Golden Mane, Book One of The Adventures of Sarah Coppernick

by SJB Gilmour

  James peered at the tome and gave it a sniff. Then he tried to open it but the pages refused to open. With a shrug, he chucked the tome to Angela.

  ‘And now, if you folk don’t mind, I’m going to have a little chat with Thrag about some money.’ He marched and stood in front of Kevin’s ankles to peer up at Thrag. ‘Hullo there Thrag old boy,’ he called to the troll. ‘Though you’re not really a boy, are you? Should I call you ‘old thing’ instead?’

  Thrag’s answer was far too profane to repeat.

  ‘You have no idea how liberating a chocolatus curse can be,’ James laughed. ‘I can swear all day and not a soul would be offended. Quite fun, actually, you chocking chockstick!’ Then he produced a small notebook. ‘You owe me some money, Thrag,’ he went on conversationally. ‘You’re in luck, actually. The exchange rate’s been in your favour. You only owe me two hundred thousand pexo.’

  ‘What?’ Thrag howled. ‘The shipment only cost twenty!’ The troll wriggled and squirmed in Kevin’s grasp.

  ‘Interest, Thrag. Interest,’ James replied calmly. He peered up at the struggling troll. ‘It really doesn’t look that comfortable up there.’ Then to Kevin, he asked, ‘How long can you hold it like that?’

  Grinning, Kevin shrugged. ‘As long as I like,’ he rumbled and gave Thrag a shake. ‘This old troll doesn’t weigh much at all!’

  Thrag swore at them both now.

  ‘Tell you what,’ James offered. ‘You tell me just why you were helping Mautallius and I’ll cut the compounded interest in half.’ He began scribbling down on his pad. ‘Let’s see, divide one hundred and eighty by two, that leaves ninety…’

  Thrag demonstrated again that its vocabulary was quite extensive and howled, struggling against Kevin.

  ‘Come on, old thing,’ James urged the furious troll. ‘I can’t wait about here all day! The sooner we sort this out, the sooner Kevin will let you go.’ He squinted at Kevin. ‘You will let it go won’t you?’

  Kevin nodded, ‘As you wish, Flower Man,’ he replied.

  ‘I don’t have any pexo!’ Thrag protested.

  James shook his head, obviously not believing the troll’s claim of poverty. Then he sighed and turned to walk away.

  ‘Oh well, call me when you do.’

  ‘Gold!’ Thrag screamed. ‘What about gold?’

  Now Siouxanne interrupted with a furious roar. ‘That gold is mine you thief!’ she bellowed.

  James pursed his lips and nodded with his head to one side. ‘Sorry Thrag. Siouxanne’s got first claim on any gold you might have got your claws on. Like I told her, I’m not a dwarf. I’m not about to take the stolen loot from a dragon. I’ll take pexo, gnangs or hammers, but for hammers I’ll have to charge you extra for the haulage.’

  Thrag slunk loose in Kevin’s grasp, defeated. ‘Very well,’ the troll muttered. ‘I’ll pay you one hundred thousand pexo.’

  ‘That’s one ten, Thrag,’ James pointed out patiently.

  ‘One ten, then.’

  ‘And you tell me why.’

  Thrag was shaking with anger. ‘Conundrum’s our home!’ the troll yelled. ‘We deserve to be back there. Mautallius promised he’d reinstate us!’ Thrag’s eyes gleamed with anger. ‘He promised me Guntex’s head on a spear. I’m the rightful Gatekeeper, not that mad cultist!’ Thrag twisted around and peered up at Kevin. ‘Now let me down!’

  James pursed his lips. ‘Fair enough, I suppose,’ he admitted. ‘Guntex is a jerk and you want your old job back. That’s it?’

  Thrag nodded. ‘That misbegotten goblin should never have come to this planet. I’ll make him rue the day he crossed me! Mautallius tricked me!’

  James shrugged. ‘He’s done that to a lot of people, Thrag. Now you’re army’s gone and Guntex is pretty well ensconced… But, if you think you can topple Guntex, good luck to you. Now, where’s my money?’ He stood there, tapping his foot.

  ‘Alright,’ Thrag grated. Kevin took this as his cue and dropped the troll on the ground. Thrag swore again and stood up unevenly. Its foot was growing back, but Thrag still had to stand with the good leg bent to avoid toppling over.

  ‘My vault’s over there,’ the troll told him, pointing its elbow stump at a large rock that had been blown clear of the collapsed mountain. ‘The rock’s an illusion. Everything I own is in there.’

  Siouxanne gave a triumphant screech and leaped up into the air. She flew over, swooped down and picked up the disguised vault in her claws and circled back to the group.

  James didn’t wait. ‘Annullarikus!’ he commanded. Thrag winced as the illusion fell away to reveal an enormous safe.

  ‘The key, Thrag,’ James told him calmly. ‘Where’s the key?’

  Thrag shrugged. ‘I don’t know! It was in there!’ the troll told him angrily, waving at the remnants of the mountain.

  Kevin bent down and grabbed Thrag again and began shaking him. Thrag howled and slashed at Kevin’s rocky hands, but succeeded in doing no more than breaking its own talons.

  ‘Let me,’ Ronny told them confidently. The gnome trotted up to the giant safe and produced a small wallet of lock-picks. Within a few moments, there was a loud click and the door swung open. Ronny gave a strangled ‘Auwk!’ and was immediately buried in gold coins and goblin pexo.

  While James, Siouxanne and Ronny counted out the loot, Angela examined the tome. She couldn’t open it either. She looked about for Sarah’s satchel. It was lying on the sand, quite wet and gooey.

  ‘Purgarito,’ she muttered, waving one hand at it briefly. The satchel shimmered and was once more clean and fresh. She opened it and peered inside to Nathan. ‘Take care of this for us will you, my friend?’ she asked the started bookwyrm.

  Nathan took the tome eagerly and Angela closed the satchel. She didn’t wait for him to stammer a reply. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. When she opened her eyes, she barked another spell.

  ‘Hubbler!’ she commanded, using the Magaeic spell for ‘bring that thing here!’ The smoking, charred corpse of Miranda Molotov appeared at her feet, still oozing green blood. She hauled the corpse up and draped it over her shoulder.

  The ground began to shudder then went still again. Everyone looked at each other in surprise for a few still seconds. Then, with a boom that was beyond the loudest thing any of them had ever heard, they were all thrust upward as the ground beneath them kicked up several metres.

  James was the first to recover. ‘Earthquake!’

  Angela shook her head and pointed at the nearby mountain Erta Ale. ‘The volcano’s erupting! We’ve got to go!’ She picked up Miranda’s corpse again.

  ‘We’ve got a few minutes,’ James replied. ‘You get the nonagram ready.’ He picked up his groaning sack of goblin currency. He looked back at Siouxanne. ‘Care to join us?’ he offered.

  Siouxanne smiled not at James or Angela, but at Sarah. Her diamond eyes glinted mysteriously.

  ‘You are friends of Amixo, Golden Mane. If she needs me then I shall come as I have promised,’ she vowed, ‘but not now. You’ve a long path ahead of you, Golden Mane. Know that when you call, all the wings of fire will flock to your banner.’ Then she nudged Jimbo with her snout and the two disappeared.

  James grinned up at Kevin. ‘Go on, let Thrag go now, old boy. It’s no danger to anyone right now.’

  ‘Not yet,’ growled Benjamin. The great wolf padded up and stood near Kevin’s massive feet. He looked up at Thrag.

  ‘Your trolls wrecked my office, Thrag!’

  Thrag nodded, which looked quite comical since it was hanging upside down by one ankle. ‘Mautallius ordered me to send them,’ it confessed. ‘He had us watching the Golden Mane for months.’

  ‘Wait a minute!’ yipped Sarah. ‘That man in the park! That was a troll?’

  Thrag nodded again.

  ‘You better hurry!’ Angela urged them through gritted teeth. She nearly had the nonagram drawn and was glancing up at the lava which was beginning to flow down the side of Erta Ale. ‘
That thing could blow any second!’

  James nodded at Kevin. Go on, he urged. ‘Get out of here!’

  Kevin grinned and then swung Thrag around in a huge arc, letting the troll loose to hurtle towards the horizon.

  ‘I’d best be off to The Guild,’ Kevin then grumbled glumly.

  James nodded. ‘You’ve probably got some explaining to do,’ the bald sorcerer admitted, ‘but right now, The Guild’s not to be trusted. Why don’t you try being a renegade for while? You might enjoy it! Anyway, we must be off. Toodle hoo!’ He sauntered off to help Benjamin scoop the remaining money into the rucksack, whistling quite out of tune.

  Ronny looked at himself in disgust. ‘You know, Mistress Harding,’ he remarked to Angela, ‘we’re all a bit mucky. Any chance you could, you know…?’ He waved his hand as if he was creating a spell.

  Angela smiled and muttered ‘Purgarito!’ The spell worked quite well for the most part. Nearly all of the blood, mud, gore and soot was washed from them, though Sarah noted they all still reeked quite badly of ash and troll.

  Just as the group were joining hands around a nonagram, all with awful-tasting portal stones in their mouths, a squawking babble of Pixierazzi arrived. James looked over his shoulder and poked his tongue out at the annoying pests and then the group disappeared just as Erta Ale exploded, sending a huge mushroom cloud of super-heated ash, rock and smoke high into the atmosphere.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sarah stepped through the portal into the middle of Castlerigg and shivered. The foggy air was much colder than in the Ethiopian desert. Through it, she could make out that the moon was still full and bright. It was slowly drifting down towards the east horizon. Her acute wolf instinct told her there were still about three hours before dawn.

  Roberta stepped out of the portal and stood next to her. Then they both watched Benjamin and Robert carrying the bodies of Jozefa and Henry. They placed the dead werewolves down on the dew-laden heather in the centre of the stone circle. James and Ronny appeared next, followed by Mel.

  Finally, Angela stepped through. She was carrying the still-smouldering corpse of Miranda Molotov. She dumped the dead witch unceremoniously on the ground and stared at the charred body. Green blood oozed from many of the wounds and sizzled on the moist heather. Then she looked up sharply.

  ‘Mortals!’ Angela said in alarm.

  Robert and Roberta instantly changed form. ‘We’ll scare off the face-painters,’ they growled and loped off into the fog. Soon their howls and barks drifted back, followed by terrified screams and the sounds of people running away. Several car doors opened and slammed shut. Engines started and the cars drove away, then there was silence once more in the circle of Castlerigg. Moments later, the two Brown Coat werewolves rejoined the others. Such a stunt would normally have left them grinning from ear to ear. Not today. They crouched on all fours and rested their heads on their paws, whining softly.

  ‘Looks like you folk have everything in order,’ Ronny surmised, looking around. ‘I’ll go and set up camp. He hurried off to the forest campsite.

  Angela then began issuing directions. Her face was grim and her eyes burned with a terrible anger. She glanced at Mel.

  ‘Melanie, this time I think you’d best not participate. Your mother wouldn’t approve.’

  ‘I’ll join you,’ James offered Mel. They walked away to stand outside the stone circle. Safely out of the danger area where Angela would be calling on the spirits of Castlerigg, they could still see and hear everything that was going to happen.

  Angela then pointed to points to the north, south, east and west. ‘Robert, Roberta, Sarah and Benjamin!’ she ordered, pointing at a spot with each name. They too obeyed Angela. Their faces were worried.

  ‘Are you sure you want to do this, Angela?’ James called out to his cousin. ‘You don’t know which hell she’s in. You went down this path once before. You know there’s no joy at the end of it.’ He had been carrying his large sack full of goblin pexo. He dumped it on the ground with obvious relief.

  ‘I don’t care how hard it is. I’m doing it,’ she replied flatly. ‘I can’t bring back Henryk or Jozefa, but I can wring a few answers out of Miranda.’

  Sarah looked across to Benjamin. ‘What does he mean?’ she asked him in the manner of wolves.

  ‘When Angela was younger, she was a very powerful necromancer. When she finally joined the Guild, there were precious few who could match her in power or courage. Her powers frightened the Guild and they took steps to control her by forbidding her to use certain methods of sorcery. When she divorced Marzdane, she had to use some of those methods her chapter had outlawed.’

  ‘But,’ Sarah began to protest.

  ‘The Guild was right, Sarah. It’s not wise to summon spirits of people known to associate with demons. Where Angela’s about to go, she’ll be confronting demons on their home turf.’

  ‘Will she be alright?’

  Benjamin shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Her bloodline is old and powerful, and she is Cassandra’s daughter, after all. I just hope that’s enough.’

  Daughter? Sarah wondered. If Cassandra was Angela’s mother, then she was Mel’s grandmother! Sarah was about to ask more questions but didn’t get the chance. Angela had disrobed and stood naked in the cold fog. She thrust her hands high above her head and began chanting a long evil-sounding spell.

  As they had done before, the spirits of Castlerigg appeared from beneath the stones, and drifted forward. They hovered over the moist ground, their eyes glowing red. One drifted forward towards Angela. The two spoke in ancient Celtic for a few moments, then the spirit held out one hand over the corpse of Miranda Molotov.

  A hollow groan burst from the dead witch’s mouth. The body shuddered. Then Miranda’s right eye opened and stared out blankly. Her empty left eye socket was gory and charred. She clumsily rose to her feet and stood, swaying slightly.

  ‘Explain yourself!’ Angela commanded the corpse.

  Miranda groaned again. The voice was hollow and seemed to be coming from a great distance.

  ‘It was Mautallius… He’s possessed by Hnug the demon. Six years ago he cast out the bullious demon and deposed Kevin. Then he sold me to Hnug’s lieutenant Hnag. Hnag made me his concubine…’

  ‘What did Mautallius want with the werewolves?’ Angela’s voice was iron-like in its harsh coldness.

  ‘It was all a ruse!’ Miranda cried. ‘He needed a diversion. Isaacs and McConnell were the only ones who could stand up to him and stop him taking complete control of the Guild. He planned to use the army of trolls to find the Star of Planes!’ The corpse paused and moaned painfully. The Spirit of Castlerigg shouted at her in Ancient Celtic.

  ‘He needs to control Conundrum!’ Miranda wailed. ‘He has made a pact with Hnug. He sold his soul in exchange for power… Hnug betrayed him!’

  ‘Sounds like typical demon behaviour,’ James observed to Mel. He shook his head as he sat down and began to rummage through his sack of money, checking that everything was in order. ‘Can’t trust ‘em. Good thing we’re out of claw’s reach.’

  ‘Hnug now controls Mautallius like a puppet master!’ Miranda wailed.

  Angela gripped the corpse by the shoulders. ‘What does this Hnug want?’ she shouted.

  Miranda moaned again. ‘I know not…’

  Then her eye shut and the inert corpse fell back down to the heather. Two more spirits came forward and picked up the body. They silently carried it away and sank back under the stones, dragging the body with them. Angela turned back to the spirit beside her. Again they spoke for a few more moments.

  Then Sarah reeled and blackness overtook her. She shook her head and realised she was alone and surrounded by darkness. Then her parents, Henryk and Jozefa, appeared in front of her! With them came the smell of damp forest and old pine trees.

  ‘Sarah,’ Henryk said in a ghostly voice. Sarah suddenly knew that instead of the souls of her parents coming to her, the spirits of Castlerigg had taken her to
them. She yelped and rushed to them.

  They nuzzled and nudged each other for a long time. Then Sarah’s mother broke away.

  ‘You can’t stay here, Sarah,’ she said, with the same ghostliness in her voice. ‘It is not your time yet.’

  Sarah looked around at the surrounding blackness. ‘Where are we?’ she demanded.

  Henryk shook his head, making his ears flap. ‘Looks sort of like Neroland to me,’ he said quietly. Then he turned back to Sarah. ‘It doesn’t matter where we are,’ he told her. ‘The spirits of Castlerigg will return you now.’

  ‘No!’ Sarah whined.

  Her father smiled and looked deep into her golden eyes. His eyes were the same golden hue.

  ‘We’ll always be with you, Sarah,’ he told her gently.

  ‘Yes,’ Jozefa said earnestly. ‘Any time you need us, come to Wolfenvald.’

  ‘I should have saved you!’

  ‘No, Sarah.’ Henryk disagreed. ‘In battle there are always casualties. Accept it. Now we are on our way to Wolfenvald.’ He smiled at her. ‘Remember what Cassandra told you? She said “those souls in chains shall be set free”. Well, what could be more freedom for a wolf than a forest?’ He nuzzled her once more and then he stepped back and began to fade.

  Sarah came to, back in the circle. The spirit then crossed over to her and knelt beside her. She looked up at the red eyes in the glowing form.

  ‘Take these Folk of Were to Wolfenvald,’ the spirit commanded her. ‘There they will find their freedom. Go with our blessing.’

  Mutely, Sarah wagged her tail.

  The spirit then regarded Sarah seriously. ‘And now for the completion of our task. Take this, Golden Mane.’ It placed a nine-pointed silver amulet on the ground at Sarah’s paws. The amulet looked similar to the Guild amulets Sarah had seen Marzdane and other sorcerers wear, except this one had a nonagon-shaped hole in its centre.