by Shannah Jay
As Quinna's hands closed the circle, it seemed to those in it that they could feel something flowing around and through them. Katia raised her voice. 'Brother, look down! Look down upon us now!'
Around her light started to gather even as she spoke, light that dimmed the weak winter sunlight and owed nothing to nature, light that had a life and energy of its own. And it was the light which pulsed forward to meet the shadow that was still coiling and uncoiling as it rolled from side to side on the hard dirt of the street.
Quinna's mouth opened in surprise, then she grinned and allowed herself to sink fully into the mesh of energy. Nim's growl still rumbled in her throat, but she made no attempt to move away from her friends.
The two deleff moved quietly to the rear and left the light to confront the darkness. Great showers of sparks seemed to fly up where the two forces met, and it was as if the dark shadow reared up in anger and beat at the corona that surrounded the luminous circle of humans.
There was a howl of rage from the group of attackers and one of them threw himself forward through the darkness, spitting out obscenities, dagger slashing towards the glowing barrier. But when his blade met the barrier, blue lightning ran along it and he dropped the weapon as if it were too hot to touch, dropped it and fell to his knees, screaming hoarsely and rocking about in agony.
The shadow closed hungrily around him then, coiling round his body and sucking at it. The man screamed again, a scream that cut off suddenly. A low throbbing sound could be heard, or rather felt along the nerves.
The man's body jerked around in a way that spoke of excruciating pain, then became limp. The shadow uncoiled slowly from it, letting it drop as if it were a mere shell, a husk stripped from a kernel of grain. The body fell to the ground gently, as if it had no weight, then it sighed into a crumpled heap of flesh and bones.
And the shadow, darker now, reared up again to beat at the glowing wall that cut it off from its prey.
Katia let the strange energy that surrounded them fill her, then began to sing one of the temple songs. She had a nondescript voice, once the despair of her songmistress, but today it sounded beautiful in the menacing silence of the street. Mak joined in, his sonorous baritone instinctively weaving a harmony beneath Katia's pure soprano notes. Erlic joined them next, then Quinna and finally Aderon, with his high child's treble. And beneath the music they were weaving as a barrier against the fear and darkness which surrounded them came a ripple of rhythm, tentative at first, then taking shape into a gentle percussion accompaniment. The deleff were beating their wings in time to the music, and shuffling their feet up and down so that they rasped gently on the hard earth.
When one song ended, Katia started another, and when that finished, a third. Never had she sung so well, never had she felt so much a part of the music around her. At the edge of her consciousness she was aware of something else joining their struggle against evil, something that she hadn’t sensed before, something whose strength was pure and untarnished. And when the armed men leaped out from behind the houses and attacked Those of the Serpent, she finished the song before bowing her head and remaining there motionless.
She wanted so much to understand what it was that had joined their singing.
'Terraccalliss,' throbbed the last beat of the rhythms as they faded away. 'Terraccalliss.' The word seemed to echo along her bones, a word she knew as well as her own name. Which Sister would not know the names of the eight Manifestations of the God their Brother? Was it possible, Katia wondered, was it really possible that somewhere, the beloved winged Manifestation of their God was still helping them?
Perhaps - she sighed in wonder at the thought - perhaps the Manifestations of their God never left them completely. Perhaps they could still see what was happening on Sunrise from the next level of life. How she would like to believe that!
No one else seemed to have noticed that other presence, and she wondered for a moment if she were imagining all this, but no - it had been real, deep within her, she had no doubt of that. The being she’d heard, sensed - it was difficult to find a word for that moment of contact - was too different from herself, too unlike anything she had ever encountered in her life. No, it was not her imagination. Her mind was not so undisciplined as to invent fanciful creatures at a moment of crisis.
It was, it must be, the Second Manifestation of the God their Brother. Terraccalliss must still be keeping watch over them from whatever place his soul had moved on to, further up the ladder of life, and still trying to help them.
It was a few moments before she could focus properly on what was happening around her, and by the time she did, Those of the Serpent had been routed by the newcomers who’d come up while they were singing. She raised her eyes and joy rose in her until it overflowed into tears that sparkled on her cheeks, for a man was standing in front of her, a man who also had tears of joy in his eyes. Kensin, her grandfather, looked no older than the day she’d last seen him, the day of her own Choosing so many years ago.
She rose to her feet and flung herself into his arms in a swift graceful movement, and for a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of holding her close. He’d had no difficulty in recognising his granddaughter. Just so had his daughter looked, the day she rode away to her death. The two women might have been twins, rather than mother and daughter.
After a moment, however, he sucked in a mouthful of the chill air and pulled himself together. 'We can talk later, lass. For now, we must get away quickly. Those fiends will be back soon enough with reinforcements.
They're determined to subdue the whole of the High Alder.'
As if they’d understood him, the deleff walked into the harness and began to pull the wagon forward, past the fragile remnants of a man's body that the Serpent had sucked dry of life energies, past the new and bloody corpses, and even past those wounded in the fight. No time for the gentle deleff to flinch or hesitate now. No time for Katia to try to heal the wounded, either. Danger was following very closely behind them - they could all sense that.
Their rescuers led the way in silence, anxious to get out of town quickly. Only Kensin's assurance that the God had whispered in his ear, had persuaded these people to leave their mountain retreat to make a foray into Danak. They kept glancing at him in awe as they walked. How had he known to come here today? How had he known someone would need rescuing?
Katia strode along with her grandfather in front of the wagon and let him lead them out of town and on to a track she knew well. 'Are we going home, then?' she asked, with a catch in her voice.
'No, lass. It's too close to Danak town there, and too open to attack. Those devils haven't found our house yet, but they will soon.'
She nodded. She should have realised that. How could she have expected to return to the home of her youth in such a war-torn land? 'Where are we going then?'
'We've held them at Greygulf Pass. Beyond it, the survivors from the whole region are gathered, and we're doing our best to stay alive. About a quarter of our people were killed in the first wave of attacks, but many are still left, more than those filthy vermin realise.' He grinned. 'The Kelandrani never did find out how many people lived here in the High Alder. And the survivors are all united, prepared to die rather than give in to that evil. We of the High Alder have never, not for a moment, allowed the Serpent into our lives, and we never shall.'
'Other places have given in,' she said, her voice soft with sorrow.
'Other places are not the High Alder. We've always kept to the old ways here. And we shall keep to them still, though we die for it.' His arm tightened for a moment around her shoulders. 'I never thought to see you again, lass.'
'I never thought to return.'
'What brought you now?'
'I've come to help your fight, Grandfather. And I have friends who are following me. Herra - '
His voice was eager. 'Herra of Tenebrak?'
'Yes. That's where I was trained.'
'She still lives, then? They said she was dead.'
Grandfather, it's here that we of the Sisterhood intend make our stand.'
'Good. We shall make the stand together, then.' In spite of the danger that still tracked them, his voice was full of joy. 'We Aldrani have proved worthy. It's a great honour to be chosen like that.'
'Chosen,' she corrected. 'We have all been chosen. Our Brother guides us still.'
As they walked, others scouted around their small procession, and Katia took the time to tell Kensin about her husband and then introduce him to her son, Erlic, who came forward to hug his grandfather in a way she’d never seen her son do before.
'You’re as wise as my other progenitors,' said Erlic, silver eyes glinting strangely, 'and I greet you in their name.'
'And who might they be, lad?'
'Why, the deleff, of course. Those who have gone on before and those who linger here to learn a little wisdom. They’ve all joined your quest. Such evil as we saw today mustn’t be allowed to grow stronger.'
Katia shuddered, thinking of the huge black shadow and the way it had sucked the life force even from one of its own followers, as if it relished the pain and cared not how it obtained it. 'I hadn't realised how strong the Serpent had become.'
'It seems to get worse by the year,' Kensin agreed.
'Herra says its followers are creating it.'
He nodded. 'I fear she may be right, though I mislike the idea. But we shall not give in. We shall fight the Serpent with all the strength of our bodies and souls.' His expression echoed the grimness in his voice.
She debated telling him about Terraccalliss, but somehow it seemed as if that knowledge was only for her.
Quinna, who had strolled forward to join them, slapped her hand against her thigh at Kensin's defiant words. 'Well said, old man! I always did enjoy a good battle, even if it isn't fought with steel and muscle. We sang 'em to a standstill back there, didn't we, Katia? And I'm with you heart and sinew if we have to use our swords, old man.' She patted the hilt of her own.
'You look like a trained fighter.' Kensin eyed her up and down. 'For all that you're carrying a child.'
'Children,' she said cheerfully, 'and I'd rather the two of them died at birth than lived under the Serpent for so much as one minute.' She put an arm around each of her companions bringing them down from the high emotion, back to the practicalities of their predicament as Quinna saw it. 'We'd better start by working out some good defence strategies and training your people, Kensin. I'll help you all I can. If I say so myself, I'm a damned good teacher of fighting skills.'
'You're a damned fine woman,' Kensin said, admiration in his eyes. 'I welcome you to our land, Quinna, and accept your offer gladly.'
Nim came forward to nudge his shoulder and Kensin laid a hand on the cliff cat's head, stroking it gently.
'What a fine lady you are,' he crooned, in that special voice he used for gentling wild animals. 'Nice little pet you've got here, Katia.'
The 'nice little pet', nearly as tall as he was, crooned back at him and gave him a nudge that sent him stumbling forward.
'Careful, baby! Careful!' he murmured.
The 'baby' bared a full set of sharp white teeth and clicked its fangs together, then grinned at him.
Katia had forgotten how her grandfather could almost talk to animals and also how he could make her smile when all seemed dark around them. As she watched him playing with Nim, her spirits began to lift.
Suddenly anything seemed possible. Surely, surely, Davred would find his way here? Surely, surely, they would defeat the evil of the Serpent one day?
Before they reached the camp where the people of the High Alder had made their stand, they had to pass through Greygulf Pass. At the summit Katia paused to rest, panting a little from the steep climb. 'There's a weakness in the rock below here,' she said, frowning down at it.
'Oh, yes?' Kensin stood beside her, eyes scanning the horizon behind them, not really taking in what she had said. 'I fear they're following us, lass. They must have sent runners to call all their men in from the outlying farms. The snake-lovers haven't stopped looting and burning since they arrived. Those of the Serpent don't like being defeated. They always try to regroup and punish those who’ve bested them as visibly as possible because it frightens others off.'
Katia nodded. 'I've sensed them behind us, too.' She spread her arms as if she could sense something else from the clean tangy wind that gusted against them. 'Grandfather, what would happen if I blocked this pass?'
'Blocked it? If only we could. It's our main weakness, this pass. We used to be thankful the track across it was so broad and the rock beneath it so firm, but now we're regretting it. We have to keep scouts up here all the time to guard it.' He nodded to the left of them. 'In case you haven't noticed it, there are guards posted above you here.'
'Well, you wouldn't need them below, would you?' Quinna stared down at the almost sheer drop of grey rock on their right. 'Even Nim here would have trouble scaling that and cliff cats are good climbers.'
Katia's eyes had a faraway look in them. 'I'd noticed the guards, but you'd better bring them down before I push the rock fault, Grandfather.'
Quinna chuckled suddenly and slapped her thigh. 'Ah! I'd nearly forgotten that. Like you did in Drythroat Pass, eh, Katia?'
'Yes.' But the word was a mere murmur of sound. Katia's thoughts and senses were focused elsewhere.
Quinna gave Kensin a buffet on the shoulders. 'Get your watchers down, old man. She's going to move the earth. She's done it before. Useful trick, that.'
His mouth fell open in shock for a moment, then he asked in a hushed voice, 'Can she really do that?'
'I've seen her do it before. No reason to doubt her now.'
He wasted no time, cupping his hands round his mouth and hallooing to those above. When one of them would have quibbled about the instructions, Kensin yelled, 'Our Brother is with us here. Can you not trust him?'
A group of about twenty watchers clambered down the rocky slopes and gathered further along the track, where it began to slope downwards again. Their bodies spoke their uneasiness, as did their eyes. The deleff moved the wagon forward to join them.
'Leave me now!' Katia ordered, her eyes not really seeing her companions. 'I'll join you shortly.'
'I'll stay,' said Quinna. 'You fainted last time. I might need to carry you.'
Katia stared blindly at her. 'You're in no state to carry me and I don't want those children harmed. Move on.'
Quinna paused, then looked down at her belly and snorted in a lungful of damp air. 'I'll send someone else back to you, then.'
'Tell that person to wait for me at least twenty paces along the track. No one is to come any closer.'
When she was alone, Katia closed her eyes and called on her Brother's help. She half opened them in shock as she seemed to feel strength pouring into her, strength such as she’d never possessed before. It tingled along her veins and sat waiting in her very bones. 'Ah!' It was a murmur of deepest satisfaction.
With that other sense, she stretched out mental fingers to push at the rock strata below her, to push and probe and sense how the fault lines threaded them. A figure dressed in black robes appeared along the track behind her and pointed his staff at her, but she didn’t notice him creeping nearer, didn’t notice the way he moved slowly, looking around, as if he suspected a trap.
A long low rumble came from the ground below, then another. Small rocks started sliding down the slopes above the track, bouncing and skittering across the ground, and then ricocheting over the edge to plummet silently down into the void on her left. But no rock came near Katia. They even changed direction in mid-flight to avoid her. The group of watchers gaped and stared, but made no attempt to approach her.
After a while, she stretched her hands out in front of her and called, 'Now, Brother of the World! Now!' in a voice that rang out and bounced down into the hazy gre
yness of the gulf that had given the pass its name.
Her voice trailed a tangle of echoes, filling the air behind it with whispers of sound.
The rumble under the ground became a deep-throated roar. The earth shook and groaned beneath Katia's still figure, and she swayed with it, keeping her balance as easily as if this were a temple dance. The dark-clad watcher along the track tried to turn and flee, but the ground shook him to his knees and before he could get up, a crack opened beneath him and he fell into it. One hand clung to the lip of the fissure, then the earth closed again, crushing his screaming flailing figure into silence.
Katia didn’t appear to have even noticed, but Quinna would have sworn that she heard the word
'Quequere' rumbling from the bowels of the earth.
As the ground continued to shake, Katia started to back towards her grandfather, walking slowly and steadily, not releasing her mental hold on the rock fault beneath her. Where she’d walked boulders still bounced, other fissures opened and closed, and dust flew up in puffs and spurts, but around her there was a calm like the eye of the storm, a calm that cradled her, protected her - a calm that cost Terraccalliss an agony of pain to maintain, a calm where Quequere waited to add strength to the final push.
The scout who’d been sent forward to guard Katia backed along the track in front of her, mouth opening and shutting in shock. 'Brother, look down!' he prayed as he felt his way. 'Brother, look down!' And he too walked in safety through the groaning protestations and quakings of rock that had been forced to move against its will, against its very nature.
Not until she’d rejoined the rest of her companions did Katia stop, then she made a sharp cutting gesture downwards with both hands. With a roar like thunder that had been magnified a thousandfold, a roar that made the watchers clutch their heads in distress, the rocky ledge carrying a few hundred paces of track shook itself loose and crashed down into the abyss. Behind it was left a new formation, a formation that would carry no track across the mountains, a formation that was as steep and sheer as cliff could ever be. Only then, when she saw that she’d wrought what she desired, did Katia loose her mental hold on the rock beneath, gasp and crumple to the ground.