by M S C Barnes
living things to move either to or from them. Drífan is the force that impels, compels or repels and we happen to be in one of the most powerful sites. This site, Zach, is The Hurlers,” Mr West said.
A screech nearby made Seb start. Aiden let out a small scream.
“It’s an owl,” Miss West said, annoyed at how jumpy they were.
The sun had now completely gone and darkness surrounded them, other than the slither of a crescent moon and the few flamers on Aiden’s head. The night air was cold as winter.
Mr West murmured, “We are in the central Drífan and it is concerning you were brought here, Heath.”
“Weren’t the Hurlers people playing hurling who got turned to stone … didn’t you say that?” Zach asked.
“I did say that was the myth.” Mr West looked around nervously.
“We must leave.” Heath struggled to his feet. “We need to reopen the door.” Then he groaned, “I cannot. Seb, you’ll have to.”
The atmosphere among the group had become crisp as the air, the concern of the teachers palpable.
“Seb, the door!” Mr West urged him.
Seb lifted his hand and caught the moonlight on his palm. Then Heath, unsteady, stumbled, falling against him just as he was directing the light onto the stone beside them. The light hit the next stone along … and things got horrible.
Instead of revealing a door the standing stone sent out a resounding boom, so loud the earth beneath them shook. The sound wave spread out and struck the other stones in the circle which in turn all emitted their own loud boom in response. Weakened by the use of his energy again and overwhelmed by the deafening noise, Seb staggered towards the centre of the circle, covering his ears.
Miss West ran over and shouted into his face but her words were drowned out by noise. Mr West pointed towards a gap in the stones, flapping his hand in that direction. Mr White pulled Aiden to the gap and The Caretaker pushed Scarlet and Nat out of the circle too.
Miss West was still shouting at Seb but he couldn’t hear her. He took his hands off his ears but had to replace them immediately; the pain of the noise from each boom emitted from the stones was too much to bear.
Alice zoomed to him and shouted close to his ear, “Seb, we have to get out of this circle; they will come!”
Seb only just heard him. He took a couple of stumbling steps away from the middle of the circle, still holding his hands to his ears. Miss West, staff in one hand, began pulling Seb’s arm with the other, trying to tug him to the edge of the circle. Only then did he realise: every time his birthmark was exposed it flashed reflected moonbeams wildly around, lighting up the monoliths and causing each to send out a fresh thundering boom as it was struck.
He lowered his arm and closed his fingers, hoping there would be a sudden cessation of the noise. It wasn’t sudden but at least there were no new thunderous booms. The echoes of the previous sound waves still coursed around the circle and only gradually died down and then, as the vibrating of the noise through his body stopped, Seb noticed for the first time that his birthmark was throbbing.
Miss West dragged him towards a gap in the stones. To his right Mr West and Nat stared on; the fear on Nat’s face made Seb freeze. Mr West gesticulated wildly at him to keep moving. Now Alice and Dierne took hold of him and, lifting him, carried him towards the nearest gap, followed at a run by Zach and Miss West. And then the Dryads stopped abruptly, Seb dangling a few inches above the ground.
“We’re too late,” Alice sounded anxious.
“Hush!” Dierne rebuked him and they placed Seb back down.
Beyond the gap in the stones, a dark shape lurked. It padded forward on four silent feet, head lowered. Seb was vaguely aware of a distant sound, like the screeching of a flock of birds, but he couldn’t pay any attention to that noise, he was staring at the black figure that was only yards beyond the circle. In the weak moonlight its pelt gleamed and then it lifted its head and two glowing red eyes stared malevolently at him.
A movement to his left almost made Seb turn but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the monstrous shape in front of him.
Zach, behind Seb, mumbled to Miss West, “Another, left!” In a sudden leap he and Miss West darted either side of Seb, staffs drawn. Another figure, at impossible speed, swept in from the right and Seb realised The Caretaker had come to help.
The three Guardians enclosed Seb in a protective triangle, the Dryads hovering just above them. Seb glanced around. He counted three beasts, all with glowing red eyes, two panther-like creatures and one shaped like the giant black hound he had seen at Waulud’s Bank.
Forgetting his own fear he suddenly realised Aiden, Nat and Scarlet were all outside the circle with these beasts and he turned, trying to locate them. They all stood with Mr White and Mr West, staring helplessly as the beasts padded their way past the standing stones.
Seb felt weak.
“Alice, can’t you carry Seb out of here?” Zach said quietly. “I’m guessing it’s him they’re after.”
Alice answered as quietly, “Look up!”
The way he said it told Seb, before he even looked, that it wasn’t good news. He tilted his head upward. At first all he could see was darkness. Then he realised … darkness, no stars and every now and then just a fleeting glimpse of the moon. A mass of cloud had closed in above the stone circle. Seb’s mouth went dry – it wasn’t a covering of cloud, but a colony, a gathering, of thousands of bats! And the screeching he had heard before and ignored … was coming from that dense cloud of flapping, circling things.
“Not up!” Alice said.
“No!” Zach agreed.
As the last echoes from the stones died out the circle became quiet. The screeching stopped. The only sounds now were the breathing of Seb and his protectors and the faint whoosh and flap of the bats above.
The Attack
Seb stared up at the sky. The cloud of bats was getting denser by the second as more joined the throng from every direction. The view on the ground wasn’t much better; another hellhound had arrived and the four red-eyed monsters stood glowering at him.
As the Guardians edged back, with Seb sheltered between them, the gytrash moved forward, letting out the occasional hiss or growl, but they did not attack.
“What do we do?” Seb whispered, shuffling further away from the edge of the circle.
“They wait. So we wait,” Miss West answered.
“What, wait while more arrive?” Zach was annoyed.
That’s a good point! Seb glanced around the stone circle to see if there were any more red eyes heading their way. He couldn’t see anything but inky blackness beyond the standing stones. He could no longer see Mr West, Nat or Scarlet, or even Aiden with his flamer halo.
“Where’s Heath?” he whispered. He hadn’t noticed what Heath had done when the thunderous drumbeats had started but he hoped he was with Mr White, trying to open a door.
Miss West and The Caretaker said nothing, focusing on the gytrash who pawed the ground and growled at them as if impatient for a fight.
“What are they waiting for?” Seb was finding the tension unbearable. He moved backwards.
There was a shout from the darkness; Mr West’s reedy voice, “Seb, stay clear of the central stone.”
Seb strained his eyesight, trying to see the middle of the circle. There was no tall monolith that he could see. As the nearest hound growled he moved further back.
“Seb, do as my brother says!” Miss West barked.
“But— ”
“Greg knows what he is talking about. He has never been wrong. Move away,” she snapped but the gytrash moved closer, forcing them back towards the middle. Suddenly, for just a second, a beam of light shone onto the ground in the centre of the circle. It lasted long enough for Seb to see that there was a stone, an inlaid, mottled stone, overgrown by clumps of grass and moss. The ground around it shimmered with little pinpoint sparkles, as if the sandy earth was filled with millions of gems
– and then the light was gone. Seb had no idea where it had come from.
There was a grinding sound, accompanied by howls from the gytrash and screeching from the cloud of bats above. The stone began to rise, the grinding getting louder as it broke free of the soil. As it rose the square top gave way to mirrored slanting sides and the sandy soil, teeming with crystals, fell away. The four-sided pyramid came to a stop, its square peak fifteen feet above the ground.
Seb’s hand was still throbbing and the growling and snarling of the beasts nearby had become ferocious when, as if in response to an unseen signal, they all leapt towards the Guardians. At the same time the cloud of bats rushed downward, streaming towards Seb.
The Guardians sprang into action. There was a flurry of staff-spinning, leaping, kicks, strikes and body blows as they fought with the panther and hound-like gytrash. Above Seb’s head Dierne and Alice flitted and spun a web of trails so dense the bats could not penetrate it. Time and again Seb, cowering below the cover of it, heard the squeal as another bat dive-bombed it. None managed to break through.
He felt pathetic, crouching on the dirt as people and Dryads fought to protect him. Was he worth all that? He wondered why Heath wasn’t helping. It was a fleeting thought, interrupted by a more forceful thud as another bat struck the mesh above him.
Shrouded in darkness he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. He curled into a ball, trying not to be trampled by the feet of the Guardians or the paws of the gytrash as they skirmished