Chapter 10
We snatched a little sleep, dozing off here and there into an unconsciousness plagued by vividly colourful dreams. I finally flinched awake just before dawn. Belis was already up and checking her pack. I could feel the nervous energy rolling off her.
“How are the cuts?” I asked.
“Not so bad now,” Belis said. “Another day and I think they’ll be gone.” She held out a hand covered in purple lines, the fading scars of our work the day before.
I looked down at my own arms. I felt strangely proud of myself.
The hard-won strength of the journey to Annwn had kept me going.
The newborn Mallt of a few months ago could never have cleared the brambles.
I wondered if the immortal form I had worn before that could have either.
I had always been diligent in my work, but it had never been physically difficult.
Belis finished her checks and shuffled over. She picked up my hand and turned it over in hers, running strong fingers over the scars.
“I am glad it heals so fast here,” she said, still staring at the cuts. “It is a hard thing to see those you care about injured.”
“Indeed,” I pressed my palm to her palm, “but these wounds were chosen in order to help others, not forced on us by an enemy.”
“Pain is pain,” Belis said, but she looked a little more cheerful. “Come, Arawn should be here soon.”
She scrambled to her feet and pulled me up next to her.
Behind us the field of thorns was filled with pale green stems, the newly planted flax already knee-high and waving gently in the breeze.
The dawn was rising behind us, painting the plants in a golden light.
As the sun broke from the horizon the flax stems began to bloom blue, tiny flowers unfurling as they reached up to the sky.
In a few moments the whole field was a wash of azure.
“Beautiful, is it not,” said a deep voice from behind me. I jumped and turned to see Arawn staring out at the view. “You have done very well.”
“We have proved ourselves then?” Belis said, hurrying towards him. “You will let us head towards the gorge?”
“Not quite yet. There are still a few things we must do.”
Belis ground her teeth. “My sister is waiting for me. We must try soon.”
“I understand your urgency, Princess, but it will do your sister no good if we fail and Annwn falls to the shadow. We have proved that living mortals can be effective against the corruption, but you will need more help to win out.”
“Help from where?” I asked.
“I will show you.” Arawn reached out and I took his arm. I looked back at Belis and she sighed and linked up with us, our packs slung over one shoulder and her long oak spear in her spare hand.
“Now take a deep breath.” Arawn stepped forward smartly and the world flickered around us again. All the blood in my body seemed to shoot into my head and I would have fallen were it not for Arawn’s arm. I took a moment to centre myself and then looked around.
We were standing next to a huge wooden pavilion, a fluted roof held up by intricately carved pillars.
The twisting knots of the carving had been merrily painted in yellow and white.
Fine netting had been strung between the pillars, through which filtered the sound of birdsong.
Bright colours flashed inside the aviary as birds fluttered back and forth.
I stepped a little closer and peered in.
Robins, blue tits and goldfinches darted from perch to perch above a wide pool crewed by mallards and geese.
A gyrfalcon gazed down at us from the lofty heights of the rafters, looking over the quail and pheasants and chickens that scratched comfortably in the grass and dust of the floor.
Behind the falcon huddled a parliament of owls, snoozing peacefully in the shadows of the roof.
“Birds?” Belis said, peering through the netting.
“Birds,” confirmed Arawn. “These are the Adar. Every morning their song wakes the dead and lulls the living to sleep. They are cared for by my seneschal, a powerful witch. I spoke of her before.” He nodded behind us and I turned around.
I had seen mazes before, usually grown by druids to hide holy places.
They were twisted hedgerows and oak trees, patched up with ivy and holly trees and pearled with mistletoe.
What lay before me now made those look like herb gardens.
A vast forest spread out across the whole valley, a patchwork of thousands of trees in every shade of green from seafoam to pine.
“This is where she vanished, while gathering herbs in the maze. It has always been a dark place. Most of the dead chose to avoid it but she liked it. We hadn’t realised it had become corrupted until she failed to return.
I went after her but the shadow came down on me again.
Rescue parties did better but they get hopelessly lost and the longer they spend in there the more they forget why they went in.
If they don’t find their way back within a few hours, they come back shadowbitten or simply never return at all. ”
His voice was bitter and he suddenly slammed his hand into the wood of the pavilion so that it shook and the birds began to clamour in alarm.
“I am supposed to be the Lord of Annwn but this affliction has left me helpless as a fox kit. I cannot do anything to help but send those I am supposed to guard into danger and linger where it is safe while they fall.”
“Sometimes that is a leader’s position,” said Belis, moving a little closer from where she had jumped back at his outburst. “A general does not always lead from the front. They need to see the whole battlefield so they can call the orders.”
Arawn looked up at her, surprise in his face.
“That’s kind of you to say, but if this is a battle then it’s a fighting retreat. We need reinforcements and you two alone will not be enough. We need my seneschal back.”
I stared out at the wood. “You cannot expect us to clear the whole forest. We almost died doing the thorns.”
“I agree that is beyond you,” Arawn said.
“And the labyrinth is an ancient and sacred place. I do not wish to destroy it. But you must rescue her. We will need her magic if we are to root out the cause of this corruption. I believe that your living strength will have the capacity to resist. Do not trust what your heart or mind are telling you to believe. Look closely, listen clearly. Only then can you be sure of what is ahead of you.”
I glanced at Belis. She looked as worried as me at Arawn’s words. “Do you have any idea where she might be? The wood is large.”
“Head to the springs then turn east. The oldest paths should lead you to the centre of the labyrinth. I would guess that she is there. Beware the darkness inside, it will try to lead you astray. I do not think there are shadowbitten still within the bounds, but I cannot guarantee it.”
He picked up Belis’s spear from where it was leaning against the pavilion and handed it to her, then passed me her shortsword.
“You can cut them down long enough to run for it and lose them in the maze. Try not to lose yourselves.”
I nodded and set my shoulders. We had done so well against the thorns the day before, pitting our will against the corruption. I felt confident we could be proof against it again.
We bade farewell to him and set off down the hill. An arch of rough stone reared up before us. The positioning of each rock seemed fragile, almost tentative, but the moss covering the western edges hinted at the great age of the structure.
Inside the woods seemed no different than before.
The trees were still ancient, old and twisting against each other.
The sunlight that spotted through the leaves was pale, dappling Belis’s skin as she headed into the heart of the springs.
Her hair was beginning to escape from its plaits, the strands shaking free like tongues of fire.
No, it was fire, lapping at the nape of her neck, as if to burn the pale skin.
I shook my head and hurried to catch up with her. My thoughts were not entirely my own. Belis looked over at me and on an impulse I grabbed her hand, needing the comfort. She started slightly but didn’t pull free and a moment later she started walking again.
The temperature in the forest was increasing now, the cool of the early morning growing into a damp heat that began to drop beads of moisture along my forehead and down my spine. My hand in Belis’s grew slippery and I had to blink sweat from my eyelashes.
I could tell we were getting close to the springs, the ground underfoot getting steadily muddier, sucking at my boots with every squelching pace.
The humidity had blossomed into a white mist, thickening with every blink until I could no longer see Belis, only feel her hand in mine and hear the quickening of her breath.
With a splash I stepped into warm water, swirling up to my ankles. Belis stopped, yanking her foot back from the mud.
“Don’t panic,” I said. I was whispering but the fog seemed to magnify my voice so that the words echoed. “Keep walking, head east.”
She squeezed my hand and moved forward. I followed, not wanting to lose her to the mist. The water deepened and soon we were wading up to our thighs.
It grew hotter as we splashed onwards, the mist forcing itself down my throat, pressing down on my chest with each breath.
Beside me I could hear Belis panting, but she kept her grip on my hand even when she tripped into the water and surfaced spluttering.
I helped her to her feet, still blinded by the mist.
“The spring floor drops off,” she murmured. “I think this is as far as we can go.”
A sound came from behind us and I whipped around. A girl was wading towards us; she looked about six or seven, I thought. Her long coppery hair trailed in the water. She seemed familiar to me and I tried to place where I had seen her before. Belis gasped and turned as pale as the mist.
“Cati!”