by Simon Kewin
She turned to the puddle and her gran took her other hand. The undain surrounded them now, their hot breath filling the air. But they still moved slowly, almost casually, enjoying a game they thought they'd won.
“After three,” said her mother. “One, two, three …”
They jumped together, hurling themselves into the middle of the pool of water.
25. Night Fall
Mount Öræfajökull, Iceland
Fer expected to land in water, but a bitter cold seized hold of her. For a moment she thought they were stranded in the aether, the limitless void sucking their life away. But light blinded her. It took a few moments to adjust to the dazzling brilliance of the scene before her. They stood part way up a mountain, a precarious ledge far above ground level.
Before them lay a landscape of rock and snow, breathtakingly beautiful. She couldn't grasp the scale of it; she felt tiny and huge at the same time. Snow and rock reached all the way to the edges of the world. At the same time, she felt she could reach out and touch the tips of those far mountains. The sky glowed blue. The sun hung low in the west, but it was bright still, warming the ice to the colour of honey. It was quiet. Nothing moved.
She looked at her companions, making sure everyone had come through safely. Strange how protective she felt about them, how she was beginning to see Cait and Cait's mother and grandmother as her family. Her coven. She had no hope, now, of saving Andar from what was coming. But if she could help destroy the man who controlled Angere in this world, she'd be happy. A battle won. Angere itself was a fight for another day.
Odd, though, how it had taken coming to this world to feel she belonged. Perhaps it was because the witches here were so powerless, so hunted. She'd worked with Fiona and Catherine to rescue Cait from that vast, metal building without even stopping to think about it. In Andar, if Hellen or anyone else had suggested such a thing, she'd probably have refused, resenting the intrusion. Here, she'd consented without a thought. Having seen what this world did to people, she'd do anything in the fight against Genera.
If she'd stayed in Andar, if that undain had never flown across the An, perhaps she'd have ended up at Islagray after all. Perhaps she would have been another Hellen. A strange thought. She would never know, now.
She hooked her arm through Cait's. Her cousin, her sister from another world.
Tears blurred Cait's eyes. What was happening to Danny? She wanted to step back through the portal, try and save him. Was this what it had been like for him, when the undain had taken her at the furnace? The pang of loss was sharp inside her. Her shoulder throbbed and she couldn't tell whether this was the backlash from the magic or the pain of his absence.
Fer, standing next to her, slid her arm through Cait's. Cait had often offered Fer an arm in their long chase but now it was the other way round. Fer gave her support. Cait smiled at the girl from Andar. She wished they'd known each other all their lives. It felt like discovering a sister you never knew you had. And no time, now, to talk.
“We'll try and find him,” said her gran, standing next to Cait. “Wherever we end up once we jump through the portal, we'll try and rescue him, love.” She placed fleeces from Johnny and Danny's shopping spree around her and Fer's shoulders. “The archaeon may know something. Or the Lizard King.”
Cait nodded but didn't reply. They didn't even know if Danny would be kept in this world. They might take him through the Runcorn portal for some terrible purpose. Or he might be dead already.
She turned to gaze at the bulk of the mountain towering over them. They should go. Nox would be desperate; he'd stop at nothing to capture them. They had to find this portal before Genera came. Otherwise Nox had won and Danny's loss was for nothing.
“Look.” It was Ran's voice. He stood a few metres up the slope, examining something in the thin snow that covered the ground. Beyond him, a steep path wound up into a cave entrance, like a long tongue protruding from the mountain's mouth. It was inaccessible to anyone not using the portals.
Ran looked at them and said more words that Cait didn't understand.
“Footprints,” said Johnny, translating. “He says there are fresh footprints.”
No one speaking, they went to see. The footprints in the snow were quite clear, leading up into the cave. Ran spoke again and Johnny translated. “A man. He walked into the cave recently. Within the last hour.”
They glanced at each other, alarm clear on everyone's face. Cait wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her fleece. She saw who this must be, who had preceded them into the cave. And so they had failed after all. She had failed and he had won.
“But that means we're cut off from Angere,” said Johnny. “And we can't wait here for six months. The next time it rains in Manchester they'll come through and get us. And that's not gonna be very long is it?”
“No,” said Cait. “You're wrong, Johnny. The portal's still open. He's waiting for us.”
“What do you mean? Who is?” said Johnny.
“Come on,” said Cait. She turned to climb, using her hands to steady herself as she scrambled up. She would face him now, before she stopped to think about what she was doing. Ran followed, silent, ready as ever to protect her.
“Cait?” called her mum.
“Come on,” said Cait. “He'll be waiting.”
The wind at her back was welcome; it seemed to keep her pinned to the side of the mountain. She concentrated on the ground. Heights didn't worry her, but the scale of the panorama was dizzying. She felt light-headed from the altitude. She had the perverse desire to step off and see if she could fly. Perhaps she could. Her mum had done it. But now wasn't the time to try.
The snow beneath her feet thinned, the ground becoming scattered stone shards. Distant heat warmed her face. Her skin was already cracked and dry from the wind. She longed for moisturiser.
She stood at the cave entrance. It was larger than she'd thought, tall enough to walk through without stooping. A red glow tinged the blackness. The glow from the lava pit. She glanced at the others following in a line. She was surprised how steep the path was.
She stepped inside. From the red glow the cave looked small, a tear-shaped room with a floor that angled to its centre. The lava pit was a rough circle of fire in the middle, colouring the walls of the cave, the heat coming off it intense.
And there, a mere silhouette in front of it, was a man waiting for them.
“Hello, Nox,” she said.
Ran and the others arrived one by one at her shoulder. Her mum lit another hazy ball of light and set it bobbing over their heads.
Nox seemed calm, as if waiting for a meeting to start. Something in his face looked odd, though. The arrogant grin was there but with less of an edge. Perhaps it was just the light. He wore sensible walking gear: boots, waterproof trousers, a fleece. He had come prepared. He was alone, though. Why was he alone? He had a rucksack on his back but in his hand, oddly, he carried a black leather brief case.
“Hello again, Cait,” he said.
“Get out of our way, Nox,” said her mum. “You won't stop us using the portal. I'll kill you first.”
Cait could tell her mum was working on some magic. She could feel the power gathering, like a livid storm on the horizon, glimpsed in the corner of her eye. The bobbing blue light above them dimmed as she concentrated her strength. It didn't make sense, though. Nox was never alone. He always had his riders, his guards with him. And now here he was.
“Wait!” shouted Cait. “Don't kill him. He's not here to stop us.” A picture slotted together in her mind. Things became clear. She'd been wrong. They hadn't lost, not yet.
“Of course he wants to stop us,” said her gran. Her voice quavered as she spoke.
“No,” said Cait. “Tell us, Nox. Tell us what they did.”
For an instant, his self-assurance slipped. A frown, an expression of pain moved across his face. He stared at the ground, pausing before replying. “They threw me out,” he said.
“Speak up,” said Cait.
“They promised me eternal life!” He was suddenly shouting, his calm demeanour lost. “Promised power and riches beyond my dreams. Then they took it away. All because you escaped. Because you slipped through my hands three times. Do you see? But I left before they could take me. And now I'll get revenge.”
“On Genera?”
“Genera, Angere. The undead lords and ladies. The Holy Court. The Witch King himself. All of them. They thought they could toss me aside but they were wrong. Attention to detail, you see? I made plans even for this eventuality, unlikely as it was.”
“You knew about this portal?”
“I've always made it my business to gather useful information. I've been aware of this place for years. Once I knew what you were planning and that you'd escaped the forest, I came here to wait for you.”
“The archaeon,” said Cait. “Did it help you?”
He looked baffled for a moment. “I have no idea what an archaeon is. Is that how you navigated the portal web so skilfully?”
Cait ignored his question. “But how are you going to get your revenge? How is coming with us going to help?”
“Because of this,” said Nox. He opened his briefcase and took out something wrapped in a sheaf of cloth. He pulled aside the cloth to reveal a large book. Cait recognized the red leather. The etched diagrams of skeletons and the strange symbols. The stains.
“You took it from them?” asked Cait.
“While people still obeyed me. I did more, too. Certain secure messages transmitted to our installations, the right keys used. As we speak, operations the world over are shutting down. Genera, and therefore Angere, are crippled.”
“And you'll give the book to us?” asked her mum. “Just like that?”
“There is a carrot and a stick,” said Nox. “The book is the carrot. If you'll take me, I will give it you. I have no use for it.”
“And the stick?” asked Johnny.
“I know how this portal works. I need only take a step backward and I will reach Angere. Bad for me. But you will be stranded here. And they will find you.”
“You're not asking us to believe this are you?” said Johnny. “You seriously want us to trust you?”
“I will give you the book if you let me come with you. What more can I offer? Sooner or later they'll catch up with me. I have nothing to lose. And I can help you. I've picked up a lot about Angere, how it works, what goes on there. I can speak the language.”
“I don't trust him,” said Johnny.
“I do,” said Cait quietly. “At least, I think he's telling the truth.”
“No!” said Johnny. “He's Mr. Evil! He's the Man!”
“Yes,” said Cait. “He is. But I still believe him. Don't you see? We broke him after all. And now he has to ask us for our help. We should take him.”
“Cait,” said her mum. “You're sure of this?”
“Yes,” said Cait. “This is doing what we have to do.”
She stepped toward Nox. “Give me the book.”
Nox didn't move. For a moment she thought it was a trick after all, that he would hurl it into the pit. But instead he held it out. Cait took it and turned to her gran.
“Will you take it with you? To Andar?”
“I will,” said her gran, quietly.
Cait hugged her gran hard for long moments. “Take care.”
“I will, love,” whispered her gran. “And you make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Johnny, standing beside her gran, took his turn to hug her next. “I never played for you, Cait. But I will. For you and Danny, a gig all of your own. I promise. Hell, you might even get your own album after this.”
They were being brave for her, pretending it was all going to be OK. She smiled at them both, continuing the deception.
She turned to Fer. There was much she wanted to say to the young witch. Much she wanted to hear from her. But right now she couldn't think where to start. It was a bit like looking into a mirror and being embarrassed by your own reflection.
Fer spoke instead, her words gentle and flowing, like a river.
“She says she'll be with you,” translated Johnny. “In her thoughts.”
“She'll be in mine, too,” said Cait, hugging Fer close.
Cait let go and turned to Nox.
“Watch him, love,” said her gran from behind her. “Watch him every second. I don't trust him as far as I could spit him out. Maybe he's telling the truth and maybe he's not. But he's angry and resentful. He may blame you for what's happened. Watch him like a hawk.”
“I will,” said Cait.
She peered into the lava pit. The heat was intense. It felt like her skin would crack open just standing there. The pit was deep: a natural tube with straight sides. At its bottom lay a bubbling, heaving pool of molten rock. It moved constantly, flicking off tiny plumes of lava.
The sight of it filled her with dread. Fire terrified her, everyone knew that. Her insides lurched. But with the fear came a cold determination, too. She wouldn't be beaten. She could do this. This had to be done.
“I'm ready,” she said.
She took Ran's hand. Nox took his other. Cait held her free hand out to her mother who stood in the shadows, deep in whispered conversation with her gran.
“Mum?” said Cait.
She would never know precisely what happened next. In everything that was to come, through all the horrors she was to meet in Angere, she thought about it often. But she never could decide which of them jumped first.
Together, Cait, Ran and Nox fell into the searing flame.
Wyrm Lord
The Cloven Land Trilogy, Book 2
Simon Kewin
1. Crowhaunted
Cait plummeted toward the spitting pit of lava. The heat from it was like a solid wall. She screamed as visions of burning alive consumed her. Nox had tricked them all. The portal was already sealed. They had the wrong cave. The whole thing with the undain and the chase was a mad joke to get her to throw herself into a pool of molten rock.
She only hoped, when she hit, it would be a quick end. No more than a few moments of agony.
Then she thumped into solid ground. Instead of raging heat, the air was cold on her cheekbones. She held Ran's hand in hers. His skin was rough. Her other hand was empty. What had happened? She'd tried to grab her mother for the leap through the portal, but they'd fallen before they were ready. Nox had fallen, too; she'd heard his cry as they fell. She replayed the moment in her mind but couldn't decide who had jumped or fallen first.
She opened her eyes. Wherever they were, it wasn't a lava pit in Iceland.
She, Ran and Nox lay on a plain of hummocky grass inside a circle of jagged standing stones that rose from the ground like pointed teeth. The portal from the other side. The circle sat in a wooded valley surrounded by the slopes of steep hills. Frost gilded the ground, Cait's breath billowing into the air as she exhaled. A thin, early morning light infused the scene, casting long shadows from the standing stones. Dewy cobwebs covered the tussocks of grass like frozen smoke in the sunlight. A ghostly mist drifted from the ground.
They were alone. Apart from the stone circle, the only sign of human activity was a stone archway in the distance. Whether it was the remains of a bridge that had once spanned the valley or something else entirely, she couldn't tell. It was clearly ruined now.
“What happened?” she said. And then, an even stupider question, “Where are we?”
Without replying, Ran released her hand and sprang to his feet. He spun around, assessing threats from any direction, then sprinted to one of the stones. Vaulting on top, he balanced there to get a better view of their surroundings.
Nox sat on the ground behind her, a broad grin on his face, like all his plans had worked perfectly. And, OK, he had escaped Genera for the moment. But given where they were it surely wasn't much of an improvement.
“Well,” he said, some of his old self-assurance returning. “Here we are, Cait. You and me together in the myt
hical land of the undain.”
She scrambled to her feet. “That's not how it is, Nox.” She thought about everything he'd done. The way he'd hunted them. The pleasure he'd taken in her distress at the refinery. Danny. “Just leave me alone.”
She strode toward Ran, feeling a little ridiculous. She wished the others were there. Not only Danny. Fer and Johnny, too. Her gran or her mother. Wishing for her own mother, how pathetic was that? But she felt suddenly so alone without them. Helpless.
Childish tears swelled within her. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do any of this. She wanted to go home, back to her old life.
Out of habit she pulled out her mobile, thinking she could speak to one of her friends, text them at least. Feel closer to them. But, of course, she couldn't. No signal in the other world. How could there be? She was such an idiot. The bookwyrm was there, installed as an app. Its icon was an illustrated dragon entwined about a gold and crimson letter D. But without an internet connection it would be of little use. Besides, the phone's battery was down to 10% with no way to recharge it. She switched it off.
Ran atop his stone peered into the east. Nox, now standing, brushed mud from his waterproofs, the swishing sound loud in the dawn calm. She didn't really know either of them. At least they knew what they were doing. Ran wasn't afraid of anyone, and Nox was smart, knew things about Angere, knew people here. What chance did she have? She was just a girl who'd worked a bit of witch-magic without really knowing what the hell she was doing.
Except, she wasn't alone, was she? There was the fourth companion. The one no one knew about. The ghost or echo of the dead witch-girl inside her. There was her hope, a thing she could cling to in this terrible place. A much-needed friend. Cait shut her eyes again and reached within herself, seeking the faint presence.
