Keeper of the Realms: The Dark Army (Book 2) (40 page)

Charlie wanted to sit down and rest for a minute. She needed the chance to recuperate, to think and to plan. The cost of sustained action over the last few days was taking its toll, but she suspected that if she lay down she might not be able to stand again. She didn’t think that would be a dignified way to go; being beheaded by a raging smoke-filled giant while she sat on her backside.

Rubbing thoughtfully at her head she did her best to block out the clumsy attempts at witty interaction between Marsila and E’Jaaz and tried to think.

‘Got to have a plan. Got to have a plan,’ she whispered.

An image bubbled up from the deep recesses of her tired brain. Slowly it swirled into focus. She and Crumble by the riverside, discussing her fighting style. Charlie rubbed harder at her head in an attempt to hasten the process.

Slowly, like a musical chord echoing over the distance, Crumble Shard’s words came to her.

‘Be sneaky or more aggressive!’ she cried.

E’Jaaz and Marsila gave a start.

‘Oh my gosh! OK, OK,’ gushed Charlie, her tongue suddenly unable to keep up with brain. ‘We’ve got to …’ She paused to look around. ‘We’ve got to get out of the city. We need more room and less people.’

The last of the gargorillas flew through the air, knocking E’Jaaz off his feet. Rolling over and over in a cloud of dust and a nimbus of Will, the Keeper eventually staggered to his feet. They all turned to watch Fo Fum. Smoke still
haloing round his head, he dipped his hand into the pile of gargorillas that lay broken at his feet. Grabbing an assorted handful of bits and pieces he flung them at the Keepers. Hands up, Will blazing, they were forced to retreat from the onslaught.

‘We’ve got to –’ Another deluge of missiles punched Charlie further back. Her shield of gold flashed and sparked as it was struck. ‘Ah forget it! Just follow me!’

Pushing her tired limbs into motion and using her Will to the very best of her ability, Charlie led the two Keepers through Sylvaris. Tumbling and spinning, jumping and somersaulting they pushed their way across the city, leaping over broken bridges and ducking through towers with gaping excavations. The
crunch, crunch
of Fo Fum’s measured step pursued them as did the occasional projectile of a flung wall, behemoth limb or Stoman corpse.

‘What are we doing?’ panted E’Jaaz.

‘Getting rid of –’ Once again another thrown missile cut her short. Charlie smashed the next aside with a flurry of Will.

‘Getting that –’ The bridge they were running on crumpled and partially collapsed as Fo Fum put his weight on it. Helping each other they clambered on to another.

‘Just run!’

Onward and onward they went until they reached the city limits and the towers grew further and further apart. Sliding down the outside of a severely damaged building that leaned at an extreme angle, they tumbled into Deepforest. Checking that Fo Fum was still chasing them they raced across battlefield debris, past groups of Treman soldiers who
were being assisted by healers, skipped past still-burning fires and out on to the grasslands of the Great Plains.

‘How-much-longer,’ gasped Marsila, holding her hand to her side in an attempt to calm a stitch, ‘do-we-have-to-run?’

Charlie, realizing that they were now free of the city and the possibility of harming any innocent civilians, skidded to a stop. ‘This is far enough.’

Panting, they looked back to Deepforest.

Fo Fum’s spear spat through the trees and buried itself right between the three Keepers. Clods of dirt and clumps of grass rained down on them from the near miss. Fo Fum came next. Having feasted on the smoke of Sylvaris he was now large enough to push the trees of Deepforest aside like a farmer stepping through a field of corn.

The Keepers were forced to crane their heads right back in order to see the giant’s tortured face. His clothes had fallen from him long ago, leaving him coated in blood and ashes.

‘Feeeeeeeeeeeee!’ he screamed in delight as he saw his prey.

Charlie was so shocked by the change in his appearance that she nearly lost sight of her plans.

‘Charlie?’ E’Jaaz nudged her in the ribs. ‘If you’re going to do anything, now’s the time.’

‘A T-T-Triad,’ stuttered Charlie as the fear threatened to get the better of her. ‘Form a Triad.’

The two Keepers nodded. Wills shimmering, the three merged their strengths.

‘Where do you want us to open the Portal?’ shouted Marsila over the footfall of the approaching giant. ‘Beneath his feet?’

‘No, I want you to open it –’ Charlie was cut short as Fo
Fum’s gigantic hand lashed down, knocking her off her feet. It smashed a cratered imprint in the soft earth. Charlie pulled herself upright, doing her best to maintain the Triad. ‘I want you to open it above his head!’

E’Jaaz and Marsila stared at one another, sharing a look of confusion.

‘
Where
do you want us to open it?’

But before Charlie could reply Fo Fum plucked her off the grass as easily as one might bend down to pick up a fallen grape. His dark chuckle filled the sky. ‘I’ve got you now, my scuttling fugitive! Fiiiiii!’

Delighted with his catch, he tossed Charlie from hand to hand. Charlie had to fight vertigo as she was jolted through the air. Gritting her teeth she fought to hold the Triad of Wills together. She couldn’t afford to let it go.

‘Open the Portal!’ she screamed.

‘Where?’ bellowed E’Jaaz, his voice cracked with frustration. ‘To
where
?’

‘To the Western Mountains!’ screamed Charlie.

Fo Fum paused. Snatching Charlie out of the air he lifted her to head height so he could better examine her. Charlie almost gagged at the close proximity of the giant’s ruined face. The thick smoke bubbling endlessly from his eyes and the rotten stink of his wounds were almost more than she could bear.

‘Fe-fi, Fo Fum –’ began the mercenary.

Charlie was unable to stand it any more. ‘Enough with the Fe-fi, Fo Fum chant!’ She wriggled round so she could shout to the Keepers below. ‘Just open the Portal to the Western Mountains!’

Still screaming, she struggled to tear open her own Portal. At first it felt as though Marsila and E’Jaaz, confused by her request, were fighting her. Gritting her teeth she Willed them into motion.

A line of gold slashed above Fo Fum’s head. Rotating, it sheared through a different axis then spread open into a wide rectangle.

‘Ffffo?’ The giant gazed at the golden light in confusion.

The Portal began to shake. Vibrating and groaning it roared and reverberated as it fought the Keepers. Jerking faster and faster it began to oscillate.

WHHHHUUUUUUSH!

Fo Fum had only a second to react before the magma erupted from the Portal. Gushing and slurping, rushing and splattering, the lava swept across Fo Fum’s head. It streamed down his shoulders and over his chest. The terrible scent of burning flesh filled the air and the mercenary’s gurgling scream cracked across the Great Plains, echoed over Deepforest and pounded against the towers of Sylvaris so that those brave enough to stick their heads from ruined towers swiftly ducked back inside.

Charlie, desperate to free herself from the giant’s hands before he clenched them in agony, kicked herself free. Tumbling through the air she braced herself with Will in the hope of minimizing her impact, only to be pleasantly surprised when Marsila cushioned her fall with a trampoline of thick golden light.

Grabbing the younger Keeper by the arms, the two adults scampered to a safe distance with Charlie held between them. There, with their hands pressed to their ears, they
turned to watch Fo Fum’s demise with a mixture of awe and disgust.

Screaming, bellowing and writhing, the giant folded himself into a ball in an attempt to protect himself from the terrible heat. But it did little good. The lava continued to spew from the Portal like a vengeful red rain. With no smoke from which to draw added energy, the giant’s body succumbed and broke down in the volcanic stream. As Fo Fum stopped moving, the Portal finally shuddered one last time then collapsed in a flash of sparks.

55

Burial at Sea

Thinking that it was over, Marsila and E’Jaaz edged closer to Fo Fum’s body.

‘No,’ said Charlie. She had to repeat herself when the two adults, slightly deafened by the cataclysmic event, failed to hear her the first time. ‘No! Don’t go near him. I thought we’d killed him once before and that didn’t work. Let’s not take any risks.’

‘What?’

Charlie sighed. Doing her best with a mix of poor pantomime and hand gestures she indicated the risk to the dazed Keepers.

‘SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?’ bellowed E’Jaaz.

‘I’m not deaf!’ protested Charlie.

‘WHAT?’

‘You don’t have to shout!’

‘WHAT?’

‘Oh for crying out loud,’ muttered Charlie. Using the last scraps of her strength she opened a Portal back to the Jade Tower.

‘Charlie?’ said Lady Dridif. She paused so that one of the
guards could take the arm of the wounded councillor who she had been helping. ‘Is it over?’

‘Yes. Well … almost.’

‘Thank ya, Charlie. For all that yer’ve done. We owe ya a debt of gratitude that –’

‘Uh, Dridif?’ groaned Charlie as she struggled beneath the weight of the Portal.

‘Wot is it?’

‘Portal. Kinda heavy.’

‘Sorry. Wot do ya need?’

‘Can you come through? Bring ink, paper, as many guards as you can spare and all the fans that you can find.’

‘Fans, ya mean the ones on our ceilings?’

‘Noooo,’ grumbled Charlie, really struggling beneath the pressure. ‘The ones that you flap with your hands. Please hurry, I can’t keep this open all day.’

Seeing the sweat on the girl’s brow Dridif bustled into motion. With several swift commands, a few raised eyebrows and the occasional acidic remark she spurred a mixed crowd of Tremen, councillors and servants into motion.

‘Quick! Quick! Ya there, run!’ urged Dridif, berating the last of the guards through the Portal. ‘And ya, stop pretending yer foot’s twisted. I saw yer run fast enough when the Shades came for ya. Jump, all of ya!’

Dridif was the last to step through the Portal. Charlie, drenched in sweat, sighed with relief as she could finally allow it to close.

‘Ya got him,’ said Dridif with an appreciative smile as she stared at the lumpy remains of Fo Fum.

‘Maybe, maybe not.’

‘Charlie, that’s just a big lump of charcoal. How can ya be worried about that?’

‘Jensen finished him off once before, but he came back from that. And you saw what happened earlier. I just don’t think it would be wise to take any chances.’

Dridif gave the cremated remains of Fo Fum a measured look. She was certain that the giant posed no threat, but she hadn’t reached her position of power by taking thoughtless risks. ‘So wot do ya have planned?’

Charlie told her. Dridif nodded in agreement and ordered those who had brought fans into motion. They formed an arc round the gigantic corpse and, waving the fans up and down, kept the smokes of Deepforest and Sylvaris at bay. Each councillor, guard or servant was careful in their duties. Indeed they might not have been a hundred per cent sure why they were doing what they did, but Dridif with her iron words and scathing look had ensured that each carried out his or her task to the best of their ability.

Charlie used the pen and paper to write down instructions for E’Jaaz and Marsila.

‘WHY DO YOU WANT TO OPEN A PORTAL TO THE SEA OF CHARMS?’

‘Oh, my days, would you two please stop shouting!’

‘WHAT?’

‘Stop shouting! Ooh hang on …’ Charlie scrawled Stop shouting! in capitals on a piece of parchment and underlined it three times. Grabbing both Keepers she held the paper under their noses.

‘Oh, sorry,’ said Marsila, shrugging. She stuck a finger in her ear in an attempt to clear her hearing. ‘We didn’t know.’

‘So why do you want to open a Portal to the Sea of Charms?’ asked E’Jaaz.

No smoke underwater, wrote Charlie and held the paper up so they could see.

‘Ah, good idea,’ said E’Jaaz, finally understanding what Charlie had been driving at.

Charlie gestured at the food and drink that Lady Dridif had thoughtfully brought with her. She thought it would be a good idea to boost their lagging energy before attempting to undertake the Portal opening.

While she ate, a terrible, if improbable, image of Fo Fum meeting Darkmount’s god miles beneath the waves of the Sea of Charms sprang to mind.

‘Dridif?’

‘Yes, Charlie.’

‘What’s the second deepest ocean in Bellania?’

When the Keepers had eaten their fill and recovered somewhat from their labours – and, more importantly in Charlie’s opinion, also recovered their hearing – they set to work.

The three Keepers formed an informal triangle with Charlie at the front. Shutting their eyes they summoned their Will and formed a Triad. Gesturing in unison they opened a Portal that led to a calm ocean. The waters were dark blue
and although it was of course impossible to tell how deep they were, they nonetheless gave the suggestion that beneath the surface there lay a great depth.