Here it is, next chappie, and the action is out in full force! Hope it's as exciting to read as it was to write!!


Eight

The third rule

Guy flicked the reins and the horse stopped suddenly. He looked behind them, gauging the distance between them and their dead pursuers, and cursed violently.

"What is it?" asked Marian, alarmed. She sensed that their escape was not going to be quite as easy as she had first thought, but then she realised that she hadn't given any thought to how they were going to leave this place. Neither, did it seem, had Guy.

"We have to leave with the sunset," said Guy. "That's the third rule."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The third rule of the afterlife. We have to leave with the sunset, that's what the apothecary said. But he didn't say how we leave. Only when."

Marian looked over his shoulder at the sun, low on the horizon, bathing the land in a fiery orange glow. It was nearly set, only a small portion remaining above the landline.

"Perhaps we leave in the same way that we came here," she suggested.

"Perhaps." Guy turned the horse around but didn't set off. "That means going back to the castle, though."

The prospect, thought Marian, was not a particularly welcome one. Going back to the castle meant going back past the legion of dead who were set on chasing their goal and dragging her back to her new, unfeeling eternity and Guy… Well, who knew what they were going to do to Guy? Besides, although Guy had found himself in the castle, she had not entered the afterlife there.

"I'd have to go back to Knighton Hall," she said.

"That can't be the way," said Guy. "I went through Hell to find you. I'm not letting you go again. Wherever we go, we're going there together." His eyes were wild and, Marian thought, slightly fearful. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Guy took a deep breath and tried to think rationally, trying to pick up every possible nuance from the apothecary's words. The old man had known that he intended to find Marian; surely he didn't expect them to separate in order to leave the afterlife. What would be the point of his finding her in the first place then?

"So what are we going to do?" Marian pressed.

"I don't know!" snapped Guy. "Let me think!"

There must have been something in what the apothecary said, some veiled reference within the rules themselves. Guy looked at the rapidly setting sun and terror gripped him. If they were trapped… It would be alright for Marian. She was 'one of them'. But for Guy, a living soul trapped in the world of the dead forever? It didn't bear thinking about.

"Guy…" Marian's voice was high and nervous. He turned to peer over his shoulder at their pursuers, who were bridging the gap between them quickly. "Guy, we have to keep moving."

Guy shook his head.

"That only puts off the inevitable. We need to stop them, distract them in some way."

"And how do you propose we do that?" she yelled, causing Guy to flinch at the proximity of her mouth to his ear.

"Use your imagination!" he said. "Anything that'll slow them down!"

"That's very helpful!" she hissed. "Right now all I can think of is a stone wall!"

"Well imagine it then!" he said, exasperated, before realising that, despite being dead, Marian was not fully aware of the rules that governed her afterlife.

"What?"

"Just do it!" he roared, the ferocity visibly taking her by surprise. "I'll explain after," he added gruffly.

Marian closed her eyes, and had it not been a completely inappropriate time and place then Guy would have marvelled at the way her nose wrinkled in concentration. As it was, they were running out of time and nothing seemed to be happening. Guy closed his eyes in grim anticipation of what was to come. It was two and a horse against an innumerable army, and not only were they unarmed, their adversaries were invulnerable.

"Did it work?" asked Marian's voice in his ear.

Gingerly he squinted through half-closed eyelids, not wanting to see the result if it hadn't. But, astonishingly, instead of advancing battalions, he saw nothing but cold grey stone stretching as far as the eye could see.

"Yes," he said, unable to keep the wonder out of his voice.

"How...?" She sounded as amazed as he did.

"The first rule," he said simply. "The afterlife is the realm of the dead. You are dead. You have a certain amount of control over this realm. You can mould it to your will. I can't. Now we have more time, but…" he glanced back at the sunset. "We still need to find a way out."

"Do we?"

The simplicity of her question alarmed him.

"Of course we do," he said unsteadily. "We have to leave before the sun sets."

"But what if we don't?"

"I don't know what happens. Marian, for once…"

"What?"

"Stop being difficult!" he snapped. She recoiled slightly from his words, letting go of his waist as if she had been stung. Immediately he missed her touch and regretted his harshness. "Marian, that wall will not hold forever," he said softly. "You are not the only one with power over this realm. The others will come after us, and they will not stop chasing us until they are successful. They will kill me, and take you back to 'where you belong'." He spat the final words with uncharacteristic viciousness.

"If they kill you then you will belong in this world too," she said, a hint of child's stubbornness in her voice. "I do not want to be here because I cannot feel here. But next to you I feel alive; I have emotions."

"I somehow doubt that it is that simple," said Guy through gritted teeth. "You can probably feel alive around me because I am alive, and I will not be for much longer if we don't get out of here!"

Marian couldn't understand her sudden reluctance. When Guy had lifted her onto the horse she couldn't wait to leave, but now, looking into the amber sunset, she was getting cold feet. Then she realised her problem in an instant. It was a fear of the unknown. Now that she realised her powers over the realm, and she was able to feel, she didn't want to risk the final step. If she could keep Guy with her, she could protect them both…

Marian shook herself mentally. No, she thought. That is selfish. As Guy says, my power will not hold forever, and by then it will be too late. We have to leave now, or never.

Presently Guy howled in frustration, causing the horse, which had been cropping grass happily, to jerk its head up nervously.

"This third rule," said Marian, her mind going into overdrive. "What is it? The exact words? There must be a clue somewhere."

"You must leave with the sunset," Guy quoted. "That's all it is."

Marian repeated it several times over, trying the stress on different words to try and alter the meaning. Suddenly Guy kicked his heels in and the horse set off like lightening. Marian turned to see her wall falling into dust and their pursuers picking their way over the rubble.

"I knew it wouldn't last long, but I thought we might have a little more time," he panted. Marian didn't reply, continuing her repeated mantra.

"You must leave with the sunset… You must leave with the sunset…"

"That's it!" Guy yelled. "Marian, you're wonderful!"

"I am?"

"Leave with the sunset! That's it! The sunset is the gateway! That's how we get out!" He spurred the horse onwards, and Marian felt sorry for the poor beast before realising that it was in all probability just an illusion. "See!"

The sunset was not getting any further on the horizon; the orange crescent seeming to get nearer and nearer. There was no doubt in either of their minds now, this was it, they were getting out…

A few yards from the place where the light began to pool lazily across the ground, the horse stopped short, whinnied in fright and finally reared, throwing them off its back. They landed in a heap, Guy on top of Marian. He spluttered slightly before seeming to notice where he was and jumping up, pulling Marian gently to her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, patting her down for injury instinctively.

"Yes, yes," she said, batting him away. "Inability to feel pain is one advantage to death. You shouldn't be wasting time with me, let's go!"

Guy smiled.

"You haven't changed," he said, and he set off at a run. Marian struggled to keep pace with his long lopes, stumbling over the hem of her dress. Finally he took her hand and dragged her along with him, his momentum keeping her going. They were almost at the light, so very nearly there, when Marian fell fully, letting go of Guy's hand. As she picked herself up, she found herself face to face with the first wave of those chasing them, and her breath caught short in her throat.

"Come on!" she heard Guy call.

Marian paid no attention. She was staring into the eyes of the one person she had longed to see here in the afterlife even more than Guy.

Her mother.

She reached out a hand to touch her, check she was real, but before she could make contact she felt Guy's arms round her waist, hefting her bodily off the ground and pulling her backwards. She struggled against him, crying and kicking her heels.

"Come on!" he repeated through gritted teeth,

"Let me go!" she spluttered. "My mother!"

"Marian!" This was a different voice in her ear, although still full of panic and fear. "She's just an illusion! They want you to stay! They don't want the balance upset! Remember your promise!" Marian looked up. Alice was standing beside her, a smoky silhouette. "She's just an illusion," she repeated, her voice melancholy.

Marian went limp in Guy's arms, the dejection she felt manifesting itself physically in the weight in her limbs. She let him pull her backwards, into the light, feeling an otherworldly pull at her back, some magical force pulling her back into her life from the afterlife she truly had no reason to stay in anymore. But before the orange engulfed her vision completely, Marian had one last, desperate thought. She lunged forward, out of Guy's arms, grabbing Alice's thin and smoky wrist…

"Marian!" Guy cried, although he was too late. The pull was already too strong. He couldn't go back for her. He was returning to the true life, and he prayed that Marian would be too…


TO BE CONTINUED!

One chapter left! Does Marian make it back? What will happen if she doesn't? What will happen if she does, for that matter? Did she manage to bring Alice back too?

Find out in the next instalment!