The Guardians (Book 2)

by Dan O'Sullivan

  Daoine Maithe

  Book 2

  THE GUARDIANS

  Dan O’Sullivan

  For Conor

  For your golden heart and endless pranks.

  Thanks to Raymond E Feist,

  whose amazing books have taught me so much and

  had an incredible impact on these novels.

  Table of Contents

  At the Inn

  Castle

  Mulgrew and Peta

  Reports

  Fallen Warrior

  Nailmarni

  Chayse

  The Nest

  Reinforcements

  Conference

  Memories

  Experiments

  News from Castle

  Nailmarni Blood

  Strategies

  Side Effects

  Freedom and Duty

  Rough Sailing

  Fíorghrá

  Black Apple Islands

  Norah

  Reunion

  Torment

  Evacuation

  Attack

  Dangerous Tactics

  At Sea

  Raline

  Enroute to Emerald

  Devastation

  Desperation

  Misapprehension

  Muraban

  Egression

  Lerise and Jade

  Logistics

  Execution

  Aftermath

  Rationalization

  Destruction

  Potential Danger

  Kelian’s Message

  Exodus

  East Inlet

  Cliff Steps

  The Old Well

  Fallen Reasoning

  Timbul’s Task

  Lost

  Chiniocelle

  Abhorrent Imposition

  Confrontation

  Ceremony

  Chapter 1

  At the Inn

  The moon shining through the window of the inn lit the room well enough for Louisa to see that her sisters had not been disturbed by the sound that woke her. She stood uncertainly for a moment, and then padded softly towards to the window, her bare feet making very little noise on the wooden floor. She stared uneasily into the empty courtyard, wondering if she had dreamed that she heard someone grunt in pain. Her eyes opened wide as a possum leapt from the base of a tyalla, ran across the ground and shot up another tree and she shook her head at her own nervousness. She turned her back to the window and rested against the sill, pushing her long dark hair away from her face.

  There was an ear-splitting crash and the window erupted into shards around her. A gloved hand wrapped around her face covering her mouth and dragged her backwards. Elena and Immosey both woke and screamed in fright, leaping from their beds. Elena threw herself towards the window and skidded through broken glass, crashing into the wall and striking her head against the protruding edge of the windowsill. Blood oozed through her hair. Immosey flew to the doorway.

  ‘Borg!’ she screamed as she threw open the door. She jumped backwards into the room, slamming the door at the unexpected sight of a warrior of the fallen standing in the hallway. There was a loud thud behind the closed door as she raced to her bed, grabbed a blanket and threw it over the glass. She cut both knees and the palm of her hand as she flung herself through the broken window into the courtyard. She ran towards the forest.

  ‘Araas! Timbul! Mil!’ she screamed. It was very dark as she entered the trees and she stopped and gazed around in terror, wondering where Louisa had been taken. There was a movement to her right and she dashed in that direction, her eyes wide with fright and her heart trying to burst through her chest as she ran.

  ‘Louisa!’ her voice trembled. She ran forward with hands outstretched, trying not to crash into anything in the ever darkening forest. The ground was rough underfoot and she struggled to keep her feet from tangling in the long grass and creepers. A huge log lay across her path and she scrambled over it. She saw movement again and rushed forward, only to find it was spindly bushes being blown in the wind. She slowed down and glanced around, and thinking she heard a sound once again, she changed direction. For a long time she dashed through the forest, thinking always that she could hear noises and see movement ahead. After a while she slowed, her heart pounding from exertion. Yet again she heard sounds and she turned and headed down a slope. At the bottom of the hill the ground turned soft and fell away steeply towards a very cold pebbly stream. She darted up the opposite incline, convinced she could see movement ahead of her.

  ‘Louisa!’ she shouted again, but there was no response, so she rushed further into the dark forest, pushing her way through bushes and vines, climbing over fallen branches and weaving her way between the trees. Her head was wrenched backwards as she entangled herself in a wonga wonga vine. She stared around. The forest was silent. She could see no movement in any direction. Clouds were beginning to cover the moon and what little light had managed to filter through the thick canopy of the forest was disappearing. She took a few cautious steps then stopped and looked around once again. Unsure of exactly which way she had come, she thought perhaps if she went downhill she might find the little stream she had crossed. She had gone only about three hundred paces when it became obvious that this could not have been the way she had come. The trees were thick and it was almost impossible to force her way through the undergrowth. She decided to go back to where she ran into the wonga wonga vine and try to find her way from there, so she headed up the hill but even this was now unfamiliar.

  She sat down on a huge fallen branch, leaned over and rested her forehead on her hands and her elbows on her knees. The wood was uncomfortable under her and she shivered, wishing she was wearing warmer clothing. The wind strengthened and it occurred to her that most of the noises she heard were probably caused by the wind in the trees. She jumped with fright as a mopoke cried out and took flight.

  ‘Oh Lou, where are you?’ she murmured, as tears prickled in her eyes. ‘And where are the guardians when we need them?’ She felt guilty even as this thought crossed her mind, knowing that Araas and Timbul were probably trying to find Louisa, or perhaps they were dealing with the warrior she had seen standing in the hallway of the inn.

  ‘I’m right here, Immy.’ Araas stepped from the bushes, pulling trigs from his hair.

  ‘Araas!’ Immosey threw herself at the guardian and burst into tears. ‘I’m so sorry! I’m lost! I can’t find my way out of here! It’s so confusing!’ she cried.

  ‘You’re safe now. Believe it or not, I know the way back to the inn.’

  ‘But I don’t know where Louisa went! Someone dragged her through the window and into the forest and then she just disappeared! I thought I was following her but then it was dark and I got caught up in a vine and she was gone! It must have been one of the fallen and there was another one of them standing in the hallway at the inn!’

  ‘You need to stop panicking, Immy. We caught up with the ones who tried to take Louisa and she’s back in your room.’ Immosey gazed up at Araas with relief and then rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and pushed her hair away from her face.

  ‘I’m sorry Araas,’ she said croakily. ‘The panic started when I saw my sister disappear and it only got worse when I got lost.’

  ‘Understandable,’ said Araas. He took her hand and guided her through the trees. Ten minutes later they were out of the forest.

  ‘I thought I was so much further away,’ Immosey admitted.

  ‘You didn’t exactly move in a straight line,’ Araas said wryly. ‘Ah, let’s go back through the window Immy.’

  ‘Don’t tell me there’s still a warrior standing in the hallway!’

  ‘Er…he’s still there but he’s not actually sta
nding any more…you don’t want to see him.’

  Immosey allowed Araas to lift her through the window, helping her avoid the broken glass. Milgorry, Kelian, Borgulnay and Gilgarry were waiting in the room with Elena and Louisa. Immosey rushed to her sisters and the three girls embraced, then Immosey fell into Borgulnay’s arms. The King’s Captain nodded gratefully to Araas. He sat on the bed and held Immosey’s thin little body tightly, running his hand gently over her long blond curls.

  The door opened and Timbul stood in the doorway, and his bright blue eyes glittered angrily as he looked grimly at his brother. Araas registered his brother’s thoughts and his face became a mirror of Timbul’s.

  Immosey gave a gasp of horror as she peered through the doorway. The body of the warrior was, as Araas had stated, still in the hallway. The knife which had been slammed through the man’s throat was embedded in the wall, holding him upright, and he hung forlornly from the long blade with his mouth open and his eyes staring vacantly ahead.

  ‘What is it Tim?’ asked Kelian, moving to the door beside Timbul.

  ‘The innkeeper and his wife are dead,’ said Timbul bluntly.

  Kelian turned with an infuriated growl, swung his boot hard towards the dead warrior and halted his kick inches from the man’s shin. He glared hatefully at the body for a few seconds then swept back into the room and dropped heavily onto the bed, leaning forward with his head in his hands.

  ‘Does Naraloon have a town guard, Highness?’ asked Araas.

  Kelian glanced towards Gilgarry who immediate left the room. Timbul followed the Sergeant down the hallway.

  Milgorry reached out and slammed the door as he registered the looks on the three girl’s faces. He sighed. ‘So, it’s begun.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Kelian, already knowing what Milgorry meant.

  ‘Revenge,’ said Milgorry. ‘One of the things my people do best. You went into Nyinaku, and right under their noses, you stole back Nandul’s captives. Now he might let it go that you took Elena and Immosey, but he’s going to want Louisa back. Right now that’s what he wants. But soon he’ll decide that if he can’t have her, no-one can. He’ll want to hunt her down and return her. And it won’t end there. Nandul will come after you Kelian. He’ll take the worst revenge you can possibly imagine.’

  ‘The fallen have never been known to let any insult pass without retribution,’ said Kelian angrily.

  ‘You think they’ll come after your family?’ Borgulnay asked drawing Immosey closer.

  ‘Borg, I already feel absolutely terrible about Innkeeper Jostan and his wife. It’s my fault they were killed and it’s only going to get worse.’

  ‘You didn’t murder them, Kelian,’ said Milgorry.

  ‘I may as well have! We never should have stayed here in Naraloon! We should have avoided towns altogether. If we had kept moving-’

  Milgorry interrupted. ‘If we’d kept moving they would have found someone else to murder to make sure you suffer! You have family all over Alkira.’

  ‘Mil, I’m just thinking of these poor innocent people right here, right now! I look at Elena and at Louisa and Immosey and I’m so relieved we managed to rescue them from Nandul and that we got out of Nyinaku alive, but I’ll bet Innkeeper Jostan wouldn’t agree – if he was alive and I could ask him! And who knows who the bastards will go after next!’

  ‘I think they’ll come after anyone and everyone you love,’ said Milgorry. ‘You’re right. The sooner we get out of here the better.’

  ‘Immy, I recall asking you to tell one of us if you were planning to go dashing off alone somewhere,’ said Borgulnay accusingly.

  Immosey blushed. ‘I’m sorry, Borg. But we’re back in Alkira and I thought I was following Louisa and…’ Her voice trailed away as Borgulnay frowned at her.

  ‘So that made it alright to chase three of the fallen into the forest?’

  ‘I thought there was only one of them!’

  ‘One…three…it wouldn’t had made a lot of difference if they had chosen to stop you,’ said Milgorry. ‘Killing you would be about as difficult as killing a budgerigar. After all, you’re about the size of a budgerigar,’ he added with a smirk.

  ‘Very funny!’ Immosey huffed indignantly, craning her neck to look up at him.

  Borgulnay ran his hands over her shoulders. ‘So where from here?’ he asked.

  ‘Tarlique. I want to find mother and Eijelin and take them somewhere safe,’ said Kelian, looking questioningly at Araas.

  ‘Definitely,’ said Araas. ‘The Dwellings would be the best place right now,’ he said, referring to the city of the guardians.

  ‘We need to leave here as soon as we can. I’d rather not be tracked to Tarlique,’ said Kelian.

  They sat in silence until Gilgarry and Timbul returned accompanied by two sleepy looking men, whose drowsiness vanished entirely as they approached the body in the hall. Gilgarry ignored the body and opened the door to the bedroom.

  ‘Supreme Majesty!’ the first man breathed. ‘Who did this?’

  ‘Me,’ Borgulnay admitted.

  ‘Is he…?’

  ‘Dead? Yes. He’s definitely dead,’ said Borgulnay decisively.

  ‘I can see he’s dead, you fool!’ The man glared at Borgulnay indignantly and Milgorry grinned appreciatively. ‘I meant – is he one of the fallen?’ He looked at Milgorry as he asked the question and Milgorry nodded. The man glanced around the room uncertainly and then turned back to Borgulnay. ‘I am Principal Con, and I also act as head of the city guard, and the only reason I don’t restrain you and haul you down to our jail is that you wear the uniform of a King’s Captain of Castle, but unless you have a fairly good explanation for this murder I will have to ask you to accompany me. Regardless of who the man was, murder is still murder.’

  ‘This man murdered Innkeeper Jostan and his wife,’ Borgulnay explained. ‘I didn’t actually know that when he attacked me, but I doubt he would have stopped until everyone in this inn was dead.’

  ‘What! Where are they?’

  ‘Upstairs in their room,’ said Timbul. ‘The fallen hid their thoughts well and my brother and I sensed nothing from them. King’s Captain Borgulnay heard him in the hallway. By that time it was too late for Jostan and Kirsty. I couldn’t save them. Tá brón orm,’ he said sadly.

  ‘You’re of the Daoine Maithe!’ the Principal exclaimed.

  ‘We went after the ones who grabbed Louisa and dragged her through the window and into the forest,’ said Araas. ‘Ah, you probably need to know that there are three more bodies in the forest. I can take you to them if you wish. You probably shouldn’t go in there alone.’

  ‘I can’t be certain who any of you really are, and right now I have no proof that one of you didn’t murder Jostan and Kirsty as well as this man here and the three in the forest.’ Principal Con stared anxiously at Borgulnay.

  Kelian stepped forward. ‘I will speak for the King’s Captain.’

  ‘And you are…?’

  ‘He is Prince Kelian of Castle,’ said Araas and the Principal’s jaw dropped.

  Borgulnay and Gilgarry couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on the man’s face but silence fell as Kelian lifted his hand and it was immediately obvious to the Principal that the young, thin, black haired Prince was commanding these men. Kelian turned and gestured to his companions. ‘This is my fiancée, Elena, and her sisters Ladies Louisa and Immosey. You’ve met Timbul of the Dwellings, and Sergeant Gilgarry, also brother to these ladies. Timbul and his brother Araas are guardians, sons of Lord Tiernan and Lady Karrijeuiga of the Daoine Maithe. Borgulnay is our loyal and trusted King’s Captain and this is Milgorry of Tarl, warrior of the free.’

  Principal Con stood looking around the group in astonishment. ‘Highness, what are you doing here in Naraloon?’

  ‘The fallen attacked a barge that was carrying Elena, Louisa and Immosey to Castle. They took the girls to Nyinaku, I won’t explain why, but with the help of Milgorry here, we’ve managed to bri
ng them back across the Ice Coast to Alkira. Unfortunately Nandul badly wants Louisa back and he won’t care how many people he kills to get what he wants. So the sooner we leave here, the safer your town will be. We need to go as quickly as we can.’

  Con gestured to his companion.

  ‘This is Physician Jarah. He will look after any injuries.’ He glanced once again in disbelief at the body still pinned to the hallway wall.

  ‘Immosey has cuts on her knees and her hand is injured, and Elena smashed her head into the windowsill and she cut her feet and her knees on the glass,’ said Borgulnay as Immosey and Elena stepped forward to show Physician Jarah their wounds. He removed the glass fragments carefully before bandaging their wounds, and then he spent some time examining the bloody gash on Elena’s head. Eventually he confirmed there was no glass in this wound, and did his best to clean the blood from the injury.

  The Principal shook his head incredulously once again as he walked to where the warrior’s body hung. He tried unsuccessfully to pull the knife from the wall. Eventually he shrugged in resignation and turned to Borgulnay. ‘Captain, your knife seems to be permanently embedded in the wall,’ he stated. Borgulnay slipped from beneath Immosey, sliding her onto the bed and joined the Principal. He flexed his massive shoulders and with a quick flick of his wrist, he wrenched the knife from the wall and the body crashed to the floor. He leaned forward and wiped the knife on the dead man’s shirt, inspected the blade, then he flicked the knife into the air, caught it deftly and slid the weapon into its sheath.

  ‘Show off!’ said Gilgarry under his breath, shaking his head, but the Principal briefly met Borgulnay’s gaze as the knife disappeared and he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end. He was sure this was not a man he would wish to cross.

  Chapter 2

  Castle

  Dale stood at the gates of the city staring in horror at the wreckage and carnage spread before him. From where he stood, he could see no building completely intact. There were bodies everywhere, mostly soldiers but also townspeople and his heart tightened at the horrifyingly high number of women and children among them. He walked past the gates, his eyes moving across the wrecked and burning buildings.