The Curse of the Ice Serpent (17 page)

The stone tile sank a little and a metallic clink echoed around the chamber. Tingenek looked back at Dakkar, wide-eyed.

‘Don’t move,’ Dakkar said. He could hear cogs whirring behind the walls. He turned to Igaluk. ‘Don’t you move either …’

Igaluk stared at him through dead eyes. A wicked spear had sprung from the wall and its tip protruded from the man’s chest, keeping him standing. Blood spread through the furs he wore and dripped to the floor. Dakkar gave a yell and fell back into Georgia, almost knocking her into the room. For a moment they stared in horror at the dead man.

‘Don’t look any more,’ Dakkar said eventually, pulling Georgia away and focusing on the wobbling Tingenek. ‘Very ingenious. Each of those square tiles must set off a spike in the walls, killing the people waiting to cross.’

‘That’s horrible,’ Georgia said.

‘Except tile number five didn’t set off a trap,’ Dakkar said. ‘
Five
in French is
cinq
.’

‘Right,’ Georgia said, her voice strained and dry. ‘Is this a good time for a language lesson?’

‘Forty is the only number in English whose letters run alphabetically. The letters in the word
cinq
are in alphabetical order too,’ Dakkar said. ‘C precedes I, which precedes N, which precedes Q, see? The safe tiles have numbers whose letters are in alphabetical order when you spell them in French. We just have to figure out which ones they are.’

‘Right,’ Georgia said. ‘I think I know what you mean but there are a hundred tiles out there!’

‘I bet there aren’t that many,’ Dakkar said, peering out.

The sight of Igaluk behind Dakkar and Georgia made Tingenek nearly fall over. He wobbled, trying to keep his balance. ‘Shall I jump back?’ he said.

‘No.’ Dakkar pointed to the next tile a few feet ahead of him. ‘Jump to that one – number ten,
dix
in French.’

‘You better be right,’ Tingenek said.

‘I’ve a feeling we’ll be more sorry than you if I’m wrong,’ Dakkar muttered, eyeing the walls nervously.

Tingenek jumped and managed to land his fur boots on the number ten.

‘How about eleven?’ Georgia said, frowning.

‘
Onze.
No,’ Dakkar said. ‘Number two is next –
deux
. Can you see it, Tingenek?’

Tingenek nodded. ‘It miles away.’ But he leapt and managed to scramble on to it.

‘The last one is by the door,’ Dakkar said. ‘
Cent
, a hundred. You should be safe then.’

Tingenek hopped to tile one hundred and then leapt into the exit, heaving a sigh of relief.

‘Come on, Georgia. You next,’ Dakkar said, pointing at the first tile. Georgia leapt on to it and then the next easily, with Dakkar following.

Tingenek waited for them, his pistol still drawn. ‘We carry on.’

‘You don’t need the gun, Tingenek,’ Dakkar sighed, pushing the barrel away. ‘Tomasz has our friend out there. Right now we should work together.’

‘Don’t you realise there’s a reason that Tomasz sent you down here?’ Georgia said. ‘You’re expendable. He doesn’t care if you live or die. You said yourself, “never trust an Oginski”, didn’t you?’

Tingenek nodded and looked sorry for himself. ‘I worked for Borys first.’ He shook his head. ‘We carried so much. Mechanical things, cables, pulleys. Everything for traps. Then Borys sent me away. But Tomasz knew. He made me work for him.’

‘You could have turned the Tizheruk on him,’ Dakkar murmured. ‘Like you did to Sergeant Baines and his men.’

‘Oginskis are hard to kill,’ Tingenek said, his voice rising with fear. ‘You don’t know. Tomasz has more control over Tizheruk than me. I tell you, all Oginskis are mad dogs.’

‘I never felt compelled to do their dirty work,’ Dakkar said, curling his lip and turning away.

‘Sometimes you not know whose dirty work you’re doing,’ Tingenek muttered after him.

Two simple tripwires blocked their way a little further down the tunnel. Dakkar cut them carefully and watched two blades swing uselessly into the path ahead.

The light didn’t dim, staying constant despite the absence of torches or lamps.

‘Mirrors must reflect what little daylight there is through these,’ Georgia suggested, pointing to the circular holes in the ceiling. ‘Clever.’

‘Borys went to a lot of trouble to build this place,’ Dakkar said, frowning as they walked on. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘He wanted to protect the Thermolith,’ Georgia said with a shrug. ‘He seems to have done a good job.’

‘But this is so elaborate,’ Dakkar said. ‘Why not just bury the Heart and then destroy it at a later date? It’s almost as if …’

‘As if what?’ Georgia said, rolling her eyes.

‘As if he wanted us to get it,’ Dakkar said. He gave a little laugh at the idea.

Georgia sighed. ‘Dakkar, you always have to look for a more complicated answer than the one that’s staring you in the face. Borys had just about enough time to hide the Heart of Vulcan, so he protected it. Maybe he thought he’d tell you about it himself then come and get it? Who knows?’

‘Another room.’ Tingenek nodded to the doorway at the end of the tunnel.

The room had two exits apart from the one in which they stood. One led to a tunnel that stretched off into shadow. The other, next to it, opened on to another chamber, lit by a warm glow. A sign above this entrance declared:

ONLY ONE DOOR, LEFT.

‘There it is,’ Tingenek said, hurrying towards the doorway. ‘That warmth. It is Thermolith!’

‘Tingenek, wait!’ Dakkar shouted. ‘That door is on our right. The sign, it says …’

Dakkar tried to drag Tingenek back but he was out of reach and stepping through the doorway. Something swept past the door, displacing the air and making a heavy whooshing sound. Tingenek gave a startled scream. He was smashed aside like a rag doll by something solid and weighty, then vanished from sight.

Georgia and Dakkar hurried forward to the edge of the door. The heavy object swept past again, making them flinch back. Dakkar glimpsed Tingenek’s shattered body smashed against the far wall.

‘It’s a giant pendulum,’ Georgia whispered, looking pale and shocked. ‘Swinging back and forth across the door. He should have listened.’

‘Borys counted on our weariness to let us down,’ Dakkar said heavily. ‘Seeing the glow of the Thermolith clouded Tingenek’s judgement.’

‘I wish I could say he got what he deserved,’ Georgia said, ‘but I don’t feel like that. This whole place is hor­­rible. If Borys wanted to turn his back on evil ways, why make such a wicked place?’

‘I don’t know,’ Dakkar sighed. ‘Maybe he thought he could fight evil with evil?’

‘Who’d have thought a simple comma could make the difference between life or death?’ Georgia said quietly.

They walked down the other tunnel in silence. It curved round and doubled back on itself then ran straight for what seemed like ages. All Dakkar could hear was their breathing and the echo of their fur boots slapping on the floor.

The tunnel opened out into a huge chamber. Dakkar and Georgia exhaled in unison as they took in the awesome sight.

The roof of the cavern stretched high above them, vanishing into shadow. A black lake filled the centre of the cavern and a warm, red light spilled from a small island at the heart of the lake. The glassy walls reflected the ruby glow, illuminating the water and the cavern, making it feel warmer than it actually was. In the far corner they could see the pendulum, like a giant’s hammer swinging back and forth across the tiny entrance. Tingenek’s body looked small and distant against the wall.

‘The Heart of Vulcan must be on that island,’ Dakkar said, dragging his eyes away from the pendulum.

They hurried across to the lake. A small, wooden raft big enough for three people lay at the water’s edge.

‘There’s our way across to the island,’ Dakkar said, giving the raft a tap with his foot.

‘The water’s warm!’ Georgia said, dabbling her fingertips into the glassy water. Ripples pooled out and lapped on the distant island, echoing around the cavern.

‘It might not be wise to put your hand in the water,’ Dakkar said. ‘This place could still be full of traps.’

‘You’re right,’ she said, pulling her hand away quickly. ‘How do we get across the water?’

A sudden splash ahead of them stopped Dakkar’s answer in his throat. The black water boiled and frothed as white coils rose to the surface, then it exploded and a huge snout burst up into the air above them.

‘The Tizheruk!’ Georgia screamed as the huge, hissing serpent shot up out of the lake.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

RAGE AND REVENGE

The Tizheruk stabbed its long head at Dakkar, who hopped back, windmilling his arms as he tried not to fall into the water. He grabbed a knife from his belt and slashed at the creature.

‘How did it get here?’ Georgia said, pulling her own blade from its scabbard. ‘I thought it had fallen into the pit.’

‘The pit and this lake must be connected!’ Dakkar yelled.

The Tizheruk jabbed its long snout forward again and Dakkar managed to cut a line across its nose, making the creature hiss and pull back.

‘It doesn’t look pleased to see us, that’s for sure!’ Georgia said, stabbing with her own dagger.

The Tizheruk glided around them and swung towards Georgia, opening its mouth wide. At the same time a tail snaked over the edge of the lake and swept Dakkar off his feet. He fell with a thump on the icy floor.

The Tizheruk bit down at Georgia. With a scream, she rolled sideways as the Tizheruk’s long snout and teeth grazed the ice where she had stood. Dakkar leapt forward but the Tizheruk’s tail sent him reeling back. He watched in horror as it snapped at Georgia again and again, pushing her against a rocky outcrop. The creature gave a triumphant hiss and closed in on Georgia, who stood with her dagger trembling in her hand.

Georgia gave a yell of defiance and stabbed at the Tizheruk’s snout. It pulled back slightly and then jabbed forward, knocking Georgia against the rock. She slid to the floor stunned.

Dakkar stood helplessly, his knife in his hand. Georgia was his friend. He couldn’t let her die. He thought of Oginski falling from the castle, Baines and his men disappearing in the storm. He thought of Tingenek and his hunters slain mercilessly in the tunnels of this place and a cold fury built up inside him. His heart pounded and he gritted his teeth.

‘I’m sick of this,’ Dakkar growled. ‘I’m sick of losing anyone I care about. I’m sick of being chased. I’m sick of things trying to eat me. I’ve had enough! Do you hear me?’

With a howl that would have put a polar bear to flight, Dakkar launched himself on to the coils of the serpent. He sank the blade deep into its furred body, pulling it out and stabbing again, using the knife to climb up the snake towards its head.

The snake gave a maddened hiss and writhed around, trying to shake Dakkar off. Dakkar’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the handle of the knife, slamming it back into the body of the snake, climbing closer.

Blood slicked the matted fur now and the snake tried to turn right round to meet Dakkar’s attack but he stabbed the serpent in the eye. With an agonised squeal, the Tizheruk lurched round, sending Dakkar whirling across the cavern and crashing against the wall. The snake reared up and plunged down on top of him. Dakkar just had time to raise his knife and screw his eyes shut.

He felt the Tizheruk’s teeth tearing at the thick skin of his coat as if it were paper. A putrid, wet warmth engulfed his head, shoulders and arms, and he felt a pressure around his chest as he was lifted up. He stabbed forward into soft tissue again and again. Hot liquid gushed over him, stinging his eyes, choking him. Dakkar felt weightless. He felt the ground disappear as he rose up in the snake’s mouth.

Pain lanced through his ribs and shoulders as the snake tried to bite down, but suddenly Dakkar fell free, landing hard on the icy floor of the cavern.

Opening his eyes, he saw the Tizheruk above him, glassy eyed and swaying. Then it fell towards him. Summoning all his energy, Dakkar threw himself to one side, curling into a ball as the dead snake fell to the ground with a disgusting, wet thud.

For a moment, only the sloshing of the water could be heard as the serpent, still half in the water, twitched its tail once or twice, then lay still. Georgia appeared above him.

‘Dakkar, are you all right?’ she said, shaking his shoulders. ‘Eew!’ She let him drop back and he banged his head on the ground. Georgia put a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh! Sorry, but you’re covered in snake blood!’

‘Ouch.’ Dakkar groaned, dragging himself to his feet. He gave the dead Tizheruk a savage kick in the snout and shuffled to the edge of the lake. ‘And don’t mention it.’

‘Mention what?’ Georgia gave a tight smile.

‘Me saving your life.’ Dakkar grinned back. He dragged the raft up out of the water and inspected it more closely. ‘This has runners on it too,’ he said, wincing at the ache in his muscles. ‘It’s a sledge as well as a raft.’