‘Ah! Now I’m wet Aithne!’ Enri feigned indignity and the little girl giggled.
‘You’re about to get wetter,’ Dale assured him and the Squire wrinkled his forehead in disbelief.
‘I don’t think that’s possible Dale,’ said Enri skeptically, ‘unless you think we’re going to need to swim out to the boat.’ Enri cursed under his breath. ‘That’s exactly what you intend, isn’t it?’
‘We can’t very well wander into one of their huts and ask them not to notice if we use the jetty now, can we?’ said Dale rolling his eyes. ‘Relax. We only need to go in the water if they are actually watching the jetty.’
‘How are we supposed to get into the boat from the water?’ Enri’s voice betrayed his dislike for Dale’s plan.
‘I would think the boats are either moored or anchored. So there must be a rope.’ Dale now sounded unsure of himself and Enri sighed worriedly. ‘If there’s no-one around the jetty there will be no need to swim,’ Dale continued. ‘We just need to pick a boat that’s unoccupied.’
‘Unoccupied? I suppose they could be occupied couldn’t they?’
‘You think?’ said Dale, sounding frustrated. ‘Let’s see now, this is a fishing settlement and these are fishing boats.’
Enri grimaced. He leaned towards Dale and whispered, ‘With respect sir, pointing out to everyone how stupid I am isn’t getting us any closer to the boats.’
Dale closed his eyes for a moment and then turned to Enri. ‘Enri, you are the furthest thing from stupid I can imagine. I’m just getting a little panicky and you happened to be standing next to me. I’m sorry. It’s this crazy plan to steal a boat and go across the lake. Whoever thought it up must be an idiot.’
‘Well, if you two have finished discussing who the biggest fool is, can we get going?’ said Lias drily. ‘I suggest we do this as quickly as possible.’
Minutes later they left their hiding place and ran down to the wooden jetty. To Dale’s dismay there was only one boat tied to the jetty and it didn’t look big enough to carry them all. Unfortunately they had no choice but to take it as they were already almost at the end of the small jetty and they could hear voices approaching. Dale cursed from shock as Callian grabbed him and flung him backwards into the boat. The boat rocked dangerously as Enri landed squarely on top of him. He pushed Enri away and caught Aithne as she leapt from the jetty and then he leaned forward and grabbed the oars. A second later Alexander and Valeska were in the boat. Callian flung his own pack into the boat and turned and grabbed Lias’ and Danil’s packs and tossed them to Dale. Then he reached down and shoved the little boat away from the jetty.
Dale’s heart froze as he saw Lias and Callian run back along the boardwalk to stand side by side blocking anyone from approaching the jetty. Danil looked into Valeska’s eyes for a long moment as the boat drifted away.
‘Lead them home Vali,’ he said softly, and he turned and ran to join Callian and Lias.
‘Swords!’ cried Danil, seeing that the approaching warriors were closing too fast for anyone to have time to use a bow.
‘No!’ cried Valeska, trying to get out of the boat. Alexander grabbed her from behind and pulled her backwards and she fell on top of him, crying out in panic.
‘Go!’ Callian’s shout came through the rain. ‘You must go.’ Dale sat frozen with shock as Callian’s thoughts came to him. ‘Please make my return worthwhile Dale. Go.’ Aithne began to sob as Dale started rowing and seconds later they were hidden by the rain and fog.
As the first warrior struck, Danil lashed out violently with his sword, determined to give Dale as much time as possible to cross the lake. He ducked as a weapon swung past his head and he struck out with the knife in his left hand. There was a cry as his blade made contact. He gave a shout as a sword cut his arm deeply and he swung hard to the right leaping over a body. Pushing forward, he drove two warriors backwards and then with two quick blows they fell. He turned and brought up his sword again finding himself between Callian and Lias. In front of them more than fifty warriors stood with raised swords. He knew he couldn’t win this battle and his heart ached for Valeska and for his child that he would never see. He took a deep breath.
‘Now?’ Callian murmured and Lias and Danil nodded. As one they charged forward with swords raised.
Chapter 42
Terror
Immosey held her breath, trying not to tremble as she stretched out her hand, reaching towards the knife in the sheath at Borgulnay’s hip. He didn’t move as her hand closed around the hilt of the weapon. With utmost care, she drew the knife inch by inch from its sheath. She exhaled with relief and then gasped in shock as a massive hand closed over her fingers and the knife fell to the ground. Borgulnay opened his eyes.
‘Immy, what are you doing?’ he whispered.
‘Trying not to scream as you crush my fingers,’ she gasped and he looked mortified as he dropped her hand. He picked up the knife and handed it back to her.
‘You dropped this,’ he said quietly. ‘But if you want someone killed I’m happy to do that for you,’ he joked.
Immosey blanched and held out the knife. ‘Would you hold this for me, just for a moment?’ Borgulnay took the knife and slid it back into its sheath disturbed by how frightened she was. Immosey leaned down until the top half of her body was resting on the big soldier’s chest and he frowned as he noticed her heart was pounding. He reached around her and pulled her up until she lay on top of him. Immosey closed her eyes and didn’t move. After a while she slid to the ground beside him and cuddled to his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He pulled a blanket over their bodies and moved his arm until her head was resting in the crook of his elbow then he relaxed and listened as her breathing evened out. The breeze blew her long curly hair around his neck. He raised his head. She was asleep. He wondered for what purpose she had wanted the knife.
An hour later it was almost midnight and Borgulnay reluctantly woke her. He ran his fingers gently down her cheek and she murmured in her sleep before opening her eyes and looking up at him.
‘So are you going to tell me now?’ he asked curiously.
‘Tell you what?’
‘Why you were trying to pilfer my favorite new knife, however clumsy the attempt.’
Immosey blushed. ‘I wanted to go into the forest to relieve myself, and I thought it would be a good idea to take a weapon, just in case.’ Her eyes flickered sideways for an instant and he saw a flash of panic in her eyes.
Borgulnay sat up. ‘What aren’t you telling me?’ he asked, moving into a crouch beside her. ‘What happened?’
‘I was just going to go by myself, but you said not to go anywhere without you. I didn’t want to wake you, so I told one of the guards I needed to go. He said it was safe, but when I turned back he was following me, so I ran back here to get the knife. Oh Borg, he was probably just going to stand guard, but he scared me.’
Borg’s mouth dropped open. ‘And if he was following you for any other reason, you thought you would fight him off with a knife?’
‘I would have tried,’ Immosey answered lamely. ‘I felt a little stupid because as I said, I have no idea why he followed me. It probably meant nothing. But he was acting strangely.’
‘How so?’
‘He kept looking over at Rudiger and Eibhear, and I think they were both asleep. It worried me because they are sleeping away from everyone else and he was getting closer and closer to them. So I deliberately coughed and he kind of sauntered back to where he was originally standing.’
‘And then?’
‘I thought maybe I could find out if he really was going to do something to Rudi or Eibhear or if he was up to something else. So I thought I’d just go a little way into the bushes, and see what he did. I thought if he did go after Rudi or Eibhear maybe I could...I don’t know. Maybe I could warn them. But every time I started going into the bushes he followed me.’
Borgulnay gathered her into his arms. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it arou
nd her shoulders, frowning once again as he saw she was trembling. He wasn’t surprised to see Araas approaching.
‘You felt that?’ Borgulnay looked up at the tall guardian.
Araas inclined his head, his forehead furrowing. ‘I’m shielding the girls’ thoughts whilst Louisa gets some rest, but any guardian for miles around could have felt that little stab of panic.’ He glanced sideways as Milgorry walked over to them, frowning. ‘And Mil too, it seems. Though he can probably hear us even from over there,’ he added.
‘Immy?’ Milgorry crouched beside Borgulnay. ‘Who was it?’
‘I don’t know his name. It was the one who was standing near the big belah tree earlier.’
‘And he was moving closer to Rudi and Eibhear whilst they slept?’
‘Yes. And he had his knife out. But when I went into the trees he started to follow me. And I still need to relieve myself!’ she said crossly. ‘I can’t wait much longer.’
‘You seemed frightened earlier, but you ran to Borg and I thought you would have spoken to him!’ Araas said indignantly. ‘You should have told him! I don’t spend all my time listening to your mind Immosey, but maybe I should!’
‘No matter,’ said Borgulnay. ‘Let’s find out, shall we? Mil, can you make Rudiger aware of what we are doing without anyone knowing?’
‘Naturally. Immy, can you retrace your steps? Can you go into the forest in the direction you were heading earlier?’ Immosey nodded, looking terrified. ‘Good,’ said Milgorry. ‘I won’t be far away,’ he reassured her. ‘If he follows you again, we’ll only wait until we find out if he’s doing his duty or if he has other plans.’
‘Wait,’ said Borgulnay firmly. ‘This is too dangerous-’
‘It’s alright Borg,’ Immosey interrupted. ‘I urgently have to go into the forest anyway, so we may as well take the opportunity. It would be wrong to say nothing and then find Rudi and Eibhear murdered in their sleep. I won’t let that happen. These people are helping us, and I’ll do what I can to help them too. It’s kind of what I planned to do earlier anyway.’
Milgorry watched her apprehensively for a moment. ‘I don’t like this, but I can’t think of an easier way to find out.’ He turned to Borgulnay and tipped his head towards the right and then he looked at Araas and indicated that he should move left. Both acknowledged without speaking and moved silently away.
Immosey watched Araas disappear into the trees then looked for Borgulnay. In the few seconds that had passed he had disappeared. She climbed to her feet and let the blanket fall back onto the grass. Taking a deep breath she strode purposefully into the forest. Her heart pounded with fright as she moved through the trees in the darkness. With every step she found it harder to go forward, when every instinct told her to turn and run. ‘Keep going!’ she told herself, as she pushed her way through the low branches of a wattle tree, leaving yellow pollen all over her hair. She felt someone’s eyes on her before she heard or saw them. She turned around and noticed several slight movements in the bushes behind her. Her breathing quickened as she saw there was more than one person following her and she hurried forward, not daring to look behind again. She came to a ridge of granite boulders with clumps of hair grass growing in the cracks between the rocks and she climbed over the ridge, almost falling as she lost her grip on the clump of grass she was using to steady herself. The grass slid through her hand, cutting her and she gave a little cry as blood dribbled through her fingers. She scrambled over the top of the ridge and dropped to the ground on the other side. She had no choice. She had to relieve herself immediately so she quickly kicked off her boots and undid the ties on her trousers letting them fall to the ground. As she stepped away from her trousers she heard a noise behind her and she spun around. A dark shadow slammed her backwards and she screamed in shock when she found herself pinned to the ground.
She grappled helplessly with her attacker as he tried to clamp her mouth shut and she sank her teeth as hard as she could into his hand. He cursed softly and struck her face with his fist. There was a thud as her head snapped back and hit the ground. She tried to bring up her knee but her attacker was too heavy. Tears poured down her face and she cried out in pain as he used his knife to slice through the front of her tunic, shirt and undergarment, leaving bleeding wounds from her neck to her thigh. He wrenched the fabric away from her body and she struggled ineffectively as he forced her knees apart.
‘Oh Borg,’ she sobbed. ‘Where are you?’
There was a flash of movement in the overhanging branches and Borgulnay dropped like a panther, smashing the attacker away from her. Borgulnay came to his feet with his knife in his hand at the same instant as the attacker, and they paused, seeming to measure each other. The attacker glared contemptuously at the human soldier. A split second later they threw themselves towards each other, and Immosey heard the sound of the two knives as they clashed together. She rolled away in terror. The warrior seemed shocked by the big soldier’s strength and Immosey could almost sense his panic as he found the human soldier was easily his match and perhaps even more dangerous than himself. He cursed as Borgulnay’s knife sliced his hand, but continued to attack relentlessly. Borgulnay appeared to stumble sideways slightly and the warrior leaned in to take advantage of his momentary unsteadiness. Even as his knife slashed downwards he recognized his mistake. His weight was forward and he practically fell onto Borgulnay’s knife as the soldier dropped to the ground and drove the weapon up under his ribcage. He fell to his knees as Milgorry, Araas, Rudiger and Eibhear appeared from the surrounding forest.
Rudiger vaulted over the ridge of rocks, landing in front of Borgulnay. He glanced at Immosey and his face seethed with anger as he turned to the warrior who stared furiously back at him.
‘Araas, I need to be certain,’ said Rudiger. Araas gazed into the warrior’s infuriated eyes for over a minute before he spoke.
‘He tries to hide his thoughts, but there is no question. He would have raped her and killed her. He’s returning, Rudi. His wound is too severe. He won’t remain here.’
‘And his loyalty?’ asked Rudiger, looking coldly at the warrior.
‘He hates Nandul almost as much as he hates you and Eibhear.’ He paused as he stared at the warrior. ‘But he wasn’t planning to stay with you for much longer.’ Hatred poured from the warrior as he glared malevolently at Araas. ‘He planned to leave tonight after he returned you and Eibhear, and he was intending to tell Nandul exactly what your plans were, regardless of whether he was successful in murdering you. You know, if it wasn’t for Immy, he might have succeeded.’
‘You are the cause of your own return, Jarli,’ Rudiger almost spat the words. ‘You had no right to touch her.’
‘She’s just a human!’ Jarli coughed and blood dripped from his mouth.
Milgorry took a step closer to the warrior, his eyes glittering dangerously. ‘Yes,’ he said. The warrior’s eyes filled with defeat as Milgorry drew his sword and stood over him. ‘She’s human.’ His sword flashed before their eyes and the warrior’s head hit the ground with a thud, followed a second later by his body. ‘And she’s my sister,’ said Milgorry proudly, as he turned to Immosey, ‘and incredibly brave.’
‘Where is the other one?’ asked Immosey, and her voice was a trembling whisper. ‘I’m sure I saw two people following me in the forest.’
‘That was Eibhear,’ said Rudiger. ‘He was supposed to be tailing Jarli, but somehow - I can hardly believe this - but Eibhear went the wrong way! And we must have been following Eibhear’s tracks instead of Jarli’s! How is that possible? Fortunately Borg had more sense. What a fiasco! I’m sorry Immosey. It should have been so simple…’
‘You should never have been able to see my tracks,’ said Eibhear sounding disgusted. ‘And Jarli turned out to be a lot sneakier than I gave him credit for. I lost him so quickly. I’m an idiot! I should have just ignored Jarli and followed Immosey. I didn’t want to get too close to her, because I don’t suppose she wanted a whole lot of people
hanging around when she needed to…’
‘Why did you think something was amiss in the first place?’ said Araas, looking suspiciously at Eibhear.
‘Jarli shouldn’t have been wandering around. I thought it was strange that he would follow the girl, and I could hear Rudi’s thoughts. I didn’t like Rudi thinking about going into the forest after Jarli. I’ve never trusted him.’
‘You were concerned for Rudi?’ Araas raised his eyebrows.
Eibhear didn’t answer, and a second later the frown on Araas’ face was replaced with surprise. ‘You’re Rudi’s brother!’
‘Is that significant?’ asked Borgulnay skeptically.
‘Very,’ said Araas. ‘Like the guardians, the free have a bond between brothers which is practically impossible to break. It’s unheard of among the guardians or the free for brother to betray brother.’
‘Surely you could read the girl’s thoughts? Why didn’t you see what was happening?’ Eibhear was now looking at Araas accusingly.
‘I asked Tim to help me hide Immy’s and Borg’s thoughts so our plan would be unhindered. I doubt anyone would have attempted to attack Immy if they knew we were coming after them.’
‘True,’ Eibhear admitted.
‘Something’s not right about this,’ Araas murmured, looking down at Jarli’s body.
‘Meaning?’
‘I didn’t just think I was following Jarli. I knew I was following him. Only I wasn’t. It was like someone made me think I was going the right way, even when I wasn’t,’ Araas explained.
The Fallen (Book 1) Page 41