Jack Shian and the Destiny Stone (33 page)

“
Ifrinn!
”

The Kildashie were encased in a fiery glow. There was no sound, however; and after the prisoners had faded into nothingness, the only sign of their presence (bar the mess) was a faint singeing on the floor.

As John stepped forward there was excited chatter from the Hidden Commonwealth.

“Friends,” he said, “you have witnessed the defeat of a terrible evil. And make no mistake, there are others around the country who will still cling to the Kildashie’s ways. But my brothers have arrived to report that your friends and colleagues have subdued the Unseelie and the Red Caps.”

Turning round, Jack saw Marco, Luka and Matthew by the door. A cheer rose from the crowd.

“Your friends will join you tomorrow,” continued John. “I gather there will be a New Year celebration in the square down below. Celebrate your victory; but be vigilant: evil does not sleep for long.”

As Cosmo stepped forward and tried to hand the leather-bound volume back to John, the old man beckoned Jack forward.

“You have accomplished a great deal, young man. My brothers and I have watched you for some time now. Please accept this.” He handed Jack the book. “Take good care of it, for it’s very old. But I’m sure you’ll find it instructive.”

Jack’s eyes welled up with tears for the second time that night. He swallowed hard, but found the lump in his throat wouldn’t go away.

“You have triumphed over a formidable enemy. Clearly you learnt well the lessons we taught you,” added Marco.

“And some of your Shian lessons too,” laughed Matthew. “Good Fugitemp charm.”

“We’ll leave now,” added Luka. “Take care, young man. Remember the power of Gosol. You trusted the Sphere, even when it showed danger. That’s real belief.”

“Farewell, friends,” echoed Marco; and Matthew and Luka waved as they left the hall.

“It’s not exactly tidy, but we can live with that,” said Ossian, viewing the disrupted party with evident satisfaction. “Anyway, this lot don’t deserve much better.” He carefully tipped over a wine glass that had somehow escaped the recent disturbance.

“How did you get past the Thanatos, Grandpa?”

“The invisibility cloaks worked – but only outside. Some of us got into the great hall, but then the Kildashie used the Tarditas. We could barely fight. I take it those left outside did not survive?”

Jack nodded. “When we got to the courtyard there were bodies everywhere.”

“But your arrival saved us, there’s no doubt about that.”

“Come along,” said Phineas, “we’ll need to leave this scene for the humans to deal with. It’s time we evened up time.”

He led Jack and the others out of the hall, across the now clear courtyard (barring a few toppled humans), and up to the castle chapel.

“In turns, quick.”

In twos and threes the assembled Shian filed through the gate to the square below.

“Jack, you come last with me,” said Grandpa. “You should see this.”

After the rest had all passed through the gate, Grandpa pointed his sceptre to the sky and called out in a clear voice, “
Synchronos!
”

There was a peal of thunder, and a shaking that made Jack think of an earthquake. Then a chime from a church clock.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be fireworks?” asked Jack.

“We skipped past midnight – it’s one o’clock now. Let’s get below, quick.”

Grandpa Sandy pulled Jack up to the chapel wall.

“
Effatha!
”

“Jack! Come and see Dad!”

With a surge of relief Jack saw Rana and Lizzie clinging onto Uncle Doonya, and raced across to greet them. Momentarily perturbed by his uncle’s gaunt features, his relief was restored when he saw Grandpa and Phineas arrive to hug Doonya.

“The house is a mess, but we’ll soon get that sorted,” announced Lizzie. “Mum and Auntie Dorcas will be through tomorrow – a grig told us. Uncle Hart and Petros are bringing them all.”

Petros,
thought Jack
. He didn’t exactly cover himself with glory here, did he?

Then he brushed away that thought. They were home; the Kildashie were defeated and banished; the Stone and Chalice were safe; and now they had the Raglan – the Shian Destiny Stone – to go with the Sphere.

Jack tugged at his neck. He’d got so used to the flag being there that he often forgot about it completely.

But it really saved us tonight – even when I couldn’t understand why it was sending me towards Boreus.

“Jack, can I see the
Mapa
?” asked Phineas.

Jack handed the flag over to his father, who flicked it into a Sphere. Jack watched in amazement as the circles formed to show the
Mapa
flying on a flag pole, with the Raglan embedded at the base.

“You made the Sphere work!”

“The magycks are working again, Jack. Sure you don’t mind sharing it?”

A wave of relief surged through Jack. Finally, he could stop worrying about somebody trying to take the
Mapa
from him.

“It’ll be our totem,” continued his father. “Grandpa’s got the Raglan, and a new Congress will be elected tomorrow evening. Things are looking up, lad, thanks to you.”

Even as Phineas spoke, the Shian square’s crystals and warren pipes started working again. People and creatures were arriving all the time, news was being exchanged, stories swapped, and tales told of hardship endured and deliverance won. Iain Dubh and a band of Nebulans arrived to tell of the freedom of the west …

“… Turns out the Unseelie groups couldn’t wait to get stuck into each other. Once they knew the Kildashie were gone it was easy to split them up. Piece of cake …”

Enda and the McCools turned up with tales of triumph over the Red Caps …

“Those Warfrins made short work of the Dunters, I can tell ye. I wish we’d some of them back in Ireland …”

The night passed so quickly; Jack didn’t even get time to feel tired.

When Cleo arrived at first light with Petros and the rest of the Keldy crew, Jack still hadn’t been to bed, and although he was now dog tired, he was still too excited to think about going to sleep.

“D’you fancy coming out for a walk?” he asked Cleo.

“I would love that. I remember this is a fine city.”

The two emerged onto a deserted castle esplanade that was littered with bottles, cans, and the occasional scarf. A chilly winter sun materialised from behind thin clouds, shedding little real warmth, but warming the heart nonetheless.

It’s cold; but like it should be on New Year’s Day. Not Baltic like when the Kildashie were in charge.

Jack and Cleo waded through the evidence of the previous night’s party and made their way down the High Street to the top of the Mound. A street cleaner was busy sweeping hundreds of bottles and cans into a huge sack.

“What happened to the fireworks last night?” asked Jack mischievously.

“Cancelled. Too cold, and too windy. Still, some party, eh?”

Jack looked around, and saw the buildings glisten in the sunlight.

If only you knew
.

First published 2014

by Black & White Publishing Ltd

29 Ocean Drive, Edinburgh EH6 6JL

www.blackandwhitepublishing.com

This electronic edition published in 2014

ISBN: 978 1 84502 941 8 in EPub format

ISBN: 978 1 84502 756 8 in paperback format

Copyright © Andrew Symon 2014

The right of Andrew Symonto be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Illustrations by Rossi Gifford

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Ebook compilation by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay