by Ross Turner
In his impatience and frustration to find Isabel the boy’s carelessness reached new levels and, sensing this, Isabel took advantage, delving into his open mind. It took him only a moment to realise what he’d allowed to happen before he shut himself off from her, retreating back to the safety of physical boundaries. But that moment had been just enough to see his emotion, which surprised Isabel a great deal. Not hatred as she’d expected, but uncertainty and fear - fear of Depozi, and even fear of her.
“He’s afraid Zan.”
“Afraid?”
“Yes. I think we’ll make it. He’s not thinking clearly. He’s getting desperate.”
The boy smiled as the pieces of his plan began to fall into place.
The demons suddenly picked up their pace, charging towards the human wall standing before them. The silence was broken by horrific screams from the beasts, the quicker ones almost immediately darting ahead of the rest.
Heldvik’s roaring cry rang out at the same instant and his cavalry surged forward with his footmen close behind, all returning the demon’s screeches with their own rage-bound curses. Another shout from Heldvik triggered the release of a volley of a hundred arrows, soaring over the cavalry and the quicker demons, falling like steel rain on the hulking beasts behind. Volley after volley thundered down on the demonic horde, felling the weaker and slowing the stronger.
The cavalry smashed into the first wave, sending both people and demons flying in all directions. That was Zanriath’s cue. Before the second wave of slower demons could reach the cavalry, a tremendous column of searing flames erupted, tearing a line through the ranks of darkness. It didn’t stop them, but then it wasn’t supposed to. They pressed on; many of them were still alight with flame, driven by fear, screaming now in agony as their flesh boiled and melted.
They reached the cavalry as Heldvik’s footmen did, clattering into each other with the ringing of steel, grunts of huge brutes and the screams of the injured as the bloodshed worsened. Even the archers ploughed in behind the footmen, overrunning the slow beasts.
Heldvik swung his broadsword in wide arcs, decapitating a demon inches from sinking its teeth into his flesh, only to find yet another enormous and clumsy fiend blundering towards him. It stood ten feet above him and had long, thick arms reaching down to its feet. Its head was horribly disfigured as if it had been stabbed in the face and had the blade twisted round one gleaming green eye. Heldvik raised his weapon helplessly. The creature was almost upon him.
It reached for his torso with one great, clawed hand, but never quite made the connection. Keeling backwards with a high-pitched scream its hands came to its ugly face, desperately and uselessly trying to force Isabel from inside of its mind. Even the creatures at its side recoiled in a new fear they had not yet experienced.
Looking across at Isabel as she gripped his hand tightly Zanriath could see her eyes closed and her head tilted to the sky, her thoughts elsewhere as she invaded the creature’s mind, easily breaching its barriers and destroying its every function. It didn’t take her very long. Soon the beast’s will was shattered, the soulless body crashed to the floor, and the essence of what was once the demon returned to Depozi, deep in the Lair of the Demonic. Returning her thoughts to her body Isabel blinked several times and settled, looking across to meet Zanriath’s gaze.
“Is Heldvik safe?” She asked.
“Yes. You saved him.” His affection was clear.
“Good. It’s a stalemate. We can’t leave yet.”
“We don’t have long…” He warned.
“I know…”
Ben, Zhack and Ayva looked on helplessly as the battle raged. They knew they couldn’t be in the thick of the fighting, as much as they wanted to - they had to leave. They watched as Zanriath cast flames upon the beasts and Isabel took care of the larger and more physically powerful ones for the troops.
Then something else took their eye. Far off to the right five demons careered round from the bloodshed. They were moving at great speed and clearly hadn’t been involved in the original charge. Picking their way around the human army they raced up towards Isabel and Zanriath, like five wolves circling their prey. The flank guards Heldvik had appointed attempted to stop the attackers, but their efforts were rendered futile and they were easily scattered.
Isabel’s mind was in the battle and Zanriath was focused surrounding a contingent of the beasts, biding Heldvik’s men a little time to recover and regroup against their powerful foes. They didn’t notice the small pack charging up their flank, focused on one thing and one thing only.
It was mere seconds before Ayva and the boys were mounted and already hammering relentlessly to intercept them before it was too late. They had precious little time.
Drawing closer they saw that there weren’t five, but six. The five that looked like wolves were all black with sleek coats. Powerful muscles rippled as they ran on four feet, their fangs bared and dripping. Amongst them ran the boy with amazing speed. Ayva was shocked at first, not having realised before when the others had described the boy to her that he could look so ordinary. Though, the expression he wore was not one of a child. Instead, it was one of pure hatred, reminding Ayva of exactly how she had felt in her dream, and that angered her greatly.
She screamed Isabel and Zanriath’s names up towards her friends. But they couldn’t hear her. They were too late, the demons were too close, and they wouldn’t reach them in time. She screamed again, more desperately now.
Zanriath turned, only just hearing her voice above the distant cries of the battle. Ayva’s heart skipped a beat as she saw Isabel lower her head and turn also. Their movements seemed almost to be in slow motion as surges of horrified adrenaline coursed through Ayva’s veins. They were too slow - they couldn’t stop all six.
But even as Isabel reached over her shoulder for the bow at her back Ayva and the twins already had bow and blades in hand, and bore down upon the charging creatures with intimately focused rage.
Leasing arrow after arrow in split succession, Ayva’s accuracy was without fault. The boys too found their targets, each launching four blades in the same time. Mere metres from their prey now, the demons were mid-flight, leaping to kill their victims. But they were cut short, struck at that moment by a flurry of blades and arrows, each whistling with fury towards their targets, curving a little on their path’s to ensure lethal strikes. Diving left and right, Isabel and Zanriath narrowly avoided the hurtling carcasses of their attackers and they crashed past, thrown still another ten metres by their own momentum.
Even as their attackers careered into the ground Zanriath set them alight and Ayva and the twins drew back from the heat of the raging flames.
They spun round to face the creatures and after a few long moments the fires ceased.
Ayva and the Boys reined in their horses at their friends’ sides, breathing heavily. Five of the six had crumpled to the ground and now lay very still, their skin horrifically burned and their bodies twitching slightly.
The sixth slowly raised himself to his feet, holding a flaming arrow in one hand and a small blade in the other. The fire licked at his skin, scalding and blistering his hands and arms even as he stood there with his back to them, but he seemed not to care. Dropping the weapons to the floor, his hands still steaming, he slowly turned to the five companions, his eyes emerald green and his face unrecognisable as a child’s. The hatred and evil contained within him twisted his young features into pure putrid malevolence. For some reason, as he turned longingly to look upon Isabel, she sensed a level of jealousy emitting from him as his eyes locked on hers.
No words were exchanged; he simply looked back and forth between the five opposing him and the battle that raged on to their left, sending fresh cries of pain echoing over the plains.
Isabel took a step forward, her eyes still burning into him. He flinched, cowering back from her, bringing his blistered hands up to his face. This was a fight he could not win. He had come so close, yet, somehow, he had still fai
led. He fled. With the same inhuman speed he’d displayed in his attack, he headed north for the battle and to his demons, their numbers diminishing rapidly.
“He’s leaving Hinaktor.” Isabel stated. “He’s going to Vak’Istor. He can’t stop us here.”
“What about the other demons?” Ben asked.
“Won’t he take them with him?” Zhack added.
“No. He doesn’t care for them, and Heldvik has the battle well in hand now. The demons will lose this time.” Isabel stated. Zanriath continued her trail of thought.
“He knows we’re going to Vak’Istor, but he won’t know why.”
“Do we?” Ayva asked.
“No.” Zanriath replied, seemingly without worry. “But we will when the time is right I’m sure.”
“So he’ll try to stop us there?”
“I imagine so Ayva.” Isabel said sighing. “And I also imagine that he’ll be much better prepared than he was here. He wasn’t expecting me to change so quickly.”
“You’ll still be able to stop him though, won’t you?” Ben said, his tone a little worried and his face mirroring Zhack’s expression.
“We’ll see.”
“That doesn’t sound very promising.” Ayva commented, her normal optimism stifled somewhat.
“We have no control over this Ayva.” Zanriath began to explain. “So far we must have done exactly as we were supposed to - everything has worked out too perfectly for us to not have done. We just need to press on and make what we think are the right choices.”
“You make it sound like we haven’t got a chance.” She observed sullenly.
“On the contrary Ayva…” Isabel began, looking over at the battle one last time. The last of the demons were falling victim to human sword and axe and her comrades’ cheers of victory faintly reached her ears. Their only regret the number of sacrifices needed for that comparatively small victory. “I think we have just as much chance as Depozi. So far it’s even, and I think it will stay that way until the very end. But something is going to change. Whatever it might be, and whoever has control over it, they must use it to help us kill Him, and not let Him use it against us.”
Ayva considered that and wondered exactly what was going to have to happen. She felt a pang of regret as she looked back to the cheering crowd and hoped Garan was still with them. Then, with Isabel and the rest of her companions, she held tight as they turned their backs and drove their horses finally west.
24
Riding hard, Isabel and her companions made good time crossing Compii Tower, this time encountering no surprises. The four corpses they'd left behind still remained and a foul stench now hung about them.
It had taken two whole days of hard riding to once again reach the bridge extending out over the mist-covered ocean, and they had really had to push their horses. They decided to walk the horses across the bridge, partly because they became very skittish at the sight of the fog and the water, and partly to give them a chance to rest. It took them almost another half a day to cross through the tower, take the west archway and reach the shores of Vak'Istor. They didn’t want to linger in Hinaktor a second longer than they absolutely had to.
After returning to Kilkaw to pick up as many supplies as they could carry, they’d made good progress with little disturbance. They all knew there was still a long road ahead of them, but there was no time for rest, so they pressed on.
They had slipped through Kilkaw quickly and unnoticed, wanting to waste as little time as possible, reserving for Heldvik and his men the pleasure of spreading the good news of victory. Kilkaw had been even busier than when they'd passed through the first time, everyone eagerly awaiting news of the fate of the Southern Armouries, but not wanting to curb their mobilisations. Isabel was pleased to see their fighting spirit. She knew probably better than any of them that the battle wasn’t over, though the feeling rooted so deeply inside her she couldn’t explain.
The fog began to thin once more and the gently sloping shores of Vak'Istor slowly came into view. Similarly to in Hinaktor, the water met shallow sandy banks and the bridge shot deeply into the side of the island through the beach. Walking the horses slowly to the top of the damp sand ridge before them, the five found themselves atop a small rounded dune that transformed into a hill as it gradually gave way to a grassy knoll, looking over the huge expanses of altogether yet another strange and new world.
Laying her eyes upon the Island of Vak'Istor for the first time Isabel was somewhat taken aback. She hadn't really known what to expect. This island wasn't flat in the way Hinaktor had been; the land rolled gently like a solid ocean and seemed to feed long winding chains of raised hilltops. Vast woodlands covered those hills, extending as far as the eye could see in every direction. She imagined the hundreds upon thousands of trees reaching endlessly over the horizon, as if the whole island were one extensive forest. The woods began only twenty feet from the border of the beach and stretched up and down the shoreline, just as the plains of Hinaktor had done. Small tracks led into the forest at random intervals - narrow clearings cutting deep into the heart of the mass of green.
Ayva stood beside Isabel holding her mount, Zanriath was to their side with his, and Ben and Zhack were slightly in front, all gaping out over this awesome place. After absorbing what lay ahead of them, Zanriath led his friends down the side of the hill and towards a track leading into the woods.
The weather was beginning to turn once more and they all held a silent agreement that they didn't want to be caught out in the open in a storm. Though it was still quite warm, they all knew that as soon as they were wet there would be little chance of getting dry until they found civilisation.
“If we head for Kazra perhaps we'll be able to pick up some idea of what we're here for.” Zanriath suggested as they stood looking into the opening of the dense forest.
“Kazra?” Isabel asked.
“The capital.” He replied. “We probably stand the best chance of getting information there.”
It was as good a plan as any, and none of them had any idea what they were looking for, so they followed Zanriath willingly.
“I hope your sense of direction still works.” Isabel said trying to sound as light-hearted as she could. “I'd hate to get lost in the woods.” Her words were all too true as they mounted and entered the heaving mass of trees, following a narrow track winding in through the leaves and branches.
“Ormath described the islands to me once. I was even able to draw a map of the whole of Tamarack. If we go due south it’s not too far to Kazra, and the shoreline bends round to meet us, so we won’t miss it. It’ll spook the horses too much if we just follow the shoreline. And speaking of getting lost…” Zanriath began. “Nobody goes anywhere alone in here. Ok?”
“Why?” Ayva asked a little nervously. “What's in there?” Ben and Zhack cast worried looks at each other and walked a little closer to Isabel and Ayva.
“It's not what's in there.” Zanriath said. “Ormath wasn't entirely certain, as it isn’t His creation, but He seems to think that His brother Koack instilled some sort of life in His woodland - as if to say they have a will of their own.”
“A will of their own?" Isabel asked with obvious uncertainty. “Should we be worried? What kind of will?”
“I don't think we need to be concerned.” Zanriath replied. “Just…cautious. And I don’t think we ought to damage the trees at all, or light any fires. I imagine their so-called ‘will’ involves a strong sense of self-preservation.”
“Mine certainly does.” Ayva commented dryly. And with that all thoughts of conversation seemed to die and their eyes were fixed on the trees, not knowing what they were looking for, but still looking all the same.
It was almost midday and the clouds looming overhead grouped together menacingly. The five picked up speed as they rode along the narrow track through the trees, still heading south. Several paths forked off the one they followed as they rode, some smaller and some larger, but they stuck to their course.
Zanriath had assured them that it wasn’t all that far to Kazra, and they would make it there in good time on horseback if all went smoothly. He explained that the island itself was very large, but much of it lay quite far to the south, while the bridge to Compii Tower and Kazra both lay to the northeast.
All around them the trees teemed with life as animals crisscrossed through the shady undergrowth and minded what was very much their own business. There seemed to be nothing unusual about the trees themselves and they swayed gently in the wind as all trees did. They were sturdy and looked deeply rooted with thick limbs protruding from their trunks at all heights and angles. Strangely the woods were a mixture of different types of trees and those of the same kind all clumped together in blocks as if for the comfort of similarity.
The thing that did strike Isabel as strange though was the oddly defensive manner of the thick foliage, seeming to almost sense that the five were strangers to this land, though not considered to be a threat.
After several hours the sound of hooves beating against the dusty track was becoming very monotonous, though they were making much better time here than they had done when they first arrived in Hinaktor.
They stopped for a short while to rest the horses and to eat, but before long they were back on the move, wanting to get to Kazra as quickly as possible. Their supplies were still quite plentiful and they had managed to acquire proper cloaks for Ben and Zhack in Kilkaw, but still, if they were to ride in the rain they would be uncomfortable regardless.
Finally, after what felt like much longer than it should have done, the trees slowly began to thin ahead of them. Above the sky had darkened considerably and a deep roll of thunder sounded in the distance. The first few drops of rain began to fall just as they emerged from the treeline, still following the same track, and Kazra came into glorious view.
