The Legend Thief

by The Legend Thief (mobi)

Beau spit blood on Chase's foot. "Lucky us."

  Chase glanced at the blood, looking even more amused. "''m on your side, mate. It's all bollocks. I don't want to see Sky hurt any more than you do...." Chase glanced up at the Piebald, and Sky felt certain that Chase knew he was watching. "But I'm a minority, and Bedlam's arrival has forced Morton's hand. By taking control of Sky, Bedlam could get everything he wants. Sky's marks would make him more powerful than if he reclaimed his own body, and with the keys to the Arkhon's prison, Bedlam could free his brother. We can't let that hap­ pen. Morton believes, and the other hunters agree, that if Bedlam hasn't already taken control of Sky, he soon will. Sky is untrained, weak-minded, and weak-willed-there's simply no way he could resist. And so, at Morton's request, the Hunters of Legend have declared a hunt. Tonight, one way or another, Sky will die."

  Sky startled. They were here to kill him? That's what they wanted? Why couldn't anyone ever hunt him down for brunch?

  Chase looked back at the Piebald. "If I were Sky, I would run and I wouldn't stop. If we don't find him, Bedlam will before the night is over. Death, madness, or escape; those are Sky's only options. Sky should run from Exile and he should start right now, before we find his friends wandering Exile's sewers with his body."

  Sky startled. Chase definitely knew he was there. What's more, he knew where to find him. But was he warning him away or leading him into a trap? And if he was warning him, why?

  "Take him to Morton," Chase instructed his hunters, gesturing at Beau. ''I'm going to pay a visit to Sky's family to see if he's been acting strange lately. Looks like it's his birthday today-I do hope they saved me some cake."

  The Piebald let out a squawk, or maybe Sky let out a squawk. ... He was so confused. Either way, they took to the air.

  "Remember what I promised, Chase," Beau called out as Chase strolled toward the manor. "Any harm comes to Sky and I'll hunt you down after I deal with Morton! I swear it!"

  Sky caught a glimpse of the hunters surrounding Beau. Beau kicked the knife into his hand and attacked in a flurry, quickly disappearing beneath a mountain of bodies.

  Sky sped south, jumping from Piebald to Piebald like a madman, but by the time he returned to his body, it was already too late.

  Chapter 4: A Deadly Collapse

  Sky opened his eyes and stared down at T-Bone's butt. "What in the . .."

  "He's awake!" Andrew yelled.

  They raced through the sewers. Sky kept smacking his head into T-Bone's back, slung as he was over T-Bone's shoulder. Behind them, Sky saw flashlights swinging this way and that.

  "About time," T-Bone huffed, sounding winded. "Can you run?" Crystal asked.

  "Yes," Sky croaked between slams. "No. Who is that?"

  "Police," said Crystal. "Next time give us some warning. Okay? We barely got you out of there."

  Sky nodded, but since he nodded with each bouncing step T-Bone took, Crystal probably couldn't tell the difference. "We need to get out of here!" Sky exclaimed.

  "You think?" said Hands.

  "Tunnel's ahead," said Crystal. "Andrew, drop a can." Andrew flipped on a Fog canister and threw it behind them. Flashlight beams disappeared behind a thick cloud of Fog. They reached. the tunnels-dozens of branching passages- and T-Bone banked right toward their secret lair.

  "We can't go this way!" Sky exclaimed.

  "What?" asked Crystal. "Why?" "Set me down!" said Sky.

  T-Bone dropped him to the ground. Sky stumbled. The world spun around him.

  Hands grabbed Sky by one arm and T-Bone took the other and they started running again, dragging Sky between them. Crystal led them through the tunnels with her black light. Finally Sky got his feet under him and ran on his own.

  The tunnel forked ahead.

  "Don't go to the lair! Go home-you should be safe there. I'll find you guys when this is over." Assuming I'm not dead, Sky thought. He headed for the passage on the right.

  "Ohhh no you don't!" Crystal exclaimed, snatching his arm. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us what happened."

  Voices sounded back down the tunnel-hunters or police, he couldn't be sure. But either way, he was running out of time. He didn't want to put Crystal and the others in danger, and if they stayed with him, that's exactly where they'd be. Hunting monsters was one thing; endangering his friends to try to save himself was another matter entirely. The question was, could he lie well enough to keep them safe?

  ''I'm going to visit Rauschtlot."

  Crystal stared at him skeptically.

  "The police are coming," Sky pointed out.

  "Some time in jail might give us all a rest," Crystal replied. "Now talk."

  Sky sighed. "The Hunters of Legend are here to kill me. They've got Beau and they'll soon have my family and if you don't go, they'll take you or kill you as well. Now will you go?" "No." Crystal took the passage to the right. "I assume you have a plan?"

  They started running again. While they ran, Sky explained what he'd seen.

  "Wait, you're telling us there's an army of hunters camped outside your house and you're running toward them?" Hands asked.

  "Yep," said Sky, watching the tunnels ahead.

  "Now that's my kind of crazy!" Hands replied, grinning. They reached a large natural cavern beneath the east cemetery-the home where Rauschtlot the Gnomon had raised her daughter, Nackles, and protected dozens of children from the Wargarou last year, including T-Bone's brother, Dickens.

  Tree roots, rocks, and dirt sprouted from the top of the cave. Small streams raced past shattered coffins, which had sunk through from above, and wove between rock formations before disappearing down passages Sky had never explored that led farther into the earth.

  If what Chase said was true, then Bedlam was going to try to edgewalk into Sky and take control tonight. Then he would use Sky's prison keys and whatever weird powers were in Sky's marks to free the creature everyone thought was the Arkhon­ but was really Solomon Rose-and destroy Exile. Sky couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen.

  He veered off, leading Crystal and the others along a narrow passage toward the tomb of Andrew's mother, Ernaline Livingstone, and the exit into the east cemetery. There was still no sign of Rauschtlot or Nackles, which was odd. Normally Nackles would've tackled him to the ground by now with her shovel-like four-fingered hands and smothered him in kisses from one of her dozens of razor-sharp rock-shattering mouths- most of which were on her head and hidden by a knit cap.

  "What exactly do you hope to accomplish by rushing up there?" Crystal asked.

  ''I'm going to lead them into the Sleeping Lands." Everyone was quiet. The Sleeping Lands included the north cemetery and much more besides-swamps and crags, broken woods, flooded rivers, floating corpses, ancient monsters, and death . .. more death than Sky could name.

  T-Bone whistled. "Risky ... you're as likely to die there­ maybe more. I know you've laid a lot of traps up there over the last year to keep the monsters away, but your traps are nonlethal; what happens when the hunters escape?"

  Sky was quiet. He'd thought about it; if there was any other way to force the Hunters of Legend from Exile, he'd take it. But there wasn't.

  "He's not going for the traps, T," said Andrew.

  T-Bone looked confused. "What ... the monsters? You can't mean ..."

  Hands started laughing. "The Bolgers! Sky, you devil! Remind me to never get on your bad side!"

  Sky gave Hands a tight grin.

  Last Christmas, T-Bone's family had decided they wanted a fresh-cut Christmas tree. So, T-Bone had cut one down while on a hunt in the north cemetery and dragged it home-an unfortunate decision that had led to an even more unfortunate incident. The incident had involved Wormwood, T-Bone's gigantic mutt with shaggy hair and a neurotic personality. The incident had also involved two dozen jumbo-size Yule log gift sets (made up of both the log-shaped dessert and the actual hardwood log) and a flood of Bolgers, ugly green-skinned creatures that tended to shrink to the size of a pine needle and hibern
ate when hungry, but grow to the size of a pine tree when fed Yule logs (either kind, but they preferred the dessert).

  Worst Christmas ever. Fortunately, when deprived of Yule logs and other foods, the Bolgers shrank back down to pine needles and resumed hibernating on their favorite tree, so it could've been a lot worse.

  "I need you guys to do something for me," said Sky. "Find Malvidia and tell her I'll deliver a present in the next few hours, if I survive. Tell her they've taken Beau to Morton Thresher, Bedlam's army is coming, and Bedlam is not controlling me. Tell her she owes me for last year-it's time to pay up."

  "Sky, you're nuts if you think we're leaving you for even a minute," said Crystal. "Besides, how do we know Malvidia's not helping them?"

  Sky held up his hand for silence as footsteps sounded in the tunnel ahead.

  "The light-turn it off!" Sky hissed. Crystal flipped off her black light as three hunters in dark cloaks emerged into a crossroads where several tunnels met less than fifty feet away. Sky clutched the Pounder hand-cannon and pressed himself against the wall beside Crystal.

  "What's going on?" Crystal whispered. Sky could see perfectly well in the dark; he often forgot that the others couldn't. Fortunately, Sky always carried the remaining two keys to Solomon's prison with him: the monocle arid the watch. And the monocle, as they'd discovered last year, allowed the wearer to see in the dark. He pulled the monocle from his pocket and pressed it into' Crystal's hand.

  The hunters moved slowly into the crossroads, searching each passage with strange, glowing green eyes. Sky held his breath, refusing to move, hoping they'd choose a different passage.

  His Hunter's Mark suddenly warmed, something that only happened when he talked to monsters, or when his Eye of Legend freaked out. He sensed a slight tremble in the wall through his Hunter's Mark.

  He groaned inwardly at the timing. His Hunter's Mark translated the vibrations, allowing him to communicate in Earthspeak, a Gnomon language composed of complex rhythms sent through the earth like miniature earthquakes. Sky ignored the incoming greeting and, in Earthspeak, yelled...RUN!

  Farther up one of the passages, beyond the hunters, Nackles the Gnomon-Rauschtlot's daughter- dropped silently through the ceiling and shook the dirt from her back. She took in the hunters, who hadn't yet noticed her, and her semi translucent skin suddenly went from gray to blue.

  Blue as she stills, Black as she flies, Red as she kills, Sky thought.

  She was waiting and watching. There was still a chance the hunters might just move on down a different passage.

  The hunters raised their bows, aiming at Sky.

  "Shimmer!" Crystal screamed, apparently realizing at the same moment as Sky that the hunters could see them.

  The hunters fired.

  Sky hit his force-field-like Shimmer and a blue nimbus of light shot up around him.

  Green flames flickered to life around the thick, bone white arrows as they sped through the air. The flames disturbed him, and despite his Shimmer, Sky dove.

  All three arrows streaked past him. Hands deflected the first shot into the ceiling with his electrified Collapser staff and pure, dumb luck. The second just missed Andrew and hit the wall. The third arrow streaked toward Crystal. It struck her Shimmer's blue nimbus, slowed, and then stopped a few inches from her heart. The arrow hung harmlessly in the air for a moment, and then it fell, flaring brighter and brighter as it approached the ground.

  Crystal threw herself backward, away from the arrow, just as it exploded.

  The force-far greater than it had any right to be-launched Sky, who was in front of the others, up the passage, tumbling toward the hunters. He caught a quick glimpse of Crystal, Andrew, Hands, and T-Bone spinning away in the opposite direction back down the passage, and then two more massive explosions buffeted him and the tunnel collapsed, separating him from Crystal and the others.

  Sky rolled to his back. Every bone in his body ached. He stared down the ruined tunnel, desperately hoping his friends were okay.

  A hunter grabbed Sky by the hair and dragged him to his feet. From his coat, the hunter pulled a long silver knife. He pressed it against Sky's throat and inspected him, his glowing green eyes staring out of his dark face. "You are not as Morton led me to believe." His accent was strange, short and clipped, as if he was biting his words.

  '"Agos, kill ze boy and let us leave zis 'orrible place," yelled a French woman, even though she stood but a few steps away. Sky wondered if the collapse had affected her hearing.

  "Patience, Solange. I do not believe Bedlam has yet taken control of the boy...." Hagos furrowed his brow, but before he could do anything more, Nackles the Gnomon-her skin deep red-rose up behind Hagos, grabbed his head, and smashed it into the wall. Solange turned, but Nackles already had her. With her immense strength-a strength Sky knew all too well­

  Nackles threw Solange down one of the side passages.

  The last hunter raised her bow.

  Nackles dove into the earth as if it was water and rocketed out of the ceiling, burying the hunter in rubble as she loosed her arrow at Sky.

  Sky hit his Shimmer. The fiery arrow exploded as it hit, flinging him backward. He slammed into the far wall and crashed to the ground as the crossroads started to cave in.

  Dirt and rock fell everywhere. Sky stumbled to his feet, dodging debris, trying to get back down the tunnel to find a way to his friends. A rock smashed into his shoulder, driving him to the ground, his Core shoulder pads taking the hit. Through the shower of earth, he saw Nackles toss Hagos and the nameless hunter down the passage with Solange and to safety, her skin gray once again.

  As boulders tumbled around her, Nackles smacked the rocks out of the air as though they were gnats hardly worth considering. Her knit cap fell off and mouths all over her body chewed through the falling earth, passed it right through, and spit it out of other mouths.

  She was in her natural habitat, perfectly comfortable amidst the avalanche. Sky, though, was far from comfortable. He backed away-there was no way through, and the cave-in was just getting started. He pressed his Hunter's Mark to the ground and shouted in Earthspeak: Nackles, my friends might be trapped! Please find them, get them out!

  Nackles spun around and seemed surprised to see him still there. She began punching the wall, responding in Earthspeak, her words coming through amidst random noise.

  I will help-YOU RUN!

  Sky ran. As the collapse began to spread out from the crossroads, chunks of earth fell from the ceiling, battering him. He reeled to and fro, stumbling and dodging as he raced through the tunnels for the exit at Ernaline's tomb. He threw his shoulders against the stone tile and crawled up and out into the dark stone room.

  The floor collapsed around him, and he leaped from tile to tile. Ernaline's stone coffin cracked and fell apart. Sky rolled out of the way, remembering thankfully that the coffin was empty, as they'd never found Ernaline's body.

  As the broken sarcophagus sank into the ground, Sky latched onto it and launched himself across an impossible gap. He hit the other side hard and scrambled for the door, shooting through and out as the tomb toppled in on itself.

  He raced north as the earth continued to sink around him. He ran and ran until the ground stopped trembling and the rumbling stopped rumbling. When he turned around, he saw something that made him cry out: The entire east cemetery had collapsed into the earth. All that remained were a few scattered tombstones, some broken statues, and a hole as deep as an open grave.

  Chapter 5: Sky Hunters

  Sky wiped tears from his eyes and started running north even though every part of him wanted nothing more than to race back and find his friends and make sure they'd survived. But that was exactly what he couldn't do, not without endangering them all over again, not without first taking care of the hunters. He had to trust that Nackles would get them out. He couldn't give in to his fears. Not now.

  Sky pulled two cans of Fog from his backpack as he slipped into the woods, racing toward his traps and
the Sleeping Lands. Too many had died for him already. The entire east cemetery was littered with the bodies of hunters who'd died protecting him when he was just a baby, and now even those bodies were gone. Phineas, Errand, Andrew's mother and father, even Crystal's mother, Cassandra, who'd disappeared near Skull Valley years ago while looking for answers about Sky-all gone now. And for what? For some stupid marks on his hand?

  Sky just couldn't lose anyone else. C1ystal. Andrew. T-Bone. Hands. They'd spent months tired and upset with one another, and it all seemed so stupid now. They were his best friends, the first real friends he'd had that weren't related to him or imaginary, or imaginarily related to him. They'd be okay. Nackles would get them out. She would. He had to believe that.

  He replaced the used cans on his Fogger and reached out for the Piebalds. He found one sitting on a branch nearby, watching him. The bird seemed bigger than the others he had seen, and older somehow-more scarred, some of its black feathers gray with age.