Broken Earth

by C M Blackwood

  Dera sighed. “Oh, why not,” she said, running a hand through her hair; as was her nervous habit. “I shall give you cause now to think our claims not unlikely, but impossible.”

  “You cannot be serious,” said the Princess.

  “I am wholly serious, I assure you. I’ve no reason to jest.”

  The Princess looked from Dera to Heidi, and from Heidi to Dera; back and forth, over and over again.

  “Jade is the strongest of us,” said Heidi. “I can do some things that she can, though for most I don’t have a hope. But what Dera does is altogether different.”

  “How so?”

  “First of all,” said Dera, “Heidi underestimates herself. She is much stronger than she thinks.”

  “And what do you do, may I ask?”

  “Healing, first and foremost. I learnt the craft from my grandmother, when I was young. But I have also premonitions, and a sense across great distances.”

  “A sense?”

  “An ability to view, and to feel.”

  “I see,” said the Princess, looking still rather dumbfounded.

  “Well,” said Heidi, “I do hope that that completes the topic. Surely there is something else to talk about?”

  “Most always,” said the Princess. “In this case, however, I would like to ask you why you came here – of all places. Why did you not run away from your danger?”

  “We followed Jade,” said Heidi.

  “You were not travelling together?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “That is a longer story than I’ve the strength to tell. Can we only pass on to the next point?”

  “Your friend left without you,” said the Princess; “and you set out after her. Since you are here already, and she is not, you have come to the conclusion that some ill thing has befallen her. Am I right in my thinking?”

  Heidi nodded.

  “And why was she coming to Onssgaard?”

  “To kill Dain Aerca.”

  This time, the Princess seemed at a loss for words. She opened her mouth once, seeming as though she had thought of something to say; but then she closed it again, and simply stared at Heidi.

  “Something does not make sense,” she said finally. “You say that all this has been in the making, for the past two years. Why did your friend choose to run now? Something made her do so.”

  Heidi took a shallow breath, and felt a sharp, hot pain spreading across her chest. “There was one more who lived with us,” she said. “She was killed by the Dúnanen.”

  “Was she like you?”

  “No.”

  “Then why was she killed?”

  “To get to Jade, I suppose. Like I told you – there was a shield all about the house, and it was pierced the morning Josephine died. She was the only one at home. I can only suppose that whoever killed her, was unaware of the fact that she had no Power.”

  The Princess looked to Dera. “You said that you can see across great distances. Can you see anything of your friend?”

  “Not for some time. The last time I saw her, she was in the forest East of Ludjo. We went after her – but she was gone by the time we arrived at the spot.”

  “Then I suppose there is only one more question.” She paused, and bestowed upon each a searching look. “Why are you here?”

  Dera looked to Heidi; obviously wondering if the Princess was perhaps less wise than they had thought.

  The Princess smiled. “I have heard all you said. Your situation is a grim one, I’ll grant you that – but what do you wish to do about it? What is your objective?”

  Neither, of course, knew of anything to say.

  “Well?” said the Princess.

  “Would keeping ourselves alive be too lofty of an objective?” asked Dera.

  “That depends on what you plan to do.”

  “We shall do nothing, if that is what you advise.”

  Heidi shot her a warning glance. “We most certainly won’t,” she said. “We will find Jade – and we will avenge Josephine’s death.”

  “And how do you intend to do that?” the Princess asked seriously.

  “I don’t know. I suppose that is why we are here.”

  The Princess sat back in her chair. “And you wish me to tell you how to kill Dain Aerca?”

  “That would be ever so kind of you,” said Dera sarcastically. Heidi gave her a swift kick under the table.

  But the Princess only laughed. “If I knew how to kill her, don’t you think I would have done it already? She is much stronger than me, I’m afraid. I suppose that there is something to be said, concerning evildoing during the formative years.”

  “Then how will there ever be peace?” asked Heidi.

  “I suppose there won’t be – unless someday, she is undone by a mutiny of her own soldiers. The Narken are mindless beasts, it seems; but the Lumaria have always resented her power over them. They are independent creatures. Before Aerca came into her own, they lived amongst themselves. I don’t mean to say that they are not dangerous, when left to their own devices – but most dark deeds they perform nowadays are at Aerca’s bidding.”

  “The what and the what?” asked Dera.

  “You know nothing of her armies?”

  “We know of them as the Dúnanen,” said Heidi. “Where we lived, she was not talked of so much – but there were whispers. Hence we learnt the name; and I have always thought of them only as her agents.”

  “They are that, but they are also much more. The Lumaria are an ancient race, sly and strong. They are of human form.”

  “But not human, I am guessing.”

  “Their appearance is all that is. They are stronger than any human, Auren or no. They do not eat our food, and they do not drink our drink. But they have many powers of their own.”

  “What powers?” asked Dera, her eyes turning to slits in the throes of reluctant curiosity.

  “They can go from place to place in an instant, wherever they will themselves. They can read your thoughts; snap you in two with their bare hands; and catch you, no matter how fast you run. To face one, your will must be exceptionally strong.” “And what do they eat?” asked Heidi.

  “Human flesh.”

  Dera blanched visibly.

  “And what are the Narken?” asked Heidi, paying no attention to the sickly green expression that had taken hold of Dera’s face.

  “I would say werewolves, but I would be wrong in the saying. From what I have learnt of them, in the short time that I have known of them, it seems that they are made from human men. Indeed, they are nothing but gargantuan wolves; but they cannot shift back into human form. They are forever what the Sorceress made them. They have no special abilities, and so seem to be used only for their incredible strength – as well as their expendability to the Sorceress. I would suspect that she has thousands, and can make more at a moment’s notice. They are servile creatures, with neither wills nor desires of their own. They would never turn upon Aerca.”

  “But you believe otherwise of the Lumaria?”

  “I do not pretend that it is a definite future event. I only mean that, with them, it would surely be more likely.” She smiled grimly. “But I would not count upon it.”

  “And what are they all used for, exactly?” asked Heidi.

  “The Narken are used mostly, I believe, for pillaging and invading unsuspecting towns, in an effort to spread the fear of the Sorceress across the land. Naturally, I assume that they are used also to protect her hiding place. But the Lumaria, now, are used for more delicate missions.”

  “Such as?”

  “They sometimes form hunting parties, tracking individuals whom Aerca has flagged as a risk. They do not simply kill. They follow, they watch, and they report back. Aerca then sends them to carry out whatever sentence she has decided. In contrast to the Narken, whom I would label as assassins, the Lumaria I would call spies.”

  “Who is Shonin Welk?”

  Heidi had arrived so quickly at this
question, the Princess seemed rather surprised; and looked upon her somewhat skeptically, seeming to wonder why she would ask such a thing. “He is Aerca’s husband,” she answered. “He is the only other Auren of the Dúnanen.”

  Heidi felt the bottom of her stomach fall away; and heard it drop down to the floor, with a sickening splat.

  “Why do you ask about Shonin Welk?”

  Clutching the table, so as not to fall sideways out of her chair, Heidi could do nothing for a moment but gasp for air.

  “Miss Bastian?”

  “She killed him,” said Dera.

  The look upon Lila Bier’s face changed from curiosity to doubt; and then from doubt to horror.

  “Surely you are joking,” she said.

  Heidi shook her head.

  “You killed Shonin Welk? By yourself?”

  She nodded.

  “Oh, my.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?” Dera asked.

  “It means,” said the Princess, “that you are in much more trouble than you thought.”

  “Wonderful,” said Dera.

  The Princess was still looking at Heidi. “Is there anything else at all that you wish to tell me? Now would be the time.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Heidi, wishing that she could make her voice just ever so slightly louder, than that squeaking which was currently issuing from her mouth.

  “Perhaps you should think a little longer, and a little harder.”

  Heidi said nothing of her unconscious meeting with Aerca; and neither she nor Dera said anything at all, about the man on the black horse from the Abandoned Earth.

  “This is becoming quite complicated,” said the Princess, seemingly to herself. She appeared to be in very deep thought.

  “What does that mean?” asked Dera.

  She did not answer.

  “Princess?”

  “I suppose it means that you shall both have to stay.”

  “Thank the gods,” said Dera, sitting back in relief. “I was afraid you were going to send us away!”

  “Do not misunderstand,” said the Princess. “You are somewhat safer under the protection of Eredor – but if the Sorceress does decide that she wants you, she will come for you. In the end, you will have to fight.”

  Dera dropped her face into her hands. “I told you not to kill him,” she moaned.

  “No, you didn’t,” said Heidi, rather resisting the want to cry.

  “Yes, I did! I told you to stop –”

  “None of that will help you now,” interrupted the Princess. “Wise or no, what’s done is done. And it would be better, I think, not to turn upon each other; for you shall need one another, quite whether you like it or not.”

  Dera said nothing more to Heidi; but continued to groan beneath her breath. The Princess ignored her, but kept her eyes upon Heidi. Heidi only shook her head; rose from her chair; and left the room without another word.

  XIX: A Conversation in the Study

  After they had shared a meal in the kitchen with the servants, Heidi and Dera parted company for the night. Dera still was not speaking to Heidi, and indeed left the kitchen without so much as looking at her. Heidi checked the hot tears that burnt in her eyes, thanked Rilga for supper, and went out into the snow-covered grounds, so that she might walk off a little of her misery. She knew very well that it was unwise to venture out alone; and indeed even began to hope that Dain Aerca might come for her, as she marched aimlessly about.

  But she had no such luck. The winter sun set quickly, and the Western sky changed in an instant, it seemed, from gold to grey. The world was, as it always seems to be in winter, not quite dark; for the whiteness of the snow reflected into the blackness, to create a blanket of steel in which the stars were scarcely visible. Heidi looked up at them sadly, and was reminded by their fading light of the feeling in her heart, which was growing ever more numb.

  She was not comforted by the cold, and lost her desire to be taken by her enemy, as all sensation drained away from her frozen fingertips. She trudged back to the South Door of the castle, nodding to the guards who stood by it. They acknowledged her; but watched her, as one might watch the movements of one who has lost their mind.

  Wanting to avoid quite as many people as possible, she did not go to the great stairs by the North Doors. She went instead to the narrow staircase just outside the kitchen. She climbed and climbed, counting flights as she went, all the way to the top. Twelve flights, there were. At the landing of the last, she saw a low door to her left. She tried the handle, found it unlocked, and opened the door unto even more stairs.

  There were two hundred steps in all. When she reached the top, she found herself in a large, circular room, filled with windows. It could, quite naturally, have only been one of the towers. She went to the window nearest her, and looked down upon the road that wound out to the North Gate of the city, through which she had entered the day previous.

  Looking away from the window, she turned to inspect the rest of the room. There was a small table in the centre, with only one chair at its side. The table was strewn with many papers. Moving closer, to have a look at them, Heidi saw that they were mostly maps. Large maps and small maps; maps with black ink and maps with coloured ink; maps with writing and maps without. Heidi looked through them for a few minutes, reading the names of the places they depicted. Some she knew, and some she did not.

  Most she did not.

  There was one particular map that caught her eye, which showed the land of Portentia right in its centre. She squinted at the smaller writing, and saw the names of Torrence, Nanik, Tolin and Delvare; she saw the sea to the East, and Eral to the West. Past Eral, there was indeed a large country called Perga.

  She saw the names of other places past Lormar, and past Perga; but she did not pay much attention to them. She looked to the sea, for she wished to know the name of the land beyond it; but the edge of the map lay in the water.

  She traced her finger back to the Snowy Mountains, and found the land of Geinhold beyond them. She traced farther and farther until she found Onssgaard, nothing but a small dot upon the map. To the West were other lands, large countries that seemed to consist only of wide plains. There were no mountains in those places to speak of, and across them was written: The Bowl. There were other places South of Onssgaard, but red lines had been drawn through their names by a careful hand. The only words left intact in the South were those which read: The Rise. A black shadow had been filled in across those lands, and it stretched forth, all the way to Onssgaard.

  Heidi took a look at some of the other maps, and saw that they depicted lands far to the North, South and West of Onssgaard. Far to the South, the names of the cities ceased to be crossed out. The shadow disappeared, and the paper was unmarked.

  Looking at the way the land reached so long into every direction, dotted with innumerable cities and towns, Heidi found herself thinking of the few places in the world that she had known, and how trivial they seemed against the enormity of all the others shown on the maps. She thought of Portentia, a place which had seemed large enough to her all the years that she lived there; but which was really such a small part of what was.

  She closed her eyes, and tried to remember the land across the sea. She could see herself, and she could see her sister, so young in that place – but she could see nothing of it. She could reach back only as far as the place beyond Lormar, where she had lived from about six years old. It was a town called Morsheyd, and was very small. She found it, with some difficulty, on the map.

  What struck her most were the words, written all in capital letters, that covered most of the land of the first map she had read. From the shadow to the sea, from the sea to the nations of the West, and from those nations to the lands beyond Lormar – it was all called the Broken Earth.

  Heidi set the maps down, but stared at them for a long while before she left the tower. Then it was back down the steps, to the door of the empty landing, and then down eight more flights, to the h
all where the doors to hers and Dera’s rooms stood closed. She held her hand aloft over the handle of her own door, meaning to take hold of it and enter the chamber, where she would lie unsleeping till the sun shone through the windows.

  She changed her mind, before she opened the door. She turned away from it, and went down one more flight of steps, thinking that she might make herself drowsy by wandering through the corridors of an unfamiliar storey. She went down all four of the outer corridors, looking into open doorways. Then she walked all up and down the corridors which connected the North and South halls together (of which there were three), and finally stood for a long moment before a set of carven double doors. She was not sure that what lay beyond would be anything of interest, and she had doubts that she should open doors which stood closed to her. Perhaps they were closed for a reason? But she decided to look inside, anyway.

  She pushed open one of the doors, and nearly cried out; for she saw someone sitting with a book at the large desk, a single candle burning beside them. The light was so very minimal, that it had been quite invisible in the space beneath the doors.

  The reader looked up. She set her book down upon the desk, and smiled at Heidi.

  “Trouble sleeping?” asked the Princess.

  “Yes,” said Heidi. She quite wished, in that moment, that she had resisted her inclination to explore in places where she did not belong.

  “Come in and sit down, then,” said the Princess.

  Heidi went to the desk, and sat down in one of the chairs that stood before it. She looked at the walls, all of which were lined with bookshelves. Every shelf was crammed with books of every shape and size. Some were old and tattered, but others looked perfectly new. The desk itself was covered with books, piled high on either side.

  “This study was my father’s,” said the Princess. “When I was a little girl, I used to creep down the hall in the middle of the night. Sometimes I would stand in front of those doors for almost an hour. I always wanted to knock; but I did not always have the courage.” She smiled; yet it seemed that her memory was a bittersweet one. “Sometimes, Father called me in, but most times he only sent me away.”