by Scott Monk
‘Oriana then!’ Michael demanded. ‘She’ll listen.’
He leapt three steps at a time, only to have a pair of pikes force him back downstairs.
‘Young man,’ the servant said. ‘No one wakes Her Majesty at this hour. Not even Heroes from our beloved Hall.’
‘This is an emergency!’ Samantha yelled. ‘The monster has just grabbed Cavalli – and probably Luke too!’
‘I’m sure the marine sergeant is quite capable of –’
‘There is one person who can help us,’ Michael said, running past her. ‘Stay here. I’ll be back.’
Dawn broke and a gentle hand startled him from sleep. A teenage boy with blue hair, a scarred neck and gold ear chains squatted beside him. ‘Not the most comfortable of beds, my liege,’ Aurelio said.
Michael sat up and felt the gondola rock beneath him. He pushed aside the tarpaulin covering him and found the boat still moored next to a cafe, where the pied piper had hidden him. A cold, softening sky drift ed with clouds, and shimmering schools of fish still slept in doorways. He must have dozed off. ‘Any luck?’
Aurelio offered him a banana and pear for breakfast. Their meeting wasn’t coincidental. The piper had been searching for him during the tricentennial celebrations, hearing word that he and his companions might be in danger.
He nodded. ‘And a brave ride she is.’
‘Then let’s go get Sam.’
Michael found her asleep on a couch outside the Prime Minister’s office. Within seconds, she jerked awake and pounded Pasquale’s door again.
Frowning, the head servant appeared a second time, albeit dressed more formally in his white wig, royal-blue and gold coat, breeches and neck scarf. ‘Sirs, when I said return in the morning, I did not mean dawn. As you are well aware by now, the Prime Minister is rarely awake before –’
‘Either you open this door right now or it’ll be the only thing left standing of this palace!’
The head servant unlocked the door as a messenger arrived and whispered in his ear. Samantha and Michael found Pasquale’s office empty, and, now even more determined to find him, stormed out into the corridor.
‘Sirs!’ the head servant yelled after them. ‘Please, follow me. The Prime Minister will see you in the parliament chamber.’
‘So he is awake!’
The head servant ushered them inside a giant room with red leather benches and oak desks then closed the door behind them. The Prime Minister stood on the other side of the chamber, staring across the harbour.
‘Where’s Luke?’ she demanded. ‘And what’s happened to Cav –’
She choked on this last word as he turned round beaming. Except it wasn’t Pasquale. It was a complete stranger in his thirties who wore the same woollen white and orange robes.
‘I’m glad you both came to see me this morning,’ the stranger said in a slippery voice. He twisted a sapphire into each cheek, bringing his total to eight. ‘A footman just delivered troubling news to my hand.’
‘Where’s Prime Minister Pasquale?’
The man smiled. ‘Relieved of office. As you witnessed at the celebrations last night, he is no longer fit for government.’
‘And who are you?’
‘Federico, the new Prime Minister.’
Michael snorted. ‘Pretty quick replacement.’
‘Where’s Luke?’ she snapped again.
‘He’s not with you?’ Federico asked.
‘No, he’s missing. Cavalli, too. Order your marines to search the entire city – right now! We think the monster has taken them both.’
Federico calmly pulled a parchment from his robes.
‘What’s that?’ Michael asked.
‘A watchtower report. Agent Luke was seen chasing a shadowy figure through the old warehouse sector last night. There was an explosion –’
‘An explosion!’ she repeated, snatching away the parchment.
‘– but our marines couldn’t find him when they investigated.’
She tried reading the report but it was all in Latin. She screwed it up and shoved it into his chest. ‘This city is full of liars and traitors.’
Just as annoyed, Michael pushed open a window and whistled. For the first time, Prime Minister Federico dropped his smug demeanour as, outside, an enormous blue whale levelled with the parliament’s balcony. Aurelio straddled its back, playing his coral pipe.
‘Where to, my liege?’ the piper asked.
‘To search that warehouse,’ Samantha answered for him.
Michael shook his head. ‘Luke’s not there.’
‘How do you know?’
He showed her the dead man’s ring. It was vibrating.
‘The monster’s on the move again.’
Straight and fast, the blue whale soared across the coral cays and towards the Broken Isles. She flew above shipwrecks, beaches and rainforest before circling the Weeping Mountains. Heartened by the piper’s tune, she descended through an open patch in the canopy and landed next to a rock pool of water lilies. Michael and Samantha dismounted, while Aurelio handed them a lantern, box of matches and a pink conch.
‘Blow it like a trumpet and I’ll return,’ he explained. ‘If I don’t hear from you by evening, then I’ll assume the worst.’
‘You sure you won’t come with us?’ Michael asked.
‘My liege, to expose this conspiracy we need friends. They exist, but only if I seek them out.’
They shook hands.
‘Look after yourself,’ Michael said. ‘Sorry for putting you in danger.’
‘Do not fear. Such is the only life I’ve known.’
Aurelio then flew away.
They hiked through the rainforest, swirling with seeds and pollen. A howler monkey called out to her mate, while a giant flowering plant self-combusted at the first touch of sunlight.
‘I don’t get it,’ Michael said. ‘Why didn’t this dead man’s ring alert us to the monster last night when we found Cavalli?’
‘Because we’re walking into a trap.’
‘A trap?’
‘Think about it. You cracked the code the night you talked with Lady Isabelle. The monster and its master also figured that out. Now they’re using it to lure us here.’
‘But why?’
‘Because they want to get rid of us too.’
An hour later, they discovered a cave. A stale set of hoof prints circled it; a pair of boots led inside. Before Michael walked in, Samantha held him back. ‘What’s that?’
She pointed to electrical wiring that had been covered by mulch until tripped by a feeding deer. They followed it along the mountain slope and among the ferns to a set of large speakers.
‘And look,’ Michael said, finding a small electronic sensor. He unknowingly crossed its invisible laser beam and – boompfh! – flinched in a blast of leaves. He knelt and cleared dirt from the buried machine that had ejected them. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘So our monster likes gadgets and listening to tunes, does it?’ she said, sceptically. ‘What other secrets are inside this cave?’
‘Let’s find out,’ he answered, drawing his sword.
Again, she pulled him back. ‘Now, remember what we agreed. Stick by me at all times. Don’t – and I mean don’t – go wandering off. And if this monster comes after us, then I want you to run, okay? Find Aurelio and return with the marines.’
‘No way. I’m not leaving you here.’
‘Michael, no arguments. I’m trained to fight with a sword –’
‘But you’ve been teaching me –’
‘I said no arguments.’
Tears threatened and he glanced away. For the first time, he realised the deadliness of the situation.
‘Do I have your word?’ He remained quiet. ‘Do-I-have-your-word?’
He breathed, then answered thinly, ‘Yes.’
Firing up the lantern, they entered the cave with their swords raised. The shaft itched with crickets and beetles before opening into a large, dark cavern spl
it by a river. As the light crawled deeper around the stalagmites and stalactites, thousands of eyes near the roof blinked open, bared their tiny fangs and dive-bombed.
‘Duck!’
The pair shielded themselves as hundreds of chattering creatures flapped past, scratching and thumping them in the panic. Only when the colony disappeared into the sunlight did its shape become known. They’d been scared by bats. Harmless bats.
The Bowmans continued until, high above, they heard a distant snort. Their glances met. That was no bat.
They hauled themselves up a shaft by grabbing stalagmites, catching each other as they slipped on slime and small streams. Soon, they reached the top and stood across from King Amadeo’s Ghost.
‘A building in a mountain?’ he whispered. ‘It just gets weirder.’
‘Your sword.’ She nudged him, redrawing her own as they traced the rim of the enormous pool towards the busted iron doors. As they crept near, the lantern cast light inside.
Before them stretched a flooded great hall – five storeys high with dozens of yellow marble arches, staircases and balconies – that disappeared into the darkness behind rows of red marble columns. Shards of a collapsed roof jutted from the foul black water like an archipelago. A few bookshelves lined the lower floors, although mould had devoured their collections. It appeared the building had been a great library – although how it came to be in the mountain was a mystery. The strangest discovery hung from the walls. Dangling from unlit oil lamps like hoops, thirteen shark jawbones served as a warning to intruders.
Bravely, the pair chased the flame. Water dripped on their heads and sludge oozed into their boots. The air tasted powdery and old. Samantha explored a side room while he stood between the two main staircases, squinting at the two grey-white statues. The left one was chopped off at the knees; the right one reading a scroll.
A chain rocked above them and she hurriedly returned to the main chamber, waving for Michael to stand back. Again, the chain clinked, which was followed by a waking boy’s yawn.
‘Luke?’
‘Mikey!’
Samantha and Michael thrashed through the water towards the middle of the chamber and lifted up their lantern, trying to spot their brother. They’d almost found him when –
SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!
‘Run!’ she shouted at Michael, pushing him towards the iron doors.
SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!
‘No, Sam –’
‘Run!’
SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!
The horrible noise shattered his mind as it chased him towards the doors. Legs, bodies and sinister faces flashed past his lantern as he staggered haphazardly in the flooded water. What was this monster? What were they?
SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!
‘Watch out!’
Black teeth speared down from above and swallowed him whole.
24
He was alive … and kicking!
He lashed out with his boot as he slipped about in stomach acid and bile. He punched and flailed, scrabbling to find his sword in the darkness. However, instead of a slow, painful death squeezed through the creature’s intestines, he paused when he heard the library echo with laughter.
Lots of laughter.
‘Leave them alone or I’ll –’
‘Or you’ll what, Luke Bowman?’
Michael slowly stood up and yelped after he collided with metal. He wasn’t inside the creature’s belly. He hadn’t even been swallowed. Clang! He was trapped within a cage, and the long dark teeth were iron bars.
‘How do you know his real name?’ Samantha demanded fifteen metres away, captured by another cage and just as surprised to hear the monster talk.
‘I know all your names, Sam,’ the same male voice answered from above in a smooth and delicious tone. ‘Or should that be Samantha? How horrible it must be to wake up every morning and find that beard stuck to your face. No boy will find you attractive now.’
More laughter bounced around them.
‘Who are you, creep?’ she shouted into the darkness. ‘Show yourself!’
There was no answer. No laughter. No splashing through the water. No rocking chains. Just dripping.
Then – slam! – feet landed on Michael and Samantha’s cages and hands reached through the bars to grab them. Luke screamed to let them go as they were stripped of their swords.
The struggle ended when a dark figure landed, cat-like, on a fallen boulder. With a snap of his fingers, blue electricity sparked in his hand and dazzled off his smiling gold mask. He wore a black and red cloak, a three-cornered hat and a rooster pin.
‘Wark! Wark! Wark!’ announced a second voice. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, heroes and zeroes – the black harlequin!’
‘Surprised?’ he asked, clicking his fingers again. A mess of lights stuttered throughout each level and lit up the lair. What was once a library was now rigged as a giant trap. Scores of metal cages hung from the roof by chains – some with floors, others with none. The last of these were positioned near the front and rear entrances. If any intruder wandered inside then – bang! – they were snared just like Michael and Samantha.
‘Don’t you dare hurt them!’ Luke shouted from his cage, suspended in the middle of the fourth floor. He’d been stripped of his jetpack and pouches, which lay on the roof of his prison.
Watching from the different levels, the rest of the harlequins chortled: the yellow, the purple, the white, the blues, the moon and the sun, the red Lady of Hearts, the green shark hypnotist, three Fireflies and the Vulture himself.
‘Out!’ the Lady of Hearts demanded, dragging Samantha from her cage.
‘What are you going to do to us?’ she answered, bucking in the harlequin’s grip. ‘Feed us to the monster?’
‘A nice idea but unfortunately an impossible one, my dear,’ the black harlequin said, leaning against his ebony walking cane. ‘We are the monster.’
Stunned, she shouldered off the Lady of Hearts. ‘You? And these circus rejects? Who’d be scared of you?’
With mild amusement, he hummed behind his gold mask. ‘Everything is theatre, my girl. Until the lights came on, you too believed the monster had fangs and claws, and a hunger for young children cowering in their beds. You heard the rumours. You felt the prickle of fear. It’s so hard to know what is real when everybody else is telling the same story.’ Suddenly, he swivelled and pointed his cane. ‘Seize him!’
Escorted from his cage, Michael waited for the right moment then elbowed the green harlequin in the guts. He bolted for the front doors, desperate to find Aurelio. He glanced behind him, only to see no one chasing him. He quickly learnt why. As he surged between the two main staircases, the unbroken statue holding the scroll leapt in front of him and kicked his chest. Michael crashed backwards into the putrid water.
‘You disappoint me, young master Bowman,’ the black harlequin said, as the statue harlequin hauled Michael to his feet and shoved him into a new, floored cage containing his sister. ‘My spy here has been following you for these past few weeks, and not once did you recognise him.’
Michael glared at the human face of the statue harlequin and burned. How stupid of him! Of course. He looked like a statue at the Piermarini Theatre or the round belltower or that carving above Oriana’s observatory. The spy could have been disguised as any number of statues throughout the city.
‘Then again, we are the best spies in the galaxy.’
A blue harlequin locked their cage door.
‘So you’re telling us the monster’s not real?’ Michael said. ‘That you just made it up?’
‘Correct.’
‘Then what about that noise?’
‘You mean this noise?’
SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK! SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK! SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!
The painful screech pierced the corners of the great library, bouncing the triplets against their cages. The harlequins chuckled again as the blues arrived upstairs to winch Samantha and Michael into the air.
‘That noise �
� it’s a recording, isn’t it?’ Luke said, shaking clear his head. ‘You’ve got a microphone and speaker in your mask.’
‘In all our masks,’ echoed the harlequins.
‘I can talk through my own mask,’ the black harlequin said, also climbing the staircase.
‘Or this one,’ the moon-face harlequin said in the same voice across from them.
‘Or even the Lady of Hearts.’ Bored, the red harlequin looked their way as she rolled three glass balls on her fingertips.
‘But the monster in the forest – the leaves, the wind –’
‘Mere special effects. A wire here. A laser sensor there. We just let your minds make up the rest. It works so well, in fact, that the natives think these mountains are haunted.’
The black harlequin stopped at their level then joined the Fireflies.
‘You’re some kind of secret police, aren’t you?’ Michael said. ‘You spy on people during the day then kidnap troublemakers by night.’
‘And no one suspects it’s you because everyone’s too busy looking for some sort of monster,’ Samantha said. ‘The perfect disguise.’
‘Thank you,’ the black harlequin said, bowing.
‘What have you done with Guido, Isabelle, Cavalli and Pasquale?’ Michael demanded.
‘Don’t worry. Your friends are still alive. We sent them away on – what would you call it?’
‘Work experience, boss,’ the Vulture offered.
‘Ah, yes. Work experience.’
The harlequins laughed.
Their leader leant over a gaping hole in the floor where a boulder had punched through and summoned the green harlequin. ‘Radio our contact. Tell them I want these children off-world come nightfall.’
‘Where are you sending us?’ they shouted.
‘People know we’re here,’ Michael said. ‘They’ll come looking!’
‘Really?’ the black harlequin said. ‘Who? Your parents? Your piper friend who’s walking into a trap? Or maybe the Hall of Heroes? Ah, but you’re not actually from the Hall, are you? You’re just three children from a planet no one knows exists.’
As he shifted position, a string of electric lights buzzed and flickered before blacking out. He pressed a button on his walking cane and they powered up again. This wasn’t lost on Michael. He’d seen this before.