‘This is the wrong opening,’ Daisy says, voicing Bianca’s thoughts.
‘Damn it,’ Bianca mutters. She points up ahead at the tower in the distance. ‘It’s going to take days to get there.’
‘Look at it this way,’ Daisy says. ‘They think we’ve come out in a different place. They won’t expect us from here. They also won’t expect us. Just you. So, we have the advantage. And Nissa is holding the prince back, who, by the way, is an ugly bugger and I really don’t see why anyone would think Alexandra – who is very obviously a raging homosexual – would choose him over you.’ Daisy makes a huffy sound. ‘Whoever thought she would is crazy.’
‘I don’t think she really has a choice. It’s whoever gets there first...’
‘Doesn’t matter.’ Daisy gives Bianca a determined glare. ‘She has a choice and she’ll choose you. Now, come on, we should get hiking.’
*
Half a day later the two girls are yet to meet anything that makes them think ‘trial’. Except, maybe, the mud Daisy stepped on that splattered up her dress.
‘I had a deposit down on this,’ Daisy mutters.
‘I doubt you’ll be able to get the deposit back after months,’ Bianca points out. She doesn’t think the word ‘years’, although that’s probably more appropriate to the situation.
‘Good point.’ Daisy points up ahead. ‘There’s a town,’ she says. ‘We should check it out; get supplies or something.’
‘With what?’ Bianca says. ‘We don’t have any money.’
‘I brought this.’ Daisy holds out her hand, on which a gold chain is displayed. ‘Might be worth a bit.’
‘Dais, I can’t let you do that...’ Bianca says, helplessly.
‘Shut up, it’s my choice. Cory and Scotty have the fire building supplies... Maybe we can get some wood and kindling. We’ll have to set up camp eventually and eat something, not just nap against logs in shifts.’
‘Okay...’ Bianca pauses and stretches, before they continue their walk down the hill towards the town up ahead.
It only takes them ten minutes more to reach the town and when they get there no one really reacts to their strange appearances or the fact Bianca is in trousers unlike everyone else.
It’s more of a village than a town, really, with a few little houses made of wood and a shop or two scattered around in a circle.
In the centre of the village is a fountain, which Daisy and Bianca pause next to, putting their bags down on the floor at their feet and turning towards the water.
Villagers are milling around, a couple washing their hands and faces in the fountain. Deciding this is an okay thing to do, Daisy and Bianca follow suit, washing mud and grime off their skins.
‘Okay,’ Bianca says, taking a breath. ‘You go find somewhere to get some clothing and fire stuff from... and I’ll... mind our stuff.’ She gestures at the two bags by her feet.
‘All right.’ Daisy moves out into the crowd as Bianca settles down onto the fountain.
It takes Daisy about ten minutes to return, and when she does she looks angry.
‘Apparently gold means nothing to these people,’ she says, with a huff, settling down on the fountain beside Bianca. ‘We should probably head off... make more headway before it gets dark.’
Bianca nods. ‘Yeah, probably.’ She pauses as a screech pierces the air. ‘Do you hear that?’
People around them start running for cover, aiming for the inside of their wooden houses and shops as other people start to shout in fear. The two girls get to their feet, looking around in confusion and fear as everyone disperses.
‘What’re you just standing there for?!’ a man bellows in their direction. ‘Are you suicidal?’
‘What is it?’ Bianca shouts.
‘It’s Baivis!’ he yells. ‘Run and hide! Get away before they get you!’
The sky darkens above them and, as they look up, they realise why; the air is filled with reptilian creatures, as large as elephants with appropriate wing spans, their beaks extended downwards as they fly towards the village.
‘They’re here for us,’ Bianca breathes.
‘Jesus.’ The word escapes Daisy’s lips before she can catch it and then she’s reacting; one hand pulling her bow from her back and the other reaching for an arrow. The creatures are huge and descending fast. ‘Bianca, do something,’ she commands. She’s calm now; no longer scared, instead determined. She knows what to do and how to do it. She’ll freak out later.
Bianca, meanwhile, is freaking out now. ‘Why the hell are we here?’ Bianca squeaks. ‘Are we crazy? We don’t know anything about this world or what to do now we’re here! We’re going to die and our families, our friends, are never going to even know what happened to us!’
Daisy turns on her, rips a can of hairspray from the ammo belt she set up for her friend and thrusts it into Bianca’s hand. ‘Get your lighter out, aim and fire. Seriously,’ she tells her, firmly. ‘Or we really are going to die.’
The creatures descend and Daisy loads her bow, drawing it back and firing it at the first one. The Baivi screeches, a terrifying, pained, high pitched sound, as the arrow gets buried in its eyeball. The others swarm around it, protecting it from Daisy’s aim as she loads her bow again, pulls it back and fires. The arrow pierces one of the creatures’ wings, splitting it in two. The creature slams into the body of the one behind it and more screeching ensues.
‘Do something!’ Daisy yells, as the half-blinded creature launches itself at her, talons first. She hasn’t got time to load her bow before claws are buried in her shoulder and she screams in pain.
There’s a blast of orange light and heat as Bianca sprays hairspray through the lighter at the Baivi. The creature’s wings ignite and it falls backwards, flapping up into the sky as it tries to escape the heat and pain. Another explosion of fire courses through the air as Bianca aims again, this time at the one with the severed wing desperately trying to stay in the air.
Daisy claps a hand to her shoulder, the strap of her dress hanging limply down over her chest, the back of it having snapped, and winces in pain.
‘Li’l help?’ Bianca says, as the first can of hairspray runs out and she discards it at her feet, reaching for her sword.
‘You’re doing fine alone,’ Daisy says, through clenched teeth, as Bianca spins around, slamming the blade of her sword into the talons of a third Baivi, severing them from its body.
People are coming out of their houses now, standing just outside of their safe haven and watching what’s going on. Daisy recognises the one woman as the one who rejected her gold and refused to give her water and some clothing.
She loads another arrow into her bow, rips the strap off her dress and wraps it around the arrowhead before retrieving the lighter from her pocket and setting it on fire.
As quickly as her injured shoulder will let her, she loads the flaming arrow onto the bow, draws it back and fires it into the sky. It slams into the body of one of the Baivis, piercing its flesh and setting it on fire. The other creatures – the ones not attempting to kill Bianca – flock around it, setting themselves on fire in the process of trying to protect it.
One of the creatures plummets, flaming, from the sky, into the fountain and causes a splash, warm water drenching Daisy from head to toe even as she loads another arrow and lights it on fire, aiming it up at the wings of one of the few remaining creatures.
Bianca, meanwhile, is fighting four off. She stabs one in the stomach, kicks another in the talon and jumps backwards onto the fountain, bringing the tip of her sword down on the head of the nearest Baivi. It howls in pain for the moment it has left alive before it tumbles downwards onto one of the other creatures, snapping its neck against the edge of the fountain.
The last remaining uninjured Baivi screeches into the heavens and the rest pull up, the group turning as one and flying back towards the hills.
‘If that was the easiest trial,’ Daisy says, panting and holding her shoulder as she lets her bow drop to
her side, clutched in her other hand, ‘we’re screwed.’
‘Let me tend to your wound.’ It’s the woman who rejected the gold, stepping nervously up to the two of them. ‘You saved our village. It’s the least I can do.’
‘Any chance of a change of clothes?’ Daisy asks, gesturing at the fact her dress is likely to fall off at any moment.
‘I can provide that, miss!’ a boy exclaims. He’s around seventeen and is looking at Daisy like she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen.
‘Someone’s got a crush,’ Bianca mutters in Daisy’s ear, as they move across to the nearest house.
‘Trousers,’ Daisy says. ‘And a shirt of some kind.’
The boy bows to her. ‘Of course. Of course. I will return shortly!’ He flits away as the woman leads Daisy to sit down and reaches for a bowl of water and some bandages.
Sixteen
The boy returns half an hour later with leather trousers, a leather jerkin, a leather cloak and some practical boots clutched in his hands. ‘Here you go, miss,’ he says, offering them to Daisy with blushing cheeks and a grin. He turns to Bianca. ‘Father says he, too, owes you for what you did. He offers two horses; the fastest in the kingdom!’
Daisy glances at Bianca as the other girl splutters, ‘No, we couldn’t!’
‘Don’t be a martyr, Bianca,’ she warns, ‘we need to get there faster and we can hardly hike the whole way if we want to get there in time.’
Bianca nods. ‘She’s right. We’ll take the horses. Thank your father from us, please.’
‘And thank you for the clothes,’ Daisy says. She turns to the woman who bandaged her shoulder. ‘Have you got somewhere I can change?’
‘Through there...’ The woman gestures. ‘Carlo will show you the way.’
The boy, Carlo, smiles at Daisy. ‘Come on,’ he says, stepping towards the doorway. ‘This way.’
Bianca stays in the main room, watching as the woman potters around. ‘Thank you,’ she says, after a moment, ‘for the bandages and the food.’ She points at the couple of pots of stew by her feet, ready to put into her bag.
‘You’re welcome,’ the woman says. ‘You saved our village. It is the least we can do.’
Daisy returns after fifteen minutes, dressed in the leather outfit and looking mournfully at the once butter yellow, now stained red and brown with blood and mud, dress in her arms. ‘I wanted to keep this,’ she says. Carlo exits the room behind her.
‘Let me take it,’ he says. ‘I may be able to fix it for you. For... when you return.’
Daisy quirks an eyebrow at him. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be coming back,’ she says. ‘We’ve got a long journey ahead of us and...’
‘Well...’ He reaches out and takes the dress from her arms. ‘It will give you something to come back for.’
Bianca watches on, amused, as Daisy blushes for the first time since she’s known her.
‘I... I guess it will then,’ she says.
*
‘You could have stayed,’ Bianca says, as they ride away from the village on horseback, ‘if you’d wanted to.’
‘You kidding? You need backup,’ Daisy replies. The sun is setting overhead and she points at a body of water up ahead. ‘Carlo says that’s the Great Lake,’ she says. ‘We should camp by there tonight. Then, hopefully, we can get to the tower in a day or two.’
‘Agreed.’ Bianca pulls on the reins of her horse, directing the pinto mare in the direction of the water up ahead. Daisy and her chestnut stallion ride ahead, leading the way down towards the water.
Once there, the two girls set up a tent and get out the sleeping bags, getting ready to spend the night.
‘Do you think we’ll get there in time?’ Bianca asks as they cook a tin of beans and a pot of stew over the fire Daisy’s lit.
‘Course we will,’ Daisy replies.
‘How can you be so sure?’ She pokes the beans as though they’re to blame for everything that’s gone wrong so far.
‘I can’t, but it’s good to hope.’
Bianca sighs and nods, the two of them digging into their warm tins and starting to eat silently in the light of the fire.
A twig snaps in the trees nearby and they leap to their feet, Daisy loading and pulling taut her bow, Bianca producing her sword, ready to attack.
From within the trees emerge a pack of lions, a large male leading the pack, his golden fur shining in the light from the fire. Daisy’s arrow wavers. ‘I don’t want to shoot him,’ she whispers.
They come closer, slowly, until the two girls notice the lioness beside the leader has something held in her mouth; a knife with a jewelled handle.
‘They’re on our side!’ Bianca hisses. ‘They’re Nissa’s.’
The leader, as though understanding, inclines his head slightly as the lioness drops the knife at Bianca’s feet.
‘Hey, we’ve got something you might like...’ Daisy turns around and reaches into the pack on the horses, retrieving a large amount of meat Carlo’s mother sent with them; something they hadn’t been sure what to do with yet.
She chops the meat up with the jewelled knife and, once it’s in several large portions, tosses it into the group of lions, who immediately go to eat it.
‘Looks like we have allies,’ Bianca breathes.
‘Looks like,’ Daisy agrees.
*
‘You know, Carlo was the first boy to ever show any interest in me.’ They’re in the tent, curled up in a sleeping bag each, facing each other in the darkness. It’s cold, so they’re hunkered down inside the bags, five seconds away from sharing one for body heat.
‘I thought Cory...?’
‘Ha.’ Daisy sighs. ‘He never... He doesn’t realise what he means to me. We flirt and we act like we’re together... but when someone else shows interest he’s off and leaving me behind. He doesn’t realise how much I love him.’
Bianca nods. ‘I see.’
‘I don’t think I mean that much to him.’
‘Yeah, you do,’ Bianca tells her. ‘You just... You’re always there. He’s never had the chance to realise what life would be like without you.’
Daisy sighs from within her sleeping bag. ‘He’ll probably find out,’ she says. ‘Do you really think I’m going to survive this?’
Bianca reaches out and puts her hand on Daisy’s wrist. ‘Yes,’ she says.
Daisy shakes her head. ‘No; I’m going to protect you. Even if it kills me.’
‘Not if protecting you kills me first.’
Daisy chuckles. ‘Thanks, Bianca,’ she says. ‘But you’re the one that’s important in this.’
‘We’re both important,’ Bianca insists. ‘So don’t go believing anything different.’
*
At first light, Bianca and Daisy leave the tent. The members of the lion pack are assembled in a circle around the campsite, ready to protect them from anything that may come their way. Bianca greets them with a ‘Good morning!’ she isn’t sure they understand as she wanders into the woods to find somewhere to go to the toilet. Daisy, meanwhile, prepares some breakfast and once breakfast is eaten they head off towards the tower once more, the lion pack surrounding their horses as they walk.
They travel without incident for a long time – hours, Bianca suspects – until they reach a shining golden field. The lions pause and Daisy and Bianca follow suit.
For a second there’s silence, but then the cats begin to back slowly away the lion’s jaw opening as he lets out a wild roar.
‘What’s happening?’ Daisy whispers.
‘I don’t know,’ Bianca replies. Her horse tries to back away, but she keeps control of the reins, steadying her. ‘Whoa there.’
The grass parts and out of the yellow field swarm rats. Hundreds of rats the size of Jack Russels. All of them heading straight for the lions and horses.
‘Oh good god!’ Daisy squeaks, pulling out the hairspray.
‘Careful!’ Bianca exclaims. ‘You’ll get the lions!’
; Daisy shudders. ‘I didn’t sign up for rats!’ she shouts. They’re coming closer now, even as the lions prepare to battle the rats.
‘Come on.’ Bianca launches herself down from her mare, lands on the field below and draws her sword. As the lions dive onto the rats, teeth ripping into the squishy flesh of the rats’ bodies, she starts slashing. Daisy is making whimpering sounds from on top of her horse, aiming her bow into the crowd of rats and firing at random intervals.
‘Daisy, do something constructive!’ Bianca shouts.
‘I really hate rats!’ she squeaks.
The lions roar together as they rip rats apart. Teeth sink into Bianca’s leg and she screams, falling down as rats gnaw at her, climbing up her body.
‘Bianca!’ Daisy yells.
The rats are climbing up the horse now, the lions doing nothing to stop them, and Daisy is screaming, even as the sheer number of rats weighs Bianca down against the ground, climbing over her chest and towards her face.
This was not how she planned to die. Death by rats wasn’t something she ever anticipated.
Seventeen
Out of nowhere, a sword slashes across her chest, knocking the rats flying and slicing a few in half. Eyes previously squeezed tight shut now squint up. The light almost blinds her until a head moves in front of the sun.
A hand extends and she grabs it, allowing Scotty to pull her to her feet. ‘Scotty,’ she gasps. ‘Where did... how did...?’
Before Scotty can reply, rats are on them again and he’s fighting them off. She turns to grab her sword from the ground in time to see Cory swing his mace, knocking several rats off the saddle of Daisy’s horse. Then, with a grin, he offers her his arm and lifts her down to the ground. For a long moment, she just stands there, his arm around her middle, staring into his face, and then they’re both fighting, back to back, her with a can of hair spray and a lighter, setting fire to the rats she can get to without risking the lions, and him with his fancy mace.
When all the rats are defeated, leaving splatters of rat blood all over the place, the lions’ furs stained red and the humans’ clothes covered in bits of dead rats, the lioness launches herself at Cory, front paws slamming into his chest and sending him slamming backwards onto the ground.
A Hole in the World Page 12