03 Sky Knight (24 page)

‘Did you expect it to be that easy?’ the Ocean King murmured, in a voice that sounded like oily water.

For a second, Nimbus was distracted by a movement behind the leviathan. It was Sky, scurrying between the rocks to crouch beside the unconscious Cumulo. When Nimbus saw her removing a piece of coral from a bag around her waist, he realised what she was attempting to do, and turned his attention back to the sea serpent.

‘Can’t blame a guy for trying,’ he said, backing away.

The Ocean King flicked his tongue. ‘Your dragon is defeated, and your little toothpick cannot harm me. You are entirely without options. You must give me the coral.’

‘Sorry. I can’t do it. If you get that coral, you’ll be unstoppable. I can’t let that happen.’

‘You don’t have a choice,’ the leviathan screeched.

‘Try to see it from my point of view. I’m supposed to be a hero. It doesn’t look good if I start helping the bad guys.’

Nimbus’s gaze flicked from the serpent to what was happening just behind.

Cumulo was awake, and Sky was whispering to him, offering him the red coral. Then the dragon snapped the coral right out of her hands, and crunched it down, swallowing all the pieces. Nimbus’s eyes widen with expectation, and the Ocean King obviously picked up on the Wing Warrior’s change of expression, because now he turned to look as well.

With a bellow the like of which Nimbus had never heard him use before, Cumulo leapt into the air, his massive wings spread wide, his open jaws gushing plumes of bright red flame, hot enough to singe the clouds. His claws flexed, growing longer and more vicious, and his muscles rippled with new strength.

‘What have you done?’ the Ocean King roared.

With one flap, Cumulo rose above the top spires of Serpent’s Coil, and then circled around, diving on the Ocean King. The leviathan recoiled, genuinely afraid; but before he could sink below the surface of the water Cumulo was on him, his jaws clamping around the serpent’s throat.

Cumulo pulled up, taking the writhing leviathan with him into the air. There was the crunch of scales shattering beneath the teeth and claws of the dragon, and all at once the fight went out of the Ocean King. He hung limply like a gigantic worm in Cumulo’s mouth, before Cumulo contemptuously hurled the lifeless leviathan onto the cliffs of Serpent’s Coil.

There was a tremendous crash as the rock gave way, and then half of the island’s towering stone formations, along with the Ocean King’s remains, went sliding into the water.

Nimbus could only stare in wide–eyed disbelief as Cumulo swooped over the beach and landed elegantly with his head held high.

‘You were amazing,’ Sky shouted, hugging Cumulo’s neck. ‘Magnificent.’

‘That was pretty good,’ Nimbus said. ‘How are you feeling?’

Cumulo shook his head. ‘Strange. I am already eleven dragons in one body, and even now I cannot access or understand all the memories those dragons gave to me. Yet also, now, I am something more. I have another set of memories that do not rightfully belong to me. And a great sadness in my heart. What Tidal told you about the Ocean King was true. He was persecuted by humans. They made him into the terrible thing I was forced to kill.’

Nimbus stroked Cumulo’s nose. ‘I guess none of us are what we used to be.’ Turning to Sky, he said, ‘That was some quick thinking with the coral. I was in real trouble for a minute.’

‘Aren’t you always?’ she said, with a playful grin. ‘But it wasn’t my idea. It was Tidal who told me to use the coral. He said I wasn’t supposed to let you know, but I don’t think it will hurt now.’

Nimbus looked at Cumulo. ‘He did it. He was a hero. He saved my life.’

‘He saved us all,’ the dragon confirmed.

‘I’ll make sure he knows that,’ Sky said. ‘But you need to leave. I was going to tell you before. I know something about your father. I met him not long ago.’

‘He’s alive?’

‘He’s being held prisoner in the tower at Crystal Shine, along with Lady Citrine.’

Nimbus grabbed Sky and gave her a big kiss. ‘Thank you,’ he said, and then he clambered up between Cumulo’s shoulders. ‘Come on, Cumulo. We’re going to rescue my dad and give Crow something to think about.’

Sky stepped back, holding one hand over her lips, which still tingled from the kiss. Cumulo sprang up, and in but a moment he was nothing more than a speck in the distance, high above the horizon. Slowly, a smile spread across Sky’s face.

He had kissed her.

Nimbus, the Wing Warrior, had kissed her.

‘I thought they’d never go,’ Tidal said, staggering into the open. His arm was hanging uselessly by his side, and he was still bleeding heavily; but he didn’t look quite so close to death as he had done a few minutes before.

‘Tide,’ Sky said, unable to disguise her panic.

Tidal came closer, and there was a look of determination on his face that she had last seen when he was trying to get the coral away from her on the cliff top.

‘At last,’ he said. ‘Finally, we get to have a bit of quality alone time.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Captain Obsidian stood at the entrance to the beer cellar, eating a bowl of stew that the widow Wisteria had made, and watching as the last few villagers hid themselves away in the dark below.

‘Is that everyone?’ he asked Hawk.

The young archer, who was checking his bow string and trying not to make it too obvious that his hands were trembling, indicated the other side of the ruins with a nod. ‘Over there. Just beyond the pillar. Lord Cloud’s wife. She wanted to wait until the last minute before going down. I don’t know why. Didn’t seem right to ask.’

‘Anyone else?’

‘The mayor is still around somewhere. He wanted to make sure we were doing our job properly or something. Said he was checking the defences.’

‘Fool’s going to end up hurting himself.’

‘His village has fallen apart. I think he just wants to feel like he’s doing something useful.’

‘I think we’d all like to feel like that.’

Around them, the rag–tag group of men and children who would be defending the ruins made their final preparations. There were nine men from the village garrison, seven Crystal Shine soldiers, Hawk with the surviving members of his class, and maybe a dozen farmers with no real training in the use of anything more threatening than a plough or sickle.

It was not much of an army.

‘Have I done the right thing trying to defend these ruins?’ he asked.

‘We had no choice.’

‘But could we have done more? Could we have tried to press on to the mountains? We might have made it.’

‘We might all have died on the road.’

‘Or should we have gone somewhere else? North, maybe? Should I have sent runners to look for other survivors?’

‘If you had sent out runners, they never would have got back in time, and it would have left less people to fight here. Besides, the North is probably no safer than anywhere else. You have done the best you can. We all have.’

‘Then why does it feel like I’ve condemned us all to die?’

Hawk shook his head. ‘We’ve done what we could. We have to trust now that Nimbus will return in time. That’s all.’

‘And if he doesn’t?’

‘Then it wouldn’t matter where we were.’

Obsidian nodded glumly. ‘Go and be with Autumn,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but be with her now. Remind yourself why we’re fighting.’

With that, the captain stalked across the ruins. He found Strata in an alcove beneath some crumbling masonry. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and her eyes glistened with sorrow. He cleared his throat apologetically, and waited for her to acknowledge his presence.

‘Captain?’ she said, emerging from some memory that she cherished dearly, despite the pain it caused her.

‘May I sit?’

‘Of course.’

He hunkered beside her, and realised why she had picked this particular location. The view in all directions was completely obscured by ancient stone and brambles, and it was almost possible to believe that there was nothing at all beyond.

‘Everybody is moving into the cellar. You should too, before the fighting starts.’

‘Will it make a difference?’

‘Honestly? Probably not. But you will be safer there than anywhere else.’

‘I have a fear in my heart, Captain. My son isn’t coming back, and my daughter is vanished into some magical realm where I cannot follow. And as for Cloud... I have lost my entire family in such a short space of time.’

‘The Wing Warrior will return. I know it.’

She laughed quietly. ‘But will any of us be here to see it? My son was never particularly good at being on time for anything.’

Obsidian readjusted himself into a more comfortable position, putting his back to the stone. It felt like the first time he had sat in months, and he was suddenly very aware of the trembling, exhausted muscles in his legs. He was no more fit for a fight than any of the villagers he was trying to protect.

‘I never knew Nimbus before... You know, before he became what he is. He was just another one of the grubby–faced kids playing in the woods. What was he like?’

‘He was like all the other grubby–faced kids. He avoided his lessons as much as possible. He liked to fish. And he loved his dad. When he was young, he once said to me that he hoped that one day he would be just like Cloud. I smiled, and I kissed his forehead, and I told him he surely would be. But inside I hoped with all my heart that he wouldn’t. I hid so much from him, so much that could have helped him. I am as much to blame for this as Cloud.’

‘You wanted to protect him. It’s understandable. But I for one am grateful he is what he is. He is a child of unimaginable strength of spirit. He is a credit to you.’

‘He is his father’s son. Whatever strength he has is not mine. But Glass...’ An odd expression overshadowed Strata’s face, and she opened her hand to reveal a tiny flame flickering over her skin. ‘Glass, takes after me.’

Obsidian jumped back in alarm as the small flame sprang up against the purple of the evening sky before vanishing in a whisper of smoke.

‘Do they know?’ he asked, breathlessly.

‘No. I didn’t know myself until the other day, as the caravan was moving through the woods. Not until this.’ She extended one finger towards Obsidian, and sitting on her nail, flittering its sparkling wings, was a pixie. ‘She’s my familiar. She came to me and told me what I truly am. I had been feeling empty, lost, almost like I was dying. I thought it was just because of Cloud. How can it be that now, at my age, I still don’t know who I really am?’

‘Maybe none of us ever truly know ourselves. Or at least, perhaps, not until it is necessary for us to know.’

‘I’m frightened. Everything is different, and I can’t trust anything or anyone. Not even myself. I feel like a stranger, and I just want it to stop. Do you know what I mean?’

‘I’m afraid I know exactly what you mean.’

The pixie fluttered its wings and took off awkwardly, bobbing on invisible air currents before settling again on a nearby stone.

‘How powerful are you?’ Obsidian asked, already thinking how best to use a magic user as part of their defence.

‘I am not like Glass.’

‘Can you fight?’

‘This is my village. These are my friends. If I can protect even one of them, I will.’

Obsidian was about to discuss his plans further, but he never got the chance; because at that moment there were shouts of alarm from the western edge of the ruins, and somebody was calling his name.

‘I think it’s started,’ Obsidian said, already on his feet. ‘Wait here for now. I’ll be back.’

He dashed into the open, sword in hand, and found the defenders grouping inside the perimeter of sharpened stakes, pointing and talking excitedly. Something large and awful was slithering across the killing field, its many heads bobbing and weaving, its eyes glimmering with hunger.

‘What is that?’ Obsidian asked.

‘It came out of the woods,’ Hawk said, notching an arrow to his bow. ‘Want me to shoot it?’

Obsidian watched as the ugly, gigantic thing wormed its way over the clearing. ‘I think that would be a good idea,’ he said.

Hawk drew aim and loosed his arrow. It whistled through the air, straight and true; but it never made contact with its target, instead bursting into flame and dispersing as ash on the wind. The creature kept moving, and now the defenders could see there was something else out there with it: a figure wrapped in a black cloak with a massive hood.

‘Crow,’ Obsidian muttered. ‘Fall back to the cellar, your arrows are no good here. Find the mayor and get him hidden with the others. Then shut the door.’

‘What about you?’ Autumn asked.

‘Follow my orders,’ Obsidian snapped. ‘We are in a war now, and if we want to win, you do as you’re told. No questions.’

Autumn saluted smartly, then ran off with Hawk and the others, leaving Obsidian alone at the perimeter, with only a few flimsy stakes between him, a hydra, and one of the most powerful and evil magic users the world had ever known.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

On the border of the Forbidden Woods, Private Meadow and Sky’s father crawled along an embankment overlooking Crow’s camp. There were spider–soldiers everywhere, scuttling like grotesque armoured crabs, and there were more troops arriving all the time.

‘Where did they all come from?’ Sky’s father muttered. ‘I thought Crow’s army was behind us.’

‘The main body of his army is behind us, Salamander,’ Meadow whispered. ‘This must be one of the advance raiding parties. Maybe from Crystal Shine, or one of the other cities to the North.’

‘There are so many of them. How are we going to get past without being seen?’

‘We can’t. We’ll double back, head south.’

‘We’ll never catch up with the caravan that way.’

‘We can’t worry about that now. Come on, let’s get back to the horse.’

They inched their way carefully through the thorns and brambles, trying to be as quiet as possible. The horse was grazing nearby, oblivious to the danger.