by Glen L. Hall
‘They’re moving!’ Jolan got the words out through clenched teeth.
At first it was a twitch, then a jolt, then sickening jerks spreading across the entire hilltop as the dead began to wake.
‘We cannot fight this,’ growled Braden. ‘Quickly, we must leave this place.’
* * * * * *
Amongst the convulsing dead, a horrid clamour was rising. Arrows were being withdrawn from flesh and the noise was grating in the Reivers’ ears as they wove their way between the trembling bodies and reached the path leading steeply down into the gloom.
A crow-man clumsily reached for Dwarrow and was swept aside, but others were regaining their feet and beginning to shriek as new life flooded into their twisted bodies. Braden felt sick with dread as he realised the path was littered with the returning dead.
At first the reviving crow-men were slow, but soon fighting was breaking out again.
‘Go down, Jarl!’ shouted Braden, spearing a creature with his sword.
‘The way is blocked.’
Ged didn’t listen, but hurled himself down the path. Quickly he found himself up against creatures who now had weapons. They were holding the arrows with vile claws, slashing and cutting with a savagery that stopped him in his tracks. Some of the creatures were running at them with the long arrows held above their heads.
The Reivers were once again outnumbered, standing back to back on the edge of the hill. The crow-men leaped at them like frenzied animals. Jarl had an arrow buried deep in his thigh. The pain took him to the ground and if Ged hadn’t been near him, another arrow would have found his chest. With astonishing strength, he threw the creatures back and stood over Jarl like a roaring lion.
In the middle of the carnage, the tall willowy figure of Jolan danced between the crow-men, his sharp knives cutting and thrusting.
Braden, already weak from his first encounter, found images of his family racing through his mind, igniting a deep anger that burned through his weariness, and he struck out again and again until his arms were raw and his mind almost blank.
‘Keep together – don’t become separated!’ he heard himself shouting, but the crow-men were now changing their form of attack, almost as if they could sense their advantage, and all across the King’s Seat they were throwing themselves against the wall of Reivers.
Despite the Reivers’ fighting prowess, they were being pushed back. Jolan went down, crumpled by a sickening blow across the face. For a moment it seemed Ged, now fighting with his short sword, had single-handedly halted the ferocious attack, but the crow-men’s strength seemed greater than before, and soon the defenders could feel the last of their own strength draining out of them. Their situation was desperate as they crowded together, with Braden, Ged and Dwarrow protecting the injured Jarl and Jolan. Little by little, they were being forced back towards the standing stones and their escape was now closed off.
‘Fall back!’ came the panicked voice of Braden, as the sea of reanimated corpses came surging forward like a tempest roaring out of the night.
Then all at once thunderous wings were sweeping across the King’s Seat and long claws were grabbing the crow-men and flinging them from the hilltop like broken branches caught in a storm. Red kites, hundreds in number, and larger than anyone ever remembered seeing before, were swooping in to attack.
‘What magic is this?’ called Braden, but he was quickly silenced by the powerful beat of a thousand wings. In a daze he wondered whether it had anything to do with the kite he had seen earlier.
Then he was calling the Forest Reivers together, for this had given them chance to escape. With Jarl propped up against Dwarrow, and Braden holding the stricken Jolan, he let Ged lead the way. Sick with exhaustion but with grim determination, they opened a gap amongst the scattering crow-men.
Still the birds of prey were wheeling across the night sky and gliding into the attack. Under their protection, Ged and Braden led their weary companions down the hillside and into the fringes of Birling Wood, where they came to a stumbling stop.
‘How can the dead come back alive?’ asked Dwarrow, horror-stricken.
‘What evil do we face, Braden?’ asked Jolan, blood running down his cheek.
‘Now is not the time to ask such questions,’ Braden replied. ‘We must hasten to the Garden of Druids.’
Mustering the last of their will, they set off on a desperate march through Birling Wood.
* * * * * *
She watched them go, pushing back her flowing locks of golden hair. She was unlike her sister, who was against meddling in the affairs of men. She had loved a man and spent years searching for his ghost in the forgotten places of the Otherland. Now she would take up the cause he had died for. She would not turn her back on her people’s plight.
She knew it would not be easy. It was she who had first felt the Shadow coming and had woken her father from his sleep. She had watched from afar as he had fought it at the Dead Water. And the dark mist still hanging over the King’s Seat, filling the dead with an alien energy, was unlike anything she had known in her long years in the Mid-land.
But she also knew the time of the Druidae had not come to an end. There was still hope. Oscar had not been the last Druid.
THE BATTLE OF BIRLING WOOD
Sam and Emily stood side by side whilst the people on horseback formed a tight ring around them. In the darkness the horses towered above them and there were harsh faces looking down. These were rugged folk dressed in thick clothes and their voices were gruff and frightening. Sam watched as a woman dismounted and raised a hand, and a hush fell across the clearing. Only the horses continued their nervous whinnying and there was a sea of shifting hooves. The woman threw back her hood, revealing reddish hair, and came to stand directly in front of them.
‘What are you doing in Birling Wood at night?’
Though hers was probably one of the youngest amongst the stern faces, her voice was strong and seemed to carry great authority.
‘We were just minding our business and enjoying the evening when we were rudely attacked,’ Emily replied.
The woman looked first at her, then at Sam, and then broke into laughter, followed by those who were close enough to hear. She shook her head and smiled for the first time.
‘Tell me your name, child – if that isn’t too much trouble! My name is Bretta, if that helps. We are Forest Reivers from the Raeshaw clan. Now tell me, who are you and what are you doing here?’
Sam got his words out first before Emily could antagonise a people renowned for their fighting prowess and short tempers: ‘We are from Warkworth. We are lost.’
‘There aren’t many who could stumble across this place whilst lost.’
Bretta’s eyes were on them, scrutinising them. Sam swallowed hard. Then she seemed to come to a decision.
‘Blarus!’ Several horses whinnied at her raised voice and a dark-skinned man came forward. ‘Take our friends to my fire and I will meet them there.’
‘We can’t stay,’ began Sam, but Bretta gave him a sharp look and his stomach sank.
‘You will be free to go at first light. I wouldn’t want any harm coming to you in the meantime, especially when we catch the edge of a storm that is coming down from the north.’
‘You can’t simply imprison us!’ implored Emily.
The woman stopped and turned. ‘You will be grateful for our company before the night is over, little one. In the morning you might just be thankful.’
She disappeared between the flanks of the horses.
* * * * * *
‘I can understand why Eagan likes these people,’ huffed Emily.
Sam laughed. Even though he sensed the Forest Reivers were good people, they were rough-looking. Some had dark hair, others were fair, but the majority were red-headed, pale-skinned and thick-set. He couldn’t tell how many were assembled, but they must have
numbered at least a hundred, perhaps double that.
Blarus led them through the throng of horses and a thick copse of trees until eventually they came out onto an open hillside. There were already dozens of camp fires flickering there.
As the Reiver took them through the camp, it became apparent to Sam that it was empty of people. He also noticed that the horses were being led to the edge of the clearing and into the trees. For whatever reason, the Forest Reivers were making themselves scarce.
When they reached the opposite end of the large clearing and re-entered the wood, he could see Reivers climbing the trees all around him. There was no doubt in his mind that they were setting a trap – he guessed the fires were nothing more than a decoy and whoever found themselves on the hilltop would quickly be surrounded and the ambush complete.
That felt reassuring, but then another thought entered his head – what if the fires attracted the Shadow? He wasn’t sure that even with such numbers the Reivers could stop it. Could it be stopped by anyone? What if Oscar had no answers?
Sam knew these thoughts should have terrified him, but he could still feel the calmness of the old man gently coursing through him. He felt a little light-headed with it all.
The dark-skinned man told him and Emily to sit and then positioned himself under a nearby tree. It was obvious that he was to be their guard for the time being.
They sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against a fallen tree, and looked at each other.
‘Is it me,’ said Emily, ‘or are they expecting trouble? And I hate to say it, but are we the bait?’
‘I think they’re securing the hill and making sure it’s safe. I’m not sure about being the bait – what purpose would it serve?’
‘I hope you’re right. The only thing they haven’t done is tie our hands behind our backs, but there’s still time for that.’
The fallen trunk was uncomfortable to learn against and their nostrils were thick with the smell of rotting wood. The wind was picking up and the trees on the slopes were beginning to sway.
‘Are we alone now?’ Emily stood up and looked around. The camp was empty and it seemed that Blarus had gone as well.
‘I’m not sure.’ Sam stretched his legs. ‘I think most of them are in the wood. They know trouble’s coming and so do I. Listen, I think we need to find this Bretta woman and tell her a little of what we know.’
‘And what do you know?’
They both turned to see Bretta standing no more than ten feet away, wrapped in a cloak that seemed to have been made from the surrounding foliage. Sam guessed she’d been standing there all the time.
‘We were supposed to meet Eagan Reign here tonight,’ she said, ‘and it’s not like him to be absent from such a meeting. I see from your faces that you know him.’
‘He is my cousin,’ began Emily.
‘Perhaps that is how you were allowed to stumble on this place.’ Bretta moved towards them. ‘And what trouble do you expect? If you think we are in danger then surely we have the right to know?’
Sam hesitated, wondering how much to say. He was only too aware that the sooner they were on their way the better, and the last person he wanted to see was Eagan.
‘It just feels like you are expecting trouble,’ he murmured. ‘You have built camp fires, but you don’t seem to be using them. Instead, you are hiding in the trees watching and waiting.’
Bretta turned from Sam to Emily, as if hoping for a better answer.
‘I am intrigued,’ she said, ‘as to why Eagan would send his cousin here in his place, for I suspect this has been planned.’
‘Oh no, we didn’t plan anything. We just went for an evening stroll and got lost.’
‘Yes, of course you did.’ The Reiver woman smiled grimly. ‘Now listen to me, we are here at Eagan’s request and I would like to know why you are here.’
‘I’m sure it won’t be the first time Eagan hasn’t kept an engagement,’ Emily said rudely. ‘And if you don’t mind, we need to be finding our way back home.’
Sam cringed, but just for a second he thought he saw a flicker of a smile cross Bretta’s face.
‘Well, I can’t let you go until the morning,’ she replied. ‘As you rightly say, we think there is trouble coming here tonight. My brother Jolan is meeting the heads of the Reiver families at the King’s Seat and I expect him to return with news of what form this trouble takes. So it would be good to understand a little of what you know.’
She stood there watching them, whilst the wind picked up behind them and the Reiver fires continued winking through the night.
Emily sighed. It was obvious they would have to say something.
‘We were supposed to meet Eagan here this evening,’ she said, ‘but we became separated in the wood.’
‘Why didn’t he travel with you?’
‘He was on an errand of some sort and said he would catch up later.’
Sam gave Emily a hard stare. He wished she wouldn’t keep lying and complicating things.
‘It’s worrying that he isn’t here,’ Bretta commented.
Then Sam jumped as she touched his arm.
‘The trees,’ she continued, staring into his face, ‘speak of a darkness moving through the wood. It will be here within the next few hours – it seems we have arrived just in time. From what we can gather, it is seeking something or someone.’
Sam shuddered.
‘I can tell by your eyes that this darkness has already touched you.’ Bretta was gently holding his arm now, whilst her blue-grey eyes were searching his. ‘You need to tell me what you have seen.’
‘I don’t think you’ll like one word of what I have to say.’
‘Sam!’ Emily exclaimed.
‘Sam,’ the Reiver woman said softly, ‘come and sit with me.’
She turned to Emily, whose eyes were wide with anger, or possibly fear.
‘Why don’t you come too, for I am sure you can tell me more about Eagan.’
Emily was just opening her mouth to reply when Blarus seemed to materialise directly in front of her. It would appear he, too, had been there all the time.
‘And Blarus,’ Bretta smiled, ‘won’t be far away either.’
With Bretta leading and Blarus bringing up the rear, they passed through a line of trees and came to a small clearing. In the middle was a pit with a small fire and several cloaks laid around it. Nearby Sam could hear the nervous calls of the horses.
‘Come along, we only have a little time before we will need to part company.’
Bretta sat down and signalled for Sam and Emily to follow.
Though the fire was a small one, Sam was glad of its heat. By its flickering light he was surprised to see how young Bretta was.
‘Now tell me, Sam,’ she said, ‘where have you been and where are you going?’
‘You don’t need to tell her anything.’
Emily was sitting cross-legged, staring into the fire. This time Bretta chose to ignore her.
‘I have been travelling with Brennus and Drust Hood,’ Sam admitted.
Bretta could not hide her surprise. ‘And where are they now?’ she asked, leaning forward.
‘I don’t know exactly. I was with them in Oxford. We travelled to Gosforth together, then separated.’
‘Oxford! But why would you choose to separate? Tell me truly – I don’t have much time to sift through your words.’
‘Six days ago a man called Oscar visited me in Oxford—’
Sam was interrupted by voices to his left and right. The small clearing suddenly became a hive of activity. There were rangers stepping into the firelight, dressed in cloaks that seemed to be shimmering ever so slightly to blend in with the wood, and Bretta was standing and speaking to them in a thick dialect.
Even though Sam couldn’t understand the words, he could sense the
disquiet in the men and women now standing all around. He shot a quick glance at Emily. She, too, was watching the commotion. Then the figures disappeared back into the wood and Bretta rejoined them around the fire, looking a little ruffled.
‘We know of Oscar,’ she said, ‘and we thought he was dead. But these are strange times. Are you sure it was him?’
‘I don’t know. I’d never seen him before. I can say that he brought a warning to Oxford and since then we’ve been pursued by a Shadow.’
Even in the little clearing, with the comfort of knowing he was surrounded by a hundred Forest Reivers, Sam wondered whether he was safe.
Bretta was watching him carefully, almost without blinking. ‘And have you seen this Shadow?’
Sam thought long and hard before replying. It would always unravel just as he tried to picture it.
‘I can’t easily describe it,’ he admitted. ‘It is as much a feeling as something you see.’
‘Then why do you call it a Shadow?’
‘That’s the nearest thing to it. But there’s more to it than that.’
Again he dug down deep in his memories. He could see the gates of Magdalen, could see the bridge, and what was it that had been standing just beyond the Cherwell? What had called to him under the Fellows’ House?
‘I’m sorry – I just don’t know what I saw.’
There was a disgusted sniff from Emily.
‘So tell me about Brennus,’ Bretta said kindly. ‘What is he doing now?’
‘He is travelling to the Dead Water, seeking answers to the nature of the Shadow.’
Bretta was shocked. ‘I know of this place and so do my forefathers! It is not a place for the living.’
She pulled her forest cloak around her and stared thoughtfully into the flames. Sam and Emily were silent.
Every now and then Reivers would appear on the edge of the clearing and evaporate back into the night.