A sudden sense of danger overwhelmed Robbie and sweat began to bead on his brow. He couldn’t explain why he felt the way he did or what it was, except that something terrible was approaching from an unexpected source. The soldiers shrieked, threw down their weapons and fled. The Healer gave a loud cry and stumbled back. Blue flame shot from his hand, over and over into the trees. Terror twisted his face as he threw up his arms to shield himself from whatever it was.
Dougray clenched his fist. ‘This is not good.’
Belle squinted. ‘What is it? Why does it not die?’
Robbie held his breath. Whatever it was, even a magician as mighty as Navarre was terrified of it. Then Robbie caught a glimpse of something inky black and immense as it appeared at the edge of the trees. A shapeless black fog glided into the open. Even from where he stood, Robbie sensed dark magic permeating from it like light from the sun—and tremendous evil!
Powerless, the Sylph Queen also struggled to escape her chains. Belle slipped her sword from its sheath and paced along the edge of the abyss. ‘It is the Shadow Beast! Morgranus! Spirit of Morgran himself!’
She snarled the hateful name. Robbie glanced at her, at the ferocity in her eyes as she stared at the demon with loathing. It was Navarre’s doom!
Belle stopped pacing. Her eyes mirrored horror and disbelief. Robbie glanced back at the Healer as he stumbled back and collapsed. His sword tumbled from his hand and with a terrible scream, he lifted his arms to shield himself from the advancing horror. Robbie held his breath. Tears pricked his eyes.
Then a strange thing occurred. A dozen different shapes inside Morgranus’s cloudy shape, of people and animals it must have absorbed, began to writhe. Robbie recognised soldiers and horses among its victims, souls lost within its roiling cloud of blackness. Grotesque, elongated faces with distorted mouths open wide as if stretched with elastic, frozen in screams of agony, appeared and then vanished back into Morgranus’s being.
As if displeased with them all, the demon became shapeless once more. Flailing limbs with grasping hands appeared from its midst, as if trying to escape the hellish prison in which they were trapped. Navarre lunged for his sword, but the demon glided forward with surprising speed. With a piercing scream, it descended upon the Healer. For a few moments, his thrashing arms and legs were visible and then there was nothing—except the blackness of Morgranus!
Belle grasped Robbie’s arm. ‘I cannot bear to look any longer! It is too terrible. Let us hurry away from here!’
Dazed, he hastened after Belle and his brother into the grassland. Once Robbie looked back and was startled to see Navarre standing alone at the edge of the gulf, staring after them. There was no sign of Morgranus anywhere. Robbie halted, his hopes lifting.
‘Look!’ Belle and Dougray halted and turned at the cry of his voice. Robbie pointed to the Healer. ‘Navarre’s all right after all!’
Yet there was something odd about him, Robbie later recalled. He just stood staring at them with a blank expression. Then he gazed down at the void before his feet, as if contemplating how he could cross to go to them. There was no sign of Tassie, the emerald cat. But then Navarre turned and stalked back among the trees.
Belle voiced her concerns. ‘What a blank, lost expression he had. And he did not wave in farewell.’
Dougray grunted in disgust. ‘That’s because it’s not Navarre! It’s that demon Morgranus!’
The revelation shook Robbie. ‘You’re right. Did you notice how it kept changing all the time into all those other people and creatures? It must have consumed them at some point. Now it’s Navarre!’
Belle grasped his arm. ‘Let us leave before it discovers a way to cross the abyss and come after us!’
Robbie sensed sadness and anger in Belle as she turned and sprinted away. Ahead, he noticed dark, mushroom clouds forming over the grasslands as he hurried after her.
‘Another storm’s brewing,’ he muttered to himself.
The land before them appeared bleak beneath the slate-grey sky that hung over the top of it. He wasn’t looking forward to travelling through another storm into unfamiliar territory. Sheets of grey, falling rain in the distance made him groan and sigh. The grasslands looked sodden and cold, a miserable land filled with tall, yellow grass and far-flung rocks. Hills, too, lifted up from their midst as well as stands of deadwood consumed long ago by the rot.
Images of Navarre and Morgranus haunted Robbie for a long time. Was the demon the only one of its kind, or were there others out there hunting them? Grasping his cloak tighter about himself, he started to jog after Belle and his brother over the inhospitable ground.
Chapter 10
A Close Call
Before long, a steady, murky drizzle had overtaken them. Hoods went up and cloaks clutched even tighter to keep out the cold. Robbie had no heart for conversation as he marched; thinking was painful. Memories ebbed and flowed through his thoughts. The future troubled him. It was a hazy shadow always present out of the corner of his eye. A haunting of something he knew he had to do, that no one else could. It waited in the darkness, in the future. He was tempted to scream at it, to command it to leave him alone. But he knew it wouldn’t until he completed the task the Morning Star had asked of him. It was still his to accept or refuse.
His thoughts drifted to the three women who had been important to him. Thinking of Filligreen helped him extinguish the loneliness of the march. He journeyed for her, for Sojourn and for his mother. Their faces, imprinted on his mind, gave his legs the impetus to move when all he wanted to do was lie down and quit.
His thoughts drifted to Twendlemark, too. What could they expect to find there? Morgran was relentless and would never cease tracking them. Like the others, Robbie was weary of running and hiding, and sick at heart. He imagined he’d somehow grown roots in every place he’d visited. Each time he had to leave they were ripped away from the friendships he’d formed. And it hurt! He wasn’t certain all of his soul was intact anymore. Perhaps it was his destiny to leave behind a part of himself. That didn’t make leaving any easier.
The sun slanted westward. The rain stopped and the clouds began to disperse. Belle halted, threw back her hood and turned to look at him and Dougray.
‘We have been walking for hours without a rest and soon it will be dark. Maybe we can stop at those rocks.’
Robbie peered ahead at the cluster of grey shapes huddled in the distance. Dougray cleared his throat. ‘Maybe we should approach cautiously. Remember what Navarre said about soldiers being everywhere.’
She stared at the rocks. ‘I have not seen any.’
‘It doesn’t mean they aren’t there.’
Belle fingered her long plait in silence. Then she faced them with a sombre, tired expression, flinging her plait over her shoulder. ‘Let us creep quietly through the grass and circle around.’
Crouching, they headed towards the rocks through the long grass, watching for tell-tale signs of movement and listening for sounds. Dougray motioned to him to scout around. Robbie circled to the left. He hadn’t gone far when something glued his boots to the spot. There was a movement in the tall grass. Staring in the direction, he held his breath.
Then they appeared, a large platoon of soldiers, bristling with iron-tipped lances marching towards Wyrm Wood. They were some distance from the rocks, but they moved with purpose. Robbie climbed a little higher to get a better look at them, careful to keep out of sight. Alone on the lee-side, he was staring at the silent procession when a handful of soldiers branched off and began trotting towards the rocks. They were going to search them. He stumbled back into the shadows, scraping his arm, his heart pounding in his chest.
Clambering down, he hurried to locate Dougray and Belle. He spotted them as they removed their bags and he hastened towards them.
‘Soldiers heading this way!’ His voice hissed with urgency. They had minutes to spare.
Bags on shoulders, they slipped into the long grass and hurried away from the rocks as fast as
their legs could carry them. Robbie fell into a hollow of water and ducked down behind the tall grass. Dougray and Belle slid in beside him. To flee now would only cause the grass to sway with their movements. It would not only alert the soldiers to their whereabouts, but it would bring the whole platoon after them. They would wait it out instead.
In silence they crouched, listening. Belle and Dougray clutched their swords. There was the faint sound of boots scraping on rocks and a hurried command. Robbie kept still and imagined they were invisible, hidden in the long grass.
Agonising long minutes passed before Belle turned and looked at them. She let out a long breath and blinked several times. Then she raised herself a fraction and peered in the direction of the rocks. At any moment, Robbie expected a shout to announce their discovery.
Morning Star, hide us from their eyes.
No shout came. No warning cry.
Nothing.
Time seemed in no hurry to move on. Then Belle motioned with her hand. They climbed out of the bog with some difficulty and ran in a crouching shamble in the opposite direction to which the soldiers were headed. Belle was making for a stand of trees in the distance. Just before he plunged beneath their cover, Robbie threw a quick glance over his shoulder. There was no sign of pursuit or the soldiers anywhere. Exhausted, he slumped against the rough trunk of a tree to catch his breath. Red-faced, Dougray wilted beside him, gasping and rubbing his leg, damp still from the bog. Belle lowered her bag but remained standing, looking back through the trees. Then she sank to the ground beside them.
After a few mouthfuls from his flask, Dougray packed it away and looked at Belle. ‘It’s almost dark. We should try and locate a place to make camp. Somewhere dry if we can.’
Belle struggled to her feet and picked up her bag. Even she looked weary. ‘I do not want to stay out here tonight. Let us keep moving till we find somewhere.’
Dougray clambered to his feet and peered at the sky. ‘Looks like more rain.’
In the back of Robbie’s mind, the returning foul weather meant an early nightfall. That could work against them if they didn’t find someplace warm to camp. Just then, Navarre’s words came to mind.
Give recognition to him and he will make smooth, straight paths for your feet.
Feeling utterly miserable in his wet clothes, he let out a long breath.
Help us find a dry, safe place soon.
Afternoon shadows deepened and grew cold as they crept through the forest. Thunder rumbled overhead with the return of another storm. The smell of rain filled the air. Robbie had lost count of how many storms they’d weathered since leaving the farm. Then, to make it even more unbearable, the wind picked up and hurled leaves and dust at them. Spots of icy rain began to fall.
Lifting his hood, Robbie shivered in his damp clothes, yet he had a strange sense of peace as he staggered after the others. Hiding in the bog had brought on a chill that wouldn’t be shaken without shelter and a warm fire. He didn’t want to let the others down, so he kept quiet about it. His head drooped as he stumbled on in silent misery.
Chapter 11
Howls of Pursuit
Belle halted and raised her hand. ‘There is something there.’
The dim outline of a small hut appeared through the trees. Robbie’s jaw dropped. It was odd seeing it in the forest when they’d seen no sign of people in days.
Dougray grasped Belle’s arm. ‘It could be a trap.’
A knife slipped from her belt into her hand. ‘I will go and see. Stay here and keep watch.’
She crept forward like a shade, almost invisible among the shadowy foliage. Robbie tried to focus on her as she stole around to the back of the house. A few minutes later, he glanced up with a start. She was standing in front of him. At first, he thought it was a shade until she spoke and grasped his cold hand in hers. No, she was flesh and blood.
‘Come on, Robbie. You are exhausted.’
Dougray glanced at him. ‘We need to get you inside, out of the rain.’
‘I’m all right,’ he objected.
His words went unheard as Belle led him towards the house. With the coming of dusk, the margins of the forest had deepened and shadows grew murky. Still holding his hand, she guided him as one might a sightless person and he, as a lamb walking to its shearers, followed.
As they neared the house, it was clear no one had lived there for many months, perhaps even years. Dark and boarded up, the house crouched in the clearing, silent and lonely. Robbie started at the large green eye painted across the door. Everyone knew what that meant in Wyfrenvale, but he didn’t expect to see Morgran’s hateful mark so far away. He stared at the almond-shape with the painted green circle inside with loathing. It represented the all-seeing eye of Morgran. Whoever had lived inside had long been evicted or killed and their family stripped of possessions. It was a cruel deterrent to others, but it worked!
Just as a light drizzle started again, Dougray hurried forward and yanked the boards off the door. A kick from his boot almost took it off its hinges. They trundled inside and swung the door shut. Ruin met Robbie’s eyes as he glanced around the small room, once a kitchen. Broken furniture and crockery lay strewn across the floor. Everywhere dust lay thick and undisturbed. A second room revealed a similar scene.
Robbie dumped his bag against a wall and helped Belle and his brother clear some floor space for them to use. A loud crash of thunder made him jump. The patter of rain on the shingled roof grew loud and heavy. He was grateful they had discovered the hut.
Dougray walked over to the stone fireplace. ‘Sorry, no fires tonight! This is probably blocked anyway with leaves and a fire would only smoke us out. At least we’re dry in here.’
Unable to remain standing any longer, Robbie collapsed onto the floor beside his bag. Dougray limped over and sat down beside him.
‘You need some sleep.’
Robbie raised his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms about them. He placed his head back against the wall. ‘I could sleep for a week.’
His brother nodded. ‘Guess we should eat something first.’
At the mention of food, Belle joined them. Dougray unpacked the bread, cheese, nuts and double-baked travellers’ biscuits from his bag and passed them around. The bread was stale, but Robbie was so hungry, he didn’t care. He wolfed his meal down. Images of the Shadow Beast still haunted him and he looked at Belle as she packed her food away.
‘What is Morgranus, Belle? What’s happened to Navarre?’
She didn’t answer straight away, but continued to pack away the parcel of remaining food. Then she sat beside him.
‘There is a legend which tells that Darkness can inhabit a man or a woman and can strip away their souls till nothing is left. Then it seeks a new host. It ever seeks those whom it can best use to further its own evil goals—people with innate power. It always prowls, hunting for that perfect host. Navarre has become its new body. It is an ancient evil that cannot be destroyed by human weapons. The only one who can destroy the Morgranus is Rafem! It is the first step to destroying the Dark Lord himself.’
Still thinking about Belle’s words, Robbie wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. A moment later, he was fast asleep on the dusty floor.
Fed, well rested and dry after spending the night in the hut, they left early next morning and headed northeast. Out in front, Belle kept the lopsided mountain before her. She walked with head erect, one hand resting on the hilt of her throwing knife. Robbie plodded in silence behind her. His brother limped at the rear, face grim and full of concentration.
The air was crisp and cool, ideal for travelling, and Robbie was eager to reach Twendlemark by day’s end. Yesterday’s dull-edged sense of loss and regret had faded a little from his thoughts and the chill in his body luckily hadn’t progressed to a fever.
At midday, they passed through a meadow filled with short, purple wildflowers. It was like walking on a floral carpet. Whirling about in the midst like a little girl, Belle held out her arms in
the warm sun and laughed.
‘What a wonderful sight! Smell the sweet air!’
Ever the pessimist, Dougray growled. ‘We should get under cover, Belle. It’s too open here.’
Her arms lowered to her side and the smile faded. ‘You are right. Let us head for those trees.’ She pointed to a nearby grove of trees.
Soon they rested beneath them, near a stream where river gums straddled its banks. In the midst rose a cluster of tall, snowy lilies with tiny trumpet heads. A shaft of golden sunlight filtered through the thin canopy and made them glow. Robbie took a deep breath, his eyes moistening at the sight. Pockets of beauty still existed, but not for him. It would all end as Time culminated with Morgran’s demise. The haunting task set by the Morning Star prodded at the back of his mind as if to say, don’t forget about me. As if he could.
Belle hefted her bag across her shoulder. His brother struggled to his feet. It was time to leave. Robbie wiped away the light sheen of sweat that coated his face and they headed away from the trees. A few hours later, he slowed his pace so that Dougray could catch up to him. His brother’s limp had made it difficult to travel with any great speed.
‘I’m sorry about how things have turned out for you. I know you and Filligreen were...you know—’ Dougray paused in awkward silence.
Robbie grinned. ‘It’s not what you think. Not like you and—’ he lowered his voice to a whisper and nodded towards Belle.
Dougray’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. ‘What? You think—Belle and I? You great goat!’ He laughed. ‘I could wallop you for thinking such a daft thing except you’re my brother. Belle’s been teaching me to fight!’
Robbie’s face flooded with heat. ‘Oh...sorry Dougray. You were spending so much time together, I naturally thought you and Belle...liked each other.’
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