Ifonsa fired.

Too late.

Her arrow struck the goblin in the eye, downing it, but not before it had loosed its own missile.  Ganthe fell, as the arrow struck him in the back.

“HUYkórhir,” Falduin spoke, and all three of the goblins burst into flame.  

Their screams rang out into the night as the two living ones threw themselves on the ground in an effort to extinguish the fire, but all that did was ignite the waters around them. There was a loud woof as the gases also caught, sending a jet of purplish-red flame bursting into the air.  That silenced the goblins and stilled their movements.  Yet their bodies continued to burn, offering a ghostly light with which to see.

Near the mound, Lera tended to Ganthe, while both Heric and Tegalie stood guard over them.

“Come on,” Falduin prompted.  Ifonsa realised she had stopped to watch the goblins burn.  She found the flickering flames so pretty. 

Falduin guided her towards the others.

 

Heric tensed.

A large figure appeared out the darkness, moving toward them.  The light offered by the flames did nothing to allow Heric to properly identify it.

“Who goes?” Heric called.

“It’s just us,” Falduin said, and Heric realised what he was seeing.  Ifonsa leant heavily on Falduin as they hobbled toward the ridge.

Heric raced over to help.  “What happened?” Heric asked, assisting Falduin to carry the Warden.

“I don’t know,” Falduin said, “The blast affected her badly.  There are more goblins behind.”

“Frileah is just over the ridge,” Heric reassured him.

“No.” Ganthe cried out.  He gasped for a breath. It came out as a terrible wheeze.  Then he said, “They’re all around us.”

“Teg, Lera.  Carry Ganthe to the top of the ridge.” Heric snapped.  “We’re going to make our stand here.”

They all moved, nobody needed to be convinced.  As Lera and Tegalie carried Ganthe,  Heric and Falduin helped Ifonsa to the top of the mound.

“Why here?” Falduin asked.

“Because there is no better place,” Heric said. “Sir Helmund made his stand here,” Heric explained as he lowered Ifonsa to the ground. “Except where he had darkness for his protection, we shall have light.  Can you create a shield again?  To protect us all?”

“No.  I haven’t the strength.  But I might have something almost as good.”

Heric smiled grimly as Falduin explained.

 

Tegalie shivered.

She watched wide-eyed as Ganthe’s blood leaked from between her fingers as she pushed down on the wounds.  It formed long trails down Ganthe’s back, like dark rivers across a plain.  The light from the pools of sulphurous liquid they had set afire made the streaks appear quivering and fiendish.

Tegalie’s mind was a whirl, her emotions threatening to erupt.  She feared losing someone else close to her.  She feared what the goblins would do once they arrived.

Her gaze went to Lera, Just looking at her, Tegalie would never have guessed that Lera was trying to save the life of a dear friend, while her own demise closed in.  The Priestess calmly chanted as she folded the bandage in her hands.  

Lera had already carefully removed the arrows.  Ganthe’s armour had  prevented the heads from penetrating far.  Certainly without the leather jerkin, Ganthe would be dead.  Even so Ganthe was just barely alive.  He had passed out from the pain, his breathing ragged. Yet he still clasped both his knives tightly in his hands.  They hadn’t found a way to remove them without hurting him.

“Up,” Lera said, and Tegalie removed her hands.  Blood pooled out of the wounds, widening the rivers down Ganthe’s back. Lera quickly placed the wadded bandage  over the injured area.  ‘Press,” she said.  Tegalie placed her hands over the bandage and applied pressure upon it.  Lera prepared more bandages to hold the wadding in place as she chanted quietly.

Meanwhile, Falduin busied himself at the base of the hill, carving a groove in the dirt with his sword.  Tegalie had no idea what he planned, but Heric seemed especially enthusiastic.  Their captain patrolled nearby, at the top of the rise, keeping guard.

There were several goblins out there, watching them, Tegalie couldn’t see them.  She could barely see beyond the small ring of the light the fiery pools cast, only just illuminating the mound itself.

Ifonsa too kept watch, her bow ready.  She perched atop a large rock at the centre of the ridge.  Tegalie saw that something wasn’t quite right about the Warden.  She had lost the sharpness of the eye she usually had.  The sharpness of the tongue as well.  She remained silent, as though mute.  She stood, gazing out into the night, but as though she couldn’t see what was happening right before her.

  “Up,” Lera said, and Tegalie lifted her hands.  Lera placed the bandage upon the wadding and together the two of them unwound it so that it securely bound the wound.

Lera rose to her feet.

“Will he...?” Tegalie began.

“Live?” Lera answered.  “Only if we somehow survive.  He may be the last of us to die though.”

 

Falduin dug.

When finished, the circle would completely surround the hill they were trapped upon.  He gouged the dirt, acutely aware that goblins were observing his every effort.  There might be as many as a dozen hidden just out of Ifonsa’s bow shot.  

A few had strayed too close, and paid with their lives.  Despite her daze, Ifonsa still was a potent weapon.  So the goblins remained in the darkness, just watching them as they prepared for the terrible onslaught Falduin knew was to come.

Initially Falduin had burrowed haphazardly, as fast as he was able, fearing an attack at any moment.  However, once he completed the first quarter or so, he realised that goblins were just there to keep them from escaping.  If they wanted him and the rest dead, they would have assaulted the hill.  It would be an easy matter to conquer him and his companions in their present state.  They were all fatigued and distracted.

Falduin suspected that these outriders had been sent well ahead of the main force. Their mission was surround and slow them, so the Falduin and his companions couldn’t escape.  More likely, so Tegalie couldn’t escape, he thought.  She was their prize, although Falduin didn’t know or understand why.

As for the rest of the goblins, a worrying number had survived the blast.  He had seen their silhouettes against the flames, picking their way through the conflagration.  Something else had survived too.  Before he and Ifonsa had fled, he had witnessed a dark cloud pushing through the burning landscape.

After completing that first quarter without an assault, Falduin became more diligent.  He carefully crafted the furrow, making certain it was both deep and wide enough.  He even redid the first quarter again, just to be certain.  Eventually it was completed.  

As he climbed the hill to obtain a better perspective, Lera met him.

“How’s Ganthe?” he asked her.

“Not well,” she replied.

He nodded sadly.

She held his gaze, then said, “There are things I wished to say-“

“Then keep them,” he told her. “ We can talk about it later.”

“There will be no later.”

“Have faith.”

Lera nodded, her eyes downcast.

Falduin kissed her on the forehead.  “I have a gift for you.”

“That ghastly-looking blanket didn’t survive, did it?” Lera asked.

Falduin laughed, “No.”  He glanced eastward.  A small number of red and orange points shown out from the blackness.  Torches, still far away, but drawing nearer. 

He smiled at Lera.  “I think we have more than enough time for a brew, don’t you?”

 

 Lera sighed.

She couldn’t work out what was wrong with Ifonsa.  It might have been because she could barely stay awake.  Or it could be because Ifonsa’s injury was beyond her power.  What little strength and ability had been spent doing what she could to save Ganthe.  If she was honest, she didn’t hold much hope there either.

It took a considerable time, and many attempts, to properly examine Ifonsa.  The Warden was heavily distracted, and would leap from her rock, ready to fire her bow, at the slightest provocation. Once she leapt away, and fired, almost without looking.  There was a cry in the darkness, as her arrow struck true.  Then Ifonsa returned to her perch, and crouched down as if nothing had happened.

Yet, try as she might, Lera couldn’t entice any words from her friend.  Ifonsa refused to or couldn’t speak.

Ultimately, Lera felt it was better to leave Ifonsa alone.  She was like some mechanism of war, a catapult or siege weapon.  Deadly, but lacking any emotion or thought.

They didn’t have much water left between them, but there was enough to almost fill the small brazier.  Falduin had set it atop one of the holes they used for light.  

By the time, Lera had finished with Ifonsa, the water was just boiling.  She carefully removed the vessel from the heat, setting it in a hole she had made in the dirt.  

Lera examined Falduin’s gifts.  The cottonweed leaves had curled up, lacking any vigour or odour.  She wished she could have asked Ifonsa how the other wardens prepared them. She added the leaves to the water, and allowed them to steep. 

 

“How is he?” Lera asked Tegalie, moving over to join her.

“I think he is sleeping,”  Tegalie answered.

They had made Ganthe as comfortable as they could manage, which wasn’t much.  They had placed him on his front and covered him with his own and Lera’s cloaks.  Even damp they was better than nothing.

“What’s that?” Tegalie asked.

Lera cupped a small wooden bowl in her hands.  “Cottonweed tea,” she said, “Try.  It’s quite bland.”

“It’s too late.”

Lera held out the bowl.  “It’s never too late. “

Tegalie took the bowl and sipped.  She made a face, “It’s bitter,”  but she took another mouthful.

“Bland.  Bitter.  I always get those too mixed up” Lera said, “Now you know why I never was chosen for kitchen duty at the convent.”

“How do you remain so jovial at a time like this?”

“See that man over there?” Lera said pointing.

“Falduin or Heric?”

Falduin and Heric were discussing something.   Lera couldn’t hear what they were saying.

“Falduin.  Do you know what he once told me?”

“What?”

“That if events ever got especially bad he would use his magic to run away.  That he just needed to be faster than me.”

“What a bounder!”

“But he’s still here,” Lera turned back to Tegalie. “So it cant be that bad.”

“Will you bless me please, Holy Mother?” Tegalie asked.

“I will.  I think all of use could use a little divine providence right now.”

 

“I don’t even believe in your god,” Falduin protested.

“That doesn’t matter,” Lera said.

“It does to me.  What if I die and find Baná  or even Áúwúr judging me?  I’d feel pretty stupid.”

“So you do believe in The Gods, just not my god?”

“No.  I don’t.  I think they’re all completely made up.”

“Then it doesn’t matter then, does it?”

Falduin shrugged.

  “Were you planning on doing anything else?”  Lera asked.

“It might be a good idea to keep an eye out while everyone else is praying.”

“That’s what Ifonsa is for.”

Falduin glanced over to where the Warden stood.  She gazed out at the night.  She still hadn’t said a word since the blast had knocked her practically senseless.

“What about Ganthe?” Falduin asked, glancing over to the bundle of cloaks covering his friend.

“He’s resting.”

“If it will please you, then I will take part,” Falduin said, “It doesn’t hurt does it?”

“It’s excruciating,” Lera said, grinning, “Especially the part where I absolve you of all your sins so you can enter the Heavens.”

“I’m not going to the Heavens.”

“Because you don’t believe in them.”

“No...yes, but also no.  Some sins are unforgivable.  Even for a Sister of Axiom.”

 They held each other’s gaze for a long time, something passed between them, a hint, a vision...then Lera nodded.

“Let’s try anyway,” Lera said with a wry smile.

As Lera said prayers over Falduin, Heric and Tegalie, a  scattering of torches appeared on the Eastern horizon.  They steadily drew closer.