Blue's father lay naked on an operating table, his abdomen open and bloody. A strange, squat Nighter was bent over him, splattered with the Emperor's blood. Beside them, a second man was strapped to another table. With a start Blue recognised him as Jasper Chalkhill, her old nemesis, who was supposed to be in jail. Behind them was an old man in shabby wizard robes, an expression of bewilderment on his face. Watching it all was the familiar slim figure of Lord Hairstreak himself.
There were no guards! There were no guards at all!
'Get Hairstreak!' Pyrgus shouted. 'I'll look after Father!'
A murderous rage descended on Blue like a scarlet mist as she launched herself at Hairstreak.
Nymph drew her bow and calmly shot the man bending over the Purple Emperor. The arrow caught him in the throat and he collapsed with a strangled gurgle, tearing at the shaft. She put two further arrows in his back, but by the time the second hit he was already dead.
Nymph turned to kill Lord Hairstreak, but Princess Blue was in the way.
Henry stood on the edge of the action, his emotions churning. He had no weapon he could actually use! Why had no one given him something sensible like an Ouzi? Why did he have to stand like a wimp while the others got stuck in?
Pyrgus threw himself across the room. He had almost reached his father when, to his astonishment, the elderly wizard in the tatty robe hurled a massive firebolt in his direction.
Pyrgus flung himself to the floor. The flaming mass singed his hair, then struck Palaemon squarely in the chest.
Palaemon fell backwards, his body a smoking crater. He trembled twice on the floor, then lay still, his dead eyes open, staring at the cavern ceiling high above.
The old wizard looked down at Pyrgus on the floor and grinned. 'I won't miss this time,' he cackled.
Nymph put an arrow in his chest and he died with the grin still on his face.
Hairstreak ran.
Blue hared after him, her short sword at the ready. She was going to kill him, once and for all, and hang the political consequences. The man was a slug, a smear of slime on the face of the Realm.
Henry hesitated for no more than half a heartbeat, then ran after Blue. Nymph switched her bow for a vicious-looking knife and ran to join them both.
Hairstreak raced from the operating theatre on to the walkway that led to the observation chamber. He was moving quickly, but Nymph was already ahead of the others and gaining on him.
'Leave him to me!' Blue hissed angrily and increased her pace. But they had him. There was no other walkway from the observation chamber. There was nowhere he could go. Then she saw the suspensor shaft. Unlike the one that had carried them up, this shaft descended direct from the observation chamber. 'Suspensor shaft!' Blue screamed.
'I see it!' Nymph called. She seemed to be running flat out, but somehow increased her pace and reached the observation chamber no more than a pace or two behind Hairstreak. She hurled herself forward and managed, miraculously, to get between Hairstreak and the shaft.
Hairstreak made a sweeping movement with one hand and Nymph staggered backwards, clutching her arm. Blood oozed between her fingers. Hairstreak jumped. Nymph grabbed for him and missed.
Blue and Henry raced into the room. 'Where is he?' Blue gasped, looking around wildly. 'Where's the shaft?'
Nymph turned. 'It's -' Then stopped, bewildered.
'He's cloaked it!' Blue howled.
'Where is he?' Henry asked.
'He's cloaked the shaft!' Blue shouted in frustration. 'He's cloaked the shaft! There must have been an automatic trigger. We can't use it. We can't even see it.'
Henry looked over the edge of the observation raft. Far below, the slim figure of Lord Hairstreak was racing for the cut-stone steps. Nymph must have spotted him as well, for she said quietly, 'Lord Hairstreak will raise an alarm. We must return to Prince Pyrgus.'
'Yes,' Blue agreed.
Yes, Henry thought. And then we'd better find some way to get out of here.
They entered the operating theatre at a run. Pyrgus was standing over his father, a stricken look on his face. Blue stopped dead. 'What's wrong? Pyrgus, what's wrong?'
Pyrgus licked dry lips but said nothing. The room was a scene of carnage. Comma was crouched in one corner, curled into a trembling ball.
'Pyrgus!' Blue's cry was almost a scream.
'It's -' Pyrgus swallowed and started again. 'Blue, he's… he's
…' There were tears welling in his eyes. 'I -we – it's too late,' Pyrgus said. 'Daddy's dead.'
Blue started forward like someone sleepwalking.
Pyrgus moved at once to meet her. 'You mustn't look, Blue. He's – it's not -' He reached out for her arm.
Blue shook off the restraining hand and pushed past him, her face set. She looked down at her father stretched out and strapped on the operating table. Blue whispered, 'His head has been cut off.'
Pyrgus said, 'I know, Blue. Come away.'
But Blue would not come away. 'He can never be resurrected again.' She looked at Pyrgus, then, helplessly, at Henry and repeated, 'He can never be resurrected again.'
'Excuse me,' Chalkhill said, 'but would somebody like to release these straps and give me back my clothes?'
CHAPTER NINETY FOUR
They moved out as a group, trembling with shock and exhaustion, but alert for the guards they knew must appear at any moment. There had been a short, broken discussion between Blue and Pyrgus about taking their father's body, but Nymph had cut it short by pointing out brutally that it would take two of them to carry the, corpse and another to carry the head – out of the question since they were going to have to fight their way out of Hairstreak's mansion.
Nymph more or less took charge after that, Henry noticed. Which was probably a good thing. Their party had shrunk to six. Comma, who was hardly more than a child, looked a nervous wreck and wouldn't meet anybody's eye. Henry was armed now – he'd taken a long dagger from the body of the shaman who'd killed the Purple Emperor – but had no illusions about his ability to use it. Both Pyrgus and Blue were functioning like automata and their faces had taken on a weird, jelly-like look. Even Flapwazzle looked subdued.
Nymph found the original suspensor shaft and made Henry wait with Comma while she, Blue and Pyrgus went down. Henry watched them float gently to the ground, then put his arm around Comma's shoulders and stepped into the shaft when Nymph waved.
Comma shook the whole way.
They reached the floor of the cavern and Nymph led them to the staircase. She warned them quietly to have their weapons ready and there was such authority in her voice that even Comma managed to produce some sort of knife, although his hand shook as he held it.
But as they moved upwards into the main body of the mansion, there were no guards, no hint of Hairstreak or any of his staff. The entire building felt deserted. Once they passed an open door which gave a glimpse of a half-eaten meal on the table inside.
They were still creeping through the ground-floor level when they heard the screams outside.
'Good God!' Fogarty exclaimed.
Madame Cardui, normally phlegmatic, snapped an order that brought both their bearers to a halt. She leaned forward in her seat. 'My deeah,' she said, 'this is quite extraordinary.'
There was a massive portal opened on the lawn outside Lord Hairstreak's forest mansion. Demon troops were pouring through it in an orderly stream. A pitched battle was underway between the portal and the house.
'Those are Hairstreak's people,' Fogarty said. 'Fighting the demons.' He started to clamber down from his sedan chair. It wasn't just Hairstreak's armed guards – the whole of his household staff seemed to be outside, as if the mansion was under attack.
'Where are you going, Alan?' Madame Cardui asked sharply.
'To get a closer look.'
'My deeah, you will be careful?'
But Fogarty was already pressing forward through the still ranks of Forest Faerie soldiers. This made no sense. First of all, the Hael portals were clo
sed down. Secondly, he'd never seen a portal anything like this one. It was the wrong colour, there were no cold flames and it was huge. Thirdly, Nighters dealt with demons all the time and Hairstreak in particular was rumoured to have cut some sort of long-term deal with the Demon King or whoever their stupid leader was. Why were the demons attacking his home now?
He caught sight of Queen Cleo at the head of her troops and made his way quickly towards her. 'Do you know what's going on?' he asked breathlessly.
'No, Gatekeeper. But those are demons in my forest, exactly as I feared.'
'They're attacking Hairstreak's men,' Fogarty said. 'Maybe we should let them get on with it before we think of interfering.'
The Queen watched the action thoughtfully. Her troops were massed in the trees, out of sight. Their discipline was absolute. There was not a sound that would draw attention to their presence. 'You think they may do our job for us?'
'Could do.' Hairstreak's people were losing, no doubt about that. Their bodies were strewn everywhere. He'd no idea why this was happening, but given half an hour he was fairly sure it would be a wipeout. With Hairstreak out of the picture, the Forest Faerie could demolish his mansion at their leisure.
Queen Cleo said, 'What do we do with the demons, Gatekeeper?'
Fogarty looked at her. After a moment he said, 'Good point.' It was the possibility of demon portals that had worried the Forest Faerie in the first place. That thing on Hairstreak's lawn must be their worst nightmare. And there were one hell of a lot of demons marching through it.
'It may be a question of timing,' the Queen told him thoughtfully. 'As you say, Gatekeeper, it could be useful that the demons have attacked Lord Hairstreak. But we still cannot permit demons in the forest, not at all. The interests of my people would be best served if Hairstreak was routed, his mansion destroyed, the demons driven back to their own realm and their portal permanently closed. Ideally without revealing the existence of the Forest Faerie to the outside world.'
'Tall order,' Fogarty said.
'Not if we attack now,' the Queen said quietly. 'While we can still contain the situation.'
It made sense. As the Queen turned to signal to her people, Fogarty thought of Blue and Pyrgus. He hoped they'd have the sense to keep their heads down if they were anywhere nearby. There was a major battle coming and it was very easy to get yourself killed in crossfire.
'Those are demons,' Nymph said.
They were standing by an open window in Hairstreak's mansion watching the slaughter outside. Maybe the best thing was simply to stay put, wait for the demons to wipe out Hairstreak's guards and servants – which probably wouldn't take too long by the looks of it.
As against that, there were more and more demons pouring through the portal and, once they had dealt with the defenders, there was every chance they might take over the house. Pyrgus had been captured by demons once before and it was an experience he didn't want to repeat. Maybe they should make a break for it now, try to escape in the confusion.
The one thing he was absolutely certain they shouldn't do was get involved in the fight.
'Those are my people!' Nymph exclaimed suddenly.
He followed the direction of her gaze. Forest Faerie were pouring from the trees like a river in spate. Before he had time to react, Nymph had jumped through the window and was running towards the fray.
'Nymph!' Pyrgus shouted desperately, then leaped to follow her.
'Pyrgus!' Blue shouted and launched herself through the window after him.
Henry hesitated for no more than a second before following. Only Comma remained. He stared through the open window with a bleak look on his face.
Fogarty chilled as he watched the Forest Faerie fight. They were the most ruthlessly efficient killing machines he'd ever seen in his life. The odd thing was nobody seemed to give orders, yet everybody clearly knew exactly what to do. The stream of faerie emerging from the forest split in two to circle both the demons and the remaining few of Hairstreak's defenders. But instead of plunging into close combat, they remained at a distance and showered their opponents with arrows and elf-bolts. There was a moment of confusion, then demons began to fall.
For a moment he thought the whole battle might be fought from a distance, but the demons quickly regrouped and turned to face their new attackers. The Hael troops were like insects, completely without personal fear. They hurled themselves forward, oblivious to the deadly rain of bolts and arrows. At the same instant, a tightly-knit group of Forest Faerie made a lightning sortie towards the open portal.
'A convincing grasp of strategy,' said Madame Cardui. 'Disable the portal and you cut off demonic reinforcements.'
The swelling demon army clearly came to the same conclusion, for a large contingent of Hael troops separated off to stop the sortie. The faerie fighters fell back, then were reinforced in their turn and pushed forward again. New ranks of larger, more heavily armoured demons had begun to emerge from the portal now. One raised a massive fire wand. An elf-bolt sliced through his right eye as he triggered the weapon and the gout of flame passed over heads to set fire to a tree.
'The Queen's not going to like that,' Fogarty said sourly. There was a stirring in his blood. He actually wanted to be out there in the middle of the fight. Which was strange, since when he bad been a soldier -nearly sixty years ago, could you believe it? – he'd spent his time avoiding battle whenever humanly possible. Old age was a pain. It gave you brave new ideas, then took away the ability to carry them out.
It looked as if he was right about the Queen not liking it. The river of Forest Faerie emerging from the trees abruptly became a flood. Foot soldiers hurled themselves upon the demon horde while archers pounded them with darts and bolts. A team made straight for the burning tree, snapping cones of suffocation spells to extinguish the flames. The party headed for the portal suddenly found itself massively reinforced. Fogarty noticed there was a three-strong team of wizards at its core.
What happened next was almost too fast to follow. The key was a vast, flame-free explosion at the portal. The structure erupted into fragments that showered down like hail, bloodied by the body parts of nearby demons caught in the blast. Starved of their constant reinforcements, the remaining demons fell like chaff beneath the horde of Forest Faerie. It was over in minutes.
As work teams of Forest Faerie moved in to demolish Hairstreak's mansion, Fogarty and Madame Cardui walked on to the battlefield. The dead and dying were everywhere, but already faerie clean-up squads were hard at work destroying the evidence of what had happened here.
'My deeah, isn't that Prince Pyrgus?'
Fogarty followed her gaze and felt a chill claw clutch his stomach. Pyrgus was lying on the grass, his jerkin soaked in blood. Blue and a worried-looking boy were kneeling beside him – with a start, Fogarty recognised him as Henry. Nymph was standing behind them, bow in hand like a guard. For some reason there was an endolg at Henry's feet.
'Pyrgus!' yelled Fogarty as he ran towards the group.
Pyrgus opened his eyes slowly and gave a wan smile. 'It's just a flesh wound, Gatekeeper. I'll be fine.'
'Can you find us a Healer, Mr Fogarty?' Blue asked. 'And tell somebody to get Comma out of the house before they pull it down around his ears.' She hesitated, but only briefly. 'My father's body is in there too. I should like it brought back to the palace for his burial.'
CHAPTER NINETY FIVE
Blue woke with a start.
There was someone in her room! She could hear the steady breathing. How had they passed the guards?
She scrabbled for a weapon and found instead an emergency moon cone. Pale light flooded her chamber as she cracked it.
Comma was standing at the bottom of her bed.
'What do you think you're doing?' Blue snapped angrily. He was always creeping around where he wasn't wanted, but this was something else.
'Couldn't sleep,' Comma said sulkily. 'I want to talk to you, Blue.'
'I don't care. You can talk to me in the
morning. Late in the morning. Or dammit no, you can't. Just leave me alone and talk to somebody else. I'm going back to sleep.' She turned and pulled the blankets over her ear.
Comma moved to sit on the bed. 'They've locked Mummy up again.'
'Yes, I know. And I'm glad. She's -'
'Sometimes I can hear her screaming in the night.'
'No you can't – that's just dreams.'
'I'd have talked to her if they hadn't locked her up. She could tell me what to do about Pyrgus.'
There was something in his tone that stopped her at once. She sat up, caught Comma looking at her nightgown, and pulled the bedclothes up around her throat. 'What about Pyrgus?' she demanded angrily.
Comma said almost sleepily, 'He killed our father.'
'No he didn't. You know he didn't – it was the demon that possessed Mr Fogarty, you little creep. If you -'
'It was Pyrgus the second time,' Comma said in an oddly singsong voice. 'He thought I wasn't watching and he cut off father's head.'
'That's it!' Blue said. 'Get out!'
'All right, I'm going,' Comma told her hurriedly. He leaped from the bed and scuttled across the room, but paused at the door. 'You ask the other man,' he said. 'He saw it too.' Then he was gone.
Blue lay in bed, fuming. Whatever happened, however bad, you could always rely on Comma to make it worse somehow.
There was no question of sleep now, so she climbed out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown. Why did he do it? Why? Why make up stories at all, let alone in the middle of the night? Their father was already dead when they had reached that ghastly operating room. His stomach was open and his head – his head -
Actually she couldn't remember noticing his head was severed, but it must have been. There was certainly that hideous open wound on his stomach. Hairstreak must have – must have -
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