They want you as a sacrifice,' said Ruth. They need to draw power from your death; they need you to feed their evil.'
They won't have me.'
'Are you sure?'
'My strength has grown, Ruth. Abaddon cannot take me. I will take my soul and my strength far from him, and let my body die like a shell.'
That will take great courage.'
'No,' said Donna, 'for then I will be with my son and my husband.'
Donna began the long journey home. This time she travelled without panic and the swirling colours became events, a kaleidoscopic history of a world touched with insanity. Caesars, princes, khans and kings, emperors, lords, dukes and thanes — all with a single purpose. She saw chariots and spears, bows and cannon, tanks and aircraft, and a light that shone over cities like a giant torch. It was all meaningless and insurmountably petty.
It was dark when she descended into the valley and Madden and Burke were standing guard, waiting with grim courage for the attack they knew was imminent. She floated above Eric's bed; his face was peaceful, his sleep soothing.
Karitas appeared beside her.
'How are you faring, Donna?' His voice was strangely cold, and she shivered.
'I cannot stand to see them die.'
They do not have to die,' he said. 'We can save them.'
'How?'
'You must trust me. I need you to return to your body, then we will leave the valley. The settlers will be in no danger if you are not here, and I will take you to a place of safety.'
'My son will live? Truly?'
'Come with me, Donna.' She was unsure, and hesitated.
'I must tell Con.'
'No. Speak to no one. When it has all blown over, you may return. Trust me.'
Donna fled to her body and saw Con Griffin asleep in the chair beside her bed. He looked so tired. She settled back into herself and concentrated on rising, but once more she was liquid within a sponge.
'Picture your body as a thin sheet of copper,' Karitas advised. 'Believe it to be metallic.'
It was easier now and she half rose, then fell back.
'Concentrate, Donna,' urged Karitas. Their lives depend on you.'
She rose and dressed in silence. 'Dark clothes,' said Karitas. 'We must avoid the guards.' She could no longer see him now, but his voice came as a cold whisper in her mind.
She slipped out of the door and into the shadows. Madden and Burke had their eyes fixed on the surrounding hills and she moved away into the darkness unobserved. Moving from shrub to boulder to tree-shrouded hollows, she slowly climbed the rise. At the top she stopped.
'Over there,' said Karitas, 'by that circle of rocks, you will find something to help you. Come.'
She moved to the rocks and there, gleaming in the moonlight, lay five silver circlets.
'Place two over your ankles, two on your wrists and the last upon your brow. Quickly, now!'
She clipped them into place. 'Now try to leave your body.'
She relaxed and tried to soar. But there was nothing. No movement, no dizzying flight.
'Now what, Karitas?'
Six Zealots moved out of hiding and approached her. She tried to run, but they caught her easily.
She fought to tear the circlets from her wrists, but they pinned her arms. Then another voice entered her mind.
'You are mine, Donna Taybard, as I promised,' hissed Abaddon.
Sanity spun away from her, and the world faded into blessed darkness.
Griffin stumbled from the cabin, pistol in hand.
'Jacob!' he screamed and Madden leapt to his feet.
'What is it, Con?'
'She's gone. Donna. Oh, my God!'
Suddenly Burke shouted and Madden's gaze followed his pointing finger. The Hellborn army sat once more on the crest of the rise. A single trumpet blast shrieked out into the dawn air, and the riders swept towards the settlement. Men and women ran from their cabins with weapons at; the ready and took up positions behind the log screens.
Madden called for Rachel to bring him his rifle and she ducked into the house and came out cradling the Hellborn weapon. She ran towards him, but the first shot of the battle took her low in the chest. Madden saw her stumble and raced to her side, catching her as she fell.
'Something hit me, Jacob,' she whispered. . and died. Madden snatched up the rifle, levering a shell into the breech just as the rolling thunder of hooves was upon him. He swivelled and fired twice, pitching two riders from their saddles. A third fired a pistol and dust mushroomed up by Madden's feet. His return shot all but tore the man's head from his shoulders.
Griffin threw a rifle to Eric and ran from the cabin. He saw Madden down and riders sweeping towards him. Coolly Griffin levelled his pistol, sending six shots into the mass.
Burke and some twenty men managed to get to the eastern log screen, sending volley after volley into the riders. But the Hellborn rode through the field of fire and leapt from their horses to engage the settlers in hand-to-hand combat.
Griffin rammed fresh shells into his pistol and ran from the cabin towards Madden. A rider bore down on him and he dived clear of the horse's hooves. His gun thundered, the bullet taking the horse in the head; the beast went down, hurling the rider head-first into the ground. Griffin was up and running when a bullet smashed into his back; he turned, but another shell caught him in the chest. Seeing Griffin's plight, Madden swung his rifle and emptied two saddles. A shell struck his temple and he fell face forward into the dust. As Griffin struggled to rise, he saw Eric move into the open with the rifle in his hands. He tried to wave the boy back. The rifle fired twice, then a score of guns turned on the boy and blasted him from sight.
Aaron Phelps sat trembling in the back room of his cabin, listening to the shots and the screams and the thunder of hooves. His pistol was pointed at the door. Someone's shoulder crashed against the wood and Phelps fired, then the door exploded inwards. He did not see the Hellborn crowded there, he pushed the barrel of his pistol into his mouth and blew out his brains.
Outside, the Hellborn had overcome all but one man. Jimmy Burke, blood seeping from a dozen wounds, had staggered into his cabin and slammed shut the door, dropping an oak bar in place.
He reloaded his pistols and crawled to a chest by the rear wall from which he took an old blunderbuss. He charged it with a double load, then poured a measure of tack nails into the barrel.
The Hellborn began pounding against the door and an axe-blade crashed through. Burke switched his gaze to the wooden shutters of the window; a shadow blocked the sunlight at the centre and he sent a bullet punching through. A man screamed and Burke grinned. More axes swung against the door, smashing a head-sized hole above the bar. An arm reached through and Burke aimed the pistol and waited. As the man began to lift the bar, he exposed his neck; then Burke's pistol bucked in his hand and blood gushed to stain the wood of the door. Suddenly the window crashed inwards. A bullet took Burke in the chest and he winced as his lungs began to fill with blood.
Taking up the blunderbuss, he swallowed hard and waited.
'Don't take too long, you bastards,' he muttered. Another arm reached through the hole in the door and Burke cocked his weapon. The bar slid clear, booted feet kicked open the door and the Hellborn surged inside.
'Suck on this!' screamed the old man. The blunderbuss exploded with a deafening roar and a half-pound of nails ripped into their ranks, scything them down. Burke dropped the weapon and reached for his pistol, but two more shots from the window ended his defiance.
Silence fell on the valley and the Hellborn collected their dead and rode from Avalon.
A westerly wind drove the storm clouds over the settlement and lightning speared across the valley. As the rain began, Griffin groaned and tried to move, but pain ripped through him and he rolled to his side. His weapons were gone and the ground below him was soaked with his blood.