The Rules. Book 1; The End

by Jon Jacks

  It no longer took a heavy strike from a spirit to accomplish this either; the merest touch would now cause a catastrophic deflation.

  Warriors began to completely disappear, the sand falling as powdery grains to become part of the dunes once more.

  Each touch to the sandy Egyptians by the spirits brought about an even more amazing change.

  As their foes crumpled and lost limbs, the spirits responsible would begin to regain a lost arm or leg, or partially recover from some other horrific wound.

  As the sand warriors lost their inner substance of sensory experiences, the spirits absorbed them, slowly replacing what had been lost when they had passed on to their limbo.

  Around Galilee, other spirits were making an even more profound recovery.

  Some of them blinked in surprise as they abruptly became aware that they were whole again.

  At first, Beth couldn’t understand this.

  The spirits clamouring around Galilee had appeared to be fighting nothing but invisible ghosts, as if they were as confused as the soldiers deliberately deceived by Morrigan. But closer to, Beth had glimpses of wavering air, or a blurring of the sand, allowing her to pick out the indistinct shapes of the warriors Galilee’s blasts had uncovered.

  Only their sandy shell, she realised, had been scattered. The senses themselves had been left to gather around and plague Galilee.

  And, as the spirits absorbed their energy, Galilee began to break free of his own torments.

  Like the amazed spirits who had come back from what was effectively a living death, he looked about him as if seeing everything anew for the first time.

  He saw that a battle was raging.

  Saw that neither Horus nor Beth were nearby.

  ‘Beth,’ he whispered on the air. ‘We have to leave.’

  His voice carried across the still eerily silent battlefield.

  Beth was closer than he thought. Swooping down before him, she transformed in an instant, landing gently on the sand as a girl.

  Galilee glared at her suspiciously.

  It was a glare that changed to an expression of resignation and understanding as he glanced at the fierce conflict taking place around them.

  ‘Horus?’ he said.

  ‘Left,’ Beth answered equally brusquely.

  ‘Then there’s only one way out of here.’

  ‘I can’t leave yet.’

  Seeing the soldiers regain their mind and senses had reignited her hope that her mother might return to her, whole and alive.

  She hadn’t found her yet, despite a persistent search. But there was still time…

  ‘I need to find my mum.’

  ‘You don’t even know she’s here Beth.’

  Galilee took in the chaos of the clash of forces that ebbed and flowed even now.

  ‘We don’t really know that what happened to her really counts as dying in battle.’

  He’s right! She’s not here! I would know!

  Hah, you would say that just to get out of here!

  ‘I saw, her remember? She was waiting with all these people. I saw her!’

  ‘We can’t afford to wait Beth. We need to leave, now! A magical battle can turn in an instant. Something you never expected – something you would have sworn was impossible – happens and the battle changes.’

  If he can get us out of here, listen to him!

  ‘This won’t be easy, particularly with so many.’

  With a few quick, authoritative hand signals, Galilee called on the fully recovered soldiers to gather around him. There were around thirty of them, men and women. All of them were now ashamedly conscious of their nakedness.

  Turning back to Beth, Galilee said, ‘I’ll need you to follow up last Beth. So you can dismiss your forces.’

  ‘I’m not sure if I can,’ Beth said distractedly.

  She continued to observe the attacking spirits in the increasingly forlorn hope of spotting her mum.

  ‘You’ll know how to do it,’ Galilee confidently insisted.

  ‘So…how are we going to escape?’ Beth couldn’t take her eyes off the lines of clashing warriors.

  ‘The door – the third door.’

  ‘The third door?’

  Beth’s attention was torn away at last from the violent conflict still taking place around them.

  For an answer, the third doorway slightly opened up before them.

  It was an angularly crooked crack in the landscape and sky.

  ‘It’s the only way out of here.’ Galilee addressed the orderly waiting soldiers. ‘You must do exactly as I say and move quickly.’

  They nodded, barked, ‘Yes sir!’

  ‘You said I mustn’t go in!’ Beth protested, somehow feeling cheated.

  ‘I meant it – it’s dangerous for anyone, including me!’

  ‘So why are we going in?’

  ‘As I said – because it’s the only way out!’

   

   

  *

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Chapter 77

   

  ‘We move through quickly, right?’

  Galilee carefully explained how he wanted everything to happen.

  ‘No delaying to stop and stare and try and work out what’s going on! I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you delay for even a moment you could end up trapped in this room! Curiosity will literally kill you! You must ensure there is one thought and one thought only passing through your mind – you believe you have been denied your freedom. Got that?’

  Even though they nodded, Galilee had everyone, including Beth, repeating the mantra; ‘I have been denied my freedom!’

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Now, this may puzzle some of you, but I’ll explain everything later – there’s no time now!’

  As he spoke, a luminosity began to flow in shimmering waves across his skin and clothes. The radiance brightened until it appeared to be breaking through his skin.

  There were gasps of incredulity and fear as he changed into Machal.

  ‘An angel!’ Many of them fell to their knees, many making the sign of the cross.

  Turning towards the door, Galilee pushed it open.

  Entering the incredibly dark room, he immediately turned back to face them, spreading out and curling his six massive wings to form a barrier of light just within the doorway.

  ‘Quickly now,’ he said. ‘And remember; “I have been denied my freedom!”’

   

   

  *

   

   

  As Galilee was effectively blocking the way to the rest of the room, there was only just enough space left for the soldiers to enter one at a time.

  First to enter was a woman who, following Galilee’s direction, continually repeated the line, ‘I have been denied my freedom!’ – and suddenly vanished.

  It could have been a worrying moment for those following her into the room. But, behind them, the most terrifying battle they had ever seen was taking place.

  Ahead of them, a glorious angel had promised to lead them to safety.

  As each one entered, they felt dazzled, even partly hypnotised by Galilee’s cocooning light.

  If anything, though, this helped them stick to Galilee’s strict condition to think of nothing but their longing for freedom. Just to remind them, he also continued to repeat the line again and again.

  Each one vanished within a moment of stepping into the doorway.

  Only Beth noticed the increasing sense of strain, perhaps even pain, in Galilee’s voice.

  As his face was bathed in a blazing radiance, it was impossible to make out his expression. From his steady, anguished tone, however, Beth assumed that his eyes were closed, his brow was creased in concentration.

  More than anyone, Galilee was making sure that nothing but a need for freedom flowed through his mind.

&nb
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  *

   

   

  The operation was taking longer than Galilee had reckoned.

  More and more fully-recovered, naked soldiers were rushing their way.

  As they abruptly became aware of whom they were once more, and finding themselves in the middle of a fantastic battle they couldn’t recall joining, they would look about them in bewilderment.

  Seeing others like themselves lining up to exit this bizarre landscape through the kind of magical portal they had previously only seen in movies, they sprinted over to it as quickly as they could.

  After asking the others what was going on, they would gratefully nod in agreement as they were told what they had to do.

  ‘Hurry, hurry,’ Beth said, urging them on.

  As the last one vanished, Beth turned to survey the ferocious battle once more.

  Morrigan; you know what to do.

  Take a rest my lovelies. You can fight again, next time I call.

  In a reversal of how they had appeared, the warring spirits dissolved, transforming into fluctuating columns of air before disappearing completely.

  The armies of sand and water were only a fraction of what they had been, but they were still formidable forces.

  With only Beth now visible, they set off at a fierce charge towards her.

  Quick, the door!

  Spinning around, Beth stepped through the door.

  If only her mum had been one of the soldiers they had rescued!

  ‘Beth!’

  Even though Galilee’s brilliant luminosity should have prevented it, Beth realised she could see beyond him into the darkened room.

  Her mum was there!

  Calling her!

   

   

  *

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Chapter 78

   

  ‘Mum! Mum, I didn’t see you amongst the others!’

  Her mother was far away.

  Beth started running towards her.

  ‘I wasn’t there Beth! Because we’re different Beth!’

  No, no! Freedom, freedom! Think only of getting out of here you fool!’

  ‘But my mum–’

  Her mum was drawing nearer.

  She was saying something to her.

  But Beth couldn’t hear anything save Morrigan’s urgent screaming.

  The room grants you everything anyone’s ever denied you! All those slights, those grievances, those gripes you’ve accumulated – how endless is that? You can only resist it by denying yourself its double-edged rewards!

  ‘Mum! I’m sorry, I can’t–’

  Freedom! We need to be free!

  ‘I’m being denied my freedom!’

  Her mum vanished.

  The darkness vanished.

   

   

  *

   

   

  Beth was back in the barn.

  She was surrounded by naked men and women being helped to cover themselves by Epona and a number of other people from the farm

  Galilee appeared alongside her out of nowhere. He collapsed, exhausted.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Beth wept, throwing herself towards him. ‘I couldn’t help thinking of mum.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ he replied sympathetically, mustering the energy to place a consoling arm around her.

  ‘I saw her. I saw my mum – but I had to deny her!’

  ‘You had no choice. No choice at all Beth.’

   

   

  *

   

   

  The horses warily made their way through the blackened, burnt-out and sharply edged wreckage.

  Foal, seated behind Beth, seemed undisturbed by the gently rocking of the horse’s hindquarters, moving with and absorbing each jolt.

  Alongside her, Galilee observed the shattered tanks and heavy guns with indifference.

  His main focus of interest was on the shaded areas they cast, any one of which could be a hiding place for Horus now that Gerry was bizarrely shadow free.

  Ahead of them both rode Drek and Heddy, playfully teasing each other.

  Heddy had finally decided that she wanted to see where her father had died. Galilee had confessed that what appeared to be a grave was in fact empty; her father had passed on to another world for now.

  Heddy had replied that she understood. How could she not have an inkling of what was really happening now, when she had heard the stories being told by the soldiers who had returned with them from Horus’s realm?

  There could be no greater confirmation of this new reality than the lack of bodies amongst the wreckage of what had been a ferocious clash.

  Less than an hour after the battle had ended, what would have been termed the dead only a few days ago had risen up from the ground, stepping through the curtains of air opening up before them.

  None of the soldiers – forty three in all – who had survived the encounter with Horus’s forces could remember any of this. But a few could recall the battles in which they had died, including a violent conflict just outside York.

  It sounded like an attempt to halt Arthur’s progress down through England. No one knew how it had ended, however.

  Every soldier there had died in some small, chaotic section of the battlefield, with little or no knowledge of everything else going on around them.

  ‘I could, you know, ask Morrigan to call up a few spirits again,’ Beth said as they clomped past an oil-blackened tank, its tracks broken and askew. ‘We could see if there are any amongst ’em that could give us more details of what happened to Arthur.’

  ‘Too risky,’ Galilee replied bluntly. ‘Until we get a better idea from Canola of what’s actually happening between you and Morrigan, we’ve got to assume she’s still capable of wresting control from you if you give her too much leeway. Besides, I doubt if she’d be so helpful. She’ll be wanting to make amends with Horus, not rile him further.’

  ‘If she’s still so dangerous, shouldn’t I, well – well, wouldn’t it be better if someone just killed me?’

  Even though she was trying to help by saying this, she found it hard to say it. The only thing that forced her to make such a morbid suggestion was the thought of her mum being under Morrigan’s control.

  ‘Or, if you don’t think that would help, couldn’t I be trapped in something? Like Barry in his stone?’

  ‘Horus probably has the capabilities to release you from anything we’d trap you in.’

  Galilee took her suggestions more seriously than Beth had secretly hoped he would.

  ‘And we don’t really know if your death would take Morrigan with you, or release her. So it makes far more sense that you stay alive, Beth, and try and keep control of her!’

  He smiled, an expression that clearly showed this was what he really wanted.

  Beth felt relieved yet also somehow cowardly.

  After all, Galilee had risked his own life to save hers.

  Entering the third door had been as dangerous to him as it was for her. Yes, a human would be driven insane by the fulfilment of everything they believed had been denied them, whereas any magical being would be capable of resisting it for a while; but Galilee had had to stay inside for so much longer than was advisable for even the most powerful spirits.

  He had only survived, he had explained to Beth, because he now had so much responsibility he really did feel that the only thing denied him was his freedom.

  Galilee’s smile gave Beth the courage to ask something that had been puzzling her since they had managed to escape Horus’s pyramid.

  ‘Why did you rescue me from Erewslen? Not even Morrigan could have caused any trouble as long as we were trapped in there. And changing into Machal; you didn’t know it wasn’t going to kill you.’

  The smile ne
ver left his face, but now there was a touch of wariness to it.

  ‘Well, I…I must admit I had my doubts. Particularly when I heard that Morrigan had – well, how can I put this? Used you to try and attract me?’

  Beth blushed. She had noticed the word ‘try’.

  ‘I…I think she was joking, you know?’ Embarrassed, she wanted to change the subject slightly. ‘So, what changed your mind?’

  He leaned closer towards her as he reached into his coat pocket.

  ‘What else? I tossed a coin, of course.’

  There was a blur of sliver in the air above his hands as he flipped a coin. He caught it on the back of his hand.

  A large eye contained within a triangle had been drawn across the coin’s embossed head.

  ‘The devil’s own luck, eh?’ Galilee said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

   

   

  *

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Chapter 79

   

  Stripping down to her underwear, Beth slowly walked out into the lake’s water.

  She expected the water to feel cold, even freezing. Yet it was warm and welcoming, rushing over her like a second skin.

  Perhaps, just as she had picked up some of Lynese’s powers over water, she had also taken on some of her mermaid-like qualities too.

  As she threw herself into a shallow yet graceful dive, and the waters totally enveloped her, she felt strangely at home. She swam easily.

  She remained underwater, finding that she could breathe as naturally as if she were in air.

  She could hear Canola calling to her.

  Beneath the waters, Canola’s cry was even more musical and seductive than when it had drawn them to the whale marooned in the rain-soaked field.

  Beth swam towards the sound. The sound swam towards Beth.

  A dark shape loomed before her in the water.

  Beth spun around, coming alongside Canola’s great, smoothly streamlined bulk.

  The wailing became a greeting.

  Beth smiled, running her hands gently along Canola’s silky, responsive skin.

  First there was an inner tingling.

  Next there was an incredible awareness of every part of her body; how it all worked together, how much of it was now redundant.

  Then there came a sense that she was something more than herself, something she could reach out to, something she didn’t quite understa–

  Hello Beth.

  Morrigan?

  No. She giggled musically. This is Lynese. The real Lynese.

  Beth was naturally suspicious.

  That’s impossible!

  It’s Morrigan who’s trapped inside me, not Lynese.

  I know that now. Lynese was killed by Morrigan; by you, Morrigan!

  The voice giggled again. It was a gentle laugh, not mocking.