Chapter 10 #3
“You’re Rhiannon Half Fae, Queen of Dyfed?” Belis asked, standing up and peering at the old woman.
“I was, when I dwelt under the living sun. Now I am merely another of the souls that live in the afterworld.”
Belis smiled at her. “I think you might be my great grandmother, give or take a few generations. My father’s mother came from Dyfed.”
Rhiannon sniffed. “Possibly. I only had the one son but he was rather more profligate with his affections than I would have preferred. I am sure I have descendants all over Britain and even the mainland.” She brushed off her cloak.
“You needn’t think I will grant you any favours. I owe fealty only to Arawn these days.”
Belis blinked, a little upset at having this offer of familial connection slapped down. I watched as she swallowed the emotion down then stepped back and nodded. I rolled my eyes at the old queen, annoyed at how she had spoken to Belis.
“Death suits you, Rhiannon,” I said. She grinned toothily at me. Belis held out a hand to help her up.
“We had better leave.”
“While you’ve been hiding in a tree,” I paused to shoot a glare at her, “things have deteriorated in Annwn.”
“So you’ve noticed at last.” Rhiannon crossed her arms, tapping slanted nails against her sleeves. She smiled at me, revealing all her pointed teeth, and reached back into the split trunk to pick up a satchel. “The shadow will not easily give us up. We may need to fight our way out.”
“We can sustain injuries from them without becoming corrupted,” Belis said. “We’ll get you out.”
“Perhaps, but you can still be killed,” Rhiannon countered, “and once dead you’ll be just as susceptible as me. Are you ready?”
I looked back into the shadows, watching the dust motes dance on the air. I was hardly eager to step back into the woods but I could not see another way out. Belis nodded; her grip on her spear was steady. I unsheathed my sword and held it out in front of me.
Rhiannon fetched a knife from her bag and pricked the edge of her forefinger. She squeezed the flesh so that a bubble of blood formed on the tip and dabbed it on her eyelids, the tip of her nose, the bridge of her lips, all the time muttering in old Brittonic.
“Half-fae blood,” she said, noticing us watching her. “Acts as a protection against the corruption. Only works on me, though, more’s the pity.”
She held out an arm and the eagle hopped from my shoulder to hers. She stroked its beak affectionately and looked up at us.
“Follow quickly and do not fall behind.”
She strode into the darkness. Belis met my eyes and smiled before following. I hesitated for a moment, then hurried after them.
The woods were loud now, the eerie silence replaced with a cacophony of screeches and snapping twigs. The undergrowth was alive, leaves twitching as strange, scaled things crawled beneath. Lines of ants wound around the tree trunks, rolling over larger insects and tearing them apart.
Rhiannon moved quickly, turning left and right through the maze with an old familiarity.
Belis and I stayed close. I ran my thumb over the hilt of Belis’s sword, unsure if I was ready to use it.
I had felt confident that I was, out under the blue skies of the open, but here in the darkness of the maze I wasn’t so certain.
What was I now, no longer with my strength and speed?
I had tried to fight with Belis when the Romans chased us into the sea and all I had managed was to almost drown.
I was weak. Belis deserved a better person to fight beside.
Something moved to the side of the path and I paused, peering into the blackness. There was a pale man stepping neatly between the trees, white hair gleaming in the low light. I hissed a warning to Belis and she turned back, following where I pointed.
“You see him?” I whispered.
Belis shifted her spear, eyes locked on the strange man.
“Should we strike? Or hope he doesn’t come after us?” I asked. Belis chewed her lip, trying to make a decision. Rhiannon was still walking, chittering under her breath to the eagle.
“I don’t want to start something this far from the entrance,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I don’t know if the witch could run all that way if we pick a fight we can’t finish. I’ll watch our backs, you catch up with Rhiannon and look out at the front. Whistle if you need me.”
I nodded and darted back along the path to Rhiannon. Behind me Belis was stepping backwards, keeping her eyes on the figure in the trees.
We’d walked a little while longer when I caught hold of Rhiannon’s arm and pulled her to a halt.
“Over there.” I dipped my head to the left. A second man, this one with long dark hair, was wading through the undergrowth. Belis caught up with us, her eyes locked on the road behind.
“There’s another one,” I muttered.
“The first is still following,” Belis said. Rhiannon’s face turned from one to another.
“They’re hunting us,” she said, “waiting to strike. We should hurry.”
We set off again, scurrying through the forest. The pale men followed. They didn’t seem to be speeding up, but they stayed at the same distance. I could see more of them appearing through the trees, all of them bare-chested, with the same white skin and their eyes on the ground.
“Faster,” called Belis, and we broke into a run.
The woods were getting louder and louder, strange birds screaming as we sprinted under the canopies.
There was a clattering behind me and I turned to see the first of the men come onto the path.
He raised his eyes and I could see they were dark red, blood trickling down like tears.
He bared his lips and his teeth were broken and rotting in his mouth.
A second stepped onto the track and then a third, and then there were six of them, blocking the whole path as they staggered forward.
Belis dropped back, whirling her spear, and shoved me in front of her.
“Get Rhiannon to the arch, don’t wait for me.”
“Are you mad? You can’t fight them all off.” I tugged at her arm. “Besides, it’s only worth getting her out if you survive, too. You’re a far better warrior than me. If anything, I’m the disposable one.”
“Not to me,” she said, but she let me drag her forward, starting to run.
The pale men were sprinting now, no more than a few yards behind us.
Rhiannon was just in front. She whispered something and an enormous elm tree began to teeter, before crashing to the ground just as Belis and I ducked beneath it.
The vines whipped at my legs and I staggered but Belis caught me and pulled me on.
The pursuing shadowbitten slowed to clamber over the tree and we gained a little distance.
Rhiannon called out again and two more trees uprooted themselves, crushing a couple of the pursuers as they fell.
I began to feel a little hope, though my chest was burning with the effort of running.
Then a pair of shadowbitten burst from the trees in front of us.
I stalled, fumbling for my sword, but Belis was already in motion.
She launched her spear and it sailed through the air, sinking with a thud into the chest of the leftmost man.
Before he hit the ground she’d loosed a knife that hit the other man in the eye, causing him to stagger forward, clutching at his face.
I managed to recover my grip on my sword and half fell forward, running it through him. The man juddered and gasped as I tried to drag the blade back out, collapsing as it slid free. Belis bent to retrieve her knife, picked up her spear and then caught my arm, tugging me on as Rhiannon darted past.
“Can’t you pull down more trees on them?” I panted as we caught up with the witch. “Or open another ravine?”
“I don’t have the strength for that,” she hissed at me. “You’ll have to fight them off.”
I glanced over my shoulder. The two we had attacked were crawling back into the undergrowth, but there were still four on the trail and they had made up some of the distance when we stopped to fight past the others.
“Outnumbered,” muttered Belis to herself. She was barely panting, running easily as Rhiannon scrambled on and I fought desperately for breath to keep going. “How much further?”
“Still a way to go,” Rhiannon called, “but there’s a shortcut through an old hole in one of the hedges. If we can squeeze through there we’ll be close to the arch.”
Belis looked back and nodded. “All right, let’s make for that.”
We hurtled to the right, heading down a long, narrow path that pointed due east. It was too tight for us to run side by side so Rhiannon went first, then me, then Belis, running sideways to keep her spear pointed at the shadowbitten who were pushing past each other to get after us.
Rhiannon skidded in the dirt and began clawing at the base of a bush. She tore at the new leaves and vines and cackled with delight as they came loose in her hands, revealing a small gap. She began to squirm through just as the shadowbitten reached us.
Belis caught the first of them on her spear, pinning the man to the ground. The second ran right over his fellow and leapt at her, mad hands clawing even before he was within range. Belis brought up her knife and slashed at his arms, opening great cuts in the pale flesh.
Rhiannon gave a grunt of relief and slid through the hedge. Then she ducked her head back to our side.
“Quickly, Mallt, get in here.”
I swung my sword at the man fighting Belis, slicing through his neck before the blade got caught in the column of his spine. He dropped and I yanked it free. Belis grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to the ground.
“Get through, I’ll follow when I can.”
She picked up my sword and was already turning to face the next attack. I caught the end of her spear and passed it through to Rhiannon, then crawled through myself. For once I was glad to be small and scrawny as I slid through easily.
“Belis, come on,” I called, crouching down in the dirt and peering through the gap.