by Glen L. Hall
The weapons master wondered what else he might have to face. What allies he might have. He couldn’t get the woman with the silver hair out of his head. Where was she now with her ghostly company? Her voice and frame had been gentle, but she had fought with a strength and speed that he’d never seen before. He wondered about the land she was from. What sort of lands might lie beyond the Dead Water? There had been men amongst her company, but in the main they had been female. Their weapons had been the bow and arrow, but he couldn’t tell what material they were made of. The arrows seemed to obey some unknown physical law. They had again and again struck the dead crow-men in the throat, and this had seemed to finish them. It seemed they knew exactly where to strike, Ged mused. He’d been full of burning fear when he’d come face to face with the dead, but the company had fought them with a courage that was superhuman.
Suddenly he tensed, then dropped to the ground and rolled silently into a hedge in one fluid movement. He lay still, listening. He could see little from his position, but his ears were pricked and his skin crawled with apprehension. He knew that something was out there.
Angry with himself for being preoccupied with his own thoughts and walking into a potentially dangerous situation, he reached for the short swords that were strapped to his back. He could feel the tension building. He slowly rolled onto his side so he could be ready, then froze as a number of low growls broke the silence.
Shadowy figures were moving through the twilight. Ged stayed completely motionless, careful not even to glance in their direction, afraid the slightest movement would give him away. He counted several figures. Some were tall, whilst others walked on all fours. As they moved alongside and then past him, they were close enough for him to make out what they were – or what they looked like. But what were wolves doing in Northumberland? He had heard the Reivers talking about dark wolves in the borders and had heard similar tales on Holy Island, but had dismissed them as rumours. And perhaps these weren’t wolves after all – it almost looked as though some of them had feathers. Then, to his amazement, he saw some of the figures that were walking on two legs drop to all fours, and some of those on all fours stand upright. These were wolves that could walk on two legs.
‘Stay calm, Ged,’ he thought to himself, but his mind was racing. These were beings out of fireside stories. But they were here, now, in physical form, and he was sure they would pick up his scent.
Yet still they filed past and none of them seemed aware of him. Ged was beginning to wonder whether he was actually dreaming when one of those bringing up the rear stopped and turned towards him, its eyes blazing white. It raised its head and began sniffing, growling as it did so. Ged tightened his grip on his swords. He could not hope to defeat so many.
The wolf began to walk back towards his hiding-place, continuing to smell the breeze. Soon it was no more than ten feet away and if it looked down it would surely see him. But instead it looked up.
Out of the sky came a winged shape. From his vantage point in the hedge, Ged couldn’t make out what it was. For a second he thought his mind was playing tricks, as it seemed to fold its wings behind its back and approach the wolf on two legs. Growls and barks of greeting rumbled from both throats. What sort of creatures were out there, wondered Ged. He was relieved when these two left together, following the other wolves.
For long moments he lay where he was, trying to understand what he had just seen. Strange creatures were moving through Northumberland freely. Who would stop them? It seemed the Forest Reivers had been broken.
Finally he left his hiding-place, keeping close to the thick hedge and moving in the direction the creatures had taken. He wanted to make sure that the Reivers weren’t walking into a trap. Howick Hall was still several miles to the north. He would have preferred to travel directly to Bamburgh, an almost impregnable stronghold of the Marcher Lords, but he accepted that there were those amongst the wounded who needed help now and would barely make it to Howick, let alone Bamburgh.
Bending down to examine the path, he realised the wolf tracks had crossed over the hedge. He felt wary – he would have to make sure that the wolf-like creatures weren’t doubling back on him. Seeing a narrow gap in the hedge, he pushed through, stopping just on the edge of a newly harvested field. He could see the tracks clearly as they headed towards a small copse of trees a few hundred yards away. If he followed them, he would be approaching the trees without cover, a prospect he did not savour. But he couldn’t report back to the Reivers without understanding the enemy’s position.
With the sound of the sea fading behind him and the sharp wind dropping, Ged set off across the field. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck prickling and fear slipping its grip around his stomach. As the dark trees loomed out of the twilight, his hand clenched his short sword and he felt the first beads of sweat slipping down the sides of his face.
The clawed tracks left the muddy field and entered the trees. Without delay, Ged got under the cover of the first line of trees and stood with his back to an ash’s hard trunk, listening to the gentle rise and fall of his own breathing. Then he followed the tracks though the silent wood, moving from trunk to trunk, crouching ever lower, his sword poised.
He arrived at a natural fork in the trees and to his dismay the tracks divided, one set going left onto a faint path and the other going off to the right. Ged didn’t like the idea of following one whilst not knowing where the other was going. There was a feeling creeping over him that he couldn’t shake. Somewhere in the back of his mind he just knew he was walking into a trap. He was convinced the wolf that had turned had smelled his scent. It couldn’t have missed him. And yet he didn’t turn or go back. He had a desire to find out what was in the wood – a desire that was smothering the fear that was telling him to stop and the hint, the whisper from a deep part of his mind, that if he went any further there might be no going back.
Night fell as he went deeper into the wood. He had had no idea that it would be so big. Or strange. At one point he thought that the trees were full of unmoving wings. But there was a burning desire to keep going, a yearning that had clouded any alarm. There was also a faint buzzing that could have been the beating of a thousand wings, but he no longer cared, such was his thirst to keep moving deeper into the dark wood. At one point he thought he saw shadows to his left and right, but by now he was running carelessly through the dense undergrowth. At one point he was momentarily startled by his own clumsiness – this was not the way of the weapons masters. Then he was emerging into a clearing where the wolves and the winged creature were waiting.
The wolves were standing on their hind legs, towering above him, whilst the winged thing seemed half-man and half-vulture, its face distorted by a cruel beak. Then the trees erupted and he realised every branch was full of giant crows. Their caws, shrill and loud, filled the wood with horror. He stood in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by a thousand watchful eyes and flapping wings. There would be no way out for him. Not against such numbers. Even if there had been fewer of them, the wolves alone would hunt him down within seconds. He had no time to think how stupid he had been or where he had lost his wits before the crows fell silent and he heard the voice he had been searching for.
‘You are not the one I summoned. Why did you come here?’
Ged felt his swords slip from his fingers and drop noiselessly to the ground. The wood was alive with the trembling of wings and he knew the clearing was thick with magic, as his legs and arms were no longer his to command. He was a simple spectator as crows flew in from all directions and seemed to fuse into a figure standing before him.
A woman was before him and both passion and foreboding pulsed through his body. He wanted to touch her, but she had already immobilised him. He could feel her in his mind and in his body, searching for some truth that he did not know. A flicker of frustration rippled through his body and for a second he thought she would strike him down. Then a voice like wate
r surfacing from the deepest places of the earth flowed freely into his mind.
‘There is one that travels with her that we do not understand. Who is he?’
Ged could not respond, but he found his thoughts flickering through his conversations at the King’s Seat and in the orchard. Round and round his thoughts sped, as if they were on a merry go round, and he could feel her frustration beginning to burn. Then a picture of the ghostly company sent a shudder through him, or was it through her?
‘Elves!’
Hatred flowed through his mind like burning liquid, a poison so powerful he dropped to his knees.
In the trees the crows were calling as one, filling the night with their jeering squawks. Even the wolves let out angry growls.
‘What are Elves doing in the Mid-land?’
The hot liquid poured through his mind and he had no alternative but to release every thought he’d had about the silver-haired woman and her strange companions.
‘The Elves were with my people on the edge of the Sea of Souls two thousand years ago and they left us to rot. They are no better than the Druids or the Faeries.’
He could feel her wrath streaming through him.
‘Does this mean anything to you? Would you understand even if I were to tell you part of the truth?’
He could feel her withdrawing from his mind and stepping forwards, drawing closer to him. Still he could not see her clearly. He was unable of focusing on her face, no matter how much he squinted in the dark.
‘I see you have fragments of the story stitched together by half-truths. So tell me, who is the enemy, Ged Broadflow?’
He wasn’t surprised she knew his name. She had laid him bare. She knew his every thought, and somehow he didn’t care.
Now she was laughing. ‘I have been desired by more than men!’
She was almost within touching distance. He could not tell whether she was a monster or the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. One thing was certain: she had a power he could see, feel and smell. He was both frightened and intrigued. Fearful and excited. He thought she was beautiful and terrible at the same time, and all he wanted to do was touch her, no matter how painful that might be.
‘Now listen well,’ she continued in a voice both powerful and seductive. ‘The Druids are not innocent. Let me tell you something about them. Even now no one knows where they came from, but for a while they reigned supreme. Some turned to the light and others turned to the dark. Those who turned their backs on the light fled to the dark places of the world – places where those who embraced the light could not find them. In the darkness, their magic grew.’
She was now within touching distance of Ged, whose eyes were streaming with the effort to focus on her face. He thought through the haze of his aching eyes he could see black feathers, and when he looked up into her face, there seemed to be scales there, but he also saw a beauty that took his breath away.
‘But in the darkness an unimaginable horror found them. It twisted and broke even their power and filled them with a darkness that kept them alive. They hid in the Otherland until they were powerful enough to march on the Three Lands. Two thousand years ago a great fellowship from the Three Lands journeyed deep into the Otherland, into the Darkhart, and a great battle was fought. The Fall was created then, and the Ruin was locked away behind the gates of the Sea of Souls.’
‘How do you know all this?’ Hearing his own voice took him by surprise.
‘Ha!’ He could feel her anger flicker into life, then burn into his mind until he thought he would scream. ‘How do you think?! I was there. I witnessed it. Go back to your people, Ged Broadflow. We know where they are. I wish to speak to the Keepers of the Druids. There is one amongst them who was also there the night the Fall was born. I wish to speak to him.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’ Ged felt he was slowly regaining control over his senses.
‘They will listen to you. And listen they must. The Keepers do not understand the nature of what they face. So, although another Fellowship of Druidae may come together, they will be led blindly into the Otherland and slaughtered before they reach the Darkhart. The Ruin’s servants will be waiting for them on the other side of the Dead Water. They are there already. I am the Keepers’ only hope. Look at me now.’
As she said the words, Ged’s vision cleared and he gasped in horror. Before him stood not a woman, but a feathered and scaled creature. In the pit of his stomach he began to feel a crawling, a loathing. What was this monstrosity?
As if in answer, she said, ‘I was once the most beautiful of all the Faeries, Ged, but the Ruin’s servants caught me. The Druids who hid in the heart of darkness tried to twist and break me. But they could not. So now I am the Bodika, the Grim-Witch of Reiver legend.’
Ged turned away, unable to look upon her a second longer.
‘Now you know who I am,’ she continued, ‘I ask that you take my message back to your leaders. There is only one left amongst the Keepers who can speak to those from the past. If all goes well, he will arrive at Holy Island in five days. Tell him I need to speak to the one they call Oscar Hood.’
Ged found he could move again.
‘And of course I need the girl. She is our only hope. Now go, Ged Broadflow, and do not look back.’
Ged couldn’t believe he was being allowed to walk away. The wolves were watching him, their eyes blazing in the night. The entire wood was eerily quiet, but he knew a thousand eyes were following him. He left the clearing, unsure what had just happened, but knowing that the woman, if that what she had once been, had only let him live to deliver his message.
As he left the wood, a cold wind soothed his burning face. He would deliver his message, but how could they ever trust a creature whose horde had attacked his people and killed them in cold blood? And if she had been at the creation of the Fall, that would make her two thousand years old…
Questions rolled towards him out of the night as he passed from the field back to the path. There stood a wall of Forest Reivers, their swords drawn, looking out into the darkness.
* * * * * *
Jarl knew something was wrong with Ged the moment he appeared walking down the path. He took the weapons master to a place where they could not be overheard, with Braden only a step behind.
‘What happened?’
‘I met the Grim-Witch.’
‘Are they coming here?’ Braden was already drawing his sword.
Ged was shaking his head. ‘She asked me to deliver a message. They are searching for the girl. She’s caught up in this as much as the boy.’
‘Why?’ Braden demanded. ‘And why are they murdering our people? We haven’t got the girl.’
‘You haven’t got her now,’ Jarl pointed out.
Braden scowled at him.
‘What did she say?’ Jarl asked, turning back to Ged.
‘She said she was with the Druids the night they created the Fall.’
‘That’s impossible!’ Braden’s patience was gone. ‘Enough of this nonsense! She bewitched you, Ged.’
‘Oh yes, she did,’ Ged admitted.
‘Well, then.’ Braden turned away.
‘Wait!’ Jarl said. ‘Tell me what message she wants you to deliver, Ged. You wouldn’t have walked away so freely without it. She must think it’s important.’
‘She wants to speak to the Keepers – not those from the present, but from the past.’
‘From the past?’ Jarl seemed to repeat the words to himself.
‘How can you speak to people from the past?’ Braden was puzzled.
‘There’s no time to explain that now,’ said Jarl, ‘but it is possible. More importantly, why does she want to talk to them?’
‘Does that matter?’ broke in Braden. ‘We cannot negotiate with a murderer. And we need to get moving. If they were to attack, we wouldn’t stand a chanc
e in the open. Not with all these wounded.’
‘That’s true,’ Jarl said. ‘Okay, let’s—’
‘Jarl,’ Ged’s voice seemed a little more urgent, ‘she wants to speak to Oscar.’
Jarl paused. ‘Do you know why?’
‘She says the Keepers don’t understand the nature of the enemy. That if we attempt to go through the Dead Water, the enemy will be waiting. It is what they are expecting us to do.’
‘Why is an enemy who has killed our people warning us of this danger?’ Braden was looking tense. ‘What if this a trap? What if they have sent Ged back to lower our defences?’
Jarl could almost feel the strain in Braden’s voice. ‘We are very much in the dark,’ he admitted. ‘Go and tell Jolan and Bretta that we are pressing on to Howick Hall. We can’t stay out in the open now and we need to get the wounded to safety.’
Braden nodded and left Jarl and Ged staring out into the night, their minds full of unanswered questions.
* * * * * *
The Forest Reivers moved as fast as they could along the coastal path. At this point it was winding its way along cliffs and they could hear the crash of the white waves on the black rocks below. When they reached the place where Ged had left the path and gone into the wood, it was silent. Braden took a dozen Forest Reivers and they spread out across the field, but there was no sign that the wolves had crossed back onto the path.