01 Wing Warrior (23 page)

‘Well,’ Cloud said, deftly manoeuvring Onyx around a log in the road, ‘Time was the next to be born. He could breathe a cold vapour that froze anything it touched. And then there was Hurricane, who could breathe gale force winds, strong enough to rip trees out by the roots or knock down castles.

‘The last dragon was Snake, who was killed before she was old enough to grow her wings. Had she lived, she would have learned to bring the dead back to life just as Earth could, but as it was, she could only heal that which was injured. A great power in its own right, but one stunted before it could fully develop.’ Cloud blinked a rogue tear from his eye. ‘I have always believed that if she had survived, she would have learned to do that which Earth could not.’

‘Bring back dead people?’ Tidal said.

‘We will never know now. The evil of Sorrow has seen to that.’

Glass counted on her fingers, her brow creased with concentration. ‘Eleven,’ she said. ‘That’s eleven children, and Mother makes twelve dragons in total.’

‘Correct.’

‘So what power did Mother have?’

‘Can’t you guess? She had the ability to create new life. New dragons.’

‘So they all came from Mother?’

‘All of them except Sorrow. Sorrow wasn’t hatched in any of the known lands, she just appeared one day, and the world was never the same again. She destroyed everything.’

Glass leaned against Sky and closed her eyes. ‘I think it’s sad,’ she said. ‘All those dragons, and then they’re just gone, like they were never there at all.’

‘But where did the Wing Warriors come from?’ Tidal said. ‘The dragons were wild, right? Not pets?’

‘Yes, in the beginning the dragons, all except Mother, were wild and unruly, like spoiled children. They fought among themselves, much like Nimbus and Glass have done in the past, and just like all brothers and sisters do. They raged across the sky in multicoloured flurries of wings and teeth and claws. They destroyed crops as they waged petty wars against each other over trivial matters. They boiled rivers dry and brought mighty forts crashing down. So angry and uncontrollable were the dragons that most mortal men and women lived in fear of them, hiding whenever the shadow of giant wings darkened the day.’

‘And the Wing Warriors changed all that?’

‘We were not known as Wing Warriors then. We were just soldiers who wanted an end to our people living in fear of the dragons. We knew we could not fight and kill them, so we sought to befriend them.’

‘You were lucky not to get eaten,’ Sky said.

‘Not really. Turns out dragons don’t eat humans, the bones get stuck in their teeth. Of course, it wasn’t easy. Most of the dragons were still very young and not very easy to get on with, but in time we were accepted, and became known as Wing Warriors. There were twelve of us in total, one knight for each dragon. We forged special armour, and in time we even learned to ride our new friends.’

‘Riding a dragon must be great,’ Tidal said.

‘It is. There is no better feeling than the one you get when you are carried above the clouds.’

‘I can imagine,’ Sky said.

‘And the dragons made you immortal too?’ Glass asked.

‘That’s right. I’m not really sure how, but by spending so much time with the dragons we somehow developed some of their powers, and became ageless as they were.’

‘If I’d known history lessons were this interesting, I would have gone to Leaf’s classes,’ Tidal said.

‘Well,’ Cloud said, ‘perhaps when this is all over you might consider that.’

‘I’d rather be out in my boat.’

Cloud smiled kindly. ‘I see a lot of my son in you.’

‘What? That sissy?’ Tidal said, but he grinned and puffed out his chest proudly anyway.

After that they rode in silence for a long time. Glass fell asleep against Sky’s arm, and eventually Sky too nodded off. Tidal put his hands behind his head and stared at the clouds for a while, but soon even he had drifted off into a fitful sleep full of dreams about being dragged below the surface of the raging ocean by a scaly monster with sharp fangs and glittering eyes.

The sun reached the highest point in the sky, and then began to dip back down again. The world got darker. Slowly the night–time came, and with it the fearful shadows.

The cart hit a rough patch of road. Tidal jolted awake, clutching at his bandaged chest as though whatever had caused his injuries was attacking him again. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he realised where he was, and carefully clambered past the sleeping girls to sit next to Cloud.

‘You’re awake just in time,’ Cloud said. ‘We’re almost there.’

Tidal looked around, there was no sign of Cystal Shine, with its brightly lit towers and streets. They were still in the black wilderness, surrounded by grim leafless trees with grasping limbs. ‘Almost where?’ he asked, confused.

‘At the secret entrance. You weren’t expecting us to ride up to the gates were you?’

‘I hadn’t really thought about it. What secret entrance?’

‘There is a maze of sewers and catacombs beneath the city. From there it is possible to sneak our way right into the dungeons without being seen.’

‘Sewers? Gross.’

‘It’s the only way, I’m afraid. Would you mind waking up the girls and getting them ready?’

‘In a second. I wanted to ask you something first, while they were still asleep.’

‘Then ask.’

‘What happened the last time you fought Sorrow?’

Cloud looked at Tidal seriously. ‘That’s not the real question, is it?’ he said.

‘No, I suppose not. I guess what I’m really asking is, do we have any chance of winning this fight? You seem very reluctant to tell us what happened in the last battle, and that means it must have been awful.’

Cloud turned his attention back to the road, watching carefully for potholes and other obstacles that might be hidden by the night. ‘It was awful,’ he confirmed. ‘Mother was the first to go. She was lost before we even knew of Sorrow’s existence.’

‘You mean she died?’

‘She vanished. Her Wing Warrior woke one morning to find she had disappeared. There was no sign of a struggle, and no clue to where she might have gone.’

‘How could she have been taken from right out under the nose of the Wing Warrior?’

‘I do not know, but he never forgave himself for it.’ Cloud seemed to be concentrating a lot harder on the road than he really needed to. His jaw was set in a determined straight line, and his dark eyes were hard and full of anger.

‘So what happened once Mother was gone?’

‘The infinite vision of the magical Wing Warrior swords told us about the threat of the dark dragon, Sorrow, and we knew Mother had fallen foul of this terrible creature.’

‘But wasn’t Mother the oldest and strongest of the dragons?’

‘She was. And we knew that if she could not defeat Sorrow, then Sorrow was truly the most terrifying and deadly force in the world. We knew we would have to fight her, and we knew we were unlikely to win, so we had to come up with a plan.’

‘And what was the plan?’

‘Haven’t you guessed?’

Before Tidal could answer, something small and wiry came hissing through the air, inches from his head. The thing, which appeared to be a furious bundle of arms and legs, hit Cloud square in the face and pitched him out of the cart into the dirt.

Onyx brayed and stamped his hooves.

‘Defend the girls,’ Cloud yelled from out of the darkness.

‘What is it?’ Tidal shouted.

Cloud’s reply was choked, as if he was being buried under a squirming, clutching mass of bodies. ‘Goblins.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Before Tidal even knew what was going on, there was already a goblin in the cart with him. It was a horrible little creature with warty black–green skin and a pointed nose. Black eyes glimmered from beneath an angular forehead, and its mouth was a wicked gash full of razor–sharp teeth.

The tiny monster propelled itself at Tidal in a frantic assault of stick–thin but impossibly strong limbs. Tidal raised his arms defensively, but he was still almost knocked clean off his feet as the goblin powered into him, grasping at his hands and hair.

A second goblin, a third, and a fourth, scurried over the side of the cart, attaching themselves to his clothes, pulling and tearing and biting.

Onyx brayed and bucked, and the cart jostled violently. Tidal lost his balance, and carried by the weight of the goblins hanging on his back, he tumbled over the side, hitting the ground with a bone–shaking crash. The goblins took their chance to swarm over him, and no matter how much he thrashed or screamed or kicked, they wouldn’t let go.

‘Cloud,’ he screamed. ‘Cloud, there are too many of them to fight. What are we going to do?’

The horrible wet smacking sound of a sword being used in battle and the terrible yelps of wounded goblins was the only sign that Cloud was still there. Still fighting.

‘Tidal,’ Sky called, from inside the cart. ‘They’re everywhere. Help us.’

Tidal tried to struggle to his feet, but the weight of hundreds of goblins kept him pinned to the floor. Their giggling filled his ears. ‘I hate you,’ he said, redoubling his efforts to get free. ‘I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.’

‘Tidal, do something!’

He tried to think. The girls were helpless without him and Cloud to protect them.

But what could he do?

He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the pain of the scrabbling, bony fingers pawing at him. If he could just concentrate for a minute, maybe he could do something.

‘Where are you?’ Glass screamed. ‘It’s so dark.’

Dark.

It was dark.

Almost like being under the ground.

Tidal had an idea.

‘Goblins live in caves,’ he shouted. ‘They don’t like light. Make some light. Burn something.’

‘There’s nothing to burn,’ Sky said.

More goblins were piling in on top of him, clambering over his face and making it difficult to breathe. So this was it. This was how the great adventure was going to end. Eaten by goblins; unable to protect his friends.

He really was just a useless, silly boy. It was no wonder destiny hadn’t selected him to be the Wing Warrior. He would have made a worse job of it than Nimbus.

Through the press of sinewy bodies it was just possible to see Sky and Glass standing in the back of the cart. Sky had her arms wrapped around Glass protectively, as goblins crawled over them both. More goblins were hanging on Onyx’s harness, swinging their scrawny legs and laughing gleefully. Onyx was stamping his hooves and rolling his eyes and snorting his flared nostrils. Even more goblins were pouring out of the trees around them.

‘No,’ Tidal growled. ‘No, this can’t be happening. We can’t end up like this.’

Someone loomed over him, and the goblins pinning him down started to scream and run away. ‘Get off him,’ Cloud bellowed, swinging his sword in dangerous arcs. ‘Leave the children alone. You don’t need them.’

The retreating goblins were already swarming around again, climbing over trees, rocks, and everything else in a vicious wave.

‘Where are they all coming from?’ Tidal asked, getting to his feet.

‘From the caves,’ Cloud said. ‘I rescued three soldiers. Now they’ve come for me.’

‘How can we fight them all?’ Sky shouted, grabbing one of the goblins and throwing it out into the swelling mass of other goblins.

‘We need fire,’ Tidal said. ‘Light.’

‘Light,’ Glass whispered.

‘Be ready to fight as hard as you can,’ Cloud said to Tidal. ‘While I try to keep them busy, make your way over to the cart and grab the girls. You must keep them safe.’

Screeching goblins were everywhere, ready to pounce on them all, ready to tear them to pieces. They looked so weak and feeble, yet they were so strong, and so many.

‘What then?’ Tidal asked.

‘Then all three of you run. Run as fast as you can. And don’t look back at me. I have to stay here, otherwise none of us are going to get away.’

Tidal swallowed hard. He flexed the fingers on each hand. ‘Should I wait for some kind of signal?’

‘When they attack again. That’s when we move.’

‘Light,’ Glass said, and she thought about sunshine on a meadow of tall grass.

She thought about the way the moon glowed when it was reflected in a still lake.

She thought about a solitary candle flame, and how it can burn away even the worst shadows of the night, no matter how black and terrifying those shadows may seem.

The goblins pressed closer, giggling and laughing like crazed circus clowns.

‘Light,’ Glass said. ‘We need light.’ And when she looked down at her hands, there was light.

At first it was no bigger than a glistening teardrop nestled in her palm, spangling her face with colour; but as she watched, it started to pulse and expand. Soon she had to cup both hands around it, just in case she dropped it or it seeped out of her fingers and escaped into the night. Even then it continued to grow, continued to get brighter.

‘How are you doing that?’ Sky asked.

Soon it was as if a shooting star had dropped right down out of the sky into Glass’s hands, and glowing spears of light began to lance out between the gaps of her fingers.

‘What is it?’ Tidal gasped.

Glass continued to stare at the pocket of light that was growing out of her hand. The nearest goblins squealed and covered their eyes. Those goblins unlucky enough to be touched by one of the light beams screamed and hurled themselves on the floor where they writhed around frantically.

‘Where’s it coming from?’ Sky asked.

‘From me,’ Glass said.

And the world exploded.

When the light eventually died away not a single goblin remained. ‘Where have they all gone?’ Tidal asked.

‘Back underground,’ Cloud said. ‘Back where it’s dark, and where they can lick their wounds.’

‘Will they return?’

Cloud didn’t answer. He was watching Glass, who was staring at a small sphere of white light that was floating just above her open palm and reflecting in her eyes.

‘Cloud?’ Tidal asked.

Cloud sheathed his sword. Glass’s hands were trembling uncontrollably, and there were tears running down her pale cheeks. ‘What is it?’ she said.