“Now!” Aurddolen commanded.
The crucible began to tip. The interior was revealed – a liquid mass of glowing gold. The gold started to pour. September was suddenly afraid. The molten metal would fall on Aurddolen and burn him. The Mordeyrn did not flinch but held out his hands. The liquid gold fell but did not reach his hands; he was not scorched. The glowing mass of metal was suspended in the air a few centimetres above Aurddolen’s hands, a few more centimetres above the hearth. September heard Aurddolen chanting. The words were the old tongue, which she could not understand although she made out some words such as ‘aur’ and ‘haul’. The amorphous mass of liquid gold roiled and flowed. It became a perfect sphere about thirty centimetres across with spikes growing out of it. September counted eight of them arranged in a cube. One spike grew longer and thicker turning into a two metre long rod. Aurddolen grabbed hold of the rod and turned away from the hearth. He held the rod with its glowing, spiked orb, aloft.
“Behold! I am restored as the Prif-cludydd o aur. The power of Haul is with us. Let every one of us have hope.” There was loud cheering thoughout the vast workshop.
September looked around and saw that all the workers had stopped to watch what the Mordeyrn did. He lowered the staff so that it rested on the floor. The metal stopped glowing and became simply golden. Aurddolen looked at September.
“It is done. Now I can draw on all the energy of Haul and help you defeat the evil of the Malevolence.”
“Isn’t it heavy?” September asked, wondering what a head-sized ball of gold would weigh.
“For someone who was not a cludydd o aur it would indeed be too heavy to lift, but for me it is weightless. It is carried by its own energy. Ignoring his gown which lay discarded on the ground he strode towards the door and stepped out into the cold mountain air. September followed.
There were more cheers. It seemed that the whole town was waiting outside in the freshly fallen snow. Every single person seemed delighted that the Mordeyrn had his new symbol of power. He marched between the people, heading down hill towards his lodging, his bare skin apparently unaffected by the cold. In fact, September thought, he seemed to be glowing like his golden staff.
They reached the building where Aurddolen lived. The people stopped outside as he went in with September close behind. In his main room he placed the staff on the floor and let go. September expected it to fall but it remained balanced on the single rod. Aurddolen looked exhilarated.
“Now we shall be ready. We set off to meet the Malevolence in one week.”
“Who is ‘we’?” September asked.
“All those who have vowed to join us. I sent out the call some time ago. Those cludyddau that could be spared from their communities, warriors, healers, anyone with skills that we will need on our trek into the whitelands I invited to join us. Some have arrived, more will come. All are dedicated to support you, Cludydd.”
September had a flash of her and Aurddolen leading a motley band through blizzards and ice like Captain Scott crossing the Antarctic. She wondered what they could do.
“A week? But it is still four weeks to the Conjunction.”
“It will take that time to reach the focus of the evil. It will be a long and arduous trek for us, if not for you.”
“Hmm, I’d better see if I can help some of the people who are left to fight the Malevolence in their own homes.”
“Yes, September, you do that. We will continue to prepare.”
September focussed on one of the images in her head with a desperate appeal from a copper bearer. She prepared herself for symudiad.
13
The week passed in a rapid succession of days and nights. Without pause September flashed from one confrontation with the Malevolence to another. The manifestations were no match for her power but she knew that she was only tackling a fraction of the incursions. The clamour for assistance was a continuous roar in her head. She was glad that she didn;t have to sleep as it would have been impossible to settle with the voices screaming and crying for help. As she travelled across the Land she saw more of the effects the Malevolence was causing. People were starving because their food stocks had been destroyed or they had been unable to bring in harvests. Many of their homes had been ruined and the tools they needed lost. People were falling ill with sicknesses of deprivation. Some people lost faith in the power of the cludyddau to protect and succour them and turned on their neighbours. They became servants of the Malevolence and added to the destruction. September realised how the past conjunctions had kept the population of Gwlad small and isolated. The Land was forever struggling to recover from one episode of the Malevolence after another, despite the efforts of her predecessors.
It was early in the morning that Aurddolen announced that they were ready to set off from Mwyngloddiau Dwfn. September transported to the space where the motley army was assembling near to the mine entrances at the top end of the town. The company was not as large as she had expected. There were about a dozen miners led by Cynhaearn and a similar number of other men and women from other parts of the Land. In addition, Heulfryn, Cari and Ariannell from Mwyngloddiau stood with a handful of their fellow cludyddau. Hedydd and Sieffre were also there. Each of them were dressed in thick woollen clothes with rucksacks on their backs. Even wrapped up they looked cold in the pale winter light with snow falling gently on them.
September approached Hedydd and Sieffre.
“You are going too?” she asked.
“Yes, I am needed to guide you to the spot where the Malevolence will be concentrated. I am the Seryddwr now,” the young woman replied.
“Of course, the last astronomer. You must return to make sure that you pass on your knowledge.”
“I will make sure of that,” Sieffre said, placing an arm protectively around the young woman. Hedydd looked at him with love rather than mere gratitude. September thought she knew what that feeling was. There had been a time when she thought she might have fallen for Sieffre’s charm and dedication.
“Good luck,” she wished them. She looked up, beyond the town to the white, jagged peaks that rose one on top of the other to the north. “Do you have to climb over that to reach the ice cap? It looks impossible.”
“We go through them,” Cynhaearn said, joining the trio, “Through the years mines have been driven right through the mountains and onto the ice covered plains beyond. It would take days of travel if we had to walk but we have some assistance. Come to the adit and see.”
He led them through the various pithead buildings until they approached the near-vertical cliff that was the head of the valley. There was a dark hole in the rock and, emerging from it, a pair of rails. Standing on the rails was a row of wheeled trucks.
“A railway,” September said.
“Yes,” Cynhaearn agreed, “We have already taken supplies and equipment to the end of the line. Now it is ready to carry us, and you too if you will join us for the start of our journey.”
Other members of the group were already scrambling into the trucks, two or three to each one.
“I can’t see what makes it move?” September said. There were no horses to tow the wagons and no engine.
“The Mordeyrn provides the power of Haul,” Sieffre said.
“Of course,” September nodded, although she still could not understand how gold could be a source of energy. Aurddolen appeared now from the lower town, striding towards them with his golden staff and orb. He climbed into the lead truck and beckoned to the others to join him.
“Join me here, Cludydd,” he called to September, “perhaps you will accompany us on the first part of the journey.”
September was torn by the appeals in her head, but something told her that the party would need her help. She climbed into the lead wagon with the Mordeyrn.
“What about Heulwen? Is she coming with us?” September asked.
“No. Ilar will look after her while I am gone. I have told her to keep Heulwen locked in her room until we return. I do not wan
t there to be any chance that she might escape under Malice’s control.”
By now more of the townspeople had emerged into the freezing cold to bid them farewell. Aurddolen planted his staff firmly against the floor of the wagon and muttered something that September did not understand. The orb began to glow and the train of wagons started to roll, the iron wheels scraping against the rails. The people cheered.
The black maw of the mine was in front of them and then they were swallowed up. The wagons increased in speed, the noise ricocheting off the walls. In moments the dim light of the entrance had diminished to a distant spot and only Aurddolen’s orb lit up the tunnel. The track was initially straight but began to twist and turn, the wagons rattling and rocking from side to side. To September they seemed to be travelling incredibly fast, the walls and low roof flashing past.
Minutes had gone by and September guessed that they must already be one or two kilometres into the mountain when her hip began to itch.
“Aurddolen,” she shouted over the noise of the trucks, “the Malevolence is near. We may be attacked.”
“I expected it,” the Mordeyrn replied. Their speed decreased. He leant forward to try to see further. September too peered into the gloom. Only a patch of tunnel twenty or thirty metres in front of them was illuminated by the golden glow. Suddenly September saw a sparkle ahead then light was reflected back instead of being lost in the gloom of the tunnel.
“Stop!” she shouted, “There’s something there.” The grinding of the braking wheels against the tracks made her ears ring but the trucks slowed.
“The tunnel’s blocked,” September cried out. The tunnel was filled from the rails to the roof with fallen rock. The train halted with the lead wagon pressed against the boulders. For a moment there was silence, then more noise, this time of rock crumbling and falling. Dust and bits of stone dropped on them.
Coblynau appeared from fresh holes in the walls, roof and ground and hobbled towards the party on their short legs, groping with the rock-grinding claws on their hands. September heard shouts from behind as the miners swung their short swords. The tunnel was filled with dust and cries. She knew what she had to do.
September raised her hand and shouted her command. Violet light beamed up and down the tunnel turning every one of the Coblynau to clouds of fine dust that settled in heaps where they had fought.
Now silence did fall. Aurddolen climbed from the wagon and inspected the blockage. Cynhaearn came from the rear truck.
“It looks pretty extensive,” Cynhaearn said, “Could take hours to clear. I suppose we’d better get started.” He shouted to his fellow miners to take out their picks and shovels and get to work.
“Perhaps there is a quicker way,” September said, joining them.
“What do you mean?” Cynhaearn asked, looking mystified, “No one can work faster than my miners equipped with iron tools assisted by the power of Mawrth.”
“That’s right,” September said, “but your iron tools are small. I can use the power of Mars without the iron. I think I know what to do. Tell everybody to get into the wagons and keep down.”
“Do as the Cludydd says,” Aurddolen said. The message was passed along and the party hurried to hide themselves in the trucks.
September look around to check that everyone was safe and then faced the rockfall. She raised her hand holding the starstone and summoned up anger. She was angry with the Coblynau for slowing them down, angry with the stone itself for blocking their path and angry with the Malevolence for all its destructiveness. The starstone began to glow a deep red colour and there was a sound like a whirling fan. Wind blew her hair. September thrust her hand forward. The invisible blade bit into the stone. There was the roar of fractured rock. Across the full diameter of the tunnel the fallen boulders were ground to dust illuminated by crimson light. The dust was blown back, far down the tunnel. It blew a fierce tornado of rock fragments over and around the line of wagons.
Slowly September advanced forward. The obstruction was eaten away like a drill through butter. Metre after metre she edged forward, every piece of fallen rock ground to fine dust which was carried on the gale and passed beyond the train.
At last she broke through the rockfall. There was no more rock on the line ahead; the tunnel was clear. September lowered her hand and the red light faded. The last of the dust settled to the floor of the tunnel and the members of the company raised their heads above the wagons, every one of them covered in the fine powder. They cheered and called out September’s title.
She climbed back into the lead truck and Aurddolen powered them onwards. Their speed increased until once again the walls of the tunnel flashed past. Every so often the track divided and a tunnel went off to the right or left, but they continued onwards, the track level but now with thousands of metres of rock above them.
For hours they travelled through the clattering darkness. September had been free of pain in her side but now it began to itch again. She warned Aurddolen.
“We’re nearly at the end of the track,” he shouted over the noise of the wheels on the rails. He reduced speed and again they peered ahead for some blockage.
The wagon slowed to a stop against a buffer. They’d reached the end of the track and the tunnel had opened up into a chamber. Her hip was burning.
“There should be guards here,” Aurddolen said, commanding his orb to brighten. Golden light filled the cavern. September saw bodies lying motionless and a mess of scattered and torn packages. They all climbed out of the wagons and went to investigate. September and Auddolen examined one of the fallen warriors. She looked away, not wanting to look at the burned flesh.
“Tylwyth teg,” Aurddolen muttered bitterly. There were cries from all parts of the chamber. September looked up and saw the white, sparkling manifestations attacking from all sides. The members of the party retreated away from the acid-spitting figures and clustered together. Dark and fair warriors drew their swords but they flinched from the showers of acid.
September raised her arm and commanded the starstone to respond. The chamber and the adjoining tunnels filled with violet light, turning the fairies of the Malevolence, like the Coblynau, to dust.
Silence fell and the party spread out again looking at the bodies of the fallen. Aurddolen went to examine the stores that were spread round the chamber. Packets of food were ripped apart and scattered, thick furs were torn into shreds and sleighs were smashed to pieces.
Aurddolen slumped in despair.
“All the guards have been killed and the supplies we put together for the journey into the whitelands have been destroyed. Without them we will not survive the cold and lack of food.”
“Let’s look carefully. Perhaps it isn’t all gone,” September said.
Aurddolen commanded each member of the party to collect together what was left that was useable. They searched every square metre of the cavern using lamps containing splinters of starstone. When the search was complete they had collected together a pitifully small pile of uncontaminated rations, a few items of cold weather clothing and one intact sleigh.
“There’s nothing like enough for everybody,” Cynhaearn said.
“Is everybody necessary?” September asked.
“What do you mean?” Cynhaearn said.
“I know everyone has volunteered because they want to help but from what I’ve been told the big thing at the Conjunction is between me and the Malevolence, and Malice. I don’t think a lot of people need to get into danger. In fact, perhaps they’re needed more protecting their homes.”
Aurddolen had been listening to her.
“But Heulyn gathered together a large army at the last conjunction.”
“Yes, and you told me that they all stayed and watched and waited while my mother went to face the Malevolence.”
“Hmm, you are right. Perhaps a small party to accompany you is all that is necessary.”
“You need me to guide you to where the Malevolence will strike,” Hedydd said.
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br /> “And I must escort her,” Sieffre added.
“And I will contribute my power,” Aurddolen insisted. Cynhaearn, Heulfryn and others insisted they were essential.
“No,” September said, “I think only Hedydd and Sieffre are needed to show me to the spot. Aurddolen your power may be needed to help keep the people of Gwlad together. Cynhaearn, your people need you to protect Mwyngloddiau.”
Aurddolen was thoughtful.
“Perhaps you are right, Cludydd, and I was mistaken. You must face the Malevolence, an astronomer is needed to fix the position and, apart from Sieffre to protect Hedydd, that is all. We will return once we have seen you safely out on to the ice.”
Some of the other cludyddau and warriors were disappointed not to be part of the expedition but most accepted the wisdom of returning to their communities as the Malevolence reached its peak. September noted that everyone was confident that she would overcome the evil, a confidence that she did not share. She did not reveal her doubts.
September had intended to leave the party while they made their slow progress across the icecap. She had expected to continue to respond to appeals for help from across the Land but she realised that her priority had to change. Now, she must guard Hedydd until they got to the site that Eryl had identified. The persistent clamour for her assistance must be ignored. She knew it meant more pain and death but facing the Malevolence at the Conjunction was her most important, and perhaps her only, task.
All the supplies were piled onto the remaining sledge. Sieffre and Hedydd put on the thick furs that would prepare them for the ultra-cold that they would face when they emerged from the mine. A group of miners dragged the sledge through the final few hundred metres of tunnel with the rest of the party following.
Pale light showed from the tunnel opening. The days on the icecap would be short and they would be travelling as much through night as through daytime. Icy air blew into the tunnel, making the unprotected party retreat. Hedydd and Sieffre put their heads through the halters of the sledge, as did September.
The Power of Seven Page 18