The darkness was suddenly filled with firelight and she cried out, throwing her hands up to shield her eyes. She did not like it. It was harsh and intrusive against her beautiful numbness but still she was torn from it and torn from the hard surface she lay against. Her muscles ached and her mouth was dry. She coughed against the raspy breaths she took as if they were her first for years. The rough hands that grasped her were tender, not those of the Berserkers.
“Just after we’d lost hope, my lady,” the man spoke. She could see nothing of him but his crude leather boots and well-worn trousers.
They exited the tomb and at the top of the stairs the man stopped to close the door. His hand was larger than any man’s she’d seen before as it pressed against the panel. His wrist sported the same mark that Ethan’s had and the stone slid shut behind him. He carried her carefully across the study and her eyes fell upon the shrivelled remains of Adrian. The man pushed the study door closed and blocked the entrance with a fallen bookcase before turning to the window. As he did, she caught her reflection in the large study mirror staring back at her.
It was not Catriona but Terra. Her odd eyes had turned brown, her inhuman beauty had lessened but a lively blush still kissed her cheeks, and clutched to her chest was a familiar silver locket that she would come to understand could never be removed.
I rolled onto my side and coughed against the blood running down my throat. Tears stung my eyes and Daniel pulled me up to my knees with rough hands. I panted after the ordeal. Endless seas of information and memories had just pushed themselves into my head, the last of which had been Terra’s memories...my memories.
“It can’t be,” I whispered, panic setting in.
“What?” he asked anxiously.
I didn’t like his face. “Terra’s alive,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “She’s alive.”
It had to be a mistake. Questions erupted. Despite these memories coming back to me, they were still limited and something else lay just out of my reach. Something very important.
“What in Gehn just happened to you?” he asked, helping me to my feet.
I opened my mouth to answer when a voice bled into my thoughts. “Trust your instincts, my darling girl, no matter who says you can trust them.”
I quickly studied the room, noting the dozens of crudely assembled books that contained Stephan’s experiences. Instead I focussed on Daniel and cleared my throat, coughing up another patch of blood. “Catriona gave her life to save her daughter. I couldn’t see anything past that.”
“You weren’t shown where she would have gone?”
“No,” I lied, “she could be anywhere.”
Daniel gripped my arm painfully as he helped me up the stairs. “We should tell the others and see where to go from here.” I wanted to claw his hand away.
When we reached the study, Ethan and Ric were crouched low and peering out of the windows. Both refused to move while off-noises and low grumbles sounded outside. I dropped into a crouch and ducked behind a table.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ethan said, turning to face me. “What happened?” He slinked over and let his fingers graze the tacky blood on my face.
“Nothing, it was just a bad nosebleed.” I batted his hand away.
“What did you find out?” he asked, still fussing.
“Terra is still alive,” Daniel said, “but we don’t know where she is.” The judgement in his tone was hard to miss.
I waited for Daniel to join Ric at the window and turned to Ethan quietly. “You need to close the passage door.”
“What-”
“Trust me,” I whispered. “There’s a lot of information in that room the wrong people will want to get their hands on.”
He closed his mouth and nodded, disappearing quickly to secure the safe room. When he returned Ric rounded on him, his voice plastered in worry.
“We have to go. They’ve found us.”
“Shit.” Ethan hurried to the window and checked the forest around them. “Is there a way out?”
“I can’t feel anything to the east.” Ric’s eyes moved constantly as he felt the different presences. “Not yet, at least.”
“It’s as good a shot as any.” Ethan picked up one of the swords strewn upon the ground and threw it to Daniel before grasping his own.
“Ava, no matter what happens to us you need to get to your horse and ride as hard and as fast as it will go.” Ric’s teeth grew sharp.
“What is it?” I asked, still dizzy.
“Berserkers,” Ethan said bluntly. “I don’t know who they are or how many there are, but the seniors aren’t with them.” No Roan.
“One grace at least,” Ric said humourlessly.
“So when you get to the horses don’t look back. You can’t win against them.” He pulled me to my feet and we shoved through the bodies and out into the hall.
As I passed Adrian’s body I looked back. My birth father, my birth mother, both of their bodies remained here unsettled, both sacrificed so Terra – so I – could live. From the corner of my eye I saw that something moved in the mirror, and warmth spread through my chest. I didn’t have to look to know who it was. Then a sharp yell brought me back to my senses.
We hurried, skulking low past the passage and back the way we came. Only this time, the house was not empty. People stood and stared as we passed through the lengthy corridors. When they caught sight of me they smiled, closed their eyes and disappeared in a flash of blue light. The nursery children ran after me when I passed the study, laughing and waving until they reached the staircase before they too disappeared. I was entirely numb; my breathing came in jitters and had Ethan not been holding my hand I wouldn’t have been able to move. There was so much to think about and so much I couldn’t quite understand. Instead, at that moment, I just looked ahead and ran.
We reached the rotted entrance and paused, crouching low. The boys’ heads moved this way and that as they picked up on the different energies.
“I’ve got nine,” Daniel said.
“Same here.” Ric bobbed his head. “Nine is doable if they’re young ones.”
“You two take the sides, I’ll take the front. Ava, you go with Daniel. I can distract half of them while-”
“No, that’s a stupid idea,” Daniel cut across sharply. “You’re a faster runner. If things go badly you’re more likely to be able to help get her to safety.”
He submitted. “Okay, in that case, Ava, you need to stay half a step behind me. Once you’re out of the picture we can take them down.”
“I can’t say I’m too convinced.” My neck ached as the locket grew heavy. We didn’t have long.
“They’re advancing on the right. We have to move now, Ethan,” Daniel whispered hurriedly. I got to my feet and readied myself.
“One.” Ethan took a deep breath in and I clung to the rotted doorframe.
“Two.” Growls echoed around us as the Berserkers began to close the gap, realising they’d lost their element of surprise.
A countdown like last time-
“Three.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX