At the sacrifices upon the sand. At the terrified mass of Orkadi upon the dunes.

  It screamed.

  The moment its scream burst from its mouth, Talorc knew with sickening certainty that his armour was not enough. He fell to the ground with the rest of the Orkadi and clung on only a moment before being dragged into nightmare.

  He came to with Runa pouring seawater over him.

  She helped him to sit up. Looking around, his vision spinning and his head pounding, he saw that the Orkadi were gone. So were the sacrifices. All that remained were the charred, broken stumps of the stakes.

  ‘Where… where is your father?’ said Talorc, struggling to speak.

  ‘He went back with the guardians. I said I would bring you back.’

  It dawned on Talorc that it was morning.

  ‘How long was I…’

  ‘All night,’ said Runa.

  Talorc stared at her.

  ‘You looked like you were dead. Your eyes were open, you weren’t moving. But you were hot and your heart was beating.’ She hesitated. ‘There was a spey here. She said she was a herb-wife, but I recognised her from Groda. She said it was the Azawan-scream that did it to you. That it affected you more than everyone else, though she didn’t know why. Or, she didn’t say why.’

  Talorc realised from the way Runa was looking at him that she knew he was keeping a secret. It was time to tell her.

  ‘I’ve been diving,’ he said. ‘It happened when the sunsharks attacked the fleet. I saw a shark heading for you and I just… exploded. I could feel everything going on in the sea. When the Azawan came last night, I could feel it coming before it arrived.’

  ‘An ordeal,’ said Runa. ‘That’s what Skelda called it. When something terrible happens to a spey, and their speying breaks out of them. Maybe it’s the same for divers.’

  Talorc nodded.

  ‘There’s more,’ he said. ‘When it screamed… do you remember what your father said? About when it screamed at him the last time we were here?’

  Runa nodded.

  ‘I went there. Into that place where everything was hatred and torment, pain and fire.’ Runa looked aghast. ‘But… I wasn’t scared. I knew it wasn’t real. Mordak was in my mind, twisting and poisoning it. All those things I felt are what he wants us to feel, because he is so full of pain and hatred.’ Talorc smiled. ‘And there was something else. All that I saw there, I knew it was a dream, or like a story told by a senachai. Only I didn’t believe in the story, and I knew Mordak was the one telling it. Instead of paying attention to the story, I looked at him. He was there, Runa, in everything. I could see into his mind.’

  Talorc’s grin grew wider as he looked into Runa’s eyes. ‘He thinks he has won. Now that we’ve given him the sacrifices, he thinks it’s just a matter of time.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’ asked Runa.

  ‘No,’ said Talorc. ‘Because I know what we have to do now.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘We have to go to Fin Island,’ said Talorc, ‘tonight. I’m going to get us to Mordak, and you’re going to kill him.’

  Chapter Twenty Five

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Runa.

  ‘We can do it,’ said Talorc. ‘The two of us together. We can find Mordak and kill him. Remember what Sariad said. The diver who first summoned the Azawan lost control of it when he lost his mind. If we kill Mordak, the Azawan won’t be under his control anymore. It will leave Orka.’

  ‘But how are we even going to find Mordak, let alone kill him?’

  ‘I think he’s on Fin Island. I can’t be sure,’ said Talorc.

  ‘What do you mean, you can’t be sure? How could you have any idea where he is?’ said Runa.

  ‘Because I saw him. I mean, I didn’t see him, but I sensed him. When I was in the nightmare place. He was feeling relaxed, happy that he’d beaten us. It felt like he was at home. So I think he’s on Fin Island.’

  ‘And how are we going to get to Fin Island?’

  ‘We’ll need to leave now,’ said Talorc. ‘Row over to Calag. Wait for nightfall if we make it over before then. Once it gets dark we’ll make the crossing.’

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Runa. ‘Since we avoided getting ripped to pieces by sharks last time, we’ll go back to give them a second chance.’

  ‘There won’t be any sharks. Sariad said the shark spell took lots of power. He won’t have them swimming about watching for us when he doesn’t know we’re coming.’

  ‘He might expect us to attack again.’

  ‘He doesn’t.’

  Runa was quiet. ‘Alright. Say there aren’t any sharks waiting for us in the water. The fins are at war. They must be guarding their island somehow, no matter how confident their sorcerer is.’

  ‘Probably,’ said Talorc. ‘While we’re crossing I’ll dive and search for fins. We’ll steer away from any fins I sense until we find a safe place to land. Once we get there, I’ll do the same thing again. We’ll search the island under cover of darkness until I sense Mordak. Hopefully he’ll be sleeping.’

  ‘Hopefully,’ said Runa. ‘And then I’ll stick a knife in him, and that will be that. It almost sounds like you don’t need me.’

  ‘I hope I won’t need you,’ said Talorc. ‘I wish I didn’t need you. But if something goes wrong, I’ll need someone with me who can fight.’

  ‘And who can murder a sorcerer while he sleeps,’ said Runa.

  ‘Am I going alone?’ asked Talorc.

  ‘You’re planning to sneak up on Mordak. Are you really so confident in your diving already?’ asked Runa.

  ‘No. But I have to try.’

  Runa looked away. Talorc followed her gaze, across the sand towards the broken stakes.

  ‘We’ll need a boat,’ she said.

  The crossing to Calag took all day. Talorc noticed it was getting easier each time; he noticed too that his muscles looked bigger than before. Maybe if Jed could attack him now, it would be an even contest.

  As they crossed the sound, Talorc had ample time to observe each island he passed. He saw the same things everywhere; fields of barley and corn, black and brown cattle, herds of hogs. Some farmers had cleared the fields and brought the harvest in; others left stacks of grain out to dry in the wind. From a distance the lives of the Orkadi looked peaceful, unchanging. But some of the people he saw must have been at Otter Bay. If they hadn’t been there themselves, they would at least know people who died in the mouths of the sharks. Their lives could be filled with all kinds of suffering.

  Yet they had families. They knew the end of their days was coming, but until then, they would live with people that loved them. When the work of the harvest was done, as they awaited the call to feed the Azawan, they would sit by their hearth-fires, listening to tales in the warmth, eating and drinking and enjoying everything that was good in life. Perhaps they would enjoy life all the more, knowing death was coming.

  Did he envy them? No. That life wasn’t for him. He knew now that it never had been, either before the Azawan came or since. His future might be death, or slavery, or something else he couldn’t see; but it wasn’t a home, a family, a farm. The Azawan came, and he had been cut away from that world, as the cord was cut from the belly of a newborn. He had no mother other than the Sea Mother. That could be a blessing, or a curse.

  They stopped on the island of Edda to rest and replenish their waterskins. Taking turns to sleep, they kept a lookout, ready to row away if any islanders came by; their faces were too well known. That meant going without food, but it couldn’t be helped.

  The sea remained calm as they rowed north up the sound between Edda and Calag, before turning northeast to follow Calag’s northern shore. Talorc continued to observe the islands, but more and more often he found his eyes on Runa.

  She hadn’t said a word to him the whole way, but he knew she wasn’t angry. Just quiet. Probably thinking about what would happen if she died tonight. If they succeeded, and she lived, would she still want him around?

  Runa turned and met Talorc’s eyes. He knew a tremor of fear, as if she might have heard everything he was thinking.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ said Runa.

  ‘Nothing. I’m just thinking about tonight.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘I don’t want you to get hurt.’

  Runa narrowed her eyes. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said. ‘And if I’m not… my father will find another way.’

  ‘I know,’ said Talorc, though he wasn’t sure if he did. ‘I just mean, well, I appreciate you trusting me enough to come with me.’

  ‘You’re risking your life doing this. Why shouldn’t I?’

  ‘Because you have a life. You have your father, your people. If you survive this you’ll marry one day –’

  ‘I’ll marry someone I’ve never met. A prince of a Skollish clan my father wants to make an alliance with.’

  ‘You… you already know who you’re going to marry?’

  ‘His name’s Math. I’ve already met him, apparently, when we visited his court. I was five. I don’t remember him, although apparently he cried when I beat him at wrestling. But I’m going to marry him. His clan is powerful. The alliance will help keep Orka safe.’ She gave a humourless grin. ‘If there is an Orka left.’

  Runa took a swig from the waterskin, handed it to Talorc and took up oars again. Talorc did the same, wondering why he suddenly felt so cold.

  ‘You think this will work?’ asked Runa.

  ‘I do and I don’t,’ said Talorc.

  After a moment Runa smiled. ‘Me too.’

  Talorc smiled back at her. They had reached the the northwestern tip of Calag, pulled up in a cove and lain down to rest among some dune-grass. Both of them were tired and ravenously hungry. Yet Talorc saw a gleam in Runa’s eyes, that said she was thinking what he was thinking.

  This could be it. Tonight, they could end the war.

  Again, Runa took her dagger from its sheath and ran the edge against her finger. She had lost her sword in the assault on Fin Island. He had made it back with the one she gave him and now it hung at her waist.

  ‘We should sleep awhile before dark,’ said Runa. ‘But I know I won’t sleep.’

  ‘Me neither.’

  Talorc went back to watching the evening sky darken. They would wait until it was fully dark before commencing the crossing. The first stars came out and he wondered if they were watching him and Runa, waiting to see if they would survive.

  ‘Do you know any stories about the stars?’ asked Runa.

  Talorc smiled. ‘Lots. My Grunna loved star tales.’

  ‘Tell me one.’

  Talorc thought for a moment. ‘Well, they say that a long time ago in Skoll, there was a girl, the daughter of a clan chief, who was out among the hills, picking berries, when she met a man she didn’t recognise. They fell in love straight away, and she went to live with him in his cave. But when she got there she discovered he was a bear, who could take off his bear-skin and was a man underneath.’

  ‘Like silkies,’ said Runa.

  ‘Yes, like silkies,’ said Talorc. ‘They lived as man and wife in the cave, and had a child. Their son was born as a bear, but he could take off his skin and be a boy when he wanted.

  ‘The family lived happily for years, but one day they were seen by a group of hunters from the girl’s clan. The hunters chased the family to a cave, then lit a fire in the entrance to smoke out the bear, whom they thought had kidnapped the girl.

  ‘The bear-man said to his wife that he wouldn’t kill her people, but neither would he suffer to be killed by the hand of man. So he took the spear that his wife carried and ran it through his own heart. He fell down dead, and the girl and her son went home with the hunters, to the clan. Her son became chief, and that clan became the Bear Clan, who rule Skoll. The bear’s spirit was carried by the smoke of the fire, up into the sky, and became the bear you can see among the stars.’

  The story finished, they lay in silence, watching as the star-bear slowly revealed itself.

  ‘I’ve never heard that story before,’ said Runa eventually.

  ‘Did you like it?’

  ‘Math is the prince of the Bear Clan. It reminded me of him.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Talorc.

  They sat in silence.

  ‘Tell me a silkie story. One I won’t have heard,’ said Runa eventually.

  Talorc thought. ‘There’s one I always liked, though I don’t know why.’

  ‘Long ago in Orka, before the Age of Kings, a young woman, who wasn’t married, was crossing from Fior to Ork to visit her friend.

  ‘This woman had got into her skin-boat and set off in the morning, praying to the Sea Mother for a safe crossing, though there seemed little need of it, for the crossing is short and the day was fair.

  ‘As she rowed, she saw a man waving from a skerry. At first she thought he was waving hello, and she waved back. But then she realised she couldn’t see a boat, and that this man must be stranded. That’s why he was waving; he needed rescuing.

  ‘She rowed over and waited for him to come down to the boat, but instead he called her to join him on the rocks. So she landed and walked up to him, and when she looked into his eyes, she fell in love, faster than her eyes could blink.’

  ‘He was a silkie,’ said Runa.

  ‘Yes,’ said Talorc.

  ‘And he loved her and took her away, just like in the last story, but people didn’t like it, just like in the last story. These stories are all the same.’

  ‘No, this one’s different,’ said Talorc. ‘I mean, yes, you’re right, but the ending is different. The boy's father, the Silkie King, comes to see the girl’s father. Says his people are not happy about it, and by their law the two must be put to death, and he wants to know if the father will agree to it. He does, and the lovers are led to those skerries. Both their families come to watch. Two silkie men approach the man, take his skin away; they burn it as he screams, then take the two of them underwater to drown them.’

  ‘That’s horrible,’ said Runa.

  ‘I know. But the thing is, they don’t drown. Eventually the two silkie men surface, and when everyone asks where the bodies are, they say that some strange creatures came and took the lovers away from them. The creatures claimed they were Silvers, servants of the Sea Mother, and the two lovers had been chosen to serve her in her caves. The silkies wouldn’t disobey the Sea Mother, so they let the pair go, and they were never seen again.’

  ‘What did the Silvers look like?’ asked Runa.

  ‘Like dolphins. But they weren’t dolphins.’

  ‘I like that,’ she said. ‘Usually it just ends with the human becoming a silkie and the pair of them swimming off into the sunset together. How many stories do you know?’

  ‘I’ve never counted. I don’t know if I could count that high. Grunna was always telling me them.’

  ‘Was she training you? To become a senachai, like her?’

  ‘Maybe she would have done. But I was never going to be allowed to leave the island. I wasn’t allowed on a boat, or in the water, because of my feet. So I couldn’t be a senachai.’

  ‘There’s no-one telling you that now. If we survive this you could do it. You could build a boat, travel anywhere you wanted with your Grunna’s stories. Skoll, the Fangs, Aira, Trollheim.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Talorc. ‘If we survive.’

  ‘That’s what I would do,’ said Runa. ‘If my father wasn’t king. I would go to all those places.’

  ‘You wouldn’t want to live in Orka?’

  ‘Of course I would. But I’d want to see other places, do other things first.’ A smile danced about her lips. ‘A senachai came to Gurn from Skoll once. He said there is a training school for warriors on an island to the west of his homeland. It is hidden, but if you can find it, you can study there. They say the woman who runs it is a witch as well as a warrior. I think I would like to go and train there.’ Runa sat up. ‘Do you think it’s dark enough yet?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Talorc. They stood.

  ‘We’re going to Fin Island,’ said Runa. ‘The two of us. To kill a sorcerer. Are we crazy?’

  Talorc took a deep breath and exhaled. ‘Lets find out.’

  Chapter Twenty Six

  ‘This is close enough,’ said Talorc.

  They ceased rowing and pulled in the oars.

  ‘So what are you going to do?’ asked Runa, turning towards Talorc and drawing her cloak around her. The air was thin and dagger-sharp.

  ‘I’m going to dive.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I dived before. When the sharks attacked us… and I think before that, too. It just happened.’

  ‘Right. Well, can you make it just happen now?’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Runa rolled her eyes as Talorc turned towards Fin Island and stared upwards.

  ‘Look,’ he said.

  The children of the night were dancing in the northern sky. They leapt and whirled amid the stars; brilliant rivers of orange and green, yellow and purple and colours he knew no name for. It was the first time Talorc had seen them dance since last winter. It made his heart glad.

  He closed his eyes and imagined the tendrils of his new sense, like the limbs of an octopus, wrapped around him just as he had left them at Skate the previous evening. Now he saw them extending themselves out into the water, stretching out, searching for life.

  Nothing.

  He extended them further, far out into the sea. Was there anything there? In his mind’s eye he pictured the water, watched for any glimmer of a life-form; fish, seal or shark.

  Still nothing. Was it because the sea was empty, all its creatures having fled the Azawan? He didn’t believe it. At least he should be able to sense the water, its ebb and flow, the deep currents, the way he had on the last crossing. He had been in the water himself, that time; but if he tried to swim now he would freeze.

  It was no good. Talorc pulled his tendrils back into himself and opened his eyes. Sariad might be able to dive while out of the water but he couldn’t. What was he going to do?

 

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