by Rob Donovan
"Calloway's men are giving way. You should send Unger out to support him; Hamsun's men can plug the void left behind." Althalos's mouth fell open. He did not know why he was so surprised. Why should he have expected Atikass to be any different? His brother may have displayed a more tender side in his devotion to his mother but he had still been a monster until only recently. When it came to war, why should he be expected to behave more compassionately. Atikass looked at his brother and frowned. "You need to focus; those men are relying on you to direct them."
Althalos nodded and stared out at the carnage. Slowly the various factions began to form as he began to think strategically again.
Chapter 25
There were few greater pleasures in life then riding aboard a good horse's back and watching the land speed past below. Cody loved the jolt of Silverspeck’s body as his hooves met the ground and best of all when all four hooves left the ground as Silverspeck hurdled an obstacle; for a split second, Cody thought he knew what it was like to fly. The weightlessness made his stomach lurch and his breath caught in his throat. The Truth Knight had decided long ago, no other sensation would ever feel so free and no one would ever convince him otherwise.
As he watched the land below fly past at an impossible speed thirty feet below Cody concluded he had been very wrong. The Custodian gripped his shoulders with sharp talons which Cody had not known they possessed. He had assumed the watchers of the Marshes of Night possessed feet from the way they stood - it was another thing he had been mistaken about. He thought the talons would hurt him but after the initial pinch in his shoulder blades he barely felt a thing.
The wind brushed against his face causing his eyes to water. He blinked away the tears happily as he watched nature rush by beneath him so quickly that trees, rivers and fields soon became indistinguishable other than from their colours. He welcomed the draught that hit his body every time the Custodian flexed its mighty wings. They were an impressive sight; a squadron of around thirty of the creatures flying in an arrow formation. Cody and Marybeth were firmly contained in the middle of the arrow whether for protection or for imprisonment he was not sure. Right now, he did not care.
He swung his arms and legs and whooped with glee like a little boy who had just been told he was allowed to attend his first jousting tournament. The Custodian dug its claws into his shoulders with just a little more pressure, just enough to let Cody know that kind of behaviour would not be tolerated. Cody obeyed, he had no fear that the Custodian could not hold him, but he was realistic enough to realise the creature could choose to drop him if it was inclined to. At this height it would mean certain death; a quick death but the end of his life all the same.
He glanced over at Marybeth. The witch was not enjoying the experience anywhere near as much as he. Her head was slumped as she allowed herself to be carried. She moved her hands tentatively over her wounds and Cody saw the cuts seal together and the skin mend. He had spent enough time with the witch to know she was exerting the minimal effort to heal herself. He did not know if this was because she had spent all her energy in defeating the Desolate King or she was conserving her resources for the battle ahead.
Only moments before she had been barely able to stand. She had lent on Cody for support as they stood over the fallen body of the Desolate King. Cody Ramsay had killed many people in his life and witnessed the death of dozens more. Some he mourned, others he pitied but rarely had he looked down at a dead man and felt happy. He had only known the Desolate King briefly, but apart from the injustice the man had endured at the hands of the Order instructing his death at the Ritual of the Stones, Cody had little in common with him. The man had chosen to abandon a child surrounded by flames, when he above all others had the power to save them. That alone had been enough for Cody to make up his mind about the Desolate King. However, when he saw the man attempting to kill Marybeth, his hatred for the man had intensified. It nearly destroyed him that the Custodians prevented him from coming to her aid. He knew he would have stood little chance against the Desolate King but to not intervene went against everything he believed in.
Marybeth's legs had given way and although Cody had caught her, she asked him to lay her down on the bog where she lay and breathed heavily for a few moments before turning to the Custodians and telling them that they needed their help. The Custodians gathered round whilst Marybeth set about persuading them to join in the fight. Cody got a sense that the Custodians already knew everything which had transpired beforehand although he was not sure how they knew. He did not particularly care to know either. None of the sentinels moved as Marybeth spoke and it was impossible to tell whether they were being moved by the witch's words or not. They stood still like statues, the slits of their eyes narrowing so that only a thin blue line was visible.
Whatever Marybeth said worked however, as one minute Cody was standing in the bog and the next he was gripped in one of the Custodian's clutches and whisked into the air. It was only Marybeth's shouts of reassurance that prevented him from attacking the creature.
"You alright?" Cody called across to the Marybeth. His words were lost in the wind though and she looked at him frowning in confusion. He repeated the question and gestured to her in an attempt to communicate his message. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. The Custodian realised the two of them wanted to talk and it made a few clicking noises which saw the other Custodians swoop a little lower and change formation to bring Marybeth closer to him. The change in form was effortless and such a smooth transition Cody thought the squadron must have spent hours practicing the drill. He realised this was unlikely though and figured the creatures were just that adept at communicating with each other.
"If you don't...to join...fight, now is...chance to back out," Marybeth said. The wind stole her words but he caught enough of what Marybeth said to get the gist.
"What do you mean?" Cody shouted,
"I mean not...fight. We go...war...we could die."
"I am a Knight of the realm; it is my duty to protect it."
Marybeth made a clicking sound of disgust not entirely dissimilar to the noise the Custodians had made. In fact, a few of them turned their necks towards her.
"You...made a Knight by...erratic King who needed you. You...have to fight."
The Custodian carrying Cody communicated some more and Cody and the witch were brought closer still so they were almost touching. Cody looked up to see that somehow the two creatures managed to fly without their wings touching each other. Two more Custodians moved lower in front of them so that Cody would feel less wind on his face.
"If I don't fight, the Frindoth I live in will cease to exist. My daughter is out there somewhere; I can't bear to think of her living in a world ruled by Cordane and Xandamon."
Marybeth said nothing for a while. When she did speak he could hear her more clearly. "This war will be won by magic. There is little men with swords can do."
"That is where you are wrong."
"Am I now?" Marybeth enquired, a look of bemusement spreading across her face.
"I've seen you cast your magic. It is awesome and devastating. It also leaves you very weak. Once you and Cordane have duelled for a while it will leave both of your tiring. It is then the war will be won or lost by men."
Marybeth pursed her lips. "What about the Glooms?"
Cody tempted to shrug but in the vice like talons of the Custodian his shoulders hardly moved. "We've defeated one before."
"I admire your optimism," Marybeth said and chuckled.
Cody smiled but they both knew it was glossing over the truth. The Glooms would win this war. It would take a united Frindoth and a fully functioning Order to have a chance to defeat the Glooms. They had neither. What chance did they really have? How had it come to this? Why had the people of Shangon, Snowland and Meadowmead not reached the conclusion of Vashna's Yurisdorians and realised they were on the wrong side? The only explanation was that they were cowards who went where the strength lay.
Then, ju
st like that, the time for talk was over. The brilliant White City emerged on the horizon; its towering walls and golden turrets standing proudly for all to see. Cody gasped at the sight of the carnage taking place before it. So many people accumulated in one spot, pointlessly fighting for something they probably wanted nothing to do with. Men who had probably shared ale together were now on opposing sides purely because their warlords had deemed it so. Anger coursed through Cody's veins. He hated the affairs of people. The treatment of his wife and daughter was just one of the reasons why he roamed Frindoth alone. He was pleased not to get involved in society. The petty squabbles and the evil nature of men were something he wanted no part of. Yet, here he was flying to the heart of the struggle to immerse himself in the thick of it all.
One moment the battle was all action and no sound and then like a blast of air, the din of fighting hit them. The cries of desperate men reached his ears; a susurrus of anger. The noise made the battle seem real. Even though the noise was a monotonous dull rumble of shouting, he detected the cries of pain and the shrieks of death. The battle grew ever closer, each man slowly looming larger until he could clearly make out the different factions.
As silly as it sounded, Lilyon looked affronted to be spoiled by such a vulgar thing as war. The city was like a beautiful rose standing proud as thousands of insects crawled over it and ate away at its splendour. As the Custodians raced towards the carnage he saw a ball of magic shoot to the sky above the fighting men. He heard Marybeth's cry of anguish and turned to see her face contorted in a pained expression of helplessness. He looked back at the battlefield, saw the ball of energy grow in size above the fighting men and burst into a thick cloud.
The Custodians veered away from the cloud even though there seemed to be little danger of it engulfing them. Cody craned his neck to see what had happened. He had seen enough of magic to know that any spell used in this context was not good. The spells Marybeth had cast at Mondorlous and then at the Desolate King had been devastating, designed to tear limbs from bodies or giant holes in skin and bone. The Custodian carrying him turned in the other direction and flew away from the battle. Try as he might Cody could not angle his neck to look back at the soldiers and the result of the spell. The Custodians communicated by clicking at each other furiously.
Cody waited for the sound of an explosion or the terrified cries of agony to fill the air but the din of battle continued as normal.
And then, all of a sudden, all sound was muted. It was as if the Custodian had covered his ears to shield them from the horrific nature of the spell. Yet that was not true. He could still hear the whistling of the wind as it brushed passed his ears. He could hear the clicking sound of the Custodians talking. So why could he not hear the battle anymore?
"Turn around Gloom's have you," he cursed.
“Bastard,” Marybeth said. She was located just behind him but the Custodian that held her had already turned her to face the action. Her jaw was clenched and she balled her hands into fists. Even though she was angry, Cody could tell she was afraid as well. Her eyes flitted about as she surveyed the scene behind him and her cheeks had lost their colour.
Cody contorted his neck to see what had upset the witch.
"Bastards," she uttered again.
This time Cody slapped at the talons which held him; not being able to see was unbearable.
“Turn around you mute freak,” he said.
If the Custodian took offence at the words, it gave no indication. Instead, it dropped a wing and manoeuvred into a sharp turn; swooping below its brethren.
Cody’s mouth fell open at the sight which greeted him. Far below, visible through the rapidly dissipating purple cloud the warring factions had frozen in time. Cordane’s spell had not distinguished between friend and foe; he had not cared who he affected. Men faced men in statuesque poses of aggressiveness. It was as if he was looking at a giant game of chess and Cody half expected a huge hand to come down from the sky and move the next piece into position. On the outskirts of the frozen battlefield some men still moved, backing away cautiously as if not quite believing what they were seeing.
“Run,” Cody whispered as he witnessed how scared they were. “Run.” It did not matter what side they fought on. Nothing mattered when you were faced with such a supernatural force.
He had heard the story of Hamsun’s home and how his men had suffered a similar fate. Hearing about it and witnessing it were two very different things.
He had seen Mondorlous and Marybeth bring down stone buildings in their duel but to suspend human life? That was a power beyond all comprehension.
The sound of a horn blasted out beneath him. The noise made the Custodian holding the Truth Knight flinch and veer to one side. Cody could not see who had blown the instrument but knew it came from the hideous line of Glooms.
In response to the horn, dozens of Glooms took to the sky. Half flew across the battlefield whilst the rest headed towards Cody and the Custodians. The Glooms headed toward the suspended men cradled large rocks in their arms, and he watched in horror as a Gloom dropped one of the rocks into the middle of the men. The men smashed to pieces as if they were made of sand. Cody stared at the gap the rock had forged amongst the men. The impact must have destroyed at least seven men. Several others toppled over and knocked into the man adjacent to them; heads and arms falling off as they collided with each other during the domino effect.
“Nooooo,” Marybeth cried. Cody’s stomach lurched at the sickening death of defenceless men. The Glooms unleashed more rocks to devastating effect but Cody could no longer worry about the turmoil below. The Glooms that flew towards them had now sped into attack mode.
Cody had been a loner for most of his life. When he did fight it was mainly with his feet firmly planted on the ground. The closest he had come to relying on another creature in a battle was trusting Silverspeck to obey the direction his legs led her in. Since he knew the horse better than most humans, the trust had never been an issue.
As he watched the Glooms fly towards him he had never felt more exposed and reliant on another creature. The Glooms were huge, easily dwarfing the Custodians in wing span. Even more sinister was the fact that in addition to their razor-sharp claws and beaks, they also carried jagged blades which were as long as Cody's legs. Their skin looked leathery and reptilian-like although the closer they got, Cody could see it consisted of fine feathers which rippled in the wind.
He reached for his sword but the firm talon on his shoulder made it difficult to unsheathe the blade. He knew he would be useless in the forthcoming fight, but to not have a sword in his hand felt wrong. The Custodians communicated in a hurried series of clicks and clatters, sounding like giant crickets. The Glooms responded by cawing loudly, a noise which was infinitely more malevolent and fear inducing.
There were six Custodians ahead of Cody and as they raced towards their attackers, he noticed dozens of black spikes emerge from the folds of their fur. He was impressed and disappointed all at once. Marybeth had told him the story of her passage to the Marshes of the Night and how she was attacked only for the Custodians to kill her aggressor in the most gruesome fashion. The spikes looked sharp but against the jagged scimitars the Glooms carried they looked feeble. Cody yanked his sword free but felt only marginally better.
As the two creatures were about to meet, Cody uttered a silent prayer to his dead wife and his lost daughter before pulling his knees to his chest to make himself as small target as possible. Two of the Glooms broke away from the others, leading the way. As they neared the Custodians they slowed and lowered their legs, holding their swords aloft ready to strike. Cody gasped, it looked as if they were standing on the ground and he could not fathom how they were managing the feat. The Custodians did not hesitate however, the three leading the attack suddenly folded their wings into their bodies, bringing their legs to their chests and dipping their heads forward making them look like giant snowballs.
Cody watched fascinated as the three Custod
ians barrelled into the two Glooms, impaling them with their spiked bodies before the Glooms could react. The gored Glooms stuck to the rolling Custodians until they straightened out and released the fatally wounded winged beasts and sent them spiralling to the ground. As soon as they had stretched back to their full size the lead Custodians dove towards the ground and then banked sharply underneath their speeding brethren.
The remaining Glooms shrieked in anger but before Cody could see their reaction he found himself hoisted up into the Custodian's body as it began to curl up within himself. Realising he was about to be a flying missile, Cody tried to tuck his sword to his waist to stop it from impaling him. One second he had a view of the land below and the beautiful blue sky above and the next second his world went dark. The blood rushed to his head as he was rotated, his stomach flipping in the process. He smelt the damp odour of sweat and wet feathers. As he turned over and over, he became completely disorientated. He had no idea which way was up and which was down. He gripped his sword in abject fear. He had never felt so out of control.
The impact when it came rattled Cody's teeth and caused him to see stars. He felt the familiar metallic taste of blood as he bit his tongue. He heard the squelch of the Custodian's spikes entering the Gloom's body. The Gloom cried out in anger and Cody felt the weightlessness of falling as the Gloom fought back. For the briefest of moments one of the Custodian's wings fell away and Cody glimpsed the green fields rushing towards him. He saw the jagged blade of the Gloom begin its upward arc towards the Custodian's exposed body. Cody did not hesitate and lashed out with his sword. He could not manage anything other than a straight thrust but it was enough. The tip of his blade pierced the Gloom's arm just above the wrist. He saw the Gloom's fingers extend in pain and the sword fall from its grasp.
As soon as Cody withdrew the blade the daylight disappeared again. He felt the talons dig into his shoulders and he winced at the sudden sharp pain. Cody jolted and was knocked about in his cocoon as the wind brushed against his face. He was no longer uncertain which direction the ground was now.