Frog and the Sandspiders of Aridian (13 page)

18

Firefox

All three Firefox had made their separate ways into the tunnels in order to search out the Aridian Council. News of their return spread quickly and most people greeted them with wonder and affection. Young children fearlessly approached them, their small fingers running through the Firefox's soft coats as they passed by. There were a few though, mostly of the older population, who looked on with mistrust and suspicion and gave the Firefox a wide berth.

The majority of the Aridian Council openly approached them, allowing the Firefox to stare deep into their eyes, proving to them that they were loyal Aridians. There were some, however, who did not want to be tested. They hid away, mainly through fear and uncertainty, but amongst them were those that had darker motives.

Fray found himself in a small courtyard. At the centre of it was a circle of six decorated, stone columns, which supported small crystals. He had followed the scent of one particular individual who had left a negative trace in the air. As he approached one of the surrounding doorways, a figure slipped from the
shadows and hid behind a stone column. The movement did not go unnoticed to the Firefox's sensitive ears. Aware of danger, Fray morphed into his human form.

‘I mean you no harm,' he said to the unseen individual. ‘I only seek the truth of your intentions.'

The figure darted to hide behind another column and Fray shifted his position.

‘If you have been influenced and confused by the evil powers that seek to destroy us all, then let me help you. I am unarmed. Step out so that I can see you.'

The effect of Fray's soft voice brought the stranger out into the crystal light. He was a middle-aged man dressed in the robes of the Aridian Council, his silver-grey hair resting on his shoulders.

‘You carry the Guardian Cassaria's Magic with you. She is an imposter,' he said, echoing Belzeera's words.

‘No,' said Fray. ‘You have been bewitched by lies and false promises. Let me help you to see the truth.'

Fray held out his hand in friendship. A smile crossed the man's face and he, too, held his hand out and stepped forward. Fray saw the glint of steel as the man's other hand came out from the folds of his robe and his expression darkened. His lips stretched across his teeth and his face contorted with rage.

‘You lie!' he screamed and he lunged at Fray's throat with a short-bladed dagger.

Fray grasped the man's wrist; it took both hands and all of his strength to push the sharp steel to one side. The man twisted himself around, grabbing at Fray's cloak with his other hand, intent on getting behind him. Fray could see the danger and dropped to his
knees, forcing his assailant to topple over him. He felt a sharp tug on his cloak as the man hung on, dragging him forward to fall sideways onto the stone floor. Before he could recover, the man was up and on top of him, straddling his body.

Fray reached up, grasping at the man's wrist once again. He could feel his arms weakening as the man pushed the blade closer and closer to his throat. He could see the reflection of Belzeera's image in the man's eyes and all of the wickedness and despair spilled out and into his senses. He knew that even if he now morphed into a Firefox, he would be killed. The man's grip was too powerful. His strength was unnatural.

From the corner of his eye, Fray suddenly saw a blur of red fur leaping through the air. However, the first that the man knew of another presence was when sharp teeth clasped around his wrist and bit deep enough to sever the tendons. The knife clattered to the floor as the man lurched back in surprise and pain. Fray kicked at his legs, taking them out from under him. As he collapsed onto the ground, the Firefox released his arm and leapt to one side where, in an instant, it morphed into the familiar figure of Pasha. They stood over the man and watched as he scrambled back from them, clutching his bloody wrist.

‘Are you all right?' Pasha asked Fray.

‘I'll survive, thanks to you,' he said, rubbing the red marks that had already formed on his neck from the man's chokehold.

‘None of you will survive. She will destroy you all,' said the man's deep voice as he managed to get close to the knife again and grab it.

‘No!' shouted Fray.

‘You'll not get her secrets from me,' he yelled and there was nothing that either of them could do. He plunged the blade into his own chest, ending his life in front of them.

‘What sort of evil is it that forces these poor souls to sacrifice their own lives?' asked Fray.

‘The same happened to another that I pursued,' replied Pasha. ‘Only when I confronted him, he chose to leap from a high balcony to his doom.'

‘There are those that will blame us for these deaths,' said Fray.

‘And there are many that will know the truth,' said Pasha. ‘We have waited too long to come out of exile to return to the community. Let us do what good we can to help fight the dark menace that would enslave us all.' She gave Fray a comforting hug. ‘Now, let us search for Jenna and account for all members of the council, good or bad.'

Together, they changed shape back into their Firefox forms and made their way back out into the corridors and alleyways.

Elsewhere, Jenna had reached a small square and paused to allow some young children to pet and stroke her while she gathered her thoughts. She took the time to focus on sensing out the identity of the person that she had been trailing.

The group surrounding her soon expanded so that she was encircled by children, parents and other curious adults, and she could feel the warmth of acceptance rising through her in a way that had been denied to her kind for so long. Basking in the
adulation, however, had left her exposed and she was unable to sense danger until large hands grabbed the scruff of fur around her neck and hoisted her out of the crowd. Another pair of hands grasped her hind legs and tail.

‘This is an abomination and a threat to us all,' shouted the man whose fingers dug into the skin of her neck.

‘These creatures are full of deceit and will divide us all as they did in the past,' preached the woman who was also holding on to her.

Jenna knew that her only hope was to change into her human form. Her transformation drew gasps from the crowd, and her sudden size and weight took her two assailants by surprise, both of them losing their grips. As Jenna dropped to the floor, the man, however, was quick to react and he fell upon her, pinning her to the ground.

‘See how she uses her trickery and magic,' he shouted. ‘She is part of the evil that has come to Aridian and threatens us.'

The woman scrabbled to hold down Jenna's legs.

‘No! No!' pleaded Jenna. ‘We only mean to help.'

‘Silence,' shouted the man and he drew back his arm, ready to strike her across the head.

Jenna closed her eyes, anticipating the pain, but none came. She slowly opened one eye and was over-joyed to see Fray standing over her, his brown hand closed around the man's fist.

‘Let our sister go,' he commanded.

She then felt the pressure relieved from her legs as Pasha pulled the woman away.

Fray looked deep into the man's eyes, drawing on the truth. ‘There is no more evil in us than there is in you,' he said at last. ‘All that you have in your mind is fear and confusion. You are weak when you need to be strong.'

Pasha had looked into the mind of the woman.

‘This woman is the same,' she said. ‘Her mind has not been infected by the evil from the surface.'

‘Both of you go in peace,' said Fray. ‘It is not a sin to be afraid, but do not pass that fear on to others.'

The man looked at Fray and Pasha. Then down at Jenna.

‘I am so sorry,' he said blinking back tears. He took the woman's hand and with downcast heads, they pushed their way out through the crowd.

Fray helped Jenna to her feet. ‘Are you all right?' he asked.

‘My neck hurts,' she replied, rubbing it gently. ‘But it could have been worse.'

A small child moved forward and took Jenna's hand.

‘Are you going to chase the bad people away?' she asked.

‘I hope so,' said Jenna. ‘I really hope so.'

19

Pursued

The One's face was pale and ashen as he turned Frog's limp body over. Three dark, shafted arrows were embedded in his robes. He cradled Frog in his arms, pulling him close to his chest.

‘My son,' he sobbed. ‘My son.'

Nadiah backed towards him, her arms still out-stretched at the fallen Dreden.

‘Carry him. Quickly, we must go,' she ordered.

The One looked up. ‘What's the point? He's dead. My son is dead.'

‘If he is dead then there is little hope for any of us,' said Nadiah. ‘But while there is still Cassaria and the ancient Magic of the Guardians then there is still hope for him. Now pick up his sword, carry him and follow me.'

The One gently hoisted Frog's body up and quickly followed Nadiah through a small exit, then down a narrow passageway. As they moved on, they could hear the gathering voices and urgent shouts of more Dreden coming from behind them.

Nadiah stopped. ‘Wait,' she ordered and studied the rough rock face on one side of the passage.

The Dreden voices became louder, closer.

‘What are you doing?' asked The One. ‘They're nearly on us.'

‘Just wait.' She ran her hands across the surface of the rock, the ink black shadows permanently fixed in places by the steady crystal light. ‘Yes, here it is,' she said and slid her hand into a dark space then slowly withdrew it. There was a grating noise as the rock wall gave a shudder and moved to one side in the shape of a coarse doorway.

‘Get in,' she ordered.

The One stepped into what was a small room lit by two crystals. There was a camp-style bed to one side and a small table displaying various jugs and bowls. As he laid Frog's body onto the bed, he heard the doorway close behind him and then Nadiah was there at his side.

‘Let me see,' she said. ‘Bring that crystal closer. Hold it above him.'

The One did as he was told while Nadiah tenderly removed Frog's headdress. She moved his face from side to side; his skin was now pale and his lips tinged with blue. To The One's surprise, she leant over and placed her mouth over Frog's.

‘He still breathes,' she announced. ‘But only just. Help me loosen his robes.'

As gently and as quickly as they could, they parted the layers of Frog's robes and as they did so, they found that the arrows moved away with the material.

‘What's happened?' asked The One.

‘Look,' said Nadiah. ‘No blood.'

Both stared in amazement as they moved apart the
last layer of material to reveal a strange-looking, vesttype undergarment.

‘What is it?' asked Nadiah.

‘Whatever it is, it saved his life, but it's also killing him. He can't breathe; it's become too tight.'

After wrestling with the robes, they managed to untie the garment and remove it, but Frog's breathing did not improve. His chest already bore three close-set purple bruises and the colour of his lips had become darker.

This time it was The One who leant over and put his lips to Frog's mouth, blowing breath into his lungs, administering the kiss of life. Nadiah watched tensely as Frog's chest rose and fell with the rhythm of The One's breath entering his body until, finally and with relief, Frog's eyes opened and he pushed himself up, gasping air in and out of his lungs. A cold sweat appeared on his brow as his breathing gradually eased and reclaimed its natural rhythm.

Nadiah fetched some water in a small bowl and Frog drank gratefully.

‘I thought that I'd lost you there,' said The One.

‘I put a lot of faith in an old friend's gift,' said Frog, rubbing his chest.

‘You need to thank him when you get the chance,' said Nadiah inspecting the Dragon-skin waistcoat.

‘Unfortunately, he lost his life on Castellion,' said Frog, fondly remembering Sir Dragonslayer.

‘I'm sure that he would have been proud of you,' said The One. ‘As I am.' He squeezed Frog's hand affectionately. ‘Now, how are you feeling? Can you stand?'

Frog slowly got to his feet, still rubbing his chest.

‘Actually, I'm okay apart from feeling like I've been hit by a black belt at Taekwondo.' He glanced around. ‘Where are we?'

Nadiah passed some water to The One and moved to the outline of the closed door, pressing her ear against the wall.

‘In one of the many shelters that are built into the tunnel network,' she answered. ‘There are Dreden searching for us. We have been betrayed.'

‘So, what do we do now?' asked Frog.

‘We get ready for the run of our lives. We must take the waterways to Pelmore.' She made her way to a wooden door at the back of the room. ‘We need to leave. Can you continue?'

‘Sure,' Frog replied as he struggled with his robes. It was obvious that he was in pain.

‘Here, let me help,' said The One.

Ten minutes later, with Frog dressed, they were steadily making their way along a very narrow corridor that had led out from the back of the room. Long shadows stretched behind them from the small crystal that Nadiah now carried as she guided the way.

It wasn't long before they heard the familiar sound of rushing water ahead of them and a brighter light shone from around a bend. Nadiah signalled for them to crouch down as they approached the tunnel's exit, not knowing if more Dreden would be waiting for them. She passed the crystal back to The One before she clenched her fists and leapt out into the open.

For a moment, she was lost to view and the others froze, bracing themselves against any following onslaught. Finally, she called to them.

‘Hurry, we need to get to the flumes. I can hear shouting in the tunnels.'

They followed her across the opening to a row of flumes, bobbing gently up and down in a gully. Nadiah ran to a row of three wooden levers protruding out of a wall and pulled them all downwards. She then quickly jumped into the first flume and Frog and The One followed her lead by jumping into the second. She pulled another lever and both flumes were pushed into the waiting tunnel by the force of the water, which suddenly seemed to flow with more urgency.

‘Are we supposed to be moving this fast?' shouted Frog as he held onto the sides.

‘I've opened up the sluice gates to let more water into the system. We need to get away as fast as we can,' she shouted back. ‘Hold on. This is going to be a rough ride.'

They shot out of the short tunnel at breakneck speed, the watercourse now carrying them along a gully suspended across an enormous cavern. Frog looked over the side and wished that he hadn't; a network of waterways criss-crossed below them for hundreds of feet before fading into a grey mist.

‘Where's the bottom?' he pleaded to The One as he increased his grip so tightly that his knuckles turned white, but his voice could not be heard over the raging water.

They powered into another tunnel, a steep curve in the semi darkness taking them by surprise, before they once again emerged amongst the suspended watercourses.

‘Are you all right?' The One asked Frog.

‘I've felt better. Still, at least it's taken my mind off of the pain in my chest.'

Nadiah turned to speak, but was distracted by something above them.

‘Duck!' she shouted.

Frog turned to follow her gaze as an arrow whizzed past his ear.

‘Blimey! That was close,' he gasped as he was pulled down into the flume by The One.

‘You're going to push your luck, my boy. Weren't three arrows in the chest enough for you?'

Two more arrows thudded into the side of the flume.

‘Obviously not,' Frog grumbled.

Nadiah looked across at them huddled together and shouted, ‘You're too far away. I can't shield you and I daren't project my force at them in case I bring down the cables that are holding up our watercourse.'

Frog took a second glance. About 30 metres above them and following the same watercourse, ten Dreden occupied four more flumes. Thankfully, the unsteady movement as they travelled was making it hard for them to aim with any accuracy. As Frog watched, one of the Dreden stood up and braced a foot against the side of his flume, raising his crossbow and putting The One in his sights.

The flume juddered against the trough, tilted back and threw the reckless Dreden over its side. Frog saw the sheer horror in the man's eyes as he fell past him, his arms waving and clawing at the air in desperation as he plummeted, screaming into the waiting mist below.

The distance between their flumes was increasing as
Nadiah disappeared into a tunnel ahead of them. By the time Frog and The One entered, she was out of her flume and standing on another small platform.

There was a junction in the waterway and she pulled a lever, which opened a gate sending Frog and The One in another direction.

‘I'll hold them up for a while and then join you on the lower levels,' she called as she closed the gate after them.

Their flume jerked left and into a new tunnel. A few moments of darkness and they were out again, this time high up in the roof of another cavern, crossing a different network of watercourses.

‘She's crazy. We should have faced them together,' complained Frog.

‘She knows what she's doing. Trust her,' said The One.

The flume sped on across the cavern, into another tunnel and turned sharply into the brief darkness and back out amongst more suspended waterways.

Suddenly, there was a dull thump as a fist-sized rock landed in the flume between them. Frog frowned at the object as The One picked it up. A larger chunk then sailed past them and looking up, they could see the centre of the cavern's roof disintegrating high above them.

‘What now?' asked Frog.

‘When you make enemies you don't do it by halves, do you?' replied The One.

As they watched pieces of the roof fall around them, an enormous grey lizard, looking like a gigantic Komodo dragon, clawed its way through the jagged
opening. Its soulless eyes turned towards them as a forked, blood-red tongue flicked in and out of its lipless mouth. With astounding agility, it crawled across the roof of the cavern, its body suspended by the same natural ability as a gecko. It reached out a clawed limb and dislodged another chunk of rock, which crashed down onto the waterway behind them, smashing a section into splinters so that water cascaded out into space and no longer fed their channel, which now rocked wildly.

As the water drained away, their flume came to a halt, trapped halfway across the cavern. The reptile continued to claw away at the ceiling sending more debris smashing down; this time the waterway in front of them disintegrated into fragments. Their flume now hung in a short section of channel suspended only by four cables anchored far above them in the ceiling. It swayed dangerously.

‘It's heading for the cables,' said The One. ‘We've got to get off this thing.'

Frog looked down. The nearest waterway was at least 20 metres below them.

‘I appear to have left my wings at home, so unless you've brought yours then flying is out of the question.'

The One grimaced a smile. ‘Now is not the time for sarcasm.' He gripped the cable nearest to him. ‘Grab the other, quickly,' he ordered.

The other end of the watercourse dipped wildly and the flume slid away as two of its supporting cables snaked downwards, torn out of their anchor points by the monster above. Frog and The One hung suspended
by the remaining two cables, their feet scrabbling for purchase on the broken section of the watercourse.

‘We've got to get to that water chute below,' said The One. ‘Climb on my back. I've got an idea.'

He slid the bullwhip from his shoulder, the long leather lash uncoiled out from his hand like a dark snake. Frog was gripping him piggyback-style as The One flicked the whip out towards another of the network of cables. Frog guessed his intentions.

‘You've got to be kidding!' he shouted.

The third of the cables slackened and fell past, sending them spinning wildly, suspended by the last support. Frog looked up to see a large claw about to scythe into their final lifeline.

‘Do it! Do it now!' he roared at The One.

In a way, the slight drop that followed did them a favour. The whip cracked out like a tentacle, wrapping itself around one of the other suspension cables as they fell. The momentum of the fall swung them like a pendulum out and across the waterway. After two passes, The One managed to grab the cable.

They hung there; The One's breathing fast and harsh; Frog's heart thumped in his chest.

‘When I release the whip, we jump. It's our only chance. After three.'

Frog nodded in agreement.

‘One, two …' he flicked the whip and they fell the 3 metres into the flowing waters of another trough.

‘What happened to three?' asked Frog as they both landed awkwardly in the chute.

‘Three would have been too late. Look, it's heading for the cables again.'

Above them, the lizard was in frenzy, lashing out at cables, trying to bring down the whole network of waterways.

As they were propelled ever faster along the chute, their clothes became heavy and sodden with the water. The dark mouth of a tunnel loomed in front of them. Water foamed and bubbled as it sucked them in and they were swept into the gloom and an unseen fate.