High The Vanes (The Change Book 2) (3 page)

“There’s a light,” I whispered, pointing uselessly.

“I see it not, my lady.”

“Wait. There! There now, again.”

“Oh, my lady. It is the crwydwyr. They have a light. We are lost. ‘Let me not be ashamed, O Lady, for I have called upon thee.’ They will find us. I am truly sorry, my lady. I have failed you.”

I put my fingers to her face, feeling the wet tears run down her cheeks. She took hold of my hand and kissed the fingers. We had to do something. We could not simply stand here in the forest and wait for the vagabondi to find us. To do whatever evil to us they wished. I shuddered.

With Eluned still clutching my one hand, I put out the other. Inches away, I felt the rough bark of a tree. I ran my fingers over it. It was wide, much wider than those we had encountered so far. I pulled away from her.

“No, my lady,” she screamed. “Stay. I cannot lose you now.”

“Keep holding my hand, Eluned. I think there may be a way.”

Keeping my free hand on the tree I followed the trunk around until I felt a thick branch striking out.

“We can climb this tree, Eluned. Maybe the light will not find us if we are not on the ground. Here, climb up onto this branch. Leave your bags at the base. We can collect them later.”

I pulled up her hand, still clutching mine, until it was holding the top surface of the branch.

“Now, pull yourself onto the branch. When you are up, feel for the next branch up. There will be one.”

With difficulty, Eluned scrambled up onto the first branch. As she let go of my hand to grip the branch she whispered, “Stay with me, my lady.”

“I’m right behind you. Keep going.”

I felt her stand, shivering, beside me and reach upwards. She found another branch.

“There is another, my lady. You were right.”

“Climb it, then. Quickly!”

I could see the light clearly now as I looked back into the forest. It was flashing from side to side as the roar of the engine increased.

Catching on, Eluned quickly scaled another two branches. As I pulled myself up onto the fourth I told her to stop. I sat back on my haunches as best I could, pulling Eluned down with me. She began very quietly humming as we perched there. Occasionally the humming turned to words in a language that I did not understand.

The light and the noise came closer and closer. It was difficult to tell exactly how far away they were as it was impossible to guess which way and how far from us the path lay. Very soon the engine was roaring and the light flashed from side to side very close to us. As it passed through the trees, it lit everything in its path with an eerie yellow light. Small animals that had been long without light scurried away into the further darkness.

Suddenly, the roaring engine changed to a low rumble. It seemed they had stopped. The light also stopped moving forward, instead moving slowly side to side in a line that struck and struck again the trunk of our tree. Although there was enough light cast for the two of us to be able to see each other clearly, it seemed that they could not see us.

The light stopped, just to the side of our tree. There was a loud crashing and I could hear men’s voices. One voice appeared to come closer, but the others shouted something and the man retreated. There was more shouting. Eluned put her arm around my waist and we both swayed on the branch. She was shivering. I could feel it through our shifts. In the dim light still cast below us I put my finger to her lips and forced a smile. She was still weeping.

An eternity later, the shouting stopped. The engine changed again to a loud roar and the light began to move away, still flashing from side to side as it went. As it moved away, we were plunged back into total darkness, losing even the little light it had cast on us. Eventually, the sound of the engine died away and we could no longer make out the light.

“We must go down, Eluned.”

“I am afraid, my lady. It will be harder to descend.”

“Follow me. This was one skill I did learn from the Teacher.”

I moved to a sitting position on the branch and extended my legs downwards. At full stretch, my feet touched the next branch down. I let myself go. Reaching up, I guided Eluned down to my side. Repeating this action, we made it back to the ground safely. As soon as she felt her feet on the ground, Eluned pulled my arm towards her and flung her arms around me. She buried her head in my shoulder and wept and wept. Overcome with emotion, I lowered my head onto hers and followed suit.

Some minutes later, I lifted her head and, with my fingers, gently pushed back her wet hair. She slowly released me.

“We must find the path again, my lady. We are going to be late. She will be very angry.”

“She?” I asked into the darkness. “Who is she?”

“The Keeper of the Dyke. She is expecting us. Today. We must go.”

I heard her scrabbling about for her bag and the blankets. My bag was pushed at me. She grabbed my hand and we headed off in what we hoped was the right direction. It seemed an age, but we did eventually find our way back to the path. Still holding hands, we set off once again.

Hours passed. Or so it seemed in the endless darkness of the forest. Daylight had long gone when we eventually emerged into open ground again. Strangely, although there was really no light, the darkness of the open was completely different from the darkness of the forest. Eluned and I could easily see each other, so there was no longer any need for us to hold hands.

As she released my hand, Eluned paused and turned to me. “‘
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that have dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ It is an honour and a privilege that I am with you, my lady. I am blessed that the light that the Lady has sent is my companion.”

When she made these compliments, I felt only embarrassment. Sadly. I still did not believe what they claimed for me. And as for being a ‘great light’ I did not seem to have had much of one when we needed it in the forest.

“How far to the dyke?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“If we had arrived here in daylight we would have been able to see it.”

“Not far, then.”

“Far, but not far. Perhaps as was the forest from where we first encountered the crwydwyr, my lady.”

I groaned. That had taken hours. There was nothing for it but to carry on. We set off. Curiously, this time Eluned followed behind me, so I was able to set the pace. A little slower than the one she had set. My eyes eventually grew accustomed to seeing in the darkness that seemed more natural than that in the forest and I was soon able to make out a horizon ahead of us. As we drew nearer, it seemed to rise up until at last I realised that it was a huge bank of earth. About three times the height of a man at its highest point, I was not aware, until I nearly stumbled into it, that there was also a wide ditch on our side of it.

“This is the dyke you spoke of?”

“It is, my lady. Made by one of the kings of the old times.”

“Not by the ‘old Romans’?”

“No, my lady. A king after the time of the old Romans. One who was known to my grandfather’s father.”

“Oh. Him again. So what happens now?”

“We await the Keeper.”

“We simply stand here until she happens to come along. Is that it?”

“She knows we are coming, my lady.”

“What about the vagabondi?”

“They will have returned to their dwelling. Even they do not venture out at night.”

“Ah, but we do. I thought you said we would be late arriving to meet this Keeper?”

“We are late. But she will return. Every hour she will seek for us. Until we meet.”

“Hmmm. I wonder if the hour has just passed, or we are half way through it, or it has just begun.”

“I do not understand, my lady.”

“You said she will return ‘every hour’. The problem is we have no idea what that hour is. We don’t know how long we have to wait here. In the dark. The dark that not even the vagabondi like being out in. Whose idea was it to meet with this Keeper?”

“The High Servants have ordained it. She will arrive, my lady. You need not fear.”

“Strange that. We sat up in a tree in the depth of the forest while the vagabondi worked out what peculiar form of torture they could inflict upon us and what do you do? Bawl your eyes out. You were so terrified that I almost forgot to be frightened myself. Now we stand at what appears to be the end of the road. It is dark. Even those lunatics are afraid of the dark, you tell me. And yet you calmly tell me I need not fear?”

I turned away from the edge of the ditch to find that Eluned had walked some distance away from me. My words had fallen on deaf ears.

“She comes, my lady,” Eluned suddenly shouted. “She comes. Greetings, high servant of the lady. Greetings, Keeper of the Dyke.”

Gradually, a figure emerged from the darkness. As it approached, the figure materialised as an exceptionally tall woman, dressed from neck to ankle in a single dark red garment, her thick dark hair falling around her shoulders. Although she was barefoot, she did not seem to be affected by the damp grass over which she walked. My and Eluned’s shift had begun to absorb the moisture and the hems were now hanging limply over our boots. As the woman approached Eluned she seemed to tower over her, arms outstretched before her. Eluned ran the last few paces towards her, and grasped her round her waist. The woman’s arms closed around Eluned’s head.

“We greet you, Eluned Llyn Y Gadair. We had feared you lost. You were expected before night fall.”

Her voice, deep and resonant, rang out around us, faintly echoing back from the bank opposite. Like a child greeting its mother, Eluned leaned back and lifted her head up to see the woman. Her hands cradled Eluned’s head, her fingers gently stroking her hair.

“Ceridwen, Ceidwades Clawdd Offa, I bring you greetings from the Lady’s High Servants, Hafren and Gwyr. Long have you been parted. Long have they wished to greet you themselves. I am but a poor substitute.”

Eluned’s voice sounded remarkably thin and reedy after the woman’s voice. It boomed out again as she responded.

“You are not poor in any manner, Eluned Llyn Y Gadair. My sisters’ desires were whispered to me on the wind. We know your task. I accept your greetings. You will return them one day.”

She looked up, and for what appeared to be the first time, she saw me, standing alone.

“But we neglect your companion, Eluned. This is the Expected One?”

Eluned broke free from the woman’s embrace and ran back to me. She took my hand and led me towards her.

“Lady Ceridwen, may I present to you Non, the Expected One of the ages.” She pushed me forwards.

I stretched out my hand, reaching for the woman’s extended arms, but when my hand reached them there was nothing but air. My hand seemed to pass right through her arms. I froze, one hand still before me. She approached me and I saw her arms pass over my shoulders in an embrace, but I felt nothing. With my head seemingly buried in the folds of her garment, yet I could see what lay behind her, now lit by a curious red glow.

“What is this?” I said.

“I have no substance in your world, my child.” Her voice boomed out again, above my lowered head. I lifted up my eyes to see her face. “You see me, yes. But you cannot touch me. I am only to be seen and heard.” She smiled.

“How can that be?” I asked. Now I felt like a little child.

“In your world, in the old times, people told of ‘angels’. It is likely that those who saw such things had glimpsed one of my sisters. We were once many. Now, alas, we are few. There are the guardians of the way, who have trained Eluned well. Beside myself there is one other you will meet before too long. We four are the remnant of a great people. Take my hand, Expected One. You will not feel it, but I will know it is there.”

She stepped back away from me and, somehow, lifted my hand. I felt nothing, but my hand rose and looked as if it was in hers.

“Together we will spend what remains of this night within. Come, Eluned Llyn Y Gadair. We will go in.”

She turned and headed straight for the bank. As we approached the ditch I hesitated, pulling back.

“Sleep, my child,” Ceridwen said.

When I awoke I was lying on a richly woven carpet. This lay in one corner of a large room, lit only by the flames of a huge fire that burned beneath a steaming cauldron. I sat up, feeling totally refreshed, as though I had slept in a feather bed for hours, if not days. Eluned appeared before me.

“You wake, my lady. Come. Eat. The Lady Ceridwen has prepared food for us. And for our journey.”

I stood up. Eluned led me to a wooden bench beside the fire. I sat down and she handed me a wooden bowl filled with a delicious smelling broth, and a silver spoon. At first it reminded me of what I had eaten the whole time I was with the Teacher, from his never empty pot, but as I tasted it I soon forgot that very plain fare. It consisted of things I had never seen before, but which tasted wonderful, spiced and aromatic. I quickly cleared the bowl.

Putting down the bowl I turned to Eluned. She was standing behind me, just as she did when we ate in Plas Maen Heledd, where I had met her. The house I loved, blown to pieces by the Guards when they robbed me of my Taid. I wiped a tear from my cheek.

“Where are we?”

“The Lady Ceridwen’s hall, my lady. We are honoured that she has brought us here.”

“But where is it? The last thing I remember was when we were about to fall into the ditch before the bank.”

“This hall is hidden deep within the bank, my lady. You would never discover it alone.”

I shook my head. This was becoming more and more strange. We had met a strange red giant of a woman who did not seem to exist. We were now in her ‘hall’, a place that also did not seem to exist. I was becoming more and more convinced that I was dreaming. Or having a nightmare. I picked up the bowl and smelled it. That certainly seemed real. I touched the bench on which I was sitting. That was real enough. I put my hand out towards the fire. It was hot.

“Where is this lady, then?”

“She is preparing the next stage of our journey, my lady. You will not see her again.”