03 Sky Knight (20 page)

‘But I could stop it. Death. I could stop people dying.’

Moon smiled sadly. ‘Just because someone breathes, it doesn’t mean they’re alive, Glass. In time you will come to understand, death comes to us all in the end, and it is not something we should run from. No person lives forever.’

‘My daddy does,’ Glass muttered.

‘You mean Cloud?’

‘Yes. Do you know him?’

‘A long time ago. We... fought together.’

‘He’s a hero.’

‘No. He’s not. He’s a legend, and legends are the only things that do live forever. If there is someone to remember them. But he is also a man.’ She paused. Swallowed. Some emotion was trying to rise inside her, and she was battling to keep control of it. Even Glass could see that. ‘He is a man. And men die.’

Glass stroked Light’s ears thoughtfully. ‘Lots of people are going to die,’ she said. ‘It’s in the wind.’

‘There is much in the wind. More than I can hear. Some good may yet blow our way.’

‘But I’m going to have to fight Crow, and I don’t think I’m strong enough.’

Reflection immediately cantered over to her side and nuzzled her neck, reaffirming their connection, and making sure the little magic user knew she was not alone.

Moon watched her carefully. The way the two familiars crowded around her was protective and caring, but it was obvious they were also drawing something from her: Some kind of comfort, some hope. ‘You are strong. And you have a unicorn for a familiar, which is almost unheard of outside the realms of fairie. But it will not be you alone who faces Crow on the battlefield.’

‘Are you going to help me?’

‘That is why I have come out of the West. I have come to do what I could not do all those years ago. I have come to kill Crow.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nimbus woke with salt water splashing in his face. He was on his feet in a second, the spirit sword in one trembling hand. The beach was empty except for poor Cumulo, who was slumped in the mouth of the cave with the deadly Sea Nymph chain locked around his neck. The wounded dragon’s scales had turned completely black, and his wings were twitching with the memory of what it was like to travel beyond the clouds.

Nimbus ran to his friend, collapsing by the dragon’s massive head. ‘Oh Cumulo,’ he sobbed hopelessly. ‘I’ve failed. Tidal’s gone, and I can’t get you out.’

Cumulo opened one red eye, and a puff of acrid smog came out of his nostrils. ‘It doesn’t matter, Nim. You tried, and we did okay together, you and I. We had a good run. We beat the black dragon, and we defended your village, and we saved your sister. But it’s over now. It’s time for me to join the rest of my family.’

‘Don’t talk like that.’

‘It’s okay, Nim. Really. And I don’t want you to feel bad about it. You did everything you could. But now you have to focus on what’s important. You have to find Sky.’

‘I can’t leave you like this.’

‘You said yourself, you can’t get me out. You can’t rescue me from this, but you can rescue Sky from Tidal. Even if you don’t have a dragon, you are still a Wing Warrior, and you still need to act like one. Sky is the one who needs you now.’

‘I can’t.’ Nimbus felt like he could cry until he shrivelled up and blew apart on the wind, but he tried his best not to let the tears out. ‘I just can’t.’

‘Sky needs you,’ the dragon growled. ‘Protect her. Do your duty.’

Nimbus wiped his nose on his wrist, and then rubbed his sore eyes. ‘You promise me,’ he said. ‘You promise me that if I go after her, you’ll still be here when I get back.’

‘I really don’t think I’m going anywhere, Nim.’

‘You know what I mean. You promise me. Promise you’re not going to...’ The words failed him.

‘I’ll do my best.’

‘Make sure you do.’ He rose, touching Cumulo’s shuddering flank. ‘I can’t ever thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. I couldn’t be the Wing Warrior without you. I just wanted you to know.’

Choking back his tears, Nimbus ran along the beach with Venom in hand, and disappeared among the craggy rocks.

‘I love you too,’ Cumulo whispered. And his eyes closed, and his breathing slowed, and the waves lapped the shore; and not far from land the water bubbled as though something just below the surface was laughing at his pain.

***

Sky felt her way through the blackness of the tunnel, stumbling ever onwards into darkness, with the fingers of her left hand always in contact with the wall to make sure she didn’t become disorientated. Once, she tripped over something, and when she got back on her feet she wasn’t sure whether she had turned around or not. She was forced to press on blindly, hoping for the best. For a long time she was terrified she might actually be heading back towards the pool of baby serpents, but then she heard Tidal calling her name from somewhere behind, and she pushed on faster, safe in the knowledge that she was still going the right way.

But now there was a new fear in her mind; the fear that this tunnel might not go anywhere, or might go around in a big circle, back to the breeding pool. Or worse still, perhaps the sea serpent knew a way into this tunnel from the other end, and even now he was inching his way towards her. She couldn’t see a thing down here. What if she was running straight into his open mouth? If she went on, she would be swallowed alive; if she went back, Tidal would catch her.

And then she was falling, head over heels, bumping and spiralling as the floor of the tunnel dropped away into a steep slope. Down and down, slipping and sliding and finally splashing in freezing water that came up to her chest. Creatures were swimming around her, causing her to shiver whenever they touched her skin.

She splashed on, aware that the tunnel was opening into a vast chamber, but still unable to see anything other than the murky waters immediately in front of her.

‘Sky, come on back,’ Tidal shouted. ‘It’s dangerous down here. You’re going to get hurt.’

The water was gradually getting deeper the farther she went, and before long she was struggling to keep her head above the surface. Panting and puffing, she clawed her way along, clinging to a wall when she finally found one, and spitting out the water that sloshed into her mouth. She had no idea which way she should be going, and her teeth were chattering so loudly she was certain Tidal would be able to hear.

‘What do I do?’ she gasped, hanging on the side of the rock face as she was bobbed up and down in the swell. ‘How am I supposed to see where I’m going down here?’

There was no response from the gloomy cave, but even as she voiced the question, she knew the answer. Still gripping the wall with one numb hand, she removed the star from its pouch. The cavern was flooded with a wash of harsh, white light; and Sky’s breath caught in her throat as she realised she was not alone. There was something hanging from the roof of the cave. It was grey, about the size of a small woman, but with fidgety bat–like wings instead of arms. As Sky watched, it began dragging itself along the ceiling towards her, silently using the knuckles of its wings and clawed feet to clamber around the stalactites.

Sky instantly recognised the creature from stories Leaf had told her. It was a harpy: part woman, part bat, and part something else.

The harpy’s wings unfurled with a snap, and she swooped down to perch on an outcrop of stone just above Sky.

‘What have we here?’ the harpy asked, leaning closer to get a good look. Her wings fluttered, and she hopped from foot to foot, her black eyes glimmering, her mouth open enough to show rows of needle–sharp teeth. ‘A little girl in my cave? Food delivered right to my door?’

‘Leave me alone,’ Sky shouted, choking as water splashed in her mouth.

‘Leave you alone? When you are the one who has come into my home, Little Girl? Leave you alone when it is you who has intruded in my domain?’

‘I didn’t mean to come here. I got lost.’

The harpy inched closer. ‘Lost? Didn’t mean to come here? Then where did you think you were going? Perhaps you mistook Serpent’s Coil for another island, yes?’

‘No. That’s not what I meant. I meant to come to the island.’

‘Then you are a liar?’

‘I was looking for my friend. I never meant to come down here. I’m being chased and I needed to get away. Please, just let me carry on my way, and I won’t bother you again, I promise.’

‘Chased, you say? And who might be chasing you?’

‘A boy. Tidal. He wants to kill me. And there’s a sea serpent too.’

‘Serpent?’ The harpy screeched and flapped away from her perch, circling the cavern twice before coming back to settle even closer to Sky’s upturned face. ‘The Ocean King?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe. He wants to eat me. He’s working with Tidal to kill my friend and... And I don’t know what else.’

‘Does the Ocean King know which way you came? Has he followed you here?’

‘I don’t think so, but Tidal has. He was only just behind me.’

The harpy’s head bobbed up and down a few times. ‘Led them to my hiding place, have you? Showed the Ocean King where I live? Did you know he eats harpies? Did you know he ate all the others?’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to get away. If you know a way out of this cave, we could both escape. You could fly away before he gets here.’

With a hiss, the harpy jumped down and gripped Sky’s shoulders, lifting her out of the water and dragging her up to a ledge near the high roof of the cavern.

‘Do you see?’ the harpy asked, dropping Sky into some kind of nest where there were bits of old fish bones, clumps of rotting vegetation, and a piece of red coral about the size of her fist. ‘Do you see what you have done?’

‘I don’t understand. What is that?’

‘Don’t you know about the coral? Don’t you know the legend?’

‘I’m sorry. No.’

‘Then you don’t know that the coral holds all the strength of the Ocean King?’

‘If that’s so, why do you have it?’

‘We couldn’t refuse an order from the Sea Nymph, could we? We wouldn’t want the leviathan to be strong again, would we?’

Sky crawled to the edge of the nest and peered over. She was too high up for the star to illuminate the bottom levels of the cavern, and she could not see if Tidal had emerged from the tunnel. Maybe he was already down there, swimming across to them. Maybe he was already climbing the side of the cave.

‘What should I do?’ she asked.

‘You should put the star away, shouldn’t you?’ the harpy said. ‘Otherwise he will see where you are hiding, won’t he?’

The harpy was an ugly creature, with lank, black hair. She fidgeted constantly, and her eyes were never still for a second. The thought of being in pitch darkness with such a creature chilled Sky to the bone, but what other choice did she have?

Carefully, she returned the star to its pouch, and reached for the knife she kept tucked in her sash. Her heart sank when she realised it was no longer there.

‘Scared of me, aren’t you?’ the harpy hissed, somewhere frighteningly close to Sky’s ear. ‘But you’re not as scared of me as you are of the boy, are you? Hmm?’

Sky pressed her back was to the wall. ‘He’s going to find us,’ she whispered.

‘I can see him now, you know? Can you see him wading into the deep water?’

‘I can’t see in the dark like you.’

‘Can’t see, you say? Why go where you cannot see?’

‘Because I have to.’

The harpy chuckled, as she came closer. Her breath was horrible on Sky’s face, like rotten fish guts. ‘You are brave, aren’t you?’

‘No.’

‘You want the coral, don’t you?’

‘I guess so.’

‘Why should I let you have it?’

‘Well, why did the... what did you call it? Sea Nymph? Why did he tell you to protect it in the first place?’

‘We have to stop the leviathan becoming strong, don’t we?’

‘Exactly.’

‘But I would be neglectful in my duty if I let you take the coral away, wouldn’t I? All of my people who have died looking after it, would have died for nothing, wouldn’t they?’

‘They only died for nothing if the leviathan gets the coral back, which he will do if it stays here.’

The harpy made a series of guttural noises, and her wings flapped a few times, causing a stinking draft to wash over Sky. ‘You make a good point, don’t you? But what would you do with the coral if I let you have it?’

‘I don’t know. Can it be destroyed?’

‘That would release all the leviathan’s power, wouldn’t it?’

‘I suppose. Then I guess I need to take it away from here. To the mainland where the leviathan will never be able to reach it.’

The harpy was thoughtfully quiet, then she rustled around in the nest and passed Sky the coral with one clawed foot. ‘You will make sure this is never returned to the Ocean King, won’t you?’

‘I promise. Now how do I get out of here?’

‘There are stone steps and footholds in the wall behind you, see?’

Sky stuffed the coral into the pouch along with her star, and then felt around until she found a step in the wall. It was slippery, and if she put a foot wrong she would plummet to her death. ‘Will this take me back to the surface?’ she asked.

In the darkness, there was a swishing sound, a dull thud, and a screech. In the impenetrable dark, Sky could not see what had happened; but she felt a flurry of motion behind her as the harpy tottered on the edge of the nest and then dropped over the side. There was a splash as she hit the water below.

‘Sky?’ Tidal said. ‘Are you here?’

As silently as she could, Sky started to climb, edging slowly but surely up the wall. She could hear Tidal feeling around the ledge, rummaging through the fishy remains. ‘Sky, did that thing hurt you? It’s okay now. I killed it with a rock. You’re safe now. Are you hiding?’

She climbed until she reached a large opening in the rock face: another tunnel.

A way out.

With tears in her eyes, Sky clambered inside; but in her haste she dislodged some loose stones. The smattering of noise drew Tidal’s attention.

‘Sky? Are you up there?’

She ignored him as she scrambled through the tunnel, desperate to feel the sun on her face again.