“I can manage,” Beatrice said, earning a smile from Soren.
Martha had been watching Castle Astra loom up out of the mist and felt a thrill of dread and anticipation skate down her spine. The castle was eerily quiet, but she didn’t relax. Nesrin had proven to be good at ambush.
She tuned back into the conversation as Conn was saying, “I think it may be all right; there are no signs of any guards. But be on alert,” he warned as he guided Arianwen around a rock at the base of the mountain Castle Astra sat upon. He looked up at the black castle walls, and they all silently waited.
The sun had almost set, and the last rays cast purple and pink streaks across the sky. Mesmerised, Martha watched them fade until the sky turned a beautiful inky blue.
A sound from Conn made her turn. He pointed upwards, to where a light could be seen flickering on and off.
Quietly, the group dismounted, and Soren turned to Aurus and said, “Stay and protect the unicorns; we will be back as soon as we have the companions.”
“And our parents,” Reed whispered fiercely, and Conn threw him a sympathetic smile.
“Of course.” Soren inclined his head and clasped a hand to the young fairy’s shoulder. Aurus bowed and went to wait with the unicorns and Twig and Thicket. They were standing anxiously, watching Fenn and Reed make their way up the steps hewn in the mountainside.
Martha waited until Octavia, Otto and Felicity had started up behind Soren and Conn before following with Doran and Beatrice.
“At your signal, I will fly up to assist you,” Caeruleus called after Beatrice.
She turned back and said, “Thank you, my friend.”
Martha gave her sister an encouraging smile, and they carried on up the steep black steps.
After five minutes they had reached the top and come to two large silver gates. A shadow detached itself from the wall and came over to the group; immediately, Conn and Soren stepped in front of the children. The figure moved into the light of the flaming torches stationed to either side of the gates, and Conn let out a relieved breath.
“Lysana,” he said to the group.
The fairy threw back her cloak hood to reveal a mass of curling magenta hair. She smiled swiftly around at everyone before saying, “Hurry – we do not have a lot of time. The sleep dust will be wearing off soon.”
“Sleep dust?” Soren asked with interest as the group hastened behind the slight fairy, who led them through the gates and into a silent courtyard. The moon breached the walls and illuminated the black ground. Two guards wearing the black tabard emblazoned with stars of Nesrin’s guard lay haphazardly on the ground, snoring loudly.
Lysana turned and looked at Soren briefly. “Yes, I stole the little weasel’s supply,” she said with a wink at Octavia and Otto, who let out giggles that they quickly stifled behind their hands.
Martha thought back to when the companions had been kidnapped, and thought it only fitting that the measures Wattle had used on Queen Rhosyn’s guard were now being employed here. Hurriedly, she caught up with Lysana and the others as the group navigated the corridors of Castle Astra. Beatrice was looking pale, but gave Martha a determined smile when she raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m all right, Matty,” she reassured her sister as they made their way up a glistening staircase and into a wide corridor.
Martha realised that Nesrin had rebuilt her castle in the exact same layout as it had been before. Walking on, she remembered that beyond the corridor would be the chamber that had an open roof Nesrin would zoom in and out of on her magical cloud, and wondered if the dark fairy was inside slumbering. Not waiting to find out, she followed the others as Lysana unhooked a bunch of keys from her waist and slotted one into a large door. It creaked slightly as it opened, and Martha squinted her eyes into the gloom.
Tiny squeaks and fluttering noises came from inside the room, along with groans of pain. Octavia and Otto rushed in before they could be stopped, frantically whispering, “Ferren! Sage!”
Lysana said hurriedly, “They are well. Here, let me unlock the cages.” She made her way over to the stacked cages and unlocked them one by one. Tiny bundles of fur and feather hesitantly exited the cages and were scooped up into welcoming arms.
Bracken gave little happy sounds of joy as a grey squirrel found its way into Martha’s arms. Placing the squirrel next to Bracken in her bag, she left them to comfort each other. Octavia had tears of joy streaming down her face as Ferren ran up and down her arms, squeaking with delight.
“Is everyone here?” Soren asked, looking around at the creatures. Bracken popped her head out and counted swiftly.
“Yes, this is everyone,” she said happily, her whiskers twitching.
Martha looked around the room and noticed that Fenn and Reed were standing at the far side of the room, their hands grasping the bars of a larger cage.
Lysana exchanged a grim look with Conn, and they headed over to the boy fairies. Conn looked into the cage, then came back to Soren.
“Fenn and Reed’s parents are inside; take the companions and children and get them to safety. I’ll help get them out and follow you,” he said.
Soren nodded and rounded up the children, but Martha hesitated. Sliding her bag off her shoulder, she passed it over to Beatrice. “Take Bracken and her friend to safety. I’m going to help Fenn and Reed. I promised we would help get their parents out too,” she explained quickly.
Beatrice frowned. “No – it isn’t safe. Nesrin and her guard could wake at any moment,” she argued.
But Doran stepped up and said, “I’ll stay and protect them, girly; you go with Prince Soren and the others. Tell Caeruleus to fly up. The boys’ parents may need assistance getting down.”
Martha could tell Beatrice wasn’t convinced. “Bea, go and get Caeruleus. I’ll be all right.”
Finally, Beatrice nodded and gave Martha a swift hug before she and Felicity followed Soren, Octavia, Otto, and the companions from the room. Doran patted Martha on the arm before going to stand sentry by the door.
Martha headed over to join Conn and Lysana, who looked shocked that she had stayed behind, but didn’t waste precious time with words. They quickly unlocked the cage. Fenn and Reed burst through the door and knelt at their parents’ side. The two prone figures let out groans and struggled to sit.
“Fenn? Reed? Is that you?” a quavering female voice asked. In the dim light, Martha could just make out a female fairy with cropped green hair.
“Yes, Mother, it is – we’ve come to rescue you.” Fenn hugged his mother, but quickly drew back as she groaned in pain once more. “What is it? Are you hurt?” he asked. Reed was clasping the hand of the male fairy, who was regarding them weakly.
“It’s my ribs,” Fenn’s mother said, but gamely tried to stand.
Conn hastened forwards to support her and walked her gently past Doran to the doorway. Turning his head, he said, “I’ll take her down to the others. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Lysana said softly, “Be careful; I do not know how much longer we have.” Then she turned her attention to the male fairy, who was clutching his arm.
“Can you stand? We need to try and get out of here,” she told him. He nodded, wincing, and Fenn and Reed worked with Martha and Lysana to help him stand.
Martha saw that he had bright yellow hair and kind, nut-brown eyes. He nodded to Martha as she caught his eye and gave him an encouraging smile while they manoeuvred him out of the cage.
Doran looked over worriedly and preceded them from the room, scanning ahead. They made slow progress along the corridor, passing a closed door. A strange, rhythmic clicking noise came from behind it.
Martha exchanged a look with Lysana, who murmured, “I don’t know what that noise is. No one is allowed in there.”
Not pausing to ponder on what it could be, they carried on and down the stairs. The rest of the castle was still silent, much to Martha’s relief. Conn met them as they were making their way down the last corridor towards the
exit, and he took over from Martha and Lysana. They hung back and let the others go ahead of them.
A noise gave them pause, and they listened in apprehension. Sleepy voices could be heard coming from a room just behind and to their left.
“Hurry – that is the guards’ room,” Lysana whispered urgently. They exited into the courtyard and were alarmed to see the guards on the floor stirring slowly.
Conn and Doran picked up speed, and they got through the gates to where Caeruleus was hovering. Conn placed Fenn and Reed’s father onto his back, then turned to Martha.
“You too,” he urged, but at that moment Reed stood on a loose rock, his foot twisting awkwardly. He gave a groan of pain, adding to his father’s, and clutched his ankle.
Looking at his pale face, Martha made a quick decision. “No, take Reed too – we can walk down.”
Conn looked torn, but hoisted up Reed – giving him an apologetic grimace as the boy whimpered – and placed him alongside his father.
“I can take you too, Martha,” Caeruleus neighed, but she shook her head.
“No, go, we’ll be right behind you.”
Caeruleus gave a whinny of frustration but soared off, taking the two injured fairies down the mountain.
Shouts came from behind. Not stopping to think, Conn darted behind a rock and Lysana pulled Fenn and Martha into the shadow of the gatepost, quickly followed by Doran, who held out his hand to react with magic if needed.
Two guards stumbled out of the open gate and started down the path. Conn crept out from behind the rock and followed them quietly. When he was gone, Lysana stepped out of the shadow and investigated the courtyard; she gestured to Doran, Martha, and Fenn.
“Quickly,” she said, and they followed her down the path.
Just then, an inhuman screech echoed behind them. Martha felt a shiver run down her spine.
She shared a terrified look with Fenn before whispering in dread, “Nesrin knows.”
Chapter Twelve
Creature Comforts
They rounded the corner of the path and saw Conn making short work of the two guards; he gripped them by the shoulders and knocked their heads together. The pair slithered to the ground, unconscious.
“Let’s go,” he urged, and waited until Martha and Fenn had passed him before following with Lysana and Doran. They ran the rest of the way down the path, skidding on the loose black rocks. At the bottom, Felicity and Beatrice were healing Reed’s and his parents’ injuries.
“The castle is awake; we need to go, and now,” Conn said urgently as the three healed fairies got to their feet.
Soren looked at Doran. “Can you shield us until we get through the marsh?” he asked quickly.
Doran gave a frown. “I’ll try, but with Beatrice using energy to heal I do not know how long it will last.”
“We have to at least try, Doran,” Beatrice said desperately, glancing up the mountainside, where lights could be seen darting about.
Everyone hurriedly got onto the backs of unicorn and stags. Beatrice slid up behind Martha on Linnea as Fenn and Reed’s parents shared the larger Caeruleus, and Lysana shared Arianwen with Conn. Doran and Beatrice worked quickly to cast a cloaking spell and they set off once again through the glowing toadstool path just as a group of Nesrin’s guards arrived at the bottom of the mountain. Unable to see the group, they searched around the bushes and rocks at the bottom before coming towards the marsh.
“They are coming this way,” Lysana hissed as she looked behind her, so the group hastened their steps. Martha took out her compass and thought of Gwenyn’s castle; the arrow turned a hard right.
“We need to go right!” Martha said urgently, trying to make herself heard without drawing the attention of the guard.
Soren guided Ember as Martha instructed, and the other unicorns followed suit. They made it into the cover of the trees, and Martha blew a huge sigh of relief. The group waited in the shadows; Conn, Lysana and Soren silently readied their weapons, but no guards appeared.
“I think it’s safe to go on,” Doran murmured, and then a crack rent the air and a dark cloud materialised in front of them.
Nesrin, vibrating with fury, stepped from the cloud with her own mage, Donal, by her side and her large black raven, Taran, on her shoulder. A small weasel huddled on the cloud, looking at his furry feet.
Wattle! Martha thought, staring at the sneaky weasel.
The companions immediately started making tiny noises of fear and shrank deeper into the cloaks of those who carried them.
“You fools!” Nesrin seethed. “You dare to use my own plan against me? Did you think I could be thwarted by mere sleep dust?” She cast the cowering weasel a glowering look before continuing her rant. “I should have known you Blooms were up to something when that stubby little woodpecker showed up, chirruping on about strangers in the Middling Grounds.” She stalked up and down in front of the group, unconcerned by the arrows and swords pointed in her direction. “Now, give me back the itty-bitty creatures, and perhaps I will let some of you go.”
“No!” Octavia shouted, clutching her cloak tightly around her. Nesrin aimed her laser-like gaze on her and gave a slow grin.
“Oh look, it’s the brave Key Keeper. Didn’t losing your companion make you stop believing?” she asked in a mock-hopeful voice, inspecting Octavia like she was a bug underneath a microscope.
Octavia bristled indignantly. “Never! Because I believed we would get them back.”
Nesrin let out a cackle. “Oh, to be so young and full of hope.” Turning from Octavia, she resumed her menacing pacing.
Fenn and Reed looked at each other, worry evident on their faces as they sat on the nervously shuffling Twig and Thicket. Their parents watched Nesrin apprehensively.
Donal stepped from the cloud and approached Doran. “Brother, when are you going to stop playing with these fairy do-gooders and join the winning side?” he said patronisingly.
Doran simply gave him a sneer.
Nesrin stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes at Lysana. “You! You traitorous servant!”
Conn hissed between his teeth, and Nesrin sneered at him.
“I am not afraid of you, boy,” she said as she waved her staff in his direction. “Hmm, who shall I dispatch first?” she mused, swinging it between Lysana and Conn. Wattle rubbed his tiny paws and stared at his mistress, looking almost delirious with relief that Nesrin had focused her rage on someone else.
A heavy weight seemed lodged in Martha’s throat; frozen in panic, she didn’t know what to do. She looked over at Octavia, who was gesturing at her, her hands making a flying motion.
Of course – the flower messenger! Martha thought, and stealthily placed her hand into her bag. She felt two trembling furry bodies inside and gave them a quick, reassuring stroke, then slipped her hand inside the sketchbook and pulled out the flat flower.
While Nesrin was weighing up her victims, Martha turned her head and gave a whispered plea. She blew the flower in the direction of the butterfly bower, but without a butterfly or height to send it on its journey it just hovered on the breeze. Martha’s heart dropped; she tapped Beatrice on the shoulder and gestured to the flower. Beatrice gave a nod and subtly jerked her wand at the flower. It jolted, then zoomed off into the woods.
“Will it work?” Martha whispered.
“I hope so,” Beatrice whispered back, then stopped as Nesrin appeared before them.
“And what are you two Blooms whispering about?” she asked in a sickly-sweet voice, her head tilted to one side. She regarded them with her eerie silver eyes and waited.
“N-nothing,” Martha stammered.
In a sudden move, Nesrin reached up and yanked Martha off Linnea by her hair. “Do not lie to me, human,” she shrieked, her face pressed so close to Martha’s that her breath puffed out her hair.
“Let her go!” Soren commanded.
Donal immediately created an energy ball in his hand as Doran created one of his own.
“I
don’t think so, brother,” Donal said, and stepped between the group and Nesrin and Martha.
Fenn, Reed, and their parents watched with horror as the scene played out before them, and the other Blooms’ faces mirrored the fear that Martha knew must be displayed upon her own.
Nesrin continued to drag Martha backwards as her friends looked on, paralysed with indecision. Suddenly, Martha saw a cloud of pink in the distance, growing larger and larger.
Nesrin too must have seen the oncoming group, as she shouted, “Taran!” The raven launched itself from his perch on her shoulder and dived into the fluttering mass.
The mass scattered then closed back in, revealing itself to be Floriana and her butterfly friends. Taran wheeled around for another onslaught, but was soon cloaked in a shroud of jewel-coloured wings. Nesrin found herself surrounded by the suffocating mass as butterfly upon butterfly landed on her face. She let go of Martha, who dropped to her knees. Wattle immediately tried to come to his mistress’ defence, snapping wildly at the shimmering wings with his tiny sharp teeth, before he too was surrounded by the fluttering figures.
“Go!” a tiny voice whispered frantically in Martha’s ear. Pushing her tangled locks from her face, Martha saw Floriana hovering nearby.
She stumbled to her feet and climbed back onto Linnea, gripped tightly in one arm by Beatrice, who now had her wand aimed in Nesrin’s direction. She hesitated.
“I don’t want to harm the butterflies,” she said worriedly.
“Floriana told us to go,” Martha shouted, but Doran and Donal were locked in a fierce battle, Doran dancing nimbly away from the power bolts shooting his way. A group of butterflies peeled off and surrounded Donal’s face. The mage gave a muffled yell and his hand dropped, his power fizzling out.
Seizing their chance, the group, including Doran, headed further into the woods, Martha craning her neck to watch the butterflies’ outcome. She saw Nesrin burst through the kaleidoscope of wings, her face red and her chest heaving as if struggling for breath. She wrenched Wattle from underneath the hundreds of wings and, with one last searing look, grabbed Donal and stepped onto her cloud. They whirled away, Taran following in her wake with one last booming caw.
Martha Bloom and the Glass Compass Page 10