Free The Circle of Stone (Darkest Age) by A. J. Lake

attack without any order given. Some said they sang as they marched towards them, and laughed as they killed.’
    The queen’s eyes were wide with horror. ‘Armies of madmen . . .’ she whispered.
    ‘Armies driven by Loki,’ Aagard said. ‘In the time he has been free of his prison, he has spread his poison far and wide by being in many places at once. He draws men to him, and binds them with their own desires, to do his will. That was how he nearly escaped, a hundred years ago.’
    ‘And how he enslaved my brother,’ Branwen said softly. ‘Beotrich told me of that, as well.’ She blinked away tears. ‘And you think he’s sending an army here?’
    ‘I’m sure of it,’ he told her. ‘We know that some of thesemen have reached the port towns and taken their ships. Already, we hear of attacks on the northern coast.’
    ‘But why here, when Loki was bound in the Snowlands?’
    ‘I cannot see into his mind,’ Aagard said. ‘But I can guess the shape of his thoughts. He knows that these kingdoms joined forces against him a hundred years ago, and that we still oppose him. He seeks revenge on us all.’
    Branwen rose to her feet. ‘Then we must band together again to defeat him,’ she declared. ‘My husband, Heored, is in the north with most of his men, aiding his cousin of Northumbria against marauders from Gwynedd, a long-held enemy. I’ll send word to him of the growing threat. I know he’ll return as soon as he hears from me, and join our strength to yours.’
    She saw him to the door herself, dismissing her guards, and stood with her hand raised in farewell as he rode away. Aagard hoped that her messenger to Heored would make haste – and that the other kings would be as prompt to respond to the danger. With enough men along the coast, they might hold off the armies that Loki sent against them.
    But what of the demon himself? For days now, Aagard had not been able to glimpse the fiery presence in his visions.
    ‘He is everywhere and nowhere,’ he muttered as he rode. ‘And when he does choose to show himself – what can Elspeth do?’
    Elspeth’s hand had been throbbing all day. But there was still no sign of the glowing light that heralded the crystal sword’sappearance, and Ioneth’s voice had fallen silent again: try as she might, she could catch not a whisper of it inside her head. After all the days of travelling and searching, they were no closer to finding Loki. The ugly shrine by the roadside had seemed to taunt her, bringing the demon’s burning face before her eyes again, but Edmund was right: it could only be some local god. Loki
had
walked in the forest, she was sure of it – but there was no way of telling where he was now.
    Elspeth’s frustration was tinged with relief. What could she do even if they found him, if Ioneth had not returned?
    Once she had thought she heard the low voice again. After she had rescued the boy, Wulf, she had held out her hand to him and heard that his family were gone – and for a moment, Ioneth had cried out in her head and burned in the hand that touched him. She knew why. The child had lost his parents just as Ioneth had lost hers, taken by the same monster. Elspeth had vowed at that moment to protect the boy until they found a place of safety for him. It was some comfort, if their mad quest was foundering, to have this small, manageable responsibility.
    Wulf had been holding her hand as they walked, but she had loosed it when the throbbing became too uncomfortable. Edmund, walking alongside, took the boy’s other hand instead, and Elspeth smiled at him. He had not had to come with her: he had a wealthy home to return to in Sussex – a kingdom, in fact. She still had to stifle a laugh at the thought of Edmund,her quiet, thoughtful friend, commanding armies as his father must do. And here he was, cold and tired in an impossible search, without even a cloak to his back. Wulf was still wearing his thick fur, swathed in it almost to his feet, while