Ravensoul

Chapter 47

Hirad watched helpless while the Garonin slaughtered the Protectors. Erienne’s shield had strengthened. The images had changed away from her personal torment, leaving her free to concentrate, with Thraun acting as strength and comfort right by her. But the cost had been savage and was worsening.

The Garonin had materialised in huge numbers just too far away for the Protectors to reach. Their only course was to try and get back inside the shield. The white tears spoke another outcome. Protectors were hurled forward. Backs of skulls were crushed in. Holes were punched through chests and legs were blasted from beneath strong bodies.

Hirad could see Ark, and now Aeb, running headlong. Arms pumping, weapons flashing in the glare of the tears. Fire was back on the shield too, rattling and fizzing, reminding Erienne of the grim task before her. Garonin closed in on all sides. He could even hear weapons fire behind the edifice now, blasting through the stone, leaching away the belief of every soul still yet to cross home.

‘Be ready, Raven! Steady, Erienne. Sirendor, looking forward.’ Hirad’s voice couldn’t cover that of Ilkar. The elf so recently disappeared was plainly back amongst them and he was raving about something. ‘Ilkar! Drop the speech. Get casting.’

‘No! You don’t understand. Well you do but you don’t. Gods drowning, what am I saying? You lot only believe so far. I see it now. I see everything. We are just spirits. They cannot even touch us if we don’t believe they can. They only hurt us because that is what we expect! Listen to me. They cannot break us. They cannot!’

‘We haven’t time for this, Ilks. If you believe, cast something to help us.’

Hirad never took his eyes from the Protectors. White tears splashed against the few that remained. Less than fifty. A masked man fell against Aeb’s legs, bringing him down. Ark stopped to drag him clear. Fire splashed across Aeb’s body, tearing it apart where he lay. Ark ran on. The few ran through the barrier, stopped, turned and faced.

The mass of the Garonin surged at them.

‘Listen to me, Gods drowning, listen!’

‘Cast, Ilkar you bastard. Just cast!’

‘All right, I will.’

Hirad drew a deep breath and picked his first target. He dared a glance left and right. The line was solid but there was precious little in reserve. The TaiGethen held the flanks by the edifice. The Raven warrior trio had the centre with Protectors filling the gaps in between. The Garonin came through the shield.

Darrick fenced a weapon aside. He found a gap in the enemy defence and slid his sword up under his arm. The soldier fell. The one behind him opened fire. White tears splattered against the shield. He closed, still firing.

Hirad tore into the Garonin ahead of him. He batted away a weapon, smashed his fist high into the soldier’s faceplate and dashed the pommel of his sword into the side of his helmet. The soldier fell. Hirad leapt over him.

The Protector line struck their targets. Hirad felt the power. Axes came down in unison. Blood sprayed into the ivory sky. Swords flashed through. The Garonin juddered to a temporary standstill. The Protectors stepped up, still just inside the shield. Hirad saw an axe remove the arm of one Garonin. He saw that same axe turn out to block a thrust to a brother Protector. And he saw the Protector lose his head to a stream of white tears as it moved a fraction beyond safety.

‘The line’s not going to hold,’ shouted Darrick.

The earth shook just beyond Erienne’s shield. Garonin broke off and stepped back. The Protectors stopped as one. Hirad looked out over the juddering landscape while beneath his feet he could feel nothing at all. He glanced over his shoulder. Ilkar was casting. He watched the elven mage stare out over the Garonin and raise his hands from by his sides.

The ground of Ulandeneth heaved. Mighty spears of rock thrust up, spilling Garonin to either side. High the walls of bedrock climbed, and between them hundreds of enemy soldiers were standing and staring. The ivory mountains shuddered to a halt, loose pebbles running from their impossibly smooth surfaces. For a heartbeat the battle ceased.

Ilkar clapped his hands.

Hirad fell back a pace and had to turn his head away. The dread thump of the low mountains coming together was augmented in his imagination by the crunch of bones. Enemies, yes, but snuffed out so coldly. Surviving Garonin were too stunned to react for a moment. Above, the sky had returned to its bland ivory. Hirad turned to face Ilkar. The elf’s hands were still clasped together. The clap they had made had been heard across Ulandeneth.

‘That was some trick for an elf who can’t see a way.’

‘What did I tell you? They cannot beat us.’

But outside the survivors reformed. Still over a hundred remained. They scattered themselves across the front of the shield, raised their weapons and ran.

‘Ilkar, we need another of those.’

‘No time. Just believe what I say.’

‘Ilkar. A shield,’ said Sol. ‘I need Erienne. And I need Hirad.’

The Garonin breached Erienne’s shield. White tears flared across the space. Protectors fell. Darrick took a bolt across his left shoulder. Sirendor ducked and flailed his weapon. Hirad swayed and jabbed out, deflecting a weapon which fired high and wide.

‘No time, Unknown!’ he called.

‘Make time.’

‘Shield up,’ said Ilkar.

Hirad was plucked away.

‘Unknown, no!’

‘It is our last chance. The Garonin will break us eventually. We have to complete the job and hide the door from them. First we need every soul to cross. Thousands are coming in from the void, heading for rest. Now we need the living to join them. Erienne will bring Densyr. You will bring my family.’

Sol’s voice was like a warm cloak about Hirad’s shoulders. He could sense Erienne but could not see her, and if he looked at all, he could see nothing but a blurred mess all around him.

‘Why me?’

‘Why do you think she named our son Hirad?’

‘Thought that was your idea.’

‘No.’

‘She’ll want it to have been you she saw, big man.’

‘You’ll understand why I cannot move.’

The Unknown’s voice was leaden. Hirad felt his regret as if it was his own.

‘It’s probably for the best,’ said Hirad.

‘I can think of no scenario where that would be true. Just tell them I’ll be watching over them always.’

The blur coalesced. Hirad and Erienne were standing in the ruins of Xetesk. Diera, the boys and Denser were running towards them. The wolves had peeled off and were harrying three Garonin, keeping them away. Both animals were badly wounded. Neither would last long.

Denser could feel her before she appeared before them. The four of them were running towards a temporary haven in the ruins of the refectory. Garonin still prowled the grounds of the college but the vydospheres were gone, snatched away to some other task.

Erienne stood with Hirad. Warmth flowed out from them. Diera and the boys saw The Raven duo too. Diera slithered to a stop, young Hirad still on her back. Jonas walked towards Hirad, sword still in his hands.

‘Hello, Jonas.’

‘You’re like that painting at our inn. How can you be here?’

‘It’s a long story. Your father sent me. But I’m here to show you to your new home. You, Hirad and your mother. Reach out to me; let me take you there.’

Jonas turned to Diera.

‘Mother?’

She looked up and there was joy in her face despite the tears. ‘Why isn’t he here?’

Hirad smiled. ‘He’s busy making sure every soul that ever was gets safely to the other side. You know The Unknown.’

Diera smiled. ‘Yes, I do.’

‘And he says he’ll be watching over you, keeping you safe.’

‘He actually means it, doesn’t he?’ said Diera.

‘You know, I think he does.’

‘Time for you to come too, my love,’ said Erienne.

‘Yeah, Xetesk-man. Get over here and feel my spectral boot in your arse for all the crap things you did.’

But Denser shook his head, suddenly certain of his path. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘What?’ Erienne and Hirad spoke together.

‘Not because of you, Hirad. I never was scared of you, not really. But there’ll be so many people left here, people that won’t cross over. So much work to be done if we are to rebuild anything of our former selves. And all without the aid of magic now.’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Erienne.

‘I’ve never been surer about anything,’ said Denser, and he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. ‘I can’t abandon those who cannot leave.’

Erienne nodded. ‘The words of a true leader of men. You’ll make a fine king, Denser. I’m proud of you.’

‘Not a king. Never that.’

Hirad chuckled. ‘Good job. Come on, you lot. Time to go.’

Denser watched the three of them reach out to Hirad and disappear. Hirad nodded to him.

‘I’m glad, Denser. You’ve restored my faith in you. Something I didn’t think you could do. Never mind your college trappings. This is a destiny you can make all for yourself.’

‘I’ll do my best.’

Hirad vanished, leaving Erienne standing in the light alone.

‘I will never cease to love you,’ said Denser. ‘Or our daughter.’

Erienne smiled, blew him a kiss and was gone. Denser looked about him.

‘Interesting decision,’ he said. ‘Thoroughly thought through. Hero, king or utter fool. Time will surely tell.’

Denser ducked into the refectory ruins as a Garonin soldier thumped past his hiding place. He could still hear the wolves but they were distant now, perhaps chasing Thraun’s soul. He hoped so.

The Lord of the Mount watched the Garonin soldier march away.

‘Right. Well, best get started.’

The Garonin were amongst them.

‘How long, Sol?’ asked Ilkar. He had kept his shield up against the few enemies who remained outside but increasingly he felt it to be a waste of time.

‘You’ll know,’ said Sol.

‘We could do with the others. Why won’t everyone see what I see?’

‘They are coming. And your time is soon.’

Sirendor and Darrick fought back to back. Darrick’s left arm hung useless at his side. He was sweating heavily and struggling to keep up his defence. But there was no doubting his courage. He jabbed and fenced, keeping enemies busy while Sirendor killed with his trademark stylish efficiency. The remaining Protectors held the line as solidly as they could but were being worn down inexorably.

Around them, the TaiGethen were a blur of ruthless murder. Every time a Garonin soldier got inside the shield, a TaiGethen was on him before he had gone five paces. Yet Ilkar could not relax. Surely the enemy were being snuffed out and indeed it did seem their numbers were thinning beyond the shield. Ilkar, though, felt the approach of something bad.

Garonin soldiers broke through on the right again. Four of them. Thraun barked a warning and leapt. White tears tracked him, searing across his flank. With a yelp, Thraun crashed to the ground and slid against the side of the edifice. His body heaved and smoked, shuddering its last.

Auum was already running, Evunn with him. The two TaiGethen rolled under streams of white tears flashing over their heads and into the backs of two helpless Protectors. Auum surged up and left the ground, going two-footed at the nearest enemy. Evunn made to do likewise, but at that moment Erienne and Hirad dropped back into the melee.

Evunn collided with the pair of them and all three tumbled and rolled. In front of them the Garonin could not believe his luck. His weapon discharged. Evunn was caught by the stream of energy and his body blew apart, spattering gore in all directions.

The Garonin hurdled his fallen body and raced towards Sol. Auum downed his man, turned and gave chase. Hirad was getting to his feet. Two other Garonin faced him. He had nowhere to run. Below him Erienne had begun to cast but would not make it.

Time slowed for Ilkar. Him again. He could stop the lone Garonin. Possibly. But the consequence was stark. Move and attack and lose the shield keeping the remaining fire from the defenders. Enough fire to wipe them all out. He heard Sol’s last words repeat in his head.

‘Now or never,’ he said. Ilkar drove to his feet and dived headlong at the onrushing Garonin. ‘Shield down! Shield down!’

White tears lashed into the open space. Protector, Raven and elf alike threw themselves to the ground. Ilkar prayed they all survived but knew they could not. His outstretched hand snagged the ankle of the Garonin. The soldier, in mid-run, sprawled to the ground. Ilkar scrambled up and dived on top of him as he tried to get back to his feet. White tears smashed all around him, ripping chunks out of the edifice but keeping well away from Sol, who held the door open, helpless to stop what came at him.

The Garonin shoved Ilkar off. Ilkar rolled and rose. The Garonin was on his feet too. Ilkar got in front of him. The Garonin raised his weapon. He fired.

‘Ilkar!’ Hirad was screaming at him. ‘No!’

The white tears flowed into Ilkar’s body. He spread his arms wide and he laughed.

‘See me, Garonin? See me? You cannot hurt me. You do not know how. I have mastered you. I understand. Raven. TaiGethen. Listen to me.’

The Garonin ceased firing and made to sweep Ilkar aside. Ilkar raised a hand and clamped it under the chin of the soldier, holding him off while his blows slid from Ilkar’s body.

‘They can only do to you what you expect them to do. What you believe they can do. They cannot hurt me. You, my enemy, cannot hurt me. But I can hurt you.’

From Ilkar’s hand the flame was the bright yellow of Julatsa and hot enough to melt metal. It scoured into the Garonin’s neck. His armour buckled beneath Ilkar’s hand. Ilkar closed it into a fist, crushing his neck like a twig, dropped the Garonin and walked into the midst of the white fire, letting it slam into his body, feeling nothing but an intense satisfaction.

‘This is us, Raven! We are spirits. We are souls. We cannot be killed because we are already dead. Let them fear us. They cannot hurt us but they know that we can hurt them. They are real. They bleed. They die. For us it is only memories.

‘Rout them! Rout them!’

Ilkar ran at the nearest Garonin. He saw the soldier flinch, take his hand off his weapon and take a pace back. Behind him, he heard Hirad roar:

‘Come on, you fuckers! Fight us now, eh?’

Raven, Protector and TaiGethen took up the cry. The Garonin were swamped. Armour could not deflect blades. Punches found their mark. Blood was spilled. Garonin blood. And though the fire still came back at them, the defenders let it slide over them, doing no more harm than would water or a puff of air.

‘Make a shield around Sol,’ ordered Darrick, his wound gone. ‘Let’s not forget what we’re here to defend.’

Hirad, standing next to Ilkar, gave the mage a shove on the shoulder. The Garonin fire battered them. The soldiers feinted to attack. Auum prowled in front of the line, daring any to come close.

‘You can still feel me push you, then,’ said the barbarian.

‘Of course. I expect you to be able to. Be bloody boring if you couldn’t. Then I couldn’t do this.’

Ilkar rubbed his knuckles hard against Hirad’s forehead.

‘I think I preferred you lacking in belief,’ he said.

‘Look.’

Sirendor was pointing out at the Garonin. They had ceased firing and were moving slowly towards the defenders. One detached himself from the group of perhaps forty and walked to within a few paces.

‘The day is yours,’ he said, melodious voice tainted with discord. ‘But your new worlds will be ours. The fight will never be over. One day we will follow an innocent soul through the doorway and your efforts will be rendered nought.’

‘Not if we close it in your fat face, you won’t,’ said Hirad.

The sound of water over pebbles.

‘How little you know, human. Your ignorance is our greatest weapon. Think on it and enjoy your rest if you can. The dead are irrelevant.’

The last echoes of the Garonin’s voice rattled against the edifice. The plain of Ulandeneth was empty.

‘What was he talking about?’ asked Hirad.

He turned and led The Raven, Protectors and TaiGethen back towards Sol, or the shimmering luminescence that represented where he was seated. He knelt by Thraun much as Auum did by what remained of Evunn.

‘Don’t worry about them. Their souls rest with me for the time being,’ said Sol.

Hirad smiled. ‘Seems like a good place. So what about this door, then?’

‘Once opened, the door can be hidden and protected but never shut. It must allow the passage of souls,’ said Sol.

‘So how do we stop them?’ asked Hirad. ‘After all this bother, I don’t want to think we just moved our people from one dead space to another.’

‘Well, we could wedge a grumpy barbarian in it, ‘said Ilkar. ‘That should keep it shut.’

‘Funny elf,’ said Hirad.

‘Ilkar is more accurate than he knows,’ said Sol. ‘Even when hidden, the doorway is vulnerable. Witness their access into our cluster of worlds.’

Ilkar and Hirad exchanged glances.

‘Are the words, “someone has to guard it” marching towards your lips, Sol?’

‘As Hirad would undoubtedly tell you, Ilkar, you are sharp of mind today.’

Hirad chuckled and nodded his head. ‘Funny how we never seem to reach the end, do we?’

‘Indeed we don’t,’ said Erienne.

‘What do you lot think. Darrick, Sirendor?’ Hirad turned to his old friends.

Sirendor shrugged. ‘Well, I didn’t have a lot else planned for the rest of the day.’

‘You mean eternity,’ said Darrick. ‘And I would be honoured to be considered a soul great enough to perform this task.’

Murmurs of agreement met his words. Hirad clapped his hands together.

‘Right, well let’s get comfortable. Ark? What say you and the Protectors?’

‘I will stay,’ said Ark. ‘My brothers will travel to their rest. Should they be needed, they can be called upon once more.’

Sol’s warmth spread out to cover them all. ‘Then come, walk into me, my brother Protectors. Find your brother souls. Know they are safe and have gone beyond me.’

The few remaining Protectors bowed their heads to Ark and moved into Sol’s compass. One by one, they disappeared.

‘Which leaves you, Auum, and your TaiGethen,’ said Sol. ‘Three thousand years and more you’ve walked the earth. Twice you have saved the elves from the Garonin and never have you turned your head from Yniss, your God, or the tasks he set for you. Blissful rest is the very least you deserve in the company of the ancients.’

Auum’s smile was brief. ‘Yet I do not consider my tasks complete. Now I will serve Yniss through Shorth himself, securing the passage of souls on their final journeys. I will not falter. And never again will the Garonin lay claim to the lands of elves or men. For Yniss I say this: I, Auum, will stand sentinel for eternity. There can be no greater honour in the service of my Gods. My Tai brothers and sister will make their own choices. Those standing here and those resting with Sol.’

Neither Miirt and Duele hesitated to stand by Auum.

The luminescence dimmed and Sol was visible once more. The great shaven-headed warrior standing with his arms outstretched to them.

‘Walk with me,’ he said.

Jonas leaned back against the rough scales and wrote a few more lines. The sun was warm here on the hillside but he could not smell the grass or flowers, such were the overpowering odours of wood and oil from the dragon’s hide.

‘Read it to me,’ rumbled Sha-Kaan. ‘I enjoy your ramblings to your dead father.’

Jonas turned his head to the right. Sha-Kaan’s muzzle was resting on the soft grass a few feet away. His eyelids were heavy but occasionally snapped open to reveal his startling blue eyes.

‘All right. Let me know if I get anything wrong.’

‘As ever.’

‘“Dear Father. It’s been a hundred days since we all arrived here and there still isn’t a name for the place. All we know is that it has a lot of water and not a lot of land. Sha-Kaan says we all live on one big island in a scattered archipelago and then there is nothing but ocean for thousands of miles. Perhaps one day we’ll explore the rest of it and find new lands. Right now, though, there aren’t very many of us so it doesn’t seem a good idea.

‘ “If there are other people here besides those that escaped from Balaia and Calaius, we haven’t seen any evidence of them yet. Meanwhile, we try to organise ourselves into some sort of society. Mother says we should follow the model of Korina and make a central city state from where people can move out to live where they please. She’s much respected among the survivors.

‘“Of course there has been the odd bit of trouble. Once the euphoria of escape wore off, plenty of people started to regret what they’d left behind. We’re all living in wooden huts here, at best. We’ve precious few tools, no way of quarrying stone just yet and nothing to eat but what we find in the ground and on trees. Mind you, Sha-Kaan says there are animals that might be farmed and I’m sure we’ll get around to that.

‘“We did a census when we got here. Everyone was counted and we carved names in strips of bark and wood. Two hundred and seventy-two thousand, one hundred and forty-one humans made it. Not many when you think about it but it’s best not to dwell on the past, isn’t it?

‘“As for the elves, well, they are few in number. Twenty-three thousand, four hundred and five. But they seem content enough. Most of them have disappeared into the forests to build temples and settlements. We see a lot of Rebraal although he is quite busy. He seems to be the ruler of the elves, if they have such a thing.

‘“Then there are the dragons. It’s strange to look up and see the sky full of them. Comforting for me. Not so for others. But they are not numerous and have no access to the healing streams of inter-dimensional space. Sha-Kaan says they will have to seek new dimensions in this cluster in which to live or they’ll all fade and die. That is not a happy thought.

‘“By the way, Hirad is being a real pain. Remember that dragon you carved for him? He left it at home and he wants to go back and get it. He doesn’t understand and it’s driving me and Mother mad.

‘“It’s hard to say if we’ll survive and flourish. There is such hope, but when I talk to Mother, there are so many problems to face. We need a government and an economy, she says. I think we need you.

‘ “I miss you, Father. I always will.” How’s that?’

Sha-Kaan was silent for a moment and Jonas thought he had drifted off to sleep. But then he opened his mouth wide and clacked his jaws together gently.

‘It is perfect. Every word is from the heart. And you will survive, Jonas Solson. And the people will no longer need Sol. They will have you.’

‘What we really need is a deck of cards,’ said Hirad. ‘You know, something to while away the centuries when we run out of things to talk about.’

‘Don’t be stupid, Hirad,’ said Ilkar.

‘Why, don’t you like cards?’

‘No,’ said Sol. ‘It isn’t that. It’s just that there’ll never be a time when you don’t have something to say.’

‘You have a point,’ conceded Hirad.

‘And anyway, time is meaningless here,’ said Sirendor.

‘So?’

‘So, dear barbarian soul, we cannot count the boring centuries, nor the exciting ones. We’ll only know the moments when we are called to defend the door,’ said Erienne.

‘You aren’t making our eternal task sound all that exciting,’ said Darrick.

‘I’m with you, General,’ said Hirad. ‘We should have gone to the halls of the ancients and left Auum here to see the place safe.’

‘Or back to the bliss of the dead with the Protectors,’ said Darrick.

‘Neither of you means that, do you?’ said Sol.

Hirad smiled. ‘I never was one for having nothing to look forward to.’

‘It really is very dull, this place, isn’t it?’ said Ilkar.

‘It could do with a lick of paint of some other colour than ivory,’ said Erienne.

‘Hey, Ilks, maybe you could whistle up some more mountains, squeeze a few more Garonin and eke out some red for us.’

‘Maybe if I cut out your tongue we’d get both a lovely red and a bit of peace and quiet.’

Hirad took a long look about him. The ivory expanse of Ulandeneth surrounded them endlessly. The door to the new dimensional cluster was hidden now but souls travelled it nonetheless. The threat of the Garonin would never fade though, and so the decision to remain had been an easy one.

The Raven were seated for the time being on the Ulandeneth side of the door. Their place of rest was within. Timeless sleep until the footfall of the enemy summoned them to fight.

‘This must be the perfect eternity for you, mustn’t it?’ said Thraun, back in human form. ‘Knowing The Raven will go on forever.’

‘You know what,’ said Hirad. ‘It is.’

‘While for us the thought of being saddled with you in perpetuity is nothing short of a living hell,’ said Ilkar.

‘Ah, but you love me really,’ said Hirad.

‘That is occasionally true,’ said Erienne.

‘When you’re asleep, mostly,’ said Sirendor.

‘Speaking of which, come on, Raven, TaiGethen.’ Sol clapped his hands together. ‘Time to sleep. Hanging around out here will only garner us unwanted attention.’

Hirad stood. ‘Fitting, don’t you think? The Raven? Guardians of the new world?’

‘Yes,’ said Ilkar. ‘They must all sleep so soundly knowing they are defended by a dead barbarian. The door kept closed against the Garonin by the sheer weight of your ego.’

Hirad’s laughter echoed away into the vastness of Ulandeneth. One by one, they faded to grey specks and disappeared inside to enjoy comfort and rest as one. The Raven, together again. And, as Hirad attested as they slipped into blissful sleep, as it was always destined to be.