Zeh Lo Meshane: Guardian Tongue for “of no consequence.” A Lyric of Power used to hide from view someone who wishes to remain unnoticed.
Coming Soon:
THE MYSTERIOUS MR. SPINES
FLIGHT
ESCAPE!
Through an opened window, Edward could hear the faint barks of Whiplash Scruggs’s hounds in the distance. He was terrified!
“I had nothing to do with”—gasp—“Scruggs tracking me here,” Mr. Spines wheezed. His face looked haggard and pale. “The Jackal has spies posted everywhere, keeping watch on every new arrival in the Woodbine. I . . .”—gasp—“I did my best to cover my tracks, but, as you can plainly see . . .” Mr. Spines indicated to his own withered and crumpled form. “The Corruption has made it difficult for me to even move. If I don’t have some medical attention soon I probably won’t survive much longer.”
Edward noticed that Spines seemed much smaller and uglier than when he’d first met him on the train the previous day. In fact, there were other subtle changes he hadn’t noticed before. The creature had more spines growing out from beneath his stovepipe hat than ever and his jacket was riddled with holes where new spikes were starting to poke through. He was starting to look more like a monster than a man.
Mr. Spines coughed and continued. “Anyway”—wheeze—“Whiplash Scruggs doesn’t care about any of you. All he wants is the boy.” Melchior indicated to Edward with a sharp nod.
“W-well, h-he can’t have me!” Edward shot back. He was starting to panic.
“Of course he can’t,” Spines said, shooting Edward a withering look. “Trust me, boy, with whatever I have left, I will fight to keep you safe from him. But we must hurry if we’re to escape his notice.” He turned his bloodshot eyes on Jack. “Is there”—cough—“a back door?” Melchior ran his tongue across his yellowed teeth.
Jack nodded. “Yes, Joyce had me install a passage for just such an emergency. I’ll take you to it.”
“You’re going to help him?” Tabitha, an apprentice Guardian, asked, looking incredulous.
Jack nodded at the young Guardian. “I believe that Melchior is telling the truth. I’ll do all I can to help. If he says he’s against the Jackal then that’s good enough for me.”
There was a brief silence where Edward could hear the barking of Whiplash Scruggs’s hounds growing closer. Finally Jemial, a senior Guardian who had come to help, spoke, turning to Jack.
“Is the house protected?” he asked.
“We had a couple of Guardians do a Shield Song several years back, but it probably needs to be sung again,” Jack said.
“I’ll try singing a Song of Warding. Hopefully it will help reinforce the shield on the cottage and hold Scruggs off for a while.” The big Guardian turned to Tabitha and said, “I want you to go with them to help the boy find his mother. I also want you to keep an eye on Melchior. Report any questionable behavior to me immediately.”
Tabitha looked aghast. “But they said she was captured by the Jackal. No Guardians can penetrate his lair . . .” she began, but was cut off by a curt remark from her master.
“I gave you an order! You’re to protect the boy. If he really is the Bridge Builder, then I’m sure he’ll surprise us all with his abilities. Go!” Jemial ordered.
Boooom!Just then, a sound like thunder rattled the interior of the cottage. Edward stared around wildly. What was that?
“Scruggs is attacking the shield on the cottage. Quick, follow me,” Jack said, motioning to Edward, Melchior, and Tabitha.
Jemial withdrew a small flute from his pocket and began to play the Song of Warding. Bridgette pulled Jack aside.
“I’m going with them, Uncle,” Bridgette said.
“No, it’s too dangerous, Bridgette. Moloc is one of the most feared Groundlings in the Jackal’s army. You could get seriously hurt!” Jack answered.
Bridgette looked resolute. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to protect me, but Ineed to go.” She glanced at Edward and then quickly turned back to her uncle. “Remember what we talked about? I believe that this is the reason I’m here, the reason I didn’t go immediately to the Higher Places like my sister.”
After a long moment, Jack nodded. “So be it. Come then, all of you.”
The faun trotted quickly out of the living room and down a narrow hallway. Edward followed with the others.
Boooom!The sound came again, this time from the opposite side of the house. Edward glanced outside a nearby window and saw curling wisps of yellow smoke rising from the grassy lawn.
Edward silently prayed that somehow Jemial’s song would still work.
Just buy us a few minutes more so that we can escape!
Then the booming sound came again. And this time, to everyone’s horror, the sound was accompanied by a loud crack!
Edward immediately knew what it meant.
Scruggs had broken through!
Jack rushed to a large wardrobe in the corner of his study and opened the doors to reveal a hidden passage.
“Quick, through here!” the faun commanded. “Follow this passage all the way to the end. It leads to a dock where a boatman will be waiting for you. He’s a friend. I’ll send word to you if I’m able. Good-bye and good luck!”
Then the faun pushed the wardrobe doors closed and the passageway was suddenly plunged into total darkness.
Edward heard a sharp, scratching noise. Then a flickering flame suddenly illuminated Mr. Spines’s ugly face. The match he held was encased in a tiny, silver box covered with gears.
“Follow me!” he growled and hobbled down the damp passageway. Edward and the others followed the tiny, flickering light as it bobbed off into the distance.
Debris rained down, and several muffled explosions echoed above them. The cloying darkness of the tunnel seemed to go on forever. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the end. Spines shoved hard against a wooden door that was covered with spiderwebs and they tumbled forward, out of the tunnel and onto a grassy riverbank.
Edward glanced back in the direction they’d come from. Underneath the cloudy sky, Jack’s cottage was glowing with an ominous shade of red. Seconds later, he realized why. The faun’s house was on fire!
Edward turned away and hurried to catch up with the others. It was too much to think about.
“The docks are over there,” Mr. Spines said. “Hurry.”
As they struggled down the banks, the sound of baying hounds filled the air, followed by a flurry of deep-throated barks.
Spines stared in the direction of the cottage and let out a long, low hiss.
“He knows we’re gone. Hurry!” And in spite of his severely weakened condition, the stunted creature shot off toward the dock.
“I’m coming!” a voice floated across the river toward them. Edward could make out a figure clad in heavy boots and a leather jerkin standing on a large boat that reminded Edward a little bit of a sturdy gondola. A stocky man was holding a long pole, and pushing the boat toward them as quickly as he could.
An eerie howl split the air, much closer than before. The skin on the back of Edward’s neck prickled. Whiplash Scruggs and his Groundlings were not far behind!
“Hurry!” Tabitha shouted, her wings fluttering in agitation.
“Is there trouble?” the boatman shouted back as he poled the boat into position.
“We’re being pursued by a Groundling,” Mr. Spines growled.
The stocky man nodded quickly. “Hop aboard then, but be careful not to touch the water. You’re on the banks of the Lethye. Can’t afford to have anyone lose their marbles.”
Edward had no idea what the boatman meant, but he was careful to stay dry as he climbed in. Edward glanced behind him and immediately wished he hadn’t. Whiplash Scruggs was almost to the river.
“Go! Go! GO!” Edward shouted. “He’s here!”
WHOOOSH!Something hot whistled past Edward’s head, narrowly missing his ear. Edward raised his hand to his cheek, feeling a slig
ht burning sensation. Fortunately, the flaming object had only singed him.
“It’s an Oroborus!” Tabitha shouted. Edward turned and spotted the blazing ring as it soared over a nearby thicket of pine trees. If it had flown any closer, it would have taken his head off!
Tabitha quickly undid a clasp on her blue sash and withdrew her golden ring. “Everybody stay as far down on the deck as you can! I’ll guard us from the air!”
She gazed down at her ring and shouted, “Qados!” Instantly, the golden hoop was encircled in a flickering ring of blue flames. Then, with a mighty downward flap of her wings, Tabitha shot off into the air.
Above the pine trees in the distance, the Oroborus had completed its arc and was now returning toward the boat, streaking toward them like a flaming comet.
A great shout went up from the riverbank and Edward looked over to see the source of the commotion. It was Whiplash Scruggs at the head of his troop of low-ranking Groundlings. The only Groundlings Edward had encountered so far had looked human, except for their unnaturally pale blue eyes and sharp teeth. But that mostly human appearance was reserved for the highest-ranked soldiers in the Jackal’s army, a “costume” of sorts that hid their true, corrupted bodies. This throng of gibbering creatures on the bank was exposed as what they really were.
Edward cringed. Could such things have ever been beautiful Guardians? They were disgusting creatures that looked neither animal nor human. Many were half rotten with decay, covered with leprous sores. A few others had a misshapen wing or a crumpled bunch of feathers sticking out of their twisted backs. Their ugly faces had fangs, snouts or vulturelike beaks, and every one of them had eyes of the palest blue.
Their attention was momentarily diverted from the boat where Edward, Bridgette, and Spines were hiding and was focused instead on the young Guardian. They jeered as Tabitha dove and swooped, trying to avoid the deadly weapon that seemed to track her every movement.
She’s drawing it toward herself,Edward thought. She’s putting herself in the way so that it doesn’t come after me.
Even though he had no idea how the weapon worked, Edward had guessed something close to the truth. Guardian rings sought their opposite in battle, honing in on evil like a magnet. The Oroborus had been designed to seek out Guardians and was guided to the closest enemy target with deadly accuracy. Because Tabitha was nearest, the ring was after her.
Edward could only stare, mouth agape, as he watched the Guardian fly. In spite of having wings himself, he’d never seen firsthand what could be done with them. He watched her every move as she dove and swooped majestically through the air. He’d never seen such an amazing sight.
And for the first time ever, he saw the true power of a Guardian in flight.
When the Oroborus got too close, Tabitha used her own ring as a shield. Edward watched flashes of red fire collide with blue sparks as Tabitha successfully deflected each of the weapon’s successive attacks with her slim, golden circle.
Edward had nearly forgotten about Whiplash Scruggs because he was so busy watching Tabitha’s performance. But he was brought back to the present when he heard the fearsome commander bellow an order to his soldiers.
Up in the sky, Tabitha continued her acrobatic dance, narrowly avoiding the Oroborus. Edward could tell that she was getting tired. She wasn’t making as many fancy loops and dives anymore. It seemed to take all of her strength just to deflect the relentless ring.
Then, something completely unexpected happened. All of the Groundlings gave a shout, saying the same, guttural word in unison.
“Nsh!”
A dozen circles of red flames appeared in each of the Groundlings’ fists. Edward had mistakenly thought that Whiplash Scruggs had possessed the only one! With a shout the other Groundlings threw their Oroboruses into the air, hurtling them toward the sole defender that hovered above Edward’s boat.
Edward’s mind raced. If he didn’t do something fast, Tabitha would be cut to ribbons!
Suddenly, like it had once before, an unknown word popped into his mind. It was the same word that he’d used before to repel an attack from Lilith and Asmoday, two of the Jackal’s most powerful servants. He could feel a tingling sensation building inside of him as he turned his head skyward, determining an angle where the swiftly moving evil rings could be intercepted. Then, after steadying himself for the tremendous burst of energy that was sure to come, he stood up on the deck. Extending his fingers in the direction of the flaming weapons he shouted, “Histalek!”
There was a flash of blue light and the burning smell of ozone. Lightning arced from Edward’s extended fingertips, snaking skyward to intercept the dozen hoops of red fire.
Kerraccckkk!The electric shock from Edward’s fingertips impacted the evil rings with a tremendous explosion of sparks.
Broken pieces of Oroborus showered down all around him, peppering the water with little splashes. Edward swayed on his feet. It felt as if all the strength he possessed had drained from his body.
His eyes lost focus as the world spun crazily around him.
He heard a muffled shout from Bridgette as his legs folded beneath him and his long body crashed down toward the bottom of the boat, landing with a thunk! He didn’t see his deck of cards tumble from his pocket and fall into the water as he hit the hard, wooden deck.
Everything went black.
Wings Page 11