Another charred corpse blocked her path, she looked it over once, satisfied that it wasn't Selene, and moved on. While she had only known Selene a short while, there was a connection she couldn't deny. Having never known her mother, Selene had somehow become just like her. The similarities between her and Larisa, were undeniable.
She had only made it feet from the corpse, when they came into view, huddled together as if caught in the too long embrace of lovers. Neesha froze for a moment, she saw no signs of life, Selene and Gareth both deathly still.
‘Gods, no, not her too.’ She said a loud, still frozen in place.
Inch by inch, she made her way to their side and knelt down hoping her worst fears wouldn’t be realised. Gareth’s still face looked up at her, she knew his death had come before, that only his death might have caused the storm. She moved in closer to Selene, and placed a careful hand on her back, but instead of the coldness she’d expected, she felt something else.
Her heart, it beats.
‘Selene,’ she said, gently shaking her. ‘Selene, wake up.’
Loud, fast footsteps came from behind her, she spun around and up, daggers in her hands without hesitation. It was a miracle that Selene still lived, she would die before allowing the last member of the Saend house to fall. Two figures, still cloaked in shadow, rounded the corner. Neesha was seconds from throwing a dagger to thin their ranks when they entered the light pouring in from above. Selene’s friends. She breathed a sigh of relief as she hadn’t been sure she had the strength to face two Magi.
‘What in the nine hells happened here?’ Eric asked.
‘Oh, no.’ Marisa said, staring past Neesha.
The twins meandered forth, both had their eyes locked on Gareth and Selene. Their steps careful, calculated, they moved around the couple, still unmoved. Marisa knelt down and placed two fingers to Gareth’s neck, followed by Selene’s. She looked up at Eric, tears already filled her eyes, threatening to cascade down her cheeks at any moment.
‘He’s gone, but she’s alive. Weak, but alive.’ She said.
Eric said nothing, he whirled around, and sliced the head from the shoulders of the charred Magi corpse propped up against the wall.
‘Gods damn him. I told him we shouldn’t get involved in this mess. This wasn’t our fight, we’re not City Guards, we’re thieves.’ He said, kicking the decapitated head against the far wall.
‘Our friend was taken, how was this not our fight?’ Marisa said, still knelt next to Gareth and Selene.
‘I don’t know,’ he began. ‘We could have rescued Rob and not bothered with the rest of this.’
Neesha didn’t want to become involved in an argument with the twins, she knew Selene’s reasoning for wanting to find the children, and that Gareth would never allow her go it alone.
‘Arguing over the body of a fallen friend, is no way to honour the dead. We must find the children and get them out of here. Otherwise your friend sacrificed for nothing.’ Neesha said to the twins, placing her daggers away.
‘We already found them, Tom and Robert are helping free the rest, we told them we’ll pick them up on the way out.’ Marisa attempted to move Selene off Gareth.
‘I will carry Selene, you and your brother take Gareth. Return him to his family, he should be honoured for what he has given.’
Neesha picked up Selene, her immortal strength making it effortless, the twins followed suit with Gareth, as they walked a close pace behind her, down the tunnel to the children, and the surface.
* * *
Flashes of light, brilliant bright light, shot around the room in every direction, it seemed to be coming from her, from somewhere deep within her. Walls, pillars, crates, and people, it struck everything within sight. It was powerful, too powerful, far beyond her control, she knew she could give in and it would take her, but to where? To Gareth? He’s gone.
‘Gareth.’ She shouted, bolt upright in her bed.
A dream, it was only a dream. Her breath was ragged, she was still panting from the intensity of the dream. It had all been so real to her, like she had lived every painful second of it. Selene looked up, just finding the rhythm of her breath again. Neesha sat at the foot of her bed, staring at her, silent.
‘It wasn’t a dream. Was it?’
Neesha said nothing, just shook her head and stood up from the chair. She moved across the room and sat on the bed next to Selene, sadness filled her face, there was no other word to describe it.
‘I’m sorry, I wish there was something that might have been done. If I had been able to spare you this pain, I would have done it, you must believe that.’
Selene collapsed back, tears fell, cascading down her face and on to the pillow beneath her head. She couldn’t comprehend the loss. The one person she knew would be there for her, for the rest of her life, was gone. No, not gone, taken. Anger stirred in her again, she felt that same power begin to rise within her.
‘Calm yourself, child, you must control your emotions, at least until I can teach you to control your power.’
‘I’ll kill them all, every last one of them.’
‘They are gone, that much you saw to. Now you can grieve for your loss, but there is no one left to hold that anger for. Let it go, Selene, before it grabs hold and controls you, and your power.’
She said nothing for a few moments, flashes of memory appeared in her mind. The Magi she killed, the look on Gareth’s face as he turned to her, and the laugh. The laugh of the bitch that killed him. Power again rose within, it flowed like the tide, filling her up. She heard it calling out to her, wanting to be used, wanting to destroy. A hand on her shoulder brought her back.
‘Breathe, let it go.’ Neesha said.
She looked at Neesha and did as she said. ‘I don’t understand what happened, you said people had to train for years to unlock their magic. How did I do that? Why couldn’t I have done it before? Why couldn’t I save him?’ She cried again and wiped away the tears.
‘It takes years to unlock. But there were times when we discovered a child who’s power already manifested. These children faced great adversity, suffered a loss that few their age could ever imagine. And during great emotional distress, their power awakens in an effort to protect them.’
She took Selene’s hand in her own. ‘Your power is a part of you, but it is tied to your emotions. When you are in pain, it will rise to protect you in whatever way it can. This is why it takes many years to control your power, for controlling one’s emotions is the hardest thing you could ever accomplish.’
The inability to access her power when she’d needed it most, was all she could think about. If Neesha had showed her how to unlock it sooner, she might have been able to save Gareth, she might have been able to deal with the Magi before they’d kidnapped so many children.
She wouldn’t allow herself to just move on, to just grieve and forget about it. There was still a reason to be angry, still people to be angry at. The Magi who had killed Gareth had been sent by someone, and that someone would feel the full strength of her awakened power.
‘I hate to bring this up so soon, but you slept for almost a day.’
‘A day?’ Selene blurted out.
She’d been out of it for a day, an entire day where everyone must think she’d just forgotten about them, what Gareth’s family must think of her. The twins, Robert, Tom, she’d never even asked if they were okay, or the children, gods, the children. Nothing else had seemed important when she’d first woken.
‘The others, they’re safe? They found the children?’ She asked.
‘Everyone is fine. The children have all been returned to their families, and my people have spoken to every one of them regarding their power and options for moving forth. Your friends were here while you slept, I sent them away, as they needed rest as much as you.’
Selene closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. ‘That’s good,’ she began, opening her eyes suddenly. ‘What do you mean, ‘options for moving forth’?’
> ‘The children have the option to come with my people to our city. If they wish to stay here, we can contain their power, so it may never surface by itself. To leave it unchecked would put them in great peril, not just from the Magi, but from your own people. That is what I wished to speak to you about.’
Neesha moved forward and leaned closer to Selene. ‘The gifted that wish to join us, have all been gathered, or will be soon. They leave with my people at night fall, for our camp just north of the city. I will join them at first light tomorrow before we set off for Silvercrest.’ She paused, hesitant to ask the question. ‘Believe me when I tell you, I understand what you are going through, the pain and suffering are all too familiar.’
Selene sat up and placed her hand on Neesha’s, she knew what she meant, she saw the love in her eyes when she’d spoken of Larisa, and how she was the last family Neesha had ever had.
‘I wish for you to join us, it would mean a great deal to me. I thought I had lost everyone, my entire family, until I found you. Your mother would have wanted me to watch over you, to show you where you come from. But I would understand if you choose to stay as would she.’
She had put off thinking about leaving since she’d met Neesha. She supposed that Gareth had been the main reason for staying, her friends, and Molly too, but her love for him was what bound her to that place. He was gone now, but still she couldn’t imagine leaving, at least not in that moment.
‘I will leave you to rest, and please, think on what I have said. Tonight is the final phase of the full moon, Gareth’s family wish him to be put to rest under the light of the Goddess, I will see you there.’
Tonight. She hadn’t imagined she would have to say goodbye so soon, but it was a tradition to be buried beneath the full moon, or the light of the Goddess, as it was called. Gareth’s family were large, and even with his earnings as Vin’s right hand, it didn’t leave a lot when he fed so many. It meant the funeral would be small, but she didn’t think he deserved to be sent off like any other commoner. He had given his life in defence of Eitane, and its people, he deserved more, much more.
She had a purpose, direction, something worth doing. It may have been a way to occupy her mind, to prevent her from thinking of the previous day’s events, and her grieving, but it would also allow her to honour her fallen love. She jumped from bed and threw on the first clean thing she saw, Gareth’s family shouldn’t have to wait any longer.
THIRTY THREE
‘I can see it,’ the sound of multiple explosions behind, muffled her cry. ‘We’re almost there, the border is just ahead of us.’ Neesha continued.
The receding tree line ahead signalled the end of their journey. Once they cleared the forest, the hounds at their heels would no longer pursue, and it would be over. Neesha couldn’t help but allow a morsel of excitement to build inside of her, it was everything she wanted for as long as she could remember.
Lush green grass greeted them when they emerged from the forest that had been the end for so many of their group. The rolling emerald hills seemed to go on forever, framed by the snow-capped peaks of the Iron Mountains on all sides. While the landscape deserved far more attention and appreciation, there was only one thing that held their gaze.
A long-abandoned fort stood atop a large mound, directly west of them. Its walls had succumbed to age and the devastating effects of nature, showing holes on the two sides they could see. The keep at the centre was looking far less decayed, but nothing that would repel an attack by anything greater than a herd of cattle.
‘That’s what we’ve been seeking all this time?’ A young girl asked from the back of the group.
Neesha turned and nodded. ‘Salvation, and your future, lie beyond those walls. It may not look like much, but if we can penetrate the keep, and make our way to the tower, we’ll be free of this.’
The group knelt in the soft grass at the edge of the tree line, each a ragged mess, yearning for freedom from their pursuers. Neesha knew no matter how much doubt filled their minds, the thought of being caught by the warriors at their back would spur them on, and give them strength they never knew they had.
‘Now is the time.’ Neesha bolted forwards from a crouch. ‘On me.’
A score of galloping youths formed up at her back, each finding energy reserves to keep pace as they crossed the endless fields, closing in on their final destination.
It took only minutes to reach the outer walls of the fort, but it had been like an eternity to Neesha, who felt a new sense of responsibility. Responsibility for the comrades she had commanded to charge out into the open, leaving them exposed from all sides, not just from the warriors close behind, but to what she assumed lay ahead.
Her hand shot up. The group halted at her back as she peered around the broken section of wall she had led them to.
‘Eight.’ She paused. Then risked another look through the gap in the forts defences. ‘Four on patrol. Four at the entrance to the keep.’
‘How in the nine hells are we supposed to get passed eight Tuath Dé?’ The same girl who had voiced concern at the tree line.
‘We’re not getting passed them.’ She looked again.
‘Then how?’
‘We’re going through them.’
The youths didn’t look like they had the strength to lift a branch, but Neesha knew they each had it within them to do it. They were twenty strong, the strongest of their original group, and though everything was stacked against them, they had made it that far.
‘We are three times their number. If we strike while the second group are patrolling the rear of the keep, we can easily subdue the four who cover the door.’ She said, sounding far more authoritative than she had expected.
‘If Neesha says we can do it, then we should trust her. I trust her.’ Issy seemed to find her voice.
One by one, each of her comrades turned to the others and nodded a silent acknowledgement. They would fight.
She took point and inched back towards the gap in the wall. The patrol had just passed the main entrance and were making their way around the keep to the rear. Seconds felt like hours as she observed their pace, noting how long it would take to do a full rotation. They had maybe four minutes to launch their attack on the remaining guards and then find their way to the tower. Assuming there were no other surprises within.
Thirty seconds until the patrol would be out of sight. Her hand shot up, readying the group. ‘Together,’ she whispered, then signalled them to follow.
Neesha charged forward with such speed, the group had trouble keeping pace. The winds themselves seemed to carry her, and before the Tuath Dé knew what was happening, she had launched herself into the middle of them. Neesha grabbed a spear from the nearest guard, knocking him to the ground before he could counter. She spun to face the other three as a sword came rushing for her torso, but it missed its mark, two of her comrades having struck the bearer full force, planting him into a nearby wall.
Together they had made short work of the four guards who were lying unconscious at their feet.
‘Best warriors, huh?’ The wiry boy Neesha had been helping in the forest.
‘Good work, everyone, but we mustn’t delay. Through the doors, we need to make our way to the top of the tower.’ She said, pushing through the large wooden doors.
Each of the group followed suit, and as the last of them set foot in the great hall beyond, Neesha used her spear to seal the doors shut from the inside.
‘The patrol will make it to the door in a matter of minutes, quickly, to the stairs.’
She led them up an ancient wooden staircase to the next level of the fort. She could see from the outside, that the tower was in the back west corner of the keep, it was just a matter of finding the doorway that would lead up to it. Even with a rough direction, the keep was filled with small corridors, doorways, and rooms, all designed to confuse and slow down invading enemies. It would not get the better of her though.
‘Neesha, where are we going.’ Issy whispere
d from her left.
Before she could answer, they heard shouting from outside, followed by the sound of the keep door being rammed by something.
‘The other guards are here. We must hurry.’ She said, spurring them forward down a long hallway that appeared to lead west.
The sound of wood being torn to splinters filled their ears, and each of the group seemed to panic as Neesha surveyed them. She turned and rushed the group to the end of the hallway, almost pulling the door in front of her from its hinges. Neesha might have wept for what lay before them. A spiral stone staircase within a tower. They had made it.
‘Quickly, there’s no time.’ She herded them up the staircase, taking the rear to ensure no one was left behind.
After countless steps, dizziness from the constant turning, and the sound of too many slips and falls to count, she could see the top of the tower, and the doorway that the group had filed through. She paused for a moment before continuing to the top and listened to see if the guards had guessed their route. Nothing, complete silence. Silence from the room above too. She took the remaining steps in leaps and bounds, barging through the door, ready to face whatever lay in wait.
The youths stood deathly still. Through them, Neesha could see a dozen Tuath Dé surrounding the chamber, but it was not the Tuath Dé that had them so silent. At the centre of the room, stood their commander, the most feared and respected man amongst the Zin. She edged her way through the group and stood between them and the commander who slowly approached her.
For the longest time, there was nothing but silence as the commander observed her and the group at her back.
City Of Light Page 21