by Caro King
Jik ikked doubtfully and Nin raised an eyebrow.
‘Just so long as it won’t turn us into flower beds!’
There was something for Nin too. A small rucksack. Pink. With a fairy embroidered on the side. She stared gloomily at the fairy. Once she wouldn’t have been caught dead with it, but she needed something to carry stuff in and the world of choosing what to own had long gone. The pack had probably belonged to the last kid Boneman used to gain the trust of innocent people and Nin just hoped that whoever she was her fate hadn’t been too nasty.
Peering suspiciously inside she found a pink hairband, a small bottle of clear liquid and a yellowish candle with flecks of purple in it. According to Jonas, the liquid was bee venom, a good painkiller, and the candle was mixed with crowsmorte to bring peace of mind. She added Monkey and her PJs to the contents and they were ready to go.
They left the ruins of the giant’s rib behind and were quickly out of the wood and into the hills and open fields beyond. The morning sun was warm and the air fresh, blowing from a sky of clouds like skeletal horses with manes and tails that flew behind them in threads of twisted white. And on the skyline ahead was a familiar cloudy wall.
‘I thought we’d left that behind?’
‘We did, this is more. There are patches of Raw everywhere, remember. And if you think that’s big just wait till you see the Heart!’
At around midday, they saw the only other person, apart from Dandy Boneman, that they had met on their journey so far. He came striding towards them, clutching a sack that hung over one shoulder.
‘Just keep walking,’ said Jonas in a low voice. ‘No reason to suppose he’s gonna be trouble.’
As the man went by, he nodded at them in a friendly way, so Nin risked a quick glance up. Her first impression was of a brown man with a heavily lined face. Then, with a flip-flop of her stomach, she saw that his eyes were red and that the hands clutching the sack were oddly hairy, with thick fingers and sharp claw-like nails. He caught her glance and grinned, showing the pointed teeth of a wild animal. She whipped her head around, eyes dead ahead, and bunched up against Jonas. Jik scuttled closer, bumping into the back of her legs.
‘Grimm,’ said Jonas, when the man was a reasonable distance behind them.
‘Yeah, it was a bit unnerving.’
Jonas laughed. ‘No, I mean he was one of the Grimm. Half Fabulous, half Quick. It happens, but only with those Fabulous that are born the same way as Quick. You’ll always know them by their eyes, even the ones that look quite human otherwise.’
In the afternoon they found the river again, though it was too far away for them to hear it whispering. Now, their path ran along higher ground and the water stayed in view below them for the rest of the day. There was no sign of the storm, and Nin began to hope that maybe the Hounds had forgotten about Jonas after all.
Although they stopped for a break once or twice, it was never for long and as the day began to fade they reached the next stage of their journey.
12
Twilight
o, that’s the Savage Forest, is it?’ asked Nin nervously.
They were standing on the crest of the hill, looking down at a swathe of woodland that cut across the landscape. To the left, it ended in the banks of the river they had been following all afternoon, here grown larger and more rapid. To the right, dark trees marched on to the horizon. Nin shivered, as if she could feel its shadow closing about her already.
‘It’s huge! I mean, even if we’re just going across it the thin way, it’s still huge.’
‘For tonight, we’ll camp at the bottom of the hill. Tomorrow, we’ll have an easy morning hanging about here, plus I’ll catch a rabbit or two. Then we’ll head into the Forest after lunch in nice time to get to the oak for night fall.’
‘So it’s too late to start now?’
‘Far too late. It’s nearly sunset and Sturdy’s Oak is at least three hours’ walk into the wood. You can’t cross the Savage Forest comfortably in one day. It’s best to do it in two parts, spending the night at the Oak.’
‘And we’ll be safe there will we?’
‘Uh-huh. The Oak is a protected place. It’s magic,’ he added, seeing the question on her face, ‘you’ll find out when we get there. Next morning, we start off early and it’s about four or five hours’ walk out of the Forest. We’ll keep going until we reach the Quickmare into the Widdern, then we catch a train, and then back to the Drift on the other side of the Heart. After that, we’re on the last stretch to the House. Got that?’
‘Yep.’
‘Got a plan yet?’
‘Same one I always had. Trust to luck.’
Jonas laughed and glanced at the sky where the sun was beginning to sink in earnest, its molten light dusting the shadowy woods with gold. They stood, taking a moment to watch. Sunset in the Drift wasn’t the inferno of sunrise, but it had a strange, liquid beauty. Jik shuffled at Nin’s side and she glanced down at him. The glow in the sky made the fiery points of his eyes look brighter.
‘Nice, isn’t it? Like …’ she smiled, ‘like the sun is drowning in its own light. Anyway, I won’t be sorry to wait until tomorrow, I’m pretty tired as it is. Are you OK, Jik? What are you staring at?’
The mudman had turned around and was looking back the way they had come, away from the setting sun and towards the darker horizon. Nin followed his gaze. There was something odd about the skyline. It was wavering in the way that air wavers in the heat. Ripples ran through the deep turquoise, like a fine veil floating on the edge of twilight. As she watched, the ripple effect changed direction and began flowing towards them.
‘Hey, Jonas,’ she said, ‘there’s a funny kind of see-through cloud thing.’
Jonas went white. ‘It can’t be! It’s too early, they come out as the sun starts to go down, so they can’t have had time to find us yet!’ He stared at the sky for a moment and groaned. ‘It is. Oh hell, we must be close to a nest.’
Nin could see the thoughts flicking through his head, reflecting like shadows in his grey eyes. He came to a decision.
‘Too late for the crowsmorte net, they’re headed this way, they’ve probably got our scent already. So, no choice. Night-time or not, we’ll head into the Forest and hope for the best. Maybe we’ll lose them in there.’
‘It’s not the Hounds …’ Nin looked bewildered
‘Tombfolk,’ said Jonas grimly.
Nin threw a glance at the horizon. The tombfolk were moving fast, drawing a soft veil over the sky as they flew through the dusk, the evening light shining through their bodies. They looked so beautiful that she almost wanted to stay and watch.
Instead, she followed Jonas, rattling down the hill, her rucksack bouncing on her back and her hair flapping about her eyes as she leapt over tussocks and prayed that neither of them fell. And then they were at the foot of the hill and the Savage Forest lay before them, a great wedge of darkness with a pale ribbon of track leading into the shadows. They hurtled down it, plunging into the wood, the tall trees closing around them.
Skerridge had been taking it easy under a bush, watching Right Madam and Obstacle as they trundled slowly towards him. When they finally got around to overtaking, he would superspeed on to the next hiding place, somewhere just outside the forest, and wait all over again.
He wondered how it was that Quick could bear to live at the speed they did and was just chuckling to himself about how, from a BM’s point of view, the Quick were anything but, when things went horribly wrong.
He was puzzling over why they had suddenly speeded up (as far as a Quick can) when something went ‘IK!’ in his ear.
Skerridge nearly jumped out of his skin.
‘Oy! Where’d ya pop up from then? Ya was over there a minute ago!’
‘Jik gik kik,’ said Unknown Quantity irritably, ‘Ik!’ He pointed to the horizon.
Skerridge’s heart sank. Tombfolk. Headed this way.
‘Bum,’ he muttered. ‘Blimmin’ ik all right! Wha’ d�
��ya ’spect me t’ do?’
Unknown Quantity looked at him.
Skerridge sighed. He had a choice. Run for it, or try to delay them long enough to give the Quick a chance to reach the Forest. Of course, no normal forest would provide shelter from the tombfolk, but the Savage Forest was different. The Savage Forest was anything but normal.
He chose. As soon as the Quick had thundered past, Unknown Quantity hid under a bush out of sight, leaving Skerridge to come out of hiding and get into position. To feed, the tombfolk needed to be on the Land. This meant that as soon as they drew close to their prey, they would sweep low in the air and skim along just feet above the earth until the victim was surrounded. At which point most Quick gave up and collapsed with terror, allowing the tombfolk to land and have a nice dinner.
Skerridge stood in the middle of the path into the forest, watching as the airy forms swooped down from the sky, gliding towards the Land and the fleeing Quick. As soon as they were close enough, he tipped back his head and sent a blast of firebreath into the air. It got their attention at once. They stopped, hovering just a little higher than his head.
‘And what do you want, bogeyman?’ said one.
It was a female. In wraith form she was almost part of the twilight sky. Her hair made waves of misty silver in the dusk and there were stars in her empty eyes. She was so lovely it made Skerridge want to weep for the Celidon that was gone, even the deadly parts.
She wasn’t the leader though. Their king watched Skerridge with eyes like silver whirlpools, a whole galaxy of stars.
Skerridge swallowed nervously. It would have to be the king’s hive, wouldn’t it. The Daemon of the Night. Not that this was his real name of course, the king had left that behind long ago. Skerridge summoned up all his nerve and grinned.
‘Jus’ a minute of yore time, tha’s all.’
The tombfolk swirled, some of them fanning out, ready to sweep past him as soon as their king gave the word. But the Daemon of the Night stayed where he was, gazing at Skerridge with interest.
‘We are thirsty, bogeyman,’ said the female, ‘and what we want a drink of is behind you. Why should we waste time on you?’
Skerridge swallowed hard. The tombfolk lived on the life force generated by a Quick soul, but they weren’t above snacking on magical energy if it was around. To a tombfolk, magical energy was like wine – they couldn’t live on it, but it had a nice flavour. So even if they really wanted the Quick, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t attack Skerridge too.
‘Ya see, problem is, Right Madam ’as a place booked in me sack. So if yer eats ’er, it’s gonna make fings tricky fer me.’
‘And how do you plan to stop us, bogeyman?’ She sounded amused.
Skerridge scratched his head. As soon as the tombfolk set foot on the ground they would become as solid as he was. And then he’d be done for. Fully formed, the tomb-folk were indestructible. But right now …
‘S’like this see. Right now yer made of vapour. An’ yer know what ’appens to a cloud o’ vapour when it meets a ragin’ inferno!’
He drew in a deep breath and held it, ready. He didn’t know if he could manage all of them, not spread out as they were, but he would get the king and his lady head on.
There was a pause. The tombfolk looked at their leader. He floated in front of Skerridge like a purple stain across the deepening blue of the evening sky. His silver eyes glowed.
‘Skerridge, isn’t it?’ Daemon spoke in a voice as soft as a night breeze. ‘Mr Strood’s Champion, with an unblemished record.’ He smiled a smile that chilled even Skerridge to the bone. ‘But not for much longer.’
Skerridge hung on to his breath. He wondered how far the Quick had got, because pretty soon this little game would be over.
‘Because we WILL have them,’ went on Daemon. ‘Your fire-breath can only reach so far, and we have the whole sky to fly in.’
Already the hive was moving, those closest spiralling up far higher than Skerridge could blow flames. Those further away just drifted around him, floating through the trees like ghosts. Soon, only Daemon was left, watching the bogeyman with a smile that was part sneer.
‘I can still see them, bogeyman. Your precious Quick move slowly, even when they run.’
A thin sound rose into the air. It was like a scream only colder, sharper, cutting the air like a knife. It wasn’t the Quick and it wasn’t the tombfolk. It came from the heart of the Savage Forest.
Skerridge let out his breath in a hot sigh. ‘But ya know what THAT was, don’ ya? An’ if I carn’ stop ya, THAT will.’
For a moment, Daemon looked unsure. It didn’t suit his face. He sent Skerridge a look full of icy fury.
‘Then we’ll get them before it knows we’re here,’ he hissed.
And he was gone, leaving Skerridge in an exhausted heap on the ground.
Something screamed, a high, chilling sound that rose from the heart of the forest, but Nin was too focused on running to pay attention. Her breath rasped in her throat and her blood pounded through her body, making a sound in her ears like thunder.
Suddenly, the air rippled behind her, sending chills across her skin. Without thinking, she glanced back. The tombfolk were there, gauzy shadows swooping low in the air. One was flying ahead of the others, eager to reach them. For a moment his silver whirlpool eyes met Nin’s. They looked … starving.
Jonas grabbed her hand and they fled on down the white path, its chalky earth crunching beneath their feet. The gauzy shapes drew steadily closer, catching them up, surrounding them. Nin thought she heard laughter and felt something like cool silk drifting over her, THROUGH her.
Dragging her along with him, Jonas ran faster. But in her heart Nin knew that it was hopeless. Any moment now she would collapse with terror, the tombfolk would land and she and Jonas would be dead.
And then, just as the last edge of sun slipped below the horizon and Nin’s legs finally gave way, the scream came again, slicing through the still air and turning her blood to iced water. It was louder than before, closer. Much closer. As she cried out and fell towards Jonas, she saw his white face staring up, full of astonishment.
Because the tombfolk were leaving, sweeping up through the trees and fading fast into a sky that was just tipping from twilight into night.
Nin hung on to Jonas, staring after them.
‘Don’t tell me,’ she gasped through burning lungs, ‘there’s something in this wood that even the tombfolk are afraid of.’
Jonas gave her a strained smile. ‘I’m sorry, Nin, we’ve got to keep running.’
Skerridge sighed. ‘Better get in there after ’em, I s’pose.’
He studied the Savage Forest, lying like a sea of darkness at the foot of the hill. The tombfolk had gone, spiralling up out of the trees into the deep bowl of the sky where the last dregs of daylight barely reached.
‘Yik. Wik ik?’
‘Yer ‘eard the screamin’, right? That screamin’ what turned all yer blood inter iced water? Well, not exac’ly blood in yore case, but ya gets the point.’
‘Yik. Ik.’
‘We’ll tha’s it. Tha’s what the tombfolk are afraid of. The Dark Fing What Lives in the Wood.’ Skerridge paused to gaze at the last stain of light fading swiftly from the horizon.
‘Sleeps in the ‘eart of the forest all day, then comes out to ‘unt at night, ya know,’ he went on conversationally. ‘So oo’s goin’ first? Yew or me?’
Silence fell.
So did the night.
13
Savage Forest
s the last trace of day vanished, so did the path. Nin lurched to a halt, staring around wildly. Her legs were shaking and her heart thundered in her chest.
‘What happened!’
‘Forest used to be faerie territory,’ gasped Jonas, ‘and they loved to play tricks on the Quick. Like, lure them in with a path then make it vanish just when they need it most.’
‘How do we get to the oak now?’
Jonas didn’t answ
er. For a moment the forest was silent save for their ragged breathing. Nin shivered, smelling bracken and earth and dead leaves, all mixed with the night air that cooled her burning lungs. Her legs steadied a little.
‘Keep going in a straight line and we’ll make it,’ he said at last. ‘This way.’
Although he spoke firmly, Nin saw the look on his face and her blood froze. It’s a faerie wood, she thought, as she followed him into the maze of trees, and I’m betting that even two steps into a faerie wood is enough to get a Quick lost. But she said nothing. There was no point. Either they made it to the Oak or they died.
As they ran, a hunched bird shape appeared, keeping pace by gliding from branch to branch, its monstrous hooked beak and hungry stare looming out of the shadows every time it flew past. A thin grey shape snaked out of the darkness to their left, then another. And another. Eyes shone like pale discs. Something snarled. Two somethings, one on either side. Wolves.
A thunderous crashing from deeper in the forest made Nin yelp. Whatever made that noise was far bigger than a wolf. The thought of BEAR came into her head. A dark-furred one with horrible eyes like coals and huge yellowed claws. Probably hungry and drooling.
And then the scream that had terrified the tombfolk came again. Nin’s cry of terror was lost in the sound that echoed through the forest, making the air quiver. They ran. Diving through columns of tall trees, leaping over dead branches and down mossy hollows and dips. The scream came after them, always at their backs, always close. The wolves and the bears were forgotten.
Nin thought her heart would burst with the effort, but she focused on the dark shape of Jonas and kept going. They plunged on through the night forest, and Nin knew that they were hopelessly lost, they would never find Sturdy’s Oak. The screaming thing would get them and they would die here in the Savage Forest.
Something came hurtling through the undergrowth behind them, catching up fast. Horribly fast. Red eyes burned in the darkness, and then …