The Fickle Winds of Autumn

Kira shrank back into the timid safety of her chair. Aldwyn strode in through the door; his bustling energy broke the fragile stillness of the room and stole the dreams that Ellis had conjured before her.

He seemed even more haggard and dishevelled than usual - in their days at the Cathedral, he had seldom come back to the chambers to sleep.

And no doubt, all that constant studying in the Library had not agreed with him.

Kira shivered inwardly - who would a regime of constant studying ever agree with?

“Ellis,” he said brusquely, without really looking over, “we will be leaving tomorrow. It will be a difficult journey into dangerous territory, but I may need your assistance, so gather your things, and I will bring some extra food from the kitchens to pack.”

“Well, that’s just it Aldwyn,” said Ellis, his chair legs scraped awkwardly as he pulled back from the intimate table.

“I’ve been thinking these last few days - and I don’t really want to go back with you.”

“Go back with me?” said Aldwyn. “We are not returning to the cottage. Weren’t you listening properly? We will be travelling west for several days - to the caves of the Reevers, to be exact. It will be a hazardous journey, but my research indicates that it may be the only chance we have - the only chance that all humans have - if we are to stop the witches and save this world.”

The cosy glow of the fire could not prevent a sinister shiver from rippling down Kira’s spine.

The witches?

Those horrifying creatures?

Was nowhere safe from them?

Did Aldwyn really think there was a way to stop them?

“But I’m not your votary any more,” Ellis protested, “you can’t just order me to go. It’s time I branched out on my own…”

Aldwyn put his bag down and stood perfectly still. His eyes softened and shone with such affection as he focused his attention on Ellis, that even Kira was caught in the beam of their tender care.

“Ellis, you have known me many years; you should know that you have been more, so much more to me, than a mere votary.”

Kira’s thoughts strayed back to the first morning she had seen them together, in the snug kindness of their cottage - she sensed then that she had intruded into the warm heart of a family - and Aldwyn’s voice forced those impressions to bubble up again.

“I do not ask this lightly,” he continued, “there has never been a time of greater need - and I do not ask your help for my sake, but for the sake of all humans - the very fate of our world now hangs in the balance - and our choices, here, in this very room, may help to tip things in our favour - to give us all a glimmer of hope.”

Kira turned to face Aldwyn properly as he stepped towards the table and lowered his voice.

“You must have felt it too Ellis, these past few years, a darkness growing, twisting and conspiring around the edges of the Magik; deep down in your focus; waiting, biding its time - something living and malevolent, an ending distorting its own destiny - so that at times I wonder whether we are wielding the Magik, or it is wielding us. The common folk are wise to be wary of our powers, for I fear that those born of humans can never fully control this shadow, this knowledge - but its poison will end our world if we do not stop it - so we must fight against it, if we can.”

Kira’s thoughts prickled and brooded as she examined the solemn gravity of Aldwyn’s features.

There was no doubting the honest sincerity of his eyes or his words.

But what would this mean?

If even someone so kind as Aldwyn was afraid of the magik, then what about the evil witches who used it so callously?

But Ellis had mentioned his concerns about “star-taint” - could it just be that?

The dull crackle of the fire mingled its smoke with the light draught of corridor incense which still clung to Aldwyn’s tunic.

“I ask this one last thing of you,” he said. “Do what you will after this, and go where you must - but I will need your help if we humans are to have any hope, any chance of survival against these witches - and if I fail, I fear this world will fall and will be no more.”

“I…I’m still not sure,” said Ellis. “I mean, if this journey is so dangerous - if I’m going to risk my life - then I at least have the right to know what is going on. And from the way you’re talking, you seem to think the world will end anyway.”

Aldwyn pulled at his ear and rubbed his hand across his chin.

“I have promised not to reveal too much,” he said, “but suffice to say that the Reevers possess a certain relic. It is a very powerful item, one of great magikal focus, and is our only real hope, our only slender chance of survival.”

“And we just travel there and ask them for it?” said Ellis.

“Not quite - we’ll have to enter their nest of tunnels and steal it from them. But we desperately need it - there is no other way - this relic holds the key to our survival - to the continued existence of our entire world.”

“But if the old scrolls are to be believed,” Ellis said, “the Reevers are loathsome revenants who surrendered their souls to the demon realm. If they catch us, they will surely sacrifice us to their demon masters.”

“As I said,” Aldwyn replied, “our journey will be hazardous.”

Kira shuddered.

These ‘Reevers’, or whatever they were, sounded even worse than the witches - if such a thing were possible.

The sweet residue of honey lingered carelessly in her mouth, but seemed to sour and grow bitter.

The tormented faces of the terrified people at the Sacred Grove - her classmates, the priests, the musicians - punctured and fragmented in vivid images across her unsettled mind.

The shadows - those flying shapes - swooping down from all directions; the charred smells; the wailing cries; the horrible despair.

Was Aldwyn right?

Could he really stop that?

Could he prevent it from happening all over again to someone else?

Didn’t she owe it to them to try?

Didn’t she owe it to Aldwyn?

And if he was right, it might even help the whole world. Wasn’t that something worth striving for?

Wasn’t that her duty?

The very reason the Surrounder had placed them all here to begin with? To help others in their need?

Her stomach knotted and prickled with heat and cold.

But what about Ellis?

Wasn’t she about to leave with him?

To have a life with him, and a chance of happiness?

It can’t have been easy for him to defy Aldwyn like that - not after all those years together, not after such closeness.

He deserved her support.

Her nervous fingers fretted against each other.

But if Aldwyn was right, they could always go their separate ways after this journey.

And helping Aldwyn, this one more time, would be a fitting way to pay back all the kindness that he had shown her - that he had shown them both.

“I will go with you, Aldwyn,” she said.

Kira recoiled at the bold, confident sound of her own voice breaking through the startled tension; the eyes of the other two turned towards her.

She hardly knew where such words had come from. True, they had been rustling around in her restless thoughts - but they had somehow escaped from her inattentive mouth before she could really prevent them - and now there they were - hanging in the strained atmosphere of the room.

“If it will stop the witches, then I will go with you,” she repeated.

“No!” Aldwyn replied sharply. “You must not come - you could endanger us all. The Cathedral vallum will protect you - it is safe here.”

The warm blood rose to Kira’s cheeks.

Was she really so clumsy and inept that he didn’t want her?

Was she really such a liability?

Had they honestly been through everything together - the slavers, the wolves, the Akkipter - just so he could leave her here now - or force her back to a dreary convent full of spiteful nuns?

She stood and faced him fully and dug her stubborn toes down into her boots.

“You seem to forget that I was actually there,” she said. “I saw what the witches are capable of - they murdered my classmates, they murdered everyone - and very nearly killed me too - I only escaped by accident. They must be stopped before it’s too late, and if I can help with that, then I must go - I must do what I can - can’t you see that?”

“But… it’s just that it would be much safer for you here,” Aldwyn stuttered. “The vallum…”

“I know I am just a girl and I cannot wield the magik,” said Kira, “and perhaps my arms are not strong enough to use a sword - but you say that this relic is hidden in some tunnels? Have you already forgotten that it was me who led us down through the caves behind the waterfall? I am the smallest and narrowest - I can wriggle through gaps and cracks that you men cannot - so if we must steal something to save the world, then I would make a far better, more agile thief, than you.”

“But I just meant…” Aldwyn tried.

“And if I can smuggle a pikelet past the nose of Sister Amelia Constance, then I can steal anything! And I mean, it’s not like we would really be stealing - we could give it straight back after we’ve used it.”

“But the vallum…” said Aldwyn.

“And I’ve decided - I don’t want to go back to the convent - so don’t try to make me. I didn’t like it there, and now that I’ve seen some of this world, I want to try and live my life in it. Yes, there are dangers, and I don’t have all the answers, but I know that I want to be part of the world, to live my life in it, and not just be shut away behind a set of high walls.”

She stepped towards the old man and saw the sad kindness glint in his eyes. The sleeve of his tunic was rough beneath her fingers as she held his arm, but beneath the coarse material was a warm and soft pulse.

“We are friends, Aldwyn, and friends help each other when they are in need. You have been so kind to me - now it’s my turn to be of service to you.”

She stroked his sleeve as she looked up at the thawing wrinkles of his face.

“Besides,” she smiled, “who else will dig you out of a crack in the rocks if I’m not there to excavate you?”

“No, it’s a bit more complicated than that,” said Aldwyn. “I know you would be a great help…”

“Then I will go too,” Ellis interrupted.

The wrinkles on Aldwyn’s brow arched and deepened again as he raised his eyebrows.

“So, you would not follow me - but you will go if Kira is there?” he said softly.

The hot, happy blood burned into Kira’s cheeks.

Her exhilarated shoulders still tingled and fluttered with the buoyant adrenaline of her speech, but they knew they could relax now if they really wanted.

Her future was settled.

She had said what she had wanted - what she had needed to say.

Her anxious stomach decompressed.

She would not return to the convent.

And Ellis would go with her.

She knew she could trust him!

And surely Aldwyn couldn’t turn them both down?

And she would do her bit to help the world.

Perhaps she could even get some justice against those horrid witches after what they did.

Could that even be her true purpose?

Was that why the Surrounder had saved her that night?

Aldwyn sighed deeply beside her.

“Very well then - I see how the land lies here. Pack what you need, then get some rest - we leave at first light.”