03 Sky Knight (12 page)

Her voice cracked, and she leaned heavily against the balcony railing. Cloud guessed what she was trying to say, and put an arm around her for comfort; but as he moved closer, he became aware of an intense heat coming from her.

‘Sky?’ he said, taking a half–step back.

‘What?’

He pointed to her waist, and the small leather pouch that was hanging there. The pouch was glowing. ‘What have you got there?’

Sky clasped the pouch protectively. ‘Nothing. I mean, not nothing. It’s...’

‘It’s a way out,’ Cloud said. ‘Who gave you a star?’

‘A star?’

‘You didn’t know?’

‘I met a lady, I mean, a fairie. Called Moon.’

Cloud grabbed Sky roughly. ‘Moon? Are you sure it was Moon?

‘Yes, she said her name was Moon. Please let me go, you’re hurting my arms.’

Cloud released her, and walked to the other side of the balcony. ‘She’s back,’ he said. ‘I thought she was gone. I looked for her...’ He shook his head, but whatever memories Moon’s name had recalled seemed reluctant to leave him. ‘If she has come back now... Did she say anything? Did she say why she was here?’

‘She said there was something she had to do.’

‘She said she couldn’t come back. The pain was crippling, it made her old. She wanted to die with the unicorn.’ He bunched his hands into fists. ‘If she has returned then things are worse than we thought.’

‘She mentioned you.’

‘Well, she doesn’t know me any more. She was the one who left. She was the one who did not want to be found. I am married, I am a father, and she has no right to come back.’ Cloud sighed, then straightened up. Sky was alarmed to see that the old Wing Warrior was shaking. ‘But she brought you a star. The greatest gift a fairie can give.’

‘I’m not sure what to do with it.

‘You return it to its rightful place. You send it back.’

Sky opened the pouch. White light rushed out, bathing the balcony in a blinding glow. Immediately, there was scuttling from within the dark streets of the city, as hidden sentries reacted to the light.

‘Quickly,’ Cloud said. ‘Throw it as far as you can.’

Sky closed her hand over the star. The light was so brilliant that it shone through her fingers, illuminating the criss–crossed veins under her skin. ‘Throw it?’

‘Trust me. Throw it.’

There was horrible clattering around the tower as spider–soldiers began to climb. The door rattled as the lock was opened.

‘Quickly,’ Lady Citrine said, sternly.

Closing her eyes, Sky hurled the star into the sky. It hung there for a moment, shedding so much light that the whole hideous wave of spider–soldiers scaling the tower could be seen; and then the star shot straight up at an incredible speed, until it was just a throbbing pinprick of luminosity in the upper reaches of the night.

Sky, Cloud, and Lady Citrine were left standing in complete darkness, surrounded by the scurrying sound of approaching soldiers.

‘That worked a treat,’ Sky said.

‘Wait,’ Lady Citrine said. ‘Look, it’s still up there.’

Sure enough, the pinpoint of light was still there, only now it seemed to be larger. In fact, not only did it look larger, it looked like it was still growing.

‘It’s coming back,’ Sky gasped.

Even as she spoke, the light shot from the sky, searing through the folds of purple dark. Sky screamed and threw her arms up over her face, fearing that the blazing white passage of the star was so bright it would blind her.

There was a moment of silence, when even the scuttle of the soldiers went quiet; and then there was an impatient snort and the clip–clop of hooves on stone.

Sky cautiously uncovered her eyes.

Standing on the balcony, head held proud, was a horse so black it seemed as though a part of the night sky had come unstitched and assumed an animal’s form. The horse would have been almost impossible to see in the dark if it had not been for its glimmering silver eyes and the sparkles like crushed diamonds in its flowing black mane.

Sky might have wondered how a horse had managed to make it to the top of the tallest tower of Crystal Shine palace, but the answer was obvious. This horse had wings.

‘A pegasus,’ Cloud said, approvingly. ‘Good choice, Sky.’

‘But I didn’t do anything.’

‘You threw the star. You made it.’

Sky started to protest again, but she knew Cloud was right. She had dreamed for years of being a bird, of flying away from all her problems, and now here were her wings. ‘How did it know?’ she said, reaching out to touch the winged horse’s velvet neck.

‘No time to worry about that,’ Cloud said, as the door behind them burst open and the first spider–soldier appeared. Cloud met the soldier head–on, dragging him to the floor; but there were already more clambering over the balcony railings.

‘Go,’ Lady Citrine said to Sky.

‘I came here for Cloud. I am not leaving unless we all leave together.’

The pegasus whinnied, and cantered in a circle. Its wings flapped, becoming momentarily visible as white–edged membranes, like the wings of a monstrous bat. Where its hooves clipped the flagstones of the balcony, they sent out tiny sparkles of stardust.

‘The pegasus came here for you,’ Cloud shouted, as he continued to subdue the soldier he was fighting with.

‘Go,’ Lady Citrine repeated. ‘These creatures won’t harm us, we are too important as prisoners. But they will kill your pegasus.’

For a second longer Sky remained motionless, staring at the soldiers swarming over the sheer walls of the tower; then she leapt up on the back of the pegasus and dug her heels in.

The pegasus rose on its hind legs, and then shot into the sky, far beyond the reach of the spider–soldiers.

Sky took one last look behind her, horrified to see the balcony was so choked with soldiers that it was nothing more than a writhing mass of shimmering silver armour; but then she was distracted by a movement off to her right.

An angular shape had detached itself from the cracked gargoyles perched around the gutted corpse of a chapel, and was quickly rising to meet them.

‘Look out!’ she shouted. ‘Wyvern!’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The pegasus banked at the last moment, deftly evading the wyvern’s attack. The wyvern immediately changed course, and the two winged legends ascended in a dizzying spiral. For a split second, the wyvern was within biting range; but the pegasus kicked out, hitting the wyvern on the nose before it could close its powerful jaws.

Sky held on for dear life, feeling her stomach lurch with each new manoeuvre the pegasus made. The wind tore at her, stinging her face and chilling her to the bone.

She held on tighter.

The wyvern had already recovered from the shock of being kicked and was after them again, darting between clouds, never more than a heartbeat away.

Sky pressed herself flat to the pegasus’s back. This was not what she had imagined when she had thought about flying far above the realm, looking down at all the people living their ordinary, boring lives. This was not what she had dreamed about on those lonely nights when her drunken father had snored in front of the fireplace and she had counted the stars from her bedroom window. This was no dream at all.

If this was what it was like to be a bird, then she would be happy to be stuck on the ground with everyone else.

‘Please don’t drop me,’ she whispered.

The pegasus dived, forcing the wyvern to drop as well. Sky swallowed a yelp of surprise as they rushed among the trees, blasting through leaves and twigs, whirling around trunks, and sometimes coming so low to the ground she was certain they would crash.

On and on the chase continued: The wyvern snapping at the hooves of the pegasus, and the pegasus performing more and more elaborate twirls in an attempt to get away. Sky felt thoroughly sick; but the wyvern appeared to be getting tired. It was gradually dropping away, reacting more sluggishly, while the pegasus seemed to have an unlimited store of energy.

Eventually, the wyvern gave up, screeching in rage as it settled among the high branches of a nearby tree.

Sky whooped excitedly, patting the pegasus on the neck. ‘Well done. That was incredible.’

The pegasus grunted, and then wheeled around so that it was flying back towards the panting wyvern.

‘What are you doing?’ Sky said. ‘It’s not chasing us any more. Stop.’

The pegasus shook its head, drew in its wings, and thrust itself at the exhausted wyvern.

‘Stop!’

The pegasus kicked the wyvern off its perch, and Sky could only watch as the horrible thing plummeted to the ground where it impacted noisily. The pegasus circled the area a few times, just to make sure the wyvern was dead; and then set off again, blazing across the night sky.

‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Sky said.

The pegasus was silent apart from the swoosh of its wings.

‘Killing is wrong,’ Sky went on. ‘Even killing things like that. If we’re going to be friends, then you’re not allowed to do things like that any more. Okay?’

The pegasus snorted as if to say it didn’t really care about being friends with Sky, and then rose higher, until it seemed as though they would pass through the clouds and disappear into the inky blackness beyond.

‘Fine. Be like that. Just take me to Landmark. I need to...’ Sky’s words trailed away as she looked down at the expanse of the western borderlands.

Even in the dark she could see Crow’s army spreading out to cover the landscape. It was like an ugly smudge, staining everything it touched, and leaving nothing but death in its wake.

***

Captain Obsidian moved to the edge of the woods to observe the moon–bathed ruins of the watchtower. They were quiet and deserted: there was no sign of the enemy.

No sign of any life at all.

He smiled grimly. It was strange to think, but it was not so very long ago that he had stood in this very same spot, and planned how he would attack Cumulo. Back then he had thought Cumulo was the enemy, and he had tried to kill him. He had held Nimbus captive, and sent Glass home like she was just an ordinary little girl.

He had been so wrong about so many things.

The ruins looked safe now, but what if he was wrong about that too? Once he led the caravan out of the cover of the trees they would be totally exposed to an attack.

He took a step closer, craning his neck to see as much of the surrounding area as possible. He didn’t want to go out there with a group of women and children and old men, but there was no other choice.

If they wanted to reach the safety of the mountains, they had to leave the woods.

‘Captain?’ One of the boys from Hawk’s class snuck up beside Obsidian, taking a quick glance through the trees. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the ruined watchtower, his imagination immediately conjuring up dark phantasms to stalk through the shadowy remains. ‘What is that place?’

‘An old sentry point, guarding the passages through the Grey Mountains.’

‘Reminds me of a ghost story my granddad used to tell me.’

‘Well, keep your ghost stories to yourself. I’m going down for a closer look.’

‘What about the caravan? We’re still pretty spread out back there. Some of the older ones have been lagging. And Hawk still isn’t back from his scouting mission.’

Obsidian paused, half in and half out of the trees. He couldn’t move the caravan on without checking the ruins, but he couldn’t leave the whole village in the hands of a few half–trained children and what was left of his garrison. He needed more men. He needed the Wing Warrior.

‘Captain?’ the boy asked.

Obsidian scratched his jaw thoughtfully. ‘Stay here. Set up a watch point. Do you know how to do that?’

‘I think so.’

The captain grabbed the boy by the shoulder and shook him. ‘Don’t think so, Boy. We’re talking about the lives of everyone we know. Can you do it? Yes or no?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Make sure you aren’t seen. And keep both eyes on those ruins. When I get back, I want to know everything that’s happened. I want you to be able to tell me if a bird perched on a wall down there, or a badger went out for a stroll. Understand?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

Without another word, Obsidian headed back into the woods; but he hadn’t gone more than a few hundred paces when there was a shout off to his right, where the closely grouped trees gave the appearance of giants crowding around in whispered conversation.

‘Captain? Captain, where are you?’

‘Here,’ Obsidian called.

There was wheezing and crunching brambles in the shadows beyond the extent of Obsidian’s vision, and then Hawk stumbled into the open. His face was smeared with mud and blood; his hair was matted with filth. ‘Captain, we’ve got a problem.’

‘What happened?’

‘Soldiers.’

There was frantic rustling behind him, and as Obsidian drew his sword, Autumn came plunging into view, almost tripping over herself in her haste.

‘Where?’ Obsidian asked, scanning their surroundings for signs of an attack.

Hawk waved his hands and shook his head as he gasped for breath. ‘Not here. We lost the scouts. They’ve gone.’

Obsidian sheathed his sword. ‘What’s going on?’

‘They’ve gone,’ Autumn said, almost spitting the words. ‘Back to Crystal Shine, we think. Back to tell Crow exactly where we are.’

‘Then we don’t have much time. We must get the caravan moving.’

‘Moving where?’ Hawk asked.

‘We keep to the plan. We go to the mountains.’

‘We’ll never make it in time. There are too many children and old folk slowing us down.’

‘If we get caught in these woods there’s no hope for us.’

‘And there is even less hope if we are caught out in the open. You know that.’

Obsidian nodded solemnly. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a dark presence looming over him. ‘Then we have to fight.’

‘Fight?’ Autumn could hardly believe what she was hearing. ‘Just us few with our bows, and your men? No Wing Warrior? No Cloud? No troops from Crystal Shine?’

‘That pretty much sums it up. Yes.’