Jack Shian and the Destiny Stone (31 page)

Jack gasped: the door behind him had definitely been bolted. “Who are you?”

“226296, Parker,” said one. “You summoned us.”

And with that hundreds of wispy figures sped out into the freezing night.

The misty figures poured from the war memorial hall. Where each fallen Seelie lay, a figure would swoop down, embracing it. And around each body there was a soft murmuring from the flagstones. The sound got louder and louder, driving the skoffin into the icy air, where it continued to circle around, calling raucously.

The Thanatos, repelled by the swelling sound, fell back into a protective circle in the centre of the courtyard, their swords a blur in front of them. But the misty figures paid little heed: they swept in among the Thanatos like wind through autumn trees. The Thanatos began to fall – soundlessly.

“What are they?” gasped Jack.

“Your allies. Remember you told your father the Thanatos would not stand against ghosts?”

“But he said we couldn’t call Comgall.”

“That’s right: because we’d need an army to defeat the Thanatos,” prompted Grey Wolf. “The ghosts of men who died fighting oppression. This is their memorial.”

A righteous army; right.

As shapeless as smoke, as fast as the wind, the ghostly torrent swept through the diminishing Thanatos force, until just three remained. 226296, Parker flew back towards Jack and reformed as a recognisable human shape.

“They are
infama
. They have desecrated our memorial with their executions. We fought against tyranny; now you must do so too. Finish them off.”

“He’s right,” prompted Grey Wolf, handing Jack his sceptre. “Otherwise they will come back to haunt you.”

Jack stumbled over towards the trio, who seemed pinned back by the swirling ghostly forms.

“What kind of hex do I use?”

Jack aimed the sceptre, but his mind went blank.

If only Dad was here. Why doesn’t he hurry up and bring Uncle Doonya up?

Jack gripped the sandstone lump in his pocket.

It’s one of the treasures – or part of one. I’ve got the
Mapa Mundi
; and we retrieved the Chalice. What puts them all together?

A squawk from above as an eagle swooped down and attacked the skoffin. As it did so, a leather-bound volume dropped to Jack’s feet.

It can’t be!

But as Tamlina’s ring at his throat began to vibrate, Jack knew it was. He saw the letters firmly stamped on the book’s front cover, and his mind cleared. All the things Marco and Luka had said …

“Your cause is just …”

This was the fight against the Unseelie, the instigators of
infama
. Jack flicked the sceptre back to Grey Wolf, and thrust out his right wrist.

“
Gosol!
”

The bolt flew from his hand, a silver glow that quickly encased the remaining Thanatos. With a strangled cry they slumped to the ground, and folded.

The triumph was broken by a resounding clash from within the hall.

“Come on!”

Jack picked up the leather volume, and made for the great hall’s doorway. The remaining fjordsmen and Cree were quickly behind him, and they burst into the hall.

A scene of chaos met their eyes. The sign ‘Private Function’ on the way in hadn’t really registered with Jack, but now he understood. Dinner-jacketed men and ballroom-gowned women were frozen at their tables, only most of the tables were tipped over, their contents strewn over the surrounding floor. But if the humans were frozen, the Shian were not. Met by a volley of hexes, Jack dropped the leather volume and dived for cover behind a barricade of upturned tables near the door, where Harald, Grandpa and the others cowered.

Not all had made the shelter of the barricade: many Seelie lay, motionless, on the ground, while the Kildashie fired hex after hex from the far end of the hall. Grandpa put his arm protectively around Jack’s back, wincing as a hex flew and splintered the edge of a protecting table.

“Don’t your sceptres work?” bellowed Jack above the din.

“A little; but the Tarditas slows us down. The Kildashie are drunk; but even so, they’ve worked out how to make time work for them. The only thing that’s saved us is this.” Grandpa showed Jack the Raglan fragment that Stegos had taken to Novehowe.

“I’ve got Doxer’s one, Grandpa.”

Jack took the sandstone lump from his pocket. As Grandpa held out his own fragment, the two glowed briefly, then clamped together in his hand, like magnets.

“They’ve fused!” exclaimed Jack.

“The Stone must want to reform. This gives us more strength.”

Jack peered out from beside the barricade.

“Are the humans dead?”

“No – their time is frozen; but not like we do it. The Kildashie want to separate their time and ours.”

Another loud crash as a fire hex set alight the splintered debris beside them. Phineas burst in the door, and crouched down instantly beside Jack.

“The girls have got Doonya. He’s weak, but he’ll live.”

Jack looked frantically around.

I’m not sure we will …

Harald and his soldiers crouched behind an upturned table, along with the remaining Cree, and even though quite a number of Kildashie had been felled (a result of drunkenly-inspired over-confidence), it still looked like an even contest.

“Stone watchers!” called out Boreus. “Midnight draws on. Rise and see your precious treasure delivered to us!”

An eerie silence descended as the Seelie considered this.

“Is it a trap?” whispered Jack.

“I don’t know,” said his grandfather, peering out from the side of the barricade.

“Come out and see!” called Boreus. “As midnight approaches, the Stone will appear!”

“They’ve done it. They’ve worked out how to get the Stone out of the Stone Room. The power they’ll get from that will make them unstoppable,” said Harald dejectedly.

Great,
thought Jack.
He was supposed to be our trump card.

“But we’ve still got the double Raglan fragment,” said Grandpa, winking at Jack. He seemed very relaxed, given the situation.

The hexes had stopped, and Jack risked a peek out from the side of the barricade.

“They’re not hiding,” he hissed.

The Kildashie had emerged from behind their shelters at the far end of the great hall, sceptres still at the ready, but clearly not lacking confidence. Many of them clutched goblets of wine, and staggered slightly.

“I don’t trust them,” said Phineas. “Stay where you are.”

Jack didn’t need to be told. His gut was telling him that the Kildashie were what they’d always been: treacherous. And drunk or not, they outnumbered the Seelie force. But for some reason Grandpa Sandy felt bolder than that: he emerged from the side of the barricade, strode to the centre of the hall, then paused.

“What do you want of us?”

“Only your attention while we demonstrate who’s in charge,” said Boreus, grinning widely.

“Grandpa! Come back!” whispered Jack.

But Grandpa showed no sign of hearing. He advanced another few steps.

“Behold your famous Stone!” cackled Boreus, as twelve chimes sounded.

He pointed his sceptre at the end of the great hall, and fired a bolt. A glow emanated from the fireplace, and slowly the Stone appeared.

There were gasps from the Seelie army, peering out from behind their barricades. The Stone! And without the iron rings at either end! Even Grandpa Sandy seemed perturbed at this. He stepped back briefly, but found himself caught as a dozen or more hexes flew all over the place.

They
are
drunk!

As Grandpa fell sideways, Boreus strode forward and stood over his apparently lifeless body. Then, reaching down into Grandpa’s cloak, he withdrew the Raglan fragment. Holding it aloft in triumph Boreus called out, “The fragment stolen from my brother Stegos!”

He withdrew another Stone fragment from within the folds of his own cloak, and held the two pieces. Just as before, the two clamped together.

“See! The Stone re-forms!”

Jack gulped.
If the Raglan and Destiny Stones merge together, then they’ll have huge power …
He tugged nervously at the
Mapa Mundi
around his neck.

And if they get this, they’ll have the full set.

“Now where is the third treasure?” roared Boreus. “Come out, pup, and face your destiny!”

With his back to the barricade, Jack flicked the
Mapa Mundi
into the Sphere. The circles remained blank … for ages.

Has the Tarditas hex got to the
Mapa
as well?!

Furtively, Jack peeked around and surveyed the hall.

I’ve seen this before somewhere …

With a sickening feeling Jack realised where. The time the third spiral arm had moved he had witnessed this – and Boreus was about to kill him. Jack stared at the circles again. Slowly the
Mapa Mundi
began to appear in one … and the King’s Chalice … and the Stone of Destiny, iron rings and all. And in the second circle was Jack, clutching a leather-bound book –

I didn’t notice that before …

– but he wasn’t alone. With a stomach-churning sensation Jack saw that the second figure was Boreus, holding a sword. There was no mistaking the message: he tied the flag around his neck once more, and stooped down to pick up the leather volume.

This is what must happen.

“Jack! What are you doing?” hissed Phineas.

“No, Jack,” shouted Grey Wolf. “You can’t trust them.”

But Jack stepped around the side of the barricade, and stood for a moment surveying the scene.

Yup, this is it.

Without the power of the Raglan to counteract the Tarditas, Jack moved slowly forward.

“Grandpa.”

The old man’s eyes flickered, and he looked up at Jack.

“It’s all right Grandpa. You can go back to the others now.”

Looking dazed, Sandy stood up. Then, shuffling back towards the remnants of the Seelie army, he collapsed behind the barricade.

“I’ve failed him,” he mumbled.

“Come here, child,” ordered Boreus, and Jack took another few hesitant paces towards the Kildashie leader, stepping over a prostrate human. “Give me the Sphere. I know you have it. Isn’t that right, boy? Boy?! Where’s my wine steward?”

A dishevelled Doxer appeared at the head of the hall and scurried forward holding a goblet, his head bowed. Boreus placed the Raglan on a table, snatched the goblet and drained the contents in a single go. He staggered slightly as he dropped the vessel.

He’s drunk too!

Boreus turned round and leered at the hapless Doxer.

Doxer! That snake in the grass! I should never have trusted him!

With his head bowed, it was hard to tell what Doxer was thinking. Jack racked his brains to think of a hex or a curse that would fit, but nothing came to mind. And the Tarditas made every movement painfully slow. He’d never get away with anything. Aware that several Kildashie had their sceptres trained on him, Jack continued to edge forward, but less sure of himself now. The
Mapa
’s message had been clear: but why?

“Give me the Sphere, child.” Boreus held out his left hand.

Jack hesitated, and saw Boreus turn and strike Doxer hard across the face with the flat of his sword. Doxer fell, howling.

At least he’s got his voice back …

Kildashie soldiers jostled each other drunkenly.

“The rest of you, throw down your weapons, or the boy gets it!”

There was an uneasy pause behind him while the Seelie army debated this; but then the clatter of swords and sceptres confirmed to Jack that his comrades had indeed surrendered their arms.

“The Sphere, child, or we will kill you all. Did you think you could defeat us once we had the Stone and the Chalice?”

Boreus turned and looked again at the Stone in the fireplace. And now Jack saw the King’s Chalice appear beside it. One of the Kildashie lieutenants strode over and grasped the ancient cup, holding it aloft.

“Soon all the Shian treasures will belong to us!” Boreus crowed triumphantly, and picked up his sceptre again in his left hand.

Jack could think of no way out. Miserably, he edged forward.

The Raglan pieces belonged together … Just like the treasures belong together …

“Kneel, child. I think a fitting deliverance would be to separate your neck from your body.”

Jack dropped the leather volume as a hand shoved him roughly down onto his knees. Boreus stood before him, a broadsword in his hand …

The Raglan re-formed itself … Some things are meant to be together … Something binds them together …

The sword was raised.

What binds them together?

“No!”

The voice came from behind him … His father’s voice. Jack glanced behind, and saw Phineas staggering up.

“He saved my life – spare him. I will take his place.”

Before Jack could respond, his father had shoved him aside, and was kneeling down.

Boreus looked down on this scene with evident pleasure.

“No matter; and the Sphere shall be ours anyway …” He raised the sword again.

He’s going to die in my place!

Jack’s mind raced back to his vision from Tamlina’s ring. He was still kneeling, waiting for the sword to fall, but a voice in his head kept repeating: “And the father shall die for the son … the father shall die for the son …” He’d opened his eyes then, to stop himself seeing any more.

“Prepare to die, Seelie!”

“No!” Another shout from behind him – only this time it was his grandfather’s voice. “I do not deserve to live if my son dies. The father shall die for the son.”

Grandpa Sandy now tottered forward, and pulled Phineas back. Awkwardly, he knelt down in front of Boreus.

Jack’s mind raced:
which father was going to die for which son? Three generations … three treasures … Bound together by …