Take the Darkness...: Epic Fantasy Series (22 page)

Chapter 49

Seth and Seraphina had finally caught up to the Wolvern and Silver, and their mood of chatter soon disappeared in the face of their darkness. Seth crouched along the ridge and looked down onto the snow covered shore. There were enough of the skinny mindless things to fill the city to the brink.

‘They just keep coming and coming,’ Silver said. ‘We’ve been waiting for you two for a day and they have at least tripled number since then.’

There bodies literally pressed against each other, they were so closely packed in along the shore.

‘If they are so mindless, why are they creating a shield wall?’ Seth asked.

‘
It’s because of them’
, the Wolvern said, and gestured its head off into the further distance where Seth’s little troop of a hundred or so real humans waited patiently for him to say it was safe. ‘
They know a big feed is coming, they can smell it, or feel it. Not thoughts, instinct.’

‘We’ll we have to lead them off then,’ said Seraphina.

‘No, we need to destroy them anyway, so we should just do it.’ Seth said. ‘And also, you’d be glad to know it looks like your mother and her flock are also closing in behind us. Seems they knew we’d do most of the fighting and think it’s worth having another go.’ He said.

Silver looked thoughtful. ‘Only her most obedient will have followed her to this place, I want to save my people, but I will help you,’ she said.

‘Which ones do you want to save?’ Seraphina asked, ‘the ugly skinny ones or the ugly fat ones?’ Seth laughed out loud, but Silver looked sharply at them.

‘The one that can be saved, you children; these on the beach are husks: dangerous, mindless husks. The ones that stayed in the city will have some minds of their own, but any that followed her here are too deep under her control to save.’

‘Does the sun actually burn your people; will they die if it is raised?’ Seth asked.

‘No, it’s not kind and we must hide from being in it for a long time, but it will teach them respect, they need to stop thinking they control all of this, and that they must share,’ she said with passion.

‘Okay, so we get down there now, raise the sun, but before the rest get here,’ he said. ‘As in right now.’

‘Why not, if we wait, I can just hide us and let them battle it out,’ Seraphina said.

‘No, we must go now,’ he said with pain in his face, and he showed them his hand that held the sun symbol; it was like a bright red scar that almost pulsed with pain. The pain he felt in it was incredible, and he knew it had to go into that water as soon as possible. ‘I’ve come with you this far Seth but I have so many questions. Are we going to raise the sun? How, who put it there? How is that possible and why? She asked.

‘I know not how put it there but we bring it back. It matters not who built this prison or why, it’s profane and we have the key’
the wolvern spoke with strength. That was enough for Seth.

‘Coming or not, I’m putting it in that water, right fucking now.’ He stood and started walking.

Seraphina grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. ‘Stop being so dramatic, Druheim, we’ll help you, but let’s just plan first before four of us take on an army of those things.’

Chapter 50

At first she was puzzled by the words ‘find Grimm not Elizebetha’, but when she found them, she understood why they’d been necessary. She’d picked herself up from the battlements and, still wearing her Dark Guard uniform, walked down the stone staircase of the battlements and just followed the sounds of raised voices yelling. She didn’t know a lot about leading an army into battle, but unification of leaders she thought would have been a big part of it.

She walked across the courtyards and got many strange looks from the Cold Death soldiers. She knew most of them by face, and she was glad for once that her hair made her stand out and she didn’t have to explain the uniform. Most of them knew she was running around doing things for the Duchess. She spoke to one archer who stood on guard at the Keep door.

‘Where’s Grimm? Elizebetha?’

‘They are fighting like an old married couple in the main library,’ she said with laugh, but she looked more worried than amused. What was going on? Her leather boots carried her through the open door of the Keep and, walking along the carpeted hall, she followed the sound of shouting voices to the main library. It was easy to hear Grimm’s raised voice, as she’d never heard him so angry. She stood at the doorway to the library and looked in.

Grimm looked as ever, and even though he was yelling and filled with rage, the sight of him made her relax. She’d been surrounded by people who would love to put her pretty head on a silver plate and serve it to the Duchess Dierdra, so allies were a nice change. Still, something had changed. The tough Northerner stood in the corner, face red with rage, while Elizebetha paced back and forth arguing with him. Next to Grimm stood a woman she’d never seen, or she’d remember her. She was breathtaking. Long black hair to her shapely waist, deep brown eyes, and a sparkling smile. She was the only one who saw Josette standing there, and just beckoned her in with a finger. She then went to Grimm and whispered something into his ear. He stopped yelling suddenly and turned to look at Josette in the doorway. His reaction filled her with joy and relief.

The old soldier yelled ‘Josette’ and ran across the vast space of the library, heavy boots hitting the floor hard, and he grabbed her up and spun her like a little child, the relief on his face obvious.

‘Thank the gods, you’re alive, I’ve been worried about you, little sister,’ He said as she spun a good few feet off the ground. He set her down. ‘You stink,’ he said, laughing. ‘You hale, though? No injuries?’ He asked like a concerned father.

She just patted his shoulder. ‘I’m fine, but I’d be better if I knew why you both were fighting like two stray cats and not like two leaders.’

Elizebetha and the woman had walked over to join them. ‘It’s nothing you can’t settle now you’re here,’ he said. ‘I want us to attack and the Duchess doesn’t trust me.’

‘It’s not that I don’t trust you, Grimm, but I don’t trust her. Since when do we move our forces on the basis of visions?’ She said in an exasperated voice.

‘We would if they were yours, but mine you can’t trust,’ he gave back, his voice calm now that she was back. A lot of the rage had melted out of him now that she was there and alive, and it had been clearly weighing on him.

‘You’ve never had them before and we can’t say that she’s not giving them too you,’ Elizebetha said.

Minsetta ignored her words and, pushing past them both, leaned in and kissed Josette on both cheeks.

‘Lovely to meet you, Josette, Grimm has spoken of you at length, and he’s been very worried, but you know these Northern boys: they pretend to be so tough, but really they are soft as butter,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I’m Minsetta.’ When she said ‘Minsetta’, Josette got a flash of memories from the Gatherers about her. She was considered to be an assassin, a cultist, very dangerous and very old.

‘The assassin?’ She asked without thinking.

‘Oh, you’ve heard of me? That’s lovely,’ she said with a curtsey.

‘All you need to know, kid, is that she’s with us and she’s good with a blade,’ Grimm said, and that was enough for Josette; if Grimm believed in her, then she would too... after all, he’d been right about Goldie when everyone else had doubted the man.

‘With us? With us!’ Elizebetha spat, ‘she tried to kill me.’

‘Paid to is diferrent from tried to,’ Minsetta said with a giggle. ‘Now, Josette, have you got something to say on the matter of attacking? I feel like you could put this to rest.’

‘I do, milady,’ she said automatically, as this Minsetta spoke like a noble. She turned to the Duchess. ‘Grimm is right, we need to attack and as soon as we can. Not tomorrow, but right now.’

‘Us against two thousand men? Or has the situation changed?’ Elizebetha asked.

‘Goldie has swayed the Bastards to fight with us. They have a new leader, but less men, and will want to see us coming out of those gates before they join us,’ she said.

‘And what if it’s a ruse? What if Goldie is playing us?’ Elizebetha said, ‘that would be perfect, we open our gates and get slaughtered.’

‘He’s loyal, I’d bet my life on it and everyone else’s; he has just played his hand well and done what he needed to,’ she said back, and Grimm smiled. He’d been right about Goldie.

‘And what of the old leader and the Duchess?’ She asked.

‘The King Bastard is dead, by my own dagger, the Duchess lives, but the Duke has fallen, again.’ She said simply.

Grimm patted her shoulder hard. ‘You make me proud, little sister, your first named enemy has fallen and Seth’s as well.’

Elizebetha walked away from them and started pacing again. She was deeply indecisive when it came to full battle.

Minsetta spoke up. ‘Elizebetha, why don’t you just go to your room and drink some tea and let these two save your Keep for you?’

Josette couldn’t believe the way this woman would speak to a Duchess, though she was older than the woman by two hundred years, not that she looked it. Minsetta looked like she was only thirty five name days and radiated confidence. A battle didn’t seem to worry her at all.

‘Shut up,’ Elizebetha snapped back. ‘Grimm, can you get her out of here while we discuss our plans? She can’t be trusted.’

‘You can’t be trusted,’ he yelled back. ‘She goes where I go, so do I have your blessing to save your Keep then?’

She turned and looked at Josette. ‘You know Goldie is true? We should attack?’ She asked.

‘We have to or all will be lost; the Duchess will know something is wrong soon, they can only delay so long.’ She said back.

‘Fine, do it, I’m going to my room to drink tea.’ She said back, looking daggers at the woman Minsetta, and stormed out of the room, leaving them all in silence.

Minsetta had seen the girl from across the room and her heart had leapt in her chest. She was the one she needed. Clearly Grimm was just a means to get her to this girl. She was young and the rage that radiated from her was blinding. She deported herself well, she smiled and talked reasonably, but Minsetta could see she was a killer who just needed to be pushed in the right way. She’d always had a gift for seeing what people were feeling and she knew this girl had just done some very dark things and felt nothing but pride that she’d done them well.

Grimm had left them alone when she’d asked him to go and get the troops ready, and to clear the rubble from the gateway so they could actually use the main gate when they did form a charge.

‘Come with me, girl, we need to get you ready.’ She said, and taking the redhead girl’s hand she led her out of the room. Elizebetha would be insane with jealousy if she knew she had her fine little weapon alone, but she was in one of her fine sulks.

The girl snatched her hand back. ‘Go where and get ready for what?’ she asked.

Minsetta just smiled at her. ‘This will be your first full battle I’m guessing, so you need a real uniform and you need a bath: you do smell quite badly.’ She said.

The girl Josette actually flushed red when Minsetta said that. This would be easy; she was good at talking to young girls, they always felt like they wished they had her body and confidence.

‘So you killed the Duke? Or Duchess? And how did you do it?’ She asked as she led her to the guards’ quarters, which held a bath and was next to the armoury.

‘I helped the Duke find his death with the help of the black dogs.’ She said. Josette pulled her hand away from the woman’s and stepped behind the screen that stood in front of the bath. It was already hot and poured. She climbed out of her ill-fitting uniform and eased her lean and battered body into the hot water. She almost groaned with pleasure and relief as the hot water found a score of bruises and scrapes and eased them.

‘The black dogs? Really? I’ve always hated those nasty things,’ Minsetta said though the screen.

‘Well, I just pulled for anything that would kill him and they came.’ She said.

‘That’s interesting. Next time, do yourself a favour and just think that you’re a woman who wants to punish a man and you’ll get a woman howler: they are strong, and once you get to know one, they become quite loyal.’ She said as if discussing ingredients to cook a meal.

The girl had a very short bath and was soon back on the other side of the screen draped in a drying sheet. Minsetta looked at her lean young body through the sheet with lust. God, but it had been a long time since she’d touched someone. It felt like years. She pulled her eyes away and led the girl into the armoury. If was filled with weapons, but uniforms as well.

‘I’ll watch the door so no men walk in on you.’ She said.

‘Thanks,’ Josette said. She walked around the room and smiled when she saw it. There was a section of uniforms for archers. She put on her new leather pants, tunic and hooded jacket. They were a bit loose, but she adjusted the ties until they fit tight. Her own weapons would suit her fine. She walked out from the room and stood in front of Minsetta looking a lot more confident.

‘Feel better?’ She asked.

‘I really do, thank you for that; I don’t think Grimm would have even noticed,’ Josette said.

‘I have a favour to ask you,’ Minsetta said, thinking the time was right.

‘What’s that?’ Josette replied with some hesitation.

‘When we win, I will ask you something, and I want you to think about it before you say no.’ She said.

‘That’s it?’

‘That’s it,’ said Minsetta with a smile.

Dierdra sat in the command tent growing more and more impatient. The Bastards were meant to be on the field already, but whenever she sent scouts to find out their progress, they just spoke of them getting ready. She’d never heard of a mercenary force that needed anything more than to pick up their weapons and get into position. They didn’t even need to pack down their camp. Finally, she had sent her two guards to go and fetch the King Bastard so she could yell him into action... he was so useless.

The first of her guards walked back into her tent shortly and she stood. He had a very worried look on his face. ‘You find him?’ She asked.

‘After a fashion,’ the man had replied just as a huge scarred man with a red crest of hair walked into the tent.

He took up a large area of the room and looked every inch the fighter. Huge arms and body, shaved head with a red painted face, and the crest of hair that looked like it was fashioned in blood.

‘And who might you be?’ She asked.

‘You asked to see the King Bastard, so here I am.’ Farirkar said with the slightest of bows.

It was all bad. One, they had obviously changed leaders, and two, this man looked like he could kill her, her two guards, and half a dozen others with his bare hands.

‘And what happened to the old one?’ She asked.

‘Dead by my hand,’ he replied in a cold voice.

‘May I ask why?’ She asked, waiting on his words before she started yelling for the Dark Guards.

‘Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but I’ll tell you. He was weak, he was a talker, and a good one at getting a good price, but if we’re to take the Keep by force, my men wanted someone who actually knew how to use a sword.’

‘So you’ll still fight?’ She said back, slowly relaxing. This man did look like he was no stranger to ending people’s lives.

‘We have a contract and we’ll fulfil it, we’re glad that we can fight and prove ourselves rather than play games.’

‘So why aren’t you on the field then?’ She said back.

‘Just clearing out some cowards and we’ll be there shortly; there will be less of us but we’ll get more done.’

‘How many?’ She asked back.

‘Around 800, more than enough to take that pisspot Keep.’ He said the words and then walked out of the tent without another word.