Elfsorrow

Chapter 28

'Ow! Dammit!' shouted Darrick, jerking his leg at the sudden flare of pain. 'That hurt.'

'I'm really sorry, Darrick, but they won't be persuaded out with softly spoken words,' said Ilkar. 'Now keep still, you broke my concentration.'

'Feels like you broke my leg.'

'Well, I can leave them in there if you'd prefer,' said Ilkar, meeting the Lysternan's gaze in the firelight.

Darrick shook his head. 'What on earth possessed me to join you lot?'

'The glory and excitement,' said The Unknown.

'That'll be it.'

The Raven had stopped for the night before walking to the temple the following morning. They'd endured two days in the dense rainforest which had tested the nerve and patience of them all. Stultifying heat had been punctuated by torrential rain; and the close attentions of seemingly every bug that hopped, crawled, flew or burrowed had been utterly relentless. They'd been tracked by a pack of small wild dogs, had to move their fire pit when an army of ants had chosen their site for a route to somewhere, and had interrupted an enormous constrictor devouring a young adult monkey.

It was hard to gauge which had been the most unsettling event so Darrick didn't bother, concentrating instead on Ilkar and his ministrations. He knew what the mage was doing though he could see nothing: targeted needles of mana lancing into his legs to kill the burrowing insects and the eggs they laid. Every tiny wound was cauterised instantly and, with dozens from his ankles to his thighs, Darrick felt like he'd been showered with hot embers.

He felt a little aggrieved too. In the nightly checks that Ilkar insisted the mages carried out, whereas the others had largely escaped the tunnellers, having bites and blisters instead, he seemed to have been singled out. Unsurprisingly, Hirad found his discomfort a source of some amusement.

Rebraal, he'd noticed, had looked on with an expression of knowing mixed with distinct satisfaction. He'd concocted an insect repellent herb drink for them all but it only seemed to help the elves. And Thraun, for some reason. All the other humans needed magical intervention and the three mages were beginning to tire from the drain on their stamina.

'You are sure it's necessary?' said Darrick.

'Darrick, you have no idea what this country can do to you. How sick you will be if these insects' eggs hatch. They'll feed on you until they're big enough to burrow out. Rebraal has immunity. Wonder why they eat you? It's because you haven't.'

'What about the others, are they immune too?'

'No, but you're just a tastier target. At least you haven't got boils behind your knees like Hirad. Just keep using the herbs we give you and remember you won't have to be here for too much longer.'

Darrick knew Ilkar was right. He'd watched Denser and Erienne looking after cuts, blisters and bites under Ilkar's instruction and had his share of the herbs Rebraal made them eat, drink and spread on themselves. Rebraal took no healing save for Erienne's care of his shoulder. He belonged here. The Raven did not.

Not for the first time, Darrick yearned for the camaraderie of his officers, the obedience and respect of his men and the order of his life as a Lysternan soldier. Trouble was, the pull of The Raven was irresistible. Their energy, their delight in the challenges that faced them. And their belief in what kept them alive. The knowledge that they would prevail no matter what. You couldn't bottle it, you had to breathe it. And Darrick had breathed deep.

'Whatever you say, Ilkar.'

Ilkar nodded. 'And I say quiet to let me work.'

And in these acts as much as in battle, Darrick understood The Raven. This was no macho brotherhood of arms. This was a group of people who routinely sacrificed themselves for their own. Because it made them stronger. Simple, really.

That night Darrick slept easier. Erienne's head throbbed. It was an increasing and incessant thump that no spell could diminish. Any energy she had, she spent on keeping The Raven fit. But it was hard. She felt drained and found it ever more difficult to concentrate. Her mind refused to focus clearly.

At the same time the ache didn't feel like an illness. She knew what it meant and that soon she would be unable to deny it any longer. The knowledge crawled within her and she hated it. Loved it. Every pulse brought her fresh memories of Lyanna. They had taken on an unusual clarity in the days since they'd left the village. And they were good, as if her mind was filtering the dark visions. Erienne had her suspicions that the Al-Drechar were feeding both the ache and her memories though, in truth, she hadn't felt them in her mind.

'Are you feeling all right?'

It was The Unknown, with whom she was sharing the early watch. She'd been asleep but the ache in her head had forced her from her hammock. She found the fire comforting, and next to her The Unknown's frame represented total security.

'I'll live,' she said.

'I've been watching you wince,' he said. 'Have you told Denser you're in this much pain?'

Erienne shook his head. 'I've burdened him enough.'

The Unknown chuckled. 'I don't think you could ever overburden Denser.'

'You weren't there. You didn't see the worst.'

'And you think he doesn't understand why, or blames you, or something?'

'Lyanna was his daughter too,' whispered Erienne. And there it was still. The dread feeling of loss that dragged at her soul. It would never go. But at least it didn't threaten to swamp her now.

'Erienne, you've been through something entirely and tragically unique. Don't add guilt to everything else you're forced to endure.'

'I can't help it.' Erienne shrugged.

'But you know he's forgiven your every action. Never blamed you in the first place. We all feel the same.'

'I know.' Erienne gazed at The Unknown in the firelight and recollected her surprise at the sensitivity that existed beneath those hard features. But those eyes that gazed back brimming with compassion and understanding could be so cold.

He was the most brutally effective warrior she'd ever seen. Had been. The smashed hip that had forced him to hang up his trademark two-handed sword must have reduced his effectiveness. On the other hand, looking at the power in his arms and shoulders, she thought he'd compensated. It was easy to see why his enemies feared him and equally easy to know why she and everyone else he cared for loved and trusted him without question.

'I hated the lot of you for forcing me out here. Away from Lyanna.'

Another chuckle. 'Right though, weren't we?'

'I don't know,' said Erienne. 'I can't shift the longing for her. I don't want to.'

She stopped and looked around the quiet campsite – at Denser, Hirad and Ilkar sleeping in hammocks above the teeming life that dredged the forest floor – and she understood again what being with these men meant.

'But you're all with me now, aren't you? All of you.'

'We never left,' said The Unknown.

'I can see when I'm with you,' she said, trying to explain herself.

'That's why you had to leave that place. We were there too but you wouldn't see us.'

'She was my life,' said Erienne.

'And she would have been your death too,' he said.

The words stung but she knew he was right. But they were words she wouldn't have taken from Denser.

'I will never forget her.'

'No one is expecting you to, Erienne,' he said, and turned and covered her hands with his. 'None of us ever will. But you had to get away from Herendeneth. You had to stop fuelling your grief.'

'And that's why I'm here?' Erienne was taken aback, not quite understanding what he was saying.

'No,' said The Unknown. 'Not really. You're here because you're Raven and Ilkar needs you. The Raven needs you. But no one is denying the fortunate circumstance.'

Erienne laughed. 'Fortunate? Is that what you call it? Think I'd have entertained this if I'd known I'd be sleeping above snakes?'

'Think you'd have made that comment ten days ago?'

'No,' said Erienne. 'Gods, what is it about you?'

The Unknown squeezed her hands. 'Simple. We love you. We wouldn't see you come to harm and you were coming to harm on Herendeneth. We understand your pain and we understand you are greater than it. And we all know what you carry inside you.'

Erienne looked into the fire, unable to speak.

'At the risk of sounding like Hirad, this is what The Raven is about,' said The Unknown. 'No one has what we have. You can't explain it but it's why I'll leave my wife and child to do what I must with The Raven, and it's why Diera understands. I hate to sound superior but we are unique. And you're hurting at the moment so you should use us. We expect it. We want it.'

Erienne flung her arms around The Unknown's neck and sobbed into his shoulder. She felt his arms crush her to him even as within her she felt release. She held on for a while, unwilling to leave the security of his embrace.

'Thank you,' she said.

'You don't have to keep it burning inside you.' The Unknown moved her back so he could look into her eyes. 'Let us take some of the weight.'

She nodded, but in her gratitude was the lonely realisation that they couldn't take any of the burden of the One.

'Now I think you should sleep, if that headache will let you. Your stamina reserves are low, aren't they?'

'It'll be a problem before long,' she admitted.

She kissed his cheek and stood up, brushing herself down. Above them, the rain was beginning to fall again. She barely noticed.

'Erienne?'

'Yes?'

'You'll have to let them in, you know. The One isn't going to remain dormant. Only the Al-Drechar can help you with it. Talk to Denser again, all right?'

It was like he saw straight into her mind, finding in there the thing that worried her the most. She gave a tired smile. 'I'll think about it.'

'That's all I ask.'

'Good night, Unknown.'

'Sleep well.' The rain fell for hours until just before dawn but by the time The Raven had eaten a light meal of wild mushrooms and hard bread, they were as dry as the humid conditions would ever allow. Hirad walked at the head of the line on the third morning with The Unknown, just behind Rebraal and Ilkar. The brothers had clearly had another disagreement. The set of both their bodies spoke volumes and Rebraal repeatedly failed to hold branches aside for Ilkar as they moved through an area of forest far more dense than anything they'd encountered so far.

In the trees above them, monkeys called and hooted and birds sang, the songs of a myriad throats mixing to a magical crescendo.

'No one's going to hear us coming, at least,' said Hirad.

'That's why elves don't rely on their ears here,' said Ilkar, who was just ahead at the time. 'If there are elves nearby, chances are they know about us already.'

'And what does Rebraal think?' asked The Unknown.

'He's suddenly decided that we shouldn't have come and that he and the Al-Arynaar are able to handle everything perfectly well on their own.'

'That's not what I asked.'

Ilkar shrugged but he didn't look round. They'd all learned that looking at who you were talking to was the easiest way of sustaining a graze or falling over a root.

'So?' prompted Hirad.

'So, he says the forest has a bad taste to it, that the harmony is damaged and he can't feel what he should. He's not sure what we'll find at the temple and he doesn't know if more Al-Arynaar are close,' said Ilkar.

'And doesn't he think some of his people might not have retaken the temple already?' asked Hirad.

'Apparently the forest wouldn't feel this way if they had,' said Ilkar.

'He's scared, isn't he?' said The Unknown.

Ilkar said nothing but Hirad saw his head nod.

'Then give him some room,' said the big warrior. 'This is his land far more than it is yours. We need him on our side as far as possible.'

Ilkar tensed across the shoulders. 'Thanks for your input, Unknown, but I think I understand my own brother.'

'You are not behaving as if you do.'

The Julatsan didn't respond and The Raven walked on in silence. The large insect bites on the back of Hirad's knees itched and chafed and the constant sweat down his arms wasn't helping the healing of the blisters he still had from his first day rowing. Not enough to worry him if it came to a fight but uncomfortable nonetheless.

After something like two hours of walking, Rebraal brought them to a sudden halt and beckoned them to group around him.

'Close,' he said, pointing forwards. 'Quiet now.'

'Talkative soul, isn't he?' said Hirad.

'Just a little rusty,' responded Ilkar. 'He hasn't had to speak Balaian for three times longer than you've been alive.'

Rebraal scowled and put a finger to his lips. 'Quiet,' he hissed. 'You must um… I lead.' He looked to Ilkar and spoke quickly in elvish.

'He wants you to follow his lead. He says he'll direct us where we need to go.'

'Tell him if there's a combat situation, we'll assess and do things how we think they should be done,' said Hirad. 'You know the way it is.'

Ilkar smiled. 'Anything to antagonise.'

Rebraal hadn't caught the conversation and shook his head when Ilkar translated. Another sharp exchange ensued, ending when Rebraal threw his arms up, stabbed a finger at Ilkar, spoke what sounded like a threat and turned his back on them.

'So he's in full agreement then?' said Hirad.

'I've just tried to explain that we'll listen to him, but when it comes to it we'll decide on any attack or defence tactics. All I would ask is that you don't do anything precipitate. He will be able to perceive threat far better than us and the last thing we need is to start fighting friends. All right?'

Hirad nodded and turned to The Raven. 'Fair enough. But let's assume we need a line before we set off. That means mages to the rear of the group now. Everyone knows their places. Ren, keep your bow handy and stay behind the sword line. We can protect you there.'

Swords drawn, The Raven moved off behind the sullen Rebraal and it was immediately evident that the elf had a new purpose about him. They thought he'd been moving quickly before but now he glided through the forest ahead, his feet sure, his passage obviously quiet even given the din of life surrounding them.

Hirad tried as best he could to mimic his movements, keeping low, head flicking from ground to directly ahead continuously. He felt a thrill course through him as they advanced. He had no idea exactly what lay twenty yards ahead, let alone at the temple, but his excitement at the thought of action drove him on. He felt himself detach from the world outside The Raven and his senses took on the clarity a warrior needed to survive the fight.

He could smell the sharpness of the plant life around him, the sweetness of fruit. He could hear their footsteps and their breathing and he could see a path where none had been before, obscured as it had been by his untrained eyes. But he never took his gaze from Rebraal for more than a few heartbeats. The Al-Arynaar was the barometer for what lay immediately ahead. He took them across a crudely hacked path and back into the forest, turned to his right, entered a small clearing and stopped dead. Behind him, Hirad held up a hand and The Raven were still.

Rebraal turned briefly, took them all in, one of his eyebrows perhaps edging up very slightly. Hirad looked down at his feet. He was standing on a human bone.

'I can hear nothing,' Rebraal whispered. 'Follow. Slow.'

He set off again, Hirad and The Unknown in his footprints, Aeb, Darrick and Thraun close by and just in front of Ren and the mages. The slightest murmuring was heard as mana shapes were formed. Slowly, slowly, the vegetation began to thin and the building that loomed out of the forest was enough to take the breath away.

A great green-gold dome rose, partly covered in liana, lichens and mosses. It was a huge structure that should have been completely at odds with its surroundings yet somehow fitted them perfectly. Harmony, supposed Hirad.

That there was much wrong, though, was evident in Rebraal's reaction to the place he apparently knew so well. He waved them hurriedly to a stop, crouched low to look either side of some obstruction, ducking his head this way and that, and finally stood and strode away.

'Rebraal!' called Ilkar, and broke position.

'Get back in line, Ilkar,' ordered The Unknown.

Ilkar complied immediately but Ren, right behind him, did not listen.

'Ren!' barked The Unknown, but she had gone on after Ilkar's brother.

'Raven, form up,' said Hirad. 'Let's get after that idiot.'

All pretence at silence was gone. Ahead of them, Rebraal was calling to someone, his elvish urgent and strained. The Raven came on, slicing away vegetation, revealing more and more of the temple as they advanced, Ren in front, calling Rebraal's name, her bow slack in her hands.

'HardShield up,' said Erienne.

'SpellShield up,' said Ilkar.

Secure, Hirad began a trot, The Unknown to his left and just ahead of him, Darrick to his right. Aeb and Thraun ran the other side of the big man. They burst into the stone apron clearing in front of the temple a few paces behind Ren, who had stuttered to a stop.

'Get behind me now!' roared Hirad.

The elf started and began to back off, head switching to either side. Rebraal was in the centre of the apron, walking slowly towards the temple doorway which was closed by rough wooden planking. From both sides of the apron and from behind the temple, elves were emerging.

Hirad stopped The Raven.

'Check left,' he said.

'Twenty targets,' said Aeb instantly. 'More probably in shadow.'

'Check right,' said the barbarian.

'Similar,' said Darrick. 'Bows and swords.'

'Be calm,' said Ilkar, voice quiet with concentration on his spell. 'They're Al-Arynaar.'

'I'm taking no chances,' said Hirad. 'Keep focussed, Raven. Move slowly. Keep them in front of us if you can.' Ren took her place in the line under Hirad's glare. 'Never again or you walk.'

'But-'

'Later.' Hirad cut across her protest and returned his attention to the situation in front of them.

The Al-Arynaar – there were over thirty of them on the apron now – were clearly confused by what they saw. Their anger at the strangers in their midst was obvious enough but it was tempered by the sight of Rebraal. Hirad shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had he not been there. He'd had no inkling the elves were there until they appeared from the shadows. All that bothered him now was that they might decide Rebraal was an escaped captive. Shields or not, he didn't fancy taking on this lot.

'Rebraal?' he called.

The elf held up a hand. 'Quiet.' But he looked round and the suggestion of a smile crossed his face. His next words were in elvish and Hirad heard Ilkar's name mentioned.

'Shield down,' said Ilkar, and moved out from the line, stopping in front of Hirad. 'Keep your guard up but don't be aggressive. There's no magic here but I'd keep the HardShield up if I were you. Some of them look a little twitchy.'

'Be careful,' said Hirad. 'You're vulnerable.'

'I'll be standing next to my brother,' said Ilkar, but he didn't appear convinced himself.

'Yes, and not us.'

Ilkar nodded and walked onto the apron, Al-Arynaar eyes following him all the way. All Hirad could do was watch. Rebraal spoke quickly to an Al-Arynaar who had come forward to embrace him. He indicated Ilkar, gestured at The Raven and at the temple. Hirad saw him nodding, then start violently before running to the temple door, Ilkar right behind him.

The Raven took an automatic pace forward. The elves moved across the apron, blocking their route to the temple. Hirad held up a hand to calm them. He could see the hate dripping from some of their faces, the desire to kill clear in every gaze, the grip on every weapon and the intent in every stance. Perhaps fifty stood before them now. Too many.

From within the temple Hirad heard an anguished cry. Shouting echoed out into the forest. The rough doors were pulled aside and Rebraal came storming out, Ilkar pacing beside him, voice raised, talking into his ear. But Rebraal wasn't hearing whatever it was Ilkar was saying.

'Trouble,' said Ren.

'What's he saying?' asked Hirad, not turning.

'Something's been damaged in there. The statue. Rebraal's blaming every stranger. That includes you.'

The tension spiralled. The Al-Arynaar bunched and moved forward as Rebraal and Ilkar passed them. Arrows were nocked, belt pouches unclasped and swords raised.

'Ready, Raven,' said Hirad. 'Don't strike first. Block away. Denser, you got something that doesn't involve fire?'

'Plenty,' said the Xeteskian. 'I'm ready.'

Rebraal's face betrayed the blindness in his mind. He was pushing Ilkar away but the Julatsan kept on coming back, casting very anxious glances at The Raven. A handful of paces in front of them, with the Al-Arynaar bearing down, Ilkar got between Rebraal and his targets, shoved his brother back and snapped out a stream of elvish that stopped him a moment.

Hirad knew enough to realise it was a challenge.

'Raven,' he began.

'Stay there,' said Ilkar. 'Trust me.'

'Unknown?' asked Hirad.

'Be ready.'

The Unknown's blade tapped on the stone in front of him, sending a chilling toll across the open space while his mind cleared for battle.

Ilkar grabbed the flaps of his own leather jerkin and pulled them apart, daring Rebraal to kill him. Hirad watched Rebraal's eyes narrow, heard his words grate out and saw his gesture ordering Ilkar aside. Ilkar shook his head. Laid down the same challenge again. One word Hirad heard this time as clear as a bell at dawn. Raven.

The brothers stared at each other. Rebraal's eyes didn't flinch and didn't blink. The forest around them faded in Hirad's consciousness. All he could hear was the sound of The Unknown's sword tapping on stone, all he could see were the two elves in a stand-off that would decide The Raven's fate. He felt a drip of sweat run down his back and gripped his sword tighter, aware of his slick palm.

In front of him Ilkar was perfectly still, his nerve not faltering. He spoke again, quietly now into the relative silence. His words carried utter determination. Rebraal said nothing in response but there was a flicker across his face. He glanced briefly at The Raven, back to Ilkar and nodded once, curtly, before spinning on his heel and taking the Al-Arynaar into the temple.

Ilkar turned to The Raven, his face pale but a smile spreading across his face.

'Thank you,' he said. 'We're safe for now.'

'Shield down,' said Erienne.

The Raven surrounded Ilkar. He was shaking now and he put his face in his hands.

'Oh Gods, it's bad,' he said.

'What is?' asked Hirad.

'Give me a moment,' said Ilkar.

'What have they gone to do?' asked Hirad, flicking his head at the departed Al-Arynaar.

'Pray,' said Ilkar. 'And if you had any sense, you'd be doing the same.'