Without warning, Andrew raised his hand and slapped her viciously in the face. She neither flinched nor blinked, thanks to the Remembered warning. She felt blood trickle from her nose. Her mouth hung open and a dribble of saliva ran down her chin.
Andrew grimaced in disgust. ‘Get them out of here. Launch in thirty minutes.’
He marched off without a backward glance.
‘Turn. Walk,’ William ordered indifferently, but Merlin thought his voice trembled slightly. Her own legs shook uncontrollably, and she hoped they would meet no one else.
But there were no further mishaps. Soon they were crowded into the elevator airlock leading to the outside, pressed close together. Merlin took her lead from William who was staring blankly out over the dark forbidden city.
He had changed into a white suit and he clipped the helmet on before opening the dome. Sunlight streamed in and Merlin forced herself not to shade her eyes with her hands. Her neck prickled and she sensed they were being watched.
‘Walk,’ William commanded.
They walked out into the hot brightness of the outside world and Merlin realised with a fierce regret that she had not said goodbye to the frail Citizen youth, without whom she and the others would have died.
She wished she had told him what she planned to do. He deserved that much. But it was too late.
‘Don’t look around, either of you,’ William said softly. ‘There are directional microphones, but they aren’t very good. They won’t hear me unless I face them. When I order the others to walk, walk with them. Don’t drop your pose until you are deep in the trees. Goodbye and remember what I have told you about the D-jumpers, Merlin. They will come back.’
Merlin squinted against the sun, resisting the urge to turn and face him.
‘Walk,’ William commanded in a loud voice. The others began to shuffle towards the treeline. Merlin thought of William reaching to kiss her, and she felt tears spill out of her eyes and run down her cheeks as she shuffled with them.
Near the treeline she sensed a movement in the trees. She dared not speak, and though she knew it was possible to think to someone unseen, she did not know how.
At last they reached the trees. The walkers straggled dully to a halt.
‘Walk,’ Merlin commanded softly, and they walked.
They were deep in the trees before she dared call a halt. The bushes rustled and Ford burst from them, followed by Sear and the Rememberer, Marthe.
‘It’s Aran! And Bramble,’ Sear cried incredulously. ‘But they’re all . . .’
‘Void! No!’ cried Ford.
‘She is not Void,’ Marthe said. ‘She hears you.’
Ford stopped dead and looked closely into Merlin’s face, his own chalk pale. Merlin was touched by his concern for her.
‘I’m all right,’ she said gently. Something in her voice made Ford stare at her oddly.
‘What about the others?’ Sear demanded. ‘Aran . . .’
‘Will be fine!’ Bramble said triumphantly. They all stared at the rebel woman in wonder and she burst out laughing. ‘Can I act!’
‘But, how . . .?’ Ford asked.
‘Someone in the city helped us. A Citizen,’ Merlin said. ‘We had to pretend.’
‘There is more . . .’ Marthe prompted urgently.
Merlin stiffened, remembering what was about to take place. ‘Of course! We have to get away from here now. Fast! As far as we can. Something is going to happen!’
‘The Citizens will return to the heavens,’ Sear said. ‘The blue-eyed Citizen god told me.’
Merlin nodded, thinking fast. ‘That’s true. But when the ship flies, the air will be filled with poisons. There will be a terrible explosion.’
Sear looked uncertainly at Marthe.
‘We must go now or we will all die,’ the Rememberer advised.
Her hard-edged voice galvanised the scatterling leader. He looked at the blank-faced Offering children. ‘What about them?’
‘They’re all right,’ Merlin cried. ‘We can bring them back to normal later. There’s not enough time to explain. We have to find high ground. We must put the earth between the dome and our bodies.’
‘That way,’ Ford said, pointing towards the sun. ‘There is a ridge.’
Merlin nodded. ‘Run,’ she ordered Danna and the others. ‘Run towards the sun.’
Aran and the collared children broke into a trot.
‘Faster!’ Merlin shouted after them, and she began to run too. The rest followed.
Merlin was not fit. Very soon her breath jagged painfully in her chest, and a sharp cramp bit into her stomach.
‘Keep going,’ Ford shouted into her ear. He took her arm and began to drag her so fast she could barely keep her feet.
‘Run fast for the ridge!’ Sear cried as they encountered the other waiting scatterlings. They did not ask for explanations. The wild faces of the runners warned them, and they ran too. The air was filled with panting and gasping.
’I can’t,’ Merlin murmured.
‘Unless you want to die, you must,’ Ford hissed, and dragged her on. Two of the collared children had begun to fall behind. Without breaking her stride, Bramble swept them up in her arms.
‘Further, this is too close!’ Marthe called, and they stumbled on.
Now they were running up a hill which grew steeper. ‘Over the other side of this hill we will be as safe as we can be,’ Ford gasped. ‘It is only a little further.’
He lied, but it was as well. And still they ran. Merlin began to trip, too tired to lift her feet any more.
Some of the others had begun to walk, and no amount of cursing and driving would make them run again. Then a rumbling noise filled the air.
‘What is it?’ Era whispered, slowing to a walk.
Marthe looked up. ‘It has begun.’
‘Run!’ Merlin cried. And though she was breathless, the terror in her voice gave even the weakest strength and they ran the last few painful metres to the top of the ridge.
Merlin flung herself over the crest of the hill slamming into a very solid tree trunk where she lay gasping air into her aching lungs. After a moment, she crawled to a position where she could see the dome.
A great roaring filled the air around them.
Bramble had deposited the two collared children lower down the hill and now flung herself down next to Merlin. ‘I hope this is far enough,’ she said, peering critically at the distance they had come.
The dome arc gleamed above the trees in the dusk sunlight, as smooth and enigmatic as a pearl. It looked no different than it had when they had approached it days before, and for a moment, it seemed to Merlin she had dreamed or Remembered all that had happened.
Then the ground began to tremble.
Sear bellied up next to Merlin. ‘Are we safe here?’ he asked urgently.
‘I don’t know,’ Merlin admitted. ‘As safe as we can be.’ She noticed that all of the scatterlings had crawled to the lip of the hill and were staring down at the dome, the sun gilding their faces and reflected in their golden eyes.
The low rumbling noise increased steadily in volume until the air vibrated eerily. A little quiver of fear went through the watchers.
‘It is the ship of the Citizens,’ Sear said, eyes alight.
There was an earshattering burst of sound, and a terrific whoosh of air, and the ship burst from the top of the dome, seeming to pass straight through the arc without touching it. Unlike the much smaller white fliers, it flew straight up, a trail of fire streaking out behind.
The noise was deafening for a long minute, and then it began very slowly to fade as the ship rose ever higher.
‘It’s over,’ Bramble said, exalted. ‘We are free of them!’
‘No,’ Marthe murmured.
No one but Merlin heard the soft word and she looked around to find the Rememberer staring at her with a knowing intensity. Ford had told her no one could read a person’s mind without them knowing it, but Merlin guessed the Rememberer’s
strange foresight allowed her liberties the other clanpeople could not take.
The others were getting to their feet, laughing in relief and staring up to see the golden ship flying higher. Merlin did not rise, but she looked up too, bidding a silent farewell to William, and praying he would understand what she had done.
‘They have gone, all of them?’ Era asked.
‘All,’ Ford echoed.
’Then we are free,’ Era said gladly.
Merlin noticed that the leader of the scatterlings alone had not watched the ship for more than a moment before returning his gaze to the dome. With a sinking heart she noticed the greedy hunger fill his eyes and saw that even after all that had happened, he lusted still after the Citizens’ powers and arcane knowledge. Catching Merlin’s eyes on him, Sear grinned. ‘They have left their dome and we are well rid of them, but think of what they have left behind in the forbidden city. Think what magic devices might be there . . .’
The ground began to shudder again.
Sear’s eyes were puzzled and he looked up to where the ship was little more than a golden dart high in the sky. ‘What is it?’
Merlin shrugged, sliding her eyes away from Sear’s searching gaze.
‘Perhaps it is the end of the world,’ Era said, staring back at the dome.
‘It is the end of a world,’ Marthe whispered, and Merlin understood that the Rememberer knew what she had done, and why. Merlin heard the satisfaction in Marthe’s soft words, and yet the Rememberer gave her a dark, enigmatic look.
The ground heaved violently, and those standing were thrown to their knees, crying out in fear and clutching at the twitching earth as if they feared it meant to throw them off into the sky.
‘It must be the Citizens,’ Bramble said.
Sear looked at her sharply, then he stared down at the dome.
‘Get down,’ Merlin said. ‘Don’t look at the dome!’
The collared children obeyed instantly, but the scatterlings looked from Merlin to their leader uncertainly.
‘The dome? What are you saying?’ Sear shouted the question at Merlin.
’Get down and close your eyes or you will die, all of you,’ she said fiercely.
Sear cursed, then dropped to his hands and knees, closing his eyes and ordering his followers to do the same.
There was a waiting silence, then the ground heaved again. Merlin prayed silently that the ancient instructions and warnings she had read inside the computer’s programming were accurate.
‘What is happening?’ Sear demanded.
But before anyone could venture an answer, there was a terrible clap of sound and then a smaller boom from a different direction. Only Merlin understood that this was the smaller dome. Her ears were pierced with agony. Dimly, she heard screams from the others, and a wetness trickled from her nose. Blood.
Then there was a brightness that burned her eyes, even through tightly closed eyelids. The heaving earth slowly settled to stillness, and the rumbling in the heavens faded into nothing.
Gingerly, Merlin opened her eyes. She saw that everyone’s noses were bleeding, and Aran was also bleeding from the ears. Two of the Offered children and a number of the scatterlings were lying on their backs, unconscious, and Era was rocking back and forwards, holding her ears. There was a deep, abiding silence, but gradually the deafness caused by the explosion subsided, and Merlin realised the scatterlings were moaning and weeping.
She stood shakily, and looked over the ridge. Where the dome had risen above the tree tops, there was nothing but black seared earth. No dome, no trees. Anything exposed to the flare of the explosion had been obliterated. Even the tops of trees and bushes which had risen above the crest were singed black. Merlin thought with a shudder how they had all lain looking at the dome. If it had exploded at that moment they would all be dead, except the Offered children, who would be doomed to be imprisoned forever in their own minds. The same devastation would have taken place where the smaller dome stood.
Those capable of standing stared open-mouthed at the black earth.
‘It’s all right now,’ Merlin said, as much to reassure herself as the others.
She walked on rubbery legs to where Aran and the Offered children sat, blankfaced, their eyes still shut tight. She took the deactivating device from her pocket and neutralised the collars.
One by one, they came to themselves.
Predictably, Danna was first to speak. ‘What happened? We were in the dome and that Citizen boy . . .’ He wiped the blood from his nose and looked at it in bewilderment. The children who had passed out stirred and groaned.
Aran looked around and Bramble clapped him heartily on the shoulders. ‘Welcome back from the dead, my friend.’
They stared at one another, and Merlin guessed they both thought of those who had died, of Meer and Ranulf and the rest.
‘They have gone,’ Bramble said. ‘The Citizen gods have gone forever.’
‘The Citizen boy collared you only so that he could get us out of the dome safely,’ Merlin told Danna. She felt oddly weary and even talking required a great effort of will, but she did not want Danna and the others thinking badly of William when he had done so much for them. She forced herself to go on. ‘Now the Citizens have flown away and the dome is destroyed.’ There was much more than that, but she felt too tired to explain more fully.
’Nooo!’ Sear shouted, looking over the blackened ground where once the dome had stood. He stared down at Merlin, white-faced with fury. ‘You knew this was going to happen. You warned us. How did you know?’
Merlin lied without shame. ‘I Remembered.’
Sear looked taken aback. ‘The Citizens did this. They have made sure we cannot ever know their secrets.’ Era moved to stand beside him, and slid her hand into his.
‘Does it really matter?’ she asked softly. ‘Look at that ugliness. That is what their great powers could do. We don’t need such things. They have gone and the dark times are ended. The clans are free, and we must return to tell them what has happened.’
The rigid anger melted from Sear’s face and he smiled ruefully. ‘Yes. You are right. I let my hunger for the magics overcome me.’ He looked around, and for the first time everyone noticed that the shadows were long and gold-edged.
‘Soon it will be dark. It is too late to return to the Hide. We will make camp here tonight and tomorrow we will go home.’
‘Why not go straight to Conclave?’ Bramble suggested. ‘It is not over yet.’
Sear shook his head firmly. ‘If we appear now before Conclave and tell our story, no one will believe us. The chances are they will think we sabotaged a flier and stole you and Aran and the others. We would be executed. It is too big and too strange a thing to tell. We must wait until the clans have begun to notice the absence of the Citizens and wonder at it. By then, the Lord wardens will have run out of their precious visiondraught and their agony will give weight to our accusations.’
The others nodded. Danna rose and came to face Sear.
‘I am not one of your followers.’
Sear looked at the boy thoughtfully. ‘This is true. I do not wish to force you to join me, yet we need time to prepare ourselves. The Citizens have gone from the Region of Great Trees and I claim this Region for my own clan.’
‘What?’ Bramble asked, looking startled.
‘Why not?’ Sear said. ‘It would not be easy now to go back to the old clans and live under the wardens’ rules, even without the Offerings. I am a man now, not a boy.’ He looked at Aran. ‘It is one year until next Conclave. For that year I ask you to stay, and when that year is over, you may choose to remain with us, or return to your old clan with gifts of goodwill from the scatterlings.’
‘Perhaps you will not mind too much the loss of your fine tents and jewels,’ Bramble said with a wicked grin.
Reluctantly, the sad-eyed Aran smiled.
‘Perhaps the wilderness will offer other compensations.’
‘What will you call your clan
?’ Danna asked. ‘Scatterling clan?’
Ford hesitated thoughtfully, then he shook his head. ‘Scatterling was a name for rebels. We need a new respectable name if the other clans are to take us seriously. I think we will call ourselves . . .’ He grinned mischievously. ‘Dome clan.’
There was a shocked murmur, and then laughter.
Bramble said: ‘We cannot have a clan without barter. What shall we barter?’
‘We must explore this Region with new eyes to see what it offers for trade. We must see what skills are among us. That is not a thing we must decide lightly or quickly.’
‘Who will be wardens?’ asked Beta.
Ford looked at her. ‘We will choose. Wardens will be chosen for wisdom, not age, by all, not just other wardens.’
There was a murmur of agreement. Again Sear looked at Danna. ‘What do you say?’
Danna frowned. ‘Wordbond that we may leave without strife at the end of a year?’
‘Mindbond,’ Sear said solemnly.
Danna turned to face the others. ‘I think we should accept this offer. If we return, the clans will think we have escaped and kill us. Even if we submit to mind testing, they will not believe. They will think us demon-filled and we will die anyway.’ Gradually the others nodded, and Danna turned to Sear.
‘We will accept your offer and your laws if they are fair,’ Danna said.
Sear smiled and clapped him heartily on the back. Danna winced visibly. ‘I like you, lad,’ Sear said. ‘What are you called . . .?’
Merlin sighed and turned away, wondering why she felt so flat and dispirited. She looked at the sun as it sank like a molten gold disk in the west, seeming at the last to melt into the indistinct horizon.
19
It was dawn and those in the makeshift ridge camp slept, exhausted from the singing and exaltations of the night before.
Only Merlin was awake, and she stared at the black earth lit by the clear crisp dawn light. She thought she had never seen anything so ugly in all her life, and wondered if it were the ugliness that depressed her.
Somehow she had the feeling it was not all over. There was a feeling in her of things undone.