A Silence Heard (22 page)

Curious that the nearer we got to the building where Wirt and the Meeks waited, the less sound of conflict there was. My gut twisted some and I tried to shake off the feeling of dread that clung to my ankles, by humming a bedtime tune that Santy Breanna used to sing when sleep would not come. Deogol must have heard for I felt his hand in mine. “Too quiet Sis. Something is amiss.”

I put my arm around him. “Do not fret bro, we are strong.”

“And you?”

“I too, for as long as I need to be.”

He sighed and we walked slower as if walking through mud.

We trundled forward across the gravelled pathway that led to the building, spread out wide like the wings of a raptor in full flight. A cloud passed over the moon and darkness fell so hard that we were forced to halt. I blinked a few times and could just make out the pyramid. It was but a few paces off and I guessed my bro saw how near it was too, for he squeezed my hand then let go.

The cloud lifted. I looked down the line of makeshift soldiers and saw them clutch at their weapons. Eadgard stood in front of us and gestured for all to gather close around him. We did and he spoke, “This could be a trap. What we saw and heard on the Agro comp does not match up with this here and now. Deogol, hand Adara the remote. No, do not protest, you and the other Meeks must linger behind. If things get worse, you run back to the medi-lab.” He turned to me and continued, “You cannot use your voice in there whilst our folk still prevail.”

Hildegunnr snorted and folded her arms. “After all the work I did. You could at least try. What use are you if you cannot sing. It is your gift, the thing that defines you.”

What? Really? Am I just a walking voicebox to be switched on when needed? What about my training in all things fisticuffs? I was going to say, but my bro stepped in front of me and opened his gob. “Leave her be. My sis needs to save her strength. Can you not see how pale and…”

I feared he would say something to draw attention to my physical decline, which would put minds in scare mode, so I interrupted his would be yammerings. “My bro is too protective. I am without decline, but I cannot risk harming our loved ones by using my gift, Hildegunnr. When the opportunity arises, though, be sure I will sing until I have no voice left,” I said to all the disappointed faces.

“No one doubts your conviction, Adara. Deogol, give your sis that device.” Eadgard nudged his elbow.

Deogol, a sulk upon his gob, dug into his pants pocket and handed me the contraption. “There is only one button. Even you cannot make a mistake when pressing it. Remember, it can only be used once. So make it count.”

I took it from him and bent to kiss his cheek. He turned his head away and sloped off towards Kendra. The rest of the little ‘uns joined him and stood behind her. I gulped and Eadgard nodded to Brennus, then both males turned and headed towards the entrance. I looked over my shoulder at Kendra and the others and gave them a grin. They did not return my smile. Too a-feared and unable to hide it, they just stared all blank-like at the dreaded building. With a fast-beat heart, I followed Eadgard and Brennus to the pyramid door.

It was open.

The brave males stopped at the threshold. I stood between them and stared through the gap. It was black as a crow’s wing inside and I could not see very much, except for dark lumpy shapes strewn on the floor. Eadgard put his finger to his lips and stepped all cautious like inside.

Brennus followed and so did I, clutching the device in my hand. I lingered by the entrance wall, remembering how Esme had stroked it and provided us with illumination. I swiped my palm along and down it, and on came a bright light revealing a scene of brutal skirmishing.

The blobs that I had seen from outside were broken and bloodied bodies, mainly of Agros, but young ‘uns too and insurgents from all quarters. My fingers twitched around the weapon disarmer I held in my palm. I hurried to stand next to Brennus and Eadgard, who had come to an abrupt halt by the spiral staircase. They looked up and I followed their gaze. The hatch was ajar and the room above dark. Upon the steps, Agro guards lay, twisted and torn. My mouth went dry as I opened my lips and called, “Wirt?”

There came a shuffling sound from behind and I quickly turned. My friend appeared from behind one of the large grain containers. He limped towards us, his face and arms streaked with blood. He held Aiken’s cudgel in both hands and swung it before him as if swatting at gnats. I rushed to greet him, but it was as if he did not see me. He stopped by a fallen Agro and began to stomp upon his chest.

“Wirt?” I said and touched him on the shoulder.

He ceased his foot ramming’s, looked at me without recognition for a sec, then said, “What are ye all waiting for? Kill them all!”

I stared at his contorted mouth and angry eyes, and for a moment could not see my comrade behind this mask of hate. “Wirt?”

“For the Greenman’s sake, attack. Attack now!” He pushed past me and ran to where Brennus and Eadgard stood. He grabbed our Backpacker friend by the wrist. “Kill them. Come on, ye must kill them.”

Eadgard let my battle weary friend drag him a few paces, then he stopped. Wirt pulled and pulled but when Eadgard refused to budge, he let him go. Letting the club dangle from his left hand, he gripped onto his hair with the other and turned to me. “They are relentless and brutal. Ye song, the one that made us forget our past and present, it ceased working and we began to remember. Those that helped us hide the kiddles, turned on them. They have slain some young ‘uns. Why do ye stand and do nowt? Kill them before they come to their senses.”

“Wirt, they are quite dead, ” I said and reached for his hand. He stepped back and held Aiken’s cudgel above his head.

“If ye will not do what must be done, then I will.” He ran to the stairs and began to smash down on skull after skull.

“Stop him. He has lost all sense.”

“Nay, lassie. I’ll not stop him. Leave him be. He’ll soon tire.” Brennus walked all calm like over to Wirt, who was indeed beginning to slow his swipes.

Turning from the sight of bone and brain that splattered the floors and walls, I saw shadows at the entrance. Kendra and the others entered. They stared at the bodies on the ground. I held up my hands to prevent them coming nearer and witnessing the gruesome spectacle of Wirt on the staircase.

Kendra gleaned that something was wrong and shushed the kiddles away to the side of a grain storer. Eadgard went to them and I turned back to see Brennus take the club from a weeping Wirt, and lead him away from the steps. He slumped to the ground, his head in his hands. I knelt beside him and between his sobs, heard a clang of feet on metal.

I stood and saw a Meek walking all wobble-like down the stairs. He was covered in red and gore and headed over to me. He crouched next to us, took my hand and pointed at Wirt. “Nuncle Wirty saved us. With the man, he called Aiken. They kicked out rungs of the stairs so that the meanies below could not climb up. But some did, so he gave us bits of metal and we shoved them into flesh again and again.”

I felt the little ‘un’s hand tremble.

“Where are the others?”

The Meek tilted his chin ceiling-wards. “Up there, with Aiken, and some other ‘dults.” The kiddle screwed up his eyes and I felt as though I had swallowed a stone.

Brennus squatted beside me, handed me the club and took the little ’un’s hands in his. I saw a look of tenderness in his eyes that seemed to calm the Meek, for he let the big male pull him close and pick him up. “Come wi me laddie.”

“Cenwig,” the kiddle said.

“Come wi me, Cenwig. I know a lass that has a magic stick. She’ll make ye all better,” he said and carried the Meek to Hildegunnr.

I reached down and touched Wirt on the head. He looked up and wiped his face, then stood. He stared around the room as if he had not seen it before, rubbed his cheeks and said, “These guards, not so many, but enough to do much harm. I tried, Aiken tried, the others too, before they remembered who they were. I thought we’d prevail, but…” his voice went all-high and he stopped.

“Just guards,” I said and let my mind go back to what I saw on the medi-lab comps. “Pratt showed us images of many Agros storming this place. We saw huge explosions and the like and thought to find much scenes of battle. The Agros were messing with our noggins, for these are clearly not soldiers.”

Wirt frowned and gestured to the lifeless bods that lay around. I swallowed and saw his gentle features coarsen. He bent close and whispered, “They killed kiddles.”

I thought that he was crying again, for I heard the sound of sniffing. Wirt swung around and raced to the staircase. “Why do we stand like dead trees as if nowt can be done? Are ye made of bark? Are ye out of all senses? Alive! Do ye see? Hey! Here, come quick,” he said and waved to Eadgard and the others.

Brennus arrived first, then Eadgard, Kendra and Hildegunnr. I stepped onto the rung where Wirt stood and lifted my head. A pair of wide eyes stared at me from the open hatch at the top. I recognised the face that peered down, Elita, Marcellus’s sis. I gave a great gasp and leapt up the stairs, closely followed by the others. I reached the opening and paused. Elita lowered her gaze.

“Do not come in.”

“Do not be afraid,” I said and held out my hand. She backed away at the sight of the bloodied stick I held at my side and became lost in the blackness of the room. I turned and handed the thing to Eadgard, who passed it back to Wirt. My friend clasped onto it. I looked up to the opening but saw nowt.

“I have a light stick in my leg pocket,” Eadgard said. I felt his breath on my hair and despite its warmth, goose bumps pip-popped all over my flesh.

The light wand made a fizzing sound and all became bright. Eadgard held up the stick and gently pushed me to one side. He climbed up the last few remaining steps and entered the room above. I put Deogol’s device in my pants pocket. It did not fit so well, so I squiggled it about a bit until it lay against my thigh without bulging, then I placed my hand on the rung, ready to follow.

I did not get far.

Eadgard appeared at the hatch, face pale and hands shaking. “Let Brennus through.”

“Eh? What?”

Brennus did not wait for an answer. He climbed up the steps and I did too.

Eadgard raised his hand. “Wait, Adara, do not come in.”

The Woodsmale stormed past me and I followed him all quick like, but Eadgard held his palms up to stay my progress. I slapped his paws away and pushed myself up and through the hatch.

The light stick lay on the ground next to the opening and shed a shivering light around the room. Shadows inched up the walls and scuttled across the floor as if looking for a means of escape. I put my hand to my mouth and nose to smother the stench of fresh blood, and saw Brennus standing in the right hand corner, his fists against his temples.

Elita, and Lucus clutched onto one another and squatted on the floor. Nuncio stood over them, head bent, hands hanging limply by his side. Around them lay bits of bodies all hacked and sliced so, that I could not tell what was leg or arm or foot or hand. I turned to Eadgard. He licked his lips and nodded to the back of the room.

Aiken, or what was left of him was propped against the wall. The left side of his head smashed to a pulp, his limbs severed. A Meek lay across his stomach, a metal pipe thrust through his back.

“We told you not to come in,” Elita said, and began to rock her brother like a bub.

Chapter Twenty

Agro Army

“Brennus, get them out of this place,” Eadgard said.

The big ‘dult did not move.

“Brennus?” Eadgard walked to him, stepping over flesh and bone. I knelt by Elita and Lucus. Nuncio squatted too and huddled close to his kin. I put my arm around the shaking kiddles, turned my head to the hatch and saw Kendra pull herself through. She stopped dead and clasped her hands over her mouth. I put a finger to my lips and she blinked slowly.

“Brennus, come, we must leave,” Eadgard said and touched the Woodsfolk male on the shoulder. He jumped as if bitten by a wolfpup.

He pointed to a Meek lying on his side. “The laddie, look. Still has a club in his hand.”

“Stillman?”

“Aye.”

Kendra stepped between the bod parts and stooped over Brennus’s kin. She bent low and put her ear to his chest. “There is yet life in this little ‘un.”

The Nearlyman leader fell to his knees and put his fingers to the kiddles throat. “A pulse,” he said, picked up a limp Stallman and carried him to the hatch. He looked below and called out, “Hey, Wirt, ye cuz remains. Gae us a hand.”

Wirt’s head appeared in the opening. He stuffed Aiken’s club under his armpit and lifted his arms towards the sickly young ‘un. Brennus carefully handed the kiddle to him, and my friend retreated down the steps. Followed quickly by Brennus, who brushed past folk as though all of us in the room no longer existed.

Kendra took Eadgard’s hand and pressed it against her cheek. He looked into her eyes for a sec then pulled away. She sniffed, then walked about the room, stooping now and then to check for signs of life on those that were intact.

“Adara, bring the little ‘uns,” Eadgard said.

Without hesitation, I stood and helped Elita, Lucus and Nuncio to their feet. They were wobble legged and seemed not to know what to do next. Eadgard stood by the hatch and held out his hands. Nuncio and Lucus grabbed a mitt each and he picked them up. Elita shook free of my embrace and walked to the opening.

The light stick that lay next to it, fizzled then went out. A shaft of light from the room below shone onto their faces making them appear as white and lifeless as the corpses on the floor.

“You go first, Adara, I’ll hand you the bubs.”

“We not bubs. We Clonies. Put bros on floor,” Elita said.

Nuncio and Lucus wriggled out of Eadgard’s arms and their sis took their hands. She pushed them to the hatch and they slowly lowered themselves through it. Elita took one last look around and grabbed either side of the portal. She sat at the rim, looked down for a sec, placed her feet on the rungs and clomped heavily down the steps.