Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (36 page)

Fortunately, Rebekah knew where most things were stored inside the barn, and quickly located two wooden buckets hanging from hooks on the wall. As she took them down from their hooks, she heard a shuffling sound coming from the other side of the barn wall. Carefully she approached the wall of the barn and peered through one of the gaps between the boards. The badly burned, inhuman form at the other side of the wall startled her so much that she dropped her bucket with a loud clattering sound on the floor, seemingly amplified further by the barn’s cavernous structure. The shadow beyond the barn wall instantly looked in her direction, turning her blood to ice, as she stood there frozen with terror. Suddenly the shadow began to move, shuffling towards the entrance of the barn. Instinctively, Rebekah ran for her preferred hiding spot; one that she had used many times while playing hide and seek with her smaller brother and other friends, but also one they had always seemed to find far too easily for her liking. She dived head first into the pile of hay, and quickly buried herself under it, leaving only a small gap so she could see the floor of the barn. She watched as the shadow approached the barn entrance, and involuntarily held her breath as the creature appeared in the doorway, casting a long moonlit shadow far into the barn.

The creature shuffled into the barn doorway, then stopped, as if listening for any movement within. Rebekah could barely breathe past her terror. After a few moments the creature shuffled further inside the barn, and headed straight for where she was hiding. She wanted to flee, but her legs had turned to stone and she couldn’t move. Suddenly, the creature kicked over the same bucket she had dropped earlier, and it froze in its tracks, looking down at the upended bucket on the floor. It seemed to be slowly studying the bucket for some reason. Then it did something even stranger. It bent down, picked up the bucket, and returned it to the exact hook Rebekah had removed it from a few moments earlier. It was at that instant she knew exactly who this creature had once been: farmer Tarquin. She suddenly felt a new wave of revulsion at what he had become, and prayed her mother or father had not met a similar fate. After returning the bucket to its rightful hook, the creature took one last look around—lingering longest on what were once his prized animals—then began shuffling slowly back towards the barn entrance.

It wasn’t until the shadow had long since disappeared from outside the barn that Rebekah dared to breathe freely once more, let alone move again. When she tried to stand up, her legs almost buckled under her, and she had to steady herself on the rails of the animal pen for a moment. Her eyes had adjusted more to the darkened barn now, and she could clearly see the outline of the storage barrel which normally contained the vegetables for the animals. Warily, she made her way over to the corner of the barn, never taking her eyes off the walls for more than a few seconds at a time, watching for any more shadowy movements outside.

When she reached the large barrel in the corner, she lifted the lid and felt inside. To her great relief, she found there were still plenty of vegetables inside the barrel. For a moment she wondered what had happened to the second bucket, then realised, in her haste to hide she had taken it with her into the pile of hay. Not wanting to be in the barn any longer than she had to be, she ignored that bucket, and took down two more from the hooks on the wall instead. She quickly filled one of the buckets with vegetables, then used the other to collect water from the animal watering trough. It was far too dark to see, but she just hoped there were no discarded animal parts in the watering trough as she scooped up a bucketload of water. The bucket was very heavy for her to lift, and although she knew she could have managed to carry it under normal circumstances, running with it—as well as a second bucket full of vegetables—was not an option right now. Reluctantly, she quietly emptied half the bucket of water onto the barn floor, always watching and listening for any sign of movement outside the barn. She retrieved the bucket of vegetables, and crept slowly towards the entrance of the barn.

The moonlight outside seemed much brighter to her eyes now, since she had become used to the much darker interior of the barn. She knew it would make spotting the creatures much easier for her, but unfortunately, she also knew that they could spot her easily too, especially in the light blue dress she was wearing. There simply was nowhere to hide between the barn and the relative safety of the grate. She needed something to cover her dress with. Something dark. She thought about smearing herself with mud or manure to camouflage herself, but then remembered she had often seen a horse blanket hanging on the back wall of the barn. Placing the two buckets down quietly, she peered carefully around the barn doorway and onto the street outside. The street was clear, apart from the creature that used to be farmer Tarquin, which was still slowly shuffling along in the distance—thankfully now heading away from her.

Rebekah turned and headed directly for where she had last seen the blanket, stopping in her tracks almost immediately, as she realised she would have to walk through the main animal pen full of disembowelled animal carcasses. Taking a deep breath—through her mouth so she didn’t retch from the stench—she opened the pen, and picked her way through the carnage as best she could. She made her way to the far rear corner of the barn, hidden in the deepest shadows, and found what she was looking for. It was a thick coarse blanket made from heavy weave, and smelled of the rotting carcases all around her. But at least it was dark brown, and hopefully that would help conceal her out in the open, so she gratefully took it and headed back towards the barn entrance. She cloaked herself in the blanket and retrieved the two buckets, before once again carefully checking the street outside for any signs of the creatures. She was relieved to see that nothing had changed, and the only movement was in the distance, as the remains of poor farmer Tarquin continued to shuffle further down the street. She took a deep breath, then ran for the refuge of the grate, hoping Kayden was paying attention and watching for her return.

It was so much more difficult to run whilst carrying the two heavy buckets, and on two occasions she almost tripped and fell, spilling part of the buckets’ contents on the floor as she did so. By the time she reached the grate, she was panting hard for breath. She heard two faint clicks when Kayden released the bolts on the other side of the cover as she crouched down next to it, trying to make her form as small as possible. It was at that point she realised she might have a problem: the buckets were heavy for her to lift, but there was no way Kayden would be able to carry them if she handed them down to him. ‘
She would just have to do the best she could
,’ she thought to herself, checking the street for any creatures again.

She lifted the grate cover carefully, and placed it on the ground close to the opening, then peered into the dark hole, just about making out her little brother in the darkness below. The platform below was too far to reach with the buckets, and she would risk falling in head first if she tried to lower them onto it. Instead, she moved the buckets as close as she could to the opening, and climbed inside, onto the platform below. Once her footing was secure, she reached out for the first of the two buckets, and found it was almost impossible to lift it from where she was. Eventually, she managed to ease the bucket over the lip of the grate and get a hand underneath it, spilling a little of the water as it sloshed around inside the bucket. Kayden offered to take the bucket of water from his big sister, but she dared not risk spilling more of its precious cargo, so she carefully climbed down and placed it on the floor herself.

Returning to the firewood platform, she reached out for the second bucket, then froze with fear. Another of the creatures had entered the street from the direction of the docks, and was heading their way. Panic gripped her, as she pulled frantically at the bucket of vegetables, desperate to pull it inside and close the grate before the creature spotted her. As she pulled hard on the bucket, its bottom snagged on the lip of the grate, tipping the bucket towards her, and emptying its contents into the room below with a multitude of small thuds, as the vegetables struck the stacked wood beneath her. Very slowly, she lowered the—now almost empty—bucket towards Kayden without taking her eyes off the creature in the street. It took a moment, but he seemed to to understand what his big sister wanted, and took the bucket from her hand. Rebekah barely dared to breathe. Her heart was thundering so hard in her chest, she feared it would burst free at any moment. The creature was far too close to attempt replacing the grate lid, she would be discovered for sure. The moon had shifted its position, and the grate was now in the shadow of the temple building, but she had no idea if that would be enough to conceal their location until the creature passed them by.

Very slowly, Rebekah climbed down from the firewood platform, being especially careful not to make any sound. Kayden watched with terror in his eyes, too scared to move or say anything. Rebekah put a finger to her lips, indicating that he should remain silent, then crept towards him. She bent down so she was close to his ear.

“Be very quiet. There’s one right outside,” She whispered to him. He immediately started to hug his big sister, and she prayed he wouldn’t start to cry and draw attention to them. After a moment she pushed away from him a little and whispered in his ear, “I might need to go back outside and lure it away from here Kayden. I think it would follow anything that moved, just like that pig earlier.”

Kayden shook his head furiously and grabbed at his big sister again, hugging her tightly. Rebekah tried to free herself, but was surprised at the strength of her little brother’s grip on her.

“Kay, don’t fight me, please,” she whispered pleadingly. Kayden surprised her by releasing her almost immediately, but still stood there, with his hand held out towards her. It took her a moment to realise he was holding something in his hand. It was his wooden spinning top. He made a throwing motion with his hand, then a spinning motion with his finger above the wooden spinning top. Rebekah grasped what he wanted to do, but wasn’t sure she could throw it far enough away from the grate to make much difference, and even if she could, there was no guarantee the creature would see or hear it so far away.

“It’s a good idea Kayden, but I don’t think I can throw it far enough away from here, and the creature might not even see it anyway, it’s so small,” she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head again, then beckoned for her to come close so that he could whisper something to her.

“No Bekah, throw it close to the monster, I can make it spin away down the street.”

“I thought you could only make it spin in one spot. How long have you been able to move it as well?” she asked in a whisper.

“Ages and ages,” he replied in a whisper, grinning with pride. Rebekah shook her head to herself and narrowed her eyes at him.

“So, when you skinned my ankle the other day on the dockside, you were controlling it?” His eyes widened as he realised his big sister was on to him.

“Sorry Bekah,” he whispered, looking down at his own feet, with a guilty look on his face. Rebekah shook her head again, but didn’t say anything more about the subject.

“How far can you make it go?”

“Oh, a long way Bekah. I was chasing the seagulls with it. I got one too when it wasn’t looking, and…” he whispered, but seemed to stop what he was saying abruptly, half expecting his sister to berate him for his behaviour. He watched his sister for any signs of a reaction, then continued when she didn’t say anything more. “When I know it’s going too far away, I make it spin faster, and push it hard, so it goes much further by itself,” he added in a whisper.

“Okay, let’s try. But make sure your words are very quiet when you make it spin,” she whispered, holding out her hand for the wooden spinning top. He nodded and handed her his prize possession. Slowly she crept towards the opening and looked up through the hole, half expecting to see a monstrous face peering back at her, but all she saw were stars in the sky high above. Carefully, she climbed back onto the platform, and gingerly peered through the holes on the lip of the grate. Her blood turned to ice when she saw not one, but two of the creatures outside in the street. Both were less than twenty paces away from their hiding spot, and both shuffling slowly towards them. She quickly offered Kayden a hand, so he could climb up beside her. Whereas she had to crouch to stay hidden, Kayden had to stand on his tiptoes to see through the gaps. There was no time to spare, either they did this now, or not at all. Any closer, and the creatures would no doubt see her throw the spinning top from the hole.

“Ready?” she whispered. Kayden nodded, and waited for his sister to throw his spinning top. Rebekah took one last look through the gaps to judge the distance and direction of her throw, then let it fly. She held her breath as she watched it sail through the night air—barely visible in the darkness—then heard a dull thud, as it hit the packed earth of the street outside. It had landed only a few paces away from the closest creature, and it had stopped dead in its tracks to see what the sound was. The second creature had failed to notice it, and was continuing its slow shuffling towards them. Kayden had already begun his whispered chant to make the wooden spinning top move, and within a couple of heartbeats, it began to spin. The first creature attempted to pick it up, but Kayden moved the spinning top away from its grasp long before it had a chance to grab it. As soon as the wooden spinning top started moving towards the second creature, it changed its direction of travel to intercept it. It wasn’t long before Kayden had the two creatures walking in circles, much to his great delight, judging by the look on his face. It had been several days since Rebekah had seen him smile, and although she was reluctant to end his fun, she knew she had to.

“Kay, that’s enough now. Send them away from here before any more come, please,” she pleaded quietly into his ear. She knew he couldn’t answer her while he was controlling the spinning top, but also knew he had done as she asked when she saw the toy slowly moving away from them, with both creatures following close behind it. After one final check that there were no more creatures close by, Rebekah quickly located the grate cover and secured it into position, locking the bolts in place with an audible sigh of relief. Her legs finally gave out beneath her, and she found herself sitting down, hugging Kayden around his waist, and crying into his shirt.