Taking refuge in the cave for the night, Arianne used her elvish healing skills to complete the treatment Celene began on Melia's shoulder. When she was finished, Melia’s pain was lessened somewhat after its painful resetting by Celene. Although it would still ache from the dislocation, at least Melia would have more or less full use of it, which concerned the Watch Guard greatly since she needed to be fully able to resume their quest. There were other injuries too, not as severe as Melia’s, but the battle had left them with cuts and bruises—some that required attention and others that required rest.
After moving into the small cave with Arianne’s help to pass through the Veil, Keira favoured them with a hot meal after Celene had built a fire and Arianne had ensured Melia was settled for the night. They sat around the pool with their meals, forgetting the bloody business of the day and talked of home, their husbands and all the gossip that seemed trivial in light of their purpose the next day. They avoided the subject of the quest for the evening.
That subject was in abeyance for the night. Still, with the sword of Antion retrieved, spirits were higher.
As usual, Celene took first watch while the others slept, with Keira offering to relieve her during the night. Although they were guarded behind the Veil, Celene was conscious of its diminishing power now that the sword had lost its ancient protector. Arianne had wanted to contribute to the watch, but neither the Lady of Gislaine or the Lady of the Green would have any of it. She was a woman pregnant and needed as much rest as could be afforded during this journey. Tomorrow they would be approaching Mael’s Pit and she needed all her strength for what might lay in wait for them.
As much as Arianne wanted to refute their words, she knew they were right. The second full moon was almost upon them and she could feel the swell in her belly that indicated her son’s growth. Her elven endurance had brought her this far, but even she could not ignore that she was tired far more easily than before, and there would be a time when movement with the agility she’d possessed when fighting spiders and wyrms would be improbable. She had no idea what she would face when she reached the Enemy, but she needed to be at her best when that encounter took place.
When dawn broke the next morning they wasted no time in preparing to resume their journey down the icy mountain. Celene had emerged first from the cavern and gone to retrieve all the weapons left behind following their battle with the wyrms and its formidable mother. Swords, knives and bolts were reclaimed from the dead carcasses and return to their owners. They ate another meal at breakfast to sustain their descent while Melia and Arianne packed up their campsite. The Watch Guard was on her feet, the night’s sleep and the combination of elven and Angarad healings skills had done much for her condition. She was eager to resume their journey.
As they descended the Frozen Mountains, they were faced with a series of canyons that abutted Mael’s Pit. From a distance, they could see the wide chasm that lead into the depths of the earth. It had snowed the night before, so the tops of the canyons were covered with icicles, frost and snow. The downward slopes of the mountain would take them through the many corridors and canyons that would eventually lead them to Mael’s Pit. There was something daunting in knowing that its high walls would give them little room to manoeuvre if ambushed.
Unfortunately, there was no other way forward.
The canyons that were known only as Mael’s Tears were the result of the dark god’s fury at the death of his consort, Syphia. It was said that he had ripped the earth apart in grief at her death. It was also the final battle ground between Mael and the Celestial Gods. As they finally reached the foot of the Frozen Mountains and took one of the corridors through the canyons, it was easy to imagine that terrible conflict. Even covered with ice, the violence to the land was evident, like the scars worn by the earth itself.
‘I do not know if I am happy to be off that mountain,’ Melia confessed as they began the trek through the canyon pass, her eyes looking about her and trying not to feel overwhelmed by the high walls around them.
Arianne, who was experiencing the same emotions, agreed immediately. ‘I share your concern,’ she said. ‘At least on the mountains we could see what was approaching us. Here we are almost blind.’
‘At least we’re almost at the Pit,’ Keira reminded, attempting to lighten the ominous mood. ‘The full moon is two days away and we will be there well before the time needed. That is something to take comfort in.’
‘That is true,’ Arianne nodded, but was unable to laud the effort too greatly. ‘However, we are no closer to learning who this Enemy is and how Antion’s sword will be of use to us. Still, I suppose that one way or another, I will know my fate and that of my child.’
‘And on that happy thought,’ Celene grumbled at how much doom was in Arianne’s voice at that admission, ‘we shall continue.’
‘I wonder what lies beyond Mael’s Pit,’ Melia wondered out loud, trying to move past the subject as they continued along, surrounded by frosted walls and snow beneath their feet. Overhead the sun was hidden beneath the clouds and there were too many shadows in the canyon for her liking. ‘I know there lies a vast sea but little more than that.’
‘My people used to call it the Quandiara Sea, which just means Edge of the World,’ Arianne explained, keeping her eyes aloft so that the sky was within sight. ‘Before the Primordial Wars, it was as far as they ever explored. However, in those days ice did not cover this land.’
‘Maybe there’s nothing,’ Keira suggested. ‘Maybe it’s the end of Avalyne and if you cross the sea, you’ll end up far into the Aether.’
‘Well, that’s a grim thought,’ Celene cast the woman of the Green. ‘I like to think that there are new lands, lands that have yet to explored, that might even have their own races. The Gods do not always reveal themselves to us, perhaps the folk there have their own trials and victories. Perhaps someday in the distant future we will encounter each other.’
‘Some of my people have attempted to sail those seas,’ Arianne offered. ‘Of course, they never returned or they were killed long before they ever reached them. Elves can be convinced to carry out all kinds of foolishness if enough lather has been placed upon their egos.’
‘That is not a trait exclusive to elves,’ Celene pointed out with a smile.
‘Absolutely,’ Melia agreed. ‘My people are no better. I am from the East and because of our proximity to Abraxes, many of our tribes fell under Balfure’s sway even before he made his move towards Carleon. The Nadira, who lay in the outermost region of the Eastern Lands, remained unaffected only because of distance. Of course, we suffered the price for that. The other kingdoms, such as that of Raya, chose to fight for Balfure and considered it an affront that we refused him. As a result, we have spent years at war with them.’
‘There has been little effort made to reconcile with the people of those lands,’ Arianne admitted from her knowledge of Dare’s efforts in that regard. ‘However, at present we are too busy trying to rebuild after the occupation.’
‘Some people may not be changed,’ Keira declared. ‘It may be too much in their nature to be anything other than what they are.’
‘Perhaps you are right,’ Melia said glumly. ‘The world is a large place and there will always be darkness, as well as those who will exploit it to their own ends.’
‘I must agree with Melia on this,’ Celene replied. ‘I thought we were done fighting, but now it seems that the lesser enemies who had remained hidden during Balfure’s reign have chosen his demise to appear. I fear that we have a long way to go before there is truly peace in Avalyne.’
‘Some enemies may not be lesser,’ Keira pointed out. ‘Some may have chosen not to ally themselves with Balfure for reasons of their own. Perhaps they had grander schemes in mind and chose to wait until he was…’.
‘Be still!’ Arianne ordered suddenly, silencing them immediately as her voice echoed down the passage.
For a few seconds Arianne did not speak, but her sword was drawn and that provoked the others into doing the same. Even though the sun was above them, there were many shadows thanks to the high canyon walls and the formations of icicles here and there did not help the situation any better. Minutes passed and only their breathing could be heard. Celene began to get impatient with the anticipation and though her heart told her to trust Arianne’s senses, her mind that was more reliant on things she could see, began to falter.
‘What is it?’ Celene asked finally.
‘I can hear them,’ Arianne whispered softly.
‘Hear who?’ Melia asked, her own patience dwindling as well. She had unslung her crossbow.
‘I don’t know,’ Arianne replied, wishing that there was an answer she could give them. She could only sense that something was near. Their proximity was so close that she could feel their breath upon her skin but she could not see them. She knew they were there, she could feel them!
‘Let’s get out of here then,’ Celene prompted, not wishing to discount Arianne’s senses but not at all eager to remain if there was danger close by.
‘I don’t know if that’s wise Celene,’ Arianne stared at her.
‘We should not remain to be targets,’ Melia added her voice. ‘If they are here and we cannot see them, we will be far more difficult to overcome if we are moving.’
‘Melia is right,’ Celene replied and saw that Keira had drifted away from them, falling back. ‘Keira, the way back is no better than going forward. Stay close.’
Keira held her ground and raised her chin to look at them.
‘I am afraid I cannot,’ she answered.
‘What do you mean, you cannot?’ Celene started to say when suddenly, the mounds of snow and the stalagmites of ice around them began to change shape. Until now Celene had not paid attention to how many they were but as they transformed before her eyes, she realised with a sickening sensation that they were many.
‘This was not the place that I would have preferred we had our first meeting, Queen of Carleon,’ Keira said to Arianne. ‘However, I suppose it could hardly be called that, since we have known each other for so many years.’ There was cruel mocking her tone and her eyes, which had been soft and understanding as long as Arianne had known her, became as hard as flint.
As she issued her cruel words, her red hair began to lengthen, growing past her shoulders and taking on a life of its own as it swirled about her like serpents, dancing around her head as if it unrestrained for the first time in too long. Keira’s eyes turned blood red and Arianne’s heart turned cold.
‘This cannot be,’ Arianne gasped as the full horror of their situation dawned on her. All this time? The Enemy had been among them all this time and they had not known? Not even had the slightest suspicion? Arianne’s shame was equalled to her utter astonishment.
‘But it can be,’ Keira’s words were like a jab from a sword. ‘Think about it all the events that led us here.’
Now her body began to change shape also. While the top half of her remained mostly Keira for now, everything beneath her skirt was changing into something terrible and grotesque. They could only watch as her legs were replaced by the unmistakably power legs of a lizard. And there were six of them. Her lower half, or rather her abdomen, took on the shape of an insect, growing so large that she now towered over them. It was swollen and pulsed obscenely with veins that crisscrossed it dark flesh.
Celene maintained her poise, even though like Arianne, she felt as if all the air had been driven from her lungs. The revelation of Keira’s deception had stuck like a blow to the stomach. With a sudden start, she realised that man in Horwyck hadn’t been warning her about Arianne, he had been warning about Keira! Somehow, he had seen Keira’s glamour that she was more than human. How had he seen it and she, who had been at Dare’s side fighting all manner of darkness, not realised what Keira was?
‘What is happening to her?’ Melia demanded. Her crossbow was raised to fire but her mind was still struggling to reconcile herself with what she was seeing. This was Keira, who had cooked their meals and insisted they had to maintain their strength and spirits, who she had saved from the Berserkers at the Splinter and had, until now, been considered a friend to them all.
‘Who are you?’ Celene demanded, realising now how thoroughly they had been duped and trying to learn as much as she could to escape this trap with their lives.
‘She is not Keira, she never was,’ Arianne managed to say, now starting to accept what was had perhaps been in front of them all this time. ‘How… how… long have you played this part, monster?’
‘Monster?’ Keira glared at her, swivelling her fat, turgid body in Arianne’s direction. It filled Arianne with revulsion, seeing this beast wearing the face of her friend.
To look at this thing that had been Keira, Arianne tried to understand what she was looking at. There were parts of her that resembled one creature but there were other parts were similar to another. Her dark flesh looked like leather hide, her legs had brittle dark fur. Her hands had now become claws and her lips widened across her face, turning blood red to reveal teeth that were serrated and sharp. It struck Arianne at that moment who she was or rather what she was.
Once that understanding filled her mind, it made all the other pieces of the puzzle fit seamlessly into place.
‘You are Syphia,’ Arianne stated without question. ‘The Dreaded Mother of All.’
Oh the irony of it, Arianne thought fleetingly as she descended into despair. All this time they had thought the Enemy was a man, and how foolish they had been to never consider that she might have been female and among them. That was why her mother could not tell her for certain how the Enemy would watch her—because the Enemy was a Primordial and not even an elf had been able to fight them without the help of the Celestials.
‘Oh Gods,’ Celene exclaimed her face turning white. ‘This is Mael’s consort?’
‘I WAS HIS QUEEN!’ Keira, or rather Syphia, roared and her hair swirled about her as if they were the physical manifestation of her emotions. ‘I gave him his army! The wyverns, the trolls, the caracals, the spiders and the shifters! Every foul thing that inhabits your nightmares, I gave birth to them!’
‘What have you done with Keira?’ Celene demanded, refusing to feed her posturing, although inwardly, she was terrified at how quickly things had spiralled out of their control. ‘The real Keira?’
Celene’s instincts told her that there was no hope, that Keira was dead, but she had to ask, she could not abandon Keira to that reality if that was even the slightest chance that their friend was alive, somewhere.
‘The real Keira?’ Keira, or rather Syphia, laughed. ‘The real Keira is buried somewhere in the Green. I cannot remember where exactly I interred her, but she is there nonetheless since no one has yet found her.’
‘The Green…? You killed her before going to Carleon?’ Celene’s heart sank at knowing that it was too late. That it was always too late for poor Keira.
‘I did not kill her,’ Syphia replied, which actually sounded like an attempt at sincerity. ‘I did not have to. When I happened upon the poor Mistress of Furnsby Farm, she was already dead. Balfure’s Disciples were extremely thorough when they used the desert burrowers on her. It removed the need for me to do the deed myself.’
Arianne’s eyes widened when she realised what that meant. How long this creature had play the part of Keira Furnsby. ‘But I…’ her voice withered in her throat because the truth was now revealed in all its dismal glory.
‘It was not Keira I took to Eden Taryn, it was you,’ she said, aghast.
‘You elves,’ Syphia snorted with derision. ‘Did you think you had the skill to save anyone from the burrowersburrowers? The Disciples used it for good reason—there is NO cure for it. The desert burrowers were my children and I did not birth them to leave survivors. Keira died before her husband returned home to find her and I, who had been watching your beloved Dare since the revelation that the exiled heir was found, saw my chance and took it.’
‘You have been playing the part of Keira for all these years?’ Melia asked what Arianne had already guessed.
‘Why not?’ Syphia asked. ‘I have lain with a god and with other Primordials to create perfection. It was easy to play the part of the wounded wife, needing the attention and care of a husband so wrought with guilt he would explain away any change in her behaviour as the result of her torture. It was remarkably easy to play the role required and it was not entirely unpleasant. These humans are far more interesting than the elves ever were,’ she said snidely at Arianne.
This was the darkness that she and the other elves had sensed in Keira, Arianne realised. What they had thought to be a blight upon her soul because of the desert burrower’s poison in her veins was only a ruse to hide the fact that she was a Primordial. Perhaps the greatest one of them all. Arianne wondered if she had really been able to trick Lylea and Tamsyn too? After all, her mother did send her to find the Sword of Antion, the weapon that had supposedly slain Syphia all those ages ago.
‘Why?’ Celene demanded, because like Arianne, she was furious at being duped but also saddened that the friendship they had shared during this quest was a lie. The realisation was a hammer blow to their spirit which she supposed was precisely what Syphia had intended. ‘Why would you do this?’
‘Why not? What better way to keep an eye on the happenings in Avalyne once I had the undying gratitude of the King for saving his life?’ Syphia retorted. ‘I will not explain my reasons, only to say that after your warmongering grandfather,’ she shot an icy glare at Arianne, ‘wounded me, I needed to heal and retreated from the world. So I slept, for all the ages that followed the war until this one. Imagine my disbelief when I awoke to find Mael had been banished into the Aether by the Celestial Gods and his underling, was now seeking to usurp him? I could not let that happen.’
‘And so what, you seek to steal Arianne’s child to bring him back?’ Melia asked.
‘Of course,’ Syphia retorted as if this was no great mystery. ‘When the Gods send you to the Aether, they destroy your body and leave you formless. I knew I simply could not conduct the resurrection spell that was created by his servant and simply return him to the world. I needed a receptacle in which his soul can be contained. However, it could not just been any receptacle, it had to be something that could be special, and what better vessel could there be than the crowned Prince of the newly freed kingdom of Carleon? With Carleon’s resources and the army I will allow him to add to his own, he will build an empire that will cover all of Avalyne with his rule. All I had to do was wait until the exiled King to show himself and begin his campaign against Balfure.’
Arianne let out a strangled cry and sunk to her knees, her hand on her mouth as she realised the intricate web that Syphia had weaved. The web that she was caught in. Like a spider, she thought, like a spider Syphia had been, watching and waiting for Dare to appear to claim his kingdom, uniting them all and driving out Balfure, saving her the effort of doing it herself. Now all Syphia had to do was take their child and she would win without a single battle being fought.
‘I will not let you touch my child! I will kill myself first!’ She raised her grandfather’s sword to fight.
Suddenly something emerged out of the snow behind her with such speed that she barely had time to turn around. She saw Celene attempting to intervene, but the Lady of Gislaine was quickly overcome by the snow creatures that had suddenly evolved out of mounds and stalagmites. The size of men, but covered with dark, grey fur, they bared their teeth as the overwhelmed Celene with sheer numbers, grabbing her arms and legs to wrestle her to the ground.
‘Celene!’ Arianne screamed and went for her weapon, but the beast behind her was too quick and her arms were pinned to keep her from using her sword to any effect.
‘Let go of me!’ Arianne heard an indignant cry, but realised that Syphia’s creature would not release his iron grip.
Melia saw Celene being attacked and had snapped out of her shock long enough to shoot a bolt at the attackers surrounding the Lady of Gislaine. One bolt struck its mark, spreading crimson over grey fur as one of these creatures, shifters she suspected, howled in pain, trying to claw at its back to remove the hated projectile.
‘That is enough from you!’ Syphia hissed and Melia turned just in time to see the Primordial closing in on her. Her hair long serpentine hair wrapped itself around Melia’s throat and lifted her off the ground, making her gasp as she tried to free herself. Then, as if she were a horse flicking away a fly with its tail, Melia was flung across the corridor. She landed hard and did not move once her face hit the snow.
‘MELIA!’ Arianne cried out helplessly, watching her friends fight to save her and fail.
‘Enough of this,’ Syphia said to her minions now that the three were subdued. ‘Take the Queen to Sanhael. I feel our future master quickening inside her. The full moon is almost here.’
‘Please,’ Arianne wept desperately. ‘You have me, let them go! They are no use to us!’
‘I do not think so,’ Syphia gave her a look of disgust. ‘These two will not go on their merry way if I release them. They will try to save you, no matter how futile the effort may be. Besides, you are wrong,’ she smiled cruelly at Arianne. ‘I do have a use for them. They are for my Berserkers.’
Arianne’s eyes widened, as she understood. ‘No!’
Unfortunately, as she was dragged kicking and screaming away from Celene and Melia, it appeared that there was very little she could do to stop them or save herself.