by M S C Barnes
Aelfric nodded. “Send Dæved if there are any issues,” he said, wincing as Greg began dabbing at the chest wound with a piece of gauze he had covered in ointment from the bottle Aiden had given him.
“If Nicole does return here, we will obviously end up back here anyway,” Henri said.
“What about us?” Zach exclaimed. “You’re just ignoring the fact that we are here. What do we do? Just bum around here waiting?”
“Yes, Zach,” Henri said and before Zach could protest any more he nodded to Reynard who leapt into the water and, not bothering to even try and use the small river bank, ran off through the actual watercourse itself. Now Henri, with Dæved at his side followed. Dom took a torch and, with The Caretaker and Lily, ran after them. The sound of their splashing decreased and the light from the torch disappeared as they turned another bend in the river and then the noise stopped altogether as they left the caves.
“Well that’s not fair,” Zach moaned and drove the tip of his sword into the riverbank, frowning.
As Greg began wrapping a bandage around Aelfric’s chest, Trudy pulled Seb to one side.
“If Nicole goes to another location, Aelfric cannot possibly go after her,” she whispered.
“I know,” Seb mumbled back.
“So you will need to go,” she said.
“Trudy —” Alice began but she hissed at him.
“Aelfric can’t, Alice. You can see that!”
Alice glanced over at Aelfric and Seb whispered to him, “She’s right.” He turned to her. “I’ll do what I can,” he said and she looked relieved. She was about to say something more when Scarlet, who was sat on the riverbank beside a dejected-looking Zach, staring into her scrying mirror, jumped up.
“I can see them,” she shouted. “Nicole and the others; I can see them again.”
“My coat, Greg,” Aelfric said, quickly. “They must not know.”
“Aelfric, I haven’t finished this,” Greg said. “One more minute.”
“Scarlet, what are they doing? Is Jean-Paul scrying?” Nat asked, moving across to Aelfric and gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
Scarlet shook her head. “No. Nicole is shouting at him again and he is waving his arms around, like he is telling her he can’t do it; well that’s what it looks like anyway.”
“Aelfric, let Greg finish,” Nat said, softly. “Scarlet can warn us if Jean-Paul tries to find us again.”
Groaning, Aelfric settled back and allowed Greg to continue.
“Can you tell where they are?” he asked Scarlet.
“The mausoleum,” she said, surprised.
“So the containment did work,” Aiden said. “But they can’t be using water gateways then. The mausoleum doesn’t have a water source — does it?”
“Sure does,” Zach said, pointing to his foot. “A dirty great big puddle! I stepped in it.”
“You were right then Aelfric,” Trudy said. “But there can’t be many more places within the enclave they can go.” She produced her staff and stood in front of Aelfric, watching the river. “When Henri and the others get there, Nicole could return straight back here.” Zach, pulling the sword out of the ground, stood beside her, scanning the water for signs of movement. “What are they doing now?” Trudy called to Scarlet.
“Nothing different. Nicole is still shouting at Jean-Paul, though he seems to have given up trying to argue with her. One of the other men, Emile I am guessing from what Lily said before, is leaning against the wall; he looks really unwell. The other man, which would be Georges maybe? —” She looked questioningly at Trudy then back into the mirror, “— is having to hold him up. Lotty looks ill too; she is leaning on Philippe. Yvette and Jacqueline are near them. Jacqueline just placed something on the ground. Oh!” she said, “A door is appearing near the two men — Okay, Nicole has just shone light onto the puddle and — Oh dammit!” She dropped the mirror to her side. “It went black. I’ve lost the image,” she said, annoyed, then looked back into the mirror and tutted.
“Nicole has opened a water gateway,” Aelfric said and now they all stared at the river, waiting. Seb’s heart was pounding as he wondered if this woman, a person he had never met before but who was hell bent on killing him, would suddenly loom up out of the water.
Seconds ticked slowly by and Greg finished wrapping a new swathe of bandages around Aelfric’s ribs. When, after a minute of watching the river, nothing happened, Aelfric, with difficulty, stood up and reached for his coat.
“She has gone elsewhere,” he said. “Seb, wait here with your group. If Nicole does appear here, send Alice immediately. Trudy, Greg, we must go.”
“Aelfric,” Trudy said. “Let Seb go to the next location.”
Standing on unsteady feet, Aelfric shook his head. “It is too dangerous,” he said.
“But, the best way for the next generation to learn is by doing. That’s how we learnt,” Trudy insisted. “Let Seb go.”
“Trudy,” Aelfric panted and pointed to his side, “Look at this!” Seb, for the first time, heard a touch of concern in his voice. Taking a rasping breath, he spoke more evenly. “This is not normal training for a new Custodian. This is dark, malevolent and dangerous. I will not risk Seb —”
“I’ll go,” Seb surprised himself by shouting and then added, more softly, “We are all looking at that.” He pointed at the wound. “And you need to rest. It makes sense that I go, and if Nicole comes back here, you can send Dierne to Henri and me and we will come straight back.” With Alice standing beside him, nodding, he felt his confidence grow, and it helped even more when Zach stepped over to them and lifted his sword.
“Game on!” he shouted.
“We can do this, Aelfric,” Seb said.
“Seb,” Aelfric sighed, “You do not understand. Do you not feel it?” Only now did Seb notice the faint, dull ache in his palm.
“Oh?” Seb said, then confused, asked, “Well, won’t Séamus deal with that?”
“It is different Seb; I can feel where it is coming from,” Aelfric murmured.
Seb was baffled. He never knew where the souls causing these signs were. He always just let the doors take him to wherever he needed to be. Aelfric had told him before now though, that he was able to sense if a trespassing soul was geographically close or if it was further afield. It was something he had learned over time and was apparently to do with his being attuned to where, on his birthmark, the pain was strongest. He couldn’t teach Seb to sense that; it would either come with time and experience, or not. Some Custodians never developed the ability. “The source is very nearby,” Aelfric said, shrugging his coat on with Dierne’s help.
“So I am going to have to deal with a trespassing soul here then? That’s okay too,” Seb said.
“No Seb, you still don’t understand,” Aelfric said. “It is within the enclave.”
Aiden gasped. “So how did it get past the boundary?” he asked.
“It didn’t,” Aelfric said. “Wait here.”
Seb was still confused and Alice whispered to him.
“Seb, whatever this is, it caused the sign after the containment was in place. So it can’t be a trespassing soul, normal or in gytrash form; none of those could breach the enclave. If it had been trapped in here when the markers were placed, then you would have been feeling the sign all the while,” he said and now Seb understood.
“My mirror just cleared!” Scarlet shouted. “I can see Henri and the others. They are in the mausoleum. Nicole and her group have gone.”
“Can you switch to them Scarlet?” Trudy asked. “See where they have gone?”
Scarlet took a deep breath and tried to relax herself then looked into the mirror again. After a moment she shook her head.
“I am obviously rubbish at this,” she said, disappointed.
“Tell me what Henri is doing,” Aelfric said.
“He’s holding his hand up and shining light away from himself to,” her eyes opened wide as she spoke, “to the ground. There’s something s
mall moving there.”
“You are not rubbish at this Scarlet,” Aelfric said. “You cannot switch because the priority is no longer Nicole’s whereabouts, it is what Henri is dealing with. Aiden,” he called and stepped off the river bank and into the water.
A Soul’s Ghost
“Where are you going?” Zach asked as Aiden tentatively joined Aelfric in the river.
“Nowhere, for the moment, Zach,” Aelfric said and then turned to Dierne. “Go to Henri and tell him not to remove the inscription,” he said hurriedly. “He needs to hold it off and wait for me, though I may be a while.” Dierne, nodding, disappeared in a haze of green.
Standing knee-deep in the river, Aelfric spoke to Aiden, “The same principal for locking water gateways as for normal doorways applies,” he said. Aiden looked flustered. “Do you remember how?” Aelfric asked and Aiden nodded, holding his tin above the water.
“Brilliant idea, Aelfric,” Greg said, and, stuffing the things back into the first aid kit, stood up.
“He is preventing Nicole from coming back here,” Alice whispered to Seb and they watched as Aelfric gazed across the water’s surface then, closing his eyes, turned one full circle, slowly before taking a quarter turn back to his right. Now he opened his eyes and raised his hand. The pointed ends of the firefly torches had been jammed between rocks on the riverbank, to anchor them, allowing their light to shine upward. Aelfric tilted his hand and reflected that light onto the water, a few feet from him.
“Íewe,” he said and the water started bubbling. A circle of darkness appeared below the froth and bubbles and gradually began to expand. Aiden, his hands shaking, struggled to release the clasp of his tin. Eventually, he opened it and then the hidden compartment inside. Taking a pinch of rowan powder, he threw it out over the bubbling water.
“Seolh,” he said.
A great plume of water rose into the air and then splashed back down. The circle of darkness disappeared and within a few seconds the river surface settled as if never disturbed.
“That’s one less gateway she can use,” Alice whispered, smiling at Seb.
“Great, so now we can get out of this cheery place,” Zach said, and swished his sword.
“No, Zach,” Aelfric said. “Aiden, bring a torch please.” Aiden retrieved a torch from the bank and, with Aelfric and Trudy, waded along the shallow river, heading towards the next bend in its course. They stopped just around the curve, out of view. Aelfric could be heard mumbling to Aiden and then he said, clearly, “Íewe.” A loud bubbling sound arose, then Aiden practically shouted the word, “Seolh.” A massive splash followed and the three returned, Aiden looking more confident.
Dierne suddenly reappeared. “Henri says that Nicole sent Riven with a warning message already,” he said to Aelfric, who frowned. “So Henri is holding it off. He says there will be a problem with the material though.”
Nodding, Aelfric now had to use Dierne to help him climb back onto the bank. “We need to check the other side of the river,” he said and taking Trudy, Aiden and Dierne with him, disappeared into the narrow tunnel. They were gone for a few minutes and the others waited in silence. Eventually footsteps could be heard and they emerged from the tunnel, Aelfric looking haggard and Aiden relieved.
Zach looked expectantly at them. “Now can we go?” he asked.
Aelfric shook his head. “You will remain here with Seb. It is the safest place for him at the moment,” he said.
“Aw, seriously? Seriously? Have sword, don’t use it?” Zach moaned.
“Scarlet,” Aelfric said, “Keep watching Henri. It may be that, if he has issues containing the golem, you all have to join him but,” he turned to Seb, “only go if you absolutely have to.”
“So it’s a golem then,” Zach said. “Well, that’s no biggy is it? A simple golem? Light the thing, read the words, poof, its gone!”
Aelfric beckoned Cue and the wolf leapt over to him. He immediately placed a hand on the beast’s back, using it to support himself. Sighing now he turned to Zach.
“Zach, if I am right, it isn’t just a simple golem. I must find Nicole and Jacqueline,” he said. “Seb, I will leave Pace with you. Concentrate on your aura.”
Seb, as usual, didn’t really understand what was happening. The ache in his palm had grown much stronger, and that was to be expected, given that the golem was presumably the cause of it and the need to deal with it was becoming more imperative. But why would Aelfric not want Henri to remove the spell and stop it? He watched as Aelfric’s depleted group assembled around him. Trudy, looking extremely concerned, glanced over her shoulder and mouthed words to Seb.
“You need to do this!”
He nodded and now, in spite of his reluctance to get his feet wet, stepped into the water. He actually found that quite a relief; his feet felt sore and hot, as though he had walked miles in inappropriate footwear.
“Aelfric,” he called, “I can do this. Let me go and find Nicole. I’ve got Zach to protect me and I honestly think I can do this,” he said. He fidgeted his feet on the river bed, trying to alleviate the soreness with the cool water.
Aelfric turned. With his back to the firefly torchlight Seb couldn’t see his features very well but when he spoke he sounded grave.
“Seb, please just trust me. Remain here unless you absolutely have to go and assist Henri. And if you do have to do that, you hold the golem at bay only. On no account is it to be destroyed. Do you understand?”
Seb didn’t but he nodded and watched as Aelfric, hand still on Cue’s back, set off along the river with Dierne, Trudy and Greg, who took one of the remaining torches as he went. They disappeared around the bend and as the sound of their splashing stopped, Seb, standing in the water, looked at Alice.
“I should have insisted more,” he said.
“I don’t think he would have listened,” Alice shrugged.
“He really doesn’t trust us does he?” Zach said, helping Seb out of the river.
“It’s Nicole he doesn’t trust,” Aiden said. “And I do think it’s for the best we stay here.” Something in the nervous way he spoke made Seb turn and look at him. Aiden, avoiding making eye contact, stared at the ground. Nat, beside him, put an arm across his shoulders, looking closely at him.
“What’s wrong Aiden?” she asked, obviously noting what Seb had, that Aiden looked awkward, uncomfortable — his aura vibrated inconsistently.
“What’s going on?” Seb asked, staring at him.
“Henri is still holding it off,” Scarlet said, thinking he was speaking to her. “It really is creepy though; more creepy than the last two golems. I guess it’s because it is a doll, which should normally be cute.” She stared into her mirror.
“Thanks, Scarlet, but I was asking Aiden,” Seb said, still looking at Aiden who was now blushing.
“It’s just this scary place,” he stammered.
“Oh Aiden,” Zach laughed good-naturedly. “You’re always scared of something.” He trotted over and nudged Aiden on the arm. “How can you be scared, when I’m around and when I’ve got this?” With one hand, he thrust the sword skyward.
“That’s not it,” Seb said, stepping towards them. “Aiden is afraid — I can tell that Aiden — but what else? There’s something else,” he said. His feet were now throbbing and he had to fight the urge to sink them back into the cold river. His head was starting to ache too but he ignored it.
“I’m okay,” Aiden said, looking up for the first time.
“Course you are mortal,” Zach said, patting him on the back.
“My mirror just switched,” Scarlet suddenly yelled, interrupting them. “It’s switched to Aelfric, oh and Nicole. He’s with Nicole; he’s found her!”
Now they all gathered around her, straining to see over her shoulder, which was pointless given that none of them could see what she could in her mirror, but they listened intently as she described the image.
“They are in the Church of Saint Lawrence,” she said, “near the font
. All of Nicole’s group are there, and Jacqueline, Philippe and Lotty. There seems to be a stand-off between Trudy and Yvette, they both have their staffs out and are standing between Nicole and Aelfric. Aelfric is trying to speak to Nicole, but she is just —” she looked up, puzzled, “— laughing!” she said. “Aelfric is pointing at Emile and Lotty. Greg is going to check on them; they really do look unwell. No, Yvette has stopped him, she won’t let him pass. Oh no!”
“What? What?” Zach demanded. “Come on Scarlet, we can’t see, you have to tell us!”
“Well, Nicole lifted her hand and Cue then jumped between her and Aelfric; he is growling at her ferociously now. I actually think she was going to try and attack Aelfric. Oh my —” she paused, frowning into the mirror, moving it closer to her eyes. “What is that?” she said, confused.
Seb felt the throbbing in his left hand suddenly increase. He wondered how Henri was doing with the golem and clenched his fist, trying to numb the pain.
“Scarlet, again, we can’t see,” Zach grumbled. “You tell us what that is!” he said.
“Well,” Scarlet looked at him, “I can’t. I can’t because I don’t know what it is! Nicole shone a white light at Jacqueline and something black, like a thin shadow of a human, flew out of her chest!” She looked up, aghast, then straight back into the mirror. “It has zoomed over and is now in front of Cue and Aeflric. It looks like a black ghost. I mean, the way you would expect a ghost to look, only it is black — and it’s looming over Aelfric!” She looked horrified. “Nicole has called all her group and she has turned to the font. She’s raising her hand and, oh dammit! It’s gone dark again.”
“Right, we’re out of here!” Zach said. “They need us. Come on, Seb, you have to open a door to them.”
“Zach!” Aiden shouted, “Aelfric said to wait here!” He sounded angry, but bordering on desperate, and Zach looked shocked.
“Aiden,” he said, “You heard Scarlet. They are being attacked by a black ghost. I don’t believe that when Aelfric said to stay here, he knew that would happen, do you?”
“You always think you know best Zach, but sometimes you don’t!” Aiden said, still shouting. Everyone was so shocked at his outburst that they were distracted from Scarlet and the images in her mirror and all stared at him.