Hexult

by Perry Aylen

  In front of them, suddenly, miraculously, an island appeared. The Aurora was slowing, but still going too fast, and with the island sandwiched between the arms of the crevasse, all they could do was aim for the shoreline and brace themselves for the impact.

  The boat hit the shore at speed and surged forward, part way up the hill, its runners gouging the ground, ploughing the earth, clods of dirt and loose stones showering the deck. All four on board pitched headlong as the Aurora, with a grinding shriek of splintering timber, came to rest in its own moraine.

  There was a moment of complete hush, an unearthly stillness that lasted only the space of a breath and yet was entire, and then Ingar scrambled into a sitting position and looked around, her face white and tense. Dazed, Jacob and Elya picked themselves up slowly from the deck, rubbing bruised limbs.

  ‘Aulf!’ Elya stared in horror at Aulf’s unmoving body. Blood was oozing from beneath his leather helmet, pooling on the deck beneath his face. She clutched Jacob’s arm in dread.

  Ingar slid across the deck. Carefully she eased off Aulf’s headgear and goggles. There was a deep gash along his hairline, and his eyes were closed.

  Elya saw Ingar’s face relax. She looked up at them. ‘It’s all right. He’s breathing. Elya, get a clean cloth from the cabin. Jacob, get some ice to put on this cut.’

  When Elya reappeared with a clean towel, Aulf was pushing himself onto his elbows, groaning. Ingar helped him sit up, leaning back against the side of the Aurora.

  ‘Elya and Jacob?’ His voice sounded thick and muffled.

  ‘We’re all right,’ said Elya, hurrying to his side.

  ‘The boat?’

  Relief made Ingar smile. ‘Still intact, though I don’t know how. You’ve done some dodgy sailing in your time, Aulf, but this takes the prize!’

  He gave her a crooked smile. The colour was returning to his face. Jacob returned with several chunks of ice, which Ingar wrapped in the towel and pressed to Aulf’s head. He winced and she let him take the compress in his own hand.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re still alive!’ breathed Jacob, voicing the thought in all their minds.

  ‘The raiders!’ whispered Elya, her voice shaking. ‘Did you see?’

  ‘What were raiders doing here anyway?’ Ingar frowned. ‘This leads nowhere but the Vajra?’

  ‘I think they were trying to scare us.’ Aulf winced as he dabbed gently at his sore head. ‘They were so close. Any self respecting raider should have been able to hit his target with a crossbow at that distance! The Vajra just took us all by surprise, appearing out of the mist like that.’

  ‘The Vajra spared us,’ pointed out Elya, quietly.

  Aulf got clumsily to his feet, and clambered down off the deck to assess the damage to his beloved boat. The other three followed, and together they stared in silence at the Aurora, perched drunkenly on her nest of ploughed up earth. Aulf leaned closer and examined the runners. To his amazement and immense relief, the Aurora seemed to have suffered only scrapes and bumps, nothing more serious.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Jacob stared around him at the gouged up earth. ‘Can we get her back on the ice, do you think? It’s not far, and it’s downhill.’

  Aulf shook his head. ‘What would we do, even if we did get her onto the ice again? We can’t sail back through that narrow gap, not upwind.’

  They were all silent for a moment, staring out at the ice behind them. The long arms of the crevasse were clearly visible through the mists, blue-black shadows, deep and deadly, hugging the island on which they now stood.

  ‘What are we going to do then?’ Elya’s voice sounded small and unsteady, even to her own ears.

  ‘Skates?’ suggested Ingar.

  Jacob pulled a face. ‘It’s a long way back. If we didn’t make it in a day, we’d be stranded on the ice without any shelter.’

  Elya tried to sound optimistic. ‘Perhaps Svanah will raise the alarm when we don’t drop in on our way back.’

  Jacob dismissed that with a shrug ‘More likely, she’ll just think we didn’t bother calling in. She didn’t go out of her way to make us welcome last time, did she?’

  ‘First things first,’ said Aulf, with forced brightness. ‘We came here to light a signal fire. At least we can still do that. We’ve got food and fuel. We’ll work out some way of getting off this island. Didn’t Svanah say there was a shelter here?’

  There was not a lot to Zanzo Isle. From where they had crashed, a steepening slope rose to a ridge. Jacob reached the summit first and veered away instantly, colliding heavily with Ingar close behind him. She caught hold of him as he stumbled, gasping for breath.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked. His face had broken out in a clammy film of sweat.

  ‘Sheer drop,’ he panted, shakily. ‘I nearly walked over the edge!’

  He wasn’t exaggerating. Beyond the ridge, the ground dropped away abruptly in a sheer cliff, directly down into the crevasse. The vertical bluff below them was the edge of the chasm, billowing puffs of cloud hugging its rocky walls. As the wind snatched roughly at the gathered layers of mist, it dragged them aside, revealing the inky black darkness that vanished into nothingness. It was as if, when the crevasse opened up, it had swallowed half the island into its frozen jaws.

  ‘Come away!’ urged Jacob, nervously, as the other three peered over the sheer edge into the bottomless expanse below. They saw how grey he looked, and let him hurry them back to lower ground. They soon discovered the shelter Svanah had mentioned, a long low barn built into the slope. It seemed overly large until they realised it had been designed primarily to house the dogs, and capture the heat of their bodies. It was a rudimentary affair, with timber walls. There wasn’t even a chimney. The wooden roof shingles were blackened where the smoke had forced its way out from below, and without the dogs to provide the necessary warmth, it would be a place in which to freeze.

  They returned to the Aurora to heat some food, and, with the sun beginning to slide lower in the sky, made their way back up the hill with bundles of firewood to find a suitable spot to light their signal fire. After some debate about the likely direction of Quayven, they found a flattish area near the top of the ridge, and stacked their wood.

  As darkness engulfed the island, Jacob brought out a striker and lit the fire with practised efficiency. They all drew close around the comforting warmth, and then Ingar pointed excitedly.

  ‘Look! A light!’

  They followed the direction of her finger. There, magically, in the distance, an answering light glowed, tiny but unmistakable.

  ‘Quayven!’ Jacob laughed with relief. He jumped up instantly to hammer in some markers. The other three stared at the distant light and thought about Tomas and Noah, far away on Quayven Mount. Nobody voiced the thought that troubled every mind. Would they ever see each other again?

  Chapter 36

  ‘We should take more fuel!’ insisted Jacob. ‘If we end up stranded overnight on the ice, it’s the only way we’re going to survive.’

  Elya shook her head. ‘The amount we’d need for a whole night will - be too much to carry. We’ve only got one sled.’

  ‘Perhaps we should build another sled before we head out,’ said Aulf. ‘That way we could take more wood with us.’

  The discussions had been going on for most of the morning. The only thing they had so far agreed was that they would leave Zanzo, on skates, at first light the following morning, but all the other decisions had resulted in petty squabbles and disputes.

  Ingar, exhausted by a troubled night’s sleep and the constant bickering, headed for the door on the pretext of finding spare blades for their skates in one of the deck lockers. Outside, in the cool, fresh air, she took a deep breath and tried to steady her own fears. She knew they were really arguing because they were all scared. It was a long way back to Barley, on foot, across a treacherous expanse of unstable ice, and none of them were confident they would make it back alive. She lifted her eyes to survey the route they woul
d take when they set out the next day, a frozen avenue flanked by the dizzying, sunken cliffs of the great fissures. It was a prospect that caused her heart to plummet.

  She narrowed her eyes and crossed to the Aurora’s rail as a movement in the far distance caught her attention. On the horizon, a speck was moving. Swiftly, she pushed open the cabin door to summon the others.

  ‘What is it?’ Jacob peered hard into the dazzling brightness ahead. ‘A boat?’

  Aulf shook his head. ‘No sail. Whatever it is, it’s moving fast.’

  For a moment, no one said anything as they all stared intently, and then Elya exclaimed, with sudden excitement, ‘Svanah!’

  Ingar’s face flushed brightly.

  ‘Elya’s right! It’s dogs and a sledge. Loads of dogs! It has to be Svanah!’

  They all leaned over the rail to watch. The sledge hurtled over the ice, closing the distance between them breathtakingly fast. As it drew closer, they could make out Svanah, standing on a raised platform on a large sledge pulled by one team of dogs, while strapped to each side, like outriggers, were two smaller sleds, each pulled by another team of nine, the reins from all three traces running back to Svanah’s hands. Yet more dogs brought up the rear.

  They gaped in awe, and a growing apprehension that the fleet of dogs and sleds, bearing down on Zanzo at such an alarming velocity, would not stop in time. They could see Svanah leaning back on the reins, all her weight braced against the surging power of twenty seven muscled running machines, her whistled commands carrying clearly over the ice. Just in time, the three sledges slewed drunkenly and came to an ungainly halt as they hit the shoreline, several of the dogs slithering in different directions across the ice, and tumbling over each other.

  Aulf, Ingar and the twins scrambled down to the edge of the ice where Svanah was staking the traces.

  Aulf reached the shore first. ‘We didn’t think you were going to be able to stop in time!’ he told her as he hurried to lend a hand.

  Svanah straightened up and pulled back some of the layers obscuring her face. She was still panting from her exertions. She grinned. ‘I was worried too. Stopping is the biggest challenge. The three traces try to race each other. They don’t understand that they’re all tied to the same sledge! I thought you might be in trouble,’ she continued, looking up at the grounded Aurora. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Raiders!’ Ingar told her, filling the single word with audible disgust.

  Svanah looked thoughtful. ‘After I left you yesterday, as I was heading home, I could still just about see your boat in the distance when two boats came round the island. I think they must have been looking out for you, because they shot off in your direction. I wasn’t sure what to do. I decided to wait and see if you came back the next day. But then I worried all night long, imagining the worst, so this morning, I thought I’d come over to Zanzo and check for myself that you were all right.’

  ‘We’re so glad you did!’ said Elya with feeling. ‘We were going to try and skate back.’

  Briefly they recounted the terrible tale of their previous day’s pursuit and escape.

  Svanah looked horrified. ‘We’ve never had problems with raiders round here. We’re too close to the Vajra for most people’s liking, and we don’t really have much to interest them. Nobody wants ice dogs any more, so I guess they’re not worth stealing.’

  In the cabin of the Aurora, Aulf prepared some food for lunch.

  ‘What about your light?’ asked Svanah. ‘With everything else that happened, did you manage to see it?’

  Jacob nodded. ‘We did. This is the place to put a tower.’

  Svanah grinned. ‘I’ll look forward to that then! Nothing very exciting happens around here normally!’

  They ate lunch together, and while they ate, Svanah told them about herself, how she had spent her whole life raising dogs on the ice, but now, with dog sleds almost redundant in Hexult, her parents were considering moving to the mainland to find other work. It was apparent to them all that Svanah was heartbroken at the thought of giving up her precious dogs. Her eyes lit up when she talked about them. ‘Everyone relies on boats now, but what would happen if the wind were to drop?’ she said to them, frowning. ‘We’d need dog sleds again then, wouldn’t we?’

  She had a point. They took the wind for granted. When the sun rose in the morning, inevitably the wind rose too, but legend held that when the first settlers arrived in Hexult, the wind had been unpredictable, and that the only reliable way to get around was on a dog sled.

  ‘Another good reason for the light towers,’ said Jacob. ‘Then, even without boats, the islands would still be able to communicate.’

  Svanah was eager to hear more about the towers, and as Jacob explained how they worked, Elya tentatively suggested Svanah might like to learn the code and take charge of the tower on Zanzo when it was built. Svanah was thrilled at the possibility of regular paid employment that would enable her family to remain on Barley.

  As they finished eating, Aulf asked, ‘So, what now? Can we hitch a ride back with you?’

  Svanah raised her eyebrows. ‘What about your boat?’ ‘You’re not planning on leaving it here, are you?’

  Aulf’s face was glum. ‘I don’t see what else we can do. We can’t sail back up that narrow stretch. Not with the wind against us.’

  ‘Who said anything about sailing?’ Svanah was smiling almost playfully as she began to pull on her outside clothes again. ‘Come on,’ she urged. ‘I’ll show you what we’re going to do.’

  Back outside, Jacob gestured at the packs of dogs. ‘It looks like you brought them all!’

  Svanah acknowledged that with a nod. ‘I couldn’t leave them. There won’t be anyone home for a few days at least. Anyway, it looks as if we might need them all!’

  She unstaked the three teams and hitched them to the Aurora with the help of Ingar and Elya, while Jacob and Aulf cleared the earth from around the boat’s runners. With Aulf, Ingar and the twins in position to lever from behind the boat, Svanah gave a low-pitched whistle and the dogs began to pull. They were strong and enthusiastic, full of energy, and soon the air was sparkling with ice shards as they strained at the traces to overcome the inertia of the boat. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. The Aurora remained stubbornly fixed, then slowly, almost imperceptibly, she began to move. The runners creaked and groaned reluctantly. The movement, small as it was, was not lost on the dogs. They leant deeper into their traces and strained even harder. The boat began to gain momentum, the dogs picked up speed, and the Aurora bumped inelegantly down the slope, like a giant sledge. As soon as she reached the ice, she began to glide, and Svanah had to rein in the eager dogs. She looked behind to make sure Aulf, Ingar, Jacob and Elya had scrambled on board, then she shouted a command to the lead dog, and the teams lunged forward once more, pulling the Aurora safely out from between the jaws of the Vajra.

  Chapter 37

  With the problem of the link between Quayven and Orking Do resolved, they could all sense Jacob’s longing to get started on the building of the two towers.

  ‘I think we could still beat Gabriel, you know,’ he announced gleefully, as they talked over their plans. ‘I know our towers aren’t even started yet, but, actually, he’s got more work to do undoing everything he did wrong in the first place!’

  Elya gave him a disapproving look. ‘It’s not a competition. And it’s wrong to gloat.’

  Jacob pulled a face. ‘All right, Miss Prim, I know!’

  Elya eyed him with a glimmer of amusement. ‘You’re right, though,’ she admitted. ‘It would be good to beat him.’

  Since Elya had no desire to return to Orking Do, they decided the best course of action would be for her to stay on board the Aurora with Aulf and Ingar as they took the mail around the islands. Jacob would return to Orking Do to supervise the construction of the towers. After what had happened with Elya, no one wanted to ask Ernst and Annet to take in another wizard, but, as Mayor Potts had already offered to find J
acob lodgings in the town, his living arrangements appeared to be in hand.

  ‘Mayor Potts said she had ordered all the building materials I asked her to,’ said Jacob, pleased, ‘except for the copper for the mirrors. Copper’s a bit of a problem. Because of all the trouble on Spinnyridge, nobody can get hold of any. It’s rarer than glass right now!’

  Aulf looked thoughtful. ‘From what I gather, there’s been very little traffic in or out of Spinnyridge for a while now. The other mail boats aren’t delivering there.’ He looked at Ingar. ‘Which means, if we were to take their mail across, they might be very grateful, and feel inclined to help us out with some copper.’

  Elya’s face was doubtful. ‘How dangerous is it? Didn’t you say there had been fighting going on there?’

  Aulf nodded, ‘With the Thorlanders. And now it sounds like there’s some in-fighting as well. But we’re going to need copper and Spinnyridge is the only place to get it. I think we’re going to have to risk it!’

  * * *

  They sailed on to Orking Do. Elya and Ingar stayed on board the Aurora, while Aulf and Jacob checked in with Mayor Potts to update her on the good news regarding the towers, and their plan to obtain the copper. She was worried about the proposed journey to Spinnyridge, offering the assistance of an armed convoy to accompany them. Aulf declined the offer, aware of the delay that would entail, and keen that he should sail into Spinnyridge simply as the mail boat, unbiased and unthreatening. Reluctantly, Mayor Potts acknowledged his logic, and furnished them with money to purchase copper, and an official letter for the commander of the Orking Do troops on Spinnyridge, instructing him to assist Aulf and his companions with anything they required.

  They spent the night in the harbour before bidding Jacob a reluctant farewell. He looked strangely young as he stood alone on the dockside, with his bags and two boxes of wizard strikers at his feet, waving goodbye to the Aurora as it headed out towards the open ice.

  It was still early. The mist had not yet risen over the ice, so that vision ahead was good. As the sun rose, the rays bounced off the polished expanse with a dazzling brilliance, almost as if the light was buried beneath the ice. On the periphery of vision, loose ice crystals shattered the light into myriad colours and reflections. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but the knowledge that they were sailing towards the most dangerous, fiercely contested scrap of land in Hexult somehow drained the warmth from the sun and made the harshness of the ice ocean feel as desolate and merciless as it really was.