by A. E. Rayne
Jael sucked in a breath as Baccus, back on his feet, lunged at her, chopping his blade down towards her head. She reached up with her sword, teeth gritted, anticipating the impact, pushing her boots onto the floor. ‘Grrrrr!’ she roared as Baccus’ giant blade came down, cracking hers in two.
Jael quickly threw away the broken sword and drew her knife.
Eydis, she begged. Eydis, help us!
47
Branwyn found a lean-to.
It was barely big enough to fit them all, but she squeezed everyone in beneath the thatched roof, waiting for the gates to open. Too anxious to speak, they huddled together. Kayla jiggling the baby over her shoulder; Gisila trying to calm the puppies; Branwyn checking on her mother and Eydis, her mind on Kormac and Aron.
Entorp stood outside, holding onto Tig, one eye on the rapidly approaching fire.
‘They will not die,’ Eydis said dreamily. ‘They cannot die. We can’t escape. They will not let us leave!’
Edela gasped at a sudden pain in her stomach. It was as though Evaine was stabbing her all over again. She groaned and adjusted herself, feeling light-headed, desperate for water. ‘Eydis,’ she croaked, patting her arm. ‘Can you see the book? Close your eyes. Shut us all out now. Find the page, Eydis. Find the page!’
‘Arrrhhh!’ Aron screamed as the blade dug into his cheek. He jerked back, his ears ringing. Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword up to meet the next blow.
The temple guard would not go down.
No matter how grievous their wounds, or how many times they fell, the guards would not die.
They could all see that now.
‘Open the gates!’ It was an urgent cry. ‘Open the gates!’
Kormac shook his head, turning around. He knew that voice.
It was coming from the other side of the gates. He blinked, listening to the battering of swords on shields. Louder and louder. A furious roar was building in the distance.
‘Open the gates for the King of Brekka!’
Jael threw her knife at Baccus’ face.
It stuck into his cheek, but he didn’t even sway.
He barely grunted before raising his sword above his head. Jael dropped to one side, slipping on blood, losing her balance, listening to the rhythmic hum from the dreamers echoing around the chamber.
And she remembered her dream about Gerod.
Scooping up an abandoned spear, Jael steadied herself, ducking Baccus’ blow, before charging at him, stabbing the spear into his stomach. Dragging it straight out, she plunged it into his chest as he stumbled backwards. He would get up, she knew, but if she could just get to the dreamers, maybe they wouldn’t be able to control the guards. ‘Kill the dreamers!’ Jael roared, searching for a sword as she turned towards the circle of chanting, hooded women. ‘Kill the dreamers!’
Gerod’s smile twisted into an enraged scowl as the Osslanders, those who could, abandoned their assault on the guards and ran after Jael. ‘Stop them!’ he screeched.
‘You’re going to die!’ Jael taunted, watching Gerod’s eyes twitch in fear as she found another spear and fought her way towards him. But just as she drew back the spear, she stopped and spun, ducking Baccus’ blade as it swept towards her neck. ‘Fuck! Won’t you ever die?’ she growled, turning to face him again.
‘Arrrhhh!’ Fyn cried as a guard drove his spear straight through his armour, into his stomach. He staggered backwards, trying to keep to his feet as the guard kicked him, knocking him to the ground.
‘Fyn!’ Jael screamed, raising her spear as Baccus came for her again.
Eydis saw the book sitting on a table. A woman stood behind it.
Not her grandmother.
‘Come closer, child,’ the dark-haired woman urged. ‘Come and see the book. Read the spell out loud. Draw the symbol in your blood. Hurry now!’
Eydis ran for the table, her ears buzzing. She swallowed, leaning forward, seeing the words. ‘But, but...’ and then suddenly her arguments fell away.
She could read them.
‘Cut me, Entorp!’ Eydis cried. ‘I can see! Hurry!’
Aleksander was panicking, striding back and forth in front of the gates, but there was nothing he could do. He could smell the smoke, hear the clashing of swords, but there were no men on the ramparts.
And the gates were locked.
‘Open the gates!’ he bellowed until his voice broke. He turned to Gant. ‘We have to get in there!’
Gant pulled on his beard, just as tense, but there was nothing they could do. Their men, who had marched so fast across the fields that they were almost running, were behind them now, but they were all waiting.
They had nothing that would open the gates.
No way to get inside.
‘Fyn!’ Jael spun away from Baccus, but he was quickly in her face again, knocking her off balance. She stumbled but kept to her feet, jumping out of reach as she tried to fend him off with her spear.
Baccus’ strength never diminished, his arms never weakened as he threw his giant sword towards her over and over again until he broke her spear in half.
‘Fyn!’ He didn’t answer, but Jael couldn’t look around now. The smoke was dulling her senses, and she had to concentrate hard to keep Baccus’ sword away from her stomach. Slipping past his blade, Jael punched him in the ribs, then dropped lower, stepped wide and punched him straight in the balls.
He groaned, curling forwards, spitting through his teeth as she skipped away, sweeping the room.
Fyn was back on his feet, but he didn’t look like he would be for much longer with a broken spear hanging out of his middle. The Osslanders were struggling to reach the dreamers at all as the guards pushed them back, creating a solid red wall in front of them.
Jael couldn’t see Marcus anywhere.
She reached into her sock, pulled out a knife and ran at Baccus.
Entorp guided Eydis’ finger to the thick, wooden post he had tied Tig’s rope around. It was the only solid, clear surface he could find. ‘Draw, Eydis!’ he urged as she started chanting. ‘Draw!’
‘The fire!’ Branwyn screamed as she turned, watching the flames jump from the nearest building to their shelter. ‘We have to leave!’
Tig reared up, knocking his head onto the roof and Gisila got such a fright that she let go of the puppies, who got such a fright that they ran off into the smoke, trailing their ropes behind them.
Jael threw herself up onto Baccus. She needed to slow him down quickly and get to Fyn. Gritting her teeth, she clung to his neck with her left arm, digging her fingernails into his skin as he tried to peel her off him; bringing her knife around to stab him in the face.
Straight through an eye.
‘Arrrhhh!’ he bellowed, roaring now, his head rearing up in agony as he tried to shake her loose. She drew out her knife and stuck it back into his face.
Straight through his other eye.
‘Arrrhhh!’
Jael pulled out her knife as he stumbled and she slipped, running her blade across his throat. Dropping to the ground, she left Baccus to fall, anticipating his return as she rushed towards Fyn.
‘Jael!’
Jael’s head snapped to Marcus who stood in the doorway they had come through, holding Toothpick above his head. She ran towards him, weaving her way through the guards, taking her sword, watching it glint in the flames.
The dreamers’ flinched.
‘Get up!’ Gerod seethed at Baccus who lay on the ground, blood draining from his face, his throat. ‘Get up!’
But this time Baccus didn’t get up, and Jael smiled.
Eydis.
The temple guards on the ground weren’t moving now.
‘Open the gates!’ Kormac screamed at the soldiers, barely able to breathe. ‘Horsa! Get them to open the gates!’
The guards who were still on their feet were backing away now, their wounds taking effect as the soldiers swarmed over them in greater numbers. The fire was encroaching on them all, and Kormac panicked, turni
ng to Aron who was gripping his arm, his face contorted in pain. ‘Find your mother! Hurry!’
‘Jael!’ Fyn pleaded, on his knees, clutching his belly, a guard towering over him.
Jael ran towards him, sweeping Toothpick across the guard’s back, kicking him to the ground. Leaning forward, she drove her blade through his neck.
Fyn tried to speak, worried that he was about to vomit, then everything went black, and he collapsed onto his side.
‘Jael! Jael!’
Jael spun around. ‘Aleksander?’
Marcus ran to the doors, hurrying to unlock them, stumbling out of the way as Aleksander and Gant burst in, swords drawn, Brekkan soldiers flooding into the temple around them.
‘We have to go!’ Aleksander yelled as he rushed towards Jael. ‘The fort is on fire!’
Fyn lay slumped on the flagstones, his stomach oozing, his eyes closed. ‘Fyn!’ Jael cried, sheathing Toothpick before bending down to him. ‘Quick! Help me! We need to carry him out!’ Aleksander quickly sheathed his own sword as he helped her lift Fyn up.
‘No!’ Gerod shrieked, watching Jael head for the doors. ‘Stop her!’ But his guards were too busy coping with the influx of Brekkans who were now fighting alongside the Osslanders.
Jael stopped, glancing around. ‘Aedan! Come and help Fyn outside.’ She leaned Fyn against Aedan, lifting his limp arm around her cousin’s shoulders, before turning back. ‘You?’ Jael yelled as she strode towards the fires, stepping over the bodies of the guards, and her men. ‘Stop me? You tried to once before, didn’t you? All those years ago, when you sent those men to kill me! But they didn’t, and now I’m going to kill you!’
Gerod rose up before her, his eyes bursting out of his shining face.
‘You think this is important? This?’ he laughed hysterically. ‘There’s nothing you can do now! You may think that you’ve won, but this is all a distraction. She is coming! Tonight! You can’t stop anything! Not now! Tonight they will raise her from the Dolma! And she will bring back Raemus!’
Jael shivered, somehow knowing that he was right.
That Hanna had failed to get the book in time.
There was nothing she could do about it, though. Not while she was stuck here, with him; the one who had sent those men to rape her, to kill her cousin, to rape her mother.
She clenched her jaw and kicked Gerod in the chest, knocking him into the fire, watching as his robe caught, his gleaming face twisting in agony as it started to melt. ‘And you forget that the prophecy says that I will defeat her!’ she bellowed, wanting those to be the last words he heard before the flames took his life.
‘The puppies!’ Eydis sobbed, her eyes watering from the smoke as she panicked, unsure of what to do. She had promised Jael. She couldn’t let anything happen to them. ‘Where are the puppies?’
Gisila felt terrible, but they had to leave. She could feel the intense heat of the fire as the wind rose, fanning the flames ever higher. ‘Eydis!’ she insisted. ‘We must go now! They’ll have run out through the gates, I’m sure!’ She wrapped her arm firmly around Eydis’ shoulders and moved her forward.
Biddy did not look convinced, knowing those puppies as she did. ‘I’ll go and find them, Eydis. They’ll be hiding somewhere, big babies that they are.’ She bent over, coughing. ‘Don’t you worry now, Gisila and Entorp will look after you.’ And with one last look at everyone, she ran into the smoke, calling the puppies’ names.
Branwyn sighed in relief as Kormac arrived with Aron. They looked terrible, though, both of their faces covered in blood.
‘Come on!’ Kormac called over the noise. ‘The gates are open! Everyone’s leaving!’ He could hear the panicked screams now as the Tuurans fought to escape the rapidly burning fort. Animals were tearing past them, bleating and quacking. Children were wailing, falling over as they were knocked to the ground in the rush to leave.
‘But where’s Aedan?’ Kayla sobbed. ‘I’m not leaving without him! Take the baby, Kormac, I’ll wait here for him!’
Kormac frowned, but he saw the stubborn set of her jaw and didn’t argue. He recognised that determined look from his own wife. He would get everyone out then return to look for Aedan himself. His granddaughter coughed and cried over his shoulder as he wrapped his other arm around Branwyn and followed everyone towards the gates.
Jael, Aedan, and Aleksander hurried out of the temple towards Gant who had laid Fyn down on the steps. He hadn’t opened his eyes, and even in the darkness, Gant could tell that his stomach wound was bad.
‘Take Fyn to the pier!’ Jael ordered, turning to another Brekkan who she recognised. ‘Orm, help Gant. You’ll need to carry him. Sea Bear is there. Get him on board now!’ She caught sight of Beorn who had stumbled through the doors, hoping to catch a breath of fresh air only to be met with more suffocating smoke and flames. ‘Is everyone out?’ she asked.
He looked back at the temple doors, then around at his men who were coughing and panting in desperate need of water. ‘All that are left.’ He was bruised, bleeding, ready to topple down the steps, but he shook himself awake. ‘I need to get to Sea Bear.’
Jael looked at Marcus who was beside her, coughing. ‘We have to leave for Andala now. Will you come?’
‘I need to find someone,’ he said anxiously, his eyes not meeting hers.
‘You mean Hanna?’ Jael asked. ‘She’s not here.’
Aleksander turned to Jael in surprise.
Marcus looked confused. And worried. ‘Where is she?’
‘There’s no time!’ Jael insisted. ‘She’s not in Tuura. We can talk on the ship, but for now, we have to go!’
Marcus nodded, clutching a large satchel to his chest. ‘I’m ready.’
‘Good. Go with Beorn. I’ll meet you at the pier.’ She turned to Aleksander and Aedan as her men hobbled past them, following Beorn into the billowing clouds of smoke. ‘We have to make sure that everyone’s out of the fort!’ She glanced at the buildings which were mostly flames now.
Thinking about Tig. And the puppies.
‘Let’s go!’ Aleksander ran down the steps, Jael and Aedan on either side of him, the ancient Temple of Tuura exploding into flames behind them.
‘Ido! Vella!’ Biddy called, her voice breaking as she bent over, trying to breathe. The smoke was too much. She couldn’t see. She straightened up, grimacing. ‘Ido! Vella!’ she croaked, hurrying towards the flames as horses bolted out of crumbling buildings and mother’s ran with their children, trying to find a way through the flames.
And there they were.
‘Ido! Vella!’ Biddy sobbed with joy at the sight of those annoying puppies running through the smoke. ‘Come on! Come on!’ They raced for her, their paws up on her legs, whining, begging to be picked up, the ropes still tied around their necks.
They were too heavy, though, too big; not puppies anymore. Biddy scrambled about for their ropes, trying to keep them still long enough to gather them in her hands. Finally, wrapping the ropes around her wrist, she turned to leave, only to discover to her horror that there was nowhere to go.
Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but flames.
Jael, Aleksander, and Aedan ran towards the gates.
‘Kayla!’ Aedan scooped his wife into his arms.
Kayla had been standing in the middle of the street, having rescued two children who were running in panicked circles in their sooty nightclothes, crying for their mother. She held the smallest child in her arms, gripping the other one’s hand.
‘Where’s the baby?’
‘Your father took her. I don’t know where their mother is,’ Kayla said sadly, glancing at the children. ‘But we have to go now!’
‘Aedan!’ Branwyn and Kormac hurried towards them. Having seen everyone safely out of the fort, they had been desperate to go back for Kayla and Aedan. Aron had run off to try and rescue their horses.
‘Where is everyone?’ Jael asked urgently.
‘Outside the gates.’
‘Did you get my horse o
ut? Tig?’
Kormac nodded. ‘Entorp has him.’
‘Then let’s go!’ Aleksander urged, pushing Jael forward.
Aron ran towards them, pulling his and Aedan’s horses. He grinned in relief. ‘I found them!’ he cried.
Jael saw another child running towards them, his nightshirt on fire. She lunged, throwing him to the ground, rolling him in the dirt and mud until the flames were out. He was stunned, his sobbing ceasing instantly. ‘Come on,’ she smiled quickly. ‘Let’s get you out of here.’ And standing up, Jael grabbed his hand, following everyone out of the fort.
There were people everywhere.
Animals rushed around their feet in a squawking, clucking panic. A chorus of frantic voices rose into the smoky night air as the Tuurans milled around watching their home burn, anxious for those people still trapped inside.
Jael forced her way through the crowd, trying to find her family.
She could hear Tig before she saw him and perhaps he knew that she was coming because he fought against the rope Entorp was hanging off. Jael didn’t have time to feel relieved that he was alright, though, as she ran her eye over everyone. The orange glow from the fort helped her to see that they were all there, except...
‘Where’s Biddy?’ Gisila panicked, running up to Jael. ‘She went back for the puppies. I dropped their ropes. She went back for them!’
Jael’s stomach clenched.
She turned and ran back into the fort, Aleksander behind her. ‘Biddy!’ she screamed desperately as she disappeared into the flames. ‘Biddy!’
It was different than anything she had experienced before. But as Morana chanted, her head back, listening to the murmurs of The Followers echoing around her like supportive waves, she felt herself floating across the water. It was as though she was flying, faster than a bird, surging forward, the clouds rushing past her eyes in blurry streaks of pink and light-blue, grey, darker blue now and black and then nothing but darkness and suddenly there was no water, and she was nowhere.
