‘Why did he bring you back?’
‘He thought I could end the reign of the Eternal. He tried to tell me his actions were to protect his people. They were not. It was all so that he could find a place to be with you, without fear that Jianna would find him.’
‘Did he think you would kill her?’
‘I don’t know what he thought. He was relying on an old prophecy. It referred to my swords, and some magical silver eagle. That was why he sought my tomb.’
‘I know of the Silver Eagle,’ she said. ‘It flies among the stars, granting wishes to righteous wizards.
An old hunter told me the tale, on the night he gave me my first longbow. The ancient gods crafted it from silver, and blessed it with life. Then they hurled it into the sky and it flies around the world, for ever, chasing the moon, and feeding on the sun.’
He smiled. ‘Ah well, then perhaps that is my destiny. To be cast into the sky to seek its nest.’ Then the smile faded. ‘The truth is I do not yet know my destiny. What I do know is that I must fight her, and do everything in my power to end her reign.’
‘Can you?’ asked Askari.
‘Once there was a time when I believed there was no deed beyond me. I was younger then. Now I am a fifty-four-year-old man in a young body, striding through a world that is alien to me. I cannot undo the evil that Jianna has wrought. But I knew the woman who made the prophecy, and I trust her.
Therefore there must be some way I can win.’
‘And you believe this. . this lost temple is the answer?’
‘Yes. All the magic seems to have flowed from it. I went there once. I saw the ancient artefacts, and the glittering lights in the walls, with no flame in them. I stayed there for a month. It seemed to me that all the priests there were wizards, in one form or another.’
‘You say it is no longer there?’
‘Gamal told me the entire mountain, in which the temple was carved, has disappeared. All that remains is open land, where metal twists out of shape, and natural laws hold no sway.’
‘Mountains cannot disappear,’ she said.
‘My thoughts exactly.’ He laughed then, the sound rich and full of humour. ‘But then I am a thousand-year-old dead man in a world full of monsters. Who am I to deny the power of magic?’
Just then huge flocks of birds took off from the trees below the cave, soaring into the sky like a black cloud. The wind died down and an eerie silence settled over the land. Askari pushed herself to her feet.
‘That is not natural,’ she said.
A low rumble came from the ground beneath them. Skilgannon surged to his feet. ‘Earthquake!’ he shouted. ‘Get out of the cave! Harad! Get out into the open!’ Hauling Askari to her feet he held tightly to her hand and they began to run. The earth twisted beneath their feet. Skilgannon staggered. Askari fell against him. From above them came a great crashing. Rocks and boulders began to tumble down the cliff
— then a huge section of stone sheared away. Harad and Charis came running from the cave. A massive rock crashed down mere feet from where they stood. Charis fell. The black-bearded axeman picked her up and began to sprint for open ground. More boulders tumbled, then an avalanche began. Skilgannon ran down the slope, seeking out a place of safety. There was none to be found. He ran on for a while.
Boulders came flying past him. Finally he swung round. ‘What are you doing?’ shouted Askari.
‘We can’t avoid what we can’t see,’ he told her.
A huge rock, twice the height of a man, came hurtling towards them. Skilgannon darted to the left. The rock crashed into a tree, snapping the trunk. The ground lurched — and opened beneath Askari. Even as she fell Skilgannon dived, his hand stretching out. Her fingers clutched at his wrist. For a moment it seemed her weight would drag him over the edge of the huge crack in the earth. But he held on. Using her feet Askari scrambled up from the yawning gap. Skilgannon hauled her to solid ground. With a grinding roar the earth closed. Dust spewed up around them. Trees were tumbling about them, and with the dust clouds and the shifting earth there was no way to avoid disaster. Skilgannon drew Askari in close, holding tightly to her. Helpless against the fury of nature she suddenly relaxed, laying her face against his cheek. And they stood, waiting for the end.
Then silence came again, and the dust slowly settled.
‘We are still alive,’ said Askari, genuinely surprised. All around them were fallen trees and massive boulders. One tree had crashed into the earth no more than ten feet from where they stood.
‘So it would appear,’ he said, releasing his hold on her. A sense of emptiness touched Askari as his arms fell away from her. ‘Where is Harad?’ he said suddenly. Together they ran back over the ruined land, searching through the fallen trees. Skilgannon found Harad pinned beneath the trunk of an elm.
Touching the axeman’s throat he felt a pulse, strong and steady. He had been hit by the upper part of the tree, and thrown from his feet. Skilgannon had no way to test for broken bones or internal injuries.
Calling out to Askari he tried to lift the tree from the unconscious axeman. It was too heavy. Even with Askari’s help he could raise it only a few inches. ‘You take the weight again,’ Askari told him, ‘and I will try to pull Harad clear.’
Crouching down he grasped the trunk, and waited for Askari to get into position alongside Harad.
‘Ready!’ she said. Skilgannon took a deep breath, then heaved at the trunk. Askari grabbed Harad’s jerkin and hauled at the huge body. Skilgannon strained to hold the trunk, as inch by inch Askari eased Harad from beneath it. ‘Clear!’ she said.
Gratefully Skilgannon released his hold. His arms were trembling and he saw there were cuts upon his palms. Ignoring the pain he ran to Harad. ‘There is no blood in his mouth,’ he said. ‘That is a good sign.
And his pulse is strong. With luck he is merely bruised and stunned.’ He glanced around. ‘We must find Charis.’
‘I found her,’ said Askari softly. ‘Let us see to Harad.’
Chapter Fourteen
When Harad opened his eyes he was surprised to feel no pain. He remembered the tree falling, and trying to push Charis away from it. He had hurled himself back, and the trunk had hammered into him, smashing him to the earth. His head had struck a rock, and he had been knocked unconscious for the first time in his life.
Now he felt fine, though the earthquake seemed to have caused incredible changes to the landscape.
The sky was uniformly grey, and there were no trees growing anywhere. He sat up. In fact there were no trees at all, either standing or fallen. Puzzled, he looked round. He saw Charis sitting with Skilgannon, and a bigger man just beyond them. There was something familiar about the huge figure. He was wearing a black leather jerkin, with metal plates upon the shoulders, and a round helm. And he was carrying Harad’s axe. None of this made any sense to Harad, and he looked at Skilgannon.
‘What is happening?’ he asked.
Skilgannon glanced back at the silver-bearded axeman, who moved forward and knelt beside Harad.
‘How are you feeling, laddie?’
‘Good.’ Harad looked up into the ice blue eyes. Then at the helm with the axes and skull motif. ‘You are Druss.’
‘Aye, that I am.’
Charis moved alongside him, laying her hand upon his cheek. ‘You should not be here, my love,’ she said.
‘I should be where you are. Always.’ He looked at Skilgannon. The warrior was dressed differently, in leggings and a tunic. There was no sign of his swords, and he looked more like a farm worker than a warrior. ‘I don’t understand any of this. Where is Askari?’ Harad asked him.
‘I do not know any Askari.’
‘Have you gone mad? We are travelling together.’