Ross Lawhead (10 page)

“I am sorry, æðeling, but that is not possible,” he said, standing up. “We continue our journey in this direction.”

“But you said,” Freya said, hurrying after him, “that the wall opened up at a special time, when the sun—”

“At a certain time,” Swiðgar agreed, with a nod of his head,

“and for a certain person. You have already started your journey and you may not stop now. You must continue or fail.”

“I don't understand,” said Freya.

“The moment at which you found us was no time at all; it was what is called a ‘time between times.' It was the evening— the ‘even-time'—when light and dark are equal. It is a sacred time. It has a strong pull to a certain type of person. The place you found us could be called a ‘place between places,' and you yourself are a person between destinies. You have started along a path that you cannot go back on.” He smiled at her. “But there will be more paths to choose from and soon. Perhaps one of those will lead you to the place you seek, perhaps somewhere better,” he said. “Come.”

Freya became conscious of her steps; her feet falling one in front of the other seemed heavy, jarring her.

“When the time, place, and person are all in an
efenheort
,” Swiðgar continued as he walked, like a teacher giving a lesson, “which is a sort of unstable harmony—then fantastic things can happen. One must be careful when one finds oneself at a place between places, say a beach or a crossroads, during either dawn or dusk. If his soul is at a spiritual crossroads, his mind lost, and his body wandering—what we might call a ‘person between persons'— then he may pass through the barriers between worlds as a pillar of smoke passes through a field of mist.”

“There are many instances,” Ecgbryt, from behind, informed them. “A restless fisherboy, with conflicting thoughts in his head and dreams churning in his heart, will cast off his bark into the sea before sunrise, when the wind sweeps the spray off the waves. Soon he finds himself far and away on distant adventures with thieves who live beneath the waves, pirate kings, and magic treasure.”

“A young princess, not a girl, nor yet a queen,” Swiðgar continued, “riding at dawn in the forest strays along deer paths and comes to the foot of a hill where the trees thin and finds the entrance to an Elfin court. She will rule there for many years and then return to our realm, still but a young girl, though wiser, and with many mystical virtues and gifts.”

“A wandering rhymer,” Ecgbryt rejoined, “old, and in the twilight of his own life, will come to a crossed road and converse with a mysterious gentleman who reveals himself to be the devil. They pass the night riddling under the gallows, and at dawn—at the even-time—the winner will demand a prize from the loser.”

“Such is the universe,” Swiðgar resumed. “A vast multitude of spheres all spinning and dancing in the most intricate and bewildering patterns. At the right time, and in the right place, when the spheres are close enough, a man can step from one to the other, as easily as crossing a brook.

“So it is vitally important to be aware of those times of ‘evening' in your life,” he said gravely, “and to consider carefully which path you decide to take, for the path will change not just you but your entire world.”

Daniel's eyes were wide. These were thoughts that he had not thought before, could never have thought before.

“Of course,” said Ecgbryt, “there are places that are more enchanted than others. Take the Scot's land, for instance, or the Norsemen's land. There are entire seasons of even-times, and complete holdings and folds that belong neither wholly to earth, sea, air, or ice. All manner of unnatural and magical acts have flowed from those places like water from a spring. And as for the Eire folk—well!

Their entire race, land, and history is ensorcelled from one end of time to the other!”

The scraping of their footsteps continued uninterrupted for a short while. Daniel threw a look to Freya, who still appeared miserable. “Well,” she huffed in a low, pained voice. “Someone might have warned us that this sort of thing could happen.”

“What?” said Ecgbryt. “Does no one tell stories of such things happening anymore?”

“So when we went through the arch,” Daniel said slowly, “we actually entered another world?”

“Not exactly, no,” Swiðgar replied. “The place where we slept was not in one world nor another. Imagine a tide pool set in the shore of the universe alongside the sea of time—an eddy where time spins in upon itself. In such a place we remained as we were when we were first laid to rest. All who cross from one world to the next must, by necessity, pass through one of these pools. That is why, when you hear of people returning from one of those other worlds, they have sometimes been gone a day, sometimes a hundred years. There is little accounting for it, but even so there is reason—”

Swiðgar's explanation was cut short by a loud, piercing scream that rattled down the tunnel, knocking against the walls. The group halted immediately.

“What was—” Daniel's question was smothered out of him by Swiðgar's massive hand on his chest as it pushed him against the wall. Freya was pulled over and pressed next to him.

“Here, lifiendes, take this,” Swiðgar said, pressing his round shield into Daniel's arms. “Stay behind it.” Daniel hoisted it up in front of Freya and himself. They poked the top of their heads up from behind the rim, their eyes large and fearful.

“What's happening?” Freya asked.

Ecgbryt dropped his torch; it still burned, casting oversized shadows on the walls of the tunnel. He drew his axe from his belt and swung his shield from his back to his arm. Swiðgar likewise dropped his torch and raised his spear, gripping it with both hands. They stood, waiting, for long seconds that felt like minutes.

Another scream came from behind them—human, but wild, savage. Swiðgar swung his spear around and faced the sound. Daniel had read about banshees—spirits that wailed on rooftops when someone was about to die.
I bet it sounds the same
, he thought, shuddering.

Just then, Ecgbryt leapt into the darkness, his axe glimmering momentarily in the torchlight. There was the sound of a scuffle and a shriek and then silence.

“
Hwæt
, brother, is it well?” Swiðgar asked without turning his head. Before an answer could come, there was a snarl from the tunnel beyond the tall knight, and a dark figure sprang into the torchlight. It seemed to hang in the air for a long, fear-filled moment and then descend. It was dark and human-shaped, though thin and wiry. Its arms and elbows were like knotted ropes. Its legs were thick and shaggy, its hands raised; long, sharp fingers curled into talons. Its mouth was open in a snarl showing black gums from which sprouted thin, needle-like teeth.

Faster than they were able to follow, Swiðgar thrust his spear at the terrible shape. There was a howl and Freya felt a spray of blood on her face. The creature dropped, clutching the spear, now caught in its chest. Another leapt from behind it and crouched low, next to the torch. Daniel could see its hairless head, pale and white, face fixed in a snarl of rage, a feral hate burning in its eyes. It sprung high up in the air just as Swiðgar yanked his spear from the first beast. He spun the shaft around in his hands so that the blunt end crashed down on the creature's head.

Swiðgar drew his short sword from its scabbard and raised it high. Daniel saw it gleam against the black wall and watched it fall upon the stunned beast, hacking at the thing's shoulder and back. Neither Daniel nor Freya could stand to watch and looked away quickly.

Stepping away, Swiðgar swung his spear around in his right hand, lifting his sword in his left. Still staring into the blackness that had expelled the creatures, he called again, “Ho, brother!”

“I am here,” came a reply. “All are defeated.”

“What count have you?”

“Three. And you?”

“Two only.”

Ecgbryt appeared again, edging slowly backwards into the torch light, sticky blood dripping from the end of his axe onto the pressed dirt floor. The two knights stood, watching and waiting for a time, but there came no more sounds or attackers.

“That appears to be all,” Ecgbryt announced. He shouldered his shield and picked up the torch. “Let us see what we've killed, shall we?”

Daniel handed Swiðgar's shield back to him as Freya quickly wiped as much of the blood as she could from her face. It was thick and brown and sticky. She wiped her hands on the cold wall, trying not to touch her school clothes.

They all advanced up the tunnel to where Ecgbryt's victims lay in a mangled heap. Using the blade of his axe, he nudged the bodies apart from each other. “
Yfelgópes
,” Ecgbryt said, “of a kind—yet I have never seen a sort as twisted before.”

In the light of the torch, they could see the creatures clearer. Their skin was pale, almost milky white. Dark, ghastly blue veins showed through the thin skin. All were mostly naked, but their groins and upper legs were covered with rough black skins tied together with a tough, stringy material that looked like animal hide or maybe dried entrails. Parts of the creatures' torsos were tattooed or stained, but not with patterns or designs. Blotches and irregular stripes were simply dyed a deep solid black or brown. Freya took a few steps backwards and looked away, disgusted.

“Did you say ifel-gop-es?” Daniel asked.

“It is a name we give to all the twisted ones who live in the deep underground,” Swiðgar said. “But I've never seen one with such a face.”

The faces were terrifying. Daniel shivered as he leaned forward for a closer view of one of the corpses. Its eyes were very far apart and its nose was snubbed. Its gaping mouth showed small, needlelike teeth.

“But . . . they're human, aren't they?” Freya asked, almost surprised. “They acted like animals, but . . .”

“Aye, they're human,” Ecgbryt answered her. “But nearly as foul as a man can go. Nearly. Look at this.” He tapped his axe against the yfelgóp's dead hand. The thing was wearing some sort of glove made of bone, the fingers of which protruded beyond its own. The ends had been filed sharp. “A strange weapon,” Ecgbryt commented.

“Aye,” agreed Swiðgar. “Bring a head,” he said after a moment's pause. “And a hand,” he added finally.

Ecgbryt raised a corpse by its thin hair and began chopping at it. “It's unhappy work for my axe, though—and what I wouldn't give for something to wipe my blade against.”

Freya stood hunched over, suddenly feeling very cold and very, very afraid. “Daniel,” she said in a whisper. “What's going on?”

Daniel watched as the knights heaped the dead bodies on top of each other and cleaned their weapons. He could feel his blood pump through his body, charged, as if every cell was filled with electricity. His head spun as a wave of euphoria washed over him.

He had never felt this way in his real life. They had been attacked, and the knights, because of their weapons and skill, had saved them all and come away without a scratch.

“I don't know what's going on,” he said. “But I'm getting one of those swords.”

2

They walked for some time, tense and wary, alert to the slightest sound that might give away the presence of something following them. Swiðgar walked in front this time, his spear at the ready and torch held high. Ecgbryt walked behind them, which Freya thought just as well since even thinking of the hideous head and ugly dangling hand tied to Ecgbryt's belt made her stomach turn over.

“Where are we going again?” Daniel asked.

“Niðergeard,” Ecgbryt answered in a voice strong with pride. “It is a vast holding beneath the skin of the earth. Its boundaries are not marked, and it sits upon the gates of three hidden worlds. It is the grandest of all earthly cities, yet known to only a few. Its dark spires are seen only by those who are great and dream of a larger greatness.”

“It's an underground kingdom?” Daniel asked with awe.

“It would be,” the knight behind him replied, “but there is no king or queen to rule it. It is governed by Modwyn the Fair and overseen by Ealdstan the Long-Lived.”

“Who are they?”

“Modwyn is Niðergeard's ward—able and cunning. Ealdstan is very old and very wise—the oldest and the wisest, in fact. By now he would be almost seventeen hundred years old, I suppose. It was he who laid us to rest, as he did the others.”

“Others?” Daniel repeated, his voice rising. “There are more like you?”

“Aye. There are sleeping knights tucked away up and down the isle. A mighty force, all lying in wait.”

“Waiting for what?” Daniel asked.

Ecgbryt considered the question for a moment. “For the greatest battle in history. More than that, I cannot say. Ealdstan may wish to tell you more.”

“Ealdstan,” Freya repeated the name to herself.

“Now,” said Swiðgar. “We have told you much about our world, and now we would know about yours. What is life like on the surface in this century?”

Freya glanced at Daniel, unsure how to respond. “It's hard to say. We don't really have anything to compare it to.”