It didn’t take them long to get to my tent. I had my arms wrapped tight about my middle and my teeth were chattering when Aethan threw up the flap.
‘What,’ he said, ‘in the name of the Dark Sky was that?’
Wilfred followed him in and said, ‘Daughter?’
‘I’m not,’ I said. ‘I’m his niece, that’s all.’
‘Well would you care to explain why he thinks you’re his daughter.’ I hadn’t seen Aethan look this pissed off since I’d broken his nose that last time.
‘Because I released him from the rock. He thinks I must be his daughter. It’s not true though. There must have been a flaw in the binding spell.’ I had come up with that theory all by myself, but I didn’t tell them that.
‘What is going on in here?’ Isla stuck her head in through the open tent flap. ‘Some of us are trying to keep a watch for bad people. Speaking of which,’ she pointed a finger at me, ‘you’re up.’
I pulled my vest over my tank top while Aethan and Wilfred left the tent. ‘Stay here boy.’ I patted Scruffy on the head and he snuggled back into the blanket.
‘What is that on your head?’ Isla peered at me as I wiggled past her to get out.
‘I had a pimple. Apparently blood’s good for them.’
‘You seemed to have quite a few.’ The look on her face told me she knew I was lying.
‘Heat rash’s a bitch.’
She shook her head. ‘Whatever.’
I felt bad for not telling her the truth, but I knew what would happen if I tried.
I made my way out through the trees and settled back against a trunk. Letting my eyes relax as I stared out away from the camp. The new moon wasn’t throwing out much light. I was going to have to rely on my sense of hearing as well as my eyes.
The next few hours passed too slowly, giving me far too much time to think.
He couldn’t be my father. Could he?
I stared at a shadow. Was that someone moving? I crept towards it to discover a leaf blowing in the breeze.
No. It was ridiculous. I mean, surely Mum would have known.
Something scraped softly at the trunk of a tree. I froze and stared towards the source of the noise. It scraped again and I slunk from tree-to-tree, slowly getting closer to the source of the noise; a badger, digging for grubs.
Why hadn’t Wolfgang’s blood worked against Santanas? Galanta had certainly been surprised we were there.
A hand closed over my shoulder and I let out a low yelp and spun around. Wilfred stood there with a huge grin on his face.
‘You walk like a little girl,’ I whispered, shaking his hand off my arm.
‘Sorry.’ He didn’t look at all sorry. ‘Forgot you’d probably be a bit freaked out after this evening’s events.’
‘Freaked out? I’m not freaked out.’ Much.
‘Anything going on?’
‘There’s a badger over there.’ I pointed in the direction of the nocturnal hunter and for the briefest of seconds two yellow eyes gleamed at me. I shuddered. What was it with the yellow eyes?
‘Cool, I love badgers. Might go check him out.’ He moved off soundlessly towards where I had pointed.
I turned to head back to my tent and walked smack bang into Aethan. His hand wrapped over my mouth in time to muffle my shriek. I took a deep breath as I stared wide-eyed at him. What was it with those two tonight? Were they trying to make me wake everybody up?
My poor heart was still tap dancing when he removed his hand. ‘Anything out there?’ he asked.
‘A big, red bear bothering a badger.’
The night’s shadows made him look dark and mysterious. I stared at his lips, remembering the feel of them on mine, and I realised we were standing only inches apart.
Danger, danger. I was only inches away from making a fool of myself.
But it wasn’t me that closed the gap. It wasn’t me that reached my hands towards his face. I gazed up at him as his lips descended towards mine. And then I closed my eyes and arched my back and… Ebony let out a shriek that would have woken the dead.
‘Buzznuckle.’ Aethan let go of me and turned, racing towards Ebony’s tent.
Samuel was with her by the time we got there. Light from the candle he had lit danced on the walls of the tent. ‘She’s okay,’ he said, looking out the flap at us. ‘It was another nightmare.’
‘A beast.’ She shuddered and started crying. ‘It had yellow eyes, and they spun around and around and it looked like an animal, and then next second it was different.’ Her terrified words tumbled over each other.
Aethan crouched and moved into the tent. I stayed frozen where I was, my shallow breathing matching hers.
‘Get out boy,’ she snapped at Samuel. ‘There’s not enough room in here for you.’
He pushed out past Aethan and met my eyes. We both knew what she was talking about.
I had trouble getting back to sleep. Terror had taken an icy grip on me and I couldn’t push it off. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the retcher or Santanas. Each was as bad as the other.
In the end I sat up, lit a candle, and pulled out the little book I had stolen from the library. It probably wasn’t the best time to read it, with only Scruffy for company and me already scared. But I figured if the animals in it were real, I needed to know about them. And besides, I couldn’t get any more scared than I already was.
Half an hour later I had to concede that I had been wrong about that last bit. Instead, now I had a whole heap more things to be scared of.
Snugalofs that flew through the evening skies, descending to sever your head with their blade-like wings.
Chameleon-like Brolontas that can stand right next to you without you seeing them. They killed by ripping out your throat with their teeth.
The six-toed gurantha that moved like a sloth, unless they were on the hunt. Then they flung themselves from tree-to-tree, faster than a horse could run. They jumped onto their victims’ backs and used their teeth to snap spinal cords.
The list went on-and-on, each page bringing a new type of death. I was still awake when the sun came up, happier than ever to see the gentle rays of light.
‘You look like shit,’ Isla said when I crawled out of my tent. She was obviously still pissed about the night before.
‘Look like shit, feel like shit,’ I mumbled, staggering past her.
Brent took one look at my face and handed me a coffee. I thanked him and sat on a log with my eyes closed while I sipped the bitter brew. Maybe I could sleep while riding Lily. I doubted I would ever sleep at night again.
A shadow blocked the warmth of the sun’s rays and I opened my eyes to see Aethan watching me. He met my eyes and then turned away, running his hands through his hair. He did that when he was agitated. Was he regretting nearly kissing me last night?
I sighed and closed my eyes again. It was one more thing I would spend the day trying not to think about.
‘How far are we travelling today?’ Ebony, for all her days in the saddle and a night of broken sleep, still looked perfect. How did she do it?
‘We need to get to the other side of the Thorn Forest.’
‘We can’t camp in it?’
‘We most certainly cannot.’
I opened my eyes and stared at Aethan. It was unlike him to speak so sternly, especially when she hadn’t even started getting annoying.
‘It is imperative we make it out the other side before sunset.’
‘What happens if we don’t?’
There was a beat of silence during which Isla, Ebony and I all stared at him while the others busied themselves with departure preparations. It looked like the girls were the only ones not in the know.
‘Ghouls,’ he finally said.
Ghouls? I wracked my brain for what the book had said about them. Wraith-like creatures that emerged from the ground after dark. Their merest touch would rip your soul from your body.
And then the true horror of what his words meant hit me and I had to stop myself from gibbering in terror. I already knew that retchers were real. So if ghouls existed as well, then the probability that every damned creature in that book was real had just increased.
‘You don’t look so good.’ Luke handed me a hard biscuit.
I sighed, and tapped it against my metal mug. We had run out of fresh food the night before. ‘Didn’t sleep well.’
I gave Scruffy his portion of the beef jerky as well as my own. He chewed contentedly while I folded down the tent and packed my things onto Lily.
‘Come on boy.’ I picked him up and swung into the saddle, settling him on Lily’s rump behind me.
‘How far till we get out of Thorn Forest?’ Isla’s face showed the tension I’m sure mine did.
‘We haven’t reached it yet,’ Aethan said. ‘By my calculations we’re still about an hour from the start.’
We rode for the next hour and then another before we could see the trees thickening at the foot of the next hill.
‘Thorn Forest,’ Aethan said when Ebony pointed a dainty hand at it.
It took us another thirty minutes to get to the start of it. We halted and rested and watered the horses.
‘Maybe we should wait,’ Aethan said. The sun had only risen a couple of hand spans above the horizon.
‘I’ll die of boredom if we have to stay here all day.’ Ebony tossed her braid back behind her shoulders and put her hands on her hips. The movement made her breasts bulge over the top of her dress.
‘You’ll die if we end up in there after dark.’
She pouted and then chewed on her bottom lip, worry shadowing her brilliant eyes.
‘Do we have enough food to stay the day here?’ Brent asked.
‘We’ll have to decrease our rations.’
An arrow thudded into a tree trunk a foot from Wilfred’s head. ‘Take cover,’ he yelled, diving to the other side of the tree.
Wild cackling came from the same direction as the arrow. A wiry man wearing only a loin cloth flicked the end of his beard over his shoulder and sighted along another arrow.
This one landed next to Aethan’s foot. He swept Ebony up and threw her onto her hagon. Then he tossed the reins up to where Samuel already sat on his brown mare. Samuel wheeled his horse and dragged Ebony’s hagon into the forest behind him.
‘Stop that,’ Wilfred yelled, aiming an arrow at the old man.
‘Or what?’ The man laughed as he capered from bare-foot-to-bare-foot. ‘You’ll shoot me?’
‘Too right I will.’ Wilfred released the arrow.
It flew true towards the man but at the last second he shimmered and it passed right through him. He waved his hand and the arrow curved back towards us. It split into two, then four, then six arrows.
Shrieking, I threw myself to the ground over Scruffy as one of the arrows whizzed through where I had been standing. I looked around and saw everyone else, except Wolfgang, in the same position I was. He had a shield held in front of him.
‘Bugger off,’ the man yelled. ‘I live here.’
‘Good sir,’ Wolfgang called out, ‘you are obviously a wizard of great strength and talent. We do not tarry because we want to live here. We wish to enter Thorn Forest with a whole day of travel ahead of us.’
‘I don’t care.’ He giggled as he talked. ‘This is my home. And what I say goes.’
‘As crazy as a really, really crazy person,’ Wilfred muttered clambering back to his feet.
‘Just one night,’ Wolfgang said, ‘that is all that we ask.’
‘I said no and I mean no.’ The little man stomped his foot. ‘No, No, NOOOO.’
He threw his hands out on the last no and a wall of flame raced towards us. We threw ourselves at our horses and galloped them towards the edge of the forest. I held Scruffy firmly tucked into the crook of my left elbow until we reached the trees. I was really hoping the flames would stop at the edge of the forest. They did. An impenetrable line of fire stretched as far as we could see.
‘Can we…?’ Aethan looked at Wolfgang.
‘Went straight through my shield.’
‘So that’s a no. What about Isadora?’ He turned to look at me and I slumped down in my saddle. I didn’t feel like taking my untrained skills up against that madman.
‘I don’t know how she would go up against human magic, and I don’t think we can afford to waste more time.’
‘You’re right.’ He turned Adare away from the flames. ‘We must ride hard if we are to make it through.’
After the first few miles the foliage thinned a little, enabling us to go faster than a walk. We alternatively trotted and walked our mounts, trying to keep them rested as well as make the best time we could.
All too soon the sun’s rays were overhead and then descending from the other side. Conversation became halted and then stopped all together as long shadows stretched out beside us.
‘How far?’ Isla’s voice was a rough whisper.
‘Not long,’ Aethan said. But worry was evident in his voice.
The light shifted from yellow to orange as the sun started to set and we all pushed out mounts from a trot to a canter.
‘Aethan,’ Luke said.
‘Can you do anything Wolfgang?’ Aethan’s voice was strung tight with tension.
‘With ghouls?’ Wolfgang shook his head.
‘Right,’ Aethan said. ‘Listen up everyone, our presence will stimulate them. They will come out of the ground where we have ridden, so spread out and don’t ride behind each other.’
As we stretched out into a long line, Aethan moved his mount over to Ebony and lifted her onto the saddle in front of him. I managed to control my stab of envy.
Samuel shot him a look but didn’t say anything. He was no doubt wondering why Aethan didn’t trust him to look after her. But if she had been speaking to me the way she had to him for the last few days, I couldn’t have been trusted not to push her into the path of a ghoul.
I knew the exact moment that the sun disappeared; firstly, because the lingering remnants of the sun’s rays that were filtering through the trees disappeared. Secondly, because Aethan leant over Ebony, gripping the reins in his hands and yelled, ‘Run.’ And thirdly, I knew it because as soon as the light blinked out, moans started resonating around us.
I pulled Scruffy around in front of me and kicked my heels into Lily’s sides. She didn’t need any encouragement to run.
Samuel, now leading the hagon and the packhorse, appeared by my side. ‘Spread out further,’ he said, spearing away to my right.
I watched in horrified fascination as an ink-black shadow slithered out of the ground where Samuel’s horse had passed. It was the shape of a person, seemingly made from smoke, but two dimensional – like a cardboard cut-out. And it didn’t walk; it floated towards me.
‘Isadora,’ Samuel yelled, breaking me from my fascinated observation of my impending death.
I hadn’t realised that I had slowed Lily to a walk. I kicked my heels into her again and she leapt away from the ghoul, racing to catch up to the rest of the line. Ghouls were rising as far as I could see.
I threw up an arm in reflex as a ghoul appeared right next to me. A shield formed and it drifted in the other direction. I could see Aethan with Ebony, and Wilfred and Isla on either side.
A ghoul appeared in between Samuel and me, reaching out an arm towards Lily. I yelled in anger and flicked my hand at it, shattering the ghoul into a million stinging insects. They swarmed around the two of us as we raced through the trees.
‘Whizbang,’ I screeched as the insects banged into me, tearing tiny chunks from my neck and arms. I could hear Samuel’s cries of pain, as he crouched low over his mount’s neck.
They harassed us for a minute more while we slapped at them and swore, and then they disappeared.
‘Please don’t do that again,’ Samuel grunted from beside me, his upper body covered with spots of blood.
‘I promise.’ I was pretty sure I looked just as gruesome.
‘Nearly there,’ Aethan called out.
I squinted into the distance and saw that he was right. Ahead the darkness of the trees stopped and only the night’s presence held sway.
I looked across at the rest of them, a relieved grin starting to play on my lips. And then Luke let out a yell. One minute he was riding, and the next he was falling, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
His horse rode on without him, leaving him lying on the ground with a ghoul hovering over him as it sucked out his soul.
I let out a sob as I rode. There was nothing we could do but I still felt like a traitor as we left him behind. And then we were bursting from the tree line, running into the night, away from the ghouls, away from Thorn Forest and away from Luke’s body.
***
We pulled up beyond the tree line. None of us speaking, all of us staring at the ghouls standing at the edge of the forest.
‘Can they…,’ Isla’s voice trailed off as she let out a sob.
‘No. They can’t leave the forest.‘ Aethan’s voice was flat.
‘Shall we camp here?’ I asked. I didn’t want to stay that close to the forest, but Luke’s body was there.
‘The horses need resting,’ Wolfgang said. His mare’s head was down and her sides bellowed as she tried to regain her breath. ‘And then tomorrow we can….’
Nobody wanted to say it. Because that would make it real.
We didn’t speak as we set up camp. Brent handed out the food and we ate in silence, all of us no doubt trying not to think about the one thing we couldn’t stop thinking about.
All, that is, except Ebony. She kept up her normal verbal abuse of Samuel, her trill voice intruding on our sorrow as she bullied and bossed him around.
When she was finally in her tent he came to where we sat and bowed low. ‘I am deeply sorry for your loss,’ he said. ‘I did not know him well, but what I knew of him was good.’
‘Thank you,’ Aethan said, his voice thick with sorrow.
Wilfred reached out and squeezed Samuel’s arm as he headed back to his position by Ebony’s tent.
‘I’ll take first watch,’ I said, placing Scruffy on the ground and standing. ‘Unless someone else wants to.’
‘I’ll join you.’ Wilfred stood and checked himself over for his weapons.
We walked a few hundred metres from the camp and stared off into the dark. The forest had opened up onto a plain. It was too dark to see how far it stretched. With the forest behind us we only had to watch the front. There wouldn’t be anyone attacking from the rear tonight.
‘One hell of a day,’ Wilfred said.
I reached out and put an arm around his waist, pulling him into a quick hug. Luke and he had been close.
‘I didn’t even see what happened,’ he said. ‘I didn’t realise he was gone till the end.’
I held onto his big hand. ‘You couldn’t have saved him. The ghoul came up under his horse. He didn’t even know it happened.’
He took a deep breath and let out a sigh, wiping at his eyes with the back of his free arm. I stared straight ahead and pretended I hadn’t noticed.
‘We should spread out,’ he said. ‘In case more badgers turn up.’
I snorted. ‘He was a cutie wasn’t he?’
He stared at me for a second. ‘You were serious about the badger?’
‘Of course. It was still there when I left. I saw him.’
‘Nothing there babe.’ He tapped his head and then twirled his finger around indicating I was crazy.
‘But I saw its eyes.’ My voice trailed off weakly remembering what I’d seen. Yellow eyes staring at me. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. I was so not reading that book tonight.
My watch passed uneventfully and I went to wake Isla. She hugged me and then disappeared into the dark.
I cuddled up with Scruffy, feeling relieved and guilty that we had made it through the day alive. It could have happened to any of us. But it shouldn’t have happened at all.
The sound of digging woke me the next morning. The sun was just peeping over the horizon when I crawled out of my tent. A quick peep at the forest showed the line of ghouls had disappeared. In the early light I could see that the plain extended to the horizon. There would be nowhere to hide today.
Aethan, Brent and Wilfred were digging a hole. I took a deep breath and corrected myself. They were digging a grave. A grave for Luke.
I lit the fire and got the coffee brewing while Isla sorted out the food. When they had finished digging they washed their hands and then drank their coffee, staring wordlessly into the fire.
How many times had they done this? How many times had they buried a friend? The answer to that was too many. Even one friend was too many.
After we had eaten, they went to collect Luke’s body, returning a few minutes later with him hanging limply between them.
They placed him on the ground and Isla and I washed his face and his hands and feet in what Wolfgang had told me was the faery tradition. We brushed his hair and straightened his clothes, and then we kissed him on his forehead – for his mother, his cheeks – for the rest of his family, and his lips – for his lover. Our falling tears mingled with each other’s as we rose, backing away to let the men place him in his resting place.
Faery funerals were a short affair and as soon as Luke was positioned within the hole, the dirt was replaced where it had come from until a mound rose over him. Then we packed our things up and continued on our way.
Initially I thought it was Luke’s death affecting me, but as the day progressed I realised it wasn’t that. Something else felt wrong. I rose up in my stirrups and swivelled in my saddle, examining the plain as far as I could see. There was nothing there except grass and the occasional lonely shrub.
I shook myself. I was being silly. The last couple of days had been particularly stressful, you couldn’t blame me for being jumpy. But into the afternoon, more and more, I noticed the others doing the same thing.
‘Do you see anything?’ I asked Brent.
‘No, there’s nothing there.’ He pivoted his head again and then sank back into his saddle. ‘But I feel like something is watching me.’
That was the scary part about it. It did feel like something was watching, as opposed to someone. And it didn’t feel at all friendly.
The feeling continued to grow like a storm of ominousness on the horizon. Even the horses could feel it as they flicked their tails from side-to-side and whinnied nervously. There was something coming and it wasn’t going to be good.
‘No tents tonight,’ Aethan said when we finally dismounted. ‘Double watch and sleep ready to ride. The horses as well.’
I removed Lily’s saddle and brushed her thoroughly, going through the evening ritual of checking her hooves and legs. When I was sure she was healthy I put her feedbag on and then replaced her saddle. ‘Sorry girl,’ I said. ‘Boss’s orders.’
All I removed from the saddle bags was my blanket. There was coolness in the air that hadn’t been there the night before.
I drew second watch, so after dinner I curled up in a ball next to Isla and pulled my blanket over Scruffy and me.
‘What do you think it is?’ she whispered to me.
‘I don’t know.’ I was managing to resist the urge to pull my blanket over my head, put my thumb in my mouth and rock myself while I cried for my Mummy. Thinking about what it might be could shatter my delicate self-control.
I closed my eyes, but every little night noise had me snapping them open and staring wildly around. Eventually exhaustion took me and I managed to sleep between my mini panic attacks.
Isla’s gasp woke me. I rolled towards her and opened my eyes. She lay flat on her back, staring straight up at the retcher whose tongue was in her mouth. I screamed and pulled my sword out from beside me, slashing through the retcher’s smoky body. And then Samuel was there, ripping the tongue from Isla’s throat.
She let out a scream and rolled to the side, vomiting onto the grass.
Aethan and Wilfred bounded into the circle as Samuel danced in front of the retcher, his blade twirling so fast it was a blur. The creature let out a shrill cry and disappeared into the dark. We had a few seconds to breathe before the next attack came.
We spread out, facing into the dark. Isla grabbed her bow and sprang to her feet, nocking an arrow. Ebony crouched on the ground by Samuel’s feet. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she was crying.
A whirring sound came from our left and a shadow flicked by, barely illuminated in the moonlight.
‘Wolfgang,’ Aethan growled. ‘We need light.’
Wolfgang pointed at a nearby shrub and the plant burst into light. I squinted my eyes and stared out onto the plain and my heart tried to clamber out of my chest and run away.
Yellow eyes stared back. Many, many sets of yellow eyes.
‘Dark Sky,’ Isla said, ‘what are they?’
The whirring increased in volume as if the creature had turned and was coming back towards us. Suddenly, I knew at least what it was.
‘Get down,’ I yelled, throwing myself to the ground.
The snugalof dropped from the sky, its cruel wings held in front of its body in a cross. Brent ducked and rolled as the snugalof snapped its wings back out to the side.
It missed Brent’s neck by a hair. If he had responded to my yell one second later it would have been all-over-red-rover.
While most of my brain ran around inside my head shrieking in horror, a tiny, analytical portion thought, ‘Oh, so that’s how they cut people’s heads off.’
‘To the horses,’ Aethan yelled.
He was right. There were too many of whatever-the-fuck-they-were out there for us to fight. We had to outdistance them.
Isla fired off arrows at the creatures as we sprinted for our horses. Since Wolfgang lit the fire, they had kept their distance, but as they saw us mounting they lunged towards us, eating up the distance between us far too quickly.
Suddenly I wasn’t so sure we would be able to outrun them.
Lily let out a snort of fear and leapt forwards without my urging. I snuggled Scruffy into my chest and wrapped my arms to either side as I lay low over Lily’s neck. I wasn’t keen on having my head hacked off by an overzealous snugalof.
A glance over my shoulder showed the yellow eyes dropping back a little, but with their eight legs they were able to maintain their pace with ease. Long tails stood up in the air above them, and hard beaks clacked open and closed.
I recognised the creatures from Cedric’s book. Yaffas. If they caught us, those beaks would hack off our limbs.
Whirring came from two different directions.
‘Down,’ Aethan yelled.
Hugging Scruffy to my chest, I rolled to the side as the snugalofs dived. Sharp pain lanced as the tip of a wing sliced into my back. A quick feel with my fingers showed me it was just a shallow wound – this time.
‘What are they? What are they?’ Ebony shrieked.
‘Snugalofs,’ I yelled. ‘Keep down if you like your head where it is.’
I had to give her credit, for all her hysteria she urged her hagon on with her knees and kept as low as she could.
A low yipping started to our right, growing in volume as more and more voices joined in.
‘This way.’ Samuel urged his mount to the front and then veered left.
With no better plan, we all followed.
The next time a snugalof attacked I rolled and, at the same time, stuck my sword above my body. Metal clanged on metal as my sword met its wings, but the animal let out a shriek and pivoted to the side. I heard the faint sound of its body smacking into the ground. Hopefully that was the last we’d see of that one.
The yipping off to our right got louder. Another quick glance over my shoulder showed the yaffa keeping pace. Snugalofs were lining up to divebomb us. We were so screwed.
Isla let out a yell and rapidly fired arrows to our right. I’d expected the yippers to be small and doglike. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Think elephants crossed with baboons and you’d almost have it. If Cedric were correct, I was seeing my first egibany.
Running on two legs they raced towards us, their long trunks holding huge rocks. The lead one swung back its trunk and hurled its rock high into the sky. I lost sight of it in the dark but I knew it was heading our way.
‘Izzy,’ Wolfgang yelled.
‘Got it.’ I threw my arms up, believing that somehow my magic would stop the rock. For once, I wasn’t disappointed. There was a loud thud and then the rock exploded, shattering into a million pieces of shrapnel. My shield protected us, but the snugalofs weren’t so lucky.
Two of them screamed and plummeted from the air, their bodies limp before they contacted the ground.
‘Two snugalofs with one stone.’ Wilfred had a huge grin on his face.
I shook my head at my berserker friend and turned just in time to see Wolfgang hurling fireballs at the egibanies. A few more managed to throw their rocks before they were struck by the fiery tornados that raced amongst them.
I deflected my shield up and backwards, so that this time, the shrapnel flew towards the yaffas. I heard a couple of yelps and for a second the clacking beaks stilled, but then they were back, a few less in their pack, but just as determined to catch us.
The scent of burning flesh scoured my nostrils as the egibanies ran like living torches towards us. Most collapsed but a few kept coming, the urge to destroy us so great that even as the muscle was burnt off their bones, they attacked.
‘Bleaurrrr,’ I shrieked as the first one swept its trunk towards Brent. He chopped his sword down, severing the limb and the egibany sat down, as if realising for the first time that it was dying.
Samuel urged his horse even further to the left and we followed. The plain had changed around us and now we ran through a woodland area. The trees were far enough apart that we could keep our pace, but in the dim light we had to be careful. If we ran into one of them it would be the last thing we did.
‘Trees,’ Wilfred said. ‘Excellent. Maybe we can lose them.’
I doubted very much we were going to lose the yaffas no matter what we did, but the trees would certainly make it more difficult for the snugalofs to attack.
Something niggled at the back of my mind. Something about trees.
‘Almost there,’ Samuel called.
‘Almost where?’ Aethan yelled.
‘A safe place.’
A safe place? Here? I felt like I would never be safe again. Not while retchers and snugalofs and yaffas lived in this world. What would be next? The six-toed gurantha?
Suddenly, I knew what was bothering me.
‘Watch out for the trees,’ I shrieked. ‘The trees.’
I was too late.
The gurantha jumped onto Wilfred’s back. It pulled back its head and opened its mouth and I screamed as it bit into Wilfred’s neck. It tore at skin and flesh and spinal cord, and then it sprang back up into a tree.
Wilfred slumped forward over his mount’s neck. His arms hung limp by his side.
I screamed again and lightning shot from my hand, piercing the gurantha’s chest. But that wasn’t enough. I hurled bolt after bolt at the yaffas, the lightning slamming into the ground amongst them. Some died by direct hit, and others from the shockwaves, their bodies flinging into the air to land in a crumpled heap.
Isla screamed as well, firing arrow-after-arrow while tears streamed down her face.
‘Quickly.’ It was Samuel. ‘Just a few more metres.’
I let him lead Lily towards his safe place, knowing in my heart it was all too late.
Wilfred was gone.
Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled down from Lily. I placed Scruffy on the ground and crawled to where Wilfred lay.
‘Wolfgang,’ I shrieked. ‘We have to heal him.’
Isla was beside me, smoothing her fingers through Wilfred’s hair. Blood pooled beneath his neck.
‘Wolfgang. We have to hurry. Quick, before it’s too late.’
‘Child.’ Wolfgang’s cool fingers touched the side of my face. ‘It’s already too late.’
‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘No, it can’t be. Not Wilfred. Not Wilfred.’
Isla pressed her face up against Wilfred’s and let out a howl of grief. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him to her.
Not Wilfred. No, no, no, it couldn’t be.
I took his hand in mine and bent my head over it, sobs taking control of my body.
‘No,’ I cried. ‘Please, no.’
I refused to believe it, I refused to give in. Even though his skin was already cooling, even though no breath came from his body. I couldn’t give him up. Not my big brother.
Isla’s crying slowed and she lay down, resting her head on his chest and pulling his arm around her. I reached out and stroked the back of her head and she looked up at me through tear-swollen eyes.
‘I loved him,’ she whispered.
‘I know,’ I said.
‘We need to move him,’ Samuel said. ‘If you want to save him.’
Isla turned to him, rage distorting her features. ‘He’s dead,’ she shrieked. ‘Can’t you leave us alone to mourn?’
‘Please,’ he said, ‘you have to believe me.’
I looked past him and for the first time saw where we were. Buildings, ravaged by time, lay in tumbled ruins around us. A soft glow hummed from the stones.
‘Isla. Look.’ I pointed to a squat structure that glowed more brightly than the rest. Wide steps led up to a platform. In the middle of the platform a stone carving stood. It thrummed and throbbed with power.
‘Where are we?’ Isla’s voice was tinged with hope.
‘The Oracle of Ulandes. Bring him quickly or it will be too late.’
Samuel sprinted towards the platform and Brent and Aethan picked up Wilfred, struggling to carry the big man up the steps. I tried not to look at the blood pooling where he had lain. No-one could come back from that.
Samuel was on his knees in front of the carving, his arms pressed against the ground as he mumbled out a low prayer.
‘Lay him there.’ He looked up and pointed to the other side of the carving. ‘Where she can see him.’
He went back to his praying and I realised he wasn’t mumbling, he was speaking a different language.
Wolfgang helped Brent and Aethan manoeuvre Wilfred around the statue. They placed him gently on the ground. Aethan straightened Wilfred’s clothing and then bowed his head over him, tears falling onto Wilfred’s chest.
Wilfred had been Aethan’s lifelong friend. His best friend. He would be lost without him.
He ran back down the stairs, coming back with Wilfred’s sword which he placed carefully on Wilfred’s chest. Then he wrapped his friend’s hands on the pommel and stepped back to where I knelt with Scruffy by my side. He glanced down at me and then knelt beside me, taking my hand in his.
We knelt in a row. Isla, Wolfgang, Brent, Aethan and I, and we held hands and prayed for a miracle.
Samuel stopped praying and gasped, coming up from his knees to his feet in a single, smooth movement. The statue blazed brilliant white and then an ethereal figure stepped out of it.
‘Who comes?’ she said. ‘Who disturbs me after all this time?’
‘Mother, I do.’ Samuel bowed his head.
She sucked in a breath of air. ‘None have called me Mother for hundreds of years. All else called me Ulandes.’ She took a step closer to him and reached out a hand. She traced over the tattoos on his arms, a wondering look on her face. ‘You have returned,’ she sighed. ‘My people have returned.’
His face took on an apologetic look. ‘It is only I, mother. For now. The rest will follow when they can.’
‘I see.’ She turned her head towards us. ‘And who are these?’
‘My travelling companions. Good people all of them. They fight against the evil in the land.’
She floated towards us and stood looking down. I met her eyes and energy flowed out of her and into me.
‘And what about this one?’ She turned and knelt, placing a hand on Wilfred’s shoulder.
‘He was the best of men,’ Aethan said. ‘He was my brother.’
‘And mine,’ I said.
‘And mine,’ Brent echoed.
‘He was my lover,’ Isla said.
‘He was a warrior?’ Ulandes’ hand drifted over the sword.
‘We are all warriors mother,’ Samuel said.
She stood and faced us, her head cocked to the side as if she were listening to something else.
‘I have need of warriors,’ she finally said. ‘Did you bring him here for me?’
‘We brought him hoping you could bring him back to us.’ Isla bent her head and let out a sob.
Ulandes moved to Isla’s side, kneeling to lift Isla’s head with her hand. Isla let out a gasp and a shudder ran through her.
‘You have known pain. Great pain and treachery. And yet, your heart is still pure.’ She stared into Isla’s eyes for a few more moments and then moved to me and laid her palm on my cheek.
‘The world lies in wait of you. Your heart must be great if we are to survive, for if you break, the dark side triumphs.’
She looked into my eyes and her voice sounded inside my head. Never before have there been two. Only one can live, the other must die. In the end you must go alone into the dark and let love guide your hand. Only then will you triumph.
She moved to Aethan and took his hand. ‘Great hardship awaits you. You must rediscover your love if you are to survive, for she will give you the strength you need.’ She held his gaze for a moment longer and moved on to Brent.
‘Young lion, your heart beats strong and true. Stay true to your cause and all will be well.’ His eyes met hers for a moment more and then she moved to Wolfgang.
‘Magic maker, we have great need of you. Do not let the dark swallow your broken heart. It will be made whole again.’ He blinked but did not look away from her.
Scruffy let out a little woof and she turned and floated back towards me. ‘I do apologise,’ she said, looking down at him.
He let out another woof and a little whine. She knelt and placed her hands on his fur. ‘I cannot read you familiar. You come from a different place.’
He whined and pawed at her.
‘Ahhh, I see,’ she said, glancing towards me. ‘You worry about her.’
He let out a little, growly bark and whined again.
‘Fear not,’ Ulandes said, ‘she will find the way.’
Scruffy licked her on the hand and she stood and moved to Samuel. He knelt in front of her and she rested her hand on his head. ‘Have you come to serve me?’
‘I come to serve you.’ His voice was made of joy.
‘I accept your servitude. You will be held above all others. For you were the first.’
‘Now wait a minute.’ I had all but forgotten about Ebony. ‘He can’t serve you. He’s my slave.’
I groaned and closed my eyes. Things had been going so well.
Ulandes turned towards Ebony with what looked like amusement on her face. ‘You seek to thwart me child?’ Yes, that was definitely a smile playing around the corners of her mouth.
‘He is my slave.’ Ebony stamped her foot and put her hands on her hips. ‘And you cannot have him. The slave bracelets control him and cannot be removed.’ She stopped short of saying, ‘So there,’ but every line of her body yelled the words.
‘These?’ Ulandes hands stroked over the bracelets and they opened and fell to the ground.
Ebony gasped as Samuel rubbed his hands over his wrists. ‘That is impossible.’ Her voice wasn’t quite as confident as before. ‘Those bracelets were spelled by our unified magic. They cannot fail while it survives.’
Apart from Samuel, only I knew that the bracelets had already failed. But I was betting that even if they hadn’t, they would have fallen off when Ulandes touched them.
‘The night faeries have held my people for too long. The Ubanty Tribespeople are mine, and I will have them back.’ Ulandes’ voice rose to a roar and Ebony scampered back down the stairs.
‘Now what of him.’ As if that conversation had never happened, Ulandes tapped a finger to her lips and looked at Wilfred.
‘Please,’ Isla said. ‘Please save him.’
Ulandes floated over to us and took Isla’s face in both her hands. ‘Dear heart. Would you give him up to get him back?’
‘Yes,’ Isla said. ‘Just to know he is alive is enough.’
‘So be it.’ Ulandes stood and moved to Wilfred’s side. She placed her hand on his head, then his heart, then on the back of his neck. Light streamed out of her into him. It flowed up and down his body faster and faster before flying up into the air in a swirl of sparks. It hovered a few metres above his body and then speared back towards him, a stream of power that lanced into his heart.
His back arched as he took one choking breath after another. Isla let out a cry of joy and raced towards him but Ulandes stood in her way. ‘You will give him up?’
‘I promise.’ Isla nodded her head. ‘Please let me be there when he awakens.’
Ulandes moved to the side and Isla knelt beside Wilfred, taking his hands off the sword and wrapping them in her own. He took another breath and then his eyelids fluttered and opened. He looked up at Isla and said, ‘Am I in heaven?’
‘No dear heart.’ She blinked and a tear trickled down her cheek.
‘Why do you cry?’ He reached up and wiped it away.
‘Because I love you.’ She let go of his hands and stood, turning to Ulandes. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, bowing her head.
Wilfred looked up at the shining being that hovered above him. ‘Beautiful women, angels. Well, if this ain’t heaven I don’t know what is.’
Ulandes smiled and held out a hand. Wilfred reached up for it and as their fingers touched, tattoos wound around his wrists and up his arms. They were identical to the ones Samuel wore.
‘Cool,’ he said, looking at his arms. ‘I’ve been thinking of getting me some ink.’
He climbed to his feet and shook his head and then seemed, for the first time, to notice the rest of us kneeling there. He looked at our faces and then pivoted slowly, staring out across the ruins to the trees.
‘I died didn’t I.’ It wasn’t a question, more a meek acceptance of the fact.
‘Yes child.’
He nodded his head a few times and then turned to look at Ulandes. ‘Did they cry? Cause I’m going to be devastated if there wasn’t some weeping.’
I let out a choked laugh and clambered to my feet. ‘May I?’ I asked Ulandes, waiting for her smile before I approached him. He was hers now, and as much as I hated knowing he wouldn’t be in my life every day, Isla was right. After having lost him for good, knowing that somewhere Wilfred was cracking stupid jokes and generally being a goof head was enough.
‘I may have shed a tear or two,’ I said, wrapping my arms around him.
He lifted me up and shook me side-to-side as he hugged me. ‘Sorry to scare you.’
As soon as I was free Aethan grabbed him, clasping him hard. ‘Don’t do that again,’ he said hoarsely.
Wilfred pulled back and looked him in the face. ‘I don’t get to go with you, do I?’
Aethan shook his head and Wilfred turned to Ulandes. ‘Will I see them again?’
‘You will be there when they need you the most.’
Brent clasped his arm and then pulled him into a bear hug, clapping him on the back while saying, ‘Try to keep out of trouble.’
Wolfgang wished him good luck and goodbye and then there was just Isla.
Tears glistened in her eyes, but her smile made up for them. Beatific, she glowed as she gazed up at him. ‘I always knew you were destined for greater things.’
He reached out and gently stroked her face. ‘Can she…?’ He turned to look at Ulandes.
‘No child. She cannot come where we go. She has tasks she must complete elsewhere.’
He sighed and turned back to Isla. ‘You were the great love of my life.’
She balled her fist and punched him gently. ‘What’s with the were?’
He smiled and then pulled her to him, lowering his head to hers.
I turned away to give them some privacy and met Aethan’s eyes. He watched my face intently for a few seconds and then looked away and ran his hands through his hair. He was having a rough night. First losing his best friend and then finding out said best friend was in love with your sister and vice versa.
All too soon Ulandes said, ‘Child, we must go.’
Wilfred pulled away from Isla and went to stand with Samuel.
‘What about the monsters?’ Wolfgang asked.
‘I have sent them back,’ Ulandes said. ‘It will take great power to bring them over again.’
She turned and floated back to the statue, seeping into it as easily as she had come out.
Wilfred turned to look at Samuel. ‘After you,’ he said, holding his hand out.
‘Well,’ Samuel shot him a grin, ‘I am number one.’ He walked to the statue and stepped into it.
Wilfred followed him, stopping at the base of the statue to turn and look at us. He gave us a two-finger salute and, just before he stepped into the statue, said in his best Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, ‘I’ll be back.’ And just like that he was gone.
We stood for a while, none of us speaking, all of us staring at the statue. It’s not every day that you get to meet a deity, and it didn’t seem right to break that moment with words.
One-by-one we drifted back down towards the trees where Ebony waited with the horses.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘this is a fine mess. Who’s going to get my dinner now?’
I stared at her in disbelief. After everything that had just happened, that was her concern.
‘You’ll manage,’ Isla said, ‘or you’ll go hungry. Those are your only two options.’
We unsaddled the horses and rubbed them down, eating the travelling food as we worked. Then we pulled out our blankets and lay around a fire Wolfgang lit. For the first time in a long time we didn’t post a watch. Ulandes had said we would be safe here for the night and we believed her. The weight of her presence blanketed us softly, soothing our sorrows and our fear. One-by-one we fell asleep, none of us stirring again till the sun was high in the sky.