The Twelve Dragons of Albion

by Mark Hayden

  The beasts spread out and we each got one. When the big male headed for Iestyn, he finally realised which side he was on. The male approached him first, the females hanging back for moment. Iestyn took a blast at the lion and drew his sword.

  The blast blew over the lion’s mane like wind rippling the fur. It took two more steps, then pounced.

  We were all protected by Anciles. An Ancile will deflect a magickal blast, a mundane bullet, an arrow or a spear. A lion doesn’t need any of those, and the Ancile is powerless in your personal space. The lion jumped on to Iestyn, and he tried to roundhouse it with his sword, using it like a club. He missed, and the lion knocked him over, taking great gouts of flesh from his chest with its claws.

  Iestyn didn’t scream as the lion bit his neck. He gripped his sword and discharged all his Lux into the beast in a flash of light. They died together.

  All five survivors blinked. The lionesses shook their heads, dazed. Surwen had stumbled and fallen in the ashes. Vicky was staring at the bloody mess of Iestyn’s throat. I had half a second to come up with a plan, and I saw it sticking out from underneath Iestyn’s body.

  I grabbed the hunting knife from my belt and jerked Vicky’s shoulder. ‘Vic! Wake up!’

  ‘I…’

  I jammed the knife’s handle into her chest. ‘Take this.’

  She swayed on her feet, but she gripped the knife.

  ‘Silence. Hat-stand,’ I said, and slipped the AK47 from my shoulder.

  Surwen stood up and spoke to the beasts. I took four steps away from Vicky and tried to keep both my opponent and my partner in sight. When the other lioness stepped forward, Vicky finally swept her hand and brought up a Silence. I jammed home my ear defender and emptied a full magazine on auto, aiming at the lions.

  Aiming at the lions was pretty pointless – you can’t aim an AK47 on auto, and the few mundane bullets that were on target just bounced off their protection. Hitting them wasn’t my objective: scaring them was. Both beasts were terrified by the noise and backed away. Even Surwen clapped her hands over her ears. I threw the rifle at Surwen and made a grab for Iestyn’s sword. If I was right, the protective rune which bound it to his Imprint would have been discharged when he emptied his magickal magazine into the dead lion.

  Then my leg gave way. Instead of giving me support, my bad leg gave me pain. I staggered to a halt in front of the two corpses as the lion recovered from her fright, egged on by shouts from Surwen. I put my weight on my good leg and poured all my willpower into an Olympic grade triple-jump hop over the dead beast, landing on Iestyn’s body. The lioness helped me out by skirting the remains of her dead mate.

  I was grabbing the sword, my lioness was coming round for the kill and Vicky was remembering what she’d done with my cap in the Watch Room. With poor control, she set the hunting knife dancing in front of her and moved slowly backwards. It was enough, just, to discourage her opponent for a moment. I got a good hold of the sword and climbed on to my good knee to wait for the lioness to pounce.

  You have to train animals to be frightened of knives – that’s half the point of a bullfight: the bull isn’t frightened of the sword. To a lion, three feet of Atlantean steel is just a big stick. There was no magick in the sword, but the edge was good and the blade strong. I brought my right hand down just as the lion grabbed my left arm. I felt her teeth hit my bone as the sword hit skin, flesh and spinal cord. The lion’s last gasp opened her jaw and freed my arm.

  I checked the wound. No arteries had been severed, but the pain…

  I stood up as Vicky backed away from the remaining lioness. Should I go for Surwen or the beast? A red glow rose up from the altar, swirling around the Druid. I’d take the lioness first.

  Surwen fired a blast before she disappeared behind the red curtain, enough to knock away the dancing dagger. I shouted to grab the beast’s attention and was limping forwards when something changed in its eyes.

  ‘She’s inside it,’ said Vicky. ‘Surwen’s inside the lion.’

  On its own, the beast would have seen me as the bigger threat. With Surwen on board, it turned back to Vicky.

  ‘Get behind me. Quick.’

  There was enough adrenalin in her for Vicky to move on autopilot, and she dashed out of the way before Surwen could fully control the animal. The problem now was that the lion was between us and the exit, and my plan for a fighting retreat was up the Swanney.

  The lion moved from side to side, testing its reflexes. Sooner or later she’d get the hang of this, and we’d be in serious trouble.

  Vicky used her broadest Geordie. ‘D’ya want owt for ya Hamma?’

  She was offering me a bullet. Unfortunately, there was blood dripping down my left arm and a sword in my right. ‘Listen, Vic, you need to do this carefully. Step up, take the Hammer and do it yourself. Don’t let her see what you’re doing. I can only put this sword down once.’

  ‘Gotcha.’

  I took a step forward and slashed at the lion. When I stepped back, Vicky pulled out the gun. Our lives now depended on her doing something she’d only see me do once.

  I pretended to go on the offensive, to keep the Surwen/lion focused on me. It feinted left, then right, coming at my damaged arm. I only got my guard up just in time to stop it pouncing. A clang from behind me, and a curse, said that Vicky was struggling.

  ‘I’m going to open a path to the tunnel, Vic. Get ready to run.’

  If Vicky didn’t get the round in soon, I was going to have open that path by sacrificing myself.

  ‘Right,’ said Vicky. What did that mean?

  The Surwen/lion stepped aside, offering a path. If Vicky ran now, she wouldn’t be fast enough. I needed a bigger gap, but Vicky just legged it.

  ‘No, Vic…’

  The lion crouched, ready to pounce, then Vicky turned and tossed the gun to me. I dropped the sword, caught the gun and prayed to Odin that Vicky had remembered to chamber the round. If she hadn’t…

  I had to fire over her shoulder, and do it one handed. The blast echoed round the Nest, and I saw something I hope I never have to see again: two spirits flowed, merged, swirled and blew apart into infinite fragments.

  ‘I think we’re quits on the flowers,’ said Vicky from the floor.

  ‘No need to shout.’

  ‘I didn’t have a Silence. I’m half deef. I mean deaf.’

  I holstered the gun and offered my hand. She got up and we turned to the altar. The red curtain was gone, and Surwen’s human form lay in a heap. I went to pick up the sword, alert to any danger.

  ‘The shock will have killed her,’ said Vicky. I checked for a pulse. She was right.

  ‘What now?’ she asked.

  ‘First aid kit.’

  19 — Brotherhoods and Other Family

  Vicky looked at my arm. ‘Step closer to the altar.’

  ‘Why? The first aid kit’s in my rucksack, and the light’s better near the walls.’

  ‘I’m gonna try healing you. There’s enough Lux in here to make up for the fact that I’m rubbish at it.’

  ‘You can heal? Why didn’t you say?’

  ‘All Mages can heal, but most are rubbish. Hurry up before the scar tissue starts to form.’

  We stood by the body of Surwen, now filthy from the ashes as well as being dead. I took my coat and shirt off. There were deep punctures on both sides, as well as gashes. The more I looked at them, the more they hurt.

  Vicky closed her eyes and gripped my arm in both hands. Lux flowed, and the pain hit the roof and flew out the chimney. I shoved my sleeve in my mouth and bit down hard. Really hard. Then I passed out.

  She caught me before my head hit the altar, and managed a controlled collapse. I took a moment to mime drinking, then closed my eyes until she returned with water. She joined me in resting against the altar.

  ‘You could have warned me.’

  ‘Sorry. I honestly forgot. Unless you’re really, really good, all the pain of getting better comes at once. I’m not gonna try that a
gain for a while.’

  ‘I’ll try not to get bitten by a lion until you’re ready.’

  ‘Good. Now break out the tabs and don’t tell Nicola.’

  We smoked in silence for a while, trying not to look at the bodies around us.

  ‘How did you know Iestyn was working for the opposition?’ said Vicky.

  ‘When I saw the entrance blocked up with concrete. That’s why Harry shook his head when we said we were coming here: he thought it was sealed off and inaccessible. If Harry didn’t know about the back door, Iestyn could only have found out from the Dragon crew. Come on, we’d better look down the other tunnel while we’re here.’

  We collected our gear and I led us down the tunnel. First on the right was an empty pen that stank of lion. Second on the right was another pen, but this one wasn’t empty. We stopped and stared. Four lions stared back.

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘Aye,’ said Vicky. ‘Hang on. These are different. By the gods, Conrad, these are the original lions from Africa. Surwen must have made the others herself.’

  ‘I’d guessed that. Even the Romans wouldn’t have made tabby lions. I’m guessing she wanted something she could control.’

  I looked around and saw an open door on the left. Through the gap I saw benches and cages. Surwen’s place of work, no doubt.

  Vicky was still staring at the lions. They were still staring back. The ones we’d killed were lionish enough – the same size as safari park lions, but these were altogether more real. Bigger, sleeker and prouder. These guys knew they were the king of any jungle. ‘Do you see that gate?’ said Vicky.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I hate to say this, Conrad, but she’d keyed the lock to her Imprint. It failed when she died.’

  ‘So they’re not locked in?’

  ‘No. And the gate opens outward. I’m betting they know that.’

  ‘Vic? How much more can you cope with?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’m going to stand guard. I want you to run into the lab and grab any scrolls you see lying about. And anything else of interest.’

  She moved before her courage failed, sliding along the wall and through the door. I took two steps toward the lions. They took two steps toward the gate. We stared at each other until the male took two more steps toward the gate.

  ‘Vic. Come out.’

  She appeared at the door, stuffing something in her pack. We backed away until we reached the chamber.

  ‘What now?’

  ‘You watch the tunnel.’

  I quickly laid out Surwen’s body on the altar and checked the pockets of her jumpsuit, finding nothing of interest except a phone. I took my pliers to her neck chain, tipping the amulets into my bag. The dagger I ignored because it could easily be booby-trapped.

  ‘Conrad, the first one’s out of the cage. It’s starting to come down the passage.’

  I checked the phone: it was locked. Vicky’s phone has a magickal key, but that was put on by Li Cheng, a leading expert in the field. I gambled that Wales was behind the times in electro-magick and gingerly pressed the Home button to Surwen’s thumb. It unlocked.

  ‘Vicky, I’m ready. You take the sword and the AK47. And keep this phone unlocked, whatever you do.’

  She jogged back to the altar. ‘What?’

  ‘I can’t carry them and Iestyn.’

  She glanced at the tunnel. Shadows were getting closer to the entrance. ‘Why?’

  ‘Iestyn was one of us in the end. I’m not going to let him end up as cat food.’

  I couldn’t have done it without the altar to help me get Iestyn’s body into a fireman’s lift. We headed for the exit as a roar came from the tunnel.

  ‘What if they follow us?’

  ‘They won’t. There was lion hair all over the Nest, but none in the tunnel.’

  I carried Iestyn down the tunnel, around the corner and laid him at the foot of the stairs. ‘I could probably get him up, but there’s no point,’ I said. ‘We certainly couldn’t get him across the beck. Let’s go up a bit and take stock.’

  We ascended until the curve of the stairs had hidden Iestyn from view, then settled down to sort things out. Vicky was two steps ahead of me on the technology front, as you’d expect. While I was still dismantling the AK47 and re-packing my rucksack, she’d gone through Surwen’s phone.

  ‘Got it,’ she said. ‘I’ve found an encrypted message group called …’ She showed me the screen: Brawdoliaeth y Draig. ‘Draig is Dragon,’ she observed. ‘I can’t look the other word up because there’s no signal. Doesn’t really matter – the names are here.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘There’s Surwen, Adaryn, Gwyddno, Iorwen, Rhein and Myfanwy.’

  ‘But no Iestyn.’

  ‘No. He’s in a different group set up not long ago.’

  ‘What else is on there?’

  While Vicky worked her magic on the phone, I took a moment to close my eyes and let the stress drain sway. This was the fourth time in less than a year that I’d had to defend myself against a violent attack and killed someone in the process. In the moment, you don’t think. In the moment, all you want to do is survive. How long I can keep putting myself in that moment is another matter, and it wouldn’t get any easier when Mina was released.

  ‘This is complicated,’ said Vic.

  ‘How so?’

  ‘I’ve looked at the general messages, calendar and photos. As far as I can tell, Surwen is married to Gwyddno and they have twin girls aged eleven. See?’

  She showed me a snap of a much older man – in his fifties at least – and two rather intense girls, all wearing Druid robes. The twins were not identical. One was taller and looked more mature than the other. ‘Are you sure that’s Gwyddno?’ I asked.

  ‘Aye. It’s their fifteenth wedding anniversary in May.’

  ‘Then we’ve got real problems.’

  ‘More real than a Dragon on the loose?’

  ‘Much more real. If the Dragon goes on the rampage, we have a plan.’

  She gave me that look again. ‘The plan with the atomic bomb in it.’

  ‘I prefer to call them tactical thermo-nuclear warheads. Much less apocalyptic.’

  ‘Makes all the difference, that.’

  ‘Yes it does, and it’s someone else’s problem. Our problem is a dead wife and mother. I do not want a grieving husband after us, or two screwed up kids in a few years’ time.’

  Vicky looked over her shoulder. I don’t even think she knew she was doing it. ‘You reckon?’

  ‘Vic, I was only granted access to the Esoteric Library two days ago, so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do on magickal history. Can you put your hand on your heart and tell me that the library isn’t full of feuds, score-settling and revenge served cold?’

  This time she caught herself glancing up the staircase. ‘You’ve got a point.’ Her eyes moved to the tunnel, towards the altar and Surwen’s body. ‘Please tell me you’re not planning to “take out” those girls.’

  It was time for a reality check. ‘Only if I have to.’ I let that hang in the air for a second. ‘Vicky, would you rather that they killed you or you killed them? If it came down to it.’

  She looked away. ‘I’m not sure I want to be in a job with choices like that.’

  ‘Me neither, which is why we need to make more choices. It’s time to recruit more members for the Merlyn’s Tower Irregulars.’

  I got off the stairs, partly to move things on, and partly because I was getting very stiff. ‘Are there any clues in the phone as to what sort of Druid Gwyddno might be?’

  While she returned to the phone, I returned to Iestyn. I collected his car keys and said, ‘Congratulations, old boy. You’ve just been promoted from traitor to hero.’

  Vicky was standing up ready to go, too. ‘It would have been a lot easier if the messages hadn’t been in Welsh, but looking at Gwyddno’s chain of Artefacts in the pictures, he’s definitely a Sorceror and Necromancer. He’ll be the one who summo
ned the Dæmon to quicken the egg. And Myfanwy’s a Herbalist/Healer. I have no idea what Rhein does – from the hardware, you’d think he was some sort of mediaeval guerrilla, all swords, spears and bows. New to me.’

  ‘Great. Let’s get going.’ We started the long climb. ‘You never got to tell me how old Surwen was.’

  ‘I must be losing me touch. I thought she was sixty at least, closer to seventy. All that protection magick must have confused me.’

  In death, Surwen had looked as she had in life: a trim woman in her mid-thirties. ‘Trust your instincts, Vicky. I do.’

  We saved our breath until we emerged from the Xanadu Portal to an empty stretch of rock and the rushing stream. I shivered and fastened my coat.

  Before I could start my plan, Vicky bent down to the water and dipped her handkerchief in the raging brook. ‘I’m gonna wipe the blood off your face,’ she said.

  It was freezing, and at first I flinched away, but she persisted, and her delicate touch, along with the mountain water, washed way more than a layer of gore.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Thank you, Conrad. You were going to sacrifice yourself in there. I won’t forget that.’

  ‘I…’

  ‘Shh.’ She put her finger on my lips. ‘This time, I get the last word.’

  When the moment had passed, I helped Vicky over the beck and took out my phone. There was a signal. Good. ‘We need to make some calls, then leg it down to the car park. I want you to ring Rick James.’

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘You need practice in lying.’

  She managed a smile. ‘Really? There was no mention of that being a Development Need in my last appraisal.’

  ‘We have appraisals?’

  ‘This is the twenty-first century Watch. Of course we have appraisals. What do you want me to say?’

  ‘Keep it simple. Tell him that Iestyn had been working to gain their trust, but that he’d got too close. Right? Now, this is important: in the firefight, say that he killed Surwen when she was inside the lion, and that he died in the act. Don’t mention my gun. Say we finished off the other lions with Iestyn’s sword and your magick. That’s not so far from the truth is it?’