Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) (11 page)

Presently soft footfalls could be heard, muffled by the thick crimson carpet that covered the floor. Passing the guards, a gilded and hooded messenger approached. Bowing, he advanced towards the throne.

‘My lord, the warders have informed me that the Wyrms have returned to their pen.’

Stirring, Bane raised his head to stare about him. All the footmen silently bowed.

‘Good,’ he said in a rolling baritone that rumbled across the room like distant thunder. Standing, he strode from the room and headed towards the Wyrm pen.

12

The Passing of Friends

Charlie could hear her name being called out. The voice sounded frantic with worry.

‘I’m here,’ cried Charlie. ‘Over here!’

‘Charlie! Oh, thank me Beloved Oak, yer OK!’ Kelko’s voice rang out.

Striding through the undergrowth, he ran towards Charlie. As he picked her up, he gave her a big hug and the relief on his face warmed Charlie’s heart.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

‘We’re fine. Nothing a quick drink of brew won’t cure. Just a couple of scratches and scrapes. And, as for those Wyrms, Sic Boy lived up ta his name and caught one of them and the other one just flew off.’ Kelko stopped abruptly as Stix and Stones swaggered into sight. ‘Ah, the Delightful Brothers. I sees our escort has turned up,’ he snorted. ‘Late!’

‘Better late than never, Fat Oak,’ snarled Stix.

‘I wish it was never, ya sorry excuse for a Treman!’ retorted Kelko.

Stix’s eyes flashed dangerously, but before anything could
happen Charlie stepped between the two of them. ‘Boys, this is no time to be arguing. Let’s check on the others.’

The five of them hurried back to the campsite. Charlie was relieved when Kelko and Sic Boy strode protectively on either side of her, creating a screen between her and the Delightful Brothers. She hated to admit it, but she found them very intimidating.

They heard the cries of grief long before they saw the campsite.

The glade was a shambles. Two Wyrms lay coiled, stinking and obviously dead in pools of congealing blood. Large branches and uprooted bushes lay haphazardly across the grass. Torn clothing, backpacks and trampled instruments were scattered all over the place, some still smoking and burning from where they had been knocked through the fire. Dark, horrible stains discoloured the grass. But, worst of all, the Tremen had formed a small crowd around five small figures who lay lifeless on the ground.

‘Stotch!’ shouted Kelko. Running over, he picked up his friend’s hand and wept like a child, his cries filled with anguish and grief.

Sic Boy padded over, snuffling at his master and gently tugging at his clothes. He too began to howl and whine when Stotch failed to respond.

Charlie felt her hands tighten into fists as silent tears trickled down her face. Walking over, she crouched down and picked up Stotch’s other hand and held it silently. He looked small and haggard in death; worry lines had set across his forehead and his eyes stared silently up at the forest canopy. Death had robbed him of his good cheer and
sense of humour. Charlie felt a terrible wave of sadness sweep across her soul.

‘Who else died?’ she asked quietly, nodding to the other bodies.

‘Toddit, Leold, Jipit and Bandol,’ said Jensen in a tight voice. Coming over, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Charlie bowed her head. Grief and shock was beginning to set in. ‘And Bane sent these Wyrms?’

Jensen nodded, his whole body sagging with sorrow. ‘Yeah, who else?’ he said.

Charlie lowered her face so the others wouldn’t see the tears coursing down her face. The blame for these deaths lay with her. If she hadn’t been so quick to accept help from Jensen and the Tremen, they wouldn’t have become involved. Clenching her fists against her side, she had to restrain the urge to lash out and hit something. Twin feelings of rage and sorrow flooded through her veins, leaving her exhausted and nauseous.

‘This is my fault,’ she whispered.

‘Blossom, ain’t no one ta blame for dis but Bane,’ said Kelko.

‘He’s right,’ added Jensen. ‘Bane’s the blight that has sickened our land … and, Sweet Sap willing, someone better do something ta heal Bellania soon.’ He helped Charlie to her feet. ‘Now come on, it’s urgent we get get ta Sylvaris as soon as possible. The Jade Circle needs ta be warned.’

Charlie helped Kelko to bury Stotch beneath his tree-sake, a huge gold and bronze-leaved elm. The others, too, were silently buried beneath their individual family trees. Standing back, the Tremen began to sing, their voices mournfully
carrying off into the dark. As Charlie watched, small saplings burst from the ground, growing from the fresh graves. When all was done and the Tremen were silent, young trees stood where their deceased friends lay, their soft leaves rustling gently in the wind.

‘Leaf bless ya, me friend,’ said Kelko as he and Sic Boy bade a final farewell to Stotch.

Gathering their few remaining and undamaged possessions, the Tremen made ready to leave. Jensen, however, was furious when he realized that all his Moreish powder had been ruined in the melee. It lay scattered across the clearing.

‘Curse ya, Bane!’ shouted Jensen, shaking his fist up at the night sky. ‘Ya messed with me friends and me livelihood. If I ever get the chance, be sure I’ll get even with ya!’

‘Big words for a little man,’ sneered Stones. ‘I wonder if you’d have the guts to carry out that threat if you got the chance.’

‘Little I might be, brick-head,’ said Jensen, eyes suddenly flashing, ‘but don’t ever doubt the strength of me resolve!’

‘Your resolve and strength of character
for gold
, you mean,’ laughed Stones.

‘Why, ya thick-skinned, walking abattoir –’

‘Enough, Jensen,’ growled Stix. ‘Hand over the pendant and we’ll be off. Mother doesn’t like ta be kept waiting.’

‘Pendant?’ said Jensen, puzzled. ‘I don’t have the pendant, ya dopey idiot. Charlie has it!’

Stix turned to Charlie. ‘Is this true?’ he hissed, his eyes glinting dangerously. ‘Have you led us on a wild-goose chase?’

‘That was no wild-goose chase! I came back to check on
my friends, which you should have done anyway!’ she snapped, stamping her foot to emphasize her point. ‘Did you really expect me to leave them behind? If you had half a heart, you’d know what friendship means!’

‘Why, you …’ snarled Stix. The scar on his pale-green face turned a livid red.

Suddenly he found himself face to face with seven irate Tremen and an oversized dog. Kelko raised an eyebrow at the Delightful Brothers as though daring them to step closer. Somehow all the Tremen had cudgels or bows in their hands.

Stix eyed them all up. ‘Hurry up and pack your bags,’ he spat, taking a step back. ‘Time to get back to Sylvaris and Mother.’

With a final furious look at Charlie, Stix and Stones turned and strode off down the path. Grabbing their bags, the Tremen trailed behind with Charlie in their midst.

The portcullis clanged open. Bane marched into the damp and clammy Wyrm pen. A nervous warden, fat and greasy, with food stains splattered across his uniform, waddled up to Bane’s side.

‘Well,’ growled Bane. ‘Where is she?’

‘Your Highness, she isn’t here,’ squeaked the warden.

‘What, you scuttling cockroach! What do you mean she isn’t here?’ said Bane, his deep and threatening voice resounding across the dank and dripping room.

The guardsmen did their best not to draw attention to themselves. Hunching their shoulders and shuffling
backwards, they looked everywhere except at Bane and the terrified warden.

‘Bah! Open the grate!’ snapped Bane.

Stepping up to the pit, Bane stared into the depths below. The Wyrms, half hidden in the darkness, coiled and slithered uneasily beneath his gaze.

‘I asked a question: where is she?’

‘I-I-I don’t know, my lord,’ stammered the snivelling warden. ‘Only two Wyrms came back.’

‘ONLY TWO WYRMS CAME BACK?’ roared Bane.

The huge guardsmen, thick-skinned and war-bitten soldiers that they were, flinched at Bane’s ferocious shout. One of the more nervous guards dropped his sword, which landed with a sharp clang.

Bane’s voice sank to a whisper. ‘You mean to tell me only two of Bellania’s most feared predators returned from a confrontation with a squishy little Human girl? Are you telling me a clueless, squirming brat got the better of fourteen tons of flesh and teeth?’

‘Er, she is a Keeper, my lord. Maybe she had the Keeper’s luck,’ whined the warden.

‘Well, luck is the one thing that you do not have!’ roared Bane. Picking up the warden by one of his legs, he shook him like a rag doll. ‘How dare you allow this to happen? You insolent piece of offal, you wriggling little toad! You promised me the Wyrms were ready for any task. ANY TASK!’

With a thunderous shout, Bane threw the squealing warden into the pit. The shrieks and screams shattering out of the pit did little to lessen Bane’s fury. Raising his arms to the stone ceiling, he began to sing. With his glowing hands
and his terrible rage pulsating around him like a black shadow, the guards quickly lost what little nerve they had left and sprinted for the exit.

Cracks and fissures began to appear across the ceiling. Bane’s furious voice carried his song spitting and snapping around the circular room. Waves of black energy rolled back and forth along the shaft, through the pit and up into the stone ceiling. With a beast-like roar, Bane pulled the roof down around him. The shaft imploded to fall rumbling and booming into the dark pit, crushing the Wyrms and burying the torn and lifeless body of the warden.

As the cloud of dust settled, Bane, the giant and furious Stoman Lord, was the only thing left standing.

13

Sylvaris and the Jade Circle

‘Not much further now, blossom,’ puffed Kelko. ‘Sylvaris is on the other side of dis hill. Hey, Jensen, is it me or does dis hill get bigger every time we climb it?’

‘Nope, it’s just yer fat legs keep getting bigger, ya lazy Treman,’ said Jensen. ‘C’mon now, hurry up. I wanna get ta the Jade Circle before we run inta any more mischief.’

Charlie kept quiet and carried on climbing the forested hillside. The loss of Stotch still preyed on her mind. She was tired, hungry and didn’t feel safe with Stix and Stones nearby. All she wanted to do was reach the Jade Circle, find her parents and get back to check on her gran. She was so intent on watching her feet and thinking about home that she walked straight over the crest of the hill and started down the other side without looking up.

‘Whoa! Whoa there, lass!’ hollered Jensen. ‘Charlie, rest up a minute. Yer missing the sight of a lifetime!’

‘What?’ said Charlie. Glancing up from her weary feet, she looked back up the hill to where Jensen, Kelko and the others were quietly standing. ‘Where?’

‘Ha! Behind ya, lass!’ snorted Jensen.

Turning, Charlie let out a gasp as she took in the view that lay spread beneath her.

Sylvaris.

The forest rolled across the contours of the land, still lush and vibrant, its colours mesmerizing and bewitching. Thrusting its way from the foliage was the Treman city. Tall spires and minarets reared above the forest canopy. Graceful bridges spanned the gaps between buildings and joined together to form floating highways that stretched high across the rustling green sea of leaves. Flowers flourished everywhere, on the bridges, down the sides of the buildings and even across the rooftops. Huge flocks of exotic birds soared on the thermals that eddied between the bridges and flying buttresses. And floating across the wind was the rhythmic sound of Treman song, rising and falling in lilting melodies. Sylvaris called to Charlie and strangely she felt like she was returning home.

‘Now ya know why Sylvaris is known as the Flower of Deepforest,’ said Kelko with a gentle smile. ‘C’mon, lass, not much further now. The Jade Circle waits on us.’

Walking down the hill they stepped on to a pathway that weaved its way between the great trees and buildings that lined the outskirts of the city. Sic Boy bounded ahead, regaining some of the enthusiasm that he’d lost since Stotch’s death.

‘That’s odd,’ said Charlie, wrinkling her forehead in puzzlement. ‘If Sylvaris is a city, where are all the people? There’s hardly anyone about.’