The Vampire & Her Witch Chapter 1949: Impact (Part One)

"Your friend, Reynold, rides very well, Lord Erling," Dirar said mildly as he watched Reynold and Star Chaser charging toward the twelfth wreath. "One could almost mistake the pair of horse and rider for a member of my clan."

"Has he always been this exceptional?" Dirar asked. "Or does he have the power of Her Dominion’s witchcraft to thank for this?"

"I’ve only ridden with him once," Erling said as he watched Reynold bring the lance over Star Chaser’s head to collect a wreath that hung so far out over the racetrack; he wouldn’t have room to keep the wreath on his right side.

"We were hunting a giant bull elk," Erling explained while the crowd jubilantly shouted ’TWELVE!’ "He was steady and his horse, Star Chaser, was fearless, even when confronted with such a large animal."

"Did you kill the elk?" Khorijin asked from the bench next to Erling. "Or did Lord Reynold claim the prize?"

"Neither," Erling said with a light laugh. "Only Lord Owain Lothian was allowed to kill it. It was supposed to be served at his coronation feast."

"Did he fail to kill it?" Khorijin asked, not understanding why a hunter wouldn’t be allowed to kill the prey they’d successfully cornered.

"No, no, he killed the elk," Erling said, shaking his head briefly until a hot flash of pain reminded him how much his wounds still needed to heal. "But Empress Ashlynn killed Owain the night of his coronation, and the feast was never served. I’m told the elk was served to the servants and the soldiers of Lothian Manor as part of Empress Ashlynn’s apology to the people of her late husband’s household for all the ways he’d wronged them."

"I see," Khorijin said, though she still didn’t understand. She’d heard the story by now. Most people had. The Evergreen Empress had been sold to the Lothian heir who tried to murder her for her gift. She’d returned from the edge of death to claim vengeance and to take her husband’s lands as her own.

This much, she could understand. But why the Empress would need to apologize to anyone her husband had wronged was beyond her understanding. In her mind, the Mother of Trees had been deeply wronged by her husband’s people. She had nothing to apologize for.

"You said his horse’s name was ’Star Chaser’?" Dirar asked, pulling their attention back to Reynold as he prepared to capture the final wreath.

"I did," Erling said, turning briefly to glance at the lord of the Southern Steppe. "Does it mean anything special among your people?"

"This night seems filled with omens," Dirar said, his eyes flicking briefly to Khorijin before returning to the brilliant nimbus of light surrounding Reynold and Star Chaser. "It seems that what they say about Great Witches is true," he added cryptically, though he gave no explanation before another shout went up from the crowd.

"THIRTEEN!"

Thirteen.

The word meant nothing to Taghai when he heard it. With only a few weeks of travel to spend learning the human’s language, Taghai had more important things to learn than counting. Perhaps it was an insult, or a cheer. It was enough, for him, that the humans had stopped chanting ’Ox Cart’ at the top of their lungs.

Now, after sprinting for half a league, it was finally time for him to round the corner and charge the human knight.

He was looking forward to the moment he trampled Reynold beneath his hooves. More than that, he was looking forward to the look on the face of Reynold’s father when he brought his son’s head before his eyes, proving that his line of murderous tyrants had come to an end.

The painful knowledge that his house had fallen with the death of the son he loved enough to offer up his own life to protect wasn’t enough to make up for all the brothers in arms that Taghai had lost over the years, but it was the best offering he could think to make to his departed comrades.

Frozen dirt flew through the air as Taghai thundered through the turn, digging into the dirt track with his mighty hooves as he fought to bring his armored bulk around. The tip of his lance swung into a wide arc as he rounded the glittering, icy tilt-barrier and laid eyes on his opponent for the first time since the charge began.

And in that moment, he realized he’d miscalculated. Badly.

He should have been ahead of the slow-moving human and his pet horse, but somehow, Reynold was already charging toward him, nearly halfway down the list!

Worse than that, a powerful aura of witchcraft clung to man and beast alike, transforming the pair from ordinary foes into a shooting star flying through the night... Flying straight toward him.

"DIE MURDERER!" Taghai shouted as he leveled his lance for the charge.

But even as he charged, his mind worked furiously for a solution to the predicament he found himself in.

He’d underestimated the power of accumulating wreaths. Now, Reynold was faster than he’d been, and that speed would translate directly into a more powerful strike. Worse, he’d have less time to build momentum of his own.

Still, that very same speed could work against Reynold if it was presented with the right counter.

Defend or attack?

Men like Taghai had no business following Swift Hooves on raids at the far northern end of the Southern Steppe. As a warrior, he wasn’t built for raiding, and he knew this. But as a young man who had seen far too many warriors he respected fail to return home after the raiding season, he’d sworn that he would never, ever, allow humans to harm his herd.

Taghai followed two paths and mastered two constellations. The path of the First Warrior and the path of the First Watchman. He was a guardian and a protector of his herd. He’d honed his body into a living wall of muscle, wrapped in armor, to be placed between his people and harm.

With the right words and a bit of focus, he was certain that he could prevent his shield from shattering. On a second pass, he could collect just as many wreaths as Reynold had. He could negate the advantage that the witch’s contest had given his enemy and destroy him with strength and power that the human and his pet beast could never match.

But Reynold had to know that. He had to know that this was his only opportunity to win.

"He won’t aim for my shield," Taghai realized. "He’ll take my head."

It’s what he would do. It’s what he had intended to do when he believed that he had an overwhelming advantage as he rounded the bend. Protecting his shield would be worthless if Reynold used his borrowed power to claim his life. There would be no second pass.

Which meant it would have to end on the first pass.

Defending himself the way the First Watchman taught might see him to a second pass. But only the First Warrior could guide him to victory.

"So be it," Taghai said, lowering his head slightly as he began to gather his energy. "May the First Warrior guide my lance..."