‘We can’t help her,’ said Araas, sounding disturbed. ‘Everyone is counting on us.’
‘I can sense her too. It’s she…hurt?’ asked Milgorry.
‘She’s almost out of their mind with terror. I wonder-’ Araas’ words were cut short as two Nailmarni slipped from the forest. Held firmly between them was a small, plump woman, dressed in farming clothing.
‘No!’ she screamed as she was dragged towards the heap of dead bodies. She struggled futilely and her screams turned to terrified sobs as they neared the center of the nest.
‘Tiernan, do something!’ said Milgorry, and his words were a plea. Tiernan didn’t reply, but the grief and frustration pouring from him hit everyone like a wave of heat. The Nailmarni flung the woman to the ground, and she scrambled backwards, but in no direction could she see a path of escape. The creature nearest to her kicked her hard. She was slammed to the ground once again and a dark stain appeared on her dress as she lost control of her bladder.
‘We have to do something!’ said Danil appalled by what was happening. ‘We can’t just sit here and let this happen!’
‘Our entire strategy rests on what we do here and now!’ said Lias, shaking his head. ‘But this is horrible. I feel useless!’ He stared towards the girl. One of the Nailmarni placed his foot on her shoulder and took hold of her arm.
‘We can’t let them kill her!’ Ben whispered frantically. ‘What are we doing?’
‘Ugh! It’s going to tear her arm off!’ said Danil.
‘Oh please no!’ Tiernan whispered. ‘Danil I have to do this! You know I have to do this!’
‘Do it!’ Danil insisted grimly. ‘Do it now!’
Tiernan closed his eyes. He became entirely immobile, and then he began to tremble as he opened his eyes and stared across towards the woman. Instantly her body twitched violently and she gave a piercing scream as her eyes opened wide. Then her life drained away like water rushing from a water bag, leaving her body empty. The Nailmarni holding her arm peered into her lifeless eyes intently for a moment, and then it turned and scanned the surrounding bushes uneasily. Eventually it turned back to the woman. There was no response as the creature wrenched her arm from her body and carried it away leaving her remains sprawled on the dusty ground. No one spoke as another of the Nailmarni picked up her body and flung it onto the heap. Tiernan’s face was a portrait of failure and he seemed unable to speak.
‘There was nothing else you could do,’ said Ben sadly. ‘At least you spared her a lot of pain. They would have killed her anyway – just a lot more slowly. And I seriously doubt we could have saved her from them, even without the fact that we’re supposed to be following Kelian’s orders. Everyone is counting on us to do exactly what we were told to do.’
‘Can you hear little Rezon?’ asked Milgorry, moving on the branch so he wasn’t facing the pile of bodies. ‘Are they in place?’
‘He’s my brother. Of course I can hear him,’ Ben replied staring blankly ahead as he concentrated. ‘They’re almost ready. The weapons have been brought from the ships and Callian has taken his group towards the forest – with the weapons.’
‘Who’s carrying the crossbows from the ships?’ asked Danil curiously.
‘Callian has seven guardians carrying the heavier ones with the help of Rudi and little Rezon, and Captain Gillam and Dommy are leading a bunch of sailors who are carrying the rest. Oliver and Davis are not far behind with some of the soldiers. They should be in the forest in seconds.’
‘Whose idea was it to split up brothers?’ asked Araas. His heart ached with grief as he thought of how easily he and Timbul had shared thoughts, even at a great distance.
‘Mine,’ said Tiernan, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder understandingly. ‘I’ve learned much of the bond between siblings.’ A strange and unexpected emotion flashed through Araas’ heart, as if he felt Timbul calling to him, and the sensation was so overwhelmingly compelling that for a moment he wondered if he was losing his mind. He gave a gasp of shock as his body slammed into the trunk of the tree and he opened his eyes to find himself hanging below the branches with Danil’s hand firmly grasping the back of his shirt. His shirt began to tear and he reached upwards and grabbed Danil’s arm as he started to slide towards the ground. With a great heave the big soldier dragged Araas back onto the branch.
‘What just happened?’ Milgorry was looking at Araas in disbelief.
‘I…I felt something strange,’ said Araas, and his voice caught in his throat as the grief of losing his brother resurfaced. His eyes fell, and he desperately tried to hide his sudden uncontrolled emotions.
‘Son…’ Tiernan placed his hand on Araas’ shoulder. Araas looked up into his father’s eyes, suddenly not caring that tears spilled and rushed down his face. He brushed them away with the back of his hand and glared down at the Nailmarni.
‘I will make them pay for what they are doing,’ he whispered, his eyes glittering dangerously. ‘I will make them pay for returning my brother and I will make them pay for what they are doing to the humans. I will make them pay for what they did to that woman.’
‘Spoken like a truly vengeful guardian,’ said Milgorry.
‘Callian has moved into the forest, and they’re preparing the weapons,’ said Ben. ‘Are we ready?’
‘Let me start,’ said Tiernan. ‘Remember, if I do manage to persuade their thoughts, it might happen as quickly as it did when we tested this. As you know, the plan is to have them head for the cliffs above the lake, and if possible I’ll try to make some of them want to leap from the cliffs and some of them to want to go into the caverns. If this works, they might run right beneath us. So don’t jump from the tree if they rush in this direction.’
Ben snorted derisively. ‘Right. As if we’re likely to throw ourselves down into the path of a thousand flesh hungry Nailmarni. We’re not all guardians Tiernan. We have some common sense.’ He flinched as he felt the muscles in his back tense as Tiernan glared at him. ‘I’m sorry,’ said Ben, shaking his head. ‘That was a stupid thing to say; showed no common sense after all. I’m just a bit…’
Tiernan relaxed his gaze and Ben let his breath out slowly. ‘We’re all a bit edgy,’ Tiernan conceded, ‘and with good reason. Let’s get this over.’
After ten minutes Danil began to fidget restlessly. ‘It’s not working,’ he said, glancing from Tiernan to the immobile Nailmarni. ‘Why is it not working?’
‘Maybe they worked out what happened last time,’ said Araas. ‘Perhaps we should all try together.
After another ten minutes, Tiernan sighed and shook his head. ‘This is no good,’ he said in discouragement. ‘What would you say if I took a more direct approach?’
‘Like what exactly?’ Danil demanded, frowning suspiciously at Tiernan.
‘If I drop from this tree and run through the nest, I’m willing to bet they’d come after me.’
‘And I’m willing to bet you’d get halfway across the nest before they took you down,’ said Milgorry.
‘He’s a lot faster than that,’ Lias disagreed. ‘My bet is he gets as far as the tree line on the other side of the nest before they crush him and add him to the pile.’
‘Not necessarily,’ said Danil shaking his head. ‘If we’re taking bets, I’ll say he’ll beat them all to the cliffs where he’ll find himself caught between the Nailmarni and the water.’
‘Listen,’ said Tiernan, frowning crossly at Danil. ‘We knew this part of the plan would be chancy, and we all agreed that if we have to take more direct action, we should take it.’
‘I thought that meant drawing their attention from a distance,’ argued Ben. ‘That was what we agreed, wasn’t it? Anyway,’ he continued without waiting for Tiernan to answer, ‘if someone does have to run through the camp to get their attention I don’t think it should be you. It should be me. We can’t afford to lose a single guardian, and of the rest of us, Mil is the strongest and fastest, so it shouldn’t be him. It has to be me.’
&
nbsp; ‘Am I invisible?’ asked Lias sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
‘Did anyone hear that voice?’ asked Ben, pretending to look around in surprise.
‘No,’ said Tiernan, and he smiled at the look on Lias’ face. ‘I meant – no we don’t need to run through the nest. There’s a better way.’
‘Such as?’ Lias prompted.
‘Let’s get out of this tree and into the forest over there without being seen,’ said Tiernan pointing to the forest on the east of the nest. ‘We just need to be absolutely certain they come after us, and if we leave ourselves a way of escape – even better.’
‘So what’s the plan?’ asked Danil.
‘I’ll tell you when we get into the forest,’ Tiernan replied, sliding down a branch. He wrapped his hands around the branch and swung himself to the ground, making no sound as he landed. At that very instant, the group of Nailmarni nearest to the tree turned and, like a wave from the ocean, began to move across the ground towards the forest. In a flash, Milgorry was clinging to the lowest branch of the tree, and reaching downwards. Tiernan leapt up, caught his hand and Milgorry dragged him back up into the branches.
‘Did they see you?’ asked Lias urgently. ‘Or did they hear you?’
‘They aren’t coming in this direction,’ said Tiernan, sounding confused. ‘So they couldn’t have seen me. I wonder what they’re up to.’ They watched speculatively from their high perch as wave after wave of Nailmarni left the nest and moved towards the forest.
Comprehension dawned on Milgorry’s face. ‘Tiernan, I think it did work. I think you got through to them. It just took longer for them to react than we expected. They’re not taking the path we expected either, but I still think they’re heading for the cliffs.’
‘Yes!’ Tiernan whispered emphatically. ‘Ben, if you would let little Rezon know they’re on their way, and I’ll let Borg know. Hopefully he’ll have everyone within the Dwellings ready.’
‘He will,’ said Danil confidently. ‘If I know Borg, he’ll have done everything he had to do, and more.’
‘Shall we follow?’ asked Ben, starting to fidget as he sat on the branch.
‘We may as well,’ said Danil and without another word he dropped to the ground and sprinted in the direction of the cliffs.
* * *
Kelian stopped pacing along the shore of the lake as Borgulnay approached. ‘Have they started?’ he asked.
‘A minute ago,’ Borgulnay confirmed. ‘You need to be in the Western Tower.’
‘Not going to happen. Don’t bring it up again.’
‘At least you might move back from the lake a little.’ They walked up the sloping bank and stood in front of the row of soldiers and guardians, who were all staring towards the top of the cliffs.
‘Tiernan thinks we have more than enough chiniocelle,’ Kelian said gesturing towards the lake with the jug of clean water he was holding.
‘What’s the water for?’
‘One of the Daoine Maithe brought it to me,’ Kelian explained. ‘I was barely even thinking about how thirsty I was, but she still picked up on my thoughts.’
‘They miss nothing. I’m surprised you gave in to Danil’s plan.’
‘I didn’t give in to his plan! I told him he had to have a plan for escape before he went ahead.’
‘Well he’s definitely planning to go ahead. I guess that means he has a plan for escape.
‘He didn’t tell me!’
‘You didn’t say he had to tell you,’ Borgulnay pointed out. ‘You just said he had to come up with a plan which ensured his escape.’
‘Rrrrrr,’ Kelian growled angrily. Several soldiers eyed him nervously as he strode furiously through their ranks towards the Dwellings. ‘Marnol!’ he shouted as he came towards the courtyard. A group of soldiers who were making their way towards the lake stopped and came to attention as Kelian rushed by. ‘Keep moving!’ he barked and the soldiers simultaneously bobbed their heads and rushed towards the lake. ‘Stop!’ Kelian cried out and the confused soldiers swung around and came to attention once again. Kelian looked from face to face, recognizing that their expressions were reflected in his own heart. They felt defeated before the battle was begun. ‘Everything is going according to plan,’ said Kelian forcing himself to speak calmly. ‘The Nailmarni have started moving, and Callian has his men in place. We have enough chiniocelle to kill everyone from here to Tathra, and at this moment it’s being taken through the forest to the top of the cliffs. Once we have the Nailmarni in the lake, the guardians and the free warriors will pour the chiniocelle into the water, and that will go a long way towards resolving our problems. You are the best soldiers I could have on my side and we are in the most defensible place I can imagine. You are well trained and highly skilled and I can ask no more than that you do your duty. Our strategy is sound, but if all fails I will die fighting alongside men who gave all for their kingdom. If that’s the way it’s going to be, so be it! I am proud and privileged to be your King.’
‘Thank you sir,’ said one of the soldiers, lifting his chin.
Kelian smiled encouragingly. ‘Perhaps the worst we might have is a few unconscious soldiers who stayed too close to the lake and breathed in a bit of chiniocelle. Carry On,’ he added as a few of the men laughed. He watched them as they continued towards the lake and joined their fellow soldiers alongside the Daoine Maithe.
‘That was a good speech,’ said General Marnol, appearing beside him.
‘Can we win this?’ asked Kelian, his voice now sounding defeated. ‘Is there any chance at all of this working?’
General Marnol gazed towards the soldiers and the Daoine Maithe. ‘I think we can win. The part I like least of this entire business is relying on the Nailmarni to throw themselves into the lake. But the guardians are confident they can make them do it. From past experience it doesn’t pay to underestimate them.’
‘True. I wish I knew what Danil was up to. I wish he told me what his plan was.’
‘You’re angry at him?’
‘More worried than angry. He’s the best King’s Marshall Alkira has ever seen, but it’s more than that. He’s a good man. A good friend.’
‘You asked him to have an escape plan, so you can be sure he’ll have one,’ General Marnol pointed out reasonably. ‘Nothing is certain in battle, but it is certain that your King’s Marshall will have followed your instructions absolutely.’
‘You’re right. Thank you General.’ Kelian turned and walked away wondering exactly what Danil was up to.
Chapter 52
Confrontation
Callian grimaced with satisfaction as one of the Nailmarni turned to follow him. He dashed away from Rudiger who gave an anxious shout as he disappeared into the trees with the Nailmarni close behind.
‘What are you doing!?’ Rudiger’s thoughts felt like any angry slap.
‘We need to know if there are any other nests we haven’t destroyed,’ thought Callian.
‘We didn’t discuss this! What are you intending to do?’
‘I’m going to take his thoughts.’
‘We need you here Callian!’
‘I won’t be long,’ Callian declared. ‘Trust me, I’ll be there.’ He was moving a little faster now, putting some distance between himself and the pursuing Nailmarni. He was delighted how easily he influenced the creature to follow him, and it showed no signs of knowing it was being coerced. Callian stopped and turned as he reached a break in the trees. He ducked behind a low bush and waited. The Nailmarni made no attempt to hide his approach, and as he burst from the line of trees Callian was upon him like a massive, dangerous cat. He wrapped one arm around the Nailmarni’s shoulder and grabbed its neck, forcing its arm painfully backwards. The creature leaned forward in agony, and Callian took the opportunity to slam it to the ground. In a fraction of a second he was bent over it. He grabbed the creature’s head and dragged it back, crouching and pinning its shoulders behind his knees and elbows. The Nailmarni’s arms flailed helplessly a
s Callian wrenched its head back until its spine threatened to break. He took a deep breath and reached into the creature’s thoughts, forcing his way through the barriers it frantically tried to establish in its mind. It gave a scream of anguish then a groan of agony as it succumbed to the attack. Callian began to sweat with exertion as the Nailmarni’s thoughts filled his mind. He delved deeper and deeper into its thoughts and the Nailmarni’s body began tremble under the force of the mental intrusion. Its skin turned even whiter and the trembling increased until its entire body was wracked with spasms of pain. It gave a strange wail of horror as the trauma became too much. Callian leapt backwards, releasing it as its head split open and its brains burst through the crack in its skull. In the same instant, the skin and flesh on the creature’s chest ruptured and intestines splattered forth, then what was left of its body fell forward, landing on the ground with a surprisingly loud thud. Callian gritted his teeth in distaste and swallowed hard as he turned away. It had taken longer than he had hoped, and he felt as weak as a kitten, but even in the face of the horrifying sight he felt the exultation of relief. There were no more Nailmarni nests within the Province of the guardians. But the Nailmarni heading towards the Dwellings seemed confident they had the numbers take the guardians down, even after so many were killed on the Black Apple Islands and then in the ensuing massive wave that destroyed Castle. The significance of that confidence hit Callian hard and he turned and ran towards the Dwellings. He was within sight of the soldiers when he abruptly stopped.
‘Dale?’ he said wearily, peering up into a thick lace bark tree.
‘Yes Callian?’ Dale replied, pushing his head between the leaves and frowning down at Callian.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be either in the Western Tower or aboard one of the ships?’
‘I refuse to hide uselessly whilst everyone fights. Our entire strategy rests on everything going exactly as we discussed. Whilst there seems to be a good chance our plan will work, it’s not certain. So if they suddenly change their minds and try to escape, I want to know which way they go. From here I’ll be able to see, and if I have to, I can follow them.
The Guardians (Book 2) Page 40
