We fought on, trading blow for blow. The pain in her leg radiated up all the way to her shoulder; every step making the pain shoot up. The temperature in the room was getting unbearable, making it hard to breath. Then suddenly, it went icy cold as though I was standing naked in a blizzard. I shivered, my hands felt like blocks of ice and I had a hard time keeping my grip on the hilt. He used this moment to attack and managed to cut my leg. The cut was deeper this time, and I screamed with the pain, Markai roared. I was in no doubt that she felt it as keenly as I did.
Furtively, we led the fight over to where the Skell lay. A few times, she nearly slipped on the suddenly icy floor. Rakadamon was smiling again, thinking that we were retreating.
He sprang forward and swiped his blade horizontally, aiming to take her head off. She ducked her whole body down and I leaned over, just managing to grab the Skell’s midnight sword before Markai leapt away. I came back up, sheathing Sunder.
For a split second, I saw fear flash across his eyes, but then layers of hate and anger hid it again. That moment though, was enough to tell me I was right.
We fought with renewed vigour. Bit by bit we were gaining the upper hand. He managed to deflect my strikes, but a few glanced off his blocks and nicked him. Where the black blade bit, blue mist seeped into him. I did not know why or if it had any effect, but I had not seen that happen before.
Even though the cuts I inflicted were small, I knew they would be hurting as much as ours were. Slowly he was getting sloppier in his fighting; he was limping from a cut to his thigh and starting to make mistakes, allowing me to land an increasing number of blows.
I took out the flamer from the sack and eyed the bodies around me. He looked at the glass container suspiciously. I aimed for the nearest Dark Child and threw it. His eyes followed it, and the body burst into a bright flame.
In that moment of distraction, Markai attacked. Her massive paw hit him square in the jaw, tearing off an ear and knocking him down to the ground. He lost his grip on his sword and it went skittering across the floor. I jumped from her back, landing with my feet on either side of his body and drove the blade into his heart.
Shock painted his face; his mouth formed the word ‘no’. He took one last shuddering breath and went still.
I left the blade there and stepped back. Thick curls of blue mist swirled out from my body, down the blade and disappearing into his body. A weight lifted off my chest when the last tendrils left me.
Slowly, the blade drained all his blood; the mist came back out and was also drawn into the black metal. His skin turned a ghostly white before it started to decay right before my eyes. I stood watching until all that was left of him was bones and the sword clattered to the stone floor.
I tried to pick it up, but jerked my hand away; the hilt felt frozen and it left an angry red mark on my palm.
CHAPTER 19 – The Joy, The Pain
Strangely, the first thought that occurred to me, was that Quiniewa had been wrong. Sunder had not proven to be so important. He had faced it before and this time, had been prepared for it. Relief flooded through me and my whole body sagged. It was over and Brant had been loyal after all. I fervently hoped that he was still alive. I hoped all my friends were alive. I slowly became aware of wild cheering coming from outside. It was thin, most of the sound having been blocked by the castle walls.
I hobbled over to where Malion lay. Each step was agony. I bent down over him. He had several cuts all over his body and was covered in blood, but he was breathing, if weakly. I picked him up and laid him over Markai's back. He groaned when I lifted him, his face contorting in pain, but his eyes did not open. Next, I walked to Xain. He was sprawled on his back, glazed eyes staring up at the ceiling without seeing. With silent tears rolling down my face, I closed his eyes and sat with him a while. I swore silently to myself that I would come back for his body. I would not leave him there.
I pulled the map Roscien had given me from my coat pocket. We made our way slowly out of the castle. I had unsheathed Sunder again, expecting another attack around every corner. We made it out into the suddenly blinding sunlight without incident. I surveyed the area in front of me. Bodies lay strewn everywhere.
Clearly, our reinforcements had driven the attack back all the way here. The surprising thing though, was that I could not see or hear any fighting whatsoever. We started walking again.
I was not sure where we were going, but a moment later I nearly collided with Trissa as she came bounding around the corner of the castle. My heart nearly stopped. I had thought her an enemy approaching and nearly driven Sunder through her. She did not seem to notice and to my surprise, threw her arms around me, holding me in a tight hug. "You did it! You did it. They are all dead, Kadin."
I looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean they are all dead?"
Seran was grinning from ear to ear. "They all collapsed. All at the same time. They were lying on the ground, shaking and jerking and then they all went still. The Dark Children are all dead! We think it must have been the moment he died." He laughed exuberantly and clapped me on the back before also pulled me into a hug.
"You say the Dark Children, what of the Twisted Ones?" I asked.
He shrugged. "That seemed to vary really. Some of them, like the Scavengers, simply collapsed into a heap, died right there on the spot, others were more complicated. I saw some people who had been turned, as they had been in Ghydenea, changed back. One moment they were fighting us tooth and nail, the next, they stopped and started crying out for mercy, saying they had been released. Some of the strangest were the Dyrrendrel. As near as I could tell, they got smaller somehow and reverted to being wolves. They all slinked away into the forest over there." He jerked his thumb, indicating the forest behind him.
Tas appeared out of the milling crowd. His smile fell away immediately as he noticed Malion slumped over Markai's back. He rushed over and checked him. "We must get him to the Jerieghen. They will no doubt be able to at least make sure he does not die from all these injuries." I nodded and he and Markai set off in search of them.
I turned to them. "Xain is dead." My voice sounded hard, even to my own ears.
Trissa gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. Seran’s eyes dropped to his feet and he stood shaking his head. She started crying and he pulled her into a hug. "We must go back for his body. We have to give him a decent burial. That is the least that he deserves.”
Seran looked at me over her head and nodded his agreement.
"Have you seen Alathaya?" I asked.
They both shook their heads solemnly, previous exuberance gone, as though only now realising the possibility of death amongst our group.
"How about any of the others?"
Wiping her eyes and nose, Trissa answered. "Only Dhillion. He is with the Jerieghen. Still upset that he was left out." I thought I heard her mutter ‘stupid boy’.
"I have to find Alathaya." I did not wait for an answer, but started walking away.
I still had my Navitas focused, but I was having a hard time distinguishing any smells in this chaos. I started calling her name. My voice was hoarse, but I kept calling and calling. My stomach was tied in a knot. When I could not find her after what seemed an eternity of searching, I started feeling physically sick. Despair was threating to engulf me and break me to tears when Markai came loping toward me. I had to look twice, but then my feet were running before my mind realised the truth of it. She was carrying Alathaya.
I pulled her from Markai’s back and hugged her fiercely. I kissed her all over her face, until laughing, she pushed me back at arm’s length. “Let me look at you. Make sure you are in one piece. I have been worried sick!”
She has been worried? I could not help but join in her laughter.
I looked her over as well, but she assured me that she was miraculously unhurt. She saw the cut to my leg and exclaimed, “We have to get that seen to straight away. It seems deep.” She cut off a strip of cloth from her coat and tied it in a tourn
iquet above the cut.
I winced and sucked in a deep breath of air.
“We will ask the Jerieghen for a salve,” she said as she worked.
I noticed a figure approaching and as he got closer, I saw it was Tas.
He enveloped us in a hug. “I saw Markai carrying Alathaya and I knew she must be bringing her to you. Come, I have someone you must meet.”
He grabbed her hand pulling her, and by default me, along. He only let go of her hand when she came into view. She was sitting on a rock with a blanket around her. She smiled when she saw Tas.
He beamed first at her and then at us. “Kadin, Alathaya, I would like you to meet Karina.”
Only then did I recognise her from Ghydenea. She was quite beautiful with a soft face, so unlike the feral expression she had worn the last time I had seen her.
“Malion is going to be so happy. I was telling Karina how he had worried over her,” Tas said. Seeing my face, his smile disappeared. “Where is he? Have you seen him? Is he alive?”
Markai had followed us and she answered. “He has been badly hurt.”
Before Tas could say another word, the girl flew up from her seat. A deep frown between her dark eyes. “Take me to him. Please. I have to see him for myself. I have to speak to him.”
Markai nodded her great head and started away with the girl scampering after her.
Tas looked after them with worry in his eyes. “Do you think he will recover from this?”
I gave a weary shrug. “I hope so.”
He nodded absently, still looking after Karina and Markai. I started back toward the castle. Thaya followed wordlessly.
“Where are you going?” Tas asked after me when he noticed we were walking away.
“I have to bury Xain,” I said.
He made a sort of groan and followed. Thaya gripped my arm and looked up at me with such sorrow in her eyes that it made my heart break all over again and I had to fight back the tears that stung my eyes.
I led them back to the throne room. I pointed to Rakadamon’s bones. “We will have to burn those, but first we have to look after our friend.”
Tas looked at the remains with hate filling his eyes. I walked over to where Xain lay and knelt next to him. Tas and Thaya crouched to either side of me. They were both crying, a sob escaping Thaya every now and again.
Finally, I rose. “Help me carry him out.”
When we got back outside, Markai arrived and we put his body across her back. Heavyhearted we walked back to our campsite. I did not want to bury him where so much evil was. At least at the campsite, we had some fond memories.
We arrived there to find Roscien to my relief. He had a few small cuts to his face and arms that I could see, but a large cut to his back. A Jeriegh that I had not met previously was working on it.
Her face was screwed up in concentration, her thin lips pouting. She was rubbing an ointment onto his back making him wince and gasp. I heard a few muttered curses as well.
"Surely it can't be that bad, toughen up," I said with a smile and he grinned at me, but was pulled back into his seat roughly by the Jeriegh when he tried to rise. That elicited a few more muttered curses.
I cringed, hoping she had not heard him. Apparently, she had because she was laughing and shaking her head at him. I relaxed a bit again.
Tas walked over to him and shook his hand, his face serious. “I am glad you are okay.”
Roscien gave him a bemused smile. “You did not think you would be rid of me that easily did you?” Tas smiled tremulously at his jest, but turned and walked off. Roscien stared after him a light frown creasing his brow.
"I saw you leaving back there. You had me worried for a while," I said.
He held his arms up and looked down at himself as if checking. "Still here. And one piece, mostly. Soon to be completely whole again thanks to Definia here."
I grinned at him. Behind him, Definia had taken out a hooked needle and was putting some thread on it. He gasped in shock and pain as she started with the stitches.
His face was bright red, but after a moment, he laughed. "Not the most delicate work I have had done, but she tells me I should not even be left with a scar." His face contracted in thought. "I would have rather liked a scar. Something to show for my troubles."
Definia made a vexed sound from behind him which made him chuckle. She looked up from her work. "Roscien saved my life. A Twisted One had snuck up from behind me, but he shot him with an arrow through the neck before he could touch me." She smiled and looked down at him with fondness making her eyes sparkle before she continued with her stitching making him gasp again.
I thought I would let her finish with him before breaking the news. We moved away in search of a shovel. I did not find a shovel, but something close enough. A small distance away from Roscien and Definia, I started digging the grave. Tas and Thaya stood watching silently.
My leg started throbbing and I could feel fresh blood running down it. I ignored it though, and continued digging. I jumped when Thaya put a hand to my arm to stop me. She took my face in her hands and wiped tears away that I did not know I had shed.
"It is someone else’s turn to dig and you need to have your leg seen to; go ask Definia to have a look." Her voice was gentle.
I started to protest, but she gently took the shovel from my hand, handed it to Tas and shook her head, gesturing that I was in her way. I nodded wearily and made my way over to Definia.
She was just finishing with Roscien.
"Do you mind just looking at my leg?" I asked.
She waved me over and ordered me to take my breeches off. I could feel myself go crimson, but I obeyed. I glanced at his back to see what her work was like. It was very neat and he exclaimed over how comfortable his back felt. I thought he might be exaggerating a bit though seeing that his back was red as beetroot and had patches of blood all over. She had a look at the cut, tutting all the while and then went to restring her needle.
While she was busy with that, I looked at Roscien. "I have some bad news."
He shrugged. "What can be so bad? We won the day."
I nodded and had to swallow the lump that rose in my throat. "Not all of us made it out the other end though. Xain died in the throne room."
He sat down with a thump, his jaw slack and his eyes staring far away. I gave him a while to recover, but when Definia came over to start my stitches, I said, "Thaya and Tas are busy digging the grave..." before I could say anymore, he stood up.
“Where?"
I pointed to where they were and he walked away without another word.
I had to grit my teeth against the pain of the stitches, but even so, I was willing it to drag on. Anything to postpone what I had to face next; the burial. Eventually though, it was done and I walked back to the grave. They had made huge progress with the digging and it was soon ready.
I swallowed. “I think we should wait until we have everyone together.” Roscien and Thaya nodded grimly.
“I will see who I can find.” Roscien spoke as he was walking away. We set off as well for the same purpose.
It did not take us long to find Seran and Trissa. They had been on their way back to the campsite, but when I told them of what we were doing, they turned back to find Dhillion and to check on Malion. If he were well enough they would bring him along as well.
I called Markai and asked her to come along too. She came immediately and we walked back to stare down at the empty grave. My stomach felt as though I had swallowed a rock. Slowly, everyone trickled in. Thaya gave me a small nudge. When I looked up, everyone apart from Malion was there and looking at me. Markai informed me that he had not yet regained consciousness, but the Jerieghen thought his chance at survival fair. Fair, as though that should be comforting to me. Did they all expect me to speak? What could I say? “Roscien, Tas, Seran, would you please help me lower him in?”
We carried him over and using some blankets carefully lowered him down. Standing by the side of the grave, looking a
t him lying there, my tongue felt twisted around in my mouth.
I cleared my throat several times, before I could speak. “Xain was a true friend, a brave man. He gave his life to secure our victory. We will always remember his bravery and forever honour his memory. May he find peace.” I wiped my tears away and Thaya gripped my hand in hers.
The others all said their piece. I found I could not listen. I plucked a flower that was nearby and dropped it into the grave before we filled it back up with soil. Beyond my grief, I felt a terrible guilt for his death. If I had only managed to defeat Rakadamon faster, my friend would still be here. Part of me screamed that it was a fool thought, but the small voice whispering at me that it was my fault drowned out the scream.
We spent the night at the campsite. There had not been much daylight left at the end of it all and it had made more sense to stay. As soon as I woke though, I made my way over to where Malion was in the Jerieghen camp. He seemed at ease in sleep. Karina was sleeping next to him and I was careful to be quiet so as not to wake her. I sat down next to him, pulling my knees up and resting my head on them. I watched the sunrise over the mountains in the distance.
I was lost in thought and did not immediately notice him stirring. “Kadin?” He croaked and nearly made me jump right out of my skin. “Water.” He said hoarsely and I scurried away to find a water skin, all the while cursing myself for a fool at not having brought my own.
I quickly found one though and he drank thirstily. He tried to sit up, but winced against the pain and lay back down. “We did it?” He asked and I nodded.
“Look who is here.” I whispered, gesturing to Karina next to him.
He gasped and silent tears started rolling down his cheeks. He did not wake her though, but simply lay there watching her sleep with a joyous smile on his face.
Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One Page 39