by Helen Fields
‘Ellette, I have to go back to help mother.’ I started back towards the entangled bodies.
‘No!’ she shouted. ‘She is a warrior, she needs no help. You are in much more danger than her. Stay with me. James will know where to find us.’ We found the mountain trail and I put out my hand to hold the rock face as we climbed. We had no torches and boulders slowed our progress every few steps. We finally paused at a small recess and I could hear the escalation of the battle below. Amidst the screams of pain and bloodlust I could make out spears flying through the air. I guessed from the reactions to Zora earlier that as many people supported the Perelesnyk as would stand with the Vilya against them.
‘Stay here,’ said Ellette and she dashed out of our hiding place to check what lay ahead. The second she was out of sight two creatures looking like cavemen appeared, grabbing Zora and me with a strength it was pointless to fight. As hard as I struggled it achieved nothing and Zora just allowed herself to be held, showing no sign of distress. I started to speak and a fist lashed out, backhanding me across the face. My head whipped round, not expecting the blow and I tasted blood in my mouth. Pain exploded through my skull and I thought that if a broken nose was my only injury today I would be very lucky indeed.
The men began to trek back down the mountain trail but even given their extraordinary strength it was difficult to carry us over the fallen rocks. Eventually the one holding me had to release the hand across my mouth and I screamed like a banshee. With no warning at all, feet were landing all around us from the ledge above. I heard a furious screech from Ellette who had returned with more Vilya to assist. I watched her fight and marvelled at her tenacity, never holding back or concerned for her own welfare. She and the Vilya were fierce warriors and I was embarrassed by my own weakness. I stayed with my back pressed into the cliff, holding Zora tight. They set about the men who had taken us but even so it took all of them to restrain the two Neanderthals. Finally both men were on the ground with Ellette kneeling over the one who had taken Zora and only then did she speak.
‘Are you unharmed, sisters? I am so sorry, I should never have left you alone.’ As she said the last word I heard her splutter and her body went into spasms. She swayed where she was, looking confused and rasping for breath. I heard him laugh then, a horrible throaty gurgle and the world went into slow motion as the other Vilya and I dived towards her flailing body. Three of the Vilya threw themselves on top of her attacker and wrestled the hidden weapon from his hand. He’d been wearing what looked like elongated crocodile teeth on his knuckles, sharpened to deathly points. He had chosen not to use them during the fight, waiting for a perfect moment to inflict maximum damage when least expected. We rolled Ellette onto her front and pulled the teeth from where they had been shoved, deep into her spine. She was losing consciousness fast. I was babbling about doctors and hospitals, making no sense to the people around me. One of the Vilya held Ellette’s head in his hands and I could see blood coming from her mouth and nose.
‘They put poison on the end of the teeth. There is nothing we can do.’ He looked at me and I scrambled to the ground lying next to her to hold her close.
‘Can’t I heal her? I’ve done it before, I just need a little time.’
‘It won’t work here; you are not in the human world now. It is her time. We do not fight nature.’
‘This isn’t nature, it’s those murderous bastards.’ I was shouting but it ended as a sob. I knew he was right. Comforting her was the only pathetic, useless thing I could do but I held her for the awful minutes that passed until she was beyond the grip of pain. She bled from her eyes and her ears, convulsing and groaning, while I told her that she would make it, that it would pass. When her body was almost done she whispered to me.
‘It was all worth it, Eve. I am so proud to have known you. Protect Zora for me.’ She started to choke on the blood and I turned her head to one side so that it would drain but she couldn’t get enough oxygen and I knew I would never forget the horrible guilty relief when it was over. I lay on the ground and sobbed into her hair. After a short time they pulled me up as I stepped back to let Zora say goodbye to her sister. She was calm. Crying, I could see, but serene.
‘Sleep well, Ellette.’ She kissed her sister on the lips, the eyes and the forehead then smoothed her hair. ‘I’ll see you soon.’ I wasn’t sure if she really understood what had happened until she came and hugged me. ‘Don’t worry about Ellette, she’s still with us.’ I sobbed with the pain of losing a sister and this half-woman, who so many people believed could scarcely function in the world without help, gave me the strength to carry on. We hid Ellette’s body where it would be safe until we could return for it, bound the two attackers and knocked them unconscious then carried on up the slope of the rock to higher ground. I could see fires raging on the valley floor and a freezing terror was seeping through my veins. If this didn’t stop, too many lives would be lost either from battle wounds or a forest fire that would soon be uncontrollable. As hard as I tried to control myself all I could see was Ellette’s face, bloodied and gasping. We reached a point about half way up the cliff and I could bear it no more, collapsing to my knees. I growled with a viciousness that was feral and thrashed my fists against the rock. No-one tried to stop me and I was grateful. Eventually I put my head to the rock. I could smell blood, sulphur and ash making bile rise in my throat. I had no idea how to express the savagery of my emotions, rolling onto my back and screaming into the sky.
I wanted to find the family responsible for this and rip them limb from limb. I imagined myself biting them, throttling them, drowning them and I relished every second of the vision. When I felt the dried blood washing down my face, I realised it had begun to rain and it brought me back to reality. With Ellette gone I had to protect Zora now and if I let my emotions get the better of me I’d go straight back through to the mortal world where I would be useless to her. I could see Zora bathed in the blossoming light of dawn and gazing up at the sky, a half smile on her face. As I got control enough to stand, there was enough sun for me to see all the way down into the valley. My nails were cutting into the soft flesh of my palms where my fists were rolled so tight and I tried to make out where our enemies were. What I saw was the river rising swiftly below. I felt the wind grow in strength, the trees bending hard in its path.
I was shaking with adrenalin and barely aware of the others pulling me down off the cliff face into a shallow cave to shelter from the storm. From our position we could see everything. There is no glory in bloodshed, all dead bodies are grotesque when limbs are severed and blood has coloured everything crimson but the whites of the eyes. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, it’s all just chaos and waste. The flames that were eating steadily into the forest were cutting off pockets of fighters, making victory a false cause. The wind whipped around us and down the mountainside tearing branches from the trees below, beating the fire along faster and faster through the undergrowth. At last I caught sight of the Vilya near my resting tent, Anousk amongst them, still battling with the Perelesnyk and the cavemen demons who had murdered Ellette. I stared at the river, focussing my temper successfully for the first time and watched as the current swelled and chopped then burst the banks. The swirling wind was lifting a trail of dirt and debris off the valley floor and when it crossed the path of the rising water a funnel began to form. The river waters were gushing now, spreading like a plague across the clearing. In seconds the spiral of stones was underwater.
‘Mother!’ I whispered, but Zora’s hand was on mine, warm and firm.
‘She will be safe,’ she said. ‘I can feel the strength flowing through her.’ I stared at her in surprise. She may have been born human but she was something more than that now. She motioned back down towards the valley with her head. The wind funnel, now a full water spout, had crossed the flooded land and entered the woods. As it travelled, it extinguished the worst of the fires and the rain ensured that the remaining trees were too damp to burn. The ferocity of th
e storm had made the last fighters flee, unable to continue in such a harsh environment and scared of getting caught in the flooding. There were bodies littered across the ground but perhaps not as many as I’d feared. It was enough, though: Enough for me to question if I’d been right to come here. Was all this my fault? I closed my eyes and resigned myself to never knowing the answer to that.
When I opened them again James’s face was appearing over the cliff ledge outside the caves. In spite of the battering winds he’d found us. I held my arms out to him and when he reached me I felt the hatred that was consuming me subside. I buried my face in his chest and tried to find a moment of peace.
‘They took Ellette from us. She died saving Zora and me.’
‘I’m sorry, Eve, I’m so sorry,’ he said. I was dimly aware that he had reached out to hold Zora’s hand. She was grinning at the two of us as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
As James calmed me so the storm began to die down. The rain eased off and we went back to the cliff edge to assess the damage.
‘I have to go and find mother,’ said Zora. I nodded and readied myself to go with her. She shook her head at me. ‘You’re going home now, aren’t you?’ I started to protest but James had made the decision for me.
‘Yes, we’re going home now. Will you be safe?’
‘Of course I will, silly. You saved me. This was how it had to happen. Mother told me the value of peace is measured against the horror of war.’ Zora stood on her toes and kissed James on the mouth shyly. ‘Thank you. It’s not forever, you know.’ She took the hand of one of the Vilya who began to guide her down the cliff. ‘Come back soon, Eve, mother will miss you,’ she called over her shoulder.
James put an arm around me again.
‘Was it all worth it?’ he asked. I thought about it for a moment.
‘Yes, but only just.’ Above us the sun was starting to show its face and I lifted mine to get some warmth from it.
‘Any idea how we’re going to get out of here?’
‘I’m burnt out,’ I said. ‘I can’t feel anything.’
He sat down dangling his legs over the cliff ledge and motioned for me to sit next to him. I let my head fall onto his shoulder and felt the strength of his body revive me. He stroked my hair, my face and my neck while my pulse slowed and I embraced the stillness. I opened my eyes and studied him. Each tiny wrinkle that started spread out from the corners of his eyes; the frown line in the centre of his forehead when he was concentrating; the lips that were the first feature to show his anger; the almost invisible scarring on his cheek from a long forgotten accident. All the things that made him human and individual were the things that made him beautiful and irreplaceable. He ran a finger over my lips and spoke softly to me.
‘Let’s try this,’ he said. ‘This is all we need to lose ourselves together.’ Then he kissed me. He started by just brushing his lips against mine and then grazed my bottom lip softly between his teeth so that I opened my mouth enough for him fill it with his tongue. I let my body go limp in his arms and thought of nothing but him, his passion and his grief. I met his tongue with my own, together in every breath, every movement. I could feel the heat of his rushing blood and his kiss was like wine in my mouth. I felt every part of him reach out for me and I gently took his tongue between my teeth and pulled him into me further. A rainbow of colours was appearing before my eyes and I felt as if I were tasting sunshine. There was a cool breeze around us and I knew we were starting to pass over, just as James had believed would happen. I opened my eyes to see him in the moment we passed over so that I would never forget the way he looked right then and there.
I caught the rushing movement as I opened my eyes and Perun had grabbed us both before I could pull my mouth from James’s to scream. In a blur of flying scree we were propelled off the ledge. Perun went with us, so great was his determination to finish what he’d started that he’d lost his footing when he shoved us so hard. For the first few seconds we all fell as one. I reached my hand out to find something to anchor us but there was nothing, only air above and below. As I looked up I saw Perun’s face disappear above me, then we hit the wall of rock and every bit of air thumped out of my chest. James and I were rolling together over and over. I was conscious that James hadn’t let go of me, one hand pulling my head into his chest and this other wrapped around my back, protecting me from the vicious blows battering our entwined bodies. The rock face wasn’t a sheer drop but it was long and unforgiving.
When we finally landed in a heap at the base, I lifted my head to ask James how badly hurt he was. His arms fell away rather than releasing me and I knew something was wrong as I heard the thud of his hands hitting the ground. It took me a few seconds to recover my blurred vision but when I did I saw a puddle of red spreading out beneath the back of his skull. I picked up the bitter coppery smell of blood and heard a woman start to scream in the distance. Footsteps around us gained momentum and there were voices calling from all directions. I reached out to hold James’s head but hands took hold of me and surrounded him and I saw hikers’ boots. The world went into slow motion, muffled as if the sound had been turned down. I was struggling to make sense of what they were saying. Animated faces were shouting into mobile phones and then someone said they couldn’t find a pulse. My world stopped.
I looked at the limp body on the ground. Someone was trying to put a coat around my shoulders and wipe blood off my face. I summoned every bit of will I had left and pushed away the arms around me to stand up. I strode forward and fell to my knees at James’s side, bending over and pulling him into my arms. I could hear people telling me not to move him, that I would make his injuries worse. I didn’t think that was possible and I knew every second I wasted was a second too late. I thought of Naomi in her bathroom being sick, of Xander on the beach with his foot bleeding and I begged for my strength to flow into him. I would have given every bit of life in my body to save him but he was slipping away and I couldn’t bear any more loss. I put my mouth over his as I had on the mountain ledge when I’d realised that this was the only man in the world I had ever loved. I kissed him as if it were the last thing I would ever do and pleaded with whatever spirits could hear me to save him.
I felt the earth trembling with the oncoming wind from the helicopter before I heard it. Air rescue was above us, unable to land but sending down a stretcher. When the medic hit the ground I had no choice but to let go of James and leave his fate to others. I had the chilling sensation that I was about to lose him and I wasn’t ready to let go. The medic strapped him into the sling and they lifted him away in a matter of minutes. I watched him being winched high above me into a bright blue sky and allowed myself to be led away by the park rangers to safety. The next hours were a blur.
I was given medical attention at the ranger’s station in Yosemite Valley and was able to remember Sabina’s details. I was told that James had been taken to the trauma unit at the Doctors Medical Center of Modesto but I had no way of knowing if he were dead or alive. One of the rangers found James’ car and we began the long drive back to the ranch. I closed my eyes and feigned sleep for the journey. Sabina was not there when I arrived and a housekeeper told me she’d gone directly to the hospital. Finally the news I’d been waiting for came.
James had been alive when he’d arrived at Modesto, although barely. They were amazed that he had any life left in him and he was in surgery, having lost a huge amount of blood and sustained a blow to his skull that he wasn’t expected to survive. I was escorted back to my house, people talking in hushed tones around me. I told them I wanted to be alone and my tone must have been enough to dissuade them from argument. I sat down in a chair in my lounge, pulled a blanket over me, put the phone on my lap and began the dreadful process of waiting.
Twenty-three
It was nearly nine hours later when the phone rang. Sabina sounded exhausted.
‘He’s alive but he hasn’t regained consciousness,’ she said. ‘It’s a miracle he survived at all.
All we can do is wait and hope he comes out of the coma but they have no way of knowing how long that will take.’
‘Is there any brain damage?’ I asked, unable to bear the thought that this man, who spent every second outdoors, on horseback, on the beach, walking through the mountains, could be confined to life within four walls.
‘They won’t know until he wakes up. This is the best place for him Eve, the care here is excellent. Get some rest. I’m coming home. I’ll come over to see you when I get back.’ I thanked her and hung up. At last, still wearing the white robes of the Vilya I’d worn all day and all night, James’s blood mixed with my own encrusted upon my hands and body, I slept.
Sabina’s knocking woke me. She was using her walking sticks and looked as if she hadn’t slept for a week. She walked forward and put one arm around my shoulders letting her stick fall to the floor. James was still in a coma. She’d sat with him, held his hand and talked to him gently about the horses and the ranch. There was no sign that he could hear or understand. I busied myself making tea for her.
‘Sabina, I don’t know how to carry on,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing to hold on to, nothing feels real.’
‘You carry on the way we all do,’ she answered. ‘You set a routine and use it to get through each day. So here’s what you’ll do. You’ll carry on with the play. You’ll come to rehearsals and learn your lines and let Xander make a fuss of you. You’ll drive to see James whenever you have the energy and tell him every tiny detail about your day. You’ll come home and have dinner with me and tell me wonderful tales about your life in England. You will keep busy and not let yourself stop and think.’
