Hero's Song (16 page)

Collun laid his hand on the tunnel wall to orient himself. If Silien was to fall into one of his long sleeps now, they would never escape the labyrinth. They'd die of dehydration. He fought down the panic that began to rise in him. They could be entombed in these narrow tunnels forever, tons of earth and rock lying between them and the open air. He saw again in his mind the pathetic pile of bones, and his throat closed up.

His hands shaking, Collun groped his way back to the Ellyl to see if he was asleep. He found Silien still upright, breathing shallowly. When he spoke, his voice was a cracked whisper, difficult to understand. Finally,
though, Collun was able to make out the words "goat's thorn," the name of one of the herbs Collun carried in his wallet. He used it to heal coughs and sore throats.

Collun fumbled with the opening, and in the darkness his fingers sifted among the different herbs. He pulled out several leaves and smelled them to be sure they were goat's thorn.

"What is it?" asked Talisen through the darkness. "Has Silien fallen asleep?"

"No," Collun answered shortly.

He could hear Silien crush the leaves between his teeth. The Ellyl coughed several times, then they heard a faint humming sound. Collun realized that, once again, Silien was singing. His voice was thin and cracked, but the pink light slowly rekindled in his hand. It was not as bright as before, but it gave off enough light to see the drawings on the walls.

Collun and Talisen again supported Silien as they resumed moving forward, their minds and bodies numb.

And finally, almost without warning, they came to the end. They rounded a turning marked by the familiar silver fir marking, and in the flickering pink light they saw a rotting wooden barrier, about chest high, with ivy growing between the cracks.

Collun and Talisen put their shoulders to the door, and the sound of rotted wood splintering filled the tunnel. They scrambled up through several layers of decayed vegetation and finally emerged into a small copse of fir trees.

It was nighttime. Hundreds of stars twinkled above. The travelers gazed about numbly, taking deep breaths of the crisp autumn air. The Ellyl had already fallen
asleep beside the tunnel's entrance; Fara settled quietly at his head.

Brie moved forward, following the sound of running water. She led them to a small, clear brook. They dropped to their knees and gratefully scooped handfuls of freezing water into their dry mouths. It made their teeth hurt and their stomachs ache with cold.

They filled their skin bags and took them back to Silien. They were able to wake the Ellyl just long enough to give him several deep draughts of the water.

Brie went off with her bow and soon came back carrying a small badger. Collun started a fire with his teine stone. The smell of roasting badger was torture to their empty stomachs as they waited for it to cook. The meat was tough and stringy but tasted delicious. They spoke little as they ate. And then they slept.

Collun awoke during the night. He sat up, chilled by the cold night air, and rekindled the fire. The moon was bright, and as he held his hands over the fire to warm them, he gazed at his sleeping companions.

Their faces were ashen with fatigue. Deep circles were etched under their eyes. Talisen's boots had holes in the soles, and Brie's clothing was dirty and worn. In his deep sleep, Silien looked more like a corpse than a living thing. The bones stood out under his skin, revealing the lines of his skull.

Collun felt a tightness in his chest. He could not allow his friends to go on endangering their lives.

He lifted his hand and absently rubbed the spot on his forehead where the scald-crow had brushed him. It seemed such a long time ago. But when his face was cold, as it was now, the numbness came back.

He knew they would not willingly let him go. He would have to slip away while they slept. He knew he should leave right now. They were all so deep in slumber that he would be able to get a good head start before they discovered he was gone. If only he were not so weary ... Perhaps just a few moments of sleep. Then he would formulate a plan.

Collun woke abruptly to the call of a wood thrush. He had let himself rest much longer than he intended. Wisps of ground mist hung about their campsite, and he could see the sky lightening in the east. He silently began to gather his things.

Brie let out a small cry in her sleep, and Collun gazed over at her. She looked even paler than she had the night before. Suddenly her eyes flew wide open, and there was an almost savage expression in them. She seemed to be staring directly at Collun.

"Emer," Brie said, her husky voice urgent. "And your father ... I have to tell you." Slowly her eyes shut, and she shifted her position on the ground. Her arm fell away from her neck, and Collun saw a dark shadowed area on the white skin. Then the shadow moved.

Collun froze.

Clinging to Brie's neck, just under the right side of her chin, was a black creature. Collun's first, irrational thought was that it was a scald-crow like the one pecking at Nessa's neck in his dream. But it was too small to be a scald-crow. It looked like a large black moth. Its body was squat and thick, and its black wings were as long as Brie's neck. They flapped open and shut slowly and rhythmically.

Collun dropped his pack. It made a thud as it hit the
ground. Should he try to brush the creature away or grab it and pull it off? He was afraid to touch it. What if it had the same freezing poison in its wings as the scald-crow? Uncertainly he reached for his dagger. But if he tried to stab it, he might hurt Brie. Collun was torn with indecision as he stared down at Brie's neck.

"What is it, Collun? What's wrong?" Talisen said sleepily, rubbing his eyes, looking over at his friend in bewilderment.

Collun did not hear him. He bent over Brie, shifted his dagger to his left hand, and gritting his teeth, he wildly swatted at the loathsome creature, trying to knock it off Brie's neck. His hand skidded off the tips of its wings, and he felt ice-cold pain shoot up his fingers.

The creature swayed slightly but held fast to Brie's neck, its wings flapping faster. Collun shifted his dagger back to his numb right hand. The stone in the handle glowed slightly in the dim light of dawn. He would have to risk cutting Brie. He swept his dagger down. This time he made direct contact. The thing was dislodged.

Collun let out an involuntary cry as pain froze along his arm. His fingers went so numb that he could not bend them.

The creature let out an unearthly, high-pitched screaming sound and flew up into Collun's face. He stumbled back, switching the dagger from his useless right hand to his left. The creature's cry grew even more shrill as it circled and flew again at his head. Collun got a glimpse of a grotesque, swollen face, a face that was neither human nor animal, with small slitted eyes the color of blood. He ducked and once again blindly thrust his dagger into the air. The unearthly cry reached a deafening pitch and then suddenly stopped. Something fell at Collun's feet. The creature flew up into the air and disappeared.

His heart pounding, Collun dropped to his knees beside Brie and anxiously looked into her face. Her eyes were closed. There was a round black mark on her neck. Sheathing his dagger awkwardly with his left hand, Collun laid his left forefinger at the pulse point in Brie's neck. To his relief a faint heartbeat thrummed under his touch.

"Brie? Wake up, Brie," he said, shaking her gently. But she did not respond. Talisen came to his side.

"What was it?"

"I do not know. It left this." Collun pointed to the round black mark on Brie's neck. "Its eyes were like the scald-crow's. I cannot wake her," Collun added, his voice bleak.

Something caught Talisen's eye, and he leaned over to pick it up. "Look," he said. "Ouch. It's cold." He held it up for Collun to see. It was black and made up of many small, shiny feathers, but the feathers were not soft. They were knife-sharp.

Collun took the black piece in his left hand. It was indeed ice-cold to the touch. He had to hold it with the end of his sleeve pulled down over it. "It looks like the tip of the creature's wing. I must have cut it off somehow."

"What's wrong with your arm?" asked Talisen suddenly.

"The thing did it ... When I touched it, it was cold, like this, but colder." He indicated the black piece in his hand. "It went into my hand and up my arm." He bent
over Brie again and tentatively touched the black mark on her neck. It, too, was cold to the touch and hard like a crusted wound.

Collun crossed to Silien and tried to wake him, but he could not.

***

It was a long, dismal day. Collun would not leave Brie's side. He sat watching her face anxiously, feeling for her pulse every so often. At one point, Fara left her post at Silien's head and came to where Brie lay. She peered into Brie's face and let out a cry. With her long pink tongue the faol began to lick the girl's forehead, methodically working her way down to the chin. When Fara had finished, Collun checked Brie's pulse. He could have sworn it had grown slightly stronger, but still he could not rouse her.

Talisen heated some water from the nearby stream and tried bathing Collun's hand and arm, but they remained numb.

The Ellyl finally awoke long after dark. He was still weak, but fully alert. They quickly told him what had happened. He knelt beside Brie, examining the mark on her neck. Then Talisen showed him the tip of the creature's wing.

Silien closely examined it for what seemed to Collun an eternity. "It is Nemian," he finally said.

"What is Nemian?" Collun asked, filled with dread at the tone in the Ellyl's voice.

"Nemian is from the Cave of Cruachan. Like Moccus's sow. Nemian can be one or it can be many, but wherever it goes, it leaves behind death. It cannot
be killed. I did not think it could even be injured. The wizard Crann was right, Collun. The stone in your dagger must be the Cailceadon Lir."

Collun nodded impatiently. "Perhaps. But what has this Nemian done to Brie?"

"I do not know, but I believe it has poisoned her blood."

"Will she die?"

"Yes."

"No!" Collun cried. "There must be something we can do."

"I can try," shrugged the Ellyl, "but it will avail her little." Silien kneeled again by Brie and laid his hand over the black mark on her neck, his own face still gaunt with fatigue.

Collun heard the song but faintly. Yet he felt a flickering of hope, and the tips of his own numb fingers tingled slightly.

When the song was done, Brie's eyelids trembled. Then slowly her eyes opened. Collun felt a surge of joy, but then he saw the expression in her eyes. There was nothing there; no sign of recognition, only a terrifying blankness.

Collun sat by her and said, "Brie? It is Collun. How do you feel?" But she did not respond. He laid a hand on her forehead. It was still freezing cold to the touch. He gave Silien a questioning look.

The Ellyl shook his head. "She is alive. She can move her limbs. I can do no more." He was already lying on the ground, eyelids drooping. "Just a short rest," he mumbled, and his eyelids fell shut.

Collun and Talisen tried to feed Brie some nuts, but she would not chew them. The best they could do was to pour water into her mouth, which she swallowed, more by reflex than choice.

While Silien slept again, Collun decided they must
get Brie back to Temair. Perhaps there they would know what to do. All thoughts of setting off on his own were forgotten.

When the Ellyl awoke, Collun told him his intention.

"It will do no good," said Silien, shaking his head. But Collun set his mouth in a stubborn line.

"We go to Temair," he said. Silien shrugged.

When morning came, they got Brie to her feet and found she was able to walk, although she moved sightlessly, like a sleepwalker. One of them had to be at her side always to guide her steps.

Collun chose an easterly direction, thinking to circle Bricriu's dun and then travel south toward Temair.

The day wore on and they made little progress from the copse of silver fir trees. Then they came to the crest of a small hill and Silien suddenly halted, a smile on his face. "There is a river near," he said.

Stepping briskly, he fell into the lead, and by late afternoon they came to the banks of a large, noisy river. "The River Ardagh," said the Ellyl with the tone of one meeting an old friend.

As they sank down onto the spongy turf at the river's edge, they watched Silien take out a length of translucent thread. To the end of it he attached a small glittering object and cast it into the water. It wasn't long before the riverbank around him was covered with flopping, silvery fish. Talisen kindled the fire, as Collun's right hand was still useless, and after Silien had cleaned the fish, Talisen roasted them over the flames. The hot fish melted in Collun's mouth.

They tried again to feed Brie, but she would not move
her jaws. Collun made a broth of fish, water, and herbs to pour into her mouth.

As Collun lay down to sleep that night, he noticed the Ellyl sitting on the very edge of the riverbank, Fara at his side. Silien was gazing fixedly at the flowing water. Ever since they had come to the river, his face had worn a distracted, hungry look.

Collun remembered Silien telling them Ellylon loved water, and many of the ways into Tir a Ceol were by water. Collun wondered, as he drifted off into an exhausted sleep, whether the Ellyl was homesick.

When Collun woke in the morning, Silien still sat by the river. Next to him was a makeshift basket made of reeds, filled to the top with fish. Fara was leisurely cleaning herself. Collun walked over to the Ellyl. "You have been busy."

"Yes," replied Silien. "I wanted to leave you with a supply of fish. The road back to Temair is a long one."

Collun was about to thank the Ellyl when the meaning of his words sank in. He stared down at the basket of fish. "You are leaving us?"

"My home is not far. I do not know if my father will have me, but I have decided to return. I have been gone long."