The Serpent of Eridor (19 page)

Ikara and Alex wandered out of the shadows.

‘Who's he?' asked Ikara, watching Saranak stumbling away.

‘Temporary friend. He returns to the other side by dawn.'

Ikara spat after him. ‘We need no such friends.'

‘Unfortunately we do. He may know a way to kill the monster. Now that Hypnos knows we're here, it's either his death or ours. Shortly he will realise that I'm no longer ahead of him and return.'

‘We'd better get looking,' said Tariq, shambling into the light, Keeko perched on his shoulders.

‘Shouldn't we go?' asked Keeko. ‘He'll kill one of us next time. It was lucky he chose you, Zorrin.'

‘No, it wasn't,' said Alex. ‘I saw Zorrin wait, deliberately making himself into bait. Hypnos chose the closest victim; the one who didn't run.'

Zorrin shrugged his shoulders. ‘I was sure I could escape, so it wasn't a big deal.'

‘Rabbit droppings,' said Skoodle. ‘If I'd done it, I'd make sure you were eternally grateful to me.'

‘Or rather, to your memory,' replied Ikara. ‘No one except Zorrin would have survived.'

A roar of warm air belched out of a tunnel. The ground beneath them began to tremble as the heavy lizard thundered towards them, the scrabbling of claws growing louder.

‘He's coming,' squeaked Skoodle. ‘Run.'

‘We'll follow Saranak, help him kill Hypnos, then get the sapphire.
Ventus
.'

The spell picked them up on an air cushion floating about a foot above the ground, as if they were on an invisible surfboard.

‘This is great,' said Ikara, whizzing along behind Zorrin. ‘If I have to die, I might as well do it comfortably.'

Noise blasted from the end of a tunnel. Hypnos burst into the cavern, mouth dripping in anticipation of fresh prey.

‘Faster,' shrieked Keeko. ‘He's seen us.'

Hypnos drew a vast lungful of breath, ready to blast out another fireball.

‘Centra,'
Zorrin yelled.

The fireproof screen solidified behind them a second before the first bolt of fire hit. Zorrin flicked a glance backwards, hoping to see Hypnos receiving another reflected fireball in his face. But the reptile ducked to avoid the rebound inferno, which rolled over his head.

‘Zorrin, Zorrin, he's our wizard. He will kill that ugly lizard,' chanted Skoodle.

Tariq looked back at the enormous monster charging along behind them, glowing reptilian eyes fixed on his target. ‘Skoodle has a point. Can't you annihilate Hypnos? Or are you holding out to get info about the stone?'

‘I can't kill him,' replied Zorrin as he accelerated the air cushion. ‘I can't even do him much harm. His magic is too great.'

Ikara sank down, tail over her eyes. ‘Tell us earlier next time, if there is one.'

‘At least it will be quick,' said Tariq. ‘Perhaps better than at Virida's hand.'

‘If you two would shut up about the merits of various types of death, we could have a go at working out how to avoid being bumped off,' said Skoodle. ‘Can't we escape down a tunnel?'

‘No,' replied Zorrin. ‘We could end up trapped.'

‘Then disparticulate us,' said Alex.

‘Not possible up here. It's taking all my energy to keep us and the shield moving at this speed.'

They closed in on the thin figure of Saranak, limping across the cavern floor. As they drew level with him, Zorrin held out his hand.

‘Grab on,' he yelled.

Saranak's bony hand reached up. Zorrin clasped him by the wrist, yanking him up off the rough stone floor on to the air stream.

Saranak indicated north west across the cavern with a spindly finger. ‘Get me to that tunnel mouth. Split the air cushion: shield me and distract Hypnos.'

Pointing to the floor, Zorrin muttered a few words. The air cushion parted. Saranak swung a few degrees to the right in the air.

‘Fugato non visare decime,'
muttered Zorrin.

‘He's vanished,' said Alex, looking at where Saranak had been only a second before. ‘Double-crossed us.'

‘No, he hasn't. I have made him invisible for a short while so Hypnos will chase us, giving Saranak a chance to make it across the cavern.'

‘Good trick,' said Skoodle, stamping his foot on Alex's shoulder, arms crossed, whiskers trembling. ‘Perhaps you would care to do the same for the rest of us. We've been your allies for longer than two minutes.'

Another firebolt hit the screen, filling the air with the acrid smell of scorched earth.

‘Seems he's heard that hot roasted snake is terrific,' said Ikara, climbing Tariq to get away from the centra screen.

‘Look out,' yelled Keeko. ‘Wall ahead.'

‘Follow Saranak,' yelled Alex, eyes fixed on the solid stone only seconds away.

‘No. If he gets killed, we all die,' replied Zorrin. ‘Hold on. We're going over.'

The air cushion twisted, wrenching them through 180 degrees, heading back the way they'd come. Ducking under the ragged cave ceiling, they cleared Hypnos's fiery mouth by only centimetres.

Hypnos belched out another fireball, engulfing them in the smell of spent gunpowder. Suddenly they were falling, accelerating towards the row of slime-covered teeth. Keeko's tail, outstretched in terror, entered the cavernous throat. She screamed at the touch of Hypnos's burning tongue.

‘Deshira,'
yelled Zorrin.

The group rocketed up before Hypnos could snap off Keeko's tail.

‘What happened?' said Tariq, arms wrapped around the terrified monkey.

‘In the twist, the heat shield slid above the slipstream,' said Zorrin ignoring the angry roar echoing around the cavern. ‘The fireball destroyed the air cushion. I've reversed them. The heat shield is now below us.'

Hypnos bellowed. A bolt of flame flashed upwards. Instinctively everyone braced, Keeko burying her face in Tariq's chest. Warmth soaked through to the bases of their feet. The ball of fire bounced away, leaving the new air cushion stable. Alex breathed out.

‘It's good that he's angry,' said Zorrin, looking down at the enraged face.

Ikara stared at him. ‘Explain.'

‘He's acting like an ordinary serpent: raw rage is driving him. Once he calms down he'll think like a wizard. Then we'll be in serious trouble.'

‘It would be a shame to go from this minor problem to a really difficult situation,' said Skoodle.

‘I'm afraid it's true,' said Zorrin as the air cushion bumped and juggled them through the dark air high in the cavern. ‘I can protect myself against his spells, but to make sure that all of you are safe as well would be close to impossible. Let's hope that Saranak acts quickly. We had better provoke Hypnos; keep him angry. Going down.'

The air cushion dipped sharply once again, rolling steeply towards the monster's gaping jaws.

‘Sizzling snakes,' gasped Ikara, holding on to Tariq's leg.

As soon as he saw his victims falling, Hypnos reared up on to his back legs, clawing at them, jaws snapping, tail lashing.

‘Animal still,' said Zorrin. For several seconds they hovered above the savage throat, taunting the serpent, tantalising him, close enough for them to smell the fumes of burning.

Hypnos's tongue tip flew upwards as fast as a bolt from a crossbow, bearing straight towards Alex's legs, uncoiling to an astonishing length.

‘Gulino,'
yelled Zorrin.

Deep cold gripped Alex's lower abdomen and legs, as they turned into steel. His whole lower body felt dead. The poisoned tip clanged against metal, unable to penetrate to his flesh.

Hypnos lashed his tongue around Alex's legs and yanked, dragging him down. Tariq and Keeko grabbed Alex, hauling hard. Yet even with the bear's massive strength it was no contest; Hypnos would win.

‘Tukata.'

The steel legs began to grow spikes: in seconds, hundreds of sharp points pierced the evil tongue. Hypnos's scream ripped through their heads as his tongue untangled and fell loosely away.

‘Desamori,'
Hypnos growled, his deep rasping voice echoing round the cavern.

‘Twisted toads,' said Zorrin. ‘Wizard now. That's the shield gone permanently. That last display of magic must have made something click inside his head.'

Hypnos took a deep breath, ready to launch the fatal fireball.

‘Tempestua,'
shouted Zorrin. A massive sheet of water appeared below them, meeting the ball of fire head on. The two opposing elements exploded into a thick cloud of steam.

‘Don't inhale,' yelled Zorrin.

Everyone stopped breathing. As the steam wrapped itself over them, every particle of their skin started itching, as if millions of termites were crawling over them. As the seconds ticked past the oxygen levels in Alex's body plummeted. He fought against the screaming demands of his chest, not daring to inhale. If the pain of his skin felt appalling, the agony inside his lungs would be a thousand times worse.

Zorrin seemed to be constructing a spell, waving his arm in a swooping gesture. The pressure in Alex's chest built to almost unbearable. His ears felt as if they would burst.

‘OK,' called Zorrin.

Alex closed his eyes and sucked in air, relieved to be breathing as the ache in his chest subsided.

The temperature plummeted as if an air stream direct from the Antarctic were blasting through. The current below them sparkled blue and silver, the water droplets turning into tiny crystals of ice.

‘Crisis. If this is a full freezing spell, I may not be able to keep us warm enough to stay alive.' Zorrin started muttering under his breath, yet the temperature continued to fall.

Within seconds, ice had formed in Alex's hair. Every breath out froze into delicate white clouds, falling from their nostrils to shatter on the ground far below. Cold bored through to their bones.

‘My body's stiffening up,' said Tariq, sitting down on the air stream. ‘It's hard to move.'

Zorrin nodded slightly to acknowledge that he had heard but continued to murmur, face rigid with concentration.

Ikara will be gone the soonest
, thought Alex, looking down at the stiffening body at his feet. Cold-blooded; a disaster in polar frost. Already her eyes had glazed and she seemed to have stopped breathing. As his mind roved over this thought, the blood in his brain was flowing so slowly that he felt no sadness, nor could he think of anything to do to help.

Tariq picked up Ikara. She came up rigid, like the branch of a tree. His movements achingly slow, Tariq placed her up against his chest and wrapped his great furry arms around the icy body.
Brave move
, thought Alex. Choosing to embrace a block of ice while freezing to death, in the faint hope that the minimal heat he had to share would keep Ikara alive.

Below them Hypnos waited, knowing he'd won. No further fight was needed. He watched his victims dying slowly, painfully.

The temperature dropped further. Every breath that Alex took became tougher, as if his lungs were made of iron. The air felt thick, like treacle. His whole body ached. Tiny sparkling lights engulfed his vision. Unconsciousness could not be far off.

Zorrin's lips were still moving, but slowly.
He's failing
, thought Alex.
We'll all soon be dead
. This icy entombment would be an appallingly painful end: more torture than he could have believed sheer cold could produce.

No longer the focus of Zorrin's concentration, the air stream had been gradually dropping and slowing. Hypnos waited, poised for attack, until his victims were within reach.

At last he leapt. The whole of Alex's visual field filled with a vast cavern of a mouth, smoking black throat beyond. There was the hiss of steam as Hypnos's breath met ice. Alex cried out, but too late. The jaws were closing.

A wall of sound bellowed out of Hypnos, wrenching his jaws apart. The howl echoed around the chamber, terrifyingly reverberant. The temperature began to rise. Alex's mind started to clear as Ikara began to breathe.

A long ragged gash was carved across Hypnos's underbelly. Blood gushed from the wound, staining the rocks beneath him crimson. Crazed with pain, Hypnos clutched his side with a scaly claw.

High above them Saranak stood on a ledge, stringy grey hair swirling in the wind from the tunnel behind. He held the turquoise cup triumphantly above his head, a small fragment of it in his other hand.

‘Hypnos,' he called in a cracked voice. ‘You know what I'm holding? Your death.'

Hypnos spat fire. ‘You, Saranak? Released by your enemies? They were fools to trust you.'

‘Not so, it seems,' murmured Ikara. ‘Go on – kill the aqualate, turncoat wizard.'

A high maniacal laugh rang from the gaunt figure on the ledge in tattered robes whose burgundy cloak was billowing behind him. ‘As I was to trust you for so many years. How much did you learn?' The thin fingers snapped derisively. ‘Enough to trap me by betraying my trust, but not enough to be safe from such a small party of invaders. If you had learned your lessons properly these filthy marauders would be dead by now. Yet Zorrin still lives – a problem for me tomorrow – but then you always were a lazy student.'

The aqualate's head swayed in anger. ‘Is lazy not better than cruel and twisted?'

‘Got a point,' whispered Ikara. ‘Someone hand me a monkey to warm my tail on.'

Keeko moved forward to sandwich Ikara between her body and Tariq's.

Saranak's face broke into a sardonic smile. ‘I have little emotion: that is true. My life has been a tortuous path, sometimes touching the darkest voids. Yet it is I who now stands victorious.'

‘A wound is not a victory,' thundered the monster, grasping his bleeding side. ‘The shell belongs to me. Replace it and you'll go free.'

A bitter laugh screeched out of Saranak. ‘I am free. No thanks to you, however. Loyalty meant nothing to you. I was an innocent man, condemned to starve alone in darkness.'

‘You were a cruel master, Saranak. You had no love for me. Yet I agree that now you have the upper hand.' The serpent's glittering eyes left Saranak's to fix on the turquoise cup. ‘So I'll once again be your servant, bound to you by an oath of the deeper magic. Together we will cast out this crew.' He waved a scaly front leg at Zorrin. ‘Likewise we'll destroy all who cross our paths. In full power together, we shall be invincible. All Eridor shall bow to us.'

‘No,' cracked out Saranak, voice growing stronger with every passing moment. ‘Once I have crushed you, my powers will return to me in full. I have no need of you now. I was wrong to have trained you, to have shared my knowledge, for two can never have the singleness of purpose of a solitary mind.'

He held the cup high up above his head.

‘Don't,' yelled out Hypnos, the word almost consumed by the massive ball of fire exploding from his mouth.

‘I really don't want to do this,' said Saranak, ragged turquoise cup balanced on his fingertips. ‘I have waited for so long… dreamed so often of the moment of your death. In a few seconds the pleasure of anticipating your death will transform into a wonderful memory.'

‘Why kill me, when you could harness my forces? This way makes no sense. Bind me and let me live. It's better for both of us that I serve you than die.'

‘A good speech. Yet that silver tongue has cost me many years of pain and darkness. I don't want to hear what it has to say any more. Goodbye.'

Saranak's skull-like face lit up in the passion of his victory, sunken eyes staring like a madman. His hands clasped the cup, relishing the intense joy of touching the pinnacle of his plans and dreams. Then he threw the cup towards the cavern floor. Hypnos screamed as he leapt forward, tearing the wound in his side wider. Blood pumped from his stricken body as he plunged through the air.

The cup smashed on to hard stone, shattering into minute fragments. With a thunderous crack, Hypnos splintered into a thousand shards of fire. Particles of his body fell like burning rain on to the surface of the lake, hissing and spitting as they sliced through the surface.

Alex grinned at Tariq. ‘So the bad wizard really could kill him. Explosive result.'

‘I'll change your legs back, Alex. Can't stay metal forever,' said Zorrin.
‘Gorflork.'

High on the ledge, Saranak was undergoing an extraordinary transformation. The outline of his bony body became full as his crooked back straightened. Straggly grey hair thickened into a rich chestnut mane falling down his back. Tattered rags morphed into luxuriant dove-grey robes cascading to his feet. The flesh of his face became strong in the glow of the lake.

Saranak looked down at his changing form as energy pulsed through him. ‘Now I reap the fruits of my revenge.' He drifted down to the cavern floor on an air slide. The others floated back to the ground to join him.

‘What was the cup?' asked Zorrin.

‘The shell from which he had hatched: prized above all other possessions. When I began to suspect that my powers were being drained I enchanted it, so I could ensure that its destruction would destroy him. He knew, but could not disentangle the spell.'

‘Stupid of him to leave it lying about,' said Skoodle.

Saranak glanced at the rodent. ‘He didn't. He stole it from me then concealed it. But once he'd stripped me of my magic and imprisoned me without food in a doorless chamber, he believed that I was no threat. So he returned it to its perch. He gloated about it many times when he came to see if I'd starved to death yet.' Saranak looked down at his new robes and brushed off a minuscule speck of dust. ‘The master turned slave has once again become the master.'

‘I do not recall you telling me that your powers would return on Hypnos's death,' replied Zorrin. ‘I doubt if I would have released you if I'd known.'

The two wizards faced each other, handsome young faces oddly similar, eyes locked as if trying to read each other's mind.

‘I don't recall you asking me the question,' replied Saranak. ‘In fact, from the way I feel, I believe that his powers have been transferred to me as well. Two wizards in one. When I'm no longer your ally I'll be a mighty enemy. Tomorrow will be an interesting day for you.'

A new voice filled the cavern, familiar, terrifying, echoing from a ledge high above them. ‘Hypnos exploded. Saranak rescued and empowered. You have done well.'

Zorrin's head whipped around. ‘Karlan. But you were trapped. How did you escape?'

A figure stepped out of the shadows to stand beside Karlan, head high.

‘Flick,' breathed Zorrin, body rigid. ‘Why?'

‘Difficult to believe her change in loyalty, is it? Tough.' Karlan glanced across to the slender figure beside him. ‘People will do anything for love – won't they, dear?'

‘Of course,' said Flick gazing at him with open adoration.

‘Yet Flick understands that in battle sacrifices may need to be made.' He pointed at her heart. ‘If any of you try to resist, she dies. It seems that I hold all the power: my ally Saranak released and restored to double his full power, Hypnos destroyed, the love of your sister, the loyalty of Tevo's troop… '

As he spoke, there came crunching of feet on rocks. Out of the shadows enrobing the high ridges stepped Rectoria, Tevo, Rycant and all the warriors who had so recently invaded the castle. The final figure stepped forward, elegant and slender in a full-length flowing navy dress. Waist-length black hair fell in a sleek cascade around her beautiful face. Her cold ebony eyes swept over the group on the floor.

Karlan took her hand and lead her to the edge of the ledge. ‘I believe you have all met Virida, although not perhaps in this form.'

Keeko gasped and clung tighter to Tariq. Skoodle vanished back into Alex's pocket, small body trembling against Alex's chest. Taking Virida's and Flick's hands, Karlan stepped off the ledge on to an air slide. They drifted down to the cave floor, landing in front of Zorrin.

Zorrin ran his hand through his mood streak, which was spitting red sparks. He addressed Flick. ‘You released all of them?'

‘I did,' she replied, head high.

Alex stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing.

‘I'll kill her,' muttered Ikara. ‘Just give me half a chance.'

Addressing Karlan, Zorrin said, ‘I assume all of this was a set-up designed for me to get this far, then for you to sweep in and take the sapphire.'

‘Correct. I'd not risk my life against that monster. Many have died trying to get past him. Your powers and wit are superior to most, so I felt that somehow you might succeed, although the release of Saranak was, of course, an unexpected bonus. I didn't know he was still alive.'

Saranak raised an eyebrow. ‘I trust that if you had realised you would have spent time searching for me.'

‘Undoubtedly,' Karlan replied, his eyes steady on Saranak's own.

‘And the kidnap at the Redwood? How did that help you in this plan?' asked Zorrin, struggling to piece together the whole story.

‘It didn't. At that point imprisonment was intended purely to disempower you, until I could work out how to kill you. It was only when I heard Alex trying to enlist your help to seek the sapphire that I realised that a delicious new twist had entered. I would tag along, let you destroy Hypnos, and then take the stone for myself. If you were to die in the attempt that would suit my purpose almost as well.'

‘You're making that up,' said Alex angrily. ‘It's a pile of lies. You couldn't have heard us talking. You weren't even there.'

Karlan looked down at him. ‘As it happens, I was. Do you recall a dazed field mouse in the upper room shortly after you released Zorrin at the Single Redwood? It was me. I had decided that transformation would be a better option than a direct attack. Although naturally I had recovered well from our tussle, I wasn't fully up to strength. I was intelligent enough to know that Zorrin, being angry and forewarned, would be a powerful enemy. Once I knew your plan, I turned myself into a crocodile. You hospitably flew me to Ravenscraig.'

‘You also threatened to kill me on the boat,' said Alex.

‘Correct. Though you tediously escaped without giving me any information.'

Alex was seething inwardly. He'd faced Karlan twice and won. Now, because of Flick's treachery, he was back in Karlan's power. He would know exactly how this had happened. ‘How did you know that I was even on the boat?'

A snort greeted this comment. ‘That was easy. I'd been waiting for you. At some point your parents' research was bound to fall into your hands. It was predictable how you'd attempt to get to Eridor as there's only one direct entrance from your world, also only one boat a week to Tikopia. I only had to wait for a few boats before you turned up. But if your parents had told me where the netbook was before I disposed of them none of this would have been necessary.'

‘Disposed of them,' yelled Alex, stepping forward, fists clenched. ‘What did you do to my parents?'

‘What was needed,' said Karlan. ‘As it is necessary to kill you now, Zorrin.' He pointed a finger at Zorrin's heart.

‘We agreed that he wasn't to die,' said Flick in strangely flat measured tones.

Karlan half turned to her. ‘Yet he must die. Surely you see that, my dear? He'll do everything in his power to prevent us from getting the sapphire. We have come so far. We cannot fall at the final hurdle.'

‘But we agreed,' said Flick, frowning.

‘The agreement is broken.' Karlan turned to face Zorrin, ready to launch the death spell, finger unwavering.

Zorrin looked up at his sister. ‘I love you,' he said. ‘Goodbye.'