Hardacre gently shook them off. The
three huggers were concerned for just a second that he was going to admonish
them, but instead, and perhaps despite himself, he broke into a small, quietly
satisfied, smile. He turned to Viola.
‘At your service, as
always, madam’ he said, nodding slightly, ‘but I think we need to get away as
quickly as we can. Can you lead the way?’
They bundled up as
much of their stuff as possible and disappeared into the forest. Viola took
them north, scrambling through the undergrowth, until they had put several
miles between them and the defeated kidnappers. At that point the light had
failed and they had had to stop. They
stood round in a rough circle, checking that everyone was there and unhurt. As
they caught their breath, Viola had a moment of panic.
‘Where are the
scouts?’ she shouted, ‘what happened to them?’
Akenopteryx appeared
almost immediately from the undergrowth, hopping on to Viola’s hand.
‘What art thy
command, my lady?’
‘You’re safe’ said
Viola, ‘thank the gods’
‘Mayhaps’ said
Akenopteryx, with a soft laugh, ‘but I think that thou shouldst thank citizen
Hardacre first’
‘I know’ said Viola,
smiling, ‘but if we started doing that we’d be here a very long time’
Hardacre frowned at
her. He wasn’t a man who relished praise.
‘To take a step back’
he said, ‘I think it would be helpful if you would tell me everything that has
happened’
They sat in a circle
under a large yew tree, the hanging branches protecting them from prying eyes.
They lit no fire and their voices were hushed. An observer who did not know their
full story would have found them an odd group – two elves, one hybrid, two
humans and three small parrots.
Viola explained the
whole story from start to finish, from the dream through to their capture. She
left nothing out – this was their old companion and they trusted him
completely. For his part, Hardacre asked
very few questions. After Viola had finished he told them the story of his
encounter with the naga in the KU library, and so they were all up-to-date.
There was a brief pause while they all digested what they had heard, and then they
all waited for someone to suggest a plan of action. Hardacre frowned again.
‘Did you receive my
most recent mail papers, major?’
Viola’s hand went
instinctively to her inner jacket pocket, where she had hidden his mail papers.
The gesture made it impossible for her to pretend that she hadn’t received it.
‘Yes, I did’ she said
slowly.
Hardacre narrowed his
eyes very slightly as he looked at her.
‘I’m wondering, then,
why you failed to reply to it?’
A struggle was going
on inside Viola. On the one hand she wanted to be as honest as possible with
her friend and helper, but on the other she burned to find the ancient city and
to talk to the fire snake. Neither side, however, had won their battle quite yet.
‘I never had the
time’ she said feebly.
‘Well, that is unfortunate’ murmured Hardacre,
‘given what has occurred’
His expression
changed not one jot but Viola still felt the thunder head of judgement above
her. She found nothing to say.
‘All I can do now’ he
continued, ‘is reiterate my advice – I think we should all go home’
No-one demurred, even
though something within Viola was muttering I
can’t – I really can’t.
‘How are we going to
get home, though?’ asked Dom, ‘The sea route is closed until Captain Boris
comes back at the end of June– if he comes back at all’
Hardacre considered
this.
‘We could summon a
ship to come and pick us up, surely?’ he said, ‘Aren’t you the deputy governor’
‘Theoretically’ said
Viola, softly, ‘but I’m not sure what the Governor or the Emperor will make of
my actions’
‘So’ asked Hardacre,
arching an eyebrow slightly, ‘what was your plan before you were
captured?’
‘Go to the ancient city and have a look…’ said
Kath. She hesitated – ‘not much of a plan on reflection. I admit’
Dom made an attempt
at self-defence.
‘I think that’s as
much because we feared the enemy behind us and so we thought it best to just
keep going…’ he said
‘They didn’t seem
like a very terrifying band to me’ said Hardacre
‘They had weird
panther creatures with them’ said Viola, shivering, ‘like panthers, but with
strange blue insides’
Hardacre’s skin
pricked with apprehension.
‘They weren’t there
when I arrived’ he said, ‘which is very fortunate. I would have not known how
to defeat them’
‘They were pretty
creepy’ said Kath, ‘and they didn’t look like they were from around here’
‘I’m sure they
weren’t’ agreed Hardacre, ‘I think they probably had to be summoned, and by
someone with more power than any of those thugs who captured you’
‘Summoned?’ asked Dom
‘Yes – from somewhere
a really long way from around here, Master Shavosky – from the Outer Void’
Viola and Kath
breathed out at the same time, each giving their own little cry of alarm. The
parrots looked up at Viola expectantly. She didn’t attempt an explanation. Dom had only a vague idea about what Hardacre
was talking about, but thought it prudent to say no more.
‘That’s what I feared’
said Kath, ‘I remember John’s description of it…’
‘…and what happened
inside the Wall’ said Viola, remembering the rift that had formed when they
tried to destroy the guardian taint.
Hardacre nodded.
‘So who summoned
them?’ he asked, almost to himself.
‘They said that their
mistress would come at noon the next day’ said Dom, ‘maybe it was her?’
Hardacre looked across
at Dom. The fading light made it hard to see either of their expressions, but Hardacre’s
tone was unmistakeable – it was finely edged with fear.
‘That will almost
certainly be Bea – one of our two great enemies, and I’m guessing that she gave
your captors a device that summoned those pseudo-panthers, but only for a while’
‘Who is Bea?’ asked
Viola, not really wanting to know. Hardacre’s answering words were chilly in
the summer dark.
‘That is a very long
story. But in short, she is a necromancer, one of the witches who are willing
to use magic to remain alive at any cost. They drain the life energy from
living creatures and redistribute it into their own bodies and minds. They stay
forever young while they force those around them to wither. She was once in a
coven, a malevolent one; the coven that the Hybitor was formed to counter.
There was a long war and it was won in the end. But she and her companion, who
now calls himself Kratos, escaped. Their only interest now is revenge and
destruction, oh, and, I suppose, to survive as long as they can’
‘Why would they want
to do that?’ whispered Dom
‘Because they both
loathe the elves and want to emulate them. They have lived more than one
hundred and thirty years, but that is not enough for them’
‘What should we do?’
asked Viola, ‘can we resist them?’
‘No’ responded Hardacre,;’ but there’s no
reason why they should find us again. This is a big forest and they don’t have
the sort of scouts that we have’
‘We should stay in the forest and try to take
the long way home’ suggested Dom, ‘if we go back to Tamarix then they’ll
probably find us, and we can’t hang around here for another three weeks’
‘What do you mean by
the long route?’ asked Viola
‘Turn north-west at
the old crossroads, at about milestone ninety and then up to the Hinter – Amansk
road. There was a road linking up to there once, I’ve seen it on Kath’s map. There
are milestones here so we might find them all the way back to the main road’
‘How long will that
take?’ asked Hardacre
‘Three weeks to get
to the new road and after that we should be able to get transport back to
Gorodnikov in quick time’
Kath pulled her
blankets around her. It wasn’t cold but she needed the comfort. She felt their
quest slipping away from them and she regretted it very much.
No-one even
considered asking Hardacre if he would teleport home – they knew that he would
never abandon them before they were totally safe. In addition, he would need a
day’s rest, and it seemed very unlikely that he would get that for some time.
The conversation
wandered around the practicalities of the route – food, water, terrain, etc. One by one they all chipped in. Eventually
only Viola had said nothing.
She sat in the dark
considering her options. After only a few seconds of hearing Dom’s plan she
knew that she wouldn’t follow the route. She had to go to the naga’s city, even
if it was on her own. However, this route would take her in the right direction
for another few days, and seemed to be the safest for the others. She sighed
softly and spoke.
‘I think Dom’s idea
is the best we have. It takes us away from the enemy and is under cover for
most of the way. Once you get on to the main road I’m sure everything will be
fine’
‘You?’ asked Kath, suddenly
suspicious, ‘what do you mean? Where will you be?’
Viola took a deep breath.
‘I’m going to
Klethropolis – the rest of you should go on home’
There was a moment of
horrible silence. Hardacre had to break it.
‘Captain Viola – are
you sure you are well? That seems on the face of it to be a rather extravagant idea’
‘No-one else need
come with me but I am, I am afraid, compelled to go’
‘I’ll go with you,
Vee – I haven’t got anything else planned’ said Potentilla, without a hint of
apprehension.
Hardacre tried to
ignored this and pursue the path of sanity.
‘What is compelling
you, major? I don’t understand what you mean’ he said, irritation and anxiety
colouring his voice.
‘I have no idea’ said
Viola, ‘my dreams, perhaps, maybe Ophia? It’s all unclear; but my instincts are
not. I need to find out about the fire snakes and discover what they are
guarding. I am convinced that it is of paramount importance’
‘And I am too’
whispered Kath.
‘Really Dr Fielding’
said Hardacre, ‘are you sure that is the best course if you think about it
really carefully?’
‘I am’ said Kath, now
much louder, ‘when will we get another chance?’
Hardacre took in a
deep breath and had one more attempt at speaking sense.
‘It’s potentially so
very dangerous’ he said, as emphatically as he could, ‘and not just for you –
it may risk everyone and everything. It is, to be totally frank, an immensely
foolish plan and I can’t let you go…’
Viola noted that the
end of this sentence was hanging in the air – it wasn’t an order. She smiled in
the darkness.
‘…alone’ she
suggested gently, ‘is that the word you were looking for? Are you saying that
you won’t let us go without you?’
Hardacre searched for
a suitable answer to this that allowed him to persuade them to give up their
quest but which did not break his unspoken vows of friendship. He knew,
however, that in the end there was no way to stop them from going, and his duty
flowed from that, however foolhardy he thought they were being. He had no idea
what John would say when he found out, but for once he was grateful for his
master’s general laxity and indulgence. He was sure he’d forgive him his
desertion in time.
There was silence
again and this time no-one felt the need to speak. Their path was now decided,
of course, for good or ill. After that Hardacre could do no more than calculate
the horrendous risks ahead and wait impatiently for sleep.
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