Chapter 14 #2
Belis put her hand over mine. “I am. And I’m glad you didn’t. There are bigger things at stake than my life.” She grinned. “Besides, I can take care of myself. You should know that by now. Come on, let’s go.”
We stepped back to the surface level. The dust had cleared a little but the light was already beginning to fade.
Belis organised us into a marching order, her leading, Rhiannon following and me at the back.
She gave my hand a quick squeeze before setting off.
I waited for Rhiannon to begin moving then followed.
Belis set a steady pace, leading us between piles of boulders and around stagnant ponds.
The ground was soft underfoot, coated in drifted piles of ash, so that every step pulled at my calf muscles, sucking at my feet.
The only benefit was that it muffled our footfall.
Around us, but out of sight, the shadowbitten whimpered and whined.
Flies droned in my ears, landing on my lips and clustering around my nose and eyes.
I tried to ignore them, to save my energy, but it was too irritating and I swiped at my face, causing them to lift off for a moment only to settle again as soon as I lowered my hands.
Belis padded ahead of us, peering through the darkness, her spear clenched in one hand. Every couple of hours she called a halt, giving us a few minutes to catch our breath and take sip from our rapidly emptying waterskins. Then we were off again, traipsing through the night.
I found my mind wandering. I had spent so much of my life doing almost exactly this, travelling across the land, first as the Nightshade, then the weeks of walking to Annwn with Belis.
I had always loved the sensation of the world unfurling before me, no matter if it was through places I had been a thousand times before.
Every step, every breath, was new, the landscape changing around me.
Even in my mortal form, with weak legs and burning lungs, my eyes had always been greedy for beauty.
This place was different. Walking here was dull; the unchanging grey, the sulphurous stench of the air sapped my will to carry on.
I could barely muster the energy to put one foot before the other.
I didn’t even want to run away; I simply sought to give up, to lie down in the dirt and wish myself home.
I paused, looking down at the drifts of ash and silt.
It did look comfortable, surely better than this endless walking.
Belis would be all right without me. She hadn’t even wanted me to come in the first place.
Maybe I should just have a little rest, let her and Rhiannon keep going.
I swayed forward, sinking to my knees. My eyelids sagged, suddenly unbearably heavy.
My fingertips trailed in the ash. It felt soft, fine, like river sand.
A strong arm wrapped round my waist and hauled me up. “On your feet, Mallt,” Belis said in my ear. “Can’t stop yet.”
I moaned and almost toppled forward again but Belis gripped me tight. Rhiannon pushed back my hair, looking into my face.
“What’s wrong with her?” Belis asked. I could hear the frown in her voice, but my eyes had slid shut again.
“I’m not sure.” Rhiannon sounded concerned.
“Should we stop and rest?”
“No, if we stop now I’m worried she won’t get back up.” She paused. “Do you have any food left?”
“Some, but I don’t think she can chew right now.” Belis tightened her arm around me.
I wanted to reassure her that I was fine but I couldn’t find the strength to open my mouth. I gurgled, trying to force out some words, and my head flopped forward.
“How much further do we have to go?” Belis asked. I heard Rhiannon sigh.
“A few more miles at least, and we’ll need to save some energy for when we get there.” Belis ground her teeth.
“She’s not going to make it.”
Once again I tried to protest that I would be fine but I couldn’t so much as wriggle. “Belis, maybe we should—” Rhiannon broke off.
“No.” Belis’s voice was quiet but firm. “We’ll do another mile then reassess the situation.”
“Belis, she can’t even stand.”
Belis grabbed my wrists, lifting them above my head, then draped them over her shoulder.
Then she bent and scooped up my legs, shifting my whole weight onto her back until I was wrapped around her shoulders.
I tried to force enough strength into my fingers to grab on but she caught my right hand in hers, tucking it against my legs to secure me.
“You can’t walk a mile like that!” Rhiannon hissed.
“Watch me,” Belis retorted. She grabbed her spear from where it was standing upright in the ash. “Come on, we’ve wasted enough time.”
She started forward, settling into a loping stride.
I stopped trying to fight whatever had paralysed me and focused on taking deep, steady breaths.
The dust in the air irritated my chest but I tried to draw on enough saliva to keep my throat from drying out.
In a few minutes we passed into an area where the air was clearer, though the rotten-eggs stench of sulphur worsened.
I ignored it, counting breaths in and out.
Belis kept moving, taking long, steady steps forward into the darkness.
I could hear Rhiannon following just behind us, hear the susurration of her boots sinking into the piles of ash.
After a while I found I could open my eyes again, though I shut them quickly before I grew dizzy. Gradually the strength seeped back into my muscles, filtering down my limbs into the tips of my fingers and toes. I patted Belis’s hand.
“You can put me down now, I think I can walk again.”
“You’re sure?” she said, though she sounded out of breath.
“I think so. I feel much better.”
Belis knelt and I slid down off her back. I held onto her shoulder with one hand while I found my feet, letting the blood recede from my head.
“You’re recovered?” Rhiannon asked. I found a wobbly smile.
“Yes, thank you. I don’t know what came over me.”
“This land is full of foul airs and vapours. It could have happened to any of us.”
I nodded. It was kind of her to say so, even if it wasn’t true. I was the weak one. She and Belis had kept going. I was useless, slowing down my friends, reducing our already slim chances of success. Belis had tired herself out for my sake. They should have left me.
I shoved my thoughts aside; self-pity wasn’t going to help anyone now. “How much further?” I asked. Rhiannon nodded ahead of us.
“I’d say just over that crest.” She sniffed the air. “I can sense the magic, it’s very close.” Belis gripped her spear.
“I’m ready. Mallt?”
I patted the knife sheathed at my hip and tried to look fierce.
“Good. You and I will lead, keeping Rhiannon behind us. Stay quiet as long as you can but if something attacks then act on instinct. I will try and keep larger beasts at a distance with the spear, so you’ll have to mop up anything that gets past me.”
I nodded. Rhiannon stretched out her hands, sparks flying from under her fingernails. She looked surprisingly calm.
“All right, then,” she said. “Here we go.”