The Enchanted Quest (20 page)

The horses of the Deena Shee galloped tirelessly as the sun rose behind them, kindling the spikes and horns of the mountains of Hy Brassail so that they shone like polished brass.

For the first time since Tania had embarked on this quest, she felt elated and full of confidence, riding through the foothills with Edric at her side and Connor and Rathina close behind. Some benevolent power was watching over them—of that she was now certain. It had sent Michael and Rose to her when all had seemed lost; it had guided her footsteps when she was faltering.

“Who is it doing this?” Tania wondered.

“Our benefactor is indeed mysterious,” Rathina observed. “Our father has great gifts and potencies at his command, as does our sister Eden—but surely they are too consumed by the burden of the Gildensleep to offer us such aid.”

“And if it is Oberon, why the secrecy?” added Connor. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Could the Dream Weaver be behind it?” Tania asked.

“From what you’ve told me, the Dream Weaver’s power faded while you were crossing the sea,” said Edric. “No, some other mystic force is at work here, although I cannot say what it is.”

“How about someone using the Dark Arts?” Connor asked.

Edric shook his head. “I don’t think so. It feels like some power over and above all the Mystic Arts. But I have no idea what.”

“Then it must remain a conundrum,” said Rathina. “Let us seek not to pierce its veil but be glad of its succor!”

Tania assumed there had to be some reason for the secrecy; their guardian angel must have some purpose in not revealing him or herself. They had no choice but to trust that all would be revealed in good time.

“Whatever it is, let’s hope it keeps helping,” she said. “Because if it stops now, we’re in big trouble.”

Events had moved quickly since Tania and Edric had freed the nine lords of Erin from the Green Lady’s enchantments.

They had been given four of the magical horses: two red, one green, and one yellow. The strange animals seemed to need no guidance: no pull of reins or bridle, no urging on with knees and heels. The moment Tania and Edric were astride their high backs, the two red horses had galloped out through the cleft of Ashling dar Dair and were away like the wind, the green and the yellow horses following.

They had found Rathina and Connor sitting together on the blasted hillside—newly awoken, dazed and bewildered in a land now lost to magic, a land over which the morning sun was rising like molten gold. A land cupped in a horizon of purple mountains that no longer shifted and changed.

“Saddle up!” Tania had shouted gleefully as Rathina and Connor had stood up, staring at the horses of the Deena Shee. “The enchantress is gone.” Her horse had reared, neighing loudly and striking at the air with its red hooves. “Quickly! Nothing can stop us now.”

Connor had been stunned by the appearance of the extraordinary steeds.

“Did they
come
in those colors?” he had asked in amazement.

“They’re not ordinary horses, Connor,” Tania had called down.

“You don’t say?”

Rathina and Connor had climbed into the saddle, and the four horses had turned to the west and run as though to outdo the shafts of golden sunlight that came shooting out of the east.

* * *

As the morning grew, so the pathway to the west became steadily steeper and narrower. There was no clear border between Erin and the western mountains, but Tania guessed they were well into Hy Brassail by now. Crags and buttresses of stone towered all around them, and the sound of the horses’ hooves echoed between the peaks like an endless growl of thunder. But the horses of the Deena Shee were not daunted by the dangerous passes. They threaded their way confidently between the pinnacles of the mountains. And Tania trusted them, despite the narrow ravines and the dark gulfs. After all, what other hope had they in this bleak land but these supernatural steeds?

Tania looked back from one lofty aerie—a brown wall of rock to her left and a fathomless drop to her right. Behind them the land of Erin lay green and serene in the midday sunshine. The Gormenwood and the land of Alba were lost in a powdery blue haze.

They had come so far!

And yet . . . Now that her euphoria had faded she couldn’t help but remember what Rose had told her.

To seek for Tirnanog you must travel through Erin and over the pathless mountains of Hy Brassail to the shore of the Limitless Ocean. Tirnanog lies beyond that ocean, but there is no ship that can take you across that vast water, and even if a ship could be found, Tirnanog lies beyond the edge of the world. . . .

She hadn’t told the others about this. They had come all this way, overcoming so many obstacles and dangers together—they didn’t need to know that she had been told Tirnanog was beyond their reach. Besides, Rose had also told her that nothing was impossible. . . .

Not with your true love by your side, with honest hand in true love given . . .

Edric was at her side now, and they would never be parted again. The Dark Arts still seethed behind his eyes, but together they would find a way to rid him of them. The Dark Arts would not split them up again. Nothing would ever do that.

They were in a deep canyon, and the sun was in the high afternoon sky, hazy above the towering peaks. So far in all this craggy land they had seen no living thing except for a few straggly bushes and trees and the occasional clump of tough, spiky grass.

Waterfalls pounded down from the high escarpments, looking like streaks of silver ribbon hung from the tall cliffs. A white haze rolled out over the floor of the ravine, engulfing the four riders, misting their clothes and bedewing their faces.

“Do you see that?” called Connor. Tania turned in the saddle. He was pointing up high. “Some kind of bird, I think,” he said. “A big one. Except . . .”

She followed the line of his finger. Yes, there was something up there gliding among the peaks on wide, still wings. A bird, obviously, but an oddly shaped bird: a diamond-shaped bird with a huge head, crested and heavy-beaked, so that its head and neck reminded Tania of a pickax.

“A strange bird,” said Rathina. “It has no feathers or my eyes play tricks.”

There was silence as the four of them watched the creature circle between the mountaintops. Then they noticed that with each lazy loop the bird was dropping a little deeper into the chasm.

“We should get out of here,” Connor said, his voice strained. “I don’t like the look of that thing’s big beak.”

“It’s huge,” Edric said. “And Rathina is right: It doesn’t have feathers. The wings are just stretched skin, like a bat’s.”

“It’s getting closer,” said Connor, sounding panicky now. “And there’s no way that thing is a bat!”

The horses sensed their alarm. Tania was almost torn from the saddle as hers broke into a sudden gallop.

Along the narrow path they stormed, clinging to their horses as they sped through the waterfall mist, half blinded by the spray, drenched and gasping.

Tania heard a ghastly leathery flapping. A shadow filled the gorge and the air was torn by a high-pitched shrieking. She glanced up. The thing was immense—gliding now only a few yards above them, its membranous wings blotting out the sun, its claws reaching down.

“Get you gone!” Rathina shouted. Tania saw a flash of gray light through the mist: Rathina’s iron sword cleaving the air.

The monster screeched again, its beak opening wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

Tania had no weapon, no way of fighting the creature.

The iron sword flashed again in Rathina’s grip, and this time its keen edge found a mark, severing a claw from a groping foot. The creature screamed in pain, jerking up, pulling away, flapping its vast wings.

The last Tania saw of the monster was a pale shape above them, fading away to nothing among the peaks.

“What was that?” said Connor, gasping, his face white.

“Some abomination from ancient times, mayhap,” said Rathina. “But where one such fiend dwells, others must surely have found a home!”

“Then let’s get out of this valley before they come for us,” said Tania.

Their encounter with the flying creature had been frightening but mercifully brief. How would they fare if they were attacked by a whole flock of them? Tania did not want to find out.

The deeper they traveled into the barren mountains of Hy Brassail, the more the shadows gathered.

But it was not the shadows that disturbed Tania most. More alarming to her was a growing weariness that she fought to keep hidden from her companions. It came over her in wracking pulses, making her limbs feel leaden and aching through every sinew of her body. She gritted her teeth when the exhaustion was at its worst, noticing how Rathina’s shoulders slumped— knowing that her sister must also be suffering.

They saw no more of the flying creatures, but they heard bellowing and roaring from afar—or so they hoped—and they were startled by the occasional uncertain glimpse of a skulking shape among the rocks or the clatter of claws on stone as something scuttled out of sight.

As she was the only one still bearing a weapon, Rathina took the lead, her iron sword in her hand, her head turning as she scanned the rugged landscape for any sight of the beasts.

But none showed themselves.

As the evening came down and the night began to gather in black pools all around them, Tania saw eyes staring from out of the darkness. Eyes that reflected the fading light. Green eyes and yellow. Slitted eyes that watched and waited.

It was almost full night when they rode up onto a plateau and found themselves on the brink of a wide, dark lake, hemmed in on two sides by steep walls but offering a slender path around and a flat, open space at the far shore.

“This is as good a place as any to spend the night,” Tania said. “At least here nothing will be able to creep up on us without being seen.”

“How far to the coast, I wonder,” mused Rathina as the horses picked their way past the inky lake. “I was hoping we would set our feet in Tirnanog before this day died.”

Tania was also uneasy about having to spend the night here—but the growing tiredness was becoming too oppressive and she was desperate to rest.

As they made their way along the lakeside, the exhaustion welled suddenly through her body, invading her mind, draining her of energy and resolve. She toppled from the saddle, only just managing to clutch at the reins and get her legs under her as she slid from the animal’s back. The horse stopped, turning its head as though in concern.

Edric leaped from the saddle and was at her side in a moment, catching her.

She heard Rathina groan and saw her fall from the saddle and drop to her knees, her hand dragging on her horse’s reins. Connor was off his horse and by her side in an instant.

He looked apprehensively at Tania, his hands under Rathina’s arms, holding her upright as her head lolled on his shoulder. “How are they able to do this to you from so far away?”

“The bonds of family are not severed by the count of miles, Connor.” Rathina gasped, raising her head and gripping his shoulders. “The dire need of the House of Aurealis knows no limits.”

“But they’re going to bleed you white!” Connor said savagely. “Don’t you get that? If this goes on, they’re going to kill you.”

Tania looked dizzily at him. “They won’t do that,” she said. “It’s temporary. We’ll be better soon. Just give us a moment.”

“Tania?” Edric’s voice was full of concern.

She looked up into his worried face. She faked a smile and touched her fingers to his lips. “Shh! Don’t say anything. I’ve been feeling bad for a while now. But I’m sure it’ll go soon.”

Edric looked anxiously at her. “You never said.”

“There’s nothing you could have done about it,” Tania replied. “Just help me up. I’ll be fine.”

Edric’s lips were a thin, pale line as he brought Tania to her feet. Her legs felt weak and her head was swimming, but she was just about able to walk.

Her face contorted with the effort, Rathina also clambered to her feet, leaning heavily on Connor.

Supported by the two men, they came to the far end of the lake. The horses followed faithfully behind them and gathered together in the lee of the cliff, as though content to wait until they were needed again.

Tania bent over, kneading the aching muscles of her legs, feeling the weight of exhaustion lifting a little. She straightened up, breathing hard.

“There,” she said, resting her hand against Edric’s chest. “The worst is over.”

“For the moment,” he said.

Rathina also seemed to be recovering. Connor was standing close beside her.

Tania looked at them, wondering whether it was time to tell them that she had no idea how to get to Tirnanog, wondering how much farther they could go before the truth had to be revealed.

Tania dreamed of snakes and woke in darkness. The stars were a powdery blur, as though the air of this place was too dense to allow their light to shine down clearly. A cool breeze blew. She turned over, rising on one elbow, expecting to see either Connor or Edric standing guard.

That had been the agreement: that the two men would take turns to watch through the night so that she and Rathina could rest.

There was Rathina curled up on her side, deeply asleep. And Edric was close by, too—his face toward Tania, his eyes closed in sleep.

She gazed drowsily around. Where was Connor?

Alert now and uneasy, she sat up. The four horses were gathered together by the cliff wall—awake and watching but not obviously nervous.

Tania got to her feet. It was so hard in the deep dark of the mountains to know which lump of gloom was a rock and which might be a lurking beast. The lake was a sheet of pure black, reflecting nothing.

Something moved. Tania crouched and picked up a sharp stone, her eyes fixed on the creeping hump of shadow. She thought she heard the rattle of claws, the clack of stone on stone. And then two luminous green eyes opened and she knew she was not imagining things.

“Edric! Rathina!”

The beast came for her, hissing and spitting. Wide, leathery wings opened and a sinuous neck stretched forward. The head was like the skull of a horse, the teeth like daggers.

She threw the rock and snatched up more. There was a ringing sound as the stone bounced off hard scales.

The monster was almost on her now. She fell back, stumbling on the uneven ground, throwing stones, aware that Edric and Rathina were scrambling to their feet.

The monster had only two limbs: two great, powerful, ostrichlike legs that ended in stark, spreading claws. Its thick tail swung, long and barbed.

Edric gave Tania a desperate glance, as though guilt-ridden to have slept. He sprang between Tania and the beast and threw up his arms, shouting. “Get back! Get away from us!”

It was a brave but empty act.

The monster lunged at him with clashing teeth, its wings beating him to the ground. It lifted a huge leg to stamp down on him and rend him with its claws.

Rathina ran to Tania, snatching hold of her arm, dragging her out of danger as the monster’s claws swiped at Edric, missing him by mere inches.

“No! Edric!” Tania cried as she saw the long neck stoop and the dagger teeth snap at Edric. He just managed to roll to one side as the jaws closed on air, but a clawed foot rose and came down hard on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

“Edric!” Tania screamed in panic and terror. “Use the Dark Arts.
Use them!
”

Pinioned beneath the monster’s massive claw, Edric reached up and called in a deep voice. A shield of dark blue light rose from his hands, beating back the roaring and shrieking creature.

Edric staggered to his feet, both hands stretched out to keep the blue shield between him and the beast. But it only fell back a few steps before it surged forward again. Its head plunged and its beak snapped, and the shield was torn open from top to bottom.

The beast lumbered on, the riven shield writhing like smoke as it flapped its wings. The monster rose into the air, its claws reaching for Edric. He threw himself onto the ground just as Rathina leaped forward.

Tania saw the gray length of her sword vanish into the creature’s chest. There was screeching and thrashing as the monster came crashing to the earth. Shouting aloud, Rathina yanked out the sword and gave a great two-handed swing. She severed the monster’s head from its neck, and it became still, black blood oozing thickly onto the ground.

Edric staggered to his feet, his eyes wide, his chest rising and falling.

Tania ran to him. “Are you all right?”

He stared at her in despair. He gasped. “I used the Dark Arts!”

“I
told
you to,” said Tania. “That thing would have killed you otherwise.”

Rathina looked into his face. “An understandable lapse, Master Chanticleer,” she said. “But a lapse nonetheless.” A grim smile touched her lips. “Seek not to do it again. And do not attack such foul fiends with but your bare hands.”

“I didn’t think. . . .” said Edric. “It was coming for Tania . . .”

“All is done,” said Rathina. “It is dead and we have come to no harm.”

“But what is it?” said Tania, trembling as she looked down at the hideous creature.

“A wyvern,” said Rathina. “I have seen pictures of them in Sancha’s old books—but I never thought to encounter one. Stand back, sister: The blood of a wyvern is envenomed.”

“Is it alone?” Tania asked, peering anxiously into the night. “Will there be more?”

“They are solitary creatures if memory serves,” said Rathina. “But its death knell will alert every monster within earshot. I think we would be wise to quit this place.”

Now Tania remembered! “Connor!” she cried. “Where’s Connor?” Had the wyvern killed him? Would they find his dead body among the rocks?

“The last I saw of him was in the middle of the night,” said Edric. “I woke him to relieve my watch.”

“Connor!” Rathina called into the darkness. “Connor!”

A figure came running toward them from behind. “I’m here! What happened?” Connor was breathless and flushed.

“Where were you?” demanded Tania.

“It was a call of nature,” Connor said, panting. “I’m sorry.” He grimaced as he saw the dead wyvern. “I was only gone a minute or two.”

“You should not have left your post!” Rathina chided him. “We would have been attacked as we slept if not for Tania’s watchfulness.”

“What’s that in your hand?” Edric asked. “Nothing.” Connor slid his right hand into his pocket. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing, forsooth!” hissed Rathina. “Then you’ll need no pocket to keep it in, Connor.” She lifted her sword, steaming and thick with the wyvern’s blood. “Show us this
nothing
, or I’ll beat you black and blue with the flat of my blade.”

Tania hadn’t even noticed that Connor was holding anything. She couldn’t believe he was keeping yet more secrets from them.

Connor brought his hand out of his pocket. Something round shone darkly in the frail starlight. “It’s nothing,” he repeated.

Edric strode forward and grasped his wrist, bringing the object close to his face. He let out an angry snarl. “It’s metal,” he said. “Isenmort!” He flung Connor’s hand away, and the metal disk fell out of his fingers and went bouncing away through the stones.

“From the Helan Archaia, no doubt!” growled Rathina. “Is there no end to your perfidy, Mortal?”

“Oh, give it a rest, Rathina!” Connor said angrily. “It’s just a piece of metal. I found it with the compass, but it’s nothing.” He looked sharply at Tania but was unable to hold her gaze for more than a few seconds. “I’m sick of being judged by you people,” he said. “You didn’t make such a great job of it last time if you remember. Dumping the compass just when we needed it.”

Tania looked uncertainly at him. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps they shouldn’t make too much of this.

“For what purpose have you kept it from us?” asked Rathina.

“Because you’d have taken it away from me if you knew about it,” said Connor. “I liked to have it with me—I used it as a mirror, if you must know. Sometimes in all this craziness I just liked to see my own face— just now and then—to remind me who I really am. To remind me that I’m still
me
!”

Tania looked at him, unsure what to make of this new revelation.
What is he thinking? What kind of person needs a mirror at a time like this?

There were times when she didn’t even recognize this person as the Connor she had always known. Had the quest changed him so much?

A low, guttural roar ripped across the lake, silencing any response to Connor’s words.

Rathina spun, her sword ready.

A large humped and spined shape was moving toward them along the lakeside. Huge, red slitted eyes stared. A snarl rumbled.

“Something comes to feast on the dead,” said Rathina. “And on the living if we remain!”

“Rathina’s right—we have to get out of here,” said Edric.

Snatching up saddles and trappings, they ran to where the four horses stood waiting. The animals showed no fear, but they were clearly eager to be gone: their eyes staring, their ears pulled back.

Tania’s fingers fumbled with the leather straps and the small crystal buckles. She had seen that Connor had stooped and picked up his metal disk as he’d run. Well—why not? If it gave him any comfort.

There were more eyes in the night, and dreadful shapes, horned and ridged, came creeping forward on bent limbs, claws scraping and hot breaths rattling.

Then the four of them were all mounted up, and their horses turned to the west and raced through the mountains, leaping away as fangs snapped and claws raked and voices bellowed.

Although the monsters were shrouded in the night, Tania was just able to glimpse terrible shapes as they fled. Most of the creatures seemed reptilian, encrusted and plated with hard, shining scales— things like crocodiles and huge lizards, snakes with plumes and crests and flickering tongues, and things like the wyvern: dragon things with snapping jaws and burning eyes. And among them Tania saw things that looked like the Great Salamander, lunging at them with gaping jaws.

But the horses of the Deena Shee trod a dauntless path through the swarming monsters, never faltering, galloping so fast that Tania could barely keep in the saddle. Moving as surely as though the way before them was lit by the noonday sun.

Tania felt exhausted and sick to her stomach. She did not resent her family’s need to draw on her energy, but it made things so hard for her and Rathina.
Just let me find the strength to finish the quest—that’s all!
But moment by moment the infirmity grew worse. Not even the sunrise and sight of the western extremes of the mountains could rouse her spirits.

They were moving at a walking pace, as though the horses knew that she and Rathina didn’t have the strength to keep in the saddle at a gallop.

Edric rode at Tania’s side, constantly watching her, his face tormented by anxiety. She wanted to say something to reassure him, to let him know that she would be all right, but it was too much effort. She needed every ounce of her remaining energy just to keep upright on the horse’s back, to keep from giving up and allowing herself to fall.

And she could see that Rathina was faring no better. Connor rode with her, talking to her to try and keep her awake. But her head was bowed and her long black hair hung over her face.

“It can’t be far now,” came Edric’s worried voice. “I think we’ve left the reptile things behind. We could stop. Rest awhile.”

“No.” It was such a dreadful effort to speak. What dire straits must Oberon and her family be in that they needed to draw on so much of their spirits? Was the Gildensleep shield failing? Was the plague on the move again? It was as though an artery had been opened in her body, as though her life was draining away moment by moment.

“Please, Tania—let me protect you from this,” Edric beseeched. “It’s killing you.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “No, they must need it. . . .” She swallowed, her head throbbing. “Maybe it won’t . . . last too long. . . .”

Connor looked back. “Do you know how long the human body can cope with the kind of stress you’re under?” he asked, his voice strangely cold and detached.

“No, Connor, I don’t.” She sighed. “At this rate I’d give the two of you a couple more hours at most,” Connor said. “Then you’re finished.”

“Connor! Shut up!” snapped Edric.

“Just telling it like I see it,” said Connor. “I thought you guys wanted me to be more honest with you.”

Tania looked into his face. Something about him had changed since their quarrel in the mountains. It was as if a wall had come down behind his eyes, shutting him off from them. It was as if he didn’t care anymore.

Or maybe he’s just stopped pretending.

He held her eyes for a moment, as though defying her to challenge him, then he turned away and the tension lessened.

“I wish they could use my power instead,” said Edric. “I’d gladly give them all they wanted if it would stop this happening to you.”

“Dark power?” murmured Tania. “I don’t think so. . . .”

Edric’s voice was angry. “Don’t they realize what this is doing to you? Don’t they understand how hard this journey has been? And now they’re making it impossible.”

A faint smile touched her lips. “Nothing is impossible. . . .” she whispered. “Not with you here. . . .”

He brought his horse even closer, reaching out and brushing her hair off her face. “I love you,” he murmured.

“I know. . . .”

“Love never dies in Faerie.”

“So I’m told. . . . And is that a good thing, do you think . . . ?”

“It’s a powerful thing, I know that.”

Rathina’s voice rang out suddenly. “The sea!” she called. “We have reached the sea!”

Tania lifted her head.

Yes! There was the ocean at long last.

They had come out of a long, sloping valley to see the land falling rapidly away in front of them—down and down in green slopes to a wide-mouthed bay with a rocky shoreline and beaches of coral. The waves came in like white lace on the olive green ocean. Seagulls drifted across the sky, their voices calling through the brine-laden air.

The wind was from the west, brisk and cool in Tania’s face, breathing new life into her, giving her the strength to sit upright in the saddle.

Rathina, too, pulled herself together and gazed down at the welcoming bay. “There is a ship,” she said. She looked at Tania. “Do you think it awaits us?” she asked. “To bear us to Tirnanog?”

Tania stared down at the ship. It was a three-masted galleon, its sails furled as it rode at anchor in the middle of the bay. Two dark rowboats were drawn up on the beach, and she saw several figures moving over the pebbly surface.

A ship to take them to Tirnanog! Rose had told her there would be no ship! Yet here it was. Tears pricked behind Tania’s eyes.

Thank god!

Here, at the end of the world, she was being given the means to take her quest to the Divine Harper. But why? Was it a reward for all her efforts so far? Had the benevolent power decided they were worthy of this final gift? Tania’s spirits soared as she gazed out at the wonderful vessel.