Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers (36 page)

Now the adults turned at bay: the Night Runners, sensing that they were close to losing their quarry, came on with renewed ferocity. They were fully visible in the red glow and a terrifying sight they made, white faces contorted, fingers clawing at the air. Sebastian pushed Keera towards the gangplank.

'No, not without you!' she yelled.

'You must do as I tell you!' he shouted. 'Please!'

She turned to climb into the ark, but had taken just a few steps when a Night Runner flew straight at her. Cal saw it coming and flung himself in the way. He and the Night Runner collided and went tumbling down the riverbank towards the prow of the ark. Keera hesitated, looking down.

'Keep moving,' Sebastian yelled, and then had to lash his sword at another Night Runner. The curved blade traced a deadly arc and the Night Runner's arms went tumbling to the ground, but it kept on coming till a second swing cleaved it in two at the waist. It struck the earth with a thud and Sebastian was horrified to see that its mouth was still opening and closing.

'Phelan, get aboard!' yelled Cornelius. 'You too, Olaf.'

'But who'll launch the ark?' cried Phelan.

'Will you just do as I say?' roared the little warrior; and the two boys turned and raced up the gangplank. 'Max, you're next!'

Max looked doubtful. 'I'm not sure that thing will take my weight,' he said. He butted a Night Runner clear over the heads of its comrades. 'Maybe I should hang on until last.'

'You go NOW,' cried Cornelius. 'That's an order.'

'Yes, Chief.' Max began to walk up the gangplank, which sagged dramatically beneath his bulk. Under different circumstances it might have looked comical, but Sebastian found himself wondering what would happen if the wood snapped in two.

But soon Max was stepping onto the deck of the ark and turning to look anxiously down at his comrades. Now there were just three men left on the riverbank.

'Sebastian, your turn!' said Cornelius.

'What about Cal?' asked Sebastian. He looked around frantically and saw the big warrior beside the water, struggling with three Night Runners. They had him pinned to the ground and one was kneeling triumphantly on his chest, leaning forward to deliver the death bite.

'NO!' Sebastian didn't hesitate. He ran down the bank and lashed at them with his sword, spilling them left and right. One went somersaulting over Cal's head and crashed into the shallow water. It turned, baring its teeth, preparing to spring straight back at Sebastian; but suddenly a long olivegreen snout shot up out of the water. A huge pair of jaws snapped around the Night Runner's waist and dragged it below the surface. Sebastian stared at the ripples on the water, then leaned over to help Cal to his feet; but the big warrior seemed dazed. He stared at Sebastian stupidly.

'Come on!' Sebastian urged him. 'We can still make it to the ark.'

But Cal shook his head and stood there looking at Sebastian, a curious expression on his face.

'What's wrong?' asked Sebastian; and then something slammed into him, knocking him sideways. All at once a Night Runner was sitting astride him. Its arms shot out and its long taloned fingers clamped around Sebastian's wrists, pinning them to the ground. Sebastian struggled to throw the creature off, but then froze as he realized that its features were horribly familiar. It was Galt's face that stared down at him, but the warrior was hideously transformed. His once ruddy cheeks were sunken and white and his beard was matted and filthy. The eyes, though, were unchanged. Galt

opened his mouth – wide, impossibly wide – a mouth that bristled with misshapen yellow teeth and from which a long tongue lolled.

'Galt!' yelled Sebastian. 'No! It's me – your friend!'

He glanced desperately around for Cal but the warrior seemed to have disappeared. He had left Sebastian to his fate!

Galt's head began to descend and Sebastian steeled himself for the impact of those terrible teeth . . . but then there was a flash of light, more pure, more intense than Aaron's explosion – and a shaft of sunlight hit Galt in the face. He threw back his head and bellowed as though he had been run through with a sword. Releasing his grip, he lifted his hands to cover his eyes.

Sebastian stared around in amazement. The light was returning!

Galt scrambled away and ran screaming for cover. Sebastian sat up. A wash of brilliant sunlight was now moving along the riverbank and the Night Runners were retreating before it, covering their eyes and throwing themselves into the densest vegetation. Smoke was rising from their bare skin, and as he watched, one of them blackened like a tree branch and burst into flames.

Sebastian risked a quick glimpse up at the sun and saw that the strange black disc was moving on again; sunlight was now streaming like fire from a crescent-shape beside it. Grinning delightedly, he turned to look for Cornelius. His friend was still standing at the foot of the gangplank, sword dripping with green gore. His expression was grim and he was gazing at something further down the riverbank. Sebastian turned his head to look.

Cal stood near the water's edge, one hand resting against the hull of the ark as if he was too weak to stand. He turned to face Sebastian, who was shocked to see how pale he looked. The warrior motioned to him.

'Get aboard,' he shouted, and his voice sounded hoarse. 'I'll cut through the supports.'

'But, Cal, we can still—' Sebastian's words died on his lips as he saw the bite mark on Cal's muscular shoulder; there was a trail of fresh blood. Crimson blood. Sebastian felt as if someone had punched him in the chest. 'No . . . wait,' he gasped. 'Maybe we can—'

Cal shook his head impatiently. 'Get aboard,' he said again. 'Quickly. I can't stand this light much longer.'

Sebastian looked helplessly at Cornelius. 'There must be something we can do,' he said.

'There is,' the little warrior murmured. 'We must do as he says. Come on.' And he turned and walked up the gangplank.

Sebastian got to his feet. He looked at Cal and searched desperately for the right words. 'I'm so sorry,' he said. It sounded weak and pathetic, but it was all he could think of.

'Me too,' growled Cal. 'Now I won't have the chance to settle things with you as I promised.' Sebastian could see that Cal's eyes were streaming with tears. It clearly required all his effort to keep them open. 'Now,' he croaked, 'for the last time, get into the ark before it's too late.'

There was nothing more Sebastian could say. He turned, climbed the gangplank and stepped aboard. He found all the others waiting for him. Keera came forward, a look of concern on her pretty face.

'What's wrong?' she whispered.

Sebastian sighed. 'It's Cal,' he said. 'He's been bitten.'

She stepped up to the rail and stared down at Cal. He gazed back up at her in silence for a moment; tears spilled down his dirty face. The sound of the rippling water seemed loud in the silence that followed. Then Cal turned to look at Sebastian.

'Look after her!' he said; and he stepped towards the prow, his sword clasped in one huge hand. He studied the haphazard assembly of struts that held the ark in position and looked up, his face contorted in agony.

'May Okrin go with you!' he cried; and raising the sword, he swung it down hard against the wood, slicing clean through the main support. He stepped back quickly. The struts fell away and went rolling down the bank towards the river. For a long time nothing happened.

'So much for that idea,' said Max bleakly.

Everyone looked at each other. Then something occurred to Sebastian: they were all still grouped together in the stern.

'Move to the prow!' he shouted, and everyone ran to obey him – everyone except Max. Sebastian glanced back at him. 'Come on!' he yelled. 'We need you!'

'Oh, it's nice to be wanted for a change,' said Max haughtily. 'Let's face it, this is another thinly veiled comment about my weight, isn't it?'

Cornelius glared at him. 'Just move, you great bag of wind!' he bellowed.

'Charming.' Max took a step forward. Then another. The ark began to creak alarmingly.

'Keep going,' said Sebastian. 'I think . . . I think it's working!'

Max snorted, but kept on going until he reached the prow. He stood there, looking around. 'Any more bright ideas?' he asked.

And suddenly there was a grinding sound and the prow dropped towards the riverbank. The ark thudded down with a force that threatened to smash it in two. For a moment it just sat there, prow pointing hopelessly towards the water, seemingly stuck fast . . . but then it began to slide – slowly at first but with increasing speed – towards the river. The bows ploughed into the water, throwing up a great wave, and Sebastian gripped the rail, fearing that it would just keep going down into the lair of the water dragons . . . But no, thankfully the prow rose and levelled out. The ark slid silently across the surface of the water, heading for midstream.

A great cheer went up from the children and arms were raised defiantly in the air.

'Yes!' gasped Cornelius. 'Aaron, you were a ruddy genius!' He hurried back towards the wheelhouse, beckoning to the children to follow him.

Sebastian went back to the stern and saw the riverbank slipping quickly past. Cal stood staring hopelessly after them. As Sebastian watched, he lifted one hand to wave. Then he started wading into the shallows.

Sebastian gasped. The water dragons! He was about to shout a warning but then he realized that Cal knew exactly what he was doing. He did not want to face an eternity of roaming the streets of that awful city. He wanted the water dragons to take him. Sebastian turned away, unable to look; when he finally glanced back, there was no sign of Cal. Sebastian shook his head, trying to dispel the horror of what had just happened.

He turned to see Keera coming back to stand beside him. She looked enquiringly at their launching place.

'What happened to Cal?' she asked him.

Sebastian could not look at her. 'He went back into the jungle,' he told her.

She nodded. 'Perhaps he'll be all right,' she reasoned. 'Perhaps the bite wasn't too serious. Most likely he'll make his way back to the village and Danthus will be able to take care of him.'

'Most likely,' he said; but he knew that she didn't believe what she was saying any more than he did. It was just something to make her feel better and he wasn't going to deny her that comfort.

They didn't say anything for quite some time after that. The ark was now heading downstream and began to pick up speed as the current took it.

Cornelius and Max came back to join them.

'Phelan's taken over at the wheel,' said Cornelius. 'And we're staying afloat. That's as much as we can hope for at this point.'

'Frankly, I'm amazed,' said Max. 'I thought this thing would go down like a barrel of stones.'