by SJB Gilmour
Sarah looked about at the gathered packs of werewolves, not knowing what to say. Grey Mane Jasper bounded up to her, closely followed by Black Coat Mannix and Brown Coat Fergus. The three werewolves took up their place beside Kate O’Brien. Next they were joined by Herschel the Red Coat and finally by a beautiful young White Coat female called Abby.
Abby padded up to her and sat respectfully. Even though she was young, she was strong and her eyes betrayed a rare intelligence for her Order. ‘We represent our Orders, First of Wolfenvald,’ Abby told her in a lilting tongue.
Sarah was surprised. Most of the whites she had met to date (only a few she realised), had not been the smartest of werewolves. This young First was an exception. She was very smart and now that Sarah was attuned to sensing such things, quite powerful too.
Herschel also surprised her. ‘We know you’re pressed for time,’ he told her with a grin. ‘There’s not much point wasting words. We all know who you are and what you need. You called, we answered, just as we will from this day onwards.’
‘Agreed,’ Mannix growled.
‘Same!’ Fergus yipped.
‘That goes for us too, Golden Mane,’ O’Brien told her. ‘The Order of Silver Shrouds will obey your call.’ As she spoke, a huge pack of silent Silver Shrouds arrived. It was easily three hundred strong and to a wolf, all as deadly serious and attentive as O’Brien.
Jasper grinned at Sarah and boldly wagged his tail. ‘The Order of Grey will follow you also, Golden Mane,’ he promised.
Another large portal appeared. From this one bounded Captain Jenny Ashe in her gold and black werewolf form, followed by three hundred and forty-nine similarly-coloured others.
Startled, Sarah growled at her. ‘What are you doing here, Captain?’
Ashe grinned. ‘Penethelia’s probably not too happy about it, and we’ll all probably cop hell for it, but we’re not missing this. Wolfenvald called to us all.’ She nodded at the division behind her.
Sarah padded up to each of them and sniffed and nuzzled them all in turn. Satisfied that she knew them all, she sat back and howled again. This time every werewolf in the valley, which was every werewolf alive, echoed her howl.
The sound was incredible. When one werewolf howls, it’s often quite a lonely sound. When a few let loose, the sound can be quite disturbing. When the tens of thousands howled unison, the whole planet shook with the force of the sound. Snow tumbled from mountain-tops and a wave of sound pulsed around the entire planet. The echoes of that howl bounced around Wolfenvald for close to an hour.
High in the reaches, wereeagles screeched their acceptance of Sarah’s rule. Out on the savannahs and deep in the jungles around the equator, werecats also growled and cried out their acknowledgement.
When the noise subsided, three ghosts of dead werewolves appeared. The first two, Sarah had met many times before. Henryk and Jozefa, her parents, padded up and bowed respectfully to their daughter.
‘All Hail First of Wolfenvald, Sarah Kopernik!’ Henryk howled in a voice that echoed off the highest peaks.
Again, the gathered werewolves howled and yipped. This time, there was no stopping their excitement. A great celebration of yips, howls and barks chorused throughout the valley. Then the third ghost padded up to Sarah. Just as she was feeling the happiest she had ever felt in her life, Sarah felt a shock as though a knife had been twisted in her heart. This ghostly werewolf was the spirit of Felix.
With a shocked whine, Sarah raced up to him. ‘Felix!’ she yelped. ‘No! You… You’re dead?’
Felix smiled at her. ‘Be not sad, Golden Mane,’ he told her. ‘I have known for a long time that this day was coming. I was prepared for it.’
‘What happened?’
Felix stopped smiling. He whined and looked ashamed of himself. ‘I am sorry to report, First of Wolfenvald. I have failed. Cassandra’s child, son in-law and grandchild were abducted. I attacked the intruder, but he was too strong.’
Rage boiled up instantly within her. ‘Who was it?’ Sarah growled in a dangerously low tone.
Felix whined again. ‘I know not, First,’ he told her. ‘He appeared to be Marzdane, however I have bested him once and know his scent. This person carried a different scent and was far more powerful. I went to strike but I was dead before I hit the floor.’
Sarah felt a chill. She’d been angry many times in the past. Unlike then, now she felt a cold determination take control of her rage. This wasn’t going to go away in a hurry. She was going to see this out to the end and Hades help whomever got in her way. Had she been less angry and more reflective, she’d have noted then and there that Hades’ Tartarus was a far too civilised place for the felon responsible for abducting Susan, David and little Alexander. As for killing Felix, well, that just meant that Sarah herself could not imagine just how much horror that creep deserved.
‘Panic not, Queen of Wolfenvald.’ The voices of Wolfenvald whispered to her. ‘You have time enough. If The White Pirate has abducted your pack-mates then he could only have done so to deliver them to The Usurper. Should The Usurper wish to sacrifice them to gain strength enough to open Conundrum Gate, he must use only one spell which requires days to perform. Let not this abduction lead you into rash acts of retribution.’
Sarah cocked her head to one side in frustration. Her first instinct would have been to go immediately in search of Cromwell or Mautallius or whoever had David, Susan and Alexander, and kill them. Now that she thought about it with most un-werewolf-like patience, she realised that getting Mel’s family back would take planning and organisation, which was hardly in the impulsive nature of any werewolf.
‘Alright,’ she growled, turning to Benjamin. ‘Do what you need to here, then go to Gembrook, Second of Pack Kopernik,’ she ordered him. ‘I’ll be in touch.’ She turned to Mannix, Fergus, Herschel, Jasper, O’Brien and Abby. ‘You six go too. Have your Seconds stay here and wait for McConnell’s directions.’ Her tone brooked no contradiction. There were various yips and barks from the six Firsts as Sarah leaped through a portal to The Labyrinth of Minos.
Chapter Twenty
Three goblins attacked at once. Mel leaped to one side and kicked out at one with an armoured foot, while thrusting up at another with the blade in her right hand. The blade went through the chest-plate of her goblin mummy — a blow that would have been fatal to a normal living goblin. The goblin she kicked fell backwards, his knee broken and bent at a disturbing angle. As she moved sideways, she also lashed out with the blade in her left hand at the third mummy, slashing at the under-arm and slicing his arm off at the joint. She tucked in her blades and rolled once to move away, then bounded to her feet as her opponents put themselves back together in readiness for another assault.
‘Hold!’ Jax called out and the goblin mummies froze, holding their weapons at the ready. ‘Impressive move, Mistress. But next time, don’t be such a show-off. A roll like that is a great show of agility, but a fast opponent might strike your back while it’s unprotected.’ He waved at one of the re-animated goblins. The grotesque living corpse inside its own living armour complied by diving into a roll. Jax flashed into the attack, swiping at the soldier’s exposed back. His blade struck true, tearing a nasty rent in the back-plate.
Mel nodded at him gratefully then she waved at her waiting soldiers. They dismissed themselves and returned to their sarcophagi. Nearly a thousand goblins had been entombed in Exlam, and Mel had resurrected more than half of them. Many of those she had not resurrected had died and been interred before Jilde had lost its moon and its gods. Others still were too incomplete to be useful. A body without limbs to hold weapons would be little use in a fight.
Mel watched her mummies obey her command then turned to Jax, grinning. ‘Guess it’s a good thing we’ve got these guys to practise on.’
Jax nodded, but his black eyes were worried.
‘What?’
‘I wonder, Mistress, what other intentions do you have for them?’
Mel shrugged. ‘
They’d make a pretty good army, don’t you reckon?’
Jax was not so sure. ‘Too small to be an army, Mistress. A legion, perhaps?’
Mel turned to face the walls of the cavern. ‘All right!’ she yelled. ‘Come on out and form up!’
The mummies clamoured out of their elaborate coffins and marched into the centre of the cavern. Once there, all five hundred and fifty of them took up one military formation and stood at attention. Most were high-ranking. There were many captains, commanders and generals. There were also several dozen lieutenants and even a few non-commissioned soldiers like sergeants and corporals.
‘If they’re to be a fighting force, Mistress, they’ll need a hierarchy,’ Jax advised Mel.
Mel nodded. ‘Okay, what kind of rank commands a legion?’
‘A general, Mistress. All the divisions under his command are led by captains. Then there’s a lieutenant and under him, a sergeant, a couple of corporals and the rest are privates.’
Mel nodded and called out to the mummies. ‘Okay! Who’s the highest ranking of all of you?’
Ten generals stepped out of formation and marched up to stand before her. One of them was the first dead goblin hero she had resurrected. Mel nodded at him. ‘You’ll do,’ she muttered. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Apex, Mistress,’ the mummy rasped.
‘Okay General Apex, after me, you’re in charge.’ Mel did a quick count of the remaining soldiers in formation. After the ten in front of her, there were five hundred and forty soldiers. ‘Perfect.’ She nodded at the remaining nine in front of her. ‘You guys are now captains. Take sixty each as a squad. Assign yourself a sergeant and two—’
‘Maybe three corporals will be needed, Mistress,’ Jax murmured.
‘Make that three corporals. The rest are privates. Got it?’
The mummies accepted their new ranks without question and saluted her at once. They turned and marched back to the waiting division. After a few moments of hoarsely delivered orders and a bit of waving, General Apex stood at the front of nine waiting squads of un-killable soldiers, all fanatically loyal to Melanie.
Jax eyed the waiting soldiers warily. ‘They’ll need a name, Mistress.’
Mel thought about this. Well, she thought to herself, if she was to be called The Nightsmith, her own private army should be called something to reflect that.
‘How about The Nightcorps?’
Jax grinned. ‘Perfect, Mistress. And, they’re yours to command.’
This worried Mel a little until she heard Apollo within her mind advising her. ‘The goblin beast is correct my child, but it would be wise to have a second in command to lead them in your absence.’
Mel turned to Jax and grinned, her green eyes filled with mischief.
Jax swallowed a little nervously. As seasoned as he was, this kind of thing was far beyond anything he’d ever experienced, and also the sudden assembly of a fighting force not aligned to his own army right under his nose, was ringing all kinds of alarm bells in his mind. Mel gestured for him to follow her as she strode to face the waiting soldiers. He followed dutifully, though very cautiously.
‘Right!’ Mel called out. ‘You all are now The Nightcorps!’
‘Nightsmith!’ the soldiers thundered in reply, banging fists against breastplates.
‘And here’s how your chain of command goes down,’ Mel commanded. ‘General Apex is in charge. These Captains,’ and she waved at them to turn and announce themselves, (which they did each declaring his name — Deitrix, Xan, Jetter, Jate, Zenox, Axter, Mattod, Gom, and Cord), ‘are next in line of each squad. Those of you who aren’t sergeants or corporals are privates, got me?’
Again, the deadly mummies clashed their fists against their living silver armour and bellowed ‘Nightsmith!’
‘And when I’m not around, you take orders from Jax here, got it?’
This time, there was no response. General Apex stepped forward and saluted her. ‘Ma’am. A captain cannot command a general.’
Mel shrugged. ‘That’s his Imperial rank. You lot are not Imperial. Your mine! Jax is my champion, and that means he outranks you. Got it? If you don’t like it, I’ll stick you back where I found you.’
Apex saluted smartly and marched back to his place, spun on his heel and saluted again. ‘Nightsmith!’ he hollered in acceptance. The rest of The Nightcorps followed suit.
Mel watched them with a certain amount of smug pride for a few moments. Then she remembered Jerrit’s copy of The Babylonian Heresies.
‘The Forever Dead,’ she muttered. ‘That’s eight.’
‘Mistress?’ Jax asked her, not understanding.
She shrugged. ‘Just something I read once,’ she replied absently.
Now while all this was going on, out on the surface in the palace grounds, there was quite a commotion on the parade ground. Jimbeaux, Mel’s former familiar, and now a much larger young diamondback dragon, had arrived and was demanding to see his former Mistress. This wouldn’t have caused such a problem had the palace staff, who at that time were being administered by Jonex, been able to find her. They’d searched everywhere they could think of.
She wasn’t in her quarters. She wasn’t with Emperor Jerrit. She wasn’t in Jeff’s cave or even in the building next to palace — the Imperial Academy. Finally in desperation, Jonex appealed to Mog, one of Jax’s most trusted sergeants. This put Mog in an unfortunate position. He knew where Mel and Jax were of course, but going to them meant he might be followed and that meant possibly revealing to the world that Exlam had been desecrated. Still, Mog was not about to allow a snivelling little bureaucrat like Jonex upset the apple-cart.
‘You stay here, Administrator,’ he advised the stuffy goblin. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ He gestured to two of his companions to prevent Jonex from following him, and strode into the palace. It wasn’t long before he had made his way down through the caverns and tunnels to Exlam. What he saw when he arrived was the last thing he was expecting.
‘You’ll have to keep this between us for now, Mog,’ Jax advised him carefully.
Mog nodded, going pale as he gaped at the hundreds of living dead goblin soldiers.
‘Was there something you needed to tell me?’ Jax asked him.
Mog nodded again, still staring at the soldiers with a mixture of horror and awe.
‘Mog?’
‘Sir, there’s a young diamondback dragon on the parade ground. He’s demanding to see Mistress Hazelwood here, and someone he keeps calling Amixo.’
Mel grinned. ‘Jimbeaux!’
Mog smiled with relief, but was still a little confused. ‘And who is Amixo, Mistress?’
‘That’s me too. It means “friend to dragons”, kind of. You say he’s up on the parade ground?’
‘Yes Mistress.’
Mel was about to leave when she heard the combined voices of Apollo and Demeter in her mind. ‘Take your new force with you, Nightsmith,’ Demeter urged her.
‘They will protect you should there be a need,’ agreed Apollo. ‘And also prove fortuitous!’
Mel didn’t quite understand what Apollo meant, but she agreed the cousin gods had the right idea. She turned to General Apex.
‘I’m going up there. That’s going to attract a lot of attention that I don’t want.’
Apex saluted smartly. ‘Nightsmith!’ he rasped loudly. The troops behind him prepared to march.
Jax and Apex began marching out of Exlam, followed by two squads of The Nightcorps. Mel strode alongside Mog in the middle of the small army of mummies she had created. The remaining troops brought up the rear.
The sight caused a great stir through the entire palace. Goblin serving maids and courtiers screamed and hid or went scrambling for safety. A great many Imperial guardslins immediately prepared for attack but held their weapons when they saw Melanie, Jax and Mog.
News of this hoard of un-dead soldiers reached Jerrit very quickly and he came running out of his quarters with several dozen guardslins in tow.
When he reached the parade ground, he found the entire field cordoned off by a wall of fearsome mummy guardslins, all armed to the teeth. There was nothing he or anyone else could do but watch as Melanie rushed out to the middle of the field to meet her former familiar.
While Mel and Jimbeaux caught up, Jax strode over to his emperor and saluted.
‘You better have a good explanation for all this!’ Jerrit raged.
Jax nodded solemnly. ‘Sire, The Nightsmith—’
‘Nightsmith?’
‘What Mistress Hazelwood out there is calling herself. She went down into Exlam and resurrected a large number of our fallen heroes.’
Jerrit went a the colour of an eggplant. ‘What?’
‘More than half, I believe. She used her necromantic skills to find their souls. Then she put those souls back into the corpses and did something to their armour with her own blood.’ He waved at the soldier nearest him. ‘These weapons and armour are as alive as she is, and the body inside it can’t be killed. I’ve seen her chop them to pieces. They just put themselves back together again and keep going.’
Jerrit stared at the line of mummies, gobsmacked. ‘That’s an entire division! Who do they answer to?’
Jax shrugged. ‘The Nightsmith, Sire. She has told them to obey me in her absence, but I haven’t tested it.’
‘You? What about me? I’m the bloody Emperor around here!’ Jerrit faced the nearest goblin mummy. ‘Stand aside!’
The mummy did not move.
Furious, Jerrit yelled, ‘I order you to stand aside!’
The mummy faced the enraged emperor and drew his sword. ‘No,’ he replied flatly. The mummies on either side of him also readied their weapons.
Jerrit drew his own weapon and would have attacked, but Jax placed a warning claw on his ruler’s sword-arm.
‘Don’t, Your Majesty. They may not obey me while she’s out there. She’s present. If she leaves, it might be different, but for now, let’s just wait until she does what she has to do with that dragon. Then maybe we can all sit down and sort this out.’