Possessing the Grimstone (23 page)

“No, my people have a legend: the First People traded their wings so we may farm in the fields and run upon the water.”

“Exactly. What did the First People do? They hid the stones, and risked their own power of flight to do so. Your fleet… you can run across water when no one else can. The stone… the last piece, it gave you this power. You’ve been touched by it. Don’t you see?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Remember the first time you ran across water back home? It is there that the stone is hiding.”

“The river?”

Shannara smiled. “The river. Looks like we’re off to Gonnish.” She turned and went to Panno, placing her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. Her last warrior stayed by their side, as if to guard them.

Pim had never seen Shannara as vulnerable as she was now. She exuded confidence at all times, a fierceness in battle, a stern, but compassionate leader. Now she leaned on her remaining husband as if at any moment she may collapse.

His pack vibrated; the stone begged to be freed, to be used. He thought of it and his fleet. It had still not fully sunken in that he’d had help running across the waters. He was not the accomplished, outstanding Wivering he’d thought he was. He was no different than any of the other Wivering in Gonnish. It wasn’t all the practice, the will, the praying… he was not special. He’d been amplified, boosted by magic beyond his understanding. For now, he pushed it to the back of his mind and relished in the fact that he carried the stone, the salvation of the entire world.

He noticed Tolan had walked away from him, too, and stood at the side of the boat looking out over the water. Pim moved slowly over to him. He looked out, watching the waves swell and break. Pim sucked in some air, tasted the salt in it, and turned.

“Tolan… I-I…”

“Yes, Pim?”

“I was a fool, and I am sorry. I had no business…”

“No, you did not have any business. Your Wivering emotions run deep, it seems.”

“It’s no excuse. I didn’t know anything about her, and I was ready to fight you over her. It was childish. It wasn’t the person I wanted to be. Nothing about me is the person I wanted to be. I can’t even run across water without…”

“Enough. You did run across the water. It matters not how. Only you could do it, and you faced the great Lich Lord, the master of the Church of the Dead. No living thing has ever set foot in the Church. You did that. You did that for your people. You did that for the world. You also saved Drith’s life from the Golem. Yes, I did see that. Your care for others is boundless, my friend.”

“Still, I hurt you, Tolan, the last person I’ve ever wanted to hurt.”

“Forget it. I already have.”

“So you forgive me?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re a great man and warrior.”

“So are you, Pim.”

He turned back to the sea. “We’re moving really fast; I can almost see the Western Isles.”

“It is that piece of the stone,” Tolan said. “I think it knows your thoughts. I think it reads your desperation, and is aiding your intentions. At this speed, our journey will be half of what it was getting here. And there is no better time. I do not know how long my home city can stand against the enemy. I fear it will not be much longer.”

“I cannot believe all this time, a piece of this thing was in Gonnish.”

“Pim, Gonnish will not look the same as you left it. Are you sure you are ready?”

“No, I am not, but it must be done. We are too close for me to give up. I will deal with it when the time comes.”

“Just lead us to the river, my friend.”

Drith watched them both from the distance. He sharpened his sword methodically.

Chapter Sixteen

Jorrel wiped the mud from his eyes with the back of his hand, thanking Thet that he could still hold his sword and tend to the perils around him. He tasted copper in his mouth. Rain battered his face, rinsing the blood from it.

The Cardoon cavalry was in ruins; they fought valiantly, but it was a losing battle. Some retreated back into the forest, but most fell to the fiery magic of the Neshing. Men and horses burned to ash, limbs littered the beach, and blood ran to the sea.

The stone was a black spot against the tempestuous sky. The mages scrambled in all directions to recover it. Arrows and lances cut down a couple of them. None had their attention on him. Jorrel pushed as hard as he could.

He leaped out with one arm into the midst of the mages. The stone came down, and Jorrel dropped his sword in favor of catching the glittering green stone. He caught it in the palm of his hand, and held it tight.

Mages snarled all around him; a fiery haze rose in his sights. He knew he would never make it back to Cardoon.
If we can’t have it, no one can…

Jorrel climbed to his feet. He felt intense heat on his back as he stumbled toward the sea. Crashing waves lunged for him as he waded into the water. Hundreds of Neshing were right on his heels.

###

Cardoon’s walls were riddled with cracks. Watchtowers crumbled and fell to the battleground below. The gates buckled, fissures ran the length of them, but they held. The black spires were in flames. The fires could be seen for miles around, stealing the hope from the land. Despair spread through the villages and towns, the cities and palaces. If the most powerful city in Athora was on the brink of collapse, what chance did any of them have?

Sooth-Malesh cast wind elementals across the battlefield; whirlwinds tossed Neshing into the air, crashing them down onto jagged rocks, into their own catapults, and on top of their mages.

Soldiers, Southern warriors, Gwythroth ministers, Wivering, and Northerners made one final stand against the relentless scourge that would not die.

Olani fought her way back to the wall and stood alongside Sooth-Malesh. She donned a suit of armor that was meant for a man, but she didn’t care. She commanded another battalion of archers with flaming arrows.

“I see you have managed to shed your sickness, my dear.”

“I’ve cured it for good.” She looked at him with a sly smile. “And I’ve brought reinforcements.”

“It won’t be enough. The gates are weakening.”

“Still, we must not give up. A change in the wind may come at any moment.”

“We have not heard from our champions in nearly a month. If the wind does not bring them with it, we will need to accept our fate… the fate of our world. I will miss it.”

“It’s not over yet, Crimson mage. Fire!”

The flaming arrows ripped through the sky. Sooth-Malesh pointed at them, and they joined as one, exploding with a crack of thunder, and raining hell down onto the battle.

###

Custodian Charris waited on the docks as the group’s ship rolled in. He greeted them with a huge grin. Behind him, his people stood by with the group’s horses, well fed and rested.

“Glory to you all!” Charris called. “Our hearts sing at your return. May we see it, this stone?”

Pim and the others made their way past him as quickly as possible.

“Custodian Charris,” Tolan called. “We appreciate all of your help and gracious hospitality, but we can spare no more time! Our people are dying. We have lost many. We must go.”

“Just one look, I insist,” he ran after them to their horses.

Pim climbed onto his horse, his pack glowing green. Charris scurried over to him, grabbing hold of his leg. “Please… just one look!”

“Let go of me!” Pim shook his leg, but the Custodian held on tight. “We must go… we must! Let go!”

Drith drew his sword, preparing to strike. Tolan and Shannara placed their hands on the hilts of their weapons.

Pim grabbed hold of his pack and leered at Charris. “Get back!”

A wave of of energy swept the docks, throwing Charris and all of his people to the ground. A look of terror washed over Charris’s face.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry,” Pim said.

“Let us go,” Tolan said to Pim. He turned back to Charris one last time. “Thank you again for your ship and crew. You have helped save our world.”

A nervous smile drew across Charris’s face and he waved the group off.

They galloped out of Fiongall, down the coast, heading west toward Gonnish.

Another day of riding, and a break for sleep and food, and the group reached the outskirts of Gonnish. They galloped through devastated farmland, withered crops, and burned fields.

Pim held strong; his mind focused on reaching his home and the rushing river where he’d first ran across the water.

The further they rode, the worse the destruction grew. Scorched trees collapsed as the group passed. Wells were now piles of rubble. Bridges were destroyed. They were forced to circle around through a thorned thicket to reach the village proper.

Gonnish was in ruins. Piles of rubble, once cozy homes, smoldered by the hundreds. Debris filled the ground, farms and gardens were ravaged, and fences were now in splinters.

The Order of Thet’s ceremonial building and totems were destroyed; the Warrior Guild, too, was nothing more than crumbled walls and a collapsed roof. Nearly all the homes were burned down.

Pim came upon his own home. Its roof was collapsed: one wall was missing, and the rest of the frame was blackened and charred. Ashes blew from its foundation. He jumped from his horse, approached the threshold, and stopped.

The young Wivering fell to his knees as tears began to stream down his face silently. His chest heaved and arms trembled at the sight.

Tolan looked down on him, his heart breaking for the boy. He placed his hand on his shoulder.

Pim looked up at him, eyes wet. “All I’ve ever known is gone.”

“We will rebuild it with you.”

“How? We haven’t won anything. All we do is lose everything we love.”

“It is not over yet, Pim. You hold the key to our victory.”

“Part of a key… we still don’t have the other piece. What if they already found it?”

“We have to try, my friend. Try for your family, for your life. Where is this river?”

Pim stood up and wiped the tears from his face. “Follow me.”

###

“The current is very strong. I was almost swept away in it once.” Pim looked across the raging river at the trees he had leaped upon. It felt so long ago.

Shannara stepped to the edge. “I feel the pull of it. The third piece is beneath the water.”

“I don’t think I’ll survive going in,” Pim said. “How am I to fight the current?”

“We will put a rope around you,” Tolan said. “The rest of us will hold onto you. We will not let you go.”

“How can you be sure?”

Panno walked up to Pim and touched his face. “It is not your fate. You will not drown in the river. Take comfort.”

“You’re kind, but I still fear it.”

“It’s your fear that keeps you alive,” Shannara said, fetching some rope from her pack.

Tolan and Shannara tied the rope securely around Pim.

“Just wade in, Pim,” Tolan said. “Do not use your fleet, do not try to swim, just wade through.

“Here,” Shannara broke a long tree branch off a nearby sapling. “For balance, hold it against the river’s bottom and move slowly. We’ll hold onto you.”

Pim turned to the river again and started down the bank. He slipped off his boots and slid his feet into the cold water. A shiver shot up his spine. He turned back to Shannara. “Is there a certain direction?”

“I feel energy in the center, around that cluster of rocks.”

Pim spotted the rocks she mentioned and eased into the river. The current smashed up against him. Tolan, Shannara, and Drith held onto the rope with all of their strength.

Panno watched from a distance; the last D’Elkyrie warrior stood by his side.

He reached the rocks and fell onto them, but the others pulled the rope tight, keeping him from getting pulled under. He pushed on his tree branch and fought back for his balance.

His feet tingled again as before, when his fleet had worked wonders. He took hold of the rocks with both hands, and dove under the water.

“Hold on to him!’ Tolan called from the shore.

They could no longer see him. The Wivering had vanished from their sight. All that remained was the rope, wriggling and thrashing violently.

“By the Gods,” Drith cried. “What is he doing? I am losing my grip!”

“Do not let go,” Tolan said. “You hear me? None of you let go!”

They fought the tug of the current until finally, the Wivering broke the surface. Pim opened his eyes and smiled. In his hand, he held the third piece of the stone. Pim and his friends now possessed two thirds of the most powerful magic their world had ever known.

Tolan hauled Pim up and out of the river. Pim reached for his pack to hide the stone when it flew out of his hands and soared through the air. The first half flew out of his pack and the two hovered in the air.

Pim stared up at them as a green hue enveloped both pieces. Pim felt his eyes tingle again and his feet.

Everyone stood and stared in awe as the stones merged with each other then dropped into Pim’s outstretched hand.

He clasped it in his palm and reached for his pack, stuffing them inside and closing the latch. He looked at the others. “Let’s go.” They headed out of the woods and back to the Wivering village.

They reached what had once been the village, and howls erupted all around them. The smoldering ruins rumbled, and from beneath them, the Neshing emerged, charging the group.

“Ambush! Neshing Ambush!” Tolan cried, slinging his sword across the throat of the first to attack. It gurgled and fell to its kness. Its familiar reached for Tolan, but he beheaded the Neshing, and the familiar vanshied.

A battalion of Neshing flooded the village from their hiding spots beneath the rubble, just waiting for someone to uncover the third piece of the stone.

Shannara and her D’Elkyrie warrior jumped into action. She gutted her first Neshing foe with one of her blades, and sliced another across its throat. She leaped over the next charging one, and slashed the back of its head when she came down.

Her warrior sliced and diced her way through two Neshing before a third one struck her down with its massive club. Its familiar clawed at her face, then dragged her up by the hair. The Neshing drew back its club for the deathblow, but Tolan took its head off, stopping it dead. He helped the warrior to her feet.