Vale of the Gods

by A. E. Rayne

  Darroc.

  ‘Ayla! Get back to the wagon! Find Darroc! He may be able to help us!’ She spun around, looking for Fyr who had not returned. ‘Leave the tents!’ she yelled. ‘There’s no time!’

  Karsten wasn’t sure how he felt about that. There were no flames that he could see, and he didn’t want to be sleeping on the dirt.

  ‘Karsten!’ Jael grumbled, sensing his reluctance as she ran for Tig. ‘Leave the tents! Get the catapults and the wagons attached! I’m going to ride back and see how close it is!’ They’d always prepared to leave in a hurry, and though their tents would be missed, there was not much else that they’d have to leave behind.

  She spurred Tig on, down the road before quickly pulling up on the reins, her eyes on the thirsty flames reaching up into the night sky.

  The forest was burning.

  Edela was up on the ramparts, her eyes on the forest, the trees aflame.

  Ulf and Bram were down in the fort organising buckets of water. Gant was beside Edela, wanting to know what he should do. It looked like a fast-moving fire. The trees were crackling in the distance, louder than the panic in the fort, the smoke already creeping towards them.

  ‘Can you stop it?’ Gant wondered. ‘Can the gods?’

  Edela’s head was still hazy from the herbs smoking her fire. ‘I will go and see. But you must come with me. I need to secure the circle again.’ They had been in and out through one hole, and Edela wanted to seal them back inside and keep them safe; all of them except those men who would stay on the ramparts to keep watch.

  Gant was worried. Locking them inside the fort didn’t sound like the best plan with a fire bearing down on them. ‘It’s not magic, though, is it?’

  ‘It’s Draguta,’ Edela breathed, certain in that knowledge. ‘That fire did not start on its own, but fire in itself is not magical, so I’m not sure what we can do to keep ourselves safe from it.’ Edela needed to think quickly. ‘Come, let’s get back to the hall. We need a plan!’ She swallowed, hoping she would be able to come up with one quickly.

  Astrid was trying not to panic. She kept reminding herself that Jael was out there, working to keep them safe. And Ayla was crouching in front of the fire, seeing what she could do too.

  Bruno had been given the drum. He tapped slowly, though his body was shaking and he kept wanting to go faster, but he knew that what Ayla needed more than anything was a steady rhythm, something to keep her in a trance. He held his breath, trying not to cough, though the smoke was intense, from their fire and now, from the one outside too.

  Ayla could hear his thoughts, and Astrid’s, and it wasn’t helping her as she stepped into the darkness, wanting to find her way to Darroc, who was no friend of any Tuuran. She kept turning, looking for some sign as to where she was, but she was confused, not sure where she had ended up. She could hear the loud crackle of a fire tearing through the trees, branches snapping, leaves sizzling.

  But she couldn’t see anything.

  Smoke was swirling around her, and Ayla was almost swimming through it as she pushed on, finally coming out the other side. Out of the forest.

  And there she saw a fort.

  Andala.

  49

  ‘We must stay,’ Edela decided as she walked back into the hall. She cleared her throat, wanting to strengthen her voice. ‘We will stay inside the fort! Inside our circle! The circle will stop the fire!’

  She saw the terror in Gisila’s eyes as she gripped Branwyn’s hand.

  The fire in the middle of Edela’s circle was still burning, Eydis and Ontine standing behind it. ‘Girls! We will get to work. There is much we can do to disrupt Draguta, I’m sure.’ She felt fear, but anger was also coursing through her veins now. And motioning for Entorp and Biddy to hurry back into the circle, she closed it after them. ‘Drum, Entorp! Drum!’ she demanded, easing herself down onto the ground. ‘Close your eyes, girls! Quickly now. More herbs, Biddy! Throw that second pile onto the flames! Hurry!’

  Ayla stumbled down from the wagon towards Jael who was off Tig, organising everyone to leave.

  ‘What happened?’ Jael grabbed her arm, disturbed by the look on her face. Then she saw it herself. ‘Andala.’

  Ayla nodded. ‘I couldn’t find Darroc, but I saw Andala. The forest is on fire.’ She shuddered, listening to the crashing of burning trees in the distance. ‘We can run but they can’t!’

  Bile rushed into Jael’s mouth. ‘Darroc!’ she yelled. ‘Darroc!’ Her eyes were up on the smoky clouds. ‘Darroc! Your owls will die! Your home will burn! Darroc!’ But even if he heard her and helped her, what could they do for Andala?

  Then she heard his voice, booming in her ears. ‘You have to choose, Jael Furyck! Who will live, who will die. I cannot help you all.’

  Jael felt the earth moving beneath her, and turning, she saw Darroc standing by her tent, watching her. ‘My owls for your family? You think I would choose that?’ He didn’t blink, his hooded eyes studying her in the darkness.

  ‘Your owls can fly,’ Jael reminded him. ‘Save my family, please! Save Andala. You’re an Oster god. Save your people. We will run!’ And watching him nod slowly, she turned away, doing just that. ‘We have to leave! Now!’

  Aleksander didn’t know who Jael had been yelling at, but he was immediately by her side as Ayla hurried back to the wagon. ‘The catapults won’t move quickly.’

  ‘No.’ Jael grabbed Tig’s reins, throwing herself up into the saddle. ‘So we’d better get them moving, hadn’t we?’

  The cackling voice told Edela that she was in the wrong place.

  She was nowhere.

  Smoke was pumping in her lungs, and she was nowhere.

  ‘You will live, Edela. Your granddaughter chose you. You over herself. You will live, but Jael?’

  And Edela was falling, tumbling through the air, wind rushing past her ears. They ached, and she felt as though she would vomit. Flashes of light. Bursts of heat and she fell onto her elbows, crashing to the ground.

  Her beating heart, her struggling lungs.

  Edela spun around. Alone.

  Alone in a vast pit, like a long riverbed, stretching towards an ancient tree.

  But there were voices. Like a hum.

  Chanting.

  Edela crept towards the tree, slipping on loose gravel, feeling the sharp rocks jabbing into the soles of her boots. Moonlight glowed brightly, and she could see shadows, hooded figures who circled the tree like standing stones. Dark, mysterious shapes. And one dressed all in white.

  And then that voice.

  ‘Your granddaughter is coming for me, Edela Saeveld! And when I have finished with her, I am coming for you!’

  The flames were moving faster than the catapults. Three had been abandoned already.

  ‘We’re going to have to leave them!’ Axl cried, panic in his watering eyes. He had raced to the back of their quickly escaping train to see what they needed to do. They could ride, and the men could run, slowly, in their armour. And the wagons could even move at pace if pushed, but the catapults? Axl looked sick. ‘We’ll have no chance without them!’

  ‘I suspect that’s the point!’ Jael shouted over the noise of the hungry fire and the yelling men who were trying to pull the catapults away from it. ‘She wants us hobbling towards her! She wants us broken!’ But Jael was not about to lose those catapults. ‘You go! Get up front! Send Karsten and Ivaar to keep an eye on the sea-fire! Get it far away from the flames! Send Thorgils back to me! I need his help! We’re bringing these fucking catapults with us!’

  The fire was hot.

  Jael could feel its heat threatening them in waves that had her dripping in sweat. But after all they’d endured to bring them along, she was not riding away without those catapults.

  Gant was in the square, inside the circle, calling up to the men on the ramparts, listening to the hungry flames devouring the dead trees. And then he felt the snow; tiny flakes, wet on his face. One, two, and then a furious blizzard descended upon the fort wi
th an angry roar.

  Rubbing snow out of his eyes, Gant ran for the hall.

  ‘We’re going to help them!’ Jael was screaming.

  And Thorgils was nodding, trying not to focus on the fire raging towards them. ‘Hurry!’ he yelled at Rork, who released the oxen, slapping their rumps, sending them running. He had power in his arms, and so did the men he’d brought with him. They were going to drag the catapults. Six men on each side.

  Ropes were tied to the frames from the times they’d had to pull the catapults over challenging humps or out of deep holes. Those men were used to the weight of it. But now they were going to have to move it running.

  ‘Faster!’ Jael cried as more men arrived. ‘Pick up the ropes and run! Fast as you can!’ She stared at Thorgils who grabbed his own rope, thick-necked Islanders on either side of him.

  ‘Go!’ he told her, grunting as the weight of the catapult bit.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere!’ Jael yelled back, watching the flames, her eyes bright. ‘Now, pull!’

  Draguta was getting tired of Darroc.

  How was it possible that that ridiculous god could mask himself from her? A bumbling fool like that? A god no one had even heard of before now!

  Still, she thought, trying to cool her rage, her goal had been to hurry the Brekkans along, and, as it stood, they would be hurrying all through the night. The fire was still burning, chasing Jael Furyck and eating her catapults, and there was some pleasure to take in that.

  There would be no rest for those scorched men.

  Not tonight.

  Thorgils tripped. The flames behind him were bright but in front of him lay nothing but shadows and he was on his knees, the man behind him tumbling straight over him. Theirs was the catapult at the back. Perhaps the heaviest. One of only three untouched by the fire now.

  They needed more men.

  Jael was on Tig. ‘Throw me a rope!’ And grabbing it, she looped it around Tig’s neck, sliding off him. ‘Come on! Come on, boy!’ she called, tugging him forward. ‘Pull!’

  Aleksander was there, worried. ‘We’re going to have to leave it!’ he cried, seeing how close the flames were. One look at Jael’s face, though, and he dropped off Sky, grabbing a rope to tie around her reins, tugging her along. ‘Come on!’

  He was right. Jael was worried that he was right. Any breath of wind and the flames would swallow them whole. But they couldn’t lose any more catapults.

  They couldn’t.

  Edela opened her eyes, surprised by how bright the flames from her fire were as they danced and popped before her. She stared at them for a moment, trying to force herself out of the trance.

  ‘What happened?’ Ontine was the first to ask. ‘I didn’t see anything.’

  Edela’s head was spinning. ‘I... I was at the vale. Draguta was there with Followers... so many Followers. Chanting. I heard her... Draguta... she said that Jael had saved us.’

  ‘Jael?’ Biddy was confused. ‘How?’

  Edela coughed, bending over. ‘Water,’ she croaked, eyes watering.

  And Biddy was off, searching for the water jug.

  Gant came back into the hall, ushering in a cloud of smoke. ‘It’s snowing. A real blizzard,’ he reported with relief, shaking his hair. ‘The fire’s going out.’

  Edela exhaled, sipping the water Biddy had hurried to her, Draguta’s warning still booming in her ears. ‘Well, it seems that Draguta was right. Jael did something to save us.’

  Gant looked troubled. ‘But what about Jael and the army? Are they safe?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Edela admitted. ‘I saw nothing.’ She turned to Eydis, who was swaying beside her. ‘Did you, Eydis? Did you see Jael?’

  Eydis’ head was hazy. She had been searching for a way through to Jael or Dara Teros, but she’d been unable to break through the clouds. ‘No. Nothing.’

  It was troubling, and nobody spoke for a time; the sound of the snow sizzling the flames suddenly the loudest noise in the hall.

  ‘Well, we can’t attempt the ritual again, not until tomorrow, so there is only one thing for it,’ Edela decided, glancing at the worried faces peering expectantly at her. ‘We must try and get some sleep.’

  They all blinked at her in surprise.

  ‘Sleep?’ Gisila shook her head. ‘After that? I think I need some wine!’

  Having finally rescued their last three catapults from the immediate threat of the flames, Jael gave Tig to Aleksander and hopped into the wagon with Ayla and Astrid. The burning forest could still be heard crackling in the distance, and they knew that they couldn’t stop if they wanted to outrun it, but Jael needed to know what had happened in Andala.

  ‘Darroc stopped the fire before it got to the fort. He made it snow,’ Ayla said.

  Jael looked surprised but relieved, grateful for the water Astrid handed her; her mouth was so dry that it hurt to swallow. ’And they’re alright?’

  Ayla nodded. ‘I think Darroc likes you.’

  ‘Well, if he saved the fort, I like him too.’ The wagon hit a rock, and Jael jerked forward, splashing water into Astrid’s face. ‘Sorry!’

  Astrid wiped her eyes. ‘Don’t be sorry. I’m just relieved that the fire is behind us.’ Her heart was still racing with panic, her hands shaking.

  ‘For now,’ Jael said, suddenly exhausted, ready to collapse into one of the comfortable-looking beds in the corners of the wagon. ‘Though we can’t stop. Not now. We have to get to the vale before Draguta conjures up something else. We have to keep going through the night.’

  It felt odd to say. Part of Jael didn’t want to get to the vale at all.

  The idea of seeing Eadmund kept her body tingling with both nerves and excitement and the trepidation of what was to come.

  The end, she knew.

  The end was coming.

  After the irritation of Darroc’s interference, Draguta couldn’t sleep, therefore no one else would sleep either. ‘Our enemy is running towards us, so we must prepare! We must be ready and waiting!’ Her voice rose, cutting through the heavy darkness like a blade. ‘Your weapons! Your armour! Make them shine! We are Hestians! The pride of our kingdom stands here, ready to be victorious! To crush our enemies! To write our names in the great sagas!’ She motioned for Jaeger and Eadmund to join her. ‘Now is no time for sleep. Not when our enemy is breathing down our necks!’ And turning for her tent, she curled a finger in Briggit’s direction.

  Meena and Brill were already inside, working away under Evaine’s watchful eye; Ballack standing guard to ensure that no one disturbed them.

  Meena could hear them coming, Draguta’s raised voice peeling through the air like a screeching bird. Brill blinked, panicking as she handed Meena a bowl of blood, trying not to retch.

  ‘You will need to work faster than that!’ Draguta barked as she swept into the tent. ‘Ballack!’ And frowning as the big man ducked his shaven head and stepped inside, she rounded on him. ‘Find more light! How are my assistants expected to see in this dark pit? Hurry!’ She felt a sudden rush of energy, as though the night had been illuminated by thousands of stars. Everything she had worked for and dreamed of... everything was coming together for that one perfect moment when she would defeat her enemies. When she would claim victory over those who had murdered her family. Those who had been disloyal. Those who sought to defeat her.

  It was time to crush them all.

  Dara burst out of a dream, launching herself onto her bare feet. She felt neither hot nor cold, but her body was vibrating. Spinning around in the darkness, she almost lunged at Eloris. ‘I must do something now! Now!’ Looking down at her hands, she tried to think. ‘We have to get through to Edela!’

  Eloris was confused. She held out a hand, trying to calm Dara down. ‘What is it? What has happened?’

  But Dara shook her off, hurrying towards the fire. ‘There is no time! Help me, please! I must try to reach Edela!’

  Ontine had gone with Biddy to make some hot milk and honey in the hope that it woul
d calm them all down enough to fall back to sleep, though Biddy had her doubts. She couldn’t stop shaking, and though the blizzard had stopped the fire, it hadn’t stopped the great clouds of smoke choking the fort.

  She couldn’t stop coughing either.

  Edela took the opportunity to lead Eydis to a corner of their circle where they were able to talk privately. Her eyes followed Sybill who was talking to Derwa, checking her sprained ankle.

  ‘We will keep things to ourselves from now on, Eydis,’ Edela whispered. ‘I feel as though we are being watched. Perhaps from within the fort itself. I don’t have a good feeling.’

  Eydis nodded. Her distrust of Sybill was growing too. Whether that was because of Edela’s fears or because she could feel herself getting more worried with every passing moment, she didn’t know. But she did know that she’d do anything to keep Eadmund and Jael safe. ‘What about Ontine? Do you trust her?’

  Edela turned around, her eyes meeting Sybill’s. She smiled quickly, looking back to Eydis. ‘Ontine has given us no reason not to trust her. She has been helpful. Kind. But I cannot shake the odd feeling I have about her mother, so we will keep things between us. Any discoveries we make, we must hold them close to our chests. Until we know more about Sybill, we will keep them both at a distance.’

  ‘Yes,’ Eydis agreed. ‘Perhaps you should try to dream about Sybill? Take something of hers?’

  ‘Oh, yes, I will. Thank you!’ Edela exclaimed loudly as Ontine approached with a cup of milk. ‘That is just what my poor throat needs.’

  ‘Eydis, perhaps you should sit down?’ Ontine suggested. ‘The cup is quite hot.’

  Eydis blushed, embarrassed that they’d just been gossiping about her. ‘Thank you,’ she muttered, chin on her chest.