Osrik, Vadania and Rangrim stood shoulder to shoulder facing the machine, weapons raised. Their heads finally clear of fog, it was time to shut it down. The ancient device began to clunk once again. Its pistons fired furiously for a moment before it slowed and slowed. The metal stopped scraping, and the loud clunking halted.
It was hard to see at first amidst the noise from the machine, but after a moment they saw a hand resting against its side. It emerged from a narrow crevice beside the device. Mirrah slowly walked out from the opening.
Chapter 24: Ego Incognita
Feet thud, eyes glaze, head aches. Hand twitches, blade slashes, bodies fall. Mind numbs, sense fails, heart wails.
Red sands sink through a gaping hole. The moonlight sets it aflame under the world, a glistening waterfall in a netherrealm.
The horned spider’s face appears again and again, its web widening everywhere I look.
A hill collapses, eaten by a devourer. People look the other way. Do other things.
A girl falls from a cliff.
I see these memories in front of me clearly. I do not recognise them, but they are co-present with me on my journey. I am now unanchored from time, detached from place. The mountain’s geography shifts and alters, as the mountains in my mind do likewise. These memories dance in front of my eyes, taunting me. So much violence. I try to focus on the map. It has unlocked something in me. A breadcrumb trail for my body to follow now that my mind cannot. A group of adventurers persists in following me. ‘BRING. THEM,’ says the horrifying metallic crunch in my head. I’m incapable of telling them to stay away. Something deep inside me wants them to follow, and yet, the first opportunity I get, I run away from them.
Once I make my distance, my body performs a series of gestures. I laugh at the practised symmetry of my arms. What am I doing? ‘SPEAK,’ says the machine. I am aghast when I find myself incanting. Forbidden words. How do I know these words? The mouth of a cave appears before me. I don’t think I’ve been there before, but I could be mistaken. Another memory flashes before my eyes. Inside is an ancient place imbued with deep time. The power of the Ancient Device melts the snow and draws me towards it. A memory superimposes over my vision: it is the same cave, the same Device. My body laughs, a desperate cackle. I remember this. I have spent all this time returning to the place I tried to hide away, but now I am powerless. The Device is in my mind, willing me to use it.
There is movement from the entrance and I slip into a crevice in the rockwall. The machine makes its overtures, trying to sense a more useful vessel than myself. The rabble of adventurers makes a racket. And what’s this? They outwill its magic. ‘END. THEM,’ the Device orders me. I feel my hand ease the machine to a calm as it forces my body to destroy the interlopers. I bend at its will.
‘M… Mirrah?’ says the small creature, stepping forward towards me.
My hand grips my head as it is thrown into a snowstorm.
‘Mirrah, is everything okay?’ it says again.
My body stumbles forward, looks the creature up and down.
‘Leave this place,’ I mutter through clenched teeth. ‘All of you.’
It is a struggle to get the words out amongst the pain, but it is important. The machine is mine alone.
‘It’s Sawwse Bohge,’ it says. ‘We met in Pettibeck.’ The creature looks at me imploringly.
‘No,’ I bark. It is too late. My arm reaches for the rapier at my waist. ‘Stay… away.’
The figures around the creature raise their weapons. What fools! They cannot win.
‘Just wait,’ the little creature says, raising her hand to the others.
She steps towards me, takes a deep breath and begins to sing. It is beautiful and familiar. Words are beyond me, so my mouth offers no response, but my body is stupefied by the angelic voice. It soothes me, smothers my rage. Tears form and slowly roll down my cheeks. The curse has eroded my mind, but it makes a momentary point of connection. I see clearly. I see. I see! I beam as the sorely needed face of friendship shines before me.
‘Sawwse,’ I say. ‘Sawwse Bohge, let’s-’
And then I see… an arrow loosed from a bow. Its sharp, angry head flies straight and pierces through my neck. My body reels.
I see… nothing.
Chapter 25: Battle for Time
The arrow screeched through the air, a falcon-eyed lock on its prey. Sawwse watched it strike Mirrah’s neck, releasing a stream of deep red blood and sending Mirrah reeling backwards.
Sawwse cried out and her heart lurched. She’d been getting through to Mirrah, she was sure of it. But it had all been for nothing. She ran over to Mirrah’s body, and placed a hand on her cheek. But it was too late. The light had already faded from her eyes.
The adventurers turned to see a fierce warrior at the entrance to the chamber. Eugenie wore high quality, steel-plated armour that was slight but sturdy, allowing for nimble movements while protecting the wearer from even the most serious of blows. Her helmet was forged from the same hardened steel, and had two decorative circles extending from points above the ears. A blood-red cloak was fastened to the armour.
Eugenie quickly nocked another arrow to her bow.
‘I have come to claim this machine for the Dorienne Kingdom. Leave or perish.’
Eugenie’s voice commanded power. It echoed throughout the chamber. Behind her stood twenty knights, and more were making their way into the cave with every second that passed.
‘This machine is dangerous. It needs to be destroyed,’ Vadania implored.
‘I will kill you like I killed your friend, if necessary.’
The bereaved warrior was unyielding.
‘It will claw into your mind,’ replied Osrik, teeth still clenched in anger.
‘It will not give you what you require,’ added Corinne.
‘Too much effort has gone into this to turn back now,’ Eugenie said, pulling the string of her bow tauter. With an inherited prowess in military tactics, she paused for a moment and contemplated how events might unfold. As the machine lay dormant on the back wall of the cave, an image of Eugenie’s father, King Poht, appeared in her mind’s eye. He sat across from her in the carriage, smiling peacefully while she looked out of the window. Whether this arose from the stasis-like bereavement Eugenie suffered, or the whispering tendrils of the machine, it wasn’t clear. However, it was enough for the warrior to loose another arrow from her bow and refocus her aim.
The arrow flew directly toward Osrik, who thrust his shield in its way and flicked it aside. He grunted and pulled out his hand axe.
Surprising everyone, Rangrim suddenly spun on his heel and slammed his giant sword directly into the machine. A blue light rippled around the device and the dwarf’s powerful attack was rebuffed, knocking him onto his back.
‘An ancient magic protects it,’ Larn said abruptly. He stepped toward the Device. ‘I will decipher this, but you must shield me.’
Seeing his genuine impulse to help, the others were startled again. They didn’t realise that it was now in Larn’s interest to keep the machine from being used. His gambit with the demon in his vision had paid off, and he’d received a substantial amount of knowledge that he had no intention of giving up.
The Dorienne warrior put away her bow, and unsheathed a long silver sword by her side. She signalled to her knights to march behind her. They maintained an orderly line, a well-trained regiment.
‘Leave her to me,’ said Vadania, withdrawing her twin blades and turning to face Eugenie.
Osrik and Corinne nodded, stepping in line behind her. Rangrim got up and smiled at Ruby, who was looking increasingly uneasy about how things were unfolding, and whose arms were wildly fluctuating between feathers, scales and tentacles.
‘Don’t worry,’ Rangrim began. ‘Things will be fi-’
The dwarf let out a howl of agony as Larn kicked Rangrim hard in the shin.
‘Mother of Grovsfjord!’ Rangrim yelled.
‘I said I needed protection,’ said Larn, forcefully. ‘Now.’
The young dwarf limped off to follow Vadania into battle, while Larn approached the machine and traced tiny circles in the air. Three rings of indigo light appeared in front of the device, each containing the same ancient script. He looked down at the small, frightened, frantically transforming figure next to him and gestured, not unkindly, to the crevice where Mirrah had concealed herself. Ruby shuffled gratefully inside.
Sawwse wasn’t sure why Mirrah’s death had upset her so much. She still felt confused and conflicted about her, but there had been an improbable connection between them, and it had kindled a spark of something in the little gnome’s heart. Sawwse wiped her face dry of tears and took out her hand drum, a fierce determination set into her eyes.
The musical gnome walked with the drum to a central point and planted herself down behind Larn. She tapped the side of the drum causing it to thrum. Matching her voice to the low pitch, she hummed continuously, before beating a powerful, steady rhythm and sending thoughts of strength and courage to her guild mates with all her might.
The others listened to the drumbeat. Vigour flowed through their bodies. Eugenie saw the strengthened will in her opponents and sent a signal to two archers, who immediately began firing arrows towards Sawwse and Larn. The arrows bounced off a green film of energy that covered them both: a temporary spell of protection from Corinne.
Eugenie sighed. She’d been relying on Alla’fyr returning from Spearca, but she had never arrived. It would have brought a swifter end to these obstructions. With her silver sword shining in the candlelight, she charged, and the knights charged with her.
The intrusion of his mind by the machine still fresh, Osrik was incited to violence. Whether this would birth a new set of regrets, he couldn’t say. All he knew at that moment was anger. The old dwarf knocked back a strike with his shield and parried, thrusting his hand axe in an upward arc through the knight’s armour. He pivoted and bashed the oaken shield into another soldier’s skull.
It had been some time since Vadania had fought properly with another person. She had become a considerably successful monster hunter, but fighting people required a completely different set of skills. Vadania’s twin blades slashed towards Eugenie, who halted them with a stroke of her sword. She pushed the sword back and swung left, then right. Eugenie shifted her stance and easily blocked these attacks. She burst forward, slamming her shoulder into Vadania’s chest and knocking her back.
‘I’m the daughter of a king. I have received Esh’areth’s very best military training. You will yield.’
Eugenie twisted her sword towards Vadania and flicked it up. It glanced off her shoulder and nicked the elf’s cheek, who turned just in time to avoid a mortal blow.
Vadania said nothing, but wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. Tightening the grip on her swords, she leapt forward once more.
To the right of the duel, Corinne compelled a row of four knights back with a forceful blast of energy. They slid backward toward the opening, before charging forward once more. The mage attempted to use a spell of confusion, but struggled to find the right page of her book and so returned to what she knew. Whenever the soldiers got too close, Corinne would incant her magical words and they would be blasted back once more.
‘I was rather hoping I’d know this off by heart by now,’ she said, continuing to rifle through the book one-handed as she cast spells with the other.
Rangrim took on Larn’s task, and set up a perimeter alongside Corinne. No knight would pass. This was surely the work of a hero, Rangrim thought, as three knights warily approached. They were well trained, but none of them had seen a sword quite that big before. The knights adopted a defensive stance. Rangrim tapped the blade and grinned. With a large sweeping motion, the youthful dwarf swung Slǣpan Gigas through the air. The blunt end of the sword crashed into two of the knights, cracking their armour and sending a powerful gust of wind back through the cave entrance. The third knight approached Rangrim’s exposed side, but using momentum, the dwarf spun around with his hero’s sword and rammed the hilt of it into the knight’s face, knocking him out.
As more knights fell, another set climbed into the chamber to take their place.
‘How many knights did she bring?’ thought Sawwse, panicking.
After an initial morale boost for her fellow guild-members, the gnome felt like her music was doing very little to contribute to the situation. It didn’t help that she kept receiving scowls from Larn every couple of minutes. Con Duco had told her to be careful when using her developing musical skills, but with the numbers stacked against them in such a way, it was time for her to make a difference.
Sawwse closed her eyes and tried to shut out the noises of battle. She pictured the still, dark pool. First, the pool rippled with every beat of her drum. Peering into these ripples, she saw many of them shimmered with a violent red tinge. This was her reception. The feeling shared across the battle.
The gnome continued thrumming on the drum and began to sing. It was one of the Elvish operas she knew best, about a forest under siege from an evil monster. The powerful monster is eating trees in order to generate heat for its minions. A proud knight called Lilanta manages to destroy the evil monster, and welcomes its minions to live alongside her people within the forest.
With her eyes still closed, Sawwse began imagining bubbles forming and floating up from the pool. Each bubble contained an image, a memory. They were imbued with a steely determination: memories of Sawwse being held down or ridiculed in the Blue Forest, but always getting back up again; Sawwse holding out against Alla’fyr’s fiery assault in Spearca; all seven of them surviving the machine’s temptations.
She sent these bubbles skywards. Although their fortitude was hardened from their interaction with the ancient device, Osrik, Vadania, Corinne and Rangrim all let Sawwse’s music into their minds and hearts. The bubbles popped and their strength redoubled. They fought back stronger and harder. Vadania momentarily gained the upper hand against Eugenie, forcing her back a few steps.
‘This is fascinating,’ said Larn, still staring at the machine.
His hands rotated the wheels of script around. There were gaps in his knowledge, as the machine predated the demon with whom Larn had made his bargain. But he was making progress. The machine was overflowing with powerful magic. Larn grinned wildly.
From within the crevice, Ruby peeked out to watch the battle unfold. She wanted to help the others, but fear paralysed her in place. Of course, she was concerned about getting hurt, but it was herself she was most afraid of. The machine had stirred up damaging, unhealthy feelings. She felt tired, and sick, and worthless.
Ruby watched Sawwse’s song rally the guild, and she managed a smile at the gnome. ‘Excellent,’ she thought. ‘They don’t need me.’ And Ruby crept back into her hiding place an inch or two more.
The battle now seemed to be turning in their favour. On either side of the chamber, the two dwarves wielded their huge weapons. Osrik brandished his battle-axe, striking the knights far quicker than they expected at the sight of his white hair and worn-looking body. Corinne had found her spell of confusion. She confounded the knights in front of her, and sent them attacking one another.
Vadania harried Eugenie with her attacks. While she had her on the back foot, the elf was determined to put an end to the skilful warrior as quickly as possible. Eugenie was subtly switching stance, defending herself from the elf’s blows. Unfortunately, Vadania didn’t realise that one of her opponent’s eyes was also trained on Larn.
Corinne’s green film of energy had been protecting Larn and Sawwse, and it began to gently fade away. As soon as it had, Eugenie shouted, ‘Now!’
Two arrows flew from the top corners of the room: their aim was Larn’s neck. They were far too quick for Corinne to react to. How had none of them seen the archers climbing? The arrows locked onto their target and drew together in
the air as if elasticated. With impact imminent, Sawwse jumped into the air and stretched out her arms above her head, reaching as high as she could. The arrows struck, puncturing her drum and foiling the arrows. She turned to catch Larn’s eye.
‘I was just getting familiar with that drum too,’ she sighed.
A slow smile crept across the scholar’s lips.
‘It’s you,’ Eugenie gasped from across the room.
The room seemed to fall into silence for Eugenie as she locked eyes on Sawwse for the first time. Vadania stepped back to catch her breath, sensing a shift in strength from the Dorienne leader.
‘This was...’ Eugenie trailed off, her eyes locked onto the gnome who was, in her eyes, the murderer of her father. ‘Well, it’ll all be over soon, and we’ll all go back.’
Sawwse stared back, panic and confusion popping from every pore. It was a long time ago that their previous encounter had taken place. The image had been burnt into Eugenie’s memory forever, but the same was not true for Sawwse. It was only the derangement that now infected Eugenie’s features that caused the gnome to remember.
‘The sorrow-wraith?’
The gnome remembered the rapier lying on the ground, the wagon parked in the grove. Sawwse turned to Mirrah’s body, and everything now fit into place.
‘Wait, it’s not what you think, I never-’ Sawwse boomed.
But it was too late. Fury took hold of Eugenie and she slashed her way forward. It was all Vadania could do to keep her at bay. A flurry of strikes and the elf dropped one of her swords.
Sawwse backed up, nearer to the machine. Another two arrows flashed through the air, but Larn waved them away with his rapier. He looked up and whispered something ancient in a snake-like tongue. The colour drained from the archers’ faces and they collapsed dead from their perches. Larn turned to Eugenie and tried the same thing, but a flick of her sword deflected the evil curse elsewhere: her will was too strong.
In the Grip of Time Page 28