Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

the entrance to the HoldHard Pass.

―Fools!‖ she cried. ―Do you not know your masters when you see them? Will you not

come and do them honour?‖

The TimeKeepers ignored her, and, for the moment, her boy. Their mission was to give

him life, but they must also guard against the Enemy‘s traps that might yet defeat their hopes.

And they sensed something in this Keep.

Something powerful, something dangerous, something wrapped in deep, deep

enchantment.

Something that might make a mockery of the Hunt.

―I do not know what it is,‖ Mot whispered in a voice papery-harsh with frustration.

―StarLaughter,‖ Sheol said, finally wrenching her eyes from the Keep to the birdwoman.

―You said that the bridge guards the Keep.‖

―Yes. The blue mists we passed through are in part her creation.‖

Sheol glanced at her companions, and shared thoughts they did not allow StarLaughter to

hear.

―I will go,‖ Rox said. ―It is my time, and perhaps terror will disconcert the bridge.‖

The other Demons finally, grudgingly, nodded.

―Take care,‖ Raspu said. ―And seek out that which the silvery stone hides.‖

Rox nudged his horse-beast forwards, and it placed a firm black paw on the bridge.

―Are you true?‖ the bridge asked.

―Yes,‖ Rox answered. ―I am true.‖

―Then cross, Demon,‖ the bridge said, ―and I shall test the strength of your words.‖

Rox was halfway across when the bridge spoke again.

―Rox, Demon of Terror,‖ she said, ―I have a message for you.‖

―Yes?‖ Rox looked over his shoulder and smiled at the other Demons. He could feel the

bridge‘s magic all about him, and it was as they‘d originally thought—an inconsequential thing.

Rox knew he could best it himself, and with the combined power of his companions, they would

easily tear this bridge apart stone by stone.

―A message,‖ the bridge repeated. ―And yet it will not be my voice that imparts it.‖

And the air before Rox shimmered, and a red-haired young man dressed in very ordinary

breeches and a white linen shirt stood there. His entire body was relaxed, almost lazy. Both

hands rested on his hips, his weight on one leg.

―Hello, Rox,‖ he said. ―Remember me?‖

Rox took one huge breath, held it…and then screamed, as did every one of the Demons

behind him.

The man laughed. ―Will you step into my parlour, Rox?‖

StarLaughter, acting on the pure fear generated by the Demons—for she could not

possibly see what was so fearful about this man—leaned over from her mount, grabbed the reins

of her son‘s horse, and then urged both horses into a flat run towards the HoldHard Pass.

The red-haired man vanished as quickly as he had appeared, but the moment he

disappeared from view, the bridge began to alter.

Sinewy black legs, eight of them, branched out from her sides. The portion of the bridge

that rested at Sigholt‘s foot reared into the air, and became a black rounded head with a hundred

eyes and a gaping mouth.

The end of the bridge closest to the Demons—although they had quickly retreated to

follow StarLaughter—swelled into the black abdomen of…of a massive, frightful black

arachnid.

Eight legs closed about Rox and his horse with an audible snap. The rounded head darted

in and out of its legs, and each time it reappeared, it was covered with the sweet wetness of torn flesh. Then, with a huge splash, the spider and her catch dropped into the moat surrounding

Sigholt.

The waters foamed and roiled for several heartbeats, and then gentled into stillness.

The bridge glimmered into substance over the moat again.

There was no-one else about, but the bridge spoke anyway. ―Are you true?‖ she asked the

night air, and then broke into pealing laughter. ―Are you true?‖

And Sigholt smiled, and wrapped itself ever closer about the treasure it harboured.

All around Tencendor men and women, beasts of the air and plain alike, shivered and

wondered at the sudden beauty of the night.

Terror had vanished.

44

Aftermath

―What do you mean, you thought Drago would have to be the first to cross?‖ StarDrifter

demanded. With barely a ruffled feather, but with considerable angst, he‘d risen from the chasm

and alighted before WingRidge.

Zenith breathed a gentle sigh of relief. For a moment…

WingRidge had the grace to look discomforted. ―Undoubtedly, approach to Sanctuary is

intimately linked to the presence of the…of Drago.‖

StarDrifter blinked, biting down another angry outburst.

―StarDrifter,‖ WingRidge continued. ―I am sorry. I just didn‘t connect the script around

the door with the enchantments needed to cross the bridge.‖

Deciding to accept the apology with the merest of nods, StarDrifter turned slightly to

stare across the chasm into Sanctuary. The valley was utterly extraordinary, and looked as if it

stretched, in all its loveliness, into eternity. We could fit the populations of fifteen worlds into

that enchanted place, he thought, and there would still be room for all to dance the Hey-de-Gie

with ease.

―Couldn‘t we just fly across?‖ Zenith asked.

StarDrifter shook his head. ―The other side of the chasm is warded tightly with

enchantment. I tried to fly across to the other side when—‖ his eyes flitted momentarily to

WingRidge, ―—the bridge vanished, but could not penetrate the thick veil of sorcery that hangs

to protect the other side.‖

―Thus must we fetch Drago,‖ WingRidge said. ―We can do no more here, and no more

for those above who need to cross that bridge.‖

―Where is he?‖ one of the other Icarii asked.

―North,‖ WingRidge said. ―Come,‖ he laid a hand on SpikeFeather‘s shoulder. ―I need

your knowledge of the waterways, my friend, to reach Drago.‖

SpikeFeather looked helplessly between StarDrifter and WingRidge. ―I know the way,

WingRidge, but you know how long it took us to get from Sigholt to the Minaret Peaks using the waterways. Days, at least, for I have not the enchantment to use the waterways as once did the

Ferryman. Meanwhile, no doubt the Demons progress from Lake to Lake, breath quickens

Qeteb‘s body…and Sanctuary remains denied to the peoples of Tencendor.‖

―We must do the best we can—‖ WingRidge began, but was interrupted by StarDrifter.

―Wait. Zenith, will you return to the Minaret Peaks with JestWing and his companions?‖

―Yes, but—‖

―Get them organised for an evacuation as quickly as you can. Within days,‖ StarDrifter

took a deep breath, ―I hope we will have Drago here to open Sanctuary.‖

―And you?‖ Zenith asked.

―I will go with WingRidge and SpikeFeather.‖

She nodded, both relieved and disappointed that they would be parted for a while.

―What happened?‖ StarLaughter shouted. She had pulled her and her son‘s horses to a

halt half a league into the shelter of the HoldHard Pass, waiting for the Demons to catch up.

Now four of them had, their horses still rolling reddened eyes in fear, their sides still

heaving with panic.

The Demons were not in a much calmer state.

― Where’s Rox?‖ StarLaughter screamed, both terrified and furious.

Sheol turned on StarLaughter and snarled, a vicious animalistic sound that sent

StarLaughter reeling back in her saddle.

―Think to question us, girl?‖

―Then tell me why Rox no longer rides with you, and why terror no longer patrols the

night!‖

―Rox,‖ Mot ground out, ―is gone.‖

StarLaughter shot a look at her son, as if somehow she thought he might have been

destroyed by that revelation, but the boy sat his horse, motionless and devoid of expression.

StarLaughter turned back to the Demons. All four wore expressions of rage mixed with

pure, unadulterated fright.

―I do not know who that red-haired man was…‖ she said with a certain caution.

―He was the Enemy—‖ Raspu began, his pock-marked skin even more ashen than

normal.

―I thought all the Enemy were dead,‖ StarLaughter said.

―As so they are!‖ Sheol snapped. ―The bridge was, and has always been, a trap. The man

was a vision only, a remembrance, meant to…‖

She drifted off, but StarLaughter heard the unspoken phrase lingering in the air.

Meant to terrify us.

And more, StarLaughter thought, for has not that vision, that trap, killed Rox?

―He was one of the Enemy who had succeeded in trapping Qeteb,‖ Mot said. ―His name

is unimportant, but it was his skill and knowledge that was the force behind snatching life from

Qeteb. He died may aeons ago, but his memory was encased in the trap.‖

―Rox?‖ StarLaughter said.

―Gone,‖ Sheol said shortly.

StarLaughter glanced again at her son. ―What does that mean for—‖

―In the end, nothing,‖ Sheol said. She had managed to calm herself now, although a thin

drool of saliva still ran slowly down her chin. ―Qeteb‘s resurrection may be accomplished

without Rox.‖

―And your power?‖ StarLaughter continued, unable to conceal her concern. ―What about

that?‖

Again she glanced at her son. ―What about his?‖

―Your son’s power will be unaffected,‖ Sheol said, her lip curling in a renewed snarl.

―Never fear. As for us…we shall have to be more vigilant, but we will succeed, nevertheless.‖