Spellfall (12 page)

Using the stick, he flicked aside a flaming pair of jeans as if they were an irritating fly. “Get the fire extinguishers!” he ordered as he unlocked the cellar. “Get blankets from the beds! The Raven’s down there and so are our spells! Quickly!” Without waiting to see if they obeyed, he took a running leap through the smoke at the cellar door and disappeared. The spellclave scattered, some pounding upstairs, others heading for the kitchen.

“Now!” Natalie hissed. She kicked open the cupboard door and tugged Merlin out. The cellar steps were clogged with smoke. Flames licked at the light cord but with the generators off it wouldn’t be much use anyway. Thick black silence lurked below. She listened carefully… Lord Hawk must have gone into the tunnel. “Quick,” she whispered. “Get your mouse before someone comes back.”

Merlin crouched on the top step, trembling. “I can’t. It’s dark.”

Natalie resisted an urge to thump him. Was this what Jo felt like when
she
refused to go along with her harebrained schemes? “Of course it’s dark!” she said. “Even your father’s not crazy enough to use the generators in a fire. You know where Redeye is, don’t you?” But she could have kicked herself. She should have thought to ask Merlin if he had a torch.

The boy hugged himself. “Please Natalie,” he said in a tiny voice. “Get him for me?”

The sensible thing would be to leave him and run while the coast was still clear. But he looked so pathetic and scared. Before she knew it, she’d pulled her outer sweatshirt up over her mouth and was groping her way down the steps. It wasn’t as dark as she’d thought. Flickers of gold from the fire in the passage picked out the ghostly shapes of the nearest arches, and an eerie purple glow leaked from the tunnel at the back. Eyes smarting, Natalie paused to get her bearings. This was where she’d sat on the stool... That was where Claudia had gone to fetch Itsy... The spellclave had appeared just here, a lot further from the tunnel than she’d thought – so how had they done it? The mouse’s terrified squeaks reminded her what she’d come for. She made her way towards the sound, grabbed the cage and fled back up the steps.

Not a moment too soon. A scrape came from the tunnel behind her and a sudden draught blew her hair across her face. “Who’s there?” came a furious shout. “Is that you, boy? Just wait till I get my hands on you!”

The purple light brightened, casting Natalie’s shadow before her and reflecting in the mouse’s frightened eyes. She took the steps two at a time, her heart in her mouth. Redeye squeaked as he tumbled from side to side in his cage.

Merlin was still crouched at the top, peering into the smoke. When Natalie appeared, he jumped back with a little scream, then rushed forward again, arms joyfully outstretched. “Redeye—” He froze. All the colour drained from his face as he stared at something behind her.

Natalie’s heart missed a beat as Lord Hawk’s stick encircled her ankle. She kicked frantically but, with her hands full, couldn’t keep her balance. Desperate, she threw the cage at Merlin. “Run!” she shouted, dropping to all fours.

He caught the cage but didn’t seem to know what to do next. For a full ten seconds he just stood there, fumbling under his awful jumper.

“Get out of here, you little idiot!” Natalie hissed.

Merlin dropped a glimmering green star near her hand. “Cast it,” he mouthed. Then, at last, he turned and ran.

There was no time to think. She couldn’t get free of the stick and Lord Hawk’s hand was tightening on her other ankle, pulling her back. She seized the spell and threw it blindly over her shoulder. As she did so, she yelled the first word that came to mind. “Abracadabra!”

Her captor let go.

Natalie didn’t wait around to see if anything had happened. She scrambled up the rest of the steps, squirmed her way through the people fighting the fire and ducked out of the open door before they had time to react. Merlin was already halfway across the garden, Redeye’s cage clasped tightly to his chest.

“Stop them, you fools!” roared Lord Hawk, crashing out of the cellar. He was dusting himself off as if something had fallen on him.

His spellclave, hampered by fire extinguishers and half blinded by smoke, rushed to the door in a mass, tripping one another up in their desperation to obey. By the time they sorted themselves out and gave chase, Natalie and Merlin had reached the gates.

Breath rasping, Natalie looked back. The fire seemed to be under control now, having chewed the wooden panels of the passage but not a lot more. Foam from the extinguishers frothed out of the door and around the ankles of Lord Hawk who stood tall on the step, his eyes brighter than the autumn sun. He halted the pursuers with a raised hand and pointed his stick at Natalie. His voice crept over her skin like ice. “By the ancient bond of the spellclave, I command you, Spider. Stop, or be turned to stone!”

Natalie’s stomach did a peculiar dance. With an effort, she tore her gaze from the Lodge. She’d forgotten her own rule.
Don’t look back. Whatever happens, don’t look back.

The gates were chained shut but the ornate ironwork provided plenty of footholds and Merlin had already started to climb. He was having trouble with Redeye’s cage, though. As he let go of the gate to get a firmer grip on it, his foot slipped and he fell flat on his back at Natalie’s feet.

“Are you stupid or something?” she yelled at him. “Let Redeye out. He’ll be safe, plenty of places for a mouse to hide out here.”

Merlin looked doubtful but fumbled with the cage fastening. To Natalie’s surprise, the mouse shot straight under the gate and streaked into the trees. The boy went up and over much faster than before. Natalie scrambled after him, her feet slipping on the wet iron. At the top, she paused to catch her breath and risked another glance back.

None of the spellclave were giving chase. Lord Hawk remained standing on the step, the fire-draught fluttering the feather in his hair, staring at her and shaking his head. “Impossible,” he said, his voice faint in the distance. “I bonded you.”

Claudia joined him, her blonde hair in disarray, a smudge of soot on one pale cheek. As she watched the escape, her lips curved into the faintest of smiles.

Chapter 9

K’TANAQUI

Thursday morning, October 29

~~*~~

During those first desperate minutes of their flight from the Lodge there wasn’t time to think, let alone worry about which way they were going. Natalie ran faster than she’d ever run in her life, stumbling over tree roots and into muddy ditches, convinced that at any moment Lord Hawk’s horrible stick would encircle her neck. Wet leaves slapped her face, twigs caught at her hair, dappled sunlight flashed overhead, leaves spiralled down, the damp fungus smells made her want to sneeze. But there were no crashing footsteps behind, no furious shouts, and no way anyone would be able to drive a vehicle between these closely growing tree trunks.

She stopped to catch her breath and pressed a hand to the stitch in her side. Merlin, whom she’d soon passed and left behind, caught up and stopped too. His face was as red as his hair and he was gasping for breath.

“Why aren’t they chasing us?” Natalie panted.

The boy looked nervously over his shoulder. “Dunno, but—”

Even as he spoke, the birds stopped singing and an eerie hush fell. The back of Natalie’s neck prickled as the silence was broken by a series of rapid flaps. She twisted round, suddenly realizing why the spellclave didn’t need to give chase on foot. Heading straight for them, huge wings spread in a deadly glide, came the goshawk, Hunter.

“Run!” Merlin screamed, and shot into the trees. Natalie plunged after him, caught her foot in a bramble and sprawled face-first in fallen leaves. There was a rushing sound as the hawk passed overhead so close she felt the wind of its feathers. She caught a glimpse of its pale belly, of its black-barred wings blotting out the sun. Then it was gone after Merlin, wing tips clipping the close-growing tree trunks.

Still shaking, Natalie scrambled to her feet and brushed herself off. Her heart was pounding, her palms clammy. Hawks didn’t hunt people, did they? At least, normal hawks didn’t.

What if it were all true? In the wake of the goshawk’s flight, an ominous silence reigned. No birds sang, nothing moved in the undergrowth. Even the breeze had stilled. Uneasiness whispered over Natalie’s skin. What kind of revenge would a wizard take on someone who had set fire to his house? She broke into a jog, worried about Merlin, then ducked in alarm as the huge bird flapped out of the branches overhead and glided back the way it had come, making her heart start thumping all over again.

Merlin stood motionless under the oak Hunter had just vacated, staring into the bronze-dark shadows beyond. The hawk must have missed him, she thought in relief.

“What’s wrong?” She couldn’t see what he was looking at. She gave her glasses a quick wipe, then had a horrible thought and jammed them back on. “Redeye?”

“Shh!” Merlin whispered. “Stand very still. It might go away.”

“It’s already gone. Didn’t you see? It was in that tree—”

“Not the hawk. The
hound.
”

As he spoke, a huge silver dog glimmered out of the shadows and padded towards them. Its coat seemed to catch every scrap of light. Natalie’s breath caught in her throat. She’d never seen such a beautiful animal in all her life, except— She frowned. Where
had
she seen a dog like this before? Almost a wolf. A white wolf.

Only when the dog came closer did she see that its long curly fur was rather moth-eaten and yellowed at the ends. One ear hung like a torn handkerchief across bright amber eyes. Merlin made a choked sound and ducked behind the nearest tree. The dog bared its chipped canines at the boy, flipped its ear out of its eyes and growled softly.

“Don’t make any sudden moves,” Merlin whispered. “That’s a magehound. Only Spell Lords who serve on a soultree Council are allowed to have them.” He shivered and added, “Even Father’s scared of magehounds. I wonder what it’s doing out of Earthaven?”

Natalie had a sudden flashback of Bilbo attacking her kidnappers in the car park, Claudia ducking in fear... She shook the memory away before it reached the needle part and took a step forward, one hand lowered so the hound could catch her scent. “My mother used to have a dog like this,” she said, captivated by its amber eyes that seemed to stare right into her soul. “I don’t really remember him but I’ve got a photo on my bedside table. Here, boy, come to Natalie.”

“What are you
doing
?” Merlin squeaked, clutching at her sweatshirt. “Didn’t you hear me? That’s a Spell Lord’s familiar. And believe me, you don’t want to annoy him. Or her.”

She let the words wash over her. She couldn’t seem to stop Merlin talking about spells but she didn’t have to listen. The hound sniffed at her hand, gave her another disturbing amber stare, then flipped its ear again and padded off into the trees, bushy tail waving like a silver flag. Natalie’s heart gave a peculiar tug. She grabbed Merlin’s hand. “C’mon! Quickly!”

The boy dug in his heels. “Where are you going?”

“He wants us to follow him, isn’t it obvious?”

“No!” Merlin’s eyes widened. “Follow a magehound? Are you mad?”

Natalie had to laugh. Meeting the dog had banished what remained of her fear. She was out of the Lodge, the goshawk had gone, and it was a glorious autumn day. The hound wasn’t wearing a collar but he was obviously tame. All they had to do was find his owner and she could be sleeping in her own bed tonight.

She let go of the boy and gave him a tolerant smile. “You’re the one who’s mad, going on about spell-this and spell-that all the time. You can stop now. You’re not with your father any more and, unless that thing wriggling under your jumper is a very big flea, you’ve got your mouse safe. So you don’t have to keep trying to scare me, all right? I was scared enough as it was, back there in the cellar.”

“I’m not trying to scare you,” Merlin said quietly, still eyeing the dog as if it might eat him at any moment. “I’m telling you the truth. It belongs to a Spell Lord of Earthaven.”

She frowned at him. “You’re afraid of dogs, is that it? Well, you don’t have to be afraid of this one. He’s friendly. He didn’t bite me, did he?”

It was Merlin’s turn to frown. “No... though I don’t know why not. Magehounds hate Casters.”

“Maybe this proves I’m not one of you, then.” She couldn’t resist the gibe.

Merlin went into a sulk. “Go on, then,” he muttered. “Follow it. You’ll find out soon enough. I’m staying here.”

Though her stomach churned uneasily, Natalie set her jaw. “Don’t be so stupid! Do you
want
your father to catch you?”

“Better than being caught by a member of a soultree Council.”

The hound had returned when they didn’t immediately follow. Now it growled, gently took Natalie’s sleeve between its teeth and pulled. The meaning was obvious –
leave him.
It was very tempting. She couldn’t help remembering how Merlin had tripped her up in the car park and let her eat all those sleeping pills without saying a word. Then she thought of Lord Hawk’s stick crashing across those small shoulders and sighed.