internet. We need more than just animal protein and milk in order to stay healthy, and we don't make our own vitamins like cats and some dogs do."
Levi perked up. "Yeah, cats are cool that way.
They can make vitamin C, and a couple other things, but they don't always do so well making their own heat, so they hang out in the sun a lot.
And cats have to eat just meat. Dogs can eat other stuff, but ...
" He was off. His little brother looked more and more bored and studied the salad, as if contemplating a launch.
Apparently Levi was this generation's talkative Hoffman.
AJ favored motion over sound. Claire concentrated on eating, and Gertie dozed in the highchair.
Jude had more lamb and pasta, and ate the rest of his salad.
When Levi wound down, Claire asked, "Have you seen the photos of the volcano in Italy, the island one?"
"No."
"It's tossing rocks a couple miles, and made the local airports close. Not all rocks just lie there."
Conversation turned to other things, including the weekend's schedule for everyone.
AJ had a lesson at the dojo in the very beginner class.
Levi had his lesson two hours later. Then there were the apples for the next-to-last market for the season, and church on Sunday for Lucy and the younger children.
"No projects or other activities that did not get onto the calendar?
" Lucy asked. "If it is not on the calendar, it does not happen. "
Head shakes all around. Oh, he gave thanks that Levi had no interest in football, and Claire preferred to avoid athletic events she wasn't involved in.
After cleaning up and doing the dishes, and supervising AJ's small bit of homework, Jude stepped outside to study the night and check on his Familiar.
He lowered his shields, reading the chilly night.
The wind hurried leaves down the private farm drive between the house and the woodlot.
Far above, geese raced south, calling a warning to stragglers as they passed.
Fall followed the geese and winter was soon to arrive.
Hard, clear stars shone down. "Cold tonight," he observed in his own tongue.
"Anno. Storm passes to the south, drawing the cold behind it," a harsh voice said from the perch on the south end of the shed. Shoim rustled a little. "When will you and Lucy teach Levi to shield?"
He'd been wondering just that. "Sooner than later. He's old enough to understand why, I believe. Is he a Healer?" If so, he'd need to speak with Mistress Jacinth about how best to teach the boy.
A very long quiet, then, "I do not know, meaning it is very early and he is young yet. He might be a strong Sensitive with an affinity toward animals, as your cousin's affinity for music."
Who? He tried to recall. Oh, Nikolai, the strongest Sensitive save for the Dark One, the guardian, and the only Hunter to hear magic. "Ah. So shielding only for now?"
"Anno, and do not mention Healing." Certainty replaced hesitation. "What do the books all say about teaching a student who might be a Healer of the Lady's Touch?"
He'd skipped that section a few times. What was it? Something about age? "To not train early, because emotional control is a large part of Healing? Just shield and wait, if I recall correctly."
"Exactly. Healers mature more slowly into their skills, so shielding first above all, just as if he is only a Sensitive. If he starts to show Healing, call Mistress Jacinth. And start saving for vet school."
Jude sagged. "Thank you for that nightmare. Not." Did the local vets take apprentices? Probably not until Levi could see over a Holstein.
Avian laughter filled the night air. "Just warnin' you, boss," the raptor cackled in English.
Before he could ask and warn about the other Hunters, the night shivered and wrongness cut through the air. He added power to the house shields as his Familiar hissed a malediction. "Breach," the harrier snarled.
"Anno. Hunt." Of course, since he had to work at five the next morning.
"Anno. North and ... west? I go, Partner."
"Defender strengthen your wings. I follow." The door opened as he turned back to the house.
"Uncle Jude, something went pop," Claire said, leaning into the night.
He waited until he was in the mud room, door closed, before answering. "Yes, it did. Pasaru and I go to see if anything fell through." He pulled on his Hunting jacket as he spoke, and slung on his black leather rucksack.
"Gertie's in bed, I'll help with AJ if Aunt Lucy needs a hand, sir.
" She got out of his way as he hurried down the hall.
He took the steps up to the master bedroom two at a time, but silently.
Waking Gertie might be worse than facing an abyssal beast. Facing Lucy after he woke Gertie would be worse.
She met him in the bedroom doorway, holding out the karabela and sword belt. "Be careful, please," she said/asked, worry filling gray eyes.
"I love you, and I will try, my lady, light of my heart." He kissed her as he took the sword, then trotted down the steps once more.
Once away from the house, the sense of trouble grew stronger.
Something had fallen through, or the breach remained open.
Neither boded well for his peace of mind or ease of body.
He trotted along the road, reaching a bit of magic out.
"Obscuret occuli," he whispered, putting a camera to sleep.
Two others needed not his touch. A dog barked as he cut through a currently empty pasture, but did not follow.
He leaped the fence, dimmed another camera, then one some way away on the same circuit.
The sense of trouble moved due north. He turned, entering state game land, and shifted to a Hunter's lope, covering the ground as a wolf in the night. Ah, so good to truly move! Only when he drew near another camera did he slow. He sent out a little magic.
"I'm here, Partner," Pasaru called from his left, to the west. "Two creatures, one a hell hound, the other no clue."
"Hell hound and one. The breach?" He set magic on the left gauntlet. Pasaru landed, and they turned more to the west.
"Open but fading. Hunt first unless something changes. Old Mueller farm, in the wheat field."
Jude thought a rude word. "I wish they wouldn't do that."
"You tell them, straight ahead." He started to flap, and Jude tossed him into the air, drawing the karabela as he did. Pasaru darted west, then a little north. Jude cut through the woodlot and gulped.
The good news was that the wheat had been harvested.
The bad news loomed in the chaff-covered field.
The largest hell hound he'd seen thus far snarled, red dripping from its sharply pointed muzzle.
The liquid sizzled as it touched the ground.
The beast's shoulder easily came level with his chest. Black and purple stripes covered the body.
A long, bare, possum-like tail flicked back and forth, then curled up like a scorpion's above the beast's back.
The legs ended in claws, at least the front legs.
Pasaru flew around the beast, then returned. "It killed something, cow maybe, and dragged it into the field."
He heard steps running toward him, and bit his tongue against a curse. Not now! Before he could speak, Pasaru called in the clan's speech, then again in English, "Defender's peace!"
"Defender's peace," a tenor replied. A Hunter skidded a little as he stopped beside Jude. "Lady have mercy, that's big," he panted.
"An—Yes." An idea started to form. In English he asked, "Have you boar spears?"
"Nie. No. Longblades—swords—only."
That decided him. "Magic to immobilize, then you strike."
"You stop, we strike, anno," the younger man said. His partner gestured strong agreement. Jude sheathed the karabela and vaulted the fence.
The thing looked up and howled, then lumbered toward him. Pasaru swept down, talons out, and raked one eye. His talons slid off the thing and he labored for height. "It can shield," he called as the beast dodged, then snapped at him, growling low in its chest.
"Blast it," the younger Hunter behind him hissed.
Jude tuned out the presence and drew magic from Pasaru. "Rete argentum," he murmured, turning magic into a net of silver and shadow. Pasaru stooped and struck the beast's rump with fisted talons. The thing kicked up.
Jude tossed the net, adding power and tangling the creature's back legs.
He heaved with muscle and magic together.
"It's strong," he hissed. The thing fought, twisting, stabbing the net with its tail.
He sensed the other Hunters circling. Pasaru hit the head, or tried to.
It snapped at him as he passed, rising onto its hind legs.
He grabbed them with more magic, now pulling from his ring as well as Pasaru and himself.
"Strike, strike now," Pasaru called as the thing tumbled, biting at the magic.
The two Hunters leaped onto the thing, swords stabbing.
They threw themselves back as rotten red-black erupted into the night.
"Shield," the Familiar shrieked. Jude twisted the net into a shield around the beast. The beast swelled.
Corruption and poison burst from the wounds, tail, and muzzle.
He held the shield, then rained cleansing magic onto the steaming foulness and the thrashing form. It collapsed, dead.
He lowered the shield, and extended his arm. Pasaru landed, and he turned away, as if speaking with the Familiar, so he would not see the Hunters taking the blood. "That was a mess," he murmured in English.