Bray nodded. He searched the takwich’s body and found the keys for the handcuffs. “You’re Elora’s uncle.” It was a statement, not a question. The fact that he resembled her brought a fresh jolt of heartache.
Nathanial’s shoulders seemed to relax. “You have her, is she safe?”
Bray clenched his teeth and willed the emotion from his voice. “Climb in the front,” he ordered, climbing into the front himself and taking hold of the reins.
From the alley beside him, a large black reptile padded out on webbed feet. A limp tom cat hanging between sharp teeth, blood dripping from the end of its ginger tail. Its head bounced as the adult plugrin scurried away with its prize in its jaws.
“We need to get out of the city,” Bray said as Nathaniel sat beside him. He snapped the reins and got the horses into motion.
Chapter 14
Drink a Spirit to Trap a Spirit
Elora shifted uncomfortably in her saddle but no matter how she positioned her legs or bottom, she managed to find a sore spot. At least her mount had stopped trying to bite Diagus’s horse; her Gypsy Vanner had a temper almost as bad as her own. Her ears seemed to be permanently pulled back, eyes bright and alert, waiting for any opportunity to bite the heavy-set cobs Diagus and Otholo rode.
“Your arse sore, girl?” asked the Shadojak, whose mood seemed to lift as they began to ride although it was still a long way from being happy. “Give it another hour and it will go numb.”
They’d been riding all afternoon, steel shoes clip clipping against the tarmac of a dual carriageway that led away from the vale of York, yet it seemed an age ago that she had first mounted her horse. Intimidated by the mare at first, as it bit her when she first put her foot in the stirrup, she asked to swap with Otholo whose grey cob, like the Shadojak’s, seemed calm and amiable.
“No, sorry Elora. The dealer said that your mare didn’t like men riding her,” said Otholo, who looked amused.
“She doesn’t want me riding her either,” she replied, pulling her arm away and narrowly avoiding another bite. She lost her temper then and tapped her horse on the end of its nose.
“Quit it or I’m going to bite a chunk off your own stupid ear!” she growled, glaring at the mare and baring her teeth. Otholo was laughing behind her, she turned to him about to give him a piece of her mind when he saw her face and laughed louder.
“You suit each other. Give Daisy a carrot and make friends,” he said through sniggers.
Elora snatched the carrot he offered and turned back to the mare. She was the best looking of the three with a long flowing white mane and tail. Large chocolate brown patches on her white body and another over half of her face covering one of her eyes. She would have had a handsome face if she wasn’t screwing it up in anger all the time.
She held the point of the carrot to the horse’s mouth but pulled away when she opened it. “We can be friends Daisy.” She kept her tone soft, keeping eye contact and allowed it a nibble. “Don’t show me up in front of them.” Again, another nibble. “Now I’m going to climb on your back and you’re going to be a good girl.” She gave it the rest of the carrot, took a deep breath and put one foot in the stirrup and hauled herself up.
Daisy turned her head to bite, baring her teeth over Elora’s leg, but before the mare had time to bite down, Elora leant forwards in the saddle and sunk her teeth into the horse’s neck. Daisy whinnied and reared up yet Elora held fast, keeping her teeth firmly planted but not biting so hard as to draw blood - the taste of horse was bad enough.
Hooves slammed back onto the ground, the mare snorting loudly through flared nostrils. Elora increased pressure on her teeth before letting go then glared at the horse as it turned its head as if ready to bite again.
This time she pulled back, stamping a hoof in frustration and whinnied once again but Elora thought she had gotten the message.
On the journey since, she thought the two of them had come to an understanding, albeit reluctantly.
The dual carriageway seemed to go on forever. Stretching out into the distance, cars and trucks were left abandoned with just enough space for them to weave through. For the first few miles she noticed that the majority of people stayed with their vehicles, waiting for the authorities to come and fix the problem. But the further on they travelled the steadier the flow of people, ambling down the hard shoulder; growing until there were more people walking than staying in cars.
“Like sheep,” remarked Otholo. “It only takes a few bright individuals to realise that nobody is coming to help and that they need to fend for themselves. But once people notice that others are joining the ones walking, they’ll follow on like sheep.”
Elora found that Otholo was right. The further they rode the more people walking towards them, until they reached a point where the number of people on the road began to dwindle until only a rare few still sat in vehicles. This seemed to be the very old or immobile, watching them ride past and wondering what to make of three horses riding the wrong way along what should be a busy road.
“We should help them,” suggested Elora, after seeing an elderly man, reclined back in his driver’s seat, mouth wide open and snoring loudly.
“No, we keep moving,” replied Diagus.
“It will start to get dark soon. How are those people going to get home?” she asked, annoyed at the Shadojak’s lack of compassion.
“What would you do, give them your horse? Carry them back to York? Then what? Help the next person, then the next?” He gestured with his arm to the world in general. “One leviathan rid this entire country of electricity, power, communications. With sixteen of them your father has plunged Earth back into the dark ages. You can’t help any one person, but you can try and save them all. And the longer we delay, the worse it will get.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, forcing herself to look away from the elderly man.
“They’ll band together to start with. Community spirit and all that. Help each other out. But after a few days with no electricity, no running water, and they’ll start to look out for themselves. Even if the authorities, the police, the army, had sufficient resources to help the population, do you think that they would just sit at home waiting? No, it’s not in their nature. Panic will set in soon enough, they’ll be no control and they will turn on each other. So, you may save a handful of them today, maybe tomorrow, but you can’t save them all one at a time. You want to help the old man, best thing you could do for him is run that pretty dagger of yours across his throat. Better to die in your sleep than have days of suffering and die anyway.”
Elora stared into his back, mulling his words over. No doubt he was right. But that didn’t stop her feeling terrible over it. Especially since it was her father, Solarius, that was the cause.
Night came on swiftly and with no lights it seemed a darker night. Elora followed Diagus as he left the road, leading his horse across an empty field. She kept far enough back so that Daisy wouldn’t bite his cob’s rump. He led them through another field, then up a small hillock to a copse of trees that stood black against the dimming sky.
“We’re stopping here for the night?” asked Otholo, who’d turned his nose up as if experiencing a bad smell.
“If it’s not to your liking you can take your pampered peacocks arse somewhere else,” said Diagus as he dismounted and tethered his cob to a tree.
Elora climbed down, her legs feeling like jelly from the day’s ride and began to tie her reins to a tree.
“No, leave them to graze. They won’t go far and there’s a stream at the bottom of this hill they can drink from. I’m going to the next town to get some supplies. You two stay here and get some sleep.”
Otholo looked about, his face pinched, “How delightful,” he said, but dismounted and removed his saddle from his horse. Elora did the same, smiling as Daisy sped off.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” said the Shadojak, glancing down at Elora’s trainers. “What size feet are you?”
“Six, why?”
“You’re going to need a pair of boots. Those things won’t last.” He nodded towards her footwear, then glanced down at Otholo’s feet and shook his head, making a tssk sound through his teeth.
“Don’t think you’re going to be choosing me any boots,” said Otholo, scowling at him. “I’ve seen your dress sense and I find it lacking my rich qualities.”
