Ravensoul

Chapter 38

Sol stared at their silhouettes and felt a keen sadness. ‘Why are you here?’ he said. ‘You didn’t have to be here.’

‘It is ever the way,’ said Auum. ‘The TaiGethen serve Yniss in whatever realm we are most needed.’

‘But your sacrifice-’

‘Is no greater than your own in any event. And we do not consider it so.’

‘But you can never go back,’ said Sol. ‘You are dead, like me. Like all of us here.’

‘But our work does not cease. We are Ynissul, servants of God. I have been alive for thousands of years. Now is my greatest challenge. ’ Auum chuckled. ‘You are feeling guilt.’

Sol nodded. ‘Because I am glad that you are here. And that means I am glad that you are dead.’

‘Then do not think of it in those terms. Consider that together we have a greater chance of saving both our peoples.’

‘That I can do.’

The dead crowded the corridor, which was no wider or higher than fifteen feet at any point thus far. All of Balaia’s returned dead were thronging along it, most in a desperate hurry to reach Ulandeneth. The Raven and Auum’s Tai were behind the mass by some distance now and moving with growing unease.

Sol was finding the physical laws that bound the corridor very disconcerting. The corridor itself was like walking over a huge sponge. The floor had little tension to it. It was the same if you pressed a wall. But there was no imperative to walk as such; with an effort of will it was entirely possible to float above the floor and in whatever attitude you chose, and move with no apparent motive force.

Hirad had been keen to demonstrate his skills in the area until Sol had worked out that he could also, with another effort of will, give him a thump in what had once been his gut. And it still hurt, which was completely bizarre.

‘You know what really rankles with me?’ Sol said. ‘It’s that even though I’m dead, I’ve still got things to learn. Worse than that, things Hirad already knows, which is a first.’

He didn’t look at any of the others because to do so made him feel intensely sad. He had come to terms with the fact that each of them was represented by what was in effect a silhouette picked out in varying shades of bright grey. But what he couldn’t get over was that, though outlines were recognisable, when any of them turned to him, all he could see was a blank canvas where a face ought to be.

‘But this is not true death,’ said Auum.

‘How do you work that out?’

‘Until all physical manifestations are cast aside and the soul rests in eternal bliss, death cannot have truly occurred.’

‘Yet we cannot go back.’

‘No, Sol, we cannot, but there is a place between life and death, and this is it,’ said Ilkar. ‘We all came back down something not dissimilar when the Garonin ripped open our resting place.’

‘You’re telling me you were genuinely alive back on Balaia in those alternative bodies.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said Ilkar. ‘How else would you describe it?’

‘Possession,’ said Sol. ‘To us, you were you all right but walking dead nonetheless.’

‘Charming,’ said Sirendor.

They moved in silence for a while. Sol watched the mass of the dead moving further and further ahead of them. They had become an amorphous bright blob. Sol wished he had some reference to work out how far they were ahead. All he could come up with was: out of easy reach to feel in his soul comfortably.

‘There’s so many things I’m not getting about all this,’ said Sol.

‘And that surprises you, does it?’ asked Sirendor. ‘I mean, you are dead. Lots to take in and all that.’

‘Just ignore him and tell me what’s bothering you,’ said Ilkar.

‘Well, for starters, why is there distance here? I thought all travel was instantaneous between dimensions and that being dead was a seamless transition.’

‘Can’t believe everything you read.’

‘Shut up, Hirad. I’ve thought about this one, and it’s easy really. We aren’t travelling between dimensions. We’re outside anything we know, both when we were cast out of our rest and right now. Ulandeneth is a place that exists beyond our sphere of comprehension. Sorry, that sounds lame, doesn’t it, but it’s all I can come up with.’

‘It’ll do, Ilkar, thanks. But given I accept that, then what are all the other dead doing here? We’re here because we’re hoping to find new lands beyond Ulandeneth, though God knows how that’ll manifest itself. Where do they think they’re going?’

‘You forget that the reason any of us came back was ultimately to get all the living to leave, admittedly knowing that at least one of you had to lay down his life to open the first door,’ said Ilkar. ‘And now it is open and the path to salvation is ahead. I know there is no end at the moment but you must understand that the pull of this corridor is incredibly strong for a returned dead soul. Far too strong to resist if you are clinging on to a possessed body. It is what we want. The relief from pain alone makes it worth the risk.’

‘What risk?’ asked Sol.

‘That this goes nowhere but oblivion,’ said Thraun.

‘Right. Well, leaving that aside for now, can someone tell me why we aren’t travelling at greater speed? Presumably, we can go as fast as we can will ourselves. This is a snail’s pace, is it not? And we are anticipating trouble. How in all the hells do we repel it?’

Ilkar didn’t get the chance to respond. Hirad’s silhouette flashed a deep gold rimmed with warm red.

‘Company,’ said Hirad.

Sol tensed.

‘Who?’ asked Sirendor.

‘Take a look.’

Hirad’s silhouette arm gestured at the translucent walls of the passageway. Sol stared into the maelstrom without. Grey-, white-and gold-flecked brown. A chaos of light and dark, swirling and racing. He shuddered to think of the forces at play out there, beyond the flimsy barrier.

For a while he saw nothing but the void. A ghostly wing, there and gone. The merest glimpse of a long, sinuous neck. A trailing tail, lost in the roiling space. And then there, flying by their sides, beneath them and above them, Kaan dragons. Dozens, a hundred maybe, cruising the walls of the passage, spiralling around it, enclosing it in a solid wall of dragon scale.

‘We are come,’ rumbled Sha-Kaan, his voice reverberating along the corridor.

Ahead Sol heard screams and saw the mass of the dead pack even more tightly together and increase their speed. He tasted their fear as if it were his own.

‘We will not harm you. We have come to protect you.’

Sha-Kaan’s voice stilled the panic as surely as day follows night. Now, Sol heard chatter and cheers and he felt a surge of relief that suffused his entire being. It felt wonderful, and reminiscent of a life long past.

‘Oh yes, forgot to mention that. Emotionally, you’ll find we are all very close indeed,’ said Ilkar.

‘Thanks for the warning, but this one I think I can handle. The Soul Tank gave the same sense of togetherness to the Protectors.’

‘The Garonin are close,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘Already, we have fought them out here. They are attracted to the mass of mana within, just as I am attracted by the touch of your mind, Hirad.’

‘Good to feel you too, Great Kaan.’

‘Let us make sure this ends well. The Garonin will try to breach the corridor. We will do what we can. But you must also be ready.’

‘What can we do?’ asked Sol.

‘You will know.’

Multiple flares of light erupted outside a little way further along the corridor. Sol heard dragons roaring. Sha-Kaan beat his wings and was gone. The walls wobbled under a collision. Above their heads Sol saw a Garonin soldier bounce and roll, his body a mass of flame. A dragon’s jaws came down on him, ending his pain.

‘It begins,’ pulsed Sha-Kaan. ‘Fight hard.’

Hirad was already pulling at Sol’s arm.

‘We need to catch up with the rest,’ he said.

‘What will we do?’

‘Come on, it’s where the fight will play out.’

The Raven quintet and Auum’s Tai soared away down the corridor. Sol forced himself to believe it could be done, and with every passing moment he found it easier to follow them. He shook off Hirad’s arm.

‘I’m all right,’ he said.

He was certain Hirad was smiling. Seeing his face would have brought great comfort. The thousands of dead were moving as fast as their combined mass would allow. The corridor bulged as they pressed on. Outside, there were flashes like a cloud shot through with lightning. He heard solid thuds and saw the crowd swaying right, a shoal of fish trying to dodge a predator.

‘They’ve landed!’ called Hirad. ‘We have to stop them. Sol, it’s you we need.’

‘Why? I don’t understand?’

‘You are the free soul,’ said Auum, close by. ‘You bind us all just as you bind this place.’

Sol tried to stay calm and he forged ahead. Flame splayed across the corridor. There was a scrabble of claws and the shape of a dragon’s tail stabbed down almost to the heads of the dead. Sol looked right. A limp body, huge and lifeless, its wings shredded, spiralled away and was lost to sight.

‘Dear Gods burning.’

Lines of harsh white light appeared on the wall of the corridor. They spread quickly, looking like a lattice of ice across a window. The wall hardened around them. Flame beat down in the same place. Garonin soldiers cried out. The light flickered briefly but was not extinguished.

‘Move!’ shouted Hirad from somewhere ahead. ‘Move, keep going.’

The wall exploded inwards and Garonin soldiers entered the corridor on the wings of a hurricane. The noise was incredible. A harrowing whistle and a roaring gale in one. Dead near the breach were sucked out into the void. Garonin waded though the masses, striking out with the instruments they held in both hands. And where they struck, bright grey silhouettes faded quickly to black and then were gone.

Everything was being dragged towards the breach. The void was inhaling and it meant to capture them all. Flame lashed across the tear. Sol saw Auum, Ghaal and Miirt’s silhouettes flash by him and slap into a Garonin soldier. Auum’s hand came back across the enemy’s neck and his head parted company from his body.

The shocking sight brought Sol hope and understanding. He let the gale take him and he threw himself forward, arms outstretched. They plunged into the chest of his target and he felt his hands squeeze the enemy’s heart. Hirad and Sirendor were flying together. Sol saw them crash into the midst of the dead and he saw a Garonin flattened against the far wall, rebound from it and be sucked from the corridor.

The gale intensified. Garonin still came through. Braced against something Sol couldn’t sense, Auum, his Tai and Thraun waited to pounce. The dead were racing away up the corridor with Hirad and Sirendor in pursuit of the enemy amongst them. Silhouettes faded with hideous regularity.

‘The breach!’ called Auum from across the other side of it. ‘Sol, close it.’

Auum thrust his hand deep into the skull of a Garonin soldier and flung his lifeless body back into the path of others coming through. Ghaal, clutching one side of the tear, evaded a flailing weapon and smashed his free hand into the gut of another, tearing out entrails as he pulled it clear.

Sol dived for the breach. Here, the howl of the wind was extraordinary. Its pull was immensely powerful. Sol was dragged towards it off balance. He collided with a flapping section of wall and grabbed hold. A Garonin weapon swung towards him. Miirt’s hand clamped on the enemy’s wrist, squeezing and crushing the bone inside to dust. The Garonin screamed. Thraun completed the kill.

Sol looked at the breach. He could taste the chaos. He could feel his soul drawn to it. He reached out a shadow hand and touched the wall at the top of the breach. The two sides flowed together beneath his hand. Sha-Kaan had been right. This felt as natural as waking in the morning. A Garonin soldier thrust his upper body through the breach. Sol drew his hand quickly down. The wall knitted seamlessly together, snipping the enemy neatly in half.

The wind died but further along they could hear another tear being made.

‘No rest,’ said Auum. ‘Not yet.’

Sol stared at his hand very briefly but could see nothing at all. He angled his body and flew on forward.

Fyn-Kaan took the full force of the concerted fire across his belly. The scales split and his body was torn apart. Sha-Kaan roared fury. He plunged through the gore being scattered into space and unleashed flame across the corridor. Five Garonin were reduced to charred remains. He angled his wing and turned along the length of the corridor. In three more places, the Garonin were forcing breaches. He called flank dragons to him and ploughed along the surface, his claws ahead of his body and his neck arched to strike.

Garonin turned their weapons and fired. White tears spanned the space and thudded into Sha-Kaan’s wings and chest. He did not flinch. Snapping his neck forward he snatched two soldiers in his jaws and bit down with all his prodigious strength. The feel of bone cracking was satisfying. He spat out the remains. With another beat of his wings, he was onto more of them. His claws tore into armour, which flashed white uselessly as it was ripped aside.

Sensing danger, Sha-Kaan flipped his left wing and climbed sharply away from the corridor. A thick column of light slammed into it where he had been, searing the wing and left-hand side of one of his flankers. The dragon mourned as it fluttered away into the void, out of control and spinning to its death. The corridor was undamaged though within, the panic of the dead was evident.

Sha-Kaan sensed Hirad and his people in the heart of the fight. He pulsed to the Kaan to support him. He turned away, arcing up and left in a long looping curve that brought him above the Garonin vydosphere, which was hanging in space, loosing its huge bolts of energy and launching its teams of soldiers.

He circled while others joined him. Ten in all came to his call. Enough to do the work.

‘They will sense us,’ he warned. ‘Loose formation, flame and claw. Pass quickly and turn sharply. Give them no target.’

He felt the warmth of their understanding.

‘The Dragonene must survive or our melde will fail and with it the Kaan Brood. We must not let that happen.’

‘We hear you, Great Kaan.’

Sha-Kaan tucked his wings into his body and dived. He stretched his neck out straight before him and his tail moved gently behind him, a rudder to keep him on course. The gales of inter-dimensional space clashed and pulled. Eddies appeared, strong enough to suck even a dragon off course.

He breathed in the purity of the air and let his flame ducts open. The vydosphere was taut but not bulging, a machine taken from its former task before time to come here and counter a genuine threat to the Garonin. Sha-Kaan felt satisfaction in that. This race that knew no enemies beyond its own dimension threatened by frail, primitive humans. Complacency. An enemy the Kaan had known in their past.

Kaan dragons were widely spaced about him. Below, left, right and behind. Sha-Kaan flew in close to the skin of the vydosphere. He saw streams of white tears pouring out from its underside. He opened his mouth and breathed. Flame spewed onto the skin, bubbling and melting it. Joints buckled and small sections twisted up, gouting steam into the void. He let his wings and body smash through antennae and funnels, feeling them bend and snap against his bulk.

In two beats of his wings, he was past the machine. He angled sharply down. Kaan were taking terrible damage from the weapons on the carriage slung beneath it. One of his brothers lost a wing, sheared off near the root. Another’s head was destroyed, taking a thick beam of light square on.

Sha-Kaan dived hard, spread his wings and executed a sharp U-turn. A wounded membrane protested but held. The carriage was directly above him. White tears streamed from all sides. A Kaan dragon was caught in two bursts, his body rippling with the fire and his wings ablaze.

‘No more,’ pulsed Sha-Kaan. ‘Clear and retreat.’

Sha-Kaan forced his body up. He beat his wings hard and fast. The Garonin could not see him, searching as they were for the Kaan just departed back to the corridor. He closed on the carriage, saw it looming large. With a final beat of his wings, he swung his body around. His hind claws and huge bulk slammed into the base of the carriage.

The force of his impact bent metal, splintered glass and shattered strut and fixing plate. The whole vydosphere was shunted upwards. Garonin were thrown into the void, snatched away without the means to save themselves. Sha-Kaan whipped his tail into the structure again and again, feeling parts of it weaken under the blows. His head snaked in, biting down on man and machine, tearing anything loose away and spitting it into the maelstrom.

Here and there, Garonin clung on to whatever they could. One brought a weapon to bear. The white tears caught Sha-Kaan on the side of the face, burning his scales away just beneath his eye. He roared his pain, snapped his jaws in and took the head from his tormentor.

He let go his claws and fell away, looking back to see what he had achieved. The vydosphere was drifting without apparent control. No more weapon fire came from it. Steam and smoke was pouring from gashes and holes in its skin. Funnels hung from its sides. Two Kaan dragons, standing off while Sha-Kaan attacked, flew in now, their flame encasing the front of the machine. The entire section collapsed inwards. The Kaan beat up at a steep angle. Sha-Kaan flipped his body and drove away, feeling the force of the explosion across his broad back.

‘Seek more,’ he pulsed to his Brood. ‘You know what to do.’

Sha-Kaan saw the corridor in all its glory as he approached. A strand of light that stretched as far as he could see in either direction. A beacon of hope for man, elf and dragon, an icon of fear for their enemies. The single gossamer filament of a spider’s web, shining through the swirling chaos of light and dark. Within it the dead still moved and the Garonin still stole the mana from them. And The Raven still fought.

The journey would soon be at an end. In the distance an ethereal light could be seen. Ulandeneth, the elves called it. The top of the world in dragon lore, where no single term could describe it. The Kaan could not help them in there. In there they would either believe or they would fail.

And the fate of all would be decided.