The Mighty One

by Jenny McKane

  Minna groaned. “Enough,” she said. “If we must do this, let’s get started.” She turned back to Avalon, hatred etching her features. “On your feet, Guardian. Let us see where you lead us.”

  Avalon stood up slowly. Soon, she would have her chance. She would lead these people into capture, or she would at least escape. She had so much information. She could describe Gwalen. She knew where their hideout was, although it would be hard for her to remember the exact location. She just had to be patient and seek her moment.

  Her thoughts turned to Everard, still out in the snow, trying to evade capture. Frustration surged through her. She had to get this over with and find him.

  “What are we waiting for?” she said, smiling at them.

  ***

  Everard woke up with a start. His muscles were stiff; he must have slept with them clenched tightly against the cold. All night, he had shivered uncontrollably, clutching at his cloak, which served as his only blanket. It hadn’t been warm enough.

  His arm throbbed. He stared down at it. Blood had seeped through the makeshift bandage, and the arm was swollen and tight to the touch. He winced.

  Wan sunlight filtered into the cave. He had not been meaning to sleep for so long. It was obviously the next day, and Avalon was out there somewhere, alone. Or captured. He set his mouth, trying hard not to think of the darker possibility. But it whispered to him, forcing him to acknowledge it. That she might be dead, lying on the ground somewhere in this harsh wilderness.

  No. She was tough, the toughest woman that he had ever known. She was a survivor, an elite warrior. She would have gotten through this.

  He struggled to his feet and cautiously poked his head out. There wasn’t a sound – no indication that his pursuers were about. Perhaps he had outsmarted them, and they were looking for him somewhere else. Hope surged through him. Either way, he had no choice. He couldn’t stay here forever. He would have to take the chance and set out again.

  He stumbled down the terrain, trying to get his bearings. Which way should he head? He should try to head back the same way and retrace their steps. He knew that it was risky; his pursuers might be thinking along the same lines. But it was all he had to go on.

  The snow, at least, had stopped falling, and the sky was clear.

  His injured arm was a dead weight against his side, throbbing painfully. He had to look for the bark that would ease it, cool it down, and fight any infection. He knew what could happen to untreated wounds. He had watched his father die from such a wound, such a little wound.

  His eyes scanned the horizon. Yes, that was the way. He set out doggedly, his feet throwing up snow behind him like a cloud of white.

  ***

  They had given her a warmer cloak, which she wrapped around herself as they trudged through the snow. The sky was a clear blue; tiny random snowflakes fell, but not with the same intensity as the day before.

  She stared at the members of the group, walking ahead of her. There was Brunn, the man with the long brown beard. Minna, the woman who hated her so much, and even now couldn’t resist looking over her shoulder at Avalon, her face dark. Another man, who she had heard the others call Sondre.

  And Skyresh. He walked behind her, shadowing her, as he had promised.

  The group had huddled together over the fire before departing.

  “This base is near Farric, you say?” Skyresh had said, turning to her.

  She had nodded, squinting, trying to remember the details. Suddenly, she remembered Commander Kallio telling them that it was near a great fjord, nestled in the base of the mountains, east of the settlement. It wasn’t marked as a Jarle camp; it was a safe place, where officers of the realm could go to, if threatened, while working undercover. But what was the secret marker, that would reveal it? She wished that she had listened more, but the commander had given the information to Everard on paper, and she had not thought to memorize it if they were separated.

  Stupid. Another mistake. But she knew enough to get them in the vicinity at any rate. Hopefully, she would remember what the marker was. Or even better, escape before they even got there.

  She would not tell them all this, of course. She would feed them the information as required. It was enough that they knew the general direction to head in.

  “Yes,” she had said, turning to Skyresh. “It is near Farric.”

  “Where, near Farric?” Minna stared at her, her eyes narrowed.

  Avalon had stared into the fire, not answering.

  “Let me guess,” Skyresh said, smiling at Avalon. “We will find out when we get there?”

  Avalon smiled back at him.

  “Tell us, Guardian,” Minna hissed.

  But Skyresh had stood up, putting his sword into his scabbard. “Do not worry, Minna,” he said. “She will tell us when we need to know. I would do the same, if I was in her position.” He stared down at Avalon. “Only reveal as much information as necessary. She is trained well.”

  Minna glared at him, but he only smiled back.

  The group knew the terrain well, heading confidently through the snow. They started ascending again. The air grew thinner, and Avalon found it hard to breathe. A slight throbbing started behind her eyes, and she reached for her water flagon, drinking deeply.

  “Don’t overdo it,” Skyresh said behind her. “It has to last until we get to the next stream.”

  Avalon nodded. “Just trying to avoid altitude sickness,” she said, turning her head around to speak to him.

  “I forget that you are not used to the mountains,” he said. “None of us suffer it. Tell me if you start to feel sick, or dizzy.”

  She nodded. He was so close behind her, she could almost feel his breath against her neck.

  They walked for hours before coming to rest briefly near a mountain stream. The others refilled their water flagons. Avalon sat down, surveying the landscape. In the distance, on the opposite side of the stream, she could see the ruins of a building covered in snow. It was blackened, as if charred, and tall, stretching into the sky.

  “What is that?” she said, turning to Skyresh, who—of course—had sat down beside her after refilling his flagon. Her shadow.

  “It is a temple,” he replied. “An old temple from The Time Before.” He gazed at it, his eyes almost sad. “They destroyed all of them, when they came through. Burnt them to the ground.”

  “A temple?” Avalon continued staring at it. She had never heard the word before. “What is a temple?”

  Skyresh gazed at her, his eyes wide. “You have never heard of a temple? It is a sacred place, where the Goddess lived. The Mothers would invoke the magic, the spells that protected and aided us in them.” He smiled bitterly. “It is no wonder they burnt them all to the ground. They didn’t want any reminders of the past, obviously. They didn’t want the people going back to them, trying to revive the magic.”

  Avalon bristled. Here he goes again, she thought. More lies. They were getting elaborate. The building was probably just a house, like any other, that had burnt down. Although she didn’t think that fires would start easily in this area. It was too cold.

  “You don’t believe me?” Skyresh was still staring into her face. “I will take you in there. See what you think then.” He sprang to his feet, reaching a hand down to her.

  She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled slightly, falling against him. She gasped and sprang back, as if she had touched flames, refusing to look at him. He laughed, staring down at her, his bright blue eyes shining.

  “What are you doing?” called Minna, who was sitting on a rock.

  “I am taking our guest to the temple,” Skyresh said. “Stay here. We won’t be long.”

  He didn’t see the look of anger that flashed over Minna’s face at his words. But Avalon did.

  He held her hand, as they stepped carefully onto river rocks through a low point of the stream. Avalon tried hard to ignore the tingling she felt, where her hand rested in his. She had admitted to herself now ho
w attracted she was to him, but that didn’t mean she had to accept it. She felt that Skyresh knew and played with the magnetism that drew people to him.

  She wouldn’t be one of them. Not like poor Minna, who even now was still glaring at them as they walked. What was the story between the two of them? Skyresh had said that they had grown up together.

  It was none of her concern. These people were the enemy.

  They reached the ruins. “Come,” said Skyresh. “Step into the center.”

  She did so, picking her way amongst the rotting, charred boards covered in snow. She stared up at the sky.

  And that was when it happened, so suddenly that afterwards she could not pinpoint the exact moment when she had stopped seeing the ruins around her. When the world had seemed to melt and another had sprung up in its place.

  She was in a dim room. A strange, pleasant smell drifted toward her; smoke, that curled through the air. Symbols were carved into the walls. She looked down. Cushions were everywhere covered in a geometric pattern that she had never seen before.

  She turned. There was a statue in the center. A statue of a woman. She rose from the ground swathed in fabric. Her face was serene, gazing down, with her eyes half closed. Her hair billowed out behind her.

  Avalon stared at her. Her feet started walking, as if they were compelled, toward the statue. When she was right in front of it, she reached out, touching it. The statue’s eyes flew open, gazing straight at her.

  “You have no name,” the statue said.

  Avalon gasped. And then, the old woman from her dream stepped out, from behind the statue. She stared at Avalon with such love in her eyes, she felt it pierce her like an arrow.

  “Your name was not revealed,” she said, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at Avalon.

  “Don’t leave me,” Avalon heard herself cry.

  But the old woman was fading before her eyes. The statue started to melt, and with a sickening thud, the world had disappeared. She was falling, so hard….

  When she opened her eyes, she was lying down. Skyresh was leaning over her, concern in his blue eyes.

  “What happened?” she whispered. A low throbbing started at the back of her head.

  “You fell to your knees,” he whispered back. “Your eyes started rolling back in your head. And then, you fell backwards. I had to run to catch you.”

  She blinked. Everything was how it was before. The sky loomed over her. The blackened ruins, covered in snow, were exactly as they had been when they had first walked into this place.

  “I’m frightened,” she blurted, staring at Skyresh. “I don’t understand. One minute, I was standing here, and the next, everything changed.”

  “What did you see?” he whispered.

  “A room.” She closed her eyes, remembering. “A beautiful room. There was a statue of a woman. She talked to me.” Her breath came in painful gasps. “And then, there was another woman. The woman who I see in my dream. She was crying.”

  Avalon was appalled to find tears streaming down her face. The sadness of the vision overwhelmed her so much, she could barely stop shaking.

  Skyresh reached out and gently wiped away her tears. He made a low sound, a comforting noise. A keening. It was so lulling, she closed her eyes again, just for a moment.

  “What is that tune?” she whispered, her eyes still closed.

  “It is a lament,” he whispered. “An old song passed down the generations.” He stared into her face. “We have sung it forever.”

  She sat up slowly. She felt as if she recognized the tune, but where would she have heard it?

  She looked at Skyresh. “I am alright now,” she said slowly. “It must have been a hallucination. Could the altitude cause it?”

  “Perhaps.” He stared at her, his blue eyes assessing her. “Or it could be something else. We are in a temple.” He hesitated. “Who are you, exactly? You say you come from the city and have never been here before.”

  “I haven’t,” she replied.

  “We should get back.” He looked around. “The others will be wondering where we are.”

  He held out his hand to her again. She hesitated, but then she took it. She still felt weak and disoriented. They walked back through the ruins and through the stream.

  The others were standing there, looking at them.

  “Everything okay?” asked Minna. She wasn’t smiling. “We were just about to come across, you have been so long.”

  Avalon held her breath. Would he tell them, what had happened?

  “Everything’s fine,” Skyresh replied. “We walked around the ruins. Our guest still doesn’t believe that it was a temple.”

  “Typical,” said Minna, gazing at her scornfully.

  They picked up their bags and started heading off again.

  Avalon could hear Skyresh behind her. Why hadn’t he told them? She could feel his eyes, boring into her back. Whatever his reasons, she wasn’t about to say anything. Fear overwhelmed her. Was she going mad? She simply didn’t know anymore. The dream. The way she had felt when Mother Asta, the old woman at the cave, had held her hand.

  And now this. A vision? But of what, and why?

  One thing she knew. She had scoffed at the mention of magic, but she knew now that it was true. It was all around her. She felt it in her bones.

  She wished suddenly, with all her might, that she had never come here. That she was still back in the city, ignorant, leading her old life.

  Chapter Seven

  Skyresh stared at the woman, striding ahead in front of him. She was walking determinedly, one foot in front of the other. She looked neither left nor right, and neither did she turn her head to look back at him. Not once.

  Who was she? The sight of her falling in the temple—onto her knees in that sacred place—stayed with him. He had been into the ruins of temples, many times, with many people. All had a sense of the magic that had once resided in them, but he had never seen such a violent reaction, as the one that this guardian of the realm had.

  She had tried to dismiss it; her training and her rational mind had kicked in quickly. She had blamed the altitude, and he had cautiously agreed that it could have been the reason. He hadn’t wanted to scare her any more than she already was. Even for their people, who accepted the magic and knew that the regime had woven a web of spells and lies over them to make them forget, it would have been hard seeing such a vivid vision.

  He studied her carefully. A woman, like any other; beautiful, and strong, but he knew many like that. Why had the Goddess chosen her, among so many, to reveal herself? She was a guardian of the realm, a Grey Guard. A carefully indoctrinated and trained warrior, whose only mission was to preserve the order.

  Mother Asta’s voice drifted into his mind: She is either your ally, or she is your greatest enemy.

  He recalled when he had bent down, staring at her as she hid in the hollow of the tree in the Outlying Zone. She had stared back, her gaze unwavering. He had noted her beauty, and her defiance. But there was something else; something that he could not quite name. It was like an aura hovered around her, one that he had never seen before.

  He should have killed her there and then. That had been his intention. It was why they had decided to attack. He had seen her talking to her companion, as they trekked through the High Area. Brunn had told him of the story they had concocted, and Escolen’s belief that they were lying. Skyresh had studied them and knew it was true. They were the enemy. If one of their arrows had taken her down, he would have been satisfied.

  And yet, he had hesitated when he had her before him. Minna had insisted that she should be killed, and he had known she was right. They did not make a habit of taking prisoners. For starters, it was more effective for their cause to kill their enemy and show their intention.

  But there was just something about this woman.

  He knew that she was probably trying to lead them into a trap. His senses were on high alert, but they were as highly trained as their enemy, an
d he was confident that they would realize quickly if that was the case.

  She shivered as she walked, clutching her cloak tighter around her shoulders. The woman named Avalon. Was she remembering her vision? Did the Goddess linger with her? Why had she been honored in this way?

  He shook his head slightly. He did not know, but he was determined to find out.

  ***

  They stopped late afternoon on the edge of a great glacier. Great clumps of ice moved slowly across it, sparkling slightly in the final rays of sunlight like jewels. Camp would be made here for the night.

  Minna watched Skyresh walk up to the guardian, speaking to her softly. He put his hand on her shoulder, and the woman glanced up at him, smiling slightly. Minna frowned. What was he doing?

  The whole journey, and even back at the cave, she had watched him, and she noticed the way that he looked at the woman and the way that he spoke with her. Minna felt like knocking his head against a wall to get some sense into him. This was not the Skyresh she knew. He was usually unwavering in his decisions, and he had a deep-seated hatred of the enemy. He wasn’t merciful.

  Minna kept watching them, even while she set up camp. No, she wasn’t imagining it. Her chest tightened, so hard that she could barely breathe.

  He had never acted this way before. And certainly not with their enemy. What was it about the woman that had affected his judgment so badly? Minna’s eyes narrowed as she stared at her. The woman was tall and long-limbed with long, brown hair. She was good looking, if you liked that uppity Jarle look, Minna thought sourly. The woman had an arrogance about her, like all the high born did. They wore their privilege on their faces, and in their bearing. Minna felt like walking over to her and grinding her face into the snow. That would surely rub the superior look off her face.

  But this was Skyresh. The man who was their leader, who would never let his feelings get in the way of the cause. Minna knew that he would die gladly for it, and that he wasn’t afraid. It was impossible that he was getting swayed by this woman. Minna gritted her teeth. Impossible.