Tales of Golmeira- The Complete Box Set

by Marianne Ratcliffe

  ‘And here was me, thinking we were friends.’

  Kylen placed the tip of her own sword next to Zastra’s.

  ‘Why did you try and kill Zastra?’

  ‘What? Why would I do that? I mean, she’s got a little above herself recently, but—’

  ‘Jerenik couldn’t help it,’ Dobery interjected. ‘The mindweavers were controlling him. Hylaz saved us.’

  In front of them, three cloaked bodies lay in a heap. Hylaz crashed the heads of the remaining two mindweavers together with a loud thump, and added them to the pile. The room was suddenly quiet.

  ‘Five to one. Always were my favourite odds,’ he remarked. ‘Reckon my skull is too thick for them mindfoggers to get through.’

  ‘I’m grateful for it.’ Zastra massaged her throat gingerly.

  ‘Me too,’ said Jerenik. ‘Ithgol would be most upset if I killed you.’

  ‘I’m glad Ithgol’s feelings are your main concern.’

  They found two large cells, one packed with Sendoran prisoners and another filled with frightened youngsters, but there was no sign of Zax. One of the Sendorans directed them towards the rear of the dungeon. They found Zax lying on the floor of a cell that was fronted by vertical iron bars. He was alone.

  ‘Zax! Are you all right?’ Kylen rattled the bars furiously. ‘I need to get in.’

  Zastra called for Jerenik. He leaned over the body of the square-faced gaoler and tugged at his belt.

  ‘Here you go.’ He tossed a set of keys to her. Zastra hurried towards Kylen and tried each key in turn.

  ‘Is he all right?’

  ‘Does he look all right?’ Tears were streaming down Kylen’s face. ‘Look at him.’

  Zax lay lifeless on the floor. At last Zastra found the right key. Kylen burst past her and fell upon her brother. He twitched in response.

  ‘Thank the stars,’ cried Hylaz. ‘He’s alive.’

  Kylen stroked the hair from her brother’s face.

  ‘Zax, my brave boy. I’m here.’

  She clung to him, oblivious to the loud clattering that caused the rest of them turn back to the dungeon entrance. The Bractarian Guard poured through the broken door, black-cloaked mindweavers mixed in with them. Jerenik slumped to the floor.

  ‘Not again.’ Zastra sighed. She tossed the keys into one of the cells containing the Sendorans and re-drew her sword.

  ‘Shall we, Hylaz?’

  ‘Why not?’ the big Sendoran responded. ‘There’s only about forty of them. No problem if you can fight like a Sendoran.’

  Zastra reckoned Hylaz knew as well as she did that they stood no chance against so many, but they stood together and prepared for the onslaught. Before they could move, they were brushed aside by a swarm of released Sendoran prisoners, unarmed but mightily angry. Their fury took them beyond the first of the Bractarians. Weapons were ripped from startled hands and bodies trampled in the crush.

  ‘So that’s fighting like a Sendoran,’ Zastra said with a shudder.

  Only four guards and a single mindweaver made it through the throng. The mindweaver was too shocked and terrified to even try and control their minds. Hylaz and Zastra dealt with them easily enough and Jerenik opened his eyes.

  ‘Um… sorry?’

  Zastra hauled him up and dusted him off.

  ‘Don’t worry. You didn’t try and kill anyone this time.’

  ‘Where’s Dobery? And Kylen?’

  They were both still with Zax. Dobery laid a hand on Zax’s head.

  ‘I can remove the implanted nightmares, but his mind has suffered great trauma. We must get him to calm and safety as soon as possible.’

  A massive blast reverberated around the dungeon. The walls quaked and dust showered down from the ceiling. Dobery looked up in alarm.

  ‘What in the stars was that?’

  ‘Sintegrack,’ Zastra answered grimly. ‘We must help the others. We didn’t plan for this.’

  ‘This is not good,’ muttered Jerenik. ‘Not good at all.’

  ‘I can’t leave Zax,’ Kylen protested. ‘Not now I’ve found him.’

  One of the released Sendoran prisoners stepped forward.

  ‘We will look after Lord Zadorax.’

  ‘You can barely stand,’ Kylen protested.

  ‘We can do enough.’ The woman gestured for some of her companions to join her. ‘We’d die before we let anything happen to the lad. There’s enough of us to keep him safe.’

  Another explosion rocked the dungeon.

  ‘If we don’t capture the sintegrack, Justyn and the others won’t stand a chance,’ Zastra insisted.

  ‘Come on then,’ said Kylen grimly. ‘It’s time to find the person responsible for this outrage, and make them pay.’

  Chapter Fifty

  Rastran chewed anxiously on a thumbnail as he stared out of the window. The four rebel ships had dropped anchor and were disgorging men and women. His garrison had scored some hits with their catapults, but failed to stop the rebels from entering the harbour. He would punish the incompetent captain severely when this was over. It was fortunate they still had the sintegrack.

  A servant arrived with a cup filled with brown liquid. Rastran gulped it down. It tasted foul as usual, but moments after swallowing he felt its power coursing through his blood. It was a shame he couldn’t take it every day, but he knew the dangers of too much cintara. His father insisted it only be used in a crisis. This was most definitely one of those.

  The room shook and a thunderous roar rent the air. Rastran’s lip curled upwards. Any rebels that weren’t destroyed by the sintegrack would soon turn tail. He flexed his shoulders and exhaled. He was ready. It was time to show them all what he was capable of.

  Zastra led the others through the corridors of the fortress, following the sound of the explosions. They emerged onto a terrace with a low parapet. Golmeiran soldiers were lobbing large bags of smoking sintegrack over the walls, aiming at the rebels as they tried to climb up to the gate. Zastra made out Ithgol leading the charge, brandishing two scythal blades. One of the bags of sintegrack exploded, wrenching a boulder from the side of the mountain. The huge rock rolled towards the rebels, gathering speed. Those that could dived out of the way as the boulder bounced past them, before crashing into the bay and sending up a huge plume of water. Others were not quick enough. Zastra’s stomach clenched as she saw the devastation the boulder had wrought. Another explosion sent more rocks skittering down the hillside. Ithgol and the others were pinned down, an open target for archers that began to rain bolts down at them from the fortress.

  Zastra sprinted across the stone flagging. If they didn’t seize the sintegrack quickly, their companions would be slaughtered. Kylen and the released Sendorans followed her, wielding weapons wrenched from the dead hands of the Bractarian Guard. The defenders were surprised and outflanked. Their slight resistance broke before the unleashed fury of the Sendoran prisoners. They threw down their weapons and surrendered. The sintegrack secured, Zastra leaned over the edge of the parapet and waved Ithgol and the others forward. Ithgol acknowledged her signal and issued a loud command. The rebels ran towards the gates.

  Nerika emerged from behind Ithgol, a bloody gash across her forehead. She barely flinched as a bolt flew past her chest.

  ‘How about opening the gates, instead of just standing there?’

  ‘Over here!’

  Kylen had discovered a narrow flight of stairs leading down from the terrace to the gate. There were only a couple of soldiers in their way and neither were expecting an attack from within the fortress. Zastra knocked one guard senseless and Kylen dealt swiftly with the other. A huge wooden beam held the gates closed. Outside the rebels were pounding against the gates, increasingly desperate to escape the storm of arrows raining down from the ramparts. Kylen and Zastra set their shoulders to the wooden bar and it took all their combined strength to ease it out of its brackets. They were swept backwards as the huge gates swung inwards under the weight of the rebels.

&nbs
p; Nerika did not appear grateful. ‘Took your time, didn’t you? What in the stars have you been up to? You didn’t even kill the migaradon.’

  ‘We did. It turns out there were two. How did you…?’

  ‘We’ve your Kyrg friend to thank for that.’

  ‘Ithgol?’ Kylen looked at him doubtfully.

  ‘I told you he’d be useful.’ Zastra clapped Ithgol on his back. One of the Sendorans whispered something in Kylen’s ear.

  ‘Take me there. I’ll kill the flekk myself.’

  ‘Wait!’ cried Zastra, but Kylen was already halfway back to the fortress. Zastra tried to follow, but Golmeiran soldiers began to pour down from the ramparts to attack the rebels. She fought her way through and ran after Kylen. Just inside the fortress, she came upon Dobery, backed against a wall by three mindweavers. She picked up a cudgel and bashed one of the mindweavers over the head. As the black form crumpled to the ground, Zastra set about the other two. They were concentrating so hard on their target that they didn’t notice her until it was too late.

  ‘Thank you, my dear.’ Dobery bent over to catch his breath. His hair was awry and his face was grey with weariness. ‘I fear I’m getting too old for this.’

  ‘Did you see Kylen? I think she went after Rastran.’

  Dobery closed his eyes for a moment.

  ‘That way.’ He pointed towards a set of doors at the end of the corridor. One of them was ajar. From within, a strangled cry was followed by an unpleasant laugh. It had been many years since she’d had the misfortune of being in Rastran’s presence, but there was no mistaking that laugh.

  ‘Stupid Sendoran. Did you think you could just come in here and kill me? You and my dim-witted cousin. If only she was here to share your fate.’

  Zastra kicked open the door.

  ‘Looking for me?’

  Rastran was framed by a large window, the light coming from behind him so that his face was half in shadow. Facing him, Kylen was restrained by some invisible force. Even as she tried to understand what was happening, Zastra was lifted off her feet and flung backwards through the air. Her spine crashed against stone, and she found herself pinned to the wall, halfway between floor and ceiling. It felt as if the wall had taken a deep breath and sucked her into it. She struggled desperately, but couldn’t move a single part of her body. Even her fingers were pinned flat against the cold stone.

  ‘As you can see, cousin, I’ve developed mindmoving powers since we last met. Something your mental resistance is useless against.’

  ‘Let them go, boy.’ Dobery staggered through the door, holding onto the frame for support.

  ‘You! Still alive are you, you interfering old fool? Do you think you can stop me? You can barely stand.’

  ‘Look around you, boy. You have lost. Murthen Island is ours. What will your father say to that?’

  Rastran’s lower lip wobbled. Zastra slipped a couple of inches down the wall and she was suddenly able to flex her fingers. Rastran blinked and Dobery flew back into the corridor, his cry of alarm cut off by a sickening thud.

  ‘Dobery!’ Zastra cried, but her old friend did not answer.

  ‘The old fool knows nothing. My father will thank me when I bring Zastra to kneel before him.’

  ‘Dobery was right.’ Zastra forced the words through her clenched jaw. ‘You were always a disappointment. You were given two migaradons – both are dead and we’ve captured the sintegrack. Uncle Thorlberd doesn’t like failure, does he? And you just keep messing up.’

  ‘Shut up!’ roared Rastran. He strode towards her and she felt as if her body was being squeezed into the wall. She couldn’t help crying out as the bones in her left shoulder, still not fully healed, ground against each other. Her cousin exulted in her pain.

  ‘Your bones are mine to control,’ he gloated, taking another step towards her. ‘I know just where to hurt you. He narrowed his eyes and her shoulder burst in agony. She forced herself to speak.

  ‘You’re just… a stupid bully. Thorlberd will never trust you again. He always liked me better than you.’

  Rastran’s smile disappeared and he closed to within two paces of her, his face suffused with hatred.

  ‘Time to die, cousin.’ He closed his eyes. A shadow flew in from the periphery of Zastra’s vision, followed by a thud. Rastran was down. There was another thump. Rastran’s hold on Zastra was released and she slid to the floor. Kylen was holding a wooden chair leg. The remnants of a broken chair were scattered around the prostrate form of her cousin.

  ‘Well done, Zastra.’ Dobery inched back through the door. Zastra’s heart sang with relief to see that he was alive.

  ‘I’m the one that got him,’ Kylen protested.

  ‘Zastra focused Rastran’s hatred on her. It was good thinking. Drew his attention away from you. It’s the only reason you were free to do what you did.’

  ‘As usual, a Golmeiran gets the credit. Still, at least I’ll be the one to kill this coward.’ She raised the chair leg high above her head.

  ‘No!’ cried Zastra, clutching her sore shoulder. ‘We are not murderers.’

  ‘He deserves to die. You saw Zax. Don’t you dare stop me.’

  ‘He shall be punished. But we are not savages.’

  ‘You tried to call me that, once.’

  ‘And I was wrong. Kylen. Wasn’t I?’

  The Sendoran hesitated. With a scream of frustration, she flung the chair leg away, so forcefully it skittered across the top of Rastran’s desk and sent a bottle of wine crashing to the floor, where it shattered. Zastra found some rope and tied her cousin up.

  A loud cheer went up from beyond the walls. Justyn poked his head through the door.

  ‘Zastra. You’re alive. What a pleasant surprise. We’ve taken control of the fortress. What should we do with the prisoners?’

  ‘The dungeons,’ Zastra replied. ‘It seems only fair. This one can go as well.’ She lifted Rastran to his feet. He was just beginning to stir.

  Justyn nodded. ‘Dobery, would you mind helping Pol and Drazan secure the prisoners? We don’t want the mindweavers giving us trouble. I’m sure the Sendorans will be glad to help you, but it pays to be careful.’

  Dobery acquiesced wearily. Justyn turned back to Zastra.

  ‘Come with me. I’ve something to show you.’ He led her out onto the terrace where they had captured the sintegrack and pointed to the top of the tower. As they watched, the standard of Thorlberd was lowered before being replaced by the flag Ithgol had made; the crest of Leodra alongside the Golmeiran hawk. All of Zastra’s old crewmates cheered.

  ‘I’m not generally one for symbols and flags, but I think it’s a fine sight.’

  Zastra walked away, not wanting Justyn to see her emotions and mistake them for weakness. This victory is for you, Father. She found some steps up to the main ramparts, to look out across the island that was now hers. As she did so, she passed a body that looked familiar. She knelt down and turned it over, and let out a low moan. It was Jerenik, his eyes glassy and unseeing. Her heart cracked as she bent over his body.

  ‘Wake up,’ she pleaded, but there was no response.

  She touched his cheek. It was as cold as ice. He was dead. A shadow fell across them both. Ithgol. He crouched down and lifted the body gently.

  ‘I will take care of him.’

  ‘I didn’t think you liked him.’

  ‘He was our comrade in arms.’ Ithgol took Jerenik away. Someone called Zastra’s name. She looked around. Chelica, one of the crew of the Wind of Golmeira was lying on the ground, bleeding from a wound in her thigh. Zastra ran over, calling for help. Sinisa respond-ed, running over and pulling bandages from a backpack. Zastra moved on, looking for others to help. She recognised more faces among the dead. To her dismay she realised that she didn’t know all their names. Yet they had fought and died for her. Her stomach heaved. The bodies of the rebels were outnumbered by Kyrgs and soldiers clad in Thorlberd’s black uniforms. One of the Golmeiran soldiers lay face up, a slight figu
re with a face as white as pure marble. Three moles ran in a line upon his left cheek. Zastra felt a jolt of recognition.

  ‘Gonjik?’ Hot tears began to stream down her face and she couldn’t hold them back. A hand rested on her shoulder. It was Kylen.

  ‘Why are you crying? He’s one of them.’

  ‘I knew him. He’s from Fivepeaks.’

  ‘Was he a friend? A sweetheart perhaps?’

  ‘No… No. I didn’t even like him.’

  ‘Then why are you so upset?’

  ‘I don’t know. He was just a village lad. He didn’t choose to be here. It’s not fair.’

  A stone was dislodged behind them. They turned sharply, but it was only Nerika. Zastra waited for the inevitable cutting remark, but Nerika surprised her.

  ‘Now you know what it is to lead others into battle. It should never be easy. You did well today, Leodra’s daughter. It was a good victory. We should celebrate.’

  ‘Not yet,’ said Zastra. ‘Not until everyone is cared for. Including the dead.’

  Chapter Fifty-one

  That evening they gathered in Rastran’s chamber to share stories. Zax and the other released prisoners had been taken to the Wind of Golmeira where Yashni was taking care of them. Nerika related how they had broken through Rastran’s fleet.

  ‘It was surprisingly easy,’ remarked Justyn. ‘For some reason, they deployed only three mindweavers to their ships. A tactical error. I’m told that Drazan took out one and Polina took care of the other two. She’s very strong. I’ve never met anyone who was her equal, except perhaps Master Dobery.’