The Trespassing of Souls

by M S C Barnes

then to his right he noticed Cue, pacing along with the stallion, inside the bird shield. It was comforting the beast was there.

  They tore on, whizzing over hills, across motorways, through towns and, as the sky around them lightened, the colours of the fields, trees, buildings and wildlife returned, the green and yellow of the Dryad trails and the rainbow dappling of the fairy wings became more vivid. The effect was breathtakingly beautiful.

  And suddenly they reached the outskirts of Royston. Above the town thousands more birds circled.

  “We’re here already?” Seb couldn’t believe they had arrived so quickly.

  The stallion galloped along the main road, though it was barely more than a few leaps for the horse. As they came to a stop beside the archway entrance to Royston Cave, the mass of birds landed. They didn’t make a sound.

  Led by Dryads, followed by fairies and escorted by a throng of birds, Aelfric Duir’s body had reached its destination.

  The stallion was far too big to fit through the archway and Seb hadn’t the foggiest idea how to make it shrink. He was conscious that, with the sun now fully risen, people would soon look out of windows and see this strange, multitudinous gathering. He also realised that they now had a bit of an issue getting Mr Duir down off the stallion and through to the gravelled yard, and then how were they going to open the door to the cave tunnel?

  The Dryads had solidified back into their leaf-covered forms and Dierne stood below Seb, Alice beside him.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Seb said to them, feeling useless.

  There was a sudden calamitous noise as, without warning, thousands of the birds took flight, flapping their wings and circling around the stallion. Something had disturbed them and then, with relief, Seb realised it was the red-faced woman who had taken the horse from Mr Duir yesterday. She walked through the flurry of birds, appearing like someone emerging from a snowstorm. Her face, framed by her sleep-messy white hair, was the picture of sadness as she gazed at Mr Duir.

  “Mervyn will unlock the door, young sir,” she said, a tear falling from her eye.

  Seb looked at this poor woman, still in her pyjamas, pink fluffy slippers on her feet. How had she known? She gave a slight bow to her left, where Dierne and Alice stood, although she looked through the space they occupied as though she were a blind woman, then walked to the stallion. The horse lowered its head and allowed her to stroke its muzzle.

  The birds still flew around them, providing a screen as Mervyn appeared. He was also in his pyjamas and held his bunch of keys.

  With a sombre face he called up to Seb, “I will lock it behind you, sir.” He gave a quick, sorrowful glance at the lifeless Mr Duir and hurried through to the stable door.

  As the top of the door swung open, Seb could just make out Miss West’s frizzy hair and beady eyes. She and The Caretaker rushed out as soon as Mervyn unlocked the bottom part of the door. Now Seb, with difficulty, passed Mr Duir’s body down to them and they carried him past Janice, who slumped to her knees and cried. Mervyn walked over to hug her. The stallion nuzzled her hair and she stroked its nose absently as she wiped away her tears.

  The sound of bird wings was accompanied now by the tinkling of the fairies who filled the yard outside the doorway. As The Caretaker and Miss West carried Mr Duir into the darkness of the cave entrance, all their wings opened out to catch the sun’s rays so that a rainbow danced between the walls. It was a beautiful tribute and Seb found it hard to tear his eyes away. Once Mr Duir was gone from view the fairies instantly disbanded, zooming away in all directions and the flock of birds also scattered and departed.

  The Dryads remained a few moments and Dierne spoke with them, then they too disappeared. Alice lifted Seb down from the stallion and instantly it bucked its head and galloped away. Dierne and Alice whooshed towards the cave entrance, leaving a brief trail of green and yellow in their wake.

  Seb paused, looking at the devastated couple in the archway, the weeping Janice being comforted by her husband. He approached quietly, feeling a bit awkward but his heart went out to these people and he placed a hand on Janice’s shoulder.

  “I am so sorry,” he said.

  The woman looked up at him through red-rimmed eyes and tried to smile her thanks.

  Seb said to Mervyn, “And so very grateful for your help.”

  Mervyn straightened his shoulders and gave a quick nod.

  Seb took a step towards the doorway but Janice called to him. “The stallion knows the heart, young sir. I will be honoured to serve you.”

  “Hush, Janice,” her husband remonstrated gently and waved his hand for Seb to enter the door.

  He left the pair hugging each other and stepped into the darkness of the cave tunnel entrance.

   

   

  Final Rest

  It was damp and cold as Seb descended the steep, chalky walkway and joined the others on the wooden platform. They couldn’t go any further without him. He had to light up the carvings.

  With Mr Duir laid carefully in the centre of the dais they went through the ritual of exposing the inner door. It seemed to be an ever-changing code. Different carvings were pointed out by Aiden this time and Scarlet read the relevant words from Mr White’s tin. They completed the task quickly and watched as the section of wall collapsed into the cave beyond.

  Nothing had changed. The large lake was bathed in light from the fireflies and at its centre stood the dark overhanging Elder Tree. The remnants of the fire and cooking things The Caretaker had used before were still in place, as was the circle of stone-like sentinel guards. Mr Duir had summonsed them and Seb did wonder that they hadn’t disappeared when he had died. How would they know to stand down? Heath had said it was very rare that they were ever called upon and Seb realised that, even at that point, Aelfric Duir must have guessed something was really wrong.

  He watched as The Caretaker and Miss West carried Mr Duir through the doorway and, the moment his body entered the cave, every other sentinel stepped away from the wall and marched over to walk along beside him, like an honour guard. The four who had been positioned beside the Elder Tree trotted across the lake and flanked Seb.

  Mr Duir was laid by the water’s edge and now everyone seemed to hesitate.

  “Are we burying him, then?” Zach asked bluntly.

  Seb couldn’t believe they had brought Mr Duir all the way here just to stick him in a hole in the ground.

  “Did anyone bring a spade?” Zach continued.

  “Seb,” Dierne said quietly. “There is something permanent Dryads can make with their trails. Something that won’t fade away, that can be solidified, frozen.”

  “For how long?” Scarlet asked.

  “For ever,” Dierne said, not breaking eye contact with Seb.

  Aiden said, “Can you shape it into a crypt or a vault or something?”

  “We can, Aiden,” Dierne answered, “but it needs the Custodian to seal it.”

  Seb felt a stab of self-doubt and tried to suppress it. He glanced at Mr Duir’s body. This man had had faith in him. Wasn’t it time he believed in himself?

  “Well, it’s better than burying him.” Seb said, wondering what on earth he was meant to do.

  Dierne nodded. “It may not be very traditional.” He looked at Mr West.

  “So long as it is fitting.” Mr West smiled. “After all, there is no tradition for this.”

  “We will need help,” Dierne said and within seconds Dryads were pouring through the walls.

  Seb heard a thumping sound and turned to see Cue behind him, his eyes flashing blue as they caught the light. He patted the animal on the head and felt a surge of power. Cue was obviously fully recovered, though it was strange his eyes had changed colour, Seb thought.

  As the Dryads entered the cave they spoke their names and the space above the tree branches was filled with the rustling sound of their voices. Surrounding the lake they waited for instruction. Some of their faces told of the shock at seeing the Custodian dead. Within
minutes there was hardly a free foot of space between the sentinels around the walls and the lake waters.

  “Probably enough now,” Zach said, shuffling over to Seb.

  “As many as want to come should be here,” Dierne said and Zach shrugged.

  When all the movement had stopped, the throngs of Dryads stood quietly and Dierne addressed them.

  “You have heard, and now you see, Aelfric Duir has passed.” His voice cracked. Composing himself he continued. “We need a fitting memorial to this human who gave his life and his soul to rid us of the danger and evil that would have unbalanced all the worlds and realities we know.” Seb looked around at the sad faces. “I need your help,” Dierne said. “He was my twin but you all knew him as a friend. And he spared you. When he could have, and should have, summoned your help through this past night, he did not. I begged him to call you, but he believed that to battle one of your own was a deed our kind could not reconcile, so he spared you. And he died. Because he was so weakened by the onslaught that beset him he could not fight the one battle that would have saved him. He made himself a sacrifice to spare you guilt, remorse and shame.

  “And now I need you to help me acknowledge that sacrifice. I need you to help create the Glacial Trace.”

  There was a sudden rustling and chattering among the leafy gathering as if Dierne had just told them he had discovered Atlantis. Seb could tell the emotion was shock, mixed with excitement, and a good degree of doubt.

  “What’s the problem?” he asked