CHAPTER TWENTY
Phoenix hesitated, looking back at the battle. He wasn’t going to abandon the Druids to their deaths. They were vastly outnumbered and carried blunt weapons against a field of swords, arrows and pila. They wouldn’t last ten minutes.
Even as he reached for his sword, a flash of light and a loud crack echoed across the plain. After a moment of stillness, two of the enormous outer Sarsen stones toppled outward in frightful slow motion. When they and their lintel stone struck the ground, it was like an earthquake. The shock wave smacked into Phoenix’s chest and shook the earth beneath his feet. Everyone staggered. There was a brief hiatus in the fighting as another stone teetered and those nearest stopped to judge its fall. With hoarse, warning yells, Romans and druids alike jostled to run from it.
Phoenix saw who was responsible – the same ancient druid who had performed the Spring rite stood atop the altar stone. He pointed at another Sarsen. Another flash of light exploded at the base and it, too toppled. The old druid clutched at his breast. With a choked cry, he collapsed on the altar. A Roman arrow protruded from his heart. The magic he had performed still took its toll. More massive standing stones fell, just like the Domino effect he and Marcus had caused earlier.
Stunned, Phoenix realised what he was seeing: he and Jade caused the destruction of Stonehenge. When it was over, there would be only seventeen of the thirty outer stones left standing.
A cry from his left drew his attention. Dewydd and a group of druids fought for their lives against a dozen Romans, with more coming up behind. Without a second thought, Phoenix raced toward them, drawing his sword and unslinging his shield in one smooth move. Uttering a wild, wordless shout, he sprang off a fallen stone and attacked the Romans from behind. Three quick slashes dropped three soldiers. A fourth man thrust wildly. Phoenix turned the gladius aside with his shield and slid his own blade underneath the overlapping armour plates on the man’s breast. The soldier gasped and sagged to his knees. Phoenix pulled the edge free and turned to face his next opponent, baring his teeth in a growl.
Marcus appeared by his side, ready again to fight with him. Phoenix grinned at him. The Roman nodded back.
Dewydd cracked a soldier over the head with calm efficiency, shoving the body into his sword-mates so they stumbled and tripped over each other. Phoenix reached his side and mock-saluted.
“Want some help?”
The druid frowned at him. “No! Get out of here. Get the Jewel and my brother through the portal.”
“No way.” Phoenix shook his head, ducking under a swinging sword and chopping at the arm that wielded it. “I’m not leaving you lot to die.”
“Noble but stupid,” Dewydd growled. “You have to leave us. Our whole task is to make sure the Jewel is kept out of Roman hands. If the Governor gets hold of it, not only Albion will fall but this entire world will be lost and yours as well. Leave. Now.”
Phoenix paused in mid-stroke, staring at the druid in astonishment. “My world? What? How...”
He didn’t get to finish the sentence. Another gladius descended toward his head and he had to focus on not being killed.
Dewydd grunted. “Look around. The day is lost whether you stay or go. You cannot change that but you can change your own destiny.”
Phoenix spared the rest of the field a glance. He was right. Everywhere the distinctive scarlet and leather Roman uniforms overwhelmed the paltry few brown-robed druids left standing. He despatched another soldier with ruthless anger. It wasn’t fair!
Brynn’s brother grabbed his arm. “You must go! Take the Jewel and get through the portal before it closes. If you miss it you won’t be able to leave until the Autumn solstice and that will be too late. Hurry, the Jewel is in danger. You must protect her.”
“Her?!” Phoenix looked wildly around.
The druid nodded toward the portal. Near it, Jade, Brynn and half a dozen druids fought valiantly. They formed a protective circle. In its centre, Phoenix caught a flash of red hair.
“Truda?” He blocked a dagger-strike and parried a pilum jabbed at Marcus’ back. “Truda is the jewel? Are you kidding me?”
He eyed the young red-headed girl with shock. Truda was the Jewel of Asgard? Whose idea was that? He’d expected a gemstone – something easy to carry. What the heck were they supposed to do with kid to coddle and babysit? Dammit.
A thunderous crack made him jump. From Dewydd’s hand shot a flare of greenish electricity. Roman soldiers flew through the air to land in broken, scarlet heaps, clearing a path back to Jade and the others. The druid laid a hand on Phoenix’s arm.
“I can only do that once. Go. Please. Take Brynn with you.”
Phoenix glanced at Marcus.
The Roman nodded solemnly. “You know I would fight with you to the death but the druid is right. We have to remember the end we all desire - Feng Zhudai.”
It was true. Staying here couldn’t be his decision alone. If he didn’t go, they’d all suffer the consequences of his choice. Phoenix had to do what was right for all of them and for both worlds, not just what he wanted.
With a growl of frustration, he turned away. Together, he and Marcus ran through the fallen, back to their companions. Jade cast him a look of pure relief and desperation.
“Let’s go then.” He had to yell over the noise of the battle; had to grit his teeth against the desire to fling himself headlong back into the fray.
As a group, they edged toward the shimmering portal. The remaining druids covered their retreat, falling and dying with Roman arrows quivering in their chests.
Phoenix raised his shield. More shafts thunked into the wood. He lowered it and chopped the ends off, glaring. It wouldn’t hurt to stay a little longer and take out just a few more of these guys, surely?
The choice was taken out of his hands. A large contingent of Roman soldiers swarmed through the remaining druids, encircling the Players and the few surviving Druids with frightening speed and efficiency.
They were cut off from the Door.
His hesitation had cost them the Game.
As fifty or more swords and pila pointed at their hearts, the deep sound of a horn whooped out thrice across the stone circle, echoing strangely among the rocks. Those Romans still fighting fell back to the perimeter stones and formed a solid barricade of armour and weapons. Inside the circle, bodies lay thick on the ground. The few remaining druids stumbled toward the portal, trying to regroup for the next attack.
There were no more attacks. The Roman soldiers simply stood, shoulder to shoulder, rank upon rank, waiting.
The five young travellers stood within a circle of steel, weapons drawn. Truda, they thrust into the middle of their own little defensive barrier, protecting her as best they could. The portal shimmered, just out of reach behind the Roman line surrounding them.
They waited - but not for long.
There was a stir amongst the Romans standing between two of the sarsen stones. They parted and let someone through. Marcus clenched his fists. Agricola strode arrogantly into the circle, scarlet cape billowing in the dawn breeze, hair still damp from Jade’s dousing. He glanced with indifference at the carnage before sending his son a cool smile. Picking his way between the bodies, the Roman Governor made his way up to the little group of survivors and stood, surveying them with calm hauteur.
“Give me the Jewel.” His pleasant voice was at odds with the scene around them. It sounded like he was politely requesting a drink at a bar.
“Come and get it,” Phoenix snarled.
Agricola shrugged. “Give me the Jewel and I will spare your lives.”
Phoenix raised his eyebrows at him, doubting every word. “Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
Agricola lost a little of his cool. Glaring, he shoved his way through the line of men until he was within a few fe
et of the defiant group. He stood over Phoenix, aristocratic face stiff with anger.
“Alright. Give it to me now or I will have you all slaughtered – including my treacherous son and these children,” he eyed the group contemptuously, “and I will find it on your dead bodies!”
Agricola didn’t know. He actually didn’t know the Jewel was Truda. Agricgola still thought, as they had, that the Jewel it was a thing.
Phoenix remembered the little packet given to him by Dewydd. Now it all made sense.
Wishing there was some way to warn the others, Phoenix allowed his shoulders to slump and his head to drop. “Alright,” he tried to sound defeated. “You win. Let us go and you can have it.”
Behind him, Jade gasped. Marcus reached out and dug his fingers into Phoenix’s arm.
“What are you doing? He won’t keep his word,” the boy muttered.
Phoenix twisted free, trying to convey a message in the glare he turned on his friends.
“I know what I’m doing. Remember what Dewydd said? This is the only way to save ourselves.”
Marcus’ expression cleared to understanding. He stepped back.
“Jade,” Phoenix frowned at her, flicking a quick glance down at Truda then over at the glimmering portal, “just be ready.”
Reaching slowly into his shirt, he drew out the small packet and revealed it to his friends. Jade and Brynn looked confused then tried to hide it as they caught on. He hoped Agricola hadn’t seen their expressions or the deception would be over. Jade took hold of Truda’s hand and pulled her close. Marcus laid a hand on Brynn’s shoulder. The younger boy nodded.
With a deep sigh of regret, Phoenix turned back to the Governor. “Here then, take it.”
Five guards held sword tips at Phoenix’s throat as he reached out, dropped the packet into Agricola’s hand and backed away again.
Marcus moved up to stand beside Phoenix. “Look.” He pointed outside the devastated circle of standing stones, to the horizon beyond. In the distance, a group of horsemen galloped toward the Carega Amgard. “The flag. The red bird on a black background.”
Phoenix spotted it whipping over the head of the lead rider. “What about it?”
He switched his gaze back to the Romans. The archers drew back their strings.
“It is Zhudai’s personal guard,” Marcus murmured. “He comes.”
Phoenix swore long and inventively. There were five hundred Romans between them and their arch-nemesis. They had but moments to live and absolutely no way of getting close to him alive. Even worse, they couldn’t get away, either.
Eager and triumphant, the Governor of Britannia laughed. Parcel in hand, he turned away with a swirl of his cloak and held it high above his head. A great cheer swept through his army.
“I have it! Now we will triumph!” he shouted.
Another cheer erupted. Agricola shouldered his way back through his men. Glancing back, he gestured at his son to join him. Marcus returned his look stonily and didn’t move.
“Very well.” Agricola shrugged and nodded to his captain, his fingers busy with the outer coverings on the packet in his hands. “Kill them all.”
The Romans advanced, spears levelled and arrows knocked.
“Now?” Jade’s frightened whisper reached his ears. Phoenix shook his head.
“I don’t think…”
There was a blinding flash of reddish light; a hoarse scream; shouts from Agricola’s men as they tried to reach their fallen commander; confusion and fear amongst the soldiers as smoke billowed in all directions. The rank of men surrounding the companions wavered and broke as they ran to see what new threat had attacked their Governor.
“Now!” Phoenix yelled.
As one, the little group turned and sprinted for the Portal.
Half a dozen stalwart soldiers still guarding the structure stood their ground, trying to prevent their escape and carry out their last order to kill. Phoenix used his momentum to full advantage. He turned aside one blade and shoulder-charged the soldier carrying it. The man stumbled, falling into his nearest shield-mate. Turning, Phoenix lashed out at the next man, catching the blade with his own sword and stabbing with his dagger. The soldier folded over the little blade with a look of surprise then slid to the ground without a sound.
Hampered by her need to keep Truda close, Jade struggled to fend off two soldiers with just her quarterstaff. Brynn crawled through a gap and darted behind the soldiers, his little dagger wreaking havoc in unexpected and painful places. Marcus lingered, watching, protecting their backs as more soldiers realised their quarry were escaping.
“Jade!” Phoenix called. “Get Truda and Brynn through the gate. We’ll be right behind you.”
She grabbed Truda’s hand and pulled the girl through a gap created when Brynn hamstrung a soldier. A swift strike with her staff despatched yet another man who attempted to grab the young redheaded girl.
Phoenix dodged a badly-aimed thrust and slipped inside the soldier’s guard to slide his blade neatly between exposed ribs. The portal rippled as first Truda then Brynn vanished through it. Jade paused, looking back at them.
“Come on you two. Hurry!” she yelled. “There are more coming. You can’t fight them all.” She leapt through with one last, anxious look over her shoulder.
Phoenix cast one quick look at Zhudai’s men. They were still too far away even for a suicide mission. As much as it galled him, he had to run for it with the others. Phoenix caught Marcus’ eye and together they retreated toward the Portal, still exchanging blows with Romans as they moved. They were less than five metres away; three, two.
“Go,” Phoenix said curtly.
The doorway was too narrow for two people to jump through abreast.
Marcus hesitated then threw himself into the silvery surface and vanished.
Phoenix deflected a blow aimed at his head and another that would have gutted him. The press of soldiers forced him back. If he went through now and the portal stayed open, how the heck was he going to stop them coming through after him?
The Romans stopped. They formed a loose semicircle in front of him, eyeing the portal with superstitious misgivings. Phoenix grinned. It seemed their fear of Brittonic magic was greater than their desire to capture him. Behind them, he caught a glimpse of Agricola’s scarlet cloak billowing as the Governor stalked back toward the Portal. His expression was that of apoplectic fury. Apparently the flash-bomb hadn’t done any lasting damage.
Swearing, Phoenix tucked his sword under one arm and snatched a pilum from the lax hand of a dead Roman. Hefting it, he took aim and hurled it with all his considerable strength toward the Governor of Brittania. The soldiers around him turned to follow its path, groaning as they saw its trajectory. The spear arced gracefully through the smoky air, sliding down a smooth curve toward its target. Someone shouted a warning. Agricola glanced up a fraction late. He flung himself to one side but the lethal tip sliced through his decorative armour and buried itself in his shoulder. Staggering, he fell backward. Soldiers rushed to his side, hiding him from Phoenix’s searching gaze. Had he killed the Governor or only wounded him? He was fairly sure it hadn’t been a killing shot, more’s the pity.
Whatever the result, it was time to leave - before the soldiers nearest came out of shock and renewed their attack. With a mocking bow, Phoenix turned on his heel. Two swift strides brought him to the doorway. He paused for a moment, wondering whether it would hurt; whether home was on the other side; whether anything was on the other side; whether this was the end of his adventure or just the end of Level One. A large part of him hoped it wasn’t over. He’d never felt more alive.
Shrugging, he stepped forward.
There was a sharp sting between his shoulderblades. A rush of agony swept through his chest. He tried to yell but drew only pain into his lungs. Strength fled from his lim
bs. He fell through the Portal and into blackness.