Storm Holt (The Prophecies of Zanufey Book 3) (4 page)

‘They are pushing too hard. It must be the entire council’s decision to decide how we will help them, if indeed we shall at all,’ a commanding voice said from behind Freydel. ‘Ayeth, you have already poured much of your heart and your spirit into helping the Yurgha. With all your powers and efforts we worry that we shall lose you too to their infected minds. Then we
all
shall be in danger of falling, just as the Yurgha have fallen. Do not risk yourself and our entire race for the saving of another. We will not risk our own race falling from the light. There must be another way.’

‘They have not fallen yet,’ the dark-robed being they called Ayeth said quietly. ‘They may never fall if we only help them. Just one last time.’

‘You must see that your love for Lona, pure and beautiful as it is, has blinded you,’ the same voice said from behind. ‘You risk all of us by being with her. We can all see the darkness that had entered your heart since you shared yourself with her…’

‘Enough.’ The dark-robed being spoke quietly, yet his command was absolute and everyone fell silent. ‘How can you heal the darkness if you do not embrace it and bring to it the light? Is that not what we have always said?’

Nobody spoke, everybody frowned and looked at the ground or at each other.

Ayeth continued, ‘All our powers are nothing, if we cannot help others. And what if it works? Imagine our two races pure and powerful once more, standing in the light together. Imagine how many others we could help heal if we combined our powers together. We could banish the darkness and forever eliminate the possibility of falling from the light again.’

Freydel sensed the mood of the crowd lifting. The hope in Ayeth’s voice moved him.

‘There is hope, yes,’ the older being conceded.

‘Just one more chance,’ Ayeth snatched onto the change in mood. ‘One more chance to use the crystal pyramids. I will do it alone if I have to, but any others are welcome to join me in this grand healing.’

‘If it fails, Ayeth, you must be quarantined until you yourself have healed,’ the older being warned.

‘Of course,’ Ayeth inclined his head, feverish hope inflecting his broad smile.

Freydel suddenly felt himself drifting, mentally and physically, and he felt beyond sick. He was somehow losing his grip on reality. Panic rose in his befuddled brain and he reached inside his robe to grasp the orb. Many almond eyes stared at him, clustering his vision. The world tumbled, and then there was nothing.

ISSA lay with her eyes closed for a long time. From the sound of the others sleeping, nobody was awake yet. A day had passed since she had returned unscathed from the demon world, but even now she was still shaken. The talisman had brought her back to the spot beside the stream, where a frantic Ehka flapped and a worried Palu’anth searched. He said he’d been searching for her for nearly half an hour.
 

The whole of yesterday had been spent convincing everyone she was all right, and promising Asaph that she wouldn’t try that again. She wished there was someone she could talk to who knew something about the talisman or the sacred mound. Arla might know, she’s the one who found the talisman after all.

Yesterday evening they’d rendezvoused with more karalanths of a different tribe. Rhul’ynth, Palu’anth, Diarc’ynth and Cusap’anth were now joined by four other deer people, all armed with quivers full of arrows and knives strapped to their bodies. They were keen to take up the rallying call and travel across Frayon to gather their exiled kin into one tribe once more.

Issa sorely needed a decent meal, a bed and some new clothes - Asaph and Coronos wanted the same. So the humans had decided to walk the distance to the nearest city, Corsolon, some twenty-five miles east. Rhul’ynth insisted that they travelled together. She was right, there was safety in numbers, especially after the Life Seekers attack, and no one wanted to take any chances. But the karalanths would only go as far as the city, and so they’d camped out in a thick grove of oak trees a mile or so from Corsolon.

Though it was warm, Issa’s back was stiff and sore from the hard ground, and this morning she really longed for a bed. A bed like the one she’d had on Little Kammy, or even better, the luxurious deep bed she’d had in Castle Elune on the Isle of Celene, a Celene that was no more.

All gone…

She kept her eyes closed. She didn’t want to face the morning. Already the sorrow for Ely and all those lost was creeping closer. Already she was struggling with a reason to carry on on this painful path.
I should leave them, all of them. Slip away into the forest unseen, never to be heard of again. That is the only way they can be safe.
Everyone that was close to her, or even knew her, was at risk from Baelthrom and his horde.
 

She suddenly hated the Raven Queen, the Dread Dragon-armoured warrior who haunted her, who became her when the blue moon of Zanufey was at its fullest. It was the Raven Queen Baelthrom wanted, not her.
 

I am Issalena Kammy from Little Kammy, and that is all. I should never have agreed to kill Keteth. I had no idea that I could. Now everyone is dead. Again. I risk the lives of all those close to me.
 

She should disappear. Asaph would find another to love, maybe a nice Draxian woman living in exile. Otherwise he’d end up like Rance. Dead. If she went now no one would hear her leave, no one could stop her. She could change into a raven and fly far away. Live out her life somewhere remote.
And watch the world around me be destroyed by the immortals.
Baelthrom would destroy them all, no matter where she lived, whether he had her or not.

She clenched her eyes shut tighter, felt a tear run down her cheek. That left only two choices, to run, run forever, or seek revenge for those murdered. Soothe her anger and helplessness with retribution until her own life was taken. No matter how painful, an early death in battle would be better than watching all those she loved die around her.
I would be a coward if I ran away.
 

A long sigh escaped her lips, and she wearily opened her eyes.
The light of dawn was slowly brightening the quiet forest, illuminating the mist that clung in tendrils to the long grasses. Duskar lifted his head from a few yards away, mouth full of the grass, ears pricked forwards. So trusting. Even though he was still wary of Asaph, sensing keenly the dragon blood that flowed in the man’s veins, they didn’t need to tie Duskar up. He wouldn’t leave her side now. Not since the horrors he’d survived on Celene.

Did you know I had another horse, Duskar?
She was taken from me too.
Her eyes misted over. Memory of Haybear’s gentle nature was replaced by the vision of a charred carcass in the smoking ruin of her home. She could not let it happen again. Ehka shifted his weight in the branches above, catching her attention. He looked sideways down at her, ruffled his feathers and yawned.

Asaph was asleep beside her. He sighed, the growing light dragging him from his dreams. As if sensing her eyes upon him he rolled over and blinked back at her. He must have seen the concern on her face, for he smiled encouragingly, a smile that always made the butterflies in her stomach flutter. She managed a weaker smile back. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being with someone else.

How can I run? How can I turn away and leave them all to their fate? I will stay with them. I will die with them.
 

That left only the one choice. Revenge.

‘Ow, I need a decent bed,’ Asaph groaned, wincing as he stretched his sore back muscles.
 

Everyone was awake now and busy pulling food from their packs. Coronos nodded, but said nothing. His face was pale and drawn, and Issa felt his pain for Ely’s death alongside her own. She hoped he did not blame her for Ely’s death, even though she blamed herself.

‘You two-feet are soft,’ Cusap’anth commented as he checked the string of his bow. Asaph snorted.

Everyone was tired and sore from travelling, and the recent exhausting battles. The harpies had almost cost Issa her life, but thanks to Ely’s bracelet her wounds healed quickly when she slept. As long as she got enough sleep, that was. The bracelet could not heal her magic reserves though, and she dared not even think about touching the Flow yet. She still felt lucid and not fully in the present after over-using magic in Celene.

They ate a breakfast of dried apricots, black berries gathered en route by the karalanths, and nut-buttered bread, which happened to be the last of their pack food. They planned to get more supplies in Corsolon, and decide from there what they should do.

‘We should see the Mayor and city council, tell them what has happened to Celene,’ Issa said and swallowed the last of her nut bread with a gulp of water from her flagon.

‘They’ll probably already know from their wizards,’ Coronos said, puffing on his pipe. ‘But we can give them the full details. To attack so far south… they must have a base somewhere.’

Issa’s eyes went wide, ‘Of course. They must be on the Isles of Kammy. I never thought of that before. How dare they be there,’ she chewed her lip. The thought of those bastards on Little Kammy made her feel sick to her stomach.

‘They won’t stop at Kammy or Celene, and there is nothing but towns and fishing villages along the west coast of Frayon. Easy pickings should there be an attack,’ Coronos said.

‘Our northern cousins say the Feylint Halanoi are concentrated in the north,’ Rhul’ynth said.

‘There is nothing we can do but warn everyone, anyone,’ Issa clenched her fist.

‘We can tell the Mayor of Corsolon to send carrier pigeons, or something faster, to the Halanoi at Port Nordastin,’ Coronos nodded.

‘It may already be too late. How can they send an army so far west in such a short time?’ Issa asked, but no one answered her. She sighed. At least there was no one left on Little Kammy for them to murder, but she still felt dreadful. ‘I guess all we can do is warn the people.’

They packed up their things in silence as the sun finally tipped the treetops and began dissipating the morning mist. The sky was clear blue, and it was already hot in the sub-tropical forest. Duskar refused to carry anything but Issa, despite her and the karalanth’s coaxing him with their Daluni talents. Instead he would prance and rear if anyone so much as tried to put their small packs on him. Asaph scowled at the horse, even without holding a menacing pack he couldn’t get near the damn thing.

In the end Issa got Duskar take two packs instead of carrying her and they finally made their way through the thick green trees following narrow animal tracks. Four karalanths led the way and four others trailed behind, all listening for danger and checking that nothing followed them. Issa prayed they didn’t suffer any more attacks from foltoy or worse. She doubted she could even swing her sword right now.
 

Coronos said nothing the entire journey, and though he forced himself to move faster, everyone moved more slowly to match his pace. Issa caught Asaph frowning. Usually he commented on the flora and fauna, pointing out what was different in the Uncharted Lands, but this morning he’d hardly said anything.