01 Wing Warrior (3 page)

‘I’m sorry,’ Nimbus said. ‘I didn’t mean to get us lost. I was sure we were on the path.’

‘Never mind being sorry,’ Sky said. ‘Let’s just get a fire started before we turn to ice.’

As Nimbus headed out in search of firewood, Sky held Glass’s hand tightly. ‘Are we going to get eaten?’ Glass asked.

‘I shouldn’t think so,’ Sky replied. ‘Nim was on his own the last time he was here, and he was okay. And there are four of us now. Anyway, you don’t believe in goblins, do you?’

Glass looked at Sky with big eyes that said she very much did believe in goblins. ‘No,’ she said.

‘You don’t have to worry. Even if goblins are real, they only snatch babies. You're almost eight years old.’ Sky pressed Glass’s nose and she giggled. ‘You’ll be too tough for them to eat.’

Glass seemed happy with this explanation for a second, but then her forehead creased with confusion. ‘How will they know I’m too tough to eat before they’ve tried?’

Sky hugged her tightly. ‘I’m more worried about my dad. He doesn’t like not knowing where I am.’

‘Will he be mad?’

‘No. Hungry. I’m supposed to be making his dinner.’

There were footsteps from the depths of the cave. Tidal reappeared carrying a dusty oil lantern. He looked excited. ‘Hey, guess what,’ he said.

‘What?’ Nimbus asked, rushing back in with an armful of wood.

‘It looks like this cave goes on for miles,’ Tidal said. ‘Gosh, Nim, didn’t you even go back and explore when you were here?’

‘I wasn’t in the mood for an adventure,’ Nimbus said, dropping his firewood. ‘Now stop worrying about exploring and help me. I got lucky and found some dry twigs and grass in the hollow of a tree. We should be able to have a good fire.’

‘Fire? That’s a great idea. We can light this old lantern I found.’

‘I meant a fire to stay warm. I don’t intend leaving the cave mouth all night.’

‘Are you joking? There could be something great back there. We might find goblins, or a stink witch, or anything.’

‘I don’t like witches,’ Glass mumbled, sitting on the floor beside Nimbus and watching him intently as he stacked the wood in a ring of stones.

‘Drop it, Tidal, you’re going to scare everyone,’ Nimbus said.

‘We have to go and look,’ Tidal said.

‘We don’t have to do anything.’

Nimbus began rubbing two sticks together. He had watched his dad make fire this way. Of course, his dad made it look easy.

‘Okay then,’ Tidal said. ‘Put it this way, Nim. If you don’t come back here and investigate, you’ll never know what might be hiding in the dark. Anything could sneak out and get us in the night. Wouldn’t it be safer to have a look?’

Sky touched Nimbus’s shoulder gently, almost apologetically. ‘It makes sense. If we went and looked now, it would help us all sleep a little better.’

‘I don’t like witches,’ Glass repeated.

‘It’s okay, Glass. There aren’t any witches in this cave.’ Nimbus was starting to sweat from rubbing his two sticks together. ‘If there were witches we’d all have been turned into frogs by now, wouldn’t we? There’s no need to worry.’

‘Aw, come on.’ Tidal stamped his foot. ‘We have to at least take a look back there.’

Nimbus’s branches finally started to smoke, and his face was illuminated as the dry grass and wood he had found burst into flame. ‘Aha!’ he exclaimed, triumphantly. ‘We have a fire.’

Glass and Sky clapped, and even Tidal looked impressed.

The fire glowed a deep orange–yellow, crackling and popping as it cast odd shadows on the rutted walls of the cave. Every pocket of darkness where the light of the fire could not reach, every small hollow and crack in the stone, seemed horribly sinister and able to conceal all manner of monsters. Even the children’s own shadows were alien and scary.

‘Right,’ Nimbus said. ‘That should keep us warm until morning.’

‘Nim?’ Tidal said.

Nimbus looked at Tidal, then at Sky, and then finally at Glass. His sister was watching him in that way she always did when he was about to do something stupid; like she was proud of him and scared for him at the same time.

He felt his mouth drying out as icy fingers touched his heart. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘We’ll take a look. Tide, hand me that lantern, and I’ll see if I can get it lit.’

‘Great,’ Tidal said.

Nimbus crouched next to Glass and ruffled her hair. ‘Hey, I’ll be right back,’ he said.

He didn’t sound entirely convinced.

CHAPTER THREE

In his life, Nimbus had been wrong about many things. He had been wrong about the number of plums he could fit in his mouth at once, he had been wrong about the number of times he could bunk off his reading classes before getting in serious trouble with his dad, and he had been wrong about which girl in the village had left him a love note at the beginning of a particularly embarrassing day a few months ago. But never had he been so completely off the mark as he was on that night in the cave when he had told Glass he would be “right back.”

All night, Glass and Sky huddled together for warmth beside the guttering fire as they waited for the boys to return; and they were still waiting when the first rays of daylight crept over the treetops.

‘Do you think a stink witch got them?’ Glass asked.

‘I shouldn’t think so,’ Sky said, smoothing Glass’s hair. ‘Witches like gingerbread and sweet things. Not smelly boys.’

The sun got higher and stray beams of yellow warmth cut through the leaves. Where those beams touched the ground, steam rose up like white wood spirits dancing in the morning light.

‘Boys are smelly,’ Glass agreed, poking at the glowing embers of the fire with a stick. ‘If I was a witch, I certainly wouldn’t want to eat one.’ She continued poking the fire, sucking on her top lip thoughtfully.

‘Is something on your mind?’ Sky asked.

‘I was just wondering if you ever get good witches.’

‘I suppose so. If you knew how to use magic, and you helped people, then I suppose you would be a good witch. But nobody uses magic these days. I’m not sure if anybody even knows how magic works any more.’

‘Leaf says magic was banned.’

Sky smiled. Leaf was an old woman who had travelled all over the world studying ancient lore before settling down in the village. The children would always gather around to hear her stories, and she even taught some of them important skills like how to read and write. If there was something about history that Leaf didn’t know, then it probably wasn’t worth knowing.

‘Apparently, once all of the legends were gone, magic became quite dangerous,’ Sky said.

‘What are legends?’

‘Oh, legends are wonderful things. They’re magical creatures that existed a long time ago, so long ago that lots of people don’t even believe they ever existed at all.’

‘Do you believe?’

Sky watched the steam rising from the ground. The day was getting warmer and brighter. ‘I think you have to believe in some things. You have to believe in your friends, in your family. But there are other things that it’s nice to believe in, whether they’re true or not.’

‘Like legends.’

‘They make the world seem better.’

‘I’d like to meet one.’

‘You have to be careful, not all legends are nice. You wouldn’t want to meet a leviathan. They were giant creatures that lived in the oceans and rivers, and they would smash boats and eat fishermen. It was said that some of them were so large they could almost wrap around the whole world, and if they did that, they could crush it like a tomato. But the dragons were good. They protected all the people across the land. And there were other good legends too. Unicorns, and mermaids, and a very special horse called a pegasus.’

‘Why was it special?’

‘Because it had wings, and it could soar above the clouds like a bird.’

‘I’d like to do that.’

‘Me too.’

Glass fell silent, prodding the fire with her stick. She stuck out her tongue so far it touched the tip of her button nose. She was thinking again. ‘So where did the legends go?’

‘They just went. First the dragons, then everything else. Nobody knows why. I guess, sometimes, things just have to die.’

‘Oh.’

The fire sizzled defiantly, and then went out. Sky wrapped her arms around Glass.

Where was Nimbus? He wasn’t supposed to have gone all night.

‘Did the legends do magic?’ Glass asked.

‘No. The legends were magic. They kept all the magical forces in the world balanced.’

A small, brown rabbit bounced out from under a bramble bush near the cave mouth. The two girls watched him as he twitched his nose, hopped around, and then eventually scampered out of sight behind the trees.

‘If I knew magic, could I turn myself into a bunny?’ Glass asked.

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘I think it would be nice to be a bunny.’

‘Maybe.’

‘What would you like to be?’

Sky looked up. Strips of blue showed through the leaves of the trees like tears in green fabric. ‘I’d like to be a bird,’ she said. ‘I’d like to fly away from here.’

‘Why?’

‘Just because.’

‘Leaf says there was a battle. Lots of magicians all decided to fight, and they turned the skies silver and gold with magical fireballs and lightning bolts.’

‘That’s true. They say that happened when the dragons disappeared. Some people got scared, and others got greedy, and they all called on different wizards and warlocks and witches and magicians, and even a thing called a necromancer. The fighting was terrible, and in the end the use of magic was banned.’

‘I would use magic for good things.’

‘I know you would.’

There was an echoing thump from back inside the cave.

Sky’s heart began to race, and she hugged Glass tightly. ‘Nimbus?’ she called.

There was no reply.

‘Nimbus?’

Another thump, then the sound of footsteps. Tidal appeared. His hair was thick with mud and spider webs, and his clothes were soaked through.

‘What happened to you?’ Sky asked.

Tidal stomped straight past her and out into the woods. He didn’t even stop to speak.

Nimbus emerged from the darkness. His clothes weren’t ripped, and he was no muddier or scruffier than he had been the previous night.

‘Hello,’ he said.

‘Nim!’ Glass leapt to her feet, throwing her arms around his waist. ‘I was beginning to think you weren’t going to come back.’

‘Good to see you again, Nim,’ Sky said.

‘We got a bit lost,’ Nimbus explained.

‘Did you have an adventure?’ Glass asked. ‘Did you find a legend?’

Nimbus glanced over his shoulder, almost as if he expected a dragon’s head to loom out of the darkness, all fiery eyes, billowing smoke, and chomping fangs. ‘No,’ he said, quietly. ‘No, don’t be silly. Of course I didn’t find a legend. All the legends are gone.’

‘What happened to Tide?’ Sky asked.

‘He got a little bit more lost than I did. I don’t think he’s in a very good mood.’

‘And I’m not the only one,’ Tidal said, reappearing at the cave mouth. ‘We’re in big trouble. Your dad’s in the woods with a search party. They’re looking for us.’

Nimbus’s head sank. ‘I’m for it now. We all are. Sorry guys.’

Glass grabbed his hand. ‘It’s okay. At least we didn’t get eaten by a goblin.’

***

Nimbus’s father, Cloud, was a very large and very serious man with a very serious face, serious grey hair, and very serious ideas about children doing what they were told. He had spent the whole night looking for the children, accompanied by three other equally serious–looking men, who were equally likely to agree with his serious ideas.

When these men saw the children emerging from the cave, their serious expressions, just for a moment, gave way to expressions of excitement and relief. However, when Cloud spoke, his voice was just as angry as Nimbus had expected it to be.

‘What’s going on here?’ Cloud demanded. He waved his big, callused hands in the air to emphasise his words. This was totally unnecessary as his booming voice was emphasis enough.

Nimbus hung his head, and kicked his toe in the ground. ‘Sorry, Dad. We got lost.’

‘Lost! You should never have been here in the first place. Especially here.’ Cloud waved his arms at the cave mouth, at the jagged white rocks sticking out of the ground, and the hunched trees with their horrible clawing branches. ‘I’ve told you so many times about coming into the woods.’

‘We’re sorry,’ Glass said, desperately trying to hold back her tears. ‘We just wanted to go fishing, but then somebody took down all the white ribbons, and we were lost, and we couldn’t go home. And we really just wanted to go home.’

‘What are you talking about? We’ve been finding white ribbons everywhere.’

Nimbus swallowed, kept his arms behind his back, kept his eyes down. ‘We must have missed them in the dark and the mist,’ he muttered.

‘But you were sure somebody had taken them down last night,’ Sky said.

‘I must have been wrong.’

‘But...’

‘I was wrong,’ Nimbus snapped.

‘Well, never mind that now,’ Cloud said. ‘Let’s just get you all home and warm. Everyone is worried sick.’

‘Everyone?’ Sky asked, winding the sash of her dress through her fingers nervously. ‘You mean... My dad too?’

Cloud’s stern face softened considerably. A lifetime of wrinkles and worry lines melted away. He suddenly seemed more youthful, and not nearly as intimidating. ‘He’s waiting for you.’

‘How is he?’

‘He’s... concerned. I told you, everyone is. Come on.’

Glass allowed herself to be picked up in her father’s huge, strong arms. He was wearing a travelling cloak, and he wrapped it around her shoulders as she clung to his chest. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ he said to Nimbus. ‘Bringing your sister to a place like this. It could be dangerous.’

Nimbus nodded, looking back at the cave. It receded into the darkness like the long throat of a terrible monster. And only he knew what was down there.

CHAPTER FOUR

The following morning was sunny and bright, and much nicer than the morning Nimbus and his friends had been found at the cave. In the village of Landmark, children were playing in the dusty streets, chasing each other and pushing each other over. In the fields that skirted the boundaries of the village, farmers were ploughing the earth and planting seeds. The twelve soldiers, sent from the city of Crystal Shine to keep law and order, were sitting in the garrison building playing cards.