"Well, mine hasn't got a name," he said finally, "and I've no idea where to start when it comes to thinking of one." Brenn thought for a minute.
"Get it out," he decided. "Let's have a look and see what we think."
Somewhat reluctantly, Luan put down the spear and slowly drew his sword, holding it flat across the palms of his hands. The feathery whorls of the blade shimmered in the moonlight.
"It almost appears to glow," Brenn said in an awed whisper. "Are you sure it's not magic?"
"Bridie said it was forged in dragon fire in the islands of the otherworld," replied Luan. "But I'm not sure I believe it."
"There's a lot of things I didn't used to believe in," said Brenn wryly. "The last few months have forced me to think again."
"I know that feeling." Luan smiled at his friend.
"How about Dragonmist?" Brenn suggested. Luan shook his head.
"Moondancer?"
"No."
"Moonfeather?"
"Definitely not!"
"Featherkill!"
"Ridiculous."
"At least I'm trying!" Brenn responded.
"Sorry." Luan took the sword by the hilt and held it at arm’s length, twisting it in the moonlight. "I think maybe it needs to earn its name," he said. "Or at least that I have to earn the right to name it." He slid the blade smoothly back into the scabbard.
"Maybe you're right," Brenn agreed.
"Think you can sleep now?" Luan asked.
"I think it's my turn to take watch," replied Brenn. "You need some rest."
Luan was about to protest but then realised how tired he actually felt.
"Thanks," he said as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll leave you the spear." He had started to make his way down the hill when a thought occurred to him.
"Brenn?" he said as he turned back. "Wasn't Bridie supposed to marry a prince of the Kingdom?"
"Don't!" Brenn made frantic shushing motions. "That's another good reason not to tell anyone. Can you imagine how she'll react?"
Luan grinned at the thought, but nodded in agreement.
"It's ok," he said. "Your secret is safe with me."
Six – The Road is Blocked
Eyes glint blue in the light of the dawn
Weapons held high they wade ashore
"WE'RE IN TROUBLE NOW!" The breeze ruffled Bridie's sandy hair as she lay pressed into the depression on top of the rock, watching the tribesmen below. "Yep," she concluded, "definitely in trouble."
Luan had no choice but to agree. They had followed the path along the edge of the cliff for hours without seeing anyone, but now when they were within sight of Cy Malg they were trapped.
"How many do you think?" Luan asked.
"Thirty?" Fin replied.
"More like forty," Mack growled.
"Too many!" Brenn looked round to see if anyone disagreed, but no one did.
They had reached a point where the path dipped down to join the road that climbed from the plains below to make its way through a great gap in the cliff. The road continued northward up and on to the plateau. Some way along a path continued eastward back up to the cliff edge and finally to the brooding fortress that was their goal. About the same distance beyond that a group of Eagle Clan Warriors were camped right in the road.
"We can make our way down to the road without being seen," mused Luan.
"What are you thinking?" Bridie asked. "Make a run for it?"
"We're probably faster than them," said Brenn.
"Speak for yourself!" added Mack in a wry voice.
"It would be touch and go." Fin grimaced. "What if they got there first?"
"Even if they didn't we'd have them on our backs all the way up that path." Luan shook his head. "No, we can't risk that."
"What's it like over the other side?" asked Brenn.
"Well, the path up to the cliff isn't bad but it narrows where it goes through the old gate," Luan replied.
"How do you know?"
"I've walked it in my dreams," Luan replied without thinking.
"Dreams?" Brenn asked after a moment.
"What?" Luan turned and realised they were all looking at him. "I'd have thought you were getting used to this stuff by now," he said plaintively.
"Ok," said Fin slowly. "What's it like after that?" Luan gave him a look but continued anyway.
"The gate is an open passageway just wide enough for a cart to drive through, there used to be a tower above but it's gone now. Then the path widens at the edge of the cliff and runs along to where a bridge spans a ravine. The bridge is broken but you can jump the gap, and then it's not far to the entrance."
"And what's waiting inside?" asked Mack.
"Nedelhain," Luan replied quietly, "the ghost crows, and if I get past them, who knows what else I must face before I confront the Selgir Orduin."
"Don't worry." Fin put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. "We'll be with you every step of the way. You won't have to face it alone."
"I know," said Luan and smiled as if he believed it was true.
"We can't fight them," Brenn said, looking back at the tribesmen. "Especially as we've only got six shields, we lost the rest with the horses."
"What we need is a distraction," said Mack.
"How about we split up," suggested Brenn. "One group goes back and around," he gestured with his arm, "...while the other sneaks down to the path. The first group could mount a phoney attack and then retreat quickly..."
"You mean leg it like bugger!" Fin interrupted. Brenn flashed him a quick grin but continued.
"...while the other group advances rapidly..."
"Leggin' it again."
"...up past the ruined gateway." Brenn grinned again, looking very pleased with himself.
"What's that?" Bridie had wriggled backwards off her rock and was now looking south down the road. They turned to see a cloud of dust with shadowy shapes of robed figures moving within. Mack uttered a single word.
"Walkers!"
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Fin asked.
"I think so," Luan replied. “Come on." They hurried off, leaving Mack and Bridie standing with a slightly downcast Brenn.
"It was a good plan," Bridie said kindly.
Brenn brightened noticeably at her words. "Do you really think so?"
"Oh yes," said Mack. "It might even have worked!"
THE CHANTING GREW LOUDER, but it was still no match for the thumping in Luan’s chest. He looked back along the line of crouching hooded figures, each member of the patrol doing their best to keep out of sight. Their disguises had been hurried and Luan knew they would never withstand close inspection, but he desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that. He could hear the step of feet now, the walkers were close.
"Get ready." He spoke over his shoulder and heard the echo of his words pass down the line. Suddenly the walkers were there, sweeping past him, faster than he expected. It was a bigger group than the one he had seen before but otherwise they were just as he remembered, the long grey cloaks decorated with bits of iron, the low chanting, the unwavering gaze. A flicker of doubt caught at him, trying to drag him back. “Too late for that!” he told himself as the last of the walkers appeared before him, “This is it!”
"Come on," he said and stepped out onto the road.
He kept his head down as he walked, hoping his hood would be enough disguise. He couldn't see much, just an impression of marching feet and whirling dust, while all around the low chant of the walkers cast its spell. He sensed the rest of the patrol behind him but couldn't risk looking.
'Mustn't miss the turn off,' he muttered to himself, but the chanting, low and seductive, was starting to pull at him. He could just walk, it seemed to say, give up on this futile quest, lay aside your burden and walk.
"No!" Like waking from a dream he spoke aloud without intention. Sudden panic sent adrenaline coursing round his body before he realised that they hadn't walked too far. 'Stay alert!' he told himself, 'Fight it!' He started to cou
nt his paces as a way of keeping track of time and distance.
"Five, six, seven..." It was probably about five hundred paces he reasoned.
"Twenty three, twenty four..." But how far had they come before he started counting?
"One hundred and ninety six, one hundred and ninety...there it was!" Luan turned and gestured to the boys behind him. Fin looked up and nodded but some of the others seemed oblivious.
"Fin!" Luan started grabbing at the boys, pushing them towards the side of the road. For one terrible moment Luan thought they were going to miss someone, losing them to the compelling lure of the walkers' spell, but then Fin joined in and between them they got the patrol safely away.
"Follow me!" Luan ordered as he set off up the path. They could be spotted at any moment, and so they moved as fast as they could even though the path was steep and littered with rocks. Luan was more fit now than he had ever been, the weeks on the road adding to the intensive training of the guild, but even so he was starting to struggle. With dry mouth and burning legs he was begging for the next bend to be the last, but the end always seemed elusive. Suddenly he realised that he recognised the rocks he clambered over, and there ahead of him the path entered a gap in the cliff, the ruins of the old gate. A last push and he was inside, feeling the relief of being out of sight before doubling over and retching, around him the rest of the patrol collapsed on the floor or leant against walls. Mack sat with his head in his hands, blowing like a punctured bellows.
"Luan!" Bridie was peering round the wall, looking back to the road.
"What is it?" He walked over to her. Wordlessly she pointed to where the tribesmen were making their way down the road towards the path they had just climbed.
"Blood and sand!" Behind them Fin swore quietly but with utter conviction. Luan turned to him.
"Get them up, we have to move."
"Maybe not," He replied. Bridie looked up sharply at the tone of Fin's voice.
"What do you mean?" she said.
"Answer me this, Luan" said Fin, "Is there a better place to defend than this, further up?" Luan thought for a moment.
"No," he finally admitted.
"Then we fight here," replied Fin.
"But we have to get to Cy Malg!"
"No," corrected Fin, "you have to get to Cy Malg, but if they catch up with us before we get there it'll be a bloodbath. We hold here."
"I'm not leaving you!" Luan was red in the face now.
"You damn well are!" Fin's voice softened. "And you know it as well." Luan stood his ground for a moment more, then swallowed and nodded once. He turned to walk away, but then spun back and threw his arm round Fin's shoulder, hugging him fiercely.
"I’ll be back.” Luan’s voice cracked as he spoke.
"You better be." Fin pushed him away with a grin, and then gestured at the tribesmen. "I'm planning on saving you some!"
Luan grinned in return and then set off up the path. Fin turned to Bridie.
"Go with him and take Mack, it's likely to get a bit messy round here and I don't want him getting hurt."
Bridie pouted. "You're just trying to keep me safe!"
"You're joking aren't you?" Fin replied. "If I kept you here you'd try to gut the lot of them, and there'd be none left for us!"
"You silly boy!" Bridie laughed, and kissed him on the cheek before running off after Luan. Fin stared after her as the warmth of her lips lingered on his skin, then shook his head slowly.
"Don't even think about it," he muttered to himself, before raising his voice in the best impression of his father's parade ground bawl. "Right you lot! It's time to put all that training into practice. Two lines, biggest at the front. Drustan, you take centre..."
"Too right!"
"...Druca, anchor the other end..."
"Got it lad!"
“...I've got this one. Brenn, behind me. Ready?"
SILENCE AT THE GATE where the boys waited with swords drawn. Here the path seemed to have been hewn through solid rock, a tunnel whose roof had disappeared long ago. Fin looked up at the strip of sky visible between the tops of the walls, blue just starting to fade in the afternoon light, wisps of cloud, the speck of a bird. His father had told him about this, the moment of peace before the battle, but he never understood until this moment. "You grab that sweet moment and bury it inside you," his father had said, and now Fin knew what he meant. His reverie did not last long. The sound of running footsteps broke the silence, men's voices raised in a strange language growing quickly louder and a wave of tension that rippled through the boys. For a split second Fin hesitated, his voice dying in his throat, but then glancing over his shoulder he caught Brenn's quick grin and his confidence flooded back on a wave of adrenaline. He took a deep breath and shouted the command.
"Shield Wall!"
BRIDIE HURRIED AFTER Luan who stalked up the path, his shoulders set square. Behind her Mack muttered as he tried to keep pace. From the cleft they passed a huge boulder that crouched, troll like, above the path, before emerging onto a wide shelf of rock, that curved left to make its way to Cy Malg. In front of them was a sheer drop, the view from the cliff stretching away into the far distance. Behind them a tumble of rocks stretched away upwards. Then Fin's cry came ringing up the path, cut off by the clash of shields. Luan turned on his heel.
"I have to go back."
"No!" Bridie's voice was insistent, whether to keep him to his duty or safe from the danger below she wasn't sure.
"I can't just leave them!" Luan rook a step back down the path, his face twitching.
"You have to." Mack spoke quietly but with authority. "They have their job to do and we have ours. We go on!"
Luan stood and stared back down the path. The noise of the fight was growing louder, the hammer of sword on shield, shouting and a lingering scream. Luan reached up to draw his sword.
"I'm going to help them," he said.
Suddenly something thumped into the path behind him. He span towards the sound with Bridie's scream ringing in his ears. The tattoos on the warrior's cheeks twitched as he smiled. Even as he drew his sword two more leather clad tribesmen jumped down from the rocks, their black hair tied back and adorned with eagle feathers. Luan took a step back as four more scrambled down onto the path. Thoughts of his friends left his mind. Here was his own fight, in fact with one against seven, here was his death. Luan swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.
"Get back to Fin," he said hoarsely. "Tell him to guard his back."
"What are you doing?" Luan could hear the panic in Bridie's voice.
"I'm going to slow them down a bit." Luan stepped forward, ignoring Bridie's protests, dimly aware of Mack pulling her away. He thought to challenge the leader to single combat, buying time for Fin and his friends.
"KINGDOM!"
Cail screamed his battle cry as he leapt from the rocks, his cloak swirling around him. The Klaideem smashed into the tribesmen, sending them reeling. Before they could react he rolled and was up and on them, sword flashing in the sunlight. Two vicious cuts and his first opponent was down, choking in a widening pool of blood. But now the element of surprise was gone and the warriors closed in. For a moment Luan froze as he watched Cail spin in a tight circle desperately fending off attacks.
"Move boy!" Cail's shout broke the spell and Luan threw himself into the fray. Screaming a challenge he blocked the blade that would have cut Cail down from behind. With unbelievable speed the tribesman turned, forcing Luan back. Luan parried one blow and ducked under the next before lunging forward, but his blade missed its mark. Off balance he stumbled, and a kick from his opponent sent him to the floor. Frantically he rolled once and then twice as the bronze blade of the tribesman hacked down. A booted foot stamped down on his sword and for a moment Luan was trapped, the face of the warrior above him grimacing as the tribesman put all his effort into the killing blow. Which never came. Cail's sword flashed out, slashing across the warrior's back who arched in pain, sword dropping from fingers that tried to reach the terrib
le wound.
"The fortress!" Cail shouted. "Go now while you can!" Even as he shouted a glancing blow caught him across the head and he fell, only to roll and deliver a vicious two footed kick. The tribesman staggered under the blow and then suddenly straightened, arms wheeling frantically as he felt nothing but air under his heel. For a moment he teetered on the brink before failing backwards with a long despairing scream.
"Look out!" Bridie's frantic cry was too late. The blow caught Cail even as he turned, biting into his left shoulder, but even then he was a match for his attacker, his sword stabbing upwards under the tribesman's ribs. For a moment all was still, a scene that would be forever etched in Luan’s memory. Cail kneeling, left arm hanging useless, the bodies of his beaten foes around him. The three remaining tribesmen hesitating, knowing that even wounded, Cail was lethally dangerous. Beyond them Luan could see Mack struggling to restrain Bridie who, even as the tears flowed down her face, fought to go to Cail's aid. Behind him Luan felt the looming menace of the fortress of Cy Malg, and as the sunlight bathed the rocks in an orange glow, he knew that time was running out. With agonising slowness Cail leant on his sword and pushed himself to his feet. For a moment he wavered as the blood dripped from his left hand but then he raised his head, hefted his sword and glanced at Luan.
"Go!" He mouthed and then his gaze swung back to the Eagle Clan warriors. His teeth bared in a feral grin and with a cry that rang from the cliffs, he hurled himself forwards.
Seven – Into the Arena
Two armies stand like stone unmoving
Each man still, his stare unblinking
LUAN FELT HIS HEELS scrabble in the dust before he managed to roll onto his belly. Pushing himself to his knees he paused only to grab his sword before taking off along the track. He felt a sickening twinge of the familiar dizziness, looked up and was shocked to see how close he was. Here were the familiar landmarks of his dreams. There was the strangely curved pillar beckoning him on. Here the great blocks of stone, remnants of a long collapsed arch. In front of him the shattered bridge. Gasping for breath he stopped at the brink, bathed in the soft light of the evening sun. Just as in his dream he looked down into the swirling clouds of the abyss. He could feel the malevolence there but it seemed to have little effect on him now. Luan took a few steps back and shrugged off his pack. He undid his cloak and let it drop to the floor. For this final part of the journey he would take only his sword. For a moment he held it to the light and watched the pattern of whorls ripple along the blade. "Time for you to earn a name," he thought. Then, taking a deep breath, he ran three steps and launched himself over the chasm. He landed in a different world.
The Arena of Lost Souls Page 6
