Jack Staples and the City of Shadows (20 page)

“You really need to be more careful,” Wild said shakily as he made the knife disappear somewhere up his sleeve.

Arthur fingered the tiny cut on his neck. “What's happening?” He groaned. He was so tired he could barely form the words.

“We are holding the stairwell for as long as we can,” Wild said. “Alexia has gone with the others to free prisoners from the dungeons below.”

Arthur turned to see the darkened stairwell. “Then why are you sleeping?”

“We have no idea how long we will need to hold this corridor,” Wild said. “It's so narrow that only two or three of the dark servants can attack at a time, and when they die, their bodies block others from coming. If we save our energy, we should be able to hold it for a while, so we're taking turns. Before you woke me, I was resting.” Wild yawned. “I'll switch places with Mrs. Dumphry soon enough.”

Arthur could see it now; the corridor was packed to bursting with dark servants, but there were so many that it was working against them. “And Aias?”

“Aias is one floor down, watching the stairs to make sure we aren't attacked from below.”

Arthur laid his head back against the floor, letting the exhaustion sink into his bones. “You can really sleep in the middle of all of this?”

Wild grinned. “You've been, haven't you? When you use your Soulprint as strongly as you did, you can sleep for a week. If you aren't careful, you could drop dead from exhaustion. You did well, but right now what you need is rest!”

Arthur did feel more exhausted than ever before. Yet as he watched Andreal slam his fist into an Oriax, he couldn't imagine being able to sleep. Though he might close his eyes for a moment, just to let them rest a bit.

 

Alexia was surrounded by thousands of animals of every kind—polar bear, giraffe, crocodile, ape, muskrat, koala, moose, dog, ostrich, hippo, panda, elephant, mouse … Every animal Alexia had ever heard of and many she'd never heard of was in this mammoth cavern, each kept in a pen barely large enough for it to stand. Alexia stifled an urge to scream.

“They force the Clear Eyes to fight one another in the arena,” Juno said disgustedly. “Those that refuse are killed by Oriax who want to become more powerful. The animals that choose to fight become Oriax or they die.” Tears shone in Juno's eyes. “It's horrible.”

Alexia felt sick. The Assassin was making animals kill one another so he could grow his army of Oriax. It was too terrible to imagine. She walked over and placed her hand on the trunk of a particularly large elephant. She was only a little surprised to find she knew the animal. Its name was Ollie.

I should have expected it.
The Assassin had rounded up every human and animal Alexia had ever interacted with. She wouldn't be surprised if all of the animals from the circus were somewhere in this chamber.

“I'm sorry, Ollie,” she whispered. “I am going to get you out of here; I promise.”

The elephant wrapped its trunk around Alexia in a sort of elephant hug. She looked at Ollie and felt something stirring; an image formed in her mind's eye, but before she could grasp it, Juno spoke.

“You know this elephant?”

The image dissipated. Alexia shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I do,” she said and stepped onto one of Ollie's tusks. “He was one of my very best friends.” Ollie lifted her up just as he had back in the circus.

“Your friends have a habit of winding up here.”

“It's true,” Alexia said sadly. “Let's get them out. All of them.” Alexia scanned the nearest animals and pointed at a large moose and a particularly savage-looking Bengal tiger. “Those two will be safe,” she said. “They are wild, but they will not harm you. Climb on and follow me.” Alexia couldn't say how she knew this. There were others that might have been safer to ride, but these two wanted to help; she could feel it.

Adeline and Juno looked at her as if she'd gone mad.

“It's one of my Soulprints,” she said. “They will not harm you. They want to fight the Assassin as badly as we do.”

“You had better be right,” Juno said as she walked to the Bengal tiger and climbed on. The tiger snarled but seemed content to let her stay. Adeline watched, wide-eyed, then walked to the moose. The majestic animal stamped its hooves, then bent its head low. Adeline grabbed its antlers, and in one smooth motion she was on its back.

“Okay,” Alexia shouted. “It's time to fight back. It's time to show the Assassin he has not broken us. We are stronger than he could imagine and we will win this war!” Alexia was sure the animals didn't understand her words, but they did understand that something was happening. Alexia whispered into Ollie's ear and the elephant walked over to a thick lever and pulled it with his trunk.

As the door to every cage in the cavern sprung open, Ollie pushed forward and galloped toward the stairs. Alexia inserted a stone into her sling; behind her Juno shouted and Adeline squealed with delight.

Chapter 25

TO LOSE A BATTLE

 

Ollie rushed up a wide stairwell as Alexia lay low on his back. The ceiling was barely high enough for the elephant to run without hitting his head.

Juno and Adeline followed close, and behind them came a stampede of thousands upon thousands of animals. At the top of the stairwell, Ollie galloped into a mass of dark servants packed into the cramped passageway. The mighty elephant swung his trunk and thrust his tusks as he plowed through the crowd like an avalanche. The Bengal tiger pounced on any dark servant still standing, as Adeline's moose kicked its hind legs and swung its antlers at the creatures.

The Shadow Souled shrieked as the herd charged through them. Ollie crashed down the passage, yet Alexia knew he couldn't keep it up for long. If the elephant slowed, the dark servants would overwhelm him.

Just ahead Alexia saw balls of white flame exploding into the enemy.
Yes!
She whispered encouragement in Ollie's ear as the elephant lunged forward. Within seconds Alexia and her menagerie were standing before Mrs. Dumphry.

Behind Mrs. Dumphry, Andreal battled a never-ending stream of the Shadow Souled. Yet now that Mrs. Dumphry was free, she turned and sent a wall of flame speeding into them. The Shadow Army shrieked as they began to flee the corridor.

Alexia's breath caught when she saw Wild lying with his head against the stone wall. He was incredibly pale and bleeding from multiple wounds. “Is he … Is Wild—” She couldn't finish.

Wild opened his eyes and looked up at her, blinking once, twice. “Took you long enough,” he said, and grinned. “I got so tired of waiting I decided to take a nap.”

Alexia rolled her eyes.
The boy is impossible
, she thought happily. Arthur was still fast asleep on the stony floor. Just then, Aias appeared in the stairwell. He was followed by Josiah, Summer, Benaiah, and the thousands of prisoners.

Mrs. Dumphry wiped sweat from her brow. “It seems you have found even more of our friends,” she said as she observed the Clear Eyes. “There is no time to dally. The Shadow Army is fully conscious, and every one of them is spilling from the arena. If the streets aren't blocked already, they soon will be. Lead us into the streets, my girl,” she said to Alexia, “and try to find a way out of this city!”

Alexia felt a rush of adrenaline as she whispered into Ollie's ear. The elephant lurched upward as an image of a raging river bursting through a dam formed in Alexia's mind. She had no idea what it meant, but she was sure the image had come from Ollie. Within seconds they were crashing out of the passageway and into the wall of Shadow Souled who were spilling into the streets.

 

Thirty minutes later, Alexia was weary beyond words. Ollie had charged through twenty blocks of the enemy. Yet every street was packed, and before long the poor elephant had stumbled and fallen. By the time Ollie rose again, there were far too many dark servants filling the street to continue forward.

Ollie fought valiantly, slamming his tusks into the enemy and kicking them away as Alexia stood on his back and sent stone after stone flying into the never-ending stream of dark servants.

Before long, she was pulled from the elephant's back and had to make use of a sword she'd stolen from one of the Shadow Souled. The fighting was far too cramped to use her sling. Yet no matter how many dark servants she took down, there were always more to come. And inch by inch the army of Awakened was pressed inward as human and animal fell beneath the flood of darkness.

The battle was unlike anything Alexia had imagined. Many of the freed prisoners had Soulprints of their own. Vines sprang up out of nowhere, wrapping around the enemy and flinging them away. Tornadoes of snow and ice blasted through the streets, freezing Shadow Souled in an instant.

Impossible things were happening all around as alleyways filled with crystalline water, gushing into the streets and slamming into the enemy. Walls appeared out of nowhere, surrounding fifty dark servants at a time and locking them inside.

A few animals also seemed to have Soulprints. She saw a zebra turn the front half of its body into stone and smash into the enemy. Then there was an armadillo that grew a metallic shell and curled itself into a ball to roll beneath the Shadow Souled and knock their feet out from under them.

Yet even with five thousand Awakened and twenty thousand animals, it was obvious they would not win this battle. They wouldn't even come close. For every dark servant they dispatched, another hundred remained.

Alexia dispatched a mammoth beast that was part elephant and part octopus. From the corner of her eye, she saw Aias lock blades with the traitor Miel. Alexia hadn't seen the woman since she'd been kidnapped from the palace in London. Miel moved like a viper, but she was no match for Aias. The one-armed warrior spun backward and knocked the woman to the ground.

Something slammed into the middle of the street, drawing Alexia's attention. Stone and dirt went flying as someone let out an impossibly loud scream. For a moment the battle stopped as every dark servant and Awakened turned to see what new evil had arrived. Alexia gaped as she saw the Assassin holding a fresh wound in his side. Sweat poured from him as black blood spilled onto the ground.

Lying on his back before the Assassin was Jack Staples. He was gasping for breath and trying to rise.

Four minutes earlier

 

The Assassin rocketed through the air as Jack clung to his back. Jack had managed to keep hold of Ashandar in one hand as he wrapped both legs and his other arm around the Assassin. Gritting his teeth, he let go with his arm and held on tightly with his legs, riding the Assassin like a horse. Jack grabbed Ashandar with both hands and was about to stab the Assassin in the back when the Assassin spun like a top. Ashandar flew out of Jack's grasp. He grew dizzy, watching it fall to the city streets far below.

The Assassin hurled Jack across the sky, but he didn't fall far before the Assassin slammed into him, holding him by the neck and placing his other hand over Jack's heart.

The Assassin slowed, then stopped in midair, hovering in the clouds far above the City of Shadows. Jack's heart burned and he felt his life slipping away. The fires from the Assassin's eyes were as hot as a furnace, and a rapturous smile parted his lips.

“This is why you were born, boy,” the Assassin said. “This is your purpose. To die at my hands.” The area around Jack's heart was on fire as the Assassin dug his fingers into his chest. The edges of his vision darkened. Dimly, Jack heard the ringing of bells and surrendered to them. He had no idea where or when they would go, and he didn't care. At this moment, it was the only way he knew to fight back.

They landed in the Brazilian rain forest. The Assassin glanced at the changed landscape. “No matter where you run, you cannot escape me!” he scoffed. “Your death will end this war, Jack Staples.”

Jack hovered on the edge of consciousness. The world grew darker by the second, and he could see little more than the raging fires in the Assassin's eyes.

“But I will not stop with you. I will destroy everyone you know and love. Your father and brother, your friends …”

Wait!
Jack had heard these words before.
There!
He saw himself, the Jack from the past. The other Jack wore a blindfold and held Ashandar in both hands. He moved with a fluid grace and twisted the black blade upward—into the Assassin's side. “No!” The Assassin gasped as the Jack from the past screamed “No!” alongside him.

And as the other Jack stumbled and fell, Jack Staples embraced the ring of time and brought the Assassin back to the City of Shadows.

The Assassin dropped Jack and pressed his hands tightly against the fresh wound in his side. Even as he screamed, a dark wind burst from the wound to explode through the streets. And where the wind blew, the Shadow Souled grew stronger.

Only now did Jack realize that he and the Assassin had arrived in the middle of a great battle. The streets were filled with tens of thousands of dark servants battling a small number of human Awakened and a few thousand animals. For a moment it seemed as if the battle had stopped. Every eye was on Jack and the Assassin.

Jack scrambled to his feet and began to run. The Assassin was wounded, but far from dead.

“Kill them all!” the Assassin wailed as entire buildings and streets exploded into flames. Awakened and dark servants alike were buried beneath the rubble as dark fire and liquid evil spread through the streets.

 

The battle was lost. No matter how valiantly they fought, it wasn't going to be enough. Even before the Assassin arrived, it had been over. With his arrival, the Awakened were falling so quickly it took Alexia's breath away. She closed her eyes and tried to make the Oriax and beasts fall asleep again. She tried to remember what she had done at least twice before, but nothing happened. Even if she had managed it, she knew in her heart it wouldn't be enough.

A short distance down the street, the Assassin walked among the Awakened. “Run, boy!” he screamed as entire streets exploded. “Your time has come!” Shadowfog flooded through the streets to smother the Awakened in its embrace. “This day will mark my final victory!”

Alexia spotted Jack scrambling away, diving behind exploding walls or darting down alleys that erupted in flames. The Assassin was toying with him, laughing each time Jack narrowly escaped yet another attack. Where the Assassin walked, man, woman, and animal were flung aside like rag dolls. Even dark servants unlucky enough to be in his way were destroyed.

Alexia whispered in Ollie's ear, telling him it was time to go after the Assassin. She knew that she and Ollie would be running to their deaths, but she couldn't just watch. Besides, the moment the Assassin killed Jack, he would be coming for her. She was sure of it. She was about to climb onto the elephant's back when she heard a familiar voice.

“I hoped we would meet on the battlefield.”

Alexia turned to see Korah pulling his bone-white blade from the body of a mountain goat. “Go!” Alexia hissed. Ollie trumpeted loudly as he bolted away. “Hello, Uncle,” she said. “I have been looking for you as well.”