by Shannah Jay
Slowly the tide changed again and the light crept forward.
When those who’d been captured stumbled forward out of the dark circle, hands had to tug them up the hill, for they seemed unaware of their surroundings.
Then two Initiates came rushing to lend their power to the darkness and it began to creep forward again, do what the defenders would.
Alaran gestured to those around him to retreat again. This time they left no one in the Serpent's clutches.
And as they scrambled back up the slope, Petur and Taslyn smiled. 'It's better together,' he admitted.
'Much better,' she agreed.
The defenders began to establish a pattern in their efforts. Whenever a line seemed to be crumbling before Those of the Serpent, the nearest chantor would start singing, or Petur and Taslyn would make their way to that area, and that would help for a while.
But nothing helped permanently. Step by step they had to retreat, leaving rocks and burnt dusty patches to fall to the Serpent. But they didn’t leave either their wounded or their dead. The non-combatants saw to that.
Numbers continued to tell. When those leading the attack grew weary, others took their place. But there was no one to take the place of the fallen defenders, no one to relieve the weary aching fighters.
And all through that long painful day, Herra stood watching, her expression grim, her body motionless as the wind wafted her robe against her body and blew her short hair into disorder. When Cheral would have brought her more food and drink, she shook her head. She had to understand this fighting, understand how to make the difference. She would have only one chance, she was quite sure of that.
As the retreat started, she turned to one of the messengers who’d stood waiting beside her all day.
'Send for Petur and Taslyn. Tell them to join me now.'
By that time it was mid-afternoon and the defenders had retreated to the top level of the Terraces.
All the wounded had been taken into Therak Bowl. In the valley below, the wounded had been left where they fell, to add their pain to the Serpent's power. And it did just that.
When the Serpent rose again on the third terrace, it was larger than ever before. Sen-Sether, riding at the rear of the leading wedge now, hungry to find and capture Herra of Tenebrak, laughed aloud.
'Welcome to your new kingdom, Dread my Lord!' he called.
'Prepare to abandon the top terrace!' Quedras ordered at last, watching stony-faced as Kensin was carried past him, battered and bloody, followed closely by Quinna, cradling one wrist in the other, and a limping Nim whose fur was bloody and matted.
'How many have we lost from the Sandrims?' he asked.
By his side, Querilla dashed a hand across her eyes. 'At least half. We've made them pay dearly for that - but it won't bring our friends back.'
'We'll continue to make them pay for our deaths as dearly as we can.'
'Stop that!' Davred's voice surprised him into silence.
Quedras stared at him. 'Stop what?'
Davred stood tall and powerful beside him, a Davred transformed by the battle, aged and somehow strengthened. 'Stop talking of defeat. It gives more power to the Serpent.'
'How can we possibly win?' Quedras asked, gesturing to the heaving masses below.
'By cunning. And - by something else. But we shall win.' Davred raised his voice to call, 'Everyone is to move back into Therak Bowl. We can hold the pass for much longer than we can hold these open terraces. Herra wants you to join her there as soon as you can.'
Quedras gave a short bitter laugh. 'Well, there's nothing much to keep me here now, is there?'
As they saw the retreat begin, Those of the Serpent roared aloud in triumph and at a gesture from Sen-Sether more men poured up the slopes, fresh men, with the energy to run fast.
From somewhere the defenders dragged the energy to flee before them.
But some didn’t escape.
Soo, running towards the pass from the end of the terrace, stumbled and nearly fell. Katia stopped to help her and as they did so there was a whining sound and a transcap ploughed into the earth between them and the pass.
'It's Robler,' Soo gasped.
The two women tried to make a detour around the transcap, but a group of black-clad men was
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approaching from one side and on the other side there was only rocky shale. The rock rumbled and shook.
'Quequere!' gasped Katia, tugging Soo towards it.
An arrow struck Soo in the arm and she fell again.
Katia stopped to pick her friend up and ease the pain.
A pulsing sound wrapped itself around them and both women found themselves unable to move.
'Netwaves!' was the last word Soo could force through her lips. These waves were used by Those of the Confederation to capture dangerous primitives or animals. Robler had already tried to use them to drag Davred back to the satellite. Now he must have seized his moment to try to recapture Soo.
Katia saw the terror on her companion's face. She’d never met Robler, but Soo couldn’t speak of him without shuddering. Katia summoned up a last surge of energy. She would not give in, she would not. She concentrated her will and found she could work against the netwaves, though only slowly, to push Soo out of range.
Around the two women and the area of strange pulsing sensation, men hesitated and stepped aside.
None of the defenders could get back to help them. None of the Serpent followers dared intrude on that zone of strangeness, which they believed must come from their Dread Lord himself.
'Mine!' roared Robler's voice from the transcap.
Sen-Sether smiled, recognising the voice of the Avatar. He'd wondered when this fool would make some move.
Quedras held Davred back as he would have run down the slope to help his wife, shaking him into some sort of realisation. 'There's nothing you can do. Absolutely nothing. You'll just be killed if you go out there again.'
The deleff who’d been waiting patiently all day began to move forward. Blue light flickered from their backs, spreading and spreading till it formed wing shapes. As the wings beat to and fro, Those of the Serpent hesitated. They all knew that if the wings touched you it meant pain and possibly death.
'Advance!' roared the nearest Initiate. 'Don't let them close the pass!' He took a deep breath and began yelling, 'Sal-va-tors! Sal-va-tors!' at the top of his voice.
The men hesitated then, caught between the wings and the sure knowledge that if they disobeyed the order of an Initiate, any order, they would die in agony to feed the Serpent pain and power, they rushed forward.
The wings wrought their usual havoc, reflecting back the men's own evil on to them, causing pain even with a glancing flick of their transparent tips. Men rolled on the ground, screaming. No one got near the deleff. And the attack faltered to a halt.
Darkness fell slowly on chaos and noise, dust and pain. But the line of deleff held firm at the entrance to the pass and inside Therak Bowl, the defenders were given time to regroup and recover a little.
Erlic moved among them towards Herra. 'The deleff will stay there all night, but that's all they can do - give you a respite. They haven't got the energy to stay there any longer. But if you want to send a few people back through the portal, they’ll ensure that those people go somewhere in the high reaches.'
She nodded. 'Tell them we're grateful for their help.' She saw Davred coming towards her and one glance at his face told her something dreadful had happened to Katia. She held out her arms and he walked into them, letting her nestle against his chest, letting her soothe the pain just a little. 'What's happened?'
'Robler sent down a transcap. He caught Katia and Soo in some netwaves. I couldn't get to her and I couldn't see what happened after that. Quedras dragged me back through the pass and the deleff closed the entrance.' He took a deep breath and only the years of training allowed him to master his grief.
Herra remained close and laid one hand on his. She hadn�
��t wanted to touch people that day, had felt distanced from them, but now she wanted to touch Davred. He seemed to have aged ten years since morning, but the mature lines of his face were strong and resolute, nothing like the hesitant young man who’d come down among them two decades ago. That added to her feeling of encouragement and hope, a feeling she’d retained even on this dreadful day.
This man had been strengthened and refined until he was truly the Manifestation of her Brother come down among them. He would carry a heavy burden after the battle, but he wouldn’t falter under it, she knew. There was nothing Herra could do but hold him close for a few moments, then allow him to move away.
He took a deep breath. 'I must go and check that things have been organised, send a party through the portal, discuss tomorrow with Quedras and - '
'When you start discussing tomorrow, bring Quedras and any others you consider helpful to me.'
She nodded dismissal and turned to enter the small space that had been made into a makeshift tent for her.
This is my last night on this world, she thought to herself. And didn’t flinch from the thought of the price she would pay the next day to help her people.
CHAPTER 28 ROBLER'S REVENGE
Katia concentrated all her will on resisting the netwaves, as she had seen the deleff resist them many years ago during their flight from Temple Tenebrak. She realised how much her skills had developed since then as she felt the force around her yield a little.
Soo was standing next to her, trapped, motionless, a small dusty figure. But it was the terror on her face that twisted Katia's heart. She concentrated all her efforts on helping her friend, pushing her sideways just a little, then just a little more. It was very obvious where the zone of netwaves ended, for beyond it men were moving, ignoring them, apart from sideways glances of hatred mingled with fear.
The ground beneath her shook, but it wasn’t the Serpent's subliminal growl. It was Quequere calling. Maybe, if she could just push them both out of the netwaves, he would open up one of his portals and slip them through it into Therak Bowl, where the others would be by now.
Through the blurriness of the netwaves she could see the deleff standing at the entrance to the pass, beating their wings, see Those of the Serpent falling as the wings touched them. She realised that she and Soo were beginning to slide towards the transcap again, so stopped looking around and
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concentrated on pushing Soo out of the circle.
Little by little she pushed Soo sideways. But at the same time, she felt herself being drawn towards the transcap. She could only work against the netwaves slowly, however hard she concentrated.
There was suddenly a tearing wrenching sort of feeling and Soo flopped to the ground and then rolled over to stare around her. She must be outside the netwaves. As she lay there, the ground beneath her seemed to become opaque and she tumbled from view before the man who had turned to brandish a sword at her could get near.
With a feeling of relief, Katia concentrated on herself. But the transcap was too near and the netwaves seemed to be stronger as she drew closer. She could barely move a fingertip, could only watch in horror and despair as her body slid across the last bit of rough ground to the transcap and was drawn up into its interior. The lid snapped shut on her and the netwaves cut off abruptly, but by that time it was too late for her to do anything. By that time, the transcap had used its second engine to arrow into the air, leaving behind men shaking with terror and calling upon the Serpent to save them from this strange unnatural horror.
Pressure and soft padded straps kept Katia pinned in place as the transcap shot across the sky. Then something jabbed into her arm and before she had time to counteract the drug she felt herself slipping towards unconsciousness.
***
In Therak Bowl a small piece of ground by the pool shook and shivered. The Sister Healer standing there filling a bucket with water gasped and stared as a body blurred into view. A small body. A woman.
There was a faint grinding sound, then the ground stopped shaking and there was only the woman lying there motionless.
The Sister Healer crept forward, felt a pulse, then looked around for someone to help her carry the one she now recognised as Soo from the satellite. She was sure Davred and Mak would want to speak to Soo. What had happened?
When someone carried the limp body into the command area, Davred pounced on Soo and yelled for Mak to join him.
'I thought you said Soo was trapped by the netwaves,' Mak said, cradling his unconscious wife in his arms.
'She was. How has she got here? Surely Robler can't have sent her.'
Mak gave a scornful snort. 'He was trying to capture her. He was obsessed by her. It was one of the reasons we left the satellite. So it's hardly likely that he'd return her to us. Meera told me he got much worse after we left, that his behaviour bordered on the psychotic.' He stroked the hair from Soo's face and bent to kiss her.
'I think it was Quequere who brought her here,' the Healer said. 'The ground went - sort of opaque and then she just - well, appeared.'
'Thank you for bringing her straight to us.' Davred clasped her hand for a moment, then turned to Mak. 'I wonder where my Katia is.'
'On the satellite, I should think.' Mak looked down at his wife, feeling guilty at the deep relief coursing through him. 'Where else could she be? I think he must have taken her there by mistake instead of Soo.'
'Surely he won't hurt her?' Davred was speaking to himself, so Mak didn’t try to reply. 'There are stiff penalties for harming indigenes. Surely even he won't - ' His voice broke as anguish welled up in him again.
'Why don't you find somewhere quiet, if you can, and try to mindlink with Katia,' Mak suggested.
'We can manage without you for the moment.'
Davred nodded, turned without a word and moved away. He found a quiet spot behind some rocks and sat down, trying with all his might to sense his wife, as they usually could at a distance. But he couldn’t sense her at all. He drew in a ragged unhappy breath. Katia must be unconscious.
He’d have known, surely he would, if she were dead?
He looked up to see Alaran standing beside him.
'Someone told me about Mother.'
Davred nodded and gestured to the rock beside him.
Alaran sat down, laid one hand on his father's shoulder and looked earnestly into his eyes. 'Our Brother will watch over her.'
His son spoke with such utter assurance Davred couldn’t help but be comforted. After a while he stood up. 'We'd better both get back to Quedras and the others. Herra wants to speak to us all before we make our final plans for tomorrow.'
It was a weary group who met by one of the campfires. No one wanted to be the first to predict defeat. So they stared into the flames and accepted mugs of hotbrew from a lad who was passing them round. As they were sitting there, Quinna limped over to join them.
'How's Kensin?' Quedras asked.
'Hurt badly. I – I don't think he'll last the night. And the Healer said we shouldn’t try to keep him here, that his time had come.'
'And Nim?'
Quinna's face lightened for a moment. 'Oh, she's a lot better now. I got hold of a Sister Healer and made her heal my Nim. She's more use than a dozen humans.' She managed a travesty of her old grin.
'I'd hardly call most of our people fighters, would you?' She sipped from a mug the lad had thrust into her hands.
'Don't you wish to stay with Kensin?' Davred asked gently.
'He's not conscious.' Her voice was flat, all emotion banished. 'So what I wish to do is plan how to kill as many as possible of those scum tomorrow.' Her voice broke on the last word and she knuckled away a tear. 'I've grown fond of that old man, you know. I'm going to miss him.'
Davred offered the only comfort he could. 'He'll live on in your boys. He's made them what they are. As he made Katia.'
'Where is Katia?' she asked, looking round.
There was an uncomfortable si
lence, then Mak answered. 'Robler used the netwaves to try to trap Soo and take her back to the satellite. Soo says Katia pushed her out of the circle of netwaves, but
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there wasn't time for Katia to save herself. The last Soo saw was Katia being dragged into the transcap.'
Quinna growled angrily, but couldn’t think what to say. She patted Davred clumsily. 'That rrascal on the satellite has a lot to answer for. All those snake-lovers do.'
From behind her a voice said gently, 'And they shall indeed answer for the evil they have imprinted on our world.' Herra walked into the circle. 'We showed today, I think, that we can’t hope to fight them off by force of arms.'
Quedras nodded. 'Davred says we shouldn't admit defeat, but I prrefer to face facts. We can't win.
There are just too many of them. But I shall go down fighting.'
The others nodded or murmured agreement until Herra held up her hand for silence.
'I am not admitting defeat,' she said, her voice as calm and her expression as serene as if she were in a temple.
There was absolute silence around the small fire, then Benjan, who had been silent until then, spoke, 'Teach us, Elder Sister.' She gave him the formal response. 'Those who listen may learn.' Then she looked around and added, 'But first, send for Petur and Taslyn. And Cheral.'
Petur and Taslyn arrived together. There was no sign of discord between them now. When Taslyn stumbled, he caught her arm and held her steady. When she looked her thanks, a shy smile flitted across her face.
'Ah!' said Herra. 'Now they are truly together.'
'Our old quarrels seem very childish after today,' Taslyn said quietly. 'And when we saw what we could do together, it seemed to draw us closer.'
'Much closer,' Petur agreed.
Cheral bustled up, cast a quick glance around the circle and then turned to Herra. 'Teach us, Elder Sister,' she said, as Benjan had.
'Those who listen may learn.' Herra repeated tranquilly and gestured to them to gather round her.
