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“How’s it going? What’s the ETA?” Aaron whispered.
We were all crouched down by a small side gate Volken would obviously use if they needed to get out of the city quickly.
“When it's done!” Jack hissed back. “Haven't exactly got the best equipment here!”
We’d searched the outer limits for pieces of metal we could use as lock picks, but as the Volken didn’t have a heavy industry sector, it was few and far between. Jack used the bit of wire and a broken knife as best he could, but…
“We need to get in and out before the vigil ends,” Finn said. “It’s the only way we’re getting out of here unscathed.”
“If only spectacular logic like that worked on inanimate objects,” Jack said between gritted teeth. Something groaned inside the lock, sounding like it was starting to move.
“Here.”
We all jumped ten feet to see Tsarra standing beside us with a large rusted key in her hand.
“Mother, I asked you to run,” Sylvan hissed.
“There is no running from this.” She placed the key on his palm and then turned and shuffled back down the hill to her home, I assumed.
I didn’t get Tsarra. I didn’t know what she did, she just seemed to haunt her house like some kind of ghost, but then I thought of the girls who were raped repeatedly in the banquet hall. Is that where Sylvan came from? I thought of them, and of Kerin, Lian’s daughter, who had killed her children. This was a city full of brutalised mothers and motherless children. I looked up at the dull grey sky, clouds forming a uniformly gloomy backdrop for what was undoubtedly going to be a shithouse day.
“D’ya reckon zombie mum could have given us this before I wore my fingers ragged?” Jack asked, inserting the key and turning it. It took a bit of a wiggle, but the door ended up swinging open.
“Shut up, Jack,” Sylvan said.
“Ooh, now the seer’s telling me to shut up,” Jack said with a grin. “Life goals achieved. Can we fuck off back to the portal now and go home to a life of luxury and debauchery?”
“We’re doing this,” Hawk said grimly.
Jack looked at him, lips pursed, then over at me. He took both our hands and shook his head. “Self-sacrifice and impending doom it is, then.”
We paused to look over the houses closest to us, the doors hanging open, goods scattered everywhere. And silence—overwhelming, suffocating silence. Aaron signalled for us to follow him down one of the narrow alleyways that ran along the big retaining wall. We’d worked out it would make us the least visible, in case any Volken had been left to roam around. The ground rumbled under our feet as we did so, resulting in the lot of us freezing until it passed. When everything stilled again, Aaron waved everyone forward.
“I’ll find you, if they take us down,” Jack whispered as we walked, carefully, softly. Aaron had padded our shoes last night with strips of cloth to muffle our footsteps and leave fewer tracks.
“What?” Hawk said.
“Some say we come back after we die, that our Tirian carries us through death and into life again. If we do, I’ll find you two again. I’ll always look for you two.”
I paused for a second, looking at Hawk, and he nodded. We both leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on each of his cheeks.
“Shut up, Jack,” I said gently, and he did.
Our caution was understandable, but not needed. The streets were completely empty, even when we slipped inside the side door to the kitchen.
“They go down to Lonan’s cavern for a vigil at the start of the Great Rite,” Sylvan said. “It’s a mark of respect and trust, to step into the cave and prostrate themselves before the Great Wolf. To walk out uneaten is seen to be an endorsement of what the Volken do. The crystals are brought down to Lonan directly and play two parts. One, they strengthen the links between the Great Wolf and the Volken. That interlocking mesh of red light you described from the banquet, that happens. It recharges the crystals, but it also acts as a direct link to Lonan. As they rampage, everything they destroy fuels Lonan, who funnels some of that excess power to the Volken. They will spread out throughout the surrounding areas and drag back the next lot of people, subjugate them, and then rebuild the city. Though apparently, they have to go farther now, since the nearer settlements have been
abandoned.”
“And the women?” Aaron said.
Arelia turned to look at the children around the table. “Girls, go in the schoolroom and play. We’ll be there soon.” The women shifted in their seats as her voice grew flatter and more precise, but the children got to their feet and did as they were told, a few taking Kerin’s daughter in hand to get her to move. When she saw they had closed the door, she turned to face the lot of us.
“I survived the last Rite by my mother shoving me in a cupboard.” Her finger rolled a stray crumb around on the tablecloth. “We’re their possessions, bred to make more of them. Sometimes we’re part of the destruction.” She said the words without flinching, which somehow made it worse. “We’re locked down here, and the keys are apparently easy to access. Our father would never step in, and we can’t get away. We’re easy pickings. It’s why there’s no older women here.”
Silence settled over the room.
“So, it's agreed, the vigil is the only vulnerable period,” Aaron said, finally. “It goes for several hours?”
