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381 lines
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<head>
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<title>Mythlands - Chapter 29</title>
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<h1>29</h1>
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<p>
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Inside the Black Barrow, the demon raged.
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</p>
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<p>
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The child had defied her. He had been so close, bearing the key to worlds, but she could not reach to take it.
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</p>
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<p>
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But she was not defeated. Her time was approaching fast.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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maelstrom.
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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Mandrake stood on the ridge, feet straddling the knife-edge.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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of the storm he had conjured.
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</p>
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<p>
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Below him the flood-water crashed against the weakened ridge and made the earth tremble.
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</p>
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<p>
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To the south, men were frantically working to break down the barrier.
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</p>
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<p>
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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.
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</p>
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<p>
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$Fools. <em>Fools!</em>$ He screeched in his hag-voice.
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</p>
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<p>
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$Break it now and weep forever,$ Mandrake croaked. $All is lost for you now!$
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</p>
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<p>
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He turned from the ridge and began the descent to where the massed Scree troops and the turncoat chiefs waited for his arrival.
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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On the dam across the narrow ravine, Alevin was frantically spurring his men.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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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
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exploded, but the dam still held.
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</p>
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<p>
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$If the storm comes this way, we're all done,$ said a voice behind him.
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</p>
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<p>
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Alevin turned. One of the soldiers had brought him some bread and water. It was all they had.
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</p>
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<p>
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"If we don't break this barrier, we're all done. We'll do what men can do."
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</p>
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<p>
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"There's something wrong with the lake," the man said.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Aye. It's there." Alevin crouched on the rim, looking down to show the men working like ants. "There where it shouldn't be."
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</p>
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<p>
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"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
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blinded him, waited until the after-images faded.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Look there, Alevin. The water is lower. Two feet or more."
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</p>
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<p>
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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.
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</p>
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<p>
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The water against the lip was definitely lower. A bank of weeds that had been covered before was now glistening on the wooden wall.
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</p>
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<p>
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And the wave-surge was bearing down on them faster than a galloping horse.
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</p>
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<p>
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"More sorcery," Alevin said. "Mandrake tries to stop us."
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</p>
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<p>
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But Alevin was wrong. He was playing right into Mandrake's hands.
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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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
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horror within the obsidian block, running from the awful voice that still seethed like venom in his head.
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</p>
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<p>
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He made it across the chamber, bearing the great sword as he ran, and dashed into the narrow passageway.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Corriwen," he called. "Kerry!"
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</p>
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<p>
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He had no sense of direction here.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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away.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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would do anything to get the heart-stone, her key.
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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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
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and melted and changed into something so vile it almost made her heart stop dead, that thing was hunting her.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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felt wetness spurt.
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</p>
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<p>
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But she had snapped out of the mesmerising hold the creature had on her.
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</p>
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<p>
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The passageway opened into another chamber and Corriwen stopped, heart hammering, lungs aching.
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</p>
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<p>
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Something called her name and she jerked around.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Corriwen!"
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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came louder. A soft glow appeared in front of her.
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</p>
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<p>
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She tried to stop, but her momentum carried her forwards and she slammed against the dark shape.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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blow.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Corriwen," Jack Flint panted. "Don't kill me now."
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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her eyes were blind with terror. She looked half mad.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Corrie," he bawled. "It's me. Jack."
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</p>
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<p>
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She blinked, squirmed to get away, to get the knife free, and then her eyes suddenly fixed on him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"I've got you the sword," Jack said quickly. "Now let's get the hell out of here."
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</p>
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<p>
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For a second the strength went out of her legs and her whole body sagged. Jack held her up, tight against him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"We're nearly there," he said. He sincerely hoped they were nearly there.
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</p>
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<p>
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"We've just got to find Kerry. We can't go without him."
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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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
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powerful. He gained the surface for just a second, gasped for breath, and oily water went up his nose.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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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
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longer, all his air came out in a rush and a freezing gush of water filled his lungs. He felt his body go numb.
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</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>
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Jack called his name.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Kerry!"
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</p>
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<p>
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A noise like a growl came from somewhere ahead, and Corriwen clenched his arm.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Did you hear that?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"I heard something," he said, gripping the sword tight.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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how big, how fierce, he would face it.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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turned towards him, and he started to swing the sword in the split second before recognition dawned.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Kerry!"
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</p>
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<p>
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He was on his tiptoes, hands dangling, face blank. Bones were strewn all round his feet.
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</p>
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<p>
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A skeleton hand clenched on Kerry's ankle, arm-bone trailing on the stone floor.
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</p>
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<p>
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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.
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Even now, Kerry seemed to be wavering, as if seen through liquid. His eyes were open and vacant.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack reached for him, got an arm round his shoulders, pulled him in tight.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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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
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coughing.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Don't….Don't let me drown, Jack."
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</p>
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<p>
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"You're not drowning!"
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack hauled him up, while Corriwen started clapping him hard between his shoulderblades.
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</p>
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<p>
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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.
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</p>
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<p>
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"What?....Where?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"It's us. You're okay."
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</p>
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<p>
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"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."
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</p>
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<p>
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Corriwen looked at Jack.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Just a trick," Jack said. "It gets into your head."
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry shook his head. "It was up to the ceiling. And the dead men pulled me under."
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</p>
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<p>
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He looked down at his feet, recoiled when he saw the bony hand clasped to his ankle, and kicked it away.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Tell me later," Jack said. "We have to get out."
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry shook himself. "Thought I was a gonner for sure."
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</p>
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<p>
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"Don't think about it," Corriwen said. "This place is just madness. It puts lies in your head."
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</p>
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<p>
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She reached for Kerry and hugged him tight.
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</p>
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<p>
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"We are real," she said. "We have life."
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</p>
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<p>
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"And let's try to keep it that way," Jack said. "Come on."
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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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
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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.
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</p>
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<p>
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The three of them stood, holding on to each other for strength and comfort.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Where's Declan?" Kerry finally asked, coughing the last of the filth from his sore lungs.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Still in there," Jack said.
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</p>
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<p>
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"So, do we go get him? Or just wait."
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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along its sawtoothed peaks.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Something bad has happened there," Corriwen said.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Worse here," Kerry ventured. "You think Alevin got to the dam?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"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
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barely be able to lift it, but she swung it up with surprising ease.
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</p>
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<p>
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"I never wielded this before," she said. "But it feels to fit my hand."
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack nodded. He had felt exactly the same way when he had drawn the blade from the Morrigan's stone.
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</p>
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<p>
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"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
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out."
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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up in a flash.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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bright blue that had flashed as he fought the Scree, all he could see were two black holes.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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in agony.
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</p>
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<p>
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"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.
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"Declan! We are here."
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</p>
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<p>
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She drew his hands down from his eyes and Declan blinked hard, as though the light hurt his eyes.
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</p>
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<p>
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"What happened?"
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</p>
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<p>
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He shook his head, bewildered. "I….I…I thought…" his words trailed away. He drew in a deep breath, shuddered, and seemed to collect
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himself. "I don't know," he finally said.
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</p>
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<p>
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"But you're out now, aren't you?" Kerry said. "We all made it."
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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when the ground trembled under them and he turned to face Jack.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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shrugged, turned and froze.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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them.
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</p>
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<p>
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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.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry bawled to Jack. "Don't you let me…."
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</p>
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<p>
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And the wave slammed into their backs and tumbled them over and over and over until everything went black.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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