Broken Earth

by C M Blackwood

  As her heart began to pound, and her blood began to boil, there came a great trembling of the earth, and the city shivered and shook upon its very foundations.

  ~

  As Lila struck off through the gates, a small host of the company behind gave pursuit. Among them were, of course, Thomas Henry and Harn Fala, who were followed also by Heidi Bastian and Helena Makepeace, Dera Black and David Misaria. Heidi rushed forth with a strange fire in her eyes, that was not red but blue; and though it seemed to fill her with a strength much more than that which she usually possessed, her thoughts were all her own, and were controlled by no greater entity. It seemed as if the very air around her crackled with heat and power; and therefore her three companions rode about her at something of a distance, having already been scalded several times by the white-hot current that flowed from her skin.

  Though none of the other three were, or could have been, taken by this strange phenomenon, they hurried along at just as quick a pace, and managed to look just as fierce and terrible in their own right. Helena and David held aloft the very swords which they used to slay Narken on the plains, and raced on with a savage glint in their eyes that was almost as frightening as the fire in Heidi’s own. David had supplied Dera with a great sword, as well; and though, indeed, she had very little practise with such things, none could have told as such by the way she charged forth.

  Had that small host consisted only of humans armed with steel (formidable as those humans did look), there is no doubt that they would have been cut into pieces, upon clashing with the front lines of the Dúnanen. But Lila and Heidi rallied forth, with arms raised, and bright and terrible lights erupting from their fingertips; and the others followed behind in a second line. Yet few of them were actually able to put their swords to much use, for it seemed that their front line, which consisted of none but those two persons, were doing a greater damage to the Sorceress’ hosts than could have done an army of a thousand swords. The skin of their enemies was melted to a dripping point, as the lights of their hands did strike; and it seemed that great and gaping holes were blown straight through the bodies of both man and wolf. The Lumaria, of course, could not be injured so much that it would affect either their ability to move, or to return blows; but it seemed that the fire of the two Aurens was successful in causing them, at least, a great amount of pain; and so they fell behind in the ranks, to take cover behind the massive bodies of the Narken.

  At the appearance of the furious Aurens, it seemed that the Sorceress had shifted out of sight. She offered no assistance to her forces, as the two women raged through the throng like an unquenchable fire. But it became clear, all too soon, that she had by no means fallen out of thought. Using the bond that she had formed betwixt her own mind, and that of Jade Misaria, she summoned the Auren into the front line of her own army; and watched gleefully as disaster began to unfold.

  At Aerca’s summons, Jade appeared directly before Heidi; and though her flaming eyes could not see what lay before them, Heidi’s certainly could. The fire went out of her hands, and her arms fell down to her sides. Her eyes remained fixed upon Jade; and though Jade, of course, made no sign to her, she seemed unable to put up another defence. Her body and mind went still, in a sort of synchronisation. The dark army surged forth; and like an unmanned boat upon a roiling sea, Heidi was swallowed up in the waves.

  Helena was the first to realise that Heidi was gone. She had disappeared; she could be seen nowhere. Helena cried out to Dera and David, but though all three made the best search they could manage, they could do very little to locate a single body beneath the black stampede that roared over.

  Lila was left alone to push back the hosts. She fought with all of her strength, but could not manage as she had done, while Heidi was beside her. She knew she had few moments left before the lines overtook her, as well.

  Far behind her, a number of Narken had managed to circle about, and were charging directly towards the five swordsmen. Each of these raised their weapon in invitation; and thus began a great dealing of death, as the wolves ran themselves upon their blades.

  Yet they were five against thousands. Up ahead, Lila was failing in the fight, and each moment there came another swarm of wolves around her. It seemed that she, too, would be taken under the waves.

  There came suddenly the sounding of a horn. The five swordsmen chanced a glance over their shoulders; and saw that what remained of Eredor’s Army had abandoned the castle, and was flying forth into the fray. Though their numbers were small, their anger was great, and they charged amongst the wolves and the Southerners like a raging wind. Their blades were swift, and drove through many an enemy’s heart. The five swordsmen cheered, and hurried away to join the ranks of their comrades.

  At the sight of the raging Army, the dark forces fell back a-ways, with great fear in their eyes. This allowed Lila to regain her bearings, and to take up again the fire of destruction, which she cast forth mercilessly into Aerca’s lines.

  Yet these lines were only a few, in the great force which the Sorceress had marched upon Eredor. Only a fraction of them had thus far poured through the gates of the city. It was only a matter of time, and strength, before the remainder of the Army of Eredor was extinguished completely.

  The soldiers called desperately to the men of the city, beseeching them come out of their hiding, and take up swords against their enemy. Of all the men who heard their cries, only about a hundred came out to join them; and while this was better than none, it was no help at all in combatting the dark army. It was, still, only a matter of time.

  The will of the soldiers of Eredor was great; and indeed, in the opening strokes of the battle, very few of them fell. All fought feverishly, and wielded their swords with great dexterity. They felled many a wolf and a Southerner; and fought on, even as their bodies began to tire; though they did see just ahead, their own defeat and demise. There were many hearts just on the verge of failure – when there came to them a most astounding thing, that changed completely the course of the fight.

  The darkness was absolute. The sky appeared as a black canopy, and there was not a star to be seen. Neither had the moon come to aid. Yet suddenly, there came a great flash of light across the sky; and the blackness was changed, for a moment, to white.

  Every creature upon the ground turned its face upwards. For a long while, the sky resumed its unnatural darkness; and the hosts of either side seemed to forget their station. They only stared into the sky, and shivered with a strange cold that had come to pervade the air.

  What came next was even more shocking than had been that bright flash of light. The dark did not dissipate; but there came something suddenly in the sky, that was almost like an opening in the blackness, and through which a pure white colour showed through.

  There was only one person, in all that sea of humans, Lumaria and Narken, that had ever before witnessed what came down then from the sky. And that, of course, was only in dreams; but Lila did recognise, in only a single instant, the first shape that descended down upon them.

  Yet it was three shapes in all that came down, one after another. The greater the distance they maintained from earth, the greater in stature did they appear; but by the time they glided down to the ground itself, they had taken up a height that was quite equal to that of any other man or woman who stood in the crowd.

  Two men and one woman was this party. They lighted upon the ground with no more force than feathers; and immediately a space opened up before them, so that they might pass through to the place where Lila stood alone, facing the greatness of the dark army.

  All three of these arrivals were clad in beautiful white raiment. Their hair shone as gold, and their skin glowed as diamonds. There came a visible radiance from each of their persons, what originated from themselves and spread far out to the crowd on either side. All stood in wonder of them, and looked upon them with fear and awe.

  “Hello, Lila Bier,” said the first man.

  Lila opened her mouth to speak; but wa
s, in the end, too astonished to utter a sound.

  The three arrivals stood one beside the other, creating a sort of glowing boundary betwixt the darkness all around.

  “Shall I call for him?” said the first man to the second.

  “Pray do,” said the second man.

  The first man turned towards the mass of the dark army, and called in a voice that resound like thunder betwixt the walls of the city:

  “Férglag! I know that you watch at no great distance. Come to us, my unfortunate brother!”

  There came, then, a third man to the battlefield. All black raiment he wore; and he contrasted greatly with the three who had summoned him. And yet, if one did not watch closely enough, he seemed to disappear into the backdrop of the night. He spoke with a voice so soft, and so smooth, that none who heard it could have accused it of any evil.

  But Lila Bier watched him carefully; and watched, as he faced squarely the man who had called to him. Again came the memory of her dream. Here before her, in full wakefulness, stood the White One and the Black One. She looked from one to the other in amazement and fear; and took several steps backwards, to place herself out of their circle.

  “Aurelus,” said the Black One, with a curt nod. He then looked to the woman and said, “Arolah.”

  “Hello, brother,” said Arolah.

  Now stepped forward the second man of white, to stand beside Aurelus, and to face the Black One. He shone with a light even brighter than the others’, and spoke in a voice even stronger. Yet his face was very fair; and his eyes bespoke nothing of violence.

  “Férglag,” said he. “You are called here tonight, to look upon the evil and destruction you have caused.” The man looked all about, and his eyes rested sadly upon every fallen body they counted. He asked the Black One, “Do you take pride in this evil?”

  “Very much so,” said Férglag. He had come wearing his mask; and stood presently before the crowd, with a face quite as fair as those of his white opposers. “It is no easy feat, you know – creating such perfect devastation!”

  “You would know best, brother,” said Arolah. Her voice was sorrowful, and her eyes shone with tears.

  “That I would!” exclaimed the Black One. He looked to the second man, who stood still just before him, and asked, “Do you not see even the slightest cause for admiration, Otóvin? Do you not see even the smallest reason, to recognise my greatness?”

  “I see nothing,” said Otóvin, “but misery and death. There is no greatness here, Férglag. There is only cowardice.”

  The face of the Black One waxed pale as death, but then flushed with all the anger of a scorned man; and his eyes glowed red, red with the very flame that held the eyes of his servants.

  Though the Southern men were held still in thrall, and indeed thought no thoughts but those of the Black One, there came quite suddenly a look of confusion and fear into the faces of the Narken, and the Lumaria. They, of course, had always assumed their master to be Dain Aerca. They looked now upon Férglag, and were filled with a fright that struck deep as the bone.

  “Well,” said the Black One finally, taking visible efforts to compose himself. “You and I never did see things in quite the same way, Otóvin. I suppose there is no reason to expect it of you now.”

  Lila turned her eyes to those of the white raiment, and understood all in a moment, that it was not as she had thought it in her dream. The first man, whom she recognised to have fought with Férglag, was not a single force unto himself. He was the opposite, surely, of the Black One; but all of those in white stood together, in a single purpose, against Férglag. Yet the latter stood alone, though with servants all about him – for those servants knew not whom they served, and felt no loyalty. They felt only fear.

  “You shall have only one more chance,” said Otóvin. “Renounce your evil now. Repent! Fall to your knees, and beg forgiveness. Only then will you be spared.”

  The Black One laughed, though his fear was all but evident. “I will do no such thing,” said he. “You are not my lord.”

  “Very well,” said Otóvin. He looked to his companions, and said, “Take up your swords.”

  Each held their hand aloft to the night; and there appeared three flaming swords, round the hilts of which they closed their fists.

  “You – you will fight me?” asked the Black One.

  “We shall,” answered the three in unison. “Fall on your knees!”

  When the Black One answered, he played well at a show of bravery; but his voice quaked where he did not mean it to, and he stumbled backwards several yards from the white swordsmen. Yet he cried out in rebellion, defiant to the last:

  “I shall not kneel!”

  The three fell upon him like a tempest. He called up a sword of his own, black as the hand that held it. He then called to the Sorceress, and to Zana; but only the Sorceress appeared. She took her place beside him, and created a mass of green flames in either hand. These she thrust towards the white swordsmen, to make them fall back; but they came on again with doubled force.

  The dark army had fled to the left and the right, and there opened up around the combatants a great open circle. There could be heard nothing but the deafening ring of their swords.

  Lila watched for a time, enchanted by the Power that flowed within that circle; but soon she came to herself, and fled back to the place where her own Army stood. Nearly all seemed under a kind of spell, and gazed raptly upon the battle. Only Thomas Henry saw her coming, and waved wildly to her. She went to him, and assured him quickly that she was perfectly all right. But then she departed from him, and sought through the crowd for the three companions of Heidi Bastian.

  She came upon them near the South Wall. They had strayed so far, searching for Heidi. But now their horses stood huddled together, and they sat silent. The face of Dera Black was as miserable as Lila had ever seen it. Heidi’s sister was sobbing, and beating her fists upon her thighs. David Misaria took one of her hands; but she would not be soothed.

  To ask if they had seen any sign of Heidi was a useless question. Lila looked long upon Helena, who had taken now to screaming out. She could not speak.

  “You saw nothing of her, Princess?” asked Dera.

  Lila shook her head.

  “Oh, no,” cried Helena, covering her face with her hands.

  Lila reached out, and took her by the arm. “Do not lose hope,” she said. “Not yet.”

  The woman answered her nothing.

  “Come,” said Lila. “Let us search again.”

  Their four horses wound carefully around the bemused spectators. It was almost as if they passed through a garden of statues, what had once been men but were now of only rock and stone. The light of the battle circle had grown, by now, blindingly white, and it could scarce be looked upon without pain of the eyes. Yet Lila led the others on towards it, and they complained of it not.

  The length and breadth of the space that had been cleared at the sight of the fury of the white warriors, had grown now so large, that they had been granted a portion of city street and lane which stretched from the North Wall to the South. Any houses or structures that had stood before in that space, were razed and levelled now. All members of the dark army had fled from the presence of the soldiers of Eredor, and stood now with their own troops, clogged and stifled in what space existed betwixt the battle circle and the East Wall.

  To look upon the battle itself, and to study the movements of the sides of light and dark, there could as of yet be seen no definite advantage. Though the white warriors were three, and the black only two, Férglag’s malice was unequalled. The Sorceress fought beside him, but could not be said to show the same swiftness and strength as did her Master. And yet, each time she fell, she rose up again; and was not yet beaten.

  Lila ventured farther into that fiery circle than did any other. She drew so near to the combatants, she could verily feel upon her skin the fierce wind made by their great swords. Yet she moved on and on, determined not to halt till she h
ad found what she sought. Each host had moved away in its respective direction; and as the dark army lay to the right of the battle, so did the Army of Eredor lie to the left. The light of the battle reached far to either side, but there were areas of shadow too, which required a thorough search for a definite declaration of emptiness.

  This was the task which Lila and her three comrades set themselves to; though the others, despite their desire to locate their friend, did not dare hazard so far into the circle as did Lila. It was no surprise, then, that it was she who caught first sight of Heidi Bastian.

  With the parting of the hosts, the place where she had fallen grew clear, as well. She lay upon the blood-soaked street, just outside the circle of light.

  “Heidi!” cried Lila, dismounting her horse and flying on foot through the space that separated them. She dropped down to her knees beside the fallen woman, and repeated her name; but there came no answer to her waiting ears. She looked back towards the host of Eredor, which lay some half a mile away. Helena and the others stood at the head of the host, and looked desperately to Lila; but there had come a great amount of white fire from the swords of the warriors, that had alighted upon the street, and formed an impenetrable ring round the battle. Lila could see there, standing alongside them, her own dear brother; but as he stood safe beyond the ring of fire, she chose at that moment not to worry over him.

  She and Heidi were the only occupants of the ring, save for the fierce fighters who dueled a short distance away. Ever and anon, there came a hot spark upon Lila’s raiment, or into her hair, and in either case she made quickly to put them out, so as not to catch full on fire. Some she lost track of, and for such suffered a singed scalp, and many holes in her cloak that burnt down to the skin. Yet her attention was caught upon Heidi, and she could notice little else.

  There could, indeed, have been little worse in Heidi’s condition. She was covered all over in blood. It stained her skin, and matted her fair hair. Her legs had been trampled, and broken in many places. Of her arms, she had only the function of the right; but the hand had been crushed. The bones of her chest seemed in a terrible state. She held the crushed hand to her heart, as she breathed shallowly, in and out. Whatever splinters of bone there were inside her breast, seemed to have pierced some amount of the flesh that surrounded them, and there came a steady trickling of blood from the left side of her mouth. Her eyes opened and closed, but seemed not to see.