by Linda McNabb
‘I can seal the pass again, but it will take all the magic I can summon,’ Darius told him, and Eagan squinted at him in the incredibly bright light.
‘And?’ Eagan said, not understanding.
‘And when that happens I will no longer be here,’ Darius said, thrusting the staff out. ‘Hold this with me. You are about to become my apprentice.’
Eagan grabbed the staff, both terrified at what that meant and honoured to have been chosen. The light intensified so much that Eagan had to shut his eyes or risk blindness. Then with a popping sound the light vanished and total silence fell on the pass.
Eagan’s eyes opened and he saw that he was alone and holding the staff. Darius was gone. The guards stood a short way back and watched with confusion. There was no way Darius could have got past them.
‘Did the wizard go through?’ one of the guards asked, coming closer to check out Eagan’s injured arm.
‘I don’t think so,’ Eagan said, frowning and looking at the staff that he still held out at arm’s length.
‘I’m still here,’ a weak voice said and Eagan turned to see where it came from but saw nobody. Then, slowly, a shimmering form appeared next to him. It was Darius, but more like a reflection in the surface of a lake than a real person.
‘Are you dead?’ Eagan had asked.
‘Is who dead?’ the guard asked, looking concerned. ‘Did you hit your head?’
‘The guard can’t hear or see me,’ Darius said with a heavy sigh. ‘Only you can. You’re my apprentice now.’
Eagan gulped and wondered if he had indeed struck his head or if he was dreaming. Then the guard began to bind the wound on his arm and pain shot through him. No, he definitely wasn’t dreaming.
Eagan brought his thoughts back to the present moment and rubbed his arm again as he glanced around. Who would he choose out of the two guards and Marrik if he had to use the last of Darius’ magic in a spell right now? Perhaps Darius was right, it might be time to find an apprentice to keep nearby at all times.
They entered the canyon and Marrik led Eagan around the edge, next to the wall, then stopped and pointed to the middle of the canyon. ‘That was our intruder.’
Eagan peered closer. His eyesight wasn’t as good as it once was and he squinted but couldn’t make out what was on the ground. Darius was already hovering over the spot indicated by Marrik and was examining it. He looked up at Eagan with an astonished expression but did not speak.
Eagan moved closer and stopped dead when he saw what it was.
Footprints.
Rain often collected in the pass and the ground became waterlogged. A single track of footprints led from the blank face of the wall and out into the pass.
‘This could mean one of two things,’ Marrik said, joining him closer to the footprints in the mud.
For once Darius was silent as he floated up the track of footprints to where they emerged from the rock wall.
Marrik’s gaze also travelled the same route and it appeared as if he were watching the invisible wizard.
‘Either someone from the west has gone through, and come back,’ Marrik continued.
‘Or people live on the other side of the mountains,’ Eagan added.
‘Which is, of course, impossible as nobody could survive near the night-shadows,’ Marrik said, shaking his head firmly.
‘So you think we have someone in the west capable of travelling through the pass and back again?’ Eagan said, feeling ill and wishing there was somewhere to sit down.
‘Whoever it is, they’re very big,’ Darius said, coming up to Eagan and stopping right in front of him. ‘Look at the depth of those prints. They’d have to be pretty heavy to sink that far, even on a wet day.’
‘It’s a very heavy person,’ Eagan said, for Marrik’s benefit, and walked across the prints to prove his point. His own footprints were nowhere near as deep, nor quite as long. It was definitely an adult and they weighed a lot more than the average human.’
Marrik nodded in agreement, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘Well, that narrows it down a bit.’
Eagan looked closer at the footprint. The soft mud had captured the footprint remarkably well and Eagan immediately discounted anyone at High Gate Tower. Everyone wore the same footwear and the impression before him bore a zigzag pattern that could not have been created by the standard issue footwear at High Gate.
Eagan turned away from the wall towards the pass and a shiver ran down his back. Were the night-shadows now in human form?
**
‘Just put your feet down gently. See how much weight you can put on them,’ the healer said kindly.
Seth didn’t reply. He looked past the healer and out the window. The view was across the marshes and most of it was shrouded in mist. Why hadn’t the old man just left him there? It would have been kinder. Perhaps he would go back there as soon as his feet healed enough.
‘You’ve slept a long time,’ the healer was saying, but Seth could tell that the robed man had moved and was no longer speaking to him. He tried to look to his left without moving but couldn’t see far enough.
‘Where am I?’ a girl’s voice replied and Seth turned to see the girl from the marshes had woken up and was sitting on the side of her bed.
‘You’re at High Gate Tower,’ the healer said, but was prevented from having to continue by the arrival of Eagan. ‘Guardian Eagan, your young friends are awake.’
Seth dropped his head down a little, but kept watching. The girl looked up at the old man as he came across the room and stood between the foot of both beds. He looked from Seth to the girl and back again then settled his attention on the girl.
‘Your memory has returned? We’ll be happy to contact your family and let them know you are safe,’ Eagan said with a smile. ‘What is your name?’
The girl just stared at the old man then dropped her gaze so that she was in almost the same pose as Seth. She fumbled for her pendant and rubbed it between her finger and thumb before she looked up again and frowned. ‘Rem?’ she suggested hopefully.
‘I told you she’d been in the marshes too long. She’s nuttier than the fruitcake my old mother used to make.’
Seth looked up fully at that, knowing it was the invisible friend of the old man. He could tell where the voice was coming from and he scowled at the spot with open dislike for Darius. Eagan made no sign that he had heard Darius.
‘There’s no need to worry,’ he said kindly. ‘It might take a day or two for your memory to return.’
‘Rubbish,’ Darius snapped. ‘You know as well as I do that if it doesn’t come back in the first few hours it’s gone for good.’
This time a small muscle twitched in Eagan’s cheek as the old man took a deep breath.
‘I’ve been told you can leave the tower as soon as you want to,’ Eagan said and his gaze flicked over to Seth’s well-bound feet.
Rem slipped off the bed immediately and stood waiting as if used to taking orders. Seth put one foot down and let some of his weight onto it. Pain coursed through him and out of the corner of his eye he saw the flowers in the vase by his bed begin to wilt.
He lifted his foot off the floor and took a long slow breath to calm his mind. The flowers remained half-dead but did not suffer further. Holding his breath, he placed his foot down again and shut his mind off from the pain. He watched the flowers as he put the other foot down and stood up. The pain was still there, but it was as if it was someone else’s feet that hurt. The flowers did not die and Seth walked towards the door.
‘Well, I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself,’ Darius remarked in a droll tone from behind him. ‘Maybe there’s hope for the boy after all.’
Seth wished he could reply but it was taking all his concentration to push the pain away.
‘Wait, wait,’ the healer said, hurrying across the room, carrying a pair of large animal-skin boots. He supported Seth and slipped them over the bandages.
The inside of the boots were line
d with thick fur and it was so soft it cradled Seth’s sore feet. He took one step and then another. There were a few twinges, but nothing like the pain of a moment ago.
‘Now we just need to get rid of the mad girl. We should have left her in the marshes. The boy too. They’ll both bring trouble I tell you.’
‘Be quiet!’ Seth yelled and glared at Darius. He was fairly sure where the invisible wizard was standing. Even though he couldn’t see the man, there was a hazy inconsistency in the air where the voice had come from.
‘And we’re back to the old Seth,’ Darius drawled and Seth turned to see the flowers were shrivelled up and brown.
‘Who is he talking to?’ Rem asked Eagan quietly, looking concerned at Seth’s sudden outburst.
‘I think it’s time we went down to my rooms,’ Eagan said, smiling as if he hadn’t heard the question.
‘You live here?’ Rem asked, diverted away from the topic, but glancing cautiously at Seth as Eagan guided her from the room.
Seth walked a few paces behind. He pretended his sore feet were holding him back but it was fear – fear that he would harm Rem with his anger. He followed the old man down the stairs to a small suite of rooms on the ground level of the tower. Most of the windows were open but the smell of recently disturbed dust showed they hadn’t been used for a long time.
‘I need to leave you both here for a while,’ Eagan said after he had shown them around. ‘There’s someone I have to find.’
Seth just shrugged. He was used to people leaving.
‘Are you coming back?’ Rem asked. She looked nervous of her new surroundings.
‘Yes, but probably not for a few months. I’ll see if I can find your family while I’m gone,’ the old man replied.
Rem nodded but did not comment. It was clear her memory was still completely gone. Seth sat and watched Eagan gather several things together, change his boots and head for the door.
‘Just ask Marrik for anything you need. He’ll be here in a while to check on you,’ Eagan said kindly.
Rem followed him to the door to watch him leave. Seth stayed where he was. As soon as he got the chance he intended to go back out into the marshes where he wouldn’t harm anyone and he would forget who and what he was. That much Darius was right about.
Chapter Five - Breach
The winter deepened, snow fell and melted away again before Eagan returned to High Gate. He was used to wintering in his small cottage overlooking The Gap. Trudging through snow and rain instead this year hadn’t been fun.
‘You’re getting old,’ Darius said. The wizard bounced up and down as the wagon they were sitting on trundled along the path through the marshes. It was loaded with goods for High Gate and was one of the regular monthly deliveries from Rega each full moon. Eagan’s legs hung over the back of the wagon and he sighed deeply.
‘I just didn’t feel like walking,’ Eagan replied. ‘It’s been a long six months.’
Darius was right though, he even felt old right now.
‘High Gate’s just ahead,’ a voice called from the front of the wagon.
‘Do you think the boy will still be there?’ Darius asked.
Eagan shrugged. ‘I hope so. There’s nowhere else for him to go.’ In truth he doubted the boy had stayed more than a day after he had set out to find the intruder from the east.
The tower came into view and a trumpet sounded to alert the gate guard that the wagon had been spotted. This time there was no welcoming party. The wagon paused briefly at the gate guard then went into the main courtyard and stopped outside the door to the storerooms.
In the distance Eagan could see guards going through regular training sessions, but there was definitely an air of calm about the entire town. It looked as if the alarm of late summer had well and truly been forgotten.
‘Thanks for the ride,’ Eagan called to the driver as he jumped off the wagon and brushed the dust and dirt of the trip from his robes. A large bird swooped low overhead, making him duck instinctively, and he followed its flight out towards the training ground. The bird landed on the outstretched arm of a guard who turned and walked off toward another guard holding a similar bird.
‘That’s new,’ Eagan remarked as he headed over to see what it was all about. He’d seen the huge mountain birds many times but did not know they could be trained. As he came closer Marrik fell into step with him.
‘You’ve been gone a long while,’ Marrik said conversationally, but the undertone of his voice said much more.
‘It’s good to see you, Marrik,’ Eagan said with a weary smile. ‘And no, I didn’t find the intruder. I must have looked at the boots of at least three thousand men and quite a few of them objected rather strongly. Either this intruder looks just like us and bought new boots or he’s not here. There have been no reports of anything strange. Nobody has died of old age before they should have. In short, I found nothing.’
Marrik shrugged. ‘Perhaps there was nothing to find.’
Eagan ignored his friend’s attempt to make him feel better. They both knew that someone had come through the pass, and that nothing good ever came from the east.
‘How was the winter?’ Eagan asked.
‘Don’t either of you ever ask a direct question?’ Darius said in disgust and floated ahead of them.
‘Seth and Rem have settled in well,’ Marrik said, nodding in the direction of the guards ahead of them. ‘I think you’ll be surprised.’
‘Very surprised,’ Darius added as they caught up to him.
Eagan stopped next to the image of his friend and stared out into the yard. He was still mulling over the way Marrik had called the girl Rem. Did that mean her memory hadn’t returned, or was her name really Rem after all? And if her memory had returned, why was she still here?
His gaze settled on the two guards with the mountain birds on their arms and he frowned as he realised it was Rem and Seth.
‘Your young friend’s… ah… gift, was proving difficult to manage,’ Marrik explained. ‘We decided to try a different approach.’
‘Yes, I can see that,’ Eagan said, watching in amazement as Seth stroked the bird under the chin and lifted his arm to send the bird flying off.
‘We gave him the bird as a last resort,’ Marrik said with a shrug. ‘He’d already destroyed the gardens, rid almost the entire town of mice and decimated the chickens to just a few that managed to run away fast enough.’
‘Ah, sorry about that,’ Eagan muttered.
‘He was fascinated by the huge mountain birds that wouldn’t fly away when he shot rocks at them, so when he injured a bird a few months ago we decided it was worth a try. It couldn’t fly and we gave it to Seth to care for. It forced him to keep his emotions in check. After the bird was healed it refused to leave and Rem wanted one as well.’
Eagan noticed that Rem’s bird was markedly smaller than Seth’s and watched as she sent hers into the sky as well.
‘Hers was trickier to get,’ Marrik said. ‘She actually climbed an almost vertical cliff face in the mountains and stole one from a nest! In the last few months Seth and Rem have become almost inseparable.’
‘So he is no threat now?’ Eagan asked hopefully.
‘I didn’t say that,’ Marrik said, shaking his head. ‘The bird seems to sense when it’s dangerous to be around and flies off until Seth calms down. But Seth is a welcome member of the guards. Well, by most people here. His hand to hand fighting skills are remarkable, if unnecessary, given his particular gift, and he’s becoming very good with a bow and arrow.’
‘I’m guessing Rem’s memory never came back,’ Eagan said.
He had asked in every town and village if they were missing a girl of high status but although there had been a few runaways, none had matched Rem’s features, nor her obvious privileged upbringing. He had looked at every important family seal he could find to see if it matched the pendant she wore but had no luck there either. He knew he had seen it but could not work out where.
Looking
at her now though, there was no trace of her prior demure ways. She wore the same grey trousers and tunic as the guards and her hair was tightly-plaited and hung down her back to her waist. Her bird returned, with a mouse in its beak and she punched Seth in the arm as if boasting at winning something.
‘She remembers nothing of her life before you found her in the marshes,’ Marrik answered, ‘but she seems perfectly happy living here.’
‘Told you her memory was gone,’ Darius chirped in.
‘Rem, Seth, come over here for a minute,’ Marrik called out.
Rem hurried over but Seth walked a lot slower.
‘You look well,’ Eagan said to them both and nodded at the birds as Seth’s returned and landed on the boy’s shoulder. Seth didn’t even flinch. ‘And who are your friends?’
‘Cree,’ Rem replied with a smile and took the gift of the mouse the bird offered her.
‘That’s an unusual name,’ Eagan commented.
‘Cree is the sound he makes,’ Rem said with a shrug.
Eagan couldn’t argue with that logic and looked over at Seth for his bird’s name.
‘Dari,’ Seth replied with a small hint of a smile. ‘Short for Darius.’
‘He named the bird after me?’ Darius said, sounding confused and a little pleased.
‘We should get back to training,’ Seth said, turning and leaving without even glancing at Marrik for permission.
‘We’ll chat after you’ve finished,’ Eagan said as Rem nodded and turned to catch up with Seth.
‘Darius was the name he was shouting when he shot the bird down with a stone and injured it,’ Marrik explained, oblivious to Darius’ comment. ‘Isn’t that the name of your wizard, Eagan?’
Eagan covered a laugh with a cough and almost choked. By the time he regained control of his breathing Darius had retreated into his staff in disgust.
**
The next morning it was only just past dawn when Rem and Seth arrived in the canyon. Rem liked it when the rest of the world was still asleep. They had to sneak out quietly this morning now that the old man was back.