Crimson (16 page)

Our presence is quickly noticed.

“Stop them!” Soldiers shout in alarm on the ramparts above us.

“This way!” Erik yells.

The first gunshots ring out as we’re halfway across the field to the trees. Close. Really close.

“Erik, Duck!” Cara yells.

Another volley. Erik flinches as a bullet whizzes past his head. Cara cries out as a bullet wings her, red slicing across her right arm. I stop to help her.

“Don’t stop, keep going!” Erik yells back at us.

I grab Cara’s hand as we run. We’re at the tree-line before I realise the shooting had stopped well before we made it. Hiding ourselves behind the tree line, we take a moment to recover and look back at the castle. And watch in horror as veil creatures appear on the walls and overwhelm the guards on the ramparts. Allison grabs Erik’s shoulder and points towards the gateway.

“What the hell is happening?” Allison asks.

A hellish scream carries over the field. An army of Templars, their aberrant red eyes cutting through the misty rain, swarm out of the entrance and start running at an unnatural speed towards us. Dark entities surround them as the army charges across the field; proverbial hellhounds of different shapes bound on either side while giant humanoid entities take up the rear and winged creatures of many shapes fly overhead. The first supernatural howls flood over the fields.

“Run!” Erik yells as we take off through the trees. “Stay together!”

We turn and bolt, aiming blindly through the trees. Branches cut painfully. The further in we run, the more we struggle to stay together in the thickening wood. I slip and stumble, losing one of these terrible shoes. Cara is there to lift me back up. With no time to find the lost shoe, I throw the other away. My feet quickly go numb from the pain of running barefoot through the rough undergrowth. Still we run. Glowing eyes materialise in the darkness, close behind us. Howls pierce the air. Close.

“Keep going!” Erik yells from somewhere up ahead.

I can see the first entities close behind us now. Too close. Then the first of the soldiers, they’re catching up. The hellhounds race up until they’re flanking us, perhaps 20 metres on both sides, and start closing in.

There! A break in the trees.

The Viridis River flowing in front of me kills any further hope of escape. While the river appears shallow enough to cross, the water is waist high and there’s no clear path across. Thousands of floating pine needles fill the flowing river, washed there by the freezing rain that soaks through me. We huddle together, shivering, on the bank of the river, waiting for our pursuers to appear.

Slowly, the first Templar stalks out of the trees, his glowing red eyes and shadowy haze showing that he’s no longer entirely human. Dark shapes, hell-hounds and other sinister entities slink out of the woods. They pace along the shore, watching us, waiting. Behind me, Erik and Allison draw their swords and stand ready. Another Templar arrives, then another. Soon there is a flood of them, all holding their wicked knives out at the ready. They slowly edge forward. There’s no urgency in their movement; the hunt is over.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. To get so far, to find my sister, to do the impossible and get her out of there, only to end up in this dead-end situation. Together, we edge backwards, into the freezing river, hopelessly putting off the inevitable.

Enough of this! Fury builds within me, at myself, for causing this. Haven’t I caused enough pain to everyone already? Why the fuck should these people suffer because of who I am? Why did Aine have to die because of who I am? I promised Claire that today would be ok. Nothing is going to cause any more pain to these people. Not today. I have no idea what I’m going to do. But what does it matter? In this moment I’m willing to give everything just to save the people behind me.

I scream; raw unbridled fury, “If you want me, come and take me!”

I start wading back to river bank. Towards the swarm. There is a purity to my fury; this newfound hyperawareness of my potential with any pretence of hesitation gone. Time slows for me, each movement, each breath of all the frenzied soldiers played out in slow motion before me. I lash out with all the force I can generate at the Templar nearest me. Black splits the air between us. He falls forward, dead, but I’ve already moved on to the next. Again and again I lash out. It becomes so automatic I take the time to reach down and collect a fallen langseax; total emotional detachment. Lightning flashes. Around me, I see their every moment before they make it. Many futures layered across the world around me.  Still they swarm in. I bury the knife deep one soldier’s head while more black tendrils pierce the bodies around me. I swing the knife freely, hacking away. It’s a poor tool for the job, but at least it bites again and again. It hardly matters as long as crimson flows. I swing again and again and again. Crimson waves lap against the shore.

Something grabs me by the shoulder. I swing the knife, ready to fight back. Allison grabs my wrist moments before I embed it in her head.

“Stop! They’re all dead. Look, they others, aren’t coming closer. Come on, we need to get across this river before they change their minds.”

Wicked laughter rolls across the river from deep within the pine woods. I look up at her in a daze, hands dripping in blood. Frightened of what I almost did. Then a wave of exhaustion crashes over me and I collapse into the cold water; the price extracted for all my efforts.

“Erik! Help me carry her…” her voice slowly fades out as the world turns black.

I don’t remember much of what happens next. Only the constant shivering as Erik carries me and the fact my nose just won’t stop leaking. I try apologising.

“Shhh,” Cara whispers from somewhere unseen.

I pass out again.

I open my eyes to find Cara’s face close in front of mine as she kneels next to me. An indigo twilight sky hangs over the trees above me as the massive tree trunk I’m propped against digs roughly into my back. I’m soaking wet, but at least the rain has stopped.

Her face lights up. “I knew you’d be awake soon,” she says, happily. “It’s good to see you’re ok.”

She hands a soldier’s langseax to me, handle first. “This clearly belongs to you now.”

I nod. The smooth grip fits comfortably into my hand. I place it next to me

“Where are we?”

“We’re still in the woods, on the outer side of the river. The others are talking about how to get out of here, because at the moment we’re thoroughly lost. Our sisters are currently arguing about the best method for finding out where we are,” she laughs.

“And the Templars?” I ask.

“There’s been nothing since the river, thankfully. But…”

She shrugs as she sits down to the left of me, leaning against the tree. She flinches as her arm brushes against mine. Her sleeve is covered in blood. Dried blood covers the back of her hand where it’s run down her arm.

“Are you going to be ok?” I ask.

 “I’ll survive,” she says. “Still, it fucking hurts.”

I notice though, looking closer under the tear in her sleeve, that the blood on her arm is still bright red.

“Shit, you’re still bleeding. You can’t leave it like that. Here.”

With a gentle hand to hold her arm steady, I take the long knife and cut the sleeve off above her cut. She flinches again, biting her lip in pain, as my fingers get too close. The cut is deep.

“It’ll leave a nice scar. At least it’s clean through.”

Taking off my own shirt, I hack away at it, cutting off a rough strip from the bottom. Cara watches what I do closely; smiling at me despite the pain she knows is coming. She winces as I wrap the strip around her arm. Closes her eyes and moans as I tie it off. A breath released in relief.

“How does that feel?”

She nods and smiles graciously at me. “Thank you.”

Her eyes remain locked with me, staring deeply into me. She’s beautiful and right there I want nothing more than to kiss her. Thank her for everything she’s done for me.

She leans forward. Before I realise what she’s doing, soft lips close against mine, for just a moment. Bewitching eyes watch my reaction. A shared breath as her lips hover a fraction off mine. A flirtatious grin as she pulls away.

“I didn’t need clairvoyance to tell what you were thinking,” she whispers.

I fall back into my makeshift seat, ecstatic. Her hand finds mine. A delicate squeeze.

“There plenty more of that to be had later,” she says.

“Later indeed,” Nem says, out of nowhere. Looking up, I see her sitting next her sister on a branch hanging above us, their legs swinging playfully.

 “How?” I ask, surprised.

“What? No apology for tearing me apart?” Nem says with mock indignation. “You didn’t think you’d actually killed me? It’d take a little more than that. And by ‘little’, I mean it’s less than possible; certainly in the traditional sense anyway. And while I am glad that you’ve finally tapped into all that newfound power, I really do wish you’d let me help you achieve it in a more controlled way. As you have now found out, there is some serious fallout for reaching into the veil in an uncontrolled manner like you did. And what the fuck were you doing trusting Lucian’s advice? Silly girl.”

“What, was I just supposed to let her die? I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t.”

“While I can see how important she is to you the price you paid for her life today could well be paid with the lives of everyone later.”

They both pause and look around suddenly.

“Still, that’s something you’ll have to work out later. Tonight, I suggest you get as far away from here as possible. Treasure this shared moment, as you may not get another chance to. The fallout from your decision will land at your feet, soon enough. Be ready.”

Cara leans toward me. “I, at least, am thankful for what you did,” she whispers into my ear. Then she presses her lips again to the corner of mine, a gentle loving kiss. She doesn’t pull away.

“Ah, sorry to interrupt…” Claire walks over to us at the most inopportune time. “I’m glad at least to see you’re awake and ok, sister,” she says. “I guess we can talk a lot more later. We’ve obviously got a lot of catching up to do. But there’s something that I need to know. It can’t wait. What happened to Sophie?”

“Sophie?” I ask, confused.

“You don’t remember our little sister Sophie?”

“I don’t…” my voice trails off as something deep within me shatters, and memories come flooding back. And I saw what a foolish girl I’d been.

I do remember. The wrapped up bundle in Mum’s arms when they found me. The little girl I was supposed to keep safe under the bed. Baby Sophie had been upset all day and Mum and Dad were both so focused on her. I was supposed to be the big grown up sister and play by myself. But I didn’t want to; I wanted them to play with me. I was jealous. Why wouldn’t they play with me? So I ran away. I wanted them to know how much they’d miss me.

And because I ran away, they didn’t notice the warning signs of the raid until it was too late. And I remember the three crows sitting on the tree above me, guarding over my hiding spot. Leading Claire to me.

“I’m starting to remember now.” I say, staring off into the distance. I struggle to keep myself composed. This is entirely my fault.

“You were there that day,” I say to Nem and Macha.

“Of course,” they both respond.

“Why did you let Claire get captured that day?”

“Because there were entities there that day that were beyond even our ability to handle,” Macha says. “To keep you all safe, we have had to play the long game.”

The long game… That phrase triggers more memories; memories of things that occurred after that day. I know why I couldn’t remember Sophie.

“In the years after the raid, the government were constantly looking for us. They knew we existed. I hid for so long. But they were always getting closer. And the older I got, the more I realised what mattered the most to me. Sophie had a family that cared for her. She was safe. I was the weak link. Constantly on the run. Always too close to being captured.

“Even before, as children, Claire and I were capable of so many talented things. Our parents taught us everything. We didn’t have to wait to grow into our talents like others do. I never was a late bloomer with my own talents. It was all a lie.

“I remember the day I realised I couldn’t risk it anymore. I was twelve.” More memories come flooding back to me, hazy after all these years, but slowly coming back to me.

“The first construct was to tear the memory of Sophie from the minds of all those who had come in contact with her and me together and then lock those same memories away from my own reach so that I could never giver her up. The second construct was to lock my own memories of Claire away. It was to invent a childhood of memories and wait patiently over the years for the right time to shatter that lock and find her again. The final construct was a phoenix, a store of energy and memories that, as a dead-man’s switch, was ready to trigger if I ever got so close to danger that only my talents could save me. Its final purpose was to lock away my own talents so that I would never stand out and become an obvious target for the government. It was… to hold what it meant to be me, a reflection of all of who I was before that faithful day.”

“Hmmm, your memory still needs some work,” Nem says from above, and then jumps down to stand, in human form, before me.

“But we forgive you anyway, for referring to us as mindless constructs,” Macha says, joining her on the ground.

“Like I’ve told you before, we aren’t just constructs. We are much more than that,” Nem says. “We, as entities, have existed for thousands of years, watching over warriors that fight for this world, aiding them in the eternal battles to keep the veil out of this world.”

“We were always there, watching over you and your sisters, just like we’ve watched over many warriors before you.” Macha continues. “But you knew we couldn’t keep you safe forever. We hatched this plan together to keep you all safe.”

“Why not just tell me?”

“Because we couldn’t. That was part of the promise. For the plan to work, we too had to be part of the process. It was important that we played our parts in the grand play perfectly. As things unfold, more is unlocked for us.”

 “And this is only the first move,” Nem adds. “The next one will come soon enough. You need to get away from this area and out of these woods. They’re coming for you…”

Claire reaches out and offers me a hand up.

“Thank you, dear sister. You’ve sacrificed so much to protect our baby sister. We need to find her. This is just the beginning of our story together, my little Eve.”