mirror of
https://gitlab.silvrtree.co.uk/martind2000/booksnew.git
synced 2025-01-11 21:45:07 +00:00
381 lines
17 KiB
HTML
381 lines
17 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
|
|
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Mythlands - Chapter 29</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="imperaWeb.css"/>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type=
|
|
"application/vnd.adobe-page-template+xml" href=
|
|
"page-template.xpgt"/>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<div id="text">
|
|
<div class="section" id="xhtmldocuments">
|
|
<h1>29</h1>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Inside the Black Barrow, the demon raged.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The child had defied her. He had been so close, bearing the key to worlds, but she could not reach to take it.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
But she was not defeated. Her time was approaching fast.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Using all her power, she sent her black and poisonous thoughts out and east, to the great storm, until her presence reached the ridge under the swirling
|
|
maelstrom.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Mandrake stood on the ridge, feet straddling the knife-edge.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The words of power, words he had learned in the scrolls and ancient tomes in the Redthorn Keep, had served their purpose. The skies had unleashed the fury
|
|
of the storm he had conjured.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Below him the flood-water crashed against the weakened ridge and made the earth tremble.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
To the south, men were frantically working to break down the barrier.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Mandrake turned his head to the storm where lightning stabbed across the sky and thunder roared like a beast and he laughed like the madman he was.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
$Fools. <em>Fools!</em>$ He screeched in his hag-voice.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
$Break it now and weep forever,$ Mandrake croaked. $All is lost for you now!$
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He turned from the ridge and began the descent to where the massed Scree troops and the turncoat chiefs waited for his arrival.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
On the dam across the narrow ravine, Alevin was frantically spurring his men.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He looked down from the top of the barrier to where his men toiled far below, hacking and sawing at the timbers that buttressed the dam and held the waters
|
|
back. Already the pressure was so great that even these great trunks were beginning to bend like greenwood twigs. It twisted and groaned and splinters
|
|
exploded, but the dam still held.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
$If the storm comes this way, we're all done,$ said a voice behind him.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Alevin turned. One of the soldiers had brought him some bread and water. It was all they had.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"If we don't break this barrier, we're all done. We'll do what men can do."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"There's something wrong with the lake," the man said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Aye. It's there." Alevin crouched on the rim, looking down to show the men working like ants. "There where it shouldn't be."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"No," the soldier said. "I thought I saw something different since the last time I was here." He rubbed his eyes after the next bolt of lightning almost
|
|
blinded him, waited until the after-images faded.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Look there, Alevin. The water is lower. Two feet or more."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Alevin spun from the drop and joined the man on the north edge. As he turned, he saw a wall of black water racing down the narrow lake in a curling wave.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The water against the lip was definitely lower. A bank of weeds that had been covered before was now glistening on the wooden wall.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
And the wave-surge was bearing down on them faster than a galloping horse.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"More sorcery," Alevin said. "Mandrake tries to stop us."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
But Alevin was wrong. He was playing right into Mandrake's hands.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack was moving in the dark. Only the strange, clean light from the heartstone allowed him to make out anything here, but he was running, fleeing the
|
|
horror within the obsidian block, running from the awful voice that still seethed like venom in his head.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He made it across the chamber, bearing the great sword as he ran, and dashed into the narrow passageway.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Corriwen," he called. "Kerry!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He had no sense of direction here.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
But he had to keep moving. The she-demon pulled and tugged at him, trying to turn him, force him back, and it took all his effort, all his will to pull
|
|
away.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The tunnels seemed to go on forever, and the sword was becoming heavy in his hands. His breath came in short, laboured gasps, but he could not stop, She
|
|
would do anything to get the heart-stone, her key.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Corriwen was running too. She was blind in the dark, but she could hear the sounds of pursuit. The thing that had looked like her brother, but had warped
|
|
and melted and changed into something so vile it almost made her heart stop dead, that thing was hunting her.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She had pulled away, slashed with her blade, heart shattered from the loss of her brother again. The knife bit into something more solid than air, and she
|
|
felt wetness spurt.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
But she had snapped out of the mesmerising hold the creature had on her.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The passageway opened into another chamber and Corriwen stopped, heart hammering, lungs aching.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Something called her name and she jerked around.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Corriwen!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She turned and ran, feet pattering on the dank slabs. Somewhere, ahead or behind, or in one of the side passages, she could not tell where, other footfalls
|
|
came louder. A soft glow appeared in front of her.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She tried to stop, but her momentum carried her forwards and she slammed against the dark shape.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Instinctively Corriwen slashed at it and heard a cry of pain. She raised her knife again and a hand caught her wrist before she could deliver a killing
|
|
blow.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Corriwen," Jack Flint panted. "Don't kill me now."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He grabbed her tight. Blood was spurting from his arm, soaking right down to his sleeve, but he clamped his arm around her. In the light of the heartstone
|
|
her eyes were blind with terror. She looked half mad.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Corrie," he bawled. "It's me. Jack."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She blinked, squirmed to get away, to get the knife free, and then her eyes suddenly fixed on him.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I've got you the sword," Jack said quickly. "Now let's get the hell out of here."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
For a second the strength went out of her legs and her whole body sagged. Jack held her up, tight against him.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"We're nearly there," he said. He sincerely hoped they were nearly there.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"We've just got to find Kerry. We can't go without him."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The waters closed over his head and bony hands tightened on his ankles. They dragged him under. Kerry panicked. He kicked blindly, but the grip was too
|
|
powerful. He gained the surface for just a second, gasped for breath, and oily water went up his nose.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
His sword was still in his hand, and he stabbed it down, but the water slowed him. It was like moving through treacle. The blade hit nothing at all and
|
|
then he was under, struggling to get to the surface again while a roaring noise in his ears rose to a crescendo and when he could hold his breath no
|
|
longer, all his air came out in a rush and a freezing gush of water filled his lungs. He felt his body go numb.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack called his name.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Kerry!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A noise like a growl came from somewhere ahead, and Corriwen clenched his arm.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Did you hear that?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I heard something," he said, gripping the sword tight.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The sound came again. More a rasp than a growl. It sounded like an animal. Jack powered on, keeping the blade ahead of him. If it was an animal, no matter
|
|
how big, how fierce, he would face it.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A shape wavered in front of them and Jack raised the weapon, ready to strike first. The thing spun slowly, as if suspended from the ceiling, and a face
|
|
turned towards him, and he started to swing the sword in the split second before recognition dawned.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Kerry!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He was on his tiptoes, hands dangling, face blank. Bones were strewn all round his feet.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A skeleton hand clenched on Kerry's ankle, arm-bone trailing on the stone floor.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack reached for him. Kerry's body was slack and cold. For a second, when he had seen the shape in the gloom, he had thought it was floating in mid air.
|
|
Even now, Kerry seemed to be wavering, as if seen through liquid. His eyes were open and vacant.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack reached for him, got an arm round his shoulders, pulled him in tight.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
For a second Kerry's form was slack and then he let out a huge gasp. A gout of black water blurted out and Kerry's arms flailed madly. His blade missed
|
|
Jack's eye by a whisker. Corriwen grabbed his arm. It was trembling with energy. Kerry gasped again, retched, and then doubled over in a paroxysm of
|
|
coughing.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Don't….Don't let me drown, Jack."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"You're not drowning!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack hauled him up, while Corriwen started clapping him hard between his shoulderblades.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
For another instant, Kerry's eyes were wide and sightless and then he blinked, once, twice, and then focussed on the glow from the stone.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"What?....Where?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"It's us. You're okay."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Jack man," Kerry gasped. He coughed again, spat and then shivered all over. "I was drowning, Jack. They pulled me down. The place was flooded."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Corriwen looked at Jack.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Just a trick," Jack said. "It gets into your head."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Kerry shook his head. "It was up to the ceiling. And the dead men pulled me under."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He looked down at his feet, recoiled when he saw the bony hand clasped to his ankle, and kicked it away.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Tell me later," Jack said. "We have to get out."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Kerry shook himself. "Thought I was a gonner for sure."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Don't think about it," Corriwen said. "This place is just madness. It puts lies in your head."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She reached for Kerry and hugged him tight.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"We are real," she said. "We have life."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"And let's try to keep it that way," Jack said. "Come on."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The hurried out of the chamber, back into another series of passageways, but now they were ascending, and Jack knew they were going the right way. They
|
|
walked, it seemed for hours, always with that baleful presence probing at his mind. Jack held the heartstone ahead of them and led the way until finally a
|
|
shard of daylight appeared and they stumbled into the harsh dry barrens and the glare of the blazing sun caught the polished blade of Cullian's sword.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The three of them stood, holding on to each other for strength and comfort.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Where's Declan?" Kerry finally asked, coughing the last of the filth from his sore lungs.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Still in there," Jack said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"So, do we go get him? Or just wait."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Way to the east, the storm was getting stronger. They could see the jagged edge of the ridge cutting south to where Mandrake's dam was. Lightning arced
|
|
along its sawtoothed peaks.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Something bad has happened there," Corriwen said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Worse here," Kerry ventured. "You think Alevin got to the dam?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I hope so," Jack said. He turned the sword, then passed it, hilt first, to Corriwen. She took it in both slender hands, and she seemed so slight she would
|
|
barely be able to lift it, but she swung it up with surprising ease.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I never wielded this before," she said. "But it feels to fit my hand."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack nodded. He had felt exactly the same way when he had drawn the blade from the Morrigan's stone.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"We should wait a while," he said. "But we don't go back in there. That thing gets in your head and if she did it again, I don't think we would ever get
|
|
out."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He was about to say more when there was a movement at the black entrance. Corriwen brought the sword up in both hands, blade foremost. Kerry had his blade
|
|
up in a flash.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Declan came out of the dark, staggered in the light and fell to his knees. For a horrified second, Jack thought he had lost his eyes, for instead of the
|
|
bright blue that had flashed as he fought the Scree, all he could see were two black holes.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He was gasping for air, his face drained of blood. He clamped both hands over his eyes and knelt on the hard ground, rocking back and forth, moaning as if
|
|
in agony.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Declan," Corriwen said. She put the sword through her belt and touched him on the shoulder. He was trembling like a bird, all his muscles bunched tight.
|
|
"Declan! We are here."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
She drew his hands down from his eyes and Declan blinked hard, as though the light hurt his eyes.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"What happened?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He shook his head, bewildered. "I….I…I thought…" his words trailed away. He drew in a deep breath, shuddered, and seemed to collect
|
|
himself. "I don't know," he finally said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
"But you're out now, aren't you?" Kerry said. "We all made it."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
He pointed to a small hill some distance away. The three horses stood together. The little leprechaun sat at their feet. Kerry was about to say something
|
|
when the ground trembled under them and he turned to face Jack.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack saw Kerry's eyes widen. He pointed over Jack's shoulder, unable to speak a word. Corriwen caught the motion and looked in that direction. Jack
|
|
shrugged, turned and froze.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A wave of water, a <em>wall</em> of water, taller than a house, taller than the black Barrow itself, was thundering across the flat, coming straight at
|
|
them.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
As one, they turned and fled for the high ground, not pausing to look back, knowing the wave would surely overtake them before they reached the hill.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Kerry bawled to Jack. "Don't you let me…."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
And the wave slammed into their backs and tumbled them over and over and over until everything went black.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|