03 Sky Knight (7 page)

‘That’s a sad story, if you can feel sorry for a monster, but I still don’t understand why we’re here.’

‘We’re here, because that isn’t how the story ends. The Ocean King ripped apart the boats that had been sent, and returned to the island to find his mate imprisoned in a chain that even he was unable to break. She was so ashamed that she could not even look at him as she explained how she came to be trapped that way, but the Ocean King forgave her, and promised he would do all he could to rescue her. No sooner had he made his promise then the sea nymph emerged from the waters, bearing a piece of coral from the reef on the west side of the island. He said he would remove the chain, but only if the Ocean King agreed to transfer as much of his power into that piece of coral as he could.’

‘Transfer his power?’

‘In particular, his strength, his ability to grow any larger than he already was. If the Ocean King gave enough of himself to the coral that he would no longer pose a threat to humankind, then the chains would be removed, and the leviathans would be left alone to live on Serpent’s Coil in peace.’

‘And he did it?’

‘Yes. He did. But the sea is treacherous, and the sea nymph even more so. He took the coral, which contained all but the smallest sliver of the Ocean King’s strength, all but the last morsel of what he needed to stay alive, and he hid it somewhere on the island, on dry land where no sea dwelling creature could reach it.’

‘Did he release the Ocean King’s mate?’

‘No. He had tricked them again, and he left them both here to die. Realising that he had condemned them both, the Ocean King wrapped himself around the island, laid his head beside his queen’s, and stayed that way through the long days and nights as the last of her strength left her, and the last breath wheezed from her body. Even then he would not leave her side, not until even her bones had turned to dust. Then he swam to the mainland, found a place to hide beneath the mountains, and fell into a sleep he hoped to never wake from.’ Tidal smiled bitterly. ‘But you woke him, Nim.’

Nimbus stared at the ocean thoughtfully. ‘So that’s it, then? You’re trying to give him his strength back. So he can grow strong and take his revenge on humans.’

‘That’s right.’

‘But you can’t. You mustn’t. You’ll kill us all.’

Tidal shrugged, as if he could shake off any responsibility for the lives the Ocean King would take if he was ever returned to his full power.

‘Tidal, you can’t be serious.’

‘I’ve never been more serious, Nim. I’m changed now. This is my new life. I’m going to help the leviathan reclaim his throne, and you can’t stop me.’

Nimbus shook his head, unable to believe such a monstrous transformation could come over Tidal in such a short space of time. ‘Have you found the coral yet?’ he asked.

‘Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.’

‘And what happens once you do?’

Tidal’s knowing smile widened. ‘Then not even Crow, and all his armies of the dead, will be able to stop the Ocean King from ruling the rotten remains of this world.’

CHAPTER SIX

Cloud’s dreams were vivid and horrifying.

He dreamed of dark, bottomless pits where he writhed in a sea of red spiders.

He dreamed of the eternal blackness of forever, deep under the ground with only worms and maggots for company.

He dreamed of an ocean that was the colour of blood, filled with eels that snapped and hissed at faceless children in a boat that had no rudder, no sail, and no oars.

He dreamed of a creeping shadow that turned all living things to dust and decay.

He dreamed of a gigantic multi–headed snake that sprouted the wings of a crow and flew across a burning landscape.

He dreamed. He wept. He heard a soft voice speaking to him through the fog of nightmares.

And then he woke.

***

‘Are you okay?’

Cloud blinked, wiping his eyes as he looked around for the source of the voice that had brought him back to the waking world. He was curled in the stinking corner of a small, dark room, where streams of condensation trickled down the walls. There was only one window, and the single square of light did little to alleviate the gloom. The travelling cloak he was wrapped in smelled of rats and mould.

‘Are you okay?’ the voice asked again.

Cloud considered the question. His whole body ached, which was little surprise considering he had recently been poisoned by a hydra and was lucky not to be dead. His head was fuzzy, and his tongue felt too big for his mouth.

‘I’ve been better. Who are you?’

A shadow on the other side of the room detached itself from the wall, and sat beside him in a rustle of silk clothing.

‘My Lady,’ he said, recognising Lady Citrine’s face in the meagre light from the window. ‘Are you well? Have they injured you?’

‘I am unharmed, and I am all the better for speaking with you. You have been in a fever for days. When you were brought here, I thought you were already dead, but then you started to scream like every demon of the world was picking apart your spirit and taunting the remains. I tried to make you as comfortable as possible, but that is not so easy considering where we are.’ She gestured to their dank surroundings.

‘What is this place?’ Cloud asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

‘The tower of Crystal Shine Palace. It used to be more pleasant than this, but Crow’s army has taken over. I’m afraid our situation is quite bleak.’

Cloud almost laughed. ‘I’m getting used to that. Do we have news of what defence we have mounted? Is my son still fighting?’

‘I cannot say.’

‘We must find a way out. There must be other prisoners. If we can free them, find some weapons, some armour, we could...’ His words trailed away as he noticed Lady Citrine’s expression. She looked haunted, like she had already seen more than any one person should be expected to see and she now knew there was no hope left for the people of her dying realm. ‘Has it got so bad while I have been asleep?’ he said.

‘Can you walk?’ she asked, extending one hand.

Cloud accepted the hand he was offered, and with the help of the nearest wall he got to his feet. It felt like the muscles in his legs had completely wasted away, and he was alarmed by just how weak he had become. He briefly wondered about his physical appearance. Did he even remotely resemble the proud warrior he had once been? Did he look as old as he suddenly felt?

‘You can lean on me,’ Lady Citrine said. ‘Just for a little while.’

There were two doors leading out of the room, and she guided him to the closest.

‘Isn’t it locked?’ he asked.

‘There is no need, we cannot get down from the tower this way.’ She opened the door to reveal a wide, curved balcony with commanding views of the city. ‘This is the watch point.’

Cloud breathed deeply, sucking in the fresh air that he had been denied for so long. He closed his eyes and turned his face to the sky, enjoying the warmth of the midday sun on his skin. ‘As good a prison as we could hope for,’ he said.

‘I often stood here with Lord Citrine, and looked down on the people,’ Lady Citrine said. Her voice was full of sadness. ‘The view has changed so much.’

Cloud approached the edge of the balcony. His breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the horrific new world that Crow had created: The city was nothing more than a shattered memory of its former greatness. The defensive walls had been torn down, the buildings torched, and the streets were choked with debris, rotting produce from overturned market stalls, and most terrible of all, motionless bodies.

Even as Cloud watched, spider–warriors were scuttling in and out of houses. Whenever they found a body in the rubble, they would crouch over it, performing some kind of ritual that Cloud was too far away to see; and moments later the body would jolt upright. Sometimes the reanimated bodies would scream, as if gripped with terror for what they had become; but most rose up in eerie silence, immediately setting about the task of reviving the bodies around them.

‘They’ve been doing this for days,’ Lady Citrine said, tears welling in her eyes. ‘Hundreds of my people brought back like puppets to swell the ranks of his army. There are thousands of dead in this city alone. Thousands of new soldiers for him to command. How can we fight against an enemy that grows stronger as we grow weaker?’

Cloud stroked the stubble on his jaw, unable to tear his gaze from the horrendous activities going on in the streets below. This same scene could be played out in every city and town of the realm. It could be happening in Landmark right now. His thoughts turned to Strata.

‘Can one Wing Warrior stand against this kind of hate?’ Lady Citrine asked.

‘I don’t know. But it seems apparent that this war cannot be won on the battlefield. Every man we lose in combat can be turned against us, so we need to avoid fighting if we can.’

‘What do we do instead?’

Cloud clenched the edge of the balcony, and watched the rays of sunlight glitter on the city’s corpse. ‘We must assassinate Crow,’ he said. ‘It is the only way.’

‘He will be heavily guarded.’

‘He will. But I know Crow from many years ago. He hates me, and all my family. He will want to be present at the death of the last Wing Warrior.’ He drew a slow breath. ‘He will want to personally kill my son.’

‘Then surely we have nothing to fear? A dragon and a Wing Warrior can stand against any foe.’

‘The necromancer is no ordinary foe. Nimbus will need help, and not just the help of a dragon. We need to escape.’

‘Escape is impossible. The only way down from the tower is the stairway. The door is locked, and there are guards in the main hall. We would never make it out alive. And I refuse to allow myself to become one of those things.’ She shook her head. ‘I hate this new world. I hate the magic that has come back.’

Cloud looked at Lady Citrine sternly. ‘But the magic was never truly gone, was it? After the great magical wars, after all the books were destroyed and the legends began to fade from memory, we told ourselves the magic was gone forever. We convinced ourselves that these things were never real. But they were, and they stayed with us.’

‘I’m not sure I understand.’

‘Cumulo’s egg, the Wing Warrior armour, the sword... They were always here, in the realms of men. Goblins, fairies, dryads, mermaids, gnomes... They only slept, and all it took was Crow’s return, just the slightest nudge, to wake them. Nothing was lost. Everything survived. And even some scraps of ancient lore were not cast into the fire with the rest. As you know full well, My Lady.’

A look came into Lady Citrine’s eyes: A flicker of emotion that betrayed her otherwise calm exterior. Her right hand moved to a bracelet on her left wrist.

‘Is it the bracelet?’ Cloud asked.

‘You’re not making any sense.’

‘Did Lord Citrine escape the palace?’

Lady Citrine started to twist the bracelet nervously. ‘I believe he escaped.’

‘And without you, will he have the strength to lead our people?’

‘He is the Lord of this realm, he is a great man. He has never failed us yet.’

‘But he has always had you before.’

‘He is a good ruler.’

Cloud moved towards her. ‘My Lady, this is important. The lives of all those who have survived this ordeal are in the hands of the man they know as Lord Citrine. But I have seen the way he rules. He rules through you.’

‘I know.’ Her voice dropped to a whisper. She seemed to be shrinking within herself. ‘I know.’

‘Who is he? I mean, who is he really?’

‘A soldier. One of the royal guard. Just someone who was there at the time, and wanted to help.’

‘How did you do it?’

Lady Citrine twisted one of the gems in her bracelet, revealing a secret compartment. She removed a small, folded scrap of partially burned paper and handed it to Cloud.

‘Something that survived the fires?’ he asked.

‘It was found many years ago. It was preserved somehow, possibly through an enchantment.’

Cloud carefully unfolded the paper. There were three lines of text scrawled on it in a fine penmanship. The letters appeared to flicker, as though they had absorbed the heat and light of the flames that had been destined to destroy them.

‘This is a glamour,’ Cloud said.

‘I know what it is.’

‘How did you come by this?’

‘My great–great grandfather found it, I don’t know where. It’s been in my family ever since.’

‘Do you have any idea how dangerous this spell is? Do you know what it is to look in a mirror and see someone else’s face looking back at you? The loss of identity can be enough to completely destroy someone’s mind. Such magic has been known to ruin people’s lives.’

‘Or in this case, to save thousands. The Lord was out of control. He would have destroyed all of us.’

‘So you replaced him.’

‘I needed someone who I could guide. Someone who loved the people as much as I did.’

‘But sometimes love is not enough. And now you have left this world in the care of a man who does not have the skills required.’

‘He helped me once. He did a terrible thing for me, and asked for nothing in return. He is a good man.’

‘I hope you’re right.’

A winged creature, the very last of Crow’s wyverns, flew into view, swooped low over the city, and then perched on the skeletal remains of a fire–gutted home. It made a throaty cawing sound, flapping its wings as it settled.

‘Hope is all we have left,’ Lady Citrine said.

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘Quick,’ Private Silver hissed, yanking on Onyx’s reins to pull the horse into the deep undergrowth on the side of the road. ‘Come on, come on, you stupid animal.’

Onyx rolled his eyes, as if to say he really was going as fast as he could, he didn’t appreciate being called stupid, and he wasn’t too keen on being unceremoniously pulled around by the mouth either thank you ever so much.

‘Hurry,’ Sky whispered, hiding in the shadow of a standing stone behind some brambles. ‘They’re going to hear you.’