‘
I do not sense her,’ Aeron replied and was rewarded with a disheartened expression from the king.
‘
How close is it?’ Ronen’s weapon was drawn and ready for attack.
‘
Very close,’ Aeron answered.
‘
All of you,’ Dare spoke firmly to the rest of the Fellowship, ‘stay here. Aeron and I will go investigate.’
‘
But…’ Ronen started to protest when Dare cut him short.
‘
I need you here to protect our backs,’ Dare quickly explained. ‘Aeron does not sense danger but that does not mean it is not a trap.’
‘
Alright,’ the Lord of Gislaine was forced to concede that much to his king and fell back as Dare and Aeron continued down the passage.
‘
Take care you both,’ Tamsyn warned good-naturedly as they drew away. ‘You do not know if what you find is a threat.’
‘
Care to tell me what I will find?’ He stared at the wizard with impatience.
Tamsyn
said nothing, merely giving him a bemused smile.
Sometimes, Dare wished that
Tamsyn was not quite so evasive. Then again, what magii was ever anything less than cryptic?
With Aeron leading the way, Dare followed the Prince of Eden Halas further up the tunnel, wondering what perils they would find. He had kept the others behind because the space between the passageway was narrow enough without too many bodies trying to fight if there was an attack of some kind. They entered a slightly larger cavern filled with protruding limestone formations and saw nothing but more shadows.
Aeron paused in the middle of the main track to the cave and swept his eyes across the terrain. Dare knew the stance well. He had detected something. The elf stepped away from the path, moving stealthily without making any sound against the gravel toward a particularly large stalactite. He was almost upon it when out of nowhere; a lithe figure stepped out and threw a fist squarely in his face.
‘
Aeron!’ Dare shouted and moved to intercept as Aeron tumbled into the dirt, landing flat on his back. The stranger’s movement was lightning fast as she took up position over him and aimed her weapon directly at the fallen Prince.
Aeron froze as he found himself staring into the sharp end of a crossbow’s bolt. The woman who stood before him an expression of deadly intent fixed on her lovely face. He lay there for a moment, stunned by the attack, particularly since he had sensed no danger. Her intense stare did not waver as she looked upon him dispassionately, bearing the stance of an experienced archer who was waiting for her moment to bring down her target. As an archer himself, Aeron knew the tactic well.
‘Dare?’ Celene’s astonished voice suddenly filled the cavern.
His attacker looked away at the sound of Celene’s voice and Aeron swiftly took advantage of the situation. Swinging his foot sideways, he swept her feet from under her and sent her tumbling forward. She landed into the dirt next to him and Aaron rolled his body around swiftly, throwing a leg over her and quickly straddling her hips, one hand tearing the crossbow out of her hand and flinging it aside while the other caught the fist that attempted to strike him. Clamping both hands her wrists and pinned them to the ground. The whole weight of his body ensuring that she could not break free.
‘Melia!’ Celene exclaimed as she emerged from her hiding place and witness the conclusion of the melee. ‘It is alright! This is the King and Prince Aeron.’
‘
Then tell the Prince to unhand me!’ Melia snapped angrily while she glared at the Prince, her pride stinging from their sudden change in circumstance.
‘
If you are finished Aeron?’ Dare stared at the elf momentarily before turning to Celene.
‘
It was not I that ambushed us!’ Aeron pointed out as he climbed off the woman Celene had called Melia. As a gentlemen and a Prince of Halas, he offered his hand towards her in order to help the lady to her feet.
She ignored it.
‘We were protecting ourselves,’ Melia grumbled as stood up on her own, dusting herself on as she glared at Aeron.
‘
ENOUGH!’ Dare boomed because he could not care less about whose fault this was. He had only one thought in mind now that Celene was before him. ‘Where is Arianne?’
‘
The Enemy has taken her,’ Celene swallowed thickly and answered her king. There was more to tell Dare but she had no idea how to do it. The truth about Keira was going to affect him almost as badly as it would effect Tully. This was one task that Celene would happily faced a thousand wyrms to avoid.
‘
Where?’ Dare said tautly in a tone that demanded immediate compliance.
‘
Into the city to what is left of Sanhael,’ Celene replied automatically. She was grateful that he was here because now they could retrieve Arianne with the aid of one of the Carleon’s greatest warriors.
‘
That explains a great deal,’ Aeron replied. ‘Sanhael was Mael’s stronghold before it was sunk by the Gods into earth. At least before he took it from the elves. All this,’ he gestured to the caves they had been travelling, ‘is what is left of them.’
‘
Celene!’ Ronen exclaimed exuberantly from the mouth of the cavern. The commotion had brought the rest of the Circle and Ronen was greeted with the wondrous sight of his wife, alive and well, though looking rather worse for wear, standing before him.
Celene’s face lit up with the delight that always seemed like the sun emerging from the clouds after a rainy day. They ran into each other’s arms, their lips meeting in a kiss of passion that no sonnet or song could ever do justice. Even Dare and Tully who should have felt envious at the reunion when their own loves were absent could not feel happy that the two had found each other again.
‘I thought I would never see you again,’ Celene whispered as she clung to her beloved.
‘
I would follow you anywhere,’ he smiled. ‘Do you not know that?’
‘
I should have suspected,’ she laughed. ‘I supposed you were too stubborn to stay at home and wait for me.’
‘
I might say the same about you,’ he grinned.
When the couple had parted, Celene looked at Dare, trying not to meet Tully’s gaze in case her eyes betrayed her and said to the king,
‘we need to talk.’
********
Melia stood at the edge of the cavern they had found, far away from the heart of Sanhael, listening in silence as Celene revealed the truth about Keira Furnsby to the king and his Circle. More importantly, to Tully Furnsby who had no idea that for the past seven years, had been a widower.
‘
I don’t believe it,’ he whispered. ‘It
was
Keira.’
Tully’s face was white. He had sunk into a sitting position on a boulder in the cavern, ap
pearing as if he was about to be sick from the truth he had just been given. Celene’s words swirled around his head but had yet to sink in. Seven years. Keira had been gone for seven years and in her place, in his
bed
, a monster had pretended to be his wife. The magnitude of the revelation left him shaking, refusing to believe that any of this could be real.
Yet in the midst of
the terrible truth he was denying, fragments of memory were coming together, revealing a picture he had never seen but was always there. So many things she had done and said, he had attributed to her ordeal at the hands of the Disciples. From their every day lives together to the intimacies shared in the bed chamber, all of it had been different even when it was exactly the same.
‘
No,’ Celene shook her head, kneeling in front of him, her eyes moist with tears as she reached for his hand, trying to offer him comfort for a pain that was too immense for words. ‘She is dead Tully. She has been dead for a long time. She did not survive the Burrowers. Syphia told us that she had found Celene at your farm dead and upon doing so, buried her body in somewhere in the Green.’
‘
No....’ he blinked and tears ran down his cheeks as he shook his head in denial. ‘Its not true, she’s alive. We’ve been together for seven years... she’s my wife. I would know it.’ However, his words were laced with desperation and dwindling resistance.
‘
She played a part Tully,’ Tamsyn approached the man from behind, dropping a hand on his shoulder. ‘She played it perfectly. She wants a kingdom for Mael and she had no intention of sharing one with Balfure. She lay in wait, allowing Dare to defeat Balfure and reunify Carleon, until he and Arianne produced an heir. This was never your fault. Syphia was consort to Mael himself, the Dreaded Mother of All. She is cunning and vicious and is older than all of us. Do not blame yourself for what you could not see, I was in her presence too and she fooled me too.’
It was true, he had sensed something in her he could not define. A darkness he thought was left behind by the Disciples but never at any time did Tamsyn suspect that Keira was in reality Syphia. He felt anger at the pain caused to this poor farmer, who had stumbled into events larger than himself and been so thoroughly destroyed by it. Tamsyn could already see his anguish breaking apart his spirit. It may never recover.
Dare didn’t speak. He had had wandered away from the others but could not ignore the soft sobs that came from Tully as his grief ripped him apart. Dare too, found it difficult not to let the emotion break him as it was doing to the farmer from the Green.
Seven years ago, Dare had sought refuge at the farm of this young, idealistic couple who had never had any reason to think of
Balfure or Carleon. Yet they had helped him, saved his life by giving him refuge. Still reeling from Braedan’s sacrifice, Dare had not fully considered the consequences to the couple, never thought the Disciples would follow him into the Green. When Tully had sought him out after the farmer had returned home to find Keira, Dare had done everything he could to ensure her recovery, even begging Lylea for help.
And yet it was all for nothing.
Not only was she already dead but she was buried in an unmarked grave with no one to mourn her passing. Dare’s fury at this was almost as white hot as his rage at Syphia’s plans for Arianne and his child. He wanted revenge for both.
********
Melia turned away and walked to the entrance to the cave, using the pretext of checking to see if anyone was coming as an excuse to leave. Even though she did not know Tully or the rest of the King’s Circle, she mourned the loss of the woman Keira. Not the one who had died and was forgotten so many years ago but the one who had made Melia, Celene and Arianne care for her.
‘
Does anyone come?’ She heard a voice behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see the Prince behind her.
‘
No,’ Melia shook her head. ‘No one comes.’
Aeron stood behind her, intrigued by this woman who had come to them out of nowhere and become a trusted ally when a trusted ally had become an enemy overnight.
‘I did not know her,’ Melia said softly. ‘But in learning the truth, I feel I have a lost a friend which is ironic since I never knew her in the first place.’
‘
It seemed none of us did,’ Aeron sighed. ‘If we could be fooled and we knew her far longer than you, you have no reason to feel shame.’
‘
Perhaps not,’ Melia looked over her shoulder at the handsome, dark haired prince. ‘But I value what friends I have and I do not suffer the loss of even one lightly.’
‘
You have others here,’ Aeron gestured to Celene. ‘You have done more than duty demands in assisting Arianne and Celene in this quest. That is true friendship, everyone here recognises it. Everyone except me of course,’ he retorted, a small smile of mischief tugging at the corner of his lips. ‘I still have not forgiven you for marking my jaw.’ He said rubbing his chin, as if he still felt the pain her blow.
Melia laughed despite herself.
‘Oh did I mark that pretty face?’ She teased.
‘
So you think I am pretty,’ he returned, heartened by the smile he saw on her face.
‘
I think you are impossible,’ she shook her head and faced forward once again.
Aeron returned to his friends before adding,
‘I do not think I’m the only one.’
She had failed.
She had failed to protect her baby by killing the Enemy and she had failed to end her life to keep the world safe. Her wost nightmare had come to pass and there was no way she could keep it from consuming those that she loved as well. Kicking and screaming had they taken her away from Celene and Melia, whose fate preyed heavily upon her mind particularly when she knew what Syphia had planned for them.
The horror of what they were enduring because of her was more than Arianne could stand and it made her wail inwardly with anguish each time she thought of it. This was the very outcome she had feared the most when she had allowed Celene to embark upon this journey with her, that Celene’s life would be forfeit because of her. Not only was Celene’s life endangered, she had brought another into this and now Melia too would die because of her.
And as much as it shamed Arianne, that was not even the worst of it.
The worst of it was that at this moment, she was surrounded by Berserkers and shape shifters awaiting the arrival of their mistress to begin the ceremony that would rip the soul from her unborn son’s body. The shape shifters no longer looked like the snow creatures that had ambushed her, Celene and Melia in the canyons of Maelog’s Tears. Even though their bodies were shaped like men, they were blank templates waiting to be rewritten and they carried out Syphia’s ritual chanting the words with mouths that had no lips or teeth.
And there was nothing Arianne could do to stop it. Not even to take her life and his.
She had prayed that if all hope was lost, if her efforts to stop the Enemy had failed utterly, there would still be the chance of saving Avalyne by taking her own life. However because of Syphia’s deception as Keira, the Primordial Queen was prepared for this. Her shape shifters had ensured that once Arianne was under their power, she was given no opportunity to cheat Mael of his new vessel.
Trapped on a slab of rock in what was once the main courtyard in the city of Sanhael, Arianne’s hands and feet were bound as the shape shifters prepared her for the ritual. Above her, she could see nothing of the moon but it did not matter. The magic that would destroy her son did not require the moon’s power to come into being, it simply needed her.
They had torn open her dress, leaving her belly exposed for all to see. Strange writings were scrawled upon her fair skin in blood, the language was that of the Shadow Realm where the most potent dark magic came. She squirmed desperately as they placed the fouls words upon her skin and marked her forehead with strange concoctions that reeked of blood, paying as much attention to her as a painter would to the empty canvas. She was but the vassal of their future master and while she was not to be hurt, she was not the most important player in this ceremony. Her babe was.
‘Please!’ She begged them, knowing it was pointless because they were savants to their mistress will. ‘Don’t do this! He is an innocent! Don’t take his life before he even begins it!’
‘
Do not weep little mother,’ Syphia’s voice spoke over her.
Arianne raised her head and looked into the face of her enemy. The sight of her made her scream in naked horror.
No longer required to maintain the guise of Keira Furnsby for anyone’s benefit, the Primordial Queen stood over Arianne in her true form. Having discarded Keira’s clothes, she appeared even less human than when she revealed herself to them in the canyons. She seemed even taller than before as she towered over Arianne as she stood by the altar. Her skin was now entirely devoid of its human pallor, resembling a mottled greenish hide that made Arianne think of something that was at home in a marsh or bog. Her living hair was no longer russet but instead the black of burnt wood. She looked down at Arianne on neck that was long like the body of snake, moving of its own accord.
What made it all the worse was that her face still bore some similarity to Keira Furnsby.
‘Do not weep for him Arianne,’ Syphia said, her elongated neck bringing her head right along side of Arianne’s so that she could whisper in elf queen’s ear. ‘He will be the master of all. I will make him a god and together we will rule Avalyne as we was meant to be. If you were not so averse to this whole idea, I would even let you raise him. After all, I am a mother, I know what it is like to be separated from one’s children.’
‘
He will not be my son!’ Arianne screamed back at her defiantly. ‘He will be a monster! I have seen the vision of his reign upon Avalyne and it is a rule bathed in blood! I won’t let you destroy his soul and desecrate his body!’ She turned away after that declaration, unable to keep looking at the profane sight of the woman who had been her friend these past seven years.
‘
There is very little you can do to prevent it,’ Syphia retorted, a hint of disappointment on her voice as she raised her head up. She supposed she could not have expected anything else from the queen who was incapable of anything but an impotent gesture of defiance. ‘I had hoped that you could be reasonable. In truth, I did enjoy the camaraderie I shared with you, Celene and even Melia. It was very different and I had hoped I could salvage it despite this necessary unpleasantness.’
‘
Unpleasantness?’ Arianne swung her head to look at the Primordial in disbelief.
Syphia ignored her outrage and continued speaking as if she were dealing patiently with a petulant child.
‘Perhaps we will discuss the matter again once Mael is inside of you. We will have more time to talk then since you will be remaining here until he is born and if you should die, I shall return your son to Carleon and he will take his place by his father’s side.’
‘
NEVER!’ Arianne reacted immediately, the outrage twisting her insides into knots. ‘His father is no fool! He will know the truth.’
‘
Perhaps he will but you and I both know Dare would never kill his own son,’ Syphia returned with a smug smile. ‘You might have the fortitude to do the deed but not him. He is too good and kind a soul for such a thing. He could never willingly harm a child, especially one that you gave him. Even if he thinks that Mael soul is in his son, there will always be a part of him that would believe the child is salvageable and that will stay his hand.’
‘
You are wrong!’ Arianne countered vehemently but if even as she spat the words at Syphia, she knew the Primordial Queen was right. This was what Arianne had feared too. That if she failed, Dare would never be able to kill the child and if he could, it would destroy him.
‘
I think you know that I am right,’ Syphia retorted triumphantly seeing the realisation in her eyes. ‘I think you feared this above all else that Dare would not only be unable to kill the child but he might even try to stop
you
from doing it. If I did not think so, I would have killed him myself before he became king.’
‘
This will not succeed!’ Arianne spat in impotent fury. ‘You cannot watch me every second for the next five months. If you destroy my son before he is born I will ensure that your Mael will never know life in his skin! I will kill myself before I let you blight Avalyne with his evil again!’
‘
You talk bravely,’ the Primordial laughed, ‘but you will not know a moment alone until that child is freed from your body and if I must I will tear you open myself to acquire him when it is safe to do so. You will not harm my future king.’ With that, Syphia turned to her minion and said simply, ‘
begin
.’
‘
No!’ Arianne screamed in despair as the shape shifters came to her once more and began chanting the words that would begin the dark ritual and the transmogrification of her son into Mael. She tried desperately to break free but she was trapped, completely and utterly. Not even the Sword of Antion that lay on a stone bench not far from where she lay could help her. It might as well have been ten thousand leagues away.
‘
Please! Don’t harm my baby!’ She sobbed as she struggled, trying to ignore the chanting taking place around her.
Suddenly a sharp stabbing pain filled her body with such intensity that all she could do was scream as it pierced through her skin and ignited all her nerve endings with fire. Her scream tore through the air, like a knife cutting the air. Her knees tried to pull up, to brace herself against the pain spreading out from her womb to the rest of her. The chanting grew louder but Arianne no longer noticed it. Above her, Syphia’s eyes gleamed in triumph.
‘He is coming!’ Syphia exclaimed. ‘Mael is coming from the void!’
As she finished that sentence, Arianne felt another agonizing spasm of pain that forced the air from her lungs in another pitched scream. Her hands gripped the ropes that bound her wrist, pulling on them as the pain become more than she could stand. She knew what was happening, she could feel the terror of her babe inside of her and felt her heart shatter because she could do nothing to help either of them. Each scream of pain uttered engendered the rejoicing of the Berserkers in attendance of the ceremony.
Blood started seeping out of her nose as she screamed, that damned chanting in her ears as they invoked dark powers to force Mael into her body. With the rising fervour of their words, her pain increased until all she could hear were her own screams, half mired in agony, half begging for the life of her child. Desperate pleas that earned no compassion from those watching because their purpose was being served already. Her child meant nothing to them.
‘
ARIANNE!’
She stopped screaming immediately, forgetting the pain as she turned her head and saw Dare at the far end of the courtyard. He was staring at her across the sea of Berserkers and shifters, his face a mask of horror
when he saw what was happening to her. Gods, it was him. It was really him! She had been ready to give up, ready to believe all was lost but that moment of weakness was over. She would fight with all her strength to save her baby because there was now hope!
‘ALASADARE!’ She screamed desperately. ‘HELP US!’
The entire courtyard burst into
pandemonium as the Berserkers scattered to meet the intruders. Through her tears, Arianne saw Dare drawing out his sword and decapitating the first Berserker that confronted him without thinking twice. With Narthaine in one grip and an accompanying dagger in the other, she watched him fight his way through the Berserkers closing in on him with skill and ruthless efficiency.
Arianne had never seen him in battle but she doubted that she would forget it. He was magnificent in his fury. He moved far swifter than any warrior, man or elf, a perfect engine of limbs that moved with skill and coordination. He laid waste to Berserkers that came at him with their brutish weapons, stopping their blows with the sword before thrusting the dagger into their bodies to end the threat of them once and for all.
Another came at him from the right and Dare dropped low enough to avoid the swing that would have taken his head off before turning around and stabbing his dagger deep into the creature’s leg. The Berserkers howled in pain before Dare completed their battle by running him through with his sword. Throwing his fist back, he stopped in its tracks the Berserkers coming at him from behind, causing the creature to stagger slightly before Dare spun around and sliced open the Berserker’s throat with his dagger.
‘
Finish it!’ Syphia shouted at one of her shape shifter minions, reminding Arianne that the ritual was not ended simply interrupted because Dare had arrived.
‘
No!’ She wailed, refusing to allow this terrible thing to happen, not when they were so close to salvation.
The shape shifters resumed their chanting and Arianne felt that same terrible pain coursing through her, cutting short any protestations she might have about the ceremony. She threw her head back and uttered another blood curdling scream of exquisite agony as the invasive spirit entered her body.
The panic that ripped through Dare when he heard her scream was a sensation like nothing he had ever known. It made him forget everything around him, filled him with a cold rage that made the Berserkers seem inconsequential. Putting everything he had into reaching her, Dare cut a swathe of blood and bone through the obstacles preventing him from reaching his wife.
‘
Aeron! Help Arianne!’ He shouted at the same time.
No sooner than he had said those words, an arrow sliced through the air and ended the shape shifter’s chanting just as Arianne’s scream diminished into
guttural cries of agony. Blood spurted from the shape shifter’s neck as he landed hard on the floor. Another arrow flew over her head and struck the other shape shifters participating in the ritual. The accuracy and swiftness of the delivery could only be the skill of one person.
The pain stopped long enough for Arianne to regain some of her senses and as the aftershocks of pain subsided, s
he craned her neck to see Aeron renewing his assault of arrows upon Syphia’s minions from the other side of the courtyard. At his side was Melia and together they made a formidable team as they killed off the shape shifters conducting Syphia’s ritual one by one.
******
In the midst of all this fighting was Tully Furnsby.
The imperative for the others had been to save Arianne and while Tully was equal to the task, he had another reason for reaching the Queen. Where Arianne was, he would find Syphia.