Bound to Survive (The Magic Within Book 1) (33 page)

Elle had gone into shock and fainted at the sight of the arrow that protruded from her shirt. Down into the depths of darkness she slipped and drifted into another world.

Kovak watched as the stray arrow pierced her shoulder, and his anger grew.

As Christopher carried Elle away into the trees Kovak could contain himself no longer.

‘I’ll find you, Christopher! I’ll hunt you down for the traitor you are and your head will rest upon a pike. The girl belongs to me!’ With that Kovak turned and walked back to the town. He wasn’t finished, and he hoped those in pursuit would be able to track and follow them. They couldn’t run forever.

Atlas and Jack ran to Elle’s side. ‘We must leave now!’ Henry said as he rushed to the wagon. ‘The soldiers have crossed the stone bridge and are headed this way.’

Henry pushed Atlas towards the driver’s seat. ‘I’ll ride in the back with Clarence and we’ll tend to your daughter Atlas, but you must drive us out of here now!’

Henry grabbed his small bag from his horse and climbed into the back of the wagon, where he and Clarence tended to Elle’s wound. Atlas slapped the reins on the horse’s rump and the wagon lurched forward. Christopher had been reluctant to leave Elle’s side, but they needed to be on their way. He ran over to the horses and Peter handed him his reins. He leapt upon his mare and they sped off after the wagon. The horse’s hooves churned up the dirt and left a clear trail for the soldiers to follow.

Peter looked up to the sky again. Now was the time they needed it to snow. The clouds had darkened the sky, but the snow was still sporadic. What they needed was a heavy downfall to cover their tracks.

The group raced north with the soldiers in pursuit. Henry and Clarence tended the wound in Elle’s shoulder the best they could, as the wagon bounced around.

‘Mix the Yarrow root,’ Henry said to Clarence as he put pressure around the shaft. Clarence found the Yarrow root in Henry’s bag.

‘It’ll be better if you do it. I’ve no magic while I remain enslaved within this chain.’

‘Here, let me see if I can help you with that.’ Henry flicked his fingers to emit a trickle of magic and unlock the snake’s head, but nothing happened.

‘It’s no good, Henry. The chain is fuelled by the Sorceress’ magic and the head can only be released by the hand which fastened it.’

‘That might be a problem then,’ Henry said as he spat into his palm and mixed the Yarrow root into a paste.

As they fled, the snow fell and the soldiers closed the gap between themselves and the wagon ahead. The driver of the wagon had no idea where he was headed. Jack had taken the lead and he chose the path the wagon would follow. He’d knowledge of the land and the follies of the trails they fled along. The snow continued to fall but it was not enough to help them.

The Yarrow root had stemmed the tide of blood at the site of Elle’s wound, but there wasn’t much else they could do until they removed the arrow from her shoulder. Elle lay cushioned in the back of the wagon. Henry and Clarence supported her body so, as the wagon bounced around, it wouldn’t disturb the arrow and cause the wound to bleed.

James reined his horse over to the wagon. ‘We haven’t shaken them,’ he said, as he referred to the soldiers who gained upon them. ‘They’ll be upon us soon. Atlas can’t run the horse any faster for fear she’ll go down. Have you anything up your sleeve, Wizard?’

Henry had been too busy with Elle to take notice of the army who followed. As he looked up they were a lot closer than he would’ve thought.

‘We’ll lose them in a minute, don’t worry, James.’ And with that he cast a spell to bring the winds.

The wind turned from a slight breeze into a gale. It swirled the snow around to block the vision of the army and cover their tracks as they fled and as luck might have it, the clouds opened up and a heavy blanket of snow dropped from the heavens.

Clarence and Henry covered Elle. The snow would help to lower her metabolism, but it could also kill her. They kept her as warm as they could while they raced on. The snow fell thick and fast. It blocked their view of the army and there was no way for those ahead to tell if they were still followed.

As they raced on, the way was barely visible and their pace slowed as the wheels on the wagon began to sink into the snow.

The path Jack chose would take them through the hills of Cherish, to a small village where he had friends. He knew they’d be able to stop and tend to Elle’s wound there and he hoped they’d eluded the soldiers. Jack left the group and rode on ahead to the top of a small rise. The winds Henry had encouraged to blow had died down of their own accord and the snow had ceased to fall.

As Jack scouted ahead he looked back across the landscape. His vision met a blanket of white as he scoured the distance in search of the soldiers. A bird chirped in the silence as he scanned the plain. No one followed and Jack felt that they’d eluded the soldiers.

As Jack returned from the rise, Peter rode over to him.

‘Could you see anyone?’

‘No, the land is still.’

‘Good, we need to tend Elle’s wound,’ Christopher said.

‘Just ahead, beyond these hills is a small village where I’ve friends. We can stop there. I know they’ll help us,’ Jack said.

Jack again took the lead and they made their way to the small village of Agon. As they entered the village they saw no one on the roads that led through the houses.

‘When was the last time you were here?’ Christopher asked as he looked around.

‘It was ten years ago. I hadn’t heard that the people had left,’ Jack said with disbelief.

The small village looked as if it’d been deserted for many years. Plants and weeds grew rampant, where once the small gardens had been tended. They made their way through the empty roads to the house where Jack’s friends had lived. The little house was hollow and cold and Clarence entered the house to find that dust and grit covered what was left of the furniture. No one had been in this home for years.

‘Let’s take Elle inside,’ he said. ‘We can light a fire and see to her wound.’ Clarence was worried. Elle needed to be warm, her body temperature had dropped and the cold had set in. The arrow had been in her shoulder for most of the day, and the sun had begun to set which meant the temperature would soon plummet.

Elle was still wrapped in her cloak and Clarence held the wadding around the wound as Christopher carried her inside. Atlas gathered the furs, which he’d stowed away in the wagon, and he laid them in front of the cold hearth. Then he left the house to gather wood. What his daughter needed from him was warmth to keep her alive. Christopher lay Elle down on the furs as Henry and Clarence prepared to check her wound. Henry opened Elle’s cloak and the prize she’d hoarded lay bare for all to see. Tucked into the waistband of her bloodied skirt and hidden under her cloak, were the two hands Christopher had cut from the guard. Clarence stared with disbelief.
So that’s the reason why she lagged behind the others and put herself in danger.
Elle knew, to release the collar Clarence wore, he’d need the hand that fastened the head of the snake.

‘Elle, you are a clever girl. But at what cost to yourself?’ Clarence muttered.

Henry took the hands out of Elle’s waistband and passed them to Clarence. ‘Why would she have these? Strange thing for a girl to collect,’ Henry said.

Then he watched as Clarence used the hand to undo the leash. The head snapped open at the touch of the cold fingers and Clarence threw the leash and the hand behind him. At last he was free from Athena’s power and a spark ignited within him. An old friend he hadn’t felt for years glowed within the depths of his soul. Clarence felt the small spark flood through his body, and he felt more like his old self again. He helped Henry cut the material away from the arrow’s shaft. Elle’s skin was cold, but around the arrow’s entry site her skin glowed bright red. The wound pulsed around the shaft and rippled to flare out at the edges.

‘This isn’t good.’ Henry said as he looked at the taint caused by the shaft.

Atlas had returned to the little house just as Henry had spoken and he dumped the wood he carried down by the hearth.

‘What is it?’ Atlas looked at the strange wound for the first time. ‘That’s not how a wound should look.’ He touched the skin around the shaft. ‘Heaven on earth what is it?’ He looked at Henry and Clarence and fear of the unknown leapt into his heart.

‘Jack, build a fire. We need to warm her quickly. We must remove the arrow as soon as possible,’ Clarence said.

While Jack built a fire to warm the small house, Henry and Clarence collected the things they’d need to remove the arrow’s shaft and clean the wound. James and Peter left to collect enough wood to see them through the night. Christopher and Atlas watched as Henry and Clarence set to work.

‘Jack, lad, we need water to cleanse her wound. See what you can find.’ Jack looked around the room. He needed a pot or bowl to hold water in but he couldn’t see anything he could use and so he went outside.

As they waited for the water Henry and Clarence turned Elle onto her side and peeled back her clothing to assess the damage. Examining her back they could see the metal tip of the arrow protruded a fraction through the skin.

‘You, my girl, are lucky indeed,’ Henry said as he felt the open wound on her back. Although it too had the same red glow, they wouldn’t have to cut into her flesh to remove the jagged tip. It wasn’t possible to pull the arrow back out, as it would rip the flesh and cause more damage to Elle’s shoulder.

Jack returned with water, in an old clay pot he’d found and set it upon the floor next to his sister. Henry removed a strange stick from his small bag and handed it to Clarence, who then placed it in the water and began to stir. He mumbled an incantation, which caused steam to drift up from the bowl and he continued to stir until the water boiled. Clarence removed the stick and reached into the bag to find a small leather pouch and he sprinkled some of its contents into the bowl. He then blew upon the water to help it cool, before he took a small piece of cloth and dipped it into the bowl. He squeezed the cloth and let the water trickle down the arrow’s shaft to run upon Elle’s skin and sterilize the area. As the water touched the site it sizzled and vaporised.

‘Christopher, Jack, hold Elle on her side so we may work the shaft through the skin.’

Jack held Elle by the arm and supported her waist while Christopher supported her from behind. Henry grasped the shaft of the arrow in both hands and gently pushed it further into her body, until the tip protruded enough and they could get a grip upon the head to pull it through. Then Henry held the shaft and cast a spell.
‘Secabit.’
It was a clean break as if it had been cut. No jagged splinters graced the end to be caught within Elle’s body as the shaft passed through.

Clarence removed the rest of the arrow and then they bathed Elle’s wound. As they did so no blood rushed from the site, but it then turned from a bright glowing mass into a deep crimson and before their eyes it began to spread. Henry looked at the arrow’s tip and saw, etched upon its surface, three symbols. He snapped the head off the shaft and placed it in his pocket.

Henry wrapped Elle in the furs to keep her warm and then he took the water left in the pot and threw it on the fire.

‘What are you doing?’ Atlas was alarmed. The fire hadn’t long been lit and the little room was only just warm.

‘We must leave now! Pack up and ready the horses, we must travel to the caves tonight!’

‘Christopher, find the others. We leave as soon as we’re ready.’

There was no argument. The tone in Henry’s voice demanded action and so it was done. Clarence dosed Elle with an elixir for the pain. He didn’t know if she suffered, as she remained unconscious, but he thought it would do no harm.

Jack lifted his sister into the back of the wagon. He and his father would travel with her in the wooden structure until they arrived at the caves. They dare not leave her side. Life was a delicate thing which one couldn’t predict, and so her family tended to her upon the journey.

Kovak fumed as he made his way back into the town. He had not only lost the Wizard, but because an arrow one of the guards had released had struck Elle he might have lost her, too.

The manor was still ablaze and as he entered the grounds Kovak walked past Silas and on to where the stable boy held his carriage. Kovak’s horse was tied to the back, as he had planned to travel in the carriage with Elle.

‘Saddle my horse!’

Kovak wanted to pursue them before they had the chance to disappear into the countryside. He was about to round up his men and follow when Silas spoke the words Kovak dreaded to hear.

Silas was angered by the Wizard’s escape and knew he would have to face the Lord’s wrath, but he had other plans. He would use the situation to his advantage. Silas would make Kovak take the fall.

‘Guard, gather your horse. Leave now and head for the Keep. Tell our Lord of what has befallen this day.’ Silas said.

Kovak couldn’t believe what he heard. Surely Silas would give him time to go after the traitors and bring the Wizard back before he sent word to their Lord of the escape. If Silas sent for Arnak, he’d have to wait until the Lord arrived before he could go after them.

‘Silas, can’t you wait and give us time to find them before you involve our Lord in this?’

Silas sneered at Kovak. ‘You would have me hide the truth from our Lord?’

‘No. But the ones who helped the Wizard escape come from The Dale. I know of them and they travel with another not from there. Another Wizard,’ Kovak said.

Silas was intrigued. Another Wizard. That would make the Lord happy, or maybe not. If Arnak found out about the Wizard from anyone except himself, things could prove to be a problem.

‘No, you’ll wait for our Lord to arrive.’

Silas called the solider he’d chosen for the ride and handed him his ring. ‘Leave now and don’t stop until you arrive at the Keep.’

Then as the soldier left, Silas looked at Kovak in disgust and walked away.