Shade and Sorceress

by Catherine Egan

“Lah, are you a witch?” Nell pressed on.

  For a moment or two it seemed Swarn would not answer. Then her still face broke into a wry smile and she said, “So I am. Swarn the Marsh Witch, some call me, though I go by many names.”

  Nell and Eliza glanced at each other. They were both thinking the same thing. A witch who was giving them food and shelter could not be all bad. If only they could persuade her, she could summon the Triumvira at the Hall of the Ancients for them.

  “Sleep,” Swarn commanded, as if she could sense their desire to speak more.

  Though still filthy, their clothes had dried before the fire. They lay down on the mats and Nell was snoring softly within minutes. Eliza’s mind was so full and busy that she felt sure she wouldn’t sleep at all. She lay awake by the flickering green fire that did not die, and eventually her thoughts blurred into dreams.

  ~

  Eliza lay in the snow reaching for her broken staff. Every limb ached with the cold, every breath of icy air was like a dagger in her chest. She couldn’t reach the broken pieces. The wind was white and biting. Through it came the tiger, bending over her.

  “Don’t imagine you are fooling me, Eliza,” said the tiger. Its breath was warm in her ear. “I know where you are. I know what you’re doing. But you’re wasting precious time: yours, mine, and your father’s. The witch will not help you. None will help you, because they fear me. I only want the book, but if I am made to wait much longer, my temper may get the better of me.”

  The tiger backed away and bared its teeth in a growl.

  I’m on my way, Eliza tried to say, but the words froze in her throat. Her mouth and throat were full of ice; she couldn’t breathe. She struggled vainly as the tiger loped away, and woke up gasping. Swarn was gone. She had placed coarse blankets over Eliza and Nell. Eliza pulled the blanket around her tightly and drifted back into anxious, fitful sleep.

  ~

  Eliza and Nell woke at the same moment with the bang of the door. It was barely light. Swarn was standing over them, her face like thunder. She held Eliza’s staff and the barrier star in one hand, the Book of Barriers in the other.

  “What are you?” Swarn spat.

  “What do you mean?” Eliza squeaked, terrified.

  “You claim to be the Shang Sorceress but you have no power that I can detect and you have no Guide. You bear with you items you have stolen from the Mancers, items of great power pertaining to barriers. You have befriended a Shade and you speak of the Xia Sorceress. Are you taking these things to her? Tell me why I should not strike you all dead this very instant.”

  “I dinnay want to give her the book,” cried Eliza, pinned to the floor by Swarn’s terrible gaze. “I know she’s evil! That’s why I came here, that’s why I need help, aye. The Triumvira defeated her before. If you help me summon them...”

  “Idiot!” Swarn hissed at her. “It was all they could do to cast her out and they are done with her, done. What do they care for your father?”

  Eliza and Nell cowered together in the face of her fury. When she spoke again her voice was soft: “My question now is...do I cast you out to be eaten by dragons, or do I have the Mancers come and fetch you?”

  “She killed my ma,” said Eliza. Saying it out loud, her anger swelled again, dwarfing her fear. “I’ll nay let her do the same to my da. He’s all I’ve got! He’s the only one who...” She trailed off. Swarn’s face had changed at the mention of Eliza’s mother. She looked at the staff in her hand.

  “Who is your mother, then, child?”

  “Her name was Rea,” said Eliza. “I dinnay remember her. I was too small when she died.”

  “Your father raised you?”

  “Aye.”

  “And who is he?”

  “His name is Rom Tok.”

  Swarn nodded slowly. “How did the Mancers find you?” she asked.

  “They came to my home a few weeks ago and took me away. How do you know they found me?”

  Swarn paced back and forth before the fire for a moment, still holding Eliza’s things.

  “I made a promise long ago,” she said. “One that I intend to break now. If you are who you claim to be, Eliza, this is not the first time you have been in this house.”

  Eliza was too puzzled to respond. She looked at Nell, then back at Swarn. Swarn smiled. It was not the same wolfish grin they had seen before. This was a sad, distant sort of smile, and it fell quickly from her lined face. She said, “You were born here.”

  Though it was only a few seconds, it felt as if a long time passed before anybody spoke again. Swarn placed the Book of Barriers and the barrier star in one of her baskets and propped Eliza’s staff against the wall with her spears. Then she sat down on the floor next to them. She smelled of leather and sweat and smoke.

  Nell broke the silence, finding words before Eliza did. “How could she have been born here? She’s nay even from this world!”

  “Dragons are impervious to most Magic,” said Swarn. “Did you know this?”

  Both girls shook their heads.

  “It’s true,” said Swarn. “That is why I have built my house of dragon bone. No spell can find me here. Rea was my friend, my pupil. When she was pregnant with you, Eliza, she came here to hide. She considered leaving you here, in fact, and I offered to raise you myself. But she thought she could keep you and your father a secret from the Mancers in Di Shang. I told her it was impossible, but Rea was very stubborn.”

  “You knew my ma?” whispered Eliza, hardly able to believe it.

  “She sought me out when she was not much older than you are now. She had heard of me, and she wanted to learn those things the Mancers could not or would not teach her. She had a remarkable gift for Magic. I taught her witch-lore, and how to forge and wield her own weapons. The Mancers never knew, of course. She is one of a very few beings to have slain a dragon. Anyone who has slain a dragon may command them. It is a great power to possess. It was not long before she had learned all I could teach her, but she remained a dear friend. I delivered you, Eliza, in this very house, by this same fire.”

  Eliza didn’t know what to say. She gaped at the witch.

  “Before she left, she made me promise that I would help her daughter if ever she needed it,” continued Swarn. “I never saw her again. And now the day has come when her daughter comes to me and asks for my help. But I will break my promise to Rea. I will not help you to endanger the worlds.”

  “I dinnay want to endanger anything,” said Eliza. “I just want to help my da! If you summon the Triumvira for us, maybe they would agree to help. The Xia Sorceress is their enemy, nay?”

  Swarn looked thoughtful. Then she said, “Listen to me, little Sorceress. Do you know what it means to be a Sorceress?”

  Eliza thought of the teardrop containing the two girls, the statue in the Temple of the Nameless Birth of one woman splitting into two. Did she know? She shook her head.

  “The human Sorceress is a paradox in both worlds – a brief life combined with a most formidable power, a deep connection to the Magic of Making. She lives less than a century and her power is passed on through a single daughter. But Nia, as we called her then...she didn’t fancy having children or dying so quickly the way the others had done. She was strong and found a way to live forever. She obeyed no authority, cared not what damage she did. As she became more powerful, she became more dangerous. The Triumvira banished her, the Mancers imprisoned her, and since then her only thought is vengeance. Within the barriers that hold her, her power is absolute, and I promise you the Triumvira will not enter that place, nor will any other being in Tian Xia. She should be left there, no matter how she tries to goad her enemies into coming within reach of her power. You may be Rea’s child, but I reckon you’ve no more than a thimble-full of Magic in you, no training at all, and but a few years’ knowledge of the worlds. If you go anywhere near her she will make use of you as she pleases. She has no honour, is bound by no promises, feels no mercy. Let the Mancers take care of you, child. You ha
ve such a short life – live it with joy and do not cut it even shorter. Your father is probably already dead.”

  Eliza had been readying to speak but this last choked her voice off. Her eyes filled with tears.

  “He’s nay dead,” said Nell, taking Eliza’s hand. “You’ve got to help us.”

  “I willnay just give up on him,” added Eliza once she had regained control of her voice. “I cannay. I’m begging you to just summon the Triumvira and let me ask them myself.”

  Swarn stood up. “I will not go to the Hall of the Ancients with you. I will not summon the Triumvira. I will not do any Magic whatsoever to help you. I will take you clear of this Marsh. That is all.”

  After a brief internal struggle, Eliza nodded. She could see Swarn was not persuadable. Even if she just took them partway, it was still better than where they’d been yesterday.

  “I will be asking payment too,” said Swarn. “One of your treasures. Your choice.”

  “The barrier star,” said Eliza immediately. It had served its purpose already.

  “Well, then,” said Swarn. “It seems we’ve come to an agreement, little Sorceress.”

  “What about Charlie?” said Eliza.

  Swarn frowned. “No good comes of trusting those things,” she said. “This is not the first time I have met a Shade, and once you have been betrayed, you learn the way of them. It is best that he perish.”

  “He’s our friend,” Eliza insisted, and Nell added, “Kind of.”

  “He works for her,” said Swarn sharply. “I am sure of it.”

  Eliza shook her head. “I know he does. I cannay explain, but I trust him.”

  Swarn gave her a long look and then said, “I do not kill for pleasure. If you wish his company, you may have it.”

  “Thank you,” said Eliza gratefully.

  “Do not thank me,” said Swarn, with a sudden flash of anger. Then she shrugged and said, “There is a bucket of water and some rags by the door. Your bag is with them. Wash yourselves and change.”

  The water in the bucket was cold, but they were both grateful to get clean and change out of their muddy things into the clean clothes Eliza had packed. Eliza wadded their dirty things into the satchel, as it seemed impolite to leave them behind. When they were ready, Swarn looked them over.

  “You look even younger clean,” she said grimly. Then she handed Eliza a long, curved dragon claw on a chain. “I will honour one part of that promise I made your mother. This is from the dragon she slew. If you wear it, dragons will obey you. A dragon claw can never be stolen, it can only be given, and only if the desire to give it is pure and true. It cannot be tricked or coerced or enchanted from you. Because it is from a cliff dragon, it will cut through anything, material or mystical.”

  Eliza took the claw from the witch with trembling hands and hung it around her neck. It was very heavy and extended from her collarbone to her waist. Swarn tossed Eliza her staff and she caught it awkwardly.

  “What about the Book of Barriers?” she asked.

  Swarn hesitated and then gave it to her. “I am not a thief,” she said. Eliza put it into her satchel.

  Swarn bent and untied the string around Charlie the bird’s ankle, letting him flutter in a fright to Eliza’s shoulder.

  “He will stay a bird until you clear the marsh,” Swarn said. “I want no trouble from that sort. If ever he comes back here, I’ll grind his very bones to powder. Now come, before I change my mind.”

  Swarn caught up one of the red spears and strode out of the house, tilting her head back and crying out in the terrible language of the dragons. Soon three dark shapes were soaring through the sky towards them. The dragons were as rust-red as the spear, monstrous, with black leathery wings. They stank of sulfur and marsh. The largest of the three bowed his head before Swarn. She took hold of the great black spikes on his neck and, bracing one foot against the dark scales, swung herself over effortlessly so she sat astride his upper back, in front of the vast wings.

  Trying not to show their trepidation, Nell and Eliza followed suit, each taking one of the smaller dragons. Eliza saw the dragon’s bright eyes flit to the claw around her neck. They did not manage to climb up as easily as Swarn had, but as soon as they were seated and hanging on tightly the dragons took to the air. The little bird had hidden itself in Eliza’s satchel. It would never have been able to keep up with the speed of the dragons, who pounded their great wings and soared over the marsh. Swarn sat erect, white hair streaming out behind her, gripping her red spear and looking very splendid. Eliza and Nell hunched low on their dragon-steeds, holding on tight and praying to the Ancients not to let them fall. They did not fly directly north, to the Irahok mountains, but rather northwest. The land became green and speckled with live trees and the craggy snow-capped mountains loomed just beyond the rolling foothills. The dragons set them down on a hill not far from the marsh. In the valley below was a gated, shining city, all white and gold.

  “Do you see that city?” Swarn asked.

  “Aye,” said Eliza, sliding awkwardly to the ground. Nell had just landed with an ungainly grunt.

  “Good.” Swarn nodded firmly. “Go there.”

  Eliza began to say thank you but Swarn stopped her with a glare and took firm hold of the dragon’s neck spikes again, readying to depart.

  “Wait!” cried Eliza. This strange witch, if she was to be believed, had delivered Eliza as a baby, had offered to raise her, had been a friend and mentor to the mother she never knew. She was a link to the part of Eliza’s life that was a mystery and now she was about to disappear without providing any answers. Swarn sucked in her cheeks impatiently and scowled down at Eliza.

  “Why did my ma want to hide me from the Mancers?” Eliza asked. “What was she so afraid of?”

  Swarn’s face darkened slightly. “She had her reasons,” she said. Then she made an alarming screeching sound between her teeth and the dragons were aloft, veering back towards the marsh. Eliza felt a wave of sadness watching her go.

  “More close calls than I like in my day,” said Charlie shakily, suddenly standing beside them. He was rather pale. “Thanks for nay leaving me behind.”

  “Lah, we’d nay get far without you,” said Eliza. “Do you know where we are?”

  “Better off than where we were, aye,” he said. “Praps a day from the Hall of the Ancients, now. Less, even.”

  “Swarn said to go down to that city,” said Nell.

  “I’m nay keen on following her directions,” said Charlie dryly. “Besides, I’ve nary seen a city like this. I dinnay know what we’ll find living there.”

  “Eliza?” Nell looked at her hopefully. She was longing to see a Tian Xia city. “What do you think?”

  “We’ll have a look,” decided Eliza. “Just be ready to make a quick escape if we need to, aye.”

  “Suits me,” said Charlie. “Come on. We might as well enter the city in style.”

  He became a beautiful white horse with a flowing mane. The girls couldn’t help laughing and climbed onto his back. They rode down the hill towards the city.

  “What’s that smell?” asked Nell, wrinkling her nose as they approached the shining gates. “It stinks.”

  “It really does,” Eliza agreed, feeling suddenly light-headed. Then the stench was replaced by another smell, something sweet and familiar, like honey and sea-water, and the harbour of her beloved Holburg came into view. She was standing on the deck of the boat that came every week from Murda, a neighbouring island, with supplies. She could see her father and Nell and Charlie waiting for her on the shore. The disorientation lasted only a moment. Of course, she was coming home. She couldn’t remember from where, and this bothered her somewhat, but it didn’t matter really. All that mattered was that she would never have to leave again.

  ~ Chapter 14 ~

  As soon as Eliza disembarked she ran straight into her father’s open arms.

  “How wonderful to have you back, Eliza!” he said, kissing her.

  “J
ust in time for the summer holidays, aye,” added her sister, Nell.

  “We’ll have a barbecue to celebrate,” suggested Rom Tok. “Will you join us, Charlie?”

  “Aye, thanks,” said Charlie, beaming at Eliza. Eliza was pleased and a little flustered at how very happy he seemed to see her. The four of them made their way through the town, past all the old sights and sounds and smells: people chatting outside shops, the odd scooter putt-putting by, the delicious scent of baking bread that wafted out from the bakery, the laughter of children in back gardens. They crossed the town in just a few minutes and took the narrow road that led up the slope towards Rom Tok’s house, which was set apart from the rest of the town because of his beehives. They could hear the buzzing before the break in the trees that opened up onto his land.

  “It’s a good year for honey,” Rom Tok said. “And the garden is thriving, as you can see.”

  “How long have I been away?” asked Eliza, but none of them seemed to hear her. Nell and Charlie rushed ahead towards the house, calling her after them. Her father grinned and said, “Go change into your swimming things. We don’t want to waste a minute of a day like this!”

  They filled baskets with food and bottled homemade cider and carried everything down to the beach. The island was so narrow here that it took only five minutes along the trail to the long waving strip of fine white sand on the opposite side of the island from the harbour. Being so close to town, it was the most popular beach on Holburg, but today it was nearly empty.

  Rom set up the barbecue, saying, “Why don’t you three have a swim while I get the food on?”

  Needing no further prompting they ran shouting into the sea, which was just the right temperature for a warm day. They swam out to the large, flat rocks that rose up out of the water, clambered onto them and lay sunning themselves for a bit before taking turns diving off them. Charlie suggested a contest to see who could stay underwater the longest. The girls laughed – Charlie was always suggesting contests. Eliza won that one easily, seeing Nell and then Charlie go kicking up to the surface before her lungs had even begun to ache. I don’t need to breathe, she realized. I could stay down here forever if I wanted. She looked around her at the waving weeds and the bright fish who came to look at her, curious and unafraid. If she looked up, she could see Nell’s legs and Charlie’s waving near the surface. She decided to join them and gave herself a push up with her legs. The surface rippled and brightened as it got closer and then broke over her head. For one dizzying moment she thought she saw a large white animal pacing the beach near her father. But no, there was nothing there. She could smell the food cooking.