by K J Taylor
‘It’s no good,’ he told her. ‘We’ll have to get help for this. Want some sikeleaf?’
Snarl eyed the striped yellowish herb. ‘Why would I?’
‘Suit yourself,’ said Ambit. He stuffed a couple of leaves into his mouth and chewed them as they went along. A few minutes later, he started to giggle.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Snarl asked.
‘I’m seeing dancing cats in the trees,’ Ambit snickered. ‘Also, the ground is melting.’
‘You see?’ said Snarl, ‘I knew leaves were bad for you.’
‘Are you kidding?’ Ambit asked lazily, watching the little explosions of colour in the air around his head. ‘This is the best sikeleaf I’ve had in years. Makes travelling so much more interesting.’
Snarl growled. ‘You’re so irresponsible.’
Ambit peered at her through the halo of swirling light that had suddenly appeared around her. ‘I still don’t get how that’s news to anybody. Anyway . . . just make sure I don’t fall over, okay?’
The supply of sikeleaf helped keep him occupied for the next day or so, until it ran out and he was forced to go back to hiking through a far less interesting landscape of hills that weren’t rolling in the literal sense, and grassy fields that only moved because of the wind. Red and orange flowers nodded gently in a sweet-scented breeze, and Ambit found seeds to toast for dinner, and a silver stream where he managed to spear a fish.
‘Rigby taught me how to do that,’ he said proudly. ‘It’s harder than it looks.’
‘Can I have the bones?’ asked Snarl.
‘You know it, Snarl.’ Ambit finished his meal and lay back to look at the stars. The sky had started to take on a yellowish tinge during the day, which meant they were getting close to the Second Mountain.
Snarl pulled the fish’s head toward herself, and stripped the skin and flesh off it with her claws before munching down on the bone underneath. ‘Mmm . . . good minerals in this,’ she said. ‘It’s not just human bones we like, you know.’
‘Just as well,’ said Ambit. ‘Tell you what, though . . .’
‘Yes?’ said Snarl.
‘If I die, you can have my bones,’ said Ambit. ‘I won’t need ’em after all.’
Snarl’s eyes gleamed in the firelight. ‘Thank you, Ambit. If I die, you can have my eyes.’
‘I’ll use ’em to get drunk in your memory,’ said Ambit.
‘I’d be honoured,’ said Snarl. She finished off the fishbones, and yawned. ‘What does the map say now?’
Ambit shrugged. ‘I reckon we’ll get there tomorrow. I hope so. I’m sick of walking.’
They got up at dawn the next day and trekked on, and sure enough, they found Marrow Valley before noon. It was easy enough to find. The low hills had given way to open fields, but here the ground dipped into a wide valley filled with thick greenery, where a large cluster of low-roofed houses had been built. They were wooden, painted a dark rusty orange, and with the dark green of the pumpkin fields around them, they stood out against the pale yellowish tone of the grass Ambit and Snarl had just crossed.
But the whole lot – grass, valley and village – had a backdrop that was even more striking. Just on the other side of the valley, the Second Mountain’s territory began. It was hillier than most of the demon country Ambit had seen before, rising in gentle slopes off toward the horizon, where the Second Mountain stood. Getting to the mountain itself would take a long time – several days at least – but, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to go there at all.
There was no sign of the companions.
‘All right,’ said Ambit. ‘I’ll nip over to Marrow Valley and steal a pumpkin for dinner and then we’ll head into demon country and see who we can find.’
‘I’ll wait for you at the border,’ said Snarl. ‘Be careful.’
Ambit nodded and strolled off to the edge of the fields in the valley. Predictably, Marrow Valley’s fields were full of pumpkins, squash, zucchinis and potatoes. Ambit helped himself to a large pumpkin and a couple of other vegetables and stuffed them in his bag before sneaking out of the valley by its far side. The inhabitants had used rocks to make a line at the edge of demon country, although it wasn’t a wall as such. More of a lining, like the edging on a garden. Blue rock flowers grew here and there in the gaps.
Ambit stepped over it and entered demon country, clutching his replacement spear. It wouldn’t last five minutes in a fight against demons, but having it in his hands made him feel a little safer.
‘There you are,’ said Snarl, appearing from behind a stump of rock. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Let’s go and find some demons,’ said Ambit.
They had to walk for over an hour before they spotted a demon settlement and even then it was so far in the distance they knew they wouldn’t reach it that day.
‘Forget it, then,’ said Ambit. ‘Let’s find a camping spot, and they’ll probably come and find us.’
Naturally there was no wood, and no shelter either, but eventually Snarl found a hollow with a small crevice in it. Boiling hot steam drifted out of the crack in the ground.
‘Perfect,’ said Ambit. ‘Let’s do some cooking.’
He settled down and wedged the pumpkin into the crevice, where it quickly started to soften. Snarl dug her claws into the rough edge at the top of the hollow, searching for gemstones.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Ambit said after a while. ‘When we talk to these demons, let’s say Rai is the Chosen One. After all, she’s got my spear.’
‘Good idea,’ said Snarl. ‘When they see the spear they won’t waste time looking for silver bellflower marks. I just wish we knew how close the companions were.’
‘They’ll show up in a day or two,’ said Ambit. He drew his knife and poked at the pumpkin, which immediately started to fall apart. Ambit carefully lifted it out of the steam vent with the butt of the stolen spear, waited for it to cool down a little, and started on his meal, adding some cheese he’d been saving for extra flavour.
‘This is good stuff,’ he said through a mouthful.
‘It reeks,’ said Snarl, flicking a bit of quartz into her mouth. She looked up and tensed. ‘Someone’s coming.’
Ambit followed her gaze, still chewing. In this landscape it was easy to see anyone coming from a distance and it didn’t take long to spot what looked like a group of demons heading toward them from the direction of the settlement up ahead.
Ambit stayed where he was and went on eating. ‘No hurry. It’s not like demons are that fast.’
As the demons slowly came closer, he could see that there were four of them. From this distance it looked like they were human-sized. But by the time Ambit had finished eating he could see he’d been wrong. There were five demons – four human-sized ones and a snake demon slithering along between the others.
Ambit finally got up. ‘All right, let’s get ready,’ he said, kicking the remains of the pumpkin into the crevice.
Snarl climbed down from her perch at the top of the hollow, and quietly sat herself slightly in front of Ambit. Together, they waited for the demons to arrive. They came cautiously, all staring at Ambit, but the first one to speak was the snake. It slipped forward from the rest and reared up as if it were about to strike, and Ambit and Snarl both tensed. But then the snake said, ‘What are you two doing here? You’re trespassing.’ Its voice was slow and crackling, but clearly male.
‘Hi,’ said Ambit. ‘I’m Ambit and this is Snarl. We came here to talk to you.’
‘What about?’ one of the other demons asked.
‘To warn you,’ said Snarl. ‘The Chosen One is coming.’
Every one of the demons tensed.
‘You’re lying,’ said the snake.
‘We’re really not,’ said Ambit. ‘It’s true. The Chosen One is coming with the sacred spear and the eight companions. She already destroyed the Sixth Mountain – she killed Lord Phos, and now she’s coming here to do the same thing to your lord.’
‘No,’ said
one of the demons, ‘no way. That’s impossible. The Chosen One?’
‘But it has to be true,’ one of her friends interrupted. ‘We know the Chosen One is real. Now these two say she’s coming here – why should we be surprised? We knew she would eventually.’
‘Yeah, exactly,’ said Ambit. ‘The Second Mountain is the closest to the Sixth. We saw what happened there, so we came to warn you. You have to go and tell your ruler.’
The snake slithered closer to him. ‘And why are you telling us this, human?’
Ambit looked at him with some curiosity. He’d never spoken to a snake demon before. This was the first time he’d had any proof that they could even talk, come to that. ‘Because when the Sixth Mountain exploded it wiped out half a dozen villages. Human ones. The Chosen One’s an idiot. She honestly thinks it’s a good idea to make that happen eight more times.’
The snake pulled back in alarm. ‘So it’s true. The death of a demon lord really does make their mountain explode.’
‘I hoped it wasn’t true,’ said Snarl, ‘I thought that was just an imp’s story. But King Volcan himself told me it was true. He sent me to try and stop it. Go and tell Lord Halite. He has to seal up the mountain.’
The demons looked at each other, all clearly alarmed.
‘You go, Emral,’ one of them told the snake. ‘You’re the fastest. Get to the mountain. Tell everyone at home about it as well.’
The snake didn’t hesitate. ‘I’ll go, you follow,’ he said. ‘Hurry!’ He slithered off as quickly as he could.
‘This is hopeless,’ one of the four remaining demons moaned. ‘We don’t stand a chance against the Chosen One; not with the eight companions there as well. I know the stories about what their weapons can do.’
‘I’ve seen what they can do,’ said Ambit. ‘It’s not pretty. But listen – I need your help. If we can steal the spear from the Chosen One, we can save the Second Mountain. If you and some other demons attack the companions, I can get my hands on it and take it away.’
‘Us, fight the Chosen One and the eight companions?’ the smallest of the four demons asked in horror. ‘Are you mad, human?’
‘Distract them, then,’ said Ambit. ‘When they arrive, why don’t we wait until they make camp for the night? Then you can attack and run away and while they’re confused I’ll go in and get the spear. They won’t attack me, I’m one of them. Human, I mean.’
The demons looked uncertain.
‘Well . . .’ one of them began.
‘Well what?’ Snarl interrupted. ‘Are you cowards? Would you prefer to run away and let the Chosen One destroy everything?’
‘We’re not cowards!’ one of the four snapped.
‘Then prove it,’ said Snarl. ‘Help us. Get help from your friends. We have to get that spear.’
‘She’s right,’ said the smallest demon. ‘We have to at least try. If this human’s on our side, let’s take him to the village and talk to the others. Maybe we can come up with a plan.’
‘Oh, fine,’ one of his friends said. ‘Let’s go. If the human turns out to be useless we can still eat his bones.’
Twenty-two
The four demons took Ambit and Snarl back to their village, a small and surprisingly ornate affair with stone sculptures between the houses, decorated with colourful gemstones.
‘The problem is that some of us like to eat the stones,’ the smallest demon said. ‘But it’s still worth doing it.’
Emral, the snake demon, had stopped at the village before going on toward the mountain, so by the time Ambit arrived the inhabitants were in an uproar. Demons of all sizes were everywhere, some gathering their possessions ready to leave, and others psyching themselves up for a fight. There were quite a few snake demons in this particular village, weaving their way in and out of their odd ant hill-like houses. When they saw Ambit, at least twelve demons came rushing toward him, some shouting, ‘It’s him! It’s the Chosen One!’
‘No, it isn’t!’ said the smallest demon, putting himself in the way along with Snarl. ‘This is the human who brought us the warning.’
The demons relaxed slightly. ‘What’s he doing here?’ a snake demon demanded.
‘How do we know he isn’t spying for the humans?’ a hulking four-armed demon added.
The smallest demon shrugged. ‘He can tell you himself.’
He stood aside, and Ambit cleared his throat. ‘I’m Ambit and I’ve got a plan,’ he said. ‘The Chosen One is coming, and I want to steal her spear before she uses it on Lord Halite. I need your help to do it.’
‘Steal the sacred spear?’ another snake demon repeated. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Er, I’m talking about stealing the sacred spear,’ said Ambit. ‘Weren’t you listening?’
‘I’m listening. I just don’t believe it,’ said another demon. ‘You can’t steal the sacred spear.’
‘Why not?’ asked Snarl.
The demon hesitated. ‘Because . . . you just can’t.’
‘I don’t see why not,’ said another. ‘We could at least try. What else are we going to do? What are you thinking of doing, human?’
‘All right,’ said Ambit, ‘here’s what I’m thinking. There are eight companions, plus the Chosen One, plus about ten guards. That’s twenty people.’
‘Nineteen,’ Snarl hissed.
‘So, what we have to do is wait until they make camp. They can’t go all the way to the mountain in one day, so they’ll have to stop for the night here in demon country. Sometime during the night, a group of demons should attack them. Don’t try and kill them; just confuse them. Then, in all the confusion, I can go after the Chosen One and get the spear back. How does that sound?’
‘I don’t get why we’re not allowed to kill them,’ said the four-armed demon.
‘Because . . .’ Ambit trailed off lamely.
‘They’re planning to kill us,’ a snake added. ‘Anyway, we could have their bones afterward.’
Ambit glanced desperately at Snarl.
‘They’re too dangerous,’ she supplied. ‘If you stand and fight, you’ll be killed. All that matters is to get the spear. Without it, the Chosen One can’t fulfil the prophecy.’
‘I don’t want other humans to die,’ said Ambit. ‘So unless you promise that you’ll do your best not to kill them, I won’t help you.’
‘And why do we need you anyway?’ asked the four-armed demon.
‘Because I’m human and I can get into their camp without being attacked,’ said Ambit. ‘Just distract the guards and I’ll do the rest. Do we have a deal?’
The four-armed demon opened his mouth to argue, but one of the snakes interrupted.
‘We don’t have time to waste on bickering, Quad,’ she said. ‘I say we follow the human’s plan. And if it doesn’t work, then we can attack the humans properly. In the meantime, the rest of us can stay here and get ready to fight back if they get this far.’
Other demons there nodded and muttered to themselves.
Quad the four-armed demon looked irritated, but said, ‘Fine. We owe the human for warning us and maybe he can help. I’m staying here to get the others ready for a fight.’
‘Who wants to go with the human?’ the snake asked the others. ‘I’ll go.’
About six others volunteered, including three other snakes and a couple of huge legged demons with shoulders like hillsides.
‘Let’s head toward the edge of human country,’ said Snarl. ‘We can make a temporary base in sight of Marrow Valley. Ambit can be our scout and let us know when the Chosen One is close.’
‘Right,’ said the snake. ‘What’s your name, little demon?’
‘Snarl,’ she said. ‘And you?’
‘Growl, believe it or not,’ said the snake. ‘Now let’s go,’ she added to the others. ‘The rest of you – good luck.’
Ambit and Snarl led the demon volunteers back toward human country, walking through the night with the demon glow to show them the way. Ambit was exhausted
, but said nothing. He’d have time to rest later – for now he was glad he’d found help.
Snarl kept close to his side. ‘Well done, Ambit.’
‘We both did good,’ said Ambit. ‘Let’s just hope this lot doesn’t decide they’d rather eat the companions.’
‘Don’t worry about them,’ said Snarl. ‘The companions can defend themselves. How many times have they been into demon country and come out with nothing, but scratches? I’d be more worried for these demons.’
‘Yeah, I guess so,’ said Ambit. ‘They – wait, what the hell’s that?’
Up ahead, a dull glow stood out against the black landscape.
‘A lava vent, maybe?’ Growl suggested.
‘No,’ said Ambit, ‘that’s firelight. Someone’s camped up there.’
‘The companions?’ said Snarl.
Ambit’s heart sank. ‘You have to be shitting me. They can’t be here already.’
‘We’ll have to go and find out,’ said Snarl. ‘It might not even be a camp at all.’
But the closer they got, the more obvious it became that Ambit had been right. The glow resolved itself into several different glows – multiple campfires, spaced out from each other. Before long they could see the silhouettes of human beings moving between them and themselves.
‘It’s them,’ said Ambit. ‘It has to be. Who else would come barging into demon country like this?’
‘I’ll go and take a look,’ said Snarl. ‘Wait here.’
Ambit stayed with the gang of demons and they waited together while Snarl slipped off into the darkness.
‘If this is them, we’d better get ready,’ Ambit said, once she’d gone. ‘We’re lucky it’s night-time. Us humans can’t see that well in the dark, but you can. They’ll be confused and won’t be able to aim their weapons properly.’