It was little more than a second later that he saw Aeron appearing over the top of the creature’s pelt, halting long enough to pull another arrow from behind him to shoot again. Another sharp scream drew his attention from the elven archer and Dare looked over his shoulder to see Tamsyn despatching another of the women with his sword while Ronen helped Aeron finished the last of the creatures.
Dare sat up right and remained seated on the ground, panting hard as he tried to catch his breath. He felt Tamsyn’s hand upon his shoulder a second later and saw the magii staring down at him with concern.
‘I am not hurt,’ Dare assured him but searched the forest floor for Kyou. ‘Where is Kyou?’
‘I’m fine,’ Kyou grumbled distantly. ‘I’m alive.’
‘I’m taking him back to the camp Dare,’ Tully declared and Dare saw that the farmer was helping Kyou across the wood towards their campsite.
‘What were you thinking coming in here alone?’ Aeron demanded. The elven prince appeared both worried and angered at the same time. ‘Scout means look and come back if you see something? Did you remember nothing I taught you in Halas!’
‘Kyou saw a woman,’ Dare retorted embarrassed because they should have alerted the others before wandering into the woods alone. He should have known better. In Aeron’s position, he would have been similarly furious if someone under his care had acted so foolishly.
‘A woman?’ Tamsyn asked glancing in the direction of the departing dwarf. ‘Really?’
‘I can follow a woman into a strange wood,’ Kyou barked back. ‘I’m not the one chasing down my wife!’
‘It was a trap,’ Dare explained. ‘I am not certain but I think they are shifters. Though the one who led us into the wood was different than the others.’ He gestured to the wolf that Aeron had slain. ‘She said they were hiding in the trees for a long time and that the Enemy called to her.’
‘That is possible,’ Tamsyn replied, examining the bodies. ‘Shifters were birthed by Mael’s Primordials. Some of them are little more than vampyrs who craved flesh and blood but others, like this one.’ The magii dropped to his feet and ran his hand over the pelt of the dead wolf. ‘These are of the higher orders. They could change into any shape and maintain it indefinitely.’
‘They disguised themselves as trees,’ Dare realised suddenly because the clearing in which they had fought seemed much larger now. ‘Lying dormant until awakened and sent on this mission to ambush us.’
‘And it worked splendidly,’ Ronen grumbled. ‘They knew what shape to take to trick us.’
‘Indeed they did,’ Dare remarked and noted the blood splattered across his Bän’s clothes. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘No,’ Ronen answered, ‘just aches from landing badly. I will be fine.’
‘We’ve lingered here long enough,’ Tamsyn declared. ‘We should return to camp. For future reference, I suggest that none of us wander alone. We see now know how formidable our enemy is and what powers he has to draw upon to waylay us. We must be vigilant.’
‘I suppose,’ Dare sighed as he accepted Aeron’s hand to get to his feet, ‘After all this, I will be able to sleep.’
Aeron rolled his eyes and snorted, ‘I admire your ability to see the good in any situation.’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
It was expected that when they approached the Frozen Mountains, the temperature would drop. What Arianne was not prepared for was how sharply.
As they crossed the Torn Lands, named so because of the great chasms in the ground that were created during the Primordial Wars, the iciness in the air continued to grow the deeper into it they travelled. Leaving Angarad behind after crossing the Safrie River, the lush green of the land was soon replaced by brown grasslands and the forests of full, leafy trees had vanished in place of tall, well-spaced conifers.
Even with the warmer clothes Celene and Melia had bought in Horwyck, the biting cold invaded the warmth of their cloaks and pierced their skins as the ground become harder with frost. Despite it being autumn, the weather took on a decidedly wintery turn and Arianne wondered if it had to do with just their proximity to the mountains or was something else at work.
Arianne also noticed something more sinister the deeper they went into the Torn Lands and that was the scarcity of any sort of wildlife. She supposed the harsh terrain could have driven them south but even so, there would be at least some animals left here. The air was still with only the sounds of their voices and the horses to break the silence. There were no singing of birds, no chirping of insects and at night, even the owls remained silence. The whole landscape seemed abandoned.
Eventually the others noticed the silence too and though they did not speak of it, Arianne knew they too were uneasy. Their rest periods became shorter since none of them were overly eager to close their eyes and when sleep did come, it was under one of their watchful gazes.
Through this ominous atmosphere, Arianne watched the path of the moon in the sky with growing alarm that the time between its reaching fullness was dwindling rapidly. The journey here had taken almost three weeks and Arianne knew that they would reach the Enemy with barely enough time to spare or formulate the strategy to kill him.
They saw no evidence of the threat that Syanne had warned them against but there was no doubt that it existed. The woods they crossed reeked of death and desolation. Something unnatural had seized the land and was unrelenting in its deathly grip. Arianne could feel its tendrils clawing up her back, cold to the touch and the babe inside her stirred as well, perhaps feeling the threat to its existence she trying so desperately to prevent.
No one spoke of their fears but Arianne sensed their anxiety for Celene and Melia’s guard was almost always up now, with the two soldiers watching constantly for danger. Keira did her best to keep things light but the fear they felt was becoming palpable with every step they took towards the mountains.
The situation did not improve when they came across the ruin of a settlement that appeared dwarf in origin. Due to Balfure hunting them across Avalyne, the dwarves had been forced to find new homes beyond the reach of Abraxes. Some had settled in Angarad while others had sought refuge in the Jagged Teeth. It made sense that others might choose to travel even further than that to escape the Shadow Lord. With its infamous reputation, the Torn Lands may have appeared to the perfect place for them to rebuild their lives without interference from anyone.
The town they happened upon had experienced some form of calamity but it was of a kind that none of them had ever seen before. Whatever the dwarves had chosen to name this settlement, they would never know. What they found when they rode through the settlement along the frost covered ground was that the entire town was buried ice. To look at it, one would be forgiven in thinking that some mad artist had embarked upon the laborious task of sculpturing a representation of the town in ice. Every structure was encased in ice just as the dwarves who lived in it.
‘What in the name of Gods happened here?’ Celene asked rhetorically as she gaped at what was in front of them.
They dismounted their horses, leading the animals through the town so that they could investigate what had taken place here in the hopes of avoiding the same fate. Anything that had not been buried in ice was brittle to the touch. Melia’s efforts to kick away a doll that had been lying on the ground had resulted in the complete disintegration of the object. It crumbled around her boot as if a blast of cold had turned it into glass. The watch guard’s shock was obvious and after that no one was terribly eager to touch anything that was not covered in ice.
‘A sudden blizzard perhaps?’ Melia asked her three companions. She came from a land that did not experience winter and though she had some experience with it after years of living in the west, this was beyond her understanding.
‘I could believe a snow storm could cause some ice but nothing natural could have done this,’ Arianne declared as she paused at a seemingly unaffected bush and touched one of the leaves on
its branches. The leaf crumbled in her hands as easily as the toy had disintegrated beneath Melia’s foot. The fragment of green in her hand felt like sand or ash, she could not tell which for sure, only that it frightened her. It was no small thing to destroy life in this fashion and she shuddered at the thought of meeting the thing that had done it.
It was a sentiment mirrored by Celene who stated, ‘We should keep going. I have no wish to encounter what did this whilst we are here. We have more important matters to attend.’
‘Yes,’ Keira nodded in agreement, her eyes scanning the dead town. ‘We’re not accomplishing by remaining here. I say we just keep riding through and not look back. Besides, we don’t have time to waste.’ She reminded.
Melia gripped the reins of her horse tight. Her nails were digging into her palm but she hardly noticed it. This place frightened her more than Berserkers or any other evil she had encountered since leaving her home in Nadira. She wanted to run away from this place, to ride back to the safety of the woods the Baffin but knew she would not. She had made a pledge to the queen and she would see it through.
However, it was more than just obligation that kept her at Arianne’s side. During the course of their travels, she had gotten to know all three women and felt the bond of friendship between them all. Here were women with whom she shared a great deal, who waited for no man to decide their fate and who knew what it was to remain true to themselves instead of complying with what was expected of them. It spoke to Melia’s own choices in life.
‘I too wish to ride away from here and not look back,’ Melia looked at them. ‘But what did this awaits us ahead on our journey. The only thing we will accomplish if we ride hastily forward is run headlong into what did this.’
‘You are right of course,’ Celene frowned, despising the logic of Melia’s words because she felt similar anxiety being in this icy graveyard. ‘However, I do not think that there is anything to find. What levelled this place has moved on, assuming that some manner of evil did this.’
‘This is no aberration of weather,’ Arianne declared. ‘Something or someone wrought this destruction. I am certain that the way is being cleared for the Enemy.’
‘Cleared?’ Keira exclaimed, staring at her puzzled.
‘Yes,’ Arianne nodded taking another long look at the town because it was only the prelude to what was coming. ‘This is the work of the Enemy I am certain of it. He seeks to ensure that no one knows of his existence and this means destroying those who might be able to carry the word of him to the rest of Avalyne.’
‘To ensure that when he does emerge, he will do so to the complete surprise of those who might be able to stop him,’ Celene concluded.
‘Your child might be the first step,’ Melia pointed out. ‘If what you tell me is true about the Enemy attempting to infuse your child with Mael’s spirit, then it is possible he intends to take Avalyne, to prepare it for Mael when your babe grows to manhood.’
Arianne closed her eyes at the horrific plan and knew that both Melia and Celene were right about their suppositions. The Enemy would create a kingdom worthy of Mael and when her son grew up to be King, he would inherit that dark empire. It would also mean that the Enemy would have to eliminate all those she cared about who were still left within his reach in order to achieve his plan.’
‘We won’t let that happen,’ Keira assured her. ‘We’ll get there in time and stop this.’
‘We have to,’ Arianne declared after she was able to look at them again. ‘We must keep going. Our best hope of averting this terrible thing from happening again is to find face the Enemy and defeat him.’
The others seemed to agree with her and as they mounted their horses, preparing to leave the town behind, Arianne prayed that hope would be enough because failure was unimaginable.
********
As Celene had discovered in Horwyck, much of the Torn Lands remained uncharted, save for a few geographical landmarks that was passed down from the elves during the Primordial Wars. After the Immortals had retreated into the Veil it was not known if the realm was peopled and with rumours that many of the creatures created by Mael had survived him to continue their existence in this land, it seemed unlikely that anyone would wish to live in here.
However, as they approached the Frozen Mountains and the blizzard conditions that assailed them at the Splinter returned with even more intensity, they learned that the dwarf town was not the only village in the Torn Lands. Throughout their journey, they saw other smaller settlements overtaken in similar fashion and even the alpine woods they travelled through to reach the mountains were completely encased in ice. It was almost impossible to make a fire when they camped at the night owing to the wood being too damp or too frozen to burn.
The mountains themselves were stretched across the horizon. Their peaks were covered in white and seemed perpetually shrouded in a fog of swirling arctic winds. The frosted ground had turned into a glacial plain that that was broken by the dead trees scattered across its expanse. They would have to cross these mountains to reach the chasm known as Mael’s Pit. The pit had been created when the Gods drove Sanhael deep the earth, ridding Avalyne of the city where he had created an entire host of vile creatures to plague the world.
Creatures that may still be lying in wait for them.
********
At night fall, Celene stared at the moon above her head and was barely able to see through the falling snow that its crescent shape was waning. The sight of it filled Celene with the apprehension she took pains to keep hidden from her companions. Their time was growing short and she estimated they had only days left to them to reach the Enemy. Worse yet, what had destroyed the settlements and turned the lands around it into an icy wasteland had yet to show itself.
Celene did not know whether or not this was a good thing or not.
Once again, as she took the first watch, Celene finally let down the walls she had erected around her heart to see the quest through. She was the strong one, the one who would drive them onward despite all calamity and reservations. Only when the others could not see, did she allow herself to feel and what she felt was a deep yearning for home and her husband.
She missed Ronen so much it almost hurt.
Although she had spoken nothing of her need for him because a warrior had to remain focussed when embarking on a mission such as this, she missed him terribly. When she indulged them, her thoughts drifted to his wry smile and the manner in which he would soothe her when she was raging at one injustice or another because between of the two of them, he was the thoughtful one. He took everything in stride because by Ronen’s reckoning, if they could survive Balfure, they could survive anything.
Everything after that, he often said disarming her with that damned smile of his, is easy.
Until now, Celene had not realised how terrible it would be to die without seeing her him again and yet now that they were on eve of reaching their destination, Celene knew that it was very likely that one if not all of them might not survive the quest. She drew in her breath to dispel such thoughts away because losing hope before reaching the Enemy would help no one. Celene had to believe they would survive or else they were doomed before they even started.
A warrior who believed she would die would often find a way to make it happen.
Through the howl of the wind that lashed at her partially exposed face, she was still thinking on Ronen when she heard something moving.
At first, she thought it might be one of the sleepers tossing and turning. Melia, she, Keira and Arianne had come to learn during this journey, did not sleep well. The watch guard was often plagued with nightmares that forced her awake, wide eyed and panting in fear. She did not explain what she had frightened her so and they respected her silence on the matter. Besides, as they drew closer to the mountain, Melia was not the only one to experience nightmares because Arianne too seemed to be entertaining a few demons herself in her sleep. However, in this case, they all knew what was the cause of Arianne’s ni
ghtmares and did not pursue the matter.
At least Keira slept well.
When she heard the sound again, Celene knew that it was neither the wind nor her companions. It seemed alien against the night and did not feel natural. As it drew closer, Celene still had difficulty identifying it. If she did not know better, she would have thought someone was dragging something across the ground. Without the clarity of vision thanks to the snow falling about them, Celene stood up slowly, unsheathing her sword as she scanned the dark woods surrounding them.
They had not left the campfire burning because firewood was scarce and they were attempting to conserve what wood they could. Now that she heard the horses neigh their disquiet at the edge of their encampment, Celene regretted the decision for they needed the light.
‘Everyone. On your feet now!’ Celene barked, waking them all with that one sharp demand.
Melia awoke first, her watch guard instincts bringing her swiftly out of her slumber as she reached for the crossbow that lay within easy reach of her sleeping place. Rolling onto her feet, she stood up ready to face whatever danger Celene had discovered to raise the alarm. Not far from her was Arianne who reached for the hilt of her sword, her eyes watchful of the danger now that she was aware of it. Keira was the last to rouse and her eyes darted about in fear as she tried to see what was coming at them.
Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon Page 21
