Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

She touched his arm briefly, but did not reply.

The Demons had not enjoyed a particularly pleasant ride through the Silent Woman

Woods. Their encounter with Isfrael and Shra had unnerved them and, even though they grew

progressively stronger each hour that they hunted, the trees had made their way difficult.

Tangled roots had snapped at them from the soft, treacherous soil.

Branches had dipped and swayed and snapped.

Leaves had flowed through the air, burrowing beneath robes and into corners of eyes.

And things had hissed and wailed at them from behind trees.

StarLaughter had been terrified, not only by the malevolence of the Woods themselves,

but by the fact that the Demons seemed unnerved by them as well. Surely they were too powerful

for such as this?

But maybe they needed the power of Qeteb before they could rise to their full potential.

And that power was not so very far away, surely. Soon Qeteb would be reborn, and her

son would rise to his full potential.

And sometime, WolfStar, StarLaughter thought, hugging her child to her and casting her

eyes about the shadowy spaces of the Woods, sometime we will catch up with you!

StarLaughter lowered her eyes, and looked about. They sat their mounts at the very edge

of the Cauldron Lake, the five Demons staring silently at the strange, golden waters.

―Well?‖ StarLaughter asked.

There was a silence, and StarLaughter wondered if she ought to speak again, louder this

time, but Rox finally answered her.

―Tens of thousands of years we have travelled,‖ he said in a voice not much above a

whisper. ―Aeons. And here…so close…‖

Sheol raised her brilliant sapphire eyes and stared at StarLaughter. ―We must proceed

carefully, for the Enemy will have laid traps.‖

―But surely they are so old they will have lost their potency?‖ StarLaughter said. Why

were the Demons always rattling on about traps?

Mot shook his head, then slid off his horse. Bones poked helter-skelter through his pallid

skin, but his face had a satisfied plumpness about it. Mot had fed well at dawn.

He squatted down by the Lake‘s edge, and ran a hand through the water. It glowed, and

filtered between his fingers, but it did not run as a liquid would, rather…as a mist.

― Ssss,‖ the Demon said, and jerked his wrist so that the remaining globules of mist

scattered over the surface of the Lake. They were absorbed instantly. ―The magic lives, more

potent than ever!‖

―But not too potent for us, my friend,‖ said Sheol, joining him. ―We will go down at

dusk, I think, for that will give us the power of Raspu and then Rox. An entire night to ravage

through this craft and find what we need.‖

―Nevertheless,‖ Barzula said slowly, casting his eyes about the Lake. ―I feel the Enemy

powerfully here. We must be careful.‖

―We did not come this entire way to waste our chance on thoughtless rush,‖ Sheol said

shortly.

She sat down on the damp earth and crossed her legs. ―StarLaughter, my dear, come join

me, and let me cuddle your child.‖

Across the Lake, Faraday and Drago likewise sat, hidden in shadows.

Drago‘s eyes hardly blinked, so intent was he on watching the Demons.

―Why do they wait?‖ Faraday asked.

―They wait for their time,‖ Drago said. ―It is only just noon. They will wait for the sun to

set.‖

―And then?‖

―And then they will leap.‖

It grew dark earlier within the trees than elsewhere, but the Demons waited until the

entire land was wrapped in dusk before they began.

First they stood in a perfect line on the shore, about a handspan back from the water‘s

edge.

Raspu, whose hour was at hand, stood in the centre of the line, his head tilted back

slightly, his eyes closed, the veins in his neck taut and throbbing.

A grey haze enveloped his head, and tendrils lazily lifted off and floated into the night

air.

―What is happening?‖ Faraday whispered.

―He is feeding,‖ Drago said. ―As that grey mist spreads, so does pestilence sweep the

land, gathering to itself all those who are not within some kind of shelter.‖

―Why did they wait until now?‖

―Now they have the longest time span in which to work—from dusk to dawn. Once

Raspu‘s time is done, then Rox will spread his terror over the land for the entire night. See, even

now Rox prepares himself.‖

Faraday grimaced. Rox was trembling—so violently she could see it even from this

distance—and his mouth was working; every so often his lips would tighten into a silent snarl,

showing slippery, yellowed teeth.

Something about him, not his actual appearance, but something else, reminded Faraday

vividly of the Skraelings and she shuddered.

Now all the Demons were trembling violently, almost convulsing. Behind them

StarLaughter paced back and forth. Her child, as always, was tight in her arms.

One of the Demons—Drago could not tell which—screamed, and StarLaughter cried out

and jerked to a halt.

Behind her, the dark horses milled and tossed their heads, pawing at the ground, although

whether in fear or ecstasy, Drago could not tell.

The Lake began to boil—to seethe.

―What is happening?‖ Faraday whispered, one of her hands clutching Drago‘s arm in

tight fingers.

―They are channelling the power Raspu and Rox have gathered into the water.‖

―But they are—‖

―Destroying it. Yes, I know. Faraday, I…I don‘t think this Lake will ever be quite the

same once the Demons have worked their will with it.‖

Faraday remembered what she and Zenith had seen when they‘d walked the

shadowlands: Grail Lake burned so completely away that the waters had disappeared to reveal

the Maze beneath. A Maze that had grown to envelop Carlon. A Maze that had held such horror

Faraday could hardly bear to remember it.

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. This was a beloved Lake, and she could not

bear to see it die.

The next instant her head jerked up and her eyes opened as a sharp crack sounded behind

her. She twisted about, and gasped. The trees were writhing and moaning, their bark splintering,

yellowish cracks appearing in trunks and branches alike.

―Drago!‖

―I can do nothing, Faraday. What do you want me to do? What? Whatever I am supposed

to be, or supposed to do, lies at the foot of this Lake—at the moment I can do nothing!‖

Faraday linked her arm through his, and leaned against him. ―I‘m sorry, Drago. I…this

Lake is special to me. It is hard watching it die.‖

―They are all special,‖ Drago said, and somewhere in a corner of his mind came the

unbidden thought, And they will all die.

No!

The scene before them had turned into a nightmare. The water was boiling, great bubbles

breaking the surface to send gouts of golden mist spurting into the night air. Soon the trees

nearest the water‘s edge were laced with tendrils of gold.

The Demons were forcing the Lake to empty out its life over the Silent Woman Woods.

Beyond the seething water the Demons still stood in a line, but they were rocking and

twisting violently, and screaming and shrieking unintelligibly. StarLaughter was crouched at one

end of the line, by Sheol‘s feet, staring at the water.

She was laughing.

Suddenly the entire Lake exploded.

Drago threw himself over Faraday, rolling her as far behind the nearest tree as he could

get her. He felt something crawl over his back, and almost screamed before he realised it was the

feathered lizard. It scrambled under one of his arms and thrust its head under the neckline of his

tunic, its feet scrabbling, trying to drive itself completely inside.

―Cursed—‖ Drago began, catching at the lizard with one hand, trying to prevent it getting

any further, when a frightful silence fell as suddenly over the Lake and forest as the explosion

had erupted only moments before.

Drago slowly raised his head, Faraday beside him.

The lizard took the opportunity to scramble completely inside Drago‘s tunic.

But even the frantic tickling of its feet could not tear Drago‘s eyes from the sight before

him.

The golden waters had vanished. Now the slope of the forest floor continued down,

down, down…

Down into another forest, one not of wood and leaves, but of crystal and gold.

The Demons and StarLaughter had disappeared.

10

The Crystal Forest

StarLaughter stood and stared. She could hardly believe the beauty of the crystal forest.

She lifted one hand and stroked the trunk of the tree nearest her. It was cool and solid, but

somehow vibrant.

―Exquisite,‖ she said.

The Demons were grouped two or three trees beyond her. StarLaughter could see their

dark and distorted forms through the transparent trunks.

―Dangerous,‖ Barzula said. He had his arms wrapped about himself, and his golden eyes

flickered uncertainly at the trees.

StarLaughter walked up to them, slipping a little on the glassy footing, and noting that the

golden leaves of the trees—and how smooth and silky they felt!—were exactly the same shade