Shadow Lands Trilogy

by Simon Lister

  ‘But can we trust him to keep his word to let us continue here as we always have?’

  Kane thought he detected a whining quality to Lord Venning’s voice and he worked hard to keep the sneer from his face.

  ‘All he wants from us is our allegiance and the extra food we can produce to feed his armies. Which is the same as Arthur wanted. They’re no different except that Arthur will lose. Why ally ourselves to the side doomed to defeat when for the same price we can ally ourselves to the victors?’

  Lord Venning listened to his Commander and then he turned his back and stared at the hurtful glare of the fire. ‘But is it the same price? I’ve betrayed Brunroth.’

  ‘Nonsense. Arthur betrayed him when he sent him on that fool’s errand to the Shadow Land City.’

  ‘True. I was undecided until he told us that Brunroth had fallen on the Breton coast. While there was still a chance that he might have succeeded I would have stayed with his plan.’

  Liar, Kane thought but said, ‘Of course you would have but that hope is dead and Arthur is to blame. You owe him nothing. If, by some work of their gods, they manage to defeat the Adren then we are no worse off. We have what we’ve always had – the Veiled City. And if they are defeated, as they surely must be, then we have not stood in his way and the only change here will be to produce more food in the caverns for the Adren instead of the barbarians. Besides, according to our histories we have far more in common with the inhabitants of the Shadow Land City than we do with the savages that Arthur leads. They are our natural allies not the barbarians.’

  Lord Venning nodded and sat down at the table. Kane studied his black eyes that were staring sightlessly at the table surface. He saw guilt and remorse in the expression opposite him and he despised the feebleness it demonstrated but he still needed Lord Venning to lead the Cithol. He may not command his respect but Lord Venning still commanded the respect of the Cithol Council so he decided to play to his Lord’s vanity in an effort to bolster his self-confidence.

  ‘What do the ancient histories say of him and the Shadow Land City?’ Kane asked even though he knew the histories better than anyone other than Merdynn. Lord Venning steepled his fingers and began to speak.

  ‘It is written...’

  Pompous fool, thought Kane but he feigned a keen interest and nodded his head even as his thoughts turned elsewhere.

  ‘...that those of the Shadow Land City escaped the end of the last Age the same way as we did and possess something like the power we have here, some legacy from the last age that, like us, they can maintain and use but not replicate. The outsiders used to travel to that city. Brunroth used to travel that way before the road was barred to them.’ At the mention of Merdynn the Cithol Lord’s eyes lost their focus and his head seemed to droop towards the table.

  ‘Who closed the way East?’ Kane prompted, irritated that his train of thought had been interrupted by Venning’s falter.

  ‘What? Oh, their ruler did but Brunroth always suspected that it was at the bidding of his new counsellor who had come out of the East. The last time I spoke to Brunroth in private he confided that he thought the counsellor had gradually taken control of the city. At first he only advised the ruler but as the generations passed and each ruler was replaced by the next he became more powerful until the city reached a point where the counsellor was the ruler. For decades the barbarians still had contact and trade with some of the lands between here and the Shadow Land City. Brunroth thought that when the counsellor took full control of the city he then brought across his Adren army from the Eastern Lands and one by one the other lands fell silent. But it happened over such a long time and so gradually that the rulers of Middangeard barely realised their world was becoming smaller and it was of no concern to us. But now, at long last, it is our turn.’

  Kane had returned his attention to Lord Venning when he mentioned that Merdynn had spoken to him privately. ‘So the counsellor who took control of the Shadow Land City centuries ago is the one who now leads the Adren?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then he is the same as, or the equivalent to, Brunroth?’

  ‘Yes, though neither Brunroth nor I were sure of this. I am now.’

  ‘I thought it was Brunroth when he came down the passageway. The same and yet somehow different, more powerful, more sure.’

  ‘Lazure Ulan. The one from the East who commands the Shadow Land City and the Adren army. The one who pledges we can stay in the Veiled City as long as we agree to supply his armies with food. The one who has conquered all the Shadow Lands from here to the distant East and who, thanks to us, will now defeat Arthur at the Causeway. And yet Merdynn suspects he is only an emissary from an even more powerful ruler in the distant east.’ Lord Venning turned to face the fire again even though the bright flames hurt his eyes.

  ‘You had no choice. You were wise to tell him of the ancient tunnel that runs under the Channel Marshes. Now he knows we are not his enemies and now he can destroy those that do stand against him. Arthur would have destroyed our city, he will protect it for it’s part of the old world, the old world that he wants to recreate once more. A world with no place for Arthur and his peasants.’

  ‘What have I done?’ Lord Venning asked rising to his feet.

  ‘Saved us and saved our city! You’ve secured a future unimaginable in its grandeur!’ Kane answered and guided the Cithol Lord from the room and back to the path that led down to the Palace and the lake.

  *

  An hour later Seren and Terrill stood looking at each other in the glade where the tunnel opened up into the Winter Wood. The first slither of the sun had risen above the unseen western horizon and the woods were alive with the piping calls of the spring birdsong. The tops of the still bare trees were beginning to creak and crack at the first caress of the sun’s warmth and the rushing chatter of the growing streams echoed throughout the Winter Wood but neither of them heard any of the woodland sounds. They just stared at each other.

  It had been a steep climb up through the tunnels from Lord Venning’s private council chamber and Seren was breathing heavily. Her breath clouded in the cold air and beads of sweat lined her forehead and tracked down across her temples as she rested with her hands on her knees. Terrill leant against a huge block of moss-pitted stone. He needed to steady himself, not from weariness or the cold that was beginning to make him shiver but from the shock of what they had heard only an hour ago.

  There were very good reasons why he had been chosen to be the Captain of the Winter Wood and not least among them was his ability to assess situations and make clear decisions when it was necessary but these traits had temporarily abandoned him. He tried to gather his thoughts which had become a confused jumble of random recollections. Too much had happened too quickly for him to be able to untangle one reaction from another. He felt Seren’s hand on his arm and she beckoned him to follow her further into the woods and away from the tunnel entrance.

  He trailed after her along the lesser-used paths and all the time his mind was in turmoil. Everything that he had taken as constant in his life had been shattered and he was trying desperately to fit the pieces back together again. He tried to recall the exact time when everything began to unravel but could go no further back than the feast in Caer Sulis where his senses had been assaulted to the point of nausea. Then his faith and loyalties had been thrown into confusion by Seren’s revelation that she was carrying Arthur’s child. He still felt revolted by the fact that Seren had desecrated herself in such a way and he still felt that somehow he had betrayed his Lord and his Commander by not taking the appalling news to them immediately. Finally there was the conversation between Lord Venning and Kane that they had just overheard. It was just too much for him to be able to grasp.

  He thought to himself that just a few months ago his life was so simple and straightforward. The outsiders were where they belonged, outside the Veiled City, and everything was as it should be. Since then it had all gone quickly downhill until it reached
a speed he could no longer match and events were now turning in on themselves with consequences he could no longer control or predict.

  He realised they had stopped once again as Seren put both hands on his shoulders.

  ‘Calm yourself, Terrill, you need to calm yourself.’

  He heard Seren’s voice and she was relieved to see the wild stare leave his eyes. He looked around but did not recognise his surroundings.

  ‘Where are we?’

  ‘Deep in the Winter Wood,’ Seren replied, ‘A secret place known only to Brunroth and myself. We’re safe here for now.’

  She disappeared into a cave and Terrill took stock of his surroundings. He thought he knew the Winter Wood better than anyone else but this particular place looked entirely unfamiliar to him. Judging by the terraced nature of the ground he guessed that he must be standing on a broad expanse of ancient stone steps. To his left a tall oak had thrust aside the buried stonework and he could see its still frozen roots trailing down the terracing before him. He shook his head and took a couple of deep breaths and his heart rate dropped as he forced himself to be calm.

  He could see that Seren had not disappeared into a cave, at least not a natural cave. The entrance was arched and in one or two places he could see the fashioned stonework beneath the deep winter-stiff moss and sprouting fungi that covered the sides of what must have once been a wide doorway. He climbed up to the entrance and looked back through the wood. The rising sun was still hidden by the woods and would remain so for weeks but the brightness already stung his eyes. He turned his back on the West and followed after Seren.

  He waited at the mouth of the cavern and stared into the darkness until his eyes adjusted to the more familiar dimness. He sensed that there was a large space before him and that there were rough steps leading downwards. He heard Seren moving about on the floor somewhere below him and gradually the darkness began to take on differing shades and shapes. He descended to where Seren was kneeling on the floor.

  ‘What you doing? And what is this place?’

  ‘I’m making a fire,’ she answered and looked up at him sensing his puzzlement. ‘Merdynn taught me how to.’

  ‘Merdynn?’

  ‘Brunroth. It’s what the outsiders call him.’

  ‘It’s what Arthur calls him.’

  ‘Yes,’ she answered quietly.

  She returned her attention to the fire and using a small bow looped around a trimmed piece of hard wood she resumed the rapid sawing motion until eventually a thin curl of smoke twisted upwards. She picked up the softer wooden base and gently tapped the embers onto some kindling. Bending lower she blew gently and a flame flickered briefly among the dried straw. She breathed on the embers again until the flame took and she gradually fed the fire with dry twigs and then larger pieces of wood. Once the fire was alight she went to one corner of the cavern and brought back two crudely fashioned stools, placing them by the fire. They both sat in silence for a while.

  ‘What is this place, Seren?’

  ‘Merdynn said it might have been a place of worship for the people who once lived here but how he knew that or what they worshipped he would not say. He did say that it was a new religion but then what is new to Merdynn may be ancient to us.’

  Terrill looked around and saw that the ceiling of the cavern was hung with the roots from the trees above and that the stone walls were similarly cracked and trellised. There was an edging of stone around the walls at the height of the entrance and he guessed that the floor had given way a long time ago and they were standing in the cellars or basement of the ancient building.

  ‘What are you going to do now?’ she asked gently as she fed another log into the fire.

  Terrill shook his head. ‘I hardly know what’s happened recently let alone know what I’m going to do next.’

  ‘I’m not going back.’

  ‘Back where?’

  ‘To the city.’

  ‘You must! Where will you go? You certainly can’t stay here, not as you’re... I mean considering that...’

  ‘That I’m pregnant?’

  ‘Yes.’

  She heard the undertone of anger and disgust in that one word and frowned at him. ‘Is it so hard for you to believe and accept that I laid with Arthur? That I love him?’

  He turned away from her and she reached out a hand to place on his knee in an instinctive attempt to connect with the only friend that she had in the Veiled City. He swept her hand away and she saw the look of repugnance on his face. She felt her heart grow heavier. ‘Terrill, I love Arthur. Whatever you think of that won’t change either it or the fact that I carry his child.’

  ‘Was it here? Did you meet him here secretly?’

  ‘No! And why should that matter to you?’

  ‘How could you? He’s a barbarian, everything about him screams violence! You saw him at the council! I thought he was going to strike Lord Venning!’

  ‘He was trying to spur us into the action we need to take! Besides, you thought he was right!’

  ‘I thought the Adren were our enemy and that they would seek to destroy us too but I didn’t know then that your father and Commander Kane were going to meet with, with him!’

  ‘And you’d choose to deal with someone like that over Arthur!’

  ‘You heard your father – his people are more like us than the outsiders are! The Britons are just savage barbarians!’

  ‘How dare you! What gives you the right to condemn them like they were beneath us?’

  ‘Because I saw them at that feast! They’re no better than animals, they act just like animals. They disgust me. You saw them too! Can you imagine those scenes in the halls of the Veiled City?’

  ‘They’re different to us but that doesn’t make them less than us! We can’t begin to imagine how hard their lives are and it was a celebration! Just a celebration!’

  ‘It was Arthur’s wedding feast you stupid, foolish girl! He was marrying one of his own kind, another barbarian!’

  Seren physically flinched at the words. Suddenly they were aware that they had both stood at some point in the argument and were now shouting into each other’s faces. Terrill’s own words sunk in and he realised what he had just said. He reached out a hand but it was her turn to swipe it angrily aside.

  ‘So you think that we Cithol are decent, civilised people do you? After what you heard my father and Kane say, you still think we are the better people? Our Lord makes a deal with the leader of the Adren – that enlightened troop of learned troubadours who have been busy teaching the high arts to the villages of Middangeard, yes those Adren! A deal that condemns and betrays everyone but ourselves! And that’s how we mighty Cithol show our decency and tender civilisation? Is it? Well? Is it? We’re the barbarians!’

  ‘You’re upset, you don’t mean that!’

  ‘Of course I’m upset you fool! My father has just betrayed everyone in Britain and as if that wasn’t enough he’s condemned us along with every one of them!’

  ‘No! He’s saved us!’

  ‘Oh Terrill, think about it. You know what the Adren have done and we now know what he wants. If the Cithol have any part to play in his plans then the best we can hope for is to be slaves. I’d rather die with Arthur and his warriors trying to stop that. At least I’d die among people who valued their freedom and didn’t barter it away. At least then I could die with decency and not see my people enslaved. Lord Venning hasn’t saved us, he’s condemned us. Our only hope lay with Arthur and now that too is gone.’ Seren finished quietly and sat back down.

  She thought back to the shadow in the tunnel that had seemed to turn and look at them, realising now that it must have been the shadow of Lazure Ulan, and whatever else she might be conjecturing about, she was certain that the Adren Master was as evil as Merdynn was good. They had both sensed it and she could not understand why Terrill was arguing the case for Lord Venning and Commander Kane. She was at a loss to understand how either of them could have agreed a treaty with someone who f
elt so terribly wrong. She wondered what measure of desperation could have driven her father to deal with Lazure. She stared into the semi-darkness of their cavern and did not notice when Terrill too resumed his seat. She frowned as she asked herself the questions she had no answers for. Did they think that he would honour any agreement or treaty? Did they really think Lazure could bring back the wonders of the last Age and did they really want that? Was this the first meeting between Lazure and Lord Venning and if not then how many times had they met? Could Lazure, like Merdynn, wander the land unseen by his enemies? What was driving her father to betray Arthur and deal with the Adren Master?

  Terrill watched her and wondered when it was that she had grown up and changed into the woman now sitting beside him. He was so used to the likeable but petulant and spoilt young girl that this new determined young woman, who held such twisted principles, was almost a stranger to him. For the first time he fully realised that Fin Seren was destined to be the next leader of the Cithol and for the first time he also sensed the mettle inside her that came with such a responsibility.

  He mulled over her arguments and despite himself he found that he agreed with most of what she had said but he could not shake either his natural revulsion of the barbaric Britons or his innate loyalty to his masters who were, after all, the leaders of the Cithol. He was convinced that they would only do what was in the best interests of their people or at least what they thought was in the best interests of their people. He asked himself if they could be wrong. He was quite shocked to realise that Seren had raised points that led him to question the wisdom if not the motives of his leaders.

  He turned to her and spoke quietly, ‘If Lord Venning meant to betray Arthur why would he be sending him food and weapons?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s puzzling. Perhaps he’s only just decided to turn his back on the Britons. Perhaps he’s supporting both sides to keep his options open, but whatever his reasoning - there’s only one side that can win now.’