B00JX4CVBU EBOK (16 page)

Another loud sound from behind him. An explosion? He looked back over his shoulder. The corridor was empty. The horrible woman hadn’t turned the corner yet. 

In the fifth ward room Turner saw her—Aunt Lani! He burst into the room and ran to her side. She lay on a bed and old mattress. Long strips of old bedding tied her wrists and ankles to the metal frame. Another piece of dirty cloth bound her mouth tightly. Although breathing, she seemed to be in a deep sleep or unconscious.

He shook the large woman’s shoulder. ‘Aunt Lani, wake up. Wake up!’
Please
wake up. Lani’s eyes opened slowly, and Turner exhaled in a huge gush. Thank God. She blinked once or twice and her eyes opened in surprise.

‘Hang on. I’ll get you untied.’ Turner tried to loosen one of the large knots, but the cloth had been pulled tight, and he couldn’t gain access. The knot refused to budge. A loud whump came from somewhere in the building. What
was
that? The monster woman? Aunt Lani’s eyes were wide, and she kept shaking her head.

Turner yanked at the lashing trying to rip it. Nothing. He looked around frantically. There, in the corner! A broken dinner plate. He snatched it up and began to saw at the material. He was breathing heavily now. Come on! Almost there. The lashing fell away. Finally! Her feet were still tied, but he’d get to that in a moment. First he pulled down her gag.

‘Dear boy! Run!’

‘What …’ Another loud explosion. This one closer. The thump made the whole room jump slightly. Dust fell from the ceiling. Turner turned towards the door. Why would the monster woman be blowing things up?

Turner turned back to Lani; she looked distressed, terrified. Her voice croaked, ‘The girls …’

They had followed him. Damn! In his rush he hadn’t even felt them. Another thump. He looked back at Lani’s tied legs.

‘I’ll take care of it boy. Go!’

Needles of energy spiked through Turner. He had to get to them. He sprinted from the room, and skidded to a halt on the linoleum. There! They were back at the corridor T-intersection blasting white lightning and fireballs at the monster woman, who had dropped her fell and revealed her true self: a massive, black, multi-bodied creature. Orbs of power flew at the monster, but it seemed to be just batting them back to the girls. 

‘Yours! Yours! Yours!’ the monster screeched. The shots of energy hurtled back at the sisters and exploded. No! Turner gasped. But they were unhurt. Celeste had some sort of force field around them.

Turner raised his hands. He’d freeze the monster. He couldn’t think of anything else as he hadn’t been Ellring long enough to discover if he had any other powers. 

‘Turner!’ Brooke had seen him and pointed in his direction. 

The monster turned. It was now or never. ‘Freeze!’ yelled Turner, and released his power.

But instead of freezing, the oily black abomination laughed, twirled quickly as it raised some of its hands at the sisters. It was the girls who stopped moving. The monster had deflected Turner’s power onto them. Celeste was caught with her hands half raised. Chloe and Brooke were both frozen as they crouched ready to help hurl more power balls. Skye was pointing at the monster woman, and Ember was stopped with her hand up and an expression Turner knew well now; one of fiery wrath.

As soon as he’d seen the girls immobilised he raised his hands again, but the beast was too quick. Turner felt a huge blow to his chest, which hurled him backwards onto on a pile of old metal trollies. He hit hard and skidded with them back down the corridor, and only halted when he slammed into a wall. He lay still for a moment unsure of what had happened. His whole body was racked with pain. He’d hit his head, as blood was running into his eye, and by the feel of it he’d broken his left arm. He became aware of a searing agony in his side. He turned his head painfully, and saw a thin metal rod about a foot long had skewered through his torso, just above his right pelvis. Dark blood spread rapidly through his shirt and trousers.

The monster woman pounded down the corridor towards him. An ungainly menacing mass of arms, legs and heads. Every time one of her black oily faces appeared, it was sneering.

Turner grit his teeth, and tried to stand. He was an Ellring wasn’t he? He’d be healed in no time right? He rose to one knee but his hand slipped on his own blood. His broken arm unable to stop his fall, he crashed back painfully into the mess of metal. The beast was almost upon him. Turner struggled one more time, threw his arm out, pushed himself up, his eyes shut tight with the agonising pain in his side, the effort making him almost black out.

‘Stop trying,’ said one of the ghastly heads in a fierce, gravelly voice. ‘And don’t think you can heal yourself, Ellring.’ In a blur one of the monster’s feet kicked out and connected with Turner’s broken arm, something snapped and he fell back with a cry of utter agony. 

‘What’s the only thing that can hurt a Ring?’ said the monster.

Turner hardly heard her. His whole being pulsed in a red field of pain. 

The black monstrosity moved back and raised three arms. Two of its heads said at once, ‘Scathers!’ It stepped close to Turner and a new face twisted out from a fold and murmured, ‘And we’re more Scather than Vordene. We can hurt you. We can kill you. Maybe we will. But for now,
little boy
, you’re coming with us.’

Three or four long clawed hands grasped Turner and lifted him easily. With his head pointing at the floor, he saw a dark hole appear beneath the monster’s feet. Once again, he fell.

*

Ember couldn’t move, but if she could she’d be weeping. She had witnessed Turner tossed like a rag doll, bashed and broken. And oh God, that thing through his side. She had watched as he tried to rise, tried to fight back. She had hoped he would be able to heal himself, but was dismayed to hear the Vordene monster’s words, and to see it kick out and hurt him even more. 

Ember had tried with every ounce of her being to break out of the freezing enchantment to no avail. To be stuck statue-like and see Turner injured and belittled in such a manner battered her senses and tore at her soul. 

And now he was gone.

Minutes passed, but they could have been hours. Being immobilised yet able to hear and see, made even the seconds intolerable lengths of time. She could feel Aunt Lani somewhere near. She was awake, and going by what Ember could pick up, frustrated. But at least she was OK.

Unlike Turner.

Ember thought about what he meant to her. Was she in love? Perhaps. Probably. After their physical and metaphysical bonding in the True they couldn’t have been any closer. But Ember knew who and what she was, and she knew what Turner was. She knew they could never have anything like a normal life together. But … was this all she was going to get? The Wickerwell Vordene had waited their wholes lives for their Ring, and Ember had long ago given up on ever finding love. But now, just when they had finally found these things, it was all snatched away. 

Why had Brooke felt the need to drive Turner away? Ember knew her sister had a massive chip on her shoulder, knew that she was angry at Ember, at the world, and most importantly, herself. But how could she think trying to raise Scathers would be a good thing? Ember knew her sister was sorry, but it was going to take time for Ember to forgive her. None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for bloody Brooke. And if Turner died, forgiveness would never come.

For now, the one thing which stopped her having a total mental meltdown was she knew he still lived, for she could sense him … faintly. He was alive. Somewhere.

More time passed, a frozen millennium of minutes. And then Aunt Lani appeared in the corridor. Ember had never been so relieved to see her aunt. She was still dressed in her large white nightdress. When she saw the girls at the end of the corridor, she almost ran to them. Inside her head, Ember smiled. Almost ran. This was Aunt Lani. Her run was like a mad bustle, her large bosom bouncing up and down, arms fluttering like chubby wings, and feet hardly on the floor.

‘Girls! Oh my little girls!’ Lani touched their cheeks, and rambled on as she went from one girl to another, ‘You shouldn’t have come. But of course you did. I would have done the same. Probably did in my time. Impetuous. Silly girl. Silly girls. Oh, I’m so sorry. What to do, what to do?’

Ember wanted to scream, ‘Um, try and get us loose!’

As if reading her mind, Lani stepped back and raised her hands. Nothing. With a look of fierce concentration on her face, she tried again. Her cheeks puffed out, she pushed her hands forward. Again, nothing.

Releasing her breath, she lowered her hands. ‘I didn’t really think I could do anything. To turn a powerful enchantment by myself is beyond me I’m afraid. I’m so, so sorry girls.’ Her double chin quivered and she looked as if she were about to cry.

She stood still for a moment, almost frozen herself. ‘Ah! Mother Torhild! If anyone can help, it will be her.’ Lani spoke to Celeste as if expecting an answer. ‘But I’ll need to find a well. Get to Orkney. Bring her back.’ Having made up her mind she started off down the corridor. ‘I’ll be back girls. And we’ll get you unfrozen. I promise!’ she yelled over her shoulder as she scuttled away out of sight.

Ember screamed the words in her mind, ‘No, Aunt Lani! My phone! Use a bloody …’

‘A telephone!’ came Lani’s voice. She scurried back up the corridor until she stood face to face with Ember. ‘One of your little phones. I can ring the old dear, yes?’

Lani patted Ember’s front pockets. ‘Excuse me, dear. Most inappropriate, I know …’

Back pocket, Aunt Lani, back pocket, thought Ember. But her Aunt had moved onto Skye, ducked under the girl’s outstretched arm and pulled out a mobile phone from her pocket.

‘Aha!’ said Aunt Lani, holding the phone up triumphantly. And then peering at the smooth glass surface said, ‘Now, how do I turn it on?’

Oh dear, thought Ember.

Mountains decayed one atom at a time, continents moved and slowly collided as her aunt tried to figure out a piece of twenty-first century technology. Lani sat on the floor in front of the girls, and Ember’s frozen eyes could only make out the top of her aunt’s head, but she heard her muttering to herself. ‘This button has a little telephone on it … do I press it? Hmm … numbers … I don’t know Mother Torhild’s number do I? What’s this little magnifying glass do? Oh! A little typewriter …’

Ember swore if she ever got out of this, she would spend a week teaching her technophobic aunt how to use a mobile phone and a computer.

Finally, her aunt stood up. She held the phone to her ear. ‘I did it! It’s ringing!’ After a few seconds she said, ‘Mother Torhild? It’s Lani here … from the Wickerwell Vordene. Yes. Yes. Very well thank you. Oh. Actually not. Quite the opposite in fact.’ The large woman turned and walked off down the corridor. ‘In a spot of bother really.’ As Lani moved further away, Ember could here less and less of the conversation.

Her Aunt returned a minute later, beaming madly. ‘I did it girls! The High Vordene will be here as soon as possible.’ She spun in a slow circle and indicated the corridor. ‘I didn’t even know where I was. But she knew. She was able to tune in of course.’ Once again she spoke to Celeste, ‘We’re in Cardiff! Wales! When I was tied to that bed I felt sure it was York. I thought it felt damp, you know?’

Ember tuned out. Now possible rescue was at hand, she was thinking about what would come next. Could they get to Turner? Could they stop the monster Vordene? If not, it could be bad.
Really
bad.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I
T
WAS
THE
noise that penetrated Turner’s wakening mind first. A deafening continuous screeching that pierced the ears and slashed at the mind. After some effort Turner opened one eye, the other seemed to be swollen or glued shut with caked blood.

His whole body hurt, so he wasn’t dead. He sat propped against a large boulder. The steel rod still protruded from his side, which strangely, didn’t hurt as much as his broken arm, which throbbed with searing agony. Shattered bone had pierced through a long bloody gash on his forearm. His head throbbed and his mind was cloudy, and he felt as if he could pass out again at any moment. His chalky and dry mouth made swallowing difficult. Every few seconds his shaking body would give an involuntary shudder, and he grit his teeth against the pain.

Finally, his good eye focused on the surroundings. He was in Hell.

He sat atop a hill or large mound. Everything he could see was either red or black. Dark, treeless hills seemed to stretch on forever, and what looked like lava flowed in the valleys between. Turner wasn’t sure if it was his eye or not, but the air seemed to be wavering, like shimmering heat. But he didn’t feel hot. He placed his hand on the black stones next to him. They felt neither hot nor cold. 

The sky—or roof, as it looked almost solid—was a red and grey organic covering, like the intestines of a flayed devil that pulsed as if alive. Against the redness of the sky were the originators of the screeching: Scathers. Clouds of them. Massive, sinuous cords of thousands of Scathers flying head to tail, coiled darkly around the sky. Turner knew now he must be in the Grimshade. It was a waking nightmare. Although he could not feel the heat, he wished his Ellring powers worked on his olfactory senses. The place stank. Something like a combination of burnt flesh and an open sewer. To top it off, Turner’s newly acquired sense of perception was swamped here with an overpowering feeling of heavy dread. 

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ came a voice from above him. 

Turner craned his neck, which caused another shudder of shooting pain. It was the Vordene monster. It perched above him atop the rock. Every face which appeared and disappeared in its oily folds held a look of awe, almost ecstasy. 

‘To think we fought against all this … now we want to embrace it, envelope it … be enveloped.’

Turner winced. Another shudder.

The monster was positively chatty. One face would talk while one or two others would watch the first in rapt attention. ‘See that dark column in the distance? It’s the Grimshade’s power core. It breeds the evil and spawns the Scathers. That’s where we’re going. We tried once before but the Scathers attacked us, but with you to scare them off, we should be able to gain access.’