by K J Taylor
Now, Caedmon judged, the time had come. They were as ready as they would ever be, and Malvern was waiting.
Myfina looked slightly unhappy at the news. She said nothing, but Caedmon noticed.
‘What is it?’ he asked her. ‘Don’t you want to go?’
She nodded. ‘Of course, but … oh, never mind. It’s silly.’
Caedmon moved closer to her. ‘Come on, you can tell me,’ he said warmly. ‘I won’t laugh.’
‘Oh …’ She shook her head. ‘I just had some silly idea that Heath might get better in time so he could come with us.’
Caedmon blinked. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know,’ Myfina said sadly. ‘It’s just … it feels like that now it’s the three of us. You know what I mean? You and me and him.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Caedmon admitted. ‘I like him too, Myfina. He’s a good friend, and we couldn’t have done this without him. And I’m sure he would have come to Malvern with us if he’d been well enough. By now we both know he wouldn’t say no to something exciting!’
Myfina smiled. ‘I never thought he could have done all those things he did.’
‘He surprised us both,’ said Caedmon. He smiled back. ‘But don’t worry about him. He’ll be safe here, and by the time he gets better he can come and meet us in Malvern for the celebrations! He’ll like that. Maybe we could even let him sit with us, since he’s a hero now.’
Myfina nodded cheerfully. Many of Caedmon’s followers were indeed calling Heath a hero now. The dangerous wound collected in the line of duty helped add to that image.
Caedmon, watching her, seemed to feel his heart grow bigger inside him. It almost hurt. He reached out for her hand. ‘Myfina,’ he said, ‘I — ’
The door burst open. ‘My Lord!’
Caedmon turned, letting go of Myfina’s hand. ‘What? What is it?’ The words came out angry when they didn’t need to be.
The man who’d opened the door bowed hastily. ‘My Lord, ye must come now. Lady Saeddryn is above waiting for ye.’
‘I’m coming.’ Caedmon waved to Myfina to follow him and ran out of the room.
They had been near the top of the tower, so it was a short dash to the roof. Saeddryn was indeed there, with Shar and Myfina’s partner, Garsh.
‘Caedmon!’ Shar bounded toward them. ‘Caedmon, the Unpartnered are coming! I have called a warning.’
‘What?’ Caedmon looked quickly at his mother, as if hoping she would say something different. ‘How could this happen, for gods’ sakes?’
‘I don’t know,’ Saeddryn said sharply, ‘and now ain’t the time t’be askin’ questions like that. Go with Shar! Get everyone ready! Now.’
Caedmon pulled himself together. ‘Myfina, you and Shar come with us,’ he said. ‘We have to get the defenders on the wall organised, and fast.’
She had gone pale, but she snapped out of it and ran to get onto Garsh’s back. Caedmon climbed onto Shar and the two griffins flew for the walls with all speed, leaving Saeddryn to organise those in the tower.
As Caedmon flew with Shar, he looked out at the horizon beyond the city and saw all the proof he needed that his mother was right. The sky northward was marred by a patch of moving blackness that couldn’t be anything but a flock of griffins.
He felt sick. In his head, the question formed itself again and again: How could this happen? How could this happen?
Before Shar had even reached the wall, Caedmon had realised the situation was worse than dire. There were plenty of his followers in Skenfrith, and giant bows on the walls ready to shoot down the attacking griffins, but with few griffins on their own side, the defenders had very little chance of even surviving, let alone keeping Skenfrith. The Unpartnered could decimate a whole city. They had done it to Warwick, and only a handful of the rebels there had escaped to tell the tale. And Skenfrith was smaller than Warwick. It did not have the same good defences, and it had fewer anti-griffin bows on the walls.
Shar landed, and Caedmon jumped down and raced to give his orders to the commanders on the wall, but even as he ran he knew what he must do. Prepare the city to evacuate, and fast. Otherwise, none of them would make it out alive.
Laela saw the walls of Skenfrith and braced herself for the attack. Her heart had begun to pound sickeningly, despite Skandar’s reassuring bulk underneath her.
She hadn’t made any plans for the assault at all, other than thinking over how she was going to handle herself. Skandar was the master of the Unpartnered, and he was in charge of this battle. There was no way for Laela to make his followers do what she wanted, let alone make Skandar follow instructions. Griffins did not plan.
Skandar flew in straight over the walls, ignoring the defenders on top of it and striking out over the city toward the Governor’s Tower. Behind and around him, the Unpartnered spread out to attack wherever they chose, but Kaanee stayed with him, and the two big males landed on the tower-top.
There, Skandar lifted one foreleg and unceremoniously tipped Laela off his back. ‘You fight human now,’ he told her as she lay sprawled on the bricks. ‘I go kill griffin. Come back here later if not dead.’
He flew off.
Iorwerth had also dismounted, and he helped Laela up. ‘Stay with me, my Lady, and I’ll keep you safe.’
Laela watched Kaanee fly off with Skandar to attack the handful of enemy griffins in the sky. ‘Ain’t they gonna stay an’ help us? All right, I didn’t think Skandar would stay for me, but Kaanee’s yer partner, ain’t he?’
Iorwerth already had his sickle ready in his hand. ‘Of course, but no griffin will fight in the air if they have a human on their back, and their enemies are all in the sky here. Other humans are for us to deal with. Let’s go into the tower, but not too far in. We don’t want to get trapped inside.’
‘Right.’ Laela drew her own sickle — the same one that had once belonged to her father. It had stars and a triple spiral engraved on the blade, and Arenadd had kept it beautifully sharp and polished.
The tower was similar to the one in Fruitsheart, though smaller. Iorwerth headed down the ramp and into the building with his sickle at the ready, and Laela stayed close behind him. It would be dangerous, of course, for just the two of them to go inside, but much less so than staying outside where even a griffin from their own side could kill them both by accident. Besides that, most of the tower’s occupants were too busy trying to deal with the Unpartnered assault to worry about a couple of humans. Most of them had never even seen Laela before, and during the attack she had sensibly avoided wearing the crown, opting instead for a leather breastplate and bracers on her arms and legs. She had also armoured her throat, which hadn’t quite healed yet from Saeddryn’s attempt to kill her. She wasn’t making that mistake again.
The first enemy they ran into was no challenge. He was caught by surprise, and Iorwerth killed him before Laela had the chance to do anything.
‘Come this way,’ he told her, before the corpse had even stopped moving. ‘If we go into the Governor’s Chamber, we might find more of the enemy.’
‘Got it.’ Laela moved forward to stand beside him, sickle at the ready.
The Governor’s Chamber was right at the very top of the tower, as expected — large and well furnished, with plenty of room for griffins to move about. There didn’t seem to be anybody there.
Iorwerth made a quick check behind the furniture, and looked out the window. He shook his head sadly as he came back to Laela. ‘It’s chaos out there. The poor bastards don’t stand a chance.’
Laela looked as well, and couldn’t stop her eyes from widening. The Unpartnered had covered the city like a swarm of locusts. Everywhere she looked, griffins were tearing at rooftops, rampaging through streets, or swooping to snatch up running humans and drop them to their deaths. Others were fighting the defending griffins, who were pitifully outnumbered but putting up a good fight. One or two fires had already started at different points.
‘Holy gods, they’re gonna rip the city
to bits!’ Laela exclaimed.
‘It can’t be helped,’ said Iorwerth. ‘Let’s move on and see if we can end this any faster.’
They left the chamber and made their way down the tower, room by room. In one or two of them they found human fighters who were using the tower as a shelter from which to send arrows at the rampaging Unpartnered. Iorwerth and Laela fought them together, but Iorwerth somehow managed to both fight and keep himself between Laela and the enemy, leaving her to do not much more than watch while he took care of them himself.
Laela quickly grew frustrated. She had had nothing to do at Malvern but practise with her sickle, and if this kept up she wasn’t going to get to use the damn thing in a real fight at all! Damn Iorwerth; she was the daughter of Arenadd Taranisäii and she was going to prove it today no matter what.
On one level they found a closed door. Iorwerth reached for the handle, but Laela pushed him out of the way and kicked it open herself. Beyond she found a room full of beds, obviously the tower’s infirmary.
And a young woman, pointing a spear at her. ‘Get out!’
Laela took a moment to get the measure of this new challenger. The woman was about her age, and pretty, but she was dressed for battle and her face was full of fury.
‘Right.’ Laela thrust out an arm to hold Iorwerth back. ‘I’ll take care of this.’
The woman jabbed the spear toward her. ‘I said get out,’ she snapped.
‘Who are yeh?’ Laela growled.
The woman drew herself up proudly. ‘I am Lady Myfina of Caerleon … half-breed.’
Laela sneered. ‘A griffiner, are yeh? Then why are yeh standin’ around in the infirmary while everyone else does the work?’
Myfina smiled nastily. ‘Waiting for you.’
Iorwerth nudged Laela in the back. ‘My Lady, just leave her! I have met her, and she doesn’t know how to use that spear. She’s just trying to distract us. We have to move on, or Caedmon will escape.’
‘Good point.’ Laela took a step toward Myfina. ‘Where’s Caedmon gone?’
‘The King of Tara has gone to protect his friends,’ Myfina said. ‘And now I’m going to protect them … from you!’ She lunged forward with the spear.
Laela dodged it without much trouble, but as she stepped aside ready to attack she tripped over something on the floor. Unable to rescue herself, she hit the ground hard. When she opened her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with Iorwerth.
His eyes were wide open and staring into hers, but his face was white and splattered with blood.
Laela rolled and got up, but a hard blow came from nowhere and sent her tottering sideways. She spun around, lashing out with the sickle, but there was nothing there to hit. Myfina was standing in the same place as before, holding her spear across her body to protect herself.
And a voice came from the air. ‘I am the shadow that comes in the night …’
Laela tried to pull Iorwerth to his feet. ‘Iorwerth, for gods’ sakes, get up!’
‘I am the fear that lurks in your heart …’
Iorwerth’s head lolled, blood still leaking from the slash in his throat.
‘I am the woman without a heart.’
Laela dropped Iorwerth’s body and backed away toward the wall. ‘Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit …’
‘I am the Shadow That Walks.’
Something unseen hit Laela hard in the face, and everything turned red. She got up, clawing at the blood that rained into her eyes, trying to defend herself against an enemy she couldn’t see, an enemy as strong as death.
Myfina began to laugh. ‘Run, half-breed, run!’
Laela ran.
She didn’t care where she was running to, or what might be ahead. Terror made her blind and stupid, and she ran as if death itself were on her heels … which it was.
But no matter how far or how fast she ran, Saeddryn was always just behind her — not seen, but heard, and felt. Her voice taunted from the darkness, never sounding strained or breathless, and when Laela slowed down a stab or a cut would send her running off again. Here and there ordinary enemies showed up in her way, but Laela’s fear was too deep to include them as well. She kicked them out of the way and slashed with the sickle, not stopping to fight properly or finish any of them off. None of them seemed inclined to go after her.
Saeddryn chased her lower and lower into the tower, away from those places where there were openings where a griffin could enter. Away from where she could call Skandar to help her.
And then, finally, a room with a door. Laela slammed it shut behind her and ran for the window, ignoring the few startled defenders around her. She looked out the window. It was big enough to climb through, and didn’t look that far off the ground …
Behind her, the door broke apart. And there was Saeddryn, at last, appearing out of the darkness with her sickle in her hand and a hideous smile on her face. ‘Don’t ye understand, half-breed?’ she said. ‘There is no escape. Not from me.’
Laela said nothing. She grabbed hold of the window-frame and kicked the glass out, climbing through without even noticing the cuts that opened on her hands.
Then she fell.
She hit a rooftop and slid off it to land on the ground, winded and groaning.
But pain didn’t matter. She got up with a strength that managed to surprise her, somewhere in the back of her mind, and ran off into the city.
Where Caedmon had been waiting for her, all this time. He stepped out of a doorway, armed and armoured, his black eyes glittering in a way that made him look horribly familiar, even though Laela had never seen him before.
She stumbled to a halt. Blood gummed around her eyes, making her squint. ‘A — Arenadd?’ she faltered.
Caedmon did not smile. ‘Not Arenadd,’ he said. ‘Just his successor.’
But he looked so much like him, Laela thought dully. The same curly hair, the same neat beard, and she knew in that moment that this was Arenadd’s real son. This was what his son should have been, not Kullervo. This was the child of Arenadd that the world had wanted, and the heir it had wanted. Not her. History had twisted, and she had been the one to do the twisting, she and Kullervo. The man in front of her now was how things had been supposed to go. But they hadn’t.
And now he was here to put everything right.
Laela glanced up and saw the Unpartnered swarming around the tower. They must have entered it as soon as they had finished fighting the other griffins in the sky, ready to wipe out the human defenders in there.
There was no sign of Saeddryn.
‘Yeh planned this,’ said Laela. ‘She chased me here, so you could put things right. Didn’t she? You wanted t’fight me yerself. So it’d be your victory, not hers. Right?’
‘Yes.’ Caedmon nodded. ‘I am the rightful ruler of Malvern. My mother knows that.’
Laela tried not to let him see her wincing. ‘So now we fight, then, an’ you get t’be the hero what killed the nasty ole half-breed, right? ’Cause that’s how it is in your story. I’m the villain here, an’ villains die.’
Caedmon smiled very slightly. ‘You’re smarter than you look.’
‘Kill her, Caedmon.’
Laela did not turn around when she heard Saeddryn’s voice, but she did stiffen slightly.
Saeddryn appeared, slipping out of the shadows to stand by her son. ‘Don’t try an’ run any more, half-breed,’ she said. ‘It ends here.’
Despite everything, Laela smirked. ‘Yeah, right — if I was a lot stupider than I look.’ She bent and picked up a piece of broken brick from the ground. ‘You’re dead, Saeddryn.’
‘I know,’ said Saeddryn, grim-faced.
‘An’ I’m gonna make yeh wish yeh’d stayed in yer grave,’ said Laela. ‘That’s a promise. Oh — Caedmon?’
He drew his sickle and went into a fighting stance. ‘Yes?’
‘Catch.’ Laela hurled the piece of brick. It hit Caedmon square in the head, and an instant later she was on him, following up with a punch to the
jaw. Completely ignoring her sickle, she hit him again in the stomach and then kneed him in the groin, which had the extra effect of knocking him over. Before he could get up, she brought her boot down on his ribs and was rewarded with a nasty cracking sound.
Caedmon yelled with a mixture of shock and pain, but he wasn’t defeated yet. He shoved Laela away and managed to get up. His sickle had fallen out of his hand, so he attacked her with his fists, punching her in the face.
This was not how it was supposed to be. Caedmon had spent his whole life being trained to fight with weapons, but Laela was made to fight with whatever she could get her hands on, and she had no scruples whatsoever. She kicked Caedmon in the kneecap, and when he caught her by the arm she headbutted him in the mouth hard enough to make him let go.
But Caedmon was not a weak opponent by any means, and Laela did not have the advantage for long. He pushed her away, and as he took an instant to pick his next move Saeddryn appeared by his side, silently putting his sickle back into his hand.
Humiliated, and suffering from a severe ache in his ribs, Caedmon snarled and darted in close, sickle aiming for Laela’s throat. It bounced off the thick leather, but he struck again quickly, cutting her across the inside of her elbow.
Laela still had her own sickle, and she fended his off as well as she could, but she was not a defensive fighter. She struck back, laying open the back of Caedmon’s hand, and dodged his attempt to hit her in the face.
Saeddryn took no part in the fight. She stayed out of the way, watching in silence. And, for a while, it looked as if Caedmon was going to live up to his vow. He had far more experience with the sickle than Laela, and after a brief, nasty struggle he had her on the retreat. With the city crumbling around them, there was no time to draw things out any longer. He closed in, ready to kill.
A screech came from overhead, so loud it made Caedmon freeze and look up. A shadow fell across him and Laela, and the Mighty Skandar came with it.
Caedmon sensibly ran for it, and not a moment too soon. Skandar landed with an almighty thud, right over Laela, who wound up lying between his front talons.
