“You could have used it to create a decoywith the revenants.”
She snorted. “I don’t think it would haveworked very well. It’s what I use to polish my tack.”
His eyebrows rose. “You lied?”
She smirked at him. “Yup.”
“You little sneak. We’re going to have tostart watching you closer. Wait, does that mean you lied about thepisser fish in that pond we bathed in?”
“What do you think?”
She left him gaping behind her as she climbedonto her horse and looked over at Fallon. “If you still want tosee, follow me.”
“Lead on.”
In the end, they took a party of ten thatincluded Shea, Eamon, Fallon and Caden. It didn’t take long byhorseback before they were cresting the hill. The villagers had cutthe forest back, leaving a small clearing at the top that lookeddown on the small settlement.
“The ancestors take them,” Eamon breathed ashe pulled his horse up beside her.
Shea had no words to respond. The sight brokeher heart.
Pikes rose from the ground like grimheadstones in a macabre imitation of a cemetery. Bodies in variousstates of decomposition were tied to each one, some with theirhands above their heads, others wrapped so they were facing thepikes.
Even with the wind blowing in the oppositedirection, the smell was over powering. Shea’s nose hairs feltsinged from the smell of decay.
A few of the bodies had been here long enoughfor the elements and beasts to strip them of all flesh, leavingonly white bone behind. Others were newer. That was somehow worse,because those had been half chewed and were missing hunks of skinand organs.
No wonder the revenant pack had been solarge. They had a steady meal to sustain them. They wouldn’t haveneeded to hunt.
“What is this?” Fallon asked quietly, hisvoice holding the beginnings of a thunderous rumble.
Shea’s chin wobbled as she caught sight ofthe smaller bodies in one corner of the clearing. Forms the size oftoddlers or young children. The worst were the small bundles ofblankets that had at one point cradled babes. No remains were left,only the little blankets their parents, the people who should haveprotected them, had wrapped them in.
In a calm, steady voice totally at odds withthe rage inside, Shea gestured before her. “It’s a sacrificialaltar. This is in the territory of those revenants we passed a fewdays ago. The villagers believe if they leave a sacrifice thebeasts will spare them. Looks like they started with their youngand moved on from there.”
“Does it work?” Caden asked.
Shea shrugged. “Until you run out of peopleor until the beasts figure out there is a lot more warm blooded,delicious meat down the hill.”
“This is- this is. I don’t even have wordsfor what this is,” one of Fallon’s men said, shaking his head indisgust.
“And they call us barbarians,” Caden said,looking at the scene before them with absolute loathing.
“I wouldn’t think this fazed you,” Sheacommented. “You were thinking of destroying the village.”
“This is different,” he told her, hisintelligent eyes pinning her in place. “You don’t hurt the peoplein your clan, and you certainly don’t hurt children. They look toyou for protection. Do whatever you want to people outside yourclan but never do this to people you call your own.”
Shea looked back at the clearing, “Hmm.Interesting sentiment. Not sure I agree with all of it, but some Iagree wholeheartedly.”
“Burn it, salt the ground and kill them all.I won’t have people such as these in my ranks.”
“All of them?” Caden asked.
Fallon took one last look at the scene infront of them. “Leave two alive, brand them as slaves. They can bea warning to others. The rest let this happen; they can join theiryoung in eternity.”
Fallon wheeled his horse around and touchedits sides with his heels. As he rode away, he gave Shea a sharp nodbefore his attention turned forward again, dismissing her.
Shea lingered as the others followed. Eamonguided his horse until he was next to her, giving her time to speakif she wanted.
