Free Bloodmoon (The Scarlet Star Trilogy Book 2) by Ben Galley Page A

others around him. To his keen ears they sounded like cows grazing, and he strained to listen to the desert beyond.
    There: another clatter of rock. Rhin put down his thimble of a bowl and drew his sword. The others seemed startled. A bit of life appeared in their dull eyes. Lurker made to get up, already swinging the Mistress from her holster. He cocked the pistol quietly.
    ‘What is it?’ Lilain whispered. ‘What do you see?’
    ‘Hush, listen,’ Rhin hissed. His skin was already fading into nothing, just the dim outline of his features remaining. He tried to penetrate the darkness, but the light from the fire blurred the night’s edges. He began to tread sideways. There came another rattle of stones in the darkness. They all heard that one.
    Merion was reaching for his coat, where the three bottles of blood were hidden in his pockets.
    The faerie pulled out his knife as well. ‘I see people! About five, comi—’
    The thundercrack of a gun cut him off, chased by the whistling of a bullet as it glanced off a tree a worrying distance above Lilain’s head.
    ‘Down!’ Lurker shouted, squeezing off three rounds into the darkness. There was a yell and a round of roars and curses.
    ‘The Sand Rabbits have got you now!’ came a cry.
    ‘Quiver in fear!’
    ‘Hand over your coins!’
    Lurker growled. ‘Bandits! Merion, what have you got?’
    As more guns opened fire, they threw themselves behind the nearest trees and hunkered down.
    The young Hark scrabbled for a bottle. ‘Chipmunk?’
    ‘Fast reactions!’ Lilain yelled above the deafening gunshots.
    ‘Get a rock, and go round the back,’ Lurker ordered him, making a fist and driving it into his palm. Merion understood completely.
    With nervous hands, he reached for the nearest, biggest, and lumpiest rock he could find. He wondered whether he was afraid or simply startled. He did not like the idea of the former. Merion held the rock with one hand and flicked the cork off the bottle with the other. A bullet struck the sand two inches from his foot, and sprayed dust at him, and he yelped.
    The blood slid down his throat with all the speed of cold honey. Merion desperately tried to swallow it down as the bullets flew.
    The Mistress sung out again, and the gunfire halted for just a moment. ‘Go!’ Lurker hissed.
    Merion seized his chance. As he leapt from the tree and dashed for the desert, he felt the magick bite. He tensed as it began to flow with his blood. This was a fierce little shade. He could feel it coursing up his spine already, eager to get to work.
    Another bullet zipped through the branches, spinning splinters in its wake. One of the guns had been turned on him. The boy pushed the magick down into his legs and found himself zig-zagging through the low bushes like a burst of lightning through cloud. It felt like his muscles had just awoken from a long sleep, and he finally knew how to use them. He gritted his teeth and powered on, bursting out of the copse and curving around to come at the attackers from behind.
    Merion saw the muzzle-flashes a dozen yards from the treeline. There seemed to be seven, maybe more. Every time a gun crackled, Merion caught glimpses of a glowering face, the brim of a hat, or a threadbare jacket. Bandits indeed , he inwardly spat. Common thieves, come to kill and steal. Merion’s nervousness slunk away. He had no love to spare for thieves or murderers.
    The young Hark scurried low between the boulders, holding his rock as tight as he could, twitching with every gunshot. The Sand Rabbits were spread out in a line, diagonal to Merion. Speed would be the essence. Fortunately for Merion, speed is what chipmunk blood is famed for.
    The boy darted forwards as the nearest man stopped to reload, cursing to himself as another of Lurker’s bullets ricocheted off the rocks. The resounding thunder of Long Tom could be heard now as well. Merion raised the rock high and before the bandit could react, he brought it down hard against the