Keeper of the Realms: The Dark Army (Book 2) (16 page)

Jensen rolled his eyes towards the mass of guards. Jook, quick to realize the value of sharing secrets with as few as possible, grunted in agreement.

‘You lot. Out.’

‘Boss, are you sure?’ queried one of the guards.

‘What? You think two little Tremen in chains are a danger to me? Curse your ears, you fool!’

The guard’s shoulders drooped. He trudged after the others and pulled the office door shut behind him. However, once the guards had departed, Jook grabbed Kelko and shoved him into another of the cells. ‘The man had a point,’ he said. ‘Risks should always be kept to a minimum.’

‘Quite right,’ agreed Jensen. ‘Now back to business …’ He held out his hands.

Jook stamped over to the Treman. Leaning over him in an obvious act of intimidation, he placed one large hand round both of Jensen’s. ‘Don’t forget, we might be acting at being pals, but if I suspect for one second that you’re trying to play me for a fool I’ll gut you like a rabbit and strangle you with your own intestines.’

‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ said Jensen, staring the huge Stoman straight in the eye.

Jook paused, grunted, then finally released Jensen from his shackles.

‘Ta business, then,’ said Jensen.

Striding purposefully forward, he made straight for Sic Boy’s cell.

‘Come here, Sic Boy,’ he urged. As the large dog came closer, he pushed his hands through the dog’s fur to detach a small box hidden beneath his collar. He opened it, checked the contents and as he turned back to Jook he gave Sic Boy one final pat. ‘These, me large friend, are the seeds of yer future success. Allow me to demonstrate their worth.’

He placed a seed on the desk. Closing his eyes he began to softly chant. The sound of his voice and the warmth of his Treesong carried across the room. It weaved its way through the bars of the cells, tickled at Kelko and wafted past Sic Boy’s great ears. A scent of sap and freshly cut grass seeped into the office and with it came an odd feeling of contentment. The seed responded. Bursting open, it released small tendrils of greenery that weaved up into the air. As Jook leaned closer to watch the magic unfold, his face
betrayed a mixed array of emotions: wonder, delight and good old-fashioned greed.

As Jensen continued his chant, the tendril grew fatter, roots pushed their way into the desk and into cracks in the floor. Leaves blossomed and finally the shoot swelled into a small sapling large enough for its branches to scrape against the ceiling.

Jensen, with a very large smile on his face, allowed his song to fade.

Side by side, the small Treman and large Stoman admired the new growth in silence.

‘So this is it? This is a Lindis plant?’ asked Jook. Leaning over he took one of the leaves in his hands to gently rub between his thumb and forefinger.

‘Ah … no. Actually it’s an elm tree. Me old friend Stotch was fond of them. In fact, his family name was Elm.’

‘What?’ growled Jook.

‘Well wot did ya expect ta find in the collar of my late friend’s prized dog? If ya really wanted ta find a Lindis seed ya should have come ta see me in Sylvaris.’

‘You …’ snarled the Stoman. Rage building, he reached for his axe.

‘Hold up,’ suggested Jensen with a grin that was so cheeky it would have made angels weep. ‘Ya might want ta know that dis ain’t the only elm tree in yer office.’ The jaunty Treman jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the cells. ‘In fact, you might find a second one over there.’

Jook turned.

There was indeed a second elm in the room. It sprouted at an odd angle from the ruins of Sic Boy’s cell lock.

Jook, slightly overwhelmed at the state of his office, stared disbelievingly from one elm tree to the other, then finally settled his furious eye upon the small figure of Jensen the Willow.

‘I palmed the other seed inta the lock when ya weren’t looking. And, uh … before ya reach any further for yer beloved axe ya might want ta take one last look over there.’

TTTWANG!

The lock shattered as Sic Boy gently prodded the door with one of his paws. It swung open with a long creak. The huge dog padded into the office with a truly terrifying expression of malice on his face.

‘And dis,’ said Jensen, ‘is wot is known as the payback. Sic Boy … do yer thing.’

The dog leaped forward with a ferocious growl.

Once it was over Jensen released Kelko.

‘The ol’ Lindis seed trick, huh?’ grinned Kelko.

‘Never fails,’ smirked Jensen. ‘Hate to end these things so violently, but I figured it was either him or us.’

Kelko stepped over Jook’s remains to stare out at the Soul Mines. ‘So how do ya plan ta free that lot? There’s a lot of people down there who need saving.’

‘We’re not going ta save them,’ said Jensen.

‘Wot?’ asked Kelko with a startled look. ‘Why not?’

‘It’s too big a project. Sweet Sap knows how many guards and soldiers are down here. Surely too many for us ta take on.’

‘But we’ve got Sic Boy with us. That’ll –’

Jensen held up his hand to silence his large friend. ‘Kelko, I know wot yer gonna say and I know how that big heart of yers works … But it ain’t gonna happen. The risk is too great and the cost of failure a price that we cannot afford ta pay.’

‘Yer gonna say “think of the big picture” aren’t ya?’ grumbled Kelko.

‘Yes I am,’ admitted Jensen. ‘And it’s by looking at the big picture that we can achieve the most. Ya know wot’s at stake here. Ya know we can’t afford ta get caught and ya know with all the guards and soldiers out there there’s a high chance that things could go wrong. If we get caught who would save Charlie? Who would see that the pendant is kept safe? Who would warn Sylvaris about Bane’s attack?’

Kelko sighed so heavily that his stomach almost burst the buttons off his shirt. ‘OK, I get it. I do. I just wish …’

‘I know, Kelko, I know. But freeing the Winged Ones is the quickest way of getting rid of Bane. And once Bane is out of the picture places like dis will disappear too.’

‘So wot now? How’re we going ta get outta here?’

‘Well we know there’s ten guards waiting outside dis door and a whole lot more between us and the exit so I think we should carry on with wot we’ve started here.’

The two turned to admire the small tree emerging from the ruins of Jook’s desk.

‘Wot about the guards?’ asked Kelko. ‘Won’t they knock down the door as soon as they hear wot’s going on?’

‘Probably,’ admitted Jensen with a mischievous look. ‘But there’s still some seeds left in Sic Boy’s collar. I think we can put them ta good use.’

Kelko watched with a befuddled look that swiftly turned into amusement as Jensen placed another seed in front of the door into the office.

Standing back with a grin to mirror Kelko’s own, Jensen asked, ‘Are ya ready?’

‘Ya can’t even begin ta imagine how ready I am. Let’s do this!’

Jensen was first to start singing, Kelko – waiting a moment to follow the melody – joined in shortly after. Guiding their Treesong, they teased the seeds and sapling into growth. Pushing their roots deeper into the ground, they found added sustenance and beneath the urging of the Tremen’s song the saplings swelled into mature trees. Their branches pressed against the ceiling and with a groan, a creak and a crack they forced their way upwards.

Eyes twinkling in delight and buoyed up by the idea of escape, Jensen and Kelko increased the power of their song. The trees, already impressive, grew even larger.

There was a sudden pounding of fists on the door, but the guards could not get in. The seed that Jensen had placed in front of it was now a tree and barred their entrance more efficiently than any lock.

Snapping, splintering and screeching, the rock above was forced apart. With a final roar the roof was split open to reveal a chasm that led to a ribbon of blue sky.

‘That’s it!’ yelled Jensen, sheltering from the falling rock at the base of the giant elm. ‘Let’s get outta here! C’mon, Sic Boy, let’s go!’

Clambering up the trunk, the Tremen scampered from branch to branch until they at last reached the welcome
sunlight. Sic Boy scrambled up behind them, his huge claws gripping the bark.

‘What the –’ growled a startled voice. ‘Why, you green-skinned monkeys! Trying to escape are you? We’ll see about that!’

It was the wagon driver who had shipped them here. After eating a meal and collecting his bonus, he had just turned the wagon round and was in the process of returning to Alavis when the road in front of him burst open with a flourish of branches. The guard too was still by his side, an incredulous look plastered across his face.

Jensen and Kelko merely grinned and crossed their arms. The tree branches that emerged from the crevice shook and rustled. The movement got fiercer and in an explosion of green leaves Sic Boy jumped free.

The guard and the driver, already halfway off the wagon seat, froze in astonishment.

‘Er …’ began the guard.

‘Eep,’ wheezed the driver.

Kelko and Jensen’s grins grew even bigger.

‘Leave yer clothes and weapons behind and we might let ya leave here with yer skin intact,’ smirked Jensen. ‘But be quick; we ain’t got all day.’

The two Stomen looked at each other, but a menacing growl from Sic Boy soon had them pulling the belts from their trousers with trembling fingers.

‘And yer weapons,’ insisted Jensen when the two stood in nothing but their underwear.

There was a clang as a short sword and two daggers hit the floor.

‘And let’s not forget yer bonus, eh, boys?’ sniggered Kelko.

The guard tried to bluster a response, but Sic Boy snapped his teeth mere inches from the man’s backside.

A handful of coins joined the weapons.

‘Good … now beat it!’ said Jensen with a snap of his fingers.

They watched with interest as the two scampered back towards the entrance to the Soul Mines of Zhartoum.

Chuckling, Jensen and Kelko helped themselves to the fallen booty before swinging themselves on to the wagon. As they retreated back towards the Great Plains, the leaves of the elm tree gently rustled in the wind.

22

A Devilish Betrayal

As they fell from the temple, Charlie caught a brief flash of the bridge, a dizzying glimpse of the bottomless drop beneath and felt more than heard Lallinda’s terrified scream as the young girl pressed her face into Charlie’s back. The wind tugged at her hair, vertigo lurched in her stomach and her eyes watered as the temple wall flashed by.

Gripping the sword hilt as tightly as she could, she reared back then lunged forward, driving the blade into the brickwork. The sword sank deep, but with Charlie and Lallinda’s combined weight hanging from the hilt it didn’t stop their fall, only slowed their rapid rate of descent so that they fell like two pirates with a knife in a sail. From floor to floor they slid, the sharp blade cleaving a huge chasm into the wall. They crashed through roof after roof and in a cloud of mortar, loose bricks and wayward slates they continued downward.

Charlie, unable to restrain herself, grinned jubilantly at the dwindling faces of the Daemon Kindred.

‘Haaaaa!’ she screamed. ‘Catch us now, you suuuuuuuuuuckers!’ She cackled in delight.

Then her eyes bulged as the Daemon Kindred scampered
down the wall on their insect and spider-like limbs. Hundreds of them burst from the top floor, their claws and talons giving them unbreakable grips. Spreading out, they almost obscured the temple walls with their sheer weight of numbers. They streamed downward, mouths agape and screaming like hyenas.

Growing desperate, Charlie searched for a new avenue of escape. Spying a rapidly approaching balcony coming up on their left she reached a sudden decision. Pulling the blade from the wall she kicked outward with her feet. The two girls flew through the air to land on the parapet in an explosion of dust and sprawling limbs. Checking that the urn was still in one piece, Charlie hauled Lallinda to her feet, sprinted to the end of the parapet and jumped on to the roof below.

Loose tiles scattered on impact and Charlie instinctively rolled forward, but Lallinda – slower and lower on luck – broke through the timbers and fell part way through the roof. Staggering backwards, Charlie grabbed the young girl by the shoulders and helped drag her free.

‘Quick! Quick!’ snapped Charlie, hurrying the crying girl forward.

‘I can’t, I can’t go –’

‘Yes you can! You can!’

‘I can’t!’ wailed Lallinda, collapsing into a sobbing heap. ‘Dis is just a dream. It’s a dream. A dream …’

Charlie glanced back at the approaching horde. They had almost reached the balcony. Half cursing, half bemoaning her luck, she ran back. Heaving the sword overhead she swept it through the large supports that formed part of the parapet’s foundations. With a groan of tortured timber and
the
snap-snap
of cracking bricks, the balcony plunged into the abyss, taking scores of daemons with it. Unfortunately the demise of their brethren didn’t slow the others or dull their enthusiasm for pursuit. Hooting and screaming, the daemons scuttled closer.

‘Get up, Lallinda! Get up! I’m not leaving you here. Now up on your feet!’