by Caro King
Spooked, Nin switched her gaze back to the softly swirling colours of the ribbon, noticing that faint shadows hung about it, shifting against the glow. Even so, she could still feel her skin prickling under the lions’ emerald gaze. Trying to ignore them, she concentrated on her inspection of the clue, but the lions kept distracting her. Their gaze seemed just as penetrating, even when she wasn’t looking at them. She began to feel clammy, her scalp prickled and a thin trickle of sweat ran down her spine. She was suddenly aware that all the voices had stopped.
They’re listening, she thought, waiting for something to happen.
From the windows, four sets of emerald eyes raked over her hungrily, as if she was dinner or something. She looked at them, thinking that she might see them move, but they didn’t. Then she thought they might move when she wasn’t looking, so she studied the ribbon, then looked back quickly at the windows to catch them out. Nothing had changed.
‘This is ridiculous,’ snapped Nin.
With one part of her brain she heard movement in the other room, a firm tread.
Jonas, she thought, thank goodness for that! I can get out of here. She got up and stepped forward, reaching out for the clue.
A boy stepped through the arch into the room. He was about the same age as Jonas, though taller, and was wearing a green jacket, brown trousers, interesting boots and an awful lot of jewellery. His dark, curly hair was tied back with a green handkerchief.
Before she had time to register that it wasn’t Jonas and to stop herself from doing what she had started to do, Nin’s hand was closing over something cool that seemed to stir and shift against her skin. She pulled the clue down, holding it in her palm where it swirled gently, as if deciding what to do next.
The boy drew in a breath. ‘Oooo, big mistake that!’ he said. ‘Let’s hope it’s not fatal!’
There was a moment of utter silence while Nin stared at the new boy in astonishment, and then the windows imploded, their stained images splitting into a thousand fragments that whirled about the room in a storm of splintered light and jagged sound.
Nin screamed as the boy stepped forward, grabbed her and pulled her down, below the level of the flying shards. Even so, the whirling glass was dangerously close and she felt a splinter brush across her wrist, drawing a line of blood. Then the whirlwind calmed and she could look. It wasn’t good.
The shards were coming together again, but not as a flat image in a window. This time the lions were in three dimensions, formed of crystal slivers sharp enough to spill blood.
Nin shivered. The lions shone like jewels in the light, sending diamonds of colour glancing off the walls. One of them moved, tinkling faintly. Its emerald eyes found Nin. The others followed its gaze. Nin wondered why they didn’t pounce.
‘It’s a cat thing,’ said the boy. ‘As soon as you start running, they’ll chase, right? They’re just waiting for you to move, so keep still!’
‘I didn’t mean it,’ said Nin trying not to panic. ‘Here, have your silly clue!’ She threw the shadow ribbon into the room. Or at least she tried to. It wouldn’t leave her hand. Not panicking got suddenly harder. The ribbon shifted, twining its silky length around her fingers.
‘You’ve got it now,’ the boy said. ‘It’s a spell of some sort and I’m betting it won’t leave you till they take it back. Name’s Seth Carver, by the way, I’m a treasure hunter. You’re Nin.’
‘How …?’ Nin sent him a look, still trying to untangle the spell. It wouldn’t let go and taking hold of it was like trying to pick up water. Every time she went to pull it free, it slipped out of her grasp, slithering up her wrist and forearm to weave itself even more tightly around her.
‘Oh come on! You’re famous,’ he said cheerfully, getting between Nin and the glass guardians. ‘Stories about you are halfway round the Drift.’
One of lions took a step forward, its ruby-tipped paws clinking on the ground. It opened its mouth and gave a snarl like grinding glass. Its emerald gaze was cold, fixed.
‘See these boots,’ he said calmly.
Nin glanced at the cracked leather bands strapped around Seth’s calves, ankles and feet. The hide looked as if it had been dipped in tar and was scored and scratched with a dozen symbols.
‘They’re travelling magic, but they won’t work unless I’m on open land. So what we have to do is get out of here and then we’re away.’
‘But …’
‘We can come back and find your friend later. And don’t worry about these, they are only after you. You’re the one who picked up the spell.’
Seth pushed her backwards to the door. The lions followed, pacing them. The second one gave a low, grating growl.
‘When I say go, you run, right? Listen to me, I’ll tell you which way to go, got that?’
Nin nodded.
‘Right,’ said Seth. ‘Now RUN!’
Nin ran. So did Seth.
So did the lions.
They thundered through the Mansion, diving through arches, skidding across rooms and trying not to crash into walls and pillars. Behind them came the lions, one after the other, their manes and paws scraping against the arches as they ran, their tread like breaking glass.
Nin tumbled down a flight of stairs, past tall windows, but no doors. She could sense the lions at their back, pausing, cat-like, at the top of the stair. Then taking a step. And another. Then bounding on after them, splintered colour swirling in the air as it caught the light of the windows.
They’ll tear us up like rags, Nin thought, suddenly knowing why some of the skeletons had been scattered and broken. They were the ones that had found the clue.
She was used to running, but that didn’t make it easy. Her breath was already rasping in her chest and her heart thumping madly. Her fringe kept getting in her eyes and her hand was raw where she was running it along the stone walls for balance as they hurtled down the stairs.
She plunged on through a maze of rooms, one leading into another, with Seth behind her shouting directions to tell her which arch to take or corner to turn. As they hurtled past one archway she saw Jonas, running to see what the noise was.
‘Can’t stop! Trouble!’ she yelled to his startled face, and flew on past.
A moment later they burst out into a round room with three exits. Through one of them she could see open air.
‘We’re out! she yelled, diving through it. She didn’t stop to listen for a word from Seth, she just went. With a groan, Seth followed.
Nin had only run a short way across the grass when she realised her mistake. For a start, they were still high up, she could feel it in the clear, sharp air that took her breath away. The clouds had vanished with the rain and the scene was bathed in early-evening sunlight. In front of her was a stretch of emerald lawn, rimmed with flower beds gone wild. Roses grew in heavy-headed clusters of yellow and dark orange, and even though spring was long past the trees were rich with pink and white blossom. Her heart sank as she realised that she had come out in Dark’s garden.
Glancing back, saw the guardians crashing into the round room in a furious blaze of colour.
Seth grabbed her. ‘Wrong door!’ he gasped unnecessarily.
‘Come on!’ yelled Nin, and turned back to the garden. Before her, a path of amber cobbles led past the trees, down the slope of lawn and over the stream to a low wall and some steps leading down. There was only one problem. Beyond that there was nothing but the sky.
Still, there was nowhere else to go, they just had to hope the steps at the end led somewhere helpful.
It wasn’t far to the wall. Nin skidded to a halt and gasped, her head spinning at the sight before her. Far below, the Land unrolled in a carpet of vivid colour. She had only a moment to take in its green meadows, purple hills, silver rivers and dark woods, but it was long enough for her to see that something was badly wrong. In every direction the colour was spotted with patches of dense white fog that spiralled up in cloudy funnels reaching to the sky. In one place, the Raw was so bad t
hat only a hill remained, like an island rearing up in a lake of mist. Even as she turned her head to look for the steps, she saw one stretch of Raw explode upwards and outwards devouring another wood and a hillside clad in purple heather.
She felt Seth at her side and turned to look at him, the lions forgotten in the moment of realising something terrible.
‘The Land is dying faster,’ she said, her voice tight with fear. ‘Not slowly but now, right NOW. There’ll be nothing left in a few days!’
‘My guess is, he’s attacking the Seven,’ Seth whispered in her ear. ‘And if that’s so, well, the Fabulous, the Land, they’re all part of the same substance. Everything’s twined up together. You can’t kill one without killing the rest.’
Behind them the lions bounded down the lawn, scattering light like jewels in the evening sun. One of them roared, a crashing, grinding roar that split the air in knives of sound. With a scream of fright, Nin turned to the steps. There were two of them, the rest had crumbled away. There was no way out. Except one.
‘Well,’ said Seth. ‘It was nice meeting you, Ninevah Redstone. Sorry it had to end so soon.’
He grabbed her hand and pulled her on to the parapet. A long way down, at the foot of Dark’s Mansion, she could see a steep hill tumbling away in a series of rocky ledges to end in a deep blue lake.
Just a leap away, a lion gathered itself to spring, its emerald eyes still fixed on its target.
‘Let’s put your luck to the test, eh?’
‘What?’ said Nin, bewildered. Before her the landscape reeled. Trees like tiny sprigs far below. Far, far below. The wind whipped her hair across her face and stung her eyes.
A kaleidoscope of gold and red light broke around them as the lion sprang, its grating roar slicing the clear air like knives, its ruby claws outspread.
Holding tight to Nin, Seth jumped.
Screaming, they plummeted down towards the rocky hillside.
10
Ninevah’s Luck
The world was nothing but a swirl of twisting colour and wind roaring in her ears as she fell, tumbling like a rag doll towards certain death on the rocky land far below. She had lost her grip on Seth’s hand and fell with her arms outspread, as if trying desperately to catch hold of something. Anything.
The land whirled giddily, now above her, now below, a glimpse of grass and rock, then of evening sky. It seemed to last forever, but then suddenly the grass and the rock were gone and Nin could see only a pool of dense shadow stretching out beneath her, a blue-black darkness that blotted out the ground as she hurtled towards it.
As she plunged headlong into the depths of the shadow, the falling ceased. In fact, she not only stopped going down, but started moving along, flying through the air, wrapped in darkness. Below her, Nin could still see a hint of ground though it was veiled in shadow. Soft, cool air rippled around her from head to foot. It sent a shaft of joy into her heart that was both wonderful and painful. The falling was over. It seemed that certain death was not so certain after all.
Near her, she heard Seth laugh and say something about Ninevah’s luck coming through all right. She joined in, reaching out to find his hand again.
The air around her rippled, and suddenly she felt as though eyes were watching her. Eyes that were curious, but not very friendly.
‘What’s happening?’ said Seth, his tone changing to one of alarm.
Nin gasped as the darkness shifted, altering its whereabouts so that it kept hold of her, but no longer supported Seth. For a second he hung there, still carried by the forward momentum, and now she could see him through the edge of shadow that still wrapped her. He was an arm’s length away, bathed in the glow of evening light, his black hair tossed by the wind. His eyes met hers. He grinned.
‘It was fun while it lasted, Ninevah Redstone,’ he said, and began to fall again, the force of his plunge ripping his hand from hers. And then he was gone.
While Nin’s head reeled with shock, a soft voice spoke in her ear.
‘That’s better,’ it said. ‘Now it’s just you and me.’
Jonas was hard on the heels of the glass lions, following them as they tumbled down the slope and bounded on to the few crumbling steps towards Nin and the new boy who were …
Jumping!
Without so much as a pause, the lions went over the parapet after their prey, glinting fire-bright in the evening sun.
Breathless, Jonas got to the wall in time to see a stretch of shadow far below him swarming over the land and disappearing into the distance. As he watched, a shape – too big to be Nin – fell out of it, plunging to the ground. From this high up it didn’t look as if the body had far left to fall, but he suspected it was still enough to kill if the victim landed on the rocky hillside. He held his breath, heart hammering, waiting to see Nin follow. She didn’t.
He looked down.
The lions hit the ground and shattered, glittering in fierce sparks of light as the impact flung them across the hill.
Hurrying back up the slope of the garden and into the round room, Jonas paused, sensing the air. He ignored the arch they had used to enter the room in the first place, and studied the three exits. The middle one was the way to the garden and the other two looked as if they opened on to other rooms, but he could feel a draught blowing through from the one on the left. Jonas smiled grimly. If the 3D maze effect of Dark’s Mansion had anything to do with it, that thin current of air meant that the archway on the left would transport him to the ground floor and the way out.
It’s like a great big game of snakes and ladders, he thought irritably as he went to look.
He found himself in a vast entrance hall. In front of him, standing open, was the main door out of the Mansion and through it he found the hillside he had been looking at a moment ago from so high up. The grass was scattered with coloured glass so he picked his way over it, heading down to the lake. From Dark’s garden it had looked like the dropped body might have fallen straight into the water. As long as it didn’t hit the surface in a belly flop it would probably survive.
At the lake he glanced back to look at the Mansion, which rose from the Land in a vast and ragged tower of earth and rock. Its lower slopes looked almost climbable, but further up it became a sheer face that plants and even small shrubs clung to against all the laws of gravity. Far above (though barely a fraction of the way up the tower) he could see the garden sticking out, supported by the branches of a great tree that formed part of one side of the Mansion. He looked towards the top of the Mansion, straining to see the even greater tree that grew on its summit, but it towered so high above the Land he could see nothing save the clouds that drifted around its walls. So he turned back to the lake where a figure was splashing out on to the shore.
Seth collapsed in a breathless heap. ‘That was lucky,’ he gasped, ‘it dropped me right over the water. Not that it meant to, I don’t suppose. You must be Jonas?’
Jonas nodded briskly and crouched down beside him. ‘Nin?’
‘Whatever it is, it’s still got her, but my feeling is she’ll be all right.’
‘And who are you?’
‘Seth,’ said Seth. He looked up at Jonas, smiling. His eyes were an odd green-blue. ‘I’m a treasure hunter,’ he went on. ‘Well, thief some would call it. I search for magical artefacts and sell them, or trade them, for food and so on. Some I keep to use, though.’ He was getting his breath back by now. He stood, stretching, flexing his arms.
Jonas stood too, studying him. His eyes flicked from Seth’s necklaces, rings and bracelets, and then to the travelling boots. Something wasn’t right.
‘It’s amazing,’ he said, almost before he realised it, ‘how you turned up just when Nin needed you. With a faerie compass.’ He nodded at the thing hanging from Seth’s belt. ‘And a pair of travelling boots.’ The words hung in the air between them.
Seth laughed. ‘Isn’t it just like I came looking for her? Using the compass. And the travelling boots. Funny how I knew the way out,
too. You’d almost think I knew the place of old.’
‘Who are you?’
Seth leaned close. ‘Work it out, boy,’ he said softly.
Jonas looked into eyes the green of shallow water and felt the blood drain from his face. He knew the spirit hidden in those eyes. Ava Vispilio, the once-sorcerer whose spell gave him the power to steal the bodies of the Quick so that he could live in them and use them and even kill them. And then move on.
‘You’re dead!’
‘Not dead, boy, never dead. You should have stayed to find my ring.’
Jonas dropped his eyes to the once-sorcerer’s hand and the ring that glowed on his forefinger. It stood out from the others like gold stands out from clay.
‘You should never have left it for poor Seth Carver to pick up,’ laughed Seth, seeing his glance. ‘Someone will always come by, you know. The ring calls them. It’s part of my spell.’
Out of Seth’s captive eyes, Ava Vispilio smiled and reached for one of the amulets hanging around his neck.
Jonas sprang back. He was too late. Crackles of light leapt from the amulet, closing him in a net of lightning.
‘The best thing about the sorcerer magic in all of these,’ said Seth, jangling his collection of jewellery, ‘is that it’s so specific about what it does. Much better than all that unformed power in a staff. That will take … oooh, let’s see … around seven hours to kill you. Seven hours of agony as the sparks burn their way through your skin. Giving you a few minutes’ break every so often, just in case you pass out and need time to recover consciousness. Nice eh? I made it myself, back when I was a real sorcerer, not just a passenger in some stupid Quick body.’
The net of sparks closed and Jonas choked back a scream as the lightning began to worm its way under his skin, burning through him in jagged, fiery threads of pain.
‘Sorry I can’t stop and watch, but it takes too long and I’ve got plans. Strood means business and I’m thinking that brains and cunning aren’t enough to keep me safe right now. The only thing that’s outwitted him so far is Ninevah’s luck, and now I’ve seen it in action I’m inclined to agree. With the world about to end, she would be the safest place for me.’