by Amanda Fleet
“Where?” His leathers should have protected him.
Faran struggled to get up. “Head. Shoulder,” he gasped.
“Get your arse back into the bothy and use salve.”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“Do as you’re fucking told!” I scanned the area. One guy I thought I’d dealt with was getting up, albeit groggily. “I can handle these but no more and I think Aegyir’s on his way back with reinforcements. I need you healed, so shift your arse. Now!” I caught my breath as a kick landed on the back of my thigh. The guy who’d fled was back.
I whirled my sword frenetically, making the two men give me a wide enough berth to cover Faran. He tumbled back through the door of the bothy, and I hoped like hell that he would heal quickly. I wasn’t convinced I could hold out against the remnants of the mob. If Aegyir returned with more, we’d lose.
The two men advanced together.
“Aeron?” Fear shook his voice.
I dared a glance behind me. Blood poured down his face from a gash that ran from his crown to his ear. He didn’t look as if he could use his left arm properly either.
“Get that fucking salve on. I could beat you and your father; I can beat these guys.”
I was trying to convince myself as much as him. The two reached me. One tried to knife me, but the blade bounced off my leathers, giving me the chance to kick him in the balls and drive my knee under his chin as he doubled up. I smashed him in the face, and he sank to the turf. The other man grabbed me and slammed me into the stone wall of the bothy. Two punches to my solar plexus left me dry heaving. Over his shoulder, I could see several motorbikes and a jeep on their way towards us. Aegyir stood on the footplate of the jeep, one hand holding the rail next to the door, his long coat flapping in the wind. I didn’t think any of the vehicles would have the power to get up the rocky scree to us, but would that buy us enough time for Faran to heal?
“Faran? How are you doing?” I gasped, dodging a fist but finding myself dragged upright by my hair. I spat in the man’s face and got punched in the ribs for my effort. I squirmed away and shot a glance into the bothy. Faran was working salve into his shoulder, his face ashen. I wasn’t going to be able to hold on for much longer. I cried out as something solid hit me in the back of the leg, and I crabbed sideways just as my attacker swung the axe. In desperation, I stabbed him. His breath rasped and wheezed, and he collapsed on top of me, blood bubbling in his mouth. The smell of blood made me retch, and I rolled him away and leaned on my knees, shivering with adrenaline.
Five dead. The rest disabled, but two of them might die soon. Aegyir was close with reinforcements. The bikes and jeep had been abandoned at the bottom of the hill and their passengers were now striding towards us.
A low moan from Faran distracted me.
“Hang in there,” I called over my shoulder, stifling a sob. “We’ll have more company soon.”
The man I’d stabbed in the throat gurgled and his eyes turned to glass. A light golden glow danced around Aegyir.
I braced my legs and waited for hell to arrive.
26
Aegyir sauntered towards me, smiling.
“Well. I see two Guardians, not three, and no Realm soil here,” he said, his voice silky. “And one of the Guardians – and no disrespect to you, Aeron, but the one who is a mighty warrior and might actually be a match for my friends here – appears indisposed. You cannot kill me. I cannot take your energy. I cannot take his… yet.”
He raised his arms and threw his head back, his eyes closed. As one, the men rushed towards me.
I fought on reflexes alone. The first man fell as I slashed him across the face and my blade sliced the middle of a second man. Too deeply. A faint glow haloed around Aegyir. A chop to the shoulder of a third man disarmed him before one of the horde caught me off guard and smashed me in the face with a club. My head rang and I staggered back, dropping my sword, desperate for Faran to join the fight. He’d moved to the doorway of the bothy, defending his position valiantly, sword in his right hand. I’d fought with him enough times in my lives to know he was pretty adept, even using his right, but was nowhere near as devastating as he was with his dominant hand. Before I could fret any more about him, a second blow landed on my shoulder, and I collapsed on the ground.
The man with the club advanced, weapon raised, and I snatched a dagger from my belt and hacked at the tendons at the front of his ankle. He yowled and limped backwards. Before I could regroup, a baseball bat arced towards Faran’s head. He raised his arm to deflect the blow, and his bones cracked audibly as the bat connected. I watched, my heart in my mouth, expecting him to be overrun by the mob.
He roared to his feet, and I could have sobbed for joy. I turned back to see what was coming next for me and found Aegyir crouched at my side.
“Time,” he breathed, his eyes glinting.
I glanced up. An axe was splitting the air and, any second now, it would do the same to my neck. I leaned back, only to find my spine against a boulder. All of a sudden, the arc of the blade changed, and a head landed on the turf next to me. It had belonged to the man with the axe.
“Oops,” said Aegyir, as a fiery glow encircled him.
“Faran!” I yelled, desperately trying to get up.
“Let me help you.” Aegyir held out a bony hand and grasped the front of my jacket, hauling me to my feet. “You need to see this.”
“Faran!” I screamed, warning him as he battled two large men. To my dismay, several corpses lay on the ground near him, and Aegyir glowed brightly. Faran felled one of the men and knocked the other sideways, then turned to me.
“Let her go!” he bellowed, striding forwards, the blade of his sword dripping blood.
I wrenched myself free and hurled myself between Aegyir and Faran. Faran caught me around the waist and pulled me back against his body, holding me up. Aegyir blazed like a torch, and my heart plummeted. He was powerful enough to reach into Faran’s chest and take his energy, and if he did, I would never be able to defeat him.
I took stock. Faran was back to full strength, near enough. I wasn’t anywhere close. Aegyir couldn’t get to Faran because I was in the way, wearing the talisman. The remainder of Aegyir’s army – half a dozen men or more – separated us from the nearest bike. Faran adjusted his grip on me. My legs were made of string. They wouldn’t get me two paces, never mind to the bike. I grabbed the last knife from my belt.
“Faran. The great warrior. The next Lord of The Realm. Using his wife as a shield,” mocked Aegyir, strolling towards us. “Tsk, tsk. Hardly a great model of leadership.”
I leaned hard into Faran to cover him.
Aegyir stood a pace away. The remains of the mob that weren’t maimed or slaughtered stood by as if awaiting commands. Faran’s breath hissed and his posture stiffened.
“Don’t let him rile you. Can you get us out of here?” I urged.
“Can you walk?”
“No. Leave me. Get to the bike. Get back to The Realm,” I said, sounding braver than I felt.
He snorted. “There are several flaws in that plan. Not least that I don’t know what a ‘bike’ is. And I will never leave you.”
Aegyir tilted his head. He was back to smiling beatifically at us and I wanted to hack his face off.
“Put her down and fight like a Guardian and not a cowardly Outsider.”
I stole a glance over his shoulder, estimating the distance to the bike. Aegyir needed no second opportunity; he stepped in and kicked me in the kneecap. Faran’s sword flashed up a fraction too late, and I slithered to the ground in the split second that Aegyir pressed his fingertip into Faran’s forehead. The touch lasted for just a moment, but it was enough.
“No!” I screamed, driving myself to my feet as Faran sagged behind me. I stabbed Aegyir in the neck, the blade biting down to the bone. Smoke poured from the wound.
Aegyir turned to me, eyes burning. “Well, Aeron. I will have your soul. I will have his. Two promises to go. You’d b
etter run back to The Realm. Tell them to prepare.”
I launched myself at him, adrenaline powering me on. Aegyir turned and swatted me to the ground like I was a fly.
“You have enough strength to drag him back to The Realm or to fight me. If you try to take me, you have to leave him. You can’t actually kill me without three Guardians, so all you can do is weaken me. And every minute he’s not protected by the trinket around your neck, he’s giving his strength to me. If you take the trinket off, you can protect him from me, but you’ll be under my command. Oops. Your move.”
He straightened, gathered the last of his minions, and marched back down the hill.
Faran lay on the turf, breathing hard. Scattered on the ground around us like tin soldiers were the bodies of almost two dozen men, some bleeding, many maimed, several dead. At the bottom of the hill lay five motorbikes on their sides, alongside the jeep. My stomach churned. Faran’s energy was leaching away to Aegyir. I couldn’t take the talisman off – only Lilja could – and even if I could, I would be Aegyir’s slave, the moment it left my neck. If Aegyir gained all of Faran’s strength, The Realm would fall. Faran peered up, his eyes full of anguish.
I did a quick count. Five motorcycles; eight men heading towards them with Aegyir. None of the men had gone through anyone’s pockets, so the keys must surely still be in the ignitions. We needed to get to the bikes first and pray that my assumption was correct.
“Right,” I said, swallowing briskly before I was sick. “I need you up on your feet and running. See the motorbikes? The things with two wheels?”
“Mm.”
“We’re going to run past Aegyir and his slaves, grab one of the bikes and head for The Realm. I go at the front. You hang on to me. Tightly! Can you manage that?”
“That sounds suicidal.”
“If you’ve got a better idea of how we can get back to The Realm, tell me quickly. Aegyir’s men will take the bikes and the jeep and neither of us can get back to The Realm unaided. Not without spending precious time healing. Can you run?”
He clambered to his feet, staring at the motorcycles. “You can make those things work?”
“Oh, yes.”
“We won’t get to them. They’ll attack us and I don’t think I have the strength to fight back.”
“Faran, you’re built like a brick shit-house. Just barge them out of the way. Enough discussion. Go.”
I shoved him in the back, and we skidded down the track. Ahead of us, Aegyir turned. His eyes locked with mine as Faran and I charged towards him and his men. He flicked his hand, and one of his vassals scrambled towards the jeep. I laughed. “Wrong asset.”
I swiped at the nearest thug, landing only a glancing blow, but I wasn’t about to stop and upgrade my handiwork. I barrelled into another man, sending him sprawling into two others. Faran had done the same on his side. The remaining men formed a protective ring around Aegyir, leaving me and Faran the space to dash the last few metres to the nearest bike. I could have yelled with joy. The keys were still in the ignition. I swung my leg over the saddle and fired the motorbike up.
“Get on!” I yelled to Faran. “Hold on tight to me! Do not fall off! Lean with me, not the bike!”
He slithered on to the bike, and I waited just long enough to believe he had a secure enough hold on me before I gunned the engine, the tyres spitting dirt and Aegyir spitting curses behind us. Faran gripped me so hard I could hardly breathe as the bike bucked and careened down the hillside. Some choice words reached my ear, making me laugh, despite the situation. I’d never heard him swear even once before.
“Keep holding tight,” I said, looking at what the track ahead held for us.
“Believe me, I will.”
Faran was significantly heavier behind me than Finn had been, and, despite my instructions, wasn’t leaning entirely helpfully as I cornered, making the bike hard to handle. I didn’t think I could afford to slow down though. I checked the mirror. One bike and the jeep were following us. Or at least were following the same route down the hillside. They didn’t appear to be in much of a hurry, and I frowned.
“Plan?” asked Faran.
“Get back to The Realm. Raise the alarm. I don’t think Aegyir can storm it yet, but he can’t be far from having enough power.”
“And Father?”
“Won’t have time to do anything to me. By the time he’s had me arrested, Aegyir will have slaughtered as many slaves as he needs and will storm The Realm. Your father needs me to make the triad. And anyway, what other options do we have?”
The bike bounced over a boulder and ricocheted off another. My brain screamed at me to slow down but I didn’t dare. I rattled us down another hundred metres before the track levelled off enough for me to open the throttle and distance ourselves from the chasing pack.
Who turned out not to be chasing after all.
When Aegyir and his remaining slaves reached the path, they turned the other way. I didn’t slow down.
“Are they following?” said Faran.
“Nope.”
I hauled the bike on to another narrow trail. There was no one behind us and I allowed the bike a little mercy.
“Where are we going?” asked Faran. “This isn’t the right way.”
“Says the man who’s never lived here. It’s the back road. It’s a bit longer, but the road is easier.”
The bike ate up the miles and before long we were at the portal closest to the Great Hall. Faran couldn’t get off the bike fast enough, his face pale. I slid off, pocketing the key. I was about to head for the portal when Faran grabbed me by my collar and held me back.
“You need salve. I need salve. It will take ten minutes for us to heal – let them be ten Outside minutes. Once we cross the portal, those ten minutes might give Aegyir time to regroup and gain enough strength to storm The Realm.”
“How much salve do we have?” Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain of multiple wounds flared.
“Enough. Hopefully.” He stripped my jacket from me and tugged my top up, his breath hissing as he saw the extent of my injuries. “How have you been fighting with these?”
I took the pot of salve from him and peered inside. The pot was almost empty. “Damn!” I leaned on my knees, my hand clenched around the jar.
“Aeron? I need to get salve on you!”
“There’s not enough for both of us. Let’s think while we have the luxury of time. When we go back in, what time will it be in The Realm?”
“How many hours have passed since you arrived?”
I totted them up. “Just under twenty-five. Something like that.”
Faran bit his lip. “About twenty-five minutes after you left.”
I flexed my shoulder, trying to ease it. “Aegyir won’t wait for his slaves to die of natural causes. It’ll be shit or bust for him. He’ll kill everyone who can’t fight and get their power. And yours when you succumb.” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard.
I sat back, thinking. If we couldn’t turn Aegyir to mist and trap him, I would lose Faran. He’d fade away, just like Finn had. I rubbed my face, trying to clear my head.
My fingers sought the talisman at my throat. If Faran had been wearing it, he’d have been protected. Could it protect him now? Could it keep him safe until Aegyir was defeated?
My heart sank. The only person who could remove it from me was Lilja, who was in the very place I absolutely could not be, without the talisman on. I blinked, trying to come up with a solution.
I faced Faran. “How are you after Aegyir touched you? And I need an honest answer, not a proud one.”
He smiled wryly at his words coming back to him. “I’m losing strength.”
I sank down on the damp turf and nodded to Faran to join me.
“Aegyir won’t wait for you to die in The Realm – it could take days, which is months out here. If he storms The Realm and you die fighting, he gets your strength, right?”
Faran rubbed his arm, flexing his fingers. “Ye
s.”
“But the link would be broken if you were wearing the talisman?”
His chin jutted. “That would leave you unprotected.”
“I know.”
“No. If you give me the talisman, you can’t make the triad.” He squared his shoulders, ready to argue.
“Is Lord Sondan strong enough to take my place?”
Faran rubbed skinned hands through his hair. “No. I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to risk it.”
I breathed deeply. Shit! How could we square this circle?
“Okay, so, I need to have it back on at that point but until then you need to be wearing it, because if Aegyir gets your strength The Realm is lost.”
“But you’ll be in Aegyir’s power and inside The Realm. You wouldn’t be able to give me the talisman.”
I gritted my teeth. “So we go in, you lock me up, get Lilja to take it off me, and you put it on. Give me salve so I can heal in the cells. When you’re ready to make the triad, put the talisman on me and get me out of the cells. We kill Aegyir and then both of us are free.”
Faran chewed his knuckle. “You know Aegyir wants you as a spy in The Realm. That was his plan all along. Convert you and make it impossible for you to save me without sacrificing yourself.”
“If you’ve a better plan, do share.”
Faran glared at me. I handed him the pot of salve.
“There’s only enough for you,” I said.
“Or you.” He tried to give it back, but I closed my hands and pulled them away.
“Yeah, because I can put you over my shoulder and carry you through the portal, no problem! Strip.”
He peeled off his coat and top, goose bumps rippling across his skin in the cold, and between us we worked as thick a layer of salve into his injuries as we could. His body bucked and flexed as he healed. He groaned as I smeared salve over his shoulder, flinching from my touch.
“Wimp,” I said, jealous that his pain would be gone in a few minutes. The adrenaline that had powered me through the fight was long gone, and now I was shaking, aware of every bruise.
Healed, Faran pulled his clothes back on, and we stepped towards the rock face, me hobbling badly.