Charlie knew that she should rise above any tit-for-tat, but somehow she couldn’t quite help herself. Sauntering over to Constantina, she bent close. ‘Well, hey there, “buttercup”. Is it just me or is there a new champion in town?’
Constantina squawked, blushed a bright red and fled. Lady Narcissa, sitting in the stands, grabbed the rail running round the arena with white-knuckled hands. Her face twisted into a bitter grimace of frustration.
Charlie laughed aloud. It felt good to win. The pendant was hers!
She raised her blazing hands for silence and the crowd, so sneering towards her before, was now only too willing to oblige their new champion.
‘Sylvaris! Sylvaris! Who’s your champion now?’
‘Charlie! Charlie Keeper!’ roared the adoring crowd.
‘And do you accept that the pendant is mine?’
‘Yes!’ shouted the jubilant spectators.
‘Good! Then hear this: I will use it to the best of my ability for the good of this land. I intend to defeat Bane, the Western Menace. Do you support me in this action?’
‘Yes!’
‘Well, know this,’ cried Charlie, and pointed across the stands to Lady Narcissa. ‘That woman is an agent of Bane’s. She hides behind a false face and weaves a web of lies across this city. She has sneaked Shades into Sylvaris and it was at her command that Azariah Keeper was killed. Will you allow her to continue her wicked ways?’
‘No!’ growled the angered crowd, as people began to murmur about the accusations.
Lady Narcissa stood up and attempted to protest her innocence, but the crowd wasn’t in the mood to listen. People rose from their seats. Reaching forward, they lunged for the councillor. Stix and Stones hastily knocked back the hands that grabbed for their mother, but the sheer weight of numbers was overwhelming and soon there were simply too many to fend off at once. The Delightful Brothers drew their weapons and growled menacingly, but the crowd answered back by throwing half-eaten buns, sticky bags of sweets, items of clothing and bottles of iced Chocolate Fuzz. Stix and Stones cowered to avoid getting bombarded as the situation rapidly spiralled out of control.
A sudden fluttering of wings caused people to look up in wonder as a vast wave of crows flocked into the arena. They swooped down into the stands and clutched Lady Narcissa in their talons. Twittering and cawing, the birds retreated into the night sky, heading towards the Ivory Tower with Narcissa safely in their grasp.
Stix and Stones gaped in astonishment as their mother dwindled in the distance. They stared at one another, then looked back to all the angry faces glaring down at them.
‘Hey, Delightful Sisters!’ Jensen yelled out. ‘It looks like ya’ve been left behind. Wot’s the matter, doesn’t yer momma love ya?’
The Delightful Brothers fixed Jensen with their mean yellow eyes.
‘Ooh! Wot a scary look! Why, I’m quivering in me boots!’ Jensen chuckled sarcastically. ‘Now then, if I were ya I’d scram before the people of Sylvaris decide ta ask wot yer part was in all dis.’
Stix and Stones hesitated as they stared at the angry, shouting mob and nervously licked their lips. Then they turned tail and scampered, a barrage of missiles landing in their wake.
‘Ha!’ roared Kelko with a joyful grin, slapping his belly.
Jensen turned towards the arena. ‘Did ya see that, lass?’ he asked, searching for Charlie. ‘Did ya – Hey, where’d she go?’
Kelko turned too, to see that the place where Charlie had been standing just moments before was now empty.
61
The Face-off
Charlie sprinted through the partying streets of Sylvaris. Dodging joyful Tremen, skipping past dancing Stomen and sidestepping merry and laughing Humans, she leaped from bridge to bridge, determined to confront both Lady Narcissa and Mr Crow. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was doing this, or even what she was going to say when she reached the black-hearted pair. All she knew was that she had a burning need to make certain that the two of them didn’t get away scot-free with murdering Azariah. She would bring them to justice. She would.
The Ivory Tower, so bright and wonderful in the daytime, was completely different by night. With the full moon shining behind it, it looked dark and menacing, like a sword carving up into the heavens. Charlie could just about make out the fluttering ribbon of birds streaming through the sky ahead of her. Spiralling downward, the crows passed through a large open window and into the tower. And just before the birds were swallowed by the shadows, she caught a glimpse of Narcissa’s lily-white dress fluttering in the wind as she was carried to safety.
Charlie put her head down and ran faster, tearing along the boulevards and walkways. She finally slowed to a halt as she approached the Ivory Tower’s drawbridge. It was ram-packed with bloodthirsty and ferocious-looking Alavisian Watchmen. They all wore their cruel, spiked armour and all of them had their swords drawn.
‘You may not pass, little girl,’ snarled the captain. His large moustache quivered with arrogance. ‘And if you know what’s good for you I’d strongly suggest that you turn around, go back to the home and get on with your homework.’
Charlie threw them her infamous smile and calmly walked forward.
‘I’m warning you, girlie. Don’t come any closer or I’ll have my men cut off your arms and turn the rest of you into mincemeat.’
Charlie stepped on to the drawbridge and slowly raised her flaming hands.
‘Right, you horrible little girl, you had your warning! Lads, rip her apart!’
The Alavisian Watchmen bellowed ferocious war cries and sprang forward. Sprinting down the drawbridge, they raised their swords over their heads and screamed out their defiance. Charlie boldly stepped up to meet them. Thrusting her clenched fists forward in a violent motion, she knocked all the approaching guards off their feet with a gushing torrent of liquid light. With her Will rampaging through her body, she pushed her way forward, slapping, beating and kicking the guards aside like a gardener brushing past weeds and nettles. She saved the preening, self-important captain for last. Knocking him from his feet with a flurry of blows, she stepped up to him. ‘I’m sorry, what was that line about mincemeat?’
‘Uh-uh-uh …’ stuttered the captain.
‘I didn’t catch that last bit. Could you say it again?’
‘Uh-uh-uh …’ he repeated.
‘Aah, I thought that was what you said,’ said Charlie with a somewhat naughty and impish smile. ‘Well, if you don’t object I’d like to go on in. I really do need the chance to have a quiet word with Lady Narcissa. You know, catch up on old news and gossip. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Uh-uh-uh … p-p-please be my guest,’ stammered the captain. His eyes rolled wildly in his head.
‘Thank you.’
With a casual flick of her wrist, Charlie sent the captain flying to join the large pile of groaning and unconscious Watchmen stacked high across the drawbridge.
Once inside the tower, she trotted from room to room, calling out as she did so, ‘Oh, Narcissa! Lady Narcissa! Where are you? Come out, come out, wherever you are!’
Jogging up and down marble staircases, along deserted corridors and through still and silent rooms, she passed deeper into the tower.
‘Aren’t you getting bored with hiding, Narcissa?’ Charlie sang out as she passed into the Great Dining Hall. ‘Don’t you want to come out and play?’
‘I’m over here, brat!’ spat a hissing voice.
Charlie spun around to see Lady Narcissa standing at the far end of the room surrounded by a horde of very angry-looking guardsmen. Charlie throbbed with righteous anger. Her mind simmered and smouldered with the need to see justice done. With the powerful, rolling force of her Will tumbling around inside her soul, she ignored the guards as nothing more than pesky distractions and focused purely on Lady Narcissa.
‘I want you to give yourself up and come with me to the Jade Circle,’ said Charlie in a voice that rumbled with the promise of lightning and thunder. ‘
Justice must be done.’
The Great Dining Hall fell silent as Lady Narcissa and her guards considered her words … then fell about laughing.
‘What!’ cried Charlie, stamping her foot to illustrate her determination. ‘I mean it! I want you to give yourself up and come with me. You can’t get away with all that you’ve done.’
The guardsmen held on to each other and wiped tears of laughter from their eyes. Narcissa chuckled for a bit longer, then focused her cold eyes on the young Keeper.
‘Foolish girl, did you think that I would come with you that easily? And if I was stupid enough to follow your request, do you honestly think that the Jade Circle would be able to hold me? With Azariah Keeper out of the way, I own half the Jade Circle. They won’t punish me, they will welcome me with open arms! This city is all but mine for the taking. I promise you this, Charlie Keeper, Sylvaris shall fall beneath Bane’s fist.’
‘Oh yeah? Well, you’ve got to get past me first!’ hollered Charlie, and held up a blazing fist to show just how powerful she had become.
‘Oh, has the little brat found her Will?’ said Narcissa with a leering grin. ‘You impudent, silly little child, how could you be so stupid as to think that I wouldn’t have taken your powers into consideration? I have planned for every eventuality! My servants will make short work of you and when they are done I will send you broken and helpless to Bane, who will take your pendant and reward me so very, very well for my labours.’
Charlie crossed her arms and sneered dismissively at the ring of armoured guardsmen that circled Lady Narcissa. ‘What? You think that those weasels dressed in tinfoil can defeat me? I don’t think so.’
‘Not enough for you? Well, how about these?’ Narcissa waved lazily at a dark corner of the Great Dining Hall. A sibilant hissing oozed its way across the room to reach Charlie’s ears. Rustling and mewling, the darkness uncoiled itself to reveal a living carpet of Shades. ‘And, of course, if those aren’t enough to satisfy you, I have the latest addition to my household guards. I’m sure I don’t need to introduce him to you.’
Crow stepped out from behind a column to stand by Narcissa’s side. He rubbed his quivering nose and grinned nastily at Charlie. ‘Hello, my little filly, my pretty, pretty filly. Are you ready to play?’
62
Battle Royal
‘So where’d she go?’ said Jensen.
‘Bless me Leaf, I don’t know!’
‘Well, we’ve gotta do something! We can’t just let her wander off like that. She’ll get in trouble, I just know she will,’ said Jensen with a look of anguish fluttering across his face. ‘Wot are we gonna do?’
‘Sic Boy!’
‘Wot?’
‘Yeah, Sic Boy’ll do it for us! Won’t ya, lad?’ Kelko scratched at Sic Boy’s huge head. ‘Who’s a good boy, then?’
‘Wot are ya going on about?’
‘Her scent! He can pick up her scent and track her down!’
Jensen nodded, his green skin glowing in the light from the Colosseum’s torches. ‘Yer right!’
Moving quickly, the two Tremen led Sic Boy down into the arena, where the discarded Zephyr lay abandoned on the ground. Charlie’s towel was on a hook at the side of the playing area. ‘Sic Boy, now listen ta me,’ said Kelko, taking the towel and holding it to the big dog’s nose. ‘Ya know Charlie, don’t ya, boy? Charlie?’ The giant dog’s ears pricked up at the sound of her name. ‘We got ta find her. Find Charlie, boy. C’mon, find Charlie.’
Sic Boy sniffed at the towel, then at the ground where the Silent Duel had taken place. With his nose to the ground, his hulking body took off in the direction of one of the gates. Smiling to each other, Kelko and Jensen raced after him.
Charlie dodged a dagger, evaded a snarling bite from a frenzied Shade and only just managed to duck beneath a large table that Crow had venomously thrown from across the room. Her predicament was getting dangerously out of hand.
Skipping over an upturned chair, Charlie vaulted over the back of a guardsman who had bent to retrieve his sword, leaped on to the mantelpiece and from there somersaulted on to a large dining table.
‘Get her, you scabs!’ shrieked Lady Narcissa. ‘A thousand gold pieces to the man who catches that little minx!’
Mr Crow stood beside her as they both watched on, observing the guards attempt to grab the young Keeper.
Charlie groaned. She couldn’t believe what an impossible mess she’d made of things. How could she have been so stupid? She needed to get out of here. She needed to get somewhere where the Shades and guardsmen couldn’t overwhelm her with their sheer weight of numbers. Focusing her Will, she bowled over three guardsmen with her gleaming fists, leaped over a spitting and hissing Shade and sprinted for the doorway. Scrambling through the massive double doors, she scuttled around a corner, then dashed up the nearest flight of stairs. The Shades and the guards swiftly gave chase as she raced, helter-skelter, for the rooftop. Reaching the tower’s summit, she spun around to face the oncoming tide as her attackers howled up the last flight of stairs.
Charlie grinned and released her Will. A thick wall of golden light blossomed across the stairs. It crackled and hummed, and even though the guards struck at it with their swords and the Shades lashed at it with their shadowy claws, it refused to break. Their way was barred. Charlie smiled in relief. Finally she’d created a moment’s respite in which she could plan her next move.
So deeply was she concentrating that she failed to notice the long line of birds appearing over the side of the rooftop in a flutter of black wings. Mr Crow silently tiptoed out of the sudden merging of feathers and sneaked forward.
‘Hello, my pretty!’ he screamed into her ear.
Lashing out with a hand, he knocked her to the ground. Immediately Charlie’s barrier of golden light collapsed into nothing, allowing the Shades and guards to rush, hollering and screaming, on to the roof.
‘Well, my filly,’ continued Mr Crow as he cruelly stamped on Charlie’s fingers. ‘I believe that the time has finally come for you to pay the piper.’
Dazed and slightly concussed, Charlie crawled away on shaky hands and knees until she reached the very edge of the roof. Flopping on to her back, exhausted and terrified, she faced her doom.
‘Well, I don’t know about you,’ said a new but familiar voice right by her ear, ‘but I’m getting a real sense of déjà vu!’
‘Cor!’ said Kelko. ‘Will ya look at all dis mess. How d’ya think that happened?’
‘What d’ya think, ya silly excuse for a Treman,’ said Jensen as they slipped past the mountain of groaning Alavisian Watchmen lying upon the drawbridge. ‘Charlie must have happened, ya flea-brained numbskull! I’d say she’s really come ta grips with her Will.’
‘Burn me Sap! Ya think she did all of dis?’ muttered Kelko as he tried to wedge his stomach between two piles of unconscious bodies. ‘Hhmpf, we might as well turn around and go on home. Someone who can cause dis much damage clearly ain’t gonna need any help from us.’
‘Wot, are ya mad? That weird Ravenman or wotever ya call him … er, Crowman is in there! Not ta mention the fact there’s probably a whole legion of Shades and other nasties hidden inside with Lady Narcissa. We’ve gotta go in and help her. If she ain’t managed ta get herself inta trouble by now, I can almost guarantee that she’ll be in trouble before the night’s end. So suck in that big tummy of yers and let’s get going!’
Wheezing and puffing, Kelko squeezed his way forward to follow Sic Boy and Jensen into the Ivory Tower.
‘Nibbler!’
‘Well, who else did you think it would be?’
‘What … I didn’t think it would … oh, never mind!’ said Charlie. ‘Just keep them off me, OK!’
‘No problem,’ replied the small dragon. Opening his mouth wide, he released a rippling jet of flame. The Shades and guards jumped for cover. ‘Wow, I never thought I’d go through all this again, but y’know what? It’s still fun!’
Charlie rolled her eyes. Here s
he was almost half beaten to death, chased by just about every single bad guy in Sylvaris, and Nibbler thought it was ‘fun’? She wanted to scream in frustration.
‘So tell me,’ continued Nibbler, ‘how come you’re back up here anyway?’
‘They killed Azariah!’
Nibbler’s wave of flames disappeared in a puff of black smoke. ‘They what?’
‘Yes, you heard me. Him,’ said Charlie, and pointed at Mr Crow. ‘And her.’ She pointed at Lady Narcissa, who had just that second appeared on the roof. ‘They killed Azariah. They’re murderers!’
Nibbler growled deep and low, then, roaring out his defiance, he sent a massive explosion of fiery waves bursting across the rooftop. ‘Let’s get them.’
‘That’s what I was trying to do,’ explained Charlie. ‘But with all of them together, they’re too strong.’
‘Well, let’s even the numbers up a little, shall we?’ snarled Nibbler.
Leaping into the air, he flew towards Crow. The lawyer squeaked in surprise. Jumping up to meet the young dragon, he burst apart into a hundred black crows. Nibbler and the birds came together like a clap of thunder. Snarling and hooting, clawing and snapping, the two mighty adversaries tumbled out of sight.
Which left just Charlie with everyone else.
She clambered to her feet and, slipping into a K’Changa stance, danced from foe to foe, kicking and punching, pushing and pulling. Golden flaming hands glowing with power knocked back guard after guard and Shade after Shade. But the odds were still too high: she wasn’t going to win this. More and more reinforcements flowed up the stairs to join Narcissa’s troops and no matter how many Charlie defeated another two would spring up in their place.
Suddenly the reinforcements stopped coming and seconds later screams and shrieks of surprise began to echo out from the stairwell. It was Kelko and Jensen! They burst on to the rooftop, each brandishing a stolen sword. Rushing forward, they attacked Charlie’s assailants. Moments later they were joined by Sic Boy. Howling and barking, the massive dog tore through the ranks of Shades like a hot knife through butter.
Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) Page 30