Beyond the Knock Knock Door (14 page)

Armed with a wooden staff, Captain Cavalli circled the garrison's stony courtyard and lunged. He speared it straight at Michael's belly then thrust it upwards, trying to land a crippling blow. Michael batted it away and counterattacked with a jab to the ribs, but the older boy easily fended him off. Jeers roared from the balconies as forty marines pumped their fists and egged them on. Cavalli smiled through the rain as he feigned another attack and forced Michael off balance. Michael stumbled back between archers' targets but forgot the straw dummy. He collided with it, and, startled, gave the captain his opening. Cavalli chopped his staff down hard and crunched Michael's fingers. The golden gauntlet absorbed the impact but not the jarring.
Clang!
Michael dropped his weapon, allowing the captain to strike again. The blunt end punched him in the chestplate and down he went. All the marines cheered.

‘You are vanquished,' Cavalli said, poking the staff under Michael's chin. ‘Yield.'

The sky thundered as Michael batted aside the weapon and sat up to shake the tingling from his knuckles. ‘I yield.'

The marines applauded a third time as their young captain twirled his training staff and triumphantly strolled away. Prime Minister Pasquale appeared beside Michael and helped him to his feet. ‘Sir Knight, are you not the mightiest of men? The most honoured of the honourable? Stop toying with this scoundrel. He might be a pup, but he still has teeth.'

He slapped Michael on the back and pushed him into the centre of the open courtyard. The marines cheered again as Cavalli welcomed the rematch.

The captain chose a defensive stance this time, allowing his opponent first strike. Michael lashed out with his staff, but his inexperience showed. Cavalli parried, twisted and knocked the weapon aside before hammering him in the guts. The armour took the blow but Michael still crumpled in half.

‘Yield, sir.'

‘I yield,' Michael coughed, feeling more tingling across his body.

The marines roared as Cavalli strutted around the younger boy. Amid the cheers, the first whispers poisoned the triumph. Some were questioning the Gold Knight's willingness to fight.

Shattered, Michael stayed on the ground as Pasquale knelt beside him. ‘My liege, don't dishonour these boys
by taming your sword arm. They are as proud as you and I. Fight the captain as if he was the Giant of the Lost Lake and show these marines how it is done!' He then lifted him up despite his protests.

Cavalli leant against his staff and asked, ‘How fare you, my liege? Have you lost your heart for battle?'

‘Show respect, young captain,' the Prime Minister answered for him. ‘Your trousers are far too clean for a fighting son of Pacifico, and our liege here has just promised me he'll sit you in the mud.'

Howls filled the garrison as Cavalli accepted the challenge. Michael tried calling off the fight, but his pleas were deafened by the noise.

‘Sergeant!' Cavalli yelled. ‘Let's make this interesting, shall we? Steel against steel!'

He threw his wooden staff at the young officer, who exchanged it for a sheathed sword. Cavalli drew his blade and tested its balance. Michael froze. No way had he agreed to this!

‘Your sword, my liege?' the sergeant asked, crossing the courtyard to Michael's belongings.

Thunder drowned him out. This was crazy! He knew he had to flee. He retreated one too many steps, though, for his sword leapt from the distant bench and jumped into his hand. The marines cheered as one.

‘No, I didn't mean – It's my armour –'

Captain Cavalli attacked.

One, two, three – the blade slashed at Michael's head. He ducked the first then blocked the others. Cavalli swung wide and low, catching Michael's sword again.
But rather than a stalemate, it was a trick. The captain stabbed forward and almost skewered the younger boy. Michael swept his hip away before being killed.

Frustrated, he lashed out and punched Cavalli's chin. It connected and sent him flying. The forty marines fell silent as their captain skidded across the wet stones, stunned by the extraordinary blow. Groggy, Cavalli staggered to his feet as Michael flexed his gauntlet. How did he do that?

‘Yield!' he said, pointing his sword.

Cavalli smirked. ‘I think not.'

The captain attacked with greater ferocity this time, spurred on by the punch. He swung, cut and thrust. No one embarrassed him in front of his troops.

Michael wilted under the renewed zeal. Their swords clashed again and again, his arm growing heavy. His defences couldn't outlast the captain's fury. He was just a boy – not a knight.

Cavalli sensed weakness and pounced. He caught Michael's guard down, kicked his legs from under him and stabbed a heel into the fallen boy's guts. As he point ed his sword at Michael's throat, the courtyard hushed. Only the rain fell. Michael felt tears as he looked along the nicked blade to the captain's conquering grin.

‘Hero of all heroes, are you, my liege?' he asked. ‘The greatest swordsman in all the Seven Worlds of Wonder? Then what does that make me, Sir Michael? A fool?'

The sword tip hovered as Michael searched those grey-purple eyes for mercy. Deep inside, something shadowy and cruel threatened to overpower the captain.

Suddenly, armour scraped and clattered about the garrison. En masse, the young marines knelt and saluted with fists across their chests. His concentration broken, Captain Cavalli twisted round to discover why. Behind him, protected by umbrellas held by her servants, stood young Queen Oriana. Her stance was as fierce as the lightning.

The captain dropped to one knee as Samantha rushed to aid her brother, Aurelio close behind. ‘Your Majesty, I did not –'

‘Captain Cavalli, why are my western and northern watchtowers unmanned?'

‘I –'

‘The crew of the
Lord Lyndoch
radioed my government on the emergency frequency no less than five minutes ago with news of giant waves heading for our shores. Why hasn't the alarm been raised and your marines mobilised to deal with this threat?'

‘Begging your patience, Your Majesty, we were just enjoying some sport. We didn't –'

‘What sport is worth risking the four million lives placed under your care, captain?'

‘None, Your Majesty.'

She turned to the junior officer. ‘Sergeant. Take command of this situation. Captain Cavalli is relieved of his duty. I want all boats launched immediately and the barricades in place. I'd prefer to have Pacifico above the sea rather than at the bottom of it.'

‘You heard Her Majesty!' the sergeant yelled at his marines. ‘Move!'

A siren screamed from the top of the garrison as the young soldiers rushed down the steps towards the marina. It was answered by another siren, then another.

‘Mercy on my soldiers, Your Majesty,' Cavalli said, head bowed. ‘The Prime Minister and I thought a show of arms would inspire our troops in the ways of the Hall. I know now it was folly and the fault rests entirely with me.'

‘That I already know, captain. You have shamed our city with your “sport”. Holding a sword to the neck of one of our most treasured guests insults us all. You will be punished, if indeed your hot-bloodedness hasn't condemned us first. Prime Minister Pasquale,
stand your ground!
'

He froze by the front gates. Pulling off his orange cap, he wrung it between his hands as he turned back to her. ‘Y-Yes, Your Majesty?'

‘Is this true? You share in this guilt?'

‘Please, Your Majesty, the young knight's life was not threatened. Our good captain here gave his word. He wanted to test his arm against our friend, who himself agreed to the display. Isn't that right, Sir Michael?'

‘Not like that,' he heaved.

‘This is your second indiscretion, Prime Minister,' Queen Oriana said. ‘I strongly advise you to avoid a third.'

He bowed deeply, his robes jingling with bells.

‘Be gone – both of you. You're confined to your quarters until I send for you. Let's hope for both your
sakes that the city is still standing beyond this hour.'

Pasquale and Cavalli slunk away: the Prime Minister – pale and fretting; the captain – dark and scheming.

The Queen wasn't alone in her condemnation. Aurelio grabbed Cavalli's arm as he left but was shrugged away. The teenage piper held on, stared at the marine with anger then had his hand forcefully prised away.

Nearby, Samantha waited for Michael to regain his breath as more sirens wailed. ‘Finished being a human chopping board?' she asked.

‘They tricked me, Sam. They wanted me to
watch
their training – not be a part of it. Cavalli told his men to lock the gates. Something's not right with him. You have to teach me some kendo moves –'

‘So you can fight him? Ain't gonna happen, Squirt.'

Aurelio gave a puzzled look. ‘You can no longer fight, my liege?' he asked, but was interrupted by Her Majesty.

‘Sir Michael, are you injured?' The young Queen softened her voice and stood before him, holding her own umbrella. She'd dismissed her servants outside.

‘No, I'm okay. Thanks.'

‘My deepest apologies, friend, for my captain's folly. His actions are inexcusable. I hope word of his indiscretion won't leave these walls.'

He nodded. ‘But I'd be happy never to see him again.'

She glanced at the gates. ‘I understand. Cavalli is an excellent marine but a troubled one. When he was a
child, a Scorned hunting party killed his father. I fear he still tastes that bitterness.'

A freighter blasted over the garrison and cut her off.

‘We must leave,' she said calmly. ‘Come. I have a personal transport ready to fly us above the storm. The giant waves won't reach us there.'

‘But what about Luke? The people?' Samantha asked. ‘Won't the whole city be wiped out?'

The streets were chaotic. Tourists sprinted to the marina as ships launched into the stratosphere. A squall howled across the emptying plazas and smashed together bobbing gondolas. Frightened Pacificans nailed up their windows and doors, while children huddled in their bedrooms.

Aboard an intergalactic cruiser he'd fled to to escape his sister, Luke ran past lifeboats and deckchairs – and saw impending death. Three gigantic waves rolled towards the city, wide as the horizon. They threatened to smite the ninety islands flat.

His earpiece received another emergency transmission: ‘
Category one storm! Category one storm! All ships must leave Pacifico immediately!
'

The cruiser lurched below him. Its giant engines fired and the behemoth pulled free of the harbour. Shields began cocooning each deck before space flight. He had to fly!

BOOM!

Thunder scared the stranded tourists back into the city as the last ships vanished among the lightning. Heading into the squall, dozens of marines scrambled into boats and rowed towards the watchtowers. The first crews spiralled up the titans' hollow middles and then, from one to the next, came a rapid stuttering like an anchor in free fall. Chains – held aloft by the giant hands – snapped taunt and the sea foamed and exploded. Suddenly, enormous concrete blocks surfaced between the titans and formed the beginnings of a barricade.

More ringed the city as marines berthed and scaled the towers. However, a dozen walls weren't enough. The massive waves would easily surge through the gaps. Spotting the other crews still fighting the conditions, Luke threw himself into the buffeting winds and tunnelled towards a stony king.

He almost smacked into a wall as he powered full-throttle through an open window near the top. He tumbled on a landing then sat up, aware that a few centimetres to the left and he would have fallen into the tower's hollow middle. More chains stretched from the crown to the sunken depths, and stairs spiralled around them. Forget walking! He jetted upwards and found six giant wooden levers poking from the floor.

‘The first one!' a young marine yelled far below him, hurrying up the steps. ‘Pull the first one!'

Luke did so. The lever was tight. Shouldering it with all his strength, the heavy chains suddenly whipped up and down on squealing pulleys as part of a counterweight system like an elevator. He rushed to the window on
the right and saw a barricade surface between his titan and the next.

‘Now throw the locks!' the marine ordered, closer this time.

‘The what?'

‘The second and third levers. You need to secure the barricades.'

Again, he didn't argue. He thumped them hard. From the middle of the watchtower, two giant bolts swung outwards and locked the barricades in place.

‘The waves!' yelled another marine below. ‘They're on top of us!'

Luke grabbed the fourth lever and pulled. Again, the chains spun and rolled. The barrier on the left emerged when –

‘Too late!'

The first massive wave slammed into the titans and barricades with an explosive force. It threw Luke off his feet and smacked him headfirst into a wall. Water gushed through the windows and drenched all hands. The next thing he remembered, a marine held him by the armpits to stop him being washed down the middle. ‘Secure yourself!' he warned as his companions slammed the shutters. ‘The second wave's about to hit!'