by Linda McNabb
‘I suppose so, but I’m warning you, Eagan. The second he starts to draw on your life-force…’
Seth cracked open one eye and looked around without moving his head. Damn. He wasn’t dead after all. He was lying under a tree near the graveyard. A short way off sat the traveller in his gold-trimmed cloak but there was no sign of who he had been talking to.
Seth reached into his pocket for his slingshot, ready to drive the old man away.
‘It looks like he’s awake,’ a voice said in a dry, bored tone.
Seth couldn’t help but open both eyes and sit up to look around for the speaker. There was no-one around except the old man yet the voice had come from someone very close by.
‘Who said that?’ Seth asked, loading a stone into his slingshot but having no target to aim at.
‘Do you hear that, Darius. The boy can hear you. How many others can do that?’ The old man walked closer and smiled at Seth.
‘But he can’t see me.’
The voice was so close to Seth that he leapt to his feet and backed up to the tree.
‘Darius, leave him alone or I can’t prove my point,’ the old man snapped.
‘Very well, Eagan.’ The invisible man already sounded further away.
‘Seth, there’s some food there for you,’ Eagan said kindly and made no attempt to come any closer. ‘I told you I would be back.’
Seth stared at the old man. The last thing he remembered was a flash of light coming from the old man that had knocked him to the ground.
‘I didn’t mean to harm the baby,’ Seth said sadly. He picked up a fresh bread roll from the basket of food and bit off a chunk.
‘I know. The baby is fine,’ Eagan assured him and Seth felt a wave of relief flood through him. He chewed the bread and looked around for something to drink. His mouth was so dry it was hard to swallow the food.
‘Seth. What if I told you that you could be just like everyone else?’
Seth could see the old man watching for his reaction. He kept his face emotionless as he shrugged despite the surge of hope that welled up within him. ‘Why would I want to be like them?’
Eagan did not look bothered by the unenthusiastic reply. He just smiled, then came closer and reached behind the tree where Seth sat. He gently placed a cage in front of Seth. Inside the cage was a live chicken.
‘This chicken has been only two paces from you for the last twenty minutes and it is still alive.’ Eagan reached into the cage and pulled out the chicken. He handed it to Seth who took it; looking terrified. ‘Stroke it.’
Seth put one hand on the chicken and a smile spread across his face as he felt the soft feathers. Perhaps the old man had done something to him with the white light? Maybe he was just like everyone else now? Seth couldn’t help but grin with delight. He could go home!
A rock struck his leg and he glanced around. Who had thrown that?
‘Darius, please!’ Eagan snapped.
‘This is taking too long. Just prove your point already.’
Eagan sighed and turned to Seth. ‘Tell me about the day you were sent away from your home village.’
Seth frowned. It was a day he tried hard to forget. He remembered his mother refusing to look at him as she slammed the door in his face. Rocks had pelted him all the way as he ran from the village. It wasn’t his fault! Another rock struck his foot and he glared around angrily.
‘Ah, I see your point now,’ the invisible man said. The owner of the voice sounded afraid.
Seth gulped away the memory and looked around. What point? He looked at the old man who gently pointed to the chicken he was holding. Seth looked down and his heart sank as he saw it was limp and lifeless. He dropped the dead chicken and shuffled away a few paces. He wasn’t healed at all.
‘Don’t worry, Seth. It was going to be for dinner anyway. You just saved me having to wring its neck,’ Eagan said, stepping forward and picking up the chicken.
‘So now that you’ve proven he can kill without even trying what do you propose to do?’ Darius asked and Seth heard a hint of dislike where a moment before there had been fear.
‘He just needs to learn to control his feelings and his temper,’ Eagan replied with a small shrug as if it were a simple matter. ‘The guardians at High Gate Tower have a lot of patience.’
**
It was almost high-sun by the time Eagan was sure Seth wouldn’t run off as soon as his back was turned. Seth sat and glared as Eagan had prepared the chicken and then set it to cook over a small fire.
‘It’ll be nice to eat cold this evening on our way North,’ Eagan said, stoking the embers of the fire and putting more wood on it.
‘North?’ Seth asked, looking interested instead of miserable for the first time since the chicken died. ‘There’s nothing north except The Gap.’
‘My cottage looks out over The Gap,’ Eagan said, without looking up from the fire. He needed the boy to have a focus on something other than himself.
‘I thought you were dumping me at some tower,’ Seth said, and the sulky expression returned instantly.
‘We’re going to stop at my cottage on the way and I’m not dumping you anywhere. High Gate Tower is the best training ground for archers, swordsmen and guards in the land. It used to be only the best that trained there. They don’t have as many trainees these days.’
‘Swordsmen? Archers?’ Seth asked, looking less upset at the idea of going to High Gate Tower.
Eagan smiled to himself as he busied himself with the fire then froze. A single distant gong drifted across the land. Surely there would be two more – Rega must have their timing wrong. It wasn’t quite high-sun and he hadn’t heard the two gongs from Merra either. Seconds ticked by and a cold feeling settled on Eagan’s heart. No more beats of a brass drum rang out. It could mean only one thing.
The pass had been breached.
‘Are you going to reply?’ a voice asked, intruding on the terror that was taking over his thoughts.
‘What?’ Eagan said, blinking madly to bring the world back into focus and he saw Darius tapping his foot impatiently and pointing at the town walls.
‘Have I not trained you for this day?’ Darius asked pointedly. ‘Answer the call.’
‘Yes, answer the call,’ Eagan repeated, gulping away the sick feeling and nodding his head. He turned to Seth who looked confused by Eagan’s worried expression. Should he take Seth with him? The boy might run off if he left him here. ‘Come with me.’
Eagan hurried into town and the crowds parted as they saw Seth a few steps behind him. Seth scowled at the people nearby and they all retreated a few more paces. Eagan grabbed the boy’s hand and dragged him off toward the drum tower.
Eagan took the steps two at a time, causing Seth to run to avoid tripping. All the time Darius was floating just before them with his book open and flicking through pages as if looking for something.
‘Ah, here it is.’ Darius spun the book around so that Eagan could see it. There was a pattern of drumbeats across the page. Some long, some short. ‘It says – message received. Understood.’
‘Why can’t I see your friend?’ Seth asked, wriggling his hand free and walking right through Darius’ image.
‘More to the point is why can you even hear me,’ Darius snorted, retreating a short way out of Seth’s path.
An older boy was in the drum tower and he looked relieved to see Eagan even though he looked suspiciously at Seth.
‘I don’t know what to do,’ the young man said. ‘The first drum has never sounded before.’
‘Stand aside,’ Eagan said, taking the drum-striker and looking at the book one more time. He struck the gong, counted several seconds and stilled the vibrations, then struck it again, leaving it ringing longer this time. After half a dozen beats he let the drum ring until it faded slowly on its own.
‘Now what?’ Eagan asked nobody in particular. As if in answer, a single drum beat sounded. A few seconds later three beats echoed from Rega followed by another thre
e a few seconds later. Clearly the drummer at Rega was confused by the unusual series of beats.
‘Give your normal response. The marshes will protect us for now. Nothing will cross them easily,’ Eagan told the drummer boy, tossing him the drum-striker. The young man nodded, looking terrified.
‘And now we go to High Gate Tower,’ Darius said, making an ushering motion as if to hurry Eagan up.
The entire town of Merra was silent and watching as Eagan and Seth came down the steps of the drum tower. Above them the drum sounded its two beat ‘all okay’ signal and was echoed by the three of Rega. The single drumbeat was not heard.
Eagan paused halfway down the steps and pointed at the huge hole in the wall. He did not raise his voice, but it could be heard right across the square. ‘Fix that and move everyone inside the wall!’
Chapter Three - Rem
The crowd parted before Eagan as it had done yesterday for Seth. Eagan knew that this time it was him they were scared of. The entertainer, the magic man, was now something more serious, something more sinister and what people didn’t understand they feared. Eagan did not stop to talk or explain as his mind was focused on getting to High Gate Tower as soon as possible.
‘Your Wizardness,’ Nyal greeted him near the drawbridge. He had a flat wagon loaded with sacks and wooden boxes and he was checking the straps of the donkey that was harnessed to pull it. ‘Are you ready to go?’
Eagan paused and forced himself to pull his thoughts back to the present moment. Nyal grinned at him, seeming unaware that anything out of the ordinary had happened. In a way Eagan thought the youth was lucky. Eagan knew what was coming and Seth was nothing in comparison. The people of Merra would soon wish that their only problem was a boy who should never get angry.
‘Sorry, Nyal,’ Eagan replied and shook his head. ‘I’ll have to leave my supplies here for now. I have another errand to which I must attend. Unless you would like to deliver them on your own?’
‘Alone? Me?’ Nyal looked distraught at the idea. ‘I can’t go to a wizard’s cottage on my own.’
Eagan was going to correct him and tell him it wasn’t a wizard’s cottage, but the youth was right. The cottage belonged to Darius, and Darius was most definitely a wizard even if nobody else could see him.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll come back for the supplies in a few weeks,’ Eagan assured Nyal and the youth looked relieved.
It was only a short time later that Eagan and Seth were on their way out of Merra. The road was overgrown and more than a few cobbles had become dislodged by the grasses that had taken hold over the last two seasons. The mini-town came into view as they came around the side of the wall and it was in turmoil. People were talking over fences, while others were stacking all their belongings on hand carts or wagons. More than a few people stopped to stare at Eagan and Seth as they passed by.
‘Let’s hope they heed the warning,’ Darius said, appearing just ahead of them and floating backwards as he stared back at the town.
‘What will happen if they don’t?’ Seth asked.
‘They must seal the wall,’ Eagan replied bluntly. He didn’t want to even think about the alternative.
They had only been on the road for an hour when Eagan felt a stone through his boot. Darn, he had meant to get his boots resoled before he left.
The river Twyn could be heard long before it came into view and the sun was almost at the horizon when they arrived at the rushing water. A narrow wooden bridge was the only way across and Eagan stopped when they had crossed.
‘We need to move the bridge,’ he said.
‘Move it to where?’ Seth asked with a shrug, looking briefly at the piles and wooden slats. ‘And why would we want to?’
Eagan walked to the edge of the water and pointed to the side of the platform built on the riverside. ‘Do you see that handle?’
Seth didn’t move, but Eagan went closer and pointed to it. There was a large metal handle sticking out the top of a low, flat metal box. A single metal rod ran out the side of it and under the bridge.
‘If we turn the handle to the left it will lower the bridge,’ Eagan said. Seth scowled and ignored him. Eagan sighed and turned the handle himself. It was stiff and hard to move but Seth just stood and watched, then sat on the bank. After a few turns the handle moved easier and the bridge began to lower. He kept going until it was well under the water which rushed over the top of it.
‘And anyone who wants to cross can just wind it back up,’ Seth pointed out sourly.
‘Night-shadows don’t have hands,’ Eagan replied, ‘and they don’t like water.’
Seth shrugged and picked up several smooth rocks from next to the river and put them in his pocket then walked off along the path. A short distance later the path split into three directions and Seth was forced to wait for Eagan to catch up.
‘My cottage is that way,’ Eagan said, pointing towards The Gap. Seth just shrugged as if he wasn’t really interested but Eagan saw the boy’s eyes flick in that direction. ‘And the other two roads lead into the marshes. We want the middle one.’
‘It’s not going to be easy,’ Darius warned. ‘The full moon isn’t for another week.’
‘Well, if it’s not easy for us then it’s not easy for the night-shadows either,’ Eagan replied bluntly. ‘We don’t have time to go all the way around via The Gap. I know these paths. I could follow them blindfolded.’
‘Considering we’ll still be in them when it gets dark, then that’s just as well.’ Darius didn’t sound impressed but fell silent as they entered the tall bushes and lost sight of the river.
By nightfall they were well into the marshes. The only light they had was a dull red glow from the gem at the top of Eagan’s staff. Seth had remained silent the entire time and looked to be trying to memorise the many different turns and splits in the narrow road.
‘We should stop to rest, but if we keep going we might clear the marshes by morning,’ Eagan said, more just to hear his own voice than to start up a conversation with Seth.
‘We would have been there by now if we had a horse,’ Seth muttered.
‘I don’t like horses,’ Eagan replied with a shudder. He had ridden one once and that was an experience he didn’t wish to repeat. ‘It would be cruel to take a horse through here without a full moon. We’d have to shoot it by the time we got to the other side.’
Seth looked confused but shrugged and fell silent. They continued walking for many hours and only stopped to rest when it looked like Seth was about to fall over with exhaustion. By morning there was still no sign of the end of the marshes and Eagan wondered if he had taken a wrong path.
He was still rethinking the turns when he saw something on the road ahead. There were hoof prints in the soft soil near the edge of the path. They were recent, and so were the wheel marks from the cart the horse had been pulling.
‘It looks like the merchants are still using the marshes as a shortcut from Merra to Everly,’ Eagan said with a sigh. ‘And these wheels look wide enough to have been a stage coach.’
‘As long as they do it on a full moon,’ Darius said with a shrug. He was drifting ahead of them and looking eager for them to hurry up.
‘If there are tracks and wide paths through the marshes then why is it so dangerous to cross them?’ Seth asked.
‘It’s not just that the paths are very confusing. That alone could have you wandering the marshes for weeks.’ Eagan pointed to where the wide path forked off in several directions up ahead. ‘It’s the mist.’
Seth held a hand up to the drifting mists that shifted with the breeze and swirled around their feet as they walked. He blew on it and watched it move away, then slowly it moved back towards him.
‘The only safe time to cross the marshes is near the full moon, preferably at high-sun,’ Darius added, and looked up at the slowly rising sun. ‘The moon won’t be full for another week or more.’
‘The mist affects the way you think. You see things that aren’t there, the pat
hs seem to narrow or vanish when they’re right in front of you. It can send you mad if you spend long enough on the marshes,’ Eagan told him.
‘Can you hear that?’ Darius said, right next to Eagan’s ear.
‘Don’t do that,’ Eagan said, rubbing his ear and shaking his head to stop the ringing. It was several seconds before his hearing returned to normal then he heard what the old wizard was talking about. It was a soft, staccato whimpering sound that reminded Eagan of a new-born puppy. He racked his memory to see if the night-shadows made similar noises but couldn’t remember.
‘It’s not a night-shadow,’ Darius said, floating over the next bush and staring, then he turned back to Eagan. ‘But it could be just as much trouble.’
Eagan rounded the bush slowly. By the way Darius was acting it wasn’t anything bad, but out here in the marshes it was better to assume that everything was dangerous.
Sitting on the other side of the bush was a young girl. She had her head buried in her hands and her knees were drawn up to her chin.
‘Is she real?’ Eagan asked, not going any closer. The girl stiffened as she heard Eagan’s voice.
Overlarge black eyes looked up at him. They were red from crying and the soft hiccupping that ran through the young girl like a shiver showed she had been sitting there for a long time.
She didn’t look much older than fourteen and it was obvious in an instant that this girl was from a wealthy family. Her black hair, although now tangled with bits of bushes and twigs, was long and had been styled in ringlets that hung down to her waist. Her clothes were of higher quality than Eagan had ever seen. Exquisitely detailed and tailored to fit perfectly, they showed her delicate figure while remaining very modest.
After several seconds the girl sat up straight and drew her chin level. Her hands dropped to her lap and she took a deep breath to regain control over her hiccups. As her gaze dropped Eagan knew she was mostly likely the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Seen but not heard.
‘What’s your name?’ Eagan asked her.
The girl did not answer for a few seconds. She frowned as her right hand moved up to her necklace. She rubbed the flat silver pendant between her finger and thumb then looked up at Eagan and appeared to be about to burst into tears. Eagan saw a brief glimpse of her pendant. It was a symbol he had seen before but he couldn’t quite place it. A spiral ending with a small star at its centre.
