Falling Into Light

by Blair MacKinnon

knowing my daughter and her mother will live.

  Priestess

  Darkness and then – I am standing in a great hall. White marble walls circle around me. The infinity of the night sky swirls above – stars and planets glow in the deep midnight blue of the domed ceiling. Alcove lanterns give light. This is a sacred place, dedicated to the Earth Goddess, my Goddess. The walls are decorated with Her symbols – the triple spiral, the tree of life and the spiral goddess. Through a semi-circular entrance I can see Eryssen, the mountain that towers over Erys, our island home. Steam, lit by a fiery red glow from beneath, is rising into the night air from its peak. And I wait. I have made my peace with my Goddess and I am ready to give my life in Her service. I am charged to protect Her people and this I will do. Silently, I pray for forgiveness for what I will have to do, in this place, in order to do this. I know She will hear me and forgive. Fiery red flickers on the entrance portal – the town below is ablaze. The Moryx, slavers, murderers, looters and worse, have come. They will have found little to satisfy them, the townspeople have made their way through the passage at the rear of the temple to the secret harbour. They need time to make good their escape. And so I wait.

  Footfalls, leather on stone, the clink of chainmail, heavy breathing. I smile grimly, it is a steep climb to the temple. Two figures loom in the doorway, backlit in flickering red. Tall, bulky in their mail and leather armour, they hold spears in one hand and have drawn swords in the other. Advance scouts? Chancers looking for easy loot? It matters not. They see a tall slight figure robed in black, hood drawn down hiding the face, holding a deep brown ironwood staff. Scarlet nails gleam on the hand holding the staff. They take a moment to take stock of what they are seeing – I am not what they expected to find – before speaking.

  “Well, what ‘ave we ‘ere Garat?”

  “Looks like sport t’me Merk.”

  “Lad or lass, what d’you think?”

  “All the same t’me Merk, sport is sport.”

  Garat, the one on my right, takes a step forward and contorts his scarred face into what I imagine he thinks is an ingratiating grin.

  “Now then laddie or lass, do you play nice with us and we’ll all ‘ave a bit o’ fun. Well we will any roads, won’t we Merk.” They both break into wheezy laughs.

  I remain motionless and silent. I think my stillness is unnerving them a little – good.

  “Nothing to say then? Well, easy or ‘ard we’ll ‘ave our fun.” Garat again and with that both move towards me. They’ve sheathed their swords and propped their spears against the wall – big mistake. And they’ve taken off their helmets – even bigger mistake.

  I wait until they are one pace away from me and I can smell their stink. One pace back and I whip the staff in a whistling upward arc into Garat’s crotch. Eyes bulging in shock and pain he collapses in a heap on the floor. Merk makes a grab for the dagger at his belt. Too slow, my staff crashes into his temple and he crumples to the floor. Garat’s moans are silenced by a quick tap on his head. I drag their unconscious bodies to the doorway and roll them down the rocky hillside, throwing their weapons after them. I see torches coming up the path to the temple –five, six, no, seven. Picking up a couple of rocks I wait until the torch carriers are in range then send the rocks arcing downwards, one after the other. Loud cries tell me they have hit their marks. Down to six now. That will slow them down, more precious minutes gained for my people. I return to the centre of the hall and wait.

  Scuffling and whispers outside the doorway tell me they are here. They have an officer with them who orders two to enter the temple. They enter tentatively, unsure of what they will find but alert none-the-less. The surprise on their faces when they see me is almost comical, almost. One calls back to the officer outside.

  “Sir, there is only one and” he squints at my hand holding the staff, “it’s just a girl.”

  The officer is clearly skeptical. “Talk sense man, one girl cannot have knocked out three of our men.” Ah, it seems they have found Merk and Garat.

  “Sir, there is no-one else here and there is nowhere to hide.” He’s wrong about that but there is only me here to stop them.

  The rest are ordered in and they fan out along the walls, two to my right and three to my left. The officer comes in last and stands in the doorway. His gaze flicks around the hall and finally focuses on me.

  “You! You’re the one who took out three of my men?” He can’t keep the incredulity out of his voice.

  Time to introduce myself. I slip the robe off and stand revealed – a tall young woman in tight fitting black tunic, breeches and boots. Hair the colour of fiery molten rock cascades over my shoulders and down my back. I brush back my hair from my face to show the third eye tattoo on my forehead. There are audible gasps around me.

  “Merel, Temple Guardian of our Goddess of the Earth. At your service.”

  I make a sweeping bow, never taking my eyes off the soldiers that surround me. There is nothing of respect in that bow and the officer knows it. I continue:

  “You may leave now and live…….for a time anyway. If you stay, you will share Merk and Garat’s fate. This is not a threat, merely a statement.” I raise the staff so it is in both hands and horizontal in front of me. “This is Astraea, she doesn’t take kindly to those who do not respect the sacredness of this place.” I whirl the staff above my head, then whip it down into my right hand, held out in the ready position. I move side on to the officer and extend my left arm, palm up.

  “But, if you believe you can best me, then…”, I pause and slowly beckon to the officer with the fingers of my left hand, “come on, who wishes to be first to meet Astraea.” I smile. I’ve already mapped out my next moves in my mind, so I’m ready for what happens next.

  “Kill her!” the officer is apoplectic with rage. His men hesitate and he explodes “Kill her! She is one girl. Kill her!”

  Rage wins over hesitancy and they come at me from all sides, swords drawn. I take on the two to my right, moving quickly. Astraea swings into the first man’s knee and he is down. I duck under the second one’s sword thrust and take his legs from under him with a sweep kick. As he falls I kick the first one’s sword from his grasp, sending it clattering into the wall. One swing from Astraea and the second man is done. The other three have barely reached the centre of the hall. Using Astraea I vault into the one in the middle, sending him crashing into the wall. Rolling away from him I swing Astraea into the second man’s midriff, then bring her down on his helmeted head. He is on the floor before the third can turn round fully. Madness in his eyes he charges onto Astraea. Using his momentum I lift him up and over me. He crashes to the floor as I land on one knee, my back to the officer. Screaming, he charges me. A quick backward thrust to the heart and he is down.

  I stand and look around me. Five bodies lie about the floor. The officer and one other are dead, the rest unconscious. The one with the broken leg has managed to crawl outside. Good, I am done with violence. The rest I will leave to my Goddess. Tears flowing I drag the bodies outside and send them down the hillside, then clean Astraea in a small spring. Life is too precious to be wasted like this. I walk back to the far end of the hall and sit, legs crossed with Astraea across my knees. Silently, I pray for the souls of those I have just killed while I weep for them. Warped and twisted as they were they were not born into this world as murderers. I pray they make better choices next time around. The loving presence of my Goddess surrounds me as I sit - comforting, supporting, strengthening. But I feel Her deep, deep anger towards the Moryx, it is not a good idea to get on her bad side. There is nothing to do now but wait, so I clear my mind, find my inner stillness, close my eyes and wait.

  A timeless period later the sounds of boots on stone and rough, angry voices come to me. I hear them file into the hall, filling it with sound of leather scuffing on marble and low mutterings. The mutterings cease - strong, confident f
ootsteps approach.

  “So, this is the demon that has broken the skulls of so many of my men. Well girl, what say you to this? Are you responsible?” This is a voice used to command and used to giving orders that are obeyed without question – their leader.

  I open my eyes and rise in one fluid motion. “Merel, Temple Guardian of our Goddess of the Earth. At your service.” I keep my voice and expression neutral. Now is not the time to be antagonistic, my people need a little more time to get clear of the island. Deep underground, the pressure is building, I can feel my Goddess’s anger rising to the surface. I am silent and still.

  “Well girl, do you stand aside and live or do you die here, alone. But one way or another, this ends now.”

  I remain silent and still, barring their way. He motions a line of crossbowmen to the fore.

  “Your sacrifice here is meaningless, girl. If we don’t catch up with them at the harbour my ships will intercept them before they can get away and we will have our bounty. Your Goddess will not save you or your people.” He raises