The Unmaking (28 page)

~~~

The dragons landed on the bluff, soon followed by the gryphon and the myrkestra. Swarn came striding to meet them. Although Nell did not know it, the witch was changed. Her strong,
dark face was hollow and gaunt and her eyes burned even more fiercely than before. She looked mistrustfully at the little group, then said to Charlie, “Where is Eliza?”

“We thought she was with you,” said Charlie. Nell’s heart plummeted.

Swarn looked around. “We cannot talk here. Come, among the trees.” She stopped and pointed at the Faery. “You cannot enter the witches’ forest.”

“No,” said the Faery, looking in alarm at the trees.

“Why cannay you?” asked Nell.

“It was Faeries that Cursed the witches who make up the trees of this wood,” said Swarn, her voice steely. “But they retain a power of their own and no Faery may enter.”

“Lah, you just wait here,” said Charlie to Jalo cheerfully.

“Wait!” said Nell. “He’s helped a lot. He should be part of any discussion, aye. Why do we need to go in the forest?” She didn’t much like the look of the dark trees either.

“It is not safe out in the open,” said Swarn. She thought for only a bit, then gestured for them all to follow. “I invite you, Faery, and you are under my protection for the moment.”

Jalo didn’t seem to find this very comforting, but he followed Swarn and the others in among the trees. The mist fell behind them like a wall and the trees formed a tight circle around them. It was as if they stood at the center of a fortress made out of forest and fog.

“Tell me what has happened, Shade,” said Swarn.

“The Mancers have been turned to stone,” said Charlie. “Praps you already know that. Eliza and I found Nia in the Citadel, draining all the books. And she made this...monster. To keep Eliza busy, out of the way, she said. The monster was going to find Eliza’s mother. I was hurt and I couldnay help her. I thought she’d come find you, aye. I didnay think she’d be crazy enough to go after it by herself, but if you havenay seen her, I spec that’s what she’s done.”

“By herself?” echoed Nell faintly. “Why would she do that?”

Charlie shrugged unhappily. “You know how she is about her family.”

“You say Nia
Made
a monster?” Swarn asked.

Charlie looked puzzled. “Lah...it came out of her mouth. It was disgusting, actually. Will you come back to Di Shang with us? We’ve got to find Eliza, help her.”

“Eliza will be safe until Nia returns to Di Shang for her,” said Swarn. “Nia would not wish her dead, not yet. We can help her best by stopping Nia, though I confess I am at a loss. Tell me how you came to be in the company of a Faery and one of my dragons.”

The Faery stepped forward at this. “I am Jalo, second son of Nikias,” he introduced himself. He described his own meeting with Nell and the scene of slaughter they had encountered in the Marsh. Swarn listened with an impassive face but Nell saw her knuckles whiten around the spear. “The King of the Faeries awaits you in the Realm of the Faeries, that you may join forces against Nia,” he concluded.

“I sought the King,” said Swarn tersely. “He has hidden himself behind a great wall of Illusion. I thought he did not mean to fight.”

“He is protecting his people,” said Jalo. “But he has sent out a number of his best soldiers to find his allies and bring them to him. The Oracle is dead, the Mancers incapacitated, but I have found you. I can take you to him. We should not scatter our force but rather work together in an organized fashion. The Curse on the Mancers must be broken and they and the Shang Sorceress must all be brought to the Realm of the Faeries. Our kingdom is impenetrable; we can fight the Sorceress from there.”

“Then I should go to Di Shang,” said Swarn. “Perhaps I can break the Curse on the Mancers.”

“You should not go alone,” said Jalo. “It will be safer if you are accompanied by some members of the Faery Guard. Curses are Faery Magic, after all. Come to the Faery Realm and consult with the King. We must agree on a battle plan. I cannot speak for my King until he knows all that I know.”

“I’ll go back to Di Shang to help Eliza, then,” said Charlie.

“How will you find her?” demanded Swarn. “The Faery is right. We need to co-ordinate our efforts. I have no doubt there will be a role for you, too. I think that Eliza is safe for the time being.”

“Then we’ll all go together,” said Nell hopefully.

“Yes,” said Jalo. “And quickly.”

Ander looked at Nell. She avoided his gaze and he said nothing. It was agreed. The trees parted, the fog dissolved and Jalo on his myrkestra led the group across the Sea of Tian Xia to the legendary, hidden Realm of the Faeries.

Chapter

~16~

T
he winter sojourn at the oasis was a busy time
for the Sorma. They hunted and plucked birds and put every part of them to practical use – skins and feathers for clothing, bags and camel saddles; meat sliced and dried and salted and then tightly packed for the long months of travel ahead; bones and beaks turned into needles and fastenings. They dried dates and pickled olives and edible plants. They collected fresh water and repaired tattered tents and worn clothing. When they set off again, it would be with supplies enough to last them their journey to another oasis. The scarred, angry-looking camels roamed freely, eating plants and drinking from the streams, and their flabby humps grew full and firm again.

Eliza met with the Council of Elders at dawn. She had bathed in one of the springs and changed into clean clothes in the Sorma style, a colourful tunic over loose trousers. The Elders sat cross-legged in a semi-circle in the Council Tent, listening carefully while she explained everything. Spoken out loud, her plans sounded flimsy and reliant on too many uncertainties, even to her. But her grandmother said simply, “We will help you,” and the others said
Arash
, it is agreed.

The Healers and the Spirit Speakers were called. Eliza sent the dragons circling over the dunes to keep a lookout for the Kwellrahg. She then wrote out a page of instructions for Uri Mon Lil, describing the spell of Deep Seeing and asking him to look in the Book of Barriers for the Sperre-Tahora, a complex barrier spell usually only cast by Mancers to contain a particular, named being and its Magic.

When Rom and Rea woke and emerged from their tent they were delighted to find Eliza in the camp. Even engulfed in her father’s bear hug, Eliza’s task weighed on her. There was no safe harbour for her, not even here. She noticed that Rea’s face looked lined and pinched.

“Are you all right?” she asked her mother shyly.

Rea nodded and managed a tight smile.

“You dinnay look well,” said Eliza.

“She hasn’t been sleeping lately,” said Rom, supporting her with his arm. “A bit of a relapse, in terms of...pain.”

“I know,” said Eliza. “I mean, I know why.”

She explained it to them over breakfast in their tent. Rea flexed her hand, looking at the space where her little finger was missing.

“I don’t understand why she made it out of
me
,” she said when Eliza had finished.

“Having it come after you was the best way to make sure I’d go after it,” said Eliza. “It’s linked to Nia through the Magic of Making but linking it to you as well is a sort of protection for her. She must have known I would figure it out, aye. I dinnay dare hurt it and so I cannay use it to hurt her.”

“Do you suppose it could provide a way to...help Rea? Get back her strength?” asked Rom, stirring the fire restlessly.

“I dinnay think so,” said Eliza. “She’s kept the power for herself. She just used the flesh and the suffering to forge the connection she wanted. I suppose in theory we could get your finger back, but I wouldnay know where to begin.”

Rea laughed weakly. “It sounds like too much trouble,” she said. “My finger is the least of what’s been cut away from me.”

“Are you sure this wizard is strong enough to do what you say?” Rom pressed on. “He seems...not very wizardly.”

Eliza shrugged. “I’ve never met a wizard so I dinnay know about that. But he has power and he’s all we’ve got.”

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to forget everything
every twenty-nine minutes
,” sighed Rea. “It puts my situation in perspective, doesn’t it?”

Eliza hugged her knees and rocked back and forth a bit before the dying fire. “I just wish it was already happening. Waiting is horrible.”

“Game of chess?” suggested Rom, and Eliza smiled.

~~~

Eliza and her father played chess through the morning. The concentration of it soothed her somewhat. After lunch she took a walk through the oasis, checking on the preparations of the Sorma and Uri Mon Lil’s progress with the spell. Finally, too restless to stay in the camp, she called back Ka’s dragon and he bore her up over the oasis and north along the dunes. Half a mile away, soaring over the lip of a golden dune, they spotted the Kwellrahg, flaming wings hanging, climbing with fierce determination up the steep sandy slope. Ka’s dragon veered in a sharp circle, letting out a warning cry, and made back for the camp.

“It’s coming!” Eliza called to the Sorma as soon as the dragon landed. She ran to where Uri Mon Lil was rereading her instructions to him.

“Is it ready?” she demanded. He gave her a startled look.

“Never mind who I am,” she snapped, picking up his book and reading the spell. It was complete. Relief washed over her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I’m
very
nervous. Thank you for doing this.”

“Not at all,” said Uri Mon Lil amiably. “But I appear to be preparing a very difficult
barrier
spell...to hold...some kind of beast. It seems an odd thing for me to be doing.”

“It’s a very good thing for you to be doing,” said Eliza, “and I’m grateful, aye. Come on.”

The Healers and the Spirit Speakers stood at the edge of the camp, waiting.

“Eliza,” said Rom, taking her arm. “If it doesn’t work...”

“It will,” she said, and hugged him fiercely. Then, without thinking about it, she hugged Rea too.

“It should be me doing this,” Rea whispered in her ear. “It was
my
battle.”

“You did your part,” said Eliza. “It’s my turn now.”

The Sorma Elders had formed a semi-circle before the camp. Uri Mon Lil was at the centre of it with his book open to the Sperre-Tahora. Rom helped Rea to a position next to the wizard and Eliza stepped aside, dagger at the ready should anything go wrong. They waited until the Kwellrahg appeared, dark and flaming, over the edge of the dune.

Spying the Sorma camp, the Kwellrahg extended its tattered wings wide, showering sparks, and crossed the sandy expanse at a gallop.

“By the Ancients,” murmured Rea, leaning heavily against Rom. He glanced anxiously at Eliza.

When it was only as far away as the length of a playing field, Eliza could hold herself still no longer. The closer the Kwellrahg was, the easier it would be for Uri Mon Lil to cast the Sperre-Tahora. But she could not risk the creature falling on her mother first.

“Now Uri!” she said.

He raised one arm, fingers outstretched, and called out the ancient words of the Sperre-Tahora. Eliza felt power rolling off him in great waves. He seemed to grow, not in size precisely but in another kind of stature. The Kwellrahg slowed, not because the spell was working yet but because it understood something was about to happen and didn’t know what. It tossed its great horned head about, vomiting smoke, uncertain. Its flaming eyes took in the enemy before it, Uri Mon Lil casting the spell, Eliza with her dagger drawn, the rows of Sorma, trying to determine which among them posed the greatest threat. Then its eyes fell on Rea again and it regained its purpose, making for her in a mad bolt as if recognizing the chance was close to slipping away. Rom wrapped his arms around his wife. They all felt the air around them sucked away as the Kwellrahg drew near. Rea could not look away but when the Kwellrahg was almost upon them Rom turned his head in horror, rasping, “Eliza! Stop it!” Eliza started forward just as something flew from the wizard’s hand and struck the Kwellrahg. It stumbled and the force that had struck it ballooned out around it, only visible as a shimmer in the air. Once it was enclosed, they could all breathe again. The Kwellrahg roared, hurling its battered, burning form against the barrier.

“How long will the barrier last?” Eliza asked Uri Mon Lil.

“I’ve no idea,” he answered. “I’ll stay close, in case it needs to be redone.”

Eliza nodded. “Go back to your tent,” she said to Rom and Rea. “You dinnay need to see the rest of this.”

Eliza joined the Sorma forming a circle around the trapped Kwellrahg. Her heart hammered against her ribs as if it were trying to break free and for a moment she imagined that it might burst out of her, a black raven, and take to the sky. The Kwellrahg’s fear and desperation had infected her. She wanted to scream at the Sorma to hurry. The urgency of the task overwhelmed her, made her knees fold under her. She felt her grandmother’s arms around her, holding her up, drawing her back into the circle. The Kwellrahg roared again and battered the barrier, which shuddered but did not break. The Sorma observed it quietly.