It was the first and last time she would ask the question.
A few days later, Allyra was sitting on Sanctuary Hill, vaguely scanning the horizon as Mandla murmured nonsense at Alex next to her. The darkness had made the world smaller and the horizon closer. The perpetually grey sky had been bad enough, but perpetual darkness was so much worse.
A haziness in the darkness first caught her attention. It wasn’t true movement, just a shadow of a shadow. She squinted, trying to get a better look, and a moment later she felt Alex tense up beside her.
Allyra flinched as Alex leapt to his feet – momentarily surprised at the sudden action. Alex pulled an equally surprised Mandla to his feet.
“We have to go!” He said, his voice quiet, but urgent.
“Where?” She grasped the urgency, but not the reason for it.
“Revenants.” Alex replied abruptly, “Come on!”
Alex raced down the hill, dragging a confused and reluctant Mandla behind him. She paused, trying to get another look at the movement in the darkness. It was gone.
Alex led them to the narrow gap at the river, but as Mandla got to it, he jerked his arm out of Alex’s grasp.
“No!” Mandla shouted; his face scrunched up in a petulant and angry scowl.
“Please Mandla.” Alex said gently, “We have to go.”
“No!” Mandla shouted again, even more emphatically as he backed away. “No – the Grey Lady is here.”
His reluctance was somehow tied to her. Allyra moved to face Mandla. “But I’m going too – it’s ok – let’s go.” She said quickly, trying to keep her voice level and calm.
“Please Mandla.” Alex’s voice was still patient and gentle, but she detected just the slightest undercurrent of desperation, making her heart pound harder.
She moved to take Mandla’s hand, but he snatched it away, flinging it up with unexpected force, catching her on the side of her head. Her vision exploded in stars and she stumbled backwards with the force of the blow.
It was easy to forget just how strong Mandla was. He might have the mind of a toddler, but it was in the form of a fully-grown man, bigger than either her or Alex.
Alex immediately reached out to steady her. “Are you alright?”
She nodded and they both turned back to Mandla, who was still backing away, moving towards the cave entrance, his face a picture of bewilderment and anguish.
“Grey Lady, Grey Lady…” He repeated like a mantra.
Alex watched Mandla go, his face distraught. Finally, Alex turned to her, his expression suddenly set and determined. He grabbed her by the shoulders and swung her around, into the gap in the river. His fingers dug painfully into her flesh.
“Run!” He said, his voice soft but forceful, words rushing out at her like a flood of water. “Run. Wait for a day, then circle back. You’ll find your way – remember you are linked to your body – allow it to guide you. When you come back, go into the cave, to the ledge at the back, there’s a notch in the left – “
She wrenched herself out of his grasp and shook her head. It was a list of instructions. He wasn’t coming with her. He didn’t expect to be able to show her when she came back.
Alex shook her roughly. “Allyra! Are you listening? Concentrate! We don’t have much time. The notch is on the left – “
“No!” She broke in.
“No.” She repeated, calmer this time. “I’m not running. I’m not leaving you and Mandla.”
Alex stared at her, aghast and momentarily speechless. Anguish played over his handsome features, but it steeled her resolve – she wouldn’t run.
“You have to go…”
“No. I don’t and I won’t.” Allyra replied, her voice level. “Now stop wasting time and tell me what to do.”
He hesitated, and then nodded quickly. It was easier than she’d expected.
“There’s three of them.” He said as he shepherded a now wailing Mandla into the cave. “One is different from the others – an Ancient.”
She could hear it in his voice, even over Mandla’s wails – fear and horror. Abruptly she was assaulted by a memory.
Red eyes boring into her soul.
Carrion breath forcing its way down her throat.
Then the pain assaulted her, it tore through her side, grinding and biting through her flesh.
Allyra gasped, the memory was gone but she knew exactly what it was – Alex’s memory of how he got that scar – the old, jagged one she’d seen the day after their escape from the Walking Forest.
“You can’t scare me.” She said evenly.
His blue eyes pierced through her, as sharp as laser light. “You don’t understand what you’re doing, what it’s capable of.”
“You just showed me and I’m still not running.”
“Fine!” Alex shouted, angry now.
“Fine.” Allyra repeated, unperturbed. “Tell me what to do.”
He glared at her, but she remained steadfast and he deflated, anger visibly seeping out of him.
“The Ancients are Revenants, the oldest and most powerful of them. Perhaps they’ve been here since the creation of the Between. I don’t know exactly how many there are. I’ve only ever faced one and it nearly killed me. The Ancients are different from the others, more solid, faster, stronger, just more. I’ll take it – you will have to face the other two.”
Allyra nodded, adrenaline rushing through her, strengthening her. She reached for her swords, sliding them noiselessly from the baldric, her fingers tightening around the cool hilts. The familiar weight of them reassured her and steadied her erratic heartbeat.
“They have to come through the gap – we’ll use that to our advantage – ambush them.”
She could barely hear Alex’s words over Mandla’s wails. He was crouched at the back of the cave, rocking desperately back and forth. Alex turned to him, “Mandla!” He said sharply.
Allyra flinched – it was the first time she’d ever heard Alex voice any irritation at
