Silver Hill

by Catherine Cooper

  Jack knew they’d have to make their escape soon. A slight movement from one of the tunnels caught Jack’s attention. He expected to see Nora or Elan step out but instead the strange looking owl man entered the cavern. Jack held his breath as the Draygull sniffed the air. He walked slowly round the cavern, keeping to the rock and carefully avoiding Ember. He sniffed each entrance in turn. When he got to their tunnel Jack’s heart thumped so hard his chest began to hurt. If the Draygull could see in the dark he’d already have been seen. He tried to inch backwards but his legs wouldn’t move. The Draygull lunged forwards and made a grab at Jack.

  ‘Charge!’ shouted Motley before the Draygull’s hand could close around Jack’s arm.

  A mass of furry bodies, with lashing tails and many legs bounded past Jack and hit the Draygull in the chest. He was knocked off his feet and lay winded on the floor. If Jack didn’t do something immediately, the Draygull would start screeching again. The whole hillside would know where to find him. Jack could see he was trying to struggle to his feet. He pointed his wand at the Draygull and repeated the word Nora had used on Pyecroft and the Spriggans.

  ‘Somnus.’

  In an instant the Draygull’s body went limp. A strange whistling sound told Jack he’d been successful as the owl man began to snore.

  ‘Well,’ said Nora, ‘it looks like we’re too late. We were just coming to help!’

  ‘I think it’s time to leave,’ said Elan. ‘It won’t be long before the Spriggans find some torches and there are enough of them to search all the tunnels. That was a warning the Draygull sent them, they’ll know by now that something’s wrong and so will Velindur.’

  Jack watched as Nora pointed her wand at the Draygull again. He rose from the floor and Nora sent his sleeping body over to the other side of the lake. She lowered it onto the shingle.

  ‘That should keep him out of our way. When he wakes up he’ll have a problem. Draygulls can’t swim. Now, let’s get out of here.’

  Elan signalled to the rats to bring the tail shield in. They stopped in front of Ember and stepped back as she breathed gently over the golden shield. Tears ran down her face when she saw her name appear.

  ‘To the tail,’ ordered Motley.

  The rats leapt into action and scurried back to take their places around the tail shield. They moved as fast as they could towards the tip of Ember’s tail. She carefully brought it round to meet them. Nora signalled to the rats to put the shield down.

  ‘Once this is in place Ember will be invisible. She’s agreed to transport you all back to Glasruhen. You all know what to do?’

  Nora waited until everyone had nodded back before turning to Ember.

  ‘Are you ready?’

  ‘Most certainly,’ Ember replied as she began to unfold her wings.

  ‘If you lead us out of the hillside, the dragonettes will show you the way to Glasruhen Hill and we’ll be with you as soon as we can.’

  ‘I think it’s time to go,’ said Elan as she nodded towards one of the tunnels where a dim light flickered in the distance.

  Jack could hear the high-pitched chittering getting louder and louder as the Spriggans made their way towards the barbecue pit.

  ‘Climb on men,’ Motley ordered, ‘and hold tight.’

  The rats scampered onto the dragon’s tail. Nora, Jack and Elan struggled to lift the tail shield and held it off the ground so Ember could slot the barbed tip inside it. Jack heard a loud click as the tail and shield locked together. Although he could still feel its weight, the shield in his hand was no longer visible. Ember had also disappeared from sight.

  Off you go!’ said Nora.

  The noise was deafening as Ember flapped her huge wings. The draft they created sent those who were left staggering backwards. As Ember rose, great gusts of air swept them down the nearest tunnel. Jack managed to brace himself against the rock until it stopped.

  ‘We’d better hurry,’ said Elan.

  ‘Do you know which way to go?’ Nora asked the dragonettes.

  ‘Easy,’ replied Charkle, ‘follow me.’

  Jack quickly knelt and touched Camelin’s forehead. Nora helped him out of his clothes and stuffed them, along with his trainers, into the sack with the last of the crystals. The only light in the cavern now came from the open sack.

  Nora and Elan raised their arms and spiralled downwards. Jack was expecting to see two ravens but they both shape-shifted into owls. One was snowy white and the other a magnificent eagle owl. The white owl, screeched loudly as two Spriggans entered the cavern, the first one carried a rush torch which it dropped on the floor as Elan opened her wings, put her head down and also began screeching loudly.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Snook shouted to Jack and Camelin.

  Once he was airborne, Jack looked down at the cavern floor. It was empty apart from the abandoned torch. Nora and Elan joined them as they flew upwards through a wide natural chimney towards the top of the cavern. The three dragonettes took it in turns to breathe fire to light the way for Jack and Camelin whilst Nora and Elan flew on ahead. Now Jack knew why they’d chosen to be owls, they wouldn’t need any help seeing in the dark.

  They didn’t fly out of the top of the cavern, as Jack had expected, instead they turned into an opening in the rock face. Jack could see a glimpse of a light in the distance. He didn’t know how long they’d been inside Silver Hill but it wasn’t yet dark outside. They flew swiftly along the tunnel, no longer needing the dragonettes’ flames to guide them.

  ‘Make for the standing stones,’ Nora hooted when they were nearly at the entrance.

  Jack could see that Elan had the sack safely in her strong talons. As they flew out into daylight Jack heard a rushing sound. He didn’t have time to see what it was. A torrent of water nearly knocked him sideways. He pulled hard on his wings and struggled to fly through the wall of water before it swept him downwards. When he looked back he could see he’d flown through a waterfall, which completely hid the entrance to the dragon’s lair. Camelin emerged coughing and spluttering.

  ‘Ugh! No one told us about that.’

  Jack laughed.

  ‘At least you won’t need a bath when we get back. It’s washed all the Dragon’s Breath goo off! Come on, we’ve got a long flight ahead of us. I just hope my clothes and trainers dry out before we get back to Glasruhen.

  AN UNEXPECTED PROBLEM

  ‘Going down!’ croaked Camelin when the standing stones came into sight.

  Jack followed. He scanned the ground below for any sign of the others. The circle of stones looked deserted and Jack couldn’t see his clothes.

  ‘Do you think they got back alright?’ he asked Camelin when he landed.

  ‘They did,’ replied a voice from one of the tangled bushes that surrounded the stones. A tall willowy Dryad with long chestnut hair stepped out and bowed.

  ‘Cory?’ asked Jack.

  ‘You remembered! Nora said you would. She also said to give you these.’

  Jack was relieved to see that Cory was carrying his clothes and trainers. His wand was on top of the neat pile.

  ‘Were there any messages?’

  ‘No, they were in a bit of a hurry.’

  Jack looked around the clearing. It was big enough for Ember to land in without any difficulty.

  ‘What’s happened to the gate?’ asked Jack.

  ‘She’s hidden it hasn’t she,’ grumbled Camelin as he looked around. ‘They didn’t want us following them into Annwn. Well they needn’t have worried, I’m too tired to do anything else tonight.’

  Cory didn’t reply but Jack knew Camelin was right. He’d been told the last time they’d visited the stone circle that it was a place of deep magic. It wouldn’t be difficult for Nora to hide the gateway from sight. If she’d wanted them to go they’d have been invited.

  ‘Could you put my clothes by the big stone?’ Jack asked Cory. ‘Please excuse us a moment while I change.’

  It didn’t take Jack long to transform and dress. Although he
liked being a raven it felt good to be himself again.

  ‘Are you going to come to see us soon?’ Cory asked Jack as he reappeared from behind the central stone, ‘We heard your wonderful voice. It reached the very top of Glasruhen, you’re welcome to come and sing with us anytime you like.’

  Camelin humphed.

  ‘We’ll come back as soon as the Druids have been rescued.’

  ‘We!’ he grumbled.

  ‘I’ll come back,’ said Jack and gave Camelin a look before turning back to Cory. ‘But we ought to be going now.’

  ‘I’m off to bed, see you later,’ Camelin called as he took off in the direction of Ewell House.

  Jack walked with Cory to the edge of the bushes that surrounded the clearing. When she touched one of the leaves, the tangled branches parted.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said before the bushes closed and Cory disappeared from sight.

  Jack wasn’t in a hurry to get back to Ewell House. After all the excitement it felt good to be alone. As he made his way through the tunnel his mind was racing. He went over the events of the last week. No one would ever believe he’d been face to face with an enormous fire-breathing dragon. He wondered how things were going in Annwn. Had Ember managed to melt the ice sheet? Were the Druids awake? He was going to have to wait until Nora returned for the answers.

  As Jack walked through the yew tree tunnel he caught glimpses of Dryads flitting from tree to tree. He felt so lucky – this really was a magical place.

  When he got back to the house he went into the library. The map was still on the table. They’d all been in such a hurry he’d not had a chance to look at it properly. He recognised the outlines of the hills and Stonytop Ridge. Written around the sides, in Nora’s neat handwriting, was the information she’d been given by Norris, Snook and Pyecroft. A lot of tunnels, platforms and doorways had also been filled in. He followed the journey the train had taken from the platform underneath the Devil’s Chair to the bottom of Silver Hill. Their exit from the Barbecue Pit wasn’t marked. That would be something Nora could add when she returned. Jack would have liked to have seen where all the tunnels from the barbecue pit led. Their entrances were all different shapes and sizes. Two led to train platforms, another wound its way up to the great hall but the tallest tunnel of all didn’t go up or down. It travelled in a straight line to a door. Nora had drawn an arched doorway, just like Glasruhen Gate and next to it had written The Fifth Gateway. Jack blew out a long slow breath. This was the other portal into Annwn, which led straight into the Caves of Eternal Rest. It wasn’t like the other portals. It didn’t have two Hamadryad oak trees on either side to mark its position. Jack wondered why there was a gateway here at all. Even if you got into the caves, there was no way out into Annwn unless the gatekeeper awoke and opened the ice sheet. The other four gateways were able to move but this one obviously didn’t, it had its own tunnel. Jack wondered how it opened. It couldn’t be difficult if the Spriggans had been able to walk straight in and take the crystals. A sudden thought struck Jack. Instead of trying to melt the ice sheet, Nora and Elan could have entered the caves through the fifth gate. They could have returned the crystals, woken the Gatekeeper and the Druids who wanted to leave the caves and then left through the cave entrance. What could be simpler? Why hadn’t Nora or Elan thought of it?

  There was a lot to think about but Jack was tired. He’d talk to Nora when she got back. He went to his room and checked his Book of Shadows for messages but none had come through. The whole house was quiet. He called Camelin but got no reply, maybe he’d taken a slight detour and wasn’t home yet. Jack decided to go up to the loft; if Camelin wasn’t there Jack would wait until he returned, he wanted to tell him the news about the fifth gateway.

  The first thing Jack saw when he got to the ladder was the big KEEP OUT sign. Jack moved it to one side and pulled himself up into the loft. He smiled when he saw Camelin lying on his back in his raven basket. Jack flopped down on his beanbag.

  ‘We haven’t had any messages.’

  ‘Didn’t you see the sign?’

  Jack decided to ignore the question.

  ‘How long do you think they’ll be?’

  ‘Hours, with any luck. I want to get some sleep. If you’re going to stay you’re going to have to be quiet. It’s my loft.’

  Jack was about to tell Camelin about the map when Timmery flitted in through the open window.

  ‘Noooo!’ groaned Camelin.

  ‘Oh Jack, I’m so glad you’re here!’

  Camelin turned noisily until his back faced Jack and Timmery.

  ‘Is everything alright?’ asked Jack.

  ‘No it’s not. Motley sent me, he wants to know if he can climb up the ivy and come in, it’s urgent and he needs to see you right away.’

  ‘Of course he can.’

  ‘May I remind you whose loft this is? Some of us are trying to get some sleep.’

  Timmery was gone before Camelin could say anything else. It wasn’t long before Motley appeared on the window ledge. He paced up and down a few times before speaking.

  ‘Don’t know how to tell you this, we’ve searched everywhere and he’s nowhere to be found.’

  ‘Who isn’t?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Raggs. You haven’t seen him have you?’

  ‘He was next to me when we carried the tail shield in.’

  ‘That’s what Podge said but nobody’s seen him since. What if he’s still in there? Everything happened so fast. I was concerned about the new recruits, I expected the Night Guard to be able to look after themselves, didn’t get a chance to check they were all aboard the tail before we took off. You’d have seen him if he’d been left though, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘We all got blown down one of the tunnels when Ember beat her wings,’ said Jack slowly as he recalled the sequence of events. ‘But it was dark in the tunnel. If Raggs was blown in there too we wouldn’t have seen him and he’d probably have ended up further down than we did.’

  ‘What do we do?’ groaned Motley.

  ‘You say you’ve searched everywhere?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Everywhere,’ confirmed Timmery. ‘We’ve searched every inch of ground between here and the Standing Stones.’

  ‘Maybe he fell off,’ said Camelin. ‘He’ll have a long walk but he should be back by morning. I told you it was the Day of Bad Omens. Bad things can happen to anyone.’

  ‘I don’t think he got on the dragon’s tail,’ sighed Motley. ‘I’ve questioned all the rats, no one saw him.’

  ‘We’ll have to go back,’ said Jack.

  ‘Noooo!’ wailed Camelin. ‘I’m not flying all the way back tonight.’

  ‘You know you don’t mean that,’ said Jack. ‘If you were in trouble everyone would help you.’

  Jack looked over to the window. The light was beginning to fade. Everyone waited expectantly for Jack to speak. Motley slumped down on the window ledge.

  ‘What if he’s caught and they want to eat him?’

  ‘If he’s been caught they’ll more likely want to question him to find out what’s been going on. They’ll know by now that something’s wrong. At the very least they’ll want to know where their rats and dragons have gone, not to mention their lights.’

  Motley stood to attention.

  ‘Raggs would never talk, he’d never betray us.’

  ‘I’m sure you’re right but that makes his rescue even more urgent. Hopefully he’ll have managed to hide somewhere. Do you think we’ll be able to find him before the Spriggans do?’ Jack asked Motley.

  ‘It’s not the Spriggans I’m worried about, it’s the Draygull. He can see in the dark and has a very powerful sense of smell. He found your hiding place and made a grab for you, didn’t he?’

  Jack felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

  ‘They’ll know it was us, won’t they?’

  ‘Course they won’t. We were ravens, remember?’ said Camelin.

  ‘I wasn’t, we’d transformed, remember? Motley’s right, h
e definitely saw me.’

  ‘He’d only have seen your shape, not your face. He probably thought you were an overgrown Hag or a Bogie.’

  ‘Let’s hope so because I can’t go back inside as a raven, we’ll have to transform outside like we did before and I’m going to need my wand.’

  We’re going to need a light too,’ said Motley. ‘It’s going to be dark inside the tunnels.’

  ‘We!’ croaked Camelin. ‘What d’you mean, we?’

  ‘I’m definitely going, he’s my responsibility,’ added Motley. ‘I can’t leave a man in enemy territory.’

  ‘Count me in too,’ said a tiny voice from Motley’s fur.

  ‘Oh no! Not the Dorysk as well!’ grumbled Camelin.

  Motley looked embarrassed.

  ‘He won’t take up much room. I don’t mind him travelling around in my fur.’

  ‘You don’t?’

  ‘He helped us search and he’s really useful in a tight corner, a brilliant impersonator and master of disguise too. I’m thinking of recruiting him into the Night Guard.’

  ‘Well I’m not leaving my comfortable basket, if you want my help you’re going to have to make it fly over there.’

  ‘I wish I could,’ said Jack.

  ‘You made the boat go over the lake so why can’t you make my basket fly?’

  ‘That was different.’

  ‘Why?’

  Everyone looked at Jack.

  ‘I don’t know. It might be dangerous. What if it worked for a bit then stopped? What would Nora say?’

  Motley leapt off the windowsill and bounded over to Jack.

  ‘If you can make the raven basket fly we’ll all be able to go.’

  ‘All!’ said Camelin.