As the beast darted forward, Aviti jabbed out with her blade. It missed by a yard or so, but it forced the buralo to retreat a step. Then it came, again and again, each time getting closer and forcing Aviti backwards. It wanted to separate her from her pack, and if it did, she was lost. Her companions were too busy fighting their own battles to save her.
It lunged forward once more and this time her foot gave way as she retreated. As it came for her, she heard one of the Giant’s scream. In a second, Aviti’s screams would join the Giants, and then the buralo would finish them all.
Instinctively, she reached within herself and found the door to her power. With a flick of her will, she turned the wolf to liquefied horror. Then she collapsed to the frozen ground as the magic took its toll on her body, but she refused to lose consciousness. If she could, she would at least bear witness to her comrade’s fate.
Sevika dispatched one of the wolves with a final thrust of her blade. Through spikes of pain, Aviti’s mind registered Tyla’s frustration. Robbed of his purpose by Sevika’s action, the Lyrat had withdrawn from the fight to guard Wist.
Another scream drew Aviti’s attention away from Tyla. The Giant, Oinoir was caught in the jaws of one of the buralo. It gripped him by the legs and attempted to drag him off, whilst its partner continued to harry Decheal, keeping her from aiding her Glaine. For an instant, Aviti thought about doing the same thing to this beast as she had with the last one, but her body continued to echo with pain.
Tyla broke past Decheal and, whilst Sevika finished off her foe, the Lyrat leapt over the buralo’s ragged mouth. Then he plunged his katana between the beast’s shoulder blades and it collapsed in a deepening pool of blood.
Decheal moved before it expired. She ran to Oinoir, lifted her sword high over her head, and buried it deep in the last buralo’s neck. It continued to thrash even as its life seeped away causing more agony for Oinoir. Then it fell on him and silenced his cries.
Aviti managed to pull herself to her knees as Brathoir and Tyla lifted the lifeless buralo from atop one of the Prime Glaines of the Giants. They hurled it a few feet from them and it slid along the ice leaving a slick, black trail behind it.
Then Tyla came to Aviti. He slipped an arm around her waist and helped her to stand. Then they moved over to where everyone had gathered around the fallen Giant. Even Wist ambled over to stand with them.
Decheal lifted her blood-streaked head and said, ‘He lives, but we must find shelter.’
‘Then we must go on,’ said Haumea pointing her staff to the silhouetted buildings in the distance. Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Tyla released Aviti and moved to the nearest dead buralo. As Decheal lifted her fallen Glaine and put him over her shoulder, Tyla slipped his sword into the wolf’s belly and slid it along the length of its body. Steam escaped into the dark sky as Tyla removed the beast’s intestines and stomach.
Aviti and the rest of her companions had moved only a few yards, when Tyla threw the gutted animal over his shoulder. Within seconds, he walked beside Decheal, their burdens swaying together in a macabre dance.
A creature called out in the distance, echoing along the valley. ‘We have slain a pack,’ said Haumea, ’but if more of those things comes for us now, it will be the end of us.’ Aviti grunted and took another step.
Decheal slipped and Haumea rushed forward to help her with Oinoir. The difference in height between the two Giantesses meant that Haumea could only offer limited assistance to her kinswoman, and it further slowed their pace, allowing Aviti to keep up.
She found herself joined by Wist, who stepped mechanically towards their goal. He looked just as he had when he had emerged from the underground lair, where the cataclysm took place. The Sun’s dark counterpart had only just devoured the Sun when Tyla guided Wist back to the surface. Wist had been an empty shell. He had stood and stared past the dead, and even ignored the Ghria Duh. But thoughts of that time brought back visions of blood and bone; blood frozen thick on the ground, as the black abomination in the sky swallowed the sun’s heat and light.
Another howl brought Aviti back to herself, this time it came from the other side of the valley, and it was answered. Perhaps it was a challenge, thought Aviti, as she ground her teeth against the cold and her pain.
My prey, they called to each other, my prey. More calls echoed along their path as they moved.
Aviti could see three distinct buildings now, though they were more structures than buildings. The three of them lay in a line across the companies’ path. The one on their far right was, or had been, a tower. Now it lay on its side with its windows and doors pointing upwards, like mouths eating their fill of the bountiful snow.
The square building on their left leaned precipitously and its entrance, or entrances, must be on the other side. The circular citadel in the middle would be their best hope.
Through her own gasps, she could hear Decheal cursing, trying to find the strength for her burden. She swore at the Ghria Duh. She swore at Dionach. She swore at Oinoir. She even swore at her dead husband Brathoir, accusing him of dying so he would not have to carry his share of the burden. Haumea strode on beside her in silence.
Aviti stumbled. The black ground rushed up to greet the sky, but she caught herself, and her head whirled as blood rushed to it. So, she closed her eyes for an instant and sought her focus. Then Tyla’s reassuring presence was there in the bond, so she took a pace forward and opened them again. The world was just as it had been, just as black and just as cold, but the bond between her and the Lyrat was alive. For a brief moment, she forgot her hurts, forgot the cold, forgot her dead family and lost herself in Tyla’s concern for her. The Lyrat dragged a dead animal across a frozen wasteland, whilst guiding a comatose man, with his heart filled with thoughts of Aviti.
Then the link convulsed and her attention was forced outwards. Another buralo bore down upon them, and behind that one, more came. If she ran, she might make it to the building, but even if she wanted to abandon her comrades, she could not. Her bones ached and her blood still glistened with pain.
They were doomed.
As Tyla turned to face the wolves, his katana already unsheathed, Aviti moved beside him. The pulses of anger that traversed their bond interleaved with Tyla’s focused determination to survive. Aviti passed back the only thing she had left to give him; her love.
With the blackened sun above them, Aviti watched the onrushing buralo. The leading animal would be on them in seconds, but when it was a hundred yards from them, the nearest buralo veered away to their left. Then those behind it split, half going left and half going to the right. The tip of Tyla’s katana swayed between the two groups, as he tried to assess the situation.
“They are not coming for us,’ said Aviti. ‘They are running from…’
She did not have time to finish her sentence. Two streaks of light, one red and one blue, cut down at them from the air. The lines separated, just as the buralo had, and an instant later snow exploded as the lines connected with the ground.
Aviti closed her eyes once more against the shower of ice that engulfed them and listened to the short-lived cries of the dying animals. As she opened her eyes to the darkness again, she could hear the sounds of ripping flesh from right and left of her. She shook the ice from her before it had a chance to steal any more of her heat, then she braved a look to her right.
Glints of metallic red caught her eye. Beads of light reflected from Tyla’s torch and the moon danced over the undulating shape. She glanced to the other side and there a pair of sapphire eyes stared back at her. They blinked and disappeared as that dragon dipped its head to feed. The sound of the fearsome buralo being torn apart filled the air.
Then Tyla’s hand was on her shoulder. ‘Dragon-spawn,’ he said as he backed up, pulling Aviti with her. She glanced behind her and realised that the Giants had reached the buildings. Aviti started when she saw Sevika beside her with her sword also drawn, but her blade pointed at the floor. The Intoli gaped at the
dragon. It was only when Aviti bumped into her that Sevika regained her façade. Then she too backed away from the two awesome beings as they devoured the giant wolves.
‘They have grown large,’ said the Lyrat, but Aviti lacked the energy and the will to ask what he meant.
The three companions continued to retreat, step by aching step toward safety. Aviti glanced over her shoulder. She could make out a huge doorway in the granite structure. The Giants must be in there, she thought. Then she spotted Wist. He had stopped outside and stood looking at the dragons.
One of the winged beasts screamed and the sound reflected all around them; off the hard, stone walls of the buildings and the frozen ground. Just as the sound of the call died away, the second dragon issued its response. It was a deeper, angrier bellow and sounded like a rebuke. As Aviti turned back to look at them, they took a few stunted strides and unfurled their wings. Then they thrust themselves aloft and the light they left behind burned two vertical stripes in her eyes; one blue and one red.
Aviti looked through the after-images at Sevika. Impossible tears marked the Intoli’s face; parallel lines like those in the sky. The tears froze before they had the chance to drop.
Then she moved on and, as they approached Wist, he turned and slipped into the darkness. Aviti blinked as Tyla passed her and the lines in her sight bisected the ink-line scars on the Lyrat’s face. Then she slipped below the arch and into what remained of Medicaut.
3 - Wandering Star
Tyla stood over the injured Giant Oinoir whilst Haumea tended to the fire set in a huge stone fireplace. Decheal busied herself butchering the buralo. Then the Giantess warrior used sticks to skewer pieces of wolf meat, and hung them over the fire, filling the room with the aromas of a bygone time.
Aviti had fallen asleep the moment they laid down their burdens. She only closed her eyes when they were open again. Tyla now hovered on the edge of exhaustion, continuing to pass his energy into the maimed Giant. He had done the same thing for Aviti. When her powers woke, when she had nearly disappeared beneath the tides of her life, Tyla had pulled her back from the edge.
She should be helping him, but she did not know how. She knew how to kill. She knew how to break and how to destroy, but she did not know how to heal. Even the small slash from the Buralo on her hand was beyond her abilities, so she had cleaned it and wrapped it instead.
Tyla had cut himself off from her, as much as their bond would allow him to. Their connection was quiet now, just a flicker of the quiescent currents remained between them. Tiny barbs of pain reflected to her from the Lyrat, so she did her best to quieten her mind.
She grimaced as she stood and then, as she stretched the ache from her muscles, Haumea joined her.
‘Are you not worried the meat will burn?’ said Aviti pointing to the fire.
Haumea grinned and said, ‘I shall let Decheal tend to that for now.’ The Giantess warrior’s eyes flashed like coals in a blaze.
‘She is not pleased that you outrank her,’ said Aviti.
‘Ah, it does not please her that she is outranked by a cripple,’ replied Haumea with a ghost of a smile.
Aviti massaged her hand. The scratches that the buralo had given her were shallow and clean, but they still itched.
The Giants had been busy whilst she slept. When they had arrived, Aviti had found the only upright bench and slept on it. There were now several around the fire and others shoved to the far end of the square hall.
There were no windows here, just empty shelves and discarded boxes. Detritus littered the floor: scraps of paper and ruined hay. ‘This place has been looted,’ said Aviti. ‘And recently.’
Haumea nodded and she kicked away a piece of wood. It tumbled into the darkness at the furthest end of the room, clattering as it went. ‘At least they have left us plenty of fire-wood.’ Then she said, ‘A moment please,’ and left Aviti to return to the fire.
With no portals to the outside world, and with the door shut, the room held the heat well. Aviti loosened her cloak, but despite the warmth in the room, she was in no rush to expose any more of herself than she needed to. She looked down at her feet and saw the cracks that ran along the uneven floor. The bedrock of the mountain, an age in the making, had fractured as it passed down to the valley floor.
Haumea returned and passed Aviti strips of meat and a stone vase, which held some water. ‘The stone here would make Nikka weep,’ said the Giantess as Aviti tore at the food. None of them had eaten a proper meal since before the battle at Dilsich. The last meal that Aviti remembered was the one that Sevika prepared for her before the apparitions came.
Daughter of the future.
Reunite the twins.
She shook the visions of the past from her and continued to eat. The vase that Haumea had found to use as a water jug was so heavy Aviti struggled to lift it, but she managed.
‘Have you been outside?’ she asked Haumea when she was sated.
The Giantess shook her massive head.
‘I wondered what time of day it is?’ Aviti asked herself and then smiled at the Giantess.
‘Ah, day has taken on a new meaning has it not? I used to love the moon, but now that it dominates my life, I find it has lost its lustre.’
‘Something bothers me about the Moon,’ said Aviti. ‘Something my mother said, but it will not come to me now.’
As Aviti spoke, Tyla shuffled around the prostrate Giant. Then he moved to the furthest, darkest corner of the room and lay down on his bedroll. Decheal stomped away from the fire to see her fallen comrade, her armour rattling as she walked. Oinoir lay motionless where she had put him. Then the Giantess set about dressing her Prime Glaine’s damaged leg.
Haumea returned to the fire where she removed most of the meat. As she began to cutting it into portions, Aviti took the pitcher of water and a chunk of the meat, and walked over to Wist.
She took his hand and placed a piece of the food in his palm, then curled his stained fingers around it. She caught sight of the fatal scars on his wrist as she lifted his hands and told him to eat. Wist followed her instructions, biting the meat, chewing it and then swallowing. Then he repeated the motion: biting, chewing and swallowing until his hand was empty.
Opening his hand, Aviti put a new morsel in. Softly, she asked him to eat again and he complied. A couple of tears escaped from her eyes then. They were private tears, but she shared them with the insensate man. One of them rolled over her cheek and fell from her. It landed on Wist’s open palm.
His hand spasmed as if she had slapped it, and for an instant, there was focus in his eyes. Then she blinked and it was gone. Aviti lifted her empty hand to his face and cupped his jaw. She thought about slapping him, forcing him out of this damned stupid retreat, but she knew it would not work.
This had happened before - when Wist had spoken to Enceladus at the edge of the oasis in Tapasya, but he emerged from his stasis after only a few hours, with the story of his father’s murder re-awoken in his mind. What memories tortured him this time? What had brought him to a place where the ruination of a world was preferable to facing his fate?
She wiped his face with the back of her hands and then lifted the water jug to Wist’s lips. Most of it poured over his chin, but after she saw him gulp a few times, she set it down and went back to her bench.
Aviti sat and stared at the lights dancing on the wall, rather than look at the injured Giant. The stone walls were riddled with cracks; hairline cracks that erupted from the more fundamental fault lines. If it was true - that this place had fallen from the mountain - it was miraculous that it still stood. One good shove from a Giant would topple it.
A massive hand turned her round and she found herself looking into Haumea’s lopsided face. She had finished her task and the meat was all neatly packed away.
‘Let us go and see a little of the place,’ said Haumea. ‘The others are resting. Decheal is more than capable of defending this place. In fact, I think I could manage it alone.’ Then Haumea smil
ed again.
Aviti shrugged and nodded. Then she prepared herself to leave this sanctuary of light and warmth. First, she tightened her clothes, tucking them in, sealing off any avenues that the cold could use to reach her skin. Then she removed her boots and the layers of cloth wrapped around her feet. She laid out the strips as she removed them and applied a smear of Tyla’s balm. He had said that it would help keep the cold out, but her toes felt like stone now. She wiggled them just to make sure they remained attached to her feet.
Then she picked up the last strip of cloth she had removed from her feet and pulled it tight across her toes, then around her ankle and back again. She repeated this on her other foot, then moved onto the other pieces of material. When these were all in place, she picked up her boots. Tyla had taken these from a dead man after the battle at Dilsich. At first, she had balked at the idea of robbing a corpse, but she could not deny the necessity of the act. So, with the tanned leather boots in place, she tightened the scarf at her neck, but left her hood down. Then she nodded again to Haumea.
Haumea shouted to Decheal that they were off to scout the area and the warrior Giantess grunted her reply. Decheal was crouched beside Oinoir, her back to them all. The Giantess released something from her hand, which tinkled as they rolled on the floor. They were bones, Aviti realised. Decheal was rolling bones. Haumea called to her again and waited until she waved her away, then she pushed on the wooden door that sealed them in.
The door had to be pulled into place when they had arrived, as its frame was broken in too many places to count. The iron banding around the door was all that kept it together. It complained raucously as the Giants closed it again.
Only one corridor remained intact in this building, which led outside. The upper levels were cut-off from them by broken staircases and collapsed floors. Although ice coated the walls and ceilings, the stone floor was dry and firm. Haumea’s stick cracked off the solid ground, its echoes reverberating around them as they approached the exit. A blast of wind reminded Aviti to raise her hood.
The Redemption of Wist Boxed Set: Books 1 - 3: The complete collection Page 61
