‘That, my friend, is the soul of the Farlain,’ said Gwalchmai.
Gaelen turned to his comrade and grinned. ‘I can believe it.’
Gwalchmai’s face shone with pride and his green eyes glittered. ‘Everything we are is contained there,’ he said. ‘All the poetry, the grandeur-, and the strength that is Clan.’
Gaelen watched him as he soaked in the sight. Gwalchmai was not built on the same powerful lines as Lennox or Layne – he was slight and bird-boned, his face almost delicate. But in his eyes shone the same strength Gaelen had come to see in all clansmen – a sense of belonging that rooted them to the land, allowing them to draw on its power.
‘Come on, Gwal, let’s find the clues,’ he said at last, and the two of them re-entered the timberline.
By mid-afternoon they had found nothing, and then Gwalchmai discovered a set of tracks that set him cursing loudly.
‘What is it?’ asked Gaelen. ‘Hunters?’
‘No,’ snapped Gwalchmai. ‘It’s Agwaine. They reached here this morning. That’s why there are no clues; he’s taken them. Curse it!’
‘Let’s follow them,’ said Gaelen. ‘We have nothing to lose.’
The trail led south and was easy to follow. After less than an hour they reached a gentle slope, masked by thick bushes. Here Gwalch-mai stopped.
‘Oh, my soul!’ he whispered. ‘Look!’
Overlaid upon the moccasin tracks was a huge print, six-toed, and as long as a man’s forearm.
Pale-faced, Gwalchmai looked at Gaelen. ‘Are we going up the slope?’
‘I don’t want to,’ answered his friend. ‘But is there a choice?’ He licked dry lips with a dry tongue.
Slowly they made their way to the top of the slope and entered a grove of pine. The sun was sinking slowly and long shadows stretched away from them.
‘The beast was upon them here,” hissed Gwalchmai. ‘Oh, Gods, I think it killed them all. Look at the tracks. See, they scattered to run, but not before one was downed. Look there! The blood. Oh, God.’
Gaelen could feel his heart racing and his breathing becoming shallow: the beginning of panic. Caswallon had told him to breathe deeply and slowly at such times, and now he did so, calming himself gradually. Gwalchmai was inching his way into the bushes, where he stood and covered his face with his hands at what he saw lying there. Gaelen joined him.
His stomach turned and bile filled his throat. He swallowed hard. Inside the screen of bushes were the remains of three bodies, mutilated beyond recognition. A leg was half-buried in rotting leaves, and a split skull lay open and drained beside it.
Everywhere was drenched in blood.
Gwalchmai stumbled back from the sight, and vomited on to the grass. Gaelen forced himself to look once more, then he rejoined Gwalchmai who was shivering uncontrollably.
‘Gwal, listen to me. We must know where the beast has gone. Check the tracks. Please.’
There was no indication that Gwalchmai had heard him.
Gaelen took him by the shoulders and shook him gently. ‘Gwal, listen to me. We must find out; then we’ll tell Layne. Can you hear me?”
Gwalchmai began to weep, slumping forward against Gaelen, who put his arms around him, patting his back as with a child. ‘It’s all right,’ he whispered.
After a few moments Gwalchmai pulled away, breathing deeply. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, drying his eyes on his sleeve.
‘That’s all right, cousin,’ said Gaelen. ‘They were your friends.’
‘Yes. All right. Let’s see where the swine went.’
For several minutes Gwalchmai circled the scene of the massacre, then he returned.
‘The beast waited for them, hidden at the top of the slope. It reared up and killed the first as he cleared the top. The second, it was Ectas I think, turned to run and he too was slain. The other two ran west. The beast overtook one of them, but the fourth – Agwaine – got clear. The beast has followed him now. But first it… it ate.”
‘So,’ said Gaelen, ‘the creature is in the west. Now let’s find Layne.’
Gwalchmai nodded and set off north in a loping run, his green eyes fixed to the trail. Gaelen ran just behind him, eyes flickering to the undergrowth around them. Fate was with them and they found the brothers within the hour. They were sitting by a stream. Swiftly Gaelen explained about the slaughter.