Broken Prophecy

by K J Taylor

  ‘I hope so,’ said Growl. ‘Is it really true that the Chosen One’s spear can melt a demon just by touching him?’

  ‘No,’ said Ambit, ‘it’s just a spear that doesn’t break when you use it on demons.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ said Growl. ‘Not much of one, but it’s a relief.’

  ‘You know, you remind me of Snarl,’ said Ambit. ‘I think you two would get on great if you had the chance.’

  ‘Maybe, but I’m not sure I can respect a demon who goes around with a human,’ said Growl.

  ‘Nah,’ said Ambit. ‘You’ve got it the wrong way around. I’m the one with no self-respect – Snarl’s got piles of it.’

  One of the demons behind him snickered.

  A moment later, Snarl came hurrying back. ‘It’s them,’ she said. ‘All of them. They’ve got the guards on duty, but they look very tired to me.’

  ‘Great,’ said Ambit. He gripped the spear. ‘Let’s do it, then. Growl, you lead your buddies straight at them. Make a lot of noise and make yourselves look big. And move around a lot so they’re not sure how many of you there are. While you’re doing that, I’ll run around the side and come at them from behind. I’ll tackle that bitch Rai and get the spear. Then I’ll make a run for it and find a place to hide. Snarl, you can help me navigate in the dark.’

  ‘Right,’ said Snarl, ‘that sounds good to me. Growl?’

  The snake demon reared up. ‘Serpents – hiss as loudly as you can. The rest of you, roar!’

  ‘Can do,’ one of the bigger demons said, sounding almost cheerful.

  ‘On three, then,’ said Growl. ‘One, two, three – charge!’

  The demons rushed away toward the campsite, making as much noise as they could. Ambit and Snarl let them go past, and then Ambit started to run as well, making a wide circle around the campsite with Snarl close beside him. Ahead, they could already see the guards jumping up with shouts of alarm, and the companions as well, getting up from their bedrolls and grabbing for their weapons.

  None of them noticed Ambit or Snarl. Growl and the other demons came rushing at them out of the dark, lashing out with claws, tails and steel fangs. The guards pulled back, trying to defend themselves and Ambit swore. They weren’t chasing the demons the way he’d hoped they would.

  It was too late to change the plan now. He reached the far side of the camp, and stopped there for an instant, searching for any sign of Rai. She was there, toward the centre, clutching his spear and pushing forward to attack Growl.

  The sight of his spear in someone else’s hands gave Ambit the motivation he needed. He spat and charged in, holding the replacement weapon. He shoved Rigby and Elyne out of the way and rushed at Rai. She hadn’t seen him. She was tensing back, ready to throw the spear, until Ambit got her from behind. He caught her by the elbow and wrenched her arm back, making a grab for the spear.

  Rai spun around with a shout, wrenching her arm free. Ambit head-butted her in the face and she fell back, dropping the spear. Ambit dived for it, but someone came lurching out of the confusion and shoved him back.

  Ambit got his footing back and raised the replacement spear. ‘You,’ he growled.

  ‘You,’ Northrop spat back.

  Rai had managed to get up and retrieve Ambit’s spear. ‘I told you he’d follow us,’ she said.

  ‘Give me back my spear, you piece of shit,’ Ambit shouted at her.

  ‘Leave her alone,’ said Northrop, threatening him with his sword.

  ‘If she gives it back, I will,’ said Ambit. ‘Get out of my way.’

  Northrop swung the sword at him. Ambit dodged. ‘Don’t make me stick this down your throat, Northy,’ he said.

  Northrop’s face was twisted with hatred and frustration. ‘Get out of here!’ he yelled back. ‘Stop trying to interfere! You’re a traitor and a liar!’

  ‘I like to drink and womanise as well,’ said Ambit. ‘Stop messing with me, Northrop. I mean it.’

  Northrop hesitated for just a moment and then came at him, sword raised. ‘Run away, Ambit. Run back to your favourite brothel and stay there, and stop getting in our way. This is your last chance.’

  ‘No, it’s yours,’ said Ambit. He could see Rai moving out of his reach, and he darted forward to shove Northrop out of the way and go after her. But Northrop did not let him. He shoved back, making Ambit stumble, and attacked. Alarmed, Ambit brought the spear shaft up to defend himself, but the sword cut straight through it and hit him in the shoulder, opening a deep slash down his body. Ambit cried out with a mixture of shock and pain, and swung forward to stab at Northrop with the broken end of the spear. But Northrop pulled back and thrust the sword straight at him.

  It hit Ambit in the middle of the chest and came out through his back.

  Silence fell. Outside the camp the demons had fled, with some of the guards chasing after them. Northrop and Ambit both stood still, Northrop still holding the sword and Ambit staring blankly at him. For a moment nothing happened at all, and then the broken spear fell out of Ambit’s fingers. He looked down at it, then at Northrop, and then at the sword impaling him.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ he mumbled.

  Northrop didn’t move. He looked stunned, but recovered himself and stepped back, pulling the sword free. The moment it was out, blood soaked into Ambit’s shirt, flowing out and down, turning it red and dripping from the hem. Ambit clutched vaguely at it and then crumpled.

  Snarl saw him fall. ‘No!’ she shouted, and ran toward him.

  Around her, the rest of the eight companions watched in disbelief. Rigby ran forward as well, followed by Tannock and Wittock. He crouched by Ambit’s side, staring at his wound, and then looked up at Northrop. ‘You killed him!’

  Northrop gaped at him for an instant. ‘I had to,’ he said. ‘You saw him. He was trying to attack Rai.’

  ‘But he was the Chosen One!’ said Wittock. ‘Northrop, what have you done?’

  ‘I didn’t have any choice,’ said Northrop. ‘He deserved it.’ Dawn had started to arrive, and the sky was turning a dull shade of grey tinged with red. Northrop looked around wildly, searching for some kind of support.

  He found it. Whitear and Rai both went to his side. After a moment’s hesitation, Deeble joined them. ‘Let’s go,’ said Rai. ‘We have to get to the mountain and finish this.’

  ‘She’s right,’ said Northrop. ‘Come on. Leave him. He’s done for.’

  But the others didn’t move.

  ‘Come on!’ Northrop said again. ‘We have to go!’

  ‘I’m not following you anywhere,’ Rigby said quietly. ‘You’re a murderer.’

  Northrop glanced at Rai. ‘It had to be done.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Whitear. ‘Let’s go. As long as we have the spear we can do this by ourselves.’ She threw a contemptuous sneer at Ambit and turned away.

  Northrop hesitated a moment longer and then walked off with Rai and Deeble, leaving the other companions behind.

  Snarl reached for Ambit’s blood-soaked shirt, pulling back when it started to steam. She looked up at Wittock. ‘Do something!’

  Wittock gently rolled Ambit onto his back and pulled the shirt away to reveal the deep wound in the middle of his chest. It was still bleeding. Ambit’s skin had turned sickly pale. ‘I don’t think there’s anything I can do,’ he said.

  ‘He’s the Chosen One,’ said Snarl. ‘He can’t die.’

  Ambit stirred and coughed up a mouthful of blood. ‘Snarl,’ he rasped. ‘Get . . .’

  Snarl crouched down by his head. ‘What is it, Ambit? What do you need?’

  He coughed again. ‘Get . . . me . . . a drink,’ he said. ‘I’m not going out . . . sober.’

  Snarl turned. ‘Does anyone have some beer?’

  ‘I’ve got a flask of whiskey,’ said Tannock.

  ‘Get it, then,’ said Snarl. ‘Hurry!’

  Tannock brought the flask over, and propped Ambit’s head and shoulders up while Elyne helped him drink. He gulped it down and sighed
.

  ‘See you in the afterlife, morons,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll be the one with the hangover.’ His head lolled, and his eyes dimmed.

  ‘Ambit,’ Snarl hissed. ‘Ambit!’

  Tannock gently put him down. ‘He’s gone.’

  Snarl reared up. ‘He’s not gone! Shut up!’

  Wittock touched the side of Ambit’s neck. Then he reached up and gently closed his eyes.

  Snarl lashed out at him with her claws. ‘Don’t touch him!’

  Wittock moved back. ‘I’m sorry, Snarl.’

  ‘He’s not dead,’ the small demon insisted. ‘He can’t be dead. The Chosen One can’t die.’

  ‘But he’s dead,’ said Wittock. ‘And maybe he never was the Chosen One at all.’

  ‘How can you say that?’ said Tannock.

  The old man sighed. ‘I don’t know. I thought I knew how it all worked, but nothing happened the way it was supposed to. He wasn’t what he was meant to be.’

  ‘He was better than that,’ said Snarl, ‘and you know it. You all do. He died trying to stop you, because that’s what he had to do, not what he was supposed to do. He went his own way because he knew better, right from the start.’

  ‘She’s right,’ said Elyne. ‘I never should have followed Northrop. I knew it wasn’t right. Ambit was the Chosen One, not him. He’s the one I wanted to follow.’

  ‘He was like a big brother,’ said Rigby, sniffling. ‘I didn’t have anyone until he came along.’

  ‘He was brave,’ said Srawn. ‘He –’

  ‘Stop,’ said Snarl, waving her claws, ‘that’s enough. Ambit couldn’t stand that kind of talk, and I won’t put up with it now. He didn’t want to be a hero.’

  ‘But he died one,’ said Wittock.

  ‘Yes, and he’d be very unhappy about it,’ said Snarl. ‘He told me he wanted to drink himself to death or die from too much sex. He definitely didn’t want to die bravely.’

  Elyne laughed weakly. ‘Fine, I’ll keep quiet then.’

  ‘And we didn’t even get the spear back,’ Snarl added bitterly.

  ‘But we should try,’ said Tannock. ‘Let’s go after Northrop and stop him ourselves.’

  ‘What’s the point?’ said Snarl. ‘Ambit’s dead. The Chosen One is dead. The prophecy can never come true now.’

  ‘But maybe it can,’ said Wittock. ‘Maybe it was always the spear that mattered and not the person who wielded it.’

  ‘Ambit mattered way more than that cursed spear,’ Snarl said fiercely. ‘That Rai woman will never be able to use it properly. If we’re lucky Lord Halite will eat her and Northrop as well. But I don’t care.’

  ‘You don’t care if the rest of the Nine Mountains explode and everything turns into a wasteland?’ asked Srawn.

  ‘Not anymore,’ said Snarl, and she lay down by Ambit’s side and went silent.

  Twenty-three

  Daylight came back to the territory of the Second Mountain, but nobody moved. The five companions stayed in a silent group around Ambit’s body and Snarl stayed lying beside it, barely even moving. Eventually, Tannock and Elyne got up and relit a couple of fires, and they and the others shared a meal. They didn’t talk much while they ate. There didn’t seem to be anything left to say.

  ‘I just feel so guilty,’ Rigby muttered eventually. ‘I should’ve listened to him.’

  ‘We all should have,’ said Wittock. ‘If we had, he might still be alive.’

  Srawn nodded miserably. ‘I can’t believe Northrop did that.’

  ‘I don’t think he really meant to,’ said Tannock. ‘I saw the look on his face.’

  ‘But he still did it,’ said Elyne. ‘That bastard. We should go after him just to make him pay for Ambit. I think he’d like that. Ambit would.’

  ‘Forget him. Let the demons deal with him,’ said Srawn. ‘I hope they eat his bones.’

  Nearby, Snarl heard them talking, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Part of her wished they weren’t there, but another part felt glad they were. At least she wasn’t the only one who cared Ambit was dead, which would have been the case not that long ago.

  She raised her head and looked into Ambit’s face. It had already started to stiffen and didn’t look like him anymore. Ambit wasn’t made for lying around; he was made for trouble and carousing and not knowing when to keep his mouth shut. And he certainly wasn’t made for being dead. Ambit just didn’t do that kind of thing. Ambit was the one who always managed to get out of things, no matter how dangerous. He couldn’t have died so quickly, so easily. And if anyone was going to kill him, it couldn’t be someone like Northrop. She hated Northrop, but the idea of him killing Ambit . . . it was ridiculous.

  It couldn’t have happened, even if it had.

  Snarl laid her head down again, and heaved a sigh. It didn’t matter. Nothing did anymore. She eyed Ambit’s body, and wondered if she really should eat his bones. He’d offered them to her, after all. And if she had been the one to die he probably would have taken her eyes. It was only fair . . .

  ‘Hey!’

  Rigby’s shout made Snarl look up briefly. She was about to turn away again, but then she saw the young human was up and pointing at something. Around him the other humans were turning to look.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Wittock, squinting.

  ‘There’s someone coming,’ said Rigby. ‘I think it’s a demon.’

  Tannock swore and snatched up his club. ‘If it’s just one, I’m sure we can handle it.’

  ‘No,’ said Snarl.

  They all stopped to look at her. She pulled herself up and waved her tail at them. ‘It’s only one demon,’ she said. ‘He could be looking for Ambit. If you don’t attack him, he probably won’t attack you. Leave him alone.’

  They listened, but she saw them getting their weapons ready anyway. She shouldn’t really have expected them to take her word for it. However, when the demon arrived there was something so harmless about him that none of the companions tried to attack him. He was large and four-limbed, but his horns were short and stubby and so were his claws. His teeth were stunted as well, and he moved slowly, almost shuffling. He paid no attention at all to the companions, even when Tannock tried to ask him what he wanted. He walked straight past him and the others, and came on toward Ambit and Snarl.

  Snarl looked up at the other demon, puzzled. In the end, it was only the stone set into the forehead that gave it away.

  ‘Oracle!’ she exclaimed. ‘What are you doing here?’

  The Oracle looked better than he had when she had last seen him. The parts the humans had cut off were growing back. He looked briefly at Snarl, and then knelt to look down at Ambit’s body.

  ‘The Chosen One,’ he said quietly.

  ‘He’s dead,’ said Snarl. ‘Your prophecy can’t come true after all, Oracle.’

  The Oracle looked at her. ‘The prophecy has to come true,’ he said. ‘Nothing can change that.’

  ‘I think Northrop just changed it,’ said Snarl. She glared at the other demon. ‘I know you did your best to make it happen – letting the companions go free. Thanks for that. Well, you wasted your time. Ambit’s gone, and so is the spear.’

  The five companions gathered around, looking cautious, but curious. ‘Who are you?’ asked Wittock.

  The Oracle looked up at him. ‘I am the Oracle,’ he said. ‘I am the one who made the prophecy.’

  ‘He’s the one who let Northrop out of prison,’ said Snarl.

  ‘Wait, I remember you!’ said Srawn. ‘You didn’t have any horns before.’

  ‘Humans took them off,’ Snarl said sourly, ‘along with everything else that makes a demon whole. We’re just lucky we can repair ourselves. And the Oracle is lucky Ambit saved him from that monastery.’

  ‘You’re the one who told him the prophecy, aren’t you?’ said Rigby, looking at the Oracle. ‘You’re the one who made it.’

  ‘Yes,’ said the Oracle, ‘I saw all of you and him. I saw the future.’

  ‘O
h well, the future went wrong,’ said Snarl. ‘Explain that.’

  The Oracle turned his attention back to Ambit. ‘The Chosen One cannot die,’ he said. ‘Not until the prophecy has been fulfilled.’

  ‘But he did,’ said Snarl. ‘Denial isn’t going to fix that.’

  The Oracle looked at her with a touch of sadness. ‘You don’t think it’s as simple as that, do you, little demon? The prophecy has been coming true all this time. The Chosen One has been betrayed, he has fought a great battle at Lucknow City, he has destroyed one of the Nine Mountains and collected the stone from Lord Phos. Nothing has changed.’

  ‘He’s dead!’ Snarl shouted. ‘How can you possibly ignore that? You’re not still blind.’

  ‘But he can come back,’ said the Oracle.

  Everyone froze.

  ‘What?’ said Elyne. ‘You mean he can come back to life?’

  ‘Yes, he can,’ said the Oracle. ‘He has to.’

  Snarl stood up on her hind legs. ‘How? Tell me how!’

  ‘Why would you want him to?’ the Oracle asked sadly. ‘You know what his destiny is.’

  ‘I know what he would say,’ said Snarl. ‘Fuck destiny. How can we save him?’

  ‘The spear,’ said the Oracle. ‘The spear has the power to bring him back. You must find it and bring it to him, Snarl.’

  Snarl’s tail lashed. ‘How? How can I get it back? They’ll kill me.’

  ‘That is for you to do,’ said the Oracle.

  ‘Oh, you’re so helpful,’ said Snarl. ‘Fine. I’ll go and get it.’

  ‘What about us?’ asked Tannock. ‘We can help.’

  ‘No,’ said Snarl, ‘this is for me to do. Anyway, you’ll be attacked in demon country. I won’t be. Stay here and keep Ambit safe. I’ll get the spear.’ She carefully circled Ambit’s body, and looked up at the Oracle again. ‘Do you at least know where Northrop is now?’

  ‘At the village closest to here,’ said the Oracle.

  ‘You can sense that too?’ asked Rigby, impressed.