by Angie Sage
Zerra could not believe that the king was still in the middle of the track waving his arms like a silly kid playing chicken. He thinks it’s not real, she thought. What an idiot. As the squealing, smoke-belching locomotive headed straight for the king, Zerra could watch no longer. She hurled herself at him, grabbing at his silken cloak and pulling him—and herself—off-balance. The king fell sprawling to the ground just clear of the track. A second later, as he and Zerra lay winded on the gritty earth, a great rush of heat and noise came hurtling past. Zerra sat up and watched it continue screaming down the track, sending shards of light flying as it ran through the approaching Net of Xin. Some distance past the end of the platform, the engine at last came to halt, belching clouds of steam. Shaking her head in disbelief, Zerra slowly got to her feet—where had that come from? And then, totally dumbfounded, she saw Alex jump down from the driver’s cab and throw herself to the ground. Alex? What was Alex doing here?
Alex was searching underneath the heavy iron wheels for the body of the king.
“Alex, it’s okay,” Benn’s voice came from above. “The king’s over there—look. Fighting your dad.”
Alex scrambled to her feet and saw in the middle of a melee of Jackal the dusty red of her father’s cloak and the tip of a winged crown. Suddenly the three Jackal broke free and, with Hagos held between them, began propelling him rapidly toward the edge of the cliff.
“No!” gasped Alex. “No. They can’t do that. They can’t!” She set off as fast as she could toward her father, but even as she ran, Alex knew she could not get there in time. She felt as though she were in a nightmare, her legs taking her nowhere, while three seven-foot-tall jackal-headed creatures pushed at her father with clawing hands. And now he was teetering on the very edge of the cliff and there was nothing she could do. Time slowed to an unbearable stillness as Alex headed toward something that she knew she could not stop.
It was Zerra who saved Hagos. As Belamus jumped up and down like an excited child, yelling, “Do it, do it! Push him off!” and Hagos was on hands and knees grabbing desperately at a last handhold of the dead scrub on the edge of the cliff, Zerra threw herself at the Jackals’ spindly legs. She caught them unawares and they tumbled forward—oh so slowly, it seemed to Zerra—out toward the emptiness beyond the cliff edge. The evening breeze rose up from the ocean below and turned their flapping red coats into kites, sending the very last Jackal in the world tumbling slowly down toward the ocean far below.
Fingers scrabbling at the ground, with Zerra’s help Hagos clawed his way back from the crumbling cliff edge and lay breathless, facedown in the dirt.
Belamus stared at his traitorous spy, who had just destroyed the last of his Jackal and was now helping the Beguiler, RavenStarr, to his feet. Joining her were two familiar figures—the Beguiler girl with the green sash and the boy who had escaped from Rekadom a few days back. Shocked, Belamus realized these were different brats from the two the Jackal had brought back. Belamus felt panic rising. How many Beguiler brats were there? He was hopelessly outnumbered. He wheeled around, looking desperately for help. “Guards!” he yelled. “Guards!”
But the gate guards were nowhere to be seen, and Belamus knew he was on his own. A surge of anger replaced the panic. He had been betrayed by everyone—and it was all the fault of the man he had once been so misguided as to call a friend—Hagos RavenStarr. Without warning, Belamus launched himself at Hagos with surprising force. Hagos went staggering back toward the cliff edge, but just in time, Alex and Benn grabbed him and pulled him back from the brink.
But Belamus was not to be stopped. He threw himself at Hagos once more and landed a punch. Hagos fell back toward the cliff edge yet again and Belamus went after him, but suddenly Zerra was there, pulling the king away, yelling, “Stop! Stop!”
Belamus wheeled around in fury and lunged at Zerra instead. “Traitor Spy!” he screamed. Zerra saw the king’s piggy little eyes filled with hatred, his long nails, like Jackal talons, clawing at her, and with all her strength, she shoved the king away. His slippery-soled shoes skidded on the grit, he staggered backward, lost his balance and, with arms frantically windmilling, he tumbled over the cliff edge into thin air.
Alex, Benn, Zerra and Hagos stopped dead. They watched the king, his blue silks flapping like the useless wings of a flightless bird, seeming to hover for a moment and then drop from view, leaving only the briefest of shrieks hanging in the air behind him.
There was a shocked and horrified silence on the cliff top.
It was broken by a distant yell. “Skorpas! Skorpas!”
Chapter 40
Family Reunion
DEELA HAD MADE A TOUGH decision. As Hagos was being dragged toward the cliff edge, she had fought down her urge to help him. She could already see Alex hurtling toward him, and the rough-looking girl in the combat jacket looked like she was on his side too. But Deela knew that the two terrified children on the platform were in grave danger—why else would the king have brought them here?
Deela had caught the eye of the woman gate guard. “These children should not be seeing this,” she said.
The gate guard nodded.
“I’m going to get them away from here,” Deela said. “I’m taking them home with me.”
The gate guard looked relieved. “Good,” she said.
Suddenly the pimply young guard spoke, his voice squeaky with fear. “Can we come too?” he asked.
Determined not to look at what was happening on the cliff edge, Deela was already hurrying Francina and Louie away. “Yes. But be quick,” she called to the guards over her shoulder. “Before anyone sees us.”
Deela, Francina, Louie and the gate guards had run as fast as they could toward the Big Puffer. But now it seemed to Deela that she had brought everyone into even greater danger—for here, lumbering toward them, was a giant yellow scorpion, tail arched over its back, silver barb glinting and ready to fire.
“Get on the Puffer!” a stocky man covered in coal dust was yelling at her. “Hurry! Hurry!”
But Deela didn’t want to get on anything, particularly when there was a giant scorpion heading toward it. She just wanted to go home and take two terrified children with her. So she headed to a patch of ground she remembered well and pulled up the trapdoor. “Down you go,” she told Francina and Louie. “Don’t be scared, I’m coming too.”
Francina took hold of Louie’s hand. “Come on, Louie,” she said.
Louie looked at the darkness below. “No,” he said.
Francina had no patience left. “Whyever not, you silly boy?” she snapped.
Louie stood his ground. “Wolves,” he said. “Wolves down there. With white heads.”
Behind Louie came the voice of the gate guard. “Don’t you worry, young man,” she told Louie. “I’ll go first with my javelin and any wolf had better watch out. Okay?”
“Okay.” Louie smiled. He followed the gate guard down into the darkness. Francina and the nephew hurried after them.
“Hey, you!” Deela yelled over to the two figures on the Puffer. “Get over here! There are steps down to the beach!”
Ratchet grabbed hold of Danny. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s do what the lady says.”
Danny held back. “We can’t leave the Puffer,” he said.
“Yes we can,” Ratchet told him, and he pushed Danny off the footplate, leaped after him and dragged him across to Deela. As they jumped down through the trapdoor, Deela saw Benn, Hagos, Alex and Zerra racing toward her. “Hurry!” she shouted. “Hurry!”
They needed no telling. They could all see the hulking shape of the giant yellow Skorpas rearing up behind the Puffer. Alex arrived first. She skidded to a halt and pushed first Benn, then Zerra through the trapdoor. Then she and Deela grabbed the exhausted Hagos and pulled him down into the darkness, slamming the trapdoor above them. As the door hit the surrounding rock with a thud, they heard the heavy splat of a glob of venom landing on it.
It was a long, stumbling climb down thro
ugh the cliff, but no one minded. One by one, they emerged through the arch onto the beach to find the tide covering the causeway. Stunned by what had happened, they walked slowly down the sand to the water’s edge. In the light of the rising moon, they watched the waves in silence. Only Zerra lingered awkwardly halfway up the beach, watching Alex sweep Louie up into a hug.
“Mind the pokkle,” Louie told Alex. Then he laughed, let the pokkle go and hugged Alex so tight that she felt quite breathless.
Francina smiled shyly at Danny and Danny decided that Francina needed a hug too. “I knew you’d come and save us,” she told him.
Danny laughed. “Me? I didn’t do anything. I was flat on my face covered in venom.”
“Venom?” Francina said anxiously.
Danny chuckled. “Yeah. But it takes more than a bit of venom to get rid of Danny Dark.”
“You are so brave,” Francina murmured.
“Foolish more like,” Ratchet’s growl came out of the darkness. “But at least I got the Flyer jacket back now.”
“Ha!” said Danny. “I reckon you set that Skorpas up just to get your jacket back.”
Zerra felt annoyed and a little ignored too—not one of her siblings had even acknowledged her. She wandered down to the water’s edge, where she sat a little ways away from Hagos and, just as he was doing, stared out to the darkness of the sea.
Hagos was thinking about the terrifying end his old friend Belamus had come to when Deela started jumping up and down, waving. “Palla!” she called out. “Palla! We’re here!” Hagos looked across to Oracle Rock and saw a light moving down to the direction of the harbor. The light disappeared, but after some minutes it reappeared on the water, traveling steadily toward them. Soon the creak-eek-clunk of oars could be heard. Benn and the young guard ran to meet the rowboat and pulled it up onto the beach.
Palla leaped out and threw her arms around Deela, saying, “Deela, oh, Deela, you’re safe!” She surveyed the motley collection of people somewhat less enthusiastically. “And you’ve brought friends too. How lovely. But you won’t all fit in the boat.”
It was decided that Louie and Francina, both trembling with delayed shock, should go back with Palla, along with Deela. Shyly, Francina asked if Danny could come with them. Palla looked doubtful. “Oh, go on, Palla, there’s room,” Deela said. “The poor kid’s had a terrible time. Give her a break.”
“He’ll have to help row,” Palla said somewhat ungraciously.
“It would be my pleasure,” said Danny, and he stepped quickly into the boat before Palla could change her mind.
They were all ready to leave, but first there was something Palla wanted to say. She walked over to Alex and said, “Alex, I saw King Belamus fall. It is the end of the prophecy now. You must not feel bad about this. You could not help your actions. They were decided ten years ago in the Oracle Chamber.”
It took Alex a few moments to figure out what Palla meant. And when she did, she felt as though she was going to explode with fury. “How dare you?” she yelled. “I did not push the king off the cliff. He did not die at my hand. No way. Your stupid Oracle was wrong. Wrong, wrong wrong!” Alex turned her back on Palla and stomped away up the beach, fighting back the urge to burst into tears.
Palla shrugged. “The Oracle is always right,” she murmured. Unperturbed, Palla walked back to the boat and climbed in. As Hagos and the gate guards pushed the boat off the beach, Louie clutched the pokkle and watched Alex anxiously. “Frannie,” he said, snuggling up to his second-favorite sister. “The pokkle wants to know why Alex is angry.”
Francina hugged Louie. “Tell the pokkle that Alex is fed up with people blaming her for things she hasn’t done,” she told her little brother in a rare moment of insight.
With the creak-eek-clunk, creak-eek-clunk of the oars fading away, Hagos caught up with Alex at the top of the beach. Making sure to use her proper name, he said softly, “Alex, we all know you didn’t push King Belamus off the cliff.”
“He fell, Poppa.”
Hagos sighed. “No, the Oracle was not wrong. He was pushed.”
Alex looked up at her father, shocked. “You pushed him?”
Hagos shook his head. “No. Not me.”
Alex frowned. “Then who?”
“Zerra.”
“Zerra? So the Oracle was wrong.”
“No,” Hagos said quietly. “The Oracle was right.”
Alex laughed. “But that would mean Zerra’s an Enchanter’s child. Which is ridiculous.”
“What’s ridiculous?” Zerra’s voice came out of the darkness. “And why are you talking about me? And laughing? What’s so funny?”
Hagos took a deep breath. He found Zerra hard work. “No one’s laughing at you, Zerra,” he told her. “But there is something you both need to know. Zerra. Alex. Zerra, you are my daughter. Alex, Zerra is your sister.”
Alex and Zerra stared at one another, both equally dismayed. “No way!” they both said in unison. And then, “She can’t be!”
Hagos sighed. “To be precise, you are half sisters. Zerra, I met your mother, Mirram, in Rekadom when I was the king’s Enchanter. I ordered a cloak from her. She was a very good seamstress, you know. She used to make the king’s waistcoats.”
“I know,” Zerra said, scowling.
“Well, things were difficult for me then. At home.” Hagos glanced apologetically at Alex.
Alex scowled at Hagos too. He noted how similar the scowls were.
“Um,” said Hagos. And then, “Oh dear.” He looked at Zerra. “Your mother was lonely. And I . . . well, so was I.”
“Is that why Ma left Rekadom?” Zerra asked. “Because you made her?”
“I did no such thing. I merely suggested it. To keep you safe, which it did.”
Alex was looking at her father with an expression that reminded Hagos uncomfortably of her mother, Pearl. “Did Momma know?” she asked.
“No. Well, I thought not. But now I am not entirely sure. I do wonder if that is why she gave you to Mirram. So you would at least be with part of your family. I’m so sorry,” Hagos said, falteringly. “So very sorry for all that I have done. And for all that has happened to you both.”
Alex and Zerra looked at Hagos accusingly. “Huh!” they both said. And then they turned away from Hagos and walked together down to the water’s edge. And there they stood, staring out to sea in silence.
Some minutes later they heard the welcome creak-eek-clunk of oars. This time it was Danny alone in the rowboat. He rowed fast up onto the beach and plowed into the wet sand. Then he jumped out and handed the oars to Alex with a grin. “The boat’s all yours, Alex. I’m off.”
“Off where?” Alex asked.
“Gotta get back to the Puffer. I’m taking him back so he’s there for Jay in the morning.”
“But what about the Skorpas?”
Danny laughed. “I’m no Beguiler, I’ll be fine.”
Hagos and Ratchet joined them. “You coming up to the Puffer, Ratchet?” Danny asked.
“Of course,” Ratchet replied. He turned to the two gate guards and, fixing the aunt in particular with what he hoped was a winning smile, he said, “Would you care to come along with us, ma’am?”
The aunt blushed. “I’d love to,” she said.
“Take care,” Hagos told them anxiously. “I fear that the escape from the Iron Tower will have damaged any Enchantments it touched.”
Alex felt terrible. Hagos had confirmed her fears—she really had let the spider and the Wraith mist out. “I’m so, so sorry,” she said. “I thought I closed the door.”
“What door?” asked Hagos.
“The Iron Tower door.”
Hagos was puzzled. “The Iron Tower?”
Alex nodded. “I was so sure I closed the door. But I must not have. And now those Wraiths are out there, and I keep thinking of all the people I’ve put in danger, and—”
“Hey, hold on,” Hagos interrupted her. “Why would you ever think that? It was me who let t
hem out, not you.”
“You, Poppa?”
“Yes, me. I am the careless one here, Alex, I am sad to say.” He turned to Ratchet. “I believe the Wraith flow has damaged the Skorpas. I fear the Skorpas see us all as Beguilers now.”
Ratchet looked uneasy. “Even a horse?” he asked.
“Even a horse,” Hagos agreed.
“Well, we’re not horses, so we’ll be just fine,” Danny said cheerily. He fished in his pocket and pulled out a shining brass washer threaded onto an intricately knotted string. The washer spun on the string; on one side of it, tapped out in tiny dots, was FRANCINA, and on the other side was DANNY. “Hey, Alex. Would you give this to Francina, please?” Danny asked. “She didn’t understand why I had to come back to the Puffer. She got a bit upset and ran off before I could give her this. Tell her I made this especially for her. And that I promise I’ll be back tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay,” Alex said, carefully placing the wristband in her sash next to the Tau.
Alex and Benn rowed the boat over to Oracle Rock. As they came into the harbor, Hagos said, “Alex, were you really in the Iron Tower?”
Alex nodded.
“But why? How?”
Alex said nothing. She waited until the rowboat was safely tied up and she could let go of the oar, then she put her hand into the secret pocket inside her sash and drew out the shimmering T-shaped amulet.
Hagos gasped. “Oh! Boo-boo!”
A splutter of laughter came from the back of the boat where Zerra was sitting. “Boo-boo!” Zerra giggled. “Boo-boo.”
“Poppa,” Alex said with a sigh. “My name is Alex now.”
“Sorry. Yes. I was quite overcome. But you have the Tau. Where did you find it?”
“In the Iron Tower, of course.”
Hagos shook his head. “But how did you get in there?”