Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce -- an excerpt
Kel fumbled her glaive back into its socket. The buzzing of the flies gave her the shudders. "Place him with her, please," she replied. "We-- we haven't time to bury them, but at least they can be together."
"Aye, lady knight," replied Jacut. He and Uinse took the dead man back and laid him gently beside his wife, then bowed their heads. Kel bowed hers, too, saying a prayer. She'd known them both, their names, their families, their hopes for the future. Now their future lay in some other realm than the mortal one. All she could give them was her word that she would try to send those who had killed them to the Black God's domain, where his judges would punish them for their crimes.
Sunlight glinted on steel. She looked up and saw a female Stormwing, freshly streaked with blood and flesh. It was the same female who had talked to Kel back at Haven.
"Rot your eyes, they didn't die in battle!" Kel shouted. "Leave them be!"
The Stormwing licked a wing feather. Her metal parts seemed as flexible as her human ones. "Mortals," she remarked. "Always jumping to conclusions." She took wing and flew in circles over Kel's head. "I'm just hoping you'll provide us with a meal soon. With Scanrans all over this border country, the least you could do is give us a snack."
Kel took up her longbow, braced it against her stirrup to string it, then grabbed one of her griffin-fletched arrows. "Why don't I turn you into someone's snack?" She put the arrow to the string and raised the bow. The Stormwing was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't take them so personally," Neal advised. "They are what they were made to be." When Kel glared at him in reply, Neal smiled crookedly. "I'm sorry-- I forgot," he admitted. "You are what you were made to be, too."
"Aye, lady knight," replied Jacut. He and Uinse took the dead man back and laid him gently beside his wife, then bowed their heads. Kel bowed hers, too, saying a prayer. She'd known them both, their names, their families, their hopes for the future. Now their future lay in some other realm than the mortal one. All she could give them was her word that she would try to send those who had killed them to the Black God's domain, where his judges would punish them for their crimes.
Sunlight glinted on steel. She looked up and saw a female Stormwing, freshly streaked with blood and flesh. It was the same female who had talked to Kel back at Haven.
"Rot your eyes, they didn't die in battle!" Kel shouted. "Leave them be!"
The Stormwing licked a wing feather. Her metal parts seemed as flexible as her human ones. "Mortals," she remarked. "Always jumping to conclusions." She took wing and flew in circles over Kel's head. "I'm just hoping you'll provide us with a meal soon. With Scanrans all over this border country, the least you could do is give us a snack."
Kel took up her longbow, braced it against her stirrup to string it, then grabbed one of her griffin-fletched arrows. "Why don't I turn you into someone's snack?" She put the arrow to the string and raised the bow. The Stormwing was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't take them so personally," Neal advised. "They are what they were made to be." When Kel glared at him in reply, Neal smiled crookedly. "I'm sorry-- I forgot," he admitted. "You are what you were made to be, too."