by Linda McNabb
‘Rem… Rem…’
‘Your name is Rem?’ Eagan asked, but the girl just looked at him in confusion as if she didn’t speak the same language.
‘Rem… Rem… Remember…’
‘I’d say she’s in shock or gone mad from being in the marshes too long,’ Darius said in an annoyed tone that showed not even a hint of sympathy. ‘And we’re using up time.’
‘We can’t just leave her here,’ Eagan pointed out.
‘How many strays are we going to collect?’ Darius snapped.
‘Darius, that’s uncalled for,’ Eagan snapped straight back. ‘Perhaps I’ll just leave the staff here in the marshes and see how you like being alone.’
The girl looked confused by Eagan’s one-sided conversation but masked her expression quickly.
Seth scowled in the general direction that Darius’ voice was coming from but didn’t see that the wizard coloured with embarrassment.
‘I keep forgetting that the boy can hear me,’ he muttered and fell silent, as if that was all the apology he was going to give.
‘Well, Rem. It looks like you’re coming with us for now,’ Eagan said.
‘Rem?’ Seth queried.
‘We have to call her something,’ Eagan said with a shrug. ‘Once we leave the marshes her memory should return, then she can tell us her real name and where she is from.’
‘And one of the High Gate guards can take her home,’ Darius added dryly.
Eagan ignored Darius and went to help her up. ‘Are you hurt? Can you walk?’
Rem allowed herself to be helped up and shook her head to show she was unhurt. Her full-length embroidered skirt and soft leather shoes were caked in mud and she brushed some of it off.
‘Green mud,’ Darius said with a raised eyebrow. ‘Not many escape the quicksand.’
Eagan looked closer and saw it was definitely mud that was only found on the edges of one of the many quicksand pits that dotted the marshes. He wondered if whoever was with her had left her behind or become a victim of the quicksand. Perhaps she would be able to tell them later.
Eagan led them quickly through the paths towards the other side of the marshlands. He didn’t need Darius to tell him that they had spent too long in the mind-destroying mists. He kept seeing shadows creeping up on them, only to have them vanish just as he was about to call the alarm. If he had not travelled these paths for the last two hundred years, he knew that even he would have become hopelessly lost. He began to panic as he knew he had to get them all out as soon as possible or they would never leave.
He tucked the staff under his belt then grabbed both of his new charges by the hand and dragged them at speed down the paths. He felt Seth resist at first but the boy eventually stopped fighting. Rem followed obediently even though she had to lift her long skirt to run at times to keep up with Eagan.
**
Seth stumbled after the old man. Nobody had held Seth’s hand since he was a small boy and it felt strange. Usually the person got sick very quickly if they tried and it was a very long time since he’d had such physical contact with another person.
He wondered as he hurried along if Eagan was a wizard, or a travelling showman as most people assumed. He vaguely remembered seeing him in his home town of Kayan, just outside of Rega, several summers ago. He hadn’t managed to get near enough to watch the show, but he had heard it was magical. Now that he had seen it up close he agreed. Eagan was definitely more wizard than minstrel.
What gave Seth more cause for thought though was wondering why the old man had bothered to help him. Seth could do nothing for him except possibly kill him and the old man’s friend clearly didn’t like him. He wished he had enough courage to ask the mysterious man how he became invisible. It was a talent that would serve him well since people disliked having him around.
He glanced at the girl on the other side of Eagan. She kept her gaze on the ground just in front of her and hadn’t looked at him once since they found her. In a small way he felt a connection for she had either been abandoned or lost and had nowhere to go, just like him.
The ground was rough under foot and since he had no shoes the stones were digging in painfully. His breath came in gasps as exhaustion set in. He had eaten well in the last day but before that he had often gone days without food and his energy levels were already low before they set off. As time passed he simply jogged along as best he could and let his mind wander. He had trouble remembering why they were running down the paths or where they were going. His name became hard to pull from the dark recesses of his mind and for the first time in a long while he was no longer tortured by who and what he was.
‘We’re almost there, Seth,’ the old man in front of him called back.
Seth? Oh, yes, that was his name. He frowned. There was something he didn’t like about that name; now what was it?
He was still thinking when the damp mists cleared and they ran out onto the stony banks of a small river. They rushed headlong into the cold water until it was well up to his knees. The girl next to him, he searched his mind for her name but nothing came, tried to drag her skirt out of the way of the water but it was already soaked.
As the cold water quickly chilled his legs the fresh breeze blew in his face and a shiver ran down his spine. His bruised and bleeding feet started to numb and the pain slowly faded away. As the pain receded, his memories began to return. In less than a minute he felt his heart sink with the misery of remembering what he was. Death-bringer. For a brief minute he looked back at the marshes and the gently swirling mists with a longing that almost hurt.
‘This is High Gate,’ Eagan said, pulling them right across the river and out the other side.
Seth yanked his hand free and stepped a few paces away from the others. He looked up at the rocky mountains in disbelief. He didn’t know what he had expected, but it was definitely not this.
High Gate Tower was more than just a tower as the name implied. A mass of buildings rose beyond a large stone wall that appeared to be chiselled from the mountain side. The tallest of them was the tower as it rose in all its white-washed splendour to a height that seemed impossible.
The only way up to the small town was a narrow road that wound up from the river. Nobody would be able to sneak up on this place, Seth was sure of that. Even now, their approach had been sighted and a dozen armoured and armed men were hurrying down the road to meet them.
‘How are you, Rem?’ the old man turned to the young girl but she looked at him with a blank expression that said her memory had not returned yet. She stood on the river bank with soaking wet clothes looking lost and confused. She lost her footing on the slippery stones and fell heavily, crying out in pain.
Seth hurried forward and helped her up. The girl looked about the same age as his younger sister but Sella was a rough and tumble sort of girl, not delicate and tiny like Rem. She smiled her thanks and lowered her gaze again.
‘Guardian, we did not expect you so soon. And with it being so long until the new moon,’ one of the men said as the guards came to a halt just short of the riverbank. ‘We did not know if the message had been relayed from further south. Marrik has been notified of your arrival.’
The guard’s gaze travelled briefly over the two children but did not linger, nor did he ask questions.
‘Thank you, Jerris,’ Eagan replied, looking around at the barren landscape that led up to the rest of the mountains. ‘I thought it best to come at once. Has there been a breach or not?’
‘There has, Guardian. Although not quite in the way we first thought. Marrik will explain,’ Jerris replied
Seth looked at the guards, clad in shiny silver armour with short-swords and daggers tucked into sheaths on both legs and at the hip. Clearly these men were trained to fight at close quarters. Was this what the old man intended for Seth? He didn’t need knives or swords to kill.
They followed the guards back up the path and as feeling came back to Seth’s feet he realised just how bad they were. He dropped b
ack a few paces, and not just because he wasn’t used to being so near to other people. He was so tired, and ready to just sit down and sleep.
‘Are you injured?’ Jerris asked, moving closer.
‘No,’ Seth lied, moving back even more. He stepped on a stone and pain shot through him. It was more than he could bear and darkness crowded the edges of his sight as he saw the road coming up to greet him.
Chapter Four - High Gate
Eagan blamed himself. Seth was just a child, regardless of how brave he tried to be or how long he had survived alone. He should have seen how much the boy was suffering. Eagan watched as the High Gate healer tended to Seth’s feet. It would be days or longer before the boy would be walking without pain. Thankfully, Seth had not woken up yet and the longer he slept the better.
‘So was there a breach or not?’ Darius asked as he drifted to the window of the healer’s room. It was half way up the tower and looked out over the settlement. Beyond the wall was a broad mountain range that rose so high it vanished into misty clouds before it reached a peak.
Eagan joined his long-time teacher and companion and they gazed out over the pass that lay just beyond the high stone wall. It was one of the few weak points that allowed passage through the mountains from the east. There was one more, further south and it was guarded by a sister-village and tower that looked almost identical. Eagan divided his time between High Gate, South Gate and his small cottage that looked out over The Gap. It was a tiring, travelling lifestyle visiting all the towns and cities at least once every year, and an almost futile effort to keep alive the stories and tales of battles long gone.
‘Marrik will tell us soon,’ Eagan replied calmly, but inside his heart was still beating as fast as when he had first heard the drumbeat in Merra. He had hoped this time would never come.
‘Marrik will tell us what?’ a voice asked from behind them.
Eagan turned and saw a man of advancing years walking in the door. He paused to lean against the wall and catch his breath. The stairs were steep and it was a long way up. Eagan had always wondered at the logic of putting an infirmary so far up the tower. He supposed Darius might know, but now hardly seemed the time to ask such a question.
‘About the breach,’ Eagan said with a smile and went to greet Marrik with a handshake and a short embrace.
‘I’m guessing your wizard is here too,’ Marrik said, looking around the room and then smiling at a spot where he thought the invisible wizard might be. Darius, still by the window, rolled his eyes and went back to the view.
‘He’s not my wizard. He’s my teacher,’ Eagan pointed out gently with a smile and a quick look around the room to see who might be listening.
Marrik was one of the few people who knew, and believed, that Darius was real. As Guardian of High Gate he knew most things about the west. It was the same position that Eagan had once held and he had stood shoulder to shoulder with Darius as they fought back the night-shadows. That was before Darius had taken up residence in the staff. After Eagan had taken over the job as Guardian of the West, he had learnt quickly not to mention the invisible man who did the magic for him. It had led to a lot of trouble when he was younger.
The healer didn’t look up and the only two other people in the room were Seth and the mystery girl. Rem was asleep on a bed next to Seth’s and Eagan doubted she would wake up for many hours, hopefully with her memory intact.
Marrik walked over to the window, causing Darius to move out of the way with a heavy sigh.
‘It’s good to see you, Eagan,’ Marrik said, and pointed to the two occupied beds. ‘Have you chosen an apprentice? Can you have two?’
Eagan raised his hand and coughed to cover a small smile. He knew Marrik had been after the job as his apprentice for a long time.
‘No, I’m nowhere near ready to take on an apprentice,’ Eagan replied as he watched the two sleeping youngsters. Eagan knew that he would only hand on the staff to an apprentice when he was about to use the last of Darius’ magic, and would take over from Darius in the staff at the same time.
‘Really?’ Darius asked in a droll voice. ‘The way you throw my magic around I’ll be gone in a matter of years, if not months! Perhaps it is time you started looking for your successor.’
Eagan ignored him but the old wizard had not finished.
‘Actually, I have no idea what happens to me after you take over this lovely home in the staff. Maybe I get to leave it and go back to the real world. That might be nice. Free to go wherever I wish and do whatever I want.’
Eagan glanced over at the wizard and muttered. ‘Let’s find out shall we? One huge spell should do it!’
‘No need to be like that, I’m just saying…’ Darius replied in a sulky voice.
‘Sorry about that,’ Eagan said, turning back to Marrik with a sigh. ‘The boy, Seth, needs to stay here at High Gate. He has a special skill which is considered by most to be undesirable.’
Eagan paused. Would anyone consider the ability to kill without trying a desirable quality? He supposed that it might be a very useful trait in war, but, there were few other situations in which Seth’s gift would be welcome. Eagan looked out the window at the peaceful scene below. It didn’t look as if they were at war just yet. He had expected a full guard to be out at the pass.
‘He needs to learn to control his temper and don’t let him near the market gardens if you plan on growing crops there,’ Eagan added. He decided that the details of Seth’s ability were best discussed in private.
Marrik’s eyebrows rose as he looked at Seth with interest and a nod that said he understood that there was much more to be said. ‘And the girl?’
‘I call her Rem. We came across her in the marshes, lost and with no memory at all. She was a few hours away from complete madness.’
‘I don’t know why the merchants use those paths when it’s not a full moon. There are signs at all the entrances clearly stating the dangers. And to take a young girl through them? That’s just cruel,’ Marrik said with a shake of his head and then his tone turned serious as he stared out the window across High Gate. ‘But the marshes are the least of our problems. There’s something down at the pass that I need to show you.’
‘Well, let’s get down there,’ Darius said, floating off towards the door and pausing halfway across the room. He could only go a short distance from the staff that Eagan held and he waited impatiently. ‘We should have gone straight there when we arrived.’
‘Why don’t we go now?’ Eagan said, keeping his gaze away from where Darius was tapping his foot in mid-air. ‘The children will probably sleep for some time.’
The only way down to the pass was back out the main entrance to the fortified town. Eagan went down the path with a measure of apprehension at what Marrik was going to show him. Why hadn’t he just told him?
They approached the entrance to the pass and Eagan noted that there were guards camped there. Several were patrolling up and down the pass while two stood lookout at the entrance and two more rested near a small fire.
The two guarding the entrance stood to attention as they approached.
‘Any movement?’ Marrik asked, pausing by the guards.
‘Nothing, Sir,’ the guard replied. ‘Nobody has come through or gone back.’
Nobody? Eagan pursed his lips at the unusual way of referring to night-shadows. Darius was already halfway up the pass and turned to glare at Eagan.
‘Notify us if you see anything,’ Marrik said with a nod.
‘Yes, Sir,’ the guard replied, indicating the two whistles on the chain around his neck. They looked similar but Eagan knew they had different purposes. One was to sound the alarm, the second was silent to human hearing, but intended to subdue the night-shadow long enough to get away. He had worn whistles just like them when he guarded the pass as a guard of High Tower. He automatically went to feel for his own whistles and fumbled with the cord of his tunic when he remembered that he no longer wore them.
‘I’ll look
after you!’ Darius bellowed impatiently. ‘Just get moving!’
Eagan walked off down the pass and Marrik hurried after him. The patrolling guards were walking up ahead of them but when they were almost at the end of the pass they veered off to the side and turned back. The sides of the pass rose so high that only the top of High Gate Tower was visible and at the end of the pass was a small dead-end canyon. At least that was what it looked like.
Eagan knew the canyon was an illusion. The pass continued beyond and through the mountains to the west but it was sealed with a strong spell so that nothing and nobody could pass through in either direction.
He rubbed his left arm as he remembered the last time he stood here as a young man two hundred years ago…
Most of the night-shadows had been driven back to their own land, but one was stubbornly remaining in the pass. There were many guards in the line that held the creature back; himself included. Alongside him was Darius. Still fully-human and carrying the staff that Eagan now held.
The creature lunged for Darius and Eagan blew a sharp blast on his silent whistle. The creature twisted in pain and changed direction towards Eagan. One clawed paw swiped at his arm that held the whistle, raking through armour, clothes and skin in one go.
Eagan had fallen to the ground in agony and the creature advanced. Eagan knew he was only seconds away from having his life-force taken completely. He could feel it draining away as the creature’s jaw clamped onto the already injured arm. A second later a bright flash filled his vision and the great black cat let go and ran whimpering back through the pass. Another flash, this time blue, flooded the entire pass.
‘Eagan, quick!’ Darius had called. ‘I need you!’
Eagan, clutching his arm, had rushed into the blue light, heading for the voice as he could not see anything. He ran straight into Darius and knocked him to the ground.
