by Taylor Leigh
Andrew nodded to his father. He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and marched towards one of Thedric’s guards. The man nodded in acknowledgement. ‘Didn’t you bring the Traveller with you?’ He sounded disappointed.
Andrew inhaled irritably. ‘No, I didn’t. He’s otherwise engaged.’ He offered the man a defiant smile. ‘You’ll just have to put up with me, I suppose.’
The man didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.
Thedric leant round his brother. ‘I’m here, too. Hello!’ The guards seemed to brighten somewhat upon seeing their captain.
‘What happened here?’ Andrew asked, all business. He scowled at the field.
One of the villagers let out a hateful laugh. ‘What? Can’t you work that out for yourself? Use that almost godlike intellect to show you all that happened?’
Andrew fixed him with a steady, cold gaze. ‘A fight, clearly. I was meaning more specific. Without facts, how can I make any assessments and come up with a strategy?’
The man spat. ‘Can’t look at a blade of grass and see how many men were here? Can’t look at a dead body and know what height the man was who killed him?’
Andrew heard Thedric groan behind him. He cocked his head slightly to one side, looking the man over. ‘I would say there were about eight men here: small scouting party, meant to do some external damage, frighten you, but not much more. They probably were here no longer than five minutes; most of you were still asleep. They came from the north side and went west. Most likely out there now, regrouping, ready for the real attack, which should happen within the next hour. How’s the drinking, by the way? Does the wife know about where you were last night? Not at home, obviously.’
The man swore and picked up a rock. He hurled it in Andrew’s direction, but it missed him by several good inches.
Andrew smirked. ‘Alcohol hasn’t worn off yet, I see.’ He turned back to the guard. ‘So, what’s happened?’
The guard looked at him, unnerved. ‘Not sure what you want to know. You’ve summed it up pretty thoroughly.’
‘What plans are being made? You weren’t ready the first time. Not completely unsurprising, but a bit disappointing. What are we paying you for, drinking games with Thedric? This second attack, we have to be ready. They are going to hit hard and fast. There’s a chance the Druids may help us but we can’t count on that. Even though the Blaiden are less numerous than us, they are stronger, much stronger, and they don’t have anything to lose, which makes them a dangerous adversary. There won’t be cowards among them. They’ll be high on drugs. Nothing will stop them.’
His father swallowed. ‘Yes, we found that out. They’re very powerful and fight up close, use their hands. Teeth. They’re like animals when they fight.’
‘Okay, good. That’s something we’ve got to go on. They fight up close.’
Thedric marched forward through the wet. ‘What good does that do us? So they fight up close. We need to be up close too when we fight, with swords at least.’
‘Yes,’ Andrew said. ‘But technology-wise they are completely behind us. They have no crossbows or weapons to speak of, which we have. We’ll need to set up snipers behind us. A line that can take them out from a distance.’
Thedric threw up his hands. ‘Have we sent a message to Flotsen yet?’
Bard nodded. ‘They’re having problems of their own. People are starting to act up violently there, rioting. Most of their guards have to keep the peace. They said they’d try to send help, but they don’t want to get involved with our internal affairs. We’ve sent your mother, Nan and the women and children with an armed guard to the city by boats. We just have to pray they will not be ambushed.’
Andrew nodded darkly. ‘People there are going into withdrawal from the spores. I should have expected as much. Flotsen is so bogged down in bureaucracy they’re terrified to make any moves against anyone, including the Blaiden.’
Thedric moaned unhappily. ‘We’re on our own, then.’
A howl came from the forest, very close.
‘We need to move,’ Andrew said. ‘They’re ready to attack.’
‘If only we had another defence,’ someone else lamented. ‘They’re going to tear us apart!’
‘The rapid-fire arrow launchers,’ Andrew thought aloud. ‘I’ve modified several of them; do you think I make these things for fun? Why aren’t they out here? Go!’ He felt his insides twist up suddenly and doubled over in a fit of coughing.
Thedric grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘You need to get out of here. Get back to the lodge! You can’t fight.’
Andrew shoved him out of the way. ‘I’m a better fighter than you, Thedric!’
Thedric fumed. ‘You’re delusional, that’s all you are.’
Andrew was wracked with another cough. ‘Not delusional. Just exceptional.’
Thedric paced away, then turned back, hands spread wide. ‘Right, so arrows? What good is that? It won’t stop all of them! We’ve got nothing! Are we just supposed to chunk rocks at them?’
Andrew frowned. ‘If only there was a way I could incorporate my firearm on a larger scale.’
‘That thing?’ Thedric eyed Andrew’s coat-pocket. ‘I don’t trust that.’
‘It’s a similar idea…if only….OH!’ Andrew stopped dead, hands slightly lifted towards his head. He widened his eyes in sudden clarity. How could he have been so stupid? He should have thought of it months ago! ‘Oh!’ He whirled round on his heel and stared at Thedric. He grinned, delighted by the wicked brilliance of it. ‘The powder,’ he breathed.
Bard frowned. Another howl, much closer, came to them. ‘Powder?’
‘They’re coming!’ someone shouted. ‘I can see the first few of them! By gor, there are scores of them!’
‘The powder from my pistol.’ Andrew pulled the weapon out. ‘It’s highly explosive, that’s what sends the iron ball out of the end.’
Thedric shrugged. ‘So? Sounds dangerous.’
‘Exactly. Imagine if I could incorporate that into something that could be hurled at the enemy!’
‘You mean some kind of exploding…what exactly?’
Andrew shook his head. ‘If it was set in a clay pot of some sort and then lit and hurled with a good throw, it would cause considerable damage.’
Bard stared. The howls had shifted to a war chant. ‘Can you get it done?’
‘I can probably invent something quickly, if I’m not disturbed.’
Thedric shoved him towards the lodge. ‘Then what are you waiting for? Go! If it’ll help, then go!’
Andrew took off at a run towards the lodge, headed for his room. The lodge was remarkably undamaged by the Blaiden, though he doubted that would last long. By the sound of things, there were more than a few of them this time and no doubt they would be much more vicious. He threw the doors to the lodge open and pounded down the hall to his room.
His eyes darted about the absolute clutter. Test tubes, bones, taxidermy animals, charts, maps and books were stacked and stuffed in every available corner. He never lost anything though; the mess lay out perfectly in his head. To him, it made absolute sense. It drove Nan to fits.
Andrew dove towards a pile in the corner where several sizable jars of different minerals were stored. He pulled them out and set them on his table, shoving a telescope and several other metal devices to the side. He set aside the flammable rocks that let off fumes that put people to sleep. He’d used them on plenty of people over the years—including the man who’d led him to Gabbins—and thought they might come in use again. He dumbed a portion of it into a several rags and stuffed them into his pockets.
The exploding powder was simple enough. Charcoal, which he had in abundance for his drawings, and two different minerals he found in the quarry. Had he not been experimenting with the minerals in the first place he never would have discovered their power. There were still burn marks on the walls from those experiments. The memory brought a brief smile to his lips. Nan hadn’t been very pleased with him tha
t day.
He cast about his room for a vessel that would work. Something that would shatter when it exploded. He shoved a standing globe out of his way and grabbed a pot full of dried leaves. He smelt the contents, made a face and then dumped them onto the floor before dashing back to his table.
‘Victoria, I need you to hold this while I—’ He stopped and glanced up, surprised. Victoria wasn’t here. He knew that. He shook himself and took a deep breath. Funny how he could forget something like that. A moment of regret hit him, alarmingly. He achingly wished Victoria were here, he could use her help. Reluctantly, he pulled himself free of the emotion. What good did wishing for things he couldn’t have?
Andrew felt something wet sliding down from his nose and when he pulled his hand away saw it was red with blood. He dabbed at his nose and realised it was bleeding with impressive gusto. Andrew didn’t like what that could mean but pushed away his concern, deciding that getting hacked to death by Blaiden was far worse than a nosebleed. He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and went back to work.
He carefully measured out portions of each mineral and dumped them into the pot. His head gave an involuntary jerk to the side, then again and again. Andrew winced and gripped the table, clenching his teeth in aggravation as the tic worsened. A buzzing had begun, making it impossible for him to concentrate and Andrew slapped the side of his head, morosely aware of his inability to stop. Something was echoing through his head, buried beneath the buzzing. It sounded eerily similar to what he’d experienced when he’d taken the spores. He pulled his hands free from his head, groaning in frustration and forced his attention, agonisingly, back on his work, despite the increasingly violent jolts.
He yanked a candle out of its holder with a little too much force and cracked it on the table till he was left with only the wick. Then he punched a hole in the lid of the pot and pulled the wick up through it with shaking hands. He studied the finished product and smiled at it in spite of himself. One would hardly be useful, but the idea was brilliant. He looked at his invention; he needed more pots if he wanted this to work. He eyed it. Running down to the pottery shop was hardly logical. If Victoria were here he could simply send her, but that wasn’t an option. He thought quickly. The pot was from Molly. Full of herbs she wanted him to light and breathe in at night to help with his illness. He never used them but Molly had been a strong believer in aroma therapy. If there was a place more of these pots would be it would be either her room or the adjoining storeroom. He set his pot down gingerly and then set off.
A melodious horn sounded in the distance. Andrew’s mind ticked through the different types of war horns he was familiar with. That one was definitely Druid. He wondered which side they were on. Sounding a horn like that, he assumed they were announcing their arrival to the Tartans as a signal of hope. If they’d arrived with the Blaiden, why bother? That should mean Tollin was here. Good.
Fortunately, for the sake of time—and Andrew’s sanity—Molly’s room was close to his, two doors down. He gripped the handle and pushed the door open, along with the thought that this was probably the first time someone had entered since she drowned.
He felt detached and unemotional as he stepped across the threshold of Molly’s room. A small part of him wondered just how human he really was. Before Victoria, Molly and Thedric had been the only two people he’d allowed to share in his life. He couldn’t call her a friend, but if he’d had friends, she would be one. Still, he felt nothing as he looked round the room.
He took in everything with an observing, clinical eye. The books on plants and herbs neatly placed on shelves, dried greens hanging from the ceiling, a half-packed bag of travel clothes. She was most likely planning on leaving with Tollin. A few letters were strewn about on the table, written in Thedric’s sloppy handwriting. He noticed a few words here and there. Love letters. Not very surprising. He’d figured the two of them would have married, if Tollin hadn’t come along, that was. Tacked up on every wall were Andrew’s sketches. He always threw them all away after drawing them out, but Molly always picked them up. One of her best dresses was hanging up on a nail. In a small bowl was a mixture of different herbs and flowers, a new tea flavour perhaps. Her bed was unmade; she’d been in a hurry. That was shown by the hairbrush on her dresser, not neatly placed, as everything else was.
A book was open on the table; the page was something about dreams. Andrew drew his long fingers over the page. He noticed a notebook open next to the book. The writing on the page was dark; she’d obviously been distressed as she wrote. He noticed the words, “Light”, “headaches”, “Other world”, “Darkness”.
He frowned, slightly intrigued, but too stuck on his own mission to investigate further. He took in everything in less than ten seconds, at the same time spotting a selection of glass jars with tin lids—probably for canning—all ranging in different sizes stacked in a corner. Perfect.
He grabbed as many as he could hold and then started back towards his room, all too aware that he was running out of time.
* * * * *
Before today, Thedric would have said that it was his absolute dream to be commanding a group of soldiers in battle. It had been all he’d talked about, all he’d worked for up to this point. Perhaps a big part of it had been desperation to do something to measure up to his brother. So many nights he had dreamed of battle. Now as he stood, sword in hand, he realised just how wrong he’d been.
At least one-hundred Blaiden, men and women, were standing at the edge of the field, howling and snarling and stamping their feet. Thedric couldn’t get over how tall and wild they looked.
He glanced nervously towards his father, far down at the other end of the field.
The Druid’s arrival had at first struck fear into him, but when he’d seen Tollin in their midst he had broken into almost hysterical laughter. Admittedly, he might have hugged Tollin in his exuberance. Now the Druids were spreading out, some climbing trees, some simply standing in groups, waiting to see what the Blaiden would do.
Thedric could see the tallest of the Wolves out front. It was Drugai; Thedric could feel it in his gut. He gaped at the wild man, feeling fear seep into every part of him. How could any man be that tall, that menacing?
Drugai shouted something, holding up a huge spear the size of a small tree. The other Blaiden shouted in reply, slamming their spears into the wet earth.
Then he started to move. The Wolves broke into a run, some on all fours, running on knuckles or the curved antlers strapped to their wrists. Others lurched upright, dashing in wild, staggering runs. Their yellow eyes shone with bloodlust as they fixed in on their quarry. Their blackened lips were drawn back over their sharp filed teeth, frozen in hungry grins that were completely inhuman. Snarls and howls rumbled in their bare chests and their cries seemed to drive each other on as they punched through the frozen grass towards the small group of Druids and Tartans. The few that carried weapons held spears and arrows so long and unnatural they were longer than most of the humans they were fighting. The spears could easily run through the length of a horse.
Thedric drew a deep breath as he watched the Wolves charging towards them. Andrew had assumed that the Blaiden wouldn’t use technology like arrows. Obviously he got that wrong. They must have stolen the idea from the Druids. His hands felt slimy as he gripped his sword. He could see Drugai clearer now, the tallest and wildest of the bunch. The man’s bare body shone in the falling snow. The crazed look on his face alone was enough to strike fear through Thedric’s heart. He had never thought of himself as a coward, but looking upon a face that was not human, not even animal it was so insane, was enough to make him want to break and run.
‘Steady, everyone! We can outsmart these beasts! Just don’t panic!’ He wasn’t sure if he was speaking to himself or his men. He didn’t have time to decide. The Wolves were upon them.
Chapter Fifty
The clash was violent and brutal. The giant Wolves hit the Tartans and Druids like water against sand. Tee
th, claws and weapons swept out, ripping away everything in their path. Thedric only saw snatches of his surroundings as he ducked and stabbed. A Wolf clamped its mouth down on a man’s neck, shaking hard. Bright arterial blood spouted up like a sick fountain, looping down to the pale earth. He saw Drugai swing his antlered arm across a man’s chest, ripping it clean open. The shocking red that spilt out onto the snow flashed by as Thedric was caught up in a hot embrace from a Wolf.
He struggled in the iron grip of the man twice as big as him, feeling the long fingernails dig into his collar. The giant’s hot breath exploded in his face as the man lunged in. Thedric yanked his sword up and smashed it into the side of the Wolf’s head. The Blaiden dropped him with a jerk and Thedric rolled away into the wet snow.
A Druid girl to his left was ducking and rolling this way and that with such a fluid ease Thedric could hardly keep track of her. She gripped a green knife in each hand and went for the hamstrings on every Blaiden in her path. The men fell with loud snarls, clawing about on the hard-packed earth for some purchase as their legs gave out. The girl had almost made it to the far side of the clearing when Thedric saw a Wolf fall on her. The man’s jaws clamped round her shoulder and hoisted her in the air. The girl jerked as the man shook her like a dog. Then they both fell to the earth again as the man went for the throat. Thedric knew it was too late for the girl but he let a quarrel fly, striking the Wolf straight through the brain.
He pushed himself up, wiping melted snow from his face and ducked as an antlered arm swiped out at him. He could see his father, far away from him, taking out Wolves left and right, big axe swinging.
By the looks of things, they were certainly going to have a fight ahead of them. He felt a rather wild sense of panic run through him. He had to find Tollin; he wasn’t sure why, but he knew he had to be near him. If anything would happen for the better, it would be near him. Thedric suddenly felt like he was lost at sea on a stormy night and Tollin was the lighthouse. Desperation filled him, which was proving to be rather a problem in the horrible, bloody show he was in now.