Curse of Kings (The Trials of Oland Born, Book 1) (17 page)

LAND AND DELPHI STARED AT EACH OTHER
.

“Where
are
we?” said Delphi. She knew Oland would have no answer. “Did you see Malben?” she said.

“No.”

“Who's there?” said the man. “Is someone there?”

Oland and Delphi froze, but, as he walked slowly past them, they realised it was not them he heard. A muttering sound was coming from the clearing ahead. Oland and Delphi saw butterfly nets scattered on the ground, and a man dressed in a heavy green protective suit and a beekeeper's hat.

He stabbed a gloved hand towards the man in black. “Did you take the horse?”

“Yes!” said the other man. “And who cares, Benni?”

“Who cares?” said the man. “Who cares? And you think I'm the fool! And you can stop calling me Benni. Where is the horse now?”

“Gone!” said the man. “Gone!”

“You took him from the woods, Malcolm! Of course he's gone!”

Oland knew then the men who stood before him. His heart started to pound. His stomach churned.

“They must be Malcolm and Benjamin Evolent,” he said, his voice low and trembling.

Delphi moved closer to him, gripping his arm.

“I brought him back!” said Malcolm.

“Why are you here?” said Benjamin. “Why aren't you on your own side?”

“I just wanted to—”

“You need to understand that the animals cannot under any circumstances leave these woods. You see the gates. You know that there are fences deep underground. I am beginning to build a cage over the entire woods.
The entire woods
. Can you understand that if you let out anything… even one creature – and they are
creatures,
you know this – that you have the potential to destroy everything?”

“Of course I do,” said Malcolm.

“Then why do it?” said Benjamin.

Malcolm shrugged.

“And speaking of destruction,” said Benjamin, “what happened to my watchtower?”

“Well,
you'll
have to tell
me
, won't you?” said Malcolm.

“It's gone!” said Benjamin.

“And what do you think I did?” said Malcolm. “Chop it down? Because one can hardly carry away a watchtower.”

“It's completely gone,” said Benjamin. “As if it never existed.”

Malcolm frowned. “Oh…” he said. “Maybe there is one thing.”

“What?” said Benjamin.

“A new insect I… discovered. It appears to have quite the appetite for wood.”

“And you let this ‘discovery' loose?” said Benjamin.

“No,” said Malcolm. “I contained it. Well, there were two of them. Each in a glass jar… that they managed to knock over and smash. Quite a feat for such tiny things.”

“Where were you keeping them?”

“In one of my timber buildings, unfortunately…”

Benjamin's eyes widened.

“I know!” said Malcolm. “We're both so used to you being the fool!”

“Did they damage the building?” said Benjamin.

“Well, they damaged the contents,” said Malcolm. “The building, they simply devoured.”

“What?” said Benjamin.

Malcolm nodded. “It took no more than minutes.”

“For two of them?” said Benjamin.

Malcolm nodded, his eyes bright.

“This is nothing to be proud of,” said Benjamin. “This is a catastrophe.”

“Apart from your watchtower, I don't see anything else they've done,” said Malcolm. “I'm sure their stomachs have exploded by now.”

“You have no idea what has become of them,” said Benjamin.

“But I will follow their progress with interest, said Malcolm.”

Benjamin stared at the ground. “At least, for the sake of the larger creatures, go back and lock the gate,” he said, his voice weary.

“Me?” said Malcolm. He snorted. “Don't be ridiculous. Get one of your minions.”

“Fyles!” called Benjamin. “Fyles! Can you please go and close the gate? My brother saw fit to leave it open.”

A man appeared from the building behind Benjamin Evolent. He had a long narrow body and short squat legs. He moved slowly, his body rolling left and right.

“Yes, doctor,” he said, barely glancing up, his brow hidden under a filthy pile of dark hair.

“Look out for a horse!” said Malcolm.

Benjamin scowled at him. “Who knows what problems that horse might have!”

Malcolm readjusted one of his bandages. “That horse's only problem was—”

“Shh!” said Benjamin.

Malcolm ignored him. “I'm simply saying—”

“Fyles!” hissed Benjamin. “Fyles – stop walking! Don't move!”

Fyles turned towards him. “What?” he said. “What is it?”

“What is wrong with you?” said Malcolm. He looked to where Fyles was standing. Oland and Delphi did the same. Oland's eyes shot wide as a towering form peeled away from one of the tree trunks past Fyles' shoulder.

“What is that?” said Malcolm.

“I don't know,” said Benjamin. “It's… it's… tall… over six feet tall…” He frowned. “It's the colour of the tree trunk, but now it's changing…”

Fyles started to shake. The creature moved closer. There was something so wrong about it. It seemed to appear and reappear as it changed with its surroundings.

Benjamin struggled to speak.

Fyles was quaking. Malcolm Evolent just stared.

“It's changing again,” said Benjamin. “To… the colour of the leaves.”

Suddenly, two arms shot from the creature's sides and two huge pincers started to snap at the air as it moved slowly towards Fyles.

Fyles stood, whimpering, his face contorted in terror.

“Oh, no,” said Benjamin.

“What?” said Fyles. He was barely moving his lips.

“It's a scorpeleon!” said Benjamin.

Fyles' voice trembled. “Part scorpion, part chameleon?” he said.

“I'm sorry, Fyles!” said Benjamin. “I'm so sorry!”

Behind Fyles, the creature was rising to its full height. Its long black tail curved into the air behind it. A strange sound was building in the back of its throat.

“Oh, no!” said Benjamin.

“What?” said Fyles again.

“It's… it's just turned the colour of your tunic,” said Benjamin.

With that, the scorpeleon pounced, swiftly latching a pincer around Fyles' waist, shaking him wildly and carrying him away through the trees.

ELPHI PRESSED HER HAND TO HER MOUTH TO STIFLE
her screams. As the howling Fyles was being carried away, Oland and Delphi took the chance to run in the opposite direction. They charged ahead, ducking under branches, sidestepping the rocks and knotted roots. They ran until they could barely breathe.

“The experiments,” said Oland when they stopped. “That giant scorpion. This is one big laboratory. That's why the Evolents said the word ‘discovery' so strangely. It wasn't just a discovery – Malcolm had clearly experimented on those insects. How else could they have destroyed an entire building so quickly?” He paused. “Delphi – how long had we been travelling in the cart do you think?”

“I don't know,” said Delphi.

“Long enough to have passed into Garnish?” said Oland.

“Yes,” said Delphi. “Definitely.”

“Then I think I know where we are,” said Oland.

“Hell,” said Delphi.

“No,” said Oland, “I think where we are might, in fact, be useful. I think we're in Valle da Cossima, Queen Cossima's woods. Tell me again what the scryer said to you about them.”

“She said that they were filled with all the beautiful plants and trees I told you about… and… oh, she said, ‘Their myriad hues swathed the whole of Envar… and told us of their kings.'”

“That's it!” said Oland. “‘Swathed the whole of Envar' – the Tailor Rynish told me that he used to get fabrics from a man in Garnish, Gaudy Dyer, who no longer provides them. He dyed fabrics, therefore he had to use plants, flowers and barks. And ‘told us of their kings' – the scryer was talking about crests!”

Delphi's eyes were bright. “You're right!” she said.

“All along, we've been trying to find Sabian the place,” said Oland. “What if we find out about the crest itself? I was told to find the crest, not necessarily to
go
to Sabian…” He paused. “If you were a heraldist, where would you live? In a place filled with colour, where you have all the tools to make your dyes. Like here. That's why Pinfrock said that inks are no longer coloured and that only one man is brave enough to work in colour. Why would he say brave, unless, of course, it was a place he shouldn't be? A forbidden place? These woods are owned by Villius Ren and have clearly been taken over by the Evolents. Would it not be brave to trespass on the land of men so evil?”

Before they could continue their conversation, two dogs suddenly appeared from behind a tree. One stood in front of Oland, the other in front of Delphi.

“Don't move.” Benjamin Evolent stood opposite them, holding a staff in his hand. He had taken off his beekeeper's hat. It had disguised how small his head really was, and how slim his neck. It was clear that underneath the protective clothes, he was a slight man, nothing like his older brother, Malcolm. Benjamin was short, with thinning fair hair combed flat, and damp with the heat. Skinny red veins covered his broad cheekbones. His eyes reflected the turmoil of the strange world he had created.

“Who are you, you fools?” he said. “Get inside! Get inside!” He pointed to a long, narrow stone building behind him.

“No!” said Oland. “We're not going anywhere with you!”

“You're in danger out here!” said Benjamin. “How did you get in here? What are you doing?”

“Your brother kidnapped us,” said Oland.

“What?” said Benjamin. “Please, come inside. I don't want to harm you. You have to believe me.”

Beside them, the leaves of a towering plant started to rustle with great force. Without another word, they all ran for the laboratory. Benjamin slammed the door shut behind them.

“Now, why would my brother want to kidnap you?” said Benjamin. “Who are you?”

“I don't know why,” said Oland. “But it's the second time he's tried.”

Benjamin frowned. “What happened in Decresian – the kidnappings, the experiments, the buried bodies – that was the work of my brother. All I wanted to do was good. I wanted to create beautiful creatures, the brightest humans, the best athletes.” He gestured wildly with his arms, drawing their attention to a huge curved skeleton that hung across the wall.

“You worked with your brother,” said Delphi. “You knew what you were doing was wrong.”

“Not at first,” said Benjamin. “He is the superior doctor, the superior scientist. And, when I did realise what he was doing, it was too late. I was already tainted and I would be forever linked to his foul deeds. As is clear again from what you have just said.”

“What has happened in these woods?” said Oland.

Benjamin Evolent grabbed a leather-bound book from a table beside him and clutched it to his chest. He began to tap on it, his fingertips working faster and faster.

From the cabinet behind him, a small white rabbit jumped out and stood at Delphi's feet, raising its two front paws, rubbing its nose. As Delphi crouched down to stroke its fur, Benjamin Evolent raised the huge book he had in his hand and struck the rabbit, throwing it towards the door. Delphi cried out.

“What have you done?” shouted Oland.

Benjamin's eyes were filled with an extraordinary panic. The doctor responsible for whatever creatures roamed the woods looked more terrified than Oland and Delphi. “That wasn't a rabbit,” he said. “That wasn't a rabbit.” His hands were shaking. He ran to the door, opened it and kicked the small creature out into the woods.

“It was a rabbit!” said Delphi. “You are insane!”

“It was a rabbidile,” said Benjamin. “And it could have killed us all.”

“Killed us?” said Delphi. “What's a rabbidile?”

Benjamin sprang towards her. He pushed his face into hers and hissed: “Nothing is what it seems here – nothing!”

Before Delphi could reply, Benjamin Evolent turned and ran out of the door. “Nothing!” he shouted again. “You will never truly know what hides inside the creatures of The Shadowed Woods!”

“These are not The Shadowed Woods,” shouted Oland. “I've seen the map of Envar, this is Valle da Cossima. You don't own these woods!”

“No,” said Benjamin. “I don't!” He looked around in fright. Then he started to run through the trees. “The creatures do. The creatures own these woods.”

Oland and Delphi were stunned. Slowly, they made their way out of the door and walked over to where the rabbit's body lay slumped against a tree. Oland crouched down and reached out his hand.

“Stop touching dead things,” said Delphi. She handed him a stick.

Oland used it to turn the body over.

“That is clearly a rabbit,” said Delphi.

Oland glanced down at it. “Wait,” he said. “There's something in its mouth.” He took the stick and slowly prised the rabbit's jaws open. The first thing they saw was the chewed rattle of a rattlesnake.

“Rabbits don't eat snakes,” said Delphi.

But then they realised what a rabbidile was. As Oland pushed up more with the stick, the rabbit's mouth opened wider and wider and its head bent back until it touched its spine… revealing oversized teeth and muscular, gaping jaws, like a miniature crocodile. It was only when it snapped that they realised the rabbidile was still alive.

Oland and Delphi ran.

“Benjamin Evolent was right,” said Oland when they stopped. “Nowhere is safe here.”

“We won't know what creatures we'll meet and what strange hybrids they might be,” said Delphi. “And Malben is out there. Malben is all alone.”

“At least he got away from the Evolents,” said Oland. “Don't worry about him, Delphi. He's fast, and he'll be able to fly through the trees.”

Delphi nodded. “I hope so.”

“Surely Benjamin Evolent knows what each animal is,” said Oland. “He's the one who carried out the experiments.”

Delphi shook her head. “I don't think he does. Why did he look so terrified?”

They looked at each other as they both realised the same thing.

“Someone released his hybrid animals into the woods,” said Oland.

Delphi nodded.

“And after that,” said Oland, “they bred…”