The Dark Rider (Fading Light)

by Andrew Critchell

  They rounded the corner and began to walk towards a large silver BMW parked on the other side of the road. McGrawl reached it first, opening the rear passenger door and, as he did so, everything seemed to go into slow motion. The other man, Bradley, looked to his left, up the hill and Alex saw his face lit up in a snarl as a pair of car headlamps came on illuminating them in the middle of the road like startled rabbits. Then the sound of an engine revving hard and the screech of tyres as the car shot forwards and hurtled towards them. Alex looked back to McGrawl still standing by the open passenger door. His eyes were grim, fixed on the approaching car, his hand still outstretched towards her. Out of the corner of her eye Bradley seemed to disappear as the headlamps passed and then she saw McGrawl, a grimace forming on his face, as he began to push himself backwards and out of the way of the oncoming maelstrom. As another second passed Alex felt him slam into her and she was falling towards the ground. Inches in front of them came a rending, searing crash of shattering components and panels as the silver BMW crumpled and began to spin as the other car smashed into it, the open door just missing McGrawl by a hairs breadth as it swung past him.

  Alex felt the ground impacting on her back but her rucksack protected her as she fell. Shattering glass and plastic began to fall all around them as it expanded outwards from the crash. The BMW slew to a halt while the car, a small black coupe of some kind, sat revving up again as it tried to pull back and away from the smashed BMW. It was then that Alex found herself looking through the gap between McGrawl’s body and arm directly at the driver, his eyes locked onto hers as he pushed open the battered passenger door and she gasped in shock for it was the orange haired man Gwen had called Falk, the warrior from her daydream, the man in the Inspector’s photograph. His mouth was moving but the sound was muffled as if being heard through glass but she was sure he was calling her name and as his hand reached out towards her, urging her to come with him, she felt time slow so much that it almost stood still.

  Alex felt the weight of McGrawl shifting away from her, one arm pushing himself up, the other already pulling something from the inside of his jacket which, with a shock, Alex saw was a gun. She looked back at the driver, his eyes fixed on her and some instinct made her kick out with her foot catching McGrawl’s arm at the elbow forcing it to collapse and he began to twist awkwardly forward.

  She felt herself pushing her body up, scrabbling for grip on the still damp road surface. Beside her McGrawl fell face first onto the road and he lay there, momentarily stunned.

  Alex was on all fours scrabbling across the road towards the car. She grabbed the door handle, pulling herself in, and the door shut behind her. As she did so the car lurched backwards and she rolled forwards crashing her shoulder and back against the dashboard. Then they were spinning around and she was pushed against the side of the car and then thrust backwards as the car accelerated forwards, debris from the crash scraping along the road until it fell off. She screamed as something heavy landed on the roof with a rending thump and the partly shattered windscreen disappeared. A hand punched through the clear air grabbing towards her, and over the roar of the engine she heard a snarling and then a shout of ‘hold on’ from the driver, and she was again thrown against the door as the car swerved viscously around a corner. Then the hand and the snarling were gone and, as they straightened and accelerated along the road, Falk checked the rear view mirror where he saw the wolf pick itself up from the floor, shake itself down and begin to jog after them.

  Falk pushed down on the accelerator but the crash had caused a lot of damage to the front end of the car and they moved along at a bare forty miles an hour, engine screaming high as they pushed out of the town and up onto the heath road. He urged the car on knowing they had hardly made any distance, and all the time Alex lay against the door panting heavily and staring up at him with wide eyed disbelief and shock. He risked a glance at her and then flicked quickly back to the rear view mirror and then the road ahead. Her silence began to unnerve him, even over the grinding of the machinery but then after a short while she spoke, her voice shaking.

  ‘So it’s all true then?’

  ‘What is true?’ he asked, not understanding.

  ‘You. Aunt Gwen. My brother. All this magic, good and evil stuff,’ she replied, grunting as the car shuddered uncertainly over some potholes.

  ‘Yes it’s true,’ he replied simply, finding himself having to pull harder and harder on the steering wheel to keep the car in a straight line.

  Alex swallowed hard. Now she owed her brother an apology. Worse, she had to deal with the sudden existence of magic but she put that to one side for now. All she wanted to concentrate on was finding Paul.

  ‘Who were they?’ she asked.

  ‘Wolves,’ he said. When she didn’t respond he risked another glance at her. She was staring at him, her face unreadable.

  ‘Agents of the Dark,’ he added trying to be helpful.

  ‘Why should I believe you?’ she asked him. ‘They were police. They had a picture of you and everything. They said you are dangerous.’

  He shrugged before replying.

  ‘You’re here aren’t you?’

  She looked away.

  ‘So what happens now?’ she asked.

  ‘We have to get to the girl,’ he said glancing at her again. ‘It will make your headache go away.’

  ‘How do you know about that?’ asked Alex feeling suddenly tired as the adrenaline wore off, the pain in her temples growing in intensity again.

  ‘It is inevitable,’ he replied. ‘With what you are carrying.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Alex pushing herself up. ‘What did Gwen do? What’s in my head?’

  ‘A key,’ he said, the strain of keeping the steering wheel straight making the veins on his neck stand out. ‘To complete the awakening.’

  ‘But wasn’t that supposed to be my brother?’ she said her voice rising.

  ‘We’re out of time,’ he replied braking hard as the car’s steering finally gave up and they swerved off the road onto sandy gravel. Bouncing to a sudden stop he opened the driver’s door and was out moving around the car towards her.

  ‘Come on, we have to run,’ he shouted to her.

  Alex struggled with the door latch, her body aching and bruised from the getaway, but it was jammed and she could not open it. It was then that they heard the low moaning carried on the still night air, a wailing that rose to become a soft howl.

  She looked at him seeing a spark of fear in his eyes.

  ‘You’re kidding me,’ she said.

  ‘This is no joke,’ he replied. At that moment more howling came to them already sounding closer. A fainter answering howl sounded out behind them.

  ‘They are calling the rest of the pack. We have to move, now.’

  He pulled hard on the door handle until with a clang of tearing metal it came free and Alex almost fell out onto the ground. Falk caught her at the last minute and then pulled her upright.

  ‘Where are we going?’ asked Alex in a shaky voice, her eyes wide with fright.

  ‘Over there.’ He pointed to the horizon where she could see the faint glow of streetlamps. ‘About a mile. Can you make it?’

  ‘I think so,’ she replied, the helpless feeling that events were running away from her returning.

  He pulled her forward and broke into a run. Alex followed, her legs feeling like jelly. Falk turned back to her.

  ‘You must run faster,’ he cried to her. ‘Otherwise we will not survive this.’

  Pushing herself harder she tried to keep up with him but she had not run in ages and was so out of shape she could feel a stitch already tugging at her chest. Another howl pierced the night air, this time to her left and a lot closer than the others had been. She looked in that direction in shock and then back again to see Falk staring back at her, his eyes dancing across the knife edge of fear and the rush of the chase. Grimacing she pushed on, her knees feeling the jarring impact of running on the road. As she r
an images began to race through her mind of huge wolves catching her and tearing into her flesh.

  Suddenly Falk pulled them down into a ditch by the side of the road. Seconds later flashing blue lights appeared in the road ahead as a police car raced past. Waiting a few moments he pulled her up again and they ran along the road, the houses getting closer. By now Alex’s head was pounding so much she could barely stay upright and she felt as if she was in a bad dream trying to run away from the monsters, but her legs wouldn’t work properly, and this was no dream.

  More howling came, closer now. Falk turned, eyes trying to pierce the darkness. The houses were just up ahead and he pulled Alex forwards towards one of them. They crossed the street, scrambling across the pavement and through a gate into the front garden. Opening the door he pushed Alex through and shouted ‘upstairs.’ Turning he saw two wolves coming up the road, dark shadows loping quickly towards them. Slamming the door he followed Alex up. ‘Left’ he shouted and Alex stumbled blindly through the door finding herself in a bedroom and before she could react she had stumbled onto the bed. Falk burst through behind her, eyes wild with disbelief as he took in the empty bedroom. Where the hell was Nicola? Behind him Alex heard the crash of splintering wood as the front door was smashed off its hinges, and then the sound of something big and heavy padding up the stairs, and as Falk leapt onto the bed and placed a hand on her forehead, a wolf crashed into the room, its yellow eyes glinting malevolently. With a single bound it arched through the air towards them, its jaws wide open, canines thrust forwards. As Alex began to scream she felt a sudden whooshing in her head and a dazzling white light filled her senses and then, as her eyes flicked shut, everything disappeared and all that was left was silence.

  Vicky crashed through the hedge behind the cottage with Neil close on her heels. They ran round to the front door where, with trembling hands, Neil fumbled with the key and then they were inside. Slamming the door shut he turned and they stood in the darkness, panting heavily.

  ‘What if he follows us?’ said Vicky.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Neil.

  ‘You’ve still got it?’

  Neil nodded and opened his hand. The key rested in his palm, its surface gleaming dully in reflected moonlight.

  ‘Just what are you?’ he asked, staring at it.

  Vicky remembered the notebook which she still clutched in her hand. Slowly she moved her hand behind her back until she felt something solid. Lightly she dropped the book onto the chair praying it would not make a noise.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. Reaching back out with her hands she gingerly picked up the key.

  ‘I’m not sure I like you having it now,’ said Neil. ‘It’s dangerous!’

  ‘Not dangerous,’ replied Vicky. ‘Just magic.’

  ‘Uh-uh. It’s dangerous. That man nearly broke your arm!’

  ‘We were rescued weren’t we?’ Vicky replied.

  ‘For now,’ said Neil. ‘But next time? He’ll come looking for it you know.’

  ‘Then we have to be cleverer,’ said Vicky.

  At that moment car headlights began to light the road outside.

  ‘Mum and dad,’ Vicky exclaimed.

  ‘Let’s get inside.’

  Neil opened the main door and disappeared into the lounge. Vicky turned and quickly stuffed the notebook down the side of the chair so it was out of sight. Just then their parent’s car swung round into the drive. Vicky slipped through into the lounge, closing the door quickly behind her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Alex could hear the sound of her own breathing. Her mouth was still open, the scream that had formed there silenced. Other senses began to return to her. The air was sharp with frost, the ground she was laying on cold and hard against her back. Reluctantly she opened her eyes, half expecting to see a wolf sitting in front of her waiting patiently for her to wake before sinking its teeth into her abdomen and ripping out her bowels while she writhed in helpless agony. Instead she found herself staring into a night sky bright with stars. She lifted her head slowly, hands pushing against freezing ground as she raised her torso upright. For a moment the throbbing pain in her head returned and she thought she would pass out but then the dizziness wore off and she was able to take in her surroundings. She was in a clearing in a wood, snow reflecting the starlight so that everything glowed faintly. On the clearing’s edge sat trees coated in a thick layer of ice, crystals glistening along petrified branches. The clearing felt strangely familiar. Then it came to her as she noticed the great oak in the middle. It was the same clearing where she had been with Gwen just a few hours ago when the trees had been alive and the wood full of autumn. Something drastic had happened.

  A noise behind her made her turn, the freezing air already beginning to make her shiver, and she found herself staring into the cold blue eyes of the man who had rescued her. He was standing a few metres away, the blue jeans and navy jumper he had been wearing in the car replaced by the autumn coloured cloak and lightweight armour she had first seen him in. A long sword and scabbard hung from his belt while a longbow and arrows were strapped across his back. His eyes were masked, his face strangely drawn, holding some emotion she could not fathom. He held her gaze for a few seconds before turning away.

  ‘What the hell just happened?’ cried Alex, her body only now reacting to the chase. She began to shake from the shock and from the cold. It was then that she began to notice the bodies. All were covered in ice, their death throes frozen. They littered the clearing, many of them dressed in the clothes of the people she had seen with Gwen, but there were also black corpses and as she looked closer she could see monster like creatures, many with fangs and claws and she recoiled in fear. In front of her Falk was stepping across the clearing, head bowed as he checked bodies. Eventually he returned to her and she saw rage burning in his eyes. He stood for a moment in front of her and then before she knew what was happening he had roughly grabbed her and pulled her up, a drawn knife suddenly pressing against her cheek, his eyes inches from hers, locked onto her, and she stared back at him in terror.

  ‘Your brother did all this,’ he snarled at her. ‘Betrayed us and killed all my people. Why should I let you live?’

  ‘Please,’ said Alex, her voice trembling. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’

  Falk held the knife against her for what seemed an eternity and then he let go of her and she fell back. As she did so he cried out in rage and stabbed the blade of the knife into the ground.

  Alex watched him from where she had fallen, her breath coming in shallow gasps. He remained kneeling, his hand on the hilt of the knife, head bowed to the ground. Alex began to shiver uncontrollably. She tried to shut out the horror of the bodies, denying to herself that they were real.

  ‘You’re cold,’ he said eventually in a flat voice.

  ‘No shit,’ she replied through chattering teeth as she hugged her knees for warmth.

  He looked at her strangely before rising slowly and walking towards her.

  ‘I can help you with that.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ she asked suspiciously looking up at him. ‘A minute ago you were ready to kill me.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, eyes hollow. ‘If you would let me?’ He left the question in the air as he reached a hand out towards her shoulder. She nodded and he touched her and immediately warmth flooded through her and she stopped shivering. He took his hand away.

  ‘How long does it last?’ she asked.

  ‘It depends,’ he said. ‘Maybe a few hours.’

  ‘Ok,’ said Alex. ‘Well, don’t be going too far away then.’

  He did not respond and they lapsed into silence. He stood next to her facing the great oak tree.

  Alex watched him from the corner of her vision.

  ‘So, what happens now?’ she asked.

  Still he did not say anything for a long moment and then he spoke so softly she had to twist round to hear him.

  ‘I can't get you back.�
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  It was like the wind being knocked out of her.

  ‘What did you say?’

  He turned to her, his face impassive, eyes hiding some internal battle.

  ‘I can’t get you back Alex. What more do you want me to say?’

  ‘Whoa there, don’t go all silent on me,’ she said standing up to confront him. ‘Can’t get me back where?’

  ‘To your world,’ he replied, his words stabbing at her across the frigid air. ‘There was supposed to be someone else in that room, her name is Nicola, she is the one. I took you there to complete the awakening but she was gone. All I could do then was get you out, I had no other choice.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Alex trying to comprehend, ‘I’ve been here before and went back ok.’

  ‘There are rules that govern us Alex. Only Warders and Warriors can move physically between the worlds. When you came before your body remained in your world, in your time, but I could not leave you to the wolves. I took your body from your world as a last resort, and now I do not know how to get you back.’ He turned away, bitterness filling him. ‘Now Gwen is gone, my friends and all of the forest dwellers are gone. Soon the wolves will have Nicola and she will be gone too. There is nothing more to do.’

  ‘Hey, it can’t be that bad,’ said Alex.

  ‘You do not understand,’ he shouted turning back to her, his eyes burning with rage. ‘I have lost the battle, lost everything.’

  Alex stared back at him, her heart racing in her chest.

  ‘Why?’ she whispered. ‘Why can’t you do anything?’

  He stood before her, head bowed. ‘He will already know we are here. It is only a matter of time before more Serenti arrive. If they find you they will kill you. I cannot leave you, Alex.’

  ‘What’s inside me that is so important?’ said Alex, her mouth suddenly dry. She tried to find saliva to swallow but there was nothing.

  He raised his head, his voice rising with emotion.

  ‘The key to embrace the energy. Thousands of years of knowledge, the lifetimes of all Warders that have passed before. Without this Nicola will have no control, no ability to link the worlds and without energy the land will die.’