by SJB Gilmour
Then one looked up and sniffed the air. ‘There!’ the goblin barked in a guttural accent. ‘They’re alive!’ The goblin grunted and pointed directly at Sarah with his silver-tipped sword.
The rest of the goblins reacted instantly. As one, they turned and snarled at them. The sorcerers also whirled about. Moira gave a triumphant exclamation and levelled her finger at Sarah and Melanie.
‘Oh no you don’t,’ Melanie stated angrily, cradling the tome to her chest with one hand. She held her other hand out, palm up and gritted her teeth. A blast of pure white energy shot up from her hand and created a huge, shimmering dome that surrounded herself and the Golden Mane.
‘Now, Sarah!’ Melanie grated through clenched teeth.
The Golden Mane barked again. A jet of golden fire shot through the protective dome Melanie had erected. The goblins were blown to quivering, smoky pieces of purplish goo. Several sorcerers were hurled backwards, burning to cinders as they flew through the air. In the rain, their ashes turned to mud and fell to the ground with wet plopping noises. Moira raised her palm just in time to erect a shield of power that diverted the Golden Mane’s deadly blast. The air was filled with smoke and the foul stench of fried goblin.
Moira screamed in fury. ‘Damn you bitch!’ she howled and disappeared, along with those few sorcerers who had survived.
Sarah and Melanie glanced at each other. Melanie smirked at the grinning werewolf. Still holding the tome, she wiped her brow with her sleeve. She peered up at the dark grey clouds.
‘I should have brought soap,’ she muttered.
‘I could use some toothpaste, myself,’ Sarah replied. ‘Goblins taste almost as bad as trolls.’
‘I told you trolls tasted awful,’ a new voice said conversationally from behind them.
Sarah spun around to see Marzdane step out of the jungle. The immaculately coiffed sorcerer was carrying a brightly-coloured umbrella and had a look of extreme distaste on his face. He stepped out of the jungle, being as careful as he could not to get any mud on him. He wasn’t succeeding very very well.
‘Shame you let Moira get away. I’d have been quite grateful if you’d done me the service of killing that little cross-eyed sneak,’ he told them. ‘That’s why I let her get to you first.’
‘So there you are,’ Mel muttered defiantly. She huffed. ‘Nice umbrella.’
Marzdane looked down at his fine robe, the bottom hem of which was now spattered with mud. Then he nodded at Mel’s own clothes which were scorched, sopping and filthy. ‘I’d offer you one, but it’s probably a little late for that now, wouldn’t you say?’ His words were calm and even, but there was menace in his voice.
‘You didn’t expect me to charge in with the first wave, did you?’ he went on, gesturing around him at the devastation Sarah had left. ‘You may have let Cromwell get away but I must say I’m impressed at the casualty list. Perhaps it’s a good thing I had Guntex stay behind.’ He surveyed the damage with one raised eyebrow then looked back at Sarah and Melanie. ‘You’ve certainly grown strong, young Golden Mane,’ he said, nodding to himself. ‘And you, Hazelwood. You seemed to have picked a few things up here and there too.’ He seemed quite urbane, even friendly now. The rain stopped finally and the air was full of warm moist vapours of charred goblin.
‘What do you want?’ Sarah growled.
Marzdane collapsed and strapped up his umbrella. ‘I’m not looking for a fight,’ he told them. ‘In fact, I’m a little curious as to why you two would come all the way here for a mouldy old book.’
‘None of your business!’ Melanie snapped.
‘Interesting,’ he mused. He poked at the iridescent barrier with the tip of his umbrella. It sizzled and sparked. ‘Well done, Hazelwood,’ he congratulated her in a professional tone. ‘A containment orb. Who taught you how to do that?’ he pondered aloud. ‘Anyway,’ he turned to Sarah. ‘By now you’ve probably figured out how I managed to find you,’ he told her.
‘The Star,’ Sarah growled, not taking her eyes off him.
‘Yes,’ Marzdane drawled. His tone was relaxed, almost lazy but his eyes now burned with hunger and rage. ‘So the two of you have the pieces? And just what do you think you’re going to do with them?’
Sarah tensed, ensuring her mental barrier was holding firm. She could feel Marzdane’s probing mind hammering against it uselessly.
‘Very good,’ the evil sorcerer complimented Sarah. He shook his head ruefully then focused his attention on Melanie.
The dark-haired girl gasped as her own barrier was assaulted. Sarah could see exactly what was happening. Melanie held firm at first, but was beginning to weaken. She had to help! Sarah stood firm and pushed her own willpower to join with Melanie’s.
Melanie’s eyes, which had started to glaze over, suddenly flared brightly. Her body straightened with renewed vigour. As Sarah’s mind was briefly joined with Melanie’s, she sensed another presence. It was the alien, terribly powerful presence of Melanie’s watchful god, Apollo.
Marzdane struck again. This attack, so much stronger than before, made Melanie gasp and reel. As strong as she was, the effort of maintaining the barrier was exhausting her.
‘Help her!’ Sarah cried to the ancient Greek god as she threw all her own strength into the struggle.
Suddenly a huge surge of combined powers from Sarah, Wolfenvald and Apollo seemed to explode from Melanie. The glowing sphere barrier around them shone brighter than the sun and Melanie’s mental barrier solidified into a dark black wall more solid than ever before. She straightened and glared at Marzdane.
‘My turn,’ she grated. She held her arm out so that her palm was directed at Marzdane.
‘Petrifico!’ she yelled. This time, instead of a shapeless blast of force that most sorcerers would normally hurl at an enemy, Melanie’s attack took on a very specific shape. A shimmering form of a golden bow and arrow appeared to float mid air. Then the bow was drawn and fired the arrow directly at Marzdane. He scrambled to get out of the way, but the arrow found its target and struck him solidly in the chest.
Marzdane howled as he was thrown backwards. He landed and skidded, bouncing over the corpses of fallen goblins and sorcerers. He lay in the muck, panting and shaking.
Sarah relaxed her will and withdrew her mind from Melanie’s. The Golden Mane stood beside the young necromancer and stared dispassionately at the gasping sorcerer. His exquisitely trimmed beard was now shot with grey and his jet-black hair had turned white. He did not look at all healthy either. His face was wrinkled and ashen. The wicked sorcerer had aged several decades in a flash.
Melanie flicked her wrist at the glowing dome around them and it vanished. She took a step forward towards Marzdane.
‘Wanna try that again?’ Melanie demanded. Her voice carried with it the echo of the great God Apollo’s own voice. Though she spoke normally, the young girl’s words echoed like thunder that shook the very ground.
Marzdane struggled to his knees in the muck and filth, shaking. Then Sarah realised the suddenly aged man was laughing! Something was going to happen! She could sense it! She pricked her ears and whirled around to peer into the jungle. As Marzdane drew himself to his feet, Sarah heard a rumble of hundreds of goblins approaching.
His eyes flared brightly as his strength returned. ‘You’re not the only ones with power,’ he grated maliciously. Guntex and several dozen more goblins charged into the clearing, with more running along behind them.
‘Kill them!’ Marzdane yelled at Guntex. ‘Bring me that Star!’
The Golden Mane shut her eyes and created a new shimmering portal. She leaped through the portal with Melanie close behind her and they were both instantly transported to the cool, dark forest of Wolfenvald. Sarah then bounded several metres away from the portal, with Mel close behind her.
‘Get clear!’ she barked to Melanie. The two then backed away several more metres.
At first, nothing happened, then a goblin appeared, looking this way and that in readiness for a figh
t. Dozens more pushed through close behind the first one before the portal disappeared. The wicked looking creatures stood stock still for a moment then they saw Sarah and Melanie. The lead goblin gave a triumphant snarl and took a step forward, brandishing his silver-tipped sword. Sarah sat calmly, regarding the approaching goblins with her golden eyes.
‘Sarah!’ Melanie said nervously, backing behind the Golden Mane.
‘Wait,’ said Sarah. ‘Watch.’
The Guild Guardslins managed to take perhaps three steps forward when their feet became stuck in the soft loam of the forest floor.
Melanie gasped as she watched tree roots come alive. They coiled up out of the soil and tangled around the goblins’ legs. The goblins howled and struggled to break free from the deadly roots. But they continued to boil up, covering their bodies until not a single piece of goblin could be seen. The howls of anger and frustration from the trapped goblins became screams of pain. The roots began to tighten themselves around them, quite literally squeezing the life out of them. Cracks and snaps of crushed bones could be heard through their screams. Soon, goblin blood and gore began to ooze out from between the ever-tightening roots.
All screams stopped and the roots began to pull back into the moist forest floor, taking with them all traces of the goblin soldiers. Only the stench of blood remained in the air. Overhead, dark thunderclouds began to boil. Within moments, large heavy drops of rain began to pelt down upon the girls and the surrounding forest, washing away the foul odour of crushed goblin.
‘Ugh,’ Melanie muttered. ‘That was gross.’ She looked about her in disgust. Then her eyes began to glaze over and she slumped. ‘Oh, crap,’ she moaned. Now very pale, she sank to her knees and collapsed on the ground, scarcely breathing.
‘Mel! What’s wrong?’
‘Apollo,’ Mel barely had the strength to breathe. ‘His powers won’t work here,’ she gasped. Her body began to shake as she began to go into shock from exhaustion.
Sarah looked around desperately. She had to help her friend but she had no idea how. There was nobody about to brush her coat and even if there was, it was daytime and there would be no moonlight for hours yet. Still, Sarah was not about to give up. She launched herself sideways at the nearest tree and rubbed her shoulders and flanks against the rough bark so that some of her hairs would come off.
Finally, there was a tiny metallic clink as a single Golden Mane hair fell onto the ground. Sarah quickly changed form and picked up the hair. Then she scrambled back to her fallen friend. She put the hair in Mel’s mouth and then drew on as much power as she could. Even in human form, in Wolfenvald, that was quite a lot. Sarah didn’t realise just how much power she had at her disposal until she released it.
‘Santicularus!’ she commanded, once again allowing all her energy to flow through that command.
Mel leaped back to her feet with astonishing speed.
‘Wow!’ she exclaimed. ‘Did you do that? Oh my God! Wow! Oh man! Oh man! I’ve never felt so good!’ Mel began to caper about, incredibly excited. She continued to babble a mile a minute while Sarah blushed, feeling a little foolish. Not wanting Mel to see her flaming cheeks, Sarah resumed her wolf form.
It took several minutes for Mel to calm down. ‘Thanks for that,’ she said to Sarah finally.
Sarah wagged her tail and was about to reply when something alerted her. She spun around to see Rufus sitting calmly at the base of a tree.
‘About time you showed up,’ he growled at her. Then he nodded at Melanie. ‘Troy can’t stay here for this.’
Melanie flared. ‘Well where would you have me go?’
‘What do you mean “this”?’ Sarah demanded.
Rufus gave himself a shake and padded up to Melanie, his tail low and his ears flat.
Mel rolled her eyes at him. ‘You’re part of our pack, and Sarah’s the boss. What are you gonna do?’
The werewolf spirit sniffed. ‘Not me, girlie. The other inhabitants of this forest will tear you apart. Coppernick’s got a job to do. It’s important and it involves some very formal stuff. No humans allowed. You’d best be off somewhere safe until she’s done. Shouldn’t be more than a few hours… A day at the most.’
‘What?’ both girls protested at once.
Before Rufus could answer, a large Grey Mane appeared. He moved through the clearing silently, his grey eyes wary. He glanced first at Sarah and then Melanie then turned back to Sarah.
‘The human should not be here,’ he told her. ‘I have been sent to find you.’
‘What’s going on?’ Sarah asked the werewolf.
‘I cannot discuss that before human ears. She must leave.’ Though he didn’t growl, his hackles raised slightly.
Mel looked at Sarah. ‘Look, I dunno what’s going on, but if you’ve got something to do, do it. Get it over with so we can all get back together again. I’ll wait at Gembrook. Can you open a portal?’
Rufus gave an anxious yip. ‘Not there, little girl. It’s not safe.’
Melanie had just about had enough. She was wet and tired despite Sarah’s healing spell. Her temper was beginning to unravel. This wasn’t helped at all by the impatient way the Grey was pacing and baring his teeth.
‘I’ll go, alright?’ she told him, exasperated. She turned to Rufus. ‘Okay, smart-arse. Where should I go?’
‘How about Gnumphlatia Manor?’ Sarah suggested.
‘Okay. Do you know the way to make a portal?’
‘No,’ Sarah replied, disappointed in herself. Then she brightened. ‘But I did make a portal to the Ottispuschenshuffen’s. That’s just down the road in Neroland, isn’t it? Why don’t you go there first?’
Mel grinned. ‘Deal. I could do with one of their hamburgers anyway.’
Within moments, Sarah’s friend had disappeared, leaving her alone with the Grey Mane. Rufus too had vanished. ‘Okay,’ Sarah asked the werewolf. ‘Now what?’
‘Follow my trail,’ he replied and bounded off into the forest.
Chapter Fourteen
Four sorcerers surveyed the ruins of the temple and surrounding jungle. James Isaacs, Benjamin McConnell, Angela Harding and Oliver Cromwell were all quite surprised at the level of destruction their two charges had caused. Aunt Roberta and Uncle Robert loped into the clearing from the thick jungle.
‘There’s no sign of them,’ Robert panted. His brown coat was wet and he was not in a very good mood. Aunt Roberta was worse. Her coat, which was normally much neater than Robert’s, was very mucky indeed. Her ears were flat down and her teeth were bared angrily. She padded up to Oliver and snarled at him warningly.
‘Where are they?’ she demanded. She laced the demand with several oaths she would never normally use when Sarah and Melanie were present.
‘I don’t know!’ Oliver confessed helplessly. ‘It’s not my fault! They took off before we could stop them!’
‘It’s true,’ Angela told the angry Brown Coat werewolf.
‘Looks like they managed to get away,’ James surmised. ‘I count at least a dozen dead guardslins and seven or eight dead sorcerers.’ The bald Master Botanist had arrived at the same time as the others, which was only a minute after Marzdane had disappeared with the remnants of his following.
‘Nine,’ Robert corrected with a sniff. ‘Nine sorcerers and fourteen goblins.’
‘Seems they’re getting stronger,’ James said then with approval. ‘But if The Guild knows they were here, then the monkey’s out of the bag.’ He rubbed his hands together with wicked glee. ‘It’s begun,’ he gloated. ‘Ooh, this is gonna be fun!’
‘They must be alright,’ Oliver announced, pointing to a round patch of compressed earth. ‘I wouldn’t admit it to her, but Troy’s quite a good student really. That containment orb she used here must have been a helluva big one. Nothing could have got through it.’ He grinned wryly. The Guild must be having kittens at the thought of two kids running around loose with this much power between them and no control.’ He began to chortle. ‘Marzdane’s g
onna be beside himself!’
Angela glanced at the spot and nodded briefly. ‘Melanie’s power is growing,’ she agreed.
‘She’ll be ready to start learning the rites soon then,’ Oliver observed, suddenly much more serious.
‘Perhaps,’ Angela murmured. Her expression was not giving away any hint of what she suspected Melanie was already capable of doing.
Just then, three large black bats flew in and perched on a trunk of a fallen jungle tree. The air shimmered around each bat as the three succubus Princesses transformed themselves back into women. They had discarded their heavy black robes and now wore filmy silk gowns that, though very cool in the stifling heat of the jungle, were frightfully immodest.
Roberta glanced disapprovingly at the succubi’s outfits. James, Oliver and Benjamin were not so disapproving.
Princess Heather caught Sarah’s aunt’s expression. With a slight nod, she quickly adorned herself in more modest attire of hiking boots, shorts and a long-sleeved cotton shirt. Her sisters followed suit.
‘Spoilsport,’ James muttered to Roberta.
‘Shut up,’ Angela told him coolly before Roberta could snap back at him. Then she nodded gratefully at Princess Heather. ‘Did you find any sign of them?’
The redhead Princess Elizabetha hopped delicately off the tree.
‘There’s a trail that seems to disappear into nowhere a few hundred metres back there,’ she said, gesturing in the direction Marzdane’s goblins had come from.
‘And there’s another smaller one back there,’ the brunette Charity said, joining her sister on the ground. She pointed where Moira Cromwell had come from. ‘We found the scents of some humans and a lot of goblins, but that was it.’
Angela examined the round patch on the ground with a surprised look. She held her hand out over the circle and shut her eyes briefly. Then she opened them, looking slightly awed.