For Jade it seemed much more real – too real. She was scared almost all the time and far less certain of victory. Phoenix clearly didn’t see the infinite number of things that could go hideously wrong here. His unwavering nonchalance was annoying – and reassuring, too. As long as he thought they could win, she carried a faint hope he was right.
When he died, it had terrified her. Suddenly, for the first time her life, she was completely alone. Marcus and Brynn didn’t really count – they were part of this world. With Phoenix gone, there was no-one to rely on; to believe in. Only herself and that wasn’t enough; she wasn’t enough.
Sniffing, Jade blinked away stinging tears and refocused on her work. She misjudged the next stitch and caught a breath as the needle stuck into her finger. Blood welled and she put it into her mouth, trying not to cry again. She was good enough. She had to be.
The others slept on.
*****
Sometime later, as sunlight brightened the room, Brynn sat up and shoved his bedding aside with a yawn. Phoenix sat up too and nodded at the boy, noticing the tracks of tears on his grubby face. He recalled that Brynn had lost his last brother in the battle at Stonehenge. There wasn’t much he could really say, though, so he didn’t mention it. The kid was strong and he had them as a family now.
“What’s for breakfast?” The boy stretched, yawning again.
“Errr,” Phoenix glanced around the small timber hut but there were no convenient refrigerators or vending machines to be seen. He sighed. Time to hunt – one of the major drawbacks to living two thousand years in the past. That and a complete lack of flush toilets – speaking of which....
“C’mon,” he jerked his head toward the door, “let’s go find a...ahh....tree..” Brynn flashed him a knowing grin and nodded. Phoenix squared his shoulders. “Then I guess we’ll have to rustle up something to eat and see where we are, too.”
“We’re going out to hunt up breakfast,” he calmly informed Jade as they headed for the door.
She opened her mouth, signs of worry clouding her green eyes. Phoenix just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Something in his face must have told her that he wasn’t in the mood for discussion, so she shut her jaw with a snap and nodded. As they eased open the door she touched him on the leg. He glanced down.
“Phoenix....” she seemed hesitant and he guessed she was feeling bad for sniping at him last night. Strangely though, he didn’t need her apology. He just smiled at her and gave her the thumbs up before slipping out the door.
When they returned and thrust open the door Phoenix stepped out of the crisp, cold air and into the warm room with some relief.
“Hey!” Jade exclaimed, shivering as she sat hunched over her stitching. “Born in a barn?”
“Sorry,” he apologised cheerfully, shutting the door again. He swung a large bird off his shoulder, onto the dirt floor near the fire. She stared at it, openly astonished. Phoenix hoped it was edible. There wasn’t much other game around and they’d seen signs of the wolves so they didn’t want to stay out long. The bird looked like some sort of turkey – grey with a black head and bright red bits above its glazed eyes. It had a long tail that looked like it would fan out.
“Oh!” Truda’s sleepy voice called out. “An auerhuhn...umm...a wood-grouse you call it. Yummy. My ma roasts them with lots of tubers and wild onions.” Her stomach rumbled loudly and she looked surprised. “I’m so hungry!” She scratched her head. Her thick braids were in disarray, creating a fuzzy halo of red hair about her face.
Phoenix grinned at the girl. He was hungry too, although a bowl of Corn Flakes would have been better. Longingly, he recalled the taste of orange juice, cereal, toast and milk; and sighed in regret. Not today. Heck, electric toasters wouldn’t even be invented for at least eighteen hundred years.
In a short space of time, the fire had been refuelled and the game cleaned and baked in the hot coals. After the bones were picked clean, they dressed in the new fur clothing and packed their gear. As a group, they sat in a small circle to discuss what to do next.
“When we went hunting, Brynn and I climbed the tallest tree we could find on a hill.” Phoenix looked around at the others. They waited expectantly. “We’re in the middle of a huge forest. Really huge, I mean,” he warned. “It looks like there’s a big lake off to the east and another off to the west. Lots of hills and valleys in between. Rough walking no matter what direction we take.”
“So did you see any towns?” Jade pressed.
Phoenix exchanged glances with Brynn. “We think we saw a faint smoke trail off to the northeast, near the lake but it’s so glary today with the new snow that we can’t be sure.”
“So that sounds like our only option,” she agreed, her tone suggesting she wasn’t very happy with the lack of choices.
“Well I sure can’t guide you anywhere else,” Brynn muttered, sounding disgruntled. Phoenix cast him a narrow look, making a mental note to keep an eye on the boy. He needed to be useful or he might be tempted into mischief.
Truda jumped up and brushed off her new fur pants, clearly excited to be moving closer to home. “Lets go then!”
The others gathered their gear and filed out of the hut and squinted around at the tall white-dusted trees.
“I just wish we knew where we are now,” Jade sighed.
Truda tucked a cold hand into hers and smiled trustingly up at her and then at Phoenix. “As long as we’re not anywhere near Trolltiven or Thursvidur I don’t mind.”
Everyone looked at her in silence.
“Do we want to know why?” Brynn finally asked.
Truda shook her head, making her braids bounce. “Trolls and ogres live there,” she said darkly, her blue eyes wide. “Big trolls and really nasty ogres.”
“Are we there now? Would you recognise those places if you saw them?” Phoenix asked, not expecting much joy from her answer.
Truda looked around and shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ve been to Trolltiven once – or near it, anyway – but it was ages ago, so I don’t know.”
“Oh good,” Jade groaned. “Trolls. Ogres. Wonderful.”
Phoenix caught Marcus’ eye and grinned, laying a hand on his sword. Marcus inclined his head, his lips twitching into a small smile.
“We’ll keep an eye out for them then. Think you can keep us going northeast, Brynn?” Phoenix clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. He straightened with a nod. There was a brighter, more determined look on his thin face as he led them away from shelter and into the unknown.
Once away from the clearing around the hut, the vast forest swallowed the little band of travellers. Enormous pine trees towered overhead, their evergreen needles filtering weak sunlight into a thin, greenish gloom. Footfalls were muffled by snow and a thick bed of brown needles. In the cold, muted stillness, each breath sounded harsh and loud. The only other noise was the constant trickling and dripping of water – and once, in the distance, the desolate howl of a solitary wolf.
Brynn led, followed by Marcus, Jade, Truda and finally Phoenix. It was hard going. The route could have possibly been a deer path, or perhaps a track beaten to the hut by a fur trapper. Faint and torturous, it twisted around giant tree trunks and huge, grey boulders. It took all of Phoenix’s concentration just to keep his footing. The ground lay ankle-deep in snow that quickly turned slushy as the sun rose higher. Hidden beneath, moss-covered rocks and patches of ice made the path treacherous to the unwary. Truda stumbled and almost fell a dozen of times. Each time he caught her up, straining to keep her from landing face first in mud and ice.
The track led them down a narrow streambed that sliced between two high ridges. Darker and colder, the forest grew wild and ominous; full of creaking tree branches and strange shadows. A light wind sprang up high in the treetops, sounding like a thousand people whispering in the sky.
As they followed the little stream downhill, the air grew moist and very slightly warmer. At the base of a particularly steep stretch of ravine, the stream wi
dened and joined another. Now a small river, it turned directly northeast and rushed whitely over large, dark grey boulders. Every so often, Phoenix thought he could smell the faintest hint of woodsmoke but it was never strong enough to be sure.
He watched in amusement the puffs of white breath erupt from everyone’s mouths. Their heads steamed in the cold air. Inside the fur clothing he was stiflingly hot from the exercise of walking but it was too chilly to take them off. His fingers and nose were cold. He sniffed, wishing for tissues as his nose began to dribble. Irritably, he wiped it on the back of his leather sleeve and smiled. His mother would have a fit.
Phoenix looked up, intending to tell Brynn to call a rest halt, and caught sight of Jade’s expression. She was sending harried looks back over her shoulder in the direction from which they’d come. Her green eyes were intense with an anxious effort to pierce the half-light of the forest floor.
“What is it?” He tensed, hand automatically settling on his sword hilt.
She bit on her lip, hesitated then shrugged. “Not sure. I…. I just feel like we’re being followed.”
He sucked in a slow breath and deliberately released the tension in his chest. He looked about, seeking the source of her disquiet. The area appeared no different to any other section of the woods they’d passed through. The ground had levelled off a little, improving visibility. There was practically no undergrowth between the massive tree trunks. It would be almost impossible for anything or anyone to sneak up on them. Nothing that his warrior mind could see as a potential threat or ambush site presented itself; but Jade’s Elven intuition had served them well before. He’d be stupid to ignore it.
“I can’t see anything. You’re sure?”
She shook her head. “No. I just feel…edgy. I’m not even sure if it’s something behind us or in front.”
“We’d best keep moving then,” he said firmly. “Keep a sharp lookout, guys,” he addressed Marcus and Brynn in a low tone, “Jade thinks we’re being watched.”
Jade tilted her head to one side and pressed her mouth into a line. “I don’t think it’s anything right here. It’s something about ....” she waved a hand about, indicating their surroundings, “everything. I don’t know,” frustration was clear in her tone, “there’s just something not right.” She grimaced. “Sorry.”
Phoenix laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You’ve warned us, now it’s up to us to be alert. Let’s get a move on.” He glanced up at the thin blue sky far above. “I’m guessing the days will be a bit shorter if we’re further north. If you’re right, we don’t really want to be caught out in the forest at night.”
She opened her mouth as though she were going to argue with him just for the sake of it but apparently changed her mind. She shut her mouth sharply and nodded.
Phoenix felt oddly elated by that short interchange. He was getting the hang of it this leadership thing now. He just had to be firm and decisive, rather than bossy. Of course, it probably helped that he’d listened to her fears and taken them seriously. Smiling to himself, Phoenix took up his position in line. Maybe there was hope after all.
A wolf howled. It sounded close.
Moments later, another answered. Definitely closer.
“The wolves from last night?” Phoenix asked sharply. “Is that what you’re sensing?”
Jade’s knuckles were white on her staff. “Maybe? Part of it, at least. Yes, I can feel them now. There are more than twenty, this time. They’re coming at us fast. I just don’t know if that’s the only thing….” She shook her head helplessly.
“One thing at a time,” he gripped his sword hilt. “Let’s move a little faster people. Keep an eye out for shelter or, at a pinch, a big rock we can climb onto.”
They picked up the pace, stumbling over the uneven, slippery ground; trying to watch for shadowy forms in the trees as well as where their feet were going. More howls followed them then soft, sharp barks and curious whines that carried clearly in the crisp air. It sounded like the pack was communicating. Still the wolves were hidden from sight, even though their noises came from everywhere.
“There!” Jade panted, pointing off to the right. The others caught the merest flicker of movement; and another. The pack closed in.
Truda sucked in great, sobbing breaths as she struggled to keep up the gruelling pace. Time after time she slipped, held up only by Phoenix’s hand under her arm.
Lean, grey wolf bodies finally showed themselves. They slid in and out of faint patches of sunlight; sometimes nearer, sometimes further away - as though taunting their prey. All around, the barks, whines and growls continued.
Three animals on the right surged closer, almost coming within weapons reach. They snarled and growled, dashing forward then scurrying back with flattened ears and tucked in tails as sword or staff struck at them.
Brynn veered to the left, away from the sharp, white teeth snapping at his arm.
Phoenix pounded grimly on behind Truda and the others, wondering what the hell the wolves were waiting for. Why didn’t they just attack? It was almost….as if they were just herding the humans - but that made no sense at all. Wolves didn’t behave like that, did they?
Beneath their feet, the ground levelled. Ahead, the woods opened to reveal a small lake, glassily reflecting the pale blue sky. Brynn skidded to a halt at the waters’ edge, turning to cast a desperate look first at Phoenix then left and right along the gently-sloping shore. There was no sign of shelter: no rocks, no caves and no huts this time.
Twenty four wolves eased out of the shadows, sliding into a perfect half-circle around the travellers. Pink tongues dangled over wicked, pointed teeth. Lean grey legs bunched, ready to spring.
There was nowhere left to run.
CHAPTER FIVE
One more wolf padded out of the gloom to sit directly before the children. Jade drew a quick breath. It was the same grey-eyed, black wolf from last night. His ears twitched toward her and, for a second, she could have sworn those grey eyes stared right into hers. He sat before them with regal poise and, somehow, amusement on his long face; radiating power and alpha-control. It was clear the pack awaited only his command before attacking.
Phoenix slid out his sword, its metal-on-metal slither bizarrely out of place in this isolated forest. Slowly, Marcus unslung his bow and drew an arrow forth from its quiver. The black wolf began a low, almost subsonic growl. The rest of the pack took it up until Jade felt it thrum through her body. She clapped her hands over her ears, trying to shut out the sound; the sense of strangeness; the unnerving weirdness of the whole situation. It didn’t work. There was something very wrong.
“Why haven’t they attacked?” Phoenix whispered.
Jade shook her head. “I don’t know. I….I can’t think clearly. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She clung to her staff, using it to hold herself up. Her head spun with the weight of foreboding and fear.
“Can’t you put them all to sleep or something?” Phoenix urged.
Jade shook herself, trying to focus. “I’ll try.” She half-closed her eyes, attempting to keep her skittish mind on the task at hand. “Sleep”, she Commanded, pointing at the alpha wolf.
The black wolf blinked at her, opened his mouth wide in a toothy yawn and shook his head but stayed disappointingly upright.
She gasped. The others cast her puzzled looks. She shook her head. “It didn’t work. There’s something blocking me. I…I don’t think any of my spells will work!”
Phoenix cast a quick look about, pointing to where the sun hung, ominously low, behind the trees to the southwest.
“We’ll just have to think of something else, fast. It’ll be dark soon and we can’t stay here all night watching wolves. Suggestions?”
“We could head north along the lake edge,” Marcus offered. “That way we can keep watching them and they can’t outflank us.”
“Sounds good,” Phoenix agreed. He hadn’t to taken his eyes off the wolves.
Jade couldn’t think of an alternative, so she went along with the others as they began to move slowly north. The loss of magic shook her to the core. She’d tried several spells, muttering them under her breath at the oblivious wolves. Nothing worked. Deeply frightened, she trailed behind Phoenix and Brynn, bereft and lost.
As they approached the closest wolf, it eyed Phoenix, before glancing at the black wolf. The alpha jerked his chin up and gave a sharp yip. The wolf backed up, opening a gap along the lakeshore.
They were letting their prey go.
Or were they?
Just as Jade began to hope they would all back off, the pack formed into a line and began to pace alongside, picking up speed, pushing the humans to run faster but always keeping a cautious distance, just beyond swordpoint.
“They’re herding us,” Jade caught up to Phoenix, unable to keep fear out of her voice.
He nodded in reply. “I just wish we knew where. Can’t you do anything?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been trying but it seems like the further we head this direction, the worse my control over magic gets. I can barely think coherently, let alone formulate a spell correctly.” She leaned on her staff as she ran, drawing deep shuddering breaths, glancing forward. “It’s as though whatever it is we’re going towards has some way of scrambling my brain and my magic. I’m scared, Phoenix.”
“Tell me about it,” he muttered, frowning. “This is turning out to be one of the less enjoyable adventures we’ve had so far in this world.”
“How can you make jokes at a time like this?” Jade demanded, angry that he just didn’t seem to understand how dire the situation was. She had no magic!
Phoenix cast a quick, quizzical look at her as they ran. “It helps me cope. Does worrying actually fix anything?”
Unable to think of an answer, Jade dropped behind, glaring at his back.
The Hammer of Thor Page 4
