03 Sky Knight (29 page)

A breeze moved through the trees, whispering in the leaves, and causing brambles to scratch together woodenly. Lady Citrine was suddenly very cold.

She was also no longer alone.

‘Hello,’ the vampyr said.

***

‘Here they come,’ Cumulo growled, sucking in a deep breath and allowing his scales to turn the colour of molten lava. ‘Stay back until the last moment. Let them deal with me first.’

He pumped his wings once, and rose up onto his hind legs so that he towered menacingly above the approaching soldiers. Obsidian was aware of the intense heat building up around the dragon, and he motioned for all the animals to move farther back.

The first spider–soldier reached the stakes of the perimeter, and Cumulo unleashed a torrent of flame: A horrible wave of orange fire that swept over the invaders, cooking them in their armour. Soldiers began to scream and scuttle around blindly, enveloped in flame, knocking into other soldiers who combusted instantly. The air was filled with a vile, burning smell; yet still the enemy continued to advance. Hundreds of soldiers, throwing themselves mindlessly at the defenders, heedless of the danger, blind to fear.

‘Where’s an extra dragon when you need one?’ Obsidian muttered, and then the spider–soldiers were through the perimeter.

***

On the outskirts of the woods, Crow watched the handiwork of his army, absent–mindedly rubbing the stump that had once been his right arm. He watched as jets of fire doused his men, and he watched how even that was not enough to stop them.

In the shadow of his hood, he smiled crookedly. The people who had holed up in these ruins had proven particularly problematic to finish off, but that just made these last moments all the more enjoyable.

As he secretly congratulated himself on a job rather well done, he gradually became aware of a presence behind him. His crooked smile grew wider, and more crooked. ‘Hello, Vampyr,’ he said, without turning around.

‘What are you up to, Crow?’ the vampyr asked.

‘Just a bit of unfinished business.’

‘How’s it going?’

‘Not too badly. I’m about to kill another dragon. I love it when that happens.’

They stood in silence for a moment, watching Cumulo rise above the masses of troops. Flashes of lightning stuttered from the dragon’s gaping jaws, dancing across the metallic surfaces of the soldiers’ armour and weaponry, and illuminating the darkness with flashes of harsh white and yellow light.

‘He seems to be doing okay,’ the vampyr pointed out.

‘They always seem to do okay to start with, but that’s why dragons are so much fun. They never give up. The problem is, there are just so few of them. One little mistake... Bang. No more dragon. But look at my army. One falls, another ten step forwards.’

‘And is it worth it?’

Crow shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Then why do it?’

‘Can you think of some better way for me to spend my time?’

The vampyr chuckled coldly, and drew a little nearer. ‘What happened to your arm, Crow?’

‘It’s just a flesh wound.’

‘Looks more serious than that.’

‘No physical wounds are that serious. Flesh is just flesh. That’s near enough, by the way. I wouldn’t want you trying to stab me in the back while I’m not paying attention.’

‘Of course.’ The vampyr rested his hand on the pommel of the spirit blade, tapping his finger against it impatiently.

‘I thought you gave that sword away?’ Crow asked.

‘I did, but you know how it is. These things have a habit of making their way back to their rightful owners.’

‘They do. Does that mean the Wing Wimp is dead?’

The vampyr’s fingers curled around the sword handle. ‘He ran into a spot of bother with a leviathan. Messy business. Got himself killed again.’

Crow made a noise that was not really a laugh, but was probably supposed to be. ‘Have you ever met anyone who dies quite so often as that boy?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Do we think he’s dead for good this time, or is he likely to pop up somewhere unexpected?’

The vampyr drew Venom from its sheath without making a sound. ‘He’s probably around somewhere,’ he said.

The blade moved quickly, shimmering out of existence and then reappearing in a blur of motion before coming to a sudden and unexpected halt just a hair’s breadth from Crow’s neck. It was as if an invisible hand had grabbed the vampyr’s wrist, preventing him from landing a killing blow.

‘Naughty naughty,’ Crow said, still without turning around. ‘I’m sure we’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we? You know you can’t kill me. You are one of the dead. I can control your every action.’

The vampyr strained against the magical forces holding him back, searching within himself for the strength to move the sword; but he couldn’t do it. He was completely at the necromancer’s mercy.

‘Let me tell you a story,’ Crow said. ‘You can stop me if you’ve heard this. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I fell in love. Hard to believe now, perhaps, but I did. I fell in love with a beautiful woman who truly loved me too. But her father did not approve, so one day we concocted a plan. We would run away together. I used a glamour, old fairie magic, to disguise myself as a simple soldier. But my dearest, truest love had guards with her at all times, and there was no way I could get to her, even in my magical disguise. So... Sorry, am I boring you? Are you paying attention?’

The vampyr hissed through sharp, gritted teeth.

‘Good,’ Crow went on. ‘So, I wrote the power of the glamour magic into a line of poetry, and smuggled the poem to...’ He paused, looking down sadly at the stump of his right arm. ‘Do you know, I cannot even remember her name.’ Crow’s voice sounded empty, as if he was suddenly realising something terrible and life–destroying. ‘All this time, and now I cannot even remember her name.’

Crow was silent for a moment, and then he straightened up, clearing his throat. ‘I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway. I smuggled the glamour in to her, so she too could assume any disguise she wanted. As it happens, the plan went horribly wrong, and she was killed as we escaped the palace, but that’s sort of beside the point. The point is really that I had to be a bit clever when I wrote down the glamour. You see, if she changed her appearance, and I changed mine, there would be no way for us to recognise each other. So the glamour I used, and this is the important bit, would fool everybody else in the world, but it wouldn’t fool me.’ The necromancer finally turned to look at the vampyr. ‘Which probably makes you feel a bit silly, doesn’t it?’

The vampyr’s almond eyes changed shape, his teeth shrank back, his hair became shorter and messier, and his face become younger. Now, it was not the vampyr at all who stood helplessly before the necromancer. It was Nimbus.

‘Don’t feel too bad,’ Crow said. ‘Easy mistake to make. How were you to know that the glamour Lady Citrine has been using to fool everyone into thinking Lord Citrine is still alive is the same one I had written down all those years ago? I mean, really, what are the chances? It’s just plain bad luck.’

‘I hate you,’ Nimbus snarled.

‘I’m sure you do.’ Crow walked around Nimbus’s outstretched hand, and the sword it was holding, examining his victim carefully. ‘Here we are, just the two of us. You can’t move. I’ve only got one arm. It’s been a rough night for both of us, so here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to stand up here and watch my army kill the last dragon. Then I’ll probably cut you up into little pieces. How’s that sound?’

‘Splendid.’

‘Good. Thought you’d approve.’

Nimbus tried to blink, but he couldn’t. He had to stare out over the battlefield, with the light of Cumulo’s fires reflecting in his eyes, and watch as his people died.

***

The pegasus soared above the Forbidden Woods: a shadow against the black canvas of the sky, as invisible to the people below as the night wind itself.

‘What do we do?’ Sky asked, as she surveyed the scene of carnage unfolding beneath her.

The pegasus blinked its silvery eyes, and banked sharply, flying close enough to Cumulo for the dragon to glance up and sniff the air before turning his attention back to the attacking spider–soldiers.

‘Hey!’ Sky shouted, grabbing the mane of the pegasus. ‘Hello? Can you hear me? I need your help. I need you to tell me what I’m supposed to do.’

The pegasus remained silent.

‘What is wrong with you? Cumulo speaks to Nimbus, and Reflection is right inside Glass’s head all the time. Why won’t you speak to me?’

The pegasus snorted, flapping its wings to rise higher above the raging conflict. Sky sighed heavily. It looked like there wasn’t much chance of her getting any answers to her questions. Down below, wolves were tearing through the ranks of spider–soldiers, and there was a huge stag stamping and kicking, tossing soldiers around with its antlers in a display of aggression that was both terrible and magnificent.

And then she saw him: her father.

He was surrounded by spider–soldiers, fighting bravely with a broken spear; but it was obvious that bravery would not be enough to keep him alive.

Sky was about to descend, when something else caught her eye: at the edge of the woods, Crow was talking to Nimbus.

Sky twisted around for a better look, her heart pounding, a cry wedged in her throat. But her eyes had been playing tricks with her. Nimbus wasn’t there. Crow was talking to a sinister–looking man in a purple cape.

She rubbed her eyes.

She had been so sure it was Nimbus. How could she have mistaken this other person for the Wing Warrior?

As she watched, the man in the cape attacked the necromancer, but somehow he was frozen in place where he stood; and suddenly Sky was not sure what she was looking at. The man still looked like the man, but he also looked like Nimbus. He was both of them, and neither of them; and trying to look directly at him made her eyes hurt.

She turned away, blinking rapidly, and when she looked once more the man was gone. Now, there was just Nimbus. His disguise had melted away completely.

‘What do I do?’ she asked, as the pegasus hovered in place, its wings beating rhythmically. ‘I can’t help Nimbus and my dad at the same time.’

The pegasus shook its head.

‘I can’t choose between them. I... I love them both. I can’t...’

Crow was pacing around Nimbus, sniffing at him as a wolf might sniff around a rabbit’s burrow. Her father stumbled, and one of the spider–soldiers stabbed at him violently.

‘Are you listening to me?’ Sky shouted. ‘You have to help me. I need you to pick.’

The pegasus said nothing. Did nothing.

Sky hesitated a moment longer, tears blurring her vision; and then she pulled on the mane of the pegasus, diving down to where her father was being surrounded.

As the pegasus blazed overhead, the spider–soldiers scattered, running for cover in their flip–flop, crablike way. The pegasus landed at a canter.

‘Dad!’ Sky shouted, dismounting and throwing her arms around his neck. ‘I’m so happy to see you.’

He returned her embrace. ‘I’m happy to see you too. I’m sorry about everything. I’m sorry for what I did.’

She shook her head against his chest. ‘No. I’m sorry.’

‘Hey, you two,’ Captain Obsidian shouted sternly, pulling his sword out of the motionless body of a skewered spider–soldier. ‘Don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in the middle of a war here. A little help would be appreciated.’

The pegasus whinnied, flapping its wings so that their shimmering edges slashed through the darkness of the night like silver blades. Any spider–soldiers too near to the magical creature scurried away, covering their faces, hissing angrily.

‘I’ve got to go,’ Sky said, pulling away from her father. ‘Nimbus is in big trouble.’

‘Nimbus?’ That old look came back into her father’s eyes. Fear, anger. Mainly fear. ‘I thought...’

‘There’s no time for that now. He needs my help. I’m the only one who can reach him in time.’

‘On the winged horse?’

‘You have to let me go.’

Her father leaned in close and kissed her cheek softly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘One day you’ll understand why I had to do this. And you won’t hate me any more.’

Without warning, he shoved her; and she tumbled over a weed–choked rock. By the time she had recovered her senses, he was already riding the pegasus out of the ruins, heading for the edge of the Forbidden Woods.

‘No!’ Sky screamed, but she was wasting her breath. Her father couldn't hear her.

***

‘Let me go,’ Nimbus growled, through gritted teeth. ‘You can’t keep me here like this. It’s not fair.’

‘Fair?’ Crow laughed. ‘Nothing in life is fair. Having the responsibility of the Wing Warrior thrust upon you when you are so young is not fair, especially as it means you will never be able to grow old. Imagine that? An old man’s mind trapped in the body of a fourteen year old boy.’

‘Fourteen and a half,’ Nimbus hissed.

‘It’s just not fair. And it’s not fair to have your one true love taken away from you, burned in front of your very eyes. That’s not fair. And it’s not fair to spend hundreds of years nursing a dragon back to health just for some little boy –’ he spat the word, ‘– to waltz in playing the big hero and kill her. And do you know something else that isn’t fair?’

‘What?’

‘Your little sister waking up one morning with all that magical power. I have had to work so long, and so hard, to get where I am. Do you think this army of mine popped up overnight?’ He gestured at the waves of soldiers as they clustered around the ruins hungrily. ‘Years, it took. Years of practice. Years of care.’

‘Have you thought of starting a butterfly farm instead?’

‘Silence!’ A glob of spit flew out of Crow’s mouth and landed on Nimbus’s cheek. Nimbus couldn’t move to wipe it off, and cringed as he felt the saliva trickling down his face. ‘Ah, why am I wasting my time with you, anyway? Here, take your sword and cut your wrist. Slowly though. Make it hurt.’

In horror, Nimbus saw his hand moving. Venom’s blade began to lower towards his left wrist. The curved blade looked like it was smiling at him, like it had always known this was how his adventure was going to end.