Broken Earth

by C M Blackwood

She saw the Auren, fast asleep in her chamber at Eredor. She saw the Princess, doing – doing what? What in the world was she playing at, there in that bunkhouse? One of the other Aurens was with her, and was acting quite as foolishly as she.

  Dain turned her eyes away in disgust. For the sake of entertainment, she looked to the Queen. She lay half-asleep in her bed, starting frequently from her rest, as she tried to escape whatever horrible things had followed her down into the land of dreams. Dain watched with pleasure, as she trembled with the chill of her sickness; and she shivered and shook indeed, even as her face was dripping with the warm sweat of fever.

  Despite the enjoyment she derived from the suffering of the Queen, Dain was taken hold in the midst of it by thoughts of Shonin. She could think of nothing else, indeed, since she awaked that morning. All throughout the day, thoughts of him had plagued the process of planning, and had obstructed her own view of what lay so closely ahead. His voice had come to her many times, while she held conference with Zana; and each time she turned her head towards the direction from which he had spoken, Zana became just a little more impatient.

  Dain had begun to consider attempting to kill her. Thoughts of the siege, though, had kept her from it; and that was why she sat so carelessly now, beleaguered by no worry or fear. She had no doubts about their victory.

  Zana had warned her, only just before she left, of the thing which she had managed to extract from Dain’s thoughts (no matter the effort Dain had put into shielding them from her).

  “This is not about you,” she had said. “You may think that it is, and you may wish it to be – but it is not. If you forget the objective, our plans will founder. Death takes no part in this task.”

  Dain had only glared. And so she glared now, towards that very same place where Zana had stood. There was nothing there, now, but air which was filled with the dim light of her candle. Yet she envisioned Zana still standing there, grimacing at her – and thought of how wonderful it would feel, to finally slice the beautiful head off of that horrid creature.

  ~

  Heidi woke next morning in her own chamber. She looked all about the room, and winced as the sunlight struck her eyes. Her head was pounding, her throat was sore, and she could not for the life of her think how she had come to be where she was.

  After she had spent a few minutes moaning at the pain in her head, Jade came awake beside her. She looked over at her; and even through the bleariness of her eyes, Heidi could make out her displeasure.

  “What in the world did you do last night?”

  Heidi shrugged. “Nothing, really.”

  “Nothing? Really?”

  Heidi put a hand to her hand. “Perhaps a little more than nothing.”

  “I looked for you at supper-time,” said Jade. “You were nowhere to be found.”

  “I did not want to see Helena.”

  “I figured as much, thank you. But why were you hiding from me?”

  “I wasn’t.”

  Jade leaned a little closer to her, and wrinkled her nose. “You smell like a pipe.”

  Heidi only groaned again.

  ~

  The day passed away with no event worth mentioning – other than the fact that Heidi continued to elude her sister, and ran directly from the room each time she happened to enter the one that she was in. Indeed, after a few hours, it seemed as if Helena were laying traps for her, in hopes that she might catch Heidi alone in a room, and manage to lock her inside it, and thus proceed to lavish her with apologies until her brain began to bleed out of her ears.

  But Heidi was too quick for her. She was never forced to look at her for more than a second or two, because after that amount of time, she never suffered herself to remain in any place where Helena Makepeace was present.

  Eventually (for the day was quite as mild as the last, and there was nothing to keep her from it), Heidi escaped into the castle grounds with Dera, where they rode their horses round and round to stretch their stable-bound legs. Jade remained behind; and due to the fact that David was still asleep in his own chamber, Heidi was fairly certain that she had stayed to talk with Helena.

  It seemed that she had taken pity on the woman. Each time Heidi fled from her, sometimes with a well-crafted insult flung upon her as she slammed the door in her face, Jade frowned as though she wholly disapproved of the practice.

  Finally Heidi said: “If you feel so badly for her, and think so badly of me, go and kiss her instead!”

  And with that, she had caught Jade’s face up in her hands, and kissed her hard; running afterwards from the room with the declaration:

  “Just a little something to remember me by!”

  That was when she and Dera went out to the stables. Dera seemed to think that, if Heidi remained much longer in the castle, the damage she was doing would begin to become irreparable. (Granted, if Heidi had been in her usual state of mind, she would have been inclined to agree.)

  ~

  While all of this childish nonsense was taking place at Eredor, Grénha was engaged in preparations of the utmost solemnity and focus. Zana went to the Sorceress for a final meeting before the battle; but Biscayne remained behind at Death Rock, to gather all of those who were willing to fight with him against Onssgaard.

  The tide, however, had already turned. Though Biscayne was still the rightful King of the Mountain, Lokin had unofficially superceded him the eyes of the Lumaria. When he collected his people in the Hall of the Throne to issue the summons for battle, his ears were met with the unexpected sound of derisive laughter.

  “What is this?” he demanded. “What is this disrespect?”

  It was then that Lokin entered the hall, and mounted the pedestal upon which anyone who wished to direct himself to the throne was obligated to stand. Yet Lokin stood upon it only in mockery of the King, and laughed directly in his face. Then, however, his smile faded away, and he favoured Biscayne with a scornful gaze.

  “This Mountain now belongs to me,” said Lokin, rising his arms to elicit a roar from the crowd that surrounded him. “You are not fit to rule it, Biscayne. You are nothing but a plaything of the Sorceress!”

  Explosive laughter filled the hall, and Biscayne was forced to flee from the throne. He ran to his chamber, for he intended to gather his things and escape from the Mountain; but he was surprised by the presence of several Lumaria there in the hall, awaiting his arrival. It was the majority of his own personal band of soldiers.

  Kroso stood at the head of them, his face inscribed with the most melancholy expression that Biscayne had ever seen upon it. (Of course, this was truly saying something, as Kroso’s countenance was never much more than dismal.) Beside him cowered Pesha (who had been extremely docile since her last encounter with Zana). She was something of a pet to Kroso; and although she was not of much use for anything at all, she could usually be found wherever he was.

  Behind Kroso stood Raven and Vax. Gowa was absent – the only explanation for which being, of course, that he had joined the throng below Lokin.

  “If we are going to leave,” said Kroso, “we had better do it now. Never mind the packing,” he added, as Biscayne went to enter his chamber. “We must go.”

  And so the five of them shifted to Grénha, where they found the Sorceress engaged in an intense conversation with Zana. The heads of both women turned towards them; for they had not expected them so soon.

  “What is this?” asked the Sorceress. “I gave you no leave to enter here.”

  “My greatest apologies, my liege,” said Biscayne, falling down upon his knee. The others did the same. “We simply had no choice,” he added, as they all rose up to their feet.

  “And why would that be?”

  “Lokin has assumed the throne,” he said, unable to look Zana in the face. “My people have turned against me. All who remain loyal to me are those who you see before you.”

  “I doubt,” said Zana, “that Pesha’s presence here had anything at all to do with loyalty. She is only afraid to be anywhere
that Kroso is not.”

  Pesha glowered at her, but held her tongue.

  “This is terrible news,” said the Sorceress, looking angrily at the five Lumaria. “What am I to do without the full force of the Lumaria?”

  “It will be all right,” said Zana. “We have the advantage of surprise; and our forces are still formidable. We have the Narken from all eight fortresses, and they far outnumber the Army of Eredor.”

  The Sorceress nodded fervently, allowing Zana’s words to dispel the greater part of her doubt. “Yes, yes,” she said. “It will be all right. But perhaps we should call upon the Southerners?”

  “Not yet,” said Zana. “We will need them in days to come.”

  “I suppose you are right.”

  “Leave,” said Zana to the others. “We have no need of you here.”

  “Then what are we to do?” asked Biscayne.

  “Go and organise the Narken from the other seven fortresses,” said Zana absently, turning her attention back to the Sorceress.

  And so, mumbling to one another for displeasure at having to issue forth into the halls of the Narken, the small band of Lumaria took their leave of the Sorceress’ chamber.

  ~

  It was some hours before the Sorceress had come to full agreement with Zana upon each and every point of their plan, and fell with her to the joint decision that they indeed were ready.

  They went together to see to the Narken. Biscayne and his group had managed, as they were bid, to gather all of the Narken to Grénha; and the fortress was full to bursting.

  “Very good,” said Zana to Dain.

  Dain nodded in response, but took leave from her momentarily, to take possession of what weapons she had left down in the prison.

  When she arrived at the lower level, she went directly to the four cells at the end of the last row, and released the only prisoners who were left in the place. (The Narken had eaten all the rest.)

  When she unlocked the doors to the cells, four young men issued out directly, and came to stand round her. Their eyes burnt red as they awaited her orders.

  “It is time,” she said. “Follow me.”

  Soon after, she and the boys had found their way to the place where the six Lumaria stood amidst the gigantic host of Narken.

  “It is time,” she repeated, speaking now at the height of her voice, to the throng of wolves what surrounded her. “Zana and I will lead you through the tunnels. When we emerge at the East exit, we will march straight for Eredor.”

  There were many growls and howls of assent; and then the sound of thousands of footsteps upon the ground, as the army went out from Grénha and entered into those wide tunnels below the earth.

  ~

  Heidi and Dera were still making wide circuits round the castle, over and over again till their horses showed signs of tiring; when the sky above them began to darken, and to release the first drops of what seemed would be a heavy rainstorm. They drew the horses to a halt, and looked up at the sky in wonder. Seconds before, it had been filled with the most beautiful kind of sunlight that anyone could indeed hope to bear witness to, at that particular time of year. Now, it seemed as if that higher part of the world would crack open with lightning at any moment – for they had only just heard the low rumble of thunder, rolling towards them from the even darker skies of the South.

  It seemed that the very earth shook with that thunder. The horses began to tremble, and to whinny nervously as the whole world lit up like a white bonfire. The women did what they could to calm them; but they would not be subdued. So, in as organised a manner as they were able (which was not very organised at all, seeing as the horses had taken to rearing up on their hind legs at random moments), Heidi and Dera tried to lead the frightened beasts back to the stables. The rain was pouring down now, in icy sheets that fell like pails of water being dumped over the head. It was not long before both woman and horse was soaked through to the skin, and shivering their way as quickly as they could manage back to the long barns that stood about a half-mile East of the soldiers’ barracks.

  As they had told no one that they were going out, there were no stableboys to meet them, when they passed the South Door. So they rode on, and halted at the stables to deposit their horses. They thought of lingering there till the rain let up; but after a few more booms of thunder overhead, and the same amount of bolts of lightning that went streaking through the sky, it became apparent that this was no brief storm. So they patted the horses, and whispered to them to calm them as best they could; but then they made a dash across the sinking, sucking ground to the entrance of the castle, where a curly-haired, freckle-faced soldier admitted them.

  “Gracious me!” he exclaimed, taking in their drenched appearances. “What in the world was ye a’doing out there, in all o’ that rain?”

  “Swimming,” snapped Dera, favouring the guard with a nasty glare.

  “Don’t mind her,” said Heidi. “She’s only a bit ornery.”

  And then she hurried on after Dera, who turned to her with an astonished expression as they mounted the staircase. “I’m ornery?” she asked, shoving Heidi in the shoulder. “You’ve been a regular brute all day long!”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Why don’t I go and put the question to Helena Makepeace – and see what she has to say on the subject?”

  “Ask her whatever you like. I care not at all what she says.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “Of course I don’t!”

  And so they both laughed, somewhat at the expense of poor Helena Makepeace.

  Their laughter, however, was cut short by the loudest peal of thunder they had heard yet. All windows which were visible to them ignited as if in living flame; and they jumped backwards, nearly afraid that they would be scalded by the fire.

  “What is all this?” asked Dera loudly, raising her voice to compete with the din what was taking place over their heads.

  “The worst thunderstorm we shall ever see, I’ll wager,” answered Heidi, moving closer to Dera as they continued on down the hall, which was made every few seconds quite as bright as it would have been, had the sun still been shining.

  It was only moments later, before they had even reached their destination (which was Dera’s own chamber; for if Helena was not in the chamber that had been allotted her by Rilga, she would surely be in Heidi’s own, conversing with Jade) when they realised that what they were seeing was no ordinary storm. Thunder rumbled, and lightning struck; but even through the madness of the noise, the sounding of horns could be heard in the distance.

  Heidi and Dera looked at one another, and an identical thought flitted from one mind to the next. They charged off down the hall, and did not stop until each of them had fallen into the doorway of their own chamber. Both were empty.

  They were just about to set off again, towards the place where David’s and Helena’s chambers lay, but their movements were postponed by the sound of innumerable footsteps, nearly as loud as the thunder itself, upon the staircase. Heidi pulled the door to her own chamber closed, and then dashed with Dera into the adjacent one. With a whispered word, Heidi secured the lock; and they both ran to shut themselves up in the wardrobe.

  “This is ridiculous,” said Dera. “We are hiding in a closet!”

  “Hush, will you?”

  Neither of them spoke another word, once they heard the footsteps begin pouring down the corridor without. Hundreds of heavy feet, running all down the place. Heidi feared that they would force the door; but they only raced past.

  “What is going on?” whispered Dera.

  “Do I look like I know?”

  “No.”

  “Then why ask me?”

  They fell quiet again. The ruckus in the hall was beginning to fade; and it seemed that, upon making a full circuit of the floor, the intruders were making back towards the stairs.

  Heidi and Dera sank down to the floor of the empty closet. Dera asked what they should do. Heidi replied that she did not
know.

  And so they sat, listening to the sound of running feet, on the floors above and below. Heidi thought of Jade – and was quite surprised to find that Helena passed through her mind, as well.

  ~

  They had been travelling for hours, when they finally reached the earthen staircase that led out of the tunnels. Dain passed out first, followed by Zana; who was followed by the five Lumaria, and the four boys whose eyes were lit with red fire. These travellers allowed the host of Narken to flow past them, and walked together towards the wall of Onssgaard, enclosed safely inside the great wolfen shield. Each of these eleven were integral in seeing to the first and foremost goal of the expedition, and could not afford to be lost before even reaching the castle.

  As they marched, Dain and Zana related to the nine who followed their exact tasks; and the nine nodded to signify their understanding, and repeated back what they had heard to please their captains. And pleased they were, as they turned away from their soldiers to the situation at hand.

  Dain raised her arms above her head, and lifted her voice towards the sky. A moment later, a sprinkling of raindrops came to fall down upon the heads of her party. On she shouted, and on she cried; and in only a few minutes, the world was being shaken by a tempest of her own creation.

  The wall was not far off now; but their entourage had been spotted by the soldiers, and bowmen were lining themselves up atop the South Wall, to shoot down who they could before the wave of fur, claws and teeth reached the city. The wolves at the head of the pack raised hundreds of scholán to their black lips; which were large horns made after their own fashion, forged in copper in the fortress of Ayo. Their mighty sound rent the air beneath the thunder, and Dain Aerca was seized by a succession of chills, which were followed by a breaking-out of shivering gooseflesh.

  Even while she cursed the bowmen upon the wall, she could not deny that she was impressed by the large number of Narken they managed to exterminate. She managed to keep her calm, however – for the ranks of her own army far outnumbered those of the soldiers within the city.

  So they marched on. When the Narken met with the South Gate, behind which a large host of soldiers had gathered (as well as a fair amount of men from the city, who were brandishing spears and waving torches, what were only rather quickly extinguished by the torrential downpour), they rushed it as a single body, and trampled it down after only three blows.