Phoenix coughed as dust rose and added to the smoke already drifting around.
He exchanged looks with Marcus. “It worked.”
“Seems that way,” the Roman agreed but there was a look his dark eyes that hinted he would remember this night forever. “I owe you my life.”
Phoenix shrugged, grimacing as the motion sent stabbing pains into his chest. “I think we’re pretty even.”
There was a pause at the two silently surveyed the scene.
“Sorry about your rope,” Phoenix said.
Marcus shrugged, still watching rocks roll away. “Easily replaced.”
“And your sword,” Phoenix added.
“Now that is going to be more difficult.”
There wasn’t much else they could really say. Now was the time for some witty quip like, “well, he took the rocky road to enlightenment” but Phoenix was too tired to summon up the energy to utter it. Come to think of it, the idea of enlightenment was probably not a Roman one, anyway. Marcus would just give him a blank look and a perfectly good pun would go to waste.
Where was Jade when he needed her?
Speaking of which....
Phoenix turned a slow circle. The sun had cleared the horizon and the last of the burning trees was dwindling into smouldering sticks. The hilltop looked like it had been hit by a bomb.
Squinting through the smoke and sunlight, he tried to work out where they were. He’d become so turned around that there was no way of telling. He thought about following the path of destruction left by the troll but they had lead the creature in circles last night and it would take hours to get back to the cave. By then the others would have left for the village.
Water glinted off to the east, through the glare: probably the same large lake they had been aiming for yesterday. Their best bet was to head in that direction with the hope of finding Jade and the others along the shoreline. It was a long shot but he couldn’t think of anything else.
Belatedly, Phoenix remembered his own resolution to be a better leader. He swung about to find Marcus gazing at him gravely.
“Any idea which way to go to find the others?”
Marcus gave him a rare, small smile. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Phoenix laughed, feeling a twinge in his abused ribs. “East then? Toward the lake.”
Marcus nodded agreeably. He slung Phoenix’s arm over his shoulder and together they staggered toward the distant lake.
The pair made their way down the steep, rocky slope they had climbed so recklessly an hour before. Neither of them commented. Already the hazards of the night began to fade into a dream. The fact they had survived was so outrageous that Phoenix began to wonder if, perhaps, one of Truda’s godly relatives was watching out for them. Weirder things had happened here - and would probably keep doing so.
It took two solid hours of walking and hobbling before they again saw a hint of water through the trees. They were utterly exhausted and it was only the fear of what might have happened to the others that kept them going. Phoenix had no memory of most of the walk. He relied on Marcus to keep them going as he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Pain shot though his ankle and chest with every step. The world beyond his feet blurred. It took all his willpower just to stay upright. If something attacked them now, they were dead.
Hearing Marcus’ sharp intake of breath, Phoenix raised his head slowly. Tall and barbarically-dressed, a dozen heavily armed men stepped out from behind the trees and encircled them. Their long, blond hair lay loose over thick fur cloaks, which were flung back to reveal rough cloth shirts, sturdy leather pants and heavy boots. There was nothing barbaric or rough about the sharpness of their swords, however. One of them stepped forward and growled what might have been a challenge or perhaps a question but it sounded like gibberish. Phoenix blinked vaguely and looked at Marcus. The Roman shook his head to show he couldn’t understand either.
The circle of long, unpleasantly pointy broadswords closed in threateningly. The leader repeated his words in a singsong voice that sounded suddenly almost familiar. Phoenix smiled dreamily. Truda had said they were in Svealand. Marcus had named the Suebian Sea. Which meant they must be in....Sweden. Knowing where they were didn’t give him the power to speak ancient Swedish, unfortunately. A sword jabbed at his chest. Slowly, he raised his hands above his head, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his ribs. Marcus did the same.
A second man came forward. He was smaller and darker than the others. He spoke to them in broken Latin.
“You will come with us.”
Phoenix blinked slowly as the world began to spin in front of his eyes.
“Are we your prisoners?” He managed to ask, also in Latin. The man nodded curtly, gesturing with his sword. Phoenix swayed on his feet. “Are we being taken to your village?” He wasn’t sure if the words came out clearly but the man nodded again. Marcus cast his companion a perplexed look.
“Oh good,” Phoenix murmured, “but I think you’ll have to carry me.” He slid to the ground, welcoming the darkness that enveloped his exhausted body and mind.
CHAPTER NINE
At the sound of male voices outside their prison, Jade drew Brynn and Truda close. She pushed them behind her and faced the door boldly, trying to hide a shiver of fear. The rough timber door flew open and a tall warrior stepped through, sword drawn. He glanced at Jade then nodded to someone and moved aside. Jade shoved her charges back against the timber wall and glared at him defiantly but the warrior ignored her.
A man stumbled through the door and sprawled on the dirt floor. Jade squinted against the light, trying to see. Two more warriors strode in, bearing a limp body between them. They dumped it unceremoniously on the floor and left, closing the door. Outside, there was a short conversation, laughter then silence.
Inside the hut the gloom was broken only by thin streams of dusty sunlight sneaking through cracks in the door and thatched roof. A sunbeam fell onto the face of one of the young men lying prone on the floor.
“Phoenix!” Jade dashed across the room and almost fell onto her unconscious companion’s chest. Tears of relief started in her eyes as she felt his heart beating strongly beneath her hands. He was alive! She turned to the other prisoner. “Marcus? Is that you too?”
“Yes.” The Roman replied, clambering to his feet to move stiffly to her side. Jade threw her arms about his strong shoulders and hugged him ruthlessly. He stayed still for a second then returned the embrace briefly before letting her go.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” she sniffed, wiping her wet cheeks.
Brynn and Truda ran up, delighted smiles on their faces. Brynn clouted Marcus on the arm with rough affection before crouching beside Phoenix. Truda smiled happily on all of them as though she had somehow arranged their reunion.
“What’s wrong with him?” Brynn asked Marcus.
“We spent all night leading the troll away from you.” The Roman boy replied. “He’s exhausted.” Fatigue roughened his voice.
“Any injuries?” Jade asked professionally. There was undoubtedly more to the tale but Marcus wasn’t one to brag and she wasn’t going to push him. Phoenix would tell them all the details when he awoke.
Marcus shook his head. “A few cuts and bruises on me. Phoenix did most of the work and took the worst hits. He was limping and I think he’s hurt his ribs.”
“Well, I’d better check while he’s unconscious then,” Jade nodded. “Brynn, bring Marcus some of that water and food the villagers gave us. Truda, get some blankets for Phoenix. I’ll get the hearth-fire going.”
Jade worked on Phoenix’s injuries, trying to clear her mind but it was difficult. Phoenix was injured and exhausted because she had been reckless and scared and had done something truly stupid. If she hadn’t been so jittery and brainless, she would have at least looked before eating those lily petals. She knew exactly what they did. If she’d just glanced at the flower before stuffing it in her mouth she wouldn’t have eate
n it at all.
She bit her lip, suddenly wondering if that were true. After all, she did know that waterlilies contained a sedative and she had been feeling overwhelmingly frightened. Would she really have refused if she’d seen what Truda was offering? Would she have had the strength to say ‘no’ when she was desperate to dull the crushing fear? It was awful to admit but she may not have: she might have let fear overcome her judgment. She might have eaten them anyway.
Shivering with self-loathing, Jade wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her tired companions.
Now they were prisoners because of her, too. This morning she’d awoken with a sick headache and guilt weighing heavily on her conscience. She’d allowed Brynn to talk her into following Phoenix’s last instructions to find the village - and regretted it as soon as they’d walked into the hamlet of scattered thatched huts. A dozen warriors had captured them, taken away all their gear and put them in this hut.
They hadn’t even had a chance to explain anything, Jade remembered indignantly. Truda had tried to speak to them but the burly men had just laughed at the young girl’s efforts. When Truda had stomped her little feet and imperiously told them she was Thor’s daughter, they had just laughed harder than ever.
It had taken Jade ten full minutes to calm Truda down after that.
She shook herself, focussing on using her powers to heal the worst of Phoenix’s hurts. Without her herb bag she couldn’t cure him totally but he would mend with a little time. Two fractured ribs; one badly sprained ankle and a broken little finger. It could have been worse but she still felt awful. When it was done, she sat back, drained. Marcus lay beside Phoenix, soundly asleep on a thin blanket. His eyes were ringed with purple-black circles, his face and hands filthy with soot. He hadn’t even bothered to remove his smoke-scented, grubby furs.
Jade stared at the two for a long moment then sighed. She turned to the youngsters and gestured them closer.
“You two didn’t sleep much either, I know.” She smiled as Truda tried to cover a yawn. “Why don’t you get some rest now? I’ve slept enough. I’ll keep watch.”
Truda nodded amicably and curled up with her back against Phoenix. Her eyes drifted closed and she was asleep in seconds. Brynn reached out and squeezed Jade’s fingers.
“It’s not your fault,” he whispered.
Jade pressed his thin hand gratefully. She didn’t trust herself to say anything. It was and she knew it. It had been pure luck that nothing awful had happened to anyone while she was under the influence of the lily; luck and Phoenix and Marcus’ skills. Next time, she mightn’t be so fortunate. Well, she resolved silently, there wouldn’t be a next time. She would never, ever do anything as dumb as that again.
*****
A voice penetrated layers of sleep and drew Phoenix slowly back from a warm, comfortable place. He groaned in protest and tried to push away a hand that stroked his forehead.
“Go ‘way, mum,” he muttered irritably. “I don’t wanna get up yet. School’s not for ages.”
There was a girlish giggle from somewhere nearby. What was a girl doing in his bedroom? Memories of the last week came flooding back: amulets; Romans; druids; Stonehenge; death; snow; wolves; giant killer troll; barbarians. Phoenix sat straight up in shock, eyes wide.
Sure enough, Jade, Truda, Brynn and Marcus were all gathered close, peering at him with varying degrees of anxiety. Well, Truda was giggling; the rest were peering. He put a hand to his head as it began thudding. It seemed like every muscle in his legs ached and his ribs felt bruised. He prodded them and wriggled his sprained ankle at the same time. Surprisingly, there were only slight twinges of pain. He felt amazingly healthy, apart from a headache and sore muscles.
“How’re you feeling?” Jade’s worried voice intruded. He stared up at her then around at the room. They were in some sort of small, windowless hut with a high, thatched roof.
“Fine. Mostly.” He replied absently. “Where are we?”
“We’re in a Svear village called Olshamarr on the edge of Lake Vatn in Sweden. They call it Svealand.” Jade replied.
Truda giggled again, covering her mouth with her hand.
Jade sighed. “What?”
“You just said Lake Lake,” Truda said, sniggering.
“But that’s what you said it was called, ‘Vatn’” Jade sighed.
“That’s because the word for ‘lake’ is ‘vatn’” Truda explained, shaking her head at Jade’s stupidity.
“Oh, good grief,” Jade moaned, dropping her head into her hands. She looked over at Truda with an expression of resigned irritation that reminded Phoenix strongly of how his mother looked at him sometimes.
“I never realised what a pain it is not to be able to speak the language,” Jade complained to him. “Truda’s the only one who can understand what the men outside are saying but she doesn’t know the Latin or Breton words for half of it, so she can’t translate correctly. Although,” she grinned and sat down on the dirt floor, forearms resting on her knees, “by the tone of their voices, they are probably not saying anything fit for small ears anyway.”
Brynn sniggered. Truda looked confused then giggled as understanding dawned.
Jade sighed, a frown pulling her slanted brows together over her nose. “The problem is, if we ever get out to see anyone, we don’t stand a chance of getting help or pleading our case to be let free. What are we going to do?”
It took Phoenix a full thirty seconds to reply as he tried to clear the last of the sleep-fog from his aching head. He was thirsty, tired, starving and bursting to go to the toilet. Now that he was awake, he remembered to he was also seriously annoyed with her for going zombie on them with the lotus flower. How the heck was he supposed to know what to do about translating an obscure ancient dialect?
“Ummmm,” he stalled, rubbing his hand over his wild, smoke-smelling hair. “Couldn’t you just....” he made a gesture in the air like a magician waving a wand, “y’know, magic us some translation ability?”
Jade shook her head. “I’ve tried everything I know but I just don’t have any spells that apply to the situation. The closest I could come was to give us all my ability to understand what trees are thinking and somehow,” she grimaced, “I don’t think that will help much.”
“No,” he snorted a laugh, “I see your point. Hang on,” he frowned, trying to remember the moments leading up to his capture. “Wasn’t there a guy who spoke Latin?”
Marcus nodded. “There was but he’s a trader to the lands south across the Suebian Sea. He was only here until yesterday. He left as we entered the village.”
“Helpful,” Phoenix muttered. “Look, I can’t think properly. I’m half-asleep, starving, thirsty and desperate for the loo.”
Jade instantly apologised. She pointed out the primitive leather slop bucket in one corner and, when he’d used it, handed him some water and the stale remains of some bread and smoked meat. The others went to sit by the door, listening to their guard’s conversations in hope of gaining something useful.
After he’d assuaged the worst of his needs, Phoenix sighed and prodded his injuries again. He cocked his head at Jade, pointing to his ribs.
“Your handiwork?”
She flushed vividly red and looked away, nodding.
“Thanks,” he was extremely grateful for the healing.
“If it hadn’t been for my stupidity,” she groaned, “you wouldn’t have been injured at all! I should have been awake to help you, not lying in a drugged out coma because I was too cowardly to face my fears!”
“Errr,” he patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, not quite knowing how to deal with her in this mood. His lingering annoyance with her bad judgement faded. “You’re not a coward, Jade and it wasn’t your fault. Besides,” he added as she glared at him, “you couldn’t have helped anyway. Didn’t Brynn tell you?”
Jade sniffed, shook her head and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve.
“Your magic wouldn’t have worked on a Tr
oll. They’re immune.” He smiled as her mouth dropped open. “I’m guessing being in the troll territory was what caused you so much grief with your magic. And that’s another thing: those wolves obviously knew where they were pushing us.” He frowned at the memory. “If we ever see them again…”
“You mean the wolves herded us into the troll’s territory deliberately?” Jade blinked at him in astonishment. “But wolves aren’t that smart. I mean, I knew they were driving us somewhere but I thought they were just...I don’t know...I mean, why didn’t they just kill us and eat us? Why go to so much trouble?”
“Don’t ask me,” Phoenix shrugged. “There was something weird about that big black one. It seemed to me like he wanted us dead but didn’t want to do the deed himself. Maybe they were spies for Feng Zhudai? Who knows?”
Jade bit her lip then replied but with a note of uncertainty in her voice. “No. My spell - he can’t find us here, remember? Anyway, forget the wolves. The point is: I still shouldn’t have been stupid enough to eat that lily. I let you down. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you both.”
Phoenix grimaced and held up his hands. “OK, OK. You shouldn’t have eaten the flower. You made a mistake. Welcome to the real world – sort of. Build a bridge and get over it, Jade. We don’t have time for wallowing in self-pity.” He knew he was being harsh but there really wasn’t any room here for this sort of silliness. They needed Jade to be her usual capable self if they were going to survive.
For a moment he thought she was going to lash out at him in anger. Her fists clenched at her sides and her jaw clamped shut. Her brilliant green eyes flashed fire and he wondered if she would do magic on him without thinking.
“Hey,” he warned, “don’t get angry at me for telling you a truth you already knew. Remember the amulets? We have to finish this level and three more if you want to get home. Learn from it and move on, that’s my motto.” Some of the fire went out of her face, so he continued more quietly, “Let’s concentrate on getting out of this village and on our way.”
The Hammer of Thor Page 8
