The Fallen (Book 1) (36 page)

Chapter 35

Bushfire

David plunged through the thick undergrowth
with the fire closing around him. He could barely see as thick smoke brought painful tears to his eyes. He could feel the heat burning his legs and his back and his neck. He cursed as a flaming branch smashed to the ground not two paces behind him and he wondered for a moment if Alexander and Danil had made it to safety or if they were also lost. He gasped as the smoke laden air filled his lungs and his windpipe constricted. He glanced around frantically unsure if he was even running in the right direction. His head began to pound and he coughed violently. Panic set in as he tried in vain to gasp air. The sound of the fire was deafening as he staggered downhill through the burning undergrowth. He stared around desperately as he fell forward onto his knees. Through a break in the smoke he saw Danil dash through the burning forest carrying Alexander. Then heat overcame him. As he lost consciousness his thoughts were filled with the relief of knowing Danil would get Alexander to safety. He had the speed. He had shown that as they crossed the Plains of Old Sagria.

After they had parted company with Kelian, t
hey covered a great deal of ground over two days and were camped a mile south of the River Jagoru when Callian had suggested they hunt. Danil, Alexander and David agreed to go. They had been gone several hours and everyone else was taking the opportunity to rest when Lias first smelt the smoke.

‘
Bushfire?’ he wondered aloud.

‘
And the others aren’t back yet,’ said Callian grimly. ‘I only have a vague sense of where they are.’

‘
I’ll take Dale and Enri over the river,’ said Valeska decisively. ‘I’ll meet you there.’

S
econds later Lias was running west through the trees with Callian close behind. They ran for a long time before cresting a hill where they were met with a devastating sight. Across a burnt valley a massive fire was roaring up the mountain. Flames were leaping across the tops of the tyallas and even as they watched, a tree exploded when the intensely heated tyalla oil within the tree boiled. Even where they were standing the heat was extreme.

Callian pointed.
‘Danil is that way!’

Lias gave a shout
of acknowledgement and started running again. Callian paused for a second, squinting through the smoke then raced after him as an ash blackened figure came rushing from the burning forest carrying someone slumped in his arms as though unconscious.

‘
Danil!’ Lias shouted as they got closer. Danil swerved and came running towards them. He practically threw Alexander’s body at Callian and turned and ran back towards the burning forest. Lias sprinted after him. The heat lessened slightly as the fire roared away up the mountain, but danger was critical as branches fell forming a layer of burning coals. Moments later Lias lifted David’s body from the blackened ground. They ran back down the valley and then up the opposite slope towards their camp.

As expected, t
he camp was deserted and Callian, Lias and Danil kept running north until they came to the River. At this point it was wide but not deep. Valeska, Enri and Dale waited anxiously on the opposite bank. Lias and Callian waded into the water and lowered the soldiers’ bodies, holding their heads and scooping water over their faces and hair. Dale and Enri leapt into the water beside them and began to remove the men’s burned uniforms. Valeska ran to Dale’s and Enri’s packs and pulled out some blankets, throwing them into the cool water and spreading them on the grassy river bank. It was a long time before Lias and Callian lifted the soldiers from the water and carried them to where Valeska stood waiting. She looked at Lias questioningly He looked down at David and shook his head. Callian laid Alexander on the wet blanket. He took Alexander’s hands and feet and raised them gently, resting them on the soldier’s packs. Valeska knelt beside him, squeezing water from the second blanket and dribbling it over Alexander’s forehead.

Lias stood unmoving holding David
’s body and staring at Callian.

‘
Are you going to put him on a blanket?’ asked Enri. His face was stricken and the tremble in his voice showed he knew what the answer would be.

‘
No. Not now.’ Lias answered, still looking at Callian.

Danil knelt on the pebbly sand beside the water and drew his knife. With sharp blows he
broke up the ground, pausing only to scoop away the soil. Callian, Dale and Enri joined him and they worked in silence with heads bowed. Callian looked up as a small choking sound escaped Enri’s throat. He reached out and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Enri didn’t look up.

‘
Enri?’ said Callian.

‘
What?’ Enri asked almost defiantly, shaking his shoulders to remove Callian’s hand and refusing to look up at the guardian.

‘
Look at me Enri.’

Enri raised his tear filled eyes to look at
Callian. His mouth dropped open in surprise and another little cry escaped as he saw the look of anguish on the Guardian General’s face.

‘
You’re not alone,’ said Callian sadly. ‘It’s not shameful to grieve the passing of a friend.’

Enri glanced across at Danil. The
King’s Marshall’s face was dry, but his expression was agonized. He looked at Dale, who glanced up just long enough for Enri to see that he too had succumbed to tears of grief.

‘
The King’s Marshall has lost men in battle before,’ said Callian, ‘and every death torments him.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Do not blame yourself Danil, for an accident of nature.’

‘
It wasn’t an accident.’ Danil’s voice was practically a growl through his gritted teeth, and everyone stared at him in alarm.

‘
They were burning you out?’ asked Lias, his face white.

‘
The fire started below us and on either side.’

‘
So why haven’t they come after you – unless they think we’re all dead?’ asked Dale.

‘
I’m sure they underestimated how fast the fire would grow,’ said Danil. ‘It raced up the mountain so fast with the wind behind it.’

‘
Probably making its own wind,’ Lias commented.

‘
Well, it hit a huge clearing where six warriors were waiting for us, but the fire just punched straight through like some massive hand had picked up a fistful of fire and thrown it forward,’ said Danil in awe.

‘
What happened then?’ asked Valeska sadly, wringing water from the blanket and dripping it over Alexander’s body.

‘
Everyone scattered and I managed to grab Alex. I saw David run straight across the clearing and all six went after him. I wasn’t quick enough.’ Danil’s voice was filled with anguish. ‘I think he did it deliberately to try to make them follow him and not Alex and me.’

‘
Even you couldn’t have taken down six of the free, Danil,’ Lias commented. ‘I’m surprised David got as far as he did.’ He stooped down and gently lowered David’s body into the stony grave.

‘
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam,’
murmured Valeska quietly as they covered him with the pebbly sand.

‘
That still doesn’t explain why we don’t have six of the…free,’ Enri glanced at Lias, ‘on our tails right now.’

‘
I don’t think they got out.’ Danil sounded sad. ‘They may have all been nasty bastards, but it’s a terrible way to return.’

‘
It’s imperative that we move on. Unfortunately we’re all very tired and very hungry,’ Valeska observed.

Dale raised one eyebrow.
‘You mean Enri, I and Alex are tired and hungry, and Alex probably doesn’t care right now since he’s unconscious. Or did you just want to move on because we’re going to be hit with a massive storm before midnight?’

‘
You think it’s going to storm?’ Enri gazed around in disbelief. ‘Dale there’s barely a cloud in the sky, though it’s a little difficult to tell with all this smoke.’ He glanced at Danil who looked surprised and shrugged.

‘
Trust me Enri. It’s going to storm, and it will be a big one,’ said Dale.

Valeska
drew out a little cloth bag containing travel cakes and handed one each to Dale and Enri.

‘
Vali, have you a scarf?’ Danil asked his wife. Valeska drew several pieces of cloth from her pack. Danil inspected the two large cotton scarves. He unwound the blankets from around Alexander and dried him as well as possible with one of the scarves. He took the second scarf and tore it into two pieces, using each piece to bind Alexander’s feet. Then as carefully as possible he wrapped the soldier in a dry blanket. ‘We need to keep him clean,’ he murmured. ‘I will carry him.’

‘
Li, if you could scout ahead, we need somewhere to sleep,’ said Callian, and Lias disappeared into the trees.

Several hour
s later Alexander woke and began to groan in pain. Callian was beside him in a split second and he placed his hand over the soldier’s heart. Within seconds his groans had been reduced to quiet gasps, as Callian did his best to help the burned man handle the pain.

‘
Alex, I want you to drink and eat, if you possibly can, and then Callian will make you sleep again,’ said Valeska quickly. Callian gently eased him into a sitting position as Valeska broke off a piece of travel cake and placed it in Alexander’s mouth. He looked at his surroundings as he chewed. They were under some sort of shelter which appeared to be branches melded together so tightly they let in very little light.

‘
David?’ Alexander’s voice was a whisper.

Valeska shook her head and blinked back tears. Alexander nodded and swallowed hard, closing his eyes for a moment.

‘What is this place?’ he rasped.

‘
We’re inside the roots of a strangler fig tree,’ said Lias. ‘There are some in Alkira, but this is the only place I’ve ever known where they grow to this incredible size. The Sagrians used to make homes inside them, but that was a long time ago.’

‘
How did we get in here?’ Alexander couldn’t see where they had entered the little shelter.

‘
There’s a vine growing all over the roots. We dragged it back into place after we climbed in through a gap,’ Lias explained. ‘No more talking,’ he added.

Alexander
managed to eat half the travel cake and drink a reasonable amount of water before he sank against Callian closing his eyes and groaning in pain. Callian held his hand over the soldier’s eyes and he was immediately asleep, slumping against the guardian. Enri looked at Callian questioningly.

‘
I cannot be absolutely sure, Enri,’ said Callian sadly, ‘but he should live. It’s good that he has eaten and had some water, and his burns are not as deep as they might have been.’

‘
Do you think he can feel the pain when he’s sleeping?’

‘
Again, I don’t really know. I’ve made him sleep deeply in the hope that this blocks the pain, but it means I can’t sense his thoughts, or hear him dreaming. The pain is a good thing. If he couldn’t feel anything it would mean the burns were deeper. Get some sleep Enri.’

It felt like only seconds later when
Enri awoke to the sound of a massive thunderclap. He sat up and squinted around. He could hear rain pelting down outside the fig tree but he could see nothing in the darkness.

‘
Dale?’ he whispered.

‘
Just the storm Enri,’ Dale muttered sleepily, rolling over.

Enri rolled his eyes.
‘Obviously,’ he muttered lying back and pulling his blanket tightly around himself. He was pleased that the inside of the fig tree was still reasonably dry. The tree was growing on a little rise amongst thousands of similar trees, all huge and many with hollow areas under their massive roots. For the next half hour Enri lay watching their little shelter brighten slightly whenever the lightning flashed. Each flash was quickly followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Gradually the gap between the lightning and the thunder lengthened and Enri drifted back to sleep to the sound of pouring rain.

When
he awoke it was morning and it was still raining very heavily. He stared in amazement at the little fire Valeska was tending within arm’s length of where he and Dale lay. He sat up.

‘
Valeska?’

Valeska smiled at him.
‘I won’t burn the tree down Enri,’ she said looking amused. ‘Danil and Callian have gone hunting, and I thought you might prefer your meat cooked.’ She gestured to a little bundle of sticks she had sharpened in preparation.

‘
Definitely,’ Enri agreed. He glanced at Lias. ‘Is he actually asleep?’ he asked in surprise.

Valeska
placed another piece of wood on the fire. ‘The free need no more sleep than we do, but we all need some rest.’

‘
Can I do anything?’ asked Enri.

Valeska motioned to Alexander
who lay wrapped in a blanket. ‘Alex has been wrapped in that blanket for a while. I would be grateful if you could check that he isn’t too hot or cold please, and if any wounds are dirty, find a way to clean them. They must be kept clean. There’s another scarf in my pack.’