The thunder-like sound rolled across the battlefield and withdrew, like a wave crashing and leaving a moment of pregnant silence in its wake. The Hallin exchanged glances and Adalina strained to see into the woods from where the sound had come. It would have filled her with fear, if their situation had not already been so desperate. Instead, any change to their fortunes could only be an improvement. Another peal of thunder tumbled out of the woods and, right behind it, came the second great forest spirit Adalina had seen that day.

  Despite the terrifying mass of its body, the bear bounded over the stumps of sawn-off trees with the same agility as the Levonin. Its jaws opened to reveal white teeth and emit another of its mighty roars before it crashed into the rear of the red soldier’s lines like a falling tree plummeting into the undergrowth. Soldiers flew and tumbled back and, for a moment, the creature stood in a clear circle of its own making, like a crater formed by a meteor falling. The animal lashed out at the surrounding soldiers with its claws, turning and striking deeper into their ranks. To her shock, as the bear turned, Adalina saw a man riding on its back. He leapt free into the fighting, his long hair spinning through the air as he wielded a strange, twisted looking spear. She knew that spear! She knew it from Oli’s story at the start of all of these troubles.

  It's the medicine man.

  Heridan and his warriors did not waste the moment of confusion. They pushed through to the fighting to deal a charge of their own into the panicked soldiers. But the soldiers on the wall above sent arrows down again, and Adalina could see that even with allies such as this, the fight was far from over.

  She heard Erlends’ familiar voice:

  “Archers on the medicine man! Not the bear, kill the damned sorcerer! Marlo, bring the new weapon!”

  They are more scared of him than they are of the forest spirit.

  She pressed her back against the wall, watching the arrows fall in front of her. One found its mark on the man’s thigh and he ripped it out in a spray of blood, but did not seem even slightly concerned. The man looked up and caught her eye. His face was gaunt and white and his beard was black and wild. His eyes held an intensity that almost made her recoil. He ducked and pushed through the crowd as though trying to reach her. A soldier in his path fell, clutching at something that reached up around his neck. Another swung at him and missed, but more closed in.

  A loud crack, like the sound of lightning in a summer storm, resounded from above Adalina. Though she did not see a bolt, something passed through the air to the side of the medicine man and struck the leg of the bear. Whatever it was delivered such an impact that even the mighty beast staggered back, and a jet of blood issued from the wound. What is this new evil? Adalina looked up. A Republican soldier stood directly above her, out of reach of any attack on the walkway of the wall. He pointed a long, thin tube of shining steel down into the battlefield, which ended with a sort of wooden hilt that he rested on his chest. Whatever it was, he seemed to be taking aim with it. Erlends stood beside him, pointing and yelling:

  "Take out the sorcerer!"

  The soldier pulled a small lever at the base of the tube and another crack of lightning clapped in Adalina's ears. A short jet of flame issued about an inch from the tube and, when she turned, she saw the medicine man recoil and a spray of blood burst from his stomach.

  "Yes!" Erlends called.

  But the man did not fall. He doubled over and grasped his stomach with both hands. The wounded bear deflected a blow that was aimed for its rider, who stood again and looked ahead. He was alive. But he had not recovered from this injury as he had from the arrow. He looked her way again, then ducked and charged forwards into the body of soldiers. Adalina realised that he was not aiming for her, but the wall where she stood. But he fought through a thick mass of enemies and moved too slowly. She looked up. The solider was using a long pole to poke something down the tube of the weapon. He's preparing to shoot it again.

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  “Heridan!” Adalina called into the milieu, but the noise of the battle was too great. “Algar!” No one could hear her.

  She plunged into the combat, dodging between pairs of fighters and shouting to everyone who would pay attention to protect the stranger.

  “Bring him to the wall! Help the medicine man! Cover him with your own bodies if you must!”

  Otmer responded and staggered close to her. She pointed and he followed, forcing a way through combat with his hammer. Others noticed and joined the struggle, fighting the soldiers away from the stranger and pulling him up the bloody, slippery incline to the wall. More arrows fell. Otmer threw himself in front of the stranger, pulling him and shielding him at the same time.

  Bang!

  The weapon above her thundered again, and a bloody geyser opened upon Otmer's back.

  "Nooo!" Adalina wailed as Pasha's giant of a father keeled to the ground. Behind him, the medicine man emerged. A clear path lay between him and the wall. He threw his spear aside and ran on all fours up the slope like an animal, slipping and sliding in the blood and mud. She ran back to reach the wall beside him as he arrived, panting on his knees with his head resting against the wooden planks.

  When he looked up, she saw that beneath the long beard and ragged hair was smooth skin with sharp lines. He was not much older than her. He saw her and smiled a sweet, sad smile, full of regret and oblivious to their surroundings, as though he recognised her face and had missed her dearly.

  “Do you have a plan?” she demanded. Clansfolk surrounded them, and one threw a spear at the soldier with the weapon. The soldier was not the problem, though. It was the metal tube which he carried which could end their hope.

  “Be ready to run," the medicine man replied.

  “Where?!”

  “You’ll know.”

  He placed both hands on the wall and closed his eyes, as though he wanted to push it over, but his face did not contort with any kind of effort. Rather, he looked at peace, so that Adalina feared he had drifted off to some place of refuge amidst this clamour and violence. She glanced back. The red soldiers had formed into a triangle and were pushing through to meet them. Another soldier had taken up the terrible weapon above them and was preparing to shoot it. The bear was surrounded by men with spears and Heridan and his warriors were split from the others. Arrows rained down onto the dome of shields and bodies that the Hallin had formed to protect the medicine man. She opened her mouth to urge him to action, when a loud crack shocked her, and a piece of timber flew out from near his hands.

  A crack had appeared in the wall and something dark snaked through it, pulsing and expanding like the body of a worm as it pushed out of a crevice between stones. It moved as though alive, as though the leg of a sleeper had risen from the ground and climbed inside the wall. She saw others appearing and more splinters and cracks emerged. One of the growing limbs sprouted a leaf, then needles and a flower, too. The wood of the structure bulged outward, bending away from the growing pressure and Adalina realised that plants were growing through the wall. They were not any plants, either. Barrow needles. Before her eyes, seasons passed and started over. Leaves and shoots spread, died back and pushed out again as though to the rhythm of a secret heartbeat. White petals floated away from the wall as spring came and ended for the plants moment after moment. She realised what was happening in time to throw herself to the ground.

  The wall shattered with a groan and a crack, and then a patter like rain and the thudding of falling pieces of wood. Adalina looked up to see blue sky on the horizon and a wider expanse of empty space than she had known was possible. A great gap had been forced in the wall and on either side of the new, twin-trunked tree the structure had collapsed. Some of the soldiers that had stood atop it now lay twisted and still on the ground below. Others, on parts of the wall that had survived the collapse, groaned and rolled on the floor in agony. Barrow needles had pushed through along the top of the wall.

  The medicine man knelt in front of the opening. He stood slowly and turned to face the crowd. Adalina stood too and looked down on the stunned faces below. For a moment, there was no difference between any of them. No friend or foe. All were united in awe at the tall gate of poisonous needles that stood before them. On the outside, it bristled with deathly menace, but the gap was wide enough for men and women to pass through. Poison to their enemies and medicine for them. For once, it seemed, the ways of the forest worked in their favour. She shouted:

  “Run!”

  The clan surged through the narrow opening and into the emptiness beyond, into their freedom.