by Phil Maxey
She handed it to Darren. “Well I didn’t know!”
She sighed, and they both stood looking at the half-eagle, half-lion as it looked back at them from inside the dark cage.
CHAPTER 33
The four-wheel drive car rode steadily along the road, surrounded by subtle hills covered in a blanket of thick snow. Sparrow, Justin, Jax, and Eden had hit the road an hour before and as it got to noon, they were still some hours away from their destination.
“So, Glastonbury used to be Arnold Ambrose’s sanctuary?” asked Justin.
“And mine,” said Jax, while driving. “Still is.”
Something didn’t add up in Justin’s mind, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.
Jax smiled. “You’re trying to work out how one house has two custodians?” he said over his shoulder to Justin in the backseat.
“Yeah.”
“At the end of the war of the rings, the houses of Bors and Kay where disbanded. The ring belonging to the house of Bors was lost, but the Kay ring, that was found and given to the house of Merlin, so we have two rings. I’ve got one—” he moved his fingers around on the steering wheel. “—And Arnold had the other, but who knows where that is now.”
“I thought the rings were suited to each house?”
“Only in design, but usually a custodian can wear any of them, unless the custodian is also ordained, then it’s…complicated,” said Sparrow.
“Custodians can also wear more than one, but it’s not advised,” said Jax.
“Why’s that?”
“The rings were created in the first place so the power of the sword would not be concentrated in one place. Bringing the rings back together, will have the same effect of having the sword,” said Sparrow.
“Makes you go crazy,” said Eden with her eyes still closed, sitting next to Justin. “How much further to the sanctuary?”
“Two, three hours,” said Jax.
“Are we hanging around to clean up the mess or moving onto the Welsh Sanctuary?”
“We don’t know if it has been compromised,” said Sparrow.
“Och! It probably has.”
Silence descended again on the habitants of the car as frosted trees and hedgerows flew past.
Almost an hour later sparrow noticed something far off on the road they were on. “What is that up ahead?”
Jax slowed as it looked like there was wreckage blocking their route.
Sparrow noticed Jax looked agitated. “Everything alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Eden leaned forwards between the front seats. “Looks like there had been some accidents.”
The closer they got to the broken cars and trucks the more it looked like a small battle had been fought on this patch of road, and whoever was driving the vehicles had lost.
Jax slowed down to a crawl.
Broken cars and trucks sat at angles in nearby ditches and scattered across all lanes.
“We should stop, there might be people still inside these vehicles,” said Sparrow.
Jax sighed and stopped the car. Sparrow, Eden, and Justin got out.
Justin ran to the closest car. A red saloon, which was on its side. Inside he found blood, but no bodies.
Eden walked to the next, and stepped up onto the door seal of a huge truck, which was lying at an angle in the nearby ditch, with its driver’s door swung back and the windscreen almost completely smashed. “There’s blood here, but no person.”
“We shouldn’t stay here for long, the nescients could show up,” shouted Jax standing near his driver’s door.
Sparrow, Eden, and Justin ran between the other smashed vehicles, but they were all empty.
Eden frowned. “Strange how this part of the road has been where all these vehicles crashed.” She looked around her at the road which was particularly straight and level.
“Who knows, maybe the weather just turned worse or something, we need to get going,” said Jax, slapping his hands together to keep warm.
Eden started walking back to their car. “Yeah, hold your horses, I’m coming.” Sparrow and Justin followed and they all got back in. Jax started the engine, and drove carefully around the metal obstructions in front of them.
After a short while, the snow began to fall again and Justin thought he saw something out the corner of his eye in amongst the tree’s off the road.
“What is it?” said Eden.
“Thought I saw movement in the tree’s, but it must have just been the wind or snow or something.” It was then he noticed, the vertical mounds of snow and stone. “I think that’s Stonehenge over there,” said Justin.
“One of the grand portals, although that particular one was destroyed during the war of the rings,” said Eden.
“What?” asked Justin.
Jax had continued looking agitated, but beat Sparrow to answering Justin’s question. “There are a number of places across the land, where magical energy is at its highest point. The stone circles were built to maximize that energy, forming links between dimensions and other places. Stonehenge was one of the grand portals, and there are also lesser portals.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Grand portals can stay open for prolonged periods of time, hours even. Lesser portals are one shot deals, once someone travels through, the portal will be useless for months, maybe even years.”
“Most of the grand portals were destroyed during the war. Part of the job of the houses is to control access to those portals that are left,” said Sparrow.
“Other dimensions, right …” Justin breathed in heavily.
Sparrow smiled, looking back at him. “You’ll get used to it all.”
“Or you’ll go crazy,” said Jax.
Sparrow frowned.
CHAPTER 34
Kat had spent the last few hours feeding Hack tinned meat pies from the pantry, while Darren continued to be obsessed with the sparkle in the glass box.
“I’m not sure feeding these pies to Hack was part of what my grandfather had planned when he had them delivered here, but Hack seems to like them.”
“Yeah,” said Darren, following the little yellow-white sparkle float around the air inside the box.
“It’s probably not healthy to be staring at that thing for hours, maybe that’s part of its magic, it puts a spell on you or something.”
Darren sneered. “I’m fine.” He looked back at the box with a smile. “You’ll do me no harm will you little guy?”
Kat sighed, quietly getting to her feet and walking to Darren. “Right, he’s gone to sleep or whatever Griffins do with their eyes closed. I’ve been thinking I’m going to try to go back upstairs and see what’s what. We have been down here for two days, we need to know what’s going on upstairs in the shop. I’m not being held prisoner any longer.”
“Yup,” said Darren, continuing to stare.
Kat rolled her eyes and dragged him by the arm out of the room.
“OK, I’m coming, no need to be all clingy.”
As they moved into the main room, she continued moving until she stood near a large locked display glass cabinet, containing an assortment of objects and weapons.
“This cabinet is locked, but it has the same hole as the main entrance door did, in other words I can open it with the ring.” She held up her hand.
“OK?”
“So, I’m thinking these are like magical things, that we can use, maybe even against the things that might still be upstairs.” She went to insert the top of the ring into the hole.
“Hey hold on. We don’t know what those things do, maybe they are locked away because they are dangerous?”
She turned her hand slightly, and the cabinet door opened. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
She grabbed the first thing which looked like it would be the most effective, a silver metallic short sword with an ornate guard. She waved it through the air. “This looks like it would do some damage,” she said, swishing it left and right.
>
Darren stepped closer and went to reach in.
“No, no, let me try them out first.”
Darren frowned. “Why do only you get to play with the magic toys?”
“Because my grandfather was a wizard, which makes me er … the granddaughter of a wizard. Which means maybe these things are just for wizards, or something.”
Darren sat on the nearby chair. “Fine.”
Kat went to put the short sword down, but couldn’t. “That’s weird.”
“What is?”
She tried dropping it, but her hand refused to let go of the grip. “I can’t let go of it.”
“Ha! Now you have a sword stuck to your arm! So much for being little Miss Wizard.”
She scrunched her face up, and tried using her other hand to pull it loose, but it was held tight in her hand. “I’m serious, I can’t get it off!” Putting all her effort into it, she pulled as hard as she could, when her left hand slid to the side catching the edge of the sword, and slicing her finger slightly. “Oww.”
A small amount of blood trickled down the blade and immediately disappeared into it. Her hand felt loose and she dropped the sword onto the rug she was standing on.
She licked the blood of her finger, and looked down at the sword.
Darren looked down as well. “OK, that was weird.”
“I think my blood made the sword let me go.” She looked back up at the other items in the cabinet. “Maybe we find out what these are before we mess with them.”
“Yes, that’s what I was saying. Umm, how are we getting the sword put back?”
Kat walked over to the fire, and picked up the tongs and used them carefully to put the sword back inside the cabinet. She then closed it back up.
Darren looked around him. “Maybe there’s a manual or something.”
She started putting her boots, scarf, and coat on. “You need to stay here. If something happens to me, maybe try to use the tunnel way to get out.”
Darren stood up. “I’m not letting you go alone.”
Kat’s eyes were full of emotion. “Darren, you have to stay here, if there is something upstairs still, there’s no point letting it get both of us. I’ll go to the top of the main stairs, look in the shop and the flat, then come right back, OK? Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes, tops.”
“OK, but if you’re not back in ten minutes, then what?”
“Don’t come looking for me. Maybe wait until tomorrow, then try to leave with Chip.”
“And go where? We could be surrounded by zombies!”
“I don’t know!” Her words came out with more force than she had planned. He sat back down. “Look, I’m making this up as I go. I’ll be back,” She leant down ruffling up Chip’s fur. “I’ll be right back, OK?” she said to her canine friend, then walked to the main door. Darren followed.
She put her ear to the deep brown wood and listened. There were no noises on the other side. She then put her ring into the centre of the symbol on the door, and pulled the large handle down. The door heaved and opened towards her. The torches were already burning, and the small stone hallway outside was empty.
Creeping outside, she looked up into the gloom at the top of the steps. Darren and Chip were standing in the doorway.
“I’ll be OK, go back in and shut the door,” she whispered at them.
Darren looked worried, but he did as asked, and soon she was alone with only the silence above her for company.
CHAPTER 35
As the sun headed towards the horizon, the snow-covered hills increased in size and buildings appeared closer to the road. As they approached the outskirts of Glastonbury more vehicles could be seen abandoned on the side of the road, but these were whole, not smashed like the ones they had seen previously.
“Seems pretty quiet around here,” said Justin.
Eden touched her ring.
“There’s magic nearby,” said Sparrow, doing the same. “Anyone else feeling it?”
“I am,” said Eden.
“That could just be because we are close to the sanctuary—” Jax looked left and right. “I’m not seeing the legions of the undead.”
Sparrow looked pensive. “My ring’s telling me otherwise, we should continue slowly.”
“You can sense the Draugr?” said Justin.
“Not specifically, just magic in general when we are close to it,” said Sparrow. “I hope Jax is right.”
They drove closer to the town.
“Not far now, just a few more—” Jax stopped talking, as everyone was looking at what was once suburban houses were now heaps of rubble, covered in snow.
Eden put her hand on her scabbard, while Sparrow brought forwards her bow.
“You still don’t think there is any dark magic here?” said Sparrow to Jax.
Until now Justin’s old world and the new one he had been introduced to had kept their distance, but seeing the destruction around him as they drove closer to the centre of town, brought them crashing together, making him feel light headed. “I thought the bad guys, didn’t mess with—” he knew the term his friends in the car used was ‘nescients’ but he couldn’t bring himself to call them that. “—Real people?”
Sparrow went to reply, when she was stopped by what everyone was looking at. In the sky above the town, large shadows swooped and flapped. Jax skidded the car to a stop.
“What the hell are they?” said Justin, trying to disguise the panic in his voice.
“A demon, hard to say which from this distance,” said Eden. “Not something we want to mess with.”
Coming from Eden the description made Justin even more worried.
“Look!” said Sparrow.
Up ahead on the road, just visible between the fading light and the flickers of snow falling, five large figures strode across their route, seemingly oblivious to the onlookers.
Eden sighed. “Cave trolls. Looks like whoever is behind this is bringing out the big guns.”
“OK, what do we do?” said Justin.
“The bad news is we aren’t fighting our way in there—”
Before she could finish Jax started talking. “—The good news is the sanctuary must still be safe, otherwise they wouldn’t be trying this hard to break in. Ha, you have to give it to Arnold, he definitely knew how to ward a sanctuary.” The last part he said more to himself than the others around him.
“Should we tell the others in London, before we go any further?” said Justin.
“It would take too long to communicate with them, and using one of these—” Jax held up his phone. The screen clearly displayed the words, ‘No Signal’, “—won’t get us anywhere. They must be using magic to hide what’s going on here, otherwise the nescients would be here in force. No, we’re on our own with this.”
“We better gear up,” said Eden, opening the rear door, and stepping out into the chilled evening air. The others did the same, apart from Justin who sat, not wanting to move.
Sparrow ducked back in. “We need to go and you need to wear some armour, and get your sword.”
I’m not ready for this. He didn’t want to move. Over the past few days, he had almost convinced himself that the battle he played a part in days earlier, was something which had happened in some far away magical land, not something that would happen in the ‘real world’. This time it was different.
“I don’t know if I can do this, maybe it’s better if I stay in the car.”
Sparrow sat on the seat. “I know it’s hard, but you’re one of us now. This is what we do, and even though you have been dropped into a really bad situation, I know you’ll come out of it OK. And anyway, you have me protecting you.” She smiled.
He took in a deep breath. He still didn’t feel ready, but he didn’t want to look like a complete coward in front of her. “OK.” He got out and went around to the back, where the other two had already put on some armour, and Eden had her sword and a smaller axe. Even Jax had a sword.
Sparrow quickly put on some arm
our, and picked up two quivers of arrows, which she slung over her back.
Justin looked into the back of the car and shook his head. The fact that he was trying to decide what medieval weapon to use to try to not get killed by large flying man-bats or to be stomped to death by a troll threatened what little grip he had left on his reality. He grabbed some light armour, putting it on quickly with Sparrow’s help, a sword, and a small mallet which he slid into his belt.
Eden looked at him incredulously. “Why yer taking that?”
“Not sure, might come in handy.”
She laughed. “If you’re doing some demolition work!” She patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
Sparrow looked to the distance to where they saw the trolls. “We should probably go another way to the sanctuary, and stay off this road.”
“We won’t need to go in the front way. I know another way in,” said Jax as he led them across the road and down a small pathway shielded by trees.
CHAPTER 36
Kat peered through the curtains at the back of the hallway that looked out onto the yard. The back gate was open and through it she could see shadows of figures moving in the gloom of the failing sunlight. It had taken her twenty minutes to build up the courage to eventually open the door at the top of the stone steps and move out into the narrow hallway. Hearing nothing, she moved into the shop area, and had been aghast at the carnage of paper and binding that was around her. Her grandfather’s bookshop had been ransacked. Piles of torn books lay at her feet, and most of the shelves had been broken and smashed. She didn’t want to move upstairs into the flat, but she forced herself up the stairs. Luckily the rooms above the shop had been left alone, with only the drawers and cupboards left open.
She was going to return straight back down to the sanctuary beneath her, but she needed to know what was stalking them. She crouched against the back door in the hallway, watching through the curtains and hoping to catch a glimpse of what was beyond the shadows.