Free Hallsfoot's Battle by Anne Brooke Page B

am
sure, giving us strength through that sacred practice, they have
bequeathed to me the mantle of leadership. But I do not carry this
burden alone. My friends and companions are with me—Johan Montfort,
Simon the Scribe of the White Lands, my charge Talus and…and the
snow-raven, a traveller from the Kingdom of the Air. Not only that,
but we, the people of Gathandria, work together and we are never
without help. As long as we live and move and have our being in
this land, we will stand together. And we will fight against our
enemy, the Mind-Executioner, who threatens to destroy all
things.
    “Up to this point, the battle has been only
in the mind, but it has been a harsh one. We believe that when the
Mind-Executioner strikes again, he will also confront us in the
physical realm. He has no other choice; the mind-cane is no longer
his. So the battle will be on two fronts. But we have a plan to
prepare ourselves for this ordeal. My colleague and overseer, Johan
Montfort, with the help of Talus, will prepare our people for
physical battle. Both of my friends have suffered much and are
willing to take this duty for the sake of Gathandria’s survival. As
for the realms of the mind, I and Simon the Scribe will lead that
area of our training. With the kingdoms of body and mind combined,
I believe we can fight our enemies and win, for ourselves, for our
families and friends, for Gathandria and for our neighbours who
rely on our oversight. But it is you, the people who made this
city, who will bring success or failure to our endeavours. So I
appeal to you all, on behalf of Gathandria’s great Spirit, please,
will you put your minds, hearts and bodies to this worthy
cause?”
    She felt clarity easing through her thoughts.
Nothing more to say. Nothing more she could tell them.
    A silence.
    Then, as if from nowhere, a vast shout, heard
in the air and in the mind.
    Yes.
    The word was magnified countless times. The
echo of it filled the Square of Meeting. It reached the trees and
all but ruined yellow grasses of the park. It sang through the
broken glass and broken buildings of the city. Even guessing at
everything that might be to come, Annyeke smiled. It was enough—for
now.
     
     
    The First Gathandrian Legend: Fortitude
and Lust
     
    Simon
     
    All this was bigger than he’d imagined. The
earlier scenes at what Johan had called the Square of Meeting had
swept through the scribe and he couldn’t rid himself of the taste.
It should have made him more confident. The fact that the people of
Gathandria had accepted Annyeke’s leadership and, by default, his
own presence here should have helped. He knew that.
    But it didn’t. It made him feel overwhelmed.
How could he possibly live up to what they might expect of him?
With his history of betrayal, murder and downright cowardice, how
could he really help? Still, he mustn’t think like that. He’d
changed since leaving the Lammas Lands. He wasn’t the same man, so
he must find a new way of meditating about himself. The past
remained, but today he could not mend what he had done. Other
pressing matters called him.
    On the floor next to him, the mind-cane
quivered and began to whine. Simon shook his head to displace his
thoughts and tried to imagine nothing. After a moment, the
high-pitched noise stopped and he breathed again. Odd how the
artefact picked up so strongly on his own emotions; at times he
felt as if it was nothing more than an extension of himself. A
dangerous thing—he was never sure whether the cane would attack him
or defend him. Moreover, it seemed to be too easy to make it angry
and so hard to know what it wanted or how he might be supposed to
work with it. He still couldn’t believe he’d used it to attack and
almost defeat Duncan Gelahn only a few day-cycles ago. That didn’t
feel like something he would do.
    He gazed round the room he sat in, glad that
Annyeke had brought him here. She called it her work area in the
Sub-Council of Meditation. To him, it