I threw, and knew straight away that I was close to the mark. My shot wasn’t quite swift and true enough however. The dagger embedded itself in the beast’s ankle, just missing the vital Achilles’ heel. Shit. It shuddered in pain though, head whipping around. Involuntarily I took a step back. It only had one huge eye, smack bang in the middle of its face. Christ, a Cyclops. I took in its long dark hair, tied back with a piece of rope and its skin that was swarthy and weathered. A loincloth covered its genitals but other than it was completely naked. I supposed I should be thankful for small mercies. A naked ten foot tall one eyed beast was not at the top of my ‘otherworld neighbours I’d like to meet’ list. Something dangled off the string at its waist but, at this distance, I couldn’t quite make out what it was. It didn’t look large enough to be a scary weapon at least. The Cyclops roared at me and, even from metres away, I felt globules of warm spit on my face combined with the hot rank air of its breath. No, I was not a fan.
It turned back to the front, seemingly dismissing me as unthreatening, so all I was presented with was its lean back. I prepared to attack again whilst Lucy made her own move, rushing the Cyclops, and snapping and biting at the same ankle I’d already injured, but it dodged her teeth and ran past her. And towards Trevathorn.
Chapter Eighteen
I stood for one brief moment, then reacted and took off after it. Lucy joined me, scampering along the sand and yet easily keeping up. I pelted down the beach, feet scuffing the sand as I sprinted in hot pursuit. Alex yelled something behind me but it was indistinct and his words were whipped away in the sea wind.
It was imperative that we stopped it before it reached the village. I dreaded to think what damage it might incur if it got there. Imagining busloads of eager tourists being swept aside by the Cyclops’ long arms, I ran even faster. This was probably not going to turn out well if I didn’t stop its parade fucking fast. Way Directive Twenty-two: Wherever possible, the human world must be shielded from the otherworld.
The Cyclops was an ungainly, clumsy thing, but its long legs enabled it to keep just ahead of the pair of us. It gouged out huge prints in the soft sand as it skewed its way along the edge of the dunes. At one point it leapt over a salt crusted log, stumbling ever so slightly as it landed on the other side. This was our chance. I jumped at it, feet first, and struck it in the back before I fell back onto the sand. It collapsed onto its knees and roared again, and Lucy sprang onto its back and held on with her sharp teeth, ripping into its flesh.
I jumped back up and pulled out my knife, taking advantage of its position to move in front of it and block its path to Trevathorn. I swiped at it a few times but couldn’t quite connect, so I lifted a booted heel and kicked its lowered face with every ounce of power and strength that I had. It groaned and pulled itself up, scrabbling at Lucy on its back, connecting with her body and throwing her off before taking off in the direction that it had just come from. I ran after it again, starting to pant with the exertion.
Other shifters were starting to run onto the beach from the forest. I noted a bear – great, Anton again – a grey haired tiger which I took to be Staines, and a couple of wolves. The Cyclops spooked and turned again, this time heading right for me. I slashed out with my knife, connecting with its skin and cutting it deeply, and jumped out of the way, landing on my feet, but it only paused momentarily and then headed back in the direction of the village. Goddamn Brethren. I’d have finished this thing off well before now if it wasn’t for them.
One of the wolves caught up and overtook me. As it passed by Lucy curled up by the water’s edge, it leapt at the Cyclops and gained purchase on its arm. The monster tried to shake it off as it loped even closer to the settlement, eventually managing to fling it down onto its back. The wolf rolled over back onto its feet, not seriously harmed, but looking slightly dazed. It shook its fur and ran after the Cyclops again.
This time it was the tiger that launched at it from a few feet away, fanged mouth chopping at the Cyclops’ skin. The monster howled and wheeled yet again, running zigzagged back towards the direction of the portal. Staines’ tiger snapped at its heels. Blood was dripping from it in all directions, spraying onto the surface of the sand. Its great head turned to me, the one great eye blinking. I noted idly that it had impossibly long lashes that any large cosmetics company would be thrilled to use in a campaign. I kicked out at it again, and heard the satisfying crunch of a rib snapping from within its great cage of a torso. It moaned yet again but continued running. I was starting to wonder just how many times I’d have to chase it up and down the beach before this ended.
Anton started lumbering towards it, shiny fur shaking with the exertion. The Cyclops leapfrogged over him, however, and carried on. Its injuries were definitely starting to slow it down considerably however, and I could see that I was gaining on it. The shifters behind me were catching up too. I reached a hand out to snag its ankle and bring it down once and for all but hadn’t realised how close we were to the portal. Just as my hand started to curve around its leg, it escaped into the purple shimmer and vanished. I was left grasping at air and only barely managed to stop myself from falling headlong into the gateway after it by skidding into the sand and digging in my heels.
Shit.
I took a few steps backwards and watched the portal carefully in case the Cyclops re-emerged. Staines, Anton and the two wolves joined me, and we all stood there, waiting. But there was nothing.
I cursed again and plonked myself down on the sand, thoroughly pissed off now. Alex reappeared from behind a dune.
“Oh my God, dude. Did you see that thing?”
“I could hardly miss it, Alex,” I answered, barely disguised irritation evident in my voice.
He put his hands up in the air. “Jeez, way to attack the innocent party. I tried to help but you didn’t listen.”
I looked up at him and waited for him to elaborate. Staines, beside me, still in tiger form, did the same, feline eyes narrowed.
“I told you. It’s an ispolin. A Bulgarian giant.”
“It’s a fucking Cyclops,” I hissed.
“No,” he answered patiently. “It’s an ispolin.
“Wandering around a beach in Cornwall? Why the hell can’t these things stay where they belong? Between earthquake monsters, Basque dragons and one eyed ispo…”
“Ispolin,” offered Alex helpfully.
“Whatever.”
“What Basque dragons?” It was Anton. He’d shifted back to a human and stood there naked as the day he was born. I looked down. Yeah, still unimpressed. Then I remembered that the Basque dragon part had come from me breaking into John’s computer. Oops.
“Uhhh…last week, when you were in Penzance there was one,” I lied, badly, and then changed the topic quickly by directing it back to Alex. “Anyway, what do you mean, you tried to help? I didn’t hear what you said.”
“Blackberry bushes.”
“Excuse me?”
“Blackberry bushes,” he repeated slowly, as if I was hard of hearing. “Ispolin are terrified of them. They get caught in them, or something, and can’t move. I’m a bit hazy on all the details to be honest, dude, but just get some blackberries and you’ll have it screaming like a girl for its mummy.”
“Wow, that’s so helpful, Alex, thanks. This beach is clearly teeming with blackberry bushes all over the place. If only I had thought of attacking it with one.”
“Alright, dude, alright, no need to get snarky. Anyway, it’s interesting that you mention dragons cos I’m sure that ispolins’ nemeses are dragons.”
Why did it keep coming back to dragons? “Well, next time then I’ll look for a fucking dragon hiding in a fucking blackberry bush.”
There was a feline growl next to me and I turned to watch Staines painfully shifting into human form. He clicked his jaws a few times to aid their transformation back into human form before speaking. “This is not helping. We have our people to aid.”
I suddenly remembered Lucy and her bird-
brained colleague. I turned round and scanned the beach. The guy was still lying crumpled where the Cyclops – sorry, ispolin – had thrown him. I didn’t think he’d moved an inch since then, which wasn’t a good sign. One of the wolves was now beside him, just sitting there, ears flat. Lucy, meanwhile, was limping up the now semi-destroyed beach, which looked as if someone had dug potholes all around it. At least the tide would take care of that side of things in a few hours’ time. Checking that the other wolf, Anton and Staines were remaining beside the portal, I jogged down to meet her.
She was holding her arm awkwardly and it was clearly broken. A gash on the side of her head trickled blood and she was half bent over, clearly in a lot of pain. When I reached her, she all but collapsed into my arms, deathly pale. My fingers twitched again with heat. How the hell did we let this happen? I tried to push aside thoughts of rage at the monster’s very painful destruction and picked her up in a fireman’s lift, slinging her over my shoulder. It might not be very dignified, but at the moment it was the best I could offer.
Back at the side of the portal, I laid her gently down on the sand. Alex came over from the guy’s body and shook his head at me slightly, then bent to check over Lucy. My body shivered with ire. I might not have liked the werecougar, I might even have wanted to punch his lights out, but he didn’t deserve to die. I turned to look at the portal. Staines, however, reading my thoughts, gave me a warning glance and for now I acquiesced and crouched down to join Alex. Staines pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and began tapping furiously at the keypad.
“I think she’s ruptured her appendix,” Alex said, gently poking at her stomach.
She moaned softly, and I winced in phantom pain for her.
“We need to get her back to the keep and call in a proper doctor. Even with her regeneration ability, she needs serious medical attention.”
We had Julia, who was good for herbal treatments, and a few other pack members such as Larch who were fairly skilled in first aid and basic medicine, but I doubted that they had enough experience to help her properly. One of the drawbacks of being in a pack where serious injuries were so few and far between.
“There’s a guy in Somerset,” I said. “We can call their alpha and get him here with a couple of hours.”
Staines snapped his phone shut. “There’s no need. The Lord Alpha is on his way as we speak, with our doctor in tow. We look after our own.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I was tempted to stick my tongue out at him. Whoopdedoo. Their own special doctor, because normal pack ones couldn’t be trusted, and their stupid lord were coming. We were all saved, after all, I thought sarcastically.
“I’ll take her back then,” I said instead, reaching over to pick her body back up again. The wolf beside the Brethren’s corpse had shifted and was already scooping him up for the sad walk back.
“No,” ordered Staines. “Anton, take her to the keep. Be very careful with her.”
Anton shot me a smug glance that was blocked from Staines’ view by Alex. My teeth clenched. “I am perfectly capable of helping carry her.”
“But not perfectly capable of shifting to help us even out the fight,” bit out Staines. “You take this mourning thing too far. Anton, go now and don’t delay.”
Anton nodded and took Lucy from the sand, surprisingly gentle. He immediately began a brisk walk back, although I could see that he was being careful not to bump or jolt her. Sometimes, when I wasn’t involved, he really could be a nice guy.
Alex had tensed beside me, no doubt waiting for the explosion. I couldn’t even get angry at this one though. Staines was right. I might have been able to stop the ispolin from hurting the others if I’d been on my own and I might have been fairly certain that I could have brought it down before its other foot touched the sand if the werecougar hadn’t gotten in my way, but I was also fairly certain that if I could have shifted, even into a sodding werehamster, then I could have done more too. Perhaps enough to stop their friend from dying. I just stared at Staines, mutely.
He turned to Alex. “Can you bind the portal for now so that nothing else gets out?”
I stepped forward to protest. How would we catch Iabartu if the gateway was blocked? However, Staines silenced me with one look. Given their grief and state of mind, now probably wasn’t the best time to go around flexing my muscles. If only I could rein in my temper like this all the time then the world would probably be a better place.
Alex nodded solemnly. “It’s only a temporary measure though. It won’t last for more than twenty-four hours.”
“That’s fine.” Staines looked towards the trees where other shifters, including Tom, were starting to emerge. When they had all appeared, and were quietly assembled in front of us, gazing down with drawn faces at the cougar’s body in the wolf’s now human arms, Staines spoke again. I had to strain to make out exactly what he was saying, however, because he was so very quiet. “Where were you?”
Someone coughed awkwardly. The remaining Brethren looked guilty.
I was proud of Tom when he chose to speak up. “We were playing football in a field away from the keep. We didn’t realise what was going on until Boran,” he jerked his head at a large upset looking guy, “managed to finally find us. There are no words to express how we have failed you.”
“It’s not me you’ve failed. It’s Thomson and Lucy who you’ve failed,” Staines said. It occurred to me that I hadn’t even known the werecougar’s name until this point. I felt vaguely ashamed of myself.
The shifters’ bodies sank even lower.
Julia joined them from behind. Her back, in contrast to the others’ however, was straight, and her voice was clear. “And if Lord Corrigan had been here, he could have used his Voice and everyone would have been here in force. But he wasn’t. And that’s not their fault. It’s not yours either, or probably even Corrigan’s. But that’s the way it is and we can’t change it now.”
I applauded her silently. Staines looked furious for a moment and then nodded slowly, as if it cost him a great effort. “I need five of you to stay here at the portal. The mage will need time to set up a temporary binding and you still need to guard it just in case it doesn’t hold.” All the shifters immediately put up their hands and he pointed at five of them in turn. “The rest of you, go back to the keep. We need to prepare the rites in accordance with the Way so we can transport Thomson’s body back to London for a decent burial.” He looked at me. “You are local. Go to the village and make sure that no damage has been done and no suspicions have been raised.”
I raised my eyebrows at Julia, questioning, and she nodded. Fine by me. Hanging around the keep at the moment was going to be about as much fun as sucking on one of the ispolin’s yellowing toes would be. I walked off, without rushing. Following a sensible order didn’t mean that I needed to look like I was one of Staines’ eager soldiers. I heard the others behind me begin to move, but I continued on to Trevathorn without looking back.
Chapter Nineteen
As I walked towards the village, dodging the huge ispolin footprints as I went, I pondered whether Iabartu had deliberately sent both the terrametus and the ispolin through the portal. If that was indeed what had happened, then why hadn’t she bothered coming herself? She’d taken the time to come through on her own to deal with John. And, if it was the case that she was responsible for both monsters, then I was still unclear about the reasons for why she was hell-bent on causing such havoc.
Obviously, she felt that her business was as yet unfinished. Had John had something that she wanted? Information or maybe some kind of object to do with the Draco Wyr? If so, then he’d died rather than give it up, meaning it must be important. But then perhaps she’d achieved what she’d wanted when she killed him and now had just left the portal hanging open, in that careless and disdainful manner that otherworlders sometimes displayed. I discarded that idea as soon almost as I’d thought of it, however. I might not know that much about portals, and might never ha
ve entered one myself or know the mechanics of how to create one, but I was aware that it took power to maintain one, which is why it was so unusual that the portal on the beach was still there. Even as a so-called demi-god, Iabartu would find a strain to leave it usable.
There were so many things that just didn’t add up. I tried to avoid thinking about Craw’s assertion that it was my fault that John had died because it just hurt too much. I already was uncomfortably aware of the sick feeling of guilt in the pit of my stomach that, if I could have shifted, then I might have saved Thomson from dying and Lucy from getting hurt. Which led me on, of course, to Alex’s revelations. I wasn’t a shifter, but was I actually a human at all? It seemed that whichever direction my thoughts took, I was confronted by horrible implications and terrible scenarios.
My eyes stung with the threat of tears and I swallowed hard. If I was going to get to the bottom of all this, then crying like a little girl was not going to help. Being strong and calm would. I rubbed at my eyes with my cuff and squared my shoulders, focusing instead on how to allay any suspicions that might be forming in Trevathorn. An elephant had escaped from the local zoo, perhaps? Except the nearest zoo was about 120 miles away so that was probably rather unrealistic. Ummm…
Why didn’t you shift?
Corrigan’s growl in my head startled me so much that I almost tripped over the log that caught the ispolin earlier. He couldn’t have gotten that close to use his Voice that quickly, surely? Staines had only called him twenty minutes ago. God, just how powerful was he? As well as being stunned into silence by the revelation that his Voice could carry hundreds of miles, I didn’t have any answers for him that made sense so I just kept quiet.
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