“Skiing?” Niama questioned. “What’s that?”
“It’s a bit hard to explain,” I told him. “Basically what happens is that you strap two long, thin boards to your feet and slide over the ice. Unfortunately, there’s a reasonable chance of falling over and breaking your legs as well.”
“Why would you do it for, then?” Rosewing asked, fascinated.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ve never done it myself and now that I come to describe it to someone, it sounds pretty silly. But that’s what it is.”
“Typical human nonsense,” Nix grumbled. “I question the sanity of the whole human race.”
“Considering some of the things we get up to,” I mused, “I may agree with you there, Nix.”
“Let’s go!” Bon commanded. “Yaa hee, wasn’t it?”
“Not quite,” I smiled, “but it’s close enough.”
And so we set off once again with Trix and Zen leading the way. Trix had confirmed we were close to our destination when Zen suddenly uttered a soft growl and crouched down, motionless. Unbidden, we all did the same (without the growl, of course), wondering what our Wolf Scout had discovered. Stealthily, Zen crept forward on his belly and we followed, commando style, to see what was happening. I began to hear a soft clicking noise and wondered what it could be. We carefully peered over a ridge and beheld the source of Zen’s concern. Thorn was beside me and I heard her gasp in revulsion. Bon inhaled sharply and Nix hissed in astonishment at what he saw. Grouped below us were four spiders. Four huge spiders. Nightmare arachnids. Now, unlike many others, spiders didn’t worry me – normal sized once, anyway. But these were enlarged beyond all credible limits. I’m talking here of a size that shouldn’t be allowed.
“It’s them!” Bon whispered urgently. “The Knarl! They must have followed us!”
“I don’t think so,” I reassured her. “If they had, they’d be behind us, not in front. I think they’re after the blood stone, the same as we are.”
“But how did they know where to look?” Trix wanted to know.
“They must have access to your map,” I explained. “Or at least have some other source of information. I can’t imagine that we’d be fortunate enough to have the only set of clues. The point is, what are we going to do about these four?”
“Well, we can’t go around them,” Nix pointed out, “and we can’t leave them at our backs. That leaves only one alternative, doesn’t it?”
“You may be right,” I sighed. “Although I hate starting any unnecessary fights, I can’t see any other way out of it. Bon, do they have any weaknesses?”
“They’re extremely fast and agile,” she said. “All those legs give them a huge advantage, but their bodies are soft and fragile. The legs are easily broken as well, but watch out for their fangs because of the poison. And be careful coming in from the back. Their eyes see everywhere and they can spin around and face you before you can even blink. That’s about it.”
“That’ll have to do,” I said, grimly. “Thorn, Rosewing and I will attack from the air. The rest of you will have to make do with a ground assault. Okay?”
“I’m ready,” Bon replied fiercely, clutching a knife that Nix had given to her. “There’s a few debts I have to repay.”
“No heroics, please,” I sternly cautioned. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” I stared hard at Rosewing. “Especially you, young lady. Your mother will never speak to me again if I let you get even a scratch.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise,” Rosewing reassured me.
“See that you are,” I threatened. “When in doubt, run away. It’s the only sensible thing to do. Dying heroically for no purpose is stupid.”
“I seem to remember you throwing your life into the ring to save the rest of us on several occasions in the past,” Nix smirked.
“That was different,” I objected. “That had a purpose. Anyway, enough talk. Let’s go.”
Chapter 17
Our attack began. We had the element of surprise in our favor and it worked well for us. Nix and Bon spearheaded the assault, while Trix, Niama and Zen came in from the side. The Knarl were so busy with our friends that they didn’t notice our airborne division until too late. Bon was right about their abilities. Despite their surprise, the spiders were devastatingly quick on their feet – well, legs anyway. It ended up being a tough battle, but we managed to prevail without any major injuries to our side. The Knarl weren’t so fortunate, with Bon ruthlessly ensuring that none of them survived. As dispassionately as I could, I surveyed their broken bodies, imprinting their weak spots in my mind. If war was going to be the ultimate outcome of all this, then I wanted as much information about our potential enemies as possible to aid our cause.
“Well, that didn’t go so badly,” Nix observed. “They’re ferocious fighters, though. There was no hint of surrender. I don’t fancy facing a whole army of them.”
“Me either,” Trix agreed, fastidiously wiping her knife blade and putting it away. “Their speed was incredible!”
“We’d better keep going,” I advised. “These four may be advance scouts for others. Plus, there might be trouble when they don’t report back.”
“Good idea,” Bon concurred. “They always seem to travel in groups.”
“Let’s go then,” Rosewing instructed. “Looking at those things gives me the creeps.”
“You sounded just like your mother then,” I murmured, smiling a little. “She flies into a panic whenever she sees anything with more than two legs. Apart from Zen, of course.”
“That’s just being sensible,” Rosewing announced. “Things that scuttle around are capable of anything.”
We moved off, guided once more by Trix’s map. “It’s not far now,” she assured us. “We’re nearly there. Wherever ‘there’ is.”
‘There’ turned out to be a large ruined building that would have been impressive when it stood in one piece. The roof had fallen in, and one side collapsed but, apart from those faults, it remained substantially intact.
“Interesting,” Niama declared, gazing at the structure. “It looks a bit like a temple.”
“Don’t say that,” I rebuked. “In my experience, ancient temples are always full of traps and nasty surprises. For some reason, they never seem to want to welcome people coming in to steal stuff.”
“We’re not stealing!” Thorn objected. “We’re borrowing. And it’s all in a good cause. We’re trying to stop everyone being killed.”
“Whoever built this wouldn’t know that,” Nix commented, scanning the building. “And even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care,” he added, sourly.
“It’s no use just standing here,” Thorn proclaimed. “Let’s see what we can find.”
“Good thinking,” I praised. “Zen, front and centre!”
“Another human saying?” Niama whispered to Trix.
“He’s full of them,” she explained. “Just nod and smile.”
“Enough cheekiness, you impertinent snip!” I remonstrated. “Niama, don’t you have any control over her at all?”
“Are you kidding me?” he replied, shrugging in a defeated manner. “It’d take a lot more than me to do that.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I sympathised. “Her mother and I despair of being able to change the slightest aspect of her behaviour.” In answer, Trix poked out her tongue at us and turned to Zen.
“Let’s get away from these ragged ratbags, my darling,” she told him. “They don’t appreciate quality when they see it.” She pointed to the entrance. “Lead us to the blood stone, my clever boy. And be careful!”
Zen gave an understanding woof and trotted off. The rest of us followed, intently looking all around for traps and suchlike. Not that they could be seen by casual observance, anyway. After all, that would defeat their whole purpose. I mean, it’d be silly, wouldn’t it? It’d be like putting up a large sign saying: ‘The blood stone is here. Watch the traps. There’s one on the second flagstone, just after the
door. And don’t touch the wall two-thirds of the way along because there’s another one there as well. Have a nice day.’
Chapter 18
We hadn’t penetrated very far into the ruins before we came across an inscription, carved on a wall. I knew enough to recognise elf script when I saw it and its presence made me feel a whole lot better. The ancient elves didn’t use traps in their buildings. Not so far, anyway. I asked Trix for an interpretation.
“It’s nothing much,” she told me, scrutinising the writing. “It welcomes us and hopes we enjoy our stay.” Then she frowned. “There is a warning at the end, however.”
“What does it say?” Rosewing asked.
“Let’s see now,” Trix answered, running an enquiring finger along the dusty, chiselled letters. “It proclaims this is the site where the blood stone rests.”
“That’s great!” Niama exclaimed.
“But what about the warning?” Thorn wanted to know.
“It says to beware of touching the stone,” Trix announced. “It warns of serious danger in doing so.”
“Does it say what will happen?” Rosewing asked.
“No,” Trix answered, shaking her head. “The warning is fairly emphatic, though. Perhaps the blood stone is cursed or something?”
“Highly unlikely,” I interjected. “Anyway, there’s no such a thing as a curse.”
“That’s how much you know,” Nix grandly proclaimed. “For instance, just look at Thorn, here. She’s a curse if ever I’ve seen one.”
“You may be right,” Thorn meekly acquiesced. “I can be somewhat difficult to live with.”
“Stop doing that!” Nix objected. “You’re ruining the whole thing! You know perfectly well that’s not how it’s supposed to go. You’re confusing the hell out of me!”
“Then my work here is done,” Thorn smirked, patting Nix condescendingly on the cheek. “You can take over from here, Bon. He’s all yours now.”
“So that’s your little game,” Nix announced in satisfaction. “I knew it all along!”
“What did you know?” Thorn asked.
“Um, nothing really,” Nix admitted. “I didn’t have the faintest idea of what you were up to at all. In fact, I still don’t.”
“Of course you don’t,” Thorn announced smugly. “Face it, Nix, I’m much too smart for you. Anticipation is the worst part of any punishment, and you’ve been dreading my retaliation for days.”
“So, you never meant to do anything, did you?” Nix said ruefully. “You let me sweat on an imaginary prank that was never going to happen.”
“You’ve guessed it, O Gullible One,” Thorn gloated. “I loved seeing you cringe every time I came near, just waiting and waiting for me to do something to you.”
“You cunning cow!” Nix exclaimed, passionately. Then he calmed down. “Pretty good,” he grudgingly admitted. “I’ll have to give you top marks for that one. In fact, it was masterful.” He bowed respectfully to Thorn. “Don’t you go teaching Bon anything, you hear?” he whispered to her. “She sweet and lovable and I want her to stay that way, if you don’t mind.”
“Have you two maniacs finished?” I asked sarcastically.
“I think so,” Thorn remarked in a lofty manner. “Have we finished, Nix?”
“I believe so,” he replied. “Lead on, O Lustrous Leader.”
“What a pair of ratbags!” I muttered to myself. “It’s a marvel I can get anything done around here. Trix, tell Zen to keep going.”
“At once, my Courageous Captain,” she grinned.
“Don’t you start!” I groaned theatrically.
Zen continued our trek towards, hopefully, the aforementioned ruby. After a series of twisting passageways, we came upon a circular room, open to the outside elements. In the middle of this room stood an altar and on this altar, propped up on a small raised platform, we found the object of our search. It was a ruby and quite a large one at that. It sparkled and coruscated under the overhead lights. It was magnificent.
“Would you look at that!” Niama breathed in awe. “It’s enormous!”
“It’s quite a sight,” I agreed. “I’ve never seen a finer specimen.”
“Let’s just take it and get out of here,” Rosewing proposed. “There may be more of those spider things around.” She stepped forward with the intention of putting her words into action but I restrained her with a hasty hand on her arm.
“Not so fast, sweetheart,” I told her. “I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as all that.”
“What you mean?” she demanded, turning around in astonishment. “The blood stone is just sitting there and there’s nothing to stop us from taking it. What’s the problem?”
“The problem may be in its very availability,” I cautioned. “I can’t believe this precious jewel has simply been sitting here for the past thousand years, exposed to anyone who happened to wander into the building. Why hasn’t it been taken before? Doesn’t it strike you as being rather strange that it’s still here after all that time? I mean, it’s not as if it’s hidden or anything. It’s totally out in the open.”
“Okay, maybe it is a little odd,” Rosewing reluctantly agreed. “So, what’s your theory?” She glanced at me, cheekily. “I know you have one. You never seem to run out of them.”
“As it so happens, I do,” I stated, stiffly. “And don’t be so impertinent, young lady. I am your father, after all.”
“Technically speaking, you’re not,” Nix intervened. “The other Stephen is.”
“We’re the same person,” I pointed out. “The fact that we happen to be into different bodies is a minor point.”
“But legally significant,” Nix pontificated, grinning at me.
“Focus on the blood stone, people, if you don’t mind,” Thorn said, in exasperation. “Try not to be sidetracked by raving ratbags.”
“Ah, music to my ears,” Nix proclaimed. “Now that’s more like it! The Insult Queen is back. A typical pathetic comeback, however,” he sniffed condescendingly, “but not unexpected. After all, an ancient, creaky, overweight specimen like yourself probably can’t do any better.”
“Don’t!” I warned Thorn as she prepared to open her mouth to retaliate. “There’s no time.”
“We can’t just stand here forever,” Niama fretted. “Anyway, why can’t we just take the blood stone?”
“Because I’m the suspicious type,” I calmly replied. “It worries me that it’s still perched there, in plain sight. Trix’s ancestors may not have believed in traps, but they didn’t lack for cunning, and I’m sure they devised some devious little ploy to stop people from stealing their property. It’s just a matter of figuring out how they went about it. If we can.”
Chapter 19
I sat down in front of the altar and stared intently at the ruby and its immediate surroundings, examining it from every angle. I just knew there had to be a trick to it. I felt it in my bones.
“Well?” Rosewing asked, after a few minutes of enforced silence.
“Ah, the impatience of youth,” I sighed. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Do you see anything out of the ordinary?” I enquired. “Look at the stand that the ruby is on. Don’t you think its construction is a little peculiar?”
“The support holding it up appears to go into the altar itself,” Rosewing said slowly. “Now why would it do that?”
“Because it’s attached to something else,” Nix contributed thoughtfully. “Maybe some sort of a mechanism.”
“Very good!” I praised. “Now, what do you suppose this mechanism would do?”
“Who knows?” Nix shrugged. “It could do anything.”
“And how would it operate?” I asked, feeling very much like a teacher in front of a class of students.
“If we took off the weight of the blood stone,” Bon reflected, “I could see the supporting pillar rising upwards, triggering some sort of response.”
“Exactly!” I told her. “What happens after that is pure conjecture,
but I don’t think I want to be around to see it happen.”
“So, what do we do, then?” Rosewing questioned. “If we can’t touch the blood stone without initiating some sort of a trap, then how do we get hold of it?”
“We have to stop the support from rising,” I concluded. “I remember seeing a movie where the hero substituted a stone in place of a gem to prevent any movement.”
“What’s a movie?” Niama whispered to Trix.
“It’s some sort of weird human practice,” she explained. “Apparently they go into a darkened room, eat incredibly expensive, unhealthy food, and look at a series of pictures.”
“In the dark?” Niama asked in a puzzled voice. “How can they see in the dark? And why don’t they eat in their own homes?”
“I have no idea,” Trix said. “Maybe it’s some sort of a ritual.”
“A pretty strange one, if you ask me,” Niama muttered.
“Hush up, you two,” Rosewing commanded. “I want to find out how we’re going to remove the blood stone without starting something we’ll regret.”
“If everybody is ready,” I announced sternly, “I’ll tell you what I propose to do.”
“We’re listening, O Learned One,” Nix proclaimed, inclining his head submissively. “Enlighten us with your words of wisdom.”
“Stop being so stupid!” Thorn chided, punching Nix on the arm. “This is serious! For once in your life, try to be an adult.”
“Is that so?” Nix retaliated. “Well, let me tell you that you ……..” He stopped there, noticing my glare. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Carry on.”
“Thank you,” I said acidly. “If I may continue ……” I looked around and found a suitably heavy rock, approximately a little smaller than the ruby.“My plan is for Thorn and I to fly above the blood stone. She’ll take the ruby and I’ll replace it with this stone at exactly the same time. Hopefully, that will stop the support from rising. “
“Why fly?” Bon wanted to know. “Why not just walk up and do it?”
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