The Shadowmagic Trilogy. John Lenahan

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СКАЧАТЬ it was a hazel tree. It didn’t have a thick trunk like an oak, it had hundreds of thinner branches coming out of the ground. Over the ages the branches were trained and bent into a living chair. On the day a student left the Hall of Knowledge, he or she would sit in the tree for a leaving ceremony. The student would receive and eat a hazelnut from the tree. It would ensure that the student would never forget what was learned here.’

      ‘Wow, it sounds like a heck of a tree.’

      She looked me in the eyes – hers were wet. ‘Your grandfather died trying to defend it – so did my brother.’

      Her eyelids could hold back the tears no longer. I reached for her and she collapsed in my arms, shaking with sobs. I cried a bit too. Together we mourned a grandfather I had never known and a brother that she would always remember with the emotions of a little girl.

      I don’t know how long we knelt there. Being brave only postpones the inevitable – sooner or later you have to mourn your dead with all of your being, and that was what Essa was finally doing. When her sobs subsided, I picked up my staff and used it as support to help us both to our feet. The hazel staff slid into the ground like it was sand and then stuck there. Essa stumbled. I let go of the stick and held her with both arms. She leaned on me until we cleared the courtyard, then she stopped, wiped her eyes and put on her brave face before we joined the others. I forgot all about my staff.

      Essa was fine the next morning. We exchanged knowing glances at breakfast. After that, nothing was said. We packed our horses. Acorn had gotten used to the place and was his old self again. Lorcan rode with us to the end of the castle’s lands. As we said our goodbyes, I remembered that I had left my staff in the courtyard. Lorcan gave me his blackthorn banta and promised to look after my hazel stick until I returned.

      Before he rode off, Lorcan said, ‘The Reedlands are more treacherous now than ever before.’

      ‘Who said we are going to the Reedlands?’ Araf said.

      ‘There is nothing else in the direction you go. It is a bad place. This land may be dead, but that place is foul. The last two scouts I sent there have not returned. Be careful.’

      I was looking forward to getting out of the Hazellands. I needed to see something growing again. I promised myself that I would hug the next living plant I saw. It was a promise I did not keep. If I had hugged the first living plant I saw – it probably would have killed me.

FIFTEEN

      THE REEDLANDS

      I could see the border of the Fililands a mile away. The sight of green in the distance made us all quicken our pace. I couldn’t wait to be among living, breathing plants again. I fantasised about galloping straight into the forest. Thank God I didn’t. As we approached I saw that the woods were sealed off by a tall, dark hedge. Huge blackthorn trees stretched for as far as the eye could see, and these weren’t the kind of thorns that gave you inconvenient scratches – one look at the forearm-length, needle-sharp thorns was enough to make me realise we were not getting into the forest from here. I remembered once seeing razor-wire on top of a fence at an airport. It was barbed wire with razorblades stuck in it. It was the nastiest barrier I had ever seen – not any more.

      ‘My gods!’ Fergal said. ‘Don’t tell me we’re going in here.’

      ‘That is where we are going,’ Essa said, ‘but not through there.’

      ‘Is this the Fililands?’

      ‘Yes, Ona sealed it off with the blackthorns after the Fili war.’

      ‘Do we have to go around? Can’t we hack our way through?’ I said.

      ‘You would be dead before your sword touched them. They can fire those thorns.’

      ‘How about if I asked nicely?’

      ‘Go ahead,’ she said, with a knowing smile I didn’t like.

      I dismounted. I had gotten pretty good at getting on and off Acorn – I wasn’t Robin Hood or anything but I didn’t look like a giraffe on an escalator any more. As I approached the blackthorns I could hear the wood creaking as they pointed their very sharp thorns at me. I instantly felt this was a bad idea. I found one place where I could reach through the thorns and touch a branch. Before I could say a thing a command shot straight into my brain. ‘You have until the count of ten to back off and go away!’ the plant told me.

      ‘But my mom is in there.’ As soon as I said that I realised how pathetic it sounded.

      ‘Five.’

      ‘But …’

      ‘Three … two …’

      I backed off fast. This bush was not one for negotiation. I looked up and saw my three companions smiling at me. I straightened my shirt and regained a little composure. ‘He said that he would let me through but not you guys, so I thought I might as well stay with the group.’

      ‘How nice of you,’ Essa said.

      We travelled north along the thorn wall. On the other side of the spikes we could hear sounds of life – birds chirping and an occasional running deer. When a breeze came from the east, we were blessed with fresh, plant-cleansed air that was scented with wildflowers. It made me hate this living barbed-wire fence even more.

      I fell in next to Fergal, who was quieter than usual. I asked him what was bothering him.

      ‘It’s the way Lorcan said Banshee – hell, it’s the way everyone feels about Banshees, like we’re scum.’

      ‘Why is that?’

      ‘Oh, I don’t know. I was raised by Imps, remember? I guess it’s because people are afraid of us. Banshees are the undertakers in The Land and nobody likes death. More than that it seems they can sense death approach, so every time someone sees a Banshee they think they are going to die.’

      ‘Can you do that?’

      ‘Sometimes I think I can, but I never learned all of that Banshee magic stuff.’

      ‘I can see how that would make you guys a bit spooky.’

      ‘It’s also what makes us – them, such good warriors. Banshee armies can sense if an enemy will die, they almost know if they will win a battle before it begins.’

      ‘So Banshees are warriors?’

      ‘That’s their primary role, to defend the western shore from invasion.’

      ‘Men of war always make people nervous in peacetime,’ I said.

      ‘I guess.’

      ‘Well, I like you, Fergal, no matter what anybody says.’

      That brought a smile that seemed to bring him out of his funk. He babbled on for the rest of the afternoon. I almost regretted cheering СКАЧАТЬ