Cloudfyre Falling - a dark fairy tale (42 page)

There came no
answer. ‘
Locke?
’

He heard growls and squeals
growing closer and he turned and spied monsters racing feverishly
toward him. Five, six of them. More behind them. ‘You lot can come
to me,’ he murmured. With that he turned and dashed between
carriages, taking off after Grimah.

8

The train yards were a mess of
engines and boxcars and open freight wagons and empty lines of
passenger cars. Gargaron charged up between two separate lines of
boxcars, calling Melai’s name. Then ducked between a divide only to
be faced with more carriages. ‘Blast!’ He charged at the wall of
train in front of him and scrambled up its side, pulling himself to
its roof. A better all-round view were revealed to him up there, at
least. Appleford terminal away to his left and around to his right,
he saw the glowing beam line alive and buzzing and with it the
garetrain slowly pushing its way through the railyards.

‘
Pray you hold the train,
sorcerer,’ Gargaron murmured as he clambered along carriage
roof.

Behind him, a pack of hissing,
moaning hell beasts piled after him. But ahead, he caught glimpses
of Locke’s serpent and heard attack howls from Grimah. There were
still no sign of Melai however. Nor of Hawkmoth for that
matter.

Rain pelted down as he charged
along roof, gaining speed and leaping across to the next train.
Landing on its roof he kept running, his heavy footfalls leaving
indents in the metal; behind him ghost-hounds clawed after him,
gaining on him swiftly.

He reached the next carriage,
noticing Locke now and the serpent away in the direction Melai had
been flung. Gargaron leapt from carriage, the pack of hell hounds
close on his heel, jumping after him. Hearing them snapping at his
neck, he spun about in midair, slicing three of them in two, blue
flame licking up his sword blade as if it were hot oil and not
blood that gushed forth.

He landed heavily on his back in
gravel, his momentum heaving him spine-first against the adjacent
carriage, his weight rocking it momentarily from its tracks as hell
hounds spilled about him; one of them falling beneath carriage as
the train rocked back over, squashing the beast’s face in an
explosion of brain and blood and fire.

Gargaron booted the remaining
beasts away, giving him time to pull his shield from under him and
fend off another pair hurling themselves from top of train. They
pelted against shield and carriage. He rolled over, got to his knee
and shield bashed one on his left and scythed off the head of
another on his right.

He scrambled backwards, slashing,
ramming, and heaving hounds as blue flame from downed monsters took
to both train and weed. As he took care of the last beast he saw
another mass of them scurrying up between carriages toward him. ‘By
Ranethor, do they not get the hint?’

He scrambled up side of train,
hauling himself to roof, and just as he did the carriage further
back shunted violently outwards from where it lay, as if it were a
mere paper box kicked aside by some bored child. It flew outwards
and slammed violently against the train opposite, squashing the
oncoming hell beasts between carriages; a blue fireball mushrooming
into the sky.

The heat were blistering, even
from this distance, and Gargaron leapt to ground, scurrying around
the end of the carriage, shielding himself against the furnace.
Crouching there panting, he saw Locke’s serpent coil its huge body
around a mass of ghost-hounds, squeezing them as they spat and
hissed and bit and squealed. As she did, Zebra dislocated her
mighty horizontal jaws and sunk her sword-like teeth through them
all, chomping them in half as flame flared up around her face.
Meanwhile, Locke were backing along an overturned carriage, using
his mysterious blowflute; clouds of darts flew from the strange
weapon, burying deep into their assailants…

Doing no damage whatsoever,
Gargaron saw.

The beasts kept
coming. Locke reverted to his moon-blade, slicing meaty chunks from
the monsters as they flew at him. Gargaron thought the crabman were
getting the better of them until another pack clambered up behind
him, swamping him. Locke laughed as the beasts did their best to
bite into him, to flood him with flame. ‘
Ha! Foul demons! I am impervious to fire! But do your best if
it please you!
’ And with that he drove two
of his spiked crab feet up through the belly of one and tore the
beast open, black guts and blood gushing out, splashing down the
windows of the train car, steaming and stinking.

Gargaron, still wondering where
Melai were, uncertain if she were safe or lying somewhere injured,
went to Locke’s aid. Only to have a dozen hell-hounds emerge from
between boxcars and pile after him.

9

Gargaron clambered onto Locke’s
upturned carriage but he felt the hounds jump him and cling to him
like ants on meat, their grubby claws and filthy teeth digging into
his shoulders, his neck, his back, his limbs. He couldn’t free his
sword arm. He did his best to throw them aside but they stuck to
him like limpets.

He jumped from the carriage,
taking them with him, spinning over whilst airborne so that when he
landed he crushed most of them beneath him. Bones cracked and blood
spurt and fire roared about him. Still, two of them kept their
hold.

He was able to clamber to his
feet, one of the hounds hanging from his arm. He slung about and
dashed it against the side of carriage, snapping its snarling head
backwards, blood gushing from its mouth, blue flames licking up his
arm. He reached over his shoulder to yank the other from his back
but he found Grimah tearing at it with both mouths. Grimah ripped
it free, spat it out, then trampled it to pulp.

Gargaron dashed now to Locke who
were still fighting his way from beneath a pack of beasts. But
there were no respite. On they came, another swarm of hell-hounds,
scrambling up the space between carriages, clambering over the tops
of boxcars.

Gargaron were again flooded by
monsters. He and Grimah both. And Locke too. Zebra whipped and
coiled her body, knocking them flying but their tenacity were
something to behold. Even she were soon overpowered by sheer force
of numbers.

Gargaron found himself pinned to
ground. His sword and shield had been dragged from him. He punched
and kicked and snapped bones, but the flames these creatures
dragged with them were scorching and he were running out of
strength and breath.

10

There came an
explosive blast from seemingly nowhere. Then Locke were laughing,
yelling, ‘
Ha! Have some of that you
stinking dogs!
’

Something punched
a mighty hole straight through the chests of two of the fire fiends
mounted on Grimah. Instantly both crumpled and slid from Grimah’s
hide, dropping to ground, dead. Almost without pause, another fiend
were blown apart in similar manner, one hanging from Grimah’s mane.
And barely a sunflare later, most of the pack assaulting Gargaron
were blown to bits, body parts and streaks of blue fire exploding
out across
earyth
and carriage.

Hawkmoth
, Gargaron
thought.

Encouraged now, and free of
assailants, he scrambled to his feet and looked around. He saw no
sign of the sorcerer however. Another hound came belting toward
him; he were without sword and shield, so braced himself to take
the beast on with bare fists. Something shot down from above,
blasting the monster, knocking it backwards, innards from its chest
cavity blown out through its back in a blast of flame.

Gargaron dashed for his weapons,
diving for them, snatching them up, and rolling over onto his knee.
He slashed aside a hound galloping at him before peering about,
searching for whoever or whatever had taken out these
ghost-hounds.

Then saw her. And his heart
warmed. Melai.

11

She hovered there, bow and arrow
deployed, slinging another shot, the arrow, its tip glowing white
hot, zipping at its target. It made impact and exploded through the
hound’s ribs, punching its guts out through its chest in a
spectacular explosive blast.

She nocked another arrow, pulling
it into aim, surveying the area. From her height she had clear view
back along the rows of carriages. She could see Hawkmoth toward the
terminal, smiting a pack of ghost hounds. But after them there came
no more. It appeared, for now at least, the onslaught had quit. She
swooped down to giant. ‘Are you harmed?’ she asked.

‘
I be as well as I can,’ Gargaron
replied, managing a stoic smile. He were covered in claw wounds and
bite marks, and purple blood seeped down his arms and neck but he
were not in any immediate peril. Grimah too, bleeding and scratched
but looking resolute, determined, his proud and fierce eyes on
constant look out for any renewed attacks.

Behind them Locke hoisted himself
into Zebra’s saddle. ‘Oh, is that all?’ he asked, looking about. ‘I
were just getting started!’ Both of them were blood splattered and
scratched and bitten.

‘
What of you, Melai?’ Gargaron
asked. ‘I saw you flung across sky.’

‘
I be well. But I declare my
consciousness were thrown from me for some time. I cannot say why
or how, nor what caused it. But I fear it were the work of the
presence that still hides within the terminus.’

In the distance another train
carriage were thrust from its tracks. Moments later Razor galloped
toward them, Hawkmoth mounted in saddle. ‘How are we all?’ the
sorcerer asked, his beard and hair a straggled sweating
mess.

‘
As good as can be,’ Gargaron
reported.

‘
Though you could throw a few more
of those fiends my way,’ came Locke’s jovial voice. ‘I were just
getting warmed up.’

Hawkmoth grinned. ‘Oh? Well, you
may just have your wish, crabman. For I fear that whatever Melai
sensed slumbering in yonder terminal be waking.’

‘
Good,’ Locke said. ‘Main course
at last.’

‘
That as may be, Locke, though I
feel it probably be too big for your appetite.’

‘
Oh, I have rather a large
appetite, sorcerer,’ Locke protested grinning.

‘
I’m sure you have,’ Hawkmoth
said. ‘Still, I would urge you all proceed to your train, for it
departs as we speak. I need not remind you that it might be the
last train for the Northlands for a while. Probably a good idea not
to miss it.’

12

Hawkmoth lead the way, charging
between the rows of carriage and boxcar and wagon until they met
the railcourse on which their garetrain were now well beyond the
railyards, gathering speed, heading northways from Appleford,
suspended beneath the line-beam that vanished off into the far
distance. ‘Hurry now,’ Hawkmoth called.

Behind them however, something had
arisen from the terminus and when Gargaron looked back he spied a
mountainous shadow filling the sky. It were so vastly tall it made
him look like a child’s toy. In all his years, in all his travels,
he had never lain eye upon such an entity. And toward them it
turned.

‘
Hawkmoth?’ Gargaron called. ‘Do
you see that thing?’

‘
Aye.’

‘
What be it? I have never seen its
like before.’

‘
I fear it be Jhegoth, star
demon,’ Hawkmoth called back. ‘And I have known witches employ its
services.’

Locke laughed. ‘At least now we
have a true opponent on which to test ourselves.’

‘
Oh, we’ll not face it if we can
help it,’ Hawkmoth called across to the crabman. ‘Sorry to
disappoint you but our safest bet is to reach the garetrain and
lose it for pace.’

13

The colossal star demon, with its
eyes burning blue and the ground shaking beneath its feet, began to
trudge after them. Its gait were slow and cumbersome but such were
its size, each of its immense strides covered a huge distance. Thus
it gained on them quickly.

The hooves of Grimah and Razor
thundered across ground, and Zebra were almost silent as she
slithered ahead of them, her swishing tail almost a blur. Above
them all, keeping clear of the line-beam, were Melai, flying
swiftly.

Bolts of blue light began
peppering grass and gravel around them, blasting out small craters,
throwing dirt and grit and stones to all points. And when Gargaron
looked he saw these projectiles pelting from the star demon’s
eyes.

Hawkmoth suddenly pulled Razor
around. Gargaron watched him, yelling, ‘Sorcerer, what are you
doing?’

‘
Jhegoth be far too swift. And
will catch us before we reach our train. I must slow it down. Now
fetch yourselves onwards! You too Locke! Get going!’

Locke, who had slowed down, now
pulled Zebra back in the direction of the train. ‘Quite unfair!’ he
yelled as Zebra sped on. ‘Some folk have all the fun!’

14

Hawkmoth hauled Razor up, leapt
from saddle and brought his staff into play. As Jhegoth strode
toward him, its legs deep and lost amidst a mountain of blue flame,
Hawkmoth began to spin his staff above his head like some circus
performer with a baton. It spun faster and faster until his moving
arms were but a blur and the staff were lost from sight. It were
here he slammed his staff into the ground at lightning speed, and
from Rashel (his staff’s angel visage) came a squeal so loud and
piercing that it made Grimah howl, and Zebra screech, and
momentarily sucked all sound from the ears of Gargaron, Melai and
Locke.