by Ross Turner
Tonight they would sleep, they would recover, and they would make final preparations. From then on, there would be no more time, no more preparations. From then on, she would not rest until either her task had been completed, or until she lay lifeless at the feet of her demonic and angelic foe.
37
Morning dawned swiftly on the three after a restful night’s sleep and the peacefulness of their undisturbed camp was something to be savoured in the days to come. Zanriath was the first to wake and, with Isabel lying delightfully calmly at his side, he looked up between the thin branches above and gave himself to the beautifully clear and fresh morning sky. As he had asked himself so many times in the past few weeks, how could something with such promise be followed by such pain and loss? The light filtering down to him was most certainly a blessing.
He suspected that this morning would be no different, if not worse. Isabel had returned to their camp the night before with a focused but slightly haunted look in her eye; he and Ayva had offered her their support, but she had said very little before suggesting that they all turn in early for the night. Her gentle urgency did not go unnoticed and they had both guessed that she knew much more than she was letting on. Today was going to be important.
It wasn’t long before Isabel and Ayva awoke also and the three quickly and quietly began their now practiced routines of washing, cooking, eating, cleaning and packing, taking little more than a half hour to complete everything, each of them taking turns cooking and cleaning, while the other two washed. Bathing was a luxury they often didn’t have when they couldn’t find a manmade roof to sleep under, so they had to make do with small amounts of warmed water. Still, it was better than nothing.
Isabel was outwardly sombre, but inside she was feeling little more than indifferent to what she knew awaited them. Soon they were ready to leave and they set off once more for Compii Tower, perhaps for the last time.
Zanriath and Ayva were concerned for Isabel and wondered what had happened to her the night before. But still, they thought better than to bring it up. Settling themselves behind her uncharacteristic lead they galloped south, directly for the bridge. Ayva fastened her swords and bow more tightly, knowing that soon the time would come for her greatest test, and Zanriath mentally prepared himself for what Isabel seemed to have already acknowledged and overcome.
Riding fast they made excellent time over the open landscape and the weather held fine. Isabel pushed them harder and faster with every hill they crested until, just before noon, the bridge was in sight on the far horizon. They had been riding for the best part of seven hours and their horses snorted and whinnied as they ran and in the still cool air their hot breath steamed from their nostrils. Thankfully, somehow, their strong steeds still seemed inexhaustible.
Isabel curbed her powerful horse to a halt atop the crest of a hill and scanned the landscape before her with piercing eyes. Besides endless grass, rocky outcrops, sparse patches of woodland, and a few wild animals once again coming out of hiding now that the demons had supposedly left, there was very little to be seen. But still she was not satisfied. Without even needing to cast her thoughts out across the fields she knew they were not alone.
“There are demons. A few must have stayed to intercept us. They’re going to try and catch us by surprise.”
“Where?” Ayva asked, tentatively reaching for her bow.
“Don’t.” Isabel stopped her hand without even looking round. “They don’t know we know. They’ll try to ambush us. There’s not much around so it’ll be an obvious spot. Be ready. I won’t have time to take them all at once.” She instructed her tone the definition of finality.
“Ok.” Ayva replied, and Isabel set off again, racing ahead at a canter. Gripping her reins tightly her eyes searched continuously, seeing everything. She was focused and she felt her will fused with her amulet. She was ready, and as it had happened so many times before now, a surprising amount in fact, something else was driving her. She was still herself, but capable of thoughts and actions that she could only have dreamt of before.
The bow at her back comforted her, and though she knew she no longer had any use for it, she liked its feel all the same. It was as if it were keeping her in contact with the physical world. The sensation was strange and she struggled to comprehend it, let alone explain it.
Then she saw it. They were about three hundred metres from a small outcrop of rocks surrounded by a dense block of woodland, about ten metres across. Ayva and Zanriath were directly behind her and sensed her gaze falling on that spot, with the bridge in the background beyond it. They kept riding.
Ayva drew her hands slowly behind her back and they came to rest gently on the leather grip of her bow and the base of her quiver.
Nearing the outcrop now they were only two hundred metres away. Isabel pulled back sharply and rode between them.
“There are nine demons.” She reported her voice quick and shrill. “They’re small so I’m guessing they’re going to be quick. They’ll probably split to surprise us individually so we’ll take a group each. I’ll take the first, Ayva you take the next ones and Zan pick off any stragglers.” They nodded in agreement with Isabel’s authority and rode on, a hundred metres away now. Ayva’s grip tightened and Isabel’s will centred. Zanriath felt his hands burning with apprehension and consciously cooled them as his reins smouldered and steamed slightly.
Then, like lightning, nine black blurs darted from the outcrop as they rounded it, moving with incredible speed. Three charged directly at Isabel round from the left, four leaped from the peak of the rocks and cascaded down towards her from above, a split second behind the others and finally, but still only mere moments behind, two more flew round from the right and charged them head on. The beasts were small and thin, quick and agile. More like black dogs than demons. Built for speed.
Isabel reacted instantly. The three from the left crashed to the floor in screaming agony as Isabel destroyed them with ease. It wasn’t their strength that was the problem - it was their agility and the fact that they had separated. It would have taken them a mere two seconds to reach Isabel and her companions if the ambush had been a surprise…but it wasn’t, and so they didn’t stand a chance.
The speed of Ayva’s right arm was immense as she leased four arrows in rapid succession, before even the blink of an eye. She hadn’t known what to expect from her bow since she’d received it from Ormath, and she wasn’t disappointed. The arrows flew perfectly and exploded into searing flame as she released them. Still mid-air, the four demons were skewered and sent careering backwards as Ayva’s perfect aim obliterated their attack in a scorching blockade.
Zanriath too, it seemed, had his work cut out, but made short work of the two rushing demons before him. A ten-foot flaming wall appeared before them and seared the ground in an instant. They faltered little and charged through the barrier, bursting into speeding fireballs as they did so. They burned to seething carcasses within moments and tumbled forward, their bodies carried forward by their own momentum, stiff and smoking. The fire of Zanriath’s barrier was so hot that even at a distance Isabel and Ayva were barely safe from its intensity. He extinguished it after a few seconds, revealing a long stretch of dead, black earth.
They were pleased with the ease of their work and Isabel nodded once before continuing towards Compii Tower with little other thought other than to retrieve Ayva’s arrows.
“Are there any more?” Ayva called to Isabel as the bridge drew ever nearer.
“No.” She called back absolutely certain in her response.
It took them little over an hour to reach the bridge and the day was wearing on into the afternoon. The speed they’d maintained had saved them valuable time, though they all knew it would be a different story once they crossed into Land.
“There aren’t any in the tower.” Isabel reported. “They’re all in Land. They know how strong we are and they want numbers on their side. The bridge would limit their attack.”
“So we
’re literally facing the whole army at once?” Zanriath asked with more than just a little concern.
“Yes.” Isabel replied plainly. She looked out into the fog, as she did every time before crossing to Compii Tower, and remembered the first time she had made the journey. How uncertain she had felt. How she knew that without Zanriath at her side, she would probably never have made the crossing. She turned to him now, his face stricken with concern without the knowledge that she possessed, but had no way to share. “We’ll be fine.” She reassured her two dearest friends. “Trust me.”
“How do you know?” Ayva asked, her voice holding the same uncertainty that Zanriath’s had.
“I know how to get to Depozi, but it’s difficult to explain.”
“Can you try to explain?” Zanriath asked kindly. Isabel nodded and thought for a moment.
“It’s to do with the demonic realm.” She began. “Because Depozi tore the boundary between our realm and the demon’s, the souls of the demons we kill don’t just vanish into thin air and dissipate throughout their world; they have to stay here because he brought them here. They try to leave at first, but then they get caught halfway between the two realms, and are sent to the Lair of the Demonic.” The blank stares she received showed they didn’t follow her meaning. “So that is the route we must also use to get to Depozi…”
“What by letting the demons kill us?” Ayva butted in, still not following Isabel’s trail of thought. Zanriath’s expression was sceptical, but at least a little more understanding.
“I think I follow…” He said hesitantly.
“If we want to get to Depozi, we have to go through the tear, into the demonic realm, and then follow the same path as the demons we’ve killed. They’ll lead us right to him.” Isabel supplied.
“Amazing…” Zanriath murmured quietly. Ayva looked shocked.
“How do we do that!?” Ayva blurted before thinking.
“That’s part of my task Ayva, relax. You just worry about yours.” Ayva quietened suddenly and looked pensive, obviously having pushed that thought from her mind. Zanriath sighed.
“What do we do Isabel? Can we help?” He asked.
“Honestly? No - not with the relocation itself. It’s going to be up to you two to keep that army at bay.”
“Can’t you just do it from here?” Ayva asked. Isabel smiled wistfully.
“I wish I could, but no Ayva, I’m afraid not. I need souls to follow to Depozi so we don’t get stranded in another realm. Then we really would be in trouble.”
“Couldn’t you have used those ones back there!?” She exclaimed waving her arms back to the way they’d come.
“No Ayva.” Isabel sighed exasperated. “Will you trust me? Please?”
“I’m sorry.” Her friend replied solemnly. Isabel softened.
“I understand Ayva. Don’t be sorry. It was too fast back there.” She explained, regretting having to do things this way. “I need more time to figure it out. I’ve never tried it before, and by the time I had done it, I would have lost them, and we would have been stuck in the demonic realm forever.”
“What you’re saying is you need more souls?” Zanriath confirmed.
“Yes. That, and more time, but when we get to Land, one will lead to the other.”
“Ok.” Ayva said, collecting and composing herself. “We’ll kill as many as you need.” Zanriath agreed with a slight nod.
“Thank you.” Isabel said with genuine gratitude. “You know I couldn’t have got this far without you don’t you?” She said openly to both of them
“Yeah we know.” Ayva laughed with a wink. “Someone’s got to take care of you.”
Zanriath only smiled and leaned in to kiss Isabel lightly on her soft lips. Her chestnut hair still had its energetic bounce and slight curls at the ends. Zanriath loved it and brushed a loose strand behind her ear before the three turned to face the fog.
Setting off once more at a canter the ground became polished stone beneath their horses’ clattering hooves and Rilako vanished from sight behind them, the mist swallowing them into its depths, only a temporary mask of what horror lay in their immediate path.
38
As it always did, Compii Tower loomed ahead from the mist and towered high above them as they approached. The four bodies were still there, but Isabel cared not to stray too close for the smell. For some reason the demons had chosen still not to eat them. Perhaps they were afraid. The tower seemed particularly dreary and she was glad to see it disappear behind her as they rode south to Land, back home, even though she knew it would never be home again. She felt peculiar as she glanced down at the inscription carved beautifully into the polished stone walkway.
“You won’t see them straight away.” Isabel informed Zanriath and Ayva as she slowed the pace, somehow knowing that they were getting close. “They’ll let us in and then surround us so we can’t get back across the bridge.”
“That’s an unsettling thought…” Zanriath commented. “We’re just going to let that happen?”
“We have to spring the trap. You’ve just got to keep them off me for as long as you can…and kill as many as you can…”
“Simple.” Ayva said with a half-hearted smile. “I like a challenge, but I hate it when the odds are nowhere near fair.”
“I won’t need too long.” Isabel reassured them. The fog began to thin.
All too soon the shores of Land came into view and their horses began snorting wildly.
“We’ll have to leave them.” Isabel said dismounting. She levelled her gaze and looked at her horse, which had once been the boys’ horse. She sighed regretfully and sent it back along the bridge. Zanriath and Ayva did the same.
“I think I’ll miss them.” Ayva admitted watching as the three trustworthy mounts they’d bonded well with disappeared into the mist.
“They’ll be safe.” Isabel said, wisely choosing not to finish her sentence aloud - ‘unless we fail.’
And so the three, now on foot, turned and continued through the thinning mist, emerging back where Zanriath had found Isabel and their journey together had begun.
Everything looked virtually the same. In the distance disappearing over a hill Isabel could see the Great Forest, which now seemed much less great to her considering their brief time spent in Vak’Istor. She remembered running blindly through the trees and the thought sent a shiver down her spine. How afraid she had been. How she had needed longed for her Zanriath.
Even further in the distance the Rikenbris reached up and touched the sky. She remembered her very first time in the Vale of Shadows, and how different a person she was now.
Beyond the mountains and far out of sight were the south-land marshes. She had only ever been there once, on that same journey to Minbris, and she had never wanted to go back. They were hot and sticky and there were insects and vermin everywhere. The only way to travel was by boat along the thin, foul-smelling waterways.
Then further again, beyond the marshes lay the south coast and the Lair of the Demonic, and Demon-Lord Depozi. That was the physical route to their destination, the only one she knew of, and the only one they could not take.
She had been expecting to see smoke from Aproklis, or one of the smaller villages, Minbris, or maybe Hintermiss just off the Black Cliffs to the west, but there was nothing. It seemed the demons were more pre-occupied with her demise than she had originally realised. At least that stood the townsfolk in better chances of survival while they’d been away. She hoped she wouldn’t let them down now.
“So…” Ayva began, feeling very on edge looking across at the apparently empty landscape, seeing nothing but farmers’ fields, random cottages, farmsteads, ruins and large clumps of trees. The endless miles of fences surrounded fields of gold and brown and green and covered the patchwork island like an enormous jigsaw.
There was even some livestock. Perhaps the demons didn’t have a taste for cow.
That was something that surprisingly lifted Isabel’s spirits considerably.
She had missed the orderly layout of fields and pastures, and fallow fields, cattle and crops - each and every one having an owner. Ownership of farmland was something that Land’s folk took very seriously, and yet, on all three other islands, it seemed to be an afterthought. She had expected to return to total destruction, and was pleased to see that this was not the case.
“Where are they…?” The sky above was growing dark and gloomy. Black clouds hung heavily over this profoundly burdened place. Isabel’s reply was quiet and shallow, her consciousness barely even recognising Ayva’s words.
“Everywhere.” Ayva swallowed hard and her hands itched to feel the grips of her swords.
Zanriath too was on edge, knowing all too well how many hundreds upon thousands of sets of eyes were already upon them. He could only but imagine how Isabel had felt at Still Waters, staring down at those hungry beasts beneath her. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t envisage the loneliness and fear she must have experienced.
“Let’s go.” Isabel said. Her voice was barely recognisable.
Ayva and Zanriath followed her lead and walked closely at her sides. The feeling they could not shake was one they did not enjoy - the feeling of being completely overwhelmed, yet still seeing nothing. They walked for a few minutes and crossed a small track bordering a field and followed it south. The track was too narrow for a horse and cart and so must have been used by the farmer of the field. Crops stretched out in each direction and some fields that they passed housed frightened looking animals, though as they had rightly surmised, they were untouched.
They walked for over an hour, still only covering barely a quarter of the distance between the bridge and the Great Forest.
After some time Isabel began to shorten her pace with each step until she slowly stopped completely. They’d come to a halt in a field of common land between two neighbouring fields and a few sheep grazed idly atop the crest of a slightly taller hill than all others around.