book title

Toryn held his throbbing head in his hands. The sickly, sweet liquid Grebb had forced him to drink, still scorched his throat. But his throat was the least of his worries. The dark dreams the Winter Fever had visited upon young Toryn, seemed harmless compared to those he had suffered of late. They took him to murky depths of his mind that he could never have imagined existed. By his own hands, he had committed atrocities, ruthless and terrible acts, that in his dark state, he had enjoyed.

Toryn tried to push the images out of his head. He shifted his aching bones to roll on his side to relieve the sores on his back. The shriek that dragged him out of his nightmare, still echoed in his head. The creature’s cry came from times past, fueled by the hurt and misery of the bleak days before the Archon had restored order. Its scream wrenched all hope from the unfortunate ears it fell upon — it could never be unheard.

He brought his hands to his face and sobbed.

‘Cheer up, lad.’ Two shadows stood at the end of the wagon. ‘Your evening has just got better. The good lady, Uleva, wants to see you before she has to leave.’

The other spoke. ‘Wait. Do we have to take him?’

‘Do you see anyone else? Or should we tell him where to find her and let him go all by himself.’ He clipped his colleague around the head. ‘Fool! Of course, it’s us.’

The second backed away. ‘No, not me. I’ve just eaten. I won’t keep my supper down if I have to stand next to her.’ He groaned. ‘And it will be morning before I get to eat again.’

‘Then you’ll have to go hungry. Come on! You don’t want to keep her waiting.’

Toryn had no strength to resist as they dragged him from the wagon. The soldiers sitting around the campfire hushed as they drew near. One grinned and slid his finger across his throat. ‘Say hello to the Ice Queen from the lads, eh.’

Another kicked him. ‘Keep it down, she’ll hear you.’

His reluctant escorts took Toryn to the edge of the camp, away from the heat and light of the fire. They stopped and grasped Toryn’s arms, holding his sagging body upright. His skin crawled as the air chilled at the threat of Uleva’s arrival. Their hands trembled as they drew a sharp breath and turned away. The air shimmered as the hooded Uleva stepped out of the gloom. Toryn twisted away and clamped his eyes shut, dreading what stood before him. She clicked her fingers. His head snapped back to face her; his eyelids shot up into his skull. The touch of her foul breath froze his face. His stomach convulsed as it remembered the stench of a rotting carcass of a sheep torn apart by a wolf. To his left, the Ruuk lost his supper as predicted.

Uleva took a step closer. A faint, blue glow inside her hood revealed a face Toryn did not expect to see: the face of a young woman, both beautiful and terrible to behold. Smooth skin covered her delicate features like fine silk. Toryn’s fingers tingled as part of him wanted to reach out to caress her soft cheek. He fought back, stiffening his arm to keep it at his side. But no matter how hard he strained, he knew her large, iridescent eyes of shifting hues of blue, could easily break his will.

Uleva tilted her head forward to behold Toryn. At first, he saw a sadness behind her eyes; a longing to be in another place, another time; perhaps even remorse for what she had become. Her eyes flickered. The window to her past slammed shut as Toryn’s shattered, baring his soul. The two Ruuk had long passed out; only Uleva’s will held him upright. She reached in, offering immortality and power, great power. If he surrendered, in return, she would grant his many secret desires. The life left in his body, seeped from his fingers and toes, retreating up his limbs into his stomach. It rose to his heart, through his throat and into his open mouth. Toryn knew this to be his soul. Uleva craved it. He took a step towards her, ready to offer her everything. Toryn faltered. His legs stiffened as the last fragment of his resolve drew him back from the gaping maw, refusing to yield what she sought.

Uleva’s silken skin puckered. She snatched back her proposal, leaving Toryn as an empty shell ready to collapse. The glow spoiled to a sickly green to reveal the full horror beneath the hood. Two moist, black eyes glistened beneath a large, protruding forehead. Taut, gray skin stretched to bursting point across a misshapen skull as if straining to contain the all-consuming evil within. Uleva’s thin, black mouth twisted. She leveled her stony gaze, penetrating Toryn’s weakened defenses, seeking to uncover his deepest fears. She found them. Her lips cracked as they stretched into a grin. She raised a skeletal hand, extending her fingertip to Toryn’s forehead. He cried out as an icy spike drilled between his eyes. His world turned black.

The whispers had changed. No longer the voices of strangers, he knew the voice — it was his own. And he listened. But as it spoke of his doom, another had joined the conversation. A woman, ever present, watched him from the edges of his nightmares.

The wagon lurched, tossing him about its wooden floor, bruising his bruises and finding more places to cut and open his skin, already covered with scars. The rough sack of his prison clothing irritated his raw skin, but he had grown used to the discomfort and took solace from the little warmth it offered.

Days and nights merged. The wagon moved; the wagon stopped; his captors would light a fire, eat, drink, sing, then sleep. To his relief, Uleva had departed, leaving the Ruuk more at ease, spending longer at rest. His headache had eased, and the dreams less dark, but he knew a sickness lay within, and it spread.

The wagon stopped. Toryn lay back, welcoming the opportunity to be still. Outside, usual preparations for supper were underway. The light of the fire flickered on the canvas and soon the smell of roasting meat wafted in. After the Ruuk had taken their fill, they tossed in a few bones. Toryn scrambled to his daily ration and gnawed on the remnants of meat. The laughter and familiar songs began. He thought of Roold and the men of Drunsberg. What had become of them? He dearly hoped they had survived the torment they suffered in Wyke Wood. He closed his eyes and longed for a sleep undisturbed by dark dreams.

The flap drew back. He bolted upright. A dark, crooked figure clambered into the wagon. Hands fumbled at his ankles and soon the clasps fell away. The visitor grasped his wrist and pulled. Toryn, still dazed from sleep, resisted. ‘Fool!’ It was a woman’s voice, gruff but clearly a woman. She spluttered as if not accustomed to speaking. ‘Do you want to stay?’ She tugged again. ‘Come, while they still sleep.’ Toryn did not stop to argue. He stood and staggered into the woman. ‘Careful, clumsy bones, you’ll wake them all.’

Toryn whispered his apology, but this time stumbled into the canvas. He stretched his back and rubbed the stiff muscles in his legs. The woman steadied him. ‘Ready?’ She shoved a blanket into his hands. ‘Take this.’ He wrapped it around his shoulders and followed her out of the wagon. The embers of the fire rippled in the light breeze, shedding enough light for them to find their way between the sleeping forms of his captors strewn about the campsite. Toryn shivered and pulled the blanket closer. The woman led him away from the camp and light of the fire. In the dark, he struggled to find his footing on damp, uneven ground, but his rescuer refused to slow down. Each time he fell, she tugged on his wrist, dragging him farther from the Ruuk camp. He tried to speak, to ask her name, and where she led him, but she would silence him with a sharp hiss, and press on.

After what must have been two hours of a painful trek, Toryn spied a dark, jagged line between the surrounding hills. He guessed it had to be the Kolossos Mountains against the coming of dawn in the east.

At last, the woman stopped. They stood on the shores of a large lake. She sat and pulled a flask from a pack on her back. ‘Here. Drink this.’ Toryn gladly gulped down the sweet liquid inside, wincing as the sides of his sore throat scraped together. ‘Steady. That’s plenty.’ She snatched it back. The drink warmed his body, spreading to all parts, easing his aches and pains. But while it helped, deep inside he sensed unease. His limbs felt warm, but his stomach remained cold and numb as if icy fingers clawed at his insides, refusing to relinquish their grasp.

The woman bade Toryn to sit. He joined her on the wet, tufty grass as she took a single sip from the flask. He saw her face for the first time in daylight. Her skin was darker than anyone he had ever met. Deep wrinkles marked her skin like ravines on a mountain range, giving her face the look of an ancient map. But her eyes belied her age. Even in the early light of dawn, her steely, gray eyes shone with a vitality her body lacked.

He spoke his thoughts out loud. ‘Who are you?’

She frowned, creasing the lines across her forehead deeper than Toryn thought possible. She licked her lips. ‘Who am I?’ She spoke as if asking herself. ‘Who am I?’

‘Yes. What’s your name?’

She snapped. ‘Name? I don’t need a name.’

He tried again. ‘But surely you have one.’

She shook her head slowly. ‘No… no name. I don’t have to call myself anything. It’s just me. I don’t need to get my own attention.’

‘What do other people call you?’

‘People?’ She held out her gloved hands. ‘What other people? Do you see any?’

Toryn looked about him. ‘Well, I’m here. What do I call you?’

She shrugged. ‘Whatever you like. There’s just the two of us. If you speak, you can only be speaking to me.’ She folded her arms as if pleased with her reasoning. Toryn smiled. Despite the old woman’s abrupt manner, he already felt at ease in her presence.

He tried to smile against the cold gnawing his gut. ‘But you must have a name. I shall call you’ — he edged closer — ‘Hope. Yes, Hope, because that’s what you’ve given me.’

She threw up her hands. ‘Fine. If you must. But don’t expect me to remember it, or answer to it, or remember yours.’

‘I haven’t told you mine yet.’

‘Don’t bother. If I speak, it’s to you.’ She frowned. ‘But I often talk to myself.’ She clapped. ‘Got it. If I speak and I’m looking at you, then you know I’m speaking to you. But if I don’t, it’s only for my ears. Ha! Do you see? We don’t need to bother with names.’

Toryn noticed her tattered clothes. ‘Where are you from?’

‘Why so many idiotic questions? I’m from here, I’m from over there, the other side of that lake. I’m from over the mountains.’ She squinted at him. ‘Where are you from?’

‘Midwyche in Darrow.’ He clenched his arms around his middle. The mention of his village expanded the emptiness inside. He tried to see his home, but his clouded mind could only recall the names. ‘By the River Tam.’ River? But he could not see it. ‘There’s a bridge, I know. I’m sure I had to cross it to get to the fields.’ He rubbed his temples. But as hard as he tried, he could not picture his home. ‘And a wood, somewhere, I think.’

Hope shrugged. ‘Never heard of it, or the river. And you don’t seem so sure yourself, do you.’ She peered into his face. ‘Tell me, young fellow, where are you now?’

Toryn glanced at the nearby trees in the growing light. ‘I… I don’t know.’

‘Then why does it matter where you’re from?’ She poked a finger at his chest. ‘Don’t you think it’s more important to know where you are this very moment?’ She nodded, looking happy with herself. ‘And where you’re going? That’s more important than knowing where you came from, is it not?’

‘I suppose. Then, where are we?’

Hope threw up her hands. ‘Haven’t a clue.’

‘So, where are we going?’ Hope shrugged. Toryn tried to reason with her. ‘But I thought you said it was important to… forget it.’

She smiled. ‘Have already, no need to tell me.’ She squinted at the horizon. ‘But don’t you worry, I’ll get you there.’

‘Can’t recall. I’m sure it will come to me before long.’

He rubbed his bruised elbow, recalling the hard floor of the wagon. ‘Why did you rescue me?’

Toryn pulled a face. ‘You found me at that camp. You took off my chains, somehow, and led me to this place. But you don’t know why?’

She scoffed. ‘Of course, I know why. Do you think I’m mad?’

‘No! I’m grateful, I thought I was done for.’ She held his gaze and, for a moment, Toryn sensed another looked back from behind her eyes. ‘So why did you help?’

‘It’s not right, keeping you chained up like an animal.’ She turned and spat. ‘Nasty creatures. Seen them before, not nice.’ She stood and grabbed his wrist. ‘Come on. Time to go.’

Toryn had no choice. He found his feet. ‘Wait. We have to go to Archonholm.’

She cocked her head. ‘Where?’

‘Archonholm. You must have heard of it.’ Hope stared at him. Toryn tried again. ‘It’s in the south, close to the gate. Those attacks, the sorcerer at the mines, and that woman, Uleva, the one in the wood. The Archon needs to know about them.’

Toryn despaired. ‘Our leader. He has power, the most powerful man in the land. The Archon will know what to do. He has to know what’s happening here.’

‘But if he’s as powerful as you say, he’ll already know.’

‘Perhaps he does.’ He thought out loud. ‘Dohl had said men with spears were approaching the wood. I guess the Archon could have sent them.’

‘So that’s sorted. We don’t need to go. Your man in charge has everything under control.’

‘But there was that dreadful attack on Greendell. He should be told. And the stone, the Archon is interested in these matters.’

She turned to the hills beyond the lake. ‘Where does this leader of yours live?’

‘Archonholm. I already mentioned… But, I don’t know exactly where it is. Wait! I have a map.’ He ran his hand down his trouser leg. He slumped. ‘They’ve taken it.’

Hope tutted. ‘Then we won’t be going, will we.’ She walked a few paces, stopped and listened. ‘Shush! Someone’s coming.’

He froze. ‘Where from?’

‘That way. Six of them. Your captors, I believe.’

His heart raced. ‘But there’s nowhere to hide.’

She beckoned him closer, seeming calm considering their predicament. ‘Take my hands.’

‘But…’ he heard shouts. ‘Shouldn’t we run?’

‘No time. And like you said, where to? Here, take hold.’ She shook off her tattered gloves and gripped Toryn’s hands. He stiffened, surprised at the heat emanating from her palms. Hope hummed. Words formed under her breath, her hands grew yet warmer, the air about them rippled like heat rising from a cornfield in summer.

The voices grew louder. ‘Fools! She’ll skin us alive if we don’t find him.’ Hope had been right — six Ruuk strode over the ridge, heading towards them.

Another grumbled. ‘I’ll skin the little runt for making us come this far.’ Hope continued to hum her tune. They strode straight towards the spot where they stood but failed to see them. The Ruuk at the front stopped and held up a hand. ‘The tracks stop here. Two of them, he must have had help.’ He scratched his head and surveyed the ground, almost walking into Toryn. The scout stared through the wavering air, distorting his face. ‘I don’t get it.’ He paced around their spot. ‘No sign of camp, no sign of nothing, but there’s no tracks leading away.’

Toryn held his breath as another stepped up. ‘Well, they can’t have flown away or walked across the lake.’ He grabbed the first by the throat. ‘Not much of a tracker, eh. I’ll let you explain to the Ice Queen how you lost him.’ He turned to the others. ‘And I’ll wager a week’s rations this fool’s tracks won’t return from his chat with her ladyship.’

The scout pushed him away as the others laughed. ‘You let him escape, chief. It was you and your miserable mob nodding off to blame. I think she’ll be more upset by that.’ He brushed down his cloak. ‘I look forward to eating your dinners for a week when you can’t swallow because she’s ripped out your scrawny throat.’

The captain held up his hands. ‘Alright, alright. We’ll tell her a company of knights attacked us if we don’t find him. I counted at least forty of those boys in their shiny armor.’

The scout sneered. ‘She won’t believe you. She knows everything going on in these parts, and she ain’t going to be pleased if you lie to her.’

The captain’s face paled. ‘Then we better bloody well find the whelp!’

The scout pointed. ‘They must have continued south east. Can’t think they’d have changed direction all of a sudden.’ Toryn felt Hope’s weight slump against him. He held her firm as she continued to hum, but he could see she grew tired. The air about them cleared a little. Thankfully, the captain had stepped towards his scout. ‘Come on, lads, keep looking. They can’t have gone far, it’s not like we fed him much.’

The scout waded into the lake and stooped. ‘Here, chief. I reckon they walked in the water for a while to put us off their trail.’ He grinned. ‘Ha! They’ll have to try harder to fool me.’

‘You better be right for all our sakes.’ The captain turned and yelled to his men. ‘This way you rats, and don’t think you’re getting a break anytime soon.’

Toryn held Hope upright as his captors set off at pace. And not a moment too soon. The shimmering air shrouding them, suddenly fell away as the last man disappeared around a clump of thicket. Hope collapsed to the ground, releasing Toryn’s hands.

He sat by her side. ‘How did you do that?’ But Hope snored. Around where they had stood, a circle of scorched grass smoldered. His body tingled; it was not an unpleasant sensation, and more desirable to the coldness inside. Toryn had to know. He turned over her hands and examined the palms. Faint, wavy lines covered her skin. They swirled about her palm and extended down each finger right up to the tips. He picked up her threadbare gloves, pulled them over her now icy hands, then placed his blanket over her shoulders. He sat back. She was a wyke. He watched her sleep. She seemed harmless, and his body did not convulse in her company as it had with Uldrak, and worse still, with Uleva.

Hope stirred. She sat and blinked, looking around as if unsure of their whereabouts. Her eyes eventually rested on Toryn. ‘Ah! There you are.’ She stood and stretched out her arms. ‘Coming?’

‘To where?’ Toryn chose to say nothing of his discovery.

She turned a full circle, stopping to face the west. ‘That way.’

‘I have to show you something.’ She scratched her chin as she searched the horizon. ‘It’s important. You need to see it.’ Toryn opened his mouth. Her finger shot up. ‘Shush! Don’t ask because I don’t know, I can’t remember.’ She grinned. ‘But I’ll know when we get there.’