Dark Soul Silenced - Part One (15 page)

When she reached the others she gave Mary a bright smile, trying to hide her fears, then met Daniel’s eyes and gave a slight nod.  Jon caught the gesture too, added his own slight nod.

“Take the chance to eat and rest,” Daniel said softly.  “We have a hard journey ahead of us.”

“
When?” asked Jon quietly.

“
Some time after midnight.  We need to get clear quickly, before they can follow, and reach the woods.  Get what rest you can, but keep your packs ready to leave at a moment’s notice.  I need to deal with that Amulet too.  While they have it we can’t truly escape, they can keep using it to track Mary.”

“
Watch out,” Sarah said quietly.  One of the witch hunters was coming near, bringing wood for a fire.  They had no more chances to discuss things, from that point onward there were always witch hunters close by.

They stopped for long enough to eat a hot meal and feed the horses.  By the time they moved off the sun was already low in the sky.  Sarah couldn’t get the tales about creatures in the dark to leave her mind, or the images burnt in there of Daniel the first night they had met him — Daniel with glowing red eyes and fury writ large upon his face.

The alternative was worse though.  She would not, could not, allow them to take Mary back to Hammersgate.  As the afternoon slipped into evening and the sun dropped lower and lower she felt more and more tense, her stomach tied in knots.  She discovered, as so many had before, that waiting for a future terror is actually worse than when the moment to face it arrives.  While waiting there is nothing that can be done, other than to dwell upon what may come to be.

Thankfully Ser Josef called a halt before the sun completely slid behind the mountains.  He chose a campsite almost within the edges of the forest, close to a cliff which would reflect the fire’s heat back to them.  Camping so close to the forest worried Sarah, but she knew it would make their escape much easier.

Darkness had settled fully over the land by the time they finished eating.  Sarah, Jon and Mary soon curled up in their blankets, attempting to get some sleep.  Mary soon fell asleep, the long day’s travel having exhausted her.  Sarah was awake for a long time before she dropped into a restless sleep full of creatures chasing her, Mary and Jon.

Daniel sat by the fire, near to where Sarah and her family slept.  Ser Josef had attempted to engage him in conversation several times but Daniel had made it clear he was in no mood to talk.  Eventually Ser Josef left him in peace.

Daniel found Josef’s presence unsettling, a reminder of how much of his life he had lost.  The fact that he had once been a witch hunter disturbed him too.  Had his eyes once held the same fanatical gleam as those of Josef and his men?  Had he once hounded anyone displaying a talent for magic, assuming them all to be touched by dark powers?

Maybe not, he thought.  None of the possessions he had recovered from the bandits had been those of a witch hunter.  Even if some had been discarded others would have been kept.  The only unusual item had been the leather bound book.  It didn’t seem like something a witch hunter would carry.

Was Josef mistaking Daniel for someone else?  Someone that looked similar to Daniel?  Possibly, but the man seemed so certain.  Daniel sat, staring into the fire and trying to dredge up any memories of his former life.

Late evening had moved into night when something disturbed Daniel’s thoughts.  Many of the witch hunters were sleeping, though Josef and those standing watch remained alert.  Daniel shifted then stood, head turning as he tried to locate the cause of his unease.  Something was approaching, something that spread a wave of darkness around it.  He couldn’t work out the direction it came from though.  It was as if the darkness approached from many directions at once.  Daniel crossed to where Josef sat.

“Wake your men.  Quickly!  Something approaches.”

Josef stared at him for a moment, startled, then jumped up.

“Be ready,” he commanded the two sentries.  Then he moved through his men, shaking them awake.

Daniel was impressed.  The men quickly shook off sleep and prepared for a possible attack.  In under a minute they were all standing ready, weapons drawn.  Daniel moved to the family and shook them awake.

“What is it?” asked Sarah quietly.  She looked around, taking in the alert witch hunters, then spoke in a whisper.  “How can we escape with them all wide awake?”

“
We can’t.  Something is approaching, I can sense it.  Something seeped in darkness.  For the moment we need those men, we need their help to protect you all.”

“
Protect us?  Why would we need… oh!  Oh no!”  She wrapped her arms around Mary protectively.  “They want Mary?”

The girl looked terrified, Daniel wasn’t surprised.  He nodded but pitched his voice gently.

“They may do, or they may just be hunting Ser Josef and his guards.  Either way you are in danger, but I will not let them hurt Mary.  These men have many faults, but bravery is not one of them.  Nor is their desire to fight the dark powers.  They are misguided in what they consider to be dark powers, but in this case their faith and determination will serve us well.  Stay here, near the cliff wall.  I will act as a last line of defence.”

“
Is there anything we can do?” asked Jon.  “This is my family, I can’t stand defenceless if they are threatened.”

“
Grab a branch from the fire, one that will keep burning.  Most creatures are worried by fire, most people too.”

Jon grabbed a branch.  Sarah took it from him, face defiant.  Jon just smiled and grabbed another branch.  Daniel smiled too.  He should have known that Sarah wouldn’t stand by while her daughter was threatened.

“Stay with Mary,” Daniel stressed.  “In the heat of a fight it is easy to be distracted, to lose your focus.  Make sure you know where each other are and where Mary is at all times.”

They nodded and Daniel turned away, hiding his confusion.  He didn’t know where the words had come from, but knew in his heart they were true.  Another tiny piece of his former life that had bubbled free.

Then it was a matter of waiting.  The witch hunters had drawn back into a semi-circle, anchored by the cliff wall.  The fire lay outside of the arc so they had lit lanterns and placed them on the floor within it.  In the fight to come the ability to see their foes would mean the difference between life and death.

Josef was within the arc and came to stand by Daniel.

“I start to sense it myself,” he said.  “Whatever evil is out there is closing on us.  My thanks, Ser Daniel.  It seems your instincts are undimmed.  Can you tell how many we face?”

“
No.  I have nothing to compare it to, no memory of feeling this before.  I suspect there are many though.”

“
Then we will kill many of them,” Josef said, determination in his voice.

After that they stood in silence, straining all senses for any sign of an attack.  Daniel could feel the darkness growing closer and closer yet still there was nothing to see.

Chapter Sixteen

When it came the attack was devastatingly fast.  Shapes rushed out of the darkness, crashing into the witch hunters and forcing them back several steps.  The attackers were a mixture of men and women, all with eyes glowing bright red.  A word sprang into Daniel’s mind, a word to describe the attackers. 
Vampire
.  He didn’t think it was a word he’d known in his past.  Rather than feeling familiar it felt alien, new.  Yet he was also certain it was right.  These creatures were vampires.

For a moment it looked as if the vampires would overwhelm the defenders.  Then the warriors training kicked in and they started to fight back.  Swords met flesh and bone.  Vampires screamed in agony where the blades landed. 

Daniel realised with a shock that the blades, like the Orb and amulet he’d seen used earlier, were imbued with magic.  He could sense the flow within the blades.  Like the other magic he had seen it had a sense of colour, an almost pure white this time.  When a blade landed the white magic in the blade clashed with the darkness surrounding the vampire.

Suddenly two vampires broke through the line and raced at Daniel.  He’d been busy studying the flows of magic, not paying attention to his surroundings.

“Daniel!”

Sarah’s cry snapped him back to the present.  The two vampires were almost on top of him.  He sensed the dark power building within their bodies, ready to overwhelm or destroy him.  Instinctively he reached out, drawing energy from his surroundings.  Thrusting out his arm he shoved the first vampire in the chest, unleashing the power he had drawn in.  For what felt like long seconds but was in fact barely a heartbeat he and the vampire stood frozen in that position.  The dark power of the vampire locked in a swirling battle with the energy Daniel had unleashed.  Without warning the dark power faltered, then was swept away.  The vampire was left writhing in agony as its soul was scoured clean. 

Finally it collapsed to the ground dead.  Daniel could tell that the darkness had been completely driven out.  The second vampire started to back away from Daniel, then froze as the tip of a sword sprouted from the front of its chest.  It toppled to the floor revealing Josef who studied Daniel carefully for a moment before turning back to the battle.

The witch hunters were fighting fiercely, holding the vampires back and having taken only minor wounds so far.  Suddenly Daniel sensed a much stronger concentration of darkness behind him.  Swinging around he found an intruder standing next to Mary.  Jon and Sarah were frozen in place, clearly desperate to reach Mary but unable to move. 

Daniel stared at the attacker in a shock of recognition.  It was Rafael.  The creature that had attacked Daniel, that had started his journey towards darkness and ultimately to where he now stood.  Rafael looked as surprised as Daniel felt.

“
You!” Rafael managed to spit.  “The Cursed One.  I should have killed you that night.  You have rejected the greatest gift anyone will ever give you.”

Daniel went to answer but was interrupted by something crashing into him from behind, dragging him to the ground.  It was another vampire, a woman this time.  She was quickly joined by four or five others.  Daniel struggled desperately but they held him down, biting and clawing.  Daniel felt the virulence from their bites burning into his body, the darkness attacking his very soul.  He drew in power once again, using it to shield himself from their attacks and to try to strike back.

He managed to blast one into ash, sent another away screaming with its eyes burnt out.  Several others replaced them though, burying Daniel under a pile of bodies.  No matter how much he struggled he could not get free.  For the moment he was managing to hold their darkness at bay, to limit the physical damage they could inflict, but he was weakening fast.  More importantly, Rafael was still out there, was near Mary and her parents.

Daniel heard Mary scream and managed to discharge power through several vampires, freeing his face and right arm for a moment.  He saw that Rafael had grabbed Mary.  She still screamed and struggled in his arms.  Then Rafael crouched down and seemed to leap into the sky.  Daniel wasn’t sure if the vampire was truly flying or had just leapt to a point higher on the cliff face.  The swarm of vampire bodies closed in once again and he could see nothing more.

Desperate to follow Mary he struggled on, drawing as much power as he could, using his newfound strength to fight back.  Nothing worked.  The vampires still had him pinned down and his body was tiring quickly.  More and more of the power he drew was needed just to keep their darkness from overwhelming him.  He was tiring fast.  Before long they would be too strong for him.  He could only hope that they wouldn’t attempt to turn him into one of their own again.  Could they?  And if so would he be able to resist again?  Should he hope for death instead?  He didn’t know.

With his strength draining away quickly Daniel could only focus on holding a shield in place, on keeping the vampires at bay for as long as possible.  He knew it was futile though.  The fear of what the vampires might do to him was as nothing against the bitter knowledge that he had failed to protect Mary, that he would never be able to save her.

Sarah stood frozen, unable to move or cry out.  The creature that had seemed to appear from nowhere stood beside Mary.  Sarah wanted to scream, to rush to her daughter’s side, to fly at the creature.  Yet she could do nothing.  Somehow the creature had frozen her in place.

Daniel turned, caught sight of the creature.  Shock registered on his face.  For a few seconds he and the creature stood, gazes locked, then the creature spoke.

“You!  The Cursed One.  I should have killed you that night.  You have rejected the greatest gift anyone will ever give you.”

As Daniel opened his mouth to answer Sarah tried to free herself from the spell that held her, tried to scream a warning.  It was no use.  She watched helpless as several creatures crashed into Daniel.  She might have called them people if not for the burning red eyes and vicious protruding incisors.  Or maybe not — the hatred in their gaze marked them as something else.

Daniel was buried beneath the pile of bodies, yet he still kept fighting.  One of the creatures was blasted apart, another reeled away screaming.  More jumped in to replace them though.

Mary screamed as the creature who had locked gazes with Daniel grabbed her.  The sound wrenched at Sarah’s heart, making her sick to her soul, but she still couldn’t move an inch.  Tears of frustration ran down her face.

Suddenly the creature crouched then leapt into the air, taking Mary with him.  Sarah couldn’t move her head to follow but could tell he had leapt far higher than the surrounding trees.  He didn’t come back down.  With a wrench she realised that Mary was gone, and that she couldn’t follow.

Sarah looked back towards Daniel, her eyes the only things she could move.  He was buried under the pile of bodies, clearly still struggling but just as clearly losing.  That couldn’t be.  He
had
to survive.  Only Daniel could save Mary now.  The confrontation between Daniel and the creature that had stolen Mary away had convinced Sarah of Daniel’s story, that he was free of the darkness.

Her arms and legs started to tremble.  The awful paralysis was weakening, a sign that the creature was getting more and more distant she was sure.  Soon she would be able to move again.  When that moment came she would strike at the creatures swamping Daniel, using the burning branch in her hand.  She would save Daniel.  She must.

She didn’t get the chance.  With the lead creature leaving, many of those assaulting the witch hunters had also turned and fled.  Now Josef ran towards Daniel’s attackers.  With his face lit by the crackling fire and lanterns he looked like a character from the tales of the church.  A mighty prophet with lightning in his hands and thunder in his voice.  He fell on the foul creatures with a shout of anger, severing the head of one and skewering the next through its back.

Alerted to this new threat the remaining creatures leapt to their feet, turning to face Josef.  Seven still remained, seven against one man.  Josef charged forwards.  Things would have gone badly if his guards hadn’t joined the fight at that moment, running forwards and leaping into the fray.  One of the creatures managed to break free and run.  The others were cut down where they stood.

Josef then dropped to his knees beside Daniel, supporting the other man’s head and studying his injuries.  Sarah could tell they were horrific from where she stood.  Bites, tears, gouges and scratches covered Daniel.  Blood was flowing from many.  Daniel was unconscious, unresponsive, despite Josef’s efforts.

Suddenly the spell holding Sarah faded completely.  She dropped to her knees, body shaking in reaction to the ordeal.  Jon fell too, though he pushed himself back up again quickly.  He helped Sarah up then they both crossed to Daniel, kneeling the other side of Ser Josef.

“How is he?” asked Sarah.  “Will he recover?”

“
He should be dead already,” replied Josef.  “Many of those wounds are deep.  I don’t know how he is holding on.  But no, I don’t think he will recover.”

“
But he
must
!  He’s the only one who can save Mary.  Isn’t there anything you can do.”

Josef spread his arms helplessly.  “See for yourself.  His wounds are too bad.  He will bleed to death soon.”

“I think I can help,” Jon said quietly.  He reached out, placed his hands on Daniel then concentrated.  “When Mary healed me, after the Bandit attack, I felt an echo of what she did.  It woke something within me.  I think I can help him.”

Sure enough some of Daniel’s wounds started to heal, the flow of blood slowed.  Sarah placed her hand on Jon’s shoulder, amazed at her own reaction.  All the fear was gone.  She had seen true evil, true darkness, and could compare it to what first her daughter and now her husband could do.  There was no evil here.

“Be careful Jon,” she warned.  “Remember that this will drain you badly.”

“
I know.  But I should have far more strength in my body than Mary does.  I think I can give him a fighting chance without hurting myself.”

Jon continued to focus and Daniel's wounds kept healing.  Soon his eyes fluttered open.  Studying Jon for a few moments he nodded, gave a tight smile.

Jon started to look tired but Mary let him push on, certain he could give more.  Daniel would need to chase down Mary without them so if Jon had to rest for a day or two it didn’t matter.  Colour was returning to Daniel’s face.

Sarah had been so intent on Jon and Daniel that she’d forgotten the witch hunters.  Suddenly hands grabbed her, pulling her arms back and snapping manacles around her wrists.  She saw the same being done to Daniel and Jon.  Then a heavy locket was dropped around her neck.  As the shock faded she started to struggle.

“What are you doing?” she cried out.  “Let us go.  Let Daniel go.  He’s the only one that can save Mary.”

“
I’m sorry but I can’t do that.  He’s been corrupted by the dark powers.  So has your husband.  We witnessed both using their powers.  Your daughter we already knew had such powers.  I won’t take any chances on you having them too.  The amulets will keep you from using magic, and the manacles will keep you restrained while we decide what to do.”

Sarah raged against her bonds, cursing Josef and his men, but to no avail.  Eventually the fight left her and she collapsed to the ground sobbing, terrified for her daughter yet unable to get free to try to save her.  The thoughts of what the creature might be doing to Mary right then, of how scared Mary would be, and that she might never see her daughter again, dragged her down into a pit of despair.