Danielle was standing amid the flames in the boat. He could see her shouting something he could not hear. The current was drawing them toward the wall of fire and they were barely a dozen yards away now—close enough to feel the heat on his face. Then she dived into the water and surfaced in front of him. James felt her arms close round him, felt her warmth pressed against him, but it wasn’t enough to keep the darkness at bay and he slipped from consciousness.
***
Trying not to panic, Danielle cradled James’ head above the water with her left arm and struck out for the tree-lined spit on the opposite side of the river from the tower. She could see the small boat being rowed in their direction on the other side of the flames that were leaping up on the water and she knew well enough James and her were a sitting target in the light they gave to the men on the tower. She coughed, trying to get the smell of grease and smoke out of her throat, and swum as hard as she could for the relative safety of the white fog and darkness beyond. If they could just get into the fog and then to the forest, they could buy some time before Eden and help arrived.
The druids in the boat behind her began to argue. Danielle glanced back and found something to be relieved about. The firewall had drifted down river and forced the men to quickly turn their vessel round or be caught in the approaching flames.
However, The twang of another volley of fire-arrows from the top of the distant tower sent her on her way again with all haste and it was not until the current had carried them into the foggy darkness that she dared slow again. The shape of the tree-line spit laid a short way ahead but she felt anything but safe.
Stopping for a moment to catch her breath and rest her aching arms and legs she treaded water and listened. The only noise was her laboured breathing and the very distant sound of the men arguing in the boat. The rain of arrows had stopped, which was a relief, but she still did not understand why the birds had not been after her. And that bothered her greatly.
James groaned and stiffened, waking in her grip. Danielle shushed him.
“We’re safe. I’m going to get you to shore.”
“You harmed?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
She checked his wounded shoulder and he grimaced and tensed when her searching hand touched the quarrel still lodged in there. It had punched right through and would be easier to remove because of this. But it was clear that his pain was terrible. She had to get him help as quickly as possible. “Try to relax.”
He caught her hand. “You go on. Hide in the woods and wait for Eden. I’ll follow. And stay quiet.”
“It’s better if we stay together,” she whispered.
“Danielle, will you just bloody well do as you are told. It’s you they want, and I suspect we have not much time,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
Danielle had heard it too, the flutter of wings out in the fog; the birds were back. “All the more reason to stay together. Now help me.”
He didn’t resist, there was no time, but she felt his displeasure as they struck out again as quickly as they dared, trying to stay as quiet as possible and keep a good ear to the fog around them.
To Danielle’s puzzlement the birds seemed to be getting further away but she still prayed Eden and his men were not too far away.
They reached the shallows and quickly waded out of the cold water and up the pebbly shoreline. Ahead the forest was almost pitch black but it meant relative safety.
Suddenly a raucous squawk came from a nearby tree and the quiet was shattered as birds seemed to take to the air from all directions.
“Go!” James shouted.
Danielle grabbed his hand and bolted for the trees. The air above their heads was alive with beating wings and the hideous song of crows. A large black crow materialised out of the fog and buried its claws in her wet hair. Its heavy wings beat the air around her face as she ripped it free and tossed it aside before running on toward the forest. Two more birds swooping out of the darkness and latched onto her back and a third went for her head again. The attack was fierce and she tripped on a rock and fell with a cry. James struck the birds off her back and head, pulled her back to her feet and they bolted up the grassy riverbank. Danielle ducked as a bird swooped overhead, then lashed out as another tried to attack her wet hair again.
James had picked up a broken branch and was swinging wildly with his good arm, trying to keep their pursuers at bay. “The woods! Get into the woods,” he urged.
The yawning blackness ahead of them wasn’t exactly inviting, but Danielle darted in all the same. A crow followed her, its shriek deafening beside her ear. Then her left foot caught on an unseen root and she landed amid a tuft of ferns and moss-covered rocks. She lay there catching her breath and virtually blind in the gloom. To her surprise the flutter of wings and squawks were retreating again.
“Danielle?” James’ voice came softly from somewhere nearby. Apart from the dark grey fog beyond the trees at the edge of the woods it was pitch black and ominously quiet.
“Over here.”
The undergrowth rustled and he crouched beside her.
“You all right?”
“I think so.” His hands were cold and wet but it was comfort to have him close. She was also worried about his shoulder. She could hear the pain it was causing him in the stiffness in his voice. But there was nothing they could do about that right now. “What are we going to do?”
“Eden can’t be too far away. We have to keep going. Quickly, before they know where we’ve gone.”
They got up and moved slowly forward. James led the way, carefully picking his way between the trees and through the ferny undergrowth in the near pitch darkness. Danielle held onto his hand and followed slightly behind. She could hear the river to their left, something she was grateful for, since it covered the sound of their passing. But it was the utter lack of any other sound that bothered her.
“Why do they keep retreating,” she whispered after a few minutes.
“I don’t know. But I don’t like it.”
His breath was laboured and the sticky wetness on his hand, which she knew to be blood from the wound in his shoulder, was growing. “Perhaps we should hide and wait for Eden?”
She had whispered the suggestion in the softest of tone, but she might as well have shouted it for the way James responded. He froze and put a hand over her mouth. She guessed he was listening. Then she heard it too, a stick snap somewhere close. Then another crack broke the quiet to their right.
“They’re stalking us,” he whispered next to her ear. “I think the crows were a diversion. We’re going to make a run for it. Stay close. If we become separated, follow the river back towards the ship.”
Her heart raced and she squeezed James’ hand, letting him know that she understood and was ready.
His other hand found hers and he put the sturdy stick he’d used to fight off the crows into it. He said nothing but the gesture made her wonder just how bad his wound was or if he was planning something he didn’t want her to know about. But this wasn’t a time for talk and when he quickly rose and bolted, she rose and ran too. The forest seemed intent on preventing their escape for branches and vines clawed at their wet clothing, while the thick ferns and leaf-strewn ground crunched loudly under foot.
Danielle swore as she lost the stick, and ran harder. Their own heavy tread had been joined with a vengeance by hurried footfalls on all sides. There were no shouts only men crashing through the undergrowth with abandonment. She wished they still had James’ sword, or even the bloody stick. There certainly wasn’t time to look for another one, and even if there were, wood on sharpened steel wouldn’t exactly be a fair contest.
James was beginning to lag. “Come on,” Dee said, taking the lead. “Eden! Eden! Help, help!”
Danielle’s foot caught on something in the dark and the next she knew they were tumbling down a small embankment. The mat of dead leaves beneath the trees softened the fall. Danielle jumped back to her feet and tried to drag J
ames up. He shoved her hand off and hissed at her to keep going.
Three flashes of green light lit the foggy wood. For a moment Danielle saw at least ten robed men. They were approaching between the tree trunks from all sides, swords drawn and caution in their step. Then they dissolved into the darkness again.
“Best you don’t resist, madam. There is nowhere to run,” a voice said from of the darkness behind her. She turned to face the man who had spoken. He was close and she froze as cold steel touched her neck.
“Get them back to the boat. Quickly.”
She heard swords being sheathed then two men grabbed her arms and pushed her forward. She could smell the sulphur on their robes. Others were dragging James up off the ground. She could see their dark outlines in the gloom. James groaned with pain and offered no resistance.
“Leave him. He’s hurt. He can do you no harm,” she said.
“Be quiet.”
Someone strong grabbed her around the waist with one arm and lifted her off the ground. The man’s other hand closed over her mouth. She tried to bite it and attempted to scream in the hope Eden would hear her but the man grabbed her chin and locked her jaw closed. Danielle stopped struggling and tried to calm herself, well aware that panic was as much an enemy as the man who held her.
There was lantern light a short way ahead through the fog.
A few more yards and they emerged from the woods. Four robed figures were standing beside a dinghy at the edge of the river. One came forward with the lantern and held it up so he could see her face. His features were hard and gaunt and spoke of a calm iron will and perhaps that the night had not exactly gone as he had hoped. Whether he was the beast who had ordered the attack on the Arkaelyus or not she had no idea but she spat at him all the same.
He chuckled at her defiance and pointed at James. “Kill him and tie her and get her up to the altar. We are running out of time.”
James was dropped into the long grass. He groaned and tried to rise only to be kicked viciously in the side. One of the druids pulled a dagger from his belt.
“No! Please, wait. He has nothing to do with this. Let him go! Please,” Danielle pleaded.
A hand clapped over her mouth again and she was forced to the ground. She struggled frantically as her arms were wrenched behind her. No one was listening and through hot, blinding tears she watched the druid with the dagger take a hand full of James’ hair, pull his head back and place the blade against her fiancé’s throat.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Eden was running. He could hear Danielle’s terror filled cries and the thump of what sounded like someone being repeatedly kicked somewhere ahead in the fog. Jeffery, Thomas, Blukus, Matthews and Harris were with him, their armour jingling quietly and the grass rushing past their boots as they moved like shadows either side of him. The soldier in him screamed caution. They were running blind into an unknown terrain against an enemy of unknown numbers. His heart was saying the opposite; this was his sister and he was going to kill the bastard swine that were hurting her.
Seeing the glow of a lantern and the first hint of men in the fog ahead he tightened his grip on his heavy sword and prepared to swing. One of Danielle’s assailants happened to look up and saw them. He shouted a warning, but Eden and his men were already on the close-knit group of druids. Eden dispatched two robed bastards in quick succession before turning on several men who had sprung forward and grabbed Danielle. They were trying to drag her, kicking and screaming, towards a boat waiting at the water’s edge. Ignoring the slaughter his men were inflicting around him he bolted after Danielle. He belted one man’s sword aside and took the head from the shoulders of the other with an upward stroke. The disarmed enemy uttered several words, shoved Danielle towards him and vanished in a flash of green light. Much to Eden’s bafflement, the men sitting at the oars also dissolved in a green flash rather than face him. Then all around him there were more green flashes that lit the night and beating wings replaced clashing swords.
“Bloody cowards,” Jeffery shouted after them.
***
For an instant, as the green light illuminated the area, Danielle had seen James lying on the grassy riverbank. Shivering against the cold and fearing the worst, she pushed past her brother, who had just helped her to her feet and asked if she was all right, and went to her fiancé’s side. Sir Thomas had retrieved the lantern and was holding it up as Sir Blukus bent his ear to James’ mouth.
“Is he alive?” Danielle asked.
“Aye, Milady. Just unconscious.”
Eden slipped his long coat over her shoulders and she stood and hugged him gratefully. The arrow was still protruding from James’ shoulder and the sight of it, and his blood soaked sleeve was more than she could bear.
“Best we get this out of him before he comes round,” Thomas said.
These men were like brothers to Danielle, and as hardened warriors she trusted them to know what was best for James.
Eden agreed. “Get a fire lit. Out of sight of the river. We’ll do it here. Everyone else all right?” The rest of his men were emerging out of the darkness, sheathing swords, their chest’s heaving and their breath adding to the fog. They all answered in the affirmative.
“I want a watch set. When these bastards come back I want to be ready.”
Danielle went to follow the two knights who were carrying James into the woods. Thomas was leading the way with the lantern, but Eden drew her up with a hand that was firmer than it need be. “Who are these scoundrels?”
“This is probably not the best place to talk, Milord,” she said curtly. He should have known better than to ask just now.
“They turned into fucking crows, Dee, and we all saw the madness that was unleashed on the oarsmen aboard the Arkaelyus. I killed Mr Frazer and Mr Wooklis.” He snorted, and shook his head. “Who won the last game of chess between you three, because there’ll be no more?”
Danielle didn’t need to hear this. The crew of the Arkaelyus was like an extended family. “I am sorry, Eden, but what am I supposed to say?” She was conscious that his men were listening. Not that she doubted their loyalty but Joseph had sworn them to secrecy on this matter.
“Is this the work of the bastard who violated your chamber and person this night? You sure he is not working with Fren?”
“Eden!”
“No. No more secrets. My men saved your life, they have a right to know the truth.”
Danielle relented. Perhaps the truth would be less damaging than the rumours all this was going to provoke. “No. These were Larniusian druids; Fren’s kin. Cargius is a Kathiusian Druid”
“So he says. It looks to me like we rowed into a fucking trap? You sure this whole bloody debacle wasn’t Fren again?”
“Eden, will you please stop shouting and calm yourself.”
She tried to take his hands but he pulled free.
“They attacked the Arkaelyus on the Illandia not thirty miles from the palace, Danielle. More than one hundred men dead, and ninety of those, we slaughtered ourselves, so do not tell me to calm down.”
“Then we have nothing to say,” she said firmly before turning to follow the four knights who were trudging into the woods. She rubbed her arms against the cold and hurried her step to catch up. A short way ahead Thomas had started a small fire using the flame from the lantern, and was still blowing on it as she crouched down to warm her hands.
Jeffery crouched down beside her. “Don’t you mind that grumpy bastard, he’s just worried about ya’, Milady.”
Danielle thanked him for his kindness. With the fire and the lantern providing light and warmth Danielle watched as Thomas and Blukus turned their attention to James’ shoulder.
“You sure you’re not harmed, Milady?” Jeffery asked. Danielle knew he was trying to divert her attention. It was the sort of kindness she expected from these men.
Old Sir Michael arrived with his arms full of wood. He offered her a smile as he crouched down and began to build up the fire. “He’ll
be fine, Milady, took him clean through. It’ll heal up nice.”
Danielle hoped so. Both ends of the arrow had been snapped off and now Thomas was cutting away James’ wet shirt.
The sight of his blood forced Danielle to avert her eyes; she thought of all that they had lost this night and understood Eden’s anger well enough. Not that she doubted what had happened in her chamber and the necessity of this journey.
“Looks worse than it is, Milady,” Thomas said.
Jeffery offered her a flask. She shook her head. Cold or not, the notoriously strong liquor these men drank would dull her faculties more than they already were and as much as the idea was tempting, she knew it would be foolish.
Jeffery took a sip and then tossed the flask over to Blukus, who poured the liquor over both sides of the wound on James’ shoulder. James stirred as this was done and then went tense as a drawn bowstring and moaned as Thomas slowly drew the shaft out of his shoulder with deft hands. Danielle had to look away, the bile rising in her throat.
“Did you say they were druids back there, Milady?” It was Michael who asked, his kind blue eyes found hers as he fed more wood onto the fire.” The old knight had been her brother’s sword master, and they both considered him as close as an uncle. He was also a bit of a scholar in his own right, having taught at the master’s hall in Illandia in his earlier years.
Danielle nodded. “You’ve likely heard about the dream I had on the eve of the tourney?”
“Heard all sorts of strange tales, Milady.”
“Aye, including ones about druids,” Thomas added, glancing over the fire at her. “Though nothing about men turning into crows. I thought such things were reserved from the tales of wet nurses.”
“Or Michael’s stories,” Jeffery said, provoking amused smiles among the men at the fire.
Even Danielle smiled for a moment. Michael was an infamous storyteller. When the mirth had passed, she said, “It seems there might be some truth in them after all.”
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