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clifftop fortress. He had faced its full power with the Riders of the
Sidhe and he had barely survived. These thoughts ran in a wild tangle
through his mind, and over them like a shadow lay his earliest memory
of the terrible being as it moved forward to take him from the cradling
arms of his mother.
Lost in his own thoughts, Lugh stared until the sounds of the machines
and the frightened men below drew his attention. Soon the army would be
overrun, the machines cutting them off, leaving the survivors to the
savage attack of
COUNTERATTACK
75
the Fomor horde. Their plight recalled the young warrior. Afraid or
not, it was his chosen task to be their Champion. He must do what he
could to save them, or at least delay the metal horrors long enough for
them to retreat safely. "Riders," Lugh cried, raising the Answerer
high, "attack!" Balor would come later.
They swept down the slope toward the battle, moving into a line, the
horses galloping exactly abreast, close together. Some of the de Danann
warriors below saw them coming and sent up a cheer. It drew the
attention of Lugh's comrades.
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"Lugh!" cried Aine/and beside her Taillta cheered loudly.
Across the field Nuada and the Dagda reined in their troop and watched.
"He is striking directly for them," Nuada said. "But can even the
Riders of the Sidhe stop those things?"
The Dagda only shook his head. "I don't know."
As Lugh's band drove in against the first of the machines, the de
Danann warriors scrambled from his path. The lances of the Riders
dropped forward in one graceful move to point at the vehicle as if they
meant to joust with it.
The driver of the machine fitted with the long, scythed arms saw them
come on and altered course to accept this strange challenge. The scores
of blades chewed along through the sod, ready to devour the entire
troop at once. A smile of cruel delight stretched the driver's thin
mouth as he threw full power to the vehicle. It leaped forward.
The contenders closed rapidly, ready to engage. But with the metal
destroyer drawing near, the tips of the Riders' slender lances began to
glow, the light quickly increasing to the incandescent brightness of
white-hot metal. These spots of brightness swelled to become blazing
globes. Then, as if erupting from the contained energy, each shot
tendrils of fire like sustained bolts of lightning that leaped across
to touch the other points. In an instant all the Riders were linked by
a fabric of light woven of the crackling, flickering strands. Lugh's
horse had dropped back slightly from the others, and this silver
barrier now created a shield for him.
The driver of the machine was puzzled by this odd light, but its
fragility seemed no threat to him. It certainly would not stop the rush
of his vehicle's blades.
But from this network of interlacing threads a single stream of power
shot forward suddenly. It was a thick and solid column of glistening
whiteness, like a geyser of water
76
MASTER OF THE SIDHE
jetting from the earth. It crashed against the front of the machine,
bursting there, fragmenting into a hundred tendrils of silver that
sizzled across the surface of the vehicle entwining to create a glowing
lacework shroud of energy.
The soldiers aboard were caught by it. As if they were strands of iron,
the lights shot through them, impaling them jerking them up and holding
them in stiffened positions of agony so that they seemed to hang upon
the lines. The force coursed through the inner workings of the machine,
burning them out. From the instruments before the driver, a dozen bolts
of energy leaped out, striking through his face, running up his arms,
throwing him hack in his seat, body rigid.
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The Riders' power raked the vehicle from prow to stern, then abruptly
died away. Released, the lifeless bodies of the crew dropped to the
deck. The huge machine, its mechanisms destroyed, rolled softly,
gently, to a final stop.
For a moment there was a silence across the battlefield as those of
both sides watched in amazement. Even Lugh was startled by the
spectacular effect, He reined in, bringing the Riders to a halt, and
stared toward the stricken vehicle.
Though taken off guard by this unexpected force, the highly trained
Tower soldiers were quick to react. After only a brief hesitation, the
drivers of the other vehicles steered toward Lugh and the Riders,
intent on overwhelming him by the sheer force of their numbers.
The rest of the de Danann force was now ignored. The warriors,
realizing they were free of pursuit, stopped their retreat and gathered
at the base of the inland hills to watch. On the far side of the
machines the advancing Eireland Fomor also pulled up. All waited to see
what would be the result of the strange duel developing on the plains
between.
There Lugh Lamfada found himself at the center of a closing circle of
the immense machines. He looked around him at the collection of
whrling, snapping, and chewing blades converging, and wondered if the
Sidhe could withstand them all.
"Good enough," he told himself, trying to feel optimistic. "At least
I've gotten their attention."
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