The Redemption of Wist Boxed Set: Books 1 - 3: The complete collection

by David Gilchrist

  The rest of his companions joined them there; all of them apart from Oinoir.

  ‘Is anyone hurt?’ Wist asked. Tyla raised an eyebrow and shrugged. ‘What? What is it?’

  Aviti looked at him and said, ‘Only you were attacked.’

  ‘Only me?’ The Waren had changed tactics again: isolate him and drive him to his knees, make him afraid and powerless.

  ‘You and him,’ said Aviti. Wist followed her digit and saw whom she meant. Steam gushed from Enceladus’ head as if in answer to the accusation.

  Had Enceladus come to save him? If so, why hadn’t he seen him?

  ‘We tried to reach you,’ said Aviti. ‘Even Tyla could not penetrate the maelstrom.’

  Wist saw Tyla’s head drop at Aviti’s words. ‘I don’t need you to protect me,’ said Wist. ‘Not anymore.’

  ‘Will your pet Intoli do it for you?’ asked Oinoir who appeared at the back of the group.

  ‘I don’t think he’s anyone’s pet, Oinoir, and I’m not sure he tried to protect me.’

  Wist shivered as the Ghria Duh caught his eye and another blast from Enceladus sent swirling clouds into the sky. ‘This is pointless. Come on, let’s get moving,’ Wist said and picked up his pack that lay on the ice beside him.

  Oinoir grunted, spat and then span around to stomp away towards the mountains, so the rest of them followed. As the time passed, the land began to slope downwards. With the Ghria Duh high above them, the horizon was occluded from them, but the peaks of the mountain remained. When the moon shone on them, Wist could make out the pattern in the frozen snow punctuated by jagged black teeth. Just now, the whole mountain looked black, and it appeared alive and full of avaricious need. He looked away from it, but the ground beneath him was no better. It resembled polished granite. The glimpses of the Ghria Duh that he caught in it made him shudder.

  Later, they stopped briefly, but on the open tundra, under the black sun and merciless wind, there was no rest for them, so they ate and drank what they could and then they walked once more. No-one sang to break the monotony this time. There was just random crunching and the occasional jet of steam from Enceladus, to break the monotony.

  Now and again, Aviti spoke to Sevika, but the Intoli’s only response was to point vaguely ahead, confirming what they already knew. Each use of the sibilant tongue drew a snarl from Oinoir.

  ‘What is wrong with him?’ said Wist to Decheal.

  The Giantess shrugged, but her brow kept its crease. ‘I told you, he struggles with all of this.’

  ‘But,’ began Wist, but Decheal cut him off.

  ‘Dionach,’ she snapped. ‘I have no answers for you. Perhaps if I was warmer I might.’

  So Wist tramped on beside Decheal in silence. Thankfully, a thick layer of cloud smothered the Ghria Duh as they continued, revealing the land around them. Beyond the hill, lay between them and the mountains. Part the hills, in a small divide, lurked a bank of fog.

  They reached the first hill about an hour or so later. The near side of the hills had been spared the worst of the weather. Patches of frozen, brown earth revealed themselves as they walked among the first of the hills.

  Their torches scattered light much further now that the Ghria Duh was hidden from them. They illuminated the few dead trees that lay where they had fallen. Wist stumbled as he stepped in a trough and caught his spikes on the edge of it. When he traced the marks, they headed west, at a right angle to their path.

  The cloud cover persisted as they crossed the hills, and it remained even after they had rested.

  If it wasn’t for the deeper, numbing cold, the hills would have come as a relief. They were uneven and rough, the ground strewn with boulders and stones, but it felt organic, like the product of a natural process rather than the enforced somnolence of the black sun.

  Again and again, Wist saw subtle signs of disturbance: branches broken, and bushes bent and twisted out of their natural sprawl. He called to Tyla, but the Lyrat had scouted ahead once more.

  ‘I see it too,’ said Decheal.

  Before Wist could ask any more of the Giantess, they found Tyla. He was standing atop the last of the hills. It was barren, but the ground looked as though someone had dragged a giant plough across it.

  When they reached the Lyrat, they were greeted by a sight of devastation. Two trees lay uprooted and dark patches, peppered by snow, adorned the ground.

  ‘Whatever happened here, it was not long ago,’ said Decheal and Tyla agreed.

  ‘Let’s move,’ said Wist, desperate to get away from the exposed position. There was no debate from the rest of them, but Tyla stopped them.

  ‘The valley below is thick with fog,’ he said pointing below. ‘We should connect ourselves together.’ The Lyrat lifted a few ropes from his pack and went to hand one to Oinoir.

  ‘No’ barked the Giant. He drew his sword and took a step away. Tyla’s face creased for a moment, and then he looped the first rope around himself and threw the other back. Before long, the chain was complete. Tyla led, followed by Decheal, then Haumea, Wist, Aviti and then Sevika. Wist was surprised that Sevika agreed to be tethered, but not so that Enceladus stayed apart from them.

  Oinoir stomped away first, brandishing her sword. Then Tyla set the pace for the rest of them and they made their way down the hill into the fog. Within quarter of an hour, Tyla vanished from sight. Five minutes after that, Wist could no longer make out Decheal.

  The moisture in the air was warm on Wist’s tongue. It made him think of steam rather than freezing mist. A couple of times since entering the fog, he’d had to relight his torch, but it only made things worse. The diffraction of the light made the vapour glow, and Wist needed to hold it away from himself to stop the glare from blinding him.

  He could hear the footsteps of the others in front and behind him. The rocks that littered their way, crunched beneath their steel spikes. They should stop and take them off, but that would only cost them time.

  The fog deepened as they continued their gradual descent. He could just about make out Haumea’s back now.

  ‘How much longer ‘til we reach the bottom?’ Wist called out to Haumea, but she never replied. He did however hear Sevika talking.

  Then Aviti said, ‘She says that we are approaching a huge crevice. It marks the boundary to these mountains on all sides.’

  Wist shouted out this information and told Haumea to pass it down the line, which she did. If Tyla stumbled off the edge, he could well take them all with him. This ground would not give them much purchase should they need it to keep them from falling.

  Tyla would know what he was doing. At least he could rely on the Lyrat,

  A muffled shout from ahead stopped Wist. Then there was another and another. Then came the sharp ring of sword strikes.

  ‘We are assailed,’ shouted Haumea. ‘Move!’

  The rope went taut and then Wist was propelled forward before he could protest. Then the tension in the rope behind him eased when Aviti began to run.

  ‘No,’ Wist shouted. ‘Remember the cliff edge. Do not run.’ But it was useless. Even he forgot his caution as he heard Oinoir let out a scream. Then the ringing of swords filled Wist’s ears.

  Wist tumbled down when the slope increased. Then he dropped out of the fog and landed on a bare rock outcropping. A luminous white maw gaped over him. He and Haumea lay in a heap beneath it. It could devour them in one bite. They scrambled to find their feet, but the monster did not move.

  At the legs of the beast, which protruded from a serpentine body, was Oinoir, battering them with his sword. He screamed and shouted as if attacked by the beast. He rained blow after impotent blow, down upon the creature, but only tiny fragments of ice scattered into the air.

  Tyla stood beside Decheal, watching Oinoir, and so they all joined the Lyrat. The plateau was wide here, but behind the beast, it narrowed to a small path, dropping precipitously at either side. Off to the other side of this area was another of these shining dragons, this one with its back
to them, showing its scaled back and wings.

  Oinoir’s assault went on, but rather than growing weary, his fury mounted. Red sparks erupted from his blows now, as if he tapped a vein in the creature’s body.

  ‘Stop him, for God’s sake Decheal,’ said Wist.

  The Giantess blinked as if woken from a dream and nodded. She cut herself free of the rope and, as she took a step forward, a huge chunk of ice flew over Oinoir’s head. Then another and another as Oinoir began to build up a rhythm. Wist could see that the sword was gone. It had been mangled and discarded. Now Oinoir beat on the Dragon with his fists, but the crimson sparks continued flying.

  ‘Brathoir!’ Oinoir cried as Decheal took a step towards him. ‘Oinair! Ionracas!’

  Decheal called out to Oinoir repeatedly, but the Giant would not stop. He just continued hueing bigger and bigger pieces from the Dragon’s body. As Decheal went to place a hand on Oinoir, there was an earth-rending crack. Then Oinoir spun and slammed his fist into Decheal’s face.

  A red spark marked the contact, but the concussion that followed knocked Wist from his feet. As he landed, there was another crunch; a final, fatal noise. He looked up to see the head of the crystalline monster lurch forward.

  Wist slipped as he tried to gain his feet and landed on Haumea who sprawled out before them again. Aviti was still tethered to Wist. She would not see it coming in time to evade it.

  For an instant, Wist thought about destroying it. Why not open himself up to the thunderous power from within? He could use the power that had broken this world and summoned the black sun.

  Instead, he called to Aviti and then braced himself for the impact, but the moment he did, the beast lurched to the right. Then the whole thing collapsed to the ground. When it connected with the rock, it split, sending the head spinning away along the plateau. The light dimmed as the body slipped and fell into the precipice, leaving only a clawed foot behind.

  Wist scrambled to his feet and clutched at his forgotten blade. Aviti severed their tie with her dagger, then she moved around to work on the others. Wist ran forward to find Tyla standing over the fallen Decheal. She had blood splattered over her face. With Tyla’s help, she managed to sit up.

  Then Decheal spat out a huge gob of blood and possibly a tooth. ‘I had no idea he could hit so hard.’ She grinned, confirming that she had indeed lost a tooth. She touched her mouth then said. ‘Blood and bone. At least it was not a front one.’

  ‘Oinoir,’ Wist said. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Gone,’ said Tyla.

  ‘Gone where?’ asked Wist, but Tyla looked away from him to the other dragon.

  ‘He ran away over the bridge,’ said Decheal giving her head a shake. ‘The look he gave me as he struck me. Never have I seen a look of such unbridled rage in all my days.’

  ‘What did he have in his hands? Those red flashes, what were they?’ the Giantess asked.

  The red sparks that Wist had seen. That colour threatened to wake bitter memories of his time in the cave beneath Dilsich. Wist shook his head, fearful of the implications of any answer he might give.

  Then Haumea and the others joined them. The Giantess stared at the remaining glowing statue in awe. ‘Who could have made such a thing?’

  ‘No-one made it. It is a dragon,’ said Wist. ‘It had been alive once, and still was, until recently I think.’

  Sevika said something behind him, and Wist turned to Aviti.

  ‘She said that it is not a Dragon. It is a Wyvern.’

  A Wyvern. Wist laughed aloud. Of course it was, and so was he.

  14 - Isolate

  Everything swirled in Wist’s mind in the half-light of the dead Wyvern.

  The 43rd Infantry Division. His division. His men. They were Wyverns. He had reached the rank of Colour Sergeant. It had been granted to him for “courage on the field of battle”

  But he had never shown courage, not real courage, he had just refused to give up on his men. Most of them had died anyway, but he had gotten a few of them home.

  Colour Sergeant was where he had finished his career, and once the army was through with him, he never found anything to replace it with. He had tried drink. He had tried anything he could get into his system, but none of it had worked. None of it could fill the void in his life.

  He stared at the back of the glowing Wyvern and scratched at his arm. Then he pulled at his top beneath his cloak, jerked it down so that it exposed his shoulders, and there it was, outlined in dragon blood; a two-headed wyvern. He’d been told that one of the heads faced backwards to show respect to those who had been lost in service and the other faced forwards to confront the threats and challenges of tomorrow. But who looked after now?

  He traced the lines on his arm where his tattoo had been. Why did only the outline remain now? Perhaps the original had burned off his skin during his transition to this world? Perhaps he should be glad it was gone. It had never brought him any luck.

  His other shoulder still showed the chevrons imprinted there when he had picked off the congealed blood, and there above it was a crown. He had thought it was just a smudge before, but he could see it now. He laughed again and then he jumped when an arm appeared around his shoulder.

  ‘You’ll freeze Wist, cover yourself.’ It was Aviti. Wist smirked and pulled his top up.

  ‘I don’t think you need to worry about me.’

  ‘What happened to Oinoir?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s snapped, or something in him has. I’ve seen it before. Sometimes they become withdrawn, sometimes they explode, but they are never the same again.’

  ‘Can we help him?’ asked Decheal as she wiped some fresh blood from her face.

  ‘We’d need to find him first and then he’d need to want help. It doesn’t seem like he’d be too interested in it now.’ The thought of leaving one of his men, Giants, galled him, but what else could he do?

  ‘We’ll move on, hope he calms down and waits for us.’ Haumea didn’t look pleased, but she agreed anyway.

  Wist finished adjusting his clothes and looked around. Something else was wrong. He counted his companions then it came to him.

  ‘Where’s Enceladus?’ he asked.

  ‘He is gone,’ said Tyla.

  ‘Gone?’

  ‘He vanished when Oinoir attacked the… the Wyvern.’ The word Wyvern slid from the Lyrat’s lips sounding foreign and misplaced.

  ‘Vanished?’

  ‘Yes. I looked at him. He nodded to me. Then he disappeared.’

  ‘He nodded to you?’ asked Wist. ‘Why would he do that?’

  Wist expected Tyla to shrug, but the Lyrat just returned his stare.

  ‘What now?’ said Haumea.

  ‘We go on,’ said Wist as he turned to face the Giantess.

  ‘No,’

  Wist whirled back around to see Tyla with his head lowered.

  ‘Tyla?’

  ‘I cannot go on.’

  ‘What do you mean we can’t go on.’

  There was a second of silence before Aviti said, ’He said that he cannot go on, not we.’ The Masheshi girl’s eyes sparkled like deep pools in the Wyvern light.

  ‘No,’ shouted Wist. All thoughts of Wyverns and his past service in his real life blew away. He couldn’t lose Tyla.

  ‘How can you do this now? How can you abandon me here? We are so close, Tyla. I can’t do this alone.’ Then Wist added, ’I can’t do it without you.’

  Tyla slipped his katana out and, in an instant, he was on one knee with his head bowed. His sword pointed straight down, as if he offered it to Wist.

  ‘Release me from my oath to you,’ he said.

  ‘No damn it, Tyla. I will not.’

  ‘Wist!’ snapped Aviti, but he didn’t care.

  ‘How the hell are we supposed to get there without him,’ Wist raged. ‘Now that Oinoir’s run off and Enceladus has disappeared. How Aviti? Only a year ago, you were selling your dad’s goats. Haumea was a - what were you - some kind of shepherd?’ He neglected to
mention Decheal, who had led a large portion of the Giants’ army.

  ‘And me?’ Wist laughed aloud once more. ‘Are you seriously saying that any of you trust me?’

  There was an uncomfortable silence and then Aviti said,’ I do.’

  Before Wist recovered his composure, Haumea said, ‘As do I.’

  ‘And I,’ said Decheal, though her voice was muffled through her hand.

  ‘That’s not the point. That’s not the bloody point. Why Tyla? Why now?’

  The Lyrat did not look up and only managed to say one word. ‘Faric.’ Aviti’s face crumpled as he said the word.

  ‘Faric? What do you mean Faric? Faric’s…’ he said, but his voice trailed off. Faric was dead. He was dead, but more than that, he was Tyla’s dead.

  ‘Enceladus,’ Wist said, ‘damn you, show yourself.’ But there was no reply, just the whistling of the wind.

  Then Wist spun full circle and kicked a loose stone, which clattered down into the ravine. Then he stopped himself and took a few deep breaths.

  ‘Faric,’ he said. ‘What did Faric say to you?’

  Tyla lifted his head and looked straight into Wist’s blue eyes. ‘He told me that some of my people live still. Since the rise of the dark sun, the Ghria Duh, those that survived the massacre at the foot of the Rathou, have been hunted.’

  ‘Hunted?’ asked Wist. He hadn’t even thought about the Lyrats. He had assumed that Tyla was the last of their kind. ‘Hunted by whom?’

  ‘Kerk,’ said Tyla.

  ‘Who?’ said Wist, but Aviti gasped.

  ‘The mad priest,’ she said. ‘The one who severed their bond. The one who killed my brother.’

  ‘We killed him. Or I did.’ More by accident than intent, Wist admitted to himself. ‘I sliced most of his face off.

  ‘The Waren have him now,’ said Tyla. ‘He has sold his soul to them. Now they use him to root out the last of the Lyrats, the Volni and the Cerni. With the dark sun in the sky, he is invulnerable.’

  The Cerni. That was Nikka’s race. The dark dwarves. Nikka hadn’t spoken highly of them. If he was to be believed, they spent all of their time either warring with the Volni – their light skinned cousins - or murdering each other.