• If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Chapter 41 - The Skyfall

 

Jehenna Canna was a small child when she first saw Skyfall Town.  Her mother had decided to travel the lands in search of a remote site for her proposed research facility.  Jonas Kallady, ever one to spot an opportunity, suggested that the entire family should accompany their mother on her exciting quest.  Claudia had agreed, thinking that the presence of her family would be an excellent way to avoid attracting attention to her secret project.

          Their journeyings had brought them across the bosom of Lake Erras to Skyfall Town, the sight of which had an indelible effect upon Jehenna.  Though the cities of Acoran were exceptionally fine-looking metropolises, Jehenna was mesmerized by the aeriform beauty of the Sapphyrran town.  Whilst her older brother Simeon just wanted to climb the famed rock faces that towered above, all Jehenna desired was to be left alone to wander down the pretty streets of the town.  The opaline marble, the intricate rope bridges and the serene nature of the Sapphyrro made her feel she was special and safe.  Although her young mind couldn't articulate the feeling, being in Skyfall Town was akin to returning to the womb.

          But that was twenty years ago and much had changed since then.

 

 

Astride their incredible flying steeds, and followed by a host of other peg’ii who had taken an interest in the pair, Jehenna and Sela flew over the crest of the Skyfall.  The broad river they had been following simply fell away, beginning its precipitous plunge into the waters of Lake Erras three leagues below.

          An overwhelming sense of space swept over the pair as rock and water was replaced by emptiness.  The peg’ii cried in delight as the distant majesty of Lake Erras, shimmering in the moonlight, appeared before them.  They pulled up and hovered, hanging in the air like stars high above the world.

          It was some time before Sela exhaled, so absorbed was she in the sight before her.  She had never seen so much at one time, and her brain laboured to take it all in.

          ‘Look!’ Jehenna gasped as she leant out over the side of her steed and pointed directly beneath them.  The red glow of fire could be seen at the foot of the waterfall.  Skyfall Town appeared to be burning.

          They were both horrified.  Sela had heard of Skyfall Town’s magnificence and the thought of yet another item being added to the Ghul’s catalogue of destruction filled her with sorrow.  ‘Jehenna,’ she said dolorously, ‘they've set fire to the town!’

          Jehenna squinted, peering down through the red-tinged spray of the waterfall, trying to make sense of the scene beneath her.  She shook her head.  ‘No, I don’t think so.  I think, somehow, the lake is on fire.’

          ‘The lake?  But how?’

          Suddenly the expression on Jehenna’s face changed to one of absolute fury.  ‘Ghul!’ she snarled, looking down at the rock face behind them.

          All three moons were up and their light illuminated a sight that Jehenna would never forget.  Thousands of pallid warriors were pouring out of a large cave that was just under the lip of the Skyfall.  It was a breach and from it emerged more Ghul than Jehenna could have imagined.  Countless subterranean vines hung out of the cave and down these impossibly long ropes slid Caliban’s forces.

          ‘They’re invading Skyfall Town!’ Jehenna snarled.  Her voice was guttural.  The picture of the cadaverous army descending upon the beauty of Skyfall Town was like a knife under her skin.

          Further down the rock face she could see the figures of Sapphyrran climbers who had made their way up the cliffs to defend their town.  They had no weapons to speak of, but they met the Ghul head-on with hearts as brave as any soldier’s.  As a group they had found their way past the overhang known as Maru Lem and now climbed where no Sapphyrro had ventured before.  Desperation had driven them to accomplish the incredible.  But conquering the cliff was a small feat compared to the task before them – defeating the Ghul would be nigh on impossible.

          A number of Sapphyrro had jumped from the cliffs onto the Ghul’s ropes and were clutching at the feet of the enemy descending upon them.  It was then Jehenna realised the significance of the burning lake.  She had no doubt that the Ghul could survive the frightful fall to the lake below, but they could not survive the furnace that lay on the lake’s surface.  The Sapphyrro had somehow found a way to ignite the waters lapping at the feet of Skyfall Town, and in doing so had given themselves a slim chance of survival.  The flames atop the water rose hundreds of feet into the air above.  By the time a Ghul soldier hit the water, he or she would be little more than ashes.

          Jehenna could not help but smile as she watched a number of Sapphyrro ripping Ghul from the vines, sending them off to a fiery death three leagues below.

          For a time, the strategy would work, but Jehenna knew that sheer weight on numbers would win out and the Ghul would take Skyfall Town.  As she watched she saw a number of Ghul archers fire upon the Sapphyrro on the cliffs.  Whilst the Sapphyrro’s shells provided them with some protection they could not fully retreat into their carapaces.  A number of Sapphyrro had arms and legs that were pierced by many arrows, forcing them to abandon the cliffs and fall to the lake below.  It was only a matter of time before they were all dead.

          Something snapped inside Jehenna.  It was time to fight back.

          ‘Tell the Sapphyrro to clear the ropes.  Go now!’  

          Without questioning why, Sela shot off to where the Sapphyrro were vainly trying to halt the progress of the Ghul upon the vines.

          Content that Sela would succeed in this task, Jehenna kicked the sides of her sky snorse and leant forward.  The steed responded instantly, speeding off in the direction Jehenna had pushed.  They swept down towards the place where the thick vines hung against the rock face.  Protected only by the incredible shield she had taken from Amasis, Jehenna swiped at the vines with the glass-steel sword and with every swing of the blade, hundreds of Ghul fell to their deaths.  Arrows rained down up her, but she managed to catch most of these in the dark surface of the shield.  She hacked furiously at the vines and as more and more Ghul plummeted away from her, a disturbing feeling of satisfaction made her skin tingle.

          But for every vine she cut, two more would appear in its place.  By the time Sela had joined her in her efforts, she was exhausted and her mount was badly wounded.

          ‘There are too many of them!’ Sela cried.

          ‘We’ve got to stop them from laying down more lines.’

          ‘But how?  We can’t take them all.’

          Suddenly an arrow shot out of the darkness above them and sheared clean through the neck of Sela’s sky snorse.  It gave a tiny yelp and died.  Jehenna stuck out a hand and caught Sela just as the Tamuan’s steed dropped away in a bloodied bundle of fur and feathers.

 

 

Jehenna could feel her mount’s flagging energy.  It had flown for twelve hours straight at a phenomenal speed, it was wounded with at least three arrows in its side and now it bore the weight of two riders.  It couldn’t keep racing up and down the cliff face trying to help Jehenna and Sela beat back the relentless tide of Ghul emerging from the Endless.  There had to be another way…

          And there was.  Jehenna was furious with herself for not thinking of it earlier.  ‘Jehenna you fool!’ she scolded herself.  She pointed up at the breach.  ‘Sela, take us up there.  Do it now!’

          ‘Are you insane?’ Sela called back over her spiny shoulder.  ‘We’ll be cut down in seconds.’

          ‘Just do it Sela!’ Jehenna shouted back.  ‘Please.’

          ‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’

 

 

Sela urged her steed upward.  As soon as they were level with the breach, hundreds of Ghul trained their bows, crossbows and spears upon them.   Sela closed her eyes and braced for death.  She needn’t have bothered.  Instead of pain, she felt the opposite.  A wave of warm light washed over her.  Even with her eyelids closed Sela was aware of the white light cascading out of the breach and out into the night sky.  Jehenna had used the sunsphere her mother had given her.

         She slowly opened her eyes to see a dazzling sight.  The cave before her was like a cup of pure light.  It filled her with hope.  For a moment, she believed that she and Jehenna could actually survive the night.  Her euphoric state did not last long.

 

 

From that ball of light shot a familiar, black shape.  ‘The Morrigu!’ Jehenna exclaimed.

          As soon as it exploded out of the breach, the Morrigu opened its long talons and clawed at the air.  Sela and Jehenna avoided its first strike but one of the peg’ii behind them was caught in its terrible clutches.  The Morrigu wheeled around in the air and cackled as it discarded the sky snorse it had just caught.  With its neck broken, the poor, limp creature fell towards the burning lake like a pebble carelessly thrown down a well.

          Jehenna expected the Morrigu to repeat its attack on its second pass and she raised her glass-steel sword.  The Morrigu opened its talons to attack but at the last second dived underneath them, folding its wings back so it shot like an arrow towards a stretch of cliff wall below.

          Jehenna realised in an instant what the creature’s intentions were and she tugged at her sky snorse’s mane to follow it.  ‘Sela!’ she screamed across to her companion.  ‘The Sapphyrro!  The creature is going to –’

          She didn't even have time to finish her sentence.  The Morrigu finished it for her.  It raked the cliffs with its sharp talons wiping at least twenty Sapphyrro from the wall in one pass.  A number of peg’ii swooped down to catch some of them with their prehensile tails but most of the Sapphyrro fell haplessly to their deaths.  

          The winged monster shrieked triumphantly, its black heart rapturous over the sight of so many helpless, little creatures tumbling about in the air, their blue arms flailing, their long, blue fingers scratching at the sky, searching for the rock wall they would never hold again.

          The remaining Sapphyrro on the cliff scrambled about, searching in vain for a way to elude the malefic beast that had tormented them for so long.

          As Jehenna raced towards them, a volley of arrows was sent her way.  She held up the shield and it swallowed the bone shafts voraciously.

          The shield was not so large that it could protect her mount as well.  A number of arrows found their way through the sky snorse’s thick hide and it squealed as it experienced pain for the first time in its life.

          The Morrigu stripped the cliffs of another ten Sapphyrro and quickly swept around for a third strike.  Having no place to hide on the cliffs, a great many Sapphyrro jumped over to the Ghul’s vines.  The light of the sunsphere now diminished, the Ghul began to pour out of the breach once more, marching past the ashes of the ones Jehenna had incinerated.  They threw themselves down the thick vines, covering them like sap.  It seemed to Jehenna that Caliban had an inexhaustible supply of soldiers.  Whether it be by the Morrigu or by the Ghul, the Sapphyrro would be soon vanquished, and another of the Myr’s gentle races would disappear from the world.

          Jehenna pulled her steed to a halt and held her glass-steel sword out in front of her, following the path of the swiftly moving Morrigu with its tip.  Despite the arrows that were raining down upon her, Jehenna took her time in making sure her aim was true.  When she felt the moment was right, she pushed her right thumb down on a small button at the point where the hilt of the sword met the cross-guard.  A simple click was all it took to send the beautiful glass-steel blade shooting across the space between her and the Morrigu.

          An explosive spout of blood indicated to Jehenna that she had hit her mark.  The Morrigu crumpled around the blade as it cut into the tissue and tendons in the monster’s throat.

          Sela gave a euphoric cry when the translucent blade sliced into the Morrigu’s throat.  ‘You did it!’ she cried above the tumult of the waterfall.

          Jehenna also gave a cry of triumph but as her gaze followed the falling behemoth, her look of elation suddenly changed to one of anguish.

          The Morrigu was still alive.  With the sword still wedged in its throat, it was in great pain but it was not dead.  It had fallen far, but not far enough.  Against the glow of the fire of the lake, Jehenna watched the creature unfurl its wings and glide in wide circles as it tried to extract the blade that was buried deep in its neck.  It was only a matter of time before the beast would return to the heights above and continue its campaign of terror upon the resilient but vulnerable Sapphyrro.

          ‘Is it really so hard to die?’ she cried angrily, exasperated by the Morrigu’s unwillingness to submit to its own death.

          To Jehenna’s left, Sela shrugged her shoulders, thinking the Acoran expected a response to her question.  But Jehenna was not looking at Sela.  She was looking down.  Her eyes were fixed on the Morrigu.

          Sela had thought she had seen many wild and strange things in her travels, but nothing could have prepared her for what she witnessed next.  In the most insane and unexpected acts that could be imagined three leagues above the surface of the world, Jehenna jumped from her flying steed.

          As she plummeted through the night sky, Jehenna drew her dagger, an action that was almost unfathomable to Sela who watched helplessly from the relative safety of her sky snorse’s back.  The Tamuan could almost understand suicide in light of the odds they were facing, but Jehenna had drawn her dagger which meant that she was planning to continue the fight.  Sela realised with mind-numbing incredulity that Jehenna intended to land on the Morrigu’s back.

 

 

The plan made no sense.  It was so incredibly reckless, Sela was astounded that Jehenna had even thought of it.  The Morrigu was half a league below them.  From that distance it was virtually impossible to hit a stationary target, but to hit one that was moving, it seemed beyond even Jehenna’s abilities.  Even if she did somehow manage to land on the creature, the impact of the mid-air collision would probably kill her.

 

 

The rush of air that buffeted Jehenna and flattened her dark hair against her body was nothing compared to the adrenalin that was coursing through her veins.  As a little girl, she had always dreamed of flying, and now, high above the town that was such a special part of her childhood, she was diving through the skies with the confidence of a bird.  

          It was only when the black shape of the Morrigu was within a hundred feet of her that the dire reality of Jehenna’s situation slapped her across the face.  For a fleeting second she considered whether she had abandoned all reason.  Perhaps her decision to launch herself out into the void was one of despair.

          No.  She was still in the fight.  She was alive and that was all she needed to continue.

          Jehenna plummeted past the Morrigu which was so fixated upon the blade embedded in its throat, it failed to notice the small Myrran that had fallen past its left flank.  It failed to notice the Myrran’s tiny left arm stretch out and twist.  It failed to notice the long black tendril shoot out from one of the Myrran’s arm guards.

          The attack couldn’t have been better orchestrated.  Despite the fact that she was falling fast and the Morrigu was moving in circles, Jehenna managed to snag the part of the beast she wanted to hit – its beak.

          Being the smaller of the two objects at either end of the tendril, Jehenna was pulled towards the Morrigu at great speed when the black line extending from her vambrace retracted.  Strains of a recent conversation floated into her head.

          ‘You are too reckless.  It will get you killed.’

          ‘Or keep me alive.

          With a litheness and balance that would have made a Tethran dancer jealous, Jehenna swung up onto the Morrigu’s back and detached herself from the tendril.  The beast was too absorbed in the blade in its throat and the tendril that had looped around its beak to be concerned with the sudden weight on its back.  Moments later Jehenna made sure she had the Morrigu’s full attention.

         Clutching a handful of four foot long feathers to stop herself from falling, Jehenna lifted her silver dagger high into the air and started hacking.

          At first she wasn’t sure whether she was having any impact at all, so dense were the feathers on the Morrigu’s back.  After repeated stabs, thick, viscid blood oozed through the blanket of feathers.  The Morrigu led out a shriek that cut Jehenna to the marrow, but she kept on stabbing.    The frenzied beast twisted and bucked in mid-air but Jehenna held on tightly.  She had to make sure the monster was dying or dead before she released her grip.

          With grim resignation, Jehenna sheathed her dagger and reached into a small satchel she wore upon her belt.  She withdrew a small glass vial with a glowing orange liquid swirling inside.    ‘Angelfire!’ Jehenna said admiringly as she lifted the vial into the air where it shone in the light of the Myr’s moons.  Then with a fury and strength that was borne out of deep hatred, Jehenna slammed the little bottle down upon the Morrigu’s back.

          Instantaneously, a blaze of blue fire flared up.  The flames were so intense that she had no choice but to let go of the Morrigu’s feathers and fall, away from the fires above, towards the fires below.

          She was reeling through the night air where her lissomness and balance counted for nothing.  The night sky was retreating from her.  The flaming, squirming figure of the figure of the Morrigu was also getting smaller and smaller.  As she fell, Jehenna extended a hand, hoping beyond deepest hope, that her intuition was right.

          Suddenly she felt a small hand upon her wrist and she knew she was not going to die.

 

 

As Sela pulled Jehenna onto the sky snorse, she scowled at the Acoran who was smiling brashly back at her, pleased and relieved that her desperate gambit had paid off.  

         ‘Do you want to tell me what you were thinking?’ Sela growled.

         ‘I was thinking that I had to stop that damned bird!’ Jehenna replied with a sly grin.

          ‘And did you consider what you were going to do once you had stopped it, or didn’t you plan that far ahead?’

          ‘Oh, I planned for that.  I knew you’d come for me.’

          Sela wasn’t sure how to take the comment.  It could have been construed as Acoran arrogance, but Sela detected something else – respect.  Jehenna had intended the comment as a compliment.

          As the two of them flew back up the cliffs to the conflict still being fought above, Sela twisted her head around and said, ‘Well next time you have a plan like that, promise me that you’ll share it with me first.’

          ‘I promise,’ Jehenna said earnestly.

 

 

There was no sign of the Morrigu.  Jehenna had expected it to fall past them, a flaming ball of feather and talons, but the sky around them was empty.

         ‘Look!’ said Sela pointing out to the west.  Far, far away a glowing blue light was heading for the centre of the great lake.  It was flying so close to the surface that the light was reflected in the water. 

          ‘It’s the Morrigu,’ Jehenna groaned.  ‘It’s still alive.’  She was visibly shaken by the sight of the Cabal’s most resilient monster.  ‘Can that thing be killed?’

          ‘You stopped it,’ Sela said firmly.  ‘You did what you set out to do.’

          Despite its burning wings, the Morrigu was moving incredibly quickly.  It had not taken it long to reach its destination – the centre of Lake Erras.  From where they sat on the back of Sela’s mount, the pair watched the light of the burning Morrigu rise a little into the sky, only to plummet into the heart of the lake.  

          Sela was reminded of the falling stars she would watch streaking across the clear night skies above the plains of Tamu.  She pondered this, how such a hideous creature could give rise to such a fond memory.  Beauty, it seemed, could be found in the most unlikely places.  She had no time to consider it further.  The sky snorse had climbed to the breach.  Before them, skeletal figures brandished weapons of all description.

          Without a moment’s pause, Sela reached into a bag she had strapped to the sky snorse and pulled out the sunsphere Jehenna had given her back at Amasis.  She held it above her head and drew back her arm to throw it.

          ‘Wait!’ Jehenna cried sternly.

          Sela’s hand hovered in the air, holding the sunsphere in her small fingers as the clash of weapons filled her ears.

          Weapons?  The Sapphyrro did not carry weapons.  In fact, as Jehenna and Sela gazed down on the scene before them, they realised that the Sapphyrro had not even entered the cave.

          ‘The Ghul – they’re fighting one another,’ Sela said incredulously.  It seemed impossible but the ocular proof was right in front of her.

          Her mind raced back to another time.  To the cave near Tamu where she had seen the remnants of a great battle.  And then to Johannan.  It was them – the Ghaddar.  There was no mistaking it.

          Sela’s heart brightened at the thought of seeing Rama again, but she could see no sign of his distinctive copper skin and tentacle-like dreadlocks.

          Jehenna shifted her weight on the sky snorse as if she intended to dismount and join the throng of fighting.  Sela quickly pulled the steed away from the breach so that Jehenna could not alight.

          ‘Jehenna, there’s a time to fight and a time to stand back and let others play their part.  The Ghaddar have shatterstone weapons.  You do not.  Better to wait.’

          It was not like Jehenna had a choice.  Sela had pulled the sky snorse so far away from the breach that there was nothing the Acoran could do but watch the battle from a distance.

 

 

Although there were not many Ghaddar, their shatterstone weapons more than made up for their numbers.  The mob of Ghul soldiers gradually thinned and the tide of the battle for Skyfall shifted.  The Ghul would not win this night.

 

 

They both saw it at the same time.  A long, ornate golden staff swung down upon a line of Ghul soldiers standing at the mouth of the cave.  Rama.  At the Ankaran’s side fought Azazel.  He had been true to his word.  He had protected Rama, kept him alive.  

          The Ghul surrounding Rama and Azazel were sent tumbling through the air, hurtling towards the burning cauldron of the lake far below.

          Sela guided the sky snorse to the edge of the cave whereupon Jehenna jumped gracefully to the ledge of rock below.  ‘Rama!’ she cried and pushed her way through the melee to embrace him.  ‘You’re alive!’

          He grinned.  ‘Of course I’m alive!  It takes more than countless Ghul and Cabal to kill me!’

          She laughed, but it was more out of relief than amusement.  The Ghaddar swept the remaining Ghul over the edge of the cave’s mouth.  The fighting quickly ended and all that could be heard was the sound of the tropospheric wind and the tumult of the waterfall beyond.

 

 

There were only a handful of Ghaddar left.  ‘This is all we are now,’ Azazel said sadly as she looked upon his decimated ranks.  ‘I’m afraid our time is coming to an end.’

          Jehenna smiled at him and said, ‘I hope not Azazel.  Whether you dwell on top of the world or beneath it, the Myr would be a poorer place should the Ghaddar leave it.’

          He returned her smile.  He appreciated her sentiment.  It was the right thing to say.

          She walked over to the edge of the breach where Rama was standing, enjoying the first rays of sun touching his copper skin.

          ‘It is wonderful to breathe fresh air again,’ he said.  ‘Tell me, are we high here?  I feel as if I am somewhere high.’

          She had forgotten his blindness.  He was so confident in his movements it was easy to forget that he could not see.  She looked over the edge to see the tiny buildings of Skyfall three leagues below.

          ‘Yes, we’re quite high here,’ she said casually as she gently led him back away from the edge.

 

 

Rama stood outside North Cathedral and smelt the air.  ‘This place has changed,’ he said sadly to Jehenna and Sela.  ‘I have visited Skyfall Town before and the stench that now fills my head is an obscenity to my recollections of this haven.  It lies on the air like a stain.’

          Jehenna looked around her.  Rama was right.  Skyfall Town’s violation was extremely difficult to accept.  The town was almost unrecognisable.

          The Morrigu had made the town its home.  The great blue marble dome above North Cathedral was gone.  In its place the Morrigu had gathered beams, sails and planks from the ships it had attacked and laced them together with the hempen ropes of the Skyfall Town’s bridges.  This ungainly nest sat atop the cathedral’s broken roof like a bizarre hat.  The Morrigu had continued to add to its morbid collection of Myrran bodies and these meat and bone ornaments were woven into the structure of the nest like jewels.  The stench arising from the corpses was so pungent that Rama had to place a cloth over his face so that his highly attuned olfactory sense was not overwhelmed.  He could also smell burning oil upon the lake but this smell could never be strong enough to mask the fetor of rotting flesh that cascaded from the cathedral’s roof.

          ‘Only the Sapphyrro remain,’ remarked Sela.  ‘The town has become a morgue.’

          ‘It is time for us to leave,’ Jehenna said decisively.

          ‘Where will we go?’ asked Rama through the cloth he held over his face like a shield.

          ‘We go to finish the mission.  We're going into the Endless.’

          ‘But what about Skyfall Town?’

          ‘We can’t do any more for the Sapphyrro.  Skyfall Town is, for the time being, safe.’

          Under his cloth, Rama laughed quietly to himself.  ‘So you’re telling me that after weeks of wandering around in the underground, I’m going back into the Endless?’

          ‘Yes.  That’s exactly what I’m saying.  We now have a way in.’  As she spoke, Jehenna caught sight of something quickly move out of the shadows behind Rama but was unable to stop what happened next.

          Rama’s blind eyes widened a little and an ugly gurgling noise escaped his lips.  His body stiffened slightly and then pitched forward like a falling tree.  It slammed into the wet flagstones and was still.  He was dead.  A short knife stuck out the back of his neck.

          Rama’s killer did not try to run – he just stood nonchalantly at the feet of the fallen Ankaran.  He was not Ghul.  He was not even a soldier.  Brave Rama had been slain by the most unlikely of murderers.

          ‘Mulupo?’ Jehenna gasped, transfixed by the sight of the smiling Spriggan whose face was spattered with Rama’s blood.

 


 

Mulupo woke to the sound of crashing.  He thrust his eyes open to see the torrent of the Skyfall crashing down from the cliffs above him.  He jumped up in the boat looking for some sign of Remiel Grayson and the others, but they were nowhere to be found.

          Behind him lay the great watery plains of Lake Erras.  A number of lush, green islands could be seen clustered together like trees in a copse.  Overhead, thick, voluminous, white clouds hovered in the bright afternoon light.  The clouds were so still and solid they looked like they had been carved out of marble.  In contrast to the stillness of the clouds, the raging waterfall to the east was so full of life and fury, Mulupo was surprised he had come so close to the Skyfall without waking up.

          His back ached.  Succellos had speared him in the very place the needleback spike had punctured his skin a year before.  Even the restorative powers of Caliban’s Pryderi were not enough to completely heal him.

          As he scanned the gentle waves looking for some sign of his companions, something dawned on Mulupo with unequivocal certainty.  They knew.  One of them had worked out that he was not to be trusted.  It must have been Succellos’ mark.  They had discovered the mark and set him adrift.  He was lucky they had not killed him.

          He sat back in the skiff and contemplated his situation.  Caliban had asked him to return his squad and accompany them back to the Endless.  He had also asked Mulupo to kill the Sapphyrran Trypp Elan.  Caliban had plans for Remiel Grayson.  He had plans for Pylos Castalia.  He even had plans for the mariner Gerriod Blake, but he no use for the Sapphyrran.

          Mulupo quickly accepted the fact that he had failed Caliban.  There was no sense of disappointment accompanying this.  It was a fact and he accepted it as such.

          The ruins of Skyfall Town lay nearby.  It had been subjected to the Morrigu’s relentless beatings and now lay like a corpse at the foot of the great waterfall.  Most visitors had fled the besieged town and a great many of those who had stayed were either dead or destined to be so in a matter of days – Caliban had informed him of the assault he had planned for Skyfall Town.  A great army of Ghul had been sent to the breach above the town and had been given very clear orders – leave no Sapphyrran alive.  Caliban had even shared with him his reasons for attacking such a peaceful, gentle folk.  The slaughter of the Sapphyrro was for the same reasons the Spriggans had been killed – to appease the bloodlust of the Ghul.  As long as Caliban could serve up blood and carnage, the Ghul would remain loyal to him, and he knew there were enough races in the Myr to keep them loyal for a very long time.

          Although he was sure the Ghul wouldn’t need his help, Mulupo decided to help out where he could.  Perhaps in the midst of so much bloodshed, there was still some mischief he could perform that would earn Caliban’s praise.

 


 

Sela rushed at Mulupo and grabbed him by the throat.  In an incredibly fluid movement, she reached behind her head, pulled out a long, thick quill out of her back and gripped it so she could ram it into the Spriggan’s heart.

          ‘Sela, no!’ cried Jehenna as she rushed to stop the Tamuan from exacting revenge.  She took hold of Sela’s wrist.  Mulupo just stared back calmly.

          ‘Sela, he is not himself!’ Jehenna yelled as the Tamuan struggled to free her wrist.

          ‘All the more reason to stop him now!’ Sela yelled back passionately.

          ‘Stop him?  Don't you mean kill him?’

          ‘He killed Rama!’  Her voice broke and she stopped resisting Jehenna.  She sank down beside the dead Ankaran and sobbed.

          ‘I’m sorry Sela,’ Jehenna said tenderly, ‘but I won’t let you be the one who killed the last Spriggan.  You do not deserve that kind of notoriety.  You’re much too good for that.  Let us save our revenge for these vermin Ghul and their master.’

 

 

Sela tied up Mulupo whilst Jehenna spoke to the few Sapphyrro who had survived the night.  The Spriggan did not protest nor did he say anything.  His characteristic garrulousness was gone and he saw no reason to pretend that he was the person he was before Succellos sunk her sting into him.

         ‘You were right to show him mercy,’ Jehenna said as she walked back to her companion.

          ‘Yes,’ Sela replied.  ‘He is a victim in all of this.  He is deserving of our pity.'

          ‘That is why you must take him back to Cessair.’

          A passing look of shock on Sela’s face quickly became a scowl.  ‘Back to Cessair?’ she sneered.  ‘Are you mad Jehenna?  I am not going back to Cessair!  I’m going to finish what we started.’

          Jehenna crossed her arms and gazed hard at her companion.  ‘The Chamberlain must be informed.  He must be told what has happened.’ 

          Sela bared her teeth.  ‘I’m not going Jehenna!  And you can’t make me.  I don’t care if you’re the leader of the mission.  You can have me hanged for treason – I’m not leaving.’

          They stared at one another, and it seemed that neither would budge.  The moment stretched into eternity.  

          And then Jehenna’s face softened.  ‘Sela, dear Sela.  I’m not commanding you to go.  I’m asking.  As a friend.  With the aid of the peg’ii, you can get back to Cessair in hours, not weeks.  Only you can do this.  Only you.’  Her voice trembled a little.  ‘And to be honest, I don’t want you to come with me into the Endless.  I’ve lost too many good people already.  I don’t want to lose you.’

          Sela went to speak to rebut Jehenna’s points, but no words came out.  Despite herself, the Tamuan understood the request, and out of respect – and perhaps friendship – agreed to it.  

          ‘Very well Jehenna.  I will go to Cessair and inform the Chamberlain.  Then I will return to Cephalonia and do what I can to save your mother.’

Jehenna smiled warmly.  ‘Thank-you Sela.  That means a lot to me.’

          ‘I will also ask the Chamberlain to send troops to Amasis.  Perhaps we can salvage –’

          ‘I have no doubt the Ghul will have ransacked Amasis by now, taking all my mother’s creations with them.’  A flurry or sadness and anger swirled about the proud Acoran.  ‘Make sure you tell the Chamberlain of the traitor he foolishly placed in our midst.’

          Sela knew that Jehenna was still struggling with the betrayal of the one they had known as Bormanus.  She knew that it was only a matter of time before the Acoran’s suppressed anger would be released.  Sela almost pitied the Ghul who now stood between Jehenna and Caliban.  Almost.

          ‘What will we do about Rama?  We can’t just leave him here.’ Sela asked.

          ‘No.  We can’t.  Whilst you were binding the Spriggan, the Sapphyrro agreed to return Rama’s body to his people in Ankara.’

          Sela smiled wanly.  It was right that he was being taken home.  He had saved Skyfall Town.  He was the hero.  He should be buried as one.

          Jehenna approached the Tamuan.  This was it.  The end of their journey together.  ‘You know, I’m amazed I didn’t kill you,’ she said wryly, thinking of all the arguments and confrontations that had existed between the pair since the first day of the mission.

          Sela nodded.  She had wanted to kill Jehenna at least once a day for the first few weeks.

          Jehenna placed her hands affectionately on Sela’s bristly shoulders.  ‘If we should live through this…’  The beautiful Acoran wanted to say so much, express the things that were bubbling beneath the surface.  But her feelings were confused and the seething hatred of the man who had brought all this misery down on the Myr had so muddied her emotions that she couldn’t find a way to finish the sentence.

          It didn’t matter.  Sela understood.

 

 

Jehenna mounted the sky snorse Sela had arranged to take her back up to the breach at the top of the towering cliffs above.  As soon as it felt Jehenna’s arms fold around its neck, the sky snorse shot up into the sky.  The waters of the Skyfall tumbled past her, illuminated by the rising sun.  The retreating world below was calm, bathed in the benign light of morning.  

          As Jehenna climbed higher and higher the shimmering streams of water pouring down the cliffs reminded her of a bridal veil.  It perplexed her to have such uncharacteristically romantic thoughts, especially on the eve of her revenge for all the wrongs that had been committed against her, against the Myr.

         Emotions swirled around her body like red wine in a half empty glass.  But the glass was cracked.  The wine had spoiled.  She thought momentarily of all she had lost – a father, mother, brother and if her suspicions were correct, she had also lost a husband long ago.  She could not afford to lose anything more.

          When she reached the breach atop the Skyfall, she climbed down from her steed and marched towards the tunnel at the far end of the cave.  Azazel watched her curiously but did not say anything to her.  He knew what she purposed.  She had her mission to complete and her manner declared that she did not want company.  She would finish the mission alone.

          The sky snorse tried to follow Jehenna into the Endless but she pushed it back towards the open skies of a far friendlier world.  ‘One as beautiful as you should not go where I am going.  Go fly into the fields of the sky and forget about all you have seen this night.’

         The sky snorse hung in the still air at the mouth of the cave and watched her turn away and stride off into the crimson darkness of the Endless.