Maig's Hand

by Phillip Henderson

  “They will hear this lot coming a mile away,” Baryon insisted.

  “Hush! All of you,” Naratha said. It was the first time Faith had seen the man frown. He seemed to be trying to think this through and their bickering was a distraction he could do without. He considered them all and then walked over to the fireplace, knelt and tapped out his pipe, saying after a short silence. “One would expect the blood ritual would occupy their senses and they’d trust to the wards to protect them, particularly if they think they have gotten away as cleanly as they have. So they may not sense us coming until it is too late.”

  Faith was waiting with bated breath as the old white haired Druid got back to his feet and returned to where they were gathered.

  “Please sir, I would be willing to lead,” Faith said.

  “I would happily second the General,” Lord Colita said, stepping forward.

  “I will add my sword,” James said next.

  Naratha’s kind blue eyes settled on him and then moved to Faith and the aged knight. They seemed to measure them. “And die if there is need, for if we do this, victory will not be won cheaply. And if it goes against us, the end will be quick and bloody.”

  “I think we all know what Danielle means to our chance to defeat Lord Kane,” Faith said as her answer to his fears.

  The old Druid nodded. “So be it then. Lord Leefton, Lord Colita, I’ll need several hundred of your best men; men who are not afraid to die this night and a guide who can get us through the tunnels at speed. It is not a place I wish to dwell in and dawn is almost upon us.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Danielle knew she was running out of time to engineer an escape. They had just emerged from the tunnel into a dark foggy wood and the damp air had that pre-dawn chill to it. It couldn’t have been more than an hour or so before the sky would begin to lighten and she knew they intended to kill Cargius and her before the first rays of the morning sun touched the horizon.

  “We walk from here,” Keira said, dismounting.

  The horses were skittish and unsettled as the rest of the company followed the priestess’ lead. Danielle could feel their fear as keenly as her own. There was an evil in these woods as there had been in the catacombs, only this one was waiting for her.

  “Hurry yourselves,” Keira said, her voice slightly hushed. She snatched a torch from one of the men and led the way into the dark foggy forest of towering redwoods and pines. The men began to follow, their footfalls quiet against the mat of damp pine needles. No one spoke.

  Lord Mason slipped a noose around Danielle’s neck and gave her a shove forward. It was hard not to notice the dour expressions on the torch-lit faces around her, and the air of reverence that had come over the party.

  Danielle took in her surroundings as she walked. The towering trees suggested they had emerged from the tunnel either on the south or western side of the vast Lake of Mist. Both were remote and ancient woodlands. She suspected the south was more likely given the uneven and steep terrain, which meant they were at the northern most tip of the vast Eastern Mountains that ran the length of Arkaelyon’s border with the Vafusolum Empire. She was actually in her father’s realm, but no one would ever find her here because of its remoteness. A point she was all too conscious of.

  But what could she do to save herself and Cargius, with a noose around her neck and her wrists bound? Her wounds and injuries had stolen much of her strength and she had no idea of direction. To make matters worse her fear was building with every step and with it a growing sense of panic. Lea, who was walking nearby, seemed to sense as much and approached. Her broken nose, once so petite, was now swollen and bruised. Black bruises had formed under her eyes. Together it made her cruel grin even more ugly than usual.

  “I’m going to take your head when our priestess is done with you,” the girl whispered. “Your good brother wants it. You see, after his coronation he’s going to have it stuck on a pike and displayed above Illandia’s main gate along with your father’s, brothers’, and all those nobles loyal to your cause. Oh, and of course, your fiancé. Just thought you’d like to know that.”

  Danielle kept her eyes forward and ignored the young woman’s goading and soon enough Keira glanced back at them and told Lea to hold her tongue and remember where they were and who’s presence they were entering.

  The priestess made no mention of a name, but the oppressive evil that permeated from the surrounding woods had reminded Danielle of her dream. Maig was here; she could feel it. She wasn’t the only one either, for even the elders were looking sideways from time to time with an air of foreboding.

  A hand shoved her forward. “Come on, hurry yourself,” Mason hissed at her.

  Danielle forced herself to comply though she felt weak at the knees. To do otherwise would only provoke trouble. That’s when she sensed Cargius’ presence up ahead. It gave her spirit a slight lift. At least she wasn’t alone and despite him being a captive like her she was sure he would have some sort of plan, some way of getting them out of this predicament.

  They reached the top of a wooded ridge and began down the other side, ducking under low branches with fern fronds brushing past their legs. The sound of men chanting came to them from the impenetrable gloom somewhere ahead of their flickering torches. It was distant to start with, but soon enough the words were recognisable as an incantation. Blood was being mentioned in every sentence and it was not long before she noticed the glow of a bonfire a short way ahead in the dark woods.

  Despite the cool night air, Danielle’s skin prickled with sweat and by the time she was pulled to a stop with a hard jerk of the noose a short way from where the bonfire burned in a small clearing and made to sit down beside Cargius, she was trembling from fear.

  Cargius had his eyes closed and did not acknowledge her. She waited until no one was watching her and whispered to him, saying, “What are we to do?”

  Again he refused to answer or even acknowledge her presence. But Keira had overheard her and came forward and put a vicious boot into Danielle’s side, telling her to be silent. “Prepare her, and be quick about,” the priestess said to two attendants. “We have too little time as it is and I need the name of her sister.”

  Cringing against the pain in her side, Danielle glared daggers at the priestess’ back as she walked away between the trees towards the edge of the small grassy clearing and the bonfire that burned there. Her attention moved to the large slab of granite that stood beside the fire. It stood no more than waist height and its purpose was obvious. Ten robed figures were standing in a circle around its dark silhouetted form, their arms raised and their voices in unison. Other attendants were lighting a circle of torches that stood at the edge of the clearing, and placing what looked like the skulls of animals and humans over them.

  “You should not worry. It will be quick. As long as you cooperate and give us your sister’s full name,” Lord Mason said.

  “She will be giving you no such name,” Cargius replied.

  “No one was talking to you, Kathiusian,” Mason said.

  Like Mr Bale and the warrior named Allius, Lord Mason was standing nearby, and quickly unbuckled his sword belt. He handed it off and pulled on a white ceremonial robe. Danielle lowered her eyes as the three elders trudged by, following their priestess’ to the sacrificial circle. She did not want to die.

  Those in attendance at the altar fell silent and went down on bended knees, each pressing his or her forehead to the earth in respect as Keira arrived at the clearing. The priestess waited for the other elders to arrive and then flanked by her three colleagues, she walked on across the grass to the large flat stone. She raised her arms to the darkness above and began to utter a prayer. The woods had become utterly silent. Danielle shivered more violently than ever.

  “You should not watch. It will not help,” Cargius said from beside her.

  Danielle glanced at him. There was some sympathy in his face, but before she could reply, Lea ordered two men to cut the rope from around
her wrists and get her to her feet. Once it was done, they stripped her naked and put her in a gown similar to the one Cargius was wearing.

  “You should make your peace, for it will not be long now,” Lea said, before leaving them to the watchful eye of six armed guards. More men were out in the woods; Danielle had felt their eyes on her as she was dressed even though the darkness and fog obscured them from her view.

  She buttoned up the white gown they’d give her to wear and sat down beside Cargius, gritting her teeth against the pain in her side. She looked at him, hoping he had some sort of plan, anything that would set them free from this. He was a thousand years old… surely he could do something. To her alarm he shook his head and looked away into the darkness. “The woman is right. You should make your peace.”

  She frowned at him in disbelief. He was readying himself for death and he expected the same of her. “Surely you can do something to help us?”

  “Wards prevent me from using any kind of conjuring.”

  “Will your friend’s not help? Surely they must know?” she whispered. She couldn’t believe he would just let them die. They were too important to the struggle to prevent the fulfilment of the prophecy to be discarded so easily? Weren’t they?

  “Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Now make your peace and when the time comes, die nobly and without fear. And whatever happens do not say anything about your sister. I’ll be there on the other side waiting for you.”

  This was his plan! Danielle couldn’t believe it. Terror tightened in her belly and tears stung her eyes. She shook her head struggling to come to grips with what he was suggesting. “I will not go to that altar like some lamb to the slaughter. We can’t just lie down and die. You know what will become of the world if we do?”

  “You should have thought of that before you ignored my plea and rode to Amthenium.”

  Danielle gaped at him. “You’re saying this is my fault?”

  “Yes, I am.” His eyes were accusing in the firelight.

  She snorted bitterly and leaned her head back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. Perhaps he was right. Anyway, what did it matter who’s fault it was. It was over. In a short while they’d both be dead.

  Keira’s voice was rising to a crescendo and the presence of evil that hung about this place was growing overly oppressive. Bitter tears leaked out from beneath Danielle’s eyelids. All that was, and all that would never be, occupied her mind now. “Why didn’t you heal him?” she said, after thinking about her father and what Keira had told her about the poisoning. The regicide.

  She opened her eyes and looked at Cargius. The Druid was frowning at her.

  “My father, why didn’t you heal him? The priestess told me you knew they had poisoned him shortly after I rode from Illandia five days ago yet you said nothing to me?”

  Cargius’ scowl softened to regret and he looked away. “We could not intervene. If I had, Fren would have guessed we were aware of their plans and she would have delayed all this and taken your brother into hiding. And an unseen enemy is far worse than one camped at your gate.”

  “You could have done it secretly.”

  Impatience flashed in his eyes. “Yes, and you could have done it also, if you had listened to me and returned to Illandia when you had a chance. You would have sensed the taint on him. And you have art enough to take the poison from his blood.”

  Danielle nodded grimly at that and closed her eyes hard against the tears threatening, for there was likely truth in what he said. Besides, there was no point in blaming him. At the end of the day, she had made the choice and now they’d all pay the price. Her father would be one of the legions that would perish when Kane took the Arkaelyon throne. Joseph, Eden, Michael, James, Faith and so many more … Lea was right, they’d quickly follow, and her other friends and allies with them, and not just in Arkaelyon.

  Gods, forgive me, what have I done, she thought, beginning to weep.

  “You should not be so quick to judge yourself,” Cargius said after a short silence, his tone more understanding than before. There was something cryptic in the way he said this, as if this was part of the larger plan. It was Danielle’s turn to frown. If she had been suspicious before his expression made her more so. He wasn’t as worried about this as he should be, or so it seemed. Hope blossomed in her chest and she wiped her eyes.

  He looked cagily over at one of the guards and then said, “It is enough for you to know that we do not die in vain this night. Our sacrifice will mean others may live. You will understand all once we cross the veil. It should help to know that your mother will be waiting for you.”

  That wasn’t exactly what Danielle was hoping to hear. She was relieved that others would benefit from their deaths, but she did not want to die, even if her mother was waiting for her.

  Lea was approaching from the edge of the circle. It was the first time Danielle had noticed that the incantations had stopped or that four of the robed servants were preparing the stone altar with flowers and splashing something from a water skin onto its surface. If she was supposed to welcome this, she wasn’t sure how. Keira, Lord Mason, Mr Bale and Allius were looking in her direction and waiting while the rest of the figures in the circle were forming what in other circumstances might have been a guard of honour leading from the edge of the clearing to the stone altar and the nearby fire at its centre.

  A gentle breeze stirred the mist, it could have been a moan of pleasure, for Danielle could feel and see the anticipation in every man and woman here and knew it was mirrored in the spirit that had been summoned. They—all of them, wanted to feel her fear and hear her scream with agony. They wanted her blood. They thirsted for it and it sickened her.

  Determined to disappoint them, at least with regard to her lack of courage, she stood up and moved towards the clearing with dignity before Lea could give the order. The young woman snorted at her show of bravery and fell in beside her. “None have felt that blade and not screamed, and you will be no different.”

  Up ahead a servant picked up a long dagger from amongst the instruments on a small table that had been erected beside the stone alter and on Keira’s signal he knelt down and placed the blade of the weapon in the fire to heat the steel.

  Lea chuckled beside Danielle as they walked between the trees. “She’s going to slit your belly open, and remove your organs, and with such skill that you won’t find death until you’ve seen each and everyone of them perish in the fire. Even then, you will see my face and my blade as I take your head so we can collect your blood. And it is going to be worse if you do not give us your sister’s name.”

  Danielle clenched and unclenched her fists to stop her hands from trembling. She was struggling to control her breathing, but she kept her back straight and forced her feet to follow one after the other. Despite her efforts, her building fear must have been blazing in her aura for those she passed as she entered the circle were smiling sardonically at her. She felt the wards about this place too, and knew there was no chance of escape; that this was the end.

  She prayed inwardly that the Mother and Father Creator would give her the strength to endure what she must, and accept her soul when her spirit left her body.

  Keira stepped forward and stopped her. “Kneel.”

  Danielle ignored the spear point that pressed between her shoulder blades, and glared calmly into Keira’s dark eyes. “No.”

  The shaft of a spear struck the back of Danielle’s legs forcing her down. She looked up through a curtain of tussled hair as a servant approached with a silver tray bearing a silver mug that looked as if it had seen better days. Keira carefully picked up the vessel, and crouched. “This will numb your pain. But I want the name of your sister and anything else you can tell me about her.”

  Danielle spat at her, and received the back of the Priestess’ hand across her face.

  “Fine, then, we will do this the hard way.” Keira then stood, tipped out the contents of the mug and handed it off before motioning the
attendants to put their prisoner on the altar.

  Danielle bit back the urge to struggle as four captors pulled her back to her feet. They forced her to lie down on her back. The dew that had settled on the stone surface and the liquid they had splashed there immediately invaded her clothes and touched her skin with a penetrating cold. Her four captors took one of her limbs each and pinned her firmly while a fifth knelt down and secured her head, holding her neck in the crook of his elbow.

  Unable to move, Danielle stared up at the foggy darkness above and prayed again that it would be quick and that the gods would have mercy on her soul, and protect those she left behind. Her chest was heaving and she couldn’t stop the tears running down her cheeks.

  Keira’s shadow fell over her. Danielle flinched as cold hands took a hold of the top of her robe and tore it open, exposing her chest and belly. The four elders began to chant in the old tongue, their voices rising and falling to the rhythm of the incantation they uttered.

  Danielle whimpered and tensed as something pressed against her belly. She realised quickly that it wasn’t the blade, but something else altogether. But what exactly she couldn’t tell. She tried to look to see what they were doing to her, but didn’t get much more than a glimpse before Keira demanded that they hold her still and her head was forced back down against the stone surface of the alter. The priestess had a stick of charcoal in her hand and she was drawing or writing on her skin, that much Danielle did see.

  “They are trying to undo the magic of the tattoo you bear,” Cargius said, before a blow from one of his guards silenced him.

  Unaware he’d been forced to follow her into the circle, Danielle bent her head the best she could and found the White Druid was on his knees beside the fire nursing his ribs. A spear was resting at his neck and three men stood close by with their swords drawn. More stood in the shadows of the tree line watching the ritual, the firelight playing on their expressions of anticipation and fascination.