The Devil in Green (72 page)

'Then we'll have a fight on our hands.'

They walked away in the direction of the cathedral, leaving Mallory to
ponder on the significance of what they had been discussing.

Most of the knights congregated on the roof at seven p.m., but the Blues
were nowhere to be seen. There was an atmosphere of tense anticipation,
though oddly hopeful as everyone prepared for the release of pent-up
feelings of impotence and inadequacy. Although no one quite knew what it
was hoped would be achieved by the planned strike-back, it felt good to be
doing anything. And debate raged back and forth about exactly what they
were
doing; Blaine had given nothing away in his briefing. No one had any
idea how they could hit the Adversary's forces from the restricted position
of the roof of the cathedral buildings. And even if they could strike the
creatures that attacked the walls, how could it possibly amount to the kind
of earth-shaking blow Blaine had implied?

Mallory leaned on the stone wall that ran around the edge of the roof
area and peered into the sea of dark beneath; it provided no sense of depth,
so he had the dizzying sensation that the drop went on for ever. Miller
refused to come anywhere near the edge; he complained of vertigo and had
almost been physically sick when they had processed on to the roof to see
the landscape stretched out all around, bathed in the moonlight shining
from a clear sky. Daniels lay glumly against a sloping section, wrapped in
his cloak, staring at the stars. Gardener sat with his back to the wall,
smoking a roll-up.

The roof was structurally as complex as the new buildings it covered:
pitched, tiled sections separated flat areas that could be accessed from the
many corridors and rooms that filled the roof spaces; towers, steeples with
flag poles and lightning conductors protruded upwards, along with huge
gothic gargoyles that had the same unnerving effect as the ones overlooking the great hall. The knights had decamped in little clusters all around,
reflecting the small teams that had been established during the training
period.

'It's still difficult to comprehend,' Daniels said introspectively. 'We
don't know what's out there, in the hills and the fields, in the night.'

'We never did,' Mallory replied. 'I reckon they were always there . . .
sleeping, if you like, hidden away . . . but they were there, waiting for their
time to come around again.'

'No one thought anything like this would happen,' Miller muttered
dismally.

'We were arrogant.' Mallory turned to face them, his head spinning as
he pulled away from the illusion of the void. 'Because we were top dog on
the planet for so long we thought we always would be. But there are things
more powerful than us .
.
. and now they're back to show us we weren't
even close to the top of the pile.'

'You really do have a depressing world view, Mallory,' Daniels said.

'Realistic,' Mallory countered.

There was a quiver of excitement as Blaine and Hipgrave emerged from
a door on to one of the flat areas further along the roof. Blaine moved
slowly amongst the groups of knights, giving short briefings, taking
questions. He had the look of a predatory tiger, and was plainly pleased
with how things were going.

When he faced Mallory he couldn't hide a flicker of contempt, but he
continued in a measured voice. 'The target will soon be approaching. We
will be allocating weapons and ammunition shortly. The aim of this
operation is simple: to inflict massive damage on the enemy, to bring it
down, to kill it. Success will send an overwhelming message back that we
are to be feared.'

'How do you know the target is approaching?' Mallory asked.

Blaine smiled tightly. 'We know
-
let's leave it at that.'

'What's the target?' Gardener said.

'You've seen it before,' Blaine replied, 'on the night we were first
attacked
.
.
.
when you were on your field operation—'

'The Fabulous Beast.' There was a note of disbelief in Mallory's
exclamation that drew a suspicious glance from Blaine.

'The flying creature—'

'How can we hit something like that?' Mallory said. 'It's
huge
...
it
shoots fire .
. .
Anyway, it's not been seen since we were on the Plain.
What makes you think it'll be here tonight?'

'It'll be here.' Blaine had grown cold at Mallory's questioning of his big
plan and turned his attention to Gardener. 'Yes, it is a big bastard, but
we've got the capability to down it. And we'll be helped by the power of
the Lord protecting us - it won't be able to see us. It will be able to strike,
but only at random.'

'Where are the Blues?' Mallory asked.

'They'll be here,' Blaine said, without looking at him. 'Now, no
defeatism and we will win the day.' His comment was clearly aimed at
Mallory. 'Captain Hipgrave will be giving direct orders during the attack.
Be prepared to respond.' He nodded to them curtly and moved on.

Mallory had conflicting emotions; like the others, he felt good at being
able to strike any blow, but there was something about the Fabulous Beast
that he admired, the sense of wonder and magic it carried on its wings. It
seemed clearly wrong to him to do harm to such a remarkable creature.

Gardener bore a sly smile; Daniels rubbed his hands gleefully. Only
Miller showed a hint of being unsure. Mallory let his hands drop to his
sides, then yanked them away; the hilt of his sword was almost too hot to
touch. He thought of the dragons engraved there, of Rhiannon's talk of a
Brotherhood of Dragons, and wondered if there was some overt link with
the Fabulous Beast.

The tension increased a notch as the weapons were handed out. Most
got some form of rifle - an Armalite - but one group was handed a
cumbersome and dated bazooka. 'That should give the bastard a sting,'
Gardener said gruffly.

'You really think this is enough?' Mallory said, examining the rifle,
which seemed flimsy compared to what they were up against.

'If we're all firing at once,' Miller said. 'You know . . . someone will hit
it.'

'It looked as if it had some kind of plating to me,' Mallory said. 'The
scales gleamed as though they were made of metal.' But the others were
too caught up in the moment to hear his doubts.

The only reply came from Gardener. 'Don't underestimate Blaine.'
And Mallory accepted the truth of that.

They spent the next half-hour craning their necks to examine all quarters
of the night sky while trying to guess from which direction it would come;
Mallory still couldn't understand how Blaine knew it
would
be coming.
They were interrupted by Miller who said, 'Gosh! Look at that.'

The Blues had emerged on to a large platform about a hundred feet
away. They were as perfectly drilled as ever, falling into formation with a
fluid ease, adopting postures that made Mallory think of Action Man dolls
as they faced the eastern sky. Curiously, he noted that they appeared to be
guarding something at the centre of their circle, but it was impossible to
make out what it was.