by R. E. Palmer
Dohl thrust open his arms, throwing the guards aside. With a speed belying his age, he lunged at Elodi with outstretched fingers, ready to choke her. Elodi’s hand went to her sword, but before she could free it, Ruan crashed into her assailant. But Dohl stood firm. He grabbed Ruan by the hair and hurled the man as if he weighed little more than a child. Elodi drew her sword, stepping back, careful not to lose her footing. Dohl stopped. She stood her ground with her sword tip held at his throat. Gundrul and more of Ruan’s men rushed to her aid, circling Dohl with spears leveled. Dohl faltered. He shrank, his spine buckling like the tower as he crumpled to the floor. He groaned into his hands. ‘Stay behind and hide, Dohl. Kill the pretty girl, Dohl.’ He cried out. ‘I’ve failed. I’ve failed my lady.’
Elodi gawped at him. ‘Lady?’ She spun away. ‘The message from Drunsberg stated a sorcerer led the raiders, not a woman.’ She turned to Gundrul. ‘Does this mean we’re up against two wykes?’ She bent over Dohl. ‘Who is this lady you serve?’
Dohl sank back on his haunches. He tipped back his head; his pitiful voice carried to the treetops. ‘Uleva! Dohl failed. Dohl failed you.’
Elodi tugged at his collar. ‘Who is she? Who is this Uleva?’
But the old man ignored her. He slumped forward and whispered. ‘Dohl is tired. Dohl just wants to die.’
Gundrul stepped in, drawing his sword. ‘Shall I grant his wish, ma’am?’
She stayed his hand. Her voice trembled as she panted, catching her breath. ‘No, no, let him live.’ She stared at the tattered cloak, shaking as Dohl sobbed. ‘We’ll take him to Calerdorn. I want him questioned. But put him in chains. We cannot take the risk he might try such an act again.’
Ruan brushed himself down and came to Elodi’s side. ‘Apologies for my failure, ma’am.’
Her heart still raced. ‘Nonsense, Ruan. I won’t hear of it. Who knows what would have happened if you had not intervened when you did?’ Her hand went to her mouth; it trembled.
Ruan took her other hand. ‘Ma’am?’ He led her away from the smoldering huts to the gate in the barricade. She saw him gesture to Gundrul. ‘Ma’am, what next?’
‘Give me a moment please, Captain.’ She stepped outside of the settlement and steadied her breathing. Her eyes still smarted from the heat of the fire, and her nostrils stung from the reek. Two wykes? Could there be two of these creatures? How was she supposed to deal with such foes? She heard Gundrul address Ruan. Elodi brushed the soot from her gauntlet and stepped back inside.
Before they could speak, Elodi gave her orders. ‘Ruan, once this place is no more, I want you and Cubric to head for Calerdorn and take those poor men to the healers. And deliver that man, Dohl, to Wendel and inform him of his… abilities. We need to know what he knows.’ She turned away from the smoke. ‘Gundrul. Select fifty of your men and come with me. We shall follow their trail. I trust Aldorman will have turned back from his pursuit once he perceived their strength. I have to know where they’re heading, whether they’ve split their forces, if the wykes are together, or if they have separate objectives.’ She sighed. ‘I dearly hope it’s not Drunsberg. If they held the wood all these years, we don’t stand a chance of extracting them from the mines any time soon.’
At mid-morning they emerged from under the shelter of the trees to be met by a pale, gray sky, and the unmistakable stench of Mawlgrim Mire barely a league to the north. According to Gundrul, the tracks suggested many hundreds of heavy-booted Ruuk, and two wagons had departed the wood at dawn. It was not the news Elodi wanted to hear. She grew tired, unused to walking under the weight of her armor as they trudged through long, wet grass. She peered ahead, desperate to see Calerdorn’s knights accompanied by Sea Mist.
Gundrul held up his hand. He stopped and crouched to inspect the ground. After scratching over the patch with his dagger, he stood and walked back to Elodi. ‘The enemy continued east, ma’am. So, I should imagine they drove straight at your knights.’
Elodi closed her eyes. What chance did Aldorman stand against the evil emerging from the trees? If the lady from the tower could possess Dohl to brush a man the size of Ruan aside with ease, what could she achieve with an army of Ruuk? And if the two wykes had worked together… She opened her eyes, but the bleak landscape had not changed and offered no hope. She had mustered half the strength of her precious few knights only for them to face an evil from the old days. She trusted they had had the good sense to turn tail and flee, and not harbored noble thoughts of holding their ground for the sake of the realm’s honor.
Gundrul paced the flattened grass. He waved his arm to the north. ‘There are tracks that way.’ He took a few steps. ‘And more that way. But no sign of a skirmish, and obviously no casualties.’ He ran a hand across his chin and strode further from the trees. Elodi followed until Gundrul eventually stopped and held up his arms. He called over his shoulder. ‘Aldorman formed his line here, two-deep. But they didn’t engage, ma’am.’ He strolled a few paces, checked both ways, then walked back to Elodi, deep in thought. Gundrul looked up. ‘Your knights split and left in three different directions.’
Elodi trod carefully over the trampled grass. ‘Good. I trust they escaped and were not taken captive. I would hate to see them reduced to the state of those poor guards we found in the wood.’ She checked the mud churned by horses heading north. ‘Would you say more went this way, Captain?’ Gundrul nodded. ‘Then we’ll follow this lead. Send two scouts after the Ruuk. But they’re to disengage once they can determine the enemy tracks don’t double back, and we know for sure which way they’re heading.’
They did not have to follow the trail of the horses for long. As they approached the brow of a ridge, Elodi recognized a sound she had longed to hear. Sea Mist! Despite her tired legs and weight of her armor, Elodi ran the last few paces to the crest. Below, she counted eight of her knights as they lay strewn across the ground; Elodi noted with a pang in her stomach the horses standing by them outnumbered the riders. Sea Mist nickered on seeing Elodi. He tossed his head and trotted to Elodi’s side. She rested her forehead against his muzzle and patted his neck. ‘Shush… shush. You’re safe, boy.’ But Sea Mist’s wide eyes bore witness to the horrors Elodi and her men had avoided.
Elodi took the reins and led him back to the other horses. Aldorman’s helmet lay on its side next to a prone body. She heaved a sigh as she saw him move. He struggled to gain his feet as he noticed her arrival. He took two steps towards her but fell to his knees, clutching his head. She went to his side. ‘Please, Captain, don’t rise. Stay put, there’s no need to move.’ She kneeled, removed her gauntlets and held Aldorman. His body convulsed as he fought to contain his fear. Gundrul approached; Elodi could not tell whether it was pity or disdain on his lined face.
Gundrul pointed to the next ridge. ‘More tracks led that way, ma’am. I’ve sent two men to round up the survivors and bring them here.’
‘Thank you, Captain. See what you can do for these poor men.’
Aldorman sat up. ‘What happened? Where did…?’
‘Take your time.’ She took her knight’s hand. ‘I’m afraid you bore the brunt of the enemy. They left the wood before we arrived.’
Elodi helped Aldorman to his feet. He straightened his armor. His wide eyes met Elodi’s. ‘Night came. It was growing light when we took our positions, but… but it suddenly fell dark.’ He waved his hand in the direction of the wood. ‘A swirling, dark fog. Came up so fast I didn’t have time to think.’ Two more knights emerged over the top of the ridge. Aldorman stammered. ‘Is this it? Just ten of us?’
‘There are other tracks leading from your position. I suspect there are more.’ She held his arm. ‘What happened here?’
His eyes stayed fixed on the ground. ‘Night came. Night came…’ He paled, shaking his head slowly. ‘No. No, that can’t be right.’
‘Please try to remember.’
Aldorman looked her in the eye. ‘I can, ma’am. I just can’t believe what I saw.’ He stuttered. ‘Th
e night, the fog, there were strange beings in it. Creatures with long spindly arms and legs, dozens of them, moving with unnatural speed straight at us.’ He stiffened to stop his body shaking. ‘We stood our ground, ma’am. The horses held their nerve, and Sea Mist, ma’am. You can be proud of him, even without a rider, he stayed in line.’ Aldorman ran his fingers through his matted hair. ‘But that wasn’t the worst of it. What came next spooked them, and I’m ashamed to say if the horses hadn’t bolted first, I would have given the order to retreat.’
‘You have nothing to be ashamed of, Aldorman.’ The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. ‘I witnessed only a fraction of this evil in the settlement, and I am not afraid to say it chilled me to the bone.’
Aldorman sniffed. ‘Thank you, ma’am. It’s good of you to say, but I feel I’ve let you down. I let those creatures escape.’
‘You let no one down, Captain. I’m certain had you tried to hold your position, we’d be lamenting all of your deaths, and for no gain.’
Aldorman managed a few paces to his horse and stroked its muzzle. He turned. ‘Behind those stick-like creatures, rode a woman on a horse. Don’t ask me how I know, seeing as she was cloaked head to foot, but it was a woman, no doubt in my mind.’ He grimaced. ‘But then she’ — his eyes bulged — ‘she... raised her arms… a mist rose from the ground.’ He clasped Elodi’s forearm. ‘I’d sooner go beyond the Caerwal Gate and venture into the Lost Realms than witness that again.’ He released his grip. ‘Oh, I beg your pardon, ma’am. I didn’t mean to—’
‘Nothing to pardon. Please, can you describe what you saw.’
He took a deep breath. ‘I saw it only briefly before we retreated… bolted if I’m being honest, ma’am. The mist about it swirled, masking it somewhat, but it was another lady, of sorts. A dark figure, tall, three, maybe four times the height of a man. When she raised her head, she had long hair like barbed-whips flaying about her.’ Elodi felt the blood freeze in her veins. Aldorman gripped the reins of his horse. ‘She carried no weapon as far as I could see, but she didn’t have to. Her terrible screams drove us mad.’ His eyes closed. ‘I can still hear the echo, ma’am. A shriek as if all the demons from under the mountain were coming for our souls.’ His head bowed. ‘Thought I was ready for the shadow realms until you came along. To see your fair face was—’
‘The scouts are back, ma’am!’ Elodi turned to see Gundrul striding towards her. He nodded to Aldorman, then spoke to Elodi. ‘The bulk of their force turned north about two leagues from here, and there’s no sign of them diverting back. Must be heading towards Mawlgrim and the border, or possibly to your fort at Draegnor.’
Elodi’s shoulders relaxed. ‘Good, at least it will be easier to keep an eye on them if they’re in one place. I’ll send word to Archonholm. They must hear of this.’ She turned to the trees. ‘We’ll post a watch on the wood in case it turns out to be a trick and they aim to come back.’
Gundrul grunted. ‘They’ll have to build a new tower.’
‘All the same, I don’t want them back in that wood while I still breathe.’ She looked north. ‘I wonder why they came east first? The way north was open, and it’s a slightly easier path through the mire that way.’
Aldorman straightened as he tried to regain his authority. ‘I’d say they wanted to deliver a message to you, ma’am. They revealed their strength and left you in no doubt we’re up against a formidable foe.’
Gundrul touched Elodi’s arm. ‘Ma’am, could I show you something? It’s… over there, at the ridge.’
Elodi frowned. ‘Be my guest.’ She walked with Gundrul to the top of the ridge; the grasslands beyond never looked bleaker.
Gundrul paced along the ridge. ‘I didn’t want to say this in front of your captain, ma’am. But my scouts reckon the tracks leading to Aldorman’s line were made by one lone horse, one wagon, and about twenty on foot. Their main force didn’t engage your riders. They turned north before reaching your knights.’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘It may not be my place to say, but your elite knights fled from a foe they should’ve easily defeated. Even if one of the wykes led them, they still should have given a half-decent account of themselves.’
Elodi clenched her fist. ‘That cannot be true. Aldorman and his men would never flee from a smaller force, wyke or not. I know my knights, Gundrul and I say they would have stood their ground and apprehended them, if events unfolded as you say.’ She looked back to the direction of the wood. ‘I believe Aldorman came up against a being both dark and immensely powerful.’ The woven faces of the drayloks on the tapestry filled her head. ‘He’s just described to me an entity from the past, a being that came close to overpowering the Archon, let alone a handful of knights.’
Gundrul kept his eyes down. ‘But the ground don’t lie, ma’am. Not unless the bulk of the enemy’s forces had no feet, or’ — he turned away — ‘the creatures only existed inside your captain’s head. But regardless of their size, judging by the numbers we’ve found so far, the Ruuk have swelled their ranks with your knights. They must have been captured, otherwise we’d have found their bodies, or they’d have returned by now.’ He turned to face her. ‘I’m afraid at least a third of your horsemen will soon be corrupted in the head and fighting for the other side before the summer’s out.’
Elodi shuddered. ‘That is most disconcerting.’ She eyed the horizon. ‘Earlier you said the bulk of the force went north. What of the rest?’
‘The horse, wagon and the few Ruuk stayed on course for the east, towards the mountains.’
‘And I guess no signs of those creatures Aldorman sighted.’
Gundrul stared at the churned mud. ‘No, ma’am, nothing. Besides, these monsters he believes he saw were defeated. The archives tell us only the odd wyke, shroul and droog survived the purges, and we’ve hunted down and killed most since then. If any of these beasts still live, they’ll be south of the gate.’
Elodi’s eyes wandered across the grassland. ‘I fear that’s what they want us to believe.’
34. Hope Against Despair
Toryn held his throbbing head in his hands. The sickly, sweet liquid Grebb had forced him to drink, still scorched his throat. But his throat was the least of his worries. The dark dreams the Winter Fever had visited upon young Toryn, seemed harmless compared to those he had suffered of late. They took him to murky depths of his mind that he could never have imagined existed. By his own hands, he had committed atrocities, ruthless and terrible acts, that in his dark state, he had enjoyed.
Toryn tried to push the images out of his head. He shifted his aching bones to roll on his side to relieve the sores on his back. The shriek that dragged him out of his nightmare, still echoed in his head. The creature’s cry came from times past, fueled by the hurt and misery of the bleak times before the order brought about by the recovering Archon. Its scream wrenched all hope from the unfortunate ears it fell upon — it could never be unheard.
He brought his hands to his face and sobbed.
‘Cheer up, lad.’ Two shadows stood before the end of the wagon. ‘Your evening has just got better. The good lady, Uleva, wants to see you before she has to leave.’
The other spoke. ‘Here, you don’t think we have to take him?’
‘Do you see anyone else? Or should we tell him where to find her and let him go all by himself.’ He clipped his colleague around the head. ‘Fool! Of course, it’s us.’
The second backed away. ‘No, not me. I’ve just eaten. I won’t keep my supper down standing next to her.’ He groaned. ‘And it will be morning before I get to eat again.’
‘Then you’ll have to go hungry. Come on! You don’t want to keep her waiting.’
Toryn had no strength to resist as they dragged him from the wagon. The soldiers sitting around the campfire hushed as they drew near. One grinned and slid his finger across his throat. ‘Say hello to the Ice Queen from the lads, eh.’
Another kicked him. ‘Keep it down, she’ll hear you.’
H
is reluctant escorts took Toryn to the edge of the camp, away from the heat and light of the fire. They stopped and grasped Toryn’s arms, holding his sagging body upright. His skin crawled as the air chilled at the threat of Uleva’s arrival. Their hands trembled as they drew a sharp breath and turned away. The air shimmered as the hooded Uleva stepped out of the gloom. Toryn twisted away and clamped his eyes shut, dreading what stood before him. She clicked her fingers. His head snapped back to face her; his eyelids shot up into his skull. The touch of her foul breath froze his face. His stomach convulsed as it remembered the stench of a rotting carcass of a sheep torn apart by a wolf. To his left, the Ruuk lost his supper as predicted.
Uleva took a step closer. A faint, blue glow inside her hood revealed a face Toryn did not expect to see: the face of a young woman, both beautiful and terrible to behold. Smooth skin covered her delicate features like fine silk. Toryn’s fingers tingled as part of him wanted to reach out to caress her soft cheek. He fought back, stiffening his arm to keep it at his side. But no matter how hard he strained, he knew her large, iridescent eyes of shifting hues of blue, could easily break his will.
Uleva tilted her head forward to behold Toryn. At first, he saw a sadness behind her eyes; a longing to be in another place, another time; perhaps even remorse for what she had become. Her eyes flickered. The window to her past slammed shut as Toryn’s shattered, baring his soul. The two Ruuk had long passed out; only Uleva’s will now held him upright. She reached in, offering immortality and power, great power. If he surrendered, in return, she would grant his many secret desires. The life left in his body, seeped from his fingers and toes, retreating up his limbs into his stomach. It rose to his heart, through his throat and into his open mouth. Toryn knew this to be his soul. Uleva craved it. He took a step towards her, ready to offer her everything. Toryn faltered. His legs stiffened as the last fragment of his resolve drew him back from the gaping maw, refusing to yield what she sought.
