The ferocity in Kalte’s gaze was frightening, but Nara slowed her pace anyway. She couldn’t leave those two spearmen behind.
We have to help them, she whispered to Flame.
How? asked Flame.
Nara turned back the way they had come, her heart hammering in her chest. But before she could decide what to do, paws came thundering along the bend in the tunnel. A wiry, muscular jackal sped around the corner. Then another. And another.
Go! cried Flame.
Nara ran after Tuanne and Kalte, but the mother and daughter were nowhere to be seen. It took Nara a moment to realize that Flame wasn’t running with her either. She stopped and turned back. Some of the jackals had got past Toum and Roho. They crowded the tunnel in a snarling pack, stopped in their tracks by Flame.
Flame commanded the tunnel, her tail flicking high and strong, her back arched ready to attack.
A jackal on its own couldn’t hope to take on a leopard, but there were so many of them – ten at least. Nara watched in horror as the first of them leaped at Flame, but Flame dodged and swiped with one outstretched paw and the dog skidded away with a yelp. More came at her and Nara started back to help her companion.
No! whispered Flame. Find Tuanne. Find the demons. Go!
Flame threw herself at the oncoming jackals and the dreadful howl of battle filled the tunnel. The leopard reared on to her hind legs, swiping at everything that moved. Several of the dogs broke through, past Flame, and came charging at Nara with their jaws hanging wide.
All Nara could think was that if she ran, they would follow her and leave Flame alone.
“Come and get me!” she cried.
And she turned and fled along the tunnel.
CHAPTER 6
Through caverns and tunnels, Nara ran. The sounds of the stampeding, howling jackals were distorted by the jagged walls around her. She ran on, whispering Flame’s name over and over, reaching out to her without success. She wondered where Tuanne and Kalte were … and Toum and Roho. She hoped they were all right.
Now that she was alone, Nara’s thoughts turned back to the Narlaw – the lion-demons who had led them into the Rift. Nara felt the demons’ taint everywhere. She wanted so badly for Flame to catch up with her, and to find Tuanne – and even Kalte, before the Narlaw appeared. But the further she ran, the more alone she felt.
She reached a fork in the tunnel. Her Whisperer senses told her nothing useful about who or what lay down each path, so she trusted her instincts and took the brightest of the two. It wasn’t long before the tunnel opened out into a vast, green-tinged cavern. There was even a slash of daylight at the faraway summit. Nara stopped at the cavern entrance, resting her lungs and peering about her, probing the shadows for life.
It was then she sensed the dogs. When they saw Nara – or smelled her, more likely – they dragged themselves up from the rocks and slowly drew together into a pack.
Nara reached for her bow. There were at least eight dogs ahead of her and her first thought was to turn and run. But where could she run to? There were more jackals behind her in the maze of tunnels. She reached out to Flame, but could only just feel her companion’s distant presence.
Flame! she called. Can you hear me?
There was no response. Nara entered the cavern, thinking that perhaps she might be easier for Flame to find here in the open space. She kept her eyes fixed on the dogs and circled around the edge of the cavern towards a waist-high platform of rock. The jackals moved slowly, wary of her, but their intention to attack was perfectly clear. Nara climbed on to the platform, keeping the dogs in view, her bow drawn and a quickened arrowhead directed at the pack of scavengers.
“Flame!” she called out loud in desperation. Her voice bounced uselessly around the cavern and once it had faded, no reply came.
Nara’s hand began to shake as the dogs slowly stalked her. She held the arrow as straight as she could, delaying the moment she would be forced to let it loose. Even though her life was in danger, she didn’t want to do it. To harm an animal felt so wrong.
The lead jackal snarled and darted forwards in a mock charge, skidding to a halt near the base of the platform. A furious round of barking commenced, filling the cavern with noise. Nara steadied her arm. She had just six arrows in her quiver. Not enough, even if every shot struck home.
Then, suddenly, the dogs went silent. They backed away, still watching Nara, their eyes trained on the platform of rock.
Nara stared, too surprised to feel relief.
Only when she felt the sickening creep of the Narlaw did she realize what had happened.
She turned and saw their huge dark shapes descending from an opening above her. They stepped carefully down the crags and boulders. Their eyes glowed grey and the air in the cavern thickened with their evil.
Lions. Two females and a male, muscular and well fed.
Nara could not move.
Behind her the jackals fled, whimpering, from the cavern. Nara scrambled backwards, down from the rock platform and into the centre of the floor. She tried to breathe, telling herself that this was why she had joined with the nomads – to confront and banish the Narlaw. But she hadn’t for a moment thought she would be doing it alone. She slowly backed away from the demons. It took every scrap of strength she had to resist the urge to run.
The Narlaw lions moved slowly and deliberately, spreading out across the cavern to encircle Nara. She trained her arrow on the lead female. This close, the lions’ heads seemed impossibly large, their movements so heavy and strong.
The quickened arrows could only sap the Narlaw’s power, not destroy or banish them. Nara delved into her memory for all that she knew of the art of banishment.
First she reached out carefully with her senses, but the touch of the Narlaw made her instantly recoil. The evil was so intense that her stomach lurched and she had to swallow hard. The lead female opened her mouth. Her teeth – its teeth – were long and yellowed. Its roar seemed to shake the cavern walls.
Nara squinted down the arrow shaft and let loose.
The arrow flew with a hiss, flashing through the air above the demon’s lowered head and clattering on to the rocks beyond. Nara grabbed at her quiver in a panic. She was halfway to drawing her second arrow when the lioness pounced.
It sped forwards, huge paws thumping on the dirt.
Nara darted to her left and nocked the arrow as she ran. She spun.
The lion loomed at her with its demon eyes glaring and Nara loosed the arrow. Another miss.
She stumbled and rolled and scrambled up. The lion skidded to come after her. Nara glanced up at the other two. They were closing in, ready to trap her.
What would they do? She had heard about the ghost-sleep. But these were lion-demons – would they use their claws and teeth instead?
Nara launched herself up a small spur of rock, dragging her feet behind her as the air whooshed with a powerful paw swipe. She heard claws on rock, gravel falling. She climbed again, turned and fumbled for another arrow. The demon was already dragging its heavy torso up to meet her.
She looked around. “Flame!” she cried. “Someone!”
Desperation made her legs go weak. Behind her was nothing but sheer rock. There was nowhere else to go.
The lion rose, jumping up at the narrow spur. Nara backed up against the rock. She drew her third arrow slowly. The other two demons snarled and paced down below.
Nara pulled back the bow string. The demon was half on to the ledge, just three paces from her. This time she couldn’t miss.
But the arrow that flew through the air and struck the lion was not hers.
The demon growled in rage, twisting in its climb. Nara stared across the cavern, seeing nothing. The arrow shaft stuck from the lion’s shoulder. Its demon eyes dimmed.
Another arrow whistled and the demon fell.
Only then did Nara cast her senses out.
There, high up on the far side of the cavern, was Tuanne, scared but bitterly determined, the
monkey, Nimbus, scampering to and fro at her side.
“We’re coming!” Tuanne called.
She loosed another arrow. This time it struck the male lion-demon, causing it to roar with fury. It charged across the cavern and began climbing the rocks towards Tuanne.
“Look out!” cried Nara.
She still had her third arrow nocked and she spread her feet, carefully taking aim as the lion scrambled on the rocks. Her arm was steady now. A new hope and energy coursed through her.
The quickened arrow sailed across the cavern, dipping ever so slightly. The demon stumbled, struck in the side. Nara felt a guilty thrill of satisfaction as the creature slid from the rock face, back on to the cavern floor.
Tuanne looked tiny up there on the ledge, but her archer’s stance was fearsome and so was her aim.
Below, however, the demons had regrouped. The two who had been hit were slow, but still moving.
Nara reached out, seeking to grasp the demon presences. She closed her eyes this time and felt for the earth’s all-consuming power. All her life she had practised to perfect the earth trance. It was a Whisperer’s way of joining with the world and allowing it to act through her. She must become a channel so that it could reach up and expel the demons.
The trance came to her quickly – her technique was good. But nothing could have prepared her for the terrible sickness these three enraged demons would bring. Nara flinched, barely holding on to the contents of her stomach.
The demons split up and took to the boulders at the cavern edge to confuse her even more. Nara struggled to keep one or two in her sights, but she couldn’t even pin them down.
Then she remembered. She was not the only Whisperer in the cavern.
Tuanne, she whispered. Hear me.
The girl’s presence fluttered in surprise and beside Tuanne, Nara felt Nimbus, darting and anxious. Tuanne hadn’t been trained. She didn’t know how to whisper, but she had the gift – it was in her.
Reach out to me, said Nara.
She felt Tuanne grow ever so slightly closer. Nara bridged the gap, forgetting the Narlaw for a moment. Her contact with Tuanne was like a warm embrace, just as she felt when Flame was close.
Nara? Tuanne’s voice was faint, untested.
I’m here, said Nara. Follow my lead.
As Nara sought the Narlaw once again she felt a familiar presence burn closer and closer. Flame sped into the cavern from the main tunnel entrance – graceful, quick and overflowing with relief. Next came Kalte, her presence prickly and warlike, then Toum, focused like an eagle in hunt and finally Roho, a rock of determination and strength.
You’re safe, said Flame.
Thanks to you, said Nara.
Warmth flowed between them.
So, are you going to banish these brutes? said Flame. Or do I have to chase them to the Darklands myself?
Nara smiled. Tuanne, she said. Now.
Kalte and her men ran fearlessly for the lion-demons, as did Flame, drawing them out of their hiding places. The demons took the bait and, as they lunged into the open, Nara held tight to her bond with Tuanne, casting their powers towards the Narlaw.
The earth surged through her. It felt as if the cavern was filled with liquid heat. She felt every crack in the rock, every frond of moss and every dust mote in the air. The Narlaw became like insects in the face of the earth’s protective might.
In a heartbeat it was done.
The cries of the nomad warriors rang out in surprise as the lions suddenly vanished. The echoes of battle died.
Thank you, Tuanne, Nara said, as she drew back.
She found the girl staring at her from across the vast cavern, wearing a look of absolute, delighted awe.
CHAPTER 7
Dawn sat awkwardly on the velvet-upholstered chair. Around her, on every available surface, candles flickered. Their shadow and light played across Princess Ona’s fine features.
“Nothing.” The princess shook her head in disbelief. “The demon took nothing.”
“Are you sure?” asked Dawn.
Ona fixed her with a serious look. “I know my own wardrobe,” she said.
Her ruined dressing room had been sifted through and her clothes taken to the laundry room. The princess’s jewellery had been locked into newly built chests. Ebony had stayed for the whole procedure, sniffing for clues, but could only say for certain that it was Ona’s jewellery the Narlaw had been most interested in.
“I want to ask you about the first time the Narlaw came,” said Dawn. “When one took the form of your friend, Yusuf.”
Ona nodded, but her eyes grew wide, as if it were still painful to think of those events. Dawn was sorry for dredging up bad memories, but she had no choice. If the Narlaw had not yet found what they wanted then they would almost certainly be back. She had to know what the demons were looking for and what the consequences might be for Meridina.
“Did the Narlaw ever come here?” she asked. “Into these rooms?”
“Yes,” said Ona.
“And did it ask you anything? Did it seem interested in anything in particular?”
“I don’t know,” said Ona. “I mean, I thought it was Yusuf, one of my friends. Looking back, perhaps, it was more quiet than Yusuf would have been, but when we spoke it was about all the usual things – clothes, food, nothing really. You know how it can be.”
Dawn nodded, although she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a conversation like that.
“Did he – it – ask to see your jewellery collection? Anything valuable? Any particular pieces?”
“I don’t remember,” said Ona. “Perhaps. Perhaps I showed him around the chambers and pointed out a few things. But I do that for everyone I like.”
Dawn could sense Ona’s growing agitation. The Narlaw had made a fool of her and it had trapped a good friend of hers in the ghost-sleep.
“Don’t worry,” said Dawn. “We have a lot to investigate already. You’ve been very helpful.” She clasped Ona’s hand and the princess smiled back.
“Thank you,” said Ona. “For looking out for me. And for Yusuf. I wish I could do more.”
Dawn smiled and rose from her chair. “Goodnight.”
Outside she found Magda and two other Guards of the Sun.
“The Narlaw may return to find what it couldn’t last night,” she said in a hushed voice. “I’ll be nearby this time. If it comes close, I’ll feel it.”
“Call for me if you do,” said Magda. “I’d like to show this demon how the Guards of the Sun deal with intruders.”
“I will,” said Dawn.
She passed along the corridor until she was out of view and slipped into a small storage room.
Ebony was waiting at the window, silhouetted against the blue evening sky. What news? she asked.
The Narlaw didn’t get what they wanted, said Dawn.
And the guards? Ebony probed.
Magda has interviewed the entire night watch and they have nothing to report. I have her notes – it seems no one saw or heard anything.
Strange, said Ebony. Even for Narlaw.
Yes, said Dawn. So we must wait.
Ebony hopped from the window ledge on to a high wooden shelf, displacing a small cloud of dust. Indeed, she said. And what a perfect place to spend the night.
The fine evening soon gave way to another noisy, rain-soaked night. Sharp droplets of water flew in through the high window, causing Dawn to drag her chair ever further into the dusty corner of the storage room. To fight the urge to sleep she whispered with Ebony, discussing the palace defences and the plans for the Whisperer council. When they both grew tired of that they began sharing stories from their homes, Dawn’s from the dry, craggy hills of the Southlands, and Ebony’s from high among the treetops of the western forests.
Neither of them noticed the eventual lull in conversation or their slow drifting towards sleep. So when Dawn felt a slick, tainted presence at the edge of her senses, she jerked upright in her chair and almost knoc
ked Ebony from her shoulder.
It’s here, Dawn whispered.
She stood.
Where? asked Ebony.
North. Twenty paces perhaps. I can’t be sure.
She carefully opened the door to reveal the flickering torchlight of the corridor.
This way, she whispered, remembering her promise to Magda.
They hurried to Ona’s chambers and found Magda standing at her post beside two other helmeted Guards of the Sun. Magda’s eyes met hers and she knew instantly what was happening.
Dawn pointed towards the Narlaw presence – along a corridor at right angles to the one down which she had come. She held ten fingers up for the approximate distance, feeling it drawing nearer.
Magda silently gestured for the other guards to remain at the doors. She drew a short sword from the scabbard at her belt and nodded to Dawn, but as they crept forward, Dawn felt it stop. The demon had sensed her.
At that moment, footsteps rang out as the Narlaw fled. Dawn and Magda sprinted along the corridor, Ebony flapping awkwardly in the confined space.
Magda raced ahead, sword glinting in the torchlight.
“Intruder!” she bellowed.
Her cry was answered and repeated from a nearby guard station. Voices echoed through the halls as the alarm was raised.
Dawn pushed hard to keep up with Magda and when she swung round a sharp corner she found Magda had stopped at a junction. A set of steps ran up into darkness and a narrow corridor split away towards a separate wing of the palace.
“Which way?” asked Magda.
Dawn reached out. There was too much stone in the way. “I can’t be sure,” she said. “We’ll have to split up. You and Ebony take the stairs and I’ll go this way.”
Magda nodded and immediately charged up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Promise you’ll call for me if you find it, she whispered to Ebony. Don’t let Magda tackle the demon alone.
Only if you promise the same, said Ebony.
Dawn nodded and Ebony flapped after Magda as if she were her shadow.
Dawn started out along the corridor and, at first, it felt as if she was moving away from the Narlaw, but as she galloped down a short set of stairs and the corridor split once again she felt the demon there, just a few paces away.
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