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THE OLD WORLD DIDN'T seem too different to her, the only real change being the buildings built of stone instead of timber. The people sounded the same and dressed the same, the food looked like what she was used to. Walking her horse beside William, Rebecca asked.
"Why is this called the Old World?"
A thin smile creased William’s lips as he looked around at the city.
"We came from here perhaps a thousand years ago. Our ancestors crossed the sea and settled the New World to escape the constant fighting between the kingdoms."
She frowned as she looked around. If there was any evidence of constant war she couldn't see it. In fact very few of the people she could see carried weapons on them. The streets looked more orderly and well dressed than those she had grown up on.
"It looks peaceful to me." she finally told him.
William chuckled, shaking his head.
"It is now. They stopped fighting two hundred and fifty years ago. I remember the day the news came to us. No one believed it for a long while. The ships still came across the sea full of immigrants as they had been for so long but their stories were now about the peace that had been forged between countries and the end of centuries of violence. We listened to their stories and waited for the next ship to bring the change of news we were expecting." He chuckled softly to himself and shook his head. "When the ships kept coming with the same news, well, after a few years we finally believed it had actually happened."
William's amusement faded and he looked around sourly at the people flowing past in the street, leaning in closer to her to whisper.
"It is because of the One God that they stopped fighting."
He hesitated and looked around again. When he continued, his voice was pitched so low that she could barely hear him.
"Of course it was the One God that caused it all to begin with, demanding that their cult be the only form of worship and exacting terrible punishment on those that defied them."
Sparing her a glance, William sighed at her doubtful look.
"They got their claws into a powerful ruler a millennia ago and spread from there. When his neighbours refused to convert he laid waste to them and converted them by force. It was one of the reasons we left for the New World."
He held a finger up in front of her face in warning.
"Remember this. The One God has a far tighter hold on the Old World than what he does back home. Where they are only a nuisance to us, there are whole countries here that take their book of scriptures literally and have formed their laws around them."
Bringing his horse to a halt, he stared at her earnestly and reached down to lightly tap her wrist gently.
"Don't let anyone see that tattoo." he muttered. "There are some that would stone you in the street for heresy if they were to catch a glimpse of it."
Smoothing her sleeve down self consciously, Rebecca looked around with a newfound sense of nervousness. The unassuming busy hustle of the street that had reminded her briefly of home suddenly took on a more sinister hue in her eyes. The people around her felt alien despite how normal they looked and she glanced down at her covered wrist and the hidden tattoo.
"They wouldn't." she murmured half heartedly, glancing back at Daniel and Katherine worriedly.
William grunted in disgust, his face settling into his habitual flat reserve.
"Believe me." he muttered. "They would."
They fell silent as they began walking again, letting the lively sounds of the dock recede behind them. For several minutes they led their horses through the foot traffic around them, making sure to keep their gaze down whenever a cluster of priests appeared on a street corner or plaza. After making their way around the edge of a busy market, they mounted and picked up their pace, the sound of their horses' iron shod hooves on cobblestones ringing loudly along the streets. Daniel finally broke their silence as they approached a busy intersection.
"Turn left William." he called. "We want to reach the High Way."
William looked over at him with a frown and Daniel shrugged apologetically.
"Only a suggestion." he murmured, looking away. "Must have overheard someone."
Rebecca smiled, realising Daniel had been listening to the breeze guiding him. Reining her horse onto the new street, she spurred him into a trot and quickly took the lead. William hurried to catch up, glowering at her as he drew level.
"We want to keep our heads down Bec." he growled, reaching across to catch her reins and slow them down. "It's supposed to look like I'm making the decisions."
Her smile disappeared as she rolled her eyes. It hadn’t even been an hour since stepping onto another country’s soil and she apparently hadn’t managed to do a thing right in that time.
"Yes Father." she replied dutifully. "The One God would be disappointed in my presumption."
William rolled his eyes in turn and looked away.
"Sarcasm will not be tolerated by the One God." he pointed out quietly. "Nor will it be by his followers."
She sighed in exasperation. There were too many rules that made no sense to her, too many that confined and constricted her. Already she had noticed some women give her disapproving looks on the street and too many men had given her long appraising looks. Her initial curiosity and excitement at being in a new country was quickly burning away so soon after leaving the docks. Turning away from William, she answered him shortly.
"I'll remember that next time someone asks me my opinion."
Behind her she heard Katherine laugh softly and she looked over her shoulder at her darkly. Katherine lifted her chin toward Daniel and William.
"Other than the three of us, no one will be asking for your opinion." the older woman told her. "Nor mine for that matter. Women aren't much more than possessions to the eldest male in the group."
Rebecca's shoulders sagged in disgust and she slouched in the saddle
"Bloody One God bullshit." she muttered to herself in a barely audible whisper..
William reined his horse to a stop and glared at her.
"You'll certainly need to keep that sort of opinion to yourself." he snapped.
Looking both ways along the street to make sure there was no one close enough to overhear them, he urged his horse close to hers and took her reins again, fixing her with a cold stare.
"I dislike it as much as you but remember where you are.” he growled. “This mission is too important to be interrupted by any problems we might bring on ourselves thanks to their narrow minded beliefs."
Her temper boiled over and she snatched the reins back from his grasp.
"So I have to pretend to be a submissive little girl and behave myself?" she snapped. "Do I need your permission to burn..."
A sudden heat bloomed across her cheek and pain flooded her head. She stared at William in shock, her eyes watering as she realised he had slapped her. Opening her mouth to rail at him, she slowly closed it again silently at William's look of remorse and self-loathing.
"Please don't make me do that again." he told her thickly.
Turning away from her hurriedly, he kicked his horse into a quick canter. Rebecca sat and watched him hurrying away, reaching up to touch her stinging cheek. The slow clack of horseshoes drew up beside her and a gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder.
"It might not feel like it right now but I suspect it hurt him more to do that than it hurt you."
She turned to Katherine at her comment and nodded absently.
"I made him hate himself." she murmured in shock. "I could see it in his eyes."
Katherine shook her head gently.
"The One God did that." she assured her. "Their hate and control over everything brings out the worst in him. He has had some bad experiences with them in the past and I think he is hoping to spare you the same."
Wincing at the touch of her own fingers against her stinging cheek, Rebecca stared at William's retreating back.
"Did he really have to slap me?"
Katherine sighed and nodded. Nudging her horse into motion, she gave Rebecca a sympathetic smile as they broke into a trot.
"Appearances mean everything to these people." she said. "If it looks like he can't control his own women then someone else is likely to think him weak and take them from him."
Lifting her chin toward the people around them, she waited for Rebecca to look at them before she spoke again.
"Any man here could take you for his own if he had the mind to. Seeing William slap you has just reinforced their belief that you belong to him. They now know that if they want you they will have to contend with him, either with money or violence."
Rebecca scowled, dropping her head to hide her face behind her hair.
"I'm starting to think we should have found another ship." she muttered in disgust. "The less time I spend in this backward country, the better."
Climbing into the hills surrounding the city, they made camp for the night in a clearing near the road with the sprawl of buildings still in sight below them. The street lamps were lit as evening fell and Rebecca watched the progress of the lamp lighters as they worked. William hadn't spoken a word since their altercation and Rebecca felt reluctant to break their silence. The pile of broken kindling he had dropped for the fire quickly caught as she bent over it, a faint smile of pride crossing her face at the sight of the flames.
"The two of you need to talk." Katherine said quietly behind her.
Rebecca sighed and stood, turning to the older woman.
"What am I supposed to say to him? He slapped me."
Katherine nodded thoughtfully.
"Finding the right path between our way and the One God is not easy. William is so old he is firmly set in his ways and the One God flies in the face of everything he believes. I understand why he finds it hard to at least appear to conform to their ways."
Rebecca scowled and Katherine smiled gently.
"I said 'appear'. He and I have had dealings with them in the past and the history between the Ancients and the One God has many stories that don't exactly paint us in the best light."
At the sight of Rebecca's arched eyebrow, Katherine chuckled humourlessly.
"Make no mistake, we've committed some crimes against them just as they have committed many against us."
Katherine sighed and sat on a log, patting the space beside her. Rebecca hesitated but sat down and dropped her gaze to her hands.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to act." she murmured. "There was a One God church near where I grew up and my mother asked one of their priests to try to stop the darkness that invaded my nightmares as a child."
She looked up at Katherine with a wry smile, remembering the incident clearly despite the years since it had happened. Even now she felt an echo of the anger and disgust that had boiled up in her at the time. She pushed it aside, letting the old and empty feelings go.
"I told William that she had tried many priests to help me and none of them had worked. I didn't tell him that the One God had been one of her earliest choices. Only because they were readily available."
Katherine chuckled, shaking her head.
"He likely suspected that a One God priest had tried." she pointed out. "I would not be surprised to find that he would be amused they had failed."
Rebecca shook her head swiftly, unsurprised that Katherine had come to that conclusion.
"He didn't try." she interjected. "He refused. He said the only way the darkness would stop plaguing me would be if we converted to the One God cult and renounced our heathen practices."
Rebecca suddenly laughed, the sound echoing across the clearing.
"He actually told us that I had brought the darkness on myself for being an unclean woman, inherently impure and prone to indecent carnal thoughts."
Shaking her head, she looked at Katherine with a wry smile.
"I was six and he implied that I was already a wanton whore."
Standing, she crossed to the fire and stretched a hand out over the glowing coals. Filaments of flame rose to caress her fingertips and she smiled at their touch. She found it so easy to call the flames to her hand now and took a moment to wonder at it.
"If I had had the power to use fire then, I would have burnt him to a husk." she said softly. "Instead my mother hit him over the head with a frying pan and threw him out the front door."
"That sounds like the woman I briefly knew."
Rebecca looked up in surprise, dropping her hand hastily to her side. William stood on the edge of the clearing, his eyebrow raised questioningly. Daniel stood several steps behind him with an amused smile. Dropping an armload of broken branches, William crossed the clearing to stand next to her.
"I'm sorry." he growled. "For being hard with you this morning. And I am more than sorry for striking you. I really shouldn't have done that."
Hesitating for a brief moment, Rebecca reached out a tentative hand to take his.
"I'm sorry too." she murmured in return. "For not being the perfect and obedient daughter the One God demands."
He chuckled and wrapped her into a warm embrace.
"Oh bugger be to that." he growled. "The One God be damned and darkness take him. You're far better being you rather than one of their idiotic submissive breeding cows."
Letting her go and setting her at arm's length, he looked down at her intently.
"But for the love of the Path, do you think you can at least try to show some pretence of decorum? I don't particularly feel like watching you get stoned for blasphemy."
"For the Path and for the sake of all we hold dear." Varya concurred. "Perhaps we need to bide our time and show a demure face. At least until we leave this One God infested rat hole."
Rebecca nodded to William, a faint smile bending her lips. Hearing her Elemental agree with William made it easier for her to face the necessity of hiding all the power she was only now learning to wield.
"I'll try not to offend the One God more than I can help it." she agreed.
Rebecca woke before dawn, panting and jerking upright as sweat soaked into her shirt despite the cool air. Across the fire she saw Daniel sit up abruptly, his fist clenched tightly in his shirt. He stared across the fire at her, his eyes wide in the predawn darkness.
"It's coming." he muttered.
She nodded, consciously forcing her breathing to slow down and even out. His words left her in no doubt that he had seen the same thing that she had. The vividness of her dreams were already beginning to fade but the terror clung to her. Raising her eyes to the stars that glittered far above them in the cloudless sky, she drew her blankets around her shoulders.
"It's coming." she echoed softly.
William woke with the sun, the first edge of light creeping over the horizon as he opened his eyes. The sound of soft voices drew his gaze to where Rebecca and Daniel sat together with their backs to him.
"Awake early?" he growled.
Rebecca looked over her shoulder and nodded. Her pale and drawn features had him shoving his blankets aside to stand and join them.
"What happened?"
She shrugged and looked away, reluctant to admit that the nightmares had returned. Daniel however, didn’t share her reluctance.
"The same dreams." he answered. "And they're getting worse."
William frowned at Daniel’s weary tone.
"I thought they had stopped."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"I thought they had." he agreed, turning to Rebecca. "I didn't have any while we were on the ship."
She nodded agreement at his questioning look. Their nights at sea had been miraculously peaceful, her sleep uninterrupted.
"They stopped." she murmured.
Daniel turned back to William with a thoughtful frown.
"Perhaps the sea's power blocked the demon's influence." he said uncertainly.
William nodded thoughtfully. Being surrounded by the immense vastness of one of the Great Powers could quite possibly have had a blanketing effect on their minds.
"Perhaps. Katherine would be the one to ask." he suggested. "Now that they're back, was there anything about them that might help us?"
Rebecca and Daniel shook their heads in unison. Though she hated the nightmares, some part of her had tried to remember every detail from them, hoping she could find a clue they could use.
"I think we are only getting them to torment us." she answered sourly. "I saw nothing but pain and horror."
William scowled but rested his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"We'll find the Spear and settle this." he assured her. "But if we're to get to where the Spear was last recorded, we've got some miles to ride and some mountains to get over."
Two days ride finally brought the mountains into view, their snowy peaks bright in the morning sun as they slowly rose above the horizon. Rebecca glanced at them from time to time, willing them to draw closer. Their gradual growth didn't speed up and by mid afternoon she slumped in the saddle staring at their distant form in disgust. William glanced over his shoulder at her and shook his head.
"Those are only the foothills." he told her. "Our real test is beyond them."
She groaned and turned away, sinking deeper into her cloak. Since they had left the city behind she had felt an unexplainable anxiousness, a sense that time was running out. The nightmare that had woken her hadn't helped. She had managed to hold her anxiety at bay with difficulty, the knowledge that they had to cross the line of mountains in front of them merely an inconvenience. Her father's words brought her anxiety crashing back down on top of her and her gaze was drawn once more to the jagged peaks.
"The relic is out there." she muttered to herself. "We'll find it."
"It feels the turmoil." Varya murmured. "As do we all. That is why it calls to you."
"Why did it have to be so bloody hard to get to?" she muttered peevishly.
Varya chuckled softly through her mind.
"If it was easy then the agents of the Darkness would have sought it out and found some way of either diminishing it or destroying it utterly." she pointed out. "Be glad it is well hidden for we still have hope while it exists."
Rebecca sighed and nodded to herself, unhappily admitting the truth of Varya’s answer.
"Can you feel how far away it is?" she murmured hopefully.
"I can feel its presence but not where it is." Varya told her apologetically. "The Wind may have a better grasp of its location. They have the freedom to wander the world and its many paths."
For several days the road led them through the foothills, winding around and through them on the easiest grades. Many faded paths branched from the main road and at every one William would halt them briefly to inspect the weathered sign posts before moving on. The afternoon of the fourth day brought them a sight that left Rebecca dismayed and doubting they had come in the right direction. At the top of the hill they had just climbed, William stopped them and looked at her with a grim smile.
"Those are the mountains." he ground out, lifting his chin to the line of stark peaks in the distance. "These hills are only a taste of what we can expect."
They stared at the towering barrier in a mix of awe and dismay. The rugged beauty of the mountains was hard to deny but at the same time Rebecca wondered how they could even begin to find a way through the tangled black and white peaks.
"Do you think we can get through them?" Katherine asked after several seconds of silence.
William shrugged.
"Not the right time of year for it but we should be able to find a way through." he finally said after a moment's thought. "Likely to be a few passes closed up for the winter already but we might be in luck."
Rebecca stared at the long line of upthrust jagged rock, following its snow buried heights with her eyes as far as she could in both directions.
"We can't go around?" she asked hopefully.
William chuckled dryly and shook his head.
"If I recall, it's near five hundred miles as the crow flies to a break in the ranges if you follow it south." he told her. "A little less if you go north but that will put you into the ice fields and we're not equipped to survive the cold there. Not in winter."
Shaking his head again, he stared at the mountains with a grimace.
"No. This is the way we have to go."
Looking back at her, he gave her a wry smile.
"A few more days and we'll be into them. My hope is this road will lead us straight over the easiest pass."
She watched him nudge his horse into motion and shook her head. The mountains drew her gaze again, their sheer size intimidating her even from a distance.
"I hope you're right." she muttered to herself darkly. "Otherwise it's going to be a long trek to get around them."
That night they sat around their campfire, their hands held out to the warmth it provided. The wind coming off the mountains carried the chill of the snow from the heights and Katherine shivered, turning her gaze to Daniel. Without looking up at her, he shook his head before she could ask her question.
"No. I can't turn the wind for you." he said softly. "Nor can I warm it or any other request you might have."
Finally turning his dark eyes to her, he gave her a faint smile.
"The Elementals tell me it is the season for it and I am reluctant to interfere with such a powerful force."
Rebecca looked up from the fire with interest. Her lessons had progressed well on the ship but they had now stopped by unspoken agreement. Still, she was almost eager to learn more given the chance.
"The season?" she asked.
"The Great Winds from the mountains." sighed the air around her. "They howl in the night as they descend."
She shivered as a particularly cold breeze swirled around her and into the fire, picking up embers and tossing them high into the night sky. Daniel smiled and pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders.
"Great Winds." he murmured.
Beside him William groaned and looked over his shoulder at the mountains looming in the distance, their snow capped peaks seeming to glow in the bright moonlight.
"Surely not." he grunted unhappily. "It can't be the season for the fall winds."
Daniel nodded his head slowly. He could feel the potential for them, even so far from the mountains, he could feel it. But for now that was all it was. The breeze whispered to him though that it wouldn't be long before their more destructive brethren would wake from their summer slumber. Their time was limited.
"With luck we won't be caught in one." he murmured. "Path knows I won't have the power to divert a hurricane."
Rebecca looked from her father to Daniel and back, a frown creasing her forehead.
"What is a fall wind?" she asked.
"A wind coming off the heights with all the force of a hurricane." William told her sourly. "If we are to be caught in one I'd prefer it to be above the treeline."
His opinion confused her. Rebecca couldn’t see why he would prefer to face a gale out in the open rather than within the shelter of a forest with the trees blocking the wind.
"Why?"
Daniel smiled faintly at her simple question but kept his eyes down to gaze at the fire, leaving William to answer..
"Elevation." her father told her bluntly. "The higher up we are, the less distance the air will have fallen. If we're above the tree line it will be weaker and there will only be snow being thrown into our faces. With any luck, we could burrow into the snow and find shelter."
"And if we're not above the tree line?" she asked cautiously.
William grimaced.
"It will be a hundred times worse as the wind will try to pluck us from the mountain side along with everything else, every tree above us being torn away and thrown down on top of us." He shook his head and glanced back at the mountains again. "Let us just hope we can make it through without finding out how bad it can be."
The road wound up the mountain, twisting and turning across the steep slope in meandering loops. The grade remained easy as they climbed, the road builders obviously thinking of easing the burden on laden wagons when they had constructed it. The air slowly grew cooler as they climbed, William breathing it in gratefully.
"That's more like it." he murmured in satisfaction. "Good clean air and a hint of snow."
Katherine rolled her eyes and hunched deeper into her jacket. Rebecca chuckled at her, breathing in deeply as well. The scent of pine filled her nose, a welcome reminder of William's mountain home. It surprised her how much she had missed the smell, her brief time spent amongst the heights imprinting it into her senses.
As the road turned back on itself once more, Rebecca took a moment to look back down the valley below. The foothills they had crossed looked small, their crests already well below where she now stood. A glint of bright light amongst the minuscule trees showed the path of a river, its waters reflecting the sun. She followed its path as it snaked along the valley floor; hidden between the trees before it appeared again to flow between green fields. Even the trees were not uniform, stands of evergreens showing dark amongst the bright reds and yellows of the late autumn. Soon enough she knew those colours would be gone, winter stripping the hibernating trees of their last bright leaves. Their bare limbs would stand above the coming snows like forests of skeletal arms until spring and the first returning green buds that would clothe them once more. Rebecca smiled at the thought.
"You look happy." Daniel said beside her. "We've still got a few miles before we reach the pass."
Rebecca glanced at him, one hand waving at the view below.
"I can't help it. Looking at all that is incredible."
Taking a last look at the valley spread below her, Rebecca sighed and nudged her horse back into motion.
"If it wasn't for the monster waiting for us, I could stay here and watch the seasons pass quite happily."
Daniel rode beside her silently for a few seconds.
"When everything is over, maybe we can come back and do that." he finally said.
He glanced at her, the faint blush that stained his cheeks bringing a small smile to her lips. Though she didn't share his optimism, she nodded.
"I'd like that."
An hour later the top of the pass was visible in the distance and Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of getting through the mountains so quickly. Her relief abruptly crashed down as a jolt of unease shot through her. The grimace on William's face told her that he had felt it as well.
"They're coming." he muttered in disgust.
"I'm surprised it's taken this long." Katherine murmured next to him. Reaching for the shotgun laid across her back, she looked back at Rebecca.
"Use your gun only. I don't want to risk the chance that someone might see us."
Rebecca looked around at the empty forest and scowled at the older woman's caution. They had been the only people on the road all morning and they hadn't seen any sign of other traffic since leaving the city.
"There's no one to see us." she returned shortly. "I can finish this quickly and quietly.
Katherine stared at her with a stern frown.
"Can you be sure of that?" she asked.
Rebecca glanced at Daniel, Katherine following her gaze a moment later. He looked at the two of them briefly then sighed and closed his eyes. A faint breeze lifted the hair from his forehead gently, a faint smile ghosting across his face as it did.
"There is no one." he answered eventually. "Other than whatever is coming, I can only feel us."
Katherine nodded shortly to him and turned to Rebecca.
"Then be quick." she allowed.
A harsh shriek above them cut their argument short and made them all look up. Crouched on the rocks above the narrow pass, three demons glared down at them while a fourth figure writhed in their taloned grasp. The high, piercing screams and the torn remnants of what could only be a dress let Rebecca know that the demons had captured a woman. Without warning the demons threw the woman high into the air, barking and howling as she shrieked in terror. Rooted to the saddle in horror, Rebecca watched as the woman tumbled toward the ground, flailing frantically at the thin air. William swore and began to run toward the falling victim in a vain attempt to catch her.
"William!"
Katherine's shout broke Rebecca from her paralysis and she flung a hand out, balls of flame springing from her fingers and streaking up toward the demons. A gust of wind blew past her and she looked back at Daniel, taking in his frown of concentration. His eyes followed the rapid descent of the woman and Rebecca turned back in time to see a tornado intercept her, cushioning her fall and bringing her to William's waiting arms.
"How in the hells did you not feel them?" Katherine shouted at Daniel, flinging her arm up to where the demons now gibbered and howled in pain, their fur blackened and smoking. Daniel glanced at Rebecca and nodded grimly, ignoring Katherine's outburst.
"Together?" he asked her.
Rebecca nodded in answer, twin fireballs igniting in her spread hands. Hurling them up toward the demons, they spread out into a raging torrent of flame as swirling wind carried it higher. For a moment it seemed to form wings before it reached out and enveloped the demons, cutting their shrieking cries off abruptly in a swirling vortex of orange and scarlet fire. When the fiery tornado petered out the demons had vanished, incinerated and reduced to nothing. Daniel turned away from the sight quickly, his eyes blazing as he stared at Katherine.
"I felt them." he snarled. "We all did."
"Then what about the girl?" Katherine shot back, not giving an inch.
Daniel flung a hand out toward the drifting ash above them.
"Three demons!" he shouted at her. "How in the Path am I supposed to feel anything beyond them?"
Rebecca put a hand up between them, bringing their argument to a sudden halt. They turned to her, their eyes moving up as they followed the line of her gaze.
At the top of the pass where the three demons had been incinerated another demon had appeared, larger and shaggier than the others. Its grey fur rippled in the wind, the thickness of its pelt unable to hide the lithe, powerful body beneath. Its long arms reached down to its backward facing knees, each hand tipped with lethal black claws. Its glowing red eyes stared down at them disdainfully, its muzzle curled back to show sharp fangs bared in a silent snarl.
"It's back." Rebecca breathed, her mouth turning down into a scowl.
Katherine tore her gaze from the demon to stare at her.
"Back?"
Rebecca's head half turned to her though she never took her eyes from the demon. "I banished it once before." she muttered. "It called itself a messenger."
Katherine peered up at the demon, studying it for several long seconds before shaking her head, unable to tell if Rebecca was right.
"Are you sure?"
Rebecca nodded.
"It's the same demon." Daniel confirmed faintly. "The wind remembers its taint from its last incursion to our world."
His hand fell softly on Rebecca's shoulder and she tore her eyes from the demon.
"My strength is yours." he told her earnestly.
She smiled faintly and nodded.
"I'll be alright." she answered, reaching up to pat his hand. "I've had more practice since the last time we met."
A moment later the voice of the demon reverberated through her head, driving her to her knees and making a mockery of her words.
"YOU PERSIST IN YOUR USELESS QUEST, MORTAL!"
The feel of hands under her arms tethered her to the moment, the warmth and strength keeping her from collapsing. Faintly she heard Daniel calling out, his words garbled and indistinct behind the demon's mental howl.
"CONTINUE THIS PATH AND YOU SHALL BE THE FIRST DESTROYED."
The press of a body against her back cut through the pain in Rebecca's head. When the hands under her arms moved to wrap around her, she fumbled to take hold of them desperately.
"I'm here." Daniel said soothingly, his voice close enough to her ear to wash her cheek with his breath. "Whatever comes, I stand with you."
His calm voice lifted the fog from her mind and she swayed unsteadily to her feet, Daniel's strong hands keeping her from falling. The demons mocking laughter echoed harshly in her head and she winced.
"Can't you hear that?" she moaned to Daniel.
"The demon?" he asked.
Rebecca nodded and raised her head to look up at its defiant figure. Daniel nodded in return.
"I can." he told her. "It's faint but I can hear it."
Rebecca groaned as the laughter continued.
"It's getting stronger." she whispered hoarsely. "I have to kill it, before I burn out again."
Pushing herself away from his supporting arms reluctantly, Rebecca gingerly took a few short staggering steps and looked up at the shaggy demon.
"We could use his help." Varya suggested. "Combine my power with the wind."
Rebecca shook her head faintly.
"If I can't banish this demon alone, how am I supposed to kill the one we are being drawn to?"
Varya didn't answer though the sense of mute disapproval that gnawed at her left Rebecca in no doubt that Varya had more she wanted to say. She put her elemental’s disapproval aside, closing her eyes and concentrating her mind on the mountain, the feel of the rocks and their flaws as they rose above the pass.
"I FEEL YOU MORTAL." the demon shrieked in her head. "WHATEVER YOUR PLAN, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO SEND ME BACK AGAIN."
Rebecca grimaced, gritting her teeth against the pain. Voices rumbled at the edge of her concentration, her fathers growling baritone accented by Katherine's alto and Daniel's tenor. Their words washed past her, lost and unimportant in the moment. At last she found the fault she needed, baring her teeth in a feral grin as she pushed at it forcefully. The earth elementals obeyed her command without complaint and a loud crack reverberated across the clearing.
The voices surrounding her stopped at the sound, even the demon's laughter in her head fell silent and Rebecca opened her eyes to look up at it. Dust had erupted from a long fissure that had appeared above the demon, a thick grey plume that drifted on the wind as it settled. For a long moment after the echoes of the sound faded, the pass was silent as they waited with baited breath. A second rumbling crack broke the silence and the fissure widened, the entire side of the pass trembling under the demon's feet.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" it howled in her head, its rage once again driving her to her knees.
"I'm returning you to hell." she muttered thickly, tasting blood on her tongue. The feel of something trickling over her upper lip made her reach up with a shaking hand to find more blood dripping from her nose. Pushing herself to her feet once again, Rebecca glared up at the demon where it perched on its swaying ledge. Picturing what she wanted in her mind, Varya quickly answered.
"We shall need Air and Earth for that."
Rebecca nodded, reluctantly accepting her elemental’s advice and half turned to Daniel while keeping the demon in sight from the corner of her eye.
"Help me."
He didn't hesitate, stepping up beside her. She glanced toward William and Katherine and seeing they were occupied with the woman that had been thrown from the cliff, she turned back to the demon still standing precariously on the teetering rocks.
"I want to incinerate that monster and bury its ashes in the mountain." Rebecca told Daniel. "Dad is busy so it's up to us."
Daniel nodded shortly.
"You want me to control the Air while you control Fire and Earth." he surmised.
Rebecca nodded grimly.
"I don't think I can manage all three right now."
The breeze suddenly picked up, swirling around them and Rebecca glanced sideways to Daniel, unsurprised that he had already begun.
"I need as much heat as you can give." she murmured to Varya.
"I can give you the heart of a furnace." her elemental answered.
Nodding distractedly, Rebecca felt her way up the cliff face, tracing every crack and fault in the rocks beneath the demon. Sparing the creature a last glance, she gasped as it crouched on its haunches before throwing itself from the unstable rocks. The wind surged, whipping her clothes furiously as a tornado swept up the cliff face to catch the demon before it could escape. Its scream of defiance rang through the pass, voicing its hatred for them in an earsplitting howl. Wincing as the sound drilled into her ears, Rebecca drew on Varya's power to ignite a white hot fireball in her hands. She didn't hesitate to throw it up into the maelstrom, feeding a constant stream of flame with one hand while the other reached toward the distant crumbling slope. With a grunt of effort, she poured her will into the rocks and tore them free to fall into the boiling firestorm.
"YOU CANNOT WIN MORTAL! HE IS COMING!" the demon's voice shrieked in her mind.
Rebecca staggered but stayed on her feet.
"Hotter." she growled to her elemental, staring up at the inferno through tear blurred bloodshot eyes. "I need to melt the stone."
"You risk burning." Varya cautioned.
"I'll happily pay that price if I never have to see this bastard again." Rebecca replied, gritting her teeth as pain lanced through her head.
Despite her elemental’s misgivings, the fire flowing from her hand grew hotter, her fingers itching at the raw power coursing through them.
"I dare not give more." Varya warned. "Already I sense your body failing."
"A minute more." Rebecca gasped, grimacing as blisters began to form on her fingertips. "I can feel the stone beginning to run."
"Rebecca?"
She spared a glance across at Daniel, taking in his worried face.
"Almost there." she groaned. "Almost..."
The red hot molten vortex suddenly blew apart, the shockwave of repelled power knocking them both down. The sound of tortured rock giving way and falling in a roar was almost insignificant in the aftermath, the earth shaking violently beneath the assault of boulders thundering down to fill the pass. Blackness swam across Rebecca's vision, unconsciousness tugging at her insistently. She fought its pull, reaching out with an arm that felt as heavy as lead until she found Daniel's shoulder and took hold with trembling fingers. His hand rose and dropped over hers a moment later, almost crushing it with his own desperate grasp.
"Is it gone?" she whispered hoarsely.
Daniel groaned and rolled over to look at her.
"Oh Path I hope so." he coughed.
Using the last of her strength to lift her head, Rebecca surveyed what she could see of the destroyed pass through the billowing dust. The effort exhausted what little willpower she had left and unconsciousness drew her into its dark embrace without a whimper.
The closure of the pass forced them back down the mountain, trudging over the same ground they had already covered. Every mile they went, Rebecca knew was another two miles further from where they should have already been. She had been so sure that with the elemental's help, they could have pushed on through the devastation the demon had left behind. William hadn't been willing to risk moving the avalanche of rock that had settled in the pass and Rebeca doubted that she had the energy to try herself. She had been unconscious for over an hour, finally waking only minutes before Daniel had. But while they had mostly recovered their energy thanks to one of William's herbal remedies, they were tired and sore. The woman they had rescued however, was far from alright. Rebecca's eyes were drawn time and again to the shivering woman leaning against Daniel's back. It had taken time but Katherine had finally managed to coax her name from her shortly before Rebecca had woken. Other than that, Celia had said nothing since she had been saved, her eyes remained closed hours later. William had shaken his head after putting her up on the saddle behind Daniel, frowning with disappointment. Now he nudged his horse to ride next to Rebecca.
"She's in shock." he growled. "Shock, denial, call it what you want. According to the One God, those things that took her shouldn't exist." He looked back at Celia and frowned deeply. "That damned cult brainwashes its followers until they can't understand a damned thing that doesn't agree with their single minded world."
Rebecca snorted but didn't answer.
"I'm surprised we even got her name out of her." William continued. "And after seeing what you and Daniel did it's a miracle that she even allowed herself to be put up behind him."
"Maybe she just doesn't want to walk." Rebecca muttered.
William frowned at her sour cynicism, his heavy brows drawing down deeply over his grey eyes.
"Maybe she hasn't got her mind back yet and doesn't realise." he shot back. "Whatever you think of her, just remember that she has literally been through hell with those demons. You know what they feel like, so try and imagine being drawn through their plane from wherever they took her. Being taken by something that your whole religion believes either doesn't exist or is the very embodiment of evil come to life. How much do you care to wager that she prayed hard for her soul and those damned things laughed at her the whole while? She must have been thinking that she had done something so wrong in her life that her own God had abandoned her to her fate."
Rebecca fell silent, her own retort about following false gods dying on her tongue. It was petty and she knew it. That Celia followed the One God was not her fault. From what William had explained to her, there was only one religion allowed in the Old World and everyone was expected to follow it. As foreigners, they were allowed a certain amount of freedom from that stricture but to openly ridicule it would see her burn. She only hoped that one day the One God followers would see the truth. William misread her silence and sighed.
"I don't mean to berate you." he said quietly. "But try to see it from her point of view. Demons belong in Hell, they should not be walking the earth tormenting innocent souls."
Rebecca snorted softly.
"At least we can agree on that." she groused.
Night found them well down the mountain, the pass lost in heavy clouds far above. Rebecca scowled at the pile of deadwood that William had dropped in the middle of the clearing, a flint and striker clutched in her hands. He had pressed them into her hands a moment after setting the wood down, giving her a look of stern caution when she had frowned at him.
"I could have this lit with a thought." she muttered to herself in disgust as he disappeared back into the trees in search of more firewood.
"We understand his caution." Varya whispered through her mind. "If that woman regains her mind and sees what you are, she could be trouble."
Rebecca's scowl deepened and her eyes flickered toward where Celia sat on a log. At some point in the afternoon Celia's eyes had opened but there was a glassy vacancy to her blank stare that Rebecca found unsettling. She wished the One God worshipper would close her eyes again so she wouldn't have to see that mindless stare every time she looked up.
"She's not going to regain anything." Rebecca said sourly. "The demons made sure of that."
"Do not be so sure." Varya cautioned. "The mute and the witless are not always blind."
Rebecca grunted doubtfully and crouched over the dry wood to scratch at a rotten branch until it broke apart into fuzzy fibres. Striking sparks into the nest of fibres, she was gratified to see them take quickly, the embers growing swiftly into thin wisps of flame as she blew on them.
"Appearances are everything." Varya whispered. "Fire will always answer your call, even if we must be circumspect."
Rebecca glanced once more at Celia, frowning when she saw the woman's eyes had turned to her at the sound of the flint on striker.
"I don't trust her." she muttered as she turned away. "I know she was taken by the demons but she's a One God believer."
Varya chuckled airily through her head, the sound warm and musical.
"You have been filled by your father's stories and distrust."
Rebecca didn't reply, standing and dusting her hands off on her trousers. Her own limited experience with them hadn't endeared them to her. Looking down at the fire that was now crackling merrily as it began to eat into the pile of deadwood, she wondered if perhaps Varya was right. William's stories certainly didn't paint the One God Church in a good light. And it wasn't just William who didn't like them. Her mother had also made sure that they had had next to nothing to do with them.
"Their path is not ours." Varya broke into her thoughts. "And they do not accept anything that is different. Distrusting them is likely a good idea if you wish to survive in their lands."
Rebecca sighed, shaking her head at her elementals mixed messages. Her own experience with the One God Church was limited but sour for all that and listening to William's stories had only reinforced her dislike of them. She supposed that she had absorbed much of her mother's distrust and William's antipathy and blended it with her own. Glancing once more at the vacant stare of their unresponsive ward, Rebecca shook her head and walked away to see to her horse.
That evening Rebecca was the first to feel the tell tale worm of unease deep in her stomach, quickly looking up from the last of her meal. Her tin plate clattered to the ground as she dropped it, her hands going to the revolvers holstered at her waist. Her sudden movement made William and Katherine look up but she ignored their puzzled looks, her eyes searching for Daniel's and finding them just beginning to widen as he felt it as well.
"Something's coming." he murmured unhappily.
William and Katherine set aside their plates and stood, calmly reaching for weapons as they did. William sighed, looking around the dark forest that surrounded them with his heavy revolver held lightly in his calloused hand.
"Not much moon tonight." he growled. "It is to their advantage."
Rebecca scowled, her gaze skittering over Celia and back to her father.
"Pity you couldn't set a perimeter for us." she muttered.
William's scowl matched hers and he nodded shortly. "Couldn't chance her seeing me do it." he said in disgust, inclining his head toward Celia.
"You should have risked it." Katherine told him from across the fire. She didn't look up from the shotgun in her hands, nimble fingers drawing back the bolt so she could peer into the open breech. "We're still so close to where those demons appeared."
Nodding in satisfaction at the sight of a cartridge in the breech, Katherine ran the bolt home and looked up.
"Hopefully there will only be Shadows to deal with this time."
William glanced at Rebecca questioningly and she shrugged.
"I don't know." she told him unhelpfully. "All I can feel is that there is something out there."
"It's not another demon blocking you?"
Rebecca shook her head at the same time as Daniel.
"It feels different." he said, glancing at Rebecca for confirmation. When she nodded, he looked back to William. "I can only hear whispers of Shadows on the wind."
Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. Burning out every time she faced a demon didn't bode well for their future success.
"Well if it's only Shadows, we should be fine." Katherine declared firmly. "With the four of us, we should be able to fight off anything that comes."
William frowned at her, his eyes briefly sliding toward Celia before returning to Katherine.
"We'll deal with what comes when it comes." he growled. "Remember, this is a land that has been without our touch for far too long. I am surprised we have not run into Greater Fallen yet."
His dark point made Rebecca shudder, her feelings mirrored by Katherine who bowed her head and touched the butt of her shotgun. She had banished several already but one in particular stood out for her. The memory of that dark being filled with hatred was too fresh in her mind, the knowledge that it had been her own uncle that she had been forced to banish was difficult to accept. Not that she had ever known him, his hatred for her father causing him to fall to Darkness centuries before she was born.
"With the One God persecution and no one to teach those that remain, perhaps there are too few of the Blood to fall here for that." Katherine said hopefully, breaking Rebecca from her thoughts.
William shrugged and turned away to stare at the surrounding forest.
"Perhaps."
The Shadows didn't leave them waiting for long, appearing through the trees silently to pause at the edge of the firelight. As more and more gathered, the forest dimmed until they were surrounded by a wall of impenetrable blackness. Rebecca's fingers grazed the butt of her revolver, the touch of the wood making her smile faintly as she realised she had picked up one of William's unconscious traits. The touch brought a faint comfort to her even though she knew she would not be drawing them. There were far too many Shadows to be dealt with by bullets alone.
"Fire consumes and purifies." Varya agreed.
The fire at Rebecca's back swelled, the flames rising as she prepared to draw on their power.
Movement behind her drew Katherine's attention to the fire. Celia had broken her paralysis to stand and stare at the Shadows flowing around them. Her lips moved silently as her hand rose to reach out toward the Shadows. Celia's first hesitant step made Katherine turn away from the Shadows, slinging her shotgun over her shoulder to run toward the mute One God follower. Celia's stare broke from the Shadows at Katherine's approach, her eyes widening as her mouth stretched into a shrill scream. Katherine winced but didn't stop, reaching out to take hold of the screaming woman. At the last moment Celia ducked under Katherine's outstretched arms and took off, her feet kicking up dust as she ran. Katherine stumbled, shouting a warning as she lost her balance and tumbled over the uneven ground.
"William!"
William looked back at Celia's scream and watched as the One God follower evaded Katherine and broke into a sprint. He was already moving before Katherine called out, running to cut Celia off before she could reach the Shadows. The Shadows took advantage of the distraction, sweeping in toward the fire. William's revolvers roared as Shadows cut in between him and the fleeing woman, the Shadows pained squeals and howls filling the night. With despair, he saw that he would never reach the woman in time. Brilliant white light suddenly bloomed in the darkness, etching the blackness of the Shadows in stark contrast. The Shadows shrank from the light and William looked over his shoulder as he ran. In the centre of the clearing Rebecca stood by the roaring fire, arms raised over the incandescent flames. A flick of her wrists sent spears of intensely white fire scything through the mass of Shadows. Celia didn't stop as flames whipped past her, reaching desperately for the Shadows that remained. Her grasping hands finally touched one and she screamed in triumph. For a moment a beatific smile lit her face and her head turned to William. He came to a stop, sighing in resignation as he watched her exultation falter. Shadows converged on the woman, pouncing on her and enveloping her in their darkness. William watched as her now terrified face disappeared, her pleading eyes locked onto his. With deliberation he emptied the spent casings from his revolvers and reloaded, calling out to his daughter as he did.
"Rebecca?"
"Dad?" she called in return, her voice trembling in horror.
He looked back at her while his fingers worked on, his jaw set as he inclined his head to the heaving mass of Shadows. "Incinerate them."
All colour fled her face at his command, the white flames dying down to plunge the clearing into a dimly tarnished red glow.
"But..."
The snap of his revolver closing silenced her as much as his glare.
"Incinerate them." he repeated flatly. "She's dead. The best we can do for her is send her on to the clearing."
Rebecca hesitated then nodded jerkily. The fire leapt again, tendrils of flame rising to her hands. Her mouth moved silently as she sent the flames into the seething darkness.
