by M S C Barnes
The crows were almost upon him and Henri nodded to Dæved who disappeared in a flash and re-materialised beside the panicking man. Dropping to the ground he hoisted him in his arms and whizzed back across to the doorway, handing him to Yvette who met him on the threshold. She opened the door and, supporting Jean-Paul, dashed through. Aiden yanked it closed just as the crows reached it. Confused as to where their quarry had gone, they veered away to circle the mausoleum once more. “We have simply bought them time,” Aelfric said to Henri, breathing hard. “The crows will hunt them down; and all those who are tainted.”
Henri watched the flock soar over the wall towards the church tower.
“The totems will struggle to locate those in the caves, but we don’t know where Nicole has left Lotty,” he said, sounding desperately concerned, and then looked sorrowfully at Alice. “If she is in the open…” his voice trailed off.
“And Scarlet?” Zach shouted, pointing at the mound of mud beside him. “Nicole took her through a gateway. They’ll go for her too won’t they?”
“Lily?” Aelfric asked, looking up at her. She had already taken her scrying mirror out. “They will be within the enclave somewhere; can you find them?”
“No,” Lily said, looking frustrated. “The image keeps returning to the group in the caves — Yvette and Jean-Paul have found the others. If I try to switch I simply can’t. I can find no trace of Nicole.”
“They must be in the caves then!” Zach shouted, leaping past Aiden to get to the wall as the door fizzled away. “Open it!” he yelled, spinning back to glare at Henri who paid no attention to him. He was gazing at Alice. Checking himself, Zach stepped away from the wall. “Is he going to be all right?” he asked.
Alice’s eyes were closed and he leant against Aelfric who, still holding him, was shielding him from the pain of his injuries. Seb was mortified to see how badly burnt he was; all the leaves covering his body were gone — turned to ash — and the interlaced twigs and sticks beneath were charred.
“Cover me, Seb. Please cover me,” Alice begged him silently.
Ignoring the intense pain of his own injuries, which Alice was no no longer able to help diminish, Seb immediately removed his jumper. The wounds on his back stung as the chill wind hit them. He draped the jumper across Alice’s body, and Aelfric winced.
Greg and Aiden now knelt beside Seb, Greg holding the first aid kit Aiden had given him in the caves.
“Let us take a look; see if we can help at all,” Greg said, trying to sound light-hearted and not upset. Seb couldn’t see what normal, human medicine could do to repair the horrendous burns Alice had suffered. As Greg unpacked some things from the small pouch everyone else watched in silence.
Alice fidgeted. “Take me away from here, Seb” he said silently, “I can’t bear to be seen.”
The despair in his voice tore at Seb’s heart. When he had first met Alice, and become aware of the existence of Dryads, he had discovered that the one trait they all shared was vanity. They were proud of the varying greenery that covered their bodies with each season but felt overwhelming embarrassment and shame when anything happened to mar their aesthetic appearance. For Alice, worse than the pain he had been through, was the humiliation of being seen in this terrible state. Dierne and Dæved knew it; they had respectfully turned away. Aelfric too was careful not to actually look at Alice and Nat was holding his hand but staring at Seb, tears streaming down her face.
“He needs privacy,” Seb mumbled to Aelfric who nodded, and then Seb got the feeling he sent a message, through Dierne, to his group because, without a word Greg packed away the first aid things and all the others turned away. Greg, pulling Aiden to his feet, guided him over to Lily and Dom.
Zach, beside them, looked miserable — conflicted. He knew Alice was seriously hurt, but was desperate to find Scarlet. He gazed at the Sælen Sword and said nothing.
Henri spoke quietly to Aelfric, “Lift the enclave,” he suggested. “Let him go back to the Dryad realm, where he can be helped.”
Seb, took hold of Alice’s other hand. “Can they heal you there?” he asked Alice silently but was interrupted as Aelfric groaned. By the look on his face he was struggling to cope with Alice’s pain, combined with that of his own injuries. Dierne lowered his head; Seb guessed he was trying to help Aelfric — as Alice had helped him. But there was only so much the Dryads could do.
Alice hadn’t answered and Seb, without looking at him, asked again, “Can they heal you? If you go back to your realm?” Still Alice didn’t answer and now Seb glanced at him. “Alice?” There was no response. He spoke out loud, “Alice!”
“He won’t hear you,” Aelfric murmured, visibly relaxing as though relieved. “And he is no longer in pain.”
Seb felt his stomach lurch. Staring at the charred twigs and branches on Alice’s head, he then, instinctively looked at his chest for signs of breathing. But he knew that Dryads didn’t breathe the way humans did, so that was pointless. And then cold dread filled him. Dryads, like plants, respired through their leaves! Alice had lost all his leaves. And he is no longer in pain. He looked back at Alice’s face, its scorched skin covered in ash, the tiny acorns that formed his eyebrows shrivelled and fused together; his features were frozen in an expression of sadness.
Seb felt tears well up in his eyes as the darkest and most desolate of thoughts swamped his mind. He tried to push it away, not wanting to acknowledge it — but it wouldn’t go. And he is no longer in pain. There was no sign of movement at all from Alice, no connection between their minds — and no aura around his body!
A Grave Secret
Devastated beyond belief, Seb pulled Alice towards himself, taking him off Aelfric, who didn’t resist. There was a crackling sound as Alice’s body moved, like dry twigs trodden underfoot. Seb felt a tear run down his own cheek.
“All of you need to go! LEAVE US ALONE!” he shouted, sounding hysterical.
“Seb,” Aelfric said, quickly, realising what Seb thought. “He isn’t dead.” Seb snapped his head up and his heart leapt. “He is dormant,” Aelfric explained. “His body has shut down — like a tree during winter — conserving itself. So he is, thankfully, pain free and in peace for now.”
Relief washed over Seb. “Not dead then?” He looked back at Alice.
“No,” Aelfric said, taking a short, difficult breath and leaning awkwardly to one side as both Cue and Pace flopped down behind him, propping him up. “But he does need help.” He looked at Henri. “We cannot remove the enclave, Nicole will escape and we may lose both Lotty and Scarlet.”
“So what do we do?” Zach asked, trying to keep a lid on his frustration.
“We go, and your group remains,” Henri said. “You stay and look after your twin, Seb; Aelfric and I will find Nicole.”
Aelfric shook his head. “I will stay, Henri. You take our groups and find Lotty and Scarlet,” he said, his voice cracking. Henri looked at him confused.
“But it makes sense that Seb remains with his Dryad,” he said, “while you and I go and deal with Nicole.”
Aelfric sighed, lowering his head for a moment before looking back at Henri.
“Henri, I cannot,” he said, sounding defeated, “I will be a hindrance. Take my group and Seb’s —”
Suddenly Greg rushed towards him.
“She hit you!” he exclaimed, pointing at a fresh injury on Aelfric’s shoulder which had been hidden by Alice’s body. “Nicole’s power bolt struck you! Let me see.” He knelt beside Aelfric who shook his head.
“It was a glancing hit only, Greg; I have the wolves,” he said. “Henri, go.”
“Are you sure Aelfric?” Henri asked, looking concerned.
Aelfric nodded. “Go and get her; I am sorry I cannot help.”
Zach didn’t need to wait for more. “Come on then. Open the door Henry,” he said, twirling his sword.
“Have you found them yet Lily?” Henri asked. Lily, looking into her mirror, frowned.
“Still nothing. Th
ey are obscured,” she said.
“Are they in the Sanctum then?” Aiden asked. “Didn’t you say they wouldn’t be able to see us when we were there? So they must be there mustn’t they?”
“Does it matter?” Zach said. “Open the door and it will take us to them anyway won’t it? Mad-woman can’t use water gateways to escape now surely? You closed the ones in the Styx and the church, this one’s,” he pointed at the mound of mud filling the puddle, “well, otherwise occupied. And in this small area there can’t be many more places with water. Let’s just go. If we end up at the staircase, we climb.”
“Just that, could she could get there? Could she open the staircase or use your passageway Henri? Or even open a —”
“So many questions Aiden. It doesn’t matter. The door will take us where we need to go,” Zach said, exasperated. “If she water-hops again we can do what Aelfric suggested before — leave one group where we end up and send the next group after her. And,” he added, “she’s on her own; none of her group are with her any more — oh, except her Dryad. She’ll have a hard time of it dragging Scarlet through another gateway by herself!” He dashed over to the wall and looked expectantly at Henri. Aiden shrugged and with Dom, Lily, Reynard and Greg, walked over to join him. Nat gave a small sob before standing and following them. Seb didn’t move.
“Seb,” Henri muttered and he looked up. “I am sorry to ask but I might need your assistance. I know you are worried about your twin, but he is, for now, at peace and Aelfric will stay with him. The sooner Nicole is dealt with, the sooner we can get him the help he needs.”
Even though Seb knew Henri was right, he couldn’t bring himself to leave; it felt like he would be abandoning Alice. Alice — he was certain — would never leave him. He wasn’t even sure he could walk anyway. He was still in pain and, though surface wounds only, the lacerations to his head and back were still bleeding. But Scarlet was his sister and she was in danger both from Nicole and from the totems, who would be drawn to her since her transit through the gateway. He gripped Alice’s hand, unable to move.
“Seb,” Zach called, “Alice is doing a dormant thing. He won’t miss you. Scarlet needs us.”
Seb, head throbbing, gazed back down at his own hand still holding Alice’s. Beneath and around his thumb, one small patch of greenery remained, just below Alice’s wrist. Seb stared at it a moment trying to force himself to let go and stand up. Without his jumper he had only a thin t-shirt protecting the gashes in his back from the biting wind and the pain was so keen it made him appreciate how hard Alice had worked to keep most of it from him. A tear travelled down his cheek and dropped onto Alice’s hand. He wiped another away before it fell too and then passed Alice back to Aelfric.
“I will look after him, Seb,” Aelfric said, and Seb nodded then stood up.
Hobbling — each step agonising — he made his way to the door. Trudy and The Caretaker had apparently decided between them that The Caretaker would, once more, accompany the others, while Trudy remained to protect Aelfric.
It was a given that the two Dyrads would stay with their respective Custodians and so Dierne stood beside Aelfric, his back to Alice, and watched everyone depart.
Zach, of course, went first and one-by-one they passed through the doorway. It led to the graveyard behind the church.
As he moved away from the crumbling headstone which held the door, an owl flapped across in front of Seb, inches from his nose. He flinched and yelped with pain as he bumped into Dom, banging his back against the tall man’s chest.
“Well if we planned on surprising them, we just blew that,” Zach whispered and then snapped, “Who asked for flamers? No flamers. They’ll definitely know we’re here!” Instantly the thousands of little orbs which had illuminated throughout the graveyard disappeared and Aiden mumbled an apology. Zach tutted.
In the cold and dark — the only sounds the sighing of the wind and the cawing of the crows — everyone stood still, as if not knowing where to go now. Seb guessed that, like him, they had all supposed the door would simply lead to Nicole. Instead it had led to this spooky graveyard where nothing but tree branches and manic crows moved.
“Did she leave?” Aiden whispered.
Henri turned back to the headstone where the door was just disappearing, waving his palm at it to make it reappear.
“It would seem she is, once more, playing with us,” he growled.
Seb, shivering, looked at their gloomy surroundings, his eyes drawn to the needle-covered branches of a vast yew tree some distance away where the noisy crows had taken roost. Nicole obviously wasn’t here; either she had been and gone — playing with them as Henri thought — or she had never arrived.
The owl had flown over to the massive yew tree and landed beneath it. Hooting quietly, it gazed with wide eyes at Seb.
As Henri moved to open the door Reynard put a hand on his arm.
“Listen,” he whispered.
They all froze, straining their ears to hear past the ever-increasing noise the crows were making, and suddenly Zach was running, zig-zagging between the graves.
“What? What can you hear?” Aiden said, looking terrified.
“Scarlet,” Reynard mumbled and as he said it, Seb realised he was right. Faintly, below the raucous cawing, and from the direction Zach was running in, her voice could be heard.
“Help me,” she shouted. “Zach? Seb? Can anyone hear me? Help me.”
In the darkness all Seb could see of Zach was his aura, the pink outline suddenly still as he stood, listening, trying to home in on Scarlet’s voice. Then he beckoned and called them.
“Over here.” As everyone ran towards him he yelled, “Scarlet, we’re here; where are you?” He stood over two graves a few yards from the yew tree and kicked at the ground beside them. Both graves had sunken surfaces surrounded by a six inch high border of granite and each had a tall, ornate headstone at the top end. As the others arrived Scarlet’s voice could be heard more clearly and sounded like it was coming from beneath these graves.
“Zach! I am so cold,” she shouted, on the verge of panic. “This place is filled with water and the water is rising. Get me out!”
The cawing from the crows in the tree became louder still. The birds flitted and jumped about amongst the branches, as if in frustration. Beneath the tree, to the left of the two graves they were all crowded around, the owl cocked its head to one side, staring at Seb.
Flamers began to appear throughout the churchyard.
“I didn’t do that!” Aiden said defensively, standing close to The Caretaker. “I didn’t call for flamers.”
“I did,” Zach snapped. “Nicole’s obviously not here and we need to find Scarlet. I can’t see a darn thing in this darkness,” he said as little orbs lit up over the many gravestones and on the branches of the farthest trees. Frustratingly, however, none appeared where they all stood. “Aw come on!” Zach moaned until Dom moved over to him and lifted the firefly torch high, casting a halo of light around the sunken graves. “Better,” Zach said. He dropped to the ground and began running his hand over the granite surround of the nearest grave. Reynard put his sabre back into its scabbard. Holding the Sælen Sword in his left hand, he knelt beside Zach and began examining the other one.
“Is she under there?” Aiden asked, horrified. “Buried alive? That’s awful.”
“Aiden?” Scarlet shouted. “Aiden, is that you? Please get me out of here!”
Zach and Reynard were carefully running their fingertips over the ground within the borders of the graves now, searching for an opening. But the earth, which was covered in weeds and grass, looked like it hadn’t been disturbed in centuries.
“Lily,” Henri said, turning to her, “Can you see anything?” He raised his hand, capturing light from the torch, and shone it at the foot end of the nearest grave. Lily joined him. He progressively moved the light along the border then swept it up over the grave itself and Lily watched as it continued its track towards the headstone.
Henri had, by now, reflected light over every inch of each grave.
“Nothing,” Lily said. When she saw the look of disappointment on Zach’s face, she added, “That doesn’t mean there is nothing there, just that I can’t see it.”
Zach, frustrated, leapt onto one grave and began jumping up and down on it, as if trying to break it open.
“How did she get you in there?” he called to Scarlet. “How does it open?”
“What?” she yelled back.
“How did she get you into the grave?” Aiden shouted, trying to be helpful.
“What grave?” There was a second of silence and then Scarlet cried out, “Is this a grave? Am I in a grave?” Now she really was panicking. “I’m in a grave! Get me out!” she screamed.
“Calm down Scarlet,” Greg called to her. “We are all here to help you. We will find a way to get to you. Just stay calm.”
“There must be something we’ve missed,” Zach muttered. “A lever or door or something.” He pulled at the headstone Seb was holding on to, trying to wiggle it. It didn’t budge.
The owl hooted again and now it lifted off the ground and swooped towards Seb. It looped in front of him and flapped back to land beside the grave under the tree. And suddenly light dawned.