Arthur and the Fenris Wolf (26 page)

Suddenly, Loki burst into flames. His arms were outstretched and he just stood there calmly on fire. Arthur could see his grinning features through the blaze. The coat burned off and fell around him in snowflake-like ashes. He was now burning so brightly and so quickly that Arthur and the girl had to squint against the glare. As suddenly as it had come, the fire was gone. The god's skin was a horrid, deep red, with creamy pus bursting out of blisters and sores all over. His clothes had been almost totally destroyed and his hair was all gone, leaving a scarred, bare skull behind. Loki, who seemed utterly unperturbed by his changed appearance, cracked his neck as if he'd just woken up. For a second his green aura enveloped him. When it was gone, he was whole again, as good as new and wearing a fashionable grey suit. He bent down to the ashes of the coat at his feet and picked up all that was left: a single glass-like stone. Hati's Bite. He rubbed it between his fingers before climbing up the little steps and placing it in the claw at the top of the pole.

‘When I first got here,' he said, descending again, ‘I was almost overwhelmed by my disappointment in your father, Drysi. He hadn't created an army like I'd ordered. But then I saw the great possibilities. This tower – so close to the centre of Ireland – and home to all of you for almost a century …' He paced around the floor, gazing over the edge of the parapet. ‘This tower would prove so useful. Then you told me where Hati's Bite had ended up.'

‘Father thought he was so clever, hiding it as a button on his coat.' The girl Drysi smiled. ‘But I always recognised it for what it was.'

‘That's because you take after me, Drysi. You're wily. You will get your reward.'

‘Truly? Because I hate being cooped up here, Wolf-father,' she said, looking around her at the sky, at the tower. ‘All those years, I hated being cut off from the outside world in this tower. My only glimpse of civilisation was when some of the hunting wolves would bring back newspapers and books for me.'

‘But those newspapers led you to the coat, my dear.'

‘True. I remember the day, last year, when I read about a new exhibition in the museum and I recognised a certain coat.'

‘And getting it was so easy. So much fun, too! Which brings us here, to this point. So very close to the moon being ready and to me enacting my greatest plan.'

‘And what's that, Wolf-father?' Drysi asked.

Without warning, Loki spun around, walked to the stairwell and looked straight down at Arthur. ‘Why, hello, Arthur. Did you really think I wouldn't sense you there wearing that blasted pendant? I'm so glad you're here, though, just in time to see my triumph.' Loki turned back to the girl and continued in the same even tone. ‘In answer to your question, Drysi, I intend to do what Fenrir failed to. I'll create the perfect army.'

‘Won't you join us, Arthur?' invited Loki, gesturing towards Drysi.

‘I'm fine where I am, thanks,' Arthur said from the stairwell.

‘I really must insist, Arthur. The pendant lets you stop me from inflicting any serious harm on you, but I'm sure I could manage to drag you up here without too much trouble.'

He's right, Arthur realised, and he reluctantly climbed the last few steps, stepping onto the rooftop. So high up the wind was biting, cutting through his clothing and slicing into his flesh. The girl in the wheelchair glared at him with deep distaste. Her eyes burned with a hatred he had never experienced before.

‘Have you met Drysi?' Loki waved a hand lazily in the girl's direction. ‘She's my granddaughter. I'm very proud of her.'

‘Oh, he's met me, Wolf-father,' Drysi told him, keeping her eyes fixed on Arthur, ‘except he knows me as Ice.'

‘Of course!' Loki exclaimed, smirking. ‘How could I forget? Drysi tells me you were suspicious of her from very early on, Arthur.'

Arthur simply glared at the girl in response. He'd known that Ice couldn't be trusted and wished now that he'd done more to force Ash to believe him, whatever it took.

‘So you took advantage of Ash?' he demanded of the girl. ‘Even after she tried to save you?'

‘I wasn't in any danger to begin with. I'd never have broken the ice as a cub. You two were supposed to fall in and drown. But even when that didn't go according to plan, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. That
stupid
girl insisted on taking me home with her,' Drysi spat. ‘It gave me the chance to spy on you and look for another opportunity to get rid of you both. Although having to play nicey-nice around her simpleton family made me want to throw up.'

‘Why did you do all this?' Arthur asked her angrily.

She looked down at her legs. ‘I'm broken,' she said, ‘and now that he has the moonstone back the Wolf-father will fix me.'

‘Exactly,' Loki said. But as he said this Arthur noticed that the god avoided looking at the girl and he suspected that Loki was lying.

‘You've never been very susceptible to my tricks, Arthur,' Loki was saying, clearly eager to change the subject. ‘And you always seem to miraculously turn up just when I don't want you to. I wonder why that is …' He looked over the edge of the roof, staring into the middle distance as if contemplating the answer to this question. ‘No matter,' he broke off suddenly, his lips turned up in a grin again. ‘Because this will be my final great trick. And this time, even you can't stop me.'

‘You thought that last time and I still managed to defeat you, Loki. I'll do whatever it takes.' Arthur tightened his grip on the hammer by his side.

‘Whatever it takes?' Loki looked at Drysi. ‘Whatever it takes, he says! Arthur, please, don't say stuff like that or you'll have me in hysterics. Besides, there is nothing you can do to stop me this time. The moon is rapidly approaching midnight, I have Hati's Bite and I'm in the perfect position to use it.'

‘What do you mean?'

The Father of Lies walked over to the tall pole. ‘Hati's Bite magnifies the power of the moon and can be used to turn a human into a wolf. But up here, it's so much more. We're high up, close to the centre of the country – a place brimming with ancient magic. From here the spell won't just affect one person: it will spread over all the land. Every man, woman and child in Ireland will transform into a wolf. And they'll all bow to me, their Wolf-father. I'll have an army of millions to enslave humanity. When I created Fenrir I gave him humanity, and when he created the rest of his pitiful army, they also retained a sense of their humanity – I realise now that this was a mistake. It let them think, make up their own minds about what they were doing. But …' he spread out his arms, palms up, ‘I am humble and never let it be said I don't learn from my mistakes, so I won't let it happen this time. My new warriors will be mindless beasts. The only thing they'll understand is to obey me.

‘You're lucky, you know, Arthur, to be here to witness the dawn of this new world. It will be something to tell the grandkids about – no, wait, you won't be able to because you'll be a mindless wolf too.' Loki grinned at Arthur. ‘This is going to be such fun. Especially for me. In fact, only for me. It's not an easy process, the transformation, and you'll be in quite a lot of pain.'

He paused and looked upwards at the night sky. ‘The moon will be in alignment in just over a min–' Loki was cut off suddenly by a commotion from below. Shouts, growls and feet pounding across the stony ground were creating a cacophony of sound.

Loki glanced over the edge of the tower, then turned to the girl, exasperated. ‘Drysi, be a sweetheart and see what's going on down there, will you? And tell them to
shut up
: they're ruining my big moment.'

‘Of course, Wolf-father.' Drysi wheeled towards the central column.

‘And, Drysi?'

‘Yes, Wolf-father?'

‘Please relieve our guest of that monstrosity in his hand. I'd do it, but I'm sure I'd get quite a shock.'

Arthur tensed and held the hammer close to his chest with both hands. There was no way he was letting the girl take it from him. He knew it was his one really effective weapon against Loki. He turned to run, but as he did something knocked painfully into the back of his legs – Drysi's wheelchair. He went hurtling forward and landed agonisingly on his knees, but managed to keep a tight grip on the hammer. Then the girl reached forward and in one impossibly swift and strong motion, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and yanked the hammer from his grip. Arthur just couldn't keep hold of it. With a twisted smile, she opened the little door to the elevator and left them alone.

Ash, Ellie and Ex took a step backwards from the watching army and bumped into the guards who'd been racing down the stairs and were now right behind them. There were four of them – all men, all huge and all terrifying.

‘Well, well, well,' said the guard in front. ‘It looks like we've got some intruders.'

‘That's the little blighter there,' grunted another guard, rubbing the side of his head tenderly and pointing at Ex. ‘That's the one who knocked me out.'

The first guard looked at the injured one with a wicked smirk. ‘Fancy repaying the favour?'

‘Yeah,' he said, grinning back, ‘I might just do that.' The four guards advanced slowly on Ash, Ellie and Ex, forcing them backwards into the room. Ash turned around to see that all the occupants who had been poring over maps and plans were now on their feet and also advancing. They were completely surrounded, with no escape.

‘You can't do this!' Ash shouted to them over the sound of grinding gears. The majority of the approaching raiders laughed – a sound that was part chuckle, part bark. The distant ticking noise of the gears grew louder until it ceased suddenly with a metallic clang. The guards at the door turned to the sound, then moved aside to let Drysi through. Arthur's hammer was clenched in one fist.

‘So, you managed to get out of your cage, Ash. You didn't make it very far, though, did you?' she sneered, moving forward. The raiders stopped as they watched her, waiting for her command, no doubt. Ash was speechless. If Drysi had Arthur's hammer, then it could only mean one thing. He was in serious trouble.

‘What should we do with them?' one of the guards at the door asked Drysi.

She considered the question for a minute, keeping her eyes fixed on the three children.

‘I don't think Wolf-father Loki would miss three young cubs in his army, do you?' She looked around at the waiting crowd. ‘Kill them.'

Without any more hesitation, every man, woman and wolf turned towards Ash, Ellie and Ex. The children looked around desperately for a way out, but found none. It seemed like their time was well and truly up. Ellie smiled sadly to Ex as he took her hand. Ash simply shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

As she anticipated the first stroke of pain, she felt a rush of air by her face and heard an ear-bursting roar. She opened her eyes to see a wolf as tall as her standing next to them, baring his razor-sharp teeth at the others. His fur was pure black, bristling along his back as the muscles in his shoulders rippled, tensed for a fight. Half of the fur and flesh on his back was completely burnt away, showing only blistered redness in patches. It's Fenrir, Ash
realised.

‘Do not harm these children!' the wolf spoke in a voice that boomed around the entire room. ‘Let them and us go peacefully and no one will be hurt.'

All eyes turned to Drysi. She had hers fixed firmly on the great wolf.

Finally, she spoke to her troops. ‘Why are you all still standing there? I gave you an order. Kill them. All of them.'

At that, all hell broke loose as several things happened at once.

Loki's supporters charged, some of them transforming mid-run into wolves, their clothes falling in heaps on the floor.

Even more wolves stormed through the door and started attacking whoever they could reach. They must be the freed prisoners, Ash guessed.

Before any of Loki's army could reach the children, Fenrir snapped his massive jaws at them, throwing wolves and men aside as if they were rag dolls.

And all the while, Ash, Ellie and Ex were rooted to the spot. They were too frightened to move and, even if they had found the courage, they wouldn't have known where to run.

‘Under the table!' Fenrir roared at them, mid-battle. His gruff voice managed to break them out of their stupor. Ash saw the table he meant – a long bench full of maps behind a row of men cranking crossbows. ‘
Run
!' Fenrir urged them again, bounding forward himself to bowl over a couple of the men, giving the children the space to dive under the wooden table.

Ash shut her eyes again. The noise was terrible: barks and growls, yells and moans of pain, the whishing sound of arrows cutting through the air, the thud as they hit flesh. Somebody or something landed heavily on the tabletop. The force of it shook the very floor underneath them and caused a deep split to crack halfway through the dense timber of the tabletop.

A wolf appeared at one end of the table, thrusting its bared teeth towards them with spittle foaming around the edges of its mouth as it snarled. The three of them shuffled backwards, trembling as they went. The wolf was too large to fit into the tight space but that didn't stop it from trying. It kept pushing forward, lifting the bench with its back muscles as it squeezed towards them.

The animal snapped at Ash. Its teeth were stained yellow and brown, with spots of fresh blood dripping down its snout, and she could smell its rancid, hot breath. It had almost reached her. Close. Too close. She pushed back further into Ellie and Ex and, while doing so, kicked out with her right foot. Her heel collided with the beast's snout, sending its head reeling sideways. But the beast just shook away the pain and kept coming for her.

‘Come on!' Ex yelled over the noise of the battle. He had crawled out the far end of the table, was on his feet and was helping Ellie to hers. Ash could see now that most of the fighting had moved to the opposite end of the hall, giving them a mostly free run to the exit. She didn't particularly cherish the idea of running headfirst into a battle zone, but it was definitely preferable to being eaten alive by this wolf.

The Lavenders were already running by the time Ash struggled to her feet. She sprinted after them, her legs and chest aching with the effort. But all her focus was on the door. The door, the door, the door. The way out. To safety. To Arthur. Just get out, Ash, get out.

The others were through the door already, on the spiral steps, taking them two at a time.

Suddenly something knocked into the back of Ash's calves and her legs collapsed underneath her, sending her toppling backwards.