The Moonshawl: A Wraeththu Mythos Novel (44 page)

I could see this clearly in my
mind’s eye and described it to my companions. The entity was sometimes like a
serpent of smoke, close to the ground, at other times walking upright like a
har, or on all fours like a dog. It filled the landscape with its presence,
holding within its fabric the hurts of centuries. I could sense Peredur inside
it, the part of him forever nailed and chained to a stake in the stableyard of
Meadow Mynd. I could sense Vivi, a cold female presence, full of vengeance and
righteousness, who saw herself as the righter of wrongs. But these were only
two parts of an immense company, not simply those who had died terrible deaths
during the Devastation, but humans from earlier times, killed by parents,
lovers, siblings, strangers on the road, criminals, senseless justice, warfare
and disease. All these despairing souls had been supped upon by the
ysbryd
drwg
, for it believed they belonged with it.

And now as the Dog Star ruled
the heavens, and the heat conjured ghosts in the day, it had come to take what
had been promised to it; the son of the Wyvachi. I did not believe this entity
would suddenly manifest before us and hurt Myv physically. Its influence was
more insidious than that. But it would come to taste, and leave its mark, and
later some accident might befall Myv, perhaps weeks afterwards, when hara might
think that nothing bad would happen. A scythe in the fields, a poisoned nail in
the straw, a bolt of lightning, a maddened horse. There are many ways to kill a
har. We might be strong, but we are neither invulnerable nor immortal.

Verdiferel stirred upon the rock
by the pool. I could see him at the edge of my vision even with my eyes open.
He stood up, quivering, facing away from us. The
ysbryd drwg
was
trickling through the trees, leaves blackening and falling dead as it touched
them. Verdiferel stretched his body, his arms high, welcoming this diseased
power.

‘Embrace it, my lord, it is
yours,’ I whispered.

In mind touch, but ‘audible’ to
my companions, I asked Peredur,
Is the water spirit with us and ready?

Yes
, he replied.
Here
as it always has been
. There was no mistaking the affection in the flavour
of his thoughts.

To all of them I sent the
instructions:
When Verdiferel takes the
ysbryd
into himself, see the
moonshawl tighten around him like bonds of unbreakable silk. Visualise that we
get to our feet and push him into the water, that the spirit there takes hold
of him and contains him. Try to visualise this without violence, that the
spirit’s embrace is unbreakable but not harmful.

Then...?
Rinawne asked.

I didn’t have time to reply
because, at that moment, the force of the
ysbryd drwg
collided with
Verdiferel. The impact sent a blast of sound through my mind, like clashing
rocks and the discordant howl of a war trumpet combined. It took all my effort
not to open my eyes. ‘Keep focused within the vision,’ I told the group aloud.
‘Don’t falter.’

The force of the egregore
pounded into the dehar, enlarging him. He stood as tall as the trees now and
still that dark energy flowed into him. Peredur chanted softly words of the
ancient language, that I could barely hear or understand, but we all caught the
rhythm of it and joined our voices to his. Between us, our own power began to
form and rise in a spiral of pale white light.

I had to choose the exact moment
for us to bind Verdiferel. I was sure it was nearly time, just mere seconds
away – silver ripples had begun to form upon the surface of the pool – when
suddenly Verdiferel emitted a roar, which sounded like an immense bell
shattering. Before we could react, he bounded away from us through the trees.

Our visualisation splintered like
crystal, and the weave of our combined energy broke up and scattered.

‘What the...?’ Rinawne cried.

‘No!’ Myv cried.

‘Follow him,’ I ordered. ‘Now!’

We had no choice but to open our
eyes and pursue what in the waking world would most likely be invisible to us.

‘Peredur, you guide us,’ I
snapped. ‘Myv, take Peredur’s hand so he doesn’t have to concentrate on the
physical world. Lead him!’

Without further delay, I got to my
feet and ran after the dehar, pushing through foliage and shrubs that seemed to
bend towards me to hinder my passage. Peredur was at my side, barking
directions at Myv. I could hear the others following. Verdiferel must not get
away from us, not now we’d helped him engorge with the power of the
ysbryd
drwg
. There was no sense of the gentle, benevolent
ysbryddon garedig
during that desperate pursuit, only the hectic rush of our chase, and dark
vortexes of power spinning round us. Ropes of dark purple smoke, sibilant
hissing, the yelp of unearthly predators.

‘He’s making for the fields
beside the river,’ Peredur said, ‘probably the Maes Siôl, the river field.’

I could sense this too. As we
ran, I glanced up and saw the white owl in the sky, its gigantic glowing wings
spread against the night. ‘The owl is our guide,’ I yelled. ‘Follow it, Myv,
it’ll lead us to its master.’

The end of the trees was in
sight. I could see a strange ruddy glow ahead.

‘Something’s burning,’ Arianne said.

I could smell it – the reek of
burned grass, which became stronger as we ran. We emerged from the trees and
kept running. We had to clamber over two hedges to reach the Maes Siôl. I could
see that it was on fire. There was, in fact, a ring of flame. I could just
perceive, within the black smoke that issued from it, a shadowy figure in its
midst. Verdiferel was slowing down. I could feel the pulse of his movement within
me. I realised he hadn’t run away from us; somehar else had called him.
Somehar, or a number of hara, were enacting their own rite in the Maes Siôl, and
I felt sure this wasn’t a simple Reaptide event.

I signalled for my companions to
stop, spreading my arms to keep them behind me. ‘What can you tell us?’ I asked
Peredur.

‘Another har summoned the
ysbryd
drwg
,’ he said, as I’d known he would. ‘It feels like a Wyvachi.’

‘It’s Wyva!’ Rinawne cried.
‘Dear Aru, it is! I know!’

‘We must go to him,’ Myv said,
in a panicked tone, and made to run towards the fire, but I grabbed hold of him
and kept him back.

‘Not yet!’

‘It’ll kill him!’ Myv wailed.

I shook him a little. ‘Hush,
we’ll not help by blundering in. And it won’t kill him immediately.’ I looked
at Peredur, then reached for his hand. ‘Well?’

Peredur raised his other hand
and pointed at the field, all the time his black stare on me. ‘Can you all see
that? With your living eyes, I mean?’

‘Yes,’ Nytethorne murmured.

‘Dear God,’ Arianne whispered.

Yes, they could see it. Ahead of
us, the looming figure that was the transformed Verdiferel had stepped into the
ring of fire. The flames cowered low before him. Our combined will, plus the
potent mesh of energy contained within the
ysbryd drwg
, was strong
enough to manifest the dehar in reality. I’d seen nothing like this before.
Verdiferel was as tall as the greatest of oaks, with rags of clothing and hair
whipping around him.

‘Peredur, help Wyva,’ Rinawne
hissed. ‘For Aru’s sake, we must...’

‘Hush,’ Peredur said. ‘Go closer,
but slowly. Join hands. Don’t let go of each other.’

We obeyed his words.

I saw Wyva har Wyvachi standing in
his fragile temple of fire with the egregore looming over him. It was no longer
merely our invoked dehar, but something far larger, far more distant, yet
obscenely close. This creature turned to the side, so Wyva would not be able to
see its face. Neither could we. Then it began to emit a roaring, booming sound
that was the essence of fear, despair and hopelessness. This was a sound that
nohar should hear; it made death seem benign. Everyhar in the county must be
able to hear it.

‘Beansidhe,’ Rinawne murmured.

‘What?’ Arianne asked him.

‘The cruellest spirit. If you
see her, if you hear her, she takes somehar. We mustn’t see...’

As Rinawne spoke, the egregore
began to turn around to face Wyva, all the while emitting that foul noise.

‘No!’ Myv cried, fighting
against my hold.

Unable to wait any longer,
Rinawne released the hands he held and raced across the field, waving his arms
in the air, shouting, ‘Verdiferel! This way! Look this way!’

Myv struggled like a hysterical
cat in my grasp and screamed, ‘Let me go, Ysobi. Those are my hara there. Let
me go!’

The edge of one of Peredur’s
hands slammed down on my wrist, numbing it. Myv broke free. ‘Let him act,’
Peredur said. ‘It’s his fight.’

Perhaps Verdiferel, deep within
the egregore, this fully manifested
ysbryd drwg
, had heard Rinawne’s
cry. He’d paused, his body stooped. But then, slowly, he began to turn once
more.

Arianne said softly, ‘Vivi’s in
that thing. I can
feel
her. She’s here.’ She too ran after Rinawne and
Peredur followed her.

I glanced at Nytethorne, who
shrugged.

‘Go after them?’ he suggested.

We did so, but more cautiously.
I needed to gauge what would happen. If the rest of them panicked, only
Nytethorne and I could hold things together.

Everything seemed to move in
slow motion: the running figures, the silhouette in the centre of the circle of
fire, held motionless in shock. I saw Wyva’s face through the smoke and flames,
soot-streaked, wild, nothing like I’d ever seen him. I could see he had steeled
himself to fight, perhaps die. Now he could see his chesnari and son running
towards him, no doubt thinking this was an illusion and they weren’t really
there. A trick to lure him from his protective circle.

While all this was happening, Verdiferel
turned to face us fully, but only Nytethorne and I, maybe Peredur, had our
attention on him. He held to his features a white mask, expressionless, not
fearsome at all. Behind him, it appeared Wyva had realised Myv and Rinawne were
real and not deceiving phantoms. He was shouting at them, gesticulating, urging
them to leave.

Of course, they took no notice.
Once they reached Wyva, they flung themselves upon him, protecting him with
their bodies. The moonshawl, spreading from Myv’s body, seemed to cover them
all, gleaming like mercury.

The white mask of Verdiferel stared
at me, ignoring the drama behind him. Then, almost casually, he drew the mask from
his face. I was ready for anything but... There was stillness between us.
Seconds that extended for hours. Behind the mask... there was nothing.
Nothing
at all
. I saw a black void extending away forever. The hideous sounds
issued from it, as if from a great distance. And yet even within that
nothingness I perceived a cruel smile. The
ysbryd drwg
had shown me its
face. I remembered the fear Rinawne had spoken of, that gut deep, primal fear.
I could feel it scrabbling within me like a trapped animal. But then I thought:
I’ve seen your face before. I’ve fallen into that void. Yet here I am. Let’s
see what happens.

The
ysbryd drwg
appeared
to study me for a moment, perhaps curious in its inconceivable way, then,
almost shrugging, it removed its attention from me, and turned to confront
those in the centre of the flames. Easier prey. They seemed pitiful, helpless,
a bundle of writhing bodies. Wyva was trying to fight off Myv and Rinawne; they
were determined to hold him down.  

Arianne had paused at the edge
of the circle. She had raised her arms, her head flung back.

Peredur stood motionless just
ahead of Nytethorne and me. He appeared to be assessing what he perceived
before him. When we caught up with him, I grabbed hold of his arm. ‘What do we
do?’ I snapped. ‘Peredur, ideas, something! Please, for Aru’s sake.’

‘We must...’ Peredur began.

Then Arianne’s voice rang out,
‘No, Vivi, no! For the love of your children, hear me! Look at me!’

I thought at first her voice
would have no effect. For a few agonising moments: nothing. And then the towering
ysbryd drwg
straightened up, became motionless. It was listening to her:
the dead that walked it did not own.

You have its attention!
I
sent to her, hoping to all the dehara she heard me.
Reach Vivi, call her
from it.

‘Vivi, you know me,’ Arianne
cried. ‘It’s Arianne. Look at me. Remember me!’

For a moment, an immense
flickering image of Vivi’s face appeared in the yawning maw of the
ysbryd
drwg
. A wavering voice slithered from it. 
All women are dead... There
is no Arianne.
Then the image faded.

‘That’s not true,’ Arianne said,
her voice steady. ‘Come forth, Vivi. Listen to me. Just listen.’

I could sense Arianne’s compassion
and calm, her determination to remain this way, not to falter. She had not been
able to save her family from Wraeththu aggression, nor Peredur from mutilation.
She had, once, not been able to save herself. But now... I was awed by her
resolve, which was as hard as the ancient stone of the mountains. ‘See me
here,’ she said in a low fierce voice. ‘Try to touch me,
ysbryd drwg.
But
you cannot kill the dead, can you? I’ll take back what is mine.’ She raised her
voice. ‘Vivi! Follow my words. See the shining rope of sound. Come to me. I’m
waiting.’

For a moment, only stillness,
but then the flickering image of Vivi appeared once more in void of the
ysbryd
drwg
.

‘The past is done, Vivi,’
Arianne said firmly, ‘yet our family lives on. Meadow Mynd still stands. The
cows graze in the meadows. The crops grow. Our descendents thrive. There are
still men and women, but just in a different way. And look how strong they are,
how brave, how beautiful. A child would give her life for her parents. Would
you destroy all this? Wasn’t peace what you really wanted?’